AGM 0095 – Attempting Creation
Qin Wentian’s current cultivation base was at the 6th level of Arterial Circulation. One year from now, with his talent, he should be able to step into the peak of Arterial Circulation. This year-long period was sufficient for Qin Wentian to consolidate and ensure that his cultivation base was stable, as well as gain more insights on how to strengthen his Astral Souls to use them to aid in his battles. Only then would he have a chance to get the first ranking in the grand banquet.
“Are we really going to place our hopes on others?” Qin Wentian mumbled. He had personally experienced the strength Luo Qianqiu was capable of wielding. Even when Luo Qianqiu was holding back, his level of strength was already extremely terrifying. If Qin Wentian had not seized the initiative during the third attack, the ending would surely have been different. Not only that, since Luo Qianqiu’s aim was clear, it was certain that during these remaining months, he would definitely find a way to heighten his power.
Luo Qianqiu originated from the Nine Mystical Palace, so Qin Wentian naturally would not underestimate him. Most definitely, Luo Qianqiu also had cards hidden up his sleeves.
“Even if my chance of becoming the champion this year is not that great, I must still attempt it.” Qin Wentian spoke.
“I think so as well. However, the competition at the grand banquet have a certain degree of danger to it. Luo Qianqiu, Orchon, and some others will surely take part in it. Just treat it as part of your training and retreat if you can’t handle it. Remember, caution above all,” Mustang reminded him.
After all, the Emperor Star Academy currently had extremely high expectations of Qin Wentian.
Mustang also understood what does these expectations meant. The 7th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion also represented the stairway to the 8th and the 9th level.
Ever since the Emperor Star Academy was founded all those years ago, there had never been anyone who entered the 9th level before.
The Emperor Star Academy’s top brass had always hoped that there would be a day when a student of good character and extraordinary talent would appear. Only then would that student have a chance to create history.
“Teacher, with my status right now, is it possible for me to visit the 6th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion?” A somewhat silly smile appeared on Qin Wentian’s countenance, causing Mustang to roll his eyes at him. “Using a backdoor? Now that you can inscribe 3rd level imprints, Yuan Meteor Stones shouldn’t be a problem for you. Shouldn’t you make some contributions to the academy as well?”
Qin Wentian’s countenance turned crestfallen after hearing this. Mustang continued, “How about this? Upgrade your medallion to the 4th level on your own, and for the 5th level, \ tell the elder in charge there that I was the one who granted you access. As for the 6th level, think of a way yourself.”
“Thank you Teacher.” Qin Wentian smiled. The 5th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion? This way, he would have the chance to study some mid-tier earth-grade innate techniques.
“Teacher, me, what about me!!” Fatty interjected. He fervently pointed to himself while winking.
“You stay here and work hard in cultivating.” Mustang glared at Fan Le as he continued. “If you work harder, your cultivation may not even lose out to Qin Wentian.”
Fatty could only smile bitterly as he nodded his head. During the period of time when Qin Wentian had disappeared, Mustang had personally coached Fatty in his cultivation. Not only that, he treated Fatty extremely well, which caused Fatty to feel very touched.
Luo Huan also laughed. Fatty’s talent was also pretty good, it was just that he was too lazy. But despite of this, his cultivation base was already at the 5th level of Arterial Circulation and could also be considered one of the top few among the new students.
“Fatty, I will help you to increase the level of your medallion to the 4th level.” Qin Wentian remarked. Fan Le excitedly replied, “That’s my brother alright!”
“Teacher, we will take our leave first.” Qin Wentian and Fan Le both bid farewell and left with Luo Huan.
Mustang lowered his head to gaze at the gigantic circle he drew. Both Qin Wentian and Fan Le did not asked him what that gigantic circle was because they didn’t want to be overly ambitious. To them, even the Nine Mystical Palace was an elusive target. The power represented by the gigantic circle wasn’t something that they could imagine.
After Qin Wentian and the rest left, a silhouette suddenly appeared behind Mustang.
Mustang stood up and he smiled to the silhouette. “Old man Ren, why don’t you let that little fellow to raise the level of his jade medallion himself?”
Obviously, the act of using Mustang’s name was false. In truth, the Emperor Star Academy had already opened up a backdoor for Qin Wentian.
“He has already mastered the 3rd imprint of the Thousand-Hands Imprint, a mid-tier, earth-grade innate technique. The 5th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion is quite suitable to him. I only hope that he can quickly mature. It would be best if the upcoming grand banquet would put an immense pressure on him, since being under pressure is one of the fastest way to grow.” Ren Qianxing continued his profound words, “I hope that my judgement this time around is able to compensate for the erroneous judgement I made back in the past.”
Mustang looked at Ren Qianxing and sighed in his heart. It appeared that old man Ren was still blamed himself and was still wounded by the fact that he was the one that had nurture the talent of Luo Qianqiu’s father.
……
After Qin Wentian upgraded his medallion to the 5th level, he entered the Heavenly Star Pavilion once again. In the end, he chose two more mid-tier, earth-grade innate techniques. Since he had already mastered the 3rd imprint of the Thousand-Hand Imprint, this indicated that he could comprehend innate techniques of this level.
Innate Technique – Falling Mountain Palms. An innate technique that grew stronger as the user’s cultivation base improved. After cultivating this to the peak, each and every palm strike would possess an extremely terrifying might akin to that of a mountain.
Qin Wentian chose the Falling Mountain Palms because, coincidently, he had a Divine Imprint that could complement this innate technique. This Divine Imprint was a mountain-type Divine Imprint and was at the 2nd level. Previously, Qin Wentian had tried using this particular mountain-type Divine Imprint to condense and compact Divine Energy, but the speed of condensing was extremely slow, and not only that, it also expended an astronomical amount of Astral Energy. But despite of this, it was successful, and in the battle against Luo Qianqiu, although his body only contained a sliver of Divine Energy compacted by the mountain-type imprint, its might was already exceedingly powerful.
And now, the speed of him compacting his Divine Energy using palm-type imprints had gotten increasingly faster. It was only a matter of time before he stepped into the 2nd level of the Spirit Refinement Method. By then, his speed of compacting Divine Energy using mountain-type imprints would raise exponentially. As for now, he could just store some of the Divine Energy compacted from using mountain-type imprints in his body to be used as one of his hidden cards.
The second innate technique Qin Wentian had chosen was named the Berserker Beast Halberd Technique. This technique consisted of four stances and 36 transformation – Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise (Xuanwu). Each stance contained nine transformations, and they allowed the user to move like the fleeting clouds, attacking and defending at the same instant. This technique was extremely suitable for combat.
The Heavenly Star Pavilion contained a myriad of innate techniques. There were sword techniques, sabre techniques, spear techniques, and thus, there was even halberd-type innate techniques. Since the Heavenly Hammer Soul emphasized tyrannical force, it matched the tyrannical aura of the halberd quite well. After coming across this technique, Qin Wentian didn’t hesitate and decided to choose it.
For simple attacking techniques, he had the Thousand-Hands Imprint as well as the Falling Mountain Palms; for attack and defense, he had the Berserker Beast Halberd Technique; for movement techniques, he had the Garuda Movement Technique. If he could completely master his innate techniques, his overall martial prowess would heighten immensely.
Three days later, in one of the unique courtyards of the Emperor Star Academy, Qin Wentian was sitting down beside a pond with his eyes closed, ignoring all external matters.
Once one’s jade medallion level reached the 4th level, one could select a unique courtyard for their own residence.
Qin Wentian was not only sleeping. In his dreamscape, there was an ocean with waves that was frenziedly gushing upon the shore, where a figure moved while wielding an ancient halberd. Every time he moved, it was as though a ferocious tiger was howling in anger. As he stabbed explosively forward, with each strike, the thunderous sound that echoed out was akin to a cacophony of angry roars from a group of crazed tigers.
As a huge wave came crashing over, the figure that wielded the halberd changed his stance, not allowing the slightest bit of wind nor water to pass through. In front of him, there was a manifestation of gigantic Xuanwu Black Tortoise that devoured the ocean waves to nothingness.
At this moment, he stepped forth, and his whole body transformed into a Garuda and soared upwards, roaring in anger. The ancient halberd in his hands changed its stance to the Azure Dragon, as manifestations of numerous azure dragons could be seen exploding forwards, crashing into the ocean.
After several moments, this figure landed on the ground and sat down on the shore.
This person was none other than Qin Wentian!
Since this was just a dream, why not magnify the scope and indulge himself in fantasy? He could imagine himself many times stronger than in reality in his dreamscape and could unleash the full power of the innate techniques. This way, his comprehension towards the innate techniques would be much stronger.
Qin Wentian raised his head, staring at the night skies. However, the skies he was staring at was not the skies of Heavens and Earth but rather that of the Landscape Pictograph.
In that landscape, every brushstroke created mountains and rivers, and contained within them were multitudes of peerless innate techniques.
Qin Wentian gradually immersed himself in comprehending the insights, entering into a state of deep meditation.
Every single outline of the brushstrokes in the landscape seemed to interweave together forming runic lines similar to Divine Imprints. These Divine Imprints could also be used to ‘create’ Divine Energy.
When he cultivate his innate techniques, he discovered that the way his innate techniques unleashed his power was extremely similar to Divine Imprints that were inscribed on Divine Weapons. For example, the Falling Mountain Palms, when used to attack, the user would be able to control Astral Energy and form a manifestation of a mountain peak that smashed down on his enemies. This was similar to that time when he created a manifestation of a mountain using the sliver of mountain-type Divine Energy in his fight with Luo Qianqiu. The only differences was that the Falling Mountain Palms was more complex, yet the effects it created was similar.
Qin Wentian had a bold hypothesis. Innate techniques, did they evolved from Divine Imprints?
Looking at the Landscape Pictograph in the skies of his dreamscape, Qin Wentian sank even deeper in his meditation.
If there were others who realised this unusual occurrence, they wouldn’t even think about it. Even if they thought about it, they would not ponder over it too deeply. After all, not every Stellar Martial Cultivators was the same as Qin Wentian, who possessed the Spirit Refinement Method, the Landscape Pictograph, and a forging-type Astral Soul that granted him extraordinary insights in weapons forging.
Three days later, although Qin Wentian had not achieve an answer, he was not sad about it. On the contrary, he was extremely joyful, because, with regards to innate techniques, his understanding was now on a deeper and more profound level. Rather, it could be said that Qin Wentian used his own lines of reasoning to understand them and even formulated his own thought processes.
Qin Wentian started to draw runic lines on the ground in his dreamscape. Within every single one of his strokes, there seemed to be a mysterious surge of energy contained within. This time, Qin Wentian didn’t inscribe the Divine Imprints within his body, but instead, he used his hands to inscribe the outlines directly from his imagination.
The essence of Divine Imprints were as such. For Divine Imprints the previous generations left behind, every line and every curve had to be perfect before the Divine Imprint could be used. As long as any part of the inscription was slightly deformed or drawn imperfectly, the Divine Imprints would lose its effect. And thus, if Qin Wentian wanted to depend on his own strength and understanding to create a complete Divine Imprint, it would become a tremendously difficult task. But nevertheless, he still wanted to give it a try.
After all, wasn’t the Landscape Pictograph that was painted over the skies in his dreamscape also a form of creation powered by the imaginations and comprehensions of that green-robed middle-aged senior?