AGM 155 – Barbaric Warbeasts
And on the day of the merging of the two martial academies, there was another piece of important news. The crown prince of Snowcloud wanted to have a marriage engagement with the princess of Chu.
The princess of Chu had an extremely high probability to be the main wife of the crown prince of Snowcloud.
Despite this, Xiao Lǜ still didn’t give up his earlier notions. He still sent men to the Emperor Star Academy requesting for them to return Qin Yao. The reason being that Qin Yao was one of the candidates to be the main wife of the crown prince of Snowcloud, they had to get her back no matter what.
The Emperor Star Academy naturally refused, and thus, the Royal Clan stepped in. They would send someone to visit the Emperor Star Academy.
Such a scenario occurring caused those with sharp senses to feel faint traces of danger in the air. Was the Royal Clan finally planning to make a move against the Emperor Star Academy?
And this wasn’t the greatest variable. On the 2nd day after Qin Wu escaped, news of great importance spread from the battleground between the Qin Residence and the Royal Clan. The Royal Clan launched a powerful offensive, while sending experts to assassinate Qin He and Qin Ye. The end result was Qin He lost his remaining arm and suffered grievous injuries. If not for a mysterious expert helping him, he would already have died.
Not only that, rumors also spread that the other great troops station on the borders of Chu began to stir, and had started to make their way towards the Royal Capital.
Their slogan was, “The Chu emperor is a tyrant, killing loyal subjects, slaying the generals that sacrificed so much for him, killing the hounds once the hares are hunted, and is no longer fit to have the mandate of heavens.”
And one hand, the news about the Wu King was bestowed death by the Emperor back then was also disseminated out, shaking the entire Chu Country. It created an immense amount of discussions and shook the hearts of the citizens. This, in addition to the visible actions that the Chu Royal Clan took when they dealt with the Qin Residence of Sky Harmony City, supported the fact that the current emperor was a tyrant and no longer fit to have the mandate of heavens. The country needs a transference of power.
The only news that was beneficial to the Royal Clan was that Snowcloud sent their troops and aid Chu in guarding their borders. At the same time, this was also telling the other countries that Snowcloud and Chu were in an alliance.
Those in high positions with great statuses could smell the brewing of the storm in the air. That had never thought that an innocuous event like the Jun Lin Banquet could actually spark such a terrifying chain reaction.
And regarding the storm that was brewing in the external world, Qin Wentian in the Spirit Beast testing grounds had no inkling of it.
After spending a day in there, he gradually familiarised himself with these testing grounds. There were several warbeasts’ spirits over here and it was impossible to obtain them all without a certain level of strength.
And he also understood that these testing grounds weren’t a real world. He was the same as those demonic beasts, a physical body manifested by dream-will. His consciousness entered the testing ground via a dream, but here, the sense of reality was many times stronger than what he experienced before. Not only could he absorb the spirits of the beasts, similarly the warbeasts could absorb him.
At this moment, he was in an alliance with Yue Qingfeng and the rest, and was hunting another warbeast.
The ranking of this particular warbeast was not weak, it was actually a Flowerrock Leopard that was ranked at number 241. If one were to condense an Astral Soul from it, their body would be as tough as real granite, obtaining terrifying defense. Not only that, one’s speed, agility and attack would also be augmented tremendously.
“Brother Qin, there are still three others over at my side, after they absorbed beasts’ spirits, the next one will be yours. After all, you already ingested a spirit right after you entered.” Yue Qingfeng explained, this was already the 5th warbeast they had hunted together.
“It’s fine, I wish to travel alone now.” Qin Wentian replied. After they travelled together for a single day, although Yue Qingfeng was extremely courteous towards him, and although people of the Azure Emperor Palace shared the same root as the Emperor Star Academy, he could still feel disdain in the expressions of his party members as though they were looking down on him. Arrogance and pride lingered in the air faintly, creating an uncomfortable situation for Qin Wentian.
After all, although they shared the same roots, their statuses were completely different. They, were from the Azure Emperor Palace, while he was only from a martial academy in a small country.
This point could be clearly felt and seen when they distributed the warbeast spirits. However, Qin Wentian didn’t have much to add. He couldn’t change the perspectives of these people so easily. In that case, he might as well travel alone.
“Brother Qin, you should understand that this place is exceedingly dangerous.” Yue Qingfeng persuaded.
“I will be cautious.” Qin Wentian nonchalantly replied.
“Since this is the case, I will no longer obstruct brother Qin, but please do not let a moment of anger lead to the sacrifice of one’s life. Cooperation exists only because of benefits, but it’s just a matter of who is prioritised.” Yue Qingfeng added.
Qin Wentian furrowed his brows, the words of Yue Qingfeng seemed to be hinting at something. He didn’t reply as he turned and departed from the area.
“What a reckless fellow, he doesn’t know what death is. A mere cultivator from the Emperor Star Academy dares to put on such airs. He didn’t even know that we saved his ass and yet still wanted to be on equal standing with us from the Azure Emperor Palace, how laughable. But I wonder why the Azure Emperor back then wanted to found such a academy.” Someone beside Yue Qingfeng impolitely remarked, not bothering to suppress his voice so as to ensure that Qin Wentian had heard him.
Increasing his speed, Qin Wentian left the area, Although he knew that the danger was greater if he travelled alone, he wasn’t willing to lower his head and be part of their party just because of safety.
Qin Wentian arrived at a spacious grassland with a mountain range in front of him. However, at this moment, he could clearly sense danger nearing.
In front of him, a demonic beast slowly walked out from the mountain range.
This was actually a huge Roc, whose body shone with a resplendent light. The light in its eyes was sharp and cold as it stared at Qin Wentian.
“Silvery Roc, #98 in the Warbeast Index.” Qin Wentian frowned. This was the first time he had met a demonic beast in the top 100 rankings.
And not only that, behind him, there was also a sense of extreme danger.
Turning back, he discovered a gigantic demonic bear that was emitting terrifying waves of Demonic Qi.
And on the body of this demonic bear, it was as though there was a silvery armor covering it. Even its sharp claws were silver in color.
“Silver Armored Bear King, rank #97 in the Warbeast Index.” Qin Wentian froze. Both demonic beasts were extremely formidable opponents with rankings in the top 100, yet he was actually stuck between them. How unlucky.
Buzz. His body was akin to a Garuda as Qin Wentian dodged to the side.
The Silvery Roc flapped its wings as it transformed into a silver flash of lightning, moving with a speed even faster than Qin Wentian. That steps of the Silver Armored Bear King caused a tremor in the earth as booming sounds rang out, but the speed it possessed was only slightly slower when compared to Qin Wentian.
The top 100 rankings of the Warbeast Index were all terrifying existences.
The Silvery Roc soared above Qin Wentian. Yet another ancient halberd appeared in his hands. Although this place wasn’t reality, there wasn’t much difference compared to it. In the external world, he always had a spare ancient halberd hidden within his interspatial ring.
Puchi! The Silvery Roc spat out a silver ray of light, slashing out with crazy speed towards Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian abruptly halted his movements, as he summon the energy within his body, blasting out with his palm strikes in response, colliding with the silver ray of light.
The gusts of wind strengthened, the sharp claws of the Silvery Roc descended with lightning speed, aiming to grab Qin Wentian’s head.
Qin Wentian’s Mountain Splitter erupted forth, as sounds of steel clashing rang out, blocking the claw of the Silvery Roc.
“How strong.” Qin Wentian managed to repel the Silvery Roc, but in response, his arms were numb, trembling badly from the impact. However at this moment, the Silver Armored Bear King had caught up, causing the earth to tremble with each step. Upon seeing Qin Wentian, it let out a bellow of rage as it swung its silver-colored paw directly at Qin Wentian.
“Falling Mountain Palms.” Qin Wentian rapidly sent out palm strikes with his left palm, as the Divine Energy in his body surged wildly. An instant later, his body was slammed heavily to the ground by the impact, as his left arm felt as though it was about to crumble into pieces.
The attack power of the warbeasts in the top 100 ranks was just too barbaric.
Despite falling to the ground, Qin Wentian was still in extreme danger. The Silvery Roc swop downwards, as a silver ray of light pierced out from its beak. The cold eyes of the Roc were as though they could kill.
“If i die here, I won’t have this chance again.”
Qin Wentian was silently thinking in his heart. If he died here, he would lose the qualifications and would be expelled from the testing grounds. Luo Tianya back then should have also died inside this testing grounds, and as such, he wanted his son to succeed where he had failed.
Executing the Berserker Beast Halberd Art, impervious to wind and rain, Qin Wentian’s bloodline was seething. His body strengthened as it grew in size. His black hair fanned out behind him, and the ancient halberd in the air stabbed out in the air.
The Silvery Roc once again collided with Qin Wentian’s halberd. However, this time round, the Roc was blasted backwards and it tumbled through the air. One of its silver claws disintegrated into dust and it shrieked in madness, apparently wounded.
Despite this, Qin Wentian’s situation was far from good. The Silver Armored Bear King once again sent out a powerful attack, dashing towards Qin Wentian.
“F*CK OFF.” Executing the Forgotten Imprint to its utmost limits, powered by the Mountain-type Divine Energy in his body, a thunderous sound rang out as the immense body of the Bear King was blocked. However, Qin Wentian was slammed to the ground once again.
“Top 10 warbeast spirits, Azure Emperor, you are damn ruthless indeed.”
To step into the 8th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion, Qin Wentian needed to obtain the warbeast spirits of demonic beasts ranked in the top 10 ranking of the Warbeast Index.
He didn’t even dare to imagine the level of power the top ten warbeasts wielded. They should be the representation of constellations from the 5th Heavenly Layer, and if he could condense an Astral Soul from there, when he broke into the Heavenly Dipper Realm he would be able to summon the manifestation of the warbeast. How powerful would he be then?
The two warbeasts once again rushed towards Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian gingerly wiped away the traces of blood at the corners of his lips as his silhouette flickered, executing the Garuda Movement Technique to its utmost limits, transforming into afterimages. At the same time, the ancient halberd in his right hand slashed out beautiful arcs, while his left palms shook relentlessly, sending out countless palm imprints. Despite his valiant attempts, his body was quickly riddled with injuries. Under the siege of the two warbeasts, he feared that he would die sooner or later.
However, at this exact moment, a gust of wind billowed and a graceful figure clad in sky-blue robes appeared. A sharp sword appeared in her hands as she sliced towards the body of the Silvery Roc. Her Sword Qi warred with the claw of the Silvery Roc, as they intermingled together, before the Sword Qi dissipated. However, her sword will wasn’t extinguished yet, and even more Sword Qi was generated. It gave an undying sense, growing and multiplying without end.
The pressure on Qin Wentian was lessened as he focused his attention on the bear king. Without the support from the swift Roc, although the attacks of the bear king were still powerful, it wasn’t nimble enough. Qin Wentian easily dodged its attack while counterattacking with his ancient halberd, causing the bear to suffer from his attacks time and time again.
The battle continued for several long moments as two rows of silhouettes appeared near the battlefield. These newly appeared figures had no intention to help as they surrounded them, content with watching the battle of the warbeasts against Qin Wentian and Qian Mengyu.
They belonged to two different groups. One was the handsome-looking youth who fought with Qin Wentian earlier and his party members, as well as Yue Qingfeng and the rest.
After it saw the appearance of the cultivators The Silvery Roc soared towards the skies. It had the ability of flight – these people could never be able to pursue it.
The Silver Armored Bear King lashed out in a panic. Qian Mengyu gazed at Qin Wentian and spoke, “Let’s give this up. You may be able to defeat it, but I don’t think you will have the chance to absorb its beast spirit.”
Qin Wentian naturally also noticed the eyes of the other cultivators flickering with greed, as though they were akin to a tiger staring at its prey. However, how could he be willing to give up now?
Puchi. Abruptly, Qin Wentian’s ancient halberd stabbed into one of the bear king’s eyes, causing roars of agony to resound through the air. Twisting his ancient halberd that was in an eye of the bear king, Qin Wentian stabbed directly into its brain, causing the body of the bear king to grow indistinct, becoming something illusory.
With a shake of his palms, a familiar spiral appeared in the centre of his palms as he started absorbing the warbeast’s spirit. The Demonic Qi emanating from him got stronger and stronger as his black hair danced about in the wind.
“Truly, does he not know death?” The people from the Azure Emperor Palace had mocking expressions on their faces seeing that Qin Wentian still actually dared to absorb the warbeast spirit in front of them.
So what if he absorbed it? All the people here were bodies made from spirit consciousness.
As long as they absorbed the consciousness of Qin Wentian as he faded away in death, they could still absorb the warbeast spirits that he had absorbed before.