AGM 503 – Violent Thunder Sword-Drum Formation
The Warforge Residence was an extremely famous power in the Xuan King City. For generations, they were proficient in forging and refining divine weapons for others.
In fact, the old master of the Warforge Residence, could even create fifth-ranked divine weapons. However, he was already extremely aged and still failed to break through the barrier of Heavenly Dipper, unable to cross into Celestial Phenomenon. Hence, although he could forge fifth-ranked divine weapons, his heart was not into it.
For the running of daily matters of Warforge Residence, he already left it in the hands of those from the younger generations. And although the younger ones are unable to forge fifth-ranked divine weapons, it wasn’t a problem for them to create fourth-ranked ones.
Today, numerous cultivators stopped by the Warforge Residence early in the morning to request for custom-made divine weapons. However, the Warforge Residence had already anticipated it, now that the test date to enter the nine great sects was arriving, these cultivators wouldn’t mind spending vast sums of their fortune to forge a good divine weapon for themselves, thereby ensuring an increase in their chances to pass the entrance test of the disciple recruitment selection.
Among this group of people, there was a black-robed young man mixed within them. This person was none other than Qin Wentian, who was currently hiding his identity. He needed to forge some other weapons so as to better cloak his identity from the eyes of others.
“What kind of divine weapons do you want?” An executive who stood in front of Qin Wentian, asked.
“A top-grade fourth-ranked spear, and a top-grade fourth-ranked axe. Also forge for me an ordinary spear and axe that are replicas of the divine weapons as well. Will the Warforge Residence be able to accomplish this?”
The eyes of the executive flashed with sharpness as he stared at Qin Wentian. What an arrogant tone, this person actually wanted two top-grade fourth-ranked divine weapons.
“You can’t accomplish this?” Qin Wentian asked coldly with a slight frown of displeasure on his face, exuding a formless pressure.
“With your cultivation base, a mid-grade fourth-ranked weapon would be more than enough to allow you to unleash your combat prowess. You should be coming here to make an order for divine weapons because of the disciple recruitment selection of the nine great sects, right? High-grade and top-grade fourth-ranked weapons are way above your league, and not to mention, using divine weapons meant that you are borrowing external aid instead of depending on your own strength. How would the examiners hold you in high regard?” A young woman with perfect skin stood on the stairs behind the executive as she spoke. This young woman had a fragile look of beauty to her, yet she projected an aura of capability and experience, carrying herself tall.
“Thank you for the reminder.” Qin Wentian nodded his head lightly. The maiden couldn’t help but feel somewhat depressed when she saw Qin Wentian brushing her off nonchalantly, but this young man had an extraordinary demeanor different from others and even gave her a faint sense of pressure. One must know that the level of her cultivation base wasn’t low, she would also be going to the disciple recruitment selection event to partake in the trial.
“How about the rest of you?” That maiden glanced at those beside Qin Wentian. Basically, all of them wanted a mid-grade, fourth-ranked divine weapon. Using a not so powerful divine weapon could complement their strength better and others wouldn’t make snide remarks saying they got through the test by lending the aid of external objects. The maiden then took note of their authors before leaving this area.
“Yun Rou from the Warforge Residence is growing more and more beautiful for every year that passes. Not only that, she’s blessed with superb talent as well.” Someone in a yellow-robe laughed.
“Oh? Is Brother Huang interested in Yun Rou?” Another man clad in simple robes of white commented.
“Is there something strange? Humans tend to go after beautiful things after all.” The yellow-robed man laughed, appearing extremely casual only to hear the man in white sarcastically shooting him down, “But I don’t think Yun Rou would even have you in her eyes at all.”
“Hmph.” The yellow-robed man coldly snorted before turning over to Qin Wentian, “Hey, are you participating in the event as well? By borrowing the strength of such powerful divine weapons, you might not qualify even if you pass the entry test.”
“You don’t need to care about this.” Qin Wentian emotionlessly replied, his words causing the guy in white to laugh, “Brother Huang, this person is too proud, he can’t appreciate your good intentions. Just ignore him.”
“Hehe.” The yellow-robed young man coldly laughed. After a short period of time passed, Yun Rou walked out from the Warforge Residence with several executives, bringing out a large number of divine weapons with them. The Warforge Residence has already listed their selling price at the entrance of their residence, hence the cost was all already understood by customers who chose to frequent this place. Qin Wentian stared at the weapons Yun Rou passed to him. There was two completely similar-looking axes as well as two completely similar-looking long spears.
But of course, only their external appearances appeared the same. The aura they exuded was completely different.
“Thank you.” Qin Wentian passed an interspatial ring over to Yun Rou. Yun Rou accepted the ring and glanced at him before she nodded slightly, “I’m called Yun Rou, if you are participating in the selection of the nine great sects as well, we could group up and go together.”
Qin Wentian stared at her before shaking his head, “I like to travel alone. Farewell.”
After speaking, he directly and left the area where the Warforge Residence was located. Yun Rou stood there stunned, it was only after a while did she recover, her eyes flashing with a strange glow as she got increasingly curious about this young man. Her silhouette flickered as she actually followed after Qin Wentian. The two young men in white and yellow both had despondent looks on their faces. They wanted to get acquainted with Yun Rou yet she couldn’t even be bothered to look at them. But that young man acted so coldly and it actually attracted her attention?
Currently in the central region of Xuan King City, all the representatives from the nine great sects had already arrived. In that vast empty space, a magnificent stage that could hold up to over ten thousand was built. Obviously, this stage was constructed for the recruitment event held by the nine great sects.
Around here, an astronomical amount of people flooded the surroundings.
“The nine flags on the stage symbolizing the nine great sects.”
On the stage, in nine different directions, there were nine flags set up there, each flag taking up an area. And on the flags, there were different pictures imprinted upon them.”
“The flag with the picture of mountains, symbolizes the Qinghua Mountain Sect.”
“The picture of that great axe, symbolizes the Heaven Cleaving Manor.”
“The picture showing the great earth, symbolizes the Great Earth Sect.”
“The picture of lightning bolts, symbolizes the Violet Thunder Sect.”
“The picture of the demonic dragon, symbolizes the the Divine Dragon Castle.”
“The picture of the scorpion, symbolizes the Sky Poison Valley.”
“The picture of the demonic halberd, symbolizes the Blood Devil Palace.”
“The picture of beautiful ladies, symbolizes the Forgotten Immortal Tower.”
“The picture of the sword, symbolizes the Battle Sword Sect.”
The experts from the nine sects were all already present but the magnificent stage they were standing on didn’t belong to any of the nine great sects but rather, to the royal clan instead.
The royal clan of Grand Shang had also sent their people over.
Even the royal clan themselves weren’t sure why the nine great sects wanted the Xuan King City as the location for their disciple selection event instead of the royal capital of Grand Shang.
Not only that, the reason for the recruitment seemed to be stem from the Battle Sword Sect. The Battle Sword Sect broke it’s ten-thousand-year tradition and initiated accepting disciples. It was also unknown why they choose the location to be Xuan King City.
Right now the representatives all stood upon the stage. Staring at these mighty figures, the hearts of the crowd was set ablaze with anticipation.
This opportunity was incredibly rare. One must understand that each of the nine great sects had power equivalent to the royal clan of Grand Shang. If one could truly be selected as a disciple, how prestigious would it be?
“This time the nine great sects only intend to accept true core disciples. The criteria for interested applicants is that they must be at the sixth level of Heavenly Dipper or below. As long as one can pass the Violent Thunder Sword-Drum Formation, they would gain the ability to step on the stage. Do your best to show your capabilities, maybe one of the nine great sects might be willing to accept you.”
Right now, a person from the royal clan stood up and spoke, “Also, my royal clan is also willing to take the opportunity today to recruit outstanding geniuses. All of you better treasure this opportunity wisely.”
After speaking, he sat down once again. The representatives from the nine sects remained silent, appearing casual but their eyes glimmered with sharpness as they stared at the crowd.
Waves of commotions were already rising in the hearts of these people. Both the nine great sects as well as the royal clan are recruiting people? This was truly an extremely rare opportunity which only happened once in a blue moon.
“Violent Thunder Sword-Drum Formation.” The crowd stared at the path leading up to the magnificent stage. That pathway was over ten meters long and wide, and on both sides, battle drums with sharp swords embedded within them could be seen lining the path. Not only that in the middle of the air, a bead of lightning hovered there, casting its glows on the battle drums and sword, the energy from the bead powering the formation as lightning-infused sword qi crackled all about, striking fear in the hearts of the crowd.
For the entry test, the nine great sects didn’t give a time limit. Most likely, the event would only stop after they were satisfied.
And only by stepping through this Violent Thunder Sword-Drum Formation would one be considered to be qualified enough for the nine sects’ considerations. And after the weak was weeded out from the strong, an intense battle between each of the geniuses might commence.
“Let me give it a try.” At this moment, a person slowly stepped out. He had a green cloak on him, with sword-angled eyebrows, emanating a sense of sharpness. As he walked up the inclining path towards the Violent Thunder Sword-Drum Formation, his astral novas erupted into being as a screen of swords manifested protectively around him.
The Sword-Drum formation suddenly buzzed into activity, the bluish arcs of lightning generated from the lightning bead slammed into the battle drums as an incomparable chaotic killing intent engulfed the entire area. Because that person moved too fast, only stopping when he was right smack in the middle of the formation, he was trapped there being unable to retreat nor advance.
“SCRAM!” A howl of anger reverberated the air as his astral novas slammed towards the battle drums on two sides of the pathway.
“BOOM, BOOM…” Terrifying sounds rocked the air, the thunderous impact causing him to cough out blood. After which, when the attacks from his astral novas slammed into the battle drums, the shockwaves from the backlash generated was many times more powerful compared to the strength of his attacks.
“Puchi…” A beam of sword light pierced into him, augmented by the reverberations from the booming sounds of the battle drums, the poor cultivator was swiftly lacerated into pieces.
Such a scenario struck fear in the hearts of those watching. What a terrifying formation.
The nine great sects and the royal clan, how could they be places so easily to become a disciple of? That powerful cultivator who was the first to step out, was now nothing more than bloody pulps of flesh.
Qin Wentian who was clad in black was now in a certain corner, quietly spectating the happenings. He slowly contemplated the representatives from the nine sects; those from the Qinghua Mountains exuded a sense of inscrutability; those from the Heaven Cleaving Manor emitted a towering might… Although those from the Battle Sword Sect were few in number. They sat there in their designated area giving off a feeling of casualness and being care-free. Yet, deep within this sense of casualness, was also a sense of extreme sharpness.
After which, Qin Wentian turned his gaze into the direction of the royal clan of Grand Shang. With the main royal clan present, those from the side branches of the royal clan residing in the King’s Manor in Xuan King City were naturally all here as well. Other than Shang Qi and Shang Yue, the outstanding talents from the other major powers like the Yin Clan, Golden Fire Aristocrat Clan and Wind Roc Aristocrat Clan were all present as well.
“Yin Ting also wishes to give this a try?” At this moment, an expert from the King’s manor asked as he turned his gaze onto the young man currently walking towards the lightning formation. This man was none other than the chosen from Yin Clan, Yin Ting.
The experts from the Yin Clan all had a smile on their faces when they heard this. One of the stronger powerhouse from the older generation spoke, “Let’s hope one of the nine great sects would feel that Yin Ting has enough potential to join them.”
That powerhouse had absolute confidence in Yin Ting passing the Violent Thunder Sword-Drum Formation!