Chapter 13- Rune

Inside the mansion, Bao took out the red jade he had obtained from stone gaming in order to create a rune from it. Despite not being a runemaster, he can still channel some of his strength into that jade, which can protect the holder's life.

He initially chopped the jade into a rectangle and then two circular shapes. Then he began refining that jade while infusing his rune symbols. He formed a protection rune for Yue and her parents because he couldn't be with them everywhere. Even if the attacker are a peak core formation master they wouldn't be able to harm them.

After that, Bao went to a jewelry store and purchased a necklace and two rings with the money on the black card. He returned to the mansion and inserted a rectangular jade pendant into the necklace and a circular jade into the rings he had purchased.

When he had done laying the rune-jade, he took out the moon-stone that the old man had given him in the clear sky pagoda. He wanted to use the minerals in the moon-stone for blood refinement, which was the third step of the life gate. He knew it would be a painful experience if he didn't prepare, unlike previous stages where he refined his bones and muscles while simultaneously breaking through stages, which reduced the pain by 90%, but he couldn't break through to the next realm even if he wanted to because there was a large gap between core formation and nascent soul stage.

But he still wanted to complete the third step of life gate, so he sat in a meditative posture and avoided using numbing herbs because they slow down blood flow, which is bad for the blood refinement process. He held that moon-stone in front of him, then shoved a handkerchief in his mouth; maids and other workers were still present in the mansion, and he didn't want to alter them with his screams.

When it came time to start the third step, he sliced a little open wound on his palm and blood flowed out. He placed his sliced hand on top of the moon-stone and activated nameless scripture, which can separate impurities as one of its properties. That moon-stone was totally coated in blood, and when it began to crumble and mix with the blood around it, only the impurities remained. The blood then began to flow backwards and returned to Bao's body. Without the numbing effect, Bao felt something slowly crawling inside his arms while eating everything inside.

After a while, the sensation reached his heart, and from there it spread throughout his body. His blood was being refined, and all the impurities in his body were being forced out. His body froze in pain, and he greeted his teeth with a handkerchief in his mouth to muffle the scream. His body went numb; after more than five minutes, he recovered consciousness; slimy translucent liquid poured from all over his body, indicating impurities in his blood; he then went to take a bath.

He noticed his body, the flow of energy was smoother than before when he completed bathing and changing clothes. He cut his finger slightly and blood began to run out, but it was not regular red blood; his blood was gleaming with a tint of gold. Then he used his energy to close the wounds.

When Yue and her parents got home that evening, Bao came down and presented them with two rings.

"Uncle and aunt, wear these rings, the vendor claimed it will bring you good fortune and keep you healthy,"

After taking the ring, old Luo examined it for a while.

"Where did you get these rings?" old Luo asked

"It was from some odd stall, uncle Feng assisted me in selecting these rings, I just remembered today,"

"Oh, he helped pick it; if I'm not mistaken, these should be red jade, which is quite rare and has a high market value," old Luo explained.

"We can't take it; you and Yue'er should wear it," Sumi remarked.

"I have something else for her; uncle and aunt may wear those rings," He went to Yue's room after handing those rings to Yue's parents.

"Yue'er, come sit in front of the mirror,"

Then Yue sat in front of the mirror. He took out a pendant necklace and placed it around Yue's neck.

"Do you like it?" Bao asked

"Yes, I like it; it's lovely."

"If I remember correctly, you used to wear similar pendant when we were young" Bao said

"I did used to have one, but afterwards I don't know how I lost it," Yue  responded

"Don't be concerned."

The pendant she was wearing was blood red, which stood out against her smooth, soft white skin.

"I feel safe and close to you after wearing this necklace; it's a warm feeling, perhaps because you placed it around my neck," Yue told Bao

"You are always protected,"

"You will always be protected,"

"I will always watch over you,"

After Bao said that, he continued to hug her from behind, Yue was silent. Her face was flushed red, her heart was racing faster, and her body temperature was rising.

Bao she knew was never this straightforward, so the change in his demeanor and words threw her off guard.

"I—I just got back, my body is sweaty, I need to take a bath," Yue said, closing her eyes.

"Take your time,"

Bao didn't knew he was hugging her for a long time until he let go of her hands and went downstairs.