Ancient Godly Monarch - Chapter 559

Chapter 559: Flowing Wind, Flying Snow

“He’s here, Di Shi has arrived. That maiden with a cultivation base at the sixth level of Heavenly Dipper didn’t even stand a chance. She died instantly.” From afar, the hearts of everyone were thunderstruck as they saw that approaching beam of azure light. Not long ago, they had already witnessed how strong Li Tian was. Yet to think that they even had the chance to see Di Shi now. Given Di Shi’s temperament, and how his younger brother was on the verge of being killed, how could he still care for the opponent’s status? So what if you were a saint child or holy maiden. This group of people would soon be in a miserable state.

That beam of azure light was extremely quick. Although it hadn’t arrived at its target, Qin Wentian could already feel a stifling pressure gushing his way. The baleful aura from that azure light felt as though it could tear apart the heavens, causing Qin Wentian to feel a strong sense of threat from it.

“Careful!” Mo Qingcheng’s eyes stiffened when she saw what was happening. She advanced forwards as she cried out her warning to Qin Wentian.

Qin Wentian’s countenance turned ice-cold. Stepping out, he finished executing the last step of Seven Annihilation Swordplay in combination with a swing of his King Sword astral nova, slicing towards the beam of azure light. Instantly, a boundless sword might centered around his opponent as it madly lacerated the air. The sword intent emanating forth felt sharp enough to penetrate directly through anything.

Screech!

The shrill cry of a bird sounded out, the baleful qi exuding forth from that beam of azure light formed into terrifying whirlpools glimmering with a powerful force. Its attack actually passed through the wall of boundless sword qi, directly gushing towards the King Sword astral nova.

BANG!

Qin Wentian’s King Sword was instantly knocked back. That beam of light transformed into the sharp of a gigantic claw as it swooped down from the air with indomitable force and overwhelming speed, targeted to seize Qin Wentian.

Qin Wentian instantly felt as though the movement of his entire body was being sealed. The projection of a ferocious primordial bird appeared above him, glaring at him as the terrifying pressure from it engulfed the entire space. It wasn’t as though he had never met a seventh-level Heavenly Dipper Sovereign before. Back when he fought against Ye Kongfan, he had clearly felt how powerful seventh-level Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns were.

However, if Ye Kongfan were to be compared to this man in front of him, Ye Kongfan’s strength was akin to a flickering candle flame compared to the radiant sun. The difference was just too vast.

This was an expert worthy enough to be proclaimed as an era-suppressing genius. Unrivalled at the same level, jumping levels was as effortless as flipping over a palm for them.

Qin Wentian’s bloodline instantly erupted completely with power. He slashed out with his Scarlet Demon Halberd with neither sound nor presence as the halberd actually vanished. A moment later, a thunderous boom rang out as the Scarlet Demon Halberd directly clashed against that beam of azure light. The terrifying rebound force forced Qin Wentian backwards. The bones of the arms he used to hold the Scarlet Demon Halberd trembled violently as though they were about to shatter as waves of excruciating agony and pain flooded through him.

Borrowing the force of this rebound, Qin Wentian executed Stellar Transposition and instantly fled backwards. However, he only saw an azure-colored figure floating in the air exuding an unrivalled aura. The person’s eyes flashed with tyrannical power, akin to the eyes of primordial birds of prey, even sharper than the edge of blades, and felt as though they could penetrate past anything human.

Bzzz!

A wind gusted by, Di Shi didn’t continue attacking Qin Wentian. He went straight to his brother Di Yu, instead. Currently Di Yu was being supported by someone; it was unknown how many meridians and arterial channels in his body had already been destroyed. He had only a single breath of life remaining; if Di Shi had come any later, he would have already died.

Retrieving an azure-colored bottle, Di Shi took a pill from within it and fed it to Di Yu. A moment later, a pure energy circulated through Di Yu’s body, and the spectators all could clearly feel his life force getting many times stronger. At the very least, his life was preserved now. But when they thought of what a miserable plight Di Yu was forced into today, they couldn’t help but sigh endlessly.

Di Yu was simply known as a tyrant throughout the Royal Sacred Region. Even when he knew the people he encountered today were from the Medicine Sovereign Valley, he didn’t give a damn and yet ended up in such a pathetic state. The onlookers wondered if Di Yu would retract his tyrannical ways and change his personality after he recovered. After all, if Di Shi hadn’t rushed here in time today, Di Yu would definitely have died.

If Di Yu died, even if Di Shi slaughtered the whole lot of them to avenge him, it would still be useless to a dead man.

More and more people gathered around the area, staring at the confrontation with interest in their eyes. Di Shi’s gaze was burning with cold fury. Di Yu stared at his brother as he weakly stated, “Brother, help me kill them. Kill them all.”

“Don’t worry, I will get revenge for you,” Di Shi calmly replied, yet an immense murderous rage could be heard within his calm voice. He stared at the bodyguards as he commanded, “Protect the young master well.”

“Yes sir.” The bodyguards respectfully replied as they guarded Di Yu. Di Shi then took a step away, turning his gaze towards everyone as a violent aura erupted forth from him. His body radiated azure light as the projection of a primordial bird appeared behind him. This was none other than the image of an azure roc.

He locked his eyes onto Qin Wentian as he coldly spoke, “You must be courting death.”

One could clearly feel the waves of anger radiating from Di Shi. In the Royal Sacred Region, everyone knew that Di Shi doted greatly on this equally-talented younger brother of his. Although these opponents were extraordinary, with the Holy Maiden of the Medicine Sovereign Valley mixed within, Di Shi didn’t gave a damn. As an era-suppressing genius, there was no need to doubt his talent and overwhelming combat strength. How could he be restricted by things like the status of his opponents?

“Be careful.” Yun Mengyi spoke in a low voice as their group also advanced forwards and stood next to Qin Wentian. They could all sense how mighty Di Shi was. It was highly probable that no one here would be able to block Di Shi alone.

Qin Wentian clutched the Scarlet Demon Halberd in his hands tightly. This was the first time he had fought against an era-suppressing genius, and the cultivation base of this man was also higher than his own by two entire levels. During their clash earlier, he already understood that he had no way to contend against Di Shi. Yet for some reason, the battle intent radiating from him had never ceased.

Era-suppressing geniuses, they were the targets he sought after. Deep within his bones and blood, there was no fear, only excitement.

“This fellow…” The spectators were all dumbstruck when they sensed the battle intent radiating from Qin Wentian. This man was a madman, he was only at the fifth level of Heavenly Dipper and although the power of his bloodline wasn’t weak, he had to see clearly who his opponent was, right? His opponent was Di Shi! An era-suppressing genius that had even killed ninth-level Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns before!

Di Shi’s claim to fame was that when he was at the sixth level of Heavenly Dipper, he had been surrounded by experts from an extremely powerful sect. The Chosen in that sect were at the seventh and eighth level of Heavenly Dipper respectively, yet when they engaged in a battle against Di Shi, all of them were completely wiped out. From then on, Di Shi’s name shook the entire Royal Sacred Region and he had earned the name of an era-suppressing genius.

Against such a terrifying character, Qin Wentian actually radiated battle intent? How could the spectators not be shocked?

Bzzzz.

Di Shi moved, he didn’t waste time with words and directly acted. His eyes glittered with a fearsome light; his speed was as fast as lightning, quicker by a large margin then Qin Wentian. A faint image of an azure roc appeared behind his back, as his entire body transformed into a beam of azure light. His palms blasted downwards, and just that single simple attack from him was sufficient to push Qin Wentian into a precarious position, causing his entire person to be enveloped by an overwhelming pressure.
“Fiend Transformation Art!” Qin Wentian willed as his physique underwent a mighty transformation. He advanced instead of retreating, rushing straight at Di Shi. Considering Di Shi’s speed, it was impossible for him to keep evading. In that case, he chose to clash directly.
“DIE!” Qin Wentian roared, his Scarlet Demon Halberd unleashed a terrifying amount of dreamforce that gushed straight towards his opponent’s consciousness. However, Di Shi’s mind was like a wall of iron. Baleful light flashed in his eyes, his resoluteness was unshaken; the dreamscape of Qin Wentian couldn’t affect him. In his eyes that were flickering with killing intent, it was as though only a single word existed there – death.
Azure light flashed as that gigantic bird claw directly blocked the attack from the Scarlet Demon Halberd, clutching it tightly in its grip. The Scarlet Demon Halberd was a divine weapon that focused on dreamforce, but Qin Wentian’s current strength still couldn’t fully unleash the potential of his halberd yet. Although the halberd augmented his own dream will, he wasn’t strong enough to influence Di Shi yet.
But even so, considering the sharpness of the halberd in addition to Qin Wentian’s strength, a normal strike from it was already extremely terrifying. Who could have imagined that Di Shi would be able to so easily block his attack?
Di Shi grinned as he pulled to the side. Qin Wentian felt his entire arm trembling as the Scarlet Demon Halberd was forcibly removed and flung away in a random direction. The azure light transformed into a ferocious bird that shot straight towards Qin Wentian. Its power was strong enough to tear Qin Wentian into pieces.
“Freeze,” Yun Mengyi coldly snorted as the will of her Mandate descended onto Di Shi. However, her strength wasn’t able to completely stop his attack.
“THUNDERGOD SLASH!” Chu Mang and Ouyang Kuangsheng simultaneously unleashed their attacks causing two gigantic blades of thunder to cut down from the heavens, blasting towards Di Shi.

However, Di Shi didn’t even glance at them. These two were only at the fourth level of Heavenly Dipper. Even if their attacks were powerful, how could they be powerful enough to threaten him?
Astral light flashed as Qin Wentian transformed into blurry shadows as he retreated with explosive speed.
“Where do you think you are going?” Di Shi coldly snorted. A terrifying pressure again engulfed Qin Wentian completely. Qin Wentian felt as though he was stuck in a quagmire, even Stellar Transposition was useless now.
“GET LOST!” Qin Wentian’s yuanfu seethed and churned as he stabbed a single finger outwards. Instantly, a chaotic flood of sword qi concentrated on his finger tip, transforming instantly into a tempest that shot towards Di Shi, wanting to devour him within.
Di Shi frowned as he blasted his palms downwards. Numerous projections of ferocious primordial birds screeched in anger as they dove through that chaotic sword qi, lunging straight for Qin Wentian’s body.

“Puchi!” Blood splashed in the air from a wound that appeared on Qin Wentian’s chest. At the same instant, he finally left the attacking radius of Di Shi as he rapidly moved backwards.

“What a tyrannical strength, I have no way to fight head on with him.” Qin Wentian’s battle intent never diminished. But, he had to admit that he wasn’t Di Shi’s match. An era-suppressing genius was truly powerful, and wasn’t a character someone like Ye Kongfan could be compared to.

“You will die here today without a doubt.” Di Shi continued advancing, yet at this moment a brilliant arc of sword qi slashed past the space, aiming right at Di Shi. Di Shi raised his palms and slammed them out violently, colliding directly with that arc of sword qi. However, he actually failed. That sword qi slashed apart his palm imprint and continued on its way towards Di Shi.
“Mhm?” Di Shi’s brows twitched as his aura got increasingly baleful. He slammed out his palms once again causing an azure light to flash, colliding once more with the sword qi. Only then did that sword qi dissipate.
A beam of light zoomed over, the source instantly appearing before Di Shi. The entire body of this person radiated sword intent, making it so that he resembled a real sword. Although he couldn’t be considered handsome, he gave off an extraordinary aura that contained traces of pride of being an absolute genius.
“Ji Feixue (Flying Snow) from the Battle Sword Sect.” Di Shi contemplated this newcomer. This was the first time he had met someone who shared the same title as him.
“He’s Ji Feixue?” The expressions of the spectators faltered.
“Wow, it’s so lively here.” From afar, laughter rang out. The spectators turned around to see an absolute beauty appearing there. The beauty of this maiden could even be compared to the Holy Maiden from the Medicine Sovereign Valley. That soul-stirring countenance contained a gentle fragileness causing the hearts of people to bloom with the desire to embrace her protectively.
“Lin Xianer, she's here as well.”<br/>This new arrival was indeed Lin Xianer. The spectators only saw her smiling at Qin Wentian as she spoke, “Sir Qin is truly extraordinary, your actions actually causing three era-suppressing geniuses to appear here.”
As the sound of her voice faded, the spectators glanced at each other while feeling confused in their hearts. Three era-suppressing geniuses? Other than Di Shi and Ji Feixue, was there one more?
Even Di Shi and Ji Feixue started glancing around. Very swiftly, in a certain direction far away, they saw a character clad in white flying towards their location. Just a single glance was sufficient to tell that this person was extraordinary. He exuded an unmatchable demeanor and was exceedingly handsome.
“The flowing wind isn’t outstanding, the calm lake severs the moon. Yi shooting the nine heavens – Gu Liufeng (Flowing Wind),” Ji Feixue murmured, as an expression of admiration appeared on his face. This man, among the eight absolute era-suppressing geniuses, was the one he admired the most!

Ji Feixue (季飞雪) – Ji季 is a common surname, fei飞 stands for Flying, Xue雪 stands for snow. → Ji Flying Snow

Gu Liufeng (顾流风) – Gu顾 is a surname, Liu流 stands for flowing, Feng风 stands for wind. → Gu Flowing Wind

流风不风流 → this is a palindrome，平湖断月“The flowing wind(流风) isn’t outstanding/lustful/talented(风流), the calm lake severs the moon.

Yi shooting down the nine heavens → The Yi here is a reference to Hou Yi, a legendary archer that shot down nine suns. You can read more about his story in ‘Desolate Era.’

Chapter 560: Yi Shooting the Nine Heavens

 

“Gu Liufeng!”

Ji Feixue’s voice caused the gazes of everyone to freeze as they stared at that legendary character in white. Flowing Wind and Flying Snow, both of them arrived here today.

The white robes of Gu Liufeng fluttered in the wind, his handsome countenance was as calm as still water, with no hints of fluctuations, and he was so good looking that he caused the hearts of several elite females from the major sects to beat faster.

“How handsome, Gu Liufeng is truly as good looking as the rumors claimed,” these females were all thinking in their hearts as they stared at that quiet young man in white.

Gu Liufeng could be considered a legendary character in the Royal Sacred Region. His arrivals and departures were like the wind. He could appear here today, and a place over ten thousand miles away tomorrow.

Gu Liufeng still hadn’t joined any sect, and was extremely mysterious. The moon-slashing sabre resembled ice, the calm lake severs the moon; the sun-shooting bow was cool, Yi shooting the nine heavens. A single sabre, a single bow, unrivalled within the same generation. His sabre stole away lives while his bow stole away souls.

Some had proclaimed that Gu Liufeng’s sabre was as handsome as he was. The sabre light was so smooth and poignant, while his bow represented himself as a carefree spirit, the twanging of the bowstring resulted in the deaths of his opponents.

As to why people in the Royal Sacred Region always place Liufeng (Flowing Wind) and Feixue (Flying Snow) together was because Gu Liufeng was proficient in the way of the sabre while Ji Feixue was proficient in way of the sword. Hence, they were often compared to each other. However in the case of a real battle, Gu Liufeng should be stronger because his cultivation base was already at the eighth level of Heavenly Dipper while as for Ji Feixue, he was even younger than Gu Liufeng, and it was rumored previously he was at the sixth level. But he had now already stepped into the seventh.

These two characters were the objects of respect and worship for countless females from the major sects. Especially Gu Liufeng; there were many rumors about him circulating throughout the entire Royal Sacred Region. Many elite beautiful females from major sects took their own initiative to pursue him, yet because Gu Liufeng was wholeheartedly concentrating on his martial path and wasn’t interested in any relationships, it gained him the quote, “The flowing wind isn’t lustful (check out translation note in last chapter), the calm lake severs the moon. Yi shooting the nine heavens. Gu Liufeng.”

This perfect-looking character, how could people not have a liking for him? The princesses of ancient countries and holy maidens from the great sects were all willing to marry him and the powers they were from had no objections, it was for the best if they could pull in this lone ranger that didn’t belong to any power to their own sides. Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?

Naturally, the attention Lin Xian`er attracted wasn’t any lower compared to Gu Liufeng. If Gu Liufeng was the ideal husband for the females, Lin Xian`er as the number one beauty under the heavens, innately exuding a fragileness that moved the heart of others, would undoubtedly be the ideal wife in the dreams of countless men. Just a single glance would cause the desire to protect her to bloom in the hearts of people. Also, just like what Qin Wentian said, if purely based on beauty, maybe Lin Xian`er wasn’t comparable to Mo Qingcheng. But that soul-stirring gentle fragileness she exuded was capable of charming males to a much larger extent.

How could these few characters simultaneously appearing here not cause a storm of craziness? The hearts of everyone were filled with excitement. There were three era-suppressing geniuses here, plus Fairy Lin Xian`er from the Celestial Maiden Sect and Mo Qingcheng, the Holy Maiden of the Medicine Sovereign Valley over in this area, causing many others to rush here straight away with frantic speed!

Those from the Battle Sword Sect also arrived, they had come here together with Ji Feixue. Right now, they gathered around Qin Wentian and stared at the two silhouettes up ahead – Ji Feixue and Di Shi.

Qin Wentian naturally knew of Ji Feixue. He was the eighth personal disciple under Sword Sovereign Ling Tian. Duan Han had once introduced this senior of his to Qin Wentian before, and although Ji Feixue was younger than Duan Han, because Ji Feixue entered the sect earlier he was considered the eighth personal disciple, after Lin Shuai, the seventh personal disciple, while Duan Han was the ninth.

Upon staring at the scene in the air, how could the spectators still not understand where Qin Wentian was from?

So it turned out that he was from the Battle Sword Sect. No wonder he was so brazen, daring to even kill the little ancestor of the supreme Di Clan, Di Yu. The disciples of the Battle Sword Sect had never feared any consequences before.

Seeing the lineup in front of him, if Di Shi still didn’t wish to give up, the one suffering disadvantages would undoubtedly be the supreme Di Clan. Not only did they have to fight against the Medicine Sovereign Valley, they had to face the Battle Sword Sect as well.

In addition to that, Lin Xian`er seemed to be acquainted with the young man who wanted to kill Di Yu, she termed him as Sir Qin?

Hence, the identity of Qin Wentian aroused great interest among the spectators. They all wanted to know who he was, also considering the fact that he and the Holy Maiden from the Medicine Sovereign Valley had a relationship akin to a couple.

“Within the Battle Sword Sect, comprehending fourteen sword strikes. In ancient Ye, working hand in hand with the Holy Maiden to purge the poison from the Human Emperor, aiding him to quell the rebellion. He with a cultivation base at the fifth level slew the genius from the Violet Thunder Sect Ye Kongfan; and his accomplishments were so great that the envoys of the Immortal Martial Realm personally passed him the Immortal Martial Medallion. He is the foster son of the Human Emperor, Qin Wentian.”

Right now in the midst of the crowd, there was a character who looked akin to a scholar reciting the background of Qin Wentian. His words caused the spectators to be taken aback; they didn’t expect that young man to have such a background.

They had all faintly heard of the rebellion in ancient Ye. The ending was that the Violet Thunder Sect was humiliated; Ye Kongfan was killed by someone at the fifth level of Heavenly Dipper; and someone was adopted as a foster son by the Human Emperor, becoming a couple with the Holy Maiden. When this news was circulated out, there was no way to gauge its accuracy. Now that they saw Qin Wentian desiring to kill Di Yu because of Mo Qingcheng did they finally understand that the rumors weren’t false.

Comprehending fourteen sword strikes; killing Ye Kongfan; a disciple of the Battle Sword Sect; the foster son of the Human Emperor; the companion of the Holy Maiden from the Medicine Sovereign Valley; the possessor of an Immortal Martial Medallion – all this pointed out that that young man must be a Heaven Chosen. His brilliance was only covered up because of the presence of the era-suppressing geniuses. Earlier, if Di Shi hadn’t appeared, his radiance would definitely be the most dazzling one, far exceeding Di Yu’s.

“Things are getting more and more interesting,” the spectators were thinking.

“Unleash your sword.” Di Shi stared frostily at Ji Feixue, the battle intent radiating from him was as high as the heavens. A ferocious primordial bird’s projection appeared behind him as that cold and sinister eyes of that bird glared at Ji Feixue.

Meeting somebody who was of the same title as him, how could Di Shi shy from battle? He truly wanted to see how this Ji Feixue was qualified to be ranked along side with him as one of the eight era-suppressing geniuses.

“Xiu, xiu, xiu…” Sword qi whistled as a row of ancient swords appeared behind Ji Feixue. The sword intent in the air grew increasingly terrifying alongside the humming of the ancient swords. The swords began emanating a conqueror’s aura which was then reflected towards Ji Feixue.

Azure radiance flashed as Di Shi turned into a beam of light, flying straight towards Ji Feixue. The speed of his movements were extremely fearsome and contained a towering might and pressure within. Azure-colored runes erupted forth as Di Shi slammed out his palms towards Ji Feixue, causing an imprint of sharp talons to zoom forth. He was like a terrifying hunting bird that wished to grab his prey.

Ji Feixue’s palms moved as a sword appeared in his hands. Waving his sword, a surge of destructive sword light directly slashed out, aiming for the sharp claws of that ferocious imprint.

Bzzz!

A raging wind gusted by as a heavy demonic qi engulfed the area. An incomparably gigantic primordial bird’s projection appeared in the air, staring downwards at everything with disdain. Both its wings started to flap with frantic speed while boundless azure rune lights started flashing, and every stream of light transformed into a smaller-sized ferocious primordial bird that dashed towards Ji Feixue.

“Any of those smaller-sized birds have the combat strength of a peak-tier seventh-level Heavenly Dipper Sovereign.” The spectators felt their hearts shuddering upon feeling the might the birds emanated. However, Ji Feixue didn’t seem worried at all. Right now, there seemed to be a stream of swordlight below his feet as he executed a profound footwork, dancing about the air with his sword. An instant later, a rain of ten thousand swords thundered down from the skies, transforming into a sword-waterfall, destroying everything they touched.

“DIE!” The location where Ji Feixue pointed his sword at was akin to drifting snow flying about the skies. That sword-waterfall swerved in a spiral before blasting towards the incomparably gigantic primordial bird in the air causing terrifying shockwaves of impact to emanate outwards. An intense light flashed as that primordial bird was almost forcibly sliced into two. The might exuded was so great that it felt even the heavens was about to be torn asunder.

Di Shi retreated further up into the air, his baleful eyes glimmering with fire as he stared at Ji Feixue below. Neither of them were able to hurt the other.

“Since both of you are Heaven Chosen, why not wait until the Immortal Martial Realm to determine who is the one stronger? Sir Di most probably won’t be able to accomplish your wish today,” Lin Xian`er spoke in a gentle voice. Di Shi’s gaze turned over onto Lin Xian`er as his eyes gleamed strangely. An instant later, his silhouette flickered as he actually dashed straight towards Lin Xian`er.

“Since Fairy Lin is capable of cause devastating disorder to the vast majority of males, how about trying your charms on me, Di Shi, first?” a cold voice rang out. Lin Xian`er’s countenance didn’t change in the slightest, and an instant later, several silhouettes sprang into being as their fingers played the zither, blasting out the sound of a killing melody right towards Di Shi. Di Shi merely laughed crazily as he blast out with his palms, destroying the sound waves before they could affect him.

The wings of that gigantic bird furiously flapped as fearsome gusts of wind threatened to rend Lin Xian`er’s body. However, Lin Xian`er’s voice was as calm as before, “Xian`er merely commented casually, why must Sir Di bully a weak girl like me?”

“If I can bring Fairy Lin away, this can also be considered having my wish accomplished!” Di Shi tyrannically replied. His personality was actually the same as his brother Di Yu, birds of a feather truly flocked together.

From afar, Gu Liufeng was calmly standing. At that instant, a storm gusted around him as astral light flashed, an impressive looking bow appeared in his hands. It was none other than the Shooting-Sun Bow.

Bzzz!

Di Shi’s gaze abruptly turned around. He actually felt an intense sense of danger locking down on him. When he shifted his gaze, he noticed Gu Liufeng was actually pointing an arrow straight at him. They were obviously separated by a large distance; yet somehow it felt that any amount of space didn’t matter.

“Mhm?” The spectators all turned their gaze towards Gu Liufeng, only to see that the posture of that handsome silhouette radiating unmatched magnificence. His long robes fluttered in the wind as he released his grip. Instantly, that arrow penetrated through space, appearing near Di Shi. The speed of this arrow bordered on the unbelievable.

Di Shi retreated explosively, his speed was also exceedingly quick, yet there was no way for him to be faster than an arrow fired by Gu Liufeng. Howling in rage, Di Shi’s palms turned azure, emitting an indestructible aura before he smacked his hands towards that arrow. Countless rune-lights flashed, transforming into ferocious birds of prey that threw themselves in the path of that arrow, buying time for Di Shi to flee.

The sounds of piercing rang out continuously as blood sprinkled through the air. Di Shi’s shoulder was actually wounded from the exchange.

“How powerful.” Silence descended onto this space, Gu Liufeng was known as ‘Yi shooting the nine heavens,’ and fully deserved his reputation. Although his cultivation base was higher than Di Shi, it was still unexpected he could injure Di Shi with the use of only a single arrow. This caused the heartbeats of the spectators to quicken, as several females in the crowd sighed in admiration as they stared at Gu Liufeng.

However, the eyes of that handsome young man had no fluctuations to them. He merely lowered his bow, as though he just did an extremely ordinary thing. After which, he turned and slowly walked away.

“Xian`er thanks Sir Gu for his aid.” Lin Xian`er stared at the departing back of Gu Liufeng as a strange light flashed past her eyes. The flowing wind was not lustful, Gu Liufeng, although he had saved her by his actions, he had never taken even a single glance at her.

“Gu Liufeng.” Di Shi stared at the departing back as the battle intent in his eyes towered up the heavens. His hands gingerly touched the bloody wound on his shoulder; he could feel a terrifying corrosion energy within. It was precisely this energy in that fired arrow earlier that possessed the capability to break through his defense, injuring him and causing him to bleed.

Not only that, Gu Liufeng’s sabre arts were just as terrifying as his arrows, he was able to seal throats with a single strike!

Chapter 561: The Wind and Clouds Changes

Many white-robed silhouettes appeared beside Lin Xian`er, protectively surrounding her. She smiled as she stared at Di Shi, before stating in a gentle voice, “Although you are one of the eight absolute era-suppressing geniuses, who would have thought that there’s such a huge difference between you all. Your strength isn’t just a little weaker compared to Gu Liufeng, and when we compare characters, Sir Di actually attacked me just because of a casual comment I made, how truly disappointing.”

“Gu Liufeng, I shall definitely avenge the hatred of this single arrow. As for the difference in strength between us, it’s only natural considering the difference in our cultivation base. As to whose talent is stronger, we will naturally know after the Immortal Martial Realm concludes.” The azure glow from Di Shi flickered as his eyes gleamed with sharpness. He then turned to Lin Xian`er as he spoke, “As to me being angered and hence attacking you, that’s simply complete nonsense. Di Shi only wished to have Fairy Lin to accompany me for a chat, how can I truly bear to destroy such a beautiful flower like you?”

“Sir Di’s method of invitation is somewhat unique,” Lin Xian`er softly replied.
“Fairy Lin’s countenance is able to charm all living things, naturally I had to resort to some unusual methods. Since Fairy Lin does not wish to do so, I, Di shall not force you.” Di Shi’s silhouette flickered as he appeared higher in the air. His gaze turned to Qin Wentian once more as a glimmer of coldness flashed within his eyes. Pointing at Qin Wentian, he stated, “Ji Feixue might be able to protect you for now, but since you have injured my brother, you are already destined to die no matter who you are or what status you have.”

As the sound of his voice faded, Di Shi’s silhouette rushed out abruptly. Ji Feixue coldly snorted, his silhouette too flickered as he moved in front of Qin Wentian. His sword was already in his hands and with but a thought, he could unleash his attack instantly.

At this moment, Di Shi’s body suddenly veered to the side, dashing towards Fan Le and the rest, as well as those from the Medicine Sovereign Valley.

“IMPUDENT!” Ji Feixue knew that he was tricked and instantly reacted, chasing after Di Shi. However, how fast exactly was Di Shi’s speed?

“CAREFUL!” Qin Wentian shouted. Yun Mengyi blasted out her palms as a surge of freezing ice energy gushed towards Di Shi. At the same time, Qin Zheng stepped forth as he lashed out with spatial laceration. However, even their joint attacks could do nothing to Di Shi. Di Shi stretched his arms out, causing a huge primordial bird to manifest as it tore through all attacks before lunging at his targets.
The countenances of Fan Le and the others drastically changed. Di Shi was simply too powerful.

BANG!

Astral light flooded the area as the whole lot of them executed Stellar Transposition.

“WHERE CAN YOU ESCAPE?!” Di Shi howled in madness. His arms blasted out as the azure light zoomed forth, causing numerous ferocious primordial birds to manifest

“SCRAM!” Ouyang Kuangsheng’s countenance was incredibly unsightly to behold.

Qin Wentian’s eyes flashed with extreme coldness when he took in this scene. A spatial glow then enveloped his person as he spoke, “Senior brother, aid me.”

Duan Han and the others beside all nodded, after which they saw Qin Wentian stepping forth as astral light erupted. He executed Stellar Transposition as his monstrous perception madly flowed out. Di Yu who was in the midst of recovering abruptly gave a miserable scream, “BROTHER SAVE ME!”

Di Shi’s expression turned ugly, his attack had already landed as the primordial birds all blasted Fan Le and the others away, causing their blood to splash through the air. Di Shi initially planned to slaughter them all right away, yet the scream of Di Yu caused him to immediately turn and rush in his brother’s direction. At this moment, Ji Feixue’s sword light flashed as this entire space was enveloped by a screen of swords.

“OUT OF MY WAY!” Di Shi raged, the blood in his body surged as the azure light glowing from him grew even brighter. The projection of a gigantic azure roc manifested and erupted forwards with terrifying might.
“You are too impudent.” How could Ji Feixue let him pass? He turned his wrist as seven times seven, a total of forty-nine swords slashed out. The sword might engulfed this entire area, forcibly cutting Di Shi off.

“YOU DARE?” A roar of rage rebeverated the heavens, shaking the entire space. Astral light flashed as a constellation appeared in the skies.
“SLASH!” Duan Han didn’t hesitate and instantly slashed out causing the entire skies to dim as darkness enveloped Di Yu and his protectors.
Qin Wentian, Duan Han, and the rest naturally understood that Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants had arrived. Not only for their opponents, they themselves also had Ascendants hiding in the shadows. The people from the major powers all had experts at the Ascendant level following them behind. Earlier, when Di Shi arrived, the Ascendants from his clan had already been hiding in the shadows. As Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants, they naturally wouldn’t easily interfere in a battle of the younger generations – not even when there were casualties.
And precisely because both sides knew that the Ascendants from the various powers had arrived, they decided to halt the battle there. That should have been the end of everything until the instant Di Shi decided to act against Fan Le and the others. This time around, Qin Wentian was truly completely enraged.

Hence, this was why there was such a scene now. Di Yu was a Heaven Chosen among the younger generation of the supreme Di Clan, and his talent in cultivation was not any weaker compared to Di Shi. In the future, there was an extremely high possibility that he would be able to become an era-suppressing genius as well. And now that they saw Qin Wentian, Duan Han, and the rest intending to kill Di Yu, how could these Ascendants from the supreme Di Clan still refrain from interfering?

“I didn’t even come out, who gave all of you the turn to interfere?” In the skies, a sword beam flashed by, so powerful that it felt as though it could tear the skies, slashing towards the constellation manifested by those from the supreme Di Clan. At the same time, a new constellation appeared which transformed into a tempest, directly separating Qin Wentian and the others from the Ascendants of the supreme Di Clan. Several silhouettes then appeared in the air. It was actually none other than Shi Xuan and his troops.
The ascendants from the Battle Sword Sect and ancient Ye had both made their move while the experts from the Medicine Sovereign Valley only focused on protecting Mo Qingcheng. From their perspective, Mo Qingcheng’s safety was everything. If the battle really escalated, they would first whisk Mo Qingcheng away.

“GO!” The experts from the supreme Di Clan roared, telling the guards to bring Di Yu away.

“Too late.” A beam shot forth from the center of Qin Wentian’s brow, directly rushing madly into Di Yu’s sea of consciousness. Waves of vibrations rumbled through his mind, causing Di Yu to howl unceasingly in excruciating agony. The darkness hadn’t dissipated as a pair of demonic wings grew from Qin Wentian’s back. A gust of raging wind kicked up, while a halberd strike slashed out towards where Di Yu and his bodyguards were at. This halberd strike had neither sound nor presence, disappearing into the void.
“CAREFUL!” The bodyguards in front of Di Yu were extremely nervous, they couldn’t see Qin Wentian or the direction of Qin Wentian’s halberd attack, and so they could only try to broaden their scope of defence, madly unleashing their attacks hoping to intersect with that of Qin Wentian’s.

Bzzz!

Astral light flashed, Qin Wentian transformed into a series of blurry shadows, exceptionally indistinct in the darkness. It was completely impossible to see him at all.

“Puchi!” A light sound echoed out, the blurry shadows eventually appeared above Di Yu as the Scarlet Demon Halberd pierced right into the brain of Di Yu, reaping his life away. This time, Di Yu didn’t even have the time to scream.

“ARGH!” Those experts from the supreme Di Clan all madly unleashed their attacks towards Qin Wentian. However at the exact same instant, Qin Wentian’s surroundings shimmered with spatial energy as the attacks landed. Qin Wentian coughed out blood while the spatial fluctuations intensified, teleporting him away from that space.

“DI YU!” those from the Di Clan howled, not daring to believe their eyes.

Di Shi’s attacks also got increasingly frantic. He roared in rage, causing space to rumble. Right now, his eyes had already turned red from madness.

“Di Shi.” Ji Feixue slashed out a sword as he icily continued, “Initially this battle had already stopped. You are the one who killed your own brother with your actions. Don’t lay the blame on others.”
What sort of character was Di Shi? How could he endure such provocation? His attacks got more and more chaotic, azure light flashed as the talons of the gigantic Azure Roc slashed apart the skies. On the other hand, Ji Feixue executed a completely defensive sword technique to protect himself. Considering the state of madness he was in, although Di Shi’s attacks were powerful, it was completely impossible for him to injure Ji Feixue. The two of them were equally matched.

As for Fan Le and the others, they were slightly injured. Mo Qingcheng brought the maidens of the Medicine Sovereign Valley along to administer to their injuries while protecting their safety.
On the other side, those from the Battle Sword Sect, and Shi Xuan and his troops were also at an overwhelming advantage when facing against the ascendants from the supreme Di Clan. The bodyguards of Di Yu hugged his corpse and howled in rage, yet they were all helpless.
Today, they had already suffered a grievous loss. Losing a young genius that had the potential to become an era-suppressing genius, yet they could do nothing to their opponent. Even Qin Wentian, the person who killed Di Yu, had already completely vanished from this space using a spatial transference scroll. Earlier, Qin Wentian used the scroll because he merely wanted to escape from the torrents of attack. But in this situation, even if he didn’t teleport away, the supreme Di Clan wouldn’t be able to do anything to him regardless.

“This time, Di Shi must have gone mad. His younger brother died because of him attacking Qin Wentian’s friends, causing Qin Wentian to become completely enraged, sparing no expense to kill Di Yu in retaliation. If not, the ascendants on both sides would have never acted,” the hearts of the spectators silently mused. They initially thought that this was originally only going to be a fight between the younger generations. Who would have thought that the wind and clouds would change?

Di Shi was simply too arrogant, that was why this ending came about.

Naturally, Di Yu’s character should be blamed as well. He would never have imagined that today would be the day of his death.
Looking at the madness on Di Shi’s face, the spectators all shook their head. Even though Di Yu died, the ending was still hard to say. Di Shi would certainly take revenge. Would Qin Wentian be able to survive Di Shi’s revenge?
Also for Qin Wentian’s friends, Di Shi would certainly not spare them. They could only pray that they wouldn’t encounter Di Shi in the Immortal Martial Realm. After all, the Realm’s entrance was limited to Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns. Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants wouldn’t be able to enter. One could only depend on themselves there.

RUMBLE!

A towering rage permeated the atmosphere. Di Shi finally stopped engaging Ji Feixue in combat. He soared up into the skies, glancing at Mo Qingcheng, Fan Le, and the rest, before staring at the body of his brother as he began to howl in madness.
“THE IMMORTAL MARTIAL REALM SHALL BE YOUR BURIAL GROUNDS!” Di Shi madly roared, his voice echoing through the skies, so loud that it hurt the ear drums of the spectators.

“GO!” Di Shi roared again, as the experts from the supreme Di Clan brought Di Yu’s corpse and soared into the heavens, all of them departing from this area. Evidently, they knew they couldn’t do anything considering the strength arrayed against them. Thus, they could only give up.

But staring at their departing backs, the spectators understood that today, an immense debt of hatred had been formed. It was impossible that Di Shi and his clan would give up on revenge.

Ji Feixue’s brows were furrowed as he turn to Duan Han, “We must quickly find junior brother Qin, and in the future, please take care of yourselves and do not wander out alone. Di Shi and his brother were exceedingly close, and now that Di Yu is dead, he would surely spare no expense to hunt the whole lot of you down.”
“Di Yu deserves death,” Duan Han coldly spoke. The fighting initially had already stopped, yet because of Di Shi’s actions, all of this happened.

Yet Fan Le and the others all understood in their hearts, knowing what they should do. Since the seeds of hatred had already been sown, they could only be more cautious in the future!
“What an interesting fellow.” From afar, Lin Xian`er laughed. This Sir Qin was truly crazy; seeing that his friends got attacked, he went and spared no expense, even at the cost of his life to ensure that Di Yu would die here today!

Chapter 562: Journey into the Immortal Martial Realm

The others returned to the inn. Qin Wentian heaved a sigh of relief upon learning that everyone was safe.

In the following days, Qin Wentian didn’t go out. Other than cultivating together with Mo Qingcheng, he would occasionally find Fan Le and the rest to drink and chat in leisure. Naturally he didn’t forget to ask about Bai Qing.

It turned out that after Fan Le and the others exited the royal tomb, they gathered together and went exploring the various secret realms of Grand Xia. On an occasion, they ventured into a forbidden area in Grand Xia named the Devil Statue Cliff. Over there they encountered many dangers and almost died in there. Eventually, they narrowly managed to escape with their lives.
It was Bai Qing who saved them, they couldn’t forget that in front of that fear-inducing devil statue, Bai Qing’s entire body radiated devilish might, staring at that recovering devil statue while acquiring the time needed for them to exit safely. However, the consequences of her actions resulted in Bai Qing being trapped in the Devil Statue Cliff; even her life and death was unknown.
After hearing this news, Qin Wentian was exceptionally worried about Bai Qing’s safety. But according to Ouyang Kuangsheng, although after the royal tomb Bai Qing did roam around Grand Xia with them, her personality was extremely detached, always keeping to herself. Nobody knew what she was thinking about, but they could all clearly feel the loneliness in her heart. Even if it wasn’t for the sake of rescuing them, Bai Qing would have never exited the Devil Statue Cliff, she would have continued to stay within to pursue the unknown secrets inside even if it meant facing death.
Yun Mengyi was a female, she was the one who understood Bai Qing’s heart the most. She said something causing Qin Wentian to feel very uneasy. Bai Qing had entered Mara; that was a heart devil, she had no way to walk out of it. Hence, the value of her life to her was extremely little. She didn’t see her life as important.

Yun Mengyi’s words kept revolving in Qin Wentian’s heart, making him feel extremely unbearable.

He naturally understood that this has everything to do with Bai Qing’s past. Back then, the things the Bai Clan did to him had already caused Bai Qing to walk a stray path, leading her to practice the devil arts. The devil arts would slowly influence one’s personality, eventually forming a heart devil; this was an extremely difficult path to advance on and just the slightest mistake would condemn one to eternal damnation.
After which, they met again. Bai Qing suffered an attack purposely from him to repay the debts her father and elder sister owed him. Just a call of the name ‘Wentian gege’ caused the tension in her heart to ease, allowing her to repair relations with her family. Only then did Bai Qing show signs of turning for the better. But after her master died and Qin Wentian got seriously injured, Bai Qing descended once more into Mara.

Thinking back to the days of the past, that naive and adorable lass who always loved to follow him and called him ‘Wentian gege,’ Qin Wentian couldn’t help but feel extremely anxious. He definitely had to return to Grand Xia. After settling the matters in Grand Xia, he would enter the Devil Statue Cliff to search for Bai Qing.

As to the reason why Qin Wentian focused so much on cultivation without leaving the inn, this wasn’t just because he was worried about the revenge by Di Shi and his clan. That day, he had personally witnessed the strength of four era-suppressing geniuses, any one of them were true blazing suns of this generation and in addition, there were four others ranked as highly as them. Not only that, there were Heaven Chosen of the Nine Great Sects, as well as the other monstrous talents of ancient countries and reclusive sects. One could very well imagine how intense the competition in the Immortal Martial Realm would be. He naturally hoped to raise his strength as much as he could during this period.

The Immortal Martial Realm was also termed as the burial grounds for geniuses. One could only wonder how many geniuses this cruel place would eliminate in this batch of participants. The remaining geniuses that were filtered by the baptism of blood would naturally stand out as being conspicuously brilliant.
…………
The Immortal Martial Realm was just outside the Immortal Martial City. This ancient city was constructed at the border of the Immortal Martial Realm.
Ten years between activations, the Immortal Martial Realm was a separate dimension. There were rumors saying that the master of the realm was someone on the same level as the sect leader of the Royal Sacred Sect, someone who had already reached the legendary realm above that of Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants.
There were also rumors that the Immortal Martial Realm, other than acting as a filter for the generations of elite geniuses in the Royal Sacred Region, had another purpose and that was the master of the realm was seeking a successor.

In any case, there were just too many rumors about the Immortal Martial Realm. Although this place was known as the burial ground of geniuses, there was still no lack of cultivators willing to enter.
This was a sacred place in the Royal Sacred Region, nobody was willing to miss out on this opportunity. Although many people would die within, it was worth it as there are also many fortuitous opportunities that one could seek inside. For those who once engraved their names upon the ranking monument in the Immortal Martial Realm, several of them became the emperors of ancient countries or sect leaders of great reclusive sects later on. Right now, outside the Immortal Martial Realm, there was a sea of people so vast that one look wasn’t able to reach the end of them. Everyone who was interested in entering the Immortal Martial Realm all gathered in this place, causing this area of a few hundred square miles to be completely filled with people.
This was the first time Qin Wentian had seen such an overwhelming scene. When he was in Grand Xia for the Heavenly Fate Rankings, he already thought that the scene there was majestic enough. But when compared to the Immortal Martial Realm, there was no way to even talk about it. Firstly, was because the number of people in Grand Xia wasn’t able to match those in the Royal Sacred Region, the difference was simply too great. Secondly, the experts in Grand Xia were far from able to stand on equal grounds with those from the Immortal Martial Realm, and their obsession with strength was incomparable.

“Truly shocking.” Fan Le grinned as he spoke. The whole lot of them flew through the air amidst countless others. They didn’t dare to move too quickly for fear of colliding with others.
“Grand Xia is truly a place of desolation when compared to the Royal Sacred Realm, no wonder these powerhouses were too lazy to even go lord over Grand Xia,” Ouyang Kuangsheng spoke in a low voice, similarly taken aback.
“Grand Xia was once powerful before, it was part of the three grand empires of the Royal Sacred Region. But because others coveted it, Grand Xia’s treasury was ransacked, and after a period of several thousand years, the powerhouses of the previous generation had all already migrated out of Grand Xia, which led to the present Grand Xia today.” Yun Mengyi sighed, this was a vicious cycle. The places where the strong gathered would grow stronger and stronger as countless experts flocked to them. For weaker places, even if demon-level geniuses were born there, those locations no longer held any attraction once the geniuses matured to a certain strength, causing them to leave, which in turn makes the weak place weaker and weaker.
This was a golden pyramid of the martial path. Strong people all desire to stand on the peak, and this included the Heaven Chosen of the Royal Sacred Region as well. Once their strength grew to a certain point where the Royal Sacred Region wasn’t able to contain them, they would also leave for a better place.

“How many people are there here? There must at least be a million, can the Immortal Martial Realm contain so many people?” Fan Le asked.

“The majority of those here are only here to spectate or to send their close ones off. The ratio of those entering should be around one to ten and this is considered already excellent odds,” Ye Lingshuang who was by the side replied. “After all, ordinary cultivators would never dare to enter the realm. Just seeing the majesty of this place is sufficient for ordinary cultivators to know their place.”
“Thank you, beautiful sister,” Fan Le winked as he glanced at Ye Lingshuang. His narrowed eyes gleamed with a bright light, which caused Ye Lingshuang to be speechless. She didn’t know why Qin Wentian had such a shameless friend whose eyes always gleamed with light whenever he saw beautiful girls. However, recently Ye Lingshuang also began to understand Fan Le’s character. According to his words, it’s natural to love beautiful things, and he acted like this simply because he was bursting out with universal love.
“Qingcheng, don’t enter the Immortal Martial Realm.” Qin Wentian held on to Mo Qingcheng’s hand, his gaze gentle.
Mo Qingcheng smiled sweetly as she replied in a low voice, “Why can’t I enter?”
“Your talent lies in medicine and alchemy while the Immortal Martial Realm is purely a place to temper one’s combat prowess. It doesn’t matter if you are weaker when it comes to combat, I don’t wish to put you in any danger,” Qin Wentian gently spoke, his words causing the sweet smile on Mo Qingcheng’s face to grow even sweeter. She nodded and stated, “Mhm, okay, I will listen to you. But you must promise me to be careful in the Immortal Martial Realm.”
“Don’t worry, even I’ll take care of myself, I’ll still care about you, I can’t bear to lose you.” Qin Wentian squeezed the dainty hand of Mo Qingcheng, causing an expression of shyness to appear on her face.

She rolled her eyes and replied, “Glib tongue.”
Qin Wentian initially had the thought of getting Di Tian here to help him, but in the end he abolished that notion. Di Tian was his other true self and if he, Qin Wentian, really died in the Immortal Martial Realm, he would still survive.
Their group finally neared the entrance of the Immortal Martial Realm, and up ahead were many silhouettes akin to celestials who were clad in white. They stood around a gigantic stone monument and there were three large and imposing words glimmering with resplendent radiance engraved onto it – Immortal Martial Realm.
This over hundred meters tall stone monument was none other than the Immortal Martial Realm Monument. This place was also the entrance for the Immortal Martial Realm.

A few hundred meters behind the stone monument, there were a total of eighty-one stone pillars. The eyes of the crowd all shone when they stared at the pillars. Those from ancient clans and reclusive sects all radiated a keen battle intent. All of them wanted to stand atop one of the stone pillars.
Right now, the silhouettes of the three Immortal Martial Realm envoys flickered as they appeared on top of the Immortal Martial Monument. Their eyes held a terrifying penetrating power as they glanced over the crowd. Silence instantly descended onto the crowd as countless silhouettes inclined their heads, staring at the envoys above. Just this scene alone caused the hearts of the vast majority to palpitate.
“Holders of the Immortal Martial Medallion, ascend the stone pillars,” the envoy standing in the centre of the three spoke. His voice was soft, yet it thundered through space, permeating a region of hundreds of miles.
“The eighty-one holders of the Immortal Martial Medallions are those whom the envoys hold in the highest regards. The vast majority of them are geniuses from the Nine Great Sects or from ancient countries, reclusive sects or supreme clans.” The crowd stared ahead as eighty-one silhouettes flew through the air towards the stone pillars.
“Di Shi, the Heaven Chosen from the supreme Di Clan, one of the eight era-suppressing geniuses. I heard that his younger brother was killed just recently.”
After Di Shi, the other geniuses all ascended the stone pillars.
“Gu Liufeng, that’s Gu Liufeng. How handsome!”
“That must be Li Tian, his physique is so robust!”
“The number one beauty under the heavens, Lin Xian’er also obtained a Immortal Martial Medallion.”
“Who’s that maiden? She’s actually so beautiful to the extent it’s comparable to Lin Xian’er?”
“The princess of Grand Zhou, Princess Qiaoyang. As outstanding as expected, who says females can’t be comparable to males?”
“That must be the Saint Child of the Supreme Demon Sect. What an overwhelming demonic qi.”
“Nangong Shuang from the Nangong Aristocrat Clan also arrived. I wonder if the Nangong Aristocrat Clan still hates the Celestial Maiden Sect.”
One medallion holder after another ascended the stone pillars. The instant they appeared they immediately caused a torrential wave of commotion through the crowd. These were all the Heaven Chosen of this generation!

Chapter 563: Floating Bridges

The eight absolute era-suppressing geniuses were undoubtedly the most dazzling among the various geniuses. The vast majority of the gazes were all riveted onto them.

Ji Feixue and Qin Wentian soared towards the stone pillars together. They were both acquainted and were members of the same sect. Naturally they would be closer compared to the other strangers. The two of them stood on stone pillars that were right next to each other.

Other than them, there were two other members, a man and a woman, of the Battle Sword Sect who also received the medallions.

These two of them were none other than the other personal disciples under the nine Sword Sovereigns. The icy-looking maiden stood underneath the sunlight, giving off a quiet and cold demeanor as though she was the goddess from the moon, untouchable. Qin Wentian stood on the left of Ji Feixue while she stood on the right.

“Lou Bingyu.” Qin Wentian noticed her because her master was none other than the Plum Mountain Sword Sovereigness. This maiden was none other than the Plum Mountain Sword Sovereigness’s favorite disciple, Lou Bingyu.

In the Immortal Martial Realm, treasures and divine weapons weren’t allowed. The Immortal Martial Realm was a separate dimension that was a world of its own, and it would reject external energies that didn’t have its mark on them. The Plum Mountain Sword Sovereigness, in order to allow Lou Bingyu to have a more powerful trump card allowing her to gain greater advantage compared to others in the Immortal Martial Realm, didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the Human Emperor’s precarious position, forcing him to dig into his own flesh to take out his treasure, before she gifted it to Lou Bingyu.
And now this treasure had already melded into Lou Bingyu’s flesh and become a part of her body. Qin Wentian silently mused, nothing of what he was thinking could be seen in his eyes. But ever since the Plum Mountain Sword Sovereigness did that to the Human Emperor Ye Qingyun, rivalry between Qin Wentian and Lou Bingyu was already destined. Although they were members of the same sect, they weren’t allies, but enemies.

Other than these eight era-suppressing geniuses, the spectators also silently studied the remaining medallion holders. Out of these eighty-one holders, the Nine Great Sects only made up of a third of the numbers. The others were from the other major powers in the Royal Sacred Region, numbering one or two at most.
Although there were some people similar to Qin Wentian whose faces and names weren’t known to all, the spectators didn’t question too much about Qin Wentian being among the eighty-one. After all, every time the deed of him slaying Ye Kongfan as well as Di Yu from the supreme Di Clan was mentioned, it wasn’t strange for him to be a holder of a medallion. Ye Kongfan was two levels higher compared to him, while slaying Di Yu infront of Di Shi showed that he was a spirited man filled with boldness.
The only thing that was a pity was that his cultivation level was indeed lower compared to the other geniuses. Although it was rumored that the true test in the Immortal Martial Realm would be set up in such a way that people of different level cultivation bases were able to compete fairly, there was no such thing as absolute fairness. At the very end, the participants had to depend on absolute strength to acquire what they desire.

This could said to be a magnificent feast that eliminated many.
“Immortal Martial Realm, activate!” the envoys standing on the top of the stone monument spoke. Instantly, huge rumbling sounds echoed out as the entrance of the incomparably vast Immortal Martial Realm pulled open. The gazes of countless people peered into it, wanting to see for themselves what exactly this separate world was.

They saw many floating islands with twisted roots and intertwined joints akin to floating cities . That shocking scene only required a single glance to remain unforgettable in this lifetime.

“Is that the eighty-one floating bridges of the Immortal Martial Realm?” Although many in the crowd had asked for details from those experts who had entered the Immortal Martial Realm before, truly seeing it with their own eyes were still an extremely shocking thing.
Although the eighty-one floating bridges were termed bridges, each and every one of them could be considered an individual world, a kind of tempering test.

This eighty-one floating bridges corresponded with the eighty-one medallion holders. It was precisely because of these floating bridges that the eighty-one medallions existed. The Immortal Martial Realm envoys chose eighty-one participants and didn’t wish for them to meet each other too early. Naturally, if the eighty-one selected individuals lost to some others on their own bridge, it could only be said that they were useless.
“The eighty-one of you listen up. Each of you will walk to one bridge, and every bridge will bring you a different encounter. As for the danger level, it’s the same no matter which bridge you take. Your destiny shall depend on yourself, and as for the others without a medallion, just go to whichever bridge you want to.” An envoy waved his hands and spoke. Instantly, the eighty-one selected individuals flickered as they entered the Immortal Martial Realm.
Qin Wentian and Ji Feixue advanced together side by side. In the instant they stepped into the Immortal Martial Realm, a formless heavenly might descended from the skies. The great dao had no form, yet the pressure from it would envelop all who stepped into the Immortal Martial Realm. The majority of the eighty-one individuals had no change to their countenance. Evidently, they had already roughly knew about the situation in here.

In addition, those eighty-one selected individuals all had extremely strong hearts and minds and were long prepared. With their capabilities, so what even if their cultivation realms were suppressed?

Characters that were Heaven Chosen didn’t merely depend on superiority of their cultivation bases. Regardless of combat strength, comprehension, strength of will, they were all much higher compared to ordinary people.

Qin Wentian roughly knew the happenings within. He had heard that entering the Immortal Realm meant stepping across one of the eighty-one floating bridges and was something that would never change, but the dangers and opportunities one faced would change. As for their suppressed cultivation base, it would slowly be unlocked sooner or later, and so what he had to do before the suppression was lifted was to use this pressure by the Immortal Martial Realm to constantly elevate his strength, fighting to raise his cultivation base up another level before the suppression was lifted.

Staring at the eighty-one floating bridges akin to heavenly palaces caused Qin Wentian to be thunderstruck. Each of the eighty-one bridges was like a world onto their own and would lead to different places with different dangerous tests and fortuitous encounters.
An intense killing intent landed onto Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian’s sharp perception naturally sensed it, these killing intents came from different places. Other than Di Shi, there were also those from the Violet Thunder Sect.

Qin Wentian didn’t glance at them; he would face these people sooner or later, but there were more immediate dangers waiting for him ahead. If he wished to walk all the way to the end, it wasn’t so simple as simply facing against Di Shi and those from the Violet Thunder Sect.

The silhouettes of the majority of the participants all flickered as they soared towards the different floating bridges.

“Junior brother Qin, choose a bridge first. One bridge, one world, we have to depend on our luck,” Ji Feixue spoke.

“Ji Feixue.” At this moment, a voice drifted over from Ji Feixue’s side, it was the voice of Lou Bingyu. Turning his gaze over, Ji Feixue stared at the quiet and cold countenance.

“My name shall be placed before yours in the ranking monument of the Immortal Martial Realm,” Lou Bingyu calmly stated. After which, her silhouette flashed as she soared towards one of the floating bridges.
“Good confidence,” Ji Feixue smiled before similarly flying towards one of the bridges.

Lou Bingyu didn’t even glance at Qin Wentian. Maybe she didn’t know of the relationship between Qin Wentian and the Human Emperor.

Turning his gaze towards the sky, Qin Wentian soared up, his movements akin to a gust of wind as he approached one of the empty floating bridges. As the holder of a medallion, he was the first to step upon this bridge. The other eighty geniuses had already chosen their own, this way it would ensure that these selected individuals wouldn’t cross each other’s path too early.

The floating bridge Qin Wentian was on was a lone existence, parallel to the other eighty bridges yet they each led to a different place. He stared at the many never seen before scenes ahead of him as he breathed deeply.

A bridge was a world of its own.

By this time, the other participants also entered the Immortal Martial Realm and were soaring towards the eighty-one floating bridges.

Despite the fact that there were eighty-one bridges, the number of participants was simply too high. There were thousands of participants entering each of the eighty-one bridges.
Qin Wentian slowly walked out on the bridge he had chosen, his steps slow and steady.

The Immortal Martial Realm was considered a sacred place in the Royal Sacred Region. He had to grab hold of this opportunity to increase his strength.

“Halt!”

From behind, a thunderous voice roared. It was none other than a participant who came to the bridge he had chosen, the second person to set foot on the bridge. Evidently, the participant chose this bridge because he saw Qin Wentian choosing it.
The eighty-one selected individuals were all Heaven Chosen. Although Qin Wentian had an exemplary battle achievement record, the threat he posed was much less compared to the others.

At least, this was what Shi Kuang from the Heaven Crippling sect felt. He was the one that roared for Qin Wentian to stop.

Qin Wentian paused, turning back and saw Shi Kuang on the bridge as well. Behind Shi Kuang, sounds of a large approaching army drew closer and closer.

Qin Wentian didn’t say anything, he merely continue staring at Shi Kuang. Looking at that deep and clear eyes of Qin Wentian, Shi Kuang’s heart involuntarily bloomed with panic. This sort of feeling was extremely fatal, especially in the Immortal Martial Realm. How could fear appear in his heart just because of a glance from a single person?

“Although you are a holder of the Immortal Martial Medallion, why don’t you wait for more people before proceeding across the bridge together?” Shi Kuang controlled his emotions, yet he didn’t dare to say anything impolite. It was as though he feared that calm gaze of Qin Wentian. Shi Kuang could feel that within that calmness, there was a terrifying unruly wildness that could erupt at the slightest provocation.

“Wentian.” Ye Lingshuang also arrived at this bridge. After seeing Qin Wentian, her silhouette flickered as she appeared next to Qin Wentian. After which, Fan Le and the others appeared. They naturally would choose to walk the same path as Qin Wentian, hence all of them came to this floating bridge.

Only then did Qin Wentian retract the gaze he stared at Shi Kuang with. He glanced towards Ye Lingshuang and smiled, “Sister Lingshuang, let’s proceed together.”

The number of people on the floating bridges increased to the point where this space seemed to be unable to contain them all. Qin Wentian and his friends proceeded ahead with trepidation and caution.

In this world of the floating bridges, there were ancient trees that reached high up to the skies, and so many ancient buildings and constructs. But regardless of how magnificent the scenery and landscape was, there was only one path ahead of them that stretched out continuously with seemingly no end to it.

The participants behind all started to form alliances, and many of them were from the same sect, choosing to band together and hence all of them went up to the same floating bridge. This way, they would have more leverage to protect themselves should danger arise.

Shi Kuang and a few other members from the Heaven Crippling Sect all banded together in an alliance. This was the same for the other members, including those from the Nine Great Sects.

Duan Han didn’t chose this floating bridge; he was very clear of Qin Wentian’s combat strength. Since everyone’s cultivation bases were already suppressed, there was no worries if he left Qin Wentian to lead here on this floating bridge. He brought a few other members along as they entered another bridge. The other participants who were members of the Battle Sword Sect didn’t have that much trust in Qin Wentian compared to Duan Han. Hence, they formed into their own groups, with none joining Qin Wentian’s alliance.

Chapter 564: HumanBullying Demon

The floating bridge was very wide, but there was only a single path ahead. Everyone started walking on it, following the pathway ahead.
Gradually, the floating bridge they were on diverged from the other eighty bridges, leading in a completely different direction. Maybe they would meet each other in the end, but at the very least, they had to complete the path they were on before they knew if they would converge once more at the end.

“Suppression of cultivation bases and mandates, this feeling sucks.” Fan Le sighed depressedly as he walked along. He had discovered that his cultivation base was suppressed to the first level of Heavenly Dipper while the wills of his Mandates were also suppressed to the initial boundary of the second level. This sort of feeling was extremely uncomfortable when you knew your true strength was much more powerful, but you had no way to use it.
“This is the rule in the Immortal Martial Realm. Initially, this world will give a fair environment for those who have entered. In fact, this is advantageous for us. Once the suppression is lifted, there will be countless geniuses here who can kill us effortlessly,” Ye Lingshuang spoke in a low voice. Fan Le murmured a little, but eventually he also agreed with Ye Lingshuang. Their cultivation bases were considered among the weakest among the participants in the realm.

Also, Fan Le was extremely intelligent. Given how sharp he was he had already noticed the unbending aura everyone was exuding. Everyone wanted to devour their opponents, becoming the only one remaining in the Immortal Martial Realm. They were all very clear on how many elites of the Royal Sacred Region were in here, and the ambitions in the hearts of those from the major powers. Although everything looked calm now, there was a fire burning in everyone’s heart that could erupt at any instant.

“What the hell are those things?” Fan Le noticed that there were eighteen silver-colored puppets appearing in front of them blocking their path. Not only that, they were positioned in an array formation shape as well.
“The first test of the Immortal Martial Realm has begun,” the hearts of everyone mused. There were dangers everywhere in this realm, even the first test was filled with incredible peril.

Astral light flashed, transforming into the shape of a bow as arrows penetrated space, shooting directly towards the silver-colored puppets. However, an intense silvery glow radiated forth from the puppets as the long spears in their hands pierced out. The aura from the eighteen puppets joined together and shattered the arrows into pieces.
“The strength of each individual puppet is about the peak of the first level of Heavenly Dipper, and the Mandates they are capable of using is also at the initial boundary of the second level. However, the puppets seem to be able to fuse their attacks together and their overall strength can be augmented to the peak of the second-level of Heavenly Dipper, and the will of their Mandates to the advanced boundary.” Qin Wentian’s perception was extremely sharp, he shared his analysis as the others around him all nodded, agreeing with his words.

“We can try to barge through by force.” Although their cultivation base and Mandates were suppressed for this first test, based on the combined power of their group, this was nothing to them at all.

They had eight people in their alliance: Qin Wentian, Ye Lingshuang, Fan Le, Ouyang Kuangsheng, Chu Mang, Yun Mengyi, Qin Zheng, and Mu Feng.
“Ouyang and me shall be the vanguard, Qin Zheng and Yun Mengyi support us from the side, Fatty and Big Bro Chu Mang suppress the rear while sister Lingshuang and Mu Feng will be in the center to deal with any unexpected situations,” Qin Wentian took the role of the commander and spoke. Such an arrangement was indeed very logical, although the first test of the Immortal Martial Realm wouldn’t be too monstrous, it was always better to be more safe than sorry.

“Right,” everyone agreed. The other participants at the back were all extremely joyful that Qin Wentian’s group wanted to be the first to probe. Naturally, they didn’t mind waiting quietly.
“Go!” Qin Wentian shouted after their formation was arranged, and the eight of them rushed towards the eighteen silver-colored puppets. Because the formless energy restricted their strength, they couldn’t even summon their astral novas and could only use their astral souls.

Qin Wentian’s physique underwent Demon Transformation as a demonic armor enveloped him. His gaze was extremely sharp as a heavenly hammer appeared in his hands. Since he was the vanguard, he naturally needed a tyrannical attack. Ouyang’s astral souls were released as well, and they were incredibly dazzling. His entire body was cloaked in thunderfire that formed an armor which circulated around his body as both of them rushed ahead.
The eighteen silver-colored puppets simultaneously launched an attack towards Qin Wentian and his alliance. The stunning spear strike penetrated through everything.

Bzzz!

A raging wind gusted by as Qin Wentian and Ouyang Kuangsheng unleashed their attacks. The force behind them was exceptionally terrifying; the instant Qin Wentian’s heavenly hammer slammed out, the entire space shook. Although his cultivation base and Mandates were suppressed, the strength of his physique as well as the augmentation effect of innate techniques wouldn’t be suppressed.

The attacks from two sides collided directly against each other in the air. Qin Wentian and Ouyang Kuangsheng directly dashed into the midst of the puppets, forcing them backwards one by one. However, these puppets seemed to have an invulnerable body. The puppets reacted with a second round of attacks, their spear techniques were as ferocious as before as they struck out towards the two humans right at the forefront.

At this moment, Qin Zheng and Yun Mengyi acted. Spatial and freezing energy erupted forth at the same instant and the spear light from the combined attacks of the puppets was blocked by a formless energy. Fan Le and Chu Mang were long prepared and were storing up their power. In that instant during the clash, all eight of them had already entered the puppet formation and continued advancing ahead.

“They can’t be killed, and can only be forced to retreat,” the onlookers all understood upon spectating. Qin Wentian and Ouyang once again unleashed their attacks towards the spear light shooting their way, negating it completely. They then forcibly advanced straight through despite the pressure and eventually, their group of eight safely crossed over the formation of the eighteen puppets and arrived safely on the other side.

“It’s almost impossible for a lone cultivator to barge through that,” Qin Wentian murmured after he landed. The spectators naturally knew this was true. Although Qin Wentian and the others looked relaxed, this was only because their collaboration efforts had achieved a synergy greater than the whole of their strengths combined. If this formation was used to test a lone cultivator, unless that person was an absolute monstrous genius, they would definitely die within that formation.

From this point, one could see that the difficulty of the Immortal Martial Realm’s tests were still exceedingly high. Just this first test was already so tough and to get pass it, the unallied cultivators who had yet to form groups were all being forced to do so.

“Quickly, let’s move.” Those behind, upon seeing Qin Wentian and his group directly leaving, they didn’t dare to hesitate and delay any longer. They didn’t want Qin Wentian and his group to be the first to obtain any benefits in this realm.

Thus the other groups all continuously began to attempt to barge through the formation of the eighteen puppets. Because of them working in an alliance, the passing rate was extremely high. Only as time passed progressively and the difficulty of the tests skyrocketed, would the death rate soar as well.

Qin Wentian and his group didn’t have time to be bothered with those behind them. They continued walking forward. Soon after, they came to a stop as they arrived at a checkpoint. In front of them, an incomparably large demonic beast was coiled up there. The way past this checkpoint was just precisely at the location where the large head of the demonic beast was resting at. Only by walking underneath it would they be able to cross to the next area.

“What demonic beast is this?”

This demonic beast was totally jet black in color, and had a malevolent countenance with scaly armor. It appeared to be a snake demon, yet there was a faint shadow of a flood dragon (jiao), in its aura.

“Black Jiao Python, the black mist it breathes has corrosion properties,” Ye Lingshuang warned.
“A Black Jiao Python at the third level of Heavenly Dipper, the corroding mist it breathes out is capable of easily killing us.” Feeling that cold stare of the python, Ye Lingshuang’s expression was incredibly unsightly. Why was the second test already so difficult?

The Black Jiao Python icily stared in their direction. A demonic glint of light flickered in its eyes as though it had understood Ye Lingshuang’s words.

“There must be a solution, the Immortal Martial Realm wouldn’t set an impossible test.” Qin Zheng spoke in a low voice as he glanced at the Black Jiao Python. “Brother Python, can you let us know the rules?”

The Black Jiao Python stared at Qin Zheng, its baleful eyes glinted with cold light as it replied, “I am the rule here.”

The others didn’t find it strange that the Black Jiao Python could speak human speech. Demonic beasts at the Heavenly Dipper Realm would naturally be unable to speak the human tongue. Not only that, for some demonic beasts who wished to experience life as a human, they are still able to transform into humans. However, demons have a demonic path of their own and many demonic beasts disdain and dislike taking the form of a human. It was just like how a human would never like to take on the form of a demonic beast, or if not, back then Qin Wentian wouldn’t have tried every possible means to revert back to his human body.

“This demonic beast is extremely arrogant,” Fan Le murmured.

The Black Jiao Python turned its gaze onto Fan Le as it grinned, “You better be more careful.”

“Damn, Brother Python I’m just casually speaking, don’t be so petty okay?” Fan Le mumbled, while cursing silently in his heart. This third-level Heavenly Dipper python actually dared to be so arrogant? If it wasn’t for his cultivation base being suppressed, Fan Le would have long rushed up and smashed the guardian of this checkpoint, the python, into pieces. How could he still waste time talking to it? But now, Fan Le couldn’t afford to offend it.

The Black Jiao Python didn’t reply, it merely looked at Fan Le. After some time, the other participants all arrived as well.

“Brother Jiao, I have a treasure for you.” At this moment, a figure walked out as he tossed a gigantic pearl exuding a heavy demonic qi over to the Black Jiao Python.

The Black Jiao Python swallowed the pearl with a single gulp. After which, its triangular-shaped eyes shone with satisfaction as it stared at the supplicant, “I’ll use the normal rules to test you guys, watch clearly.”

After it spoke, the Black Jiao Python started to spit out black-colored mist that corresponded with its extremely rhythmic breathing. That black-colored mist contained extremely powerful corrosive properties, causing even those who stood far away to feel an intense sense of danger. If they came into contact with this mist, not even the slightest bit of their flesh would be left.

“Tough to deal with,” a notion of thought flashed past the minds of everyone. As to what it meant by normal rules, it was the ordinary rhythmic breathing of it. This python was the guardian for this checkpoint, it wouldn’t make things easy for anyone. At the very most, it would follow the normal rules in testing the participants.

“Thank you Brother Jiao, these are all from my Supreme Demon Sect.” That young man pointed to a group of people behind him, as the Black Jiao Python nodded its head.

“So they are from the Supreme Demon Sect, no wonder they understood the personality of demonic beasts so well. It’s said that snake-type demonic beasts are all horny and greedy. This person from the Supreme Demon Sect not only gifted it a present, it even addressed this Black Jiao Python as Brother Jiao. Jiao obviously sounds much better compared to Jiao Python.” The hearts of everyone were silently thoughtful as they looked on while the supplicant from the Supreme Demon Sect began the test.

After the Black Jiao Python exhaled, the offeror who had long been prepared instantly unleash his speed to the limits. His body was enveloped by demonic energy that transformed into armor as he instantly dashed underneath the head of the black python. The corrosive the Black Jiao Python breathed out only touched him a little, but it still melted through the armor of demonic energy protecting him, causing everyone to start at the strength of the corrosiveness. However, this person had long made his preparations and it was evident that the Black Jiao Python went easy on him.

After that, the second person from the Supreme Demon Sect rushed over, and although he passed too, his leg was slightly injured. The third person was in even more danger, only narrowly escaping with his life. As for the fourth, the corrosion ate up an entire leg of his. For the fifth, he mistook the timing and was completely corroded by the poison mist just halfway past the checkpoint, becoming a pile of melted gore before disappearing completely, the sight of it causing the hearts of everyone to pound in fear.
“Brother Jiao, I have a treasure here as well, this is for you.” Ye Lingshuang walked up as an exquisite looking little sword could be seen in her hands. Although this place rejected divine weapons, it was fine as long as one didn’t actively summon the energy from the divine inscriptions within them to release their might. If not, the instant one ignored this restriction and used their divine weapons, it would instantly bring about a tribulation from this realm.

The Black Jiao Python didn’t say anything, it merely glanced at Ye Lingshuang as its eyes flickered with an evil lascivious gleam. The sight of this caused Fan Le to boil in anger as he cursed, “This beast is actually greedy for women.”
“Snake-type demons are all known to be lustful.” Everyone sighed in their hearts, seems like this was true. Could it be that this Black Jiao Python was having designs on Ye Lingshuang? Qin Wentian and the others all frowned at this revelation, yet they only saw the Black Jiao Python turning its gaze to Fan Le as a venomous look appeared in its eyes.

In here, it was the law!
蛟 Jiao → wyrm, flood dragons (not true dragon), hornless draconic creature in water bodies

Chapter 565: Despair Wrought By A Single Stomp

“Trash, you have thoroughly infuriated me.” The sinister triangular-shaped eyes of the Black Jiao Python flashed with venom. In here, he was the law that dictated the life and death of this participants. Those people caught it and placed it inside this realm, instructing it on what it was supposed to do. As long as it followed the basic rules, it could basically do whatever it wanted to.

The only instruction he had to follow was that he mustn’t leave this place and could only guard this checkpoint. At the same time, he had to breathe out poisonous mist to prevent others who wanted to advance pass him.

As for the rest, he can do as he desired. This meant that as long as he wanted to, he could even slaughter all participants with impunity. However, although this Black Jiao Python was extremely crafty, it also understood that it cannot invoke the rage of the participants completely. If not, what happens if everyone joined forces to kill it?

It wasn’t immortal. If a team couldn’t kill it, what about when two or three teams joined forces?
Hence, the Black Jiao Python always ensured its actions wouldn’t infuriate the mass populace of those participants. To the humans, it was just a test, and the easiest way to pass it, was simply to walk underneath it while evading the mist.
The Black Jiao Python didn’t know that right now, a young man in front of it was currently contemplating this possibility as his eyes glimmered with a bright light.

“Although this Black Jiao Python is powerful, we can easily kill it if we get enlist the help of some of these participants. But would that defy the original intention of this test? Would the Immortal Martial Realm introduce new variables if they slew the guardian?” Qin Wentian speculated silently. He felt that it was highly possible, so they couldn’t pick this method.

But if the Black Jiao Python was intentionally provoking them, their small team banding together to slay it shouldn’t be considered too overbearing, right?
If not, if they followed the rules set by the python, Qin Wentian was confident that he would be able to pass the test safely. But what about Ye Lingshuang, Fan Le, and the others?

Fan Le was also glaring at the Black Jiao Python. Seeing its venomous look, a strange glow flashed in Fan Le’s eyes as he transmitted his voice to Qin Wentian, “Boss, do you want to fuck this beast up?”
Qin Wentian didn’t feel weird when he heard Fan Le’s suggestion. This fatty had always been courageous, and since this Black Jiao Python has set its designs on them, there was no other option to pick. They could only act against it.

“Fuck,” Qin Wentian spoke, his words causing others to be taken aback. This elegant looking fellow actually uttered such an uncouth word?
“A mere demonic beast yet it dares to be this brazen?” A sinister light flickered in Fan Le’s eyes. The instant the sound of his voice faded, the hearts of the participants here pounded. Seems like these few fellows didn’t intend to follow the rules of this test, but rather chose to make a move against the guardian instead.

However, this plan of theirs also conformed to the wishes of everyone. If Qin Wentian and his group waged a battle against the Black Jiao Python, didn’t it mean that all of them would be able to pass this second test easily? After they thought of this, all of them laughed coldly in their hearts. They didn’t even know if Qin Wentian and his group would be able to handle the python. Although they had eight people with them, in front of absolute strength, numbers were useless. If they were facing against a fifth-level Black Jiao Python, it didn’t matter how many people they had. If they couldn’t break pass its defence, all that was waiting for them was death.

However, this was just a Black Jiao Python at the third-level of Heavenly Dipper, there shouldn’t be any problem killing it if they all worked together. However, with just the strength of Qin Wentian’s group of eight, they might not be able to handle this.

The defense of demonic beast was naturally extremely strong. And this Black Jiao Python’s scales also had a faint characteristic of a flood dragon, glimmering with bright glossy light that was seemingly impenetrable. With that and its cultivation base, it was impossible for first-level Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns to break through its defense. These eight people were truly bold.

“Are all of you courting death?” The body of that Black Jiao Python started moving, causing the entire ground to rumble as it continuously breathed out black mist, causing the saturation of corroding gas to sky rocket.

“We must not be hit by the black mist, this corrosion effect can even wither our bodies, transforming us into nothing but puddles of blood, “ Mu Feng reminded them. The others nodded in agreement and those with bloodline powers instantly ignited them to augment their strength. Bloodlines were considered something inherent and innate to cultivators and wouldn’t be suppressed by the Immortal Martial Realm.

“Blind its eyes,” Qin Wentian spoke in a low voice, as Fan Le nodded sagely.

“The eyes of this beast are too nefarious, it even still dared to gaze at sister Lingshuang.”

“Very filthy indeed.” Ouyang Kuangsheng glanced at Fan Le, causing Fan Le to curse in his hearts. What do you mean by that action, are you saying that I’m the pot calling the kettle black? This fatty’s eyes are not filthy when I stare at beautiful women. The look in my eyes is called admiration!
“Do it.” As the sound of Qin Wentian’s voice faded away, the faces of everyone turned solemn. Qin Wentian led the way and rushed forth, executing the Fiend Transformation Art and causing a layer of scaly armor to envelop his body. A pair of demonic wings took form behind his back; he was fully prepared to protect himself.

“DIE!” The Black Jiao Python spat out a mouthful of black mist towards Qin Wentian. The terrifying corrosion energy permeated the air, but at that instant it breathed, Fan Le and Chu Mang’s arrows were already zooming over aiming straight for its eyes.

The Black Jiao Python instantly closed its eyes when it saw the arrows shooting over, and used its perception to sense the location of its opponents instead. It breathed out once again, intent on pursuing Qin Wentian who was using Stellar Transposition.

A long spear appeared in Qin Wentian’s hand. This wasn’t a divine weapon, just an ordinary mortal-ranked long spear instead. Using Stellar Transposition, Qin Wentian instantly moved through the air as he blasted out a spear strike with the speed of lightning towards the eye of the Black Jiao Python.
The Black Jiao Python opened its huge maw and stretched its neck in the direction Qin Wentian was, preparing to chomp down at any moment. If Qin Wentian really dared to rush over, it would swallow the spear down together with Qin Wentian.

“MU FENG!” Qin Wentian called out. Mu Feng transformed into a series of shadows as he blasted out blood-color palm imprints towards the huge maw of the python before he executed Stellar Transposition and retreated together with Qin Wentian. And indeed at the instant of their retreat, the huge maw of the Black Jiao Python fiercely snapped shut. The power of that bite caused the entire space to rumble, but the blood-colored palm imprint had already been successfully blasted into the mouth of that python.

So it turned out that Qin Wentian’s attack was merely a feint.

The Black Jiao Python was truly enraged. Its immense head dashed towards Qin Wentian and the others. Its body was extremely long and sinuous, hence it didn’t need to move much to extend the range of its attacks. Yet another mouthful of black mist spat out, seeking to drown Qin Wentian and the others within it.

“Freeze!” Yun Mengyi’s will from the Mandate of Icesnow enveloped the black mist, while in the next instant, the arrows from Fan Le and Chu Mang thundered mercilessly into its maw, causing the Black Jiao Python to issues terrible wrathful roars filled with pain.

Qin Zheng blasted out with his palm as his spatial energy enveloped the frozen black mist, easily teleporting the entire cloud away with a wave of his hands.

“ARGH HOWOLLLL~ AROOO!” the Black Jiao Python howled in agony. Evidently Mu Feng’s poison arts were starting to take effect. How could Qin Wentian and Ouyang Kuangsheng be courteous with it? They flew into the air and madly unleashed their attacks, targeting the eyes of the python.

“Before the suppression on our cultivation base is lifted, let’s not provoke this bunch of mad men,” many were silently thinking in their hearts. This wasn’t because of Qin Wentian’s group strength. After all, there were many Heaven Chosen here. But rather, the methods Qin Wentian’s group of eight employed were simply too ruthless, and the main point was that they had a tacit understanding and worked extremely well together. This fact alone was enough to cause restraining fear in the hearts of others because if everyone’s cultivation bases were equal, a group that was completely united was a power not many could deal with.
Indeed, not long later, that Black Jiao Python was slain by Qin Wentian’s group of eight. The massive corpse lay there on the ground with completely no hints of life emanating from it. That damnable fatty actually still walked over and furiously stomped on its body continuously.

“Let’s go.” Qin Wentian’s heart was as calm as ever. They had just entered the Immortal Martial Realm and their actions saved a whole lot of trouble for the other participants, which caused them all to allow Qin Wentian’s group to once again take the lead. There were even some among the participants whose eyes flickered with cold light when they stared at the back of Qin Wentian.

Although there were tests in the Immortal Martial Realm, there would also be strokes of good fortune at the end. Although the participants had not reached the point of falling out and fighting against each other yet, if a treasure really appeared, it would definitely ignite the flames of desire which they are all suppressing in their hearts, leading to a great battle among all the participants for the sake of contending for the treasure.

And after they walked on for a bit, Qin Wentian suddenly halted as he stared dumbfoundedly at the scene before him. Not only him, everyone else was dumbstruck as well.

“BOOM!” A thunderous sound rang out, causing the hearts of everyone to pound.

“BOOM! BOOM ! BOOM!” The thunderous noise continued relentlessly, causing many to quiver in fear. That sound, was actually the sound of footsteps.
In front of them was a gargantuan demon that was over a hundred meters tall. Its head was akin to a large house, and the participants could only see it when they inclined their heads. Its feet were over tens of meters wide and was continuously stomping upon the ground. And just so as luck would have it, the place this gargantuan was stomping at, was precisely the entrance to the next area.
The thought of fighting this didn’t even appear in the minds of the participants. This gargantuan demon was an ox-type demonic beast. It appeared as though it was sleeping, repeating the same action over and over again – lifting its hooves and stomping them down at varying tempo. Even at the slowest tempo, one would require the speed at the very peak of first-level Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns before they could cross over to the entrance. And if the tempo quickened, even someone at the third-level of Heavenly Dipper with insights of the Mandate of Wind at the transformation boundary of the second level, would definitely be unable to pass it.

Thus, whoever encountered the fast tempo would definitely die. And if one encountered the slow tempo, it would first depend on the speed of the individuals, followed by their luck.

Everyone instantly shut their mouths as silence descended. Other than that stomping sound, there was no other noise in the air. Everyone started communicating via voice transmission, they were afraid that they would accidently wake the Ox Demon up. In that case, only death awaited them; it could crush them all into pulps of bloody flesh with just a single stomp.
“Based on our current cultivation level, if we encounter the fast tempo, we won’t be able to cross it even if we used Stellar Transposition. However, if we encountered the normal or slow tempo, we should be able to succeed,” Qin Wentian transmitted. Stellar Transposition was a technique all of them had cultivated, nobody would find such a movement technique a hassle.

“Mhm, as long as we don’t encounter the fast tempo, we should be fine. Death to the unlucky ones who encounter that.”

They soon all came to a consensus. “Sister Lingshuang, I will bring you along,” Qin Wentian transmitted his voice to Ye Lingshuang. Amongst all of them, he was the one who was most proficient with Stellar Transposition. Effects of bloodline powers and other movement techniques didn’t interact with Stellar Transposition, and based on the proficiency of his understanding of this technique, this was the method which he had the most confidence in.

Ye Lingshuang glanced at Qin Wentian as she nodded her head, climbing onto Qin Wentian’s back allowing Qin Wentian to carry her.

However before they acted, one of the other participants was already prepared to make his move. A pair of wings formed behind his back as the will from the Mandate of Wind enveloped him. He was obviously an expert that was proficient in speed. At the instant the ox lifted its foot, he instantly zoomed past like a gust of wind.

Fast, too fast to the point where after-images were left behind. The hearts of the crowd pounded as they watched the ox’s hoof beginning its descent. That person had almost reached the entrance to the next area.

“BOOM!” That hoof stomped down as the hearts of everyone pounded violently in tandem with it. When that hoof lifted again, the crowd only saw a pool of blood where the person who made the attempt used to be.

The bodies of many started shivering involuntarily. That person who made the try was already so fast, yet he failed to cross over? The speed in which the hoof stomped down at that instant could be considered the normal tempo, and this failure caused looks of despair on the faces of vast majority of the crowd. They had all witnessed personally for themselves how quick the speed of the person who attempted it was.

“Hu…” Qin Wentian drew in a deep breath.

Ye Lingshuang lying on his back spoke, “Wentian, I think I will just stay here. I don’t wish to burden you.”
Truth to be told, if he wasn’t carrying Ye Lingshuang, Qin Wentian would be even more confident.

“Sister, trust me,” Qin Wentian spoke in a low voice. He walked nearer to the stomping hoof and drew in a deep breath. Earlier, he saw that the person who attempted didn’t choose the right moment, which was what led to his death. Qin Wentian dashed forwards the instant the hoof slammed down, and executed Stellar Transposition with all his might the very instant the hoof was lifted up. His grasp of time of that single instant was perfect.
“BOOM!” That gigantic hoof landed once more, as Qin Wentian’s heart thumped together with it. Ye Lingshuang who was trembling with her eyes closed finally opened her eyes. They didn’t die! Her beautiful eyes flashed with a bright glow of light upon realising that they didn’t die.
“He succeeded.” At the other end of that gigantic hoof, the hearts of the participants trembled. This movement technique was simply too fast.

“I’m next.” Qin Zheng walked out. Similarly, he drew in a deep breath and mirrored Qin Wentian’s movements exactly. He succeeded as well.

The members of Qin Wentian’s group all had expressions of excitement on their faces. As for the other participants, there were quite a lot of them who had expressions of jealousy on their faces.
“My turn.” Fan Le walked out, his eyes flashing with excitement. Rushing ahead, he instantly executed Stellar Transposition.

“Rumble!” At the instant Fan Le moved, lightning crackled in the air, causing the heart of Qin Wentian to tremble slightly. The next moment, an overwhelming demonic qi filled the air, there was someone who intentionally wanted to wake the ox demon by using the power of lightning to blast it.
Staring at that gigantic hoof stomping down with quickening speed, Qin Wentian saw the look of despair on Fan Le’s face.

“NOOOO!” Qin Wentian roared in rage.

“They have a unique and extremely powerful movement technique with them, don’t let any more of them cross over.” At the instant where Qin Wentian’s roar of rage rang out, the eyes of everyone were staring at Ouyang Kuangsheng and the others that had yet to cross over.

Chapter 566: Path of Life and Death

“BOOM!” A terrible sound rang out, causing Qin Wentian to feel as though sharp knives were impaling his heart.

Fan Le had disappeared. As that foot stomped down, Fan Le completely vanished, nothing could be seen of him.

Qin Wentian’s eyes instantly turned red as he boiled with fury. Staring at that empty location, it was as though Qin Wentian could see the silhouette of fatty when he was younger.

“This fatty me, is a genius…”

“This fatty me ain’t lecherous, I’m just overflowing with universal love…”

That frivolous-looking face of Fan Le relentlessly flashed past Qin Wentian’s mind yet everything disappeared completely from his world with that might of a single stomp. That shameless fatty was one of Qin Wentian’s best friends, the one whom he had been acquainted with the longest. That was his dearest brother, who had always been supportive even to the extent of going through life-and-death situations with him.

Was he really dead?

Qin Wentian had no way to accept this, even though it was stated that the Immortal Martial Realm was a place filled with danger, with only a 10% chance of survival before they entered, Qin Wentian still felt an excruciating pain in his heart when he saw Fan Le disappearing like that right before him.

Ye Lingshuang’s eyes also turned red. Ouyang Kuangsheng and Chu Mang roared in rage as they turned and glared at the person who woke the gargantuan ox demon up. The culprit was a young man whose entire body was cloaked in lightning. He exuded an intense feeling of pride and provocation and unmasked killing intent flickered in his eyes as he matched the gazes of Ouyang Kuangsheng and Fan Le.

“The leader of that group is Qin Wentian, with his origins in Grand Xia. Earlier I believe everyone has already seen that these people have an unique and extremely powerful movement technique with them. No matter what, we can’t allow all of them to cross over. Only by forcing them to hand over this technique would we be confident enough to get pass that stomping hoof,” that young man matter-of-factly spoke. He was from the Violet Thunder Sect and had long recognised Qin Wentian. Naturally, he could tell that these people had an unusual connection with Qin Wentian and before those from the Violet Thunder Sect entered the Immortal Martial Realm, all of them received a mission from the elders: If they met with those from the Battle Sword Sect in here and if there was an opportunity to send them all to the death, don’t be courteous, just do it. Take note especially of a person named Qin Wentian.

This order was passed down by one of the Seven Supremacies of the Violet Thunder Sect. There were rumors saying that it was none other than Qin Wentian and the Holy Maiden of the Medicine Sovereign Valley who had spoiled his plot, curing the Human Emperor of Ye and eventually leading to the death of his disciple Ye Kongfan as well as that battle where the Human Emperor fought one against all and won, causing the reputation of the Violet Thunder Sect to blacken. As an elder-level character, that Supremacy has no way of acting directly against Qin Wentian. In that case, he would leave this in the hands of the disciples of the Violet Thunder Sect.

Also, when the disciples of the Violet Thunder Sect saw the rhythmic stomping of the ox’s hoof, they knew for sure they needed a better movement technique. Although the movement technique in the Violet Thunder Sect wasn’t bad, it still lost out by a hair compared to Stellar Transposition, which thus led to the scene earlier.

Stellar Transposition was one of the nine ultimate arts of Grand Xia and could also be said that it was the easiest out of the ultimate arts to train in. Although Qin Wentian and the rest had cultivated the bloodcurse imprint, the Thundergod Slash, and the other various ultimate arts, they merely ‘cultivated’ in them and although the power unleashed wasn’t bad, they were far from being able to reach the peak.

The Grand Xia Empire back then was a power ranked equally with the Grand Shang Empire. This meant that Grand Xia was also a power that belonged to the first-tier, akin to the Nine Great Sects, etc. There were naturally other supreme movement techniques like the Stellar Transposition in the powerful sects and clans in the Royal Sacred Region. Obviously, these weren’t something that could be easily shared with outsiders. When everyone saw that Qin Zheng and the rest had learned the exact same movement technique, as well as hearing the words of the young man from the Violet Thunder Sect, their eyes began to gleam with greed.

The participants also naturally noticed the gargantuan ox demon. Although the ox demon was awakened now, it still didn’t make a move towards them. It merely stared at the participants with an evil smile on its face and continued its actions. The participants understood that this ox demon was the same as the Black Jiao Python; it was a guardian beast designed for them by the Immortal Martial Realm of this area and it wouldn’t easily break the rules to kill them. If they successfully passed the barrage of stomping hooves, it would do nothing to harm them.

However after it awoke, the stomping tempo began to be increasingly chaotic, there was totally no sense of rhythm which they could anticipate from. Sometimes, that gigantic hoof would just hover in the air staying there, yet none of the participants dared to attempt the test.

“Hand over the movement technique.” Shi Kuang from the Heaven Crippling Sect brought people over and surrounded Ouyang Kuangsheng and the others, their eyes flashing with coldness. In the Heaven Crippling Sect, Shi Kuang was considered a Heaven Chosen character, but earlier fear actually appeared in his heart because of a single stare from Qin Wentian. This was simply a humiliation of the greatest degree!

Right now Ouyang Kuangsheng, Yun Mengyi, Chu Mang and Mu Feng were still stuck over on the other side, and they were all surrounded.

“ALL OF YOU GO TO HELL!” Ouyang Kuangsheng roared in rage. Thunderfire crackled around him as his astral souls were all released. He directly dashed out towards that young man from the Violet Thunder Sect as a gigantic palm imprint manifested and slammed outwards.

“Lightning and thunder energies? How can the people of my Violet Thunder Sect fear this?” The arrogance exuded by that young man from the Violet Thunder Sect intensified further. He, Que Cheng, had always been bothered by the fact that he wasn’t one of those eighty-one selected individuals awarded the Immortal Martial Realm Medallion. Now, even a nameless unknown dared to strike out against him? Wasn’t he simply courting death?

“Wrath of the Thunder God!” Que Cheng roared, as the entire space trembled. Beams of towering lightning broke past space, shattering Ouyang Kuangsheng’s attack into nothingness.

“THUNDERGOD SLASH!” Ouyang Kuangsheng bellowed as a beam of light slashed down right from the heavens. The amount of lightning energy and thunderous might contained within even caused Que Cheng to be stunned in shock, silently marvelling at the power of this particular technique. Although Ouyang Kuangsheng had no way to unleash the true might of this technique, as someone who cultivated lightning-attributed arts, how could Que Cheng not be able to tell how profound this technique was?

Brilliant light flashed, Que Cheng also released his astral souls as a pair of wings made from lightning-element energy formed behind him. Streams of terrifying runic lightning blasted upwards, colliding directly with the Thundergod Slash as the impact from the collision reverberated this entire space.

The others from the Violet Thunder Sect didn’t assist Que Cheng. If they banded together, offering help for the sake of a nameless unknown, it would be a form of humiliation for Que Cheng instead.

Que Cheng was the personal disciple of one of the Seven Supremacies. His status in the Violet Thunder Sect was even higher then Ye Kongfan, and his talent was stronger as well. Sadly, he wasn’t one of the eighty-one selected individuals. Although the envoys did visit the Violet Thunder Sect, the medallion went to some other disciple instead. And it was precisely because of that person that the sect leader of the Violet Thunder Sect personally made a trip down to ancient Ye.

Ouyang Kuangsheng was forced backwards, a stream of the runic lightning narrowly blasted into him. Although he was hit by the mere after-shockwaves of that attack, a bloody wound appeared in his chest.

“If they refuse to hand over the movement technique, cripple them one by one. As for that woman, strip her off her clothes, I want to see by then, would these people would still be so obstinate and unyielding,” a voice filled with venom rang out, the person who spoke was a young man from another alliance.

Ouyang Kuangsheng glanced over and instantly, his countenance stiffened. There were simply too many people who were on this floating bridge and he didn’t notice the presence of this person earlier. Now that he was looking carefully, he actually saw somebody he was acquainted with,

The Great Solar Chen Clan back then had three Heaven Chosen. These three were the ones who received the Sacred Royal Medallion for this hundred-year period. Among these three were Chen Fan, as well as Great Solar Chen Wang. Both of them had already died, yet there was still the third one who successfully fled from Grand Xia after the Great Solar Chen Clan was destroyed.

Chen Yin was one of the top rankers on the Heavenly Fate Rankings. He was famous much earlier then Chen Fan and Chen Wang and was one of the characters who could summon wind and clouds in Grand Xia back in his time.

After the Great Solar Chen Clan’s destruction, Chen Yin had his heart fully set on revenge. He took the Sacred Royal Medallion and eventually joined one of the Nine Great Sects – the Great Earth Sect.

Qin Wentian wasn’t acquainted with Chen Yin. If not back when the Great Earth Sect issued an invitation to him in Xuan King City, he would have already noted Chen Yin’s existence. Back then it was none other than a single sentence from Chen Yin which made the Great Earth Sect want to recruit Qin Wentian at all cost. Chen Yin told them that Qin Wentian had knowledge of an Immortal Art.

After entering the Immortal Martial Realm, Chen Yin has always been looking for a chance to deal with Qin Wentian. And now since there was somebody who initiates an attack against Ouyang Kuangsheng, Chen Yin naturally didn’t mind stepping in and giving a few nasty suggestions.

“Chen Yin, I was still a teen back then when you fought in the Heavenly Fate Rankings and I have always looked up to you when I witnessed your glory. Who would have thought that you actually hadsuch a personality?” Ouyang Kuangsheng stared straight at him causing Chen Yin to frown. Who would have thought that Ouyang Kuangsheng would recognise him?

On the other end, Ye Lingshuang was staring at Qin Wentian who was walking back as she called out, “Wentian!”

“I need to go back.” Qin Wentian approached the stomping hoof once more his actions causing Ye Lingshuang’s heart to pound rapidly. This hoof of death had the possibility of claiming his life. If Qin Wentian head back, he would eventually have to return here again, he needed to face death twice! Not only that, the ox demon this time around was fully awakened and no longer in a sleeping state.

“I’ll accompany you.” Ye Lingshuang gritted her teeth.

“No. Sister Lingshuang, you and Qin Zheng stand guard here. If those who act against Ouyang rush in, retaliate back with full force. I want them dead.” Qin Wentian’s expression was solemn as he turned and glanced at Ye Lingshuang. Ye Lingshuang knew that she would only be in more danger if she went back, hence she could only nodd in agreement to Qin Wentian’s suggestions.

Qin Wentian’s words caused great shock to appear on the faces of the other participants, regardless ifthey were from the Violet Thunder Sect or Heaven Crippling Sect. They had actually forgotten to take into account that Qin Wentian could still return to this place to kill them, and those who passed to the next area could block their advance. But swiftly after, their furrowed brows smoothed over. If they could take Ouyang Kuangsheng and the others hostage, they wanted to see if Qin Wentian would dared to do anything to them. As long as a few of them passed into the next area, this whole situation would be completely under their control.

“Wentian, don’t come over. Just guard there!” Ouyang Kuangsheng bellowed. It was too dangerous if Qin Wentian really came over, there were simply too many opponents and even if Qin Wentian was here, there wouldn’t be any change to the situation.

“No.” Qin Wentian’s eyes flashed with resolution as he spoke, “I’m coming over to accompany you all. Sister Lingshuang and Qin Zheng, if anything happens to us, spare no one. Kill them one by one as they try to cross over. Since they want to play, we will play with them, we will all stay here.”

Qin Wentian’s voice was filled with decisiveness, his words causing the expressions of the other participants to turn ashen. This fellow was a madman.

If anything happened to Qin Wentian and his group, all of them would die with them. The thousand-plus participants would all be stuck here at this checkpoint forever.

“Boom!” Astral light flashed and at that instant the sound of the hoof stomped on the ground, Qin Wentian immediately executed Stellar Transposition. He had two lives, even if he died here he would still be alive. He had to go back, he had to get revenge for Fan Le, he had to ensure Ouyang Kuangsheng and the others safely crossed over.

“Interesting.” Qin Wentian didn’t notice the grin on the gargantuan ox’s face becoming wider as an expression of interest flashed past its countenance. At the instant when Qin Wentian rushed out, its hoof that hadn’t been fully lifted up, stomped down again with crushing force.

“NOOO!” Ye Lingshuang turned pale as she saw this. Not only her, Ouyang Kuangsheng and Chu Mang were all roaring in denial. Even Yun Mengyi was involuntarily shaking.

“RUMBLE!” A thunderous boom echoed out. Regardless how strong Qin Wentian was, even he would be crushed to death if that gigantic hoof landed on him.

“VILE BEAST!” Ouyang Kuangsheng inclined his head staring at the gargantuan demon as his eyes turned red. However the gargantuan demon only grinned as it turned its attention to Ouyang Kuangsheng. “Little brat, are you looking to die?”

“FUCK YOU!” Ouyang Kuangsheng roared in rage, the lightning around him began boiling as he actually dashed towards the gargantuan ox demon.
The gargantuan laughed, it lifted its hoof and actually shifted it forwards causing sudden terror to flood everyone’s heart. This ox demon could move from its designated position?
“RUN!” Everyone madly fled with frantic speed only to see the gigantic hoof stomping down with crushing force on Ouyang Kuangsheng. It was an unsurpassed existence. In here, it was invincible.
…………

Qin Wentian initially thought he had already died but the truth was that he was still alive. After that gigantic hoof stomped down, he wasn’t trampled flat but was actually sent to another dimension instead.
His heart started pounding with agitation, unable to revert to his calm state. Qin Wentian closed his eyes before drawing in a deep breath as he stared at a cavern ahead of him.

“Path of Life and Death.” Outside the cavern, five large words were engraved there, causing Qin Wentian to feel a sense of coming back from death’s door.
He didn’t die… In that case, Fan Le must be still alive as well!

Chapter 567: Trials of the Life and Death Cavern

 

Qin Wentian walked through the cavern. An old-looking demon ox was standing at the other end.

That’s right, this ox demon was standing there upright like a human, the sight of this causing Qin Wentian to feel more than a little awkward. But as he stared at the facial features of this ox, Qin Wentian felt a little weird, because from its features he actually felt that he could distinguish this from the other demon oxen in the world, similar to humans who had different features.

When humans look at humans, it was easy to distinguish one from another. But when they were looking at another species, they would feel that all of them looked the same. Yet this ox demon was clearly different from others; it even had a trace of the spiritual qi of humans and it was evident that this ox demon was none other than the gargantuan ox that stood guard on the outside.

“You find this strange?” Right now, the physique of this ox demon wasn’t as gargantuan. He stared at Qin Wentian and grinned, “The gargantuan form outside is nothing but my clone. I’m the one tasked with the responsibility of administering the matters of the Life and Death Cavern in the Immortal Martial Realm.”

Qin Wentian’s countenance faltered slightly. In that case, there must be a variety of mysterious places in the Immortal Martial Realm with different guardians there controlling the test.

“Senior ox, my speed isn’t slow at all. I should be considered to have passed the test right? Anyway, wasn’t that test a little too unfair?” Qin Wentian inquired.

“Haha little boy, talking to me about fairness? I allowed you to come here earlier because I have some expectations of you. To tell you the truth, those whose speed that I felt to be too slow, were all trampled to death by me. They truly died. But as for people like you whose strength reached a certain level, although I stomped on you, I didn’t crush you and transported you to the Cavern of Life and Death in advance instead. However, don’t feel you are fortunate yet. In here there’s only two paths for you to walk. Either life, or death.”

The ox demon stared at Qin Wentian as he grinned again. “The Cavern of Life and Death has a total of four trials. Cavern of Cultivation Level, Cavern of Innate Techniques, Cavern of Mandates, Cavern of Combat. Now you have a choice to choose which path you want to take and you better hear me clearly. If you pass the trial, you live. If you fail, you die. There’s no third option.”

Qin Wentian frowned, it was useless to talk logic to this ox demon. Since he was already transported here, he could only obediently take the test, there were no other choices. However, the ox demon just said that he sent Qin Wentian here in advance? Could it be that if they continued on walking the floating bridge, it would similarly led them to this place?

“What differences are there regarding the four trials?” Qin Wentian asked.

“Idiot. You should already know by hearing their names. Cultivation level: You have to break through your current cultivation level by a given amount of time…” The old ox explained, causing Qin Wentian’s heart to tremble. In that case, for the Cavern of Innate Techniques, one must comprehend a certain innate technique in a given amount of time? For the Cavern of Mandates, one must break through to the next boundary in a given amount of time as well?

“How tough,” Qin Wentian cursed silently. Cultivation level wasn’t something one could break through simply because one wanted to. That Cavern was definitely a death trap, he must never choose that. In that case, he can only choose the three other trials.

“Within a certain period of time wishing for me to break through with no rhyme nor reason? Totally impossible, isn’t the level of difficulty too high?” Qin Wentian asked again.

“Just say straight what you want to say, don’t try to play mind games with me, little boy. I will give you a hint. Other than the Cavern of Combat, the other three trials will allow you to contemplate first before taking them, and from a certain perspective, this can also be considered a stroke of great fortune. I will never allow ordinary humans to enter this place.” The old ox laughed evilly as he added, “Have you made your choice?”

“I have a total of four Mandates.” Qin Wentian replied.

“Choose one you like and if it’s within the boundary of my control, you can proceed.” The old ox replied. For some of the more unique Mandates, the Immortal Martial Realm might not be able to set a test for them. But for the more ordinary ones, the Immortal Martial Realm would definitely be able to.

“Mandate of Demon,” Qin Wentian gambled.

“Release your will of the Mandate of Demons,” the old ox grinned. Qin Wentian released his will from the Mandate of Demons, allowing the old ox to feel it. At this moment, Qin Wentian’s cultivation base and Mandates which were suppressed earlier had all been completely restored.

The old ox turned and entered a particular cavern for a moment before he walked out again. When he stared at Qin Wentian once more, that gaze of the ox actually caused Qin Wentian to feel a little scared.

“Two hours. Evolve your Mandate of Demons to the Perfection Boundary and you will be considered to have passed. If not, just die,” the old ox smiled happily, causing Qin Wentian’s countenance to pale instantly.

“Senior, are you kidding?”

Two hours to evolve one’s Mandate to the Perfection Boundary? What joke is this? If two hours were sufficient, the entire Royal Sacred Region would be littered with people whose Mandates reached perfection.

“In here, there’s only life or death. There are no jokes. Your two hours already started one minute ago.” The smile on the old ox’s face got even more radiant.

“Bastard.” Qin Wentian cursed in his heart as he hurriedly rushed into the cavern designated. He knew it was pointless to plead with the demon ox. In here, it was the controller; unless Qin Wentian could kill it, there was nothing he could do to change its mind.

In the cavern, resplendent astral light circulated. It was as though he entered into a mysterious space. Everything disappeared as a mountain range appeared in front of him. And right ahead, there was a baby black eagle.

That eagle was very young and slowly learning how to fly. It flapped its little wings and let out a few adorable chirps.

Its wings slowly developed as the black eagle gradually matured. It started to soar through the air, from slow to fast and gradually, it could move in the wind as natural as a fish in water. After a period of time, its wings developed more and more as the sharpness in its gaze became more pronounced.

It started to hunt, soaring through the horizons, pouncing on prey in the ocean, fighting against the other demons and growing up in adversity.

Its eyes gradually turned cold as a tyrannical qi filled with boundless sharpness emanated from it. It swooped down from the heavens as it slammed its sharp talons onto a huge python; it entered a forest of demons and slew powerful opponents while contempt for those weaker gradually seeped into its aura.

The black eagle got increasingly stronger. Its wings had already reached the span of 1,000 meters and it was like the sovereign of the skies. Standing on a mountain peak and gazing at its subjects below. Just a single glance was sufficient to cow all others into submission.

Qin Wentian was like a spectator watching the life of the black eagle from its own perspective. He went wherever the black eagle went, and he could clearly sense that imposing tyrannical aura, as well as that pride of lone arrogance, disdainfully looking down on its subjects.

It was a demon, a demon that fought against the heavens and the earth. It stood upon the ground staring at the sky as though it wanted nothing more than to tear it asunder.

When that scene disappeared, Qin Wentian still felt that he was inside the mind of the black eagle as the memories of the events earlier continuously flashed through his mind.

The Mandate of Demons was naturally comprehended from demons. If one wanted their Mandate of Demons to reach perfection, they had to comprehend the lone arrogance of demons, the pride and imposing manner of demons, the disdain and contempt for humanity of demons.

Qin Wentian closed his eyes, and in this state he even forgot the passing of time. Demonic qi gushed out from him, the astral energy in his body seethed and surged, frantically absorbing astral energy from the constellations even in this place, filling his Yuanfu up completely.

However, how could it be so easy to achieve a breakthrough in Mandates? Although his comprehension of the Mandate of Demons had improved, to breakthrough wasn’t something that could be done overnight. Qin Wentian forgot the flow of time, but time still flowed by. Soon after, an hour had already passed.

Qin Wentian recalled the days back when he transformed into the body of a primordial great roc, wreaking havoc everywhere in Grand Xia, his sword splitting the Pill Emperor Hall. He had never seriously contemplated himself back then. At that time, everywhere he passed the demons there all bowed to him in complete submission. When he stood there on the mountain peak gazing at his countless demonic subjects, how imposing was he?

Usually when he used the will from the Mandate of Demons, although he had that imposingness and regal demonic aura, it was far from being able to compare to himself back when he was a primordial great roc. During that period of time, everything felt so real because of the fact that back then was a true demon.

“In fact, I’ve already felt before how the Mandate of Demons at the Perfection Boundary felt like. Back when I took the form of the primordial great roc, the essence of humanity burned away from me, leaving behind only pure demonity. Naturally, that being I was and the feeling back then, that was the great perfection boundary,” Qin Wentian mused. His eyes closed as his demonic qi swirled about. The demonic qi actually caused a pair of demonic wings to form behind his back without him willing it. The center of his brows radiated a terrifying sharpness, Qin Wentian was trying to return back to the days when he was a primordial great roc to recall the feeling of the Mandate of Demons at perfection.

An extremely fearsome demonic qi kicked up a storm, enveloping his entire person within. Crackling sounds echoed out causing the entire space to tremble and finally when Qin Wentian opened his eyes once more, the imposingness, the pride, the contempt for humans, the coldness, and the lone arrogance of a true demonic being could be seen flickering within.

“BOOM!” The demonic qi erupted in a tempest, blasting against the ceiling. Qin Wentian stood up, turned about, and walked outside.

After exiting, Qin Wentian faced the ox demon as his back was actually covered with cold sweat. The process of comprehension forced him to be in a state of total immersion. He had even forgotten the duration but even so, he used almost two hours before he finally succeeded. This sort of trial was simply a dead path.

“Congratulations to you for passing the test of the Life and Death Cavern,” the ox demon laughed. Qin Wentian wasn’t as excited as he imagined he would be. He then asked, “Since senior is the person controlling the test here, senior should know about my friends situation. Has he passed?”

Fan Le should have also been brought to the Life and Death Cavern. But what he didn’t know was that after he was brought in here, the ox demon’s actions caused the other participants to be seized with terror as they all ran away while Ouyang Kuangsheng was brought into here for the test as well.

“You wish to help him?” the old ox grinned, as though it was plotting something nefarious.

“Yes.” Qin Wentian nodded his head.

“Take this trial once again and if you pass, I shall consider sparing him. Anyway you don’t merely have a friend taking the test of the life and death cavern.” The words of the old ox caused Qin Wentian to turn ashen.

Taking the trial once again?

He was already exceedingly lucky that his Mandate of Demons had a sudden breakthrough to the Perfection Boundary. If it wasn’t for him transforming into the form of an primordial roc years before, he would surely have died here today. If he were to take the trial once more, the danger could be easily imaginable.

“The trials here in the life and death cavern is an exceptionally important one that would affect your ranking in the Immortal Martial Realm. Not only that, it can even make your strength increase further. Such a good deal offered, why not take it?” the old ox continued to cajole Qin Wentian.

“Dog shit,” Qin Wentian cursed in his heart. Ranking? He didn’t care about ranking. What he wanted was his strength to increase! But first, only passing the test would result in an increase in strength. If he failed, it meant death.

“If I take the trial again, would senior promise me to help my friends?” Qin Wentian asked.

“I will take that into consideration. The tests here in the Life and Death Cavern, I’m the decider of things.” The old ox still had a mischievous grin playing on his face, Qin Wentian didn’t have any ways to get more information out of it.

“Fine. In that case, I choose the trial of the innate techniques. I hope that senior will keep your promise.” Qin Wentian steadied his heart. Other than Fan Le, the ox demon said that there was still one more friend of his currently taking this test and it was unknown whether he would pass or fail. In that case Qin Wentian could only go all out and stake his life upon it. If he failed, that meant death, but he still had another true-self out there. But even if he didn’t have another true-self out there, he would still have made the same choice.

To him, the lives of his brothers were even more valuable than his own!