AGM 492 – Snatching Once More
It was unknown how long this ancient towering tree had stayed alive for.
Qin Wentian was currently walking towards its fruits, which emanated the will from the Mandate of Space.
The reason for him wanting these fruits wasn’t for himself. He wanted them for Qing`er.
From his journey from the Sky Harmony City up till now, there were several who had helped him before. His foster father Qin Chuan, his esteemed teacher Mustang, his senior sister Luo Huan, and also Fairy Qingmei. Qin Wentian owed a debt of gratitude to these people.
Especially to the ephemeral ice-cold celestial maiden Qing’er. He owed her far too much.
Qing’er wasn’t great at conversing, she preferred to remain in silence. She’d always had a cold temperament, but back then because of an order from Fairy Qingmei, she had remained at his side, protecting him from the shadows. Just like that, about seven to eight years had already passed.
Throughout these years, each time he was on the brink of death, the person who appeared was always Qing’er.
After the battle at the Pill Emperor Hall, although he had been grievously injured, he could still remember that during the last hints of his consciousness it was Qing’er who’d appeared and accompanied him the whole time, carrying him all the way to the Celestial Lake Palace. He had no idea how much Qing’er paid to acquire the Great Nirvana Immortal Art for him; he only knew that he definitely had to repay her for this debt of gratitude.
“Qing’er is adept in the Mandate of Space. These Space Mandate Fruits are precisely suited for her. I definitely must obtain them.” Qin Wentian’s eyes flashed with an intense determination. Presently, he was surrounded by the various experts that had already gathered by the tree, with the majority wanting to obtain the Space Mandate Fruits.
However, it would be a difficult task to even approach the fruits. The nearer one was, the stronger the sense of misdirection became. For example, if one wanted to advance forwards, they would find themselves moving off in a sideways direction or even appearing in a random location. And to top it off, there also seemed to be a protective wall of space enveloping the fruits. This barrier was the reason why no one had succeeded as of yet. Maybe if an expert skilled in the Mandate of Space were there, he might be able to acquire the fruits with ease.
Below him, Yin Ting and the other two rushed over. The demonic qi gushing forth from Qin Wentian soared in intensity, and he immediately took a step forward as the fluctuations of spatial energy crackled around him, teleporting him elsewhere. Yin Ting’s lightning serpent Astral Nova then slammed into nothingness. Qin Wentian had already entered the spatial zone around the Space Mandate Fruits.
In this zone, Qin Wentian could feel the sense of misdirection growing stronger, and sensed terrifying undulations of spatial energy threatening to rend him apart.
“This spatial zone is in a space of its own, with its own laws and directions.” Qin Wentian saw a beam of spatial light zooming his way and abruptly stepped back, before making a sudden dash ahead. The space within this spatial zone was extremely chaotic, yet with his perception, he managed to dodge the spatial laceration and take a step forwards in the correct direction.
Qin Wentian sensed that he was now only a step away from the Space Mandate Fruits, but somehow, there seemed to be several layers of space blocking his way, causing the distance between Qin Wentian and his target to be greatly lengthened.
The spatial zones were destroyed, one after another. Qin Wentian’s blood thrummed with power as he unceasingly advanced forwards with determination in his eyes. A while later, he discovered there were others trapped in this particular spatial zone he’d just broken through to. Among them, there was an extremely beautiful figure; it was none other than the Princess of Xuan King City, Shang Yue.
“It’s you?” Shang Yue stared at Qin Wentian, her eyes radiating cold intent.
Qin Wentian merely gave a casual glance and continued walking forwards. The backlash from the spatial energy laceration intensified, and the demonic qi he was exuding skyrocketed in response.
“The power of Space is truly tyrannical. If one could nurture and eventually condense a Constellation of the Mandate of Space, its power would be a tier higher compared to ordinary Constellations.” Qin Wentian mused. Although cultivation depended on oneself, and cultivators with the same Mandates might have differing levels of strength, there were still certain Mandates which possessed an advantage.
“Hand over the spatial brush.” A voice rang out behind Qin Wentian. He instantly turned and slammed out with his palms. Howls of demonic dragons tore the void as his aura gushed outwards. Just a simple palm attack by him contained boundless force.
Shang Yue lifted her palms and met the attack. Yet how could she, with a mere cultivation base at the fourth level of Heavenly Dipper, be able to stand against Qin Wentian’s might? The draconic imprint turned into vibrational energy waves, terrifying and formless, that gushed into her body, causing her to cough out blood.
“Bam…” The tyrannical energy jolted Shang Yue so badly that she had no choice but to retreat. Her gaze was stone cold as she stared at Qin Wentian. The clothing covering the area around her throat had already been reduced to tatters from the impact, revealing a beautiful snow-white neck.
“Do you really think that you could obtain the spatial brush just by fighting me during the Treasure Seizing Assembly? I’ll show you how wrong you are.” Qin Wentian swept his gaze over to Shang Yue. Shang Yue instantly felt a terrifying energy sinking deep into her sea of consciousness. Her countenance grew incredibly unsightly— right now, Qin Wentian’s strength had truly far exceeded her imagination.
“Bzzz!” The instant Qin Wentian turned, Shang Yue’s body erupted with a fearsome bloodline power. Instantly, her body was cloaked in a glacial killing energy field as her long hair fluttered in the wind. The pressure she was emanating was so strong that it stifled all others.
Shang Yue was from a branch of the Royal Clan in Grand Shang, and naturally she possessed the power of the Royal Bloodline. Her particular bloodline was known as the vitality bloodline.
As to why was it known as the vitality bloodline, whenever this bloodline limit was activated, the power of her bloodline would permeate her entire body, boosting the vitality of each and every cell. This boost in vital strength granted an overall increase in stats. Even her life force would overflow with energy.
Once the innate potential of every cell was triggered by the power of the bloodline, her attacks would naturally be strengthened many times over. Not only that, her natural defense, resistance, and recovery would all soar to insane heights.
When this kind of bloodline erupted, the user did not experience any particular special effects, however their combat prowess would be significantly augmented..
Qin Wentian turned his head, and upon noting the changes that Shang Yue underwent, he knew that she had activated the power of her bloodline. Shang Yue’s previously black pupils were now coated with ice, and her eyes felt as sharp as daggers. He knew that this particular bloodline wasn’t weak.
The power of a bloodline was innately bestowed when one was born. It was an exceedingly marvelous ability, and Qin Wentian knew that his first bloodline descended from an exceedingly mighty demon. It enabled him to enter into a berserker state, making him seemingly demonic. In addition to granting a boost in his aura, it enabled him to break through to the next level in cultivation. Just like now, a vast amount of demonic qi towered up to the skies, giving the appearance that he was the overlord of all demons. He who was at the third level of Heavenly Dipper, now exuded an aura similar to the fourth level.
“You think I can’t win?” Shang Yue was a genius as well as a princess of Xuan King City. Regardless of talent or beauty, she was outstanding in both aspects. How could she stand for Qin Wentian’s contempt?
Her Astral Nova was released—it was actually in the form of a sword. This sword radiated the chill of winter and was as cold as ice. Incomparable sharpness radiated forth as the surrounding temperature plunged rapidly, causing icicles to form in the surroundings. Ice statues appeared one after another with Shang Yue standing in the middle.
Stepping out and slashing with her sword, the surrounding space felt as though they were about to be frozen solid. In this world, only she and Qin Wentian remained. That intent of coldness surged directly into Qin Wentian’s body, and for every inch the sword neared him, the coldness Qin Wentian felt would increase by a few degrees.
Qin Wentian suddenly understood why Shang Yue wanted the spatial brush. Since her Mandate of Icesnow had already reached such a formidable stage, the next Mandate she intended to cultivate was undoubtedly the Mandate of Space. Hence, this was also the reason why she was here now. She wanted to acquire the Space Mandate Fruits.
But regardless what her motives and purposes were, what did it have to do with Qin Wentian? Nobody could stop him from acquiring the Constellation Fruits.
Stepping out, the terrifying aura gushed forth unceasingly. That aura, akin to the overlord of demons, furthered intensified.
“Boom, boom, boom…” Qin Wentian took four deliberate steps forwards. Sword qi radiated forth from him, engulfing the entire Heavens and Earth. His killing intent fused together with his sword-might and zoomed right towards Shang Yue. However, Shang Yue also mirrored his movements. Her icy sword-might shot directly into Qin Wentian’s body.
“SCRAM!”
Qin Wentian stabbed his finger downwards; the entire sword-might within the surrounding area was concentrated on the tip of his finger.
Heaven Breaking Finger, breaking the heavens with a single stab.
As the finger descended, Qin Wentian flicked his sleeves, turning back as he continued advancing. Upon seeing Jian Jingtian already nearing the fruits, his countenance turned heavy. If the constellation fruits landed in the hands of others, it would definitely be even more difficult to retrieve them.
Qin Wentian ignored everything and continued forwards. After which, he waved his hands and an ancient scroll appeared, wrapping around him as Qin Wentian began to emit fluctuations of spatial energy.
“The energy of space, there should be no difference between them. I wonder if I can sense it.” Qin Wentian shut his eyes as his powerful perception drifted outwards. He stood at his original spot and waited. Now, if he were to advance step by step, it would already be too late. He had only a single chance; he had to directly breach all these invisible spatial walls to arrive right in front of the Space Mandate Fruits.
Using the spatial energy, which now emanated forth from him as a form of linkage for him to perceive the fluctuations of this entire space—he could now clearly sense wavy lines of spatial distortions shifting all around him. After a certain period of time passed, he managed to discern the wavy lines stretching and straightening into a straight line. At that very instant, no spatial walls blocked the way towards the constellation fruits. Just for that instant.
Shang Qi and Jian Jingtian stepped out at the same moment breaching the last layer of spatial distortions, their eyes gleaming with the bright glow of excitement.
And in that very instant, Qin Wentian executed Stellar Transposition.
Stellar Transposition wasn’t teleportation; it wasn’t a spatial related skill. It created a ‘burst’ of astral energy, borrowing the power from that instant explosion to increase one’s speed to the limit. Hence, it would have been useless to use Stellar Transposition earlier on, but now, that was no longer the case…
Qin Wentian’s silhouette appeared in front of the Constellation Fruits with unerring accuracy. The fluctuations of the terrifying spatial energy started up once again, the waves beginning to blast towards him. Yet, without hesitation, he still stretched out his hands towards the fruits.
With one grab, the branch where the two Space Mandate Fruits were hanging on, was now in his hands. The terrifying spatial lacerations tore open huge wounds on his arms, almost severing it off completely.
Behind him, Shang Qi’s face was frozen in shock as he stared at the silhouette that so abruptly appeared. Only after it was too late did he finally recover, the light of comprehension dawning in his eyes as his countenance visibly contorted with rage.
“DIE!” Shang Qi’s Frenzied Demon Halberd violently pierced out, wanting to annihilate Qin Wentian right where he stood.
“Courting death.” Jian Jingtian was in a similarly stunned state when he saw Qin Wentian suddenly appear before them. However, when he recovered, he instantly slashed out explosively with his sword, one sword shocking the heavens.
Qin Wentian exerted strength with both his hands, plucking the Constellation Fruits and stowing them inside his interspatial ring. The spatial waves of distortion around this area instantly dissipated, the Frenzied Demon Halberd directly pierced towards him, while at the same time, a resplendent sword beam fired over, slashing at him.
“BOOM!” With Stellar Transposition, Qin Wentian soared up the skies. He didn’t choose to retreat but flew skywards instead. Touching his waist gingerly with his fingers, he found them slicked with blood. Earlier, if he had been slower by an instant, that halberd would have already gutted him. Similarly, he felt blood dripping down by the side of his ears—he’d been injured by Jian Jingtian’s sword qi.
Regarding his earlier fight with Shang Yue, she’d been forced backward several steps from defending against Qin Wentian’s Heaven Breaking Finger, and ended up coughing out many mouthfuls of blood. When she finally threw off the impact, Qin Wentian had already snatched away the Constellation Fruits. After which, the invisible walls of resistance vanished as the majority of experts soared upwards, seeking to surround him. Qin Wentian had already become like a thorn in the eyes of many.
This person had snatched away so many Constellation Fruits, wasn’t he afraid of death?
And right at this moment, Shang Qi and Jian Jingtian were apoplectic with the intense flames of rage. These Constellation Fruits, they truly wanted to see how qualified Qin Wentian was to retain them.
