AGM 362 - Plundering Ancient Luck
Qin Wentian stared at the gigantic Vermilion Bird, feeling waves of shock rocking his heart.
Ancient luck, the purpose of the Heavenly Fate Rankings battle was to wrest away luck. There was actually ancient luck!
At this moment, the Purgatory Vermilion Bird that appeared behind him wasn’t that big in size, yet it emitted a terrifying baleful aura akin to that of Purgatory. Varying hues of crimson and black interweaved, giving people a sense of breathlessness when witnessing its beauty.
In the air above them, the Vermilion Bird turned its glance in other directions, and only then did Qin Wentian begin to survey his surroundings. He was currently within a mountain range, and far off in the horizon there was a city made from spatial laws. He was sent here by virtue of the concept of space, and had stepped into a world created within a formation.
This world was ancient and desolate, giving people a sense that it hailed from a primordial era. Perhaps this was a piece of land left behind from Ancient Grand Xia, one that had been incorporated within a formation. Qin Wentian wondered at the level of power a person must have to accomplish such a feat.
“Yi!”
The Purgatory Vermilion Bird let out a low screech, as though it wasn’t an illusory manifestation but a real existence instead.
Qin Wentian’s formidable heart sense scanned the area as he soared into the air. He wanted to have a clear idea of the layout of this land. However, after a few moments , he turned his head and glanced in a certain direction, with a brilliant light glimmering in his eyes.
“That place…” Qin Wentian instantly turned and flew towards that direction. After a few breaths of time, he stood before a mountain wall that appeared to have a terrible fluctuation of energy gushing forth from it. Embedded in the wall was a gigantic axe. It was unknown how many years this axe had been here—it exuded an archaic air and looked extremely crude yet, no hints of corrosion appeared to mar its surface. Qin Wentian could even feel his heart clenching at the aura of power emanating from it.
“What a powerful Divine Weapon.”
Qin Wentian’s silhouette flickered as he appeared right before the gigantic axe. He clasped his hands around the handle and summoned his strength to try to pull it out, yet the axe remained motionless, even in the face of his overwhelming strength.
“What is inside this mountain wall?!” Qin Wentian felt shock in his heart. Even just by standing near, he could sense that the will of the axe wished to cleave him into two.
Qin Wentian stepped back as large garuda wings appeared behind his back—he decided to come back here later. He first wanted to check out what kind of place this world inside the formation was.
Soaring through the skies, Qin Wentian eventually reached a vast body of water, landing atop a huge reef. A hellish coldness seemed to emanate forth right in front of him; its source was a spatial spiral that seemed to lead right underneath the ocean, yet Qin Wentian didn’t attempt it. He wouldn’t take a risk for things he wasn’t absolutely confident in—he could feel danger abounded everywhere inside this world.
However, he faintly understood why some people couldn’t make a breakthrough to Heavenly Dipper, despite having cultivation bases already at the ninth level of Yuanfu, comprehended second level Mandates and had no lack of cultivation resources available. Although such people were truly few in number, they still existed—those top few rankers on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. Qin Wentian faintly understood that in this world , there were things that they wanted to acquire. And one could only do so in the Yuanfu Realm.
Inclining his head, Qin Wentian gazed upwards. That immense Vermilion Bird was still there, as though it were the sovereign of this entire world.
By the sea’s coastline, a middle-aged man could be seen slowly making his way forward. His age was evidently greater compared to those taking the test. And despite his age, he still hadn’t made a breakthrough to Heavenly Dipper, which could only mean that his talent was average at best. Yet, this didn’t mean that his strength at the Yuanfu Realm was weak—after all he was also a ranker on the Heavenly Fate Rankings, with a position among the top hundred ranks.
Behind him was also the illusory manifestation of a Vermilion Bird, yet this one was totally different from the one behind Qin Wentian—it was just an ordinary Vermilion Bird. The color of that middle-aged man’s battle robe was yellow.
That middle-aged man seemed to be stalking someone, moving slowly as he tried to retain the element of surprise. Qin Wentian followed his gaze only to see a familiar silhouette further up ahead. It was none other than Li Shiyu from the Unmatched Realm.
Li Shiyu’s talent in the Mystic Maiden Palace could still be considered outstanding, with a cultivation base at the ninth level of Yuanfu and battle robes of the color yellow.
The middle-aged man abruptly sped up, and Li Shiyu frowned, she finally noticed that this man was hunting her. She too, quickened her steps, as the two played a game of cat and mouse, dashing ahead with incredible speed.
Eventually, the middle-aged man caught up to Li Shiyu. Without hesitation, he unleashed his attacks as both their Astral Souls flared into being. The Astral Soul of that man was a bloody silhouette that emitted a sense of evilness in the air. Obviously, the Mandate he comprehended was the Mandate of Blood, and his mastery of it was at the Perfection Boundary of the first level insight.
Other than the Mandate of Blood, both his Mandate of Gold and Mandate of Wind were also at the Perfection Boundary of the first level. Although Li Shiyu was strong, she wasn’t strong enough to fight against him. Very quickly, she coughed out fresh blood, the blood staining her robes red.
Qin Wentian calmly watched on. Although he was also from the Unmatch Realm, there was no friendship between him and Li Shiyu. In fact, Li Shiyu tried time and time again to split Fan Le and Xuan Xin apart, and so Qin Wentian had no reason to help her.
When Li Shiyu was defeated in the end, Qin Wentian discovered that the Vermilion Bird behind her was quickly devoured by the one accompanying the middle-aged man. After which, the middle-aged man’s Vermilion Bird’s aura strengthened perceptibly, as it outlines began to thicken and took a step closer to reality.
Li Shiyu then vanished from this world, ousted by the formation. This scenario caused Qin Wentian to exhale in amazement.
“Was this what they meant by plundering ancient luck?”
Qin Wentian’s heart shivered lightly—so this was the contest for ancient luck. If one was defeated here, the amount of ancient luck allocated to them would be plundered and they would be immediately removed from the Heavenly Fate Rankings.
After the middle-aged man finished off Li Shiyu, he turned and glanced at Qin Wentian, before visibly hesitating for a moment. After which, he seemed to have come to a decision, as his eyes gleamed with a cold light.
That person soared into the air as he disdainfully stared down at Qin Wentian. “Although you are extraordinary, your cultivation base is still too weak. You should just give the ancient luck of the Purgatory Vermilion Bird to me.”
Qin Wentian raised his head as he stared at the middle-aged man. He noticed that his opponent had two pinpoints of light shining on his Vermilion Bird’s forehead. This meant that his current Vermilion Bird was a fusion of two portions of ancient luck.
As the voice of the middle-aged man faded, his Vermilion Bird screeched in excitement as it dashed towards Qin Wentian’s Purgatory Vermilion Bird.
The Purgatory Vermilion Bird answered with a shrill screech of anger, causing the middle-aged man to frown. “If you insist on fighting, don’t blame me if I make you suffer through hell first before plundering your luck away.”
A cold light gleamed in Qin Wentian’s eyes, and in moments the aura that exuded from his Purgatory Vermilion Bird grew even stronger as the two illusory birds fought each other in the air, neither shrinking back from the challenge.
“Heart and Intent as one.” Qin Wentian understood how the middle-aged man wrested away the ancient luck from Li Shiyu.
“What other marvellous usage of the gathered ancient luck would there be?” Qin Wentian asked.
“Hmph. Did nobody tell you of this? Gather the ancient luck and a true Vermilion Bird will materialize. But with your level of strength, it wouldn’t even matter if I told you this secret.” The middle-aged man exuded a sinister pressure as his Astral Soul took the form of an evil apparition. Its bloodshot eyes caused the blood in Qin Wentian’s body to stir restlessly about.
Qin Wentian coldly laughed, this middle-aged man seemed to look down on him a little too much but in reality, he was being extremely cautious. The middle-aged man was testing out Qin Wentian with his words and didn’t dare to make any direct moves to attack him—he wanted to probe Qin Wentian’s strength before committing fully to the battle.
Although he had lived for so long, this middle-aged man still hadn’t comprehended any second level Mandates. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to step into Heavenly Dipper but rather, he couldn't do so. He had been stuck in Yuanfu for so many years, seeing others surpassing him one by one. Such a feeling was similar to the stabbing of knives to one’s heart; extremely uncomfortable. This was also the reason why he participated in the ranking battle every three years, it had already become his sole reason to continue living. He planned to either find his good fortune here or search for something that could enable him to breakthrough to Heavenly Dipper. How could he be careless now?
“The power in my blood isn’t something you can control. Since ancient luck can be plundered away, I suggest for you to submit to me.”
Qin Wentian floated in the air as he abruptly rushed towards the middle-aged man. The man frowned before turning, intending to escape. Qin Wentian had a cold-looking grin on his face as he pursued the man.
“Bzzz!” The middle-aged man suddenly shifted direction, dashing straight towards Qin Wentian in an attempt to catch him by surprise instead. Like a bolt of thunder, his will of the Mandate of Blood erupted forth as his hands reached out to grab hold of Qin Wentian’s flesh.
This person had yet to comprehend any second level Mandates, so how could Qin Wentian fear him? Still grinning, Qin Wentian punched out, meeting the middle-aged man’s palms blow for blow. In that instant of collision, Qin Wentian felt the blood in his entire body roiling about madly, as though it were on the verge of exploding out of his body. But by landing this attack, he middle-aged man would pay with his life. The vibrational shockwaves gushed directly into his body, as the terrifying fluctuations shattered everything within.
“You…” The middle-aged man stared at Qin Wentian in disbelief.
“BOOM!” Qin Wentian sent out another palm, flinging the middle-aged man through the air. His Vermilion Bird gave a shrill cry as its form began to shimmer, evidently becoming weaker. The Purgatory Vermilion Bird then flew forwards, and devoured it instantly.
A moment later, the spatial laws in this formation fluctuated as the middle-aged man disappeared from this world. Qin Wentian stared at his Purgatory Vermilion Bird in satisfaction as three points of light glowed on its forehead.
“Its aura is much stronger now, and its illusory form has become more corporeal.” Qin Wentian observed. The plundering of ancient luck was cruel indeed.
As time passed, Qin Wentian continued traversing this world. He met a total of six to seven people and easily plundered their ancient luck away. The illusory Vermilion Bird above Qin Wentian continued to ‘thicken’ with each victory, as the baleful aura emitting from it grew increasingly stronger.
To his surprise, he sensed the aura of a cultivation base at the first level of Yuanfu emitting from it.
Back in the Ancient Kingdom, the outside spectators could watch everything that happened in the world within the formation, albeit a condensed, miniature version, when compared to reality.
“Chen Wang and Shi Potian are too strong, they’ve actually defeated so many that the points of light on the foreheads of their Vermilion Birds have formed into two vertical lines.”
“Si Qiong and Zhan Chen as well, they are all frenziedly hunting to plunder the ancient luck.”
Every pinpoint of light equated to one contender being eliminated. And every vertical line represented ten people that had been eliminated.
“Qin Wentian’s strength was enough to battle against some rankers on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. It looks like only Yuanfu Realm cultivators who’ve comprehended second level Mandates will be able to suppress him.”
“Wait, look at that damnable fatty, isn’t that guy too shameless? He’s hiding underneath the coral reef to cultivate instead?”
The spectators all turned their gazes over and soon noticed the big-sized silhouette currently being called out. What a shameless method to get into the Heavenly Fate Rankings—he wanted to weasel his way into the rankings by hiding away, and avoid fighting others so they wouldn’t have the opportunity to plunder his ancient luck?
Such a method was truly too shameless, everyone was looking down at that fatty with contempt.
“Chen Wang and Shi Potian came into contact, yet they didn’t battle each other. Evidently, they wanted to wait till the very end.”
“Wait, check out that direction Chen Wang is heading to. Seems like Qin Wentian’s luck is pretty bad, at this rate, they’ll run into each other soon.” In that moment, the spectators burst into discussion.
Earlier, hadn’t Qin Wentian just offended Chen Wang? He’s in for it now!