AGM 385 - Zhan Chen’s Determination
“Wentian gege!”
The crisp and gentle voice rang in Qin Wentian’s ear and permeated the void in his heart, causing time to stop momentarily.
The flabbergasted faces of the spectators indicated that they were all stunned by what they saw. The practitioner of the tyrannical devil arts was actually a maiden—this was already enough cause for them to be thunderstruck. But what was even more astounding was that the practitioner was actually a young and beautiful maiden.
And even more surprising, she was actually acquainted with Qin Wentian, and their relationship was so close to the extent of calling him Wentian gege.
The tears at the corner of the girl’s eyes, as well as the smile etched on her lips, shining with her blood, contained a poignant beauty. The spectators didn’t understand, since the black-robed maiden was so close with Qin Wentian, why did she do all that in the first place?
In the crowd, Bai Qingsong clenched his fist tightly while Autumn Snow bit her lips, staring at the scene playing out in front of them. No one hated themselves more than they did now.
They revealed the truth of everything to Bai Qing. For her sake, Qin Wentian chose not to kill Bai Qingsong despite all the things he’d done, and perhaps it was for this reason that she carried such guilt in her heart. Hence, she’d chosen such a method to reciprocate his kindness. In actual fact, her actions had been completely unnecessary.
“Silly girl.”
Qin Wentian sat on the platform arena, gently guiding Bai Qing to rest her head against his thigh. He lightly caressed her face as he stated, “Do you know that by doing what you did, Wentian gege now feels even more miserable? If I had used the slightest bit more force in that earlier attack, I would have regretted it for my entire life.”
Even in his wildest imagination, Qin Wentian didn’t expect that the black-robed figure would actually turn out to be Bai Qing! That little girl who loved to follow him around, annoying him at all times when they were back in Sky Harmony City.
Now, Bai Qing had already grown up and had become even more beautiful. She was even more radiant compared to her sister, Autumn Snow, who was declared as one of the four great beauties of Sky Harmony City. Not only that, she had become so powerful! Yet, in Qin Wentian’s memories, she would always be that naive and adorable little girl. Qin Wentian would never forget that night when Bai Qingsong wanted to silence him—he had managed to escape unharmed only because of Bai Qing’s intervention. Behind her father’s back, Bai Qing had passed him a dagger and then threw herself at him, begging him to use her life in exchange for his escape.
To think that now, after so many years later, this young lass still hadn’t gained some sense; she was still acting in such a silly manner.
“If that really happened, wouldn’t Wentian gege remember me forever?” Bai Qing laughed, her smile was still the same even after so many years had passed, still so pure and radiant. Even after donning her black robes and becoming the devil, whenever she faced her Wentian gege, she would still be that little girl.
“You are not allowed to say things like that.” Qin Wentian glared at her. After which, he turned his gaze below the platform and shouted, “Qingcheng, meet my little sister, Bai Qing.”
Mo Qingcheng’s silhouette flickered as she appeared on the platform. A few medicinal pills appeared in her hands, which she gently fed to Bai Qing.
“Sister Qingcheng, you are so beautiful.” A mischievous-looking smile appeared on Bai Qing’s face. “Sister Qingcheng, I had no malicious intentions, I merely wanted to see what my future sister-in-law would be like.”
“Who’s your sister-in-law?” Mo Qingcheng weakly replied, yet when she saw that innocent smile adorning Bai Qing’s face, she couldn’t bring herself to blame her.
This silly girl had almost thrown her life away earlier.
“Then if I refer to you as Sister, you can’t get angry at me, alright?” Bai Qing smiled. Mo Qingcheng nodded lightly, “Don’t worry about it, it’s all in the past.”
“Hahaha, let’s go down.” Qin Wentian felt a little uncomfortable with the multitude of stares riveted on him.
Gently guiding Bai Qing to a standing posture, he saw Bai Qing’s eyes shifting towards the group of Mystic Moon Hall members, her gaze landing on a woman robed in black. She lightly bowed in that direction, “Master, in the battle to contend for the Heavenly Fate Rankings, your disciple’s ability only permits me to walk up till this point. I hope I didn’t embarrass your esteemed self.”
The spectators noticed that the black robes on Bai Qing’s body were extremely similar to the one worn by the woman in the winding pathway. So it turned out that Bai Qing was someone from the Mystic Moon Hall.
That woman nodded as she calmly stated, “Qing`er (referring to Bai Qing), since the knot in your heart has already untied itself, I can ask for nothing more. Your results are more than satisfactory for our Mystic Moon Hall. Take a good rest.”
“Thank you, Master.” Bai Qing smiled as she left the platform, accompanied by Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng.
Throughout history, the majority of the positions on the Heavenly Fate Rankings had always been dominated by members of the nine grand clans of Ancient Grand Xia. The fact that Bai Qing, someone from the Mystic Moon Hall, had achieved such a result was truly an outstanding achievement bringing glory to her sect.
Many pair of eyes were still fixated on Qin Wentian. Their curiosity regarding this person only grew increasingly higher.
The dark horse, Qin Wentian, had actually managed to lock his ranking among the top four. He had Mo Qingcheng as his companion and even had such a beautiful and powerful younger sister. Yet, this ‘sister’ of his, didn’t seem to be related to him via flesh and blood, causing the crowd’s imagination to run wild.
For the Heavenly Fate Rankings, yet another round of battles were being concluded.
Chen Wang defeated Shi Potian.
Si Qiong defeated Zhan Chen.
Qin Wentian defeated the black-robed figure. Or maybe, it couldn’t be said that he’d won his victory through a battle.
The black-robed figure had voluntarily given up and bowed out of the ranking battle.
On the shimmering score board, for the ranking position of #6, the name of the Mystic Moon Hall was displayed.
In that case, the next battle would be between the defeated two—Shi Potian and Zhan Chen.
Shi Potian lost to Chen Wang and Qin Wentian, while Zhan Chen was defeated by Chen Wang and Si Qiong.
This meant that if Shi Potian gained victory over Zhan Chen, there was no longer a need for Zhan Chen to fight against Qin Wentian. Zhan Chen would be directly ranked as #5, while Shi Potian would gain an opportunity to fight against Si Qiong.
But if Zhan Chen defeated Shi Potian, then this also meant that there was no longer a need for Shi Potian to fight against Si Qiong. Shi Potian would be ranked #5 while Zhan Chen would gain the opportunity to challenge Qin Wentian.
After Old Man Tianji’s announcement, he allowed them to take another break. For the next battle, the spectators’ support was split evenly, with some in favor of Shi Potian winning, while others were in favor of Zhan Chen.
Both of them had lost two rounds, which among them would be the strong one?
They both lost to Chen Wang. The reason why Shi Potian lost to Qin Wentian was because their speed was too far apart; while the reason why Zhan Chen lost to Si Qiong was because in all other aspects, Zhan Chen didn’t have an advantage. When it came to offensive attacks to the soul, he was left sorely suppressed. In spite of his invulnerable golden body, his soul could still suffer damage. This was the reason why Si Qiong had defeated him.
Shi Potian and Zhan Chen both stood upon the stage, radiating an intense will to battle.
Although both of them had continuously lost two fights, they couldn’t allow themselves to be defeated once again for this round. If they lost again, their ranks would be fixed at #5. Only by winning would they still have a chance to contend for one of the positions in the top three rankings.
In this battle. both their conviction and determination to win was beyond overwhelming.
Shi Potian’s physique expanded as his primordial blood erupted forth, his body containing boundless strength.
Shi Potian’s attacks and defenses could be claimed as one of the most terrifying ones in this ranking battle. Sadly, he lost to Qin Wentian because of speed and that fourth-ranked Inscription, and following which, he’d met Chen Wang for the second battle.
Zhan Chen’s entire body turned golden—he could strongly feel the sense of a threat coming from Shi Potian’s current form.
“I can’t be defeated here, no matter what.” Zhan Chen’s eyes glimmered with an exceedingly fearsome light. And with that, he closed his eyes, his lips mumbling, as an unfathomable energy surrounded him.
That energy felt incredibly strange, yet contained a majestic and boundless aura within.
“Zhan Chen still had a secret art in reserve?”
The hearts of the crowd trembled, after which they saw columns of starlight descending downwards, fusing together with the golden light before being absorbed into Zhan Chen’s body. Zhan Chen radiated a sharpness that grew perceptibly stronger with every second.
“Summon, Will of the Ancient!”
Zhan Chen mumbled in a low voice while his body convulsed violently. When his eyes snapped open, a beam of light shone resplendently in the centre of his brows as golden lightning arced in the irises of his eyes.
His eyes had turned incredibly strange, giving off a feeling that that pair of eyes no longer belonged to a human. Yet somehow, they still contained a human-like quality to it. It was extremely terrifying to look at.
“I borrow the boundless origin of gold, Punishment!”
Within Zhan Chen’s surroundings, a terrifying golden light glimmered, with him in the centre.
“Peng…!” Shi Potian advanced, with an overwhelming strength gushing forth from him. Yet at this moment, he actually felt a strong sense of danger emitting from Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen similarly stepped forth, moving towards Shi Potian. This single step shook the hearts of the entire crowd.
Demonic qi interweaved with the golden light, and flooded the entire platform. Zhan Chen radiated a force so sharp that it could penetrate through anything in this universe.
“ARGHHHHH!”
Finally, at the instant the two of them neared, Shi Potian used the strongest attack he could muster, as the roars of a gigantic, golden dragon shattered the skies. The terrifying shadow of an ancient primordial demon manifested, and with a single strike, it appeared as though Shi Potian could sunder the Heavens and level the Earth.
Zhan Chen, also unleashed his attack. Boundless golden light concentrated into the form of a Punisher Sword, piercing outwards, eradicating everything in its path.
“Peng peng peng peng peng—”
The terrifying light from the Punisher Sword exploded forth with violence, in never-ending torrents. Cracks began appearing on the golden dragon and finally, at the point of contact, the Ancient Golden Punisher Sword disintegrated the entire golden dragon, as the armor enveloping Shi Potian’s body fragmented into pieces. The sword continued onwards with an undeniable force, heading straight towards his chest.
BOOM!
A thunderous sound echoed, Shi Potian was forced up to the skies as the sword penetrated through his body.
The spectators witnessed Shi Potian flying through the air before slamming down onto the ground outside the platform. Zhan Chen stood at the boundary of the platform as his aura continued to gush out uncontrollably. He then closed his eyes and began to retract his aura.
Zhan Chen had won. He’d used his strongest attack in a frontal collision with Shi Potian and actually won.
But that strength he’d summoned, it seemed as though Zhan Chen didn’t have full control over it, and couldn’t use it as easily as he wished to.
When Zhan Chen opened his eyes again, he turned around and stared in Qin Wentian’s direction.
Although he had lost two rounds, he still had the opportunity to contend with Qin Wentian for the third position.
And when the spectators noticed the intensity of Zhan Chen’s stare, they couldn’t help but lament in their hearts that Qin Wentian’s path had already come to an end. Zhan Chen would do what he did against Shi Potian, giving his all as he wielded that terrifying strength to pulverize Qin Wentian.
After the conclusion of that battle, the next round would be Zhan Chen fighting against Qin Wentian; Chen Wang against Si Qiong.
If Zhan Chen could defeat Qin Wentian, he would be ranked third while Qin Wentian would be pushed to number four.
As for Chen Wang and Si Qiong, they were fighting to see who would be the champion.
Naturally, if Qin Wentian defeated Zhan Chen, he would be contending against Chen Wang and Si Qiong for the ranking positions among the top three.
As of now, the sentiments of the crowd had all swayed over in support of Zhan Chen. Although Qin Wentian was very powerful, Zhan Chen had defeated Shi Potian in a direct confrontation. Up till now, only Chen Wang had managed to do so. Zhan Chen, was the second one.
The match between Chen Wang and Si Qiong would most likely be the final deciding factor, with Zhan Chen ranking third overall!