There were fire beacons in all directions of the Azure Continent of Grand Xia, as experts from different locations all gathered.
The Ouyang Aristocrat Clan in the Azure Continent was going to have a marriage engagement with the Jiang Clan of the Wind Continent. Other than inviting the various powers in the Azure Continent, they had also sent out invitation to the other transcendent powers in Grand Xia, hoping that they would grace this wedding with their presence.
For the marriage this time around, the hidden meaning was obvious to all. On the surface, this was a wedding between Ouyang Zicheng and Jiang Ting. But the deeper meaning behind it was that this marriage was an alliance. It indicated that the Ouyang Aristocrat Clan and Jiang Clan were determined to advance or retreat together.
Right now, the Ouyang Aristocrat Clan had three Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants while the Jiang Clan had two. The instant they entered into an alliance through marriage, it would mean that they would have a total of five ascendants. That and in addition to the foundation of the two clans, they would instantly leap up the ranks and became the strongest power in Grand Xia, sweeping everything blocking them away.
To Grand Xia, this was undoubtedly a violent storm. Hence, there were many that chose to show up, congregating in the Azure Continent.
In the Azure Continent, there are five transcendent powers: Ouyang Aristocrat Clan, Azure Emperor Palace, Mystic Maiden Palace, Multidirectional Windthunder Sect, and Sword Extinction Sect.
Back then, when Qin Wentian was in the Unmatched Realm, he had encounters with the chosen from the five transcendent powers and even confronted quite a few of them before.
After staying a day in the forest, Qin Wentian returned back to the Unmatched Realm in the Azure Continent, paying a visit to the Unmatched Elders.
The elders in the Unmatched Realm had quite a good relations.h.i.+p with him, yet they still preserved their principles of not interfering in matters of the outside world. Even the crafty old man who had "almost killed" him was there, and to his shock, Qin Wentian discovered that this old man was actually a Celestial Phenomenon Ascendant who chose to remain inside the Unmatched Realm. No wonder the status of the Unmatched Realm was comparable to transcendent powers. In here, there were so many experts, yet they had no ambitions to rule unchallenged in the world, preferring to live in seclusion instead.
Today, Qin Wentian brought Fan Le and Old Xing to the Mystic Maiden Palace as guests.
Old Xing was the person in charge of the punishment branch of the Azure Emperor Palace and right now, his cultivation base had already broken through to the Celestial Phenomenon level. He and Fairy Qingmei were the pillars of Qin Wentian"s Azure Emperor Palace.
Fan Le and the little princess of the Mystic Maiden Palace had already confirmed their relations.h.i.+p back then. Now, Xuan Xin had grown a lot and her status was extraordinary. She easily led Qin Wentian and the others into a great hall where there were many female experts waiting. The gazes of the experts all landed onto Qin Wentian and Old Xing. Old Xing closed his eyes appearing like a harmless old man but everyone could feel the faint sense of formless pressure exuding from him.
There was a very high possibility that this old man was a Celestial Phenomenon Ascendant.
Naturally, Qin Wentian was still the person who attracted the most attention. Back then, this person stirred up such a violent storm in Grand Xia, splitting the Pill Emperor Hall into two before suddenly vanis.h.i.+ng completely for a few years. Now that he"s back, the smile on that carefree face of his made it so that he was even more unfathomable than before.
The past top ranker of the Heavenly Fate Rankings, the young man who split the Pill Emperor Hall into two. Now, what level has his cultivation base reached?
Outside the great hall, a row of figures walked over. It was unknown what the age of the female in the lead was. On the surface, she looked to be around thirty and had hints of matureness to her beauty, exuding a refined and elegant feeling. This was none other than the Palace Mistress of the Mystic Maiden Palace.
The Palace Mistress of the Mystic Maiden Palace walked to the main seat in the great hall and sat down, her eyes riveted on the old man who stood there with his eyes close as a flash of sharpness flashed within. "Is this Old Xing who"s in charge of the punishment in the Azure Emperor Palace?"
"Palace Mistress has good judgement abilities." Old Xing opened his eyes as a terrifying pressure swept over the great hall, causing the maidens of the Mystic Maiden Palace to feel their bodies stiffening.
The sharpness in the eyes of the Palace Mistress grew even more p.r.o.nounced. After which, she s.h.i.+fted her gaze to Qin Wentian and asked with a smile, "I"ve long heard about you a few years ago. You are indeed a hero of the younger generation. What is your purpose in coming here this time around?"
"To gift an opportunity to your sect." Qin Wentian smiled in response. The experts beside the Palace Mistress all coldly laughed, "Although the Azure Factions might be reunited once again, aren"t your words a little too big by saying that you wished to gift an opportunity to us?"
The Palace Mistress merely smiled, as she remained silent.
"The meaning behind the marriage between the Ouyang Aristocrat Clan and Jiang Clan is obvious even without pointing it out. Even before this alliance, the Ouyang Aristocrat Clan can already be considered one of the stronger transcendent powers in the Azure Continent. And after their alliance, I don"t even need to hint at what they are planning to do. Through all these years, I Qin have roamed many places and seen a lot of things. The two other grand empires, that of Grand Zhou and Grand Shang are in a flouris.h.i.+ng state and any major powers from there could easily destroy Grand Xia if they willed it. However, our Grand Xia was termed as a place of desolation, so weak that none of them is even willing to come. Even the subjects of Grand Shang, the Si Clan, dares to occupy our Grand Xia"s Royal Palace and those few clan members they have here isn"t their complete strength. This is how desolate the others feel Grand Xia is."
Qin Wentian slowly continued, "Grand Xia is deficient in innate techniques and cultivation resources. All our talented experts exited and chose to roam the world. If those experts remaining in this land of desolation still want to work against each other, proclaiming themselves king, it would only be a matter of time before Grand Xia is completely destroyed."
"What big words." That female who spoke earlier snorted. She glared at Qin Wentian and continued, "Merely a junior yet you even dared to be so arrogant? Where are your manners? Who do you think you are?"
When the Palace Mistress and the experts from the Mystical Maiden Sect arrived at the great hall, Qin Wentian was just completely silent, sitting there. He didn"t even stand up to indicate his respect. This point was something that made them very unhappy. Old Xing was an Ascendant as well as a senior, hence his actions were understandable but as for Qin Wentian, although his name shook Grand Xia, wasn"t his att.i.tude a little too brazen? Could it be that he treated himself as the same level as their Palace Mistress?
"Palace Lord of the Azure Emperor Palace, Qin Wentian." Qin Wentian softly replied, turning his gaze onto the female who spoke. He then coldly added, "When I"m conversing with the Palace Mistress, when did it ever become your turn to interrupt our conversation?"
"Impudent!" That female berated. "The real Azure Emperor Palace is still in the Azure Continent. I supposed, your fake t.i.tle of Palace Lord is something that you proclaimed yourself."
As the sound of her voice faded, a terrifying aura exuded from Old Xing. He stepped out slowly as a stifling pressure bore down on the maiden who spoke. His palms abruptly blasted out, showing no mercy at all.
The Palace Mistress of the Mystic Maiden Palace waved her hand as a beam of cold light flashed, blasting into the palm imprint and shattering it into nothingness.
"Old Xing!" Qin Wentian shouted. Old Xing retreated to his side as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened.
"We are your guests, and I have no wish to overwhelm you as our hosts." Qin Wentian continued in a faint voice, "It"s only that the horizons of the experts of the Mystic Maiden Palace are limited, truly disappointing. Just take it that I"ve made a wasted trip here."
After speaking he stood up only to hear the Palace Mistress inquiring, "You haven"t completed what you want to say earlier. What is this opportunity you intend to gift my sect?"
"I wish to end the disunity and chaos in Grand Xia, uniting all under one banner, controlling Grand Xia with a few factions of power. If Palace Mistress is agreeable, you can become one of those with authority." Qin Wentain stared straight at the Palace Mistress as he spoke.
The eyes of the Palace Mistress flashed with sharpness, although she was already prepared in her heart, she hadn"t expected the magnitude of absurdness in Qin Wentian"s words. That female expert who spoke earlier icily laughed, "Completely overestimating yourself. Palace Mistress, although this young man has extraordinary talent, he has already lost himself in arrogance. He doesn"t know how high the heavens nor how vast the world is."
"I"ll choose to wait and see instead." After a moment of consideration, the Palace Mistress smiled. She truly wanted to see how Qin Wentian would be able to unite Grand Xia.
"Sorry for the disturbance today then." Qin Wentian smiled in response as he turned and prepared to exit the grand hall. It was all because of the relations.h.i.+p between Fan Le and Xuan Xin did he chose to come here today. Since the other party didn"t trust him, nothing more needed to be said.
"Palace Mistress, this brat is too arrogant. Are we going to allow him to leave simply like this?" That female expert spoke once more upon noting that Qin Wentian was preparing to leave.
When Qin Wentian heard her words, his eyes flashed with an extreme sharpness. He abruptly turned about and took a step out, manifesting a terrifying aura that gushed forth with overwhelming might. Both of his eyes bored into the female expert who spoke and in an instant, his opponent was brought into a reality that resembled a boundlessly vast purgatory h.e.l.l.
"FROG IN THE WELL!" A booming voice akin to a bolt of thunder reverberated through the s.p.a.ce. Her body was flung through the air as a huge pressure ruthlessly slammed into her, knocking her to the ground as she coughed out a mouthful of blood, her countenance turning as pale as a sheet of paper.
When she raised her head again, what remained of Qin Wentian was only the view of a departing back. The hearts of the experts in the great hall were all pounding rapidly as four words resounded through their minds.
FROG IN THE WELL!
These four words that were said to that female expert… weren"t they also being said to the entire Mystic Maiden Palace?
The cultivation base of that female expert was at the ninth level of Heavenly Dipper. However, Qin Wentian could send her flying just by standing in his original spot. What was laughable was that she even arrogantly stated that Qin Wentian didn"t have any manners. The young man whose name shook Grand Xia long ago has long already grown to such a state where it was inconceivable for her to imagine. The purpose of his return this time around was to unite Grand Xia under a single banner.
"Palace Mistress." The experts in the hall all turned their gaze onto her only to see the Palace Mistress didn"t issue any command to capture Qin Wentian. Her gaze then s.h.i.+ft onto Xuan Xin as questioned, "Did Fan Le tell you about the things Qin Wentian experienced when he was roaming the outside world?"
"A little." Xuan Xin nodded her head.
"Summarize it for me." The Palace Mistress continued.
"Fan Le said that they went to a place named the Sacred Royal Region. The Royal Sacred Sect is the hegemon of that entire region, and there are countless supreme powers that could trample Grand Xia with a single foot if they so wished it. He met Qin Wentian again in a tempering exercise in the Immortal Martial Realm. The various geniuses of the Royal Sacred Region gathered and stepped into that realm, contending against each other for the rankings. Qin Wentian obtained the position of the top ranker and he is even a disciple of the Battle Sword Sect, one of the nine great sects directly under the Royal Sacred Sect. Not only that, he is also the foster son of the emperor of an ancient country. I"m not very sure what tier of power that ancient country belongs to; but at the very least, it should be many times stronger compared to our sect." Xuan Xin tugged on her sleeves as she spoke, she hadn"t expected that there would be a conflict between her sect and Qin Wentian.
The heart of the Palace Mistress trembled violently when she heard these words and she felt her body going stone cold. Only after a long moment did she sigh. She knew that it was highly probable that their Mystic Maiden Palace has just lost a very good opportunity and in the future, their sect would no longer have any speaking authority in the future Grand Xia.
"Xuan Xin, why didn"t you tell me this earlier?" The Palace Mistress of the Mystic Maiden Palace sighed once again.
"I don"t even have a clear understanding, and you didn"t ask me about it…" Xuan Xin spoke in a low voice, her words causing the Palace Mistress to smile bitterly as she shook her head and continued, "Xuan Xin, treat Fan Le better in the future. Quickly go chase after them."
"Oh." Xuan Xin nodded as she exited the great hall.
Qin Wentian didn"t really care much about this matter. If the Mystic Maiden Palace trusted him, he would allow them to become one of the pillars of Grand Xia. Since they refused to, it didn"t really matter to him as well.
On the surface, the various powers gathering in the Azure Continent was because of the wedding between the Ouyang Aristocrat Clan and the Jiang Clan. However, currents in the dark were flowing as well. Qin Wentian"s subordinates also arrived in the Azure Continent, gathering together!
Translator Note: The crafty old man who "almost killed" Qin Wentian can be found in AGM 322.
Translator"s ThoughtsLordbluefire
Hi all, if you guys have noticed, I tend to release more chapters during the first three weeks of a month.
For those who are curious, my release rate is 50 chapters per month (despite the patreon goal not being met, I won"t be changing my release rate).
A clearer explanation on the chapter release rate:
July: 571 to 620
August: 621 to 670
Sept: 671 to 720
Oct: 721 to 770
And so on......
We are at Ch661 today, so in the following days till the end of August (my timezone), there will be a chapter a day till we hit 670!
Don"t worry I won"t be slacking. I will be stockpiling more chapters to release during September. Thanks for reading AGM and for your kind consideration ^^