AGM 522 – Gravity Mountain
After Qin Wentian rejected the Plum Mountain Sword Sovereign, he took note of the others’ expressions and knew then how prestigious being the personal disciple of the Plum Mountain Sovereign was. Shaking his head, he turned his gaze onto Lin Shuai.
“Senior Brother, I’ll go find a place to stay and rest first,” stated Qin Wentian.
“Mhm, sounds good. After you and Junior Sister Qing`er are done choosing a residence, follow me to the mountains. Lin Shuai smiled. Since his mission had been accomplished, he would report this to his master. After all, Qin Wentian was someone the ancestor wanted, the ancestor should have no reason not to meet him.
“Sure.” Qin Wentian didn’t have any objections. After which, they departed the area.
Li Hanyou stomped on the ground and instantly, several extraordinary young cultivators appeared beside her. For a moment, Li Hanyou seemed to be a bright moon encircled by the surrounding stars.
“How many sword strikes did that man comprehend earlier?” Li Hanyou asked.
“Junior Sister, after joining the sect, that man took a total of only five days to comprehend fourteen sword strikes,” someone replied. An instant later, Li Hanyou’s countenance turned stiff as the pride in her heart somewhat dissipated. In comparison to that man, she had only comprehended ten sword strikes.
“Junior Sister doesn’t need to brood over this. Comprehension depends on one’s innate perception, but it cannot represent aptitude,” that person consoled. Li Hanyou nodded her head, “Don’t worry. How can I, Li Hanyou, be someone who undervalues herself? But since that man could comprehend fourteen swords, he can be considered extraordinary as well. I wonder how strong his combat prowess and talent are?”
Qin Wentian and Qing`er first went to search for an empty cavern for their cultivation at the mountain under Sword Sovereign Ling Tian. The two caverns they found were near to each other, both with a rustic appearance and an atmosphere of beautiful tranquility.
After which, they came to a certain mountain with a meandering path that snaked all the way to the top. Beside the pathway were flowers which inundated the surroundings with their fragrance, and several waterfalls could be seen nearby. This place gave off a feeling of paradise in the mortal world.
Qin Wentian followed Lin Shuai on the pathway to ascend the mountains while Ye Lingshuang and the rest stayed at the mountain waist. Qing`er and Little Rascal didn’t follow as well, opting to remain in the caverns to cultivate.The area around the mountain waist was where the Sword Sovereign would guide disciples. Without direct orders, no one was allowed to ascend the mountains, hence when they saw Lin Shuai bringing Qin Wentian up, Ye Lingshuang and the rest all had strange expressions on their faces. Senior Brother Lin Shuai actually brought Qin Wentian to meet with the Sword Sovereign directly?
What background did Qin Wentian have exactly?
“Junior Brother has returned.” As Qin Wentian and Lin Shuai arrived at the exterior of the great hall, a girl in white walked out. This girl appeared neat and tidy, and although she couldn’t be considered a beauty, her features exuded a kind of exquisite elegance that radiated a faintly dignified air.
“This is Sixth Senior Sister, Cang Yue,” Lin Shuai introduced.
“Senior Sister,” Qin Wentian greeted. She must be one of the personal disciples under Sword Sovereign Ling Tian. Being such a young Celestial Phenomenon Ascendant, she’d be considered someone at the very peak in Grand Xia. The world outside was truly too vast.
“You should be Junior Brother Wentian? Go on in, Master has been waiting for quite a long time.” The white-robed female smiled, her smile causing one to feel extremely comfortable when looking at her.
Qin Wentian felt somewhat bewildered, the Sword Sovereign was waiting for him?
Bringing along his bafflement, he followed the white-robed female into the great hall. Inside, there were several members of the Battle Sect present, with a man casually standing some ways further in, resembling an incomparably sharp sword. Although not a hint of his aura leaked out, he gave Qin Wentian a sense of terrifying pressure, as though it would be difficult for him to take even a step forward if he tried.
“Junior pays his respect to the sect leader.” Qin Wentian guessed that this man was none other than the sect leader of the Battle Sword Sect, Sword Sovereign Ling Tian.
“Mhm, I’ve already heard them telling me stories about your achievements. Can you release your Astral Souls and will of Mandates for me to take a look?” Sword Sovereign Lingtian smiled at Qin Wentian. Although he was suppressing his aura, the pressure emanating from him was no joke. Yet, Qin Wentian could still talk to him face to face with no signs of being pressured. This was already an extremely remarkable feat.
The instant the sect leader’s voice faded, Qin Wentian felt the pressure enveloping the air dissipate all of a sudden. It felt as though the person standing in front of him was none other than an ordinary mortal.
“State of origin.” Qin Wentian knew that the sect leader’s cultivation had already arrived at a certain level. Now in such a place like the Battle Sword Sect, this wasn’t something Grand Xia could compare to. Qin Wentian didn’t concern himself with that, and released his Astral Souls and will of Mandates as requested.
The dazzling light from his astral souls lit up the entire great hall. The corona of brilliant golden light around the astral souls was so blinding that none could stare directly at it. A resplendent light flashed in the eyes of Sword Sovereign Ling Tian; despite how strong the state of his heart was, he involuntarily exuded some of his aura when he saw Qin Wentian’s astral souls, causing a sense of stifling might to press down upon the others in the great hall, although he soon regained control.
“Enough.” The resplendent light in Sword Sovereign Ling Tian’s eyes slowly dissipated away, however his heart was still trembling in amazement. As the sect leader of the Battle Sword Sect, he had seen numerous geniuses before. Even those heaven-defying geniuses were no strangers to him; they were the ones who would intentionally delay their cultivation time to raise their sensory abilities in order to condense an astral soul from the 5th Heavenly Layer as their second astral soul. However, for someone whose first astral soul already hailed from the 5th Heavenly Layer, this was the first time Sword Sovereign Ling Tian had met someone like that.
Not only that, he’d heard that Qin Wentian originated from that vast piece of desolate land, Grand Xia. This was simply unbelievable.
Lin Shuai and Cang Yue were both stunned as well. The astral sensory abilities of their junior brother was this powerful?
“Force, Dreamsleep, Demon, Sword. Your will of Mandates gives you great attacking power, and if you were to use such a combination effectively, no one would be able to match you when it comes to attack power,” Sword Sovereign Ling Tian stated. Force, Demon, Sword—all three of these Mandates possessed the greatest attacking power, whereas Dreamsleep granted his attack an illusory component.
Qin Wentian lightly nodded as he listened in silence.
“Force, Demon, Sword is able to augment your attacks by countless folds. With them, you can try pursuing the peak of attacks. However, firstly, your Mandates must reach the Perfection Boundary, and secondly, you must continue to increase the strength of your physique. After all, the augmentation effect from the wills of your Mandates is just a multiplier that depends on your original strength. If your original strength increases because of a stronger physique, the effects from the augmentation would be even greater.”
Sword Sovereign Ling Tian explained. Qin Wentian naturally understood the logic behind it.
However, back when he’d made a breakthrough in cultivation, his physique had also grown stronger along with it. The Fiend Art Transformation had given him a further enhancement as well. It would be very difficult for him to increase the strength of his physique.
“And since you’ve already visited the path to the grass hut, you should understand that if you succeed in fusing two of your Mandates—even it were just a simple, incomplete fusion—the effects generated would already be unfathomably terrifying.” Sword Sovereign Ling Tian stared at Qin Wentian.
“Junior has tried this in the past, using different wills of Mandates and applying it to my halberd arts. The might of my attacks did noticeably increase, although the method I used was just the most simplified level of fusion,” Qin Wentian replied. Only from the fifteenth sword strike onwards could one be considered to have a certain mastery in the fusion of Mandates. Right now, although Qin Wentian had comprehended up to fourteen sword strikes, he could only achieve the standards of the first to seventh sword strikes. He couldn’t fuse any Mandates yet, he could only use one at a time.
“So you have already comprehended part of it by yourself even before attempting the trial of the grass hut. However, don’t be mistaken, different weapons are suited to different Mandates. Our founder is a sword cultivator, so the Mandates of Wind, Rain, Lightning or Thunder is easier to infuse into a sword body. However, do not assume this to hold true for everything else. A good example is your Heavenly Hammer Astral Soul, it’s more suited to be infused with the Mandate of Force and Great Earth instead.”
Sword Sovereign Ling Tian casually imparted these insights to him, causing Qin Wentian to be extremely grateful. Although he was a Sword Sovereign, he didn’t put on any airs.
“Many thanks for Senior’s guidance.” Qin Wentian understood that Sword Sovereign Ling Tian was worried that he’d set off on the wrong path of beliefs, hence he was sharing his insights with him now.
“Ultimately, you must walk your own path. Outsiders can only guide and show you a little of the way, and how far you go will still depend on your own talent as well as your own destiny. There’s no need for you to acknowledge me as your master, but you can feel free to look for me if you have any questions. Now I have a task for you; follow your Senior Brother Lin Shuai to the Gravity Mountain, where you will cultivate. As for your little girlfriend, I will arrange a good master for her. If she’s unwilling and chooses to cultivate on her own, I won’t force her either.”
“Right.” Qin Wentian felt joy in his heart—he hadn’t expected Sword Sovereign Ling Tian to treat him so nicely. As for the fact that Sword Sovereign Ling Tian had mistaken Qing`er as his girlfriend, he decided just to let it slide, not bothering to explain further.
“Junior Brother, let’s go.” Lin Shuai smiled. Qin Wentian then bowed low with respect to Sword Sovereign Ling Tian before following Lin Shuai along.
When Sword Sovereign Ling Tian stared at Qin Wentian’s departing back, his face was beaming with a smile, silently praising the judgement of his master. Because his master wanted Qin Wentian to join their Battle Sword Sect, he’d put in so much effort and even got one of his personal disciples to oversee the disciple recruitment event in Xuan King City. Since his master regarded Qin Wentian so highly, it wouldn’t be appropriate if he allowed Qin Wentian to acknowledge himself as his master.
“Junior Brother Qin, you are really full of surprises.” After exiting the great hall, and arriving back at the mountain waist, Lin Shuai couldn’t help but be filled with admiration. Qin Wentian’s combination of astral souls was truly too shocking.
Qin Wentian merely laughed, but didn’t say anything. Ye Lingshuang curiously inquired, “Senior, what are you talking about?”
“Nothing much.” Lin Shuai shook his head as he casually added, “Master wants me to bring Junior Brother Qin to the Gravity Mountain.”
“WHAT!?” Ye Lingshuang involuntarily shouted. Liu Yun rolled his eyes, but tactfully remained silent, their actions causing Qin Wentian to be filled with curiosity for this place called Gravity Mountain.
The Gravity Mountain was located in a ravine deep inside a mountain range. Inside the ravine were several black-colored gigantic rocks that gave people a sense of heaviness. Several ancient sturdy trees could also be seen within the ravine. All of them had incredibly thick trunks, and were so large that not even ten people joining their hands together would be able to embrace one.
“Is this place the Gravity Mountain?” Qin Wentain asked as he stared at the ravine ahead.
“That’s right. Junior Brother, you see those black rocks? You have to move them all to the other side of the ravine before moving them back here. Also, do you see those ancient thick and sturdy trees? You have to use an axe and chop down a hundred of them before your training can be considered completed,” Lin Shuai instructed.
“Haha, how difficult can this be?” Qin Wentian laughed. Behind him, Ye Lingshuang had a strange expression on her face upon hearing that.
“Oh, not difficult to you? In that case, get down into the ravine and try it for yourself,” Lin Shuai stated.
“Sure.” Qin Wentian nodded in agreement and entered the ravine.
However, the instant he descended downwards, his countenance underwent a drastic change. A terrifying pressure landed on his body, causing him to sink down directly against his will.
“How heavy is the gravity here exactly?” With a huge rumble, Qin Wentian landed on the ground. Despite his physique, his legs felt like jelly, and he was almost incapable of standing straight in a stable manner. His entire body felt extremely uncomfortable, and he could feel a heavy force pulverizing his internal organs.
“Junior Brother Qin, cultivate well.” Lin Shuai smiled before turning and departing the area. Ye Lingshuang had a complacent expression on her face, while Liu Yun stared sympathetically at Qin Wentian. “Junior Brother Qin try to enjoy yourself, don’t forget to move the rocks as well as to chop the trees.”
“How can the gravity be so terrifying?” Qin Wentian forced himself to stand straight. The gravity here was even affecting the circulation of astral energy in his body.
He suddenly recalled that when a certain force reaches its extreme limits, it would undergo a qualitative evolution. And obviously, this gravity domain had already reached its extreme limits.
“BOOM!” With great difficulty, he finally took a step forward, causing a thunderous sound to echo out from the force of his step. Qin Wentian stared at the black-colored gigantic rocks before glancing at the incomparably thick and sturdy ancient trees. He was suddenly seized by the sudden impulse to cry!