AGM 148 – Equilibrium
On the platform, Qin Wentian, who was on the platform, was the center of the crowd’s attention. And as for Chu Tianjiao, who was sitting on the Azure Dragon Jadeite Seat, his countenance which had remained indifferent throughout finally showed a wave of fluctuation before quickly returning back to normal.
Even before Chu Tianjiao personally announce the Jun Lin Banquet’s rankings, the spectators were already leaving.
Such an ending was obviously something that he had not wanted to see.
Even so, this didn’t even affect the glory of Qin Wentian’s victory in the slightest. The influence of Sikong Mingyue, Xiāo Lǜ, the Ye Clan and the Ou Clan had already faded away, similar to Chu TIanjiao.
Only those powers that had a better relationship with Qin Wentian as well as some of the more passionate members of the crowd remained, as though they still couldn’t get enough of the Jun Lin Banquet’s fascinating battles.
There were several who had already rushed up the platform, crowding around Qin Wentian, causing the atmosphere to be extremely lively.
But at this moment, Qin Wentian’s inner state was not caught up by the passion of the crowd. On the contrary, he was extremely calm. After witnessing Luo Tianya’s strength, the power of the Nine Mystical Palace, and the might of Gongyang Hong, he had an intense desire boiling within him to become a peerless existence just like them.
If one day he depended on his own efforts and reached the realm Gongyang Hong was in, Chu Tianjiao would surely personally come up to him to offer his apologies.
Qin Wentian finally left with those from the Emperor Star Academy. The other remnants of the crowd sighed as they also gradually departed the area.
A radiant smile appeared on Mo Qingcheng’s unmatched countenance. Such an amazing Jun Lin Banquet, it would be truly difficult for her to forget.
“Oi.” Another figure appeared beside Mo Qingcheng. Mo Qingcheng rolled her eyes at that figure as she laughed, “Why have you come?”
“Your lover became the champion of the banquet. I’m here to congratulate you, of course.” Nolan mischievously glanced at Mo Qingcheng and teased her.
Mo Qingcheng was stunned. Her face went cherry red as the gazes of her clan members were focused onto her.
“You are a dead woman, Nolan.” Mo Qingcheng extended her hands and sent out a palm strike at Nolan. Nolan dodged, laughing while she retreated. She continued, “But seriously, his performance was beyond my expectations. If you really like him, why not just get married with him?”
“…… if you want to get married that much, go marry him yourself.” Mo Qingcheng was speechless. Looking at the playful antics of the two young girls, the other members of the Mo Clan all had happy smiles on their faces.
In the direction of the Star River Association, Vice President Zuo Yin had a heavy expression on his countenance, as though he was extremely pissed off.
“Murin, ah Murin.” Zuo Yin ruthlessly spoke. Murin, who was following behind him, had his head lowered. A cold light could be seen flickering in his eyes.
“Vice President Zuo, although Qin Wentian did fully show off his abilities this time around, the Emperor Star Academy to value him more, doesn’t that also mean that he dug a hole for himself by being ignorant of hidden dangers? I think that there would be many who would not allow him to mature.” Murin tried his best to assuage Zuo Yin’s anger.
“And what has this got to do with your actions?” Zuo Yin coldly glared at Murin. “If Qin Wentian had joined our Star River Association back then, based on his talent in both cultivation and Divine Inscriptions, it would be a simple thing for me to boost him up our ranks.”
Murin coldly laughed and silently cursed in his heart, “This old bastard wanted to use Qin Wentian to climb up the ranks and pave the way for himself. How ludicrous his plans are.”
Naturally, Murin would never have the guts to say what he was thinking out loud. He could only be a yes-man, coping with Zuo Yi’s barrage, and hiding his feelings deep in his heart.
The Mo Clan and those from the Star River Association were not the only ones having varying reactions. At this moment, the spectators that had departed the Chu Emperor District all had different types of thinking and attitudes with regards to the Jun Lin Banquet.
Those who had placed bets with Heaven’s Wonder would naturally think of their bets after the Banquet was concluded.
Drunken Wonder was swamped by crowds. Fatty didn’t collect his winnings right now. After all, it didn’t matter when he would collect it. Heaven’s Wonder was a large establishment and would never run away with his bets. There was no need for him to squeeze with this crowd. Hence, he wasn’t anxious at all.
And in any case, there had been many people who witnessed him betting on Qin Wentian. He didn’t want to be robbed of his winnings right after he claimed them.
Immortal Drunken Wine and the young man beside him didn’t bother about that too much. After collecting their winnings, the two of them went back to the simple and dilapidated wine hut with none of their winnings in sight. However, an interspatial ring could be seen on their fingers. It was obvious that all their winnings were stored inside the ring.
Immortal Drunken Wine placed his mouth at the edge of a wine cup, closing his eyes and immersing himself in the aroma as though he begrudged the idea of drinking the wine.
“What good stuff. It surely shouldn’t have been easy getting the boss of this place to bring out such good wine.” Immortal Drunken Wine smiled as he continued, “however, since you made so much money, you are going to be the one treating me this time around.”
“What a marvelous plan.” The young man laughed, “I won’t deny that I made a killing, but with your 800 stones, it should be sufficient enough to buy wine for a very long time.”
“This was all thanks to that little fellow Qin Wentian. How unexpected, how unexpected.” Immortal Drunken Wine smiled as he shook his head. Qin Wentian had actually become the champion; this was completely beyond his expectations.
“This time, not only was he the champion, he also saved his father. I guess it could be considered a beautiful ending, no?” Immortal Drunken Wine drank a small sip of wine. Indeed, he was happy for QIn Wentian.
However, the young man opposite of him actually shook his head and smiled bitterly.
“What? You have a different take on this?” Immortal Drunken Wine curiously inquired.
“You don’t understand the intricacies of things. How could it be so simple?” The young man sighed. “In reality, maintaining a thin line of equilibrium would be the best, but once this line of balance is disrupted, no one can predict what changes will happen next.”
“Why do your words sound even more drunk than those spoken by drunk people?” Immortal Drunken Wine smiled bitterly.
“How can an outsider see things clearly? Since you are unfamiliar with trickery and politics, you naturally wouldn’t understand it.” The young man murmured to himself, “The water here is truly deep. Now that Qin Wentian disturbed it, with his personality, my younger brother wouldn’t merely take it lying down, nor would the other great clans be content with it. When that time comes, the equilibrium will be broken.”
“Equilibrium?” Immortal Drunken Wine seemed as though he was lost in fog. The more he listen, the more he didn’t understand.
“Although those with the Chu royal bloodline aren’t kind people, do you really believe that they would spend so much effort to make a move against a loyal subordinate? My younger brother Chu Tianjiao is a dragon among humans; how could his degree of forbearance be so limited?” The young man finished the wine in his cup gloomily and proceeded to walk away.
“Why do you think Chu has not cleared the rebels out even after one year? It wasn’t that the Chu Royal Clan was useless, but rather that they didn’t want to completely eradicate the rebellion. This was the equilibrium, the line of balance.”
The young man walked slowly as he departed from sight. Immortal Drunken Wine stood there, stunned. He gazed at that young man’s vanishing silhouette.
An instant later, Immortal Drunken Wine laughed bitterly as he mumbled in a low voice, “No wonder he was willing to be the Unfettered Prince. A life filled with constant fighting and scheming against each other, how boring would that be? Getting drunk is still the best.”
…………
Qin Wentian finally returned to the Emperor Star Academy.
At this moment, he was inside his courtyard. Ren Qianxing, Mustang, and Luo Huan were also there. Ren Qianxing sighed, “Wentian, no one expected that you would actually obtain the first ranking. Why didn’t you let on some hints and allow the Emperor Star Academy to be fully prepared? If there’s still a next time, don’t be this rash again.”
“I also did not expect that becoming the Jun Lin Banquet’s champion would be so difficult, nor did I think that the Nine Mystical Palace would actually be so underhanded.” Qin Wentian smiled wryly. Indeed, he was still too young and unable to see many things clearly.
After all, he was only 17. His life experiences were bound to be limited.
“Luckily, Senior Gongyang appeared, enabling you to go through a bad experience without mishaps.” Ren Qianxing smiled. Initially, he had been worried that would there be no one able to block Luo Qianqiu. Who would have thought that Qin Wentian had actually done so? Just this alone was enough for him to be happy.
“When do you want to take a look at the 7th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion?” Ren Qianxing smiled again, causing a bright glow to flicker in Qin Wentian’s eyes.
That legendary and mysterious 7th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion, what secrets did it hide?
Back then, after Luo Qianqiu’s father went up to the 7th level, he actually used all sorts of underhanded means to trespassed into the 8th level. Not only that, he was willing to sacrifice everything to let his son Luo Qianqiu enroll in the Emperor Star Academy to fight for the same chance he once had.
“After my father is released tomorrow.” Qin Wentian wasn’t that impatient. The Heavenly Star Pavilion wouldn’t disappear.
“Fine, I will get someone to go with you. Currently, with how things stands, we need to be wary of your safety.” Ren Qianxing solemnly remarked. He naturally knew of the dangers that would follow after Qin Wentian revealed his abilities.
The state of things in the Royal Capital was extremely complicated, and the waters were exceptionally deep. From no onwards, as long as Qin Wentian wasn’t in the Emperor Star Academy, they would have to protect him.
“Right.” Qin Wentian nodded his head. The Nine Mystical Palace and the Royal Clan wouldn’t move against him on the surface, but who knew what would happen in the dark? Not only that, there were many clans such as the Ye and Ou Clan that were eyeing him like a tiger watching its prey.
At this moment, the sound of a crane drifted over. Raising his head, a smile broke out on his face as Ren Qianxing saw a white-colored crane flying over. “I will leave first. Make sure you rest well.”
After which, Ren Qianxing locked his gaze at Mustang, shared a mutual smiled, and departed.
There were two females sitting cross-legged on the crane that was hovering in midair. They were none other than Mo Qingcheng and Nolan.
“Why are you here?” Qin Wentian gazed at the females atop the white crane as he asked with a smile on his face.
“I thought that you would be less busy now, so I wanted to come and congratulate you.” Mo Qingcheng had a flawless smile on her face.
“Why don’t you come down and take a seat?” Qin Wentian exclaimed to Mo Qingcheng.
Mo Qingcheng nodded her head in agreement. Both of the females leaped down gracefully from the back of that white crane, when suddenly Nolan said to Qin Wentian, “You smelly brat, Qingcheng has never taken her initiative to visit people. You must grab hold of this opportunity, you understand?”
“Er….” Qin Wentian blinked, only to see Mo Qingcheng glaring at Nolan, “You were the one that told me to come over to play!”
“Huh, what are you talking about? I don’t remember anything.” Nolan gazed at the skies, not intending to admit anything even if she died.
“Ignore her words.” Mo Qingcheng spoke and glanced at Qin Wentian. However, as she noticed Qin Wentian staring intensely at her, she quickly grew red. An expression of bashfulness could be seen in her eyes.
In the eyes of the Royal Capital’s elites, Mo Qingcheng was aloof and indifferent. After all, knowing that those who got close to her did so with motives, she would naturally not be happy.
However, in the end, she was just a simple and guileless girl. How could her heart truly be ice-cold? Thus, how could she stand against the intense stare of Qin Wentian’s direct gaze? Naturally, the redness on her face could be explained.
For a moment, the atmosphere turned slightly weird, with a slight sense of love floating in the air. Nolan snickered, as she continued, “Do both of you need me to disappear?”
“….” Mo Qingcheng was completely speechless. If she had known, she wouldn’t have brought Nolan out with her today.