AGM 380 - Egotistical Arrogance
Atop the Vermilion Bird arena platform, the location of the battle for the Heavenly Fate Rankings.
Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng, the two that were originally supposed to fight against each other, held hands as they faced the entire world together.
Qin Wentian’s gaze was resolute, while Mo Qingcheng’s eyes sparkled with a dazzling smile. Today was the happiest day she experienced in the course of the past few years.
Her time with Qin Wentian had taught that innocent and carefree young lady from Chu the sweetness of love, followed quickly by the bitter aftertaste of separation. Through it all, she had truly matured, further tempered by the longing in her heart.
Their bubble of love back then had been so perfect, until Hua Xiaoyun arrived in Chu and destroyed all that. She was quickly brought to the Pill Emperor Hall, where she found herself worshiped like a saint, with tens of thousands of adoring gazes focused on her every move. Under that silent pressure, that young lady from Chu learned to seal her own heart, using icy aloofness as a mask and defense against her terrible loneliness.
Throughout these few years, even though her skill with alchemy and strength had been constantly rising, she hadn’t truly been happy. Her heart would only stir whenever she heard Qin Wentian’s name, yet this would soon be followed by a bitterness so intense at the reminder that they couldn’t be together.
Right now, both of them stood atop the Vermilion Bird Arena Platform staring straight at the world. Qin Wentian held her hand, she wasn’t shy, nor was she afraid. In her heart, there was only conviction, as well as courage.
She wanted to let the entire Grand Xia know that Qin Wentian was the only man she loved. No matter the consequences, and regardless of what would happen in the future she, Mo Qingcheng, had no regrets.
Qin Wentian had never felt this composed. He knew that the majority of the world disdained him. When speaking of Mo Qingcheng’s prospective partner, the names that would often be heard would always be Hua Taixu, and even Zhan Chen. Nobody would think of him.
Today, he wanted to make an announcement to the whole world. He was Qin Wentian, and Mo Qingcheng was his woman.
Just like this, their hands tightly held onto the other, directly facing the world. May the consequences be damned for they had no regrets. Not now, not ever.
“How can this be?” The spectators didn’t dare to believe their eyes. How was this possible?
Mo Qingcheng was the epitome of beauty among the younger generations, why was she holding hands together with Qin Wentian, why were they even together?
This was totally out of the crowd’s expectations—wasn’t Mo Qingcheng supposed to be together with Hua Taixu?
So, it turned out that this world-astounding woman had long been acquainted with Qin Wentian. And not only that, they were mutual lovers.
Those from the Pill Emperor Hall stared at the scene happening on the platform. Luo He’s countenance was intensely ugly to behold, she had given everything to Mo Qingcheng, yet she still chose to disobey her.
Bai Fei stared at the two figures on the stage, as she silently lamented in her heart. Back then, when she had met Qin Wentian in that small and remote country, even in her wildest dreams she would not have imagined that there would be such a day today. He dared to hold Mo Qingcheng’s hand in front of the entirety of Grand Xia, right on the Vermilion Bird Arena Platform, a stage where countless gazes would be riveted upon the two of them.
Zhan Chen trembled violently as his eyes flashed with an intense desire to kill.
There were too many that didn’t bless this union.
They don’t think that this relationship would go far. Or more accurately, they looked down on Qin Wentian.
Although, Qin Wentian was already very outstanding, but to them, they still felt that he could never match up to Mo Qingcheng.
Those from the White Deer Institute stood together, including Bailu Yi and Bailu Jing. Upon seeing the two figures standing on the stage, two against the entire world, a glint of congratulatory happiness could be seen in Bailu Yi’s eyes, and yet… there was also the glimmer of unshed tears.
“He’s finally holding her hand in front of the entire world.” Bailu Yi smiled as she murmured. Back then she had already heard of their story from Qin Wentian, and seeing the couple in front of her today, she truly and sincerely wished them well from the bottom of her heart, and hoped they would have a perfect ending.
Bailu Jing also had a smile on his face. Although he was eliminated quite early on, he didn’t appear to mind it that much. He embraced Bailu Yi as he patted her shoulders, offering his consolation.
Bailu Yi glanced upwards as she smiled, “Brother.”
“I know you are in love with that brat, however sometimes, letting go is the best closure.” Bailu Jing sighed, how could he not understand his own sister’s heart? Back then when it was rumored that Qin Wentian was together with his sister, although he was supportive of it, he still felt that Qin Wentian was lucky to catch the eye of Bailu Yi. Yet now, upon seeing the remarkable speed of Qin Wentian’s improvement, so fast that he had even surpassed himself, Bailu Jing now understood how wrong he’d been.
“Little Yi, do you think he’ll be able to obtain the top three rankings?” At the side, the large-eyed elder from the White Deer Institute asked in a low voice. This batch of contenders were all monsters, and it wasn’t going to be easy if Qin Wentian wanted to exceed the rest.
Chen Wang, Shi Potian, Si Qiong, Zhan Chen, the black-robed figure, Qin Zheng, Emperor Azure, Mu Feng. Which of them weren’t terrifying figures in their own right?
Qin Zheng had cornered Shi Potian to such an extent, while Mu Feng caused Si Qiong to be grievously poisoned. The black-robed figure’s battle with Emperor Azure still filled the hearts of the crowd with shock and amazement. Each and every battle had already imprinted themselves in the mind of the spectators, forever inerasable. This ranking battle for the Heavenly Fate Rankings had proven to be too fearsome.
“Naturally,” Bailu Yi stated with certainty. “Back then in the secret realm of Divine Inscriptions, did anyone from the Star-Seizing Manor believe in him? No. But didn’t he still succeed in the end?”
“Alright, I hope he’ll succeed too. If not, then after holding the hands of the most beautiful maiden in Grand Xia, even the gazes of the world would be sufficient to pressure him to death.” The large-eyed elder laughed, this brat was truly good at making others feel surprise at his inconceivable achievements.
They could still remember back then, when Di Feng arrived at their White Deer Institute, how many among them believed in Qin Wentian? Yet today, he could already stand equally with Di Feng on the same stage and not only that, his ranking had temporarily exceeded Di Feng after his earlier defeat.
Countless gazes landed on Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng.
From the Mystic Maiden Palace, Xuan Yan, Xuan Xin and Li Shiyu.
Shu Ruanyu from the Moon Continent, Ouyang Kuangsheng and Ouyang Xiaolu from the Ouyang Aristocrat Clan—they all had different thoughts currently running through their minds.
Now, no matter what the others thought about them, both Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng couldn’t care less. Since they were already holding hands on this platform in full view of the world, they had nothing more to fear.
“I admit defeat.” Mo Qingcheng gently smiled. She didn’t care whether she was ranked first or last, the Heavenly Fate Rankings battle didn’t matter to her.
She’d give up this battle to pave the way for Qin Wentian.
“Indeed, Mo Qingcheng has chosen to concede.”
When the spectators witnessed the two of them holding hands, they already guessed that Mo Qingcheng wouldn’t fight against Qin Wentian. She would rather pave his way to the top six by choosing to give up instead.
As the sound of Mo Qingcheng’s voice faded, the top six rankers of the Heavenly Fate Rankings appeared: Chen Wang, Shi Potian, Si Qiong, Zhan Chen, the black-robed figure and Qin Wentian.
Only… their rankings had yet to be finalized, and there might still be others who wanted to challenge them. If the challengers won, they would instantly take over their positions.
The gazes of the crowd were fixated on Qin Wentian. He became the person with the highest probability of being challenged by the four others ranked at in the bottom five. Other than Mo Qingcheng, the rest had no reason to pave the way forwards for him.
After she conceded, both Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng walked down the platform and stood alongside each other.
After Old Man Tianji announced the victor, it was now time for the bottom five rankers to issue their own challenges. But before this, everyone would have a night’s worth of time to rest, before commencing to the next round.
On the winding pathways, the spectators were all engrossed in their topics of discussion. The majority of the murmurs involved Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng’s shocking reveal. Many in the crowd couldn’t help but fantasize how good it would be if they were the male lead instead.
The next morning, the sun rose as the myriad of living things began to awaken. The contenders were already waiting in position, as they stood by the side below the arena platform.
Old Man Tianji’s opened his eyes and stated to Qin Zheng. “Qin Zheng, you will have first priority to issue a challenge. If you win, you will be boosted to the top six, and if you lose, your position will be fixed at your current ranking.”
Qin Zheng nodded his head lightly, he stood upon the platform and the person he issued a challenge to, was actually Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen was exceptionally astonished, he never expected that the first person to be issued a challenge would actually be him.
Radiating sharpness, he stepped onto the arena platform. After which, a world-shattering battle ensued and Zhan Chen ended up as the victor.
It wasn’t that Qin Zheng was weak, but he was similar to Yun Mengyi, in that even though his attacks could bypass Zhan Chen and smash into his body, due to his indestructible form, Zhan Chen took no damage at all. After witnessing that, the crowd re-evaluated Zhan Chen’s combat prowess yet again. What a terrifying defense, it was as though he was invulnerable to all others in the whole of the Yuanfu Realm.Next, was Mu Feng.
Mu Feng sat there cross-legged, appearing as though he was still in the middle of his meditation. Si Qiong used a soul attack against him—for soul-based attacks, the resulting wounds would be the most difficult to heal.
“I give up, I’m not interested,” Mu Feng unperturbedly stated as he closed his eyes, as if speaking of an extremely ordinary thing.
“Fine. Mu Feng’s ranking will be fixed at #11.” Old Man Tianji nodded. After which, upon the shimmering scoreboard, Mu Feng’s name was inscribed as the #11 position. Despite not being in the top ten, nobody dared to belittle or even forget the name of this young man, who had so grievously poisoned Si Qiong.After which, it was now Yun Mengyi’s turn. Upon seeing those in the top six, Yun Mengyi calmly spoke, “I concede as well.”
Yun Mengyi knew that there was still some distance between her and Qin Zheng. Since Qin Zheng was already about to be out of the picture, it was useless for her to continue struggling on.
“Yun Mengyi, ranked #10 on the Heavenly Fate Rankings,” Old Man Tianji announced.
“I too, choose to give up.” Mo Qingcheng stated in a low voice. She originally didn’t even want to participate, she had only ever wanted to aid Qin Wentian.
“Mo Qingcheng, ranked #9 in the Heavenly Fate Rankings.”
After which, only Emperor Azure was left.
Emperor Azure walked up onto the arena platform once again. His gaze didn’t glance about randomly but instantly riveted onto Qin Wentian.
The others might not know this, but he knew that Qin Wentian was the successor who possessed the Azure Emperor Token.
Qin Wentian was the one that snatched the inheritance that should rightfully have belonged to him.
Qin Wentian also stepped into the top six because of Mo Qingcheng’s forfeit of their battle.
“You should step down to rank #8. Only useless weaklings would depend on a woman,” Emperor Azure slowly spoke, as many nodded their heads in agreement. Qin Wentian’s ‘battle’, wasn’t a real battle at all. Absurdly stepping into the top six, this rankled the hearts of many of the spectators’, displeased with the unfairness of such an outcome.
He felt compelled to blast Qin Wentian off the stage to ease the negative emotions bundled up in his heart.
Qin Wentian stepped upon the arena platform, coming face to face with Emperor Azure.
This was the first battle after he and Mo Qingcheng made their announcement to the entire world. And this battle was also against the descendants of the main bloodline of the Azure Emperor—the chosen from the Di Clan’s younger generation.
“Do you want to concede, or do you want me to make you concede?” Emperor Azure’s intense demonic qi permeated the air. He no longer concealed the fact that he too, had cultivated in the Fiend Transformation Art.
Qin Wentian stared at Emperor Azure, his arms crossed as he wore a look of serenity in his eyes.“Ten breaths. If you remain undefeated, I will concede right away.” Qin Wentian’s voice resounded through the air, causing countless gazes from the spectators to freeze. Just when everyone had firmly condemned Qin Wentian for achieving his position because of Mo Qingcheng’s concession, that man in question was now announcing to the entire world that if he couldn’t defeat Emperor Azure in ten breaths, he would bow out of the Heavenly Fate Rankings!
Was this an arrogance borne of ignorance, or was it a self-confidence so immense that it was carved into his very bones?