AGM 286 - Revealing the Token
A cold smile was reflected on Qin Wentian’s face. “Ever since I, Qin, joined the White Deer Institute to cultivate the Dao of Divine Inscriptions, I have never done a single thing that went against the Institute’s code of honor. How ridiculous, if you want to steal the ancient scroll from me, you can just say so. Why is there a need to be so hypocritical?”
Bailu You narrowed his eyes. He knew that if he allowed Qin Wentian to leave the White Deer Institute today, there would never be another chance to acquire the ancient scroll of the Ascendant.
More and more experts from the White Deer Institute arrived, and when about six to seven of the nine elders came, only then did Bailu Tong suddenly speak out, “Everyone, can I hear your opinions on how we should handle this matter? I, Bailu Tong have immersed myself in studying and researching the Dao of Divine Inscriptions for so many years, and my attainment in it cannot be said to be weak. There’s a chance for me to break through to become a fifth-ranked Grandmaster if I can obtain the ancient scroll of the Ascendant. All of you should be extremely clear of the value and prestige a fifth-ranked Grandmaster would bring to our Institute.”
“Qin Wentian is only nineteen and has already broken through to the fourth-ranked. Not only that, he is also a good friend of mine. Why must the Institute do such a vile and filthy thing, robbing him of the inheritance he rightfully earned? Obviously, he would have a much greater chance to break through to being a fifth-ranked Grandmaster compared to Elder Bailu Tong,” Bailu Yi countered.
“Impudent. Little Yi, the elders may hold you in high regard but you do not have the right to speak about an elder this way!” Bailu You roared. “And so what if he has a greater chance? Ultimately, he is still an outsider.”
“There are some words that must be said, no matter how inappropriate they may sound now.” Bailu Yi knew that Qin Wentian was the inheritor of the Azure Emperor Token. She wondered what would happen if the elders from the Institute blindly continued to offend him like this.
“Uncle Yu, could you lead them down and guard the back mountains, not allowing others to enter?” Bailu Yi instructed an elderly looking figure, this person was someone extremely loyal to the White Deer Institute.
Uncle Yu understood Bailu Yi’s intention. With a wave of his hands, he gathered the non-core members as he led them down, following Bailu Yi’s instructions.
“Do the two of you want to go and take a break as well?” Bailu Yi stared at Di Feng and Di Cheng.
“Little Yi, Di Feng is a valuable guest of our Institute, there’s nothing to hide from him,” Bailu Tong cut in.
“I, Di Feng, can guarantee that Miss Yi’s words will definitely remain behind closed-doors.” Di Feng laughed.
Bailu Yi glanced at him, and turned her gaze onto those from the White Deer Institute. “Elder Tong, humor me. In terms of the Dao of Inscriptions, which of the two of us has the higher attainment and talent?”
Bailu Tong stared at Bailu Yi, but he didn’t reply. Another elder added, “Naturally, elder Tong’s attainment is higher. But with regards to talent, Little Yi may still be slightly better.”
“In that case, if the White Deer Institute acquires the ancient scroll of the Ascendant, who do you all think the inheritance should belong to? Who would have the greater hope of breaking through to being a fifth-ranked Grandmaster?” Bailu Yi asked again, causing a myriad of expressions to flicker on the countenances of the crowd.
Bailu Shan’s eyes lighted up. By that logic, the inheritance would be given to his daughter instead.
Yes, that was right, his daughter had a deep relationship with Qin Wentian.
“We will all share it,” Bailu Tong icily replied, traces of unhappiness could be seen flickering in his eyes.
“How laughable. If Qin Wentian acquired the ancient scroll, then it clearly belongs to him. But you want to have a share in it?” Bailu Yi coldly laughed. “Let me tell all the elders this, Qin Wentian did indeed obtain the inheritance of the Ascendant and he will definitely become a fifth-ranked Grandmaster in the future. And just to be clear, he has already given the ancient scroll to me.”
Everyone who heard the words were left flabbergasted. Qin Wentian actually gave the ancient scroll of the Ascendant to Bailu Yi?
It seemed like the relationship between them was really that of lovers. And Qin Wentian truly loved Bailu Yi.
Laughter appeared on Bailu Shan’s face. In that case, his choice was already extremely clear. He would undoubtedly choose to stand on the side of Qin Wentian.
Bailu Yi’s grandfather, one of the nine grand elders of the Institute also stroked his beard and laughed. His impression of Qin Wentian was improving by the minute.
“Consider this carefully before making any decision. If Elder Bailu Tong makes a move against Qin Wentian, I, Bailu Yi will be too ashamed to remain in the White Deer Institute. Does the Institute really wish to lose two potential fifth-ranked Grandmasters?” Bailu Yi’s powerful words resounded in the air.
Momentarily, Bailu Tong’s countenance became exceptionally unsightly to behold.
Even if Bailu Yi was one of their own members, there was no way he would give up the ancient scroll.
“Little Yi, are you threatening our Institute?” Bailu Tong coldly remarked, “Not only that, as a junior, since you’ve acquired the ancient scroll, why haven’t you passed it to the elders? Is this something a junior should do?”
“Today, I have really seen the true face of Elder Tong. Even when coveting the possession of others, you can still sound as though you are in the right. Why should I give it to you?” Bailu Yi mocked. Turning her gaze onto the other elders, Bailu Yi continued, “Would the other elders please make their decision.”
“Elder Tong, you’ve gone overboard.” Bailu Yi’s grandfather naturally stood on the side of his granddaughter.
“Enough of this internal conflict, this is so embarrassing.”
The large-eyed elder couldn’t help but berate them upon seeing such a happening occurring. After which, he turned his gaze onto Qin Wentian and spoke, “Little Brother Qin is a guest of Little Yi. Our White Deer Institute apologizes for the matters here today, please pardon our transgressions. When the other fourth-ranked Grandmasters came over to plunder the inheritance, it was one thing for our elders not to stop them, but to think that one of the elders actually aided and abetted the other fourth-ranked Grandmasters because of his own selfish desires. Please accept our apologies. I, as the Great Elder, have failed in my duties indeed. This was my mistake.”
The Great Elder personally acknowledged that he made a mistake, his actions causing the others to shut up without further comment. The core members that arrived late already understood what happened today.
As a Divine Inscriptionist, this Bailu Tong was filled with greed for wanting to possess the Ascendant’s ancient scroll. And because of Qin Wentian’s relationship with Bailu Yi, he wasn’t thick-skinned enough to act directly against Qin Wentian. But rather, he spread the news to outsider fourth-ranked Grandmasters in order to borrow their influence to coerce Qin Wentian into caving in. Then the next step would be to make him surrender the ancient scroll to himself, an elder of the White Deer Institute, for protection.
These outsider fourth-ranked Grandmasters naturally also understood Bailu Tong’s scheme. But the lure of the ancient scroll was too great. Hence, they weren’t willing to give this chance up, and acted according to Bailu Tong’s machinations.
Yet no one would have anticipated the ending. Qin Wentian had too many cards up his sleeves. He could inscribe fourth-ranked, combat-type Divine Inscriptions, had a fourth-ranked Puppet, and also the protection of a Heavenly Dipper Sovereign.
Those greedy fourth-ranked Grandmasters had all been slaughtered, causing Bailu Tong’s plan to transform into mist and shadows. Hence, he chose to no longer mask his intentions, and instead decided to use the entire White Deer Institute to pressure Qin Wentian, ignoring the fact that he might be offending Bailu Yi.
All this led to the situation happening right now.
Bailu Tong was still unwilling to give up, yet the large-eyed elder didn’t agree with him.
Qin Wentian could see that the large-eyed elder was a sincere and honest man. He also knew that the elder always had a good impression of him since the beginning. Hence, Qin Wentian added, “This matter occurs only because of Bailu Tong, and has nothing to do with the White Deer Institute. I, Qin, understand this clearly.”
Since the large-eyed elder intended to form good relations with him, Qin Wentian naturally wouldn’t create tension of his own volition. After all, he would take charge of the entire White Deer Institute sooner or later.
“Excellent, excellent, it’s good that your heart is so magnanimous.” The large-eyed elder nodded as he laughed. In fact, he hadn’t acted before this because he wanted to see if Qin Wentian had the capability to settle things on his own terms. If Qin Wentian really couldn’t handle it, the large-eyed elder would definitely have stepped in.
“Great Elder, I’m afraid this matter isn’t up to your decision. I will report this to the supreme elders, and will let them decide instead.” It was then that the silent Bailu Tong spoke out once again, causing the countenance of the crowd to sink as they smiled wryly in their hearts. This matter was getting more and more out of control, escalating the internal conflict in the White Deer Institute.Bailu Tong dared to behave this way because his father was one of the four supreme elders. Not only that, Bailu Tong’s father was well known as someone who blindly shielded his shortcomings.
The large-eyed elder’s countenance turned exceptionally unsightly once he heard Bailu Tong’s words. How shameful.
Because of greed, Bailu Tong had initiated this internal conflict, something the large-eyed elder was unhappy to witness.
“Since you have the ancient scroll, just take it out and share it with everyone.” A voice drifted over from afar. Many among the crowd couldn’t help but shudder slightly once they heard this voice.
One of the supreme elders had spoken.
The crowd speculated that this supreme elder definitely wanted Qin Wentian to hand over the inheritance so as to share the ancient scroll with everyone. This would be an overall boost in the standards of the Divine Inscriptionists from the White Deer Institute. This kind of thinking wasn’t wrong.
Qin Wentian cast his gaze into the horizon. It seemed like one of the supreme elders supported Bailu Tong.
Even after he had become a fourth-ranked Grandmaster, the White Deer Institute’s attitude still hadn’t changed. Evidently, they still treated him like an outsider.
Luckily he hadn’t revealed that he held the Azure Emperor Token back then. If not, he didn’t know what attitude the Institute might have now.
“As an impartial observer not involved in the matter, I too, think that Qin Wentian should share the ancient scroll. Of course, the White Deer Institute could repay him by offering protection for his safety,” Di Feng stated, causing a smile to appear on Bailu Tong’s countenance.
Qin Wentian cast a glance at Di Feng as he coldly smiled. “How fair. Who are you to butt your nose into my affairs?”
“Someone you can’t afford to offend,” Di Cheng who was beside Di Feng, icily replied. “You are just a mere fourth-ranked Grandmaster, even a finger would be enough to crush you to death.”“How arrogant. Are you not a descendant of the Azure Emperor? Main bloodline of the Di Clan?”
As the sound of Qin Wentian’s voice faded, everyone in the crowd was thunderstruck, as they turned gazes filed with incomparable sharpness onto Qin Wentian.
Qin Wentian actually knew of the White Deer Institute’s greatest secret.
The crowd then gazed contemptuously at Bailu Yi, with even a few elders looking at her in disappointment. Didn’t Bailu Yi know what was important? How could she divulge this secret to Qin Wentian?
“Traitorous slut.” Bailu You snorted in disdain. After which, he took a step closer to Qin Wentian. “In that case, you should die even more.”
Qin Wentian had given him the perfect excuse to act, Qin Wentian was courting death.
Yet, Bailu Yi was staring in amazement at Qin Wentian.Was he preparing to lay all his cards out on the table?
“Yup, he deserves death.” Di Cheng coldly grinned. Qin Wentian would definitely die today.
“You’ve all heard it directly, even the descendants of the Di Clan want him to die.” Bailu You turned his gaze towards the crowd. Upon hearing his words, Qin Wentian softly commented, “All of you respect the Azure Emperor that much?”
“Obviously. Everyone in our White Deer Institute can basically be said to be the descendants of the Azure Emperor. Didn’t Bailu Yi tell you this?” Bailu You coldly laughed.
“If the successor of the Azure Emperor Token wanted you to die, would you die?” Qin Wentian glanced at Bailu You with amusement.
“Sure, if he appears, why not?” Bailu You smiled. He had to grab this chance to show his support for Di Feng. Di Feng would surely stand on his side in future.
“Oh?” Qin Wentian nodded his head with amusement. “Okay, you can go ahead and die then.”
After that, Qin Wentian gazed into the horizon as he channeled his voice, causing it to erupt forth, “Qin Wentian seeks an audience with the supreme elders of the White Deer Institute.”
His voice was filled with power, travelling a far distance while resonating in the air.
“Who do you think you are? Do you think you can meet the supreme elders just because you want to?” Bailu You sneered.
“You, are unqualified.” Di Cheng had hated Qin Wentian ever since his recent bout of humiliation. Today, his date of death had finally arrived
Qin Wentian laughed coldly as he stretched out a hand, he was holding something in between his fingers. “What about now?”
“Huh?” The gazes of everyone riveted to the object Qin Wentian held in his hands, and then they felt as though explosions had gone off in their minds. Shaking their heads, the crowd narrowed their eyes for a clearer look.
In the next instant, it was if they had all turned to ice, their hearts pounding madly with a myriad of emotions.
That word on the token... that word, was the word Azure!
Di Feng’s eyes turned sharp, feeling as though a huge wave had rocked his heart. Qin Wentian held in his hands the Azure Emperor Token!
Qin Wentian swept his gaze over to Bailu Tong, Di Feng and Di Cheng, speaking slowly and clearly, enunciating each word. “I, Qin Wentian, am the true successor of the Azure Emperor!”
As the sound of his voice faded, the crowd exchanged glances with each other in dumbfounded amazement.
The Azure Emperor Token, that was the Azure Emperor Token.
Di Feng had a linage belonging to the Di Clan.
But Qin Wentian, with the Azure Emperor Token in his hands, was the Azure Emperor’s true successor!