Dawn still hadn’t arrived.

Rui suddenly woke up from the pungent smell covering his entire body.

The amount of filth that came out was far more significant than the previous nights. The gunk covered him entirely, some of it even crusting over. He was full of it from head to toe. Rui contributed it to the beginner golden dan pill he had consumed the previous day.

Remembering that he had fallen unconscious while testing out the knifes abilities, he manically looked around, finding it next to where he was laying.

Seeing that the knife had returned to its original shape, he sighed in relief and stored it into his inventory, a shiver running down his spine at the absurd energy consumption.

Ignoring Yue’s reaction to him seemingly storing the armament in to a non existent space, he went ahead and cleaned himself, taking a new set of garments and thoroughly washing his gunk filled clothes with all he had.

After all, he couldn’t just let the clothes rot away in those sticky impurities. He just had to get used to this routine at this point. His body would probably never stop producing the black gunk, so getting used to it was all he could do. He made sure to clean every part of his body many times to completely remove the smell and texture.

Finishing the cleaning, he sat down to cultivate and found himself controlling his energy with much more ease, the pill clearly having a distinct effect.

He clenched his fist and finally felt progress. The previous day was extremely hard when it came to cultivation, as he felt no significant sign of progress, his cultivation method barely progressing. Thankfully after consuming the pill, his cultivation method stage had increased by a large margin. It wouldn’t take long before he completed the first level out of the twelve at this speed.

Since he always woke up early in the morning to begin with, and last night he fell asleep much earlier than he usually did, he woke up much earlier as well. The crack of dawn still hadn’t appeared and the night air was slightly frigid.

Sprawling himself on the bamboo mat that covered his floor, he rested his head on a pillow. Too many things had happened recently so he needed time to digest and create a plan for his future actions.

Thankfully, the most precious resource he needed was time and he had at least a year of it. As he had both cultivation methods and a “system” that provided him with an unbelievable advantage, he’ll surely progress with much more ease.

As he was pondering to himself, he suddenly heard two pairs of footsteps approaching his living quarters. Surprised by this fact, he slowly got up and discretely looked out of the window to see who it was.

As dawn was finally approaching, the light of the sun covered the two figures' backs, making their faces hard to see.

To his surprise he was able to distinguish one of the figures, it was the academy elder, along with a man wearing a bamboo hat. The two of them entered his courtyard and the elder knocked on his door, seemingly already knowing that Rui was awake.

Rui hurriedly and awkwardly opened the door, bowing to the two individuals that had just arrived. Although he didn’t know who the other man was, bowing to the academy elder was basic courtesy.

The man in the bamboo hat smiled and spoke.

“As humble and smart as always… how have you been Rui?”

Rui’s pupils slightly dilated and he hurriedly looked at the man wearing the bamboo hat.

“Uncle!” he exclaimed in shock.

Daito smiled and turned to the academy elder next to him.

“Thank you, elder Ming, for allowing this humble one to meet with his family. If you need anything from us, make sure to send a letter, we will try our best to help.”

“Haha, little Daito, how can you address yourself like so? I’ll just pay a visit to your grandfather when the time comes, there is no need to bother you with anything.”

Exchanging some more pleasantries, the academy elder left, leaving a dumbfounded Rui and a smiling Daito alone.

“Did elder just say he would meet great-grandfather? Isn’t great-grandfather just a feeble old man? Don’t tell me-…”

Rui pointed at Daito with suspicion before looking at his forehead in awe.

Daito wasn’t wearing his bandanna, clearly letting the rune on his forehead shine freely.

“It seems even the genius son of my little brother can be shocked to this extent.” Said Daito gloatingly.

He was pleasantly surprised to see his nephew having such a shocked expression. It had been years since he had last seen him awed like this.

Rui face-palmed and discreetly activated the inventory behind his back, pulling out the knife and placing it inside his clothes. Thankfully Daito didn’t notice any fluctuations in the space or anything like that, though he did notice that his nephew was acting strange.

“Shall we head inside?” he said while barging in without waiting for an answer.

Coming inside the room he found nothing strange, just a hint of a horrid stench in the surroundings. Turning around and looking at Rui, he pondered as to what this nephew of his was doing inside the room to cause such a stench.

Seeing the awkward expression on Rui’s face, he sat down on the floor mat and pointed a finger in the air.

After a second his finger started glowing and he proceeded to write in midair, creating a complicated array of words in a spherical shape. After a while he chanted something and unleashed the sphere, causing it to expand and become invisible in the process.

Making a serious expression, he sat Rui down and spoke.

“I’ve put up a sound and probing barrier just in case. What I’m about to tell you concerns your life and the continuation of our clan, so it is extremely important.”

Rui was still confused as to what was going on, but he nodded obediently.

Although he now understood that his family had some secrets, he still didn’t understand the true extent of power his family possessed. It all came to him too suddenly.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt question from his uncle.

“First of all, before we continue with serious talk, what the fuck is this smell?”

Rui’s expression froze as his movements became robotic, trying to explain what was going on while at the same time hiding the fact that he already knew.

He explained the fact that ever since he awakened, black sticky stuff would come out of his body every night and how it made him cultivate faster after they were removed. He even showed the changes he had experienced in his appearance, such as his distinct white pupils.

“So, you are saying that since you awakened, black gunk would come out of your body and this has been happening every single day? Not only that, you ate a beginner golden dan pill yesterday and the gunk that came out was much larger than the previous days?”

Daito looked at Rui with suspicion and amazement. If what Rui said was true, this was incredible luck from the heavens.

“This little rascal. From what you described, you clearly possess the heavenly rune physique, or how the alchemists call it, the perfect physique for eating pills. This lucky guy, not only did you awaken with the Ansuz rune, but with the heavenly rune physique as well? What a good combination. Though if you awakened with an archaic physique, it would’ve been better. You are still considered a great talent however, so no worries.”

“Ah, now that I know your physique, I should probably check your cultivation talent and bloodline talent as well. It will help the elders arrange the appropriate cultivation materials and methods for you.”

Rui stared dazedly as his uncle sporadically changed topics. He had never seen him in such a flustered state.

Pulling out a small ornate box out of thin air, clearly using a spacial artifact, Daito unlocked it and pulled out a set of needles.

Instructing Rui to lay down, he systematically placed the needles on his body, performing hand signs and chanting things.

Rui was so confused. He didn’t even know what was happening anymore and just went with the flow.

After a while of chanting and testing things, Daito finally removed the needles, a smile plastered on his face.

“Look at this guy. How did such a talented rune master come out of nowhere. Not only do you possess a high concentration of our ancestral bloodline, you also possess a divine grade cultivation speed. Indeed, a young genius of our family. Anyway, since I’ve concluded the bloodline and talent testing, let's get into the topic at hand.”

The atmosphere suddenly became solemn as Rui perceived an invisible pressure suffocating him.

“What I’m about to tell you is an absolute secret of our family, the only people knowing it being the rune masters of the family. I will have you swear an oath to the heavens, so the secrets of our family can’t be distributed. Think of it as a contract that binds you with the family, but also binds the family with you.”

Rui’s vigilance had been high since the moment Daito appeared. Seeing his serious face and hearing the tone of his voice put him on the edge. He swallowed his saliva and nodded.

Seeing that Rui was ready, Daito started chanting once again.

“Good. Repeat after me. I swear an oath upon heaven and earth.”

“I swear an oath upon heaven and earth.”

“That I shall not disclose any matters of the Guang family unless told to, or ordered to.”

“That I shall not disclose any matters of the Guang family unless told to, or ordered to.”

“If this oath is broken, may heaven strike me down and the earth consume me.”

“If this oath is broken, may heaven strike me down and the earth consume me.”

As soon as he spoke the last word, the room shone with a brilliant light, as a giant translucent hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed towards Rui.

Rui tried his hardest to dodge the hand but he was stuck in place, being unable to do anything. The hand reached towards his heart and grasped hard, taking what seemed to be an ethereal piece of it and replacing it with a bright white one.

After a couple of seconds, the hand dematerialized into particles.

Daito nodded as soon as he witnessed the white piece. He was relieved that it was white.

“Good job. Now we can talk freely about the matters of the family and I now have full belief on your words.” He said while looking at Rui with a soft expression.

Rui gulped once more before promptly relaxing. He wasn’t sure what had transpired, but he was sure that it wouldn’t be harmful to him, since they were family.

However, at that moment a window system prompt appeared in front of him.

[User has formed a binding contract.]

[Contract information

Binding: Guang Family

Contract initiator: Guang Rui

Contract intermediary: Guang Daito

Contract binder: █̷̡̡̳̥̺͎͎̊̋̀͆̊█̵̯̞̓r̶͇͂́̐̐̏͛̋͌ͅȁ̸̹̠̹͇͍͓̪̰̬̞͐̌h̵̭̱͚̫̜̐͋̈́͘͝█̶̨̡̘̗̭̯́͗̆̌█̶̛̳͖̪̖̀̎̐͐̒̈́͂̾̇t̸̤̙̅̓͒̃͝r̵̯̥͙̹̾̔̓̾̏̓͑̿͘a̶̛̠̼̮̠̟̬̻̣͂̏͂͜͝

Contract conditions: Person named Guang Rui, under the soul of heaven and earth has sworn an oath on the Guang family, ID number 519498. If contract is broken, punishment will go according to contract protocols.

Light contract breakage punishment: 25 years of life-span

Medium contract breakage punishment: 100 years of life-span

Harsh contract breakage punishment: 500 years of life-span

Extreme contract breakage punishment: soul torture for 15 eons

Exceptions:

If the Initiator of the contract reaches the level of the binder, all binding of this contract will be null.

If the family with the ID number 519498 is destroyed, the contract will automatically get destroyed.

If leaders of such family give orders about the contract, changes can be made. ]

Before Rui could even comprehend the system windows, Daito spoke.

“Do not bother thinking over what happened. Even high-level rune masters don’t have the full knowledge of the phenomenon; however, it has been used since ancient times and it's a trusted method to form contracts. Although we don’t know the full details, we know enough to use them without fear.”

Sighing, he pulled out a scroll.

“Okay, now let's get into the main topic.”

“Since the information is a bit complex, there is a scroll explaining things for new members of the clan, of course it can only be activated by our bloodline and requires a secret code, in case it is stolen.”

He grinned mischievously and opened the scroll and started reading the information.

“The reason behind the Guang family’s secrecy is due to our ancestor Guang Ren. He was in great danger when he moved to the eastern continent, moving here with only his wife and kid. We don’t know much about his true background, as he hid it to not disclose any information to his enemy. He took shelter where our current ancestral home is located and spent the rest of his days there, mostly hiring outside help to do things. However, despite that, his family grew rapidly throughout the years, having multiple kids of his own and those kids growing up and having their own families. Our small family grew to the scale of a small clan, but we had a major problem. Since our ancestor was a rune master and seemingly possessed a powerful bloodline, most of the children of the family awakened as rune masters. To hide such matters, he ordered his offspring to keep the fact that they were awakened hidden from the public, only building relationships with some of the high officials of the country for protection. Although our ancestor was a rune master and quite powerful, he suffered from an injury he couldn’t handle while escaping, resulting in him dying prematurely. He passed down many of the cultivation methods thankfully, making our small clan much more prosperous, taking a spot as one of the hidden clans of the empire. Thanks to this we have great ties with the empire’s royal family, but also with the sage and his subordinates. Ah, by the way, most of our rune masters wear a bandanna, that’s how we distinguish each other inside the clan.”

Rui was staring at his uncle with eyes wide open, his jaw almost hitting the floor.

He was stunned beyond belief, his mind going blank.

‘You are telling me; all those weirdos were rune masters? You are telling me that my grandfather, great grandfather and even great grandmother are rune masters? What sort of shit luck did my dad have to not awaken as one? Wait, his luck was 5, right? Even though mine is 1, I have the system so I’m probably different than average. Let's check uncle’s status real quick then.’

[Guang Daito, Age 40

Cultivation level - █████████

Character personality path: Cold blooded Assassin.

Luck: 15]

Cold sweat instantly ran down Rui’s back. Now he believed him completely. Everything added up finally. As he slowly calmed himself down, another system window appeared, making Rui almost have a heart attack.

[SYSTEM WARNING]

[ANALYSIS SKILL HAS BEEN DETECTED, SHUTTING DOWN SKILL USE TO PROTECT THE USER]

“Hoho, what’s this? A peeping skill? No, it similar, but it seems to be innate, so interesting. It’s similar to the third eye of high ranked rune masters.”

Before Rui could even realize what had just happened, his uncle had already arrived at eyes distance. He scanned him up and down and laughed hysterically.

“Don’t use that skill to peep on high ranked rune masters, it could result in horrible things. Thankfully, it seems harmless and doesn’t really peep into one's real abilities, just their basic information, though that in itself is amazing.”

Rui was beyond scared now. Was his uncle a powerful immortal of some sorts?

“Oh, it seems I scared you, sorry about that. You probably used that skill on other people, so you thought it was undetectable right? It's pretty good, but your level is too low, so of course a person like me who is trained on information gathering and peering skills is able to easily see through it. Well enough with that, I’m not going to probe anything so don’t worry, we are family after all.”

After a while of Daito coaxing Rui to calm down, everything settled.

“Good, now that you are calm and collected. Here take this, it's a secret method of the clan. Also take this scroll and make sure to study it thoroughly, since it contains the family rules. After you are done with graduation, you will return to the ancestral home, an elder will come to pick you up. Though the sage has said he’ll take you as a disciple, that geezer probably said so to put you under protection until we had everything under control. Now that you know of family matters, it’s much more reassuring, since I don’t have anything to worry about. You should come over to the family much more often as well, my little girls are really fond of you, they always ask me to bring you over…”

Rui grabbed the stuff Daito gave him and stared at him.

After a while of continuous blabbering, Daito finally stopped and looked at Rui with a satisfied smile.

Rui was at a loss for words. He blanked out half way through the nonsense he was spouting.

“Anyways, now that I’ve delivered the information and manual, I will be leaving. Have fun at the academy and make sure to make good friends.”

Saying so, he disappeared from the spot, the barrier that covered the house dematerializing instantly. Rui looked around in dismay, but couldn’t find any sign of him.

After waiting five minutes for any sign of him, he sighed and laid on the floor, completely exhausted from the interaction. He didn’t even know what to think anymore, his world had turned in an instant and all the beliefs he had of his family was toppled in a single conversation.

Wanting to shake off the depressing feeling of his chest, he got up and started stretching. Taking the manual and scroll his uncle gave him, he decided to give them a look.

At that moment, Daito’s voice was heard once again.

“Ah I forgot to ask, where is the ancestral knife? You should know it is really important, but tradition has it that the oldest of the newer generation must possess it, so it was given to you. Though you would have to surrender possession of it if you weren’t awakened.”

Rui turned his head around and looked at Daito with annoyance and fear.

‘Didn’t he say he would be leaving. What the fuck, are you a mouse or a bird, how can you appear like that?’

Suppressing the curses threatening to escape his mouth, he pulled out the ancestral knife and gave it to his uncle.

“Great, you even formed a contract. Okay, I’ll inform the elders about it, so don’t worry for anything. Anyways, I’m going back for real now.”

“Okay…”

Said Rui with suspicion.

‘Is he really going to leave?’ he thought.

Once more, Daito became smoke and disappeared from the spot. Rui stood there waiting for around fifteen minutes, making sure his uncle was really gone. After confirming that he was really gone, he sighed once more.

He was still vigilant, not letting his guard down, but he had slightly relaxed. Now he could finally check the manual and scroll.