AGM 217 - Unveiling all trump cards
The battle erupted in the blink of an eye, heralding a storm of blood. The sounds of the colossal war drums boomed unceasingly as boundless amounts of electricity built up in the atmosphere, before summoning down lightning and thunder from the skies. The summoned lightning slammed down on their opponents with awe-inspiring power and unerring accuracy, all as directed by the drummers.
In the air, the man beside Chu Tianjiao released the arrow he nocked in the golden bow. An invincible intent of sharpness exploded forth as a beam of golden light pierced through the air, flying towards Chu Wuwei.
The vibrations echoing from the Thunder Dragon Drums rumbled through the air, as the thunder dragon formed from the electrical currents dashed towards the arrow with the speed of a comet. Apparently, the power behind the complete set of thirty-six drums was still a grade higher compared to the arrow loosed by the golden bow.
Boom! Chu Mang jumped into the air, releasing his Astral Souls as glimmers of Astral Light could be seen flickering in his eyes. An illusory shadow of a gigantic bow, as well as a massive heavy axe, appeared atop his head. These were none other than the second and third Astral Soul he had condensed, respectively.
A gigantic bow, coalesced from Astral Light, appeared in his hands alongside with nine arrows. Within a millisecond, the arrows were all nocked and ready to be fired. The figures of his nine targets slumped, feeling fear and trepidation towards Chu Mang as the sensation of being ‘locked on’ filled every fibre of their being.
Chu Mang, as the first-ranked out of all ten prodigies of Chu, was naturally even more outstanding compared to Chu Tianjiao in terms of cultivation talent and power level.
“I shall kill with no mercy to whoever dares to make a move against my elder brother!” Chu Mang howled. The arrows broke apart space, like light, like shadow.
Screeech~ chi chi chi… The sounds of nine bodies being pierced rang out simultaneously as the nine Yuanfu cultivators slumped over in death, with no chance to react. How could Chu Mang’s arrows be this fast?
“This is… power of the will of a Mandate?” Qin Wentian stared at Chu Mang in shock. From the aura Chu Mang was releasing, he should be at the 5th level of Yuanfu but what was truly terrifying was that each of his fired arrows had the insights he gained from his Mandate incorporated within them.
Qin Wentian’s senses weren’t mistaken. Under the guidance of Chu Wuwei, Chu Mang relentlessly practiced his archery day after day, year after year. Even after he broke through to Yuanfu, nothing changed. Chu Wuwei still told him to practice his archery, asking him to sense the arrows with his heart. This carried on all the way, till one day, a marvellous feeling overcame him as he was suddenly struck with an insight. Somehow, he felt that he could ‘make’ his arrows penetrate his chosen targets in the shortest possible time.
That was when he had comprehended the first level of insight into the Mandate of Arrows - Insta-shot.
A single shot slaying nine Yuanfus, the impact of this scenario shook the hearts of even the most stalwart. Although the nine Yuanfu cultivators weren’t that powerful, they were after all, still experts at the Yuanfu Realm!
Chu Mang didn’t pause in his actions. Nocking his arrows, he fired again, aiming for the Yuanfu experts flying towards the balcony that Chu Wuwei was at.
ROAR! Chu Mang howled in rage, nine streaks of light after nine streaks of light flashed as sounds of piercing rang out, and countless Yuanfu cultivators fell. This was dealing death in a single strike.
Chu Mang’s bow, was like an ambassador of death.
The thunder dragon formed by the thirty-six drums acted in defense while Chu Mang was in charge of attack. Although Chu Wuwei didn’t have as many Yuanfu cultivators on the balcony, it wouldn’t be so easy for Chu Tianjiao to kill him.
The thunder dragon danced about in coordination with the thirty-six drummers below. Even though they wouldn’t die from it, cultivators of the 7th to 9th level of Yuanfu would still feel a heavy sense of threat from the might manifested by this complete set of colossal drums.
“The Qin troops should arrive anytime now,” Chu Wuwei said in a low voice. Qin Wentian didn’t reply, he was staring at the river of blood formed from the casualties, sighing helplessly in his heart.
Ouyang and his associates had yet to appear. Qin Wentian knew that this was because people from the Nine Mystical Palace had yet to make their appearances.
As for Qing`er, Qin Wentian could only bitterly smile as he thought of her. He couldn’t even sense her presence, and he knew that only at moments of absolute danger would she appear. He was already very grateful for her protection, and knew that he shouldn’t complain too much over Qing`er’s aloofness. After all, she didn’t owe him anything.
The white clouds drifting in the skies looked as though they were dyed a crimson red from the reflected light of blood on the ground. Although Chu Mang was like a god of death, he was only one man and couldn’t stop the advance of the ground armies. Currently, the army of troops supporting Chu Wuwei were being slaughtered; those from the Jiang Clan and Mu Clan were in a precarious position.
In spite of his, they gradually edged towards the area where Chu Wuwei was in. This way, the thunder dragon formed from the electrical currents could also offer them a modicum of protection.
Chu Tianjiao coldly watched as countless people died. He didn’t command the stronger experts in his entourage to take action yet. Although he was confident that he could disintegrate the thunder dragon, doing so would require him to pay a huge price in terms of the lives of his Yuanfu experts. Therefore, he chose to focus his attentions at wiping out the ordinary troops first, rather than aiming for Yuanfu cultivators. When the armies supporting Chu Wuwei had all been annihilated, he wanted to see what Chu Wuwei would do next.
At that moment, even more Yuanfu experts could be seen flying over in the distance. Below them, armored troops with the flag ‘Qin’ rocked the earth, as clouds of dirt and dust were dislodged from their galloping warhorses. The Qin troops had appeared.
Chu Tianjiao coldly glanced at Chu Wuwei, as he signalled for his entourage to retreat to the left of the field. He didn’t want to be caught in a position where his forces would be in the centre of a crossfire, getting attacked from the front and back between the Qin troops as well as Chu Wuwei’s.
A terrifying whirlwind of ferocious military might enveloped the atmosphere. The Qin troops stood at the right of the field as they coldly stared at Chu Tianjiao.
“Wentian.” A voice called out and Qin Wentian shifted his gaze to the two generals of the Qin troops. These two men were none other than Qin Wu and Qin Chuan. However, their personal combat ability wasn’t that strong, hence they were protected by many layers of defenses. Other than their personal guards, Old Gu as well as some of the supreme elder-level experts from the Emperor Star Academy were there as well.
The Nine Mystical Palace imprisoned Diyi, the Royal Clan issued a command to hunt down all of Emperor Star Academy’s survivors. How could the remnants of the Emperor Star Academy not join forces with the Qin troops?
This was also the reason why Chu Wuwei had such confidence in Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian was the crucial character that had the power to determine his fate.
“Grandpa, father.” Qin Wentian smiled. Today had finally arrived. It has been almost two years ever since the Ye Clan brought people to storm their Qin Residence. Everything would soon be concluded.
“It’s a relief that the Qin troops arrived. Since you are all already here, prepare yourselves to be buried together.” Chu Tianjiao icy glance swept past everyone. However, in the next moment, a large group of newly-arrived Chu troops appeared, running madly towards them as though they were being pursued. Seeing this caused Chu Tianjiao to stiffen. As the troops neared, Chu Tianjiao coldly inquired, “What’s going on?”
The arriving Chu troops looked to be an extremely pathetic group akin to a pile of loose sand. How could these be the troops Chu had spent many years painstakingly nurturing?
“We were fooled, Icehawk, Icehawk… he is a traitor, a spy for the Qin rebels. As vice commander, he led us into an ambush,” the general in the lead coldly remarked, his murderous urges transformed into a baleful aura.
At that moment, from the distance, yet another regiment of troops advanced forwards, surrounding Chu Tianjiao and his armies. Qin Wentian’s gaze stiffened upon seeing the person in the lead.
Once, to escape the pursuit of their killers during the enrolment examination, he and Fan Le had stepped into the Mirage City within the forbidden boundaries of the Dark Forest. Over there, there was a person that recognised him. That person wore the same helm from back then, and the regiment of troops he led, were exactly the same as what Qin Wentian had seen in the Mirage City.
The person in the lead removed his helm, revealing a familiar face underneath.
“It’s Icehawk,” Qin Wentian breathed. He still remembered that Icehawk had personally led the troops to attack the Qin Clan when they were in Sky Harmony City. To think that he was actually a spy for their Qin Clan.
Even Qin Chuan was fooled. According to Qin Chuan, Icehawk was the vice commander of Qin Wu back when they still had military authority. After the Qin Clan was suppressed, he immediately switched his loyalties and gained the trust of the Royal Clan and Ye Clan by personally slaughtering many from the Qin Clan. Who would have expected that he would suddenly turn and backstab the Royal Clan at the most crucial moment.
“Never underestimate those with more experience,” Chu Wuwei murmured in a low voice, as he stared meaningfully at Qin Wentian.
If this was the case, Chu Tianjiao’s armies had completely lost their advantage. If he wanted to turn the situation, the only way was to go all out, using something he didn’t want to use.
This meant that this battle, was truly drawing to a conclusion.
A bone chilling smile suddenly appeared on Chu Tianjiao’s face as he stared at Chu Wuwei. “Elder brother, you forced me to do this. At this point in time, I must slaughter all of you. This is the only way I can salvage the situation.”
As the sound of his voice faded, light flickered and shadows flashed. Abruptly, four figures clad in blood-red robes appeared behind Chu Tianjiao. The aura exuded from them reeked of withered blood, as their eagle-like eyes gleamed with an unnatural coldness.
“Have you sunk so low as to ally yourself with these monsters? You have been nurturing them all this while, using the fresh blood from the innocent females abducted. Third brother, you are damned.” Chu Wuwei stared at the four figures. He could vaguely recognise them. By right, these people should have already passed away, yet they still lived on in this unnatural state.
“I don’t have the ability. These were left behind by our Ancestor for us. If it weren’t for your actions forcing me to the edge, how would I have chosen to do this?” Chu Tianjiao indifferently remarked. “The winners are crowned, the losers vilified. There’s nothing more to say. Today, you Chu Wuwei, Qin Wentian, and the rest of my enemies shall be buried here.”
As the sound of his voice faded, the four figures dashed towards Icehawk and his army, blood splattered and bodies decayed wherever they passed causing the Qin Allies to suffer tremendous casualties. The crowd turned pale with fright, they knew that these things weren’t human.
“How cruel, these puppets were refined using insights gained from the Mandate of Blood. The one who refined them really ought to be slayed by Heaven’s wrath.” Old Gu and Ren Qianxing had incredibly ugly expressions on their countenances. However, the strength of the four blood puppets couldn’t be denied.
At the same time, yet another group of Yuanfu cultivators soared through the skies. Upon seeing the person in the lead, those from the Emperor Star Academy involuntarily froze.
Nine Mystical Palace, Luo Qianqiu.
“Qin Wentian.” Luo Qianqiu only had eyes for Qin Wentian. Lightning could be seen flickering in his eyes, as his killing intent soared unbridled.
The humiliation at the Jun Lin Banquet, he would cleanse it with Qin Wentian’s blood today.
“I’m aware of the supreme expert guarding you, and so the Nine Mystical Palace has deployed a Heavenly Dipper Sovereign in retaliation. There will be no escape for you today.” Luo Qianqiu stared at Qin Wentian, and as he calmly spoke, his words caused the hearts of many to sink.
Not only did the Nine Mystical Palace want to participate in this dispute, they had also sent out a Heavenly Dipper Sovereign.
Nothing could shake Luo Qianqiu’s resolve to kill Qin Wentian. And in order to meet this goal, he would undoubtedly cooperate with Chu Tianjiao.
Chu Tianjiao also looked at Qin Wentian. A cold glint of laughter gleamed in his eyes as he laughed. “Today, there is no escape. Qin Wentian, today shall be the anniversary of your death!”