Myriad Heavens: Rise of the Rune God

The path out of the black-stone hall started narrow. The floor changed from smooth rock to rough stone, then to dark soil and tangled roots. The air grew warmer the deeper they walked.

Then the humidity hit them. It was thick, wet, and smelled of damp leaves, rotting wood, and mud. Underneath it all was a sharp, animal scent that lingered like a warning.

Massive trees rose on every side. Their dark, rough bark was covered in faint, dormant runes. The runes pulsed once as the group passed, then went still. The jungle seemed to notice them, then decide they weren’t worth the effort yet.

Wukong wiped sweat from his forehead. "I forgot sweat existed. Who invented this?"

"Your body," Runar said without looking back.

"Then your body has bad manners."

Runar gave no reply. His attention was on the trees.

Runar focused on the trees. Even heavily suppressed, the basic function of his Eye of Myriad Truths still worked. He could see faint traces of runes on the bark. They were dormant, but they were part of the system.

This isn’t just a forest, Runar thought. It’s another layer of the Reliquary’s design. Everything here is connected.

Once everyone was out of the hall, the black-stone hall disappeared behind the trees, the fragile feeling of teamwork vanished.

They were still alive, but this was still a competition for the Reliquary’s inheritance.

Vark was the first to leave. He glanced at the others, showed no sign of saying goodbye, and walked deeper into the jungle without a word. Even in a weak mortal body, he walked like he expected everything to get out of his way.

Wukong watched Vark disappear into the trees and muttered, "He walks like he owns the place. Too bad we’re all just ordinary mortals right now—two legs, no energy, and nothing special. Or four legs, like that weird-looking alien over there."

Darius stopped mid-step. His permanent scowl deepened as he turned his head just enough to look back at Wukong.

"You know I can hear you, right?"

A short silence followed. Then Finn who was beside him let out a quiet snort. Soren’s mouth twitched despite himself. Even Sylphy’s expression flickered with brief amusement before she smoothed it away. Lyra glanced sideways at Darius’s four-armed frame, then looked elsewhere as if she had seen nothing.

Wukong only grinned, completely unrepentant. "What? Just making an observation."

The mysterious woman gave the group a brief look and walked away in a different direction.

Soren Vale adjusted his hair. "This is still a competition. Cooperating beyond basic survival is inefficient." He chose a path toward higher ground and disappeared.

Sylphy and Lyra exchanged a glance. They understood that depending on others here was dangerous.

"Don’t get in my way," Sylphy told Runar.

"Same," Runar replied.

The two women turned and vanished into the trees. Darius and Finn stayed together a little longer before moving away on their own route.

Wukong scratched the back of his neck and looked at Runar. "Guess it’s just us again."

Runar nodded once. "Better that way."

Wukong gave a short laugh. "Yeah. Less stabbing."

They moved carefully through the safe zone. Being mortal made everything annoying. Walking through thick grass was tiring, climbing over roots made their legs burn, and insects buzzed around their heads.

Wukong pulled a vine away from his face. "I used to jump between dimensions. Now I’m fighting a plant."

"The plant is winning," Runar laughed and said.

They avoided clear trails to stay unpredictable. Instead, they climbed over thick roots and stayed in the shadows.

After nearly an hour, they found a suitable place to make as a temporary base. A Massive Tree. Its upper branches formed a wide, flat platform high above the ground. The dense leaves hid them from above, but the height gave them a good view.

Runar checked the bark for runes. "The runes are dormant. We can’t use the tree for power. And the tree has no active power it can use."

"Good," Wukong said. "I don’t want to sleep in a tree that might eat me."

Climbing the tree was embarrassing. They used to be Multiversal existences who could erase sectors of universes with a thought. Now, they were out of breath just from climbing.

Wukong reached the platform and panted. "This is humiliating."

Runar climbed up behind him, also breathing hard. "We are mortal."

"This is terrible," Wukong muttered.

"Complaining changes nothing," Runar said, sitting down.

They sat in silence. The jungle was loud with strange insect clicks and deep, vibrating animal calls.

"Even the jungle sounds like it wants to fight," Wukong said, gripping his staff.

"It does," Runar replied.

They had twenty days of safety before Galaxy-level monsters could hunt them. Twenty days to climb from mortal to something that could survive.

Runar thought about their goal. Full recovery was nearly impossible in just 20 days. The first realistic step was the Planetary stage. It would make them strong enough to fight Galaxy-level monsters head-on, it would give them basic energy circulation, enhanced senses, and faster movement. With their experience, skill and comprehension of runes, with a Planetary level cultivation, they could survive encounters with Galaxy-level monsters.

But being stuck as a mortal, they would just die by accident.

Wukong sat up. "We need power fast. If we can reach the Planetary stage, our technique and experience will let us survive. We just need to start somewhere."

He thought for a second, then snapped his fingers. "Lets try Body cultivation. That’s the fastest route for mortals with no external energy. We refine our blood, strengthen our flesh, and build internal pressure to awaken qi. We know how to guide breath and blood flow to create internal heat."

Wukong continued, his mind working quickly. "We both know the method. We do not need manuals. We do not need pills. We know how to guide breath, posture, and blood flow. If we push the body hard enough, it will produce internal heat. From heat, pressure. From pressure, movement. From movement, qi. It will be slow, but it is possible."

"No," Runar said.

Wukong blinked. "No?"

"Body cultivation requires energy," Runar explained calmly.

Wukong frowned. "Obviously. But the body has energy. Blood. Flesh. Breath. Latent strength. We refine it."

"We refine it from what?" Runar asked.

"The body is not a source that creates energy from nothing. It stores energy from food, water, rest, and air. In a normal mortal world, body cultivation works because the cultivator eats grain, meat, herbs, or spiritual food to fuel the process. The body takes in fuel and converts it into strength. Here, our bodies are mortal. They have no reserves. We haven’t eaten since we arrived and became mortals. The suppression stripped us down to baseline. If we try to refine blood and qi without fuel, we will burn the remaining measly energy we have left together with our lifeforce and starve to death."

Wukong opened his mouth.

Runar continued before he could speak.

"To cultivate the body, the body must be sustained. To sustain the body, we must eat. And there is no nearby source of safe food."

Runar looked at the dark, cracked bark. "Unless you want to eat tree bark for sustenance, I suggest you rethink."

Wukong stared at the hard bark. "No. Absolutely not. I didn’t ascend to godhood to become a termite. That stuff looks like it would give me a stomach ache just looking at it."

"It would," Runar said.

Wukong leaned back. He’s right, he thought. Body cultivation is like a furnace. A furnace needs fuel. I just forgot because it’s been too long since I had to worry about eating, and they were always peaches of immortality to eat back in my mortal days.

"Fine," Wukong sighed. "Body cultivation without food is just a fast way to starve. What about you? Do you have a solution, or are you just here to shoot down my ideas?"

"I have a method for startup energy," Runar said.

Wukong raised an eyebrow. "Of course you do. What is it?"

"It involves the brain."

Wukong’s eyes widened. He instantly figured it out. Back when they were just Universal lifeforms, Runar had shared a beautiful, highly specific cultivation technique with him. It used the brain to generate a spirit force. But once they reached the Multiversal level, techniques became useless and redundant, they only boosted power output by so much. Only the raw comprehension and application of principles mattered. That old technique had been buried under eons of higher-level thinking.

"You want to use that old Brain-Force technique?" Wukong asked.

"Yh, it is our best bet right now."

High above, the Ancient Will watched them.

It observed the survivors splitting up and searching for resources. Most were behaving as expected. Some were panicking, while others tried to hunt or gather life force from plants. Those methods were slow. The Will had designed the suppression to make the first breakthrough extremely hard.

Its attention settled on Runar and Wukong.

When Wukong suggested body cultivation, the Will was indifferent. It was a normal idea, but flawed without food. When Runar rejected it, the Will’s interest grew.

Then Runar mentioned using his brain.

The Will’s attention sharpened. *Interesting. He isn’t trying to draw from the jungle. He’s using the one thing the suppression didn’t fully remove.*

The mortal brain was weak, but highly structured. For someone with rune comprehension, it could become a starting point.

*Let’s see if he can light a fire from thought alone,* the Will thought, watching without interfering.

On the platform, Runar closed his eyes and sat up straight, preparing to begin. He slowed his breathing, ignoring his aching muscles and dry throat.

Wukong rested his staff across his knees and watched the jungle. The leaves moved as something large passed far below. Wukong tracked it until it disappeared. He didn’t relax. The safe zone protected them from monsters, but not from desperate survivors.

He glanced at Runar, who was sitting perfectly still.

"We used to fight things that could eat dimensions," Wukong muttered. "Now we’re sitting in a tree like mortal scouts. Fine. If this is the game, we’ll play it."

The twenty-day clock was running. In the high branches of an enormous tree, two former Multiversal existences sat like ordinary mortals. One watched the jungle. One prepared to watch his own mind.

And the first step back up the cultivation ladder was about to begin.