AGM 322 - Crafty Old Man
Qin Wentian returned to the mountain where the Arrow Emperor presided, only to see Chu Mang hard at work practicing his archery, while Fan Le provided guidance to a young-looking lady.
This beautiful young lady wore a dress of green and exuded an aura brimming with naiveté and vitality.
“Brother Fan Le, can you execute the Setting Sun Arrow Technique once more for me to see?” The young lady sweetly smiled.
“Of course.” Without hesitation, Fan Le drew back his bow and fired, his arrows seemingly having the power to shoot down the sun. Ten arrows were linked in a continuous chain from tip to tail feathers, with the might of each arrow stacked over each other, reinforcing the power of each strike.
“Senior Brother, you are so awesome!” The young lady smiled. After which, she turned and looked to Qin Wentian as an expression of curiosity appeared on her face. Qin Wentian contemplated her as well and couldn’t help but to muse in his heart, what a beautiful girl, this young lady gave him a sense of surrealism, like those beauties you’d normally meet in a dream.
“Boss, this is Xuan Xin, my junior sister. She’s also skilled in archery.” Fan Le performed the introduction with a smile, having just noticed Qin Wentian as well.
“You are Qin Wentian? I just arrived at the Unmatched Realm but I hear your name everywhere.” Xuan Xin blinked. Just by interacting with her, people found themselves relaxing in the presence of her innocent beauty.
“Xuan Xin.” Qin Wentian smiled as he nodded, after which he swept a glance at Fatty. The Arrow Emperor took in such a beautiful young woman as his disciple, it seemed like the spring days of Fatty was coming soon once more.
“Oh yeah boss, didn’t you have something to do with Big Bro Chu Mang? He’s right there, don’t let us disturb you guys. I will continue coaching Xuan Xin,” Fan Le continued, his shamelessness causing Qin Wentian to blink. This damnable fatty was afraid that their presence would spoil his plans.
“Big Bro Chu Mang, let’s go.” Qin Wentian glared at Fatty before leaving with Chu Mang. Fan Le stared at Xuan Xin as he laughed, “Big Bro Chu Mang and my boss Qin Wentian all have very terrifying talents, they could be considered the number two and number three in the entire Unmatched Realm, just slightly losing out to me.”
When Chu Mang and Qin Wentian, who weren’t that far away, heard these words, black lines filled their faces. This damnable fatty, even if he wanted to impress the girls there was no need to use them as sacrificial victims right?
“Didn’t you say Qin Wentian obtained access to all thirty-six Dao-Cultivation Halls?” Xuan Xin voice drifted over from afar.
“Yeah, my genius rubbed off on him. He’s more proficient in an overall aspect, so I guess you can call him a jack of all trades. As for me, I focus only on archery because when I do something, I make sure to do it well, just like if I love a girl, I would only have her in my heart,” Fan Le said with a straight face, his answer causing Chu Mang and Qin Wentian to completely throw in the towel.
Chu Mang returned to the Dao-Cultivation Hall his master Qiao Long presided over, while Qin Wentian found a nearby cave dwelling and started to cultivate within. However the moment he closed his eyes, an exceedingly ear-piercing whistling sound could be heard gushing over.
The air turned frosty as the coldness of the wind pervaded the bone. The biting chill of this wind was as sharp as the edge of a blade, causing Qin Wentian to break out in a cold sweat. A terrifying light flashed in his eyes, he noticed a fearsome hurricane gusting through the entrance of his cave.
“What’s going on?” Qin Wentian countenance stiffened as he stood up, trying to rush outside. However, the wind force of the hurricane buffeted him, making it tough for him to keep a firm hold on his footing.
“Buzz…”
Qin Wentian’s body was carried by the wind force into the air. A deafening sound thundered out as he was smashed into the ceiling without mercy. Groaning miserably, he felt as though his skull was about to split apart.
“Where did this strange wind come from?” Qin Wentian’s gaze froze as he stared outside. This strange bout of wind seemed to blow the strongest within the tunnel leading out of the cave. Although the hurricane was spread throughout the cave, its wind-force wasn’t nearly as powerful as the gales in the tunnel.
Standing up once more, Qin Wentian steadied himself and slowly advanced step by step. However, the moment he stepped into the tunnel, the ferocious wind slammed against his body, the wind-force so intense that he couldn’t even keep his eyes open.
“BOOM!” He lost his footing and once again, the wind currents carried him up, blasting him headfirst into a section of the wall in the interior of the cave.
“WHO?!”Qin Wentian roared. It was impossible for this strange wind to suddenly manifest. There must be someone controlling it from behind the scenes. He soared into the air and swung a fist imbued with the Mandate of Force against the ceiling, causing the entire cave to rumble, yet, the ceiling remained unaffected. It appeared as though the stone walls of the caves had suddenly been reinforced by something, there was no way for him to break through it.
Qin Wentian didn’t give up, he tested various sections of the caves but to no avail. He was trapped here, someone wanted to trap him here on purpose.
Clenching his fist, Qin Wentian stared at the demonic burst of wind in the tunnel that was separating him from the outside world.
“I don’t believe you can keep me trapped here.” Qin Wentian’s blood seethed and surged as the Astral Energy within his body erupted together with the will of his Mandate. A towering demonic qi permeated the air as his body seemingly transformed into a Garuda, flying towards the cave entrance with explosive speed.“Bzzz!” He felt as though a bolt of lightning dashed through the hurricane and entered his body. He only managed to close a third of the distance and had no way to proceed any further. And in proportion to the amount of strength used, the rebound effect would be even greater. This time around, when Qin Wentian was slammed onto the wall, he involuntarily coughed out a mouthful of blood as his inner organs shook violently.
He stood up, and tried again and again, but each attempt ended in failure. Qin Wentian gradually lost hope, he had no way to exit the cave, and was trapped within its walls. Not only that, the hurricane in the tunnel was gradually gusting towards the interior of the cave albeit at an extremely slow speed...
“I can’t let this continue, if the hurricane enters the cave and I still have no way to counter it, I’ll be smashed to death.”
Qin Wentian’s countenance turned ashen. He needed strength, even more strength. He still wasn't strong enough.
Falling down repeatedly, slamming into the walls again and again, Qin Wentian spat out countless mouthfuls of fresh blood. If his physique and bloodline wasn’t as strong as it is, he would already be half dead.
“Who’s the one behind this?”
Qin Wentian was speechless. Within the interior of the cave, booming sounds relentlessly rang out and in the blink of an eye, half a month had already passed. Under the intense pressure of the hurricane, Qin Wentian’s strength improved by leaps and bounds, and as of that moment, his will of the Mandate of Demons could already cover his entire body, allowing him to resist the wind for short moments of time in his strongest state. However, he was still unable to exit the cave.
And now, that hurricane had already reached the interior cave. At this moment, his body was pressed against the wall in the cave. It wasn’t something he wanted, but the intensity of the wind made him even unable to advance a single step forward. His countenance was as white as paper, and he looked a lot more haggard compared to the time when he first entered.
For what felt like hundreds or even thousands of times, Qin Wentian coughed up blood. In his heart, he cursed the person behind this more than a million times and if curses were to work, that person would have already died countless times.
Outside the cave, on top of an ancient tree, an old man yawned while lying on a branch, appearing to be enjoying a good sleep. Out of nowhere, a ferocious silhouette transformed into a stream of light that zoomed towards him, but the old man merely blew a breath of air at it. The power of one breath caused the poor silhouette to be forcefully somersaulted many times.
“AWOOOO~” The transformed Little Rascal’s eyes glimmered with a golden light as it glared at that old man. However, its presence was totally ignored, the old man continued sleeping.“Ai, where can you find such a nice old man like me patiently and painstakingly guiding the junior generation? Kind people are always misunderstood,” that old man murmured to himself. Little Rascal bared its fangs when it heard those words as its countenance turned even more ferocious compared to before. If Qin Wentian were to hear this, he would definitely be so angered that he’d end up coughing out a few more mouthfuls of blood.
A month passed, and Qin Wentian was tormented for every second of it. He didn’t know how many bones he broke and couldn’t remember how many mouthful of bloods he coughed up. Yet, he was still stuck within the cave.
Many in the Unmatched Realm all said that Qin Wentian was too afraid hence, he hid himself. No one had seen him for a long, long while.
Two months later, a silhouette finally stumbled out of the cave. The moment he was out, he collapsed on the floor, breathless, totally devoid of strength. His clothes were tattered, his hair all messed up, he didn’t have the energy to care about his appearance.Yet, he was wide-eyed as he stared at the old man sleeping on the tree. If looks could kill, that old man would already be dead.
Revenge, this was a clear-cut obvious attempt at revenge. That crafty old man actually had such a small heart.
“Hmm, who’s cursing me?” The old man fidgeted about as he opened his eyes. When he saw Qin Wentian glaring at him, his eyes narrowed as he laughed. “No need to thank me. For people like me who are the living embodiment of kindness, we do great deeds without seeking for repayment.”
“Junior will definitely find an opportunity to ‘repay’ senior,” Qin Wentian said with gritted teeth.
“No need, no need.” The old man sat up and slowly floated away. He didn’t forget to wave his hands as he added, “Your strength is circulating evenly around your entire body, good to see that your Mandate of Force has already reached the Perfection Boundary. And like the most noble of men, I remain unnamed as I walk away with a flick of my sleeves, taking comfort in knowing that I’ve accomplished something marvelous, even as I hide the part I played from the world.”
Qin Wentian wanted nothing more than to fiercely beat up this old guy in front of him. However, it was obvious that he wasn’t a match for him. Most probably, that old man would only need a single finger to toss him off the mountain.
“Wait, my Mandate of Force reached the Perfection Boundary?” Qin Wentian froze.
It was true, he hadn’t realised it back then, but he’d done so unconsciously after countless tries. Only by infusing and circulating his entire body with the will of his Mandate of Force would he be able to overcome the intense gales and walk out of the hurricane. His first level of insight into the Mandate of Force had already reached the Perfection Boundary.
“Damn that old man into the deepest depths of hell, he better not fall into my hands.” Qin Wentian bitterly smiled. Such a breakthrough was only obtained by undergoing hellish tortures. Only someone as crazy as that fraudster old man would have thought of something like this. If he didn’t managed to breakthrough to the Perfection Boundary, he really would have died in there.
Qin Wentian closed his eyes, he could finally sleep in peace. And in the end, he slept for a total of seven days, it was too comfortable. Qin Wentian wasn’t willing to wake up.
As of now, Qin Wentian had already been in the Azure Continent for half a year.
And throughout these six months, he had continuously grown in strength. He wasn’t the only one—both Ouyang Kuangsheng and Wang Xiao had already stepped into the seventh level of Yuanfu. In fact, everyone training in the Unmatched Realm would eventually improve, regardless of where they were, or what methods they used.
For geniuses like them, no one was willing to waste time. Sometimes, if they were late by a single step, it might mean that they’d be unable to catch up for their entire lives.
And currently, the geniuses of the Grand Xia Empire had already started to make their way towards the Ancient Kingdom of the Ginkou Continent. Some remained behind, choosing to continue improving their strength as much as possible until the very last second. Only by expending all their efforts would they have a chance to contend with the strongest geniuses throughout Grand Xia!