AGM 256 – Scram if you can’t do it
When Yan Tie saw the utter lack of fear in Qin Wentian’s eyes after locking gazes, his expression couldn’t help but falter slightly. Ridiculous, this brat was actually planning to kill him instead of preserving his own life?
With a sinister cackle, Yan Tie began his Inscription.
Not only him, the Li Clan’s three brothers, Ghaus, and that youth from the Demon Cult all started as well.
The three brothers were simultaneously occupying three large spaces as they inscribed their respective Inscriptions. However, a sense of unity could be felt emanating forth from it, as though the three separate Divine Inscriptions wanted to be melded together. This caused many of the crowd to be in awe, the three brothers could read the minds and intentions of each other, their final product would definitely possess an earth-shattering might.
For Ghaus, his imposing movements were filled with an air of grandeur, the runic outlines of his Inscription was extraordinary and he had a style befitting a Grandmaster.
What Ghaus was currently inscribing, was definitely a peak-tier third-ranked Divine Inscription.
After all, Grandmaster Fenrir gave them two hours’ worth of time, allowing them to unleash their full potential.
The Inscription the youth from the Demon Cult was inscribing, emanated a vast demonic Qi that felt extremely evil. No one dared to look down on him just because he was younger than the rest.
“This time round, they are testing each participant on their true abilities, I wonder whose attack-type Divine Inscription will be the strongest.”
The crowd below the platform were all in fervent discussion, as they spectated the Inscriptions the Grandmasters were currently inscribing.
From their conjectures, the three brothers from the Li Clan had the highest possibility to obtain the first position in the third test.
Ghaus who represented the White Deer Institute, could only settle for the second position.
And as for the third position, many felt that Yan Tie had the highest possibility to be ranked the third. Although the youth from the Demon Cult was powerful, the other three powers were all stronger when compared to him.
One must know that before it was revealed that the Li Clan’s three brothers and Ghaus would participate, Yan Tie stood the highest chance to be ranked first in this exchange. Many believed that the Yan Clan would definitely obtain the ten extra slots reward, allowing them to bring additional people into the secret realm of Divine Inscriptions.
Currently, those from the Yan Clan were extremely nervous. The Leng Clan who stood beside them, could also feel their hearts clenching. Qin Wentian’s performance had surprised them, but this was not the major reason for the current unsightly expressions on their faces. The Leng Clan had paid too great a price for the chance to obtain entry via those extra slots into the secret realm. Naturally, they prayed that Yan Tie would be the one ranked first in the exchange today.
“Leng Jian, how was your discussion with Yan Tie earlier?” The elder of the Leng Clan, Leng Mao, glanced towards Leng Jian.
Leng Jian’s expression was extremely unsightly, he walked to the side of Leng Mao before answering in a low voice, “Yan Tie said, if we want a slot, use a young female from the Leng Clan’s direct line of descent to exchange for it. One girl, one slot.”
“Impudent.” Leng Mao’s expression grew increasingly uglier. “Is the earlier price paid by our Leng Clan still insufficient?”
Leng Jian had nothing to say, he could only lower his head in submission. After a while, he added, “This is all the fault of Qin Wentian and that unfilial child, Leng Ning. If Yan Tie’s son hadn’t died, how could things have developed to such a stage? Just Leng Ning alone would have been sufficient to gain us entry into the secret realm.”
“Hmph.” Leng Mao coldly snorted. “We will see what happens later and deal with it accordingly.”
Leng Jian nodded his head, turning his attention back onto the platform.
“Qin Wentian.” Leng Jian glared at him. The current Qin Wentian was quietly inscribing his own Inscriptions, but…his Inscriptions seemed off, somehow. There was no sense of beauty in the runic outlines, no sense of completeness. It didn’t even resemble a picture, no one knew what he was inscribing.
“What the f*ck?” Leng Jian sneered. Although Qin Wentian was a third-ranked Divine Inscription, his Inscription ability was too abysmal.
Over in the direction where the members of the White Deer Institute were standing, the large-eyed Elder glanced at Bailu Yan as he asked, “Which of the Inscriptions on the platform do you feel is the most profound?”
Bailu Yan was the Divine Inscriptionist that lost out to Qin Wentian back then in the White Deer Institute. After he glanced at the various Inscriptions the Grandmasters were inscribing, he replied in a low voice, “From my perspective, the Inscriptions created by the three brothers and Grandmaster Ghaus should be the most profound. Their Inscriptions have the strongest resonance with the Qi from Heaven and Earth. As for Yan Tie, his Inscription contains a hint of craftiness and malice, it would be extremely difficult to deal with. And the youth from the Demon Cult, his Inscription contains vast amounts of evil demonic Qi, filled with killing intent. He shouldn’t be belittled as well.”
The large-eyed Elder nodded, “Then among the three brothers and Grandmaster Ghaus, who do you think will be the victor?”
“I’m unable to tell.” Bailu Yan shook his head.
“This time round, if the Watermoon Mountain Valley obtains the first ranking, we would undoubtedly be suppressed by them when we venture into the secret realm of Divine Inscriptions.” The large-eyed Elder frowned as he continued, “Hmm, what about Qin Wentian?”
“I don’t understand what he’s doing, there’s no hint of energy fluctuations nor a resonance with Heaven and Earth’s Qi.” Bailu Yan furrowed his brows. By logic, when Qin Wentian sparred with him, Qin Wentian had already achieved the state of inscribing Divine Inscriptions without the support of any medium. Creating an Inscription with every step, his talent in the Dao of Divine Inscriptions was astonishing, monstrous even. But what was he doing now? By right, although the third-ranked Inscriptions he inscribed may not be peak-tier, it wouldn’t be too far off from it, either.
At this moment, Bailu Yan totally had no idea what Qin Wentian was inscribing.
At this moment on the vantage point, the other middle-aged elder bowed to Fenrir as he inquired, “Grandmaster Fenrir, how do you find the aptitudes of this batch of participants?”
When the exchange was concluded, the Star-Seizing Manor would have to bring the top three Divine Inscriptionists and their people together with them when entering the secret realm. The more powerful the Inscriptionist they brought with them was, the smoother their path in the secret realm would be.
“Not bad at all.” Fenrir smiled as he nodded his head. Not only were the participants not bad, there were even two youths with extremely promising potential.
The middle-aged elder nodded his head, since Grandmaster Fenrir’s evaluation regarding the participants was not bad, it meant that the Divine Inscriptionists this time around were pretty strong indeed.
Time flowed by as the deadline neared. Although there were four teams on the platform, there were currently five Inscriptions being created. This was because Qin Wentian and Ghaus of the White Deer Institute were both inscribing their own separate Inscriptions, unlike the three Inscriptions that could be combined into one, that were being inscribed by the three brothers.
Naturally, Ghaus was the main representative, while Qin Wentian was the support. Although Qin Wentian had powerful perception, from the current look of his Inscription, his ability to inscribe was far lacking compared to that of Ghaus.
The next moment, the crowd could clearly sense the immense energy fluctuation as the runic outlines of the inscribed Divine Inscriptions manifested faint shadows that ‘thickened’ and became more corporeal with each passing moment.
Over in the direction of the three brothers, there was a tyrannical three-headed flood dragon crossing into the realm of reality, as it simultaneously drew upon the energy fed to it by the three Inscriptions separately inscribed by the three brothers.
Ghaus had also chosen to inscribe a beast-type Divine Inscription. Before him, an azure dragon could be seen floating in the air, coiling protectively around him.
For attack-type Divine Inscriptions, beast-type Inscriptions were undoubtedly the most suitable.
Yan Tie’s Inscription manifested the huge face of a spectre, giving off a sinister and bone-chilling aura.
As for the youth from the Demon Sect, his Inscription manifested the form of a Purgatory Serpent that glanced at the other Divine Inscriptions with a baleful, murderous look in its eyes.
“How powerful, each and every one of the Inscriptions is at the peak-tier, third-ranked level. Their combat ability is sufficient to suppress cultivators at the pinnacle of Yuanfu.”
The Divine Inscriptionists could easily control and direct the actions of the manifested forms of the Divine Inscriptions to do as they pleased.
Currently, Qin Wentian’s Inscription was the only one that hadn’t manifested a form. He stood there tranquilly, as a strange swirl of Qi could be felt gathering into a vortex. But even now, there was no one that could identify the Divine Inscription he was inscribing.
“Time’s up,” Fenrir’s faint voice echoed out.
“Time to get the show started then.” Yan Tie cackled, as a sinister light flickered in his eyes.
“GO!” The three brothers stabbed forth with their fingers, their wills commanding the three-headed flood dragon to dash in the direction of Ghaus with explosive speed.
The terrifying form of the three-headed flood dragon blotted out the skies. Ghaus merely snorted coldly in response, as the azure dragon coiled around him flew forwards to meet the attack. Draconic roars shook the earth and trembled the heavens, as the two dragons fought claw with claw, the battle between them causing tremors to shake the entire platform.
“This level of power…” The hearts of the crowd trembled. The Astral Energy within Ghaus’s Yuanfu surged and gushed out, as his spiritual consciousness in the form of an astral projection merged into the body of the azure dragon. He was the azure dragon.
“Hmph, spiritual reinforcement?” The three brothers mirrored his actions as their astral projections entered the three heads of the flood dragon respectively, augmenting its power in preparation for the next clash.
Yan Tie and the youth from the Demon Cult weren’t in a hurry. Since the Li Clan’s three brothers and Ghaus wanted to wipe each other out, they might as well just enjoy the show.
“White Deer Institute.” A cold light erupted in Yan Tie’s eyes. Taking the opportunity of everyone focusing on the battle between Ghaus and the three brothers, he channelled his Astral Energy and the malevolent huge face of the spectre he summoned then rushed forward.
As the face neared the azure dragon, it abruptly took a huge bite out of it, damaging the runic outlines of the manifested dragon.
Ghaus’s expression was extremely unsightly. The Li Clan’s three brothers naturally weren’t polite and immediately took advantage of the weakened defense of the azure dragon by concentrating their attacks around the area of damage. With a low groan, Ghaus spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as the runic outlines of the azure dragon crumbled into nothingness.
Retreating several steps back to steady himself, he clutched his chest as he shot a look at Fenrir. His Inscription wasn’t weak, it was just that he suffered a joint attack from two parties.
“I have my own judgement,” Fenrir calmly replied.
Ghaus nodded, despite the fact that he lost because Yan Tie ambushed him, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed. Since this had already happened, there was no way he would be the champion of this exchange any longer.
Not only that, even placing second might be a problem. He was the first to be ousted in the third test, and so Ghaus could only tremble in impotent rage.
“Ghaus, it seems that your capabilities were merely so-so.” Old First of the three brothers sarcastically laughed. Ghaus’s performance hadn’t exceeded them in any of the three tests.
“Hmph.” Ghaus icily snorted. “I’m fighting one against three, there’s nothing for you to be proud of. I can only lament the fact that I have no capable assistants.”
“Grandmaster Ghaus, how can you say such a thing,” Bailu Yi interjected, “During the first test, Qin Wentian reminded you out of the good will in his heart, yet you berated him because you disdained help given by a junior all because of a useless word – pride. During the second test, we proposed to combine forces, yet you wanted the glory of breaking through the formation alone, leading to the Li Clan’s three brothers exiting the formation first. Are you blind? Can’t you see that we would be the first in the second test if all of us had worked together?”
Ghaus frowned heavily when he heard Bailu Yi’s words. Were it not for Bailu Yi’s status within the White Deer Institute, he would already have gone up to give her a tight slap.
“I know that because the White Deer Institute has already lost, that you are feeling unhappiness in your heart. I won’t blame you for your earlier words, but I, Ghaus, have already done my best,” Ghaus faintly spoke, making it appear that Bailu Yi was hysterical instead of him being the one at fault. He then faintly continued, “For this third test, this brat could have helped me, but he chose to inscribe a separate Divine Inscription on his own. This defeat has nothing to do with me. If you want to assign blame, then blame him.”
“Grandmaster Ghaus, you can rest your heart at ease, the reward we promised you will still be the same regardless of the results,” the large-eyed Elder calmly replied, understanding what Ghaus was hinting at.
Ghaus lightly nodded, but before he departed, he coldly swept a glance at the seemingly nonsensical Divine Inscription inscribed by Qin Wentian. “Useless baggage. Tell me, what use do you have?”
After speaking, Ghaus flicked his sleeves imperiously and walked away.
“The White Deer Institute, hasn’t lost yet,” Qin Wentian casually spoke, causing Ghaus to falter. Turning back, he only saw Qin Wentian’s sharp gaze directed right at him. “Your loss, doesn’t mean that the White Deer Institute has also lost.”
“Since your abilities can’t even meet the mark, get the fuck out of here.”
