AGM 189 - Wang Xiao of the War Continent
At this point, no one else dared to step within the windstorm tempest. It was clear to them that one was required to constantly circulate their Astral Energy to resist the windstorm, and once their energy reserves were exhausted, it would be too late to retreat even if you wanted to.
Now, even if the cultivators wanted to test the wind’s intensity, they wouldn’t directly enter the tempest. At most, they would only take a few steps nearer to it.
And the sole thought going through everyone’s mind was that, only with the Stellar Fruits would they be able to breach this current obstacle.
However, obtaining the Stellar Fruits didn’t even cross the mind of the remaining Swallow Swordsman; he was now only filled with concern regarding the safety of his own life. Seeing Qin Wentian advancing step by step, closer and closer towards him, he felt true fear for the first time.
Seeing the silhouette of the youth walking towards him, he felt an unprecedented sense of pressure. Earlier back then, the three of them joined hands to deal with Qin Wentian, but was still unable to get the better of him. Now, he was facing Qin Wentian alone.
Bzzz~ Qin Wentian executed his movement technique, and instantly arrived in front of his opponent. The Divine Yuan Energy within his arterial pathways circulated in a frenzy, blasting out a blood-colored Kuji Imprint that emanated an overwhelming pressure of desolation . The Swallow Swordsman turned white, as he raised his sword in an attempt to defend himself. The beams of sword light flickered, but appeared dull and lifeless under the bloody light of the Kuji Imprint. As the sounds of collision rang out, the Swallow Swordsman was forced into retreating several steps, as he could no longer maintain a steady stance.
After which, a sword beam flashed, followed by a gust of cold wind. The swordsman was left feeling a trace of coolness around his throat, before the sensation gave way to a stinging chill.
The sword in his grasp fell onto the ground, both of his hands wrapped around his throat, helplessly trying to staunch the wound. Despair flickered in his eyes, as his legs totally lost strength. Droplets of blood dyed the yellow sand a deep red, before his corpse slumped limply onto the ground, his eyes closing forever in eternal rest.
Traces of wariness appeared in the eyes of the spectators. Although Qin Wentian had Stellar Fruits in his possession, it wouldn’t be so easy for one to get a hold of them.
Wang Xiao executed a fearsome innate technique, as he dashed towards Mu Baifei. His entire body was seemingly weaponised, as numerous flying daggers transformed into silver streams of light, flying unceasingly towards Mu Baifei.
Using his sword in defense, Mu Baifei blocked the flying daggers, trembling from the impact. Abruptly, the glow of more terrifying divine weapons flashed, as golden chakrams appeared, breaking apart Mu Baifei’s defense while another long chain covered with sharp blades flew out. This forced Mu Baifei into constant retreat.
RUMBLE~ Wang Xiao’s silhouette flickered, as he appeared in front of Mu Baifei. His arms were fully covered by silvery armor plating, easily brushing Mu Baifei’s sword aside. Punching out with earthshaking strength, he slammed his fist into Mu Baifei’s body, causing the latter to vomit large amounts of fresh blood.
“Wait, I’ll give you the Stellar Fruits,” Mu Baifei implored to Wang Xiao, his countenance turning bloodlessly pale.
Only after hearing this did Wang Xiao stop. Walking towards Mu Baifei, he had an expression of cool indifference on his face as he extended his hands outwards. Mu Baifei placed a Stellar Fruit into Wang Xiao’s outstretched arms, only to see Wang Xiao frowning as he coldly stated, “Give me all the fruits. I shall not ask again.”
Mu Baifei could only grit his teeth and comply, giving up all his Stellar Fruits to Wang Xiao. He would never have imagined that he himself, the pride of the Swallow Swordsmen, would actually be in such a state today.
Wang Xiao turned around, his followers appearing at his side as he distributed the Stellar Fruits equally between them. Obviously, it was plain to see that he would not be the only one to enjoy the benefits of the celestial lake; he wished for those accompanying him to enjoy them as well.
If Qin Wentian were to glance over, he would have realized that one of the followers of Wang Xiao was none other than his earlier attacker – the person who wielded the gigantic axe.
“We still need more...” Wang Xiao furrowed his brows as he turned his gaze onto Qin Wentian and Ouyang Kuangsheng.
Ouyang Kuangsheng was currently standing together with those from the Mystic Moon Hall. They seemed to have formed an alliance, together defending against the threat from the Skydemon Sect and Beast King Hall.
And as for Qin Wentian, after his killing of the Swallow Swordsman, many in the crowd were eyeing him but had yet to make a move against him.
Many of the cultivators had already fallen, with only around forty or above remaining. Wang Xiao cast his gaze around the crowd, a cold glint of light flickering in his eyes, as he pointed at the gap in the Mountain Rampart. “Those who don’t wish to die, get over there now,” Wang Xiao coldly commanded, his cool and indifferent countenance made it seem as though he was merely making an ordinary statement.
Several cultivators stiffened at his words as astonishment flashed on their faces. Narrowing their eyes, they discovered six other silhouettes standing behind Wang Xiao, making the total number of cultivators from the War Continent to be seven.
And just so coincidentally, there were only a total number of seven spots available for those qualified to immerse themselves into the celestial lake. It was evident what Wang Xiao’s intentions were, even without words.
And not just his words, everyone in the crowd could sense how strong his arrogance was, and how exceedingly great his ambitions were as well.. He wanted those who came with him to monopolize the seven open spots available.
At this point in time, although several in the crowd knew they didn’t have too great a chance to be one of the final seven, they still held a faint hint of hope in their hearts. They couldn’t bear to give up this chance, and aside from that, there was still a cultivator amongst them who had a full tank of energy reserves. Making up his mind, he decisively stepped into the tempest, wanting to try his luck.
“Clear the battlefield,” Wang Xiao’s cold voice rang out, as his six of followers congregated together, standing in a line as an intense killing aura abruptly gushed forth. They were all akin to emotionless divine weapons, created only for killing. The six of them approached the crowd, as light from their own various divine weapons erupted forth in a shining radiance.
“KILL!” Sounds of rage rang out, as killing intent overflowed to the Heavens. Those from the Wang Clan transformed into terrifying killing machines, snuffing out their targets. Just as Wang Xiao commanded, they started to clear the battlefield.
The Wang Clan that always maintained a low profile, finally unveiled their true colours after gazing upon the celestial lake.
Killing intent akin to a raging wind devastated the entire space, and very quickly, four cultivators fell under their weapons.
Qian Mengyu and her fellow cultivators stood there, shivering with terror as they saw those from the Wang Clan walking towards them.
At this moment, Qian Mengyu’s emotions were extremely complicated. She, who had always been conceited, didn’t even have the qualifications to partake in the final battle.
The truth was cruel, but she had no choice but to accept it.
She was very clear of what today’s confrontation indicated. Among the younger generations of the transcendent powers, she didn’t even have the ability to stand on equal ground with them. Not to mention that for those who came today, this was not all that the transcendent powers of the Nine Continents had to offer. If she couldn’t even stand on equal grounds with them now, how could she ever have a place to rule in the vast stage that was the Nine Continents?
If in the future, this exact same scenario happened again, she would definitely be eliminated by the era, becoming just an ordinary someone.
In the countless years since the Nine Continents were formed, which of those monstrous geniuses didn’t have to fight their own way up the ranks against those in the same generation, before their talent shook the world.
Sighing in her heart, Qian Mengyu bowed and walked in the direction of the gap, not even turning to look back.
Just today, her first loss was to Mu Baifei; Qin Wentian stood equally against three of the Swallow Swordsmen; Wang Xiao overwhelmingly dominated Mu Baifei.
One could well imagine how lousy she felt.
Seeing Qian Mengyu leading those from the Greencloud Pavilion away, many in the crowd also gave up their resistance, and decided not to participate in this dispute.
The reason why they participated in the tests, was none other than to obtain the chance to immerse themselves within the celestial lake. Although for many, the objective this time was to use this experience to temper themselves, it was more important to stay alive . Even though it was regretful to give up, they had already benefited from this trip. As long as they worked harder in their cultivation, they could still stand against these dazzling characters in future to truly see who was stronger.
Wang Xiao, Ouyang Kuangsheng, Mu Baifei and that nameless fellow. All these people were firmly engraved in the memories of the crowd. In the future, these people would surely leave their mark in the history of the Grand Xia Empire.
The cultivator who had stepped into the tempest earlier couldn’t advance any further. Although he felt regret, he did not continue forward and chose instead to retreat. However, just when he was about to exit the tempest, his energy reserves ran out and so his body was shredded into pieces, lacerated by the powerful windstorm. This struck fear into the people’s hearts.
Without Stellar Fruits, there shouldn’t be anyone confident enough to breach the windstorm tempest.
Wang Xiao glanced at his surroundings; there were almost no bystanders left. The only ones remaining were those still in combat - the Skydemon Sect, Beast King Hall, Mystic Moon Hall and Ouyang Kuangsheng.
Ouyang Kuangsheng was truly powerful, indeed. He alone, was sufficient to stand against the half-mad Shiki and maniacal Yao Sheng. Not only that, he didn’t appear to be any weaker than them, either. Let the terrifying storms and rain come as they may; he shall remain immovable, standing steadfastly on the ground. His attacks were just as wild and overbearing as before. Although people will say Ouyang Kuangsheng had a frivolous personality, and does whatever he wants without concern for others, during battle, regardless of his attack or his defense, both were at an extremely high level. From this, one could see that his foundations were well established, and had reached the peak of proficiency in his innate techniques.
Discounting those that were currently in battle, the ones remaining were only Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng. Even Mu Baifei had given up.
Wang Xiao walked towards Qin Wentian, his followers trailing behind him. The aura they projected made it seem that these seven from the Wang Clan really intended to clear up the entire battlefield, eliminating all their competitors one by one, until the seven spots solely belonged to them.
Wang Xiao waved his hands, as his followers halted their movements. He then walked alone towards Qin Wentian. In the beginning, he had thought that in this tempering exercise, only Ouyang Kuangsheng was qualified to be his opponent. But after meeting Qin Wentian, he really wanted to test himself against this unknown stranger that could apparently fight against Mu Baifei and his two companions on an equal footing. He wanted to see how strong Qin Wentian was exactly.
“I shall deal with her then.” A figure behind Wang Xiao spoke. They understood Wang Xiao’s intentions, but there was no way they would allow Mo Qingcheng to interfere with the battle of Wang Xiao and Qin Wentian.
After speaking, the figure walked towards Mo Qingcheng. It was none other than the person wielding the great axe who tried to ambush Qin Wentian.
Manifesting a surge of terrifying killing intent, Wang Xiao increased his speed, almost to the point of running, causing the yellow sand to scatter about his feet. Qin Wentian’s feet shook slightly, as his silhouette disappeared from sight, dashing towards Wang Xiao in a similar fashion. Their intent to battle could clearly be seen reflected in the fiery glint in their eyes, the only difference between them being their aura. Wang Xiao’s aura was emotionless and sharp, akin to a divine weapon, whereas Qin Wentian’s aura was fiend-like and incredibly demonic, as though he were the monarch of all demons, unexcelled in the world.