AGM 356 - Chaotic Battle at the River of Life and Death
Who was that person?
As the gazes of the crowd landed on Qin Wentian, bewilderment filled their hearts. The majority of them had never seen nor heard of this young man before.
Not only that, the aura Qin Wentian was exuding was only at the seventh level of Yuanfu.
There was no need to doubt his determination, seeing how he managed to sound out a nineteenth echo. Along with a heart of steel, one’s attack must also possess tyrannical might as well as have strong individual defenses to ward off the rebound force.
Zhan Chen’s countenance turned chilly as he turned to stare at Qin Wentian. The golden light emitting from him flared even more brilliantly. At this moment, he was aware of Mo Qingcheng still spectating from the side. Not only that, with the attention of the crowd focused onto him, how could he lose to someone with a cultivation base merely at the seventh level of Yuanfu?
Even though this was only the sounding of the drums, he mustn’t lose out to Qin Wentian.
Releasing his Astral Souls, a terrifying golden-colored wind surrounded Zhan Chen, before it slowly coalesced into the shape of a Heaven Punisher Ancient Sword. With a roar, he brandished the sword and slammed the drum once more.
“BOOOOM!”
As the twentieth echo reverberated, the terrifying rebound force shattered the golden armor on Zhan Chen’s body. The impact rushed directly through his body, causing his heart to pound violently. He knew that if he tried to sound out the twenty-first echo, he would undoubtedly be seriously injured.
The sound of his twentieth echo lingered through the air as he turned his cold stare once more onto Qin Wentian.
Yet, he only saw Qin Wentian driving a single finger forwards onto the drum. An overwhelming destructive strength broke apart the space, causing the twentieth echo to ring out as it slammed onto the surface of the gigantic drum.
“BOOOM!!” The Heavens and Earth trembled. He too, achieved twenty echoes. As the sound of that echo reverberated, it felt like the hearts of the spectators were physically impacted. When that terrifying rebound force gushed intensely against Qin Wentian, his body didn’t even tremble in the slightest, his heart was as still as water. It was as though he could see the ending of Ancient Grand Xia once again, that day where blood and tears had mingled, the dissolution of a magnificent dynasty—all the countless streams of will converged together, shooting straight into and rumbling his mind. This was too terrifying.
Zhan Chen hesitated for a moment, and the sound of the previous echo he created dissipated. A moment’s hesitation had cost him his chance but even so, twenty echoes was already amazing. He was on the same level as Chen Wang and Shi Potian, and although the sounding of the drums didn’t affect the competition results, at the very least, it allowed people to see Zhan Chen’s domineering bearing.
“How can your petty heart win against my undying determination?”
As the sound of his voice faded, Qin Wentian stabbed forth with another finger. The boundless force of the world concentrated into a spiral, infusing his finger as he drove it onto the drum yet again.
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!”
Twenty-one echoes—he broke the record. The sound of this reverberation melded together with Qin Wentian’s voice and rumbled through the air, rocking the hearts of the spectators.
This person had just challenged Zhan Chen with this final provocation.
How can your petty heart win against my undying determination?
The first elimination test was merely a formality, using the drum echoes to sift the weak from the strong. But, in terms of pride, the test was a form of challenge for the various geniuses attending. Let alone the fact that Zhan Chen went up together with him, Mo Qingcheng was also watching by the side, so how could he still lose to Zhan Chen then?
Stepping up, Qin Wentian advanced forwards. Smiles suffused the features of his companions around him as they too, proceeded onwards.
This young man was extraordinary, yet sadly his cultivation base was still too low. Provoking Zhan Chen with a cultivation base at the seventh level of Yuanfu was too brazen and foolhardy.
Presently, most of the contenders had already taken the drum test, with only a few of the weaker ones yet to step up.
Moving forward, the remaining contenders set off on their way.
The nine-sided gigantic drum test had eliminated more than half of the original ten thousand participants.
The next test would be even more dangerous: the contenders would face the River of Life and Death.
The River of Life and Death was truly a life and death experience; those who passed it would live, and for those who failed—only death awaited them.
From ages past till the current era, it was unknown how many heroes of Grand Xia had fallen into the River of Life and Death.
Qin Wentian and the rest ascended the azure dragon steps, and when they reached the top, they could see the River of Life and Death in front of them. Or maybe, it would be better to term it as a lake of Life and Death.
The width of the River of Life and Death was as wide as the first step—the stage for the gigantic nine-sided drum—easily able to accommodate thousands of people. As for its length, it measured at about ten thousand metres long, a distance that was considered relatively short for Stellar Martial Cultivators. Any one of these geniuses were able to ford the river in a remarkably short period of time.
However, it wasn’t going to be so easy with a few thousand people fording the river while fighting against each other at the same time.
But, more than the opponents they would face, the river water was the most perilous part of the test—contained within it was a will of corrosion. Without a doubt, all Yuanfu-level cultivators would die if they fell into it.
At this moment, the crowd saw Old Man Tianji and those in-charge of their respective transcendent powers rising through the air, flying past the River of Life and Death. They landed on the other side, then opened the Kingdom’s gate before standing upon the Ancient Kingdom’s city wall.
This River of Life and Death was once a heavenly moat that served as the first line of defense for Ancient Grand Xia. With this defensive setup, the pass could be guarded by just one man, against ten thousand.
Old Man Tianji’s gaze stared ahead. Right now, all the contenders were already facing the River of Life and Death. Although the distance of ten thousand metres might not seem far, this place was already destined to be the grave for several contenders about to take the test.
Old Man Tianji then lit up a candle. This candle was short and thin, indicating a time limit of a mere hundred breaths for the contenders to pass this test.
The difficulty of this could well be imagined with so many people advancing at the same time. There would bound to be some who would make a move against others, using them as stepping stones to get across. The situation would be rife with chaos.
“The candle is already lit. Before the candle flame burns out you are to arrive at the end of the river. Failure means death,” Old Man Tianji then calmly continued, “Move out.”
“GO!” Qin Wentian roared, the few thousand contenders moved at the same time, with a speed as fast as lightning, jostling the others who got in their way.
A single candle to traverse the distance of ten thousands metres, they had to grab hold of all remaining time and proceed forwards with their fastest speed before they could pass.
The thousands of contenders frenziedly rushed ahead, their momentum created an after-wind so powerful they could lacerate anything into pieces. What a terrifying sight, the scene was too visually stunning.
The auras of the few thousand contenders burst out, adding to the chaotic scene. Several had already started fighting amongst themselves in an effort to press ahead at the expense of others.
“SCRAM!” A person behind Qin Wentian shouted, slashing forth with an ancient sword at lightning speed. At the same time, that person stepped on a flying sword, trying to get ahead.
“I’ll take the rear, you guys go on ahead.” Qin Wentian hollered, flipping his palm to blast backwards with a terrifying demonic palm imprint, colliding directly against the ancient sword. His eyes flashed with incredible coldness as his hands moved about in the air, performing runic gestures. Momentarily, a number of great rocs materialized, and they rushed out to block the pathway of the attack.
Similarly, there was also people who were in front of Qin Wentian’s group turning back to unleash attacks in order to block their path. Even when Qin Wentian and the rest soared up into the air, they were met with people already above them in the middle of hurling attacks downwards, wanting to knock them into the river.
Chaos, the situation right now was utterly chaotic.
With a loud splash, someone finally fell into the river. Miserable gut-wrenching screams rang out as his body corroded at visible speed, quickly dissolving into white bones, before the bones themselves eventually dissolved into nothingness.
Qin Wentian swept a glance at the scene as his heart involuntarily shuddered slightly. This was merely the first test after the nine-sided drums. How ruthless, and how tragic was this competition between geniuses?
“Qingcheng.” Qin Wentian glanced at her with worry in his eyes. Given how chaotic it was, where everyone focused only on rushing ahead, he couldn't help worrying about Qingcheng. But luckily he discovered that she was fine. Maybe it was because of her beauty, but there was no one willing to act against her. This was an innate advantage all beauties seemed to possess.
Without an especially strong grudge or hatred, as long as Mo Qingcheng didn't take the initiative to antagonize others, those experts wouldn't make a move against her.Chu Mang and Fan Le stood at the frontline of their group with their Arrow Astral Souls released. Fan Le completely unleashed his bloodline limit, immersing himself in golden flames and looking akin to an Empyrean War God, exuding an imposing and mighty aura.
“Peng!” Somebody ahead of them acted out, trying to block their path as Chu Mang and Fan Le both coldly snorted and loosed an arrow at the target rapidly dashing ahead. That person flipped his palms, making an attempt to destroy the arrows, only to see the feathered bolts suddenly shift their trajectories, causing his countenance to drastically change. An instant later, piercing sounds rang out as the flaming arrows punched through his head, before his corpse fell into the river.
For their group, they wouldn't take the initiative to kill others but for those people who wanted to block their paths, they would show them no mercy.
After Chu Mang consumed the Limit-break pellet, his cultivation base had already broken through to the peak level of Yuanfu. How could his attacks not be overwhelming?
“BOOOOM!”
Right at this moment, a terrifying pressure bore down on them as manifestations of mountains after mountains slammed down from the skies towards their group. Not only that, there were even mountains appearing before them, blocking their path ahead.
“Situ Po.” Qin Wentian inclined his head. He saw Situ Po soaring in the skies, enveloped within an armor of starstone, raining attacks down onto them.
Qin Wentian’s silhouette flickered as he too soared into the skies. With a punch, he shattered the manifestations of the mountains, when suddenly a sharp sword cleaved down his head. It was none other than Situ Po’s technique, the Life Extinction Swordplay.
At the same instant, a domineering suppression force pressed down onto them. The manifestation of a gigantic leg stomped downwards from the Heavens, containing heaven-shaking power within.
“Duan Qingshan.”
Qin Wentian’s countenance turned ice cold, Situ Po had actually allied with Duan Qingshan to make this sneak attack against them.
They were both extremely powerful, Duan Qingshan was ranked #25 on the Heavenly Fate Rankings, while Situ Po’s combat prowess was also at a similar level.
Chu Mang’s great axe cleaved towards them as Ouyang Kuangsheng’s body blazed, releasing flames of ember and thunder, interweaving into thunderfire.
How could Zhan Chen miss out on this excellent opportunity to gang up on Qin Wentian? He clasped his palms together, pointing them forward and stabbed out as a gigantic golden sword materialized, piecing directly towards Qin Wentian.
At this moment, Qin Wentian and his group were being besieged by enemies from both the front and back.
Yet, in the next instance, a domineering devil-might descended, as a black-colored devil spear penetrated through the void, aiming for Zhan Chen. Zhan Chen’s countenance faltered as he roared in rage. “IT'S YOU AGAIN!”
Yun Mengyi also acted, dashing towards Situ Po as her glacial intent caused the atmosphere in the surroundings to turn into ice and snow.
Chaos, this was complete and utter chaos. Attacks were all wildly unleashed, the contenders taking this test could only depend on their luck as they continued rushing ahead.
Other contenders noticed this scene and they couldn’t help but feel astonishment in their hearts. To think that young man who broke the record of the drum echoes would have such influence—so many friends as well as so many enemies.
Those that were hunting him down were all extraordinary characters of their generation—Zhan Chen, Duan Qingshan and Situ Po.
And at this moment, yet another Star-Seizing Palm Imprint was thrown in the mix. The expressions on the spectators’ faces stiffened yet again. That was an attack that originated from the Star-Seizing Manor—it seemed that Yang Fan, alongside with one of his lackeys wanted to join in the fun as well.