Ancient Godly Monarch - Chapter 358

Chapter 358: Chen Wang’s Strength

Chen Wang’s strength was extremely fearsome. He instantly defeated three yellow-robed warriors as his own battle robe took on the color of yellow.

“Those three yellow-robed warriors have a cultivation base at the peak of the ninth level, with their Mandates at the Perfection Boundary. Truly terrifying to fight against,” Qin Wentian murmured as he took in the scene. The initial three rounds of battle allowed him to understand that the number of manifested warriors would shoot up by one after each round, but their strength levels were all the same. When it came to the Yellow-ranked, the three warriors complemented each other movements and weaknesses perfectly, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed to defeat them.

The fourth round, a manifested warrior clad in green battle robes appeared on the platform Chen Wang was at.

Its cultivation base was at the pinnacle of Yuanfu, yet its spear arts were even more formidable compared to the three yellow-ranked warriors. Chen Wang’s Great Solar Universe Art erupted forth, shining with a blazing light. Not only that, he also unleashed his second level Mandate, but in spite of this, the green-ranked warrior managed to neutralize it. Evidently, the Mandate of the green-ranked warriors, was already at the second level of insights.

Eventually, however, it was still defeated by Chen Wang.

Thereafter, the contenders started to jump up on the platforms, directly starting their battles with the first level red-ranked warriors.

For those that couldn’t even pass the yellow-ranked warriors, they were directly eliminated. This meant that all of them had to win three rounds at the very least.

The hearts of several of the contenders couldn’t help but pound in shock when they witnessed the supremacy of Chen Wang.

By then, Chen Wang had already defeated the two blue-ranked warriors. These two manifested warriors were opponents whose insights into their respective Mandates were at the second level.

And now, Chen Wang was facing off against three indigo-ranked warriors.

All three of his opponents were at the pinnacle of Yuanfu, with their Mandate at the second level of insights. And although their weapons were all spears, the second level Mandates each of them comprehended were different from each other. This allowed them to synergise and complement each other, to the extent that their joint outputs were even greater than the sum of all three their attacks. How could anyone defeat them?

“This battle platform must have been something left behind by the Ancient Emperor, how fascinating.” Qin Wentian mused. Chen Wang was more formidable compared to him—evidently, all three of Chen Wang’s Mandates had already reached the second level.

But this was only to be expected, back then Chen Wang was already the second strongest in the Heavenly Fate Ranking. Using only a span of three years, he climbed from the initial state of the ninth level to his current achievements; at the pinnacle of Yuanfu, in addition to attaining second level of insights in his respective Mandates. Chen Wang was a true genius, so even though the Heavenly Dipper Realm was a major watershed to most, it was nothing to him. He was one of those monsters that could cross over to Heavenly Dipper any time he wanted.

Not only that, the instant Chen Wang stepped into Heavenly Dipper, he would already be capable of slaying ordinary Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns. This was what it meant to be a Heaven’s Chosen—this was what it meant to be a core member from a transcendent power.

“Victory?” The spectators all gazed on, thunderstruck. Chen Wang defeated the three indigo-ranked warriors as the battle robe on his body also turned a shade of deep indigo, projecting an extremely imposing aura.

At this moment, a violet-ranked warrior manifested on the battle platform Chen Wang was standing. Its countenance was extremely solemn, and merely meeting its gaze was sufficient to strike deep fear in the hearts of the most stalwart.

“Chen Wang is so powerful.”

“The first level of Martial Mandates can be classified into the Initial, Advanced, Transformation, Perfect Boundary, serving as the foundation before breaking through to the second level of insights. Similarly, the second level of insights are also classified into those four Boundaries. Since the three indigo-ranked warriors earlier all had second level Mandates at the Initial Boundary, I wonder how strong this violet-ranked warrior will be.”

Qin Wentian was analyzing Chen Wang and his opponents. Fighting on the platform would enable him to roughly calculate the level of combat prowess the respective contender had.

His own Mandates, the Mandate of Force, Mandate of Dreams and Mandate of Demons were all already at the Perfection Boundary of the first level. Not only that, his Mandate of Force had already broken through to the second level. At the Perfection Boundary of the first level, the Mandate of Force granted him an enhancement in his strength by a factor of 16, but now that he had already stepped into the second level, his Mandate of Force could even make use of vibrational waves in the air. Force was omnipresent, so he could even attack someone through space without directly landing a blow on them. This was his power of the second level insight he gained into the Mandate of Force, Void Vibration.

In addition, since the second level insight he gained surpassed the first level, the might of his vibrational waves already included the sixteen-fold strength enhancement from the first level insight, Strength.

Countless gazes were fixated onto Chen Wang—everyone wished to witness his true power with their own eyes.

Chen Wang didn’t disappoint the spectators—he went all out from the start and utilized the Great Solar Energy to cover his entire body in sun flames, transforming into a ball of fire akin to the sun.

Those from the Great Solar Chen Clan all nodded in satisfaction when they saw Chen Wang’s performance.

Only in this state would Chen Wang be able to fully unleash the might of the Great Solar Universe Art, allowing the Great Solar Energy to circulate internally and cover his entire body externally.

“An opponent at the ninth level of Yuanfu?” Those from the Chen Clan coldly laughed. Leaving those at the ninth level of Yuanfu aside, even rankers on the Heavenly Fate Rankings might not even dare to touch Chen Wang in his current state. Even if Chen Wang himself were to casually allow them to freely attack him right where he stood, they wouldn’t dare. The Great Solar Flames covering his body would incinerate everything near it—this was an art of absolute power.

Under the thunderstruck gazes of the crowd, Chen Wang defeated the violet-ranked warrior as the color of his battle robes turned violet.

“Chen Wang’s Mandate of Flames has actually reached the second level, Flames Solidification. He’s even surpassed the Initial Boundary all the way to the Advanced Boundary. Who would still dare to touch him? Who could still contend against him?”

This was the first time the public had seen Chen Wang’s true power. With the highest ranked battle robe, he was more than qualified to contend for the number one position on the Heavenly Fate Rankings.

After Hua Taixu, he Chen Wang, was the strongest in the Yuanfu Realm. Now that Hua Taixu had stepped into Heavenly Dipper, who among Yuanfu would still be his match?

Chen Wang won another round, defeating two manifested warriors at the violet-gold-ranked. And right now, a total of three platinum-ranked warriors appeared, staring disdainfully at Chen Wang. The auras they exuded were all immeasurably powerful, overshadowing even the illustrious Chen Wang.

Finally, Chen Wang could no longer continue his winning streak. Yet even though the three platinum-ranked warriors had defeated him, his achievements were already beyond outstanding.

The color of Chen Wang’s battle robes were that of violet-gold. This color was a symbol of supremacy, no one else should be able to surpass him. Now all that was left was to wait and see if Shi Potian would be able to reach this level, similarly manifesting a battle robe of the violet-gold color.

The blood of the other contenders surged with a wave of heat. For this test, for those unable to exhibit the ability to defeat opponents stronger than themselves would be doomed to fail here. The battle robes on one’s body must be at least the color of yellow.

The majority of the contenders had already taken the test, the weakest among them had the combat prowess necessary to fight against opponents at the pinnacle of Yuanfu, whose first level insights had reached the Perfection Boundary. One could very well imagine how fearsome the remaining contenders were.

After Shi Potian stepped on the battle platform, intense anticipation and excitement rocked the hearts of the crowd once again. Eventually, Shi Potian similarly obtained a violet-gold battle robe, indicating that he stood on the same level as Chen Wang.

Chen Wang and Shi Potian were too powerful, their strength far surpassed that of their peers in Yuanfu.

Emperor Azure, Wang Jue and the rest were knocked off the platform after they defeated the indigo-level, they couldn’t even defeat the violet-ranked warriors let alone violet-gold. Comparing them to Shi Potian and Chen Wang, their combat prowess was off by an entire level.

After all, the violet-ranked warriors were already terrifying existences that had already comprehended more than one Mandate at the second level, it wasn’t strange to be defeated by them. Of course, if they truly put their lives on the line and went all out, they might be able to win. But then again, maybe not.

But since their battle robes were of the indigo color, this indicated that Emperor Azure and Wang Jue had also comprehended second level Mandates. If not, it was impossible for them to defeat the indigo-ranked warriors.

“Is everyone already starting to display their true capabilities? This ranking battle has definitely proven to be many times more exciting to spectate compared to previous ones.”

The hearts of the crowd involuntarily trembled, so Emperor Azure and Wang Jue were also monsters that had comprehended second level Mandates while in Yuanfu.

Qin Wentian stood there watching the battles of the other contenders. He couldn’t help but feel excitement, as well as a sense of psychological pressure acting on him.

It seemed as though he had still underestimated the difficulty of the battle that determined the Heavenly Fate Rankings. For the previous Heaven’s Chosen ranked below the 10th position, they were existences that left people like Duan Qingshan far behind in their dust. Probably, Duan Qingshan wouldn’t even be able to last more than a few moments when fighting against them.

They were all Heaven’s Chosen, yet the distance between them was incomparably vast.

“Top three of the Heavenly Fate Rankings!” Qin Wentian drew in a huge breath. To him, this was a challenge of incredible difficulty.

“How much hidden strength and trump cards does Zhan Chen still possess?” Qin Wentian mused. Three years ago, Zhan Chen was already ranked #11 on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. Now that he obtained the cultivation art of the Gold-Element Ascendant, how much had his level of power grown by? How strong was he now, exactly?

Qin Wentian discovered that Zhan Chen intentionally allowed himself to be knocked off the platform after his battle robes turned the color yellow. Golden light gleamed sinisterly in his eyes, he didn’t give a shit about the opinions of others concerning his actions.

“Zhan Chen is obviously hiding his strength.” Many in the crowd speculated.

The majority of the contenders were either eliminated or only had battle robes of the yellow-ranked. After all, it wasn’t so easy to defeat an opponent with second level Mandates.

This also showed the contrast between them and Chen Wang and Shi Potian. How difficult it was to obtain the violet-gold battle robes.

The next contender drew the attention of the crowd. This figure was clad in black, with their features obscured. Yet currently, the figure’s black robes were enveloped by an illusory blue-colored battle robe.

“His cultivation base is at the eighth level of Yuanfu, hence his opponents are all also at the eighth level. Yet, in spite of this, during the first three rounds, their Mandates were already at the Perfection Boundary, and for the fourth round, the opponent’s Mandate was at the second level. There are no differences in terms of will of Mandates, the only differences are the realms of cultivations, which reflects the cultivation level of the person currently taking the test.”

“That black-robed figure cultivates the Devil Arts, so his attacks are all extremely tyrannical. Even though his manifested opponent has second level Mandates, he should still be able to defeat them.”

The crowd discovered to their surprise that the black-robed figure seemed to become more stronger the more he battled. This was the terrifying point about Devil Arts, and his performance was such that even Old Man Tianji and the rest of the leaders took notice of him. That art he was cultivating….Chaotic Art of the Heavenly Devil.

This lost inheritance—how had he obtained it? And in spite of its inherent dangers, he still dared to cultivate it? Wasn’t he afraid of losing himself to the devil?

Eventually, the black-robed figure was clad in illusory battle robes of an indigo color. Other than Chen Wang and Shi Potian, he was one of the most dazzling contenders here.

“It seems like I have a huge advantage.” Qin Wentian laughed. With a cultivation base at the seventh level of Yuanfu, this meant that his manifested opponents would similarly only be at the pinnacle of the seventh level.

His silhouette flickered as Qin Wentian stepped onto one of the battle platforms. As his feet landed, a burst of light inundated the platform as his opponent manifested.

With a single punch. Destruction.

After which, two more opponents appeared. Qin Wentian’s silhouette flashed, punching out twice in unison. Destruction.

The third round, three punches. Destruction.

“What speed, this crazy fellow!” The spectators finally noticed Qin Wentian. This was the young man who broke the drum echoes record, as well as the person who killed Duan Qingshan during the test at the River of Life and Death. Who would have thought that his strength would be so insanely overwhelming? He could insta-kill opponents at the same level.

And right now on the battle platform, a green-ranked warrior finally appeared.

“Second level Mandate?” Qin Wentian coldly smiled. His opponent was only at the seventh level of Yuanfu, so what if it could use second level Mandates?

Qin Wentian flickered as he instantly closed the distance, and with domineering force directly exploded the long spear in his opponent’s grasp. A terrifying fluctuation of vibrational waves drifted out and, in front of the eyes of the crowd, that green-ranked warrior imploded to death.

The illusory robe around Qin Wentian’s body instantly turned a brilliant green!

“This…” The spectators were rigid with shock. With this level of power, the results were clear—Qin Wentian should have no problems turning the color of his battle robes indigo!

Chapter 359: Violet Battle Robe

 

The green-ranked warrior had the same cultivation base as Qin Wentian, as well as a second level Mandate.

And yet, when it directly clashed against Qin Wentian, the green-ranked warrior was totally annihilated in a single breath. How tyrannical were his attacks? In the same level, Qin Wentian was unrivalled, regardless of whether his opponent had a second level Mandate or not.

“Since this person could kill Duan Qingshan, his combat prowess has definitely reached the peak of Yuanfu. Although the green-ranked warrior’s second level Mandate is stronger than his, it’s not at all surprising that he could suppress it.”

“I wonder who is he, how can he have such an overwhelming attack strength? What a pity that he’s only at the seventh level of Yuanfu. If his cultivation was at the ninth level he would definitely be able to contend for the top five positions on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. But putting that aside, with his current strength, there shouldn’t be a problem for him to rank within the top thirty-six.”

More and more people started to notice Qin Wentian, from the sounding of the drums to now, Qin Wentian gathered the spectators’ attention little by little. First was the drum record, second was the slaying of Duan Qingshan during the River of Life and Death test and third, his outstanding performance on the battle platform.

At this moment, another two manifested opponents appeared. Clad in blue battle robes, they exuded a fearsome aura.

“Bzzz!” A raging wind kicked up as both of the warriors dashed forward and stabbed their spears at Qin Wentian, one taking the left and another taking the right, intending to entrap Qin Wentian in a pincer attack.

However, the spectators only saw Qin Wentian twisting his body, using exquisite footwork to dodge their attack. Slamming out with both his palms, he aimed for their spears as demonic scales covered his arms, by virtue of his Mandate of Demons. The demonic scales were further reinforced by his Mandate of Force. The vibrational shockwave travelled through the spears, entering the bodies of the blue-ranked warriors as both of them imploded into pieces.

“This strength…” The spectators started to seriously contemplate Qin Wentian. Such an attack was too insidious.

Qin Wentian’s attack incorporated his second level insights into the Mandate of Force, Void Vibration. This, coupled with his already terrifying attacks, there was no way the two manifested opponents could resist.

Strength, what he excelled in was strength. Regardless of what tricks or methods opponents used, he would directly counter with absolute strength. When that opponent realized his mistake, everything was already too late, they could only wait to be destroyed.

After which, three indigo-ranked warriors appeared.

“Indigo-ranked warriors this time, so if he wins again, other than Chen Wang and Shi Potian, he’ll be ranked among the strongest contenders who’ve managed to obtain the indigo battle robes.”

Mustang, Luo Huan and Bailu Yi didn’t participate in the ranking battle, they were squeezed somewhere within the crowd spectating. Their hearts couldn’t help but feel agitation when they heard people around them discussing Qin Wentian.

“Luo Huan, tell me do you think that I’m really useless as his teacher? I didn’t even teach him anything, yet he’s already surpassed me by so much in a mere few years.” Mustang sighed, Qin Wentian’s cultivation speed was insanely fast, he felt as though he had wasted his life away just watching how talented his disciple was.

“Teacher, everyone has their own encounters and Wentian’s innate talent is incomparable. Back then in the Sky Harmony City, who could ever predict that he’d reach this level today? Back then, you ignored the objections of some of the elders in our Emperor Star Academy to aid him, and that was already an act of great kindness towards Junior Brother Qin. I believe that he is a man who values his relationships, so he will naturally show you the respect you deserve. Although you might not have taught him any powerful techniques or cultivation arts, your advice steered him clear and you were always there when he needed you most, Teacher, so you shouldn’t keep thinking about things like that. We should all be happy for Wentian.”

Luo Huan consoled him, yet she knew that as a teacher, when one was stronger than one’s disciple, the feeling of prestige would naturally be there. But when one’s disciple grew stronger and stronger to the extent of far surpassing the teacher, how could the teacher not feel unworthy of his disciple? Even though Qin Wentian was not that kind of person, there would be a gap in the relationship. That was why Luo Huan wanted Mustang to stop thinking about this matter even though she understood that it was only human of him to do so.

If not, the distance between teacher and disciple would only increase further and further.

“Right, I will do as you say. Oh, by the way, even that lazy bum Fan Le is now stronger than you, so you’d better work hard to catch up.” Mustang laughed, Luo Huan hugged his arms as she smiled, “No worries, my glorious future will be dependent on my lovely junior brothers then.”

Mustang could only smile wryly in response. Bailu Yi who was by their side found the conversation extremely illuminating. It seemed like Qin Wentian had many enriching experiences, and both his teacher and senior sister weren’t as powerful as him. And just as Qin Wentian had told her, he was from a small and remote country named Chu, he had what he had today all because of the effort he put in, walking on the cruel path of cultivation step by step until today.

“I’ll pray that you’ll get a good ranking as proof of your efforts. As for Mo Qingcheng, where is she now? Her results should be as exemplary as yours, and only then will they see what a perfect match the both of you are. The people of Grand Xia, the Pill Emperor Hall, they will all bear witness to the union of this immortal couple.” Bailu Yi’s silently prayed in her heart, hoping for QIn Wentian’s success.

“She’s really so beautiful… Maybe only someone like her can match up with Qin Wentian.” Bailu Yi smiled, but somehow she felt a bittersweet feeling in her heart. Yet, that feeling soon faded, to be replaced by one of happiness for them.

Because of Mo Qingcheng, Qin Wentian went all the way to the Moon Continent, risking his life to slay Hua Xiaoyun. This was already sufficient to prove the depth of his affections for her. No one deserved to be together as much as they did.

Qin Wentian, who was currently still in combat, naturally didn’t know of Bailu Yi’s thoughts. At this moment, the illusory battle robe on him had already turned a deep indigo, this meant that he had already defeated the three indigo-ranked warriors.

“Violet is next, Qin Wentian is going to fight against a violet-ranked opponent next. And if he manages to win, he’ll become the person underneath Chen Wang and Shi Potian but above all the other contenders. But, can he win?”

Among all the battle platforms, Qin Wentian’s platform drew the most attention—over 50% of the spectators were looking in his direction.

The violet-ranked warrior finally manifested. It also had a cultivation base at the seventh level of Yuanfu, together with second level Mandates. However,its second level Mandate was at the Advanced Boundary instead.

The weapon of the manifested warrior was also still a spear. Qin Wentian stared at the violet-ranked warrior, he didn’t know which second level Mandate this opponent possessed, and its exact level of strength.

For this battle, he had to win—this was his conviction. Only by fighting against this the second level Mandates of this manifested opponent would he then be able to roughly evaluate the power level of Chen Wang and Shi Potian.

“Chi, chi…” Piercing sounds echoed, Qin Wentian saw terrifying lightning sparks around the spear head of his opponent’s weapon.

“Mandate of Lightning.”

Qin Wentian’s countenance faltered for a moment. The explosive power of the Mandate of Lightning was extremely fearsome, even when at the first level of insight, Eruption. And this time, opponent had a second level Mandate of Lightning…

As he thought of this, the blood in Qin Wentian’s body surged up as he morphed into his demonic form, appearing like an ancient primordial beast. In that instant where the warrior attacked, a lightning dragon howled as it spiralled through the air, crashing right into Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian groaned in agony, the qi and blood in his body were violently stirred up and flowing in disarray, in total chaos.

“This…” Qin Wentian’s frame was burned as a charred smell drifted from him. If it weren’t for his monstrous physique, he’d be nothing but charred piece of charcoal by now.

This was the power of lightning, the power of heaven’s wrath. It was simply too terrifying. Not only that, the opponent’s strongest attack had yet to be unleashed. A lightning dragon coiled around the spear of the manifested warrior as a powerful force of destruction penetrated through the void, aiming right for Qin Wentian.

The Divine Yuan Energy within Qin Wentian’s body exploded forth as his palms sent out draconic imprints incorporated with the shockwaves of his Void Vibration, colliding directly against the dragon. The impact from both attacks created a gigantic explosion that formed giant fissures in the air.

Both of them had a cultivation base at the seventh level of Yuanfu, and although Qin Wentian had the advantage in terms of strength, his second level insight into the Mandate of Force was only at the Initial Boundary. On the other hand, his opponent’s Mandate of Lightning was already at the Advanced Boundary, and further complemented its attack style.

A massive wind kicked up, Qin Wentian’s palms contained enough strength to topple the mountains and overturn the oceans. His demonic qi towered to the skies and forcefully halted his opponent’s spear just before it could burst into motion.

“DIE!”

Qin Wentian’s speed was breathtakingly fast, and despite being at the same cultivation level as him, the warrior’s speed couldn’t match his. Garuda Wings appeared behind his back as Qin Wentian inched closer to the lightning-might that enveloped his opponent’s body.

The palm of the warrior slashed out, like a thunderbolt issued from the Heavens. How could Qin Wentian retreat now that an opportunity was right in front of his eyes? His entire strength erupted forth, colliding together towards the palm slash of the violet-ranked warrior.

“Peng…!”

The arms of the violet-ranked warrior completely ruptured from the vibrational shockwaves. Qin Wentian’s silhouette flickered as he appeared in front of the warrior, before smashing his palms together with astounding force, aiming for the temples of his hapless opponent.

The violet-ranked warrior was annihilated.

“Hu….”

“Violet-colored battle robes. Other than Chen Wang and Shi Potian… the most magnificent battle robes belong to….”

Astonishment and disbelief suffused the features of the crowd.

With a cultivation base merely at the seventh level of Yuanfu, what level and boundaries had Qin Wentian’s Mandate reached exactly?

No one could tell by just spectating, because Qin Wentian used the Mandate of Force which was directly incorporated into his attacks. Other than an opponent who had exchanged blows with Qin Wentian, no one would be able to gauge his true level.

But regardless, the color of Qin Wentian’s battle robe turned a vivid violet.

This clearly was a testament that Qin Wentian was unrivalled in the seventh level of Yuanfu.

Currently, he was only considered below the other two with their violet-gold battle robes.

Following which, two violet-gold-ranked warriors manifested. And as his opponents took form, even more pairs of eyes shifted towards Qin Wentian’s direction.

Could he win this battle? If Qin Wentian could win, he would be on the same level as Chen Wang and Shi Potian and the violet battle robe on his body would turn a dazzling violet-golden color. But, that should be a tall order because after all, this time around, his opponents were two violet-gold-ranked warriors who could complement each other flawlessly, thus removing their weaknesses and boosting their strengths.

Qin Wentian’s gaze turned heavy, he wanted to win this battle.

As long as he won, he could prove that in terms of combat prowess, with the scaling of cultivation level, he didn’t lose out to Chen Wang nor Shi Potian. And if that was the case, when he broke through to the eighth level, he would be capable of exchanging blows with both of them.

Even if he couldn’t defeat them, he had to ensure that they were the only ones that could overpower him in battle.. Otherwise, he would have next to no chance of ranking within the top three. That was his bottom line.

Yet, how could he settle for his bottom line? His true objective was to surpass Chen Wang and Shi Potian.

Hence, for this next battle, losing was not an option!

Chapter 360: Platinum Battle Robes

The two violet-gold-ranked warriors projected an overwhelming aura with their spears held out, pointing at Qin Wentian.

Qin Wentian’s countenance stiffened, he didn’t know which Mandates these two warriors had comprehended. He could only hope that lady luck was on his side, and their Mandates weren’t too abnormal.

It could be said that there was no concrete method to determine the ‘best’ Mandate in terms of strong and weak, however, there were still visible differences between them. For example, the differences between the Mandates of Wind, Flames, Lightning and Great Earth. Each of them had their strong points, so one couldn’t really argue that a particular Mandate was stronger than the others. Usually it depended on the cultivator’s comprehension level, and therefore different people might have different levels of strength, even when it came to using the same Mandate. There should only be very slight differences when it came to the first level insights, as they served as the foundation—they were the same for all cultivators that comprehended them. But when it came to second level insights, the comprehension would vary between individuals and therefore resulted in variations of the same Mandate. And for cultivators of the same level, these variations further illustrated their differences even more..

And there were those who somehow comprehend the more elusive Mandates, like the Mandate of Space. Although one couldn’t say that the Mandate of Space was superior to that of the Mandate of Flames or Lightning, Space definitely had a certain advantage over the others. This was especially true if the opponents had insights at similar levels and boundaries.

But even so, you can’t say for sure that Space was superior to Flame. What if it wasa different opponent? An example would be that for some cultivators, the second level insight they comprehended for the Mandate of Flame was Burning Heart, enabling them to incinerate the hearts of their opponents upon contact. Such might was something the Mandate of Space wouldn’t be able to achieve.

The key still depended on the comprehension of individuals.

Qin Wentian’s second level of insight into the Mandate of Force was Void Vibration. He could create vibrational shockwaves and attack from afar, and if he were to fight in close combat, his strength would be even more terrifying—capable of ignoring his opponent’s defenses and going straight for their internal organs. Hence, despite the reinforced defense the battle robes granted the manifested warriors, they still imploded to death.

A massive wind kicked up as the two violet-gold-ranked warriors moved—one of them had comprehended the Mandate of Wind.

At the same time, a heavy pressure pressed down onto Qin Wentian. This was the will from the Mandate of Great Earth.

“How swift.” Qin Wentian retreated as he saw a figure closing in on him with rapid speed, stabbing out with attacks imbued with the speed of the wind. Such a speed was too quick for the naked eyes to follow.

Qin Wentian hurriedly raised his palms to defend—sounds of shattering rang out as its long spear pierced into his scaly armor. The terrifying spear head spun about like a drill in the air, chasing after Qin Wentian who was knocked backwards by the force of the strike. His opponent wanted to break his defenses, so each of its attacks were aiming at Qin Wentian’s critical spots.

The other violet-gold-ranked warrior descended. His spear was filled with an imposing heaviness and the spear attack hadn’t even reached Qin Wentian yet the impending momentum already caused him to feel as though his body was about to break apart. If that strike had hit him, he didn’t dare imagine what would have happened after that.

“It’s the end.” Many of the spectators mused when they saw that strike. One of the manifested warrior excelled in speed, his spear attacks relentlessly chasing after Qin Wentian on that small battle platform they were on. Coupled with the cooperation of the violet-gold-ranked warrior who excelled in heavy attacks, Qin Wentian would soon have nowhere to run to.

Indeed, a few moments later, Qin Wentian was already forced to the boundaries of the platform. Many people lamented, it seemed that the violet battle robes was already his limit.

Only Chen Wang and Shi Potian were qualified to wear battle robes of the violet-gold color.

Finally, it seemed as though Qin Wentian’s silhouette had already disappeared from the battle platform.

“Something’s wrong…”

The spectators realised that Qin Wentian had totally disappeared from sight, he wasn’t on the ground below the battle platform nor the area where the other contenders were gathered.

“Over there! How is he this fast?” The crowd finally spotted Qin Wentian who reappeared next to the violet-gold-ranked warrior who comprehended the Mandate of Wind.

“Success.”

Qin Wentian’s heart pounded with joy. Back then in the Unmatched Realm, he had studied the eighty-one demonic techniques engraved upon a wall.

And one of them, Roc Flash, mimicked the movement of a great roc, granting the user a massive boost of momentum in short-distance bursts. Although Qin Wentian had practiced this technique back then, he still lacked the necessary insight to master it. Now that he was forced to the edge of the platform, he’d barely managed to pull it off.

The violet-gold-ranked warrior sensed that something was wrong and instantly turned to the side. But despite its superior speed, there was no longer sufficient time for it to dodge any longer—Qin Wentian’s attack had already landed, bypassing its defenses.

After the violet-gold-ranked warrior (wind) was destroyed, Qin Wentian’s feet stomped heavily on the ground as he rushed towards the other violet-gold-ranked warrior that comprehended the Mandate of Great Earth. His demonic form surged forwards, as a terrifying light gleamed in his eyes. Sadly, these were all manifested opponents, so they didn’t have a heart. If not for this, he could have used his [Heartbreak Echo] technique against them.

Now, they could only compete based on pure strength.

Qin Wentian clashed against that violet-gold-ranked warrior, the impact from their collision manifesting a whirlwind of destruction. Despite being in his demonic form, he felt as though his arms were about to shatter from the rebound force. Groaning, the rebound force travelled into his body, causing Qin Wentian to cough out a mouthful of blood. His opponent’s second level insight into the Mandate of Great Earth was somewhat similar to his Void Vibration, causing Qin Wentian to feel as though his body was about to break apart.

However, the defense of the violet-gold-ranked warrior wasn’t as terrifying as Qin Wentian in his demonic form. He was only an illusory manifestation, and with both their cultivation bases at the peak of the seventh level as the standard, even when it came to and equal exchange of blows, the one to lose out would definitely be the violet-gold-ranked warrior.

Qin Wentian’s violet battle robe flashed with a brilliant light, turning into the color of violet-gold, granting an imposing presence to his already impressive aura, akin to a battle god to his already impressive aura.

“Violet-gold Battle Robes!”

The gazes of the spectators froze when they stared at Qin Wentian. The combat prowess of this guy…bordered on the unbelievable, he could even defeat two opponents with comprehensions into second level Mandates.

“His own Mandate must surely have already reached the second level by now. It must be hidden from our sight because its will was directly incorporated into his attacks.”

Someone in the crowd speculated.

Chen Wang and Shi Potian also stared in shock. This was the third contender after them that had the qualifications to don the violet-gold battle robes. Not only that, it was someone with a cultivation base only at the seventh level of Yuanfu.

There were many faces twisted in displeasure. Naturally, Zhan Chen was incensed to see Qin Wentian’s exemplary performance. But no matter, in the ranking battle the contenders wouldn’t be suppressing their cultivation bases to fight with him on equal grounds. Qin Wentian could be considered lucky—this round was different.

On the battle platform, three silhouettes clad in platinum-color robes appeared.

Their platinum battle robes conveyed their majesty, as though they were robes worn only by kings and emperors.

Both Chen Wang and Shi Potian failed when it came to this final round and now, Qin Wentian was the third person to challenge the platinum-ranked warriors.

Would he be able to obtain victory?

In the air above, Old Man Tianji and the rest had their gazes fixated onto Qin Wentian. Despite Qin Wentian’s performance, no expressions of shock and surprise could be seen on their faces—it was as though they were merely watching a play.

Luo He cast a glance at her disciple, Mo Qingcheng, and upon noting her yellow battle robes, she couldn’t help but frown in disappointment. It was obvious Mo Qingcheng hadn’t gone all out, and didn’t even seem to care about the ranking battle at all. More accurately, it could be said that she joined the ranking battle for one objective only—to interact with Qin Wentian.

“Master, didn’t Junior Sister Qingcheng successfully concoct the Limit-break Pellets?” Bai Fei stood behind Luo He as she asked in a low voice.

“I know.” Luo He’s voice was ice-cold. Of course, Luo He knew that Mo Qingcheng had sacrificed many valuable ingredients, in addition to her own heart’s blood, in the process of concocting the Limit-break Pellets, all because she wanted to give them to Qin Wentian.

Qin Wentian’s cultivation base was the same as the last time she met him, but Luo He knew that if he took one Limit-break Pellet right now, Qin Wentian would immediately step into the eighth level of Yuanfu.

Qin Wentian at the seventh level already possessed such overwhelming strength, so how much stronger would he be when his cultivation base grew to the eighth level? There shouldn’t be any problems for him to fight against opponents at the ninth level of Yuanfu, it was almost a given that he would be ranked among the top thirty-six.

But, Mo Qingcheng wanted him to win against Zhan Chen? It was still impossible.

Zhan Chen’s actual current strength was far beyond what people thought it was. He may even match or surpass Chen Wang and Shi Potian.

It has been a long, long time since the Pill Emperor Hall had anyone from their sect with a truly astounding position on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. Although Zhan Chen was ranked #11 three years ago, he still wasn’t in the top ten. This matter, was actually not a matter of glory for the Pill Emperor Hall.

Hence this time around, the Pill Emperor Hall had placed all their hopes on the shoulders of Zhan Chen. They had to be the one to wrest the ancient luck away.

On the battle platform, Qin Wentian and the three platinum-ranked warriors were already engaged in combat. A terrifying maelstrom gushed over, attempting to devour Qin Wentian. It was obvious to the crowd that this was a battle where he had no hope of victory.

The three platinum-ranked warriors attacked together, one from the front and two from the sides as resplendent golden light glimmered, forming a seal that froze the entire space. The will of their respective Mandates coated their attacks as they rushed in, locking on to Qin Wentian. There was no way Qin Wentian could dodge their blows, no road to fly up to the heavens, no door into the earth—he was at the end of his rope.

“Dangerous. An attack of such degree, were the manifested warriors really programmed to kill?”

Astonishment flashed on the faces of the crowd, would Qin Wentian be the first to die in this test?

He was one of the only three to make it to this stage, but an attack of this degree was basically impossible to defend against.

“This…” Qin Wentian’s countenance also changed, yet he didn’t have any time left for hesitation. A terrifying glint of light flickered in his eyes as he stabbed out with a single finger. The demonic qi he was exuding towered to the heavens. Swirls of demonic qi were being channelled into the tip of his finger, as it landed on one of the platinum-ranked warriors, causing instant destruction. Simultaneously his steps inscribed runic imprints of third-ranked ancient shield Inscriptions, causing them to spring out and envelope his body.

“Ka Cha!”

How powerful were their spear strikes? Even though the ancient shields were peak-tier, third-ranked Inscriptions, they were still easily broken through. The only purpose the shields served now was to slow the attacks of the platinum-ranked warriors.

As the spears penetrated the shields, Qin Wentian side-stepped slightly, his palms transforming into claws of a golden dragon. He then viciously grabbed the head of one of the platinum-ranked warriors, crushing it with a snap of his claws. He was putting his life on the line for this attack!

And indeed, in the time it took for him to slay the second platinum-ranked warrior, the spear of the last guy already ran through him. Fresh blood spurted out of his wounds as an almost maniacal laughter could be seen in his now fiend-like eyes. He grabbed hold of the spear embedded in him and used it as leverage to push it even further into his body, thereby shortening the distance between them. With a demonic grin on his face, Qin Wentian stabbed forth with yet another Heaven Breaking Finger, aiming for the heart of his opponent and instantly annihilating him.

In that instant, time seemed to halt as the gazes of the entire crowd landed on him. That finger attack was too overwhelming, and the way he fought was simply too crazy.

Qin Wentian won, and he only used an extremely short amount of time to do so.

The violet-gold battle robes shimmered as it turned into a dazzling platinum. To the spectators, Qin Wentian appeared so radiant that they weren’t aware of his injured state, and overlooked the amount of energy he’d used up for the two consecutive Heaven Breaking Finger attacks. Their whole attention was entranced by the shining platinum battle robe on Qin Wentian’s body.

Not even Chen Wang and Shi Potian had accomplished that!

Chapter 361: Vermilion Bird Formation

Qin Wentian’s battle robe became the focus of everyone in the area. On the platform, no other manifestations appeared, indicating that Qin Wentian had defeated the test.

The platinum battle robe—other than him, there was no one else.

Sadly, he joined the ranking battle at the wrong time.

“What a pity.” Many mused, if given a year or two Qin Wentian’s cultivation level would be either at the eighth or ninth level of Yuanfu. By then, his will of Mandates would have advanced another level or boundary, thereby granting him an even chance of contending against Chen Wang and Shi Potian for the top position in the Heavenly Fate Rankings.

But right now, although his performance was outstanding and earned him a battle robe of the platinum color, in actuality, the distance between him and the other two hadn’t lessened at all.

Regardless in cultivation level, or will of Mandates, or even in the aspects of innate techniques, Qin Wentian would be sorely suppressed by the two of them. There was no competition at all.

Or he could follow the steps of Chen Wang, tolerating three more years and rising to prominence then.

Qin Wentian walked down the platform, the spear strike of that final warrior was coated with the Mandate of Gold, and even it interfered with his recovery. He sat down cross-legged by the side, trying to adjust the flow of qi in his body when suddenly, a medicinal pill was thrown his way. Without even thinking, Qin Wentian caught hold of it and ingested it—the scene causing many to flash looks of curiosity at Mo Qingcheng.

That medicinal pill was from her, she actually wanted to aid Qin Wentian in his recovery.
Could it be that she felt a favourable impression towards him because Qin Wentian attained the platinum robes? But that couldn’t be the case right? Mo Qingcheng had no lack of talented suitors. Even Hua Taixu was rejected—how could a mere Qin Wentian replace the illustrious Hua Taixu? She must have helped him out of compassion because he was injured, there was no other explanation.

Yet Qin Wentian didn’t even show any signs of gratitude. After ingesting the pill, he continued his process of recovery without even a word of thanks.

For the remaining contenders, they continued the test at their own pace. The majority of them were of the yellow robes rank and the only one among them worthy of notice was a stranger whom nobody had ever seen before. In the end, the stranger obtained a final evaluation of violet-gold battle robes.

One could well imagine the strength of his combat prowess after seeing the color of his battle robes. Yet strangely, he wasn’t someone on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. This man’s name was Si Qiong, and nobody had ever heard of him before nor knew anything about his back ground.

And after him, there were also a few others who had been keeping their true strength hidden and choosing to erupt forth only at this moment, thus causing the others to look at them in a different light.

And finally, the only person who obtained the platinum battle robes was Qin Wentian.

There were a total of three who obtained the violet-gold battle robes: Chen Wang, Shi Potian, Si Qiong.

Other than this, there were a total of five who obtained the violet battle robes: Yan Cheng, Leng Hong, Qin Zheng, Yao Jun and Hua Shaoqing.

Three of those five had gone beyond the expectations of others, although Yan Cheng and Yao Jun’s results weren’t all that surprising. After all, Yan Cheng was the Heaven’s Chosen from the Swallow Swordsmen, ranked #8 on the Heavenly Fate Rankings while Yao Jun from the Skydemon Sect, was ranked #13 in the past Heavenly Fate Rankings. It wasn’t so surprising that they had the power to obtain the violet robes.

Yet no one expected Leng Hong, Qin Zheng and Hua Shaoqing to obtain such results.
Leng Hong was similar to Si Qiong in the fact that no one knew of his background. There were whispers among the crowd that he was a drifter that roamed Grand Xia, and it was unclear whether he was from any of the major powers.

Qin Zheng, was also somewhat unknown in Grand Xia—only those who’ve been to the Unmatched Realm of the Azure Continent would have heard of his name before.

And lastly, Hua Shaoqing was naturally someone from the Hua Clan. Many had thought that other than Hua Taixu, the next strongest in the younger generations of the Hua Clan would be Hua Feng, but evidently, they thought wrong.
This caused many in the crowd to mutter in low voices, it seemed like Hua Clan had been hiding this talent all along. This just goes to show that the Hua Clan wasn’t lacking in ambition. After Hua Taixu wrested away the ancient luck three years ago, they wanted another member of the Hua Clan, Hua Shaoqing, to do the same this time around.

Naturally, the combat prowess of Si Qiong, Leng Hong, Qin Zheng and Hua Shaoqing were overwhelmingly powerful, and the four dark horses of this ranking battle.

For this test of combat prowess, the elimination rate was extremely high. There was only less than a thousand contenders left behind. For those that remained, the lowest ranked of all the yellow battle robes all had at least a single Mandate at the Perfection Boundary, with the majority of them having a cultivation base at the ninth level of Yuanfu.

In the ranking battle, for the heroes of Grand Xia, the elites of the elites, they all gathered in Ginkou.
For this test, most of the contenders went all out, showcasing their true abilities. But naturally, there were also some who wanted to remain in the shadows, only exploding forth with their true strength in the later tests.

Sounds of discussion flooded the spectators on the winding pathways, they knew that the following test would be even more brutal.

The next test would rank those qualified to be on the Heavenly Fate Rankings, a total of 360 positions.
The next test was an extremely crucial turning point for all contenders—it was the test to plunder Grand Xia’s ancient luck.

Old Man Tianji’s gaze swept across the crowd, eventually landing on Qin Wentian as he stated, “As the one with the platinum battle robes, you will be awarded the right to enter the ancient gate first.”

“The luck of Ancient Grand Xia lies behind that gate, all of you will be given the chance to wrest the luck for yourself and away from others. Only when a total of 360 contenders acquired the ancient luck would this test be concluded.”
Qin Wentian’s gaze stared straight ahead, right past the hundreds of battle platforms and landed onto an ancient-looking gate.

Standing up, Qin Wentian readjusted his body back to its peak condition, and then proceeded to advance forward.

“Wait.” At this moment, a heavy voice drifted out, causing Qin Wentian to halt in his steps.

Turning his head back, Qin Wentian stared at the person who spoke—it was Chen Wang.

“You are unsuitable to be the first to enter the ancient gate,” Chen Wang calmly spoke, looking straight ahead. He didn’t even bother to look at Qin Wentian.

With his battle robes at the violet-gold color, he originally thought that no one else would surpass him.

Yet Qin Wentian actually obtained the platinum robes, snatching away his chance to enter the ancient gate first.

“What do you mean?”

Chen Wang still didn’t look at Qin Wentian, he turned his gaze onto Old Man Tianji and inquired, “Senior, according to the rules, the priority of entry depended on the color of one’s battle robes. But as long as the person is willing to relinquish the priority to enter, there shouldn’t be any problem, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Old Man Tianji spoke after a pause, “If it’s of his own volition.”

Those from the Great Solar Chen Clan had smiles on their faces—Chen Wang wanted to be number one, he wanted to be the first person stepping past the ancient gate, the first person whom the ancient luck would be granted to.

The spectators all had expressions of interest on their face, wondering what choice Qin Wentian would make. Everyone knew that Chen Wang was aiming for the first rank, he had to be the one that wrested the most amount of ancient luck away.

Although Qin Wentian had platinum battle robes, his cultivation was too low, which made him unworthy in Chen Wang’s eyes.

To be honest, the priority of entry wouldn’t affect things that much, but Chen Wang wasn’t willing to take any chances. He wanted to be the first to enter.

Because being number one held a different meaning compared to the other rankings.

“You will give up the priority, right?” Chen Wang’s eyes finally landed on Qin Wentian as he serenely stated.

Qin Wentian was also looking at him in silence.

“There’s a sealed formation past that ancient gate. During the plundering of ancient luck, one is also allowed to plunder the lives of others away,” Chen Wang continued speaking, the meaning in his words obvious to all.

Chen Wang was blatantly threatening Qin Wentian.

“Your robe is violet-gold.”

At this moment, Qin Wentian finally spoke, his words causing Chen Wang’s brows to furrow. Did Qin Wentian mean what he thought he meant?

“While mine, is platinum,” Qin Wentian continued, as he turned and proceeded his way forward. Instantly, an overwhelming killing intent gushed forth from Chen Wang as an extremely cold light flickered in his eyes.

Qin Wentian ignored his threat, insisting on being the first to enter the ancient gate.
“Violet-gold robes, next.” Old Man Tianji turned his gaze onto the three of them. Chen Wang was trembling in anger, what was the use of entering second? There was no meaning to it.

Qin Wentian pushed open the gate and stepped within. As a bright light flashed, he was astonished to find himself standing atop an ancient mountain

Was this place a space formation? He could sense the fluctuations of spatial laws when he entered the gate earlier.

In the skies, a terrifying mighty aura pressed downwards, causing Qin Wentian’s body to stiffen. He didn’t have time to survey his surroundings yet. He then lifted his head, and turned his gaze towards the skies.

The next moment, his gaze froze at an incredible sight.

Above in the air was a shimmering veil of light that covered the entire dome of Heavens. Within that veil, fire qi could be seen flowing and circulating about, tracing the outline of an immense demonic beast. It blotted out the sun while floating in the air, gazing imperiously downwards at him.
The tip of its fiery golden wings seemed to shine with a dark scarlet light, that gave it a sense of terrible beauty, further increasing its appearance of majesty.

The demonic beast had a total of nine tails, with an incomparably immense body size. The entire formation was situated below it as though it were the true soul of this formation.

Its eyes had an incredible sharpness to it, able to see through others. And a single look caused Qin Wentian to feel as though sharp knives were piercing into his consciousness, the pressure rendering him breathless.

Divine beast, Vermilion Bird.

The totem beast of Ancient Grand Xia.

In ages long past, the citizens of Grand Xia took the Vermilion Bird as a divine spirit and revered it as their totem.

But now, after a few thousand years, the current Grand Xia was no longer the Grand Xia of that ancient era. Hence, the devotion towards the Vermilion Bird gradually decreased, deteriorating to the extent that the majority of those living in Grand Xia had no idea of its significance.
The Vermilion Bird in the air was like a real living being. And now, it was currently staring right at Qin Wentian.

“The first person to enter is actually someone at the seventh level of Yuanfu.” A cold and imposing voice rang out in Qin Wentian’s mind, the pressure almost forcing Qin Wentian to his knees.

“I will bestow upon you the ancient luck of Purgatory.” The Vermilion Bird’s beak opened as a beam of light shot straight into Qin Wentian. An instant later, a faint illusory silhouette of a Purgatory Vermilion Bird appeared behind his back!

Chapter 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!

Chapter 363: Unmatched Realm, Qin Zheng

 

The Vermilion Bird Formation was immense in scale and had existed since the time of Ancient Grand Xia. Even after the nine grand clans rebelled, they still had no way to possess this formation for their sole use.

They had no way to neutralize it, and so the ancient grand luck that accumulated within it could only be obtained by people of the Yuanfu Realm.

Hence, among the eighteen trial grounds in Grand Xia, the Vermilion Bird Formation was the highest grade of difficulty that could be opened up to those in Yuanfu.

Even today, after a few thousand years, the transcendent powers had never given up their plan to excavate the Vermilion Bird Formation. For each ranking battle that occurred every three years, they would send the strongest Yuanfu cultivator they had to enter the Vermilion Bird Formation, hoping for them to find traces of its secrets.

And throughout these thousands of years after Ancient Grand Xia was destroyed, there had been more than a few powerhouses obtaining significant benefits from it.

It was rumored that the Azure Emperor himself received an insanely powerful cultivation art, but no one knew what exactly was it.

Naturally, Qin Wentian didn’t know the history of the Vermilion Bird Formation. He only felt that this was an extraordinary world which had even birthed the true spirit of a Vermilion Bird. Based on his current strength, it was impossible for him to see through this formation, but he did understand that it made use of the concept of space and the world within it was exceedingly vast. Even after exploring for three days, he had only met around ten people.

He also noticed some historical ruins inside this world. Some had long been excavated by others before him, while others were like the mountain wall with the gigantic axe embedded within it—he had no way to discover the hidden secrets with his current level of power.

In fact, in this battle to plunder ancient luck, Qin Wentian could just camp at some location and take his time setting up fourth-ranked inscriptions—nobody inside this world would be able to do anything to counter him. Sadly, this world was just too vast, and taking his chances rather than seizing the initiative wouldn’t be a very effective plan. The only way to wrest away the ancient luck of others was to actively go after it.

His powerful heart sense swept out and a few breaths of time later, a silhouette appeared in Qin Wentian’s perception.

Chen Wang!

Chen Wang from the Great Solar Chen Clan; this time around he was here because he wanted to contend for the position of first. Back then, he was ranked #2 right below Hua Taixu. Now that Hua Taixu had already stepped into the second level of Heavenly Dipper, one could well imagine how powerful Chen Wang must be, given that he suppressed his cultivation base for three entire years. All three of his Mandates had already reached the second level, and his Mandates of Flames was even at the Advanced Boundary of the second level. All these years of preparation, it was all for this event today.

And moreover, Chen Wang’s trump cards were not yet unveiled. Nobody knew what his true limits were.

But one thing that people could all agreed on: in this ranking battle, Chen Wang wasn’t a person they wanted to antagonize.

Qin Wentian calmly turned back, choosing another direction and continued on. His actions caused the spectators to all be puzzled—just when Qin Wentian and Chen Wang were about to meet, he actually changed a direction?

Was this coincidental? Or was Qin Wentian’s perception stronger than Chen Wang’s?

Indeed, Chen Wang hadn’t even noticed Qin Wentian’s presence. He continued on with his course of direction at a leisurely pace. It was clear that he didn’t expect any combat to occur anytime soon.

Chen Wang continued for a while before picking another direction and then increasing his speed. He knew that this world was truly vast, if he wanted to wrest away the ancient luck, he had to be proactive rather than passive.

Under the startled gazes of the spectators, Qin Wentian didn’t choose to leave. Instead, just when Chen Wang changed directions, Qin Wentian stealthily followed him from behind, causing the crowd to marvel at his guts. Maybe his confidence in his own perceptive ability bordered on arrogance, because of all people, he actually chose to trail Chen Wang.

“The next unlucky sheep is Qin Zheng! That dark horse with the same surname as Qin Wentian will meet Chen Wang very soon.”

The spectators outside broke into excited discussion. Their attention was mostly fixed on those outstanding contenders, such as Chen Wang, Shi Potian, Wang Jue and the others.

And also, dark horses like Si Qiong, Qin Zheng and Hua Shaoqing were also being closely observed by the crowd.

And as expected, Chen Wang ran into Qin Zheng. Evidently, the amount of ancient luck Chen Wang plundered was more than Qin Zheng’s. Not only that, his Vermilion Bird-form ancient luck was also different from the majority, his was a golden-feathered Vermilion Bird while Qin Zheng’s was an ordinary one.

“Do you want to hand over your bit of ancient luck willingly or do you want me to take it away by force?” Chen Wang’s gaze landed on Qin Zheng’s illusory Vermilion Bird—there were five points of light glimmering there. This meant that if his Vermilion Bird devoured that of Qin Zheng’s, it would be equivalent to him stealing five portions of ancient luck.

“Chen Wang.” Qin Zheng casually laughed. “My ancient luck? You won’t be able to acquire it.”

Chen Wang’s lips curled up in a cold smile as he snorted. Stepping up, both of his arms glowed with a boiling redness as he channelled his Great Solar Universe Art. The temperature around him soared skywards, and even the air around Chen Wang evaporated.

“It seems like you don’t believe me?” Qin Zheng laughed. Chen Wang directly punched out with his tyrannical fist, as flaming fist lights sped forth towards Qin Zheng, each fist filled with an aura of savageness and tyranny.

“BANG!”

The terrifying flaming fists slammed into Qin Zheng’s body, yet the spectators were all stunned by what they witnessed next. Qin Zheng’s silhouette appeared in another location, instantly changing his position with incredible speed. It didn’t seem possible that he had dodged it, they could clearly see that he’d been bombarded by the punches. He should have been hit by that last attack.

Chen Wang stepped out as he grabbed forwards in the air. A terrifying manifestation of his flame-ember palm imprint directly slammed downwards, locking down on Qin Zheng’s shoulder.

“Shatter.” Qin Zheng spat out a single word as that palm imprint broke into multiple pieces. At the same moment, a terrifying sword qi could be felt in the air. Chen Wang’s silhouette had already appeared before him, and that great solar light illuminating from him was inexorably resplendent, so piercing that no one could look directly at him. Qin Zheng shut his eyes, and as Chen Wang’s Great Solar Swordplay slashed down, Qin Zheng vanished instantly before everyone’s eyes.

When he appeared again, he blasted forth with his palms. Qin Zheng’s palm was like the edge of a sharp sabre, containing within it a fearsome lacerating energy. Chen Wang sneered, his arms were already circulating with the Great Solar Energy, and he reacted by matching palms with Qin Zheng. The blazing temperature also caused Qin Zheng’s arms to turn a boiling red as the Great Solar Energy surged into him from Chen Wang.

“BOOOM!”

When the two of them broke apart, Qin Zheng’s entire sleeves had been burned off and the whole length of his arms were charred a deep black. Chen Wang’s boiling red arm turned back to its normal color, as traces of a bloody wound could be seen on his palm.

“Mandate of Space,” Chen Wang murmured as he stared at the wound he received. “With that Mandate of yours, it’s no wonder that you’re so confident.”

Lifting his head, Chen Wang’s eyes were illuminated by an intense blazing light. Instantly, the surrounding atmosphere in that region began to boil.

His silhouette flickered as he dashed towards his opponent, like a huge ball of flames fired over that resembled the sun. The ground where his steps passed over all became scorched earth, void of any life.

“INCINERATE!” Chen Wang coldly shouted, as the huge ball of sun flames lunged towards Qin Zheng. Two streams of will of Mandates gushed forth from Qin Zheng as his palms chopped downwards. Momentarily, an incomparably powerful slash descended from the Heavens, cleaving that ball of flame into two. As the two halves of the flaming ball hurled towards Qin Zheng, he vanished from sight yet again, re-appearing elsewhere.

“Spatial Laceration infused into the Mandate of the Wind— allowing you to unleash the might of Grand Cleaving?” Chen Wang stared at Qin Zheng as he continued, “Speak. Who exactly are you?”

“Unmatched Realm, Qin Zheng.”

“Your Mandate of Space grants you a powerful dodging ability, but in terms of true combat, do you think you stand a chance against me?” Chen Wang sneered, his combat prowess was evidently stronger than Qin Zheng’s but when he witnessed how powerful the fusion between Qin Zheng’s Mandate of Space and Mandate of Wind was, even he couldn’t help feeling a little fear in his heart.

“Chen Wang, do you really think you are invincible among Yuanfu now that Hua Taixu is gone? Leaving aside the topic of fighting, you have already failed the moment when you didn’t realize that someone was trailing even before you met me.” Qin Zheng laughed, his words causing Chen Wang’s expression to stiffen. Abruptly, his perception swept out, scanning the surrounding area with greater intensity.

Qin Wentian silently cursed, was Qin Zheng revealing him for his own amusement? Qin Wentian instantly turned and sped away.

It was as though Chen Wang finally sensed something. His countenance changed as he moved like the wind, pursuing after. Evidently, he had finally sensed the fluctuations of Qin Wentian’s aura.

Currently, if they fought purely based on strength, Qin Wentian didn’t think that he would be a match for Chen Wang.

“QIN WENTIAN!”

Chen Wang manically laughed. His cultivation base was at the ninth level, while Qin Wentian’s was at the seventh. Given how both of them were using movement techniques, the difference in their levels made it so that Chen Wang’s speed was faster than Qin Wentian’s.

“You won’t be able to escape.”

At this moment, Chen Wang could already see Qin Wentian’s figure in his sights. The Great Solar Illumination from Chen Wang’s grew increasingly brighter as he closed the distance between them. After which, he gestured out with his sword fingers as his Great Solar Swordplay manifested a few solar swords that slashed down.

Qin Wentian turned and responded with a dragon imprint, yet the Great Solar Swordplay easily destroyed that. The remaining might carried over and slammed into Qin Wentian’s body.

Qin Wentian’s countenance remained cold as he continued flying ahead. The garuda wings on his back flapped with greater strength as he tried his best to increase his speed. A few moments later, he noticed a cave dwelling at the side of the mountains. Although visibility was poor in there, he hesitated no longer and immediately dashed into the cave.

“Courting death.”

Chen Wang sneered when he saw what happened. He too increased his speed while channeling even more Great Solar Energy into a giant flame ball that manifested behind him.

However, the instant he stepped into the cave dwelling, a force of overwhelming power directly gushed out, boring into him. Chen Wang’s killing intent soared to the limits as he hurled the giant flame ball within.

“BOOM!” Chen Wang’s eyes narrowed in trepidation. That force gushing out shattered his flame ball, and continued its way forward aiming for his heart.

With a howl of rage, the blood in his entire body seemingly transformed into magma. An immense heat wave erupted forth from him, pushing against the gushing force but momentarily, Chen Wang’s body was jolted backwards, only regaining control after he was pushed back several steps. His entire arm trembled, as droplets of blood flowed unceasingly from it. He was actually wounded!

A scorching hot flame erupted, evaporating the droplets of blood into steam. Chen Wang clutched his palms as his countenance turned ashen.

When fighting against Qin Zheng, he couldn’t do anything to his opponent. And yet now he actually suffered a disadvantage when he’s fighting against Qin Wentian?

But how could Qin Wentian unleashed such a terrifying attack of such might?

A burst of solar flame inundated the area, Chen Wang wanted to destroy the cave yet he discovered that even though the cave dwelling was trembling intensely from his attack, there were no hints of collapse.

Chen Wang’s expression froze as he walked to the cave’s entrance and hurled a giant ball of sunflames within, wanting to bury Qin Wentian inside it. He stood outside the cave and icily sneered, “Can you only turtle in there like a coward?”

“Chen Wang, can it be that you are afraid of someone like me who’s two levels lower than you in terms of cultivation? So in the end, is this all the mighty Chen Wang amount to? Standing outside hurling useless words of arrogance? Nothing but a scaredy cat.” A voice filled with cold laughter drifted out, containing hints of mockery in it. “Come in if you dare.”

Chen Wang trembled in rage when he heard that. His countenance was ice cold as he continued hurling balls of sunflame within.

Chapter 364: Chen Wang’s Violent Rage

The cave dwelling Qin Wentian was currently hiding in, was dank and dark. Not only that, the stony walls were incomparably sturdy and solid. Qin Wentian was forced to expend plenty of energy as he inscribed Divine Inscriptions onto it.

The moment he’d stepped into the cave dwelling, he unleashed all the strength he was capable of mustering. He let loose his power of bloodline limits, his divine energy, then blasted forth with Heartbreak Echo and Heaven Breaking Finger—his strongest innate techniques—in rapid succession. It was only because of this, coupled with Chen Wang’s haste and carelessness, that had led to him being injured. Now, Chen Wang no longer dared to easily enter the cave, as he was unsure if there were any more traps within.

As for Qin Wentian’s cultivation level, he was at the seventh level of Yuanfu, and had the power of his bloodlines, the Fiend Transformation Art, and Divine Yuan Energy to reinforce his attacks, thereby allowing him to unleash attacks of a grade equivalent to or even surpassing peak Yuanfu cultivators. And if he utilized his innate techniques together with his will of Mandates, it wasn’t hard for him to kill his opponent, as long as they didn’t have a second level Mandate.

But Chen Wang was different, because his cultivation base was already at the pinnacle of the ninth level of Yuanfu. Furthermore, he cultivated the Great Solar Universe Art, granting him Great Solar Meridians necessary to produce Great Solar Energy. Also, his second level Mandate had already reached the Advanced Boundary and he could even fight against Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns who had just broken through. One definitely couldn’t use the Yuanfu Realm’s scale of measure to assess him.

At this moment, as the balls of sun-flames blasted into the interior of the cave, a bright light flashed from underneath Qin Wentian’s feet—dozens of ancient shields sprang into existence to block the fireballs.

Abruptly, a sharp sword penetrated inwards, destroying the shields. Qin Wentian’s countenance grew cold as he slammed out a palm to destroy the sword manifested from Great Solar Energy—his other hand and his feet had never stopped moving, he was constantly still inscribing Divine Inscriptions.

“Chen Wang, how extraordinary you are? Can’t you do anything to me even when I’m at the seventh level of Yuanfu? What will you do when I step into the eighth level of Yuanfu? Can you even fight me on an equal footing when I reach the same ninth level as you? By that time, the so-called pride of your Great Solar Chen Clan will be easily smashed apart and trampled over by me. Are you not ashamed of being called a Heaven Chosen?”

Chen Wang stood at the exterior of the cave dwelling, with a fierce crease in his brows. As he stared into the cave interior, his eyes flashed with an exceedingly cold light.

He could feel Qin Wentian was inscribing Divine Inscriptions, and knew that Qin Wentian was trying to use reverse psychology by baiting him to enter.

Chen Wang had already ceased his attacks. He knew that everything that happened here would be visible to those in the outside world. His failure to kill Qin Wentian had already been witnessed by countless others.

Those from his Great Solar Chen Clan, as well as those from the other transcendent powers, were all watching him.

Hua Taixu’s name had long resounded throughout Grand Xia yet what about his, Chen Wang’s name? People only remembered the person who was number one, nobody gave a damn about who was number two.
Just as what Qin Wentian had said, if he couldn’t even deal with someone at the seventh level of Yuanfu, on what grounds did he have to be a Heaven’s Chosen?

Chen Wang’s heart was successfully infuriated.

“If you truly wish for death so much, I can grant it to you,” Chen Wang coldly spoke as he stepped into the cave. His body transformed into molten lava as his Great Solar Universe Art was channelled to its limits, turning his meridians in their entirety and arterial pathways in his body a flaming red.

His eyes shone with the light of the sun, as the Great Solar Energy within his body circulated about, giving him an otherworldly glow of breath-taking beauty. It caused those in the outside world to sigh in admiration at his prowess.

Chen Wang, was ultimately still Chen Wang. He was the person that had the highest probability of obtaining the first position in the Heavenly Fate Rankings. After he entered the cave, the spectators had no way to see what was happening, hence they didn’t know why Chen Wang was filled with such trepidation to the extent that he needed to unleash his full power.

The sun flames around Chen Wang illuminated the entire cave dwelling, as he noticed Qin Wentian, a terrifying scorching heat instantly boiled within the cave, scorching the ground and the nearby walls.

“I shall kill you first, before plundering your ancient luck.” Chen Wang’s voice was ice-cold, filled with utter determination. At this distance, Qin Wentian felt a wave of heat assaulting his body, as though he would combust into flames at any moment.

Chen Wang placed one of his hands on the interior walls of the cave and started channeling the Great Solar Energy into it. The walls became a blazing red as the temperature within the cave began to rapidly surge upwards. He wanted Qin Wentian to feel complete remorse over his actions.

“Have you felt despair? Chen Wang’s palm brushed along the stony walls as he advanced forward. Qin Wentian coldly stared at him. The infuriated Chen Wang was truly more terrifying than normal, and in his current most powerful state, there was no doubt that he was truly the contender with the highest possibility of obtaining first in the Heavenly Fate Rankings.

“DIE!” Qin Wentian’s voice was ice-cold as a terrifying sword tempest kicked up. Instantly, the cave dwelling was completely filled with sword qi, manifesting into countless swords that flew towards Chen Wang.

“Killing-type Formation—so you wanted to depend on this to deal with me?”

Chen Wang wasn’t even considering retreat. With a slash of his hands, the Great Solar Swordplay obliterated everything in its path.

“Go.” Qin Wentian pointed at Chen Wang, as yet another surge of a sword qi tempest enveloped Chen Wang, about to devour him.

“Chi, chi…” Ear piercing sounds rang out, yet after an instant the sword qi tempest dissipated into thin air as two flaming red hands forcefully pushed the air currents apart to the side. Chen Wang, who now resembled a burning man of blazing embers, appeared as a Flame Giant Astral Soul from the 5th Heavenly Layer which could be seen above his head.

Qin Wentian gestured as countless sharp swords flew over. Chen Wang had already fully integrated with his Astral Soul—he was now the flame giant.

“Isn’t this a characteristic of Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns? Chen Wang’s preparations have long been completed, so he can step into Heavenly Dipper at any moment. Why, even now, he could be considered as a half-step away from becoming a Heavenly Dipper Sovereign.” Qin Wentian mused as he sent even more streams of sword qi tempest over. Chen Wang forcefully broke apart the storm of swords as he reached his hands out, aiming to grab hold of Qin Wentian. If that flaming palms even touched Qin Wentian the slightest, it was sufficient to incinerate Qin Wentian into ashes.
Chen Wang’s attack had already reached the basic level of Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns—the fourth-ranked windstorm sword tempest which Qin Wentian inscribed in haste couldn’t even kill Chen Wang.

“Despair now.” Chen Wang’s aura flared, as all traces of the Divine Inscription vanished into thin air. Like a divinity of flame, he slowly walked towards Qin Wentian.

At this moment, in the centre of Qin Wentian’s brows, a third eye abruptly opened. Instantly, a light so resplendently blinding shot into the eyes of Chen Wang, as a terrifying will entered his sea of consciousness. At the same time, Qin Wentian frenziedly blasted out with both his palms as numerous ancient bells manifested, flying towards Chen Wang.

“BOOM, BOOM, BOOOM!”

The chimes from the ancient bells reverberated endlessly, echoing in the cave. Chen Wang felt an intense head-splitting pain as his heart started to pound madly—it felt as though it was going to explode at any moment. But in spite of all this, his hand was still stretching out, trying to grab hold of Qin Wentian.

“Envelope!”

Qin Wentian’s intent radiated out as towering amounts of sword qi coalesced into a barrier enveloping his entire body within, the only thing left uncovered were his fiendish looking cold eyes. He dashed towards Chen Wang, no longer caring about the expenditure of the remaining Divine Yuan Energy in his Yuanfu.

The echoes from the ancient bells continued, the Heaven Breaking Finger stabbing out, capable of breaking the Heavens with a single stab. Qin Wentian’s finger was further reinforced by demonic armor, as well as sword-type Divine Energy that he gathered in spirals, concentrating on the tip of his finger.

Time momentarily halted as that one finger stabbed forward.

Chen Wang’s aura skyrocketed, releasing a terrifying flamestorm that could incinerate the entire cave dwelling. As that finger landed, cracks could be seen on the body of that flame giant, and he howled in agony. Retreating rapidly, he gathered his strength to push Qin Wentian back as he dashed towards the entrance of the cave. The force of his push ruthlessly slammed Qin Wentian’s body against the stony walls with such force he felt as though the bones in his body were about to be shattered.
The barrier of sword qi and his demonic armor had been destroyed. His Demon Sovereign-aligned Yuanfu, as well as his Heavenly Hammer-aligned Yuanfu were totally exhausted. His last Yuanfu reserves had only 50% remaining—for the time being, he no longer had the ability to fight with such intensity.

Coughing out a mouthful of blood, Qin Wentian sat up straight. He felt as though his whole body had been rammed by a truck, he was in an extremely miserable state yet his eyes was as cold as ever.

After Chen Wang exited the cave, his form returned back to normal. His flame giant form had faded away, leaving behind bloody wounds that dyed his body red, causing great shock as a stir powerfully rocked the hearts of the spectators.

“This…” Chen Wang had entered the cave with such confidence, yet he was heavily injured to this extent?

What exactly happened within that cave?

The countenances of those from the Great Solar Chen Clan grew incredibly ugly. Why was Chen Wang so grievously injured? How could this happen?

“Qin Wentian is a fourth-ranked Grandmaster,” Luo He quietly explained, causing the expressions on those from the Chen Clan to stiffen. A fourth-ranked Divine Inscriptionist was Chen Wang’s enemy, no wonder he was at such a disadvantage.

The spectators only saw the fury of Chen Wang’s anger reaching up to the Heavens. He soared up into the skies and howled in wrath.

The sound of his voice thundered out in all directions, spreading to all corners of this formation world.

“QIN WENTIAN, IF YOU DON’T DIE I WILL NEVER REST.”
“I, Chen Wang, am willing to form an alliance AND share all dangers and benefits together. I only need someone willing to guard the entrance of this cave and kill Qin Wentian if he tries to exit.”

A few moments later, there was actually someone who appeared in this location. This person was none other than Yang Fan from the Star-Seizing Manor, ranked #18 on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. He had always wanted to kill Qin Wentian, and now that Chen Wang was voluntarily offering to form an alliance, how could he not agree to it?

Yang Fan stared at Chen Wang’s figure in the air. No wonder Chen Wang was so infuriated, he had suffered immensely in the hands of Qin Wentian.

“Qin Wentian excels in Divine Inscriptions, I need to force him out. I believe his state of injuries are no better than mine, so if he steps out of these caves he will die for sure.” Chen Wang stared at Yang Fan as he continued, “Guard this area for me, I shall hunt his other friends.”
Seeing the sun flames blazing around Chen Wang, Yang Fan knew that he was truly angered. He nodded his head in agreement, “I will do as you say.”

“Good. I will gather more people to come here. Even if I can’t obtain first in the ranking battle, Qin Wentian MUST DIE.” Chen Wang’s voice was as cold as ice, as his silhouette flickered and vanished from sight.

Naturally, Qin Wentian heard Chen Wang’s words. His countenance appeared emotionless, yet a terrible, freezing cold intent radiated out from him.

He, Ouyang Kuangsheng, Chu Mang and Fan Le were all participating in this ranking battle. Everyone knew that Chen Wang wanted to hunt his friends to force him to exit the cave.

Presently, Qin Wentian had propped himself against a cave wall, with several Yuan Meteor Stones littered around him. He was draining them to recover the Astral Energy in his Yuanfu. At this moment, a pellet appeared in his hands as an ice-cold light gleamed in his eyes!

Chapter 365: Second Degree Demonic Transformation

 

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

Outside the Vermilion Bird Formation, the spectators were still paying close attention to the events happening within. It was as though the daily cycle of night and day didn’t matter, as though the word ‘fatigue’ didn’t exist in their vocabulary.

Seven days passed after the confrontation between Chen Wang and Qin Wentian. And in that time, the actual strength of the contenders were gradually being made clear.

There were several experts on the Heavenly Fate Rankings, as well as a few dark horses that were all highly regarded.

Naturally, many contenders found themselves being surpassed by others. If you stagnate, you fall behind, this was a simple law of natural selection. Experts on the Heavenly Fate Rankings were also subjected to this rule, and this was one of the reasons why those top few rankers were all cultivators from the younger generations.

Currently, the most highly regarded cultivators were: Chen Wang, Shi Potian, Si Qiong and Zhan Chen. Si Qiong was the contender with the violet-gold robe, yet even now no one could be clear of his full strength yet. Zhan Chen gave people a feeling of strangeness, as though he was becoming less and less human. He also seemed to gain more power whenever he was faced with stronger opponents.

These four people all had enough power to contend for the top three positions.

Besides these four, there were also others who also obtained a high level of recognition: Qin Zheng, Emperor Azure, Yao Jun, Hua Shaoqing, Yan Cheng, Leng Hong, Wang Jue and Yun Mengyi.

Also, there were a few contenders who were considered exceedingly mysterious: the black-robed figure, Mu Feng, Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng.

The black-robed figure and Mu Feng kept an extremely low profile, they wouldn’t take the initiative to hunt others and as long as people didn’t purposely offend them, they couldn’t be bothered about plundering ancient luck. But of course if there were people foolish enough to accost them, they wouldn’t show any mercy either. Especially Mu Feng, his personality had undergone a total overhaul, he was even more emotionless and many times more ruthless. Each and contender that accosted him would lose their lives dying in agony. His state of martial heart became increasingly more suitable for those who walked the path of a poisoner.

And Qin Wentian was classified within this because no one knew how strong was he exactly. The battle seven days earlier shocked every one – he actually survived under Chen Wang’s onslaught and Chen Wang turns out to be the person that was grievously injured instead.

As for Mo Qingcheng, she totally didn’t make any moves on plundering other’s ancient luck. Interestingly enough, those that met her didn’t have any intentions of wresting her bit of luck away either. Her charisma was just too great, and even though she appeared as cold as ice, no one would be willing to act against her. Hence, nobody knew of her true level of power.

Also, for those contenders who weren’t that strong to begin with, all started to group up and form alliances to traverse this formation world together. In this case, they could avoid being hunted by those powerful experts and even have the chance to hunt groups weaker than them for their bits of ancient luck.

Hence, an extremely strange phenomenon appeared. For those first class experts, the luck they gathered got increasingly more and more – the majority of the luck of those who were ousted belonged to them.

“The number of contenders are steadily decreasing, there are only around 500 people left now.” Several spectators mused as they studied the happenings in the formation world.

“Chen Wang is on the prowl for Qin Wentian’s friends while hunting ancient luck. While Yang Fan, Situ Po and Hua Feng were guarding the entrance of the cave dwelling where Qin Wentian was in.

Many of the spectators felt extremely puzzled when they noticed the actions of Yang Fan, Situ Po and Hua Feng. All of them could be considered first class experts in the formation world, what grudge do they have with Qin Wentian exactly? But somehow, they seemed to be unable to do anything to Qin Wentian, it was as though they feared entering the cave dwelling where he was in.

“Qin Wentian is truly awesome, look at how many experts are outside the cave waiting for him.” In the crowd, the young and beautiful Xuan Xin spoke in a low voice, evidently surprised by what she witnessed. Fan Le’s friends was truly outstanding, especially Qin Wentian, he was beyond extraordinary.

“After offending Chen Wang, his only path is death. Even if he turtles in there, when the test ends, he would still die eventually.” Li Shiyu was ousted from the formation world after her ancient luck was plundered. After which she had been spectating all these while and realised Qin Wentian was near her earlier and was the one who forced the middle-aged man out. In this case, with his level of power, if he chose to act and save her she would still be within the world. But he let her ‘died’ instead.

“Senior sister you are wrong there. Look at what is his cultivation level and think back of his past achievements. Back then when he entered the Unmatched Realm, you should clearly know his level of prowess. And now, in a short few months he had already progressed so much to the extent that he could even wound Chen Wang. Even if he turtles in the cave, the fact that Chen Wang didn’t dare enter meant that he is useless. There’s nothing shameful about what Qin Wentian is doing.”

Xuan Xin lightly commented as she continued, “Senior sister you shouldn’t be obsessed with hatred so much. With your level of strength even if he helped you, you would be ousted sooner or later.”

Li Shiyu was obviously unhappy with Xuan Xin’s analysis, she coldly snorted, “I’m merely speaking the truth, look at your beloved fatty, he’s still hiding underneath that coral reef.”

Xuan Xin nonchalantly laughed when she spotted Fan Le’s silhouette, “With only a cultivation base at the seventh level of Yuanfu, it already isn’t easy for him to walk till this point. Now that he’s trying to increase his strength, there’s nothing wrong with it? This is how intelligent people who act.”

Regardless of the opinions of the spectators, those within the formation world stayed true to their methods and continued doing things according to their method.

Qin Wentian continued cultivating in the cave, even now…no one dared to enter.

“Qin Wentian, didn’t you want to have a battle with me? I’m right here now, come out if you dare, I shall slay you for certain.” A voice drifted within the cave, that voice, belonged to Situ Po.

Situ Po naturally knew that such a method basically had no way to infuriate Qin Wentian, causing him to leave the cave. But even so, he still called out, hoping to disrupt Qin Wentian’s cultivation process. Even if it couldn’t accomplish anything, he could still vent the emotions in his heart.

“Chen Wang is truly taking his time.” Hua Feng commented impatiently as he stared in the direction of the cave’s entrance.

Hadn’t Chen Wang managed to locate Chu Mang and the rest?

They surely couldn’t continue to waste time by standing guard over a cave dwelling where Qin Wentian wouldn’t come out but Hua Feng was smart enough to realise that this place was actually the safest place to be compared to actively hunting for active luck in this formation world. If he plundered too much ancient luck, he would undoubtedly become the next target of people like Chen Wang and Situ Po.

“Chen Wang had already spread the news, all the contenders in the formation world is already helping him to locate them. There’s no rush, it’s only a matter of time.” Yang Fan was still composed. Although he had broken up with Shu Ruanyu, he still felt extremely unwilling in his heart. Shu Ruanyu was truly an excellent woman, with beauty and talent in addition to her extraordinary background. He was already prepared to marry her, who would have thought that she would be abducted by Qin Wentian.

This matter was too great a blow to Yang Fan and the Star-Seizing Manor’s reputation. His fiancee, a virgin of exceedingly beauty was abducted by Qin Wentian for long periods of time? What would people think? He would never be able to escaped the finger pointing of being a cuckold, this was also the main reason why the two of them broke up.

Hence, disregarding their grudges before this. Simply this matter alone made Yang Fan hated Qin Wentian so much that he couldn’t wait to tear Qin Wentian into pieces.

“Qin Wentian, wasn’t you very arrogant during the trial of the Heavenly Stele Steps? Now you are nothing but a coward, hiding like a turtle. How sad is that?” Situ Po continued, “Your cowardice will only lead to the death of your friends, they had truly been blinded, they actually made friends with a beast in human-clothing. Chen Wang will definitely slay them and send them to the underworld in peace.”

Situ Po wanted to agitate Qin Wentian into anger, and kept hurling nasty words and even vulgarities. Yet Qin Wentian didn’t bother about him, he was at the critical moment of his cultivation.

Hua Feng walked up, stopping at the entrance of the cave dwelling as he coldly laughed, “Qin Wentian, tell me what do you think Chen Wang would do when he learns of the relationship between you and Mo Qingcheng?”

Mo Qingcheng was from the Pill Emperor Hall, the beloved disciple of Luo He. Chen Wang definitely knew of this and even if he learnt of the relationship between them, he wouldn’t dare do anything too drastic to Mo Qingcheng. Qin Wentian and Hua Feng both understood this point, Hua Feng only made the statement because he was banking on the fact that Qin Wentian would be angered enough to leave the cave.

Situ Po’s expression faltered. What relationship was there between Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng?

Only those from Hua Clan knew of the actual details. After all, the reason why Hua Xiaoyun died to Qin Wentian was because of this.

Hua Feng actually came here for another purpose, after Hua Taixu stepped into Heavenly Dipper, his position in the Hua Clan naturally rose as well. The upper echelons in the Hua Clan gave him an order – to find an opportunity in the ranking battle and kill Qin Wentian.

Hua Shaoqing then became the Yuanfu cultivator with the highest status after Hua Taixu’s brokethrough. Despite his increase in status, this made Hua Feng exceptionally unhappy. Why was he the fall guy? Why wasn’t it Hua Shaoqing instead? Such a feeling sucked extremely.

Hence, he wanted to vent all these emotions of frustrations and unhappiness onto Qin Wentian.

“Qin Wentian you should know how beautiful Mo Qingcheng is. Do you think she would still continue living if subjected to such humiliation?” Hua Feng purposely hinted and emphasized on Mo Qingcheng’s beauty. He made his voice very low, only Qin Wentian could hear his words.

He didn’t believe that Qin Wentian could still tolerate this.

And indeed, all of a sudden a terrifying demonic air gushed out of the cave and contained within it, was an immense killing intent targeted at Hua Feng. Hua Feng rapidly retreated in case he became the target of an ambush. A cold smile hung on his lips, he had achieved his objectives, he knew that he had successfully made Qin Wentian infuriated.

Since now that he knew of Qin Wentian’s weak point, things would be easy to settle. He didn’t believe that Qin Wentian would continue turtling in there.

Within the cave interior, Qin Wentian’s entire body was shrouded by an overwhelming demonic qi.

Demonification, savageness, killing intent, ferociousness, barbaric. His physique got even stronger as his vitality skyrocketed.

The first level of the Mandate of Demons was to demonise the essence of one’s body, slowly transforming a human into an entity nearer to a demon, granting them an increase in strength, a stronger physique and an increasingly violent temperament.

Qin Wentian’s rage clearly indicated that the Mandate of Demons was different from the other Mandates because simply, it was the Mandate of Demons.

Second level of the Mandate of Demons was second degree demonification, Qin Wentian’s physique got even larger as his bones and muscles underwent a shocking transformation. Grinding sounds could be heard from within his body as his eyes increasingly resembled a fiendish demon.

His third eye opened as a glaring demonic light flickered within, like the eye of an ancient primordial demon gazing down at the inhabitants of this lowly world with disdain.

Not only that, the aura that was exuding from Qin Wentian was now at the eighth level of Yuanfu.

Both his eyes abruptly snapped open as three harsh rays of dazzling light suddenly gleamed in the darkness, causing the souls of those who saw it to quake in terror!

Chapter 366: Venting Anger

 

There were too many events happening within the formation world. One of the more major ones was the clash between Qin Wentian and Chen Wang.

After being injured, Chen Wang left in a fit of violent anger with the intention of forcing Qin Wentian out by threatening the lives of his friends.

And as for the current situation of Qin Wentian’s good friends—

Fan Le’s purpose was extremely clear, he wanted to breakthrough to the eighth level of Yuanfu. He didn’t give a damn about what others thought of him,, so what if everyone in the world called him shameless? With his current cultivation base at the seventh level of Yuanfu, even if his Mandates were all at the Perfection Boundary of the first level, it was all useless—there was no way he could contend against these geniuses. Hence, before he could even do anything, he had to breakthrough to at least the eighth level first.

Fan Le continued hiding below the coral reef to cultivate. Empyrean flames suffused his body, causing the temperature surrounding him to turn scorching hot. The endless huge waves crashed into him relentlessly, seemingly about to extinguish the flames covering his body but to no avail. The empyrean flames burned, hotter and brighter than ever before—the ocean waves that crashed into him were instantly evaporated into hot steam every second in a never-ending cycle.

As for Ouyang Kuangsheng, his cultivation base was originally already higher than Fan Le’s and Qin Wentian’s. Hence, after he broke through to the eighth level, he consumed the limit-break pellets and stepped into the ninth level of Yuanfu. After he levelled up, he was constantly hunting for people to fight against him. All of the opponents he faced were exceedingly strong as well, because the remaining contenders within the formation world were all experts that couldn’t be belittled. But in spite of this, Ouyang Kuangsheng was filled with even more excitement. He didn’t fear people stronger than him, what he feared was that there were no worthy opponents.

To be honest, he didn’t care about his position on the Heavenly Fate Rankings, he only wanted to keep discovering what his limitations were, and to keep breaking through. By doing so, he could perpetually continue to grow stronger.

Next was Chu Mang. Chu Mang’s heart was even more resolute compared to Ouyang Kuangsheng and Fan Le.

On the mountain peak of a certain mountain where Qin Wentian had previously explored, where a gigantic axe had been left embedded into the mountain walls, Chu Mang was currently cultivating here. He was standing in front of the mountain wall with a gigantic Astral axe in his hands, brandishing it wildly. Sometimes, he would change the movement, sometimes he would repeat it ten or a hundred times. It was as though Chu Mang didn’t know fatigue, he was completely immersed inside his own training.

Chu Mang liked both the axe and bow the most. Astral bows could allow him to slaughter his enemies at a distance, while the mastery of the axe enabled him to shatter mountains and split apart the oceans. He had given up on comprehending a third Mandate solely because he wanted to focus on gaining comprehensions for the axe and the bow, thereby remaining fully immersed in those two.

After the Barbarian King took him on as a disciple in the Unmatched Realm, he had once consulted Barbarian King on this matter. In the end, the Barbarian King was shocked by his thinking but supported him immensely, telling him to walk down the path where his own heart dictated. The Barbarian King had many innate techniques, but he didn’t hand them down to Chu Mang. He told Chu Mang that his initial path of thinking was right, only by walking down the path one’s heart dictates would one be able to continue on it forever.

Even if he only trained in a singular movement, he would always be able to break his own limits. This single movement would open his perspective into the path of the axe, thereafter reaching an incredible realm.

Once, this was what Chu Wuwei had taught him. He had always listened to his elder brother and treated his words like gospel. On and on, he walked down this path, while his heart grew increasingly resolute.

Chu Mang’s axe cleaved through the air once again and instantly a column of light cascaded downwards onto a mountain peak far away. Chu Mang didn’t perceive it because he was too immersed within his training. He chopped out another blow with his axe, as another column of light cleaved downwards.

When Chu Mang finally stopped, the ancient mountain peak in the distance was no more, it has been completely demolished by Chu Mang’s axe blows.

“Awesome!” Chu Mang grinned. After which, sounds of a fight breaking out drifted to his ears. Chu Mang shifted his gaze over, only to see the silhouettes of a male and a female currently fighting against each other.

These two were none other than Xuan Yan from the Mystic Maiden Palace and Yao Jun from the Skydemon Sect.

Xuan Yan was ranked #17 on the Heavenly Fate Rankings while Yao Jun was ranked #13. Yao Jun made tremendous improvement in terms of his comprehensions of Mandates and had comprehended a second level one—he was totally suppressing Xuan Yan with no signs o of suspense.

Yao Jun was one of those contenders that were highly regarded by the spectators watching from outside the formation world.

Chu Mang hesitated for a moment before moving in their direction. Xuan Yan was the senior sister of Xuan Xin, who was Fan Le’s girlfriend. Also, Chu Mang didn’t have a bad impression of Xuan Yan, it didn’t cost him much to offer a helping hand when she was in trouble. In fact by doing this, he may even be able to better the relationship between the Mystic Maiden Palace and Fan Le. In any case, by helping her out, Chu Mang could test out his current strength against a powerful opponent as well.

Xuan Yan was already teetering on the brink of defeat. His illusory Vermilion Bird glowed brighter and brighter as two demonic scaly wings burst out from his back, slamming into Xuan Yan with tyrannical might.

Just when he was about to deal the finishing blow, he sensed a faint presence and thus shifted his gaze to the side. After a few moments, he saw Chu Mang’s silhouette approaching, and a demonic light flickered in his eyes.

“Someone delivering himself on a silver platter for me to devour his ancient luck,” Yao Jun coldly stated. After a moment, the only response was a huge gigantic Astral axe cleaving down at the spot he was just standing at.

“I don’t need your help, you are not his match,” Xuan Yan called out when she saw Chu Mang attacking Yao Jun on her behalf. Since she was not powerful enough, she should answer for her own incompetence—she didn’t want to drag Chu Mang down with her.

Yao Jun blasted out with his palms as the manifestation of a demonic beast howled, gushing forwards to Chu Mang.

“Chi, chi…”

That axe strike was extremely ordinary and without fanfare, yet a fearsome-looking light erupted from it, cleaving the demonic beast into two as Chu Mang rushed towards Yao Jun.

Yao Jun’s countenance drastically changed as a sharp glint of light flashed in his eyes. He retreated at a terrifying speed, his demonic wings flapping rapidly. A red-colored light lacerated the ground where he was standing at earlier, creating a fissure of over hundreds of metres in length.

“Second level Mandate?” Yan Jun’s eyes turned ruthless. He could tell that Chu Mang’s Mandate of Axe had also reached the second level. Lifting his head and glancing at Chu Mang, the demonic light in his eyes grew even brighter. The contenders for the ranking battle this time around were much stronger compared to the one held three years ago.

Since the last ranking battle, he’d put in effort and worked extremely hard practicing his cultivation, all because he wanted to show off his brilliance today. Yet who would have thought that there would be so many contenders here this year.

Xuan Yan also had a thunderstruck expression on her face as she glanced intently at Chu Mang. She couldn’t help feeling a wisp of disappointment in herself, surfacing in her heart.

“Courting death.” A terrifying demonic qi burst out of Yao Jun as he flew towards Chu Mang, both of them exchanging blows at point-blank range.

Yao Jun’s demonic-orientated cultivation art was extremely domineering, allowing him to unleash powerful innate techniques of various demonic beasts. Naturally, his strength was amplified several times after undergoing demonic transformation, with his strength becoming similar to a berserker, constantly escalating upwards for the duration of the battle. Yet Xuan Yan discovered that no matter how powerful Yao Jun became, Chu Mang still reacted unhurriedly by casually chopping out with his axe. The feeling he gave off was too relax, just like a woodsman chopping a tree for firewood.

Indeed, Chu Mang treated combat like chopping firewood; each blow of his axe were extremely precise, the movements flowing naturally from his heart. There were no fixed stances, yet it gave people an inscrutable feel. His speed was also varied, alternating between fast and slow, which caught Yao Jun by surprise, almost killing him with a single strike.

Eventually, Yao Jun no longer wanted to entangle himself with this madman. He changed his tactics, only seeking to dash past Chu Mang and devour Xuan Yan’s ancient luck.

Yet, Chu Mang stood protectively in front of Xuan Yan, like a mother hen protecting it’s chick, giving Yao Jun no chance to succeed.

Looking at the broad shoulders of Chu Mang, Xuan Yan couldn’t help feeling a sense of disorientation. She actually needed protection from someone else…

Finally, with a howl of rage, Yao Jun soared up to the skies and flew away, giving up on the notion of devouring Xuan Yan’s ancient luck.

Chu Mang’s Astral axe vanished as he turned to look at Xuan Yan.

“Thank you.” Xuan Yan whispered in a low voice as she shyly glanced at Chu Mang.

“There’s no need for thanks, I’m doing this to help Fan Le. Can your Mystic Maiden Palace stop pressuring him in the future? Our brother Fan Le would never give your Mystic Maiden Palace cause to be embarassed. He will prove that Xuan Xin’s choice was right,” Chu Mang straightforwardly stated. In the past, Xuan Yan might have looked down on Qin Wentian, Chu Mang and Fan Le. But after the trial of the Heavenly Stele Steps, she found her thinking changing.

And right now, Xuan Yan had an indescribable emotion in her heart.

“Mhm?”

Right at this moment, Chu Mang and Xuan Yan saw two silhouettes approaching them. One of them was Yao Jun, who had flown away moments ago. The other was actually Chen Wang!

In front of him, even the powerful Yao Jun had to submit, following behind him.

Chen Wang’s eyes instantly locked onto Chu Mang as a terrifying sun-like glow gleamed in his eyes. As he moved towards him, his entire body flared and then shifted into his magma form.

“How powerful.” Xuan Yan’s beautiful eyes stiffened.

“Quickly, run!” Xuan Yan whispered urgently, only to see Chu Mang’s gaze were fixated on the approaching Chen Wang as an intense desire to battle radiated out from him. He stepped forth and slashed out with his gigantic axe.

Chen Wang came in rage, his anger rolling off him in palpable waves. Qin Wentian had stepped on his face, first, with the issue of the entrance priority. Next, even with his Mandate at the Advanced Boundary of the second level, he still lost out in a clash between Qin Wentian? If it weren’t for the fact that Qin Wentian ambushed him, how could he be in such a miserable state?

Blasting forwards with his palms, the Great Solar Universe Art was channeled to its limits. His hands were akin to flaming red flowing magma, as he reached out towards the huge axe.

“Peng…” The axe-light from the gigantic axe slashed into that magma palm as terrifying embers ricocheted off in all four directions. Chen Wang’s expression sank as he felt an intense pain vibrating his arms. His anger soared even higher after that.

“Kacha!” With a fierce clench, the gigantic axe started to burn. Chu Mang’s arms also gradually started to ‘solidify’ into the form of magma.

Chu Mang immediately relinquished his weapon as he rapidly retreated. Yet how could Chen Wang give him the chance? A slash of his palm manifested a cutting light that lacerated the chest of Chu Mang. Fresh blood sprinkled in the air as Chu Mang howled in pain, in an extremely miserable state.

“Die.” Chen Wang coldly hollered and slammed forth a burning palm right into Chu Mang’s chest. With such a huge impact, Chu Mang’s frame directly slammed into the ground as a fiery-red imprint could be seen in front of his chest, slowly burning his flesh away.

“Chu Mang!” Xuan Yan’s countenance was incredibly unsightly to behold. She ran to his side, only to see Chen Wang imperiously floating in the air as he commented, “Your friend Qin Wentian has successfully angered me. Now he’s turtling like a pathetic coward by not daring to face me directly. Did he really think he could escape my wrath like this? He shall pay a price for his actions. Even though I want to devour your ancient luck, I shall make sure I kill you first before I do so.”

Chu Mang’s countenance was icy. He stood up as a gigantic Astral axe appeared once more in his hands, with all his Astral Souls unleashed.

He would rather die on his own terms than to be humiliated.

A raging wind kicked up as Chu Mang dashed towards Chen Wang who was in the air. Chopping furiously with his axe, each of his axe blows manifested a light that could destroy anything it came in contact with.

“Do you think you can win against me?” Chen Wang roared in rage as he pressed his palm into the air. The palm imprint was formed solely from Great Solar Energy and directly blocked the attacking rays of light from the axe. He advanced to meet Chu Mang as he blasted out yet another terrifying palm-strike, slamming Chu Mang ruthlessly into the ground once again.

Chen Wang’s strength awed all the spectators in the crowd.. Chen Wang was after all, Chen Wang—nobody in Yuanfu other than Shi Potian would be able to match him.

How in the world had Qin Wentian managed to injure him?

Qin Wentian must have paid a huge price in order to injure Chen Wang. Naturally, this must have happened also because of Chen Wang’s own carelessness.

At this moment, Chu Mang’s qi was erratic, as fresh blood flowed out unceasingly. Xuan Yan turned pale as she witnessed this—she inclined her head to look at Chen Wang, only to see him flying towards Chu Mang, radiating an intense killing intent.

Chen Wang’s true target was Qin Wentian, but if Chu Mang were to fall in his hands, Chu Mang would die without a doubt.

As she thought of this, Xuan Yan hardened her hearts as the illusory Vermilion Bird behind her flew furiously in the direction of Chu Mang’s Vermilion Bird.

“What are you doing?” Chu Mang stared at Xuan Yan in bewilderment, but his weakened state had indirectly caused his Vermilion Bird to be similarly weakened. His ancient luck was instantly devoured by Xuan Yan’s.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Chen Wang howled in madness when he saw what had happened. Chu Mang’s figure vanished as he was sent out from the formation world, leaving only Xuan Yan behind to face Chen Wang’s wrath.

Xuan Yan stared stoically in the burning eyes of Chen Wang, she didn’t regret the decision she just made!