AGM 370 -  Origin of the Fiend Transformation Art

Qin Wentian’s cold gaze swept over to Peng Zhan and within moments, huge booming sounds rang out as the Golden Primal Ape stomped its way over, accompanied by the cruel shriek of the Crimsonblood Thunder Hawk as it soared towards him in a beautiful arc.

Demonic qi gushed forth from him as he released his Astral Souls, causing his aura to surge up violently.

However at this moment, a resplendent ray of light shot forth from the centre of Qin Wentian’s brows. Peng Zhan’s countenance instantly turned incredibly unsightly as he blasted forth a palm strike at Qin Wentian. Yet, at the side, Yao Jun discovered that Peng Zhan’s attack blasted out at empty s.p.a.ce—there wasn’t anything there at all.

“What’s going on?” Peng Zhan’s heart clenched as an immense feeling of danger descended upon him. Just when he wanted to retreat, the terrifying palms of the Golden Primal Ape landed on his body, knocking him up in the air. The Thunder Hawk’s full powered strike slammed into him like a missile, sending him flying far away, until he vanished from the edge of Qin Wentian’s vision.

“This&h.e.l.lip;”

Yao Jun had an expression of shock in his eyes. He had initially thought that even if he couldn’t defeat Qin Wentian, he would still be able to fight on equal grounds. But that sudden attack wiped all thoughts of this fantasy out of his mind. If he were to really fight him, the end-results would surely be just as pathetic and he would become the second Peng Zhan—utterly and completely suppressed.
A look of puzzlement crossed his face. Why did Peng Zhan’s earlier attack miss by such a large margin?

Basically it was impossible, Peng Zhan’s strength wasn’t any weaker than his. How could he have committed such a blunder? Glancing at Qin Wentian again, he only felt that this young man standing in front of him was unfathomably powerful, far beyond his capabilities to measure.

Qin Wentian glanced at him before entering the cave with the Purgatory Vermilion Bird. The Golden Primal Ape and the Blue-Scale Flood Dragon stationed themselves outside the cave, guarding it from intruders.

Yao Jun understood in his heart that he no longer had a chance with this legacy.
The interior of the cave was dark and gloomy, yet as Qin Wentian followed the path leading in, the atmosphere began to brighten. After a period of time, Qin Wentian saw a palace situated before him. His expression froze, his eyes gleaming with a strange glow.

There was actually a hidden palace within the mountain cave.
The palace in front of him was extremely vast and exuded an imposing aura of prestige. There was also a thick and eerie intent, as though boundless demonic qi was being suppressed within.

There were many statues within the palace. All of the statues resembled that of a demonic beast, yet somehow their eyes seemed strangely alive, as though they weren’t mere sculptures.

“Ka Cha!”

A crisp sound echoed out, causing Qin Wentian’s heart to clench slightly. As he turned his gaze over, a sharp glint of light flickered in his eyes. Over there, the statue of a Wind Devil Demonic Tiger was shedding away its stony exterior, revealing an extremely malevolent countenance grinning at Qin Wentian.

The statue actually came to life!
The unending sound of crumbling echoed throughout the palace, as the various statues all started to reveal their living forms. Countless pairs of demonic eyes swept over to Qin Wentian, and a terrifying surge of demonic qi permeated the entire s.p.a.ce.

The Purgatory Vermilion Bird gave a sharp cry, as the Crimsonblood Thunder Hawk and Silvery Roc rallied to it. Yet, the amount of demonic qi only grew increasingly concentrated as the reviving process continued unabated throughout the palace.

Qin Wentian’s countenance remained emotionless as he soared up into the skies. Abruptly, the transformed demonic beasts all erupted into a flurry of motion, frenziedly rus.h.i.+ng at Qin Wentian. That violent surge of demonic qi would have struck terror in the hearts of the most stalwart.

Flaming embers covered the Purgatory Vermilion Bird as it issued a long screech, wailing in the air. Purgatory flames spewed out of its beak as it zoomed out, burning the ma.s.ses of demonic beasts rus.h.i.+ng at them. After incinerating the first wave, it turned resplendently golden in color as it initiated another attack, swooping down towards the swarming beasts. Everywhere it flew by, fresh blood would splatter on the ground, as the transformed demonic beasts died one after another.

However, the waves of beasts seemed endless, as they rushed out continuously, heedless of death.

The Crimsonblood Thunder Hawk and the Silvery Roc also advanced and engaged the unending waves of transformed demonic beasts in battle. At the same time, a demonic beast broke through the three birds and lunged towards Qin Wentian. Qin Wentian mightily stomped the ground as he lashed out furiously with his palm. That poor demonic beast was smashed into pieces from the impact, deader than dead.

“Wait, what? I can’t engrave Inscriptions here?” Qin Wentian’s gaze turned cold. He didn’t know whether the floor was constructed from a special material, or if this place was under a certain restriction. In any case, it was impossible to use Divine Inscriptions. He could only use pure combat to slaughter a path through the endless tides of demonic beasts.
The three birds were all extremely powerful, especially the Purgatory Vermilion Bird. The eternal flame blazing on its body was akin to the true flames of Purgatory, and contained an extremely destructive might. Its wings were like blades of incomparable sharp steel, able to easily lacerate through the flesh of these demonic beasts. And yet regardless of how powerful it was, and how many it killed, it didn’t seem to make a dent in the number of demonic beasts rus.h.i.+ng at them. Suddenly, a fearsome demonic ape jumped downwards and slammed into the Vermilion Bird’s body. Although it was instantly incinerated by the perpetual flames, such a collision had injured the Purgatory Vermilion Bird.

And after that, such attacks continued to happen, one after another. The tides of demonic beasts didn’t fear death at all. After an extremely brief period of time, the Silvery Roc died from its injuries—the Crimsonblood Thunder Hawk joined it in death not long after.

Qin Wentian’s third eye flared with resplendent light as an overwhelming pressure crushed down from the Heavens. His body was enveloped by demonic armor and those waves of transformed demonic beasts that rushed at him were treated to vibrations of such intensity that they exploded, layering the ground with their corpses.

The Purgatory Vermilion Bird understood Qin Wentian’s intention. It flew ahead, clearing the path for him, slaying any demonic beast that got in its way. Blood was dripping unceasingly from its beak but the coldness in its eyes never wavered in the slightest.

One man one bird, none of the demonic beasts had the power to stop them. Finally, they arrived at a place where a terrifying ancient demonic divinity floated in the air. It was the illusory form of a Vermilion Bird, the Underworld Vermilion Bird! The aura it exuded was extremely terrifying, able to crush the minds of weaker-willed people. When it stared at Qin Wentian’s Purgatory Vermilion Bird, an intense killing intent gushed out from it.

The Purgatory Vermilion Bird gave a shrill screech as it prepared to dive forth, yet Qin Wentian coldly interjected, “Let me do it.”

As the sound of his voice faded, Qin Wentian dashed out. This cave was opened up by him, he should be the one to undertake the challenge.

The Purgatory Vermilion Bird turned about and continued combating the waves of those demonic beasts, guarding Qin Wentian’s rear.

Qin Wentian’s third eye opened and shot forth a golden beam of light, yet to his shock he realized that the Underworld Vermilion Bird was still staring at him coldly, completely unaffected.

“Immunity?”
Qin Wentian’s countenance stiffened. This terrifying Vermilion Bird actually had immunity to his eye-attack.

“Szzz!” The Underworld Vermilion Bird spat out a gust of cold air, like the qi of the dead from the underworld. Qin Wentian slammed forth with a dragon imprint, yet it was effortlessly frozen solid. As the cold air came into contact with his palms, Qin Wentian felt that even the Astral Energy circulating in his arterial pathway was frozen solid—he had no way to channel any power at all.

“What a terrifying underworld qi. Is this the test I need to overcome?”

Qin Wentian’s eyes flashed with a glint of resoluteness. The Purgatory Vermilion Bird behind him was attacking in a frenzy, effectively blocking the waves of demonic beasts rus.h.i.+ng at them, and not allowing a single one to get past it to reach Qin Wentian. It was as if it knew how powerful the Underworld Vermilion Bird was and didn’t want its master to be distracted.

Qin Wentian stared deeply at the Underworld Vermilion Bird as he slammed forth with another palm, causing the Divine Inscriptions already inscribed within his Yuanfu to burst out into a manifestation of ancient bells.

“Heartbreak Echo!”

But...the Underworld Vermilion Bird remained motionless, its gaze still as cold as ever as it stared at Qin Wentian, it didn’t even appear the slightest bit affected.
This made Qin Wentian understand that if he wanted to kill the Underworld Vermilion Bird, he could only attack based on pure strength. The Underworld Vermilion Bird had an immunity against most innate techniques.

Behind him, a terrible screech of rage echoed in the air. The Purgatory Vermilion Bird had been seriously injured to the point that its body turned illusory once more. Yet, it was still holding the waves off, determined not to let a single one of the demonic beasts get past it.

The spectators in the outside world weren’t able to see anything that happened within the location of each legacy. If not, they would surely be dumbfounded at what they are seeing. The ancient luck in the form of Vermilion Birds could actually materialize into a true Vermilion Bird demonic beast. Not only that, they had the capacity to be unswervingly loyal to their masters, capable of giving their all to aid their masters in acquiring the ancient legacies.

None of the spectators would really know what each of the contenders were currently facing, whether they failed or succeeded or even what legacy they were fighting to obtain. 
Qin Wentian stared at the Underworld Vermilion Bird as he rushed forwards. A terrifying demonic aura blasted off from him as he was enveloped in overwhelming amounts of demonic qi. He no longer resembled anything human, but rather a true demon.

The Underworld Vermilion Bird icily stared back as it spat out yet another gush of underworld qi current. Qin Wentian felt as though his entire body was about to be frozen solid, with the underworld qi currently corroding his armor and flesh. Yet, he didn’t falter even for a second in his advance. n.o.body could block him if he decided to set his mind towards a goal.

The terrifying air currents of the qi enveloped Qin Wentian as the Underworld Vermilion Bird instantly swooped down and unleashed its talon attack, penetrating through Qin Wentian’s chest. It then channeled the underworld qi directly into Qin Wentian’s body, causing him to feel a sense of approaching death.
However, since it voluntarily came into such close range for its attack, how could Qin Wentian still allow it to fly away? Qin Wentian grabbed hold of its body and slammed out a punch that was coated with the will of his Mandate, further reinforced by the boundless rhythm of the Heavens and Earth.

The Underworld Vermilion Bird cried out a bloodcurdling screech, struggling madly to get away. Yet with another flurry of punches, its corporeal form started to fade, turning back into an illusory outline.
“Devour it,” Qin Wentian coldly commanded. The Purgatory Vermilion Bird cried out shrilly as it flew over, opening its beak and then ruthlessly tearing at the Underworld Vermilion Bird. As it tried to resist, Qin Wentian continuously treated it like a punching bag.

Finally, the Purgatory Vermilion Bird successfully devoured its prey. As the commanding light in its eyes swept over to the demonic beast tides, they paused and started to transform back into statues.

Qin Wentian’s wound recovery was impeded by a layer of Underworld energy. The Purgatory Vermilion Bird cooed with worry, as it glanced at the terrible wound running down Qin Wentian’s chest. Qin Wentian smiled as he replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
After speaking, he continued onwards. An ancient pathway mysteriously appeared after the Underworld Vermilion Bird was killed. Qin Wentian followed the path all the way, until he came face to face with a golden-colored stone wall.
On top of it, three large words were engraved—Fiend Transformation Art.
“Fiend Transformation Art!’

Qin Wentian drew in a deep breath, endless shock apparent in his eyes. So this was how it came about, back then the Azure Emperor must have also fought in the ranking battle to acc.u.mulate ancient luck, and had visited this place once before.

The Fiend Transformation Art originated from this place!

If you would like to support my translations, you are welcome to make a pledge: Patreon!