AGM 397 – Qin Wentian’s Ambitions
To Qin Wentian, this period of three months was like taking a good, long nap.
In the ranking battle, he broke through to the ninth level of Yuanfu and following the repeated battles, his foundation at the ninth level grew increasingly stable.
And now, another three months passed. The three Yuanfu receptacles in Qin Wentian’s body were brimming with astral energy, to the extent of almost overflowing.
Qin Wentian laid down on the arena platform, sleeping quietly. Above him, the light emitted from the true spirit of the formation world cascaded down onto his body.
In the middle of the air, Little Rascal was there as well. Its body shone with golden light as its mouth moved unceasingly as though chewing on something. It appeared to be devouring the star light. After it had eaten its fill, it returned back to the platform, lying beside Qin Wentian, peacefully accompanying him in sleep.
The ancient kingdom was vast, and although the surroundings were still burning from the purgatory flames, there were still places where the people inside could take a break. Other than Qin Wentian, his other companions were in the middle of cultivating as well.
By everyone’s perspective, the ninth level of Yuanfu was merely the starting point.
At this moment, Qin Wentian finally moved. He lazily stretched his body and opened his eyes, warm emotion flashing within as he stared at the true spirit of the Vermilion Bird Formation.
“Little Rascal.” Hearing Qin Wentian’s voice, Little Rascal stood up and dashed into his arms. Qin Wentian embraced it and stroked its fur while laughing, “You are not allowed to leave me ever, got it?”
“Yi yaya!” Little Rascal unceasingly bobbed its head, causing a gentle smile to appear on Qin Wentian’s face. As he sat up, Qin Wentian contemplated the state of his body—he had totally recovered and was in tip-top condition. Sleeping for three months had done him good indeed.
“Wentian gege, you’ve awakened!”
A melodious voice drifted over, Qin Wentian turned his gaze towards the voice as a lovely figure strode over.
“Silly girl, how’s your cultivation progress?” Qin Wentian asked.
“Not bad at all, my Mandate of Sabre has already advanced to the second level, and I’m currently preparing to nurture my Astral Nova. I’m close to, barging into the Heavenly Dipper Realm.” Bai Qing sat down beside Qin Wentian. Similar to when she was a young girl, she loved to spend time with Qin Wentian just like this, leisurely chatting away.
That young girl from back then had been naïve and innocent, with no concept of worry.
“Do you have enough Yuan Meteor Stones?” Qin Wentian enquired. Barging through to Heavenly Dipper wasn’t an easy task, even geniuses would require a long time in preparation, using a large amount of Yuan Meteor Stones to condense their Astral Nova. Not only that, the prerequisites for entering Heavenly Dipper Realm were that one’s Mandate must be at the second level, and for one’s state of heart to evolve as well. A cultivator must not be deficient in either of these conditions should they wish to break through to the Heavenly Dipper Realm.
For the rankers on the Heavenly Fate Rankings, the numerous intense life and death battles they faced had long pushed the state of their hearts, as well as the boundaries of their Mandates to the next level. As long as they reached the peak of the ninth level of Yuanfu, in addition to having sufficient time and resources, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to step into Heavenly Dipper.
This was also one of the reasons why the geniuses of countless generations wanted to participate in the battle for the Heavenly Fate Rankings. Only when fighting against geniuses of similar level would they be able to temper their hearts and their wills, allowing them to stabilize their cultivation realms, and even advance their respective will of Mandates.
After receiving such a baptism, the chance of them successfully breaking through the watershed to Heavenly Dipper, would then be much greater.
“Yup, I have enough from the spoils we obtained in the interspatial rings of those experts.” Bai Qing laughed, “But should I first condense a single Astral Nova or condense all three in one go?”
“Since all three of your Mandates have already reached the second level, you might as well condense all three Astral Novas at the same time. They will have a direct boost to your combat strength once you crossed into Heavenly Dipper.” Qin Wentian laughed.
“Mhm, I thought the same as well. But the difficulty. and [a][b]I wonder if the condensed Astral Novas would be powerful or not.” Bai Qing fluttered her lashes as she stared at Qin Wentian. “Wentian gege, when are you preparing to cross over? Your Astral Souls are all so powerful, so your condensed Novas would also be several degrees stronger compared to others.”
“Yes, but the amount of resources needed for me to condense one would also be exceedingly great as well.” Qin Wentian laughed. The stronger one’s Astral Souls were, the more power the condensed Astral Nova would be.
If an Astral Nova condensed from an Astral Soul that originated from the 5th Heavenly Layer were to clash against one that was condensed from the 1st Heavenly Layer, and if both opponents were at the same level, the latter’s Astral Nova might be even shattered after a single clash.
“I have no specific time frame in mind—I will break through when the time is right and will only start my preparations then.” Qin Wentian gazed at the skies. Stepping into Heavenly Dipper requires a long period of preparation. Cultivators were usually able to sense when that ‘moment’ arrived, increasing their chance of success at breaking through to an immeasurable degree.
“Bleh, you have to be faster. Big Bro Chu Mang has already started condensing his Astral Nova.” Bai Qing stuck out her tongue, Qin Wentian could only helplessly shrug as he smiled in response. Chu Mang’s heart should be the most resolute among them and also considering the fact that he had stayed in the ninth level of Yuanfu the longest, it was only logical for him to be the first one to take the step towards Heavenly Dipper.
“I know, and you too, right?” Qin Wentian pinched Bai Qing’s nose, causing her to roll her eyes.
Bai Qing then sighed as she stared at the skies. “Time passes so quickly. I still clearly remember all those years ago, when Wentian gege taught me how to form an innate connection with the constellations in the Heavenly Layers. Now in the blink of an eye, we’ve already started condensing Astral Novas instead. Wentian gege, we have to work hard together!”
She stretched out her little finger as she spoke.
Qin Wentian smiled and made a pinky promise with her. “Okay.”
“I’m going to cultivate now.” Bai Qing stood up, a sweet smile in her eyes as she left. Despite the passage of years, she was still that adorable little girl Qin Wentian remembered.
“For myself, and also for all of you, I cannot slack here,” Qin Wentian murmured in his heart. Right now he wasn’t just one man against the entire world. He had so many companions willing to share the same fate as him.
He, Qin Wentian, couldn’t stagnate here.
“In the entire Heavenly Fate Rankings, I’m the one who possesses the most dazzling Astral Souls. Hence, the Astral Novas I condense will also be the strongest of the lot.” Qin Wentian’s eyes gleamed with sharpness. He then closed his eyes and adopted a cross-legged sitting position. With a gesture, astronomical amounts of Yuan Meteor Stones appeared from the interspatial rings, clustered around him. The astral energy within them formed a radiance that enveloped Qin Wentian, as he began absorbing them madly in his preparation.
If others were to notice him at this moment, they would all be stunned. Why would someone at the peak of Yuanfu require so many Yuan Meteor Stones to condense an Astral Nova? Even the proud chosen from the transcendent powers would lack the qualification to obtain so many Yuan Meteor Stones from their clan resources as well.
Qin Wentian wasn’t interested in condensing ordinary Astral Novas. He wanted to convert the almost endless amounts of astral energy into Divine Energy, which he would then use to condense a unique Astral Nova that would belong solely to him. The amount of cultivation resources clustered around Qin Wentian was ten times, or even hundreds of times larger when compared to what other cultivators required when condensing an Astral Nova.
……………
Spring went and autumn came by, time was the most merciless thing in the world. Time would never stop to wait for anyone.
In the blink of an eye, seven months passed after the Heavenly Fate Rankings concluded. The experts from the Chen Clan still surrounded the ancient kingdom. They had tried more than a few times to break through the formation but were unable to succeed. Not only that, a few of those who attempted it ended up heavily injured, to the point of almost losing their lives. After that, no one else tried to breach the formation any more. However, they didn’t give up. As long as Qin Wentian wasn’t dead, they couldn’t feel at ease in their hearts.
This young man that was supposed to fall in the ranking battle had somehow managed to summon the Vermilion Bird Formation and safely hide within it. Even the transcendent powers couldn’t do anything to him now.
The discussion of the Heavenly Fate Rankings gradually faded as time passed. But there would still be people occasionally travelling to the ancient kingdom. However, these visitors could only watch from afar, unable approach it. The Chen Clan had stationed a large number of their experts nearby, effectively sealing all available entrances—even a fly wouldn’t be able to escape their notice if it flew in.
They didn’t believe Qin Wentian would be able to stay in there forever.
Without any interaction with the outside world, one’s cultivation would run into a bottleneck sooner or later. Even if they broke through to Heavenly Dipper, they still had to come out eventually, and when they did, only death awaited them.
Chen Wang had narrowly escaped death, and after a full recovery, he immediately broke through to Heavenly Dipper. Even his shattered arm had been restored. Back then, his clash with Chen Wang had cancelled out most of Qin Wentian’s strength, limiting the damage he’d dealt. Hence, Chen Wang’s arms hadn’t been completely destroyed and still had a chance to be mended
Not only Chen Wang, several of those rankers that survived the ranking battle had also broken through to Heavenly Dipper.
The Heavenly Dipper Realm was the beginning of a whole new frontier. From the moment they broke through, by right, their gazes should no longer be lingering on the Yuanfu Realm. And yet, the knots in their hearts still couldn’t be untied…all because of Qin Wentian.
Too many major events had happened through this half year.
For example, in the Moon Continent, although the Star-Seizing Manor couldn’t do or say anything about Yang Fan’s death, they could still make things difficult for the White Deer Institute even if they couldn’t kill Qin Wentian.
They had personally witnessed how close the Bailu siblings were to Qin Wentian, not to mention that when Qin Wentian was still in the Moon Continent, he had once joined the White Deer Institute.
And the White Deer Institute, which initially had been based in the eastern region, was then forced to leave that area from the pressure.
In other locations in Grand Xia, particularly the Qing Continent, the grudge between the Greencloud Pavilion and Nine Mystical Palace also erupted into an all-out war.
Not only that, the relationship between the other transcendent powers had also perceptibly worsened, with mini-clashes happening now and then
But naturally, Qin Wentian had no inkling of all of this. He continued lying on the arena platform, in a deep sleep, unknowing of the changes affecting the entire world.
“How long has it been?” Ouyang Kuangsheng glanced at the sleeping Qin Wentian as he asked Fan Le.
“Almost three months, look at the sheer amount of Yuan Meteor Stones he’s using,” Fan Le mumbled in awe. The light from the Yuan Meteor Stones glowed dimmer with every second, as Qin Wentian’s Astral Souls blazed behind him, brighter and brighter with radiance. Clear gushing sounds from within Qin Wentian’s Yuanfu could be heard, the intensity of that sound caused their hearts to tremble slightly in amazement.
“I wonder how much longer he’ll need to finish his preparations.”
It was a thought uppermost in minds of Qin Wentian’s companions. But before long, they too turned and departed the area—witnessing Qin Wentian’s progress, they couldn’t neglect their own cultivation!
