AGM 0102 – Gongyang Hong

Qin Wentian walked towards the exit as Little Rascal strolled leisurely behind him. At the same time, several figures were crowding around Qin Wentian, and the one nearest to him was none other than the guest weaponsmith from the Divine Weapon Pavilion, Lu Feng. Since he was from the Divine Weapon Pavilion, naturally Qin Wentian felt closer to him.

“Senior Lu Feng, who was that old man from earlier?” Qin Wentian curiously inquired.

The old man looked extremely ordinary, but he actually dared to use a single promise to obtain the painting everyone was coveting. And moreover, at that time, no one even tried to vie with him. This unusual development had naturally been observed by Qin Wentian.

“Do you know about the Jun Lin Banquet?” Luo Feng asked as he looked to Qin Wentian.

“Yes, it’s the most magnificent banquet that occurs during the end of every year and is held in the Chu Country.” Qin Wentian nodded his head.

“That’s right. In the Chu Country, the banquet is an affair of utmost importance. The talent of all the youths who join the banquet can all be discerned clearly in a single glance. Not only that, the champion of the grand banquet will have a glorious future, and many of those champions usually chose to leave the country of Chu.”

Lu Feng slowly continued, “That old man is named Gongyang Hong. Today’s younger generations has already mostly forgotten his name. More than 30 years ago, he was the most outstanding talent among all the elites. If I remember correctly, the position of champion in the Jun Lin banquet 34 years ago was obtained by Gongyang Hong.”

Qin Wentian’s heartbeat slightly quickened. That old man was actually once the champion of a Jun Lin Banquet?

“Why does he looked so feeble and old?” Qin Wentian asked, bewildered. Cultivators were usually filled with vitality, with their blood and Qi in abundance, and would usually look a lot younger than their age. Gongyang Hong should be nearing 60, and thus his looks should be in his forties but his appearance was actually that of an old man.

“No one knows why, but Gongyang Hong was the stuff of legends. The year when he emerged as the champion, the Nine Mystical Palace wanted to recruit him in, but he actually refused.” Lu Feng, as he spoke to this point, glanced about uneasily and continued in a low voice. “Gongyang Hong was a man who valued his freedom. After he emerged as champion, he disappeared from Chu.”

“This matter by right should have already been at an end.  When someone chooses to leave Chu, there would rarely still be any news regarding them. However, a few years ago, Gongyang Hong suddenly returned to Chu. Not only that, he actually became an extraordinary top-tier weaponsmith despite not having any experiences with Divine Inscriptions when he was young. There was only a total of three times when he worked with others to forge weapons, and every time he did, the end products were all peak, 3rd level divine weapons.”

“During then, this matter also caused a huge commotion. Gongyang Hong was a legend, and not only did he have astounding accomplishments in the realm of Divine Inscriptions, his own strength, although he had never displayed it in front of others, had most certainly reached such a profound level that one could not even begin to guess at.”

Lu Feng sighed as he continued, filled with reverence towards a character such as Gongyang Hong. Qin Wentian also gradually understood why a promise from that old man was so valuable.

Mu Rou’s father immediately got her to agree. In the future, if there was any problem that the Mu Clan would be unable to resolve, Gongyang Hong’s promise could well be a path of survival for them.

“Wentian, if you have the time, you should really pay a visit to Gongyang Hong and exchange insights regarding your comprehensions towards Divine Imprints.” Lu Feng smiled. He chose to use the words ‘exchange insights’; naturally, in his heart, he had already regarded Qin Wentian extremely highly.

“Where is the residence of Senior Gongyang?” Qin Wentian inquired.

“Bamboo Lodge.” Lu Feng laughed. In the entire Chu Country, there was only one location named the Bamboo Lodge. This was the residence of Gongyang Hong and was not some well-kept secret. Those who knew of Gongyang Hong’s ident.i.ty would often try their luck in the bamboo forest surrounding the lodge to meet with Gongyang Hong, but only a privileged few were qualified to meet with him.

“Could you bring me to that place?” Qin Wentian laughed, causing Lu Feng’s countenance to freeze. “You mean, you want to go there now?”

“Since I’m going to pay my respect sooner or later, why not familiarise myself with the road first?” Qin Wentian replied with a smile. Lu Feng naturally would not reject this request, and as they exited the Royal Academy, Qin Wentian bid farewell to the crowd and departed with Lu Feng.

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Qin Wentian’s painting caused waves of commotion in the Royal Capital and especially in the world of the weaponsmiths.

And as for weaponsmiths, they had always been talents that the Royal Capital wished to recruit. Thus, the fiasco at the Royal Academy had been closely monitored by many eyes.

No one would have been able to predict that surprising ending. Like before, Qin Wentian was in the limelight once again.

Ever since back then, when the youth stood amidst the falling snow the major powers had already been curious about Qin Wentian. And now, with regards to the mystical painting, Qin Wentian had caused such an upheaval and attracted an incomparably huge amount of attention. The various major powers all began to launch serious investigations regarding Qin Wentian.

Although Qin Wentian’s profile looked simple, how in the world did he become a genius in the world of inscriptions?

What exactly was Qin Wentian’s secret?

Mu Clan.

In front of a desk, an old man was reading a compiled report that had just recently arrived.

“Qin Wentian, adopted son of Qin Chuan, details are unknown regarding his actual background. Was brought to the Qin Clan by a crippled housekeeper when he was a child. At the age of 6, he was discovered to have crippled meridians. At the age of 13, his marriage engagement with Autumn Snow from the Bai Clan was set. At the age of 16, the Bai Clan annulled the engagement, Qin Wentian began to cultivate and eventually condensed an Astral Soul from the 3rd Heavenly Layer.

This report did not contain much detailed information. However, the points it listed were already enough to summarise Qin Wentian’s entire life. His life was pretty ordinary and basically didn’t have any cause for concern until after he entered the Royal Capital.

The old man raised his pen, as he added another sentence at the end of the report. “A genius of Divine Inscriptions, able to forge 3rd level Divine Weapons. Level of comprehension: Demon grade.”

After he finished writing, the old man put the pen down and realised that a servant was standing outside.

“What’s the matter?” The old man asked.

“Young Miss Mu Rou has returned.” The servant respectfully replied.

The old man raised his head as he looked at the servant. “Mu Rou’s birthday, was it yesterday?”

“It is so.” The servant nodded his head.

“Prepare a feast.” The old man instructed, “Make it a big event, and get everyone in the clan to celebrate it together. However, there must be a feeling of family warmth.”

“Roger.” The servant nodded as he bowed and retreated, beginning his preparations.

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In a room in the Ou Clan,  there was a figure similarly standing in front of a desk, looking at the compiled report as traces of contemplation could be seen in his eyes.

This middle-aged man looked studious and elegant, akin to a simple scholar.

The name on the report he was reading was ‘Qin Wentian’ as well. Once, he had not seen the need to pay attention to this name. Now, however, he only hoped that the owner of the name would have gone to h.e.l.l back then.

Although this youth from Sky Harmony City had an above-average talent, the middle-aged man had reason to believe that with Orchon and Yanaro in the Emperor Star Academy, they shouldn’t have any problems with extinguis.h.i.+ng this genius before he fully matured.

However, this genius matured way faster than his expectations, quickly gaining the attention of the Emperor Star Academy, and now he had even obtained recognition and was protected by the will of academy.

Now, it wasn’t going to be so simple if he wanted to remove the youth. 

“What’s the rate of success if we hire someone to kill him?”

“100%.” Behind him stood a figure who calmly replied to the question while nodding his head to the middle-aged man. He dared to guarantee that Qin Wentian would surely become a dead man.

“What’s the probability that the Emperor Star Academy would find out?” The middle-aged man continued asking.

“If we directly a.s.sa.s.sinate him right now, about 90%” That figured replied again, extremely confident with his answer.

“Then, regarding the probability, we will wait till it becomes 10% before we make a move. Of course, it would be the best if we could get someone else to execute the deed.” The middle-aged man instructed. Naturally, he would definitely not risk himself with a probability of 90%. Wasn’t this courting death?

If it weren’t for Qin Wentian’s monstrous rate of growth, he would never have even thought of doing this. The Ye Clan should be even more anxious than him by right.

“Yes.” The figure standing behind replied.

“If we borrow the hands of others, this matter would definitely not be linked to my Ou Clan. Definitely not, there won’t even the remote probability that we will be suspected.” The middle aged man contemplated to himself as he spoke again.

No one was willing to test how deep the waters were and break the will of the Emperor Star Academy. Even the Royal Clan had to step back to some degree and give face to the Emperor Star Academy. His Ou Clan naturally did not have the capacity to act brazenly.

However, he believed that as long as he commanded, the figure standing behind him would surely do a good job. That mysterious figure had never failed at a single task throughout many years and had always excelled outstandingly.

“The date of the Jun Lin banquet was soon arriving. Let’s hope that Orchon will be able to attain some accomplishments for the Ou Clan.”