novelThe Dust Settles
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AGM 273 - The Dust Settles
Qin Wentian had chosen to give up on the inheritance.
The nine golden guardians were all puppetified humans, and if it weren't for his heart sense evolving to another level, activating his third eye, he would definitely have fallen for their lies, believing that they were all Puppets.
The nine golden guardians didn't release their Astral Souls, but it was obvious that they cultivated in a strange art, resulting in their bodies becoming puppetified. After reading through the Gold-Element Ancient Scroll, Qin Wentian wondered... had the nine golden guardians cultivated this before?
And Qin Wentian was even more suspicious after he heard the words of that Ascendant. That Ascendant reminded his successor that this was an extremely tyrannical art, one would come across abnormal changes in one's body when cultivating it. Not only that, the voice further reiterated that one must never let the elders of their clan or sect know about it. This made Qin Wentian feel that something was wrong, even though the voice did explain it was harmed by those he called kin, and that the ultimate reason for him leaving behind this inheritance was to find a fated successor that could wreak vengeance for him in future. Qin Wentian couldn't help but doubt its words.
If it were merely to find a successor, why restrict the entry level of this secret realm to the Yuanfu level? Why not allow Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns to enter?
Maybe the reason could be explained in that the Heavenly Dipper Sovereigns were usually a bunch of older men whose potential was already exhausted. But that totally didn't match up to the golden guardian's logic when he told him that his cultivation base was too low to be qualified as a successor?
In addition, although his cultivation base was currently lacking, he knew of his own extraordinary background and he had already obtained the inheritance of the Azure Emperor. Hence, in front of this Ascendant's inheritance, his heart didn't waver in the slightest.
Also, Qin Wentian's character was extremely decisive. Since he had doubts regarding the veracity of that Ascendant's words, he might as well directly abandon it.
He felt not the slightest compunction towards this decision.
He didn't choose to give it to Bailu Jing nor Bailu Yi because from his perspective, there was an extremely high probability that there were problems with this cultivation art.
Qin Wentian turned his gaze onto the cultivators outside the great hall. They made no movements, only dumbly stared at that ancient scroll he flung away. Evidently, no one had expected Qin Wentian would do this.
But Bailu Yi and the rest held countenances that drastically changed. It wasn't easy to obtain this inheritance, and now that Qin Wentian had received it, he was freely giving it away?
For the cultivators outside the great hall; Zhan Chen, Yang Fan, Zhao Lie and Hua Feng, the transcendent powers behind them could be said to be the representatives of the entire Moon Continent. If all of them truly combined their forces to hunt down Qin Wentian, he would have no choice but to flee, which would affect his plans for establishing a foothold in the Moon Continent, as well as affect the Bailu clan's White Deer Institute.
"That ancient scroll contains the cultivation art of the Gold-Element Ascendant. I choose to drop all my rights to it, my fellow cultivators. As for this other scroll, it contains all the insights on the Dao of Divine Inscriptions that the Ascendant had comprehended. In the eyes of a Grandmaster, there's nothing more tempting than this, hence I will be retaining it. In this way, let it be known that I, Qin have not let all of you down, and therefore let us wipe the slate clean after exiting this realm. Naturally, if you still wish to hold onto your grievances, then I will be happy to play with you."
Qin Wentian's voice resonated in the air. Although he made this move, he also understood in his heart that it wasn't so easy for all the grudges and grievances to be wiped away merely with a single sentence. For example, Zhan Chen's secrets had already been discovered by him. How could he still be spared?
But now, since he honestly spoke his thoughts out, naturally Qin Wentian wasn't so foolhardy as to become the target of a multitude of arrows. At the very least, seeing that he was giving up the inheritance, how could the proud chosen of the other transcendent powers still have the face to beseech their elders to personally make a move against Qin Wentian?
After speaking, Qin Wentian caused the doors of the great hall to slam shut with a flick of his sleeves, no longer bothering with the bloodbath he knew would soon occur amongst the cultivators outside these walls.
The eyes of the cultivators outside all gleamed with an unknown light as they stared at the ancient scroll.
So, this ancient scroll was the cultivation art left behind by the Gold-Element Ascendant.
"That cultivation art is mine." Zhao Lie immediately stepped out, as a flaming sabre appeared in his hands, its temperature was so high that the air around him became scorched. Laughing madly, he dashed towards the ancient scroll.
The moment he moved, the others were jolted awake from their shock and reacted as well. Yang Fan extended his palms as a huge palm imprint appeared in mid-air, whistling towards the scroll, intent on grabbing it.
"Stay your hand." Zhao Lie slashed down with his sabre, the power of his strike causing space to break apart.
While at this moment, Zhan Chen and Hua Feng also made their moves.
They could sense the truth of Qin Wentian's words, that inheritance must be real. If that ancient scroll was fake, the matter would eventually be revealed. At that time, after they exited the realm, Qin Wentian would definitely be hunted down.
There was an 80% probability that the ancient scroll was real!
However, at this moment the entire space started to rumble. The golden guardians had said that once the inheritance was obtained, this entire space would soon start breaking down.
In the middle of the air, gales of powerful wind began to howl and that Ascendant statue started to break apart. As it crumbled, countless cracks appeared in the space around it. This entire realm was collapsing. The great hall Qin Wentian was in, rumbled as well.
Bailu Yi inclined her head, staring at the quavering great hall and asked, "What should we do?"
"Time to leave, " Qin Wentian replied, he moved in the direction opposite the entrance of the great hall and and blasted his way through the walls as those following him all disappeared from sight.
......
The windstorms became even more intense, sending the golden sand of the desert into their eyes, making it difficult to even open them.
"The space will soon shatter, but there shouldn't be any life-threatening danger!" Bailu Jing shouted over the wind, wanting to grab hold of Bailu Yi. However, the force of the windstorms were too powerful, and they could only drift along with the air current.
Qin Wentian had his eyes shut as he contemplated his surroundings with his heart sense. But soon after, his heart involuntarily shuddered.
"Damn, " Qin Wentian murmured. A huge wave of sand was kicked up into the air by the windstorm, about to bury them underneath. They originally chose to stick together, but when that huge blanket of sand came crashing down, the impact caused them to be blasted in different directions, the four of them scattering.
Three days later, news was circulated that the secret realm of Divine Inscriptions had vanished. The entire ancient city had been buried by the desert.
Many people gathered over there to stare at the space near the original spot where the ancient city once stood. However, apart from a few remaining sand-covered ruins, nothing but golden sand could be seen.
"What happened in there?" Many of the onlookers were seized with curiosity.
The rumors stated that the secret realm was actually a Dao Cultivation Ground of a Celestial Phenomenon Ascendant, and there might even be an inheritance there. But if the rumors were true, how could this have happened?
Why did the secret realm vanish? And who obtained the inheritance of that Ascendant?
This news gradually spread throughout the entire Moon Continent, but soon after, it was circulated that the ranked #11 on the Heavenly Fate Ranking, Zhan Chen, had already returned to the Pill Emperor Hall.
After which, Yang Fan from the Star-Seizing Manor, Zhao Lie from the Skyember Sect, and Hua Feng of the Hua Clan, had all respectively returned to their sects and clan.
And finally, it was said that the Ascendant's inheritance landed in the hands of Zhan Chen from the Pill Emperor Hall.
Many people sighed in their hearts, Zhan Chen was truly worthy of his reputation as the #11th ranker. Now that he had obtained the inheritance, the status of the Pill Emperor Hall would undoubtedly advance higher.
And as for the exact events that transpired within the secret realm, nobody knew except those that returned alive.
Bailu Jing and Bailu Yi had also returned to the White Deer Institute, and upon hearing the outside rumors and gossip, Bailu Yi couldn't help but snort disdainfully. All the rumors didn't have Qin Wentian's name in them. Presumably, the transcendent powers' chosen getting forced out of the great hall was a matter of considerable shame to them. They were too embarrassed to spread such news.
Each and every chosen, with their cultivation bases at the peak-level of Yuanfu, had to depend on a third-level Yuanfu Inscriptionist to enter the great hall. And then, that same Inscriptionist forced them to retreat from the battle, thus winning the inheritance for himself. To add insult to injury, they were given the chance to contend once more for the inheritance, but only because he voluntarily gave it up soon after. Zhan Chen had even been injured in the following bloodbath. How embarrassing was that?Hence the truth of this matter was only known by those inside the realm, or with the dead buried in the desert.
Because for Qin Wentian's sake, Bailu Jing and Bailu Yi chose not to spread the true events as well.
If this matter was known, Qin Wentian's name would rock the entire Moon Continent, but it would also push Qin Wentian right into the limelight, causing him to become the target for a multitude of arrows.
And it shouldn't be forgotten that although he had given up the cultivation art, he still had the scroll of Divine Inscriptions with him.
An ancient scroll containing the comprehensions of a Celestial Phenomenon Ascendent was a priceless treasure in the eyes of Divine Inscriptionist Grandmasters. What if those fourth-ranked Grandmasters made a move against him?
In any case, no one knew where Qin Wentian was now.
..............................
Bailu Yi stood atop the roof of a pavilion as she stared at the horizon.
Somewhere in that golden desert, inside a dilapidated-looking hall, Qin Wentian was sitting crossed-legged within, with a Puppet standing at his side.
This Puppet, was none other than the Puppet he had obtained from the trial grounds, the Golden-Armored King Puppet.
Qin Wentian naturally understood the methods on refining Puppets, and now that he came across this ownerless Puppet, how could he waste this opportunity not to bind it? This was an extremely powerful fourth-ranked Puppet!
In Qin Wentian's perspective, Puppets were just like Divine Weapons, the methods of refining them were one and the same. After Divine Weapons were forged, Divine Inscriptions were inscribed onto it, granting it various powers and attributes one wanted that weapon to have. For refining Puppets, the only difference was that one had to leave a mind-link on the Puppet, allowing the creator or owner to control it completely. The Puppet would only lose this connection if someone forcibly erased the mind-link from it.
At this moment, Qin Wentian was repairing the Inscription embedded in the Puppet's head while sending out tendrils of his will to form a mind-link with it. The materials used to forge this Puppet made its defenses abnormally strong. Unless he met a powerful Heavenly Dipper Sovereign, the mind-link he created wouldn't be so easily wiped away. Of course, the exception was if his opponent was also someone that could ignore exterior defenses, and simultaneously have an exceedingly high level of attainment in the Dao of Divine Inscriptions.
After several moments, the golden-armored Puppet finally stood up. Its eyes glimmered with a golden light, giving off the feeling that its gaze alone was sufficient to penetrate through the eyes of others.
A hint of laughter flickered in Qin Wentian's eyes as he stored the Puppet into his interspatial ring.
He had already formed a mind-link with the Puppet, hence he was easily able to absorb it into his interspatial ring. If the Puppet was still under the control of the golden guardians, he could only have kept it inside his ring after he erased the last of their mind-link.
Qin Wentian wasn't in a hurry to leave after refining the Puppet. He closed his eyes again and sensed the transformation that had occurred in his body.
The moment he closed his eyes, a bright glow radiated from the centre of his brows. His third eye opened, golden in color, and everything within its sights was imprinted into his mind, deep into his heart.
The moment he opened his eyes, Qin Wentian's countenance shifted.
Golden light erupted forth out of all three of his eyes, containing within them the will of a Mandate.
His eyes could actually unleash the will of the Mandates he comprehended!
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