AGM 175 – A Scroll of Map
Within the Emperor Star Academy, inside a residence, several Elders crowded together as they looked upon the figure lying down on the bed. Worry and anxiety could be seen reflected in their eyes.
“How is he?” Ren Qianxing hurriedly asked as he saw the Elder sitting next to the bedside turning.
“Strange, strange. His life force is overwhelmingly exuberant, and there’s a powerful energy in his blood. His blood circulated within his heart, providing protection, and he’s recovering now even as we speak,” the Elder said in a low voice, his tone filled with wonder. Such a grievous injury, if it was some other cultivators who suffered from this, they would surely already be dead.
“There’s no danger to his life?” Ren Qianxing asked again.
“None. With his vitality, he only needs time before he fully recovered,” that Elder replied.
After hearing this, the Elders in the room all unclenched their fists, letting out a sigh of relief as the worries melted from their faces.
“Wentian.” Qin Yao’s tears turned into happiness. She sat at the bedside, gently stroking Qin Wentian’s forehead. Her face was tear-streaked; she had almost been frightened to death. The assailant had struck Qin Wentian in his heart.
“Everyone, disperse. Temporarily lock down this news and send men to stand guard here.” Ren Qianxing commanded. In response, the Elders left one by one. Only the Elder who was proficient in healing remained behind. Even now, he was still mumbling in amazement; how could someone at the Arterial Circulation Realm have such a level of vitality? Truly amazing.
Luo Huan walked forward with a brilliant smile etched on her face. “Wentian, Mountain has already passed on, so don’t you dare leave your Senior Sister here alone.”
After saying that, she too turned to leave. The instant she turned, her cheery smile disappeared completely. Replacing the smile was an icy cold expression—the Nine Mystical Palace, the Royal Clan of Chu…This debt of hatred just grew deeper and deeper.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed. During these three days, the conflict between the two academies escalated to an unimaginable extent. As of now, they had already stopped sending formations of Arterial Circulation Cultivators to clash. Instead, Yuanfu cultivators were commanded to directly hunt the students of the opposing academy. Hence, students at the Arterial Circulation Realm all stayed in their respective academy, not daring to go out. Once they stepped out of their zone of protection, only death awaited them.
Both the academies had already completely shred all pretense of cordiality.
Even Chu Tianjiao himself didn’t dare to move about rashly. Considering how infuriated the Emperor Star Academy was, there was a high possibility that they may assassinate him.
In these three days, news on the deaths and casualties of both sides unceasingly spread out. The most disastrous battle was when the Emperor Star Academy walked into an ambush laid by the Royal Academy. Luckily, reinforcement arrived in time, and following that battle, a total of four people at the Yuanfu level, and eight people at the Arterial Circulation level had fallen. The tempest of war has truly engulfed the entire Royal Capital.
In the Emperor Star Academy, Qin Wentian was still unconscious. At this moment, there were two extremely beautiful girls sitting by his side.
“Qingcheng, thank you for your efforts these past few days.” Qin Yao had an expression of gratitude on her face as she stared at Mo Qingcheng.
“No worries, this is what I should do. I’m really good at this.” Mo Qingcheng smiled, after which, she continued spoon-feeding Qin Wentian with medicinal soup.
Gazing at Mo Qingcheng’s side profile, Qin Yao was slightly stunned before recovering with a smile on her face. “It’d be good if only you could take care of him like this forever.”
“Haha sure, I’d love to.” Mo Qingcheng smiled sweetly, but suddenly, after deciphering the meaning behind Qin Yao’s words, she turned red as she blinked at Qin Yao, “Hmm what I meant was until he awakens.”
“Mmm, that’s what I meant. What do you think I was referring to?” Qin Yao grinned. Mo Qingcheng could only scold herself silently for talking too much.
“Sigh, I don’t know when would he wake up.” Qin Yao’s countenance was painted by worry once more.
“Don’t worry. He will wake up soon.” Mo Qingcheng consoled her. Actually, she also knew of the extent of Qin Wentian’s injuries. No one knew exactly when would he wake up.
“Hmm.” Qin Yao lightly nodded her head. “Qingcheng, I’ll go see if the medicinal soup has been boiled. I’ll bring over a new bowl later.”
After speaking, Qin Yao left. Mo Qingcheng scooped the medicinal soup with a spoon and fed it to Qin Wentian. After which, she gently wiped his lips as she mumbled, “Dumbo, this is already the second time I’m boiling medicinal herbs and feeding you. You have to get well soon, okay?”
Mo Qingcheng propped her chin up with her hands as she stared blankly at Qin Wentian. She had never expected that the fellow she would boil medicine twice for would be Qin Wentian. Maybe, this was fate?
Gazing at that handsome countenance, she thought he looked extremely at peace. She could still remember that the first time she met him, he was still somewhat soft and immature. This year, he had been through a tremendous amount of suffering, and now he had even almost thrown his life away. A real dumbo indeed.
As she lost herself in her musings, Mo Qingcheng somehow unknowingly stretched her hand out and pinched Qin Wentian on his cheek, revealing a mischievous expression. This fellow was not bad looking at all.
It was as though Qin Wentian could feel something. His eyelashes twitched as his eyes slowly opened. After which, he saw a peerless countenance exhibiting an expression akin to panic with her fingers pinching on his face.
Swish! Mo Qingcheng retracted her hands at the speed of lightning. As she saw the bewildered expression on Qin Wentian’s face, her face instantly reddened, wishing nothing more for the earth to swallow her whole right now.
“I’m just trying to test to see if you could feel anything. It seems like I’m psychic, since you really woke up.” Mo Qingcheng acted like professional actress while smiling widely. However, Qin Wentian didn’t say anything, just silently gazing at her, causing the color of her already reddened face to deepen even further.
Looking at the bashful expression on Mo Qingcheng’s face, Qin Wentian’s heart palpitated wildly. Mo Qingcheng, at this moment, was beyond beautiful. She was gorgeous.
“Come here.” Qin Wentian whispered. Mo Qingcheng’s eyelashes fluttered; she blinked her eye as she lowered her head, moving her face closer to Qin Wentian. Her heart was pounding madly, she had never been this nervous before.
Only to see Qin Wentian reaching out with his hands, pinching her cheeks a couple of time before smiling, “It’s only fair now.”
Mo Qingcheng froze, trembling slightly.she was at a loss, unsure of what to do.
“I’ll go get the medicine.” Mo Qingcheng quickly ran away. Seeing that disappearing silhouette, a radiant smile lit up Qin Wentian’s countenance as he replied, “Thank you.”
Today, Mo Qingcheng seemed to be preoccupied and absent-minded. Looking at her bashful expression, Qin Wentian would occasionally tease her about it. Upon seeing this, Qin Yao was extremely happy; it seemed like that was truly a chance for Qin Wentian and Mo Qingcheng to be together.
In the coming days, Qin Wentian recovered with insane speed. On the fifth day, he could already get up and cultivate. The tempest engulfing the Royal Capital was still unabated, but the violent struggles within seemed to be very far from Qin Wentian.
Mustang, Luo Huan and the rest would occasionally visit Qin Wentian. They refused to tell him news from the outside but rather told him to focus on his cultivation. Not only that, Mustang repeatedly instructed him not to leave this place until he step into Yuanfu, and that he wasn’t allowed to participate in the struggles outside the academy. This caused Qin Wentian to smile bitterly; it was because the Emperor Star Academy feared another similar incident from occurring again and didn’t want him to risk himself.
Qin Wentian also didn’t want to make things difficult for the academy, so he quietly focused on his cultivation. Finally, a month after the incident, Qin Wentian broke through to the 9th level, stepping into the peak of Arterial Circulation. He was now only a single step away from Yuanfu.
After breaking through to the 9th level of Arterial Circulation, Qin Wentian spent a few more days consolidating his foundation while also not forgetting to further practice his innate techniques.
Currently, for the Thousand Hands Imprint innate technique, Qin Wentian had already mastered the 4th stance – the Kuji Imprint. His mastery of his other innate techniques, Falling Mountain Palms as well as Berserker Beast Halbert Art, also grew increasingly more complete.
Today, Qin Wentian once again came to the Heavenly Star Pavilion. Upon passing the guardian on the stairway of the 7th level, he dipped into a respectful bow.
Only to see the old man opening his eyes, as a glow could be seen in his previously cloudy eyes. “Are you confident?”
“Let’s try.” Qin Wentian spoke. The old man turned his head, closing his eyes as Qin Wentian walked passed him and stood before the door to the entrance of the 9th level, which has never been opened before.
What exactly was the secret hiding within the 9th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion?
Gushing sounds echoed as the Divine Energy in his body circulated in a frenzy. Stepping forwards, he slammed one of his palms into the door, causing it to shudder violently. Upon seeing this, the guardian’s heart trembled as well.
Qin Wentian retreated a step. The Divine Energy within his body continued surging as he struck out once again. This time around, he blasted forwards with both palms, executing both the Falling Mountain Palms and the Kuji Imprint into the door of the entrance.
BOOOM! The resounding echo from the impact caused the structure of the entire Heavenly Star Pavilion to shudder. The students of the academy curiously turned their gazes towards the Pavilion, wondering who was up there.
His ancient halberd appeared in his hands. Despite the boosting effects of a Divine Weapon, the might an Arterial Circulation Cultivator could unleash, still had a limit. Thus, the guardian didn’t stop him from using a Divine Weapon to aid him in his quest.
In that instant, Qin Wentian’s blood began to boil. Taking a step forwards, the aura of absolute obedience permeated the air. His whole demeanor turned demonic as the ancient halberd in his hands explosively slashed out.
Pffft! The old guardian’s eyes abruptly snapped open as as terrifying resplendent light flickered into existence.
Qin Wentian succeeded. He actually forced that door open!
Qin Wentian was also incomparably excited. Walking forwards, he sought to discover what exactly was the secret that was hidden on the 9th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion. However, what caused Qin Wentian to be puzzled was that behind the door, there was only a empty space. This place seemed extremely ordinary, so different from the 7th and 8th level. There was only an incredibly ancient-looking map scroll lying there.
Unrolling the map scroll, a bewildered expression painted his face. This… this was a map.
Was the final secret the Azure Emperor hid in the 9th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion actually just a map?
Qin Wentian had never been out of Chu, so he naturally didn’t understand what the map was trying to portray. After keeping it,he walked out, but the old guardian stood in front of him, blocking his path.
“Senior.” Qin Wentian respectfully called out.
“From today onwards, the 8th and 9th level of the Heavenly Star Pavilion shall no longer exist. The 7th level will be opened up to the talented genius students of the academy. As for what you have obtained here, you are not to mention it to anyone else” the old guardian instructed.
“Understood.” Qin Wentian nodded. He fully understood the logic behind why it was a calamity for one to possess secrets that one was powerless to protect.
After this, Qin Wentian didn’t immediately leave. Instead, he entered the entrance to the 7th level, heading towards the Spirit Beast Testing Grounds. This time around, he didn’t meet many others, only a plethora of demonic beasts.
Qin Wentian didn’t know that at this moment, there was a huge commotion within the Emperor Star Academy.
Outside the academy, a line of Elders and students stood together in welcome. In the far off horizons, a line of silhouettes mounted demonic beasts as they rode over, while in the air, several figures soared, stopping in the airspace above the Emperor Star Academy. Their gazes were all imperious and sharp, as though they were unequalled in the world.
If Qin Wentian were here, he would discovered that among the newcomers, there was one person whom he knew. This person was none other than Yue Qingfeng, the genius from the Azure Emperor Palace whom he had met before in the Spirit Beast Testing Ground.
The Emperor Star Academy only received news two days ago that people from the Azure Emperor Palace would be paying a visit to them. As to what was the reason for the visit, they were all unclear. They could only bring people together to welcome this ‘reinforcement’ from this transcendent power that shared the same root.
Not only the Azure Emperor Palace. Today, there were many powerful experts who came to Chu.
In the Royal Palace, Xiao Lan furrowed his brows. He didn’t expect the news would be leaked so fast, the news that the Azure Emperor had hidden his greatest secret within the Emperor Star Academy.
If this secret was truly leaked, not to mention a small country like Chu, even the entirety of the Grand Xia Empire would be shakened.