AGM 153 – Azure Emperor Palace
Qin Wentian detailedly flipped through and read the pages of the Warbeast Index, awe appeared in his heart as he studied and memorised them.
After he finished reading the Warbeast Index, he took up another extremely thin piece of paper at the side as he studied the words inscribed upon it.
“For the 7th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion, behind that entrance, there’s one of the 18 testing grounds of the Grand Xia Empire – the Spirit Beast testing grounds. For those below Yuanfu, you have a single chance to enter within. If you die in there, you lose the opportunity to take the test again. For those that manage to obtain a Beast Spirit that’s ranked with the top 10 rankings, they are eligible to enter the 8th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion.”
The strokes of the written words were all bold and strong, containing a graceful yet imposing aura. It should have been something written by an almighty expert from the past.
This paragraph was also signed off by a certain person. The Azure Emperor.
“The founder of the Emperor Star Academy, the Azure Emperor.”
Qin Wentian’s heart trembled violently. These instructions were actually left behind by the founder of the academy.
Then doesn’t that meant that the Heavenly Star Pavilion was also his creation?
“The first entrance should be referring to the one on the left.” Qin Wentian gazed at the number ‘7’ inscribed on top of the entrance.
He could never have imagined that the 7th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion was actually an entrance.
“One of the 18 testing grounds of Grand Xia Empire, the Spirit Beast testing grounds.” Qin Wentian strode forwards in the direction of the entrance and extended his palms, placing them on the door of the entrance as a bright glow of light burst into life.
After the door was opened, right in front of Qin Wentian was a prayer mat. And on the top of the prayer mat were inscriptions of complex runic lines, as though it was some sort of mysterious Divine Imprint.
Qin Wentian walked in and then sat down cross-leggedly on the top of the prayer mat. An instant later, the door of the entrance slammed shut as the runic lines revolved about, giving birth to a blinding light that shrouded Qin Wentian’s body within. He felt as though his consciousness was being forcibly pulled out. This feeling was extremely uncomfortable, but he continued enduring it.
“What is this exactly?” Qin Wentian felt as though his consciousness had already left his body. He had no way to control any part of his body, and this kind of feeling without the freedom to act independently was almost an unbearable agony.
Buzz! His body abruptly sank down. Qin Wentian finally felt his body responding to the will of his consciousness. But when he finally came to his senses, he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded as he studied his surroundings.
“Is this the Spirit Beast Testing Grounds?” Qin Wentian raised his arms as he looked at his hands. This place was akin to reality, but his body had never once moved after he went through the entrance.
Or was this place similar to the Skydream Forest, a dreamscape?
However at this moment, he felt that the reality here was many times more real compared to that of a dreamscape, it was as though his real body had been transported here.
He was certain that this was his true body, it wasn’t a dream, nor an illusion.
Qin Wentian was standing in a vast expanse of flatland, and around him there were also several other people. They also instantly discovered the presence of Qin Wentian as their gazes swiftly shifted onto him. Expressions of bewilderment appeared on their faces.
Why was there one more unknown person appearing inside the Spirit Beast Testing Grounds?
Qin Wentian also naturally discovered the presence of the crowd. These people here were all youths, about 17-18 years of age on average. For those that were younger, they were about 15-16 while for those that were older they were about 19-20.
Not only that, they obviously belonged to different camps of people. The leaders of each camp gave off an extraordinary air. Even Qin Wentian could feel a sense of danger emanating forth from the leaders.
This caused Qin Wentian to speculate – by entering the Spirit Beast Testing Ground via the Entrance of the 7th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion, he had come into contact with others that were from outside of Chu.
“We agreed to meet here. Everyone belonging to the different powers have arrived right?”
A youthful-looking cultivator spoke. This youth was extremely handsome and was about 17-18 years of age. His long hair had a slight curl to it, and a bewitching light seemed to glint in his eyes.
“I think everyone has arrived.” Another youth lightly replied, gazing at Qin Wentian with an expression of interest.
In the Spirit Beast Testing Grounds, those that were powerful enough to obtained the qualifications were all already here.
But then why were there someone extra? Who the hell was he?
This scenario caused many to feel extremely interested.
“Oi.”
A voice drifted over. Qin Wentian shifted his gaze in the direction of the voice and he saw a beautiful young lady looking straight at him.
This lady appeared to be of a similar age to him. Her robes bespoke that she had an extremely high status. The light smile on her face gave off a slight sense of seduction.
Elegant and beautiful, this was what Qin Wentian felt.
“What’s your name and where are you from?” The girl smiled as she curiously inquired.
“Is this place the Spirit Beast Testing Grounds?” Qin Wentian didn’t reply but asked a question of his own instead.
“Aikk, you actually knew that this place was the Spirit Beast Testing Grounds?” A glow of amazement flashed past the eyes of the girl as she continued laughing, “According to what I know, those with the qualifications to enter this place are all already here. But… who are you? Where did you come from?”
“Chu Country.” Qin Wentian replied. He wanted to know if these people knew of the existence of Chu.
“Huh? What is Chu?” Bewilderment was reflected on the countenance of the girl.
“Have any of you heard of that place before?” She turned and gazed at the others, but no one knew.
Very obviously, to them the Chu Country was too insignificant.
“Do you all know the Nine Mystical Palace?” Qin Wentian added. The Nine Mystical Palace was the controller of Chu and surely would be considered a powerhouse of sorts at the very least.
“You are from the Nine Mystical Palace?” The girl giggled as she looked at Qin Wentian. “Don’t lie to me! Those from the Nine Mystical Palace wouldn’t even have the qualifications to step inside here.”
Qin Wentian’s heart trembled with shock as he heard her reply. With the power of the Nine Mystical Palace, they actually didn’t even have the qualifications to step inside this place? If that was the case, then what was the background of the other cultivators here? Was their background even more tyrannical compared to the Nine Mystical Palace?
“Cut the crap, kill him.”
At this moment, the handsome youth from before interrupted. His gaze was filled with total disregard for Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian’s appearance merely caused him to be slightly curious, but since Qin Wentian had no answers for them, there was no need to waste any more time.
After the sound of his words faded, behind him, another youth walked out. This youth similarly gave off a demonic presence as he lunged towards Qin Wentian.
Boom. A multitude of fist lights exploded out. Qin Wentian felt a surge of Demonic Qi gushing over. It was as though a flood dragon had rushed out of the oceans, wanting to devour him.
A cold light glinted in Qin Wentian’s eyes. Lifting his palms, he abruptly sent out the 3rd Stance of the Thousand-Hands Imprint, the Forgotten Imprint, smashing apart the pressure emitted by his opponent’s attack.
“DIE.” His opponent stabbed forth with a finger akin to a sharp sword, aiming for the head of Qin Wentian. This finger attack was as quick as lightning and struck out with the force of a thunderbolt.
With a twist of his body, the footwork of Qin Wentian was marvelous to an inconceivable extent. After avoiding the attack of his opponent, he executed the Falling Mountain Palms and a manifestation of a mountain peak heavily slammed downwards.
ROAR. His opponent bellowed, the force of that roar was akin to the roar of a flood dragon, and almost burst Qin Wentian’s eardrums.
An exceptionally cold ray of light flickered in Qin Wentian’s eyes. With a stomp onto the ground, his body flickered as he transformed into a blur of shadows.
Qin Wentian’s eyes were closed and he gave off a mysterious feeling. Piercing out with his finger, his finger attack was akin to a strike by an ancient halberd, piercing right through the middle of his opponent’s eyebrows. All this occurred in an instant. His opponent froze in mid-motion, and after which, the corpse slumped down upon the ground.
This battle was extremely short-lived. Qin Wentian slew a person in an instant, but the gazes of the crowd didn’t change. It was as though they were watching a play.
Qin Wentian could also not confirm whether the death in this place was true death. But this place was indeed many times more realistic when compared to the Skydream Forest. It didn’t seemed to be in a dreamscape.
And although he swiftly killed his opponent, he knew that the dead guy undoubtedly had the power to fight for one of the top nine rankings if he participated in the Jun Lin Banquet.
Just a random lackey already possess strength of this level. How could Qin Wentian not be shocked.
“Interesting.” The girl laughed as she saw what happened, before turning her gaze onto that handsome youth from before.
A cold light flashed in the eyes of the handsome youth. All of a sudden, his silhouette disappeared from its original spot. Qin Wentian only felt a demonic ray of light flying rapidly towards him. His opponent had his palms extended and wavering slightly. An instant later, Qin Wentian felt as though his body was bound by the filaments of demonic light rays, causing him to be powerless, unable to even move a muscle.
“Break.” The Divine Yuan in Qin Wentian’s body surged as the filaments of demonic lights were extinguished. He took a step forward as his aura frenziedly soared upwards.
However, the handsome-looking youth seemed as though he wasn’t the slightest bit affected by it. A spirit-type Astral Soul that was akin to a specter continued closing in the distance as it gently sent out a palm.
Qin Wentian retaliated with his Falling Mountain Palms. As both palm strikes collided together, the slightly thin figure of that handsome-looking youth actually didn’t even waver in the slightest. Qin Wentian could feel a mysterious surge of energy gushing out from his opponent’s palms, rushing right into his body. It was as though that mysterious energy wanted to destroy his meridians from within and even attack his heart.
“What, his attack could ignore my retaliation attack and defense?” Qin Wentian froze as the Divine Energy in his body surged. The Mountain-Type Divine Energy in his body flowed towards the mysterious energy, acting as a barrier and successfully dissipated it. Qin Wentian’s heart trembled and he retreated continuously.
Within his body, an extremely unbearable feeling appeared. Qin Wentian stared at the handsome-looking youth, only to see that his opponent’s countenance was as normal as before, without the slightest hint of disturbance.
“How powerful.” Qin Wentian silently exclaimed as he cast a glance at the surrounding cultivators. Were their strength all this terrifying?
If their background was from some places even mightier than the Nine Mystical Palace, it wasn’t surprising that the handsome-looking youth had a level of power even stronger than Luo Qianqiu.
The handsome-looking youth involuntarily furrowed his brows as an expression of puzzlement appeared on his face when he saw that Qin Wentian was actually still standing, with no signs of much damage taken.
How incredible, there was actually someone at the 8th level of Arterial Circulation able to receive one of his strikes without dying.
His body once again strode forwards to Qin Wentian. His palms gently extended outwards, appearing soft and weak, devoid of any strength.
Qin Wentian’s ancient halberd abruptly appeared in his hands. With a shift in his steps and a speed as fast as lightning, he executed Mountain Splitter, advancing forwards with all his might.
The steps of the handsome youth suddenly stopped, and as the ancient halberd slashed out, the continual attacks caused his body to unceasingly retreat, as killing intent crazily gushed out of his body.
“F*CK OFF.”
The ancient halberd was flung out of Qin Wentian’s hands as the handsome youth successfully evaded. The halberd was stabbed directly into the ground. Qin Wentian didn’t choose to retrieve it, but instead, he turned and left with incredible speed.
His movements were akin to that of a Garuda, disappearing in the blink of an eye. The purpose for him coming here was to obtain the spirits of warbeasts.
“The Nine Heavenly Garuda Movement Technique?” The girl from earlier exclaimed in shock, and the countenance of the handsome youth also stiffened. Their gazes were all riveted on a line of youths standing at the side.
“Is he someone from your Azure Emperor Palace?” The handsome youth coldly inquired.
“No, I do not know of such a person.” Someone among the group replied.
“How interesting this matter has become. Other than those from the Azure Emperor Palace, how could there still be others that cultivate this Garuda Movement Technique – the movement technique that enabled the Azure Emperor to hail winds and command clouds back in his days – to such an incredible extent?” The crowd of cultivators were silently speculating in their hearts, feeling that things were becoming increasingly interesting.