AGM 282 - A Bunch of Trash
As the sound of Qin Wentian’s voice faded, Bailu Tong’s laugh resounded out in the air. “Qin Wentian, a hot blooded young man that doesn't fear death. This undoubtedly shows his steely character. This trait is naturally a good thing but sometimes, there are other better choices. Why choose death for the sake of useless pride? Since you are a guest of our White Deer Institute, I'm sure these esteemed Grandmasters won't make things difficult for you if you hand over the ancient scroll into our possession. We could guard it for you.”
Bailu Tong’s countenance appeared full of concern, as though he was worried for Qin Wentian. However the unspoken meaning of his words was naturally understood by all, causing the various fourth-ranked Grandmasters to silently curse that Bailu Tong as a wily old fox.
“Senior worries too much, Junior is still young, how could I wish to die?” Qin Wentian calmly replied. Guarding it for him? More like daylight robbery.
“Oh?” Bailu Tong’s countenance flickered as he laughed. “Since that's the case, I won't try to persuade you any longer.”
After speaking, Bailu Tong shut his eyes, as though he was giving his silent approval for the other fourth-ranked Grandmasters to take action.
The sunken eyes old man, Old Liang, Eccentric Song and the black-faced, middle aged man exchanged glances as hints of laughter could be seen in their eyes. Old Liang, turned his gaze onto Qin Wentian as he narrowed his eyes, adding in a sinister tone. “The Ascendant scroll naturally belongs to those powerful enough to match it. A junior likes you wants to possess it solely? Only death awaits you.”
At his command, the three peak-level Yuanfu bodyguards stepped out, moving towards Qin Wentian.
“I’ve said it before, if you take another step forward, die.” Qin Wentian softly spoke, as a golden glint of cold light flashed past his eyes. In an instant, the three bodyguards felt their minds rumbling, as though they had just been the recipients of a vicious mind attack.
Shaking their heads clear, in the next moment, the wills of their Mandates gushed out, as a pressure akin to the heavy mountains enveloped the area.One of them blasted forth with a palm and instantly, a blood-colored palm imprint the size of a mountain materialized, slamming towards Qin Wentian. Even from a distance, Qin Wentian could feel the will of the Mandate, causing interruptions in his blood flow.
“BOOM!” That blood-colored palm struck forth, as a deafening sound thundered out. And just when everyone thought that Qin Wentian was already dead, a sound like a mirror shattering echoed as Qin Wentian appeared again unharmed, calmly looking at them.
“Huh?” The Grandmasters all furrowed their brows, they could sense that at this moment, the Qin Wentian ahead was projecting a sense of ‘blurriness’, as though the silhouette in front of them wasn’t his real body but a kind of mirage instead.
Fenrir cupped his chin as a smile appeared on his face. Different Grandmasters were skilled in different aspects of the Dao of Divine Inscriptions. There were some that excelled in Divine Inscriptions combat, some claimed supremacy when it came to deciphering and neutralizing formations, while some were experts in forging weapons and others adept at the refinement of Puppets.
Similarly, for fourth-ranked Grandmasters, this was the case as well. Fenrir was more well-versed in Divine Inscriptions combat and neutralizing formations. And because he was a Heavenly Dipper Sovereign as well, his sharp sense of perception had already told him that there was a formation ahead.
This formation was an illusory-type formation and was that of the fourth-rank.
Not only this, what baffled Fenrir was that this illusory formation contained no killing arrays at all. It was a pure illusion-type formation so marvelously engraved all its runic outlines were concealed completely. That was why despite the presence of so many fourth-ranked Grandmasters, none of them had actually noticed the existence of this formation. Naturally, they didn’t see that the real purpose of this formation was merely a camouflage for the combat-type Divine Inscription traps which Qin Wentian had embedded into the ground.
These traps would be activated at the slightest touch, Fenrir was sweating on behalf of the other fourth-ranked Grandmasters.
He wondered how much determination did Qin Wentian have exactly, how far would he go to prove his point?
“Illusory Formation?” These fourth-ranked Grandmasters weren’t that useless. They could now tell that Qin Wentian had engraved an illusory-type formation here.
“Eccentric Song.” The old man with the sunken eyes stared at the highly respected Eccentric Song with inquiring eyes. Eccentric Song was extremely well versed with formations.
However, Eccentric Song was frowning as his eyes narrowed, a strong feeling of unease blossomed in his heart.
He was well versed with formations, but even he hadn’t seen through this before the bodyguards blundered into it.
This was sufficient to make him drop all carelessness and inspect it vigilantly. Upon seeing the mocking smile on the face of the young man before him, he couldn’t help but tremble with anger. “No worries, this formation is centered around illusive arrays, there’s no way for it to attack us. Go kill him.”
“KILL!” The sunken-eyed Old Liang immediately spat out a command when he heard the words of Eccentric Song. The three bodyguards advanced as they lunged towards the silhouette of Qin Wentian. Regardless of whether Qin Wentian was illusory or a real body, they would exterminate it all the same.
However right at this moment, a terrifying whistling abruptly echoed out. The pupils of the three bodyguards narrowed as they turned their eyes to the ground. On it, there was a radiant glow suddenly shining out. That was the glow indicative of Divine Inscriptions.
“Xiu, xiu, xiu…” Terrifying sounds of sword slicing transformed into an ear-splitting screech. The three bodyguards only felt a vortex of sword Qi gathering in spirals, roiling towards them. The maelstrom formed by the spiraling sword Qi seemed to have inexhaustible might and even a will of its own. The three of them immediately rose into the air, wanting to avoid the incoming tempest.
“RUMBLE!” Abruptly, another sound echoed as runic outlines shone again beneath their feet. Now, they felt a tremendous geo-magnetic force anchoring their feet onto the ground, they were no longer able to levitate.
In the blink of an eye, that maelstrom of sword Qi had already gushed over, enveloping the three of them within.
Expressions of unwillingness and terror warped their faces as the three bodyguards howled, “NOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Despair shone in their eyes as their bodies shuddered violently, the maelstrom of sword Qi surrounding them, was definitely a peak third-ranked Divine Inscription. It was currently devouring them.“SAVE ME!” One of the bodyguards within howled in madness, gazing at the sunken eyes of their master, Old Liang. The hopelessness in his eyes shook the hearts of those spectating.
“Stay your hand.” Old Liang fiercely berated; however he only saw the maelstrom of sword Qi close in on the three bodyguards, completely devouring them. The lacerating sounds continued unabated as the torrential sword Qi remained as dense as ever. Occasionally, a dark red liquid would splatter on the ground and when the tempest ceased, nothing was left behind.
Three peak-level Yuanfu bodyguards vanished like smoke in the thin air. There weren’t even any traces that they once existed before.
The countenance of the spectators immediately turned incredibly unsightly. There were so many Grandmasters around, yet Qin Wentian was still able to kill three peak-level Yuanfu cultivators with his Divine Inscriptions.Their gazes turned back onto Qin Wentian. Only now did they realize that the young man standing before them was not as easy to control as they had imagined.
“Fourth-ranked Grandmaster?” Qin Wentian stared at the old man with the sunken eyes, as sarcasm flashed past his eyes. “Does Grandmaster dare to attempt neutralizing my formation?”
Old Liang’s countenance sank as he shifted his glance at Eccentric Song, only to see Eccentric Song was narrowing his eyes in deep contemplation.
“That earlier Sword-type combat Divine Inscription was cloaked within his illusory formation. The formation itself actually hadn’t contained any killing arrays, and instead the three of them died to the peak-tier, third-ranked Sword Qi Maelstrom Divine Inscription trap hidden within it. Using the three of them to gain such valuable information have made their deaths worth it," Eccentric Song calmly commented while Old Liang turned ashen.
Wasn’t that the equivalent to sending his guards as guinea pigs to test out Qin Wentian’s formation?
This old undying freak was full of schemes indeed.
“Is that so? Since you already have first-hand information regarding my formation, would Grandmaster care to try it out?” Qin Wentian’s eyes stared straight at Eccentric Song, as he commented. Eccentric Song stroked his beard and smiled, “Just a mere third-level formation, do I still need to personally neutralize it? Ghaus, go and break it in my stead."
Qin Wentian smiled coldly, Ghaus was to go in Eccentric Song’s stead?“Old fox.” Ghaus involuntarily cursed in his heart. Although he was extremely unhappy with Qin Wentian, he knew that at his level, he would surely face danger if he were to attempt neutralizing Qin Wentian’s formation.
The other Grandmasters didn’t say anything but chose to watch on silently. At this moment, their hearts were in shambles, their eyes couldn’t even see through this illusory formation. Could this really be a formation at the third-rank?
In any case, they rather believed that there must be obscure methods of engraving formations, hiding the runic outlines from their eyes. It was better than to believe otherwise, because if this was a fourth-rank formation, it meant that...
But then again, they still felt that they were overly thinking things. The distance from third-rank to the fourth-rank was too wide apart, it was impossible to break through so easily. How old was Qin Wentian? It was impossible. Without tens of years of study and research, it was absolutely impossible.
“It must be because he comprehended some insights from the ancient scroll. The inheritance of that Ascendant must be truly formidable indeed,” Bailu You spoke out, as the other Grandmasters nodded in agreement. That was the only thing that made sense, Qin Wentian must have stumbled upon some mysterious method of engraving formations from the information he acquired through the ancient scroll.
“Ghaus, faster,” the black-faced, middle-aged man coldly commanded, “If you kill this brat, I will definitely not mistreat you.”
Ghaus’s countenance turned ugly, but he still nodded his head. Several Puppets appeared before him as he followed behind them, walking towards Qin Wentian.
“Kill,” Ghaus commanded while his Puppets rushed forth. Although killing intent was gushing from him, he stood there motionless, acting extremely cautious.
Abruptly the runic outlines embedded on the ground shone with resplendent light, as a terrifying aura burst out from within the formation.
An awe-inspiring Great Roc floated up in the air, as it flew towards the Puppets, colliding directly into them. During that instant of combat, Ghaus sent out his perception, his eyes glinting with a cold light.
“That Divine Inscription is so easy to break, Ghaus, what the hell are you waiting for?” the black-faced, middle-aged man coldly stated. Ghaus could only grit his teeth and nod in agreement. Although it wasn’t difficult to neutralize that Great Roc Inscription, Ghaus was still extremely cautious, advancing forwards slowly.
However, as he took a third step forward, even before he neared the Great Roc Inscription, another set of runic outlines glowed underneath his feet as it activated. It was unknown how many traps Qin Wentian had set within this formation.
“Buzz!” A shrill sound sliced through the air, Ghaus’s countenance instantly paled. He had stepped on and triggered a trap, yet he didn’t realize it until it was too late.
“Puchi…” A terrifying long lance penetrated downwards through Ghaus’s body, nailing him onto the ground. His eyes were still wide open, with traces of regret floating past them when he stared at Qin Wentian. Why… Why had he chosen to appear in front of this monstrous freak once again?
Qin Wentian gently waved his hands as a column of flames descended, burning Ghaus’s body into ashes. At the same time, with the death of Ghaus, Qin Wentian collected all the Puppets he had left behind. These Puppets now belonged to him.
The Grandmasters all stood there silently, their faces turning green. Was the inheritance of that Ascendant really that powerful, it could cloak and camouflage traps so well that even a peak-tier, third-ranked Grandmaster like Ghaus couldn’t sense anything amiss?
“Fourth-ranked Grandmasters?” Qin Wentian turned his gaze onto the other cautious, or some may say cowardly, Divine Inscriptionists that were observing from afar. He coldly laughed, “Fourth-ranked? How many years have you all lived in comparison to me? Are you guys still not confident enough in the level of your attainments? Speaking so loudly, only knowing how to boast blindly, in fact, how sad is this? You’re all nothing but a bunch of trash!”