AGM 314 - Thirty-six Mountains
Ouyang Kuangsheng was also puzzled. Were there really no elders of the Unmatched Realm coming out?
Shifting his gaze away from those silhouettes standing in the air, Ouyang Kuangsheng felt extremely depressed after seeing the faint traces of laughter reflected in the eyes of the other cultivators.
Their laughter had a hint of mockery to it.
Evidently, they were treating both Qin Wentian and Ouyang Kuangsheng as a huge joke.
In the air, that figure who activated the formation for the entrance test, stared at Qin Wentian as he commented. “Congratulations, you passed the entry test. From now onwards, you can enter and exit the Unmatched Realm at will but please note, for the Dao-Cultivation Halls located within the thirty-six mountains, you are not to enter before given approval.”
The eyes of this man were filled with puzzlement. This shouldn’t be the case, especially with Qin Wentian’s performance, the majority of the old eccentrics should be rushing out by the dozen and yet, no movements could be seen from the ancient mountains.
“Many thanks for Senior’s guidance.” Qin Wentian nodded.
“Haha, I’m afraid you’ll never gain approval.” Maniacal laughter resounded in the air. Following which, a silhouette leisurely walked out of the crowd. This man, was none other than the beastman, Shiki. His figure had grown even sturdier compared to back then in the past. He stood at a height of two metres tall, and exuded an aura of violence.
With the blood of the Beast King in his veins, his physique would naturally contain the unique characteristics of demonic beasts, bestowing upon him unimaginable strength.
“Seems like this Unmatched Realm truly is an extraordinary place. Even cultivators from the Demon Continent situated so far away, have come here to cultivate as well.” Qin Wentian mused. His countenance was unperturbed as he stared at Shiki.
“Today, let me represent all of you in teaching newbies on following the rules. Ouyang Kuangsheng, you’d better not interfere in this matter.” Shiki laughed as a malicious glint of light flickered in his eyes. Ouyang Kuangsheng turned his gaze onto Qin Wentian only to see Qin Wentian was currently looking at him, asking, “In the Unmatched Realm, how far are we allowed to go, in terms of combat?”
“You can’t kill or maim your opponents, that’s basically it.” Ouyang Kuangsheng was stunned by how calm Qin Wentian seemed. Momentarily, a smile appeared in his eyes, Qin Wentian’s serenity was like the calm before the storm.
“Oh.” Qin Wentian nodded.“Yup, no death, no maiming. In future, you’d better not let me see you in the Unmatched Realm. Or else you’ll be in for a beating every time I do.” Shiki laughed malevolently. After which, he stepped out and soared into the skies, emitting a terrifying aura that gushed forth towards Qin Wentian.
“Bzzz!’
A formless energy spiralled around his palms, the crowd standing in the air crossed their arms around their chest, silently spectating the incoming show.
There was no doubt that Shiki’s strength was sufficient enough for him to ‘abuse’ cultivators at the fifth level of Yuanfu. And also, since he had disagreements with Ouyang Kuangsheng, how could he miss this wonderful opportunity to give him a few tight slaps? Qin Wentian was Ouyang Kuangsheng’s close friend, so abusing him would be the equivalent of slapping Ouyang Kuangsheng’s face.
Very quickly, Shiki appeared in front of Qin Wentian. His gigantic beast arms lunged towards Qin Wentian with the speed of a meteor blast. He punched through the air, the friction from the forceful movement induced reverberations and created a thunderous shock wave, which blasted right at Qin Wentian. The power of Shiki’s strike was enough to level mountains, let alone a puny Qin Wentian.
Qin Wentian clenched his fist, as demonic qi surged and bubbled around his arms and scales began forming at visible speed. His will of Mandates exploded forth as he channelled Divine Energy into his arm, before punching out with it.
“BOOOM!”
Two powerful forces collided together, and just when the crowd thought Qin Wentian would be flung away from the impact, they saw that he wasn’t even affected from the blow. An intense light gleamed in his eyes as they locked on to Shiki.
Shiki stiffened, he actually felt…drowsy? He felt like he was in terrible need of sleep, his defences slackened as his consciousness blurred.
Peng!
Qin Wentian ruthlessly punched out once again. Shiki gave a miserable groan as the force of Qin Wentian’s blow threw him all the way back. Qin Wentian’s silhouette flickered as he instantly chased after Shiki.
“Peng, peng, peng…”
Punches after punches violently landed. Under the thunderstruck gazes of the crowd, Shiki, with his monstrous physique of a half-beast, was beaten up so badly that various parts of his body appeared dented in. Moaning in gut-wrenching pain, relentlessly bleeding from numerous wounds, Shiki was no longer the king of the beasts. Now, he appeared to be no more than a weak little kitten, compared to a ferocious half-lion.
“In the future, you’d better not show your face when I’m around.”
Qin Wentian’s voice quietly rang out, as he continued his beat down unabated. With a final boom, Shiki’s body was blasted all the way into the earth, the impact of the crash had even fissured the ground, creating a crater of immense size. The powerfully built half-beast man became a blood-man instead.
“This…”
The gazes of the crowd all stiffened when they stared at Qin Wentian. How was this possible? Shiki was a beastman, he was a half-beast with the bloodline of the beast king flowing inside his veins. His physique should have been the strongest amongst all of them here, yet Qin Wentian hadn’t even used any innate techniques? He kept punching with nothing but pure strength, and it was powerful enough to ‘abuse’ Shiki to such a state.
Qin Wentian behaved like nothing major happened. He inclined his head and stared at Wang Xiao who was in the distance and spoke indifferently, “As for you, I don’t quite understand your earlier words. But if you wish to ‘abuse’ me as well, you’re welcome to try, right here, right now.”
After speaking, Qin Wentian shrugged, it was as though having a cultivation base at the sixth level of Yuanfu wasn’t a sufficient enough reason for Wang Xiao to be worthy of his notice. His actions caused Wang Xiao to freeze in anger, and regarded Qin Wentian with eyes that were filled with a strange light.
But soon after, he coldly laughed. “So what? You only have brute strength. No wonder none of the elders appeared.”
“If you don’t want to fight, stop spouting crap,” Qin Wentian remarked, he still hadn’t looked at Wang Xiao. Instead, he shifted his gaze onto Ouyang Kuangsheng, as an expression of puzzlement shone on his face. He still didn’t fully understand what Wang Xiao meant by those words.
“In the Unmatched Realm, there are thirty-six Dao-Cultivation Halls found in the mountains. If the elders within grant their approval, we have the opportunity to enter their respective Halls, and cultivate alongside them. There’s even a chance they’ll take you in as their disciple,” Ouyang Kuangsheng explained. “During the entry test, our performance will be observed by the old eccentrics of the Unmatched Realm. If they’re impressed by your talent, they’ll grant you an invitation to one of the Dao-Cultivation Halls situated within the mountains. Back when Wang Xiao took the test, three elders appeared, desiring to accept him as a disciple.”
“Eh…” Qin Wentian’s eyes flickered, he understood now. “In that case, not one elder appeared after my test, which is quite embarrassing?”
“A bit.” Ouyang Kuangsheng nodded, causing Qin Wentian to feel slightly awkward. No wonder these people were looking at him that way. The smiles on their faces were ones filled with sarcasm.
Yet, why was this the case, hadn’t he passed all the tests? Except for the final fight, the maiden that appeared was truly too strong. Despite him using all his strength, he couldn’t prevail. Could it be that all these cultivators here were strong enough to pass all ten checkpoints? That was a little too unrealistic.
“DAMN!” A curse drifted over. As Qin Wentian shifted his gaze, he saw Fan Le appearing with a gloomy expression painted on his face. His robes were torn and tattered, apparently, the difficulty of the tests were too high.
“Hu…” Chu Mang appeared as well, only to see him drawing in a huge breath as he turned to Qin Wentian and Fan Le and stated, “You guys are out as well.”
“Mhm, Big Bro Chu Mang, which checkpoint did you reach?” Fan Le inquired.
“The sixth checkpoint.” Chu Mang replied, “How about you?”
“Hehe, seems like I, Fatty’s genius exceeded Big Bro Chu Mang a little. I made it to the seventh checkpoint.” Fan Le smiled smugly.
“With the power of your bloodline enhancing your strength, it’s nothing special for you to have reached the seventh checkpoint,” Chu Mang replied. Their conversation drifted into the ears of the crowd, causing many to feel dumbstruck. The sixth and seventh checkpoints? That wasn’t easy at all, these two newcomers could already be considered above average. Whenever a cultivator passed the fifth checkpoint, they automatically gained the qualifications necessary to enter the Unmatched Realm.
As the wind whistled, a silhouette appeared from afar. This man exuded an extremely sharp aura, and even his gaze alone felt capable of piercing someone to death. At this moment, he was looking at Fan Le.“Arrow Emperor, damn it, even the Arrow Emperor appeared.” The countenances of many in the crowd faltered as they started at Fan Le. This fatty couldn’t be so lucky, right?
“You are adept at using the bow, and you even have control of the Mandate of Psyche-force. It’s apparent you are well-suited to cultivate with me, I can teach you much in the ways of archery. Are you willing to take me as your master?” This person stared at Fan Le as he quietly spoke, his words causing Fan Le’s gaze to widen. He then asked weakly, “Erm, what’s the level of your strength?”
Many in the crowd started perspiring, this damnable fatty was truly shameless.
Even Ouyang Kuangsheng and his sister Xiaolu were totally speechless. What a shameless fatty, indeed.
“A ranker in the Heavenly Dipper Ranking.” Arrow Emperor laughed, after which Fatty’s eyes lit up and he immediately sank into a deep bow. “This awesome disciple greets esteemed Master.”
“F**k, this fatty acts too fast, he just acknowledged Arrow Emperor as his master just like that…?” First, that shameless fatty inquired about Arrow Emperor’s strength, and the next second, he’s taking Arrow Emperor as his master.
Was this a joke? A ranker on the Heavenly Dipper Ranking was someone notable in the entire Grand Xia. Fan Le regretted his earlier question and hence, he immediately acted with haste to accept the Arrow Emperor as his master.
“I need to make this clear first, the Unmatched Realm is separated from the outside world. What happens here, stays here. If you stir up trouble or meet with any difficulties in the outside world, I’m not going to care. Are you still willing to accept me as your master?” The Arrow Emperor stated. Fan Le nodded as he smiled, “Disciple will take up Master’s offer, not because I want to show off to those outside, but rather, I want my archery to improve, perfecting it closer to my limits. Would the Arrow Emperor please accept this disciple?”
“You little brat, you’ve already called him Master, how could he still reject?” Another silhouette descended. This man had an extremely wide girth and was half-naked. He stared at Chu Mang, before glancing back at the Arrow Emperor. “This fellow here excels in archery as well, why don’t you accept him together?”
“I know you already have your eyes on him but in any case, my Dao-Cultivation Hall will also grant him the approval to enter, I will guide him on archery as well,” Arrow Emperor replied, his words causing that burly man to grin with satisfaction. “My good brother, indeed. Fine, I will allow that fatty to enter my hall for cultivation as well.”
After speaking, he turned his gaze onto Chu Mang. “Although you only reached the sixth checkpoint, it’s because the level of your trials were much more difficult compared to your friend. After all, you have a cultivation base at the seventh level of Yuanfu. If you wish it, I’m willing to accept you as my disciple.”
“Chu Mang agrees, however, people say I’m too simple-minded. I hope Senior won’t mind,” Chu Mang straightforwardly replied, causing the Arrow Emperor and the others to burst out into laughter. The half-naked man also laughed. “No matter, I like simple-minded people more.”
The Arrow Emperor and the half-naked man then turned their gazes onto Qin Wentian as they sighed, “What a pity.”
“Brat, you can come to my Dao-Cultivation Hall to cultivate in the future,” the half-naked man spoke to Qin Wentian.
“You will be granted access to mine as well,” the Arrow Emperor also added, their words left Qin Wentian looking puzzled.
At this moment, the crowd started thinking maybe Qin Wentian’s performance wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t good enough for him to become a disciple under the old eccentrics.
From afar, a celestial-like silhouette floated over, exuding an aura comparable to a snow lotus atop an icy mountain. Her appearance immediately drew the attention of everyone in the crowd, as their hearts pounded with bewilderment, “Why was she here?”
The young maiden landed and leisurely walked towards Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian had also noticed her approach and watched her silently.
“I’m here to inform you that you’ve been granted access to all thirty-six Cultivation-Halls in the ancient mountains. You can visit them anytime you like.” The maiden’s words were like a bolt of lightning from the skies, echoing in the ear drums of the crowd.
All thirty-six Dao-Cultivation Halls, granted access to Qin Wentian?!