AGM 320 - Concentrating on Cultivation
Qin Wentian stood atop the ground, drawing in a deep breath. At this moment, his heart was like still water as he entered into a state of complete self-immersion.
Abruptly, his body trembled. The next instant, his body’s entire strength harmonized together as Astral Energy was channeled fiercely into his arms. The demonic qi he exuded covered the skies as the minute movements of Qin Wentian brought about a unique sense of ‘Rhythm’.
His entire person seemed to transform into a wrathful demonic beast who wanted to tear this entire space asunder.
Peng…
His punch blasted out as the void trembled.
The Barbarian King was completely stunned, the comprehension of this little guy…
“Not enough, your harmonization was off. You must reach the state where your strength doesn't leak out,” the Barbarian King instructed. “Also, your stance is too weak, not imposing at all. At most, you can only unleash up to the limits of what your physique is capable of, but you would be unable to tap on external forces of Heavens and Earth to augment your ‘Rhythm’. Are you really called a genius? You are just a weak-ass punk.”
“Ow.” Qin Wentian grinned as he tried punching out again and again. Gradually, he sank into a unique mental state as the candle flame in his heart silently blazed. It was as though he was the only one remaining in this world.
When he moved, the entire world moved with him.
Seeing the marked improvement in Qin Wentian’s punches, the Barbarian King’s eyes widened so much that they almost popped out of their sockets. Damn, is he really at the sixth level of Yuanfu, the talent of this brat was too monstrous.
A day later, Qin Wentian had already mastered harmonization. Each of his strikes caused the forces of Heavens and Earth to rumble with him, the might of his attacks were boundless, like the roar of an angered Azure Dragon shattering the entire void. This state, this feeling, Qin Wentian was mesmerized by it. This harmonization made it so that the entirety of the cells in his body worked together in conjunction with the external forces of Heavens and Earth. A perfect synchronization.
“Enough.” The Barbarian King barked. Qin Wentian stopped his moments and turned to the Barbarian King as he smiled, “How’s my improvement?”
“Ehh, average I guess.” The Barbarian King frowned. His silhouette abruptly flickered as he vanished completely, before instantly appearing in front of Qin Wentian to fiercely rap his head. Qin Wentian perspired rapidly as he stared at the Barbarian King with a gloomy look on his face, which seemed to be saying—No matter what, you’re still an expert from the older generation, how could you bully your junior like this?
“What? What are you looking at? Fight me if you are unhappy.” The Barbarian King stuck his hands on his hips and glared at Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, he could only respond with a passive smile on his face.
“So self-satisfied just because you comprehended such a small thing. Weak. Do you even understand the truth of your Mandate?” The Barbarian King’s voice took on a lecturing tone as he spoke to Qin Wentian.
“Your Mandate of Force is only at the first level of insight, and only at the Transformation Boundary. After that there’s still the Perfection Boundary, you should strive even harder and quickly break through to it. And if you can comprehend your second level of insight in the Mandate of Force at the eighth or ninth level of Yuanfu, you will be a god among gods in the entire Yuanfu Realm.”
“Is the second level so powerful?” Qin Wentian curiously asked.
“You don’t say? For Mandates, the first level of insights are the basic foundations, the second level of insights are built upon that, of course they are powerful,” the Barbarian King explained. “Don’t look down on the Mandate of Force because it’s one of the most commonly seen Mandates out there. Many think that the Mandate of Force is useless, but I can tell you for sure that they are wrong. The more ordinary a thing appears to be, the more profound it is if you want to master it. In my opinion, the Mandate of Force is the strongest. Think about it, if you reached the Perfection Boundary of the first level, it would grant you enhancement in strength by a factor of sixteen. What concept is this? Who can fight against you in the same Realm? You can just simply destroy your opponents with a single punch.”
“But you might not be able to hit them?” Qin Wentian weakly argued. What Barbarian King said made sense, but the Mandate of Force wasn’t like the Mandate of Arrows. When the Mandate of Arrows reached the Perfection Boundary, the first level of insight, Insta-shot, granted the cultivator a speed boost in their arrows by a factor of sixteen. It was basically undodgeable, unlike the Mandate of Force, Strength, where you still have to make sure your attacks ‘hit’ your opponent before it can be effective.
“Hmph, that’s because you suck. Even if I moved slower, I would still be able to ensure that my attacks land on you.” The Barbarian King walked step by step towards Qin Wentian, with exaggerated slowness. Qin Wentian stiffened, as he rapidly retreated backward. Yet, he discovered that there was a boundless force restricting his movements, a kind of imposed force ‘locking down’ the space around him. The strength of the Barbarian King was too terrifying, he was many times stronger compared to the Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns Qin Wentian had seen before.
“What is this…” Qin Wentian’s forehead was covered in a sheen of perspiration.“This is my second level of insight of the Mandate of Force, Impose. You said it yourself, if I wanted to kill you, wouldn’t that be as simple as squashing an ant to death?” The Barbarian King continued bashing Qin Wentian with his words as he stood in front of him.
Qin Wentian’s heart trembled when he thought back to his past experiences. Luckily the Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns he faced before hadn’t been so overpowered. If the comprehensions of their Mandates were stronger, Qin Wentian would have definitely died. Using my second level of insight in the Mandate of Force to suppress you, before leisurely closing the distance between us. I could kill you with a single punch.
“For Stellar Martial Cultivators, other than our cultivation, the comprehension of our Mandates are also of paramount importance. Innate techniques that amplify your strength are secondary, you would do well to remember this. Try to work harder and quickly achieve the second level of your Mandates. Who then, could be your opponent in the Yuanfu Realm?”
The Barbarian King spoke, and when he saw a look of contemplation appearing on Qin Wentian’s face, he added, “Forget it, your brains are too mush-like. Your talent is too low, I don’t want to guide you anymore, go think about it on your own.”
After speaking, the Barbarian King took a huge stride forwards and vanished into the horizon.
Qin Wentian stared dumbfoundedly towards the direction where the Barbarian King vanished. He dipped into a respectful bow, with the guidance of a master, one could truly travel a thousand miles in a single day. If he were to cultivate alone, he didn’t know how long it would have taken him. No wonder the Unmatched Realm was so popular, the eccentrics of the thirty-six mountains were all adept in various Mandates, their presences attracting countless geniuses of Grand Xia.
After consolidating his insights for a day longer, Qin Wentian left for the other Dao-Cultivation Halls.
Because the Mandates that every expert comprehends can be different, Qin Wentian could only use their guidance as a reference. When the eccentrics lectured, Qin Wentian quietly listened.
Most of the time, he would follow two eccentrics who were skilled in the Mandate of Dreams and the Dao of Divine Inscriptions respectively. These two eccentrics guided him alone, causing Qin Wentian’s experiences and comprehension of both fields to grow exponentially.Such speed in his improvement left Qin Wentian feeling extremely satisfied in his heart. He wasn’t willing to enter into closed-door seclusion for too long. After all, the insights gained by secluding oneself was limited. What he wanted more was to broaden his horizons, either through observation or by sparring with others. Only in this way would his strength continue to grow.
If one were to cultivate alone, maybe ten or twenty years later, they still might not have any breakthroughs.
Otherwise, for those with talent, they could just hole themselves up in some mountains and come out after several decades. Such behavior was an act of foolishness.
But in the Unmatched Realm, Qin Wentian had a feeling that regardless of how long he cultivated here, he wouldn’t be restricted.In the blink of an eye, two more months passed. Qin Wentian had been cultivating in this realm for several months.
Today, the Dao-Cultivation Hall was presided over by the Arrow Emperor—Fan Le and Chu Mang were both in attendance.
Although the Arrow Emperor only accepted Fan Le as his disciple, he had also granted access to Chu Mang, because Chu Mang was proficient in archery.
“Enough, go take a break.” At this moment, after a harsh round of training, the Arrow Emperor waved his hands, permitting them some time to rest.Fan Le and Chu Mang then walked towards Qin Wentian, with smiles on their faces.
“How are you feeling? It’s already been a few months since we came here,” Fan Le asked Qin Wentian.
“Not too bad.” Qin Wentian laughed as he nodded.
“Of course, it’s not too bad. You have already broken through, seems like there’s hope for you to be among the Heavenly Fate Rankings.” Fan Le smiled. Although Qin Wentian was at the sixth level of Yuanfu, if he went all out, he could rival those at the eighth or ninth level of Yuanfu. If he spent the rest of his time raising his cultivation base, he would definitely become a ranker on the Heavenly Fate Rankings.
“You’re not doing too badly yourself.” Naturally, Qin Wentian had already perceived Fan Le’s strength. This fatty had also reached the sixth level of Yuanfu. With the Arrow Emperor as his master, Fan Le basically had no time to skive off.
“Big Bro Chu Mang, you’ve got to work hard too.” Qin Wentian turned his gaze onto Chu Mang, as he smiled.
“Hehe, I’m slightly slower compared to you guys in cultivation.” Chu Mang grinned.
“No, Big Bro Chu Mang’s speed is actually already very fast, it’s just that it’s harder to breakthrough at the later levels of Yuanfu,” Fan Le added. Qin Wentian nodded in agreement, that was only to be expected. Breaking through from Yuanfu to Heavenly Dipper, that was more than difficult, it was incredibly arduous. One had to have a stable foundation, in addition to comprehending second level insights of their respective Mandates.
“Do you want to learn archery? I can guide you too.” The Arrow Emperor quietly smiled at Qin Wentian.
“Senior, I shouldn’t be too greedy. I only want to focus on my Mandate of Force for now. Maybe in the future when I condense my fourth Astral Soul, I can then decide if I want to comprehend another Mandate,” Qin Wentian politely declined.
“You are right, the Mandates of Stellar Martial Cultivators are usually decided by their choice of Astral Souls. You have to choose your fourth Astral Soul with care, it’s best to choose one that can complement your current strengths. At the end of the path, Astral Souls are extremely crucial. Pick well,” the Arrow Emperor advised.
“Junior understands.” Qin Wentian nodded his head. All the elders in the Unmatched Realm were extremely amicable. If this were the outside world, it would be tough to even meet someone at their level. But of course, this was also a special characteristic of the Unmatched Realm—those who came here for cultivation were originally geniuses of great talent...
And during these months where Qin Wentian was putting so much effort in cultivating, Lin Haotian had come to seek out Qin Wentian several times. But when he discovered Qin Wentian was in the Dao-Cultivation Halls, he didn’t dare cause a disturbance, let alone enter.
Lin Haotian then spread a rumor—the other cultivators of the Unmatched Realm all assumed that Qin Wentian was intentionally avoiding the challenge, that he was afraid of Lin Haotian and Yue Bingying.
His actions were understandable. After all, Qin Wentian’s current level of cultivation was indeed a little too weak, it would be tough indeed to deal with both Lin Haotian and Yue Bingying, let alone the man behind their backs—Situ Po. Situ Po wasn’t someone Qin Wentian could afford to antagonise. At the very least as of now, Qin Wentian couldn’t afford to!