AGM 271 - Control of the Great Hall
Qin Wentian only felt a stab of pain in the space between his brows, it was as though he could feel a peculiar energy writhing there.
This unusual stab of pain was resonating with the candle flame in his body. Qin Wentian faintly sensed that his heart’s eye was centred between his brows.The golden threads connected the candle flame and the brow’s centre, and Qin Wentian innately comprehended that this reaction was linked to a power of his bloodline.
Within his body, there wasn’t just a single type of bloodline limit.
That domineering, savage and violent bloodline that was once locked down by fetters, felt as though it originated from an ancient primordial beast, the king of all demons.
Yet even this domineering bloodline deferred to the candle flame in his heart. The candle flame was the manifestation of yet another bloodline existing within him, and was of a higher grade compared to that of his primordial bloodline.
Two kinds of high-grade bloodlines existing within a single body.
Qin Wentian asked himself, who was he?
Who were his parents?
The middle-aged man he had seen in the tiny Astral-Being should be his father. Why would he fragment all his memories and store it within that Astral-Being, leaving it for Qin Wentian to discover?
There were thousands upon thousands of thoughts in his mind, yet there was no way for him to verify anything. He wanted to open his eyes, yet he did not.
Because he discovered that even with his eyes closed, he could clearly see what was happening outside. It was as though he had a sort of ‘second sight’, and the happenings outside were directly etched into his heart.
He saw the bloodlessly pale countenance of Bailu Yi, whose heart was clenching with worry for fear of his death. He saw Bailu Jing engaged in a desperate life-and-death struggle with his opponent, as well as the rest of the golden guardians.
However, he could see that abruptly, Bailu Yi had an expression of joy on her face. Her bloodlessly pale countenance regained some color, she had noticed that Qin Wentian had stopped bleeding and his wounds were mending. She could feel his aura rising, as he brimmed with vitality once again.
Suddenly, Bailu Yi froze. In the centre of Qin Wentian’s brows, a beam of golden light shot forth. It was a golden-colored eye.
“This…” Bailu Yi’s heart pounded. However, an instant later, that golden-colored eye closed again. Only then did Qin Wentian open his eyes, gazing at her.
“You woke up?” Bailu Yi smiled.
This fellow had finally awakened.
She was really frightened earlier, thinking that Qin Wentian would never regain consciousness ever again.
“Mhm.” Qin Wentian nodded his head before shifting his gaze to the battlefield. At this moment, he actually discovered that he could see through the cultivation bases of those that entered his vision.
Zhan Chen, Yang Fan, Zhu Sha, all of these people had a cultivation base at the ninth level of Yuanfu.
And the golden guardians’ claims were true, they too had a cultivation base at the ninth level of Yuanfu.
“Huh?”
Qin Wentian furrowed his brows, how was this possible? Weren’t these golden guardians a type of Puppet? How could they have cultivation bases?
It was impossible for Puppets to cultivate, but after his golden divine eye had been activated, he could clearly sense that the golden guardians didn’t have any Yuan Meteor Stones embedded in them to draw power from, but rather, they had their own cultivation bases!
This could only mean that these guardians were humans, not Puppets.
Why would peak-level Yuanfu cultivators be willing to transform into Puppets? Qin Wentian didn’t understand.
He swept another glance towards the rune-covered grounds. And in that moment, the complicated criss-crossing runic outlines were directly imprinted into his mind, and there was no need for him to use his heart sense to contemplate it any more. Now, a single glance was enough for him to decipher the mysteries behind them.
Each runic outline, represented a completed Divine Inscription. And regardless of the complexity of the runic outlines entwining and interweaving against each other, Qin Wentian could unravel all of them with but a single glance.
And right now, a bright light suddenly flashed in his eyes, as laughter could be seen within. So, that’s how it was.
The Ascendant himself was an extremely accomplished Divine Inscriptionist. Over here, he left a complete peak-tier fourth-ranked Inscription that was able to divide itself into countless peak-tier third-ranked Inscriptions.
Such a level of accomplishment left Qin Wentian at a loss for words. He could only gasp in amazement.
If it weren’t for his body’s transformation, he wouldn’t have realised that this great hall itself was basically one gigantic Divine Inscription. In the twinkling of an eye, Qin Wentian’s consciousness integrated with this gigantic fourth-ranked Divine Inscription.
He unravelled it, comprehended it, and it would be an extremely simple task if he wanted to apply it.
Qin Wentian’s lips curled up in a fiendish smile, causing Bailu Yi to be stunned. What was this fellow thinking about now? And what was that golden eye she had seen earlier?
“You left behind a fourth-ranked Divine Inscription here, and if no one noticed this, they could either depend on their personal combat prowess or with the assistance of the third-ranked runic outlines inscribed on the floor to deal with these golden Puppets. But if someone discovered the final secret regarding the fourth-ranked Inscription, they could choose to end everything with a mere snap of their fingers and become your true successor. Meticulously planned out indeed.”
Qin Wentian knew that the endless tests in this secret realm were meant to filter out the most eligible successor the Ascendant would feel satisfied with.
However when he, Qin Wentian arrived at this ending point, the golden guardians said that he was unworthy to receive the inheritance. But, how about now?!
Qin Wentian stood up, and a terrifyingly harsh light flickered in his eyes as he swept his gaze over to those who were still locked in combat.
“Follow behind me.” Qin Wentian smiled to Bailu Yi. Bailu Yi froze, “Do you still intend to compete for the inheritance? Let’s leave here instead.”
After speaking, Bailu Yi wanted to pull Qin Wentian away. Although she could faintly sense the transformation that happened in Qin Wentian’s body, she knew for a fact that his current cultivation level was too low. How could a mere third-level Yuanfu cultivator be able to compete against a transcendent powers’ Heaven’s Chosen, no matter how talented he may be?
Even if he borrowed strength from the runic outlines, it was impossible for Qin Wentian to contend for the inheritance against these monsters.
This place was too dangerous, they needed to leave immediately.
However, Bailu Yi only saw Qin Wentian remaining motionless. He smiled at her. “Trust me.”
Bailu Yi was slightly hesitant. Before this she had always believed in Qin Wentian, but now it felt like an impossible feat, no matter how much she wanted to believe.
After all, what Qin Wentian had in mind wasn’t too realistic.
Even her brother Bailu Jing, as a ranker on the Heavenly Fate Rankings, didn’t have any hope when it came to contending for the inheritance. He was only strong enough to fight evenly against the golden guardian, he couldn’t defeat them.
“Wow, you actually didn’t die.” At this moment, Zhu Sha’s malicious voice drifted over. That golden guardian earlier was in shock as well, turning his gaze onto Qin Wentian.
His most powerful spear strike hadn’t actually killed Qin Wentian?
“Deal with him for me.” He pointed towards Zhu Sha, as he commanded another of his ilk. In the next moment, another golden guardian lunged towards Zhu Sha, as the first golden guardian walked towards Qin Wentian.
“Good recovery strength,” that golden guardian icily remarked. Abruptly, his long spear exploded forth. This time around, there would be no more mistakes. He would definitely ensure the death of Qin Wentian.
His blunder earlier, was a humiliation.
Bailu Yi stiffened, as she grew white with fright. Yet she only saw Qin Wentian casually continue his advance. An instant later, she felt countless beams of light erupting forth from the runic outlines engraved on the ground.
“ROAR” An Azure Dragon dashed towards the golden guardian, as a gigantic axe cleaved down from the Heavens, all accompanied by a rain of arrows.
Each of Qin Wentian’s steps ‘awakened’ a runic outline engraved upon the floor. His momentum was filled with towering might, he was an unstoppable force!“RUMBLE~!” The myriad of manifestations created by the Divine Inscriptions were all violently attacking the golden guardian with unbelievable speed. The force of their joint attacks caused the golden guardian to continuously retreat.
“Hmm?” The pupils of the golden guardian narrowed. What was going on?
The countenance of the previously stoic golden guardian underwent a drastic change, the runic outlines on this entire floor all began to light up, beginning to fuse together, enshrouding him within their radiance.
“How is this possible?” The golden guardian stared in shock, he couldn’t understand why this was happening.
Bailu Yi was also thunderstruck, did Qin Wentian’s attainment in the Dao of Divine Inscriptions shoot up another level?“DIE!” That golden guardian roared, causing a terrifying vortex to shoot out from his spear, aiming to devour Qin Wentian.
“Hmph.” Qin Wentian snorted coldly. With a mere thought, the body of an enormous python manifested, sacrificing itself to the attack. With another thought, a meteor of arrows thundered forth, but were then deflected by the golden guardian, as he weaved his spear about in an intricate dance.
“SCRAM!” With a loud bellow, a colossal hammer slammed into the body of the golden guardian with overwhelming force, causing it to be flung through the air.
Their combat instantly attracted the others’ attention. The eyes of Zhan Chen and the other cultivators couldn’t help but widen when they saw the abnormal change in Qin Wentian.
The revolving light from the runic outlines grew increasingly brighter, and even the entire great hall was trembling as though resonating with Qin Wentian.
“This…” Zhu Sha turned ashen. Somehow, Qin Wentian had gained control of the great hall.
“We must kill him first!” Zhu Sha shouted, pointing to Qin Wentian. Yet in response, only a thunderous deafening sound could be heard, as the hall’s Divine Inscriptions in their entirety completed their fusion. An incomparably gargantuan constellation arm was birthed from the fusion.
“This?!” Everyone was flabbergasted.
“This fellow is controlling all the power from the Divine Inscriptions within the great hall.” Bailu Yi’s heart pounded rapidly.
Even that Ascendant himself would never have expected that the hidden fourth-ranked Inscription he left behind would actually be activated by someone with a cultivation base at the third-level of Yuanfu.
Even though Qin Wentian had evolved, he still wouldn’t have been able to contend for the inheritance with this group of monsters, not without the aid of these countless runic outlines.
And now, everything in this place was under his control.
A frigidness flashed in Qin Wentian’s eyes as he stared at Zhu Sha, a mere look causing shivers down the spine of this peak-level Yuanfu cultivator. Earlier it was Zhu Sha who struck out at Qin Wentian, and had even grievously injured Bailu Yi.
Zhu Sha, deserved death.In mid-air, that constellation arm descended from the Heavens. It emanated a pressure that resembled the Astral Novas of Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns.
Zhu Sha’s silhouette flickered, as he retreated with explosive speed. However, that gargantuan arm instantly appeared behind him, slamming him head first into the ground.
After the gargantuan arm moved away, the only thing that remained of Zhu Sha was a pool of blood. Without any trace of his corpse or bones, he was obliterated completely.
Qin Wentian then turned his gaze onto that earlier golden guardian. The look in his eyes actually caused the heart of the golden guardian to involuntarily tremble. The golden guardian instantly averted his eyes as he stated with deference and fearful respect, “Congratulations, you passed the test. The inheritance is now yours.
”The words of the golden guardian didn’t cause any signs of joy to appear on Qin Wentian’s face. On the contrary, the coldness in his eyes became more severe.
He had come face to face with death countless times before arriving at this ending point. Even if he was unqualified to become the successor, the golden guardian could have allowed them to safely exit the trial grounds. But instead, he directly moved to kill them.
Inheritance?
Qin Wentian laughed manically as he softly commented. “I almost died here earlier, and now you tell me that I have passed the test?”
“Test? What qualifications do you have to test me?!” As the sound of Qin Wentian’s voice faded, that gigantic constellation arm smashed down, shattering the body of the golden guardian into pieces!