Before Ye Wei witnessed Ye Zhongtang's display of magical power, he hadn't been entirely sure he could help perfect the technique.
But now—he was certain.
Excitement surged through him. As he placed his hand on the door, his palm trembled ever so slightly, causing the door to emit a soft creak.
Startled, Ye Wei quickly pulled his hand back.
"Who's there?!"
Just as Ye Wei retracted his hand, Ye Zhongtang—who had been cultivating in the courtyard—sensed the disturbance. His eyes flashed with cold light, and with a powerful stomp, he launched forward like a tiger descending the mountain, arriving at the door in a blink.
Ye Zhongtang was a powerful four-star warrior. Even the faintest sound at the gate hadn't escaped his ears!
He raised his palm, glowing faintly with a reddish hue. If he struck, the entire gate would collapse—Ye Wei, standing behind it, would be seriously injured.
"Brother Zhongtang, it's me!" Ye Wei cried out, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he felt the terrifying aura pressing down on him.
"Ye Wei?"
Ye Zhongtang's expression shifted as he recognized the voice. The palm poised to strike instantly pulled back. The forceful recoil from the halted attack caused him to stagger slightly, his face turning even paler.
Creak.
He opened the door to find Ye Wei standing there with a nervous smile. A wry grin crossed his lips as he asked, "Ye Wei, why aren't you asleep this late? Do you realize how dangerous that was?"
He reached out and ruffled Ye Wei's hair, scolding him gently.
"It's this damn weather—it's too hot to sleep. I started walking around and just… ended up here," Ye Wei replied, scratching his head sheepishly.
"You little rascal. Come in!"
With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Ye Zhongtang led Ye Wei into the small courtyard and closed the door behind them.
"Cousin," Ye Wei asked, eyeing his pale and exhausted cousin, "Aren't you a little nervous about fighting Du Hanyue? He's a six-star warrior…"
"What would a kid like you know?" Ye Zhongtang tapped Ye Wei on the head and gazed up at the moonlight shining above. His pale face was full of solemnity.
Nervous?
Of course he was. His opponent, Du Hanyue, was one of Qingyue City's most famed young talents—a six-star warrior. Meanwhile, he was only at four stars. If he lost, the Ye family would lose their ancestral home.
The burden was crushing.
Ye Wei, trying to change the mood, said with awe, "Brother, the technique you just used… was it White Tiger Killing? That's a high-tier spell! I don't even know when I'll be able to use something like that. You're amazing!"
"I was too far away to see it clearly. Can you show me again? Please?" Ye Wei's eyes sparkled with eagerness.
Ye Zhongtang smiled and patted Ye Wei's shoulder. "You'll get there, as long as you keep working hard."
But in his heart, he sighed. To use high-level techniques like this required reaching the level of a seven-star apprentice. For someone like Ye Wei, still at a red-grade sea of consciousness, that might take ten, twenty, even thirty years.
Still, he couldn't bear to turn down Ye Wei's request.
"Stand back a little."
"Okay!" Ye Wei eagerly took three big steps back, eyes fixed on Ye Zhongtang.
With calm precision, Ye Zhongtang extended his finger, spiritual force swirling at his fingertip. Using his power as a brush and energy as ink, he began to trace glowing runes in the air.
One by one, 136 sacred symbols formed around him, floating quietly and pulsing with faint light. Bathed in their glow, Ye Zhongtang seemed almost otherworldly.
"White Tiger Killing!"
With a low shout, the runes blazed and began to move, merging into a complex and mysterious array.
Roar!
A phantom of a white tiger formed above Ye Zhongtang's head. It let out a sky-shaking roar, sending powerful vibrations through the air. The force rippled outward like water, rustling leaves and shaking the earth. Even from three steps away, Ye Wei felt a terrifying pressure wash over him, forcing him to stumble back several paces.
"There's a flaw!"
A flash of golden light flickered deep in Ye Wei's eyes. He focused intently on the pattern, and saw it clearly—while the divine glyphs had mostly been assembled perfectly, two critical nodes were slightly off.
One of them was visibly flawed and easily correctable. The other was far more subtle—its imperfection hidden beneath layers of complexity.
"If I point this out directly, Brother Zhongtang will never believe me…"
He furrowed his brow, trying to come up with a way to convince his cousin to test his theory.
"If I can just get him to try changing that one obvious line…!"
Ye Wei smiled and said, "Brother, the 136 divine glyphs that make up White Tiger Killing—are their positions fixed? What would happen if one of the runes was reversed? Like… maybe this one and that one?"
Ye Zhongtang burst into laughter. "Magical rune positions are set by the ancestors. They're already optimized—how could you just reverse them? If you do that, the whole array might collapse, or at best, lose a lot of power!"
"But I heard that advanced martial artists can control the glyphs however they want…" Ye Wei mumbled, lowering his head and pretending to be discouraged. "I just wish I knew what it felt like to write divine glyphs…"
Seeing Ye Wei so downcast, Ye Zhongtang couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, alright, stop moping. Come, I'll show you. It's really not that hard to control them."
With a gentle smile, he moved his fingers again, like pulling on invisible threads. He reversed the two glyphs Ye Wei had pointed out and once again assembled the array.
This time, something changed.
The flow of energy was noticeably smoother. The 136 divine glyphs merged more seamlessly. The white tiger phantom grew clearer—each strand of fur now visible. The air vibrated violently, and two thunderous tiger roars exploded into the night.
Roar!!
The white tiger's eyes burned with fierce light, its roar shaking the courtyard like a thunderclap.
Ye Zhongtang had used half the strength he'd used earlier—but the result was far more powerful.
"What… what just happened?!"
Ye Zhongtang stared in disbelief at the white tiger phantom above him. Just by reversing one rune, the power of White Tiger Killing had doubled!
This was supposed to be the strongest technique in the Ye family's arsenal—a perfected high-level spiritual spell. Yet Ye Wei, a mere boy with a red-grade consciousness, had found a way to improve it?
A single change… and the effect was staggering.