AGM 0122 – The 18 who Advance
7th Night, Qin Wentian, and Luo Chen stood in a triangular position, facing each other on the 9th towering platform.
7th Night was a young female that was rather pretty. The corners of her mouth were tilted upwards into a slight smile, making her extremely good-looking. However, being able to become one of Snow Cloud Country’s Seven Nights at her age naturally made her strength unquestionable.
Duo Prides, Three Swords, Seven Nights. They all enjoyed the same prestige as the 10 prodigies of the Royal Capital. It was only that in the Snowcloud Country, these top elites were further segregated into more distinctive categories.
The Duo Prides had the highest amount of talent, the Three Swords were all genius Sword Users, while the Seven Nights each had their own area of speciality, and had an extremely high level of martial prowess.
“You two had better not bully a frail girl like me.”
7th Night looked at Qin Wentian and Luo Cheng with a light smile that brought out her infinite charm, causing others to be unwilling to attack her. In fact, there were many people that were easily tricked by her smile during battle.
“One of you two, leave the platform.”
Luo Cheng calmly interjected, causing 7th Night to freeze, before she smiled again and replied, “If you’re so confident, then why don’t you two men have a fight, and eliminate the other?”
Luo Cheng’s expression remained unchanged, and the aura around his body became violently sharp. The pressure of the 8th level of Arterial Circulation gushed forwards, and against all expectations, it continued to surge.
“9th level of Arterial Circulation.” The pressure Luo Cheng was releasing broke through the limits of the 8th level and stepped into the 9th level. Before this, he had hidden his real cultivation base, suppressing it to the 8th level to battle. But despite so, with his suppressed cultivation, he still managed to reach this point, leaving only himself, 7th Night, and Qin Wentian on the platform.
“No wonder Luo Cheng was so confident; with his ruthless combat methods and immense battle experiences, he could manifest such a high level of martial prowess just by using the suppressed 8th level of Arterial Circulation. Now that his full cultivation base is finally unleashed, it is needless to say that his martial prowess has risen another level as well. Naturally, it is certain that he’s now stronger than Jiang Xiu of the 10 prodigies.”
The spectators were thinking in their hearts that since that was the case, it was no wonder that Luo Cheng could be so confident. He’d even gone so far as to state that between 7th Night and Qin Wentian, one of them would be eliminated.
7th Night stuck out her tongue when she saw Luo Cheng’s real cultivation base. Following which, she glanced at Qin Wentian as she smiled, “He wants us to battle, what do you think?”
“Naturally, if you ask me, both of you should engage in battle instead.” Qin Wentian smiled as he replied, causing 7th Night to grimace, “Both of you men, actually have the cheek to want me to battle?”
Luo Cheng and Qin Wentian remained silent, as though they were waiting for something.
“Alright, since you guys want me to battle, then battle I shall.” 7th Night appeared as though she had been wronged, as she smiled at Qin Wentian. “I choose you then. You must show me mercy, okay?”
Qin Wentian smiled but didn’t reply. On the platform of the Jun Lin Banquet, he would never believe that coy smile of hers.
7th Night stepped forwards as she slowly walked in front of Qin Wentian, releasing her Astral Soul. After going through so many battles, she had never met someone that could make her feel threatened. And every time she engaged in a battle that could bring her some excitement, she had always prevailed over her opponents.
It was best not to underestimate those that had been able to reach this stage.. Not only that, 7th Night was one of the Seven Nights of Snowcloud Country.
And at this moment, Qin Wentian felt as though he was under the effect of an illusion. 7th Night’s body seemed to split apart, as several clones of 7th Night appeared in his line of sight.
The moment he felt the effects of the illusion, Qin Wentian could sense the existence of danger. This was most likely the ability bestowed to 7th Night by her Astral Soul.
Qin Wentian had attempted many times to infuse the power of his Astral Soul within his innate techniques. How could he not understand what he was facing? Closing his eyes, he voluntarily relinquished his sight when facing against 7th Night.
It was then that he saw 7th Night stretching her palms out. A manifestation of an icy python flew over to Qin Wentian, seeking to devour him, moving at a speed as fast as lightning.
Qin Wentian’s feet slightly wavered as he wondrously executed the Garuda Movement Technique, dodging to the side.
7th Night closely followed after Qin Wentian with an intense bout of coldness that caused Qin Wentian to involuntarily shudder.
The temperature of the surrounding air rapidly dropped as ice lances abruptly stabbed out, caging in the surrounding s.p.a.ce in front.
Each of the ice lances emanated an aura of extreme sharpness, and even the billowing sounds of the wind seemed to be giving a testament to the attack power of the lances.
7th Night knew that Qin Wentian was adept in controlling the rhythm of a battle. Hence, she decided to seize the initiative instead, controlling the battle by mounting ferocious attacks against Qin Wentian.
It was as though a layer of frost and snow had covered Qin Wentian’s body. Earlier, when he had obtained victory against both Luo Kaiyang and Jiang Xiu, he’d only won because he had controlled the rhythm of the battle perfectly, and knew when to seize the key moments. However, his current opponent’s intelligence far surpa.s.sed what he had expected. Behind that adorable smile was actually a deep, scheming heart.
The Divine Yuan Energy in his Arterial Pathways surged and seethed, as the steps of Qin Wentian s.h.i.+fted in direction abruptly. Stomping fiercely on the ground, he turned. With a howl of anger, the 3rd imprint of the Thousand Hands Imprint, the Forgotten Imprint, blasted out.
The terrifying palm imprint exploded forth, smas.h.i.+ng against the ice lances, as both of the attacks dissipated into nothingness upon the collision.
Yet, the movements of 7th Night didn’t cease Her eyes sparkled with laughter as she stared at Qin Wentian. At the same time, she s.h.i.+fted her palms forward, as the manifestation of an icy python once again flew towards Qin Wentian.
At this moment, the closed eyes of Qin Wentian suddenly snapped open. A surge of terrifying pressure gushed out, as 7th Night, for an instant, felt her spirit shaken as she seemed to step into a dream.
Continuous waves of Revolving Sea Imprints blasted out from Qin Wentian’s palm, as the terrifying aura caused 7th Night to unhesitatingly stepped back. She gave up the notion of continuing to battle, and returned to her original spot before she’d started fighting against Qin Wentian.
“Formidable, I shall not play with you any longer.”
7th Night laughed, as she looked to Luo Cheng.
“Hey, I’ve exchanged blows with him, shouldn’t it be your turn to fight with him now? It’s only fair if you do so, right?” 7th Night called out.
“This 7th Night is pretty interesting.” The spectators laughed. The feeling 7th Night gave out wasn’t like that of a monstrous elite, but rather, a naive and adorable young lady.
Luo Cheng gazed s.h.i.+fted and landed onto Qin Wentian. As he walked towards Qin Wentian, a curved sabre created from Astral Light appeared in his hands.
As he lunged forward, the sabre in his hands remained motionless. Without using any innate techniques, the distance between Luo Cheng and Qin Wentian got shorter and shorter.
Seizing the initiative to control others was a standard tactic in battle. However, at this moment, both Luo Cheng and Qin Wentian had yet to execute any innate techniques. But of course, this also indicated that they could still intentionally change their moves to match their opponent.
Looking at the seemingly unconcerned Qin Wentian, Luo Cheng’s eyebrows twitched as his gaze became as sharp as swords.
His sabre was finally unleashed. However, it wasn’t so simple as a direct chop. Instead, his sabre unexpectedly slashed from downwards to upwards at a strange angle. This path of attack was exceedingly tough to defend against. If Qin Wentian wished to avoid this attack, he would have to intentionally dislocate some of the bones in his body.
“Buzz.” A raging wind billowed by only to see the body of Qin Wentian soaring into the skies. At the same time, the energy he stored in his palms also blasted out. With his perfect set of Stellar Meridians, the smoothness of the energy flow of his attacks were ferocious and beyond comparison.
“What the?” The countenances of the crowd froze, as they seemed to see a faint illusion of a pair of Garuda Wings on the back of Qin Wentian’s body. This fellow had definitely condensed his Garuda’s Mark successfully, and must have hunted countless numbers of flying-type demonic beasts before he could achieve such a state.
The countenance of Luo Cheng also wavered slightly. His stance made it seem as if he were about to split apart everything, and he slashed out his sabre through the air. Abruptly, a thunderous roared out as Luo Cheng stumbled.
“Boom.”
A palm landed behind Luo Cheng, on his back. Instantly, his whole body was encased by a layer of ice. His countenance paled as an expression of unwillingness flashed in his eyes.
“Oops, do you admit defeat?” 7th Night laughed gaily as she spoke. Luo Cheng s.h.i.+vered violently from the cold, as Qin Wentian stood in front of him, calmly regarding him, not taking the opportunity to deliver an attack.
Luo Cheng naturally understood that he no longer had the option to choose.
“I admit defeat.” Luo Cheng spoke, as 7th Night released him, removing her palm. Luo Cheng regained the use of his body, and had an unsightly countenance upon his face.
Turning his head, he glanced at 7th Night. “Is there any meaning behind using such underhanded techniques to achieve victory?”
“Naturally. This way, I can proceed to the next round and fight with even stronger opponents. How could there be no meaning to this?” 7th Night continued laughing, causing Luo Cheng to be speechless.
Filled with unwillingness, Luo Cheng walked off the platform.
And thus on the 9th platform, the two people that successfully advanced were Qin Wentian and 7th Night.
“Hey, if we meet again as opponents next round, I won’t hold back, okay?” 7th Night looked towards Qin Wentian as she laughed gaily.
The corners of Qin Wentian’s mouth twitched with suppressed laughter as he nodded. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Okay.” 7th Night smiled, as she s.h.i.+fted her gaze towards the 8th platform.
At this moment, the battle between 6th Night and Yu Fei had ended. 6th Night was the victor.
And unexpectedly, in the battle between Luo Huan and Ye Zhi, Luo Huan was the victorious one.
“Indeed, those from the Emperor Star Academy can’t be underestimated. It was a pity about Luo Cheng. And the battle between Yu Fei and the 6th Night was exceptionally intense. To think that Luo Huan actually hid her strength and won against the 7th prodigy – Ye Zhi.” Many people silently sighed. They were still immensely shocked from the earlier battle between Luo Huan and Ye Zhi.
Ye Zhi, who was ranked 7th among the 10 prodigies, naturally was not weak in combat. But the fact was as such, she had still been defeated by Luo Huan.
As for the reason behind her defeat, the spectators was very clear about this as well. The dual Astral Soul of Luo Huan, was not simple indeed.
At this moment, the remaining 18 that advanced had all appeared. The ident.i.ties of most of those that had advanced fell within the crowd’s earlier predictions. However, there were three dark horses among them.
Qin Wentian, who had defeated Jiang Xiu.
Luo Huan, who had defeated Ye Zhi.
Gu Xing, a cold looking youth, who had actually defeated the 5th Night in a battle on the 6th towering platform.
And currently, the 18 that had advanced were: 11 from Chu: Emperor Star Academy – Luo Qianqiu, Orchon, Qin Wentian, Luo Huan. G.o.dly General Martial Palace – Hou Tie, Leng Ya. Royal Academy – s.h.i.+ Jun, Chu Chen. Divine Wind Academy – Jiang Feng, Kuang Dao, Kuang Sheng, and lastly, Gu Xing with an unknown background.
7 from Snowcloud: Sikong Mingyue of the Duo Prides, 2nd Sword, 3rd Sword, 3rd Night, 4th Night, 6th Night and 7th Night.
Those that had arrived along with the Crown Prince of Snowcloud were absolute elites. Because only a limited number of people had come, almost all of them had successfully advanced to the 2nd round.
After this, half of these 18 people would be further eliminated, leaving only the top nine behind. Those that managed to obtained the top nine rankings would be able to receive the rewards.
The Drunken Wonder (branch of Heaven’s Wonder), recalculated the betting rates listing for the finalists, for people to bet on who among the 18 would enter into the top nine rankings.
Luo Qianqiu and Sikong Mingyue’s names didn’t appear within the list. This indicated that the Drunken Wonder was absolutely sure that both of them would definitely be ranked within the top nine.
Naturally, Qin Wentian’s name also appeared within the listing. His payout rate was 1:4, seemingly on the high side. This indicated that Heaven’s Wonder still didn’t believe in Qin Wentian’s ability to prevail. After all, two of the nine positions were already locked by Luo Qianqiu and Sikong Mingyue, and the remaining others were all monstrous elites.
Not only that, if nothing unexpected happened, Orchon, the 2nd Sword, 3rd Sword, 3rd Night, and the 6th-ranked prodigy Jiang Feng, should easily be able to rank within the top nine positions, leaving only two remaining slots behind.
Thus, the battle of the rest of the elites would definitely be exceedingly intense.
As for the betting rates listing for the top position, Qin Wentian’s payout rate was extremely shocking–1:400. This meant that if you bet one Yuan Meteor Stone, and Qin Wentian somehow managed to obtain the top position, Heaven’s Wonder would pay you 400 Yuan Meteor Stones in return.
Obviously, Heaven’s Wonder had already determined that Qin Wentian’s chance to obtain the number one ranking in the Jun Lin Banquet was close to nil!
TN Note:
孤星 – Gu Xing (Lonely star/ Lonestar)