The relaxed heart of Leng Ning, tightened once again. Her beautiful eyes regarded Qin Wentian as she sighed, âThe Leng Clan will never prioritise friendship, all their decisions are motivated by pure benefit. Yan Tie is forcing them to make a choice and in the end, I believe⌠my clan will still appease Yan Tie.â
âDonât worry, everything will be over before you know it,â Qin Wentian consoled Leng Ning.
âIâm okay, just that Iâve somehow dragged you into this. Iâm afraid that Yan Tie wonât spare you.â Leng Ning felt guilt in her heart.
âNo worries, Iâm willingly doing this. After all, it feels really good to have such a beautiful girlfriend.â Qin Wentian pinched Leng Ningâs cheeks as he laughed, causing her to glare fiercely at him. âLecherous fellow.â
âBut Iâm merely using my authority as your boyfriend.â When Qin Wentian felt the smoothness of Leng Ningâs cheek, flames couldnât help but flare up in his heart. He hurriedly removed his hands, afraid that he would soon lose control. Qin Wentian was helping Leng Ning as a friend, he didnât want to play at make-believe and then somehow turn it into reality.
âIâll go out for a walk.â Qin Wentian turned and left. Leng Ning stared at his departing back as she mumbled in a low voice, âEven if I allowed you to abuse your authority, I donât think you would dare to do so either.â
Black lines appeared on Qin Wentianâs face as he hurried his steps, pretending that he hadnât heard what she said. Initially he just wanted to tease the girl a bit, but who would have thought that Leng Ning would turn the tables on him instead. How depressing.
âIâll go with you.â Chu Mang walked over when Qin Wentian was just leaving, and the two of them left the Leng Clan. âBig Bro Chu Mang, where do you want to go?â
Although Chu Wuwei told Chu Mang to follow Qin Wentian, Qin Wentian still remained very respectful to Chu Mang. From the bottom of his heart, he felt true admiration towards Chu Mangâs talent as well as the effort he put into cultivation.
âI want to go to the Hell Arena,â Chu Mang replied. âI like it there, it can cause my combat prowess to soar rapidly.â
Qin Wentian smiled, the Hell Arena was indeed an excellent place to temper oneâs combat strength. The battle pressure over there was extremely beneficial in helping one to break through.
âRight, letâs go there together then.â Qin Wentian continued asking, âBig Bro Chu Mang, what are you intending to do after you master your cultivation?â
All the way from Chu to the Grand Xia Empire, Chu Mang had never slacked off. He definitely had a reason for putting in so much effort in his heart.
âI want to be strong enough, strong enough to help my elder brother to cultivate. I donât want him to die, he cannot die, I want him to live forever.â Chu Mangâs voice was filled with an incomparable determination, causing Qin Wentian to be moved. A strong sense of conviction radiated out of Chu Mang at this moment.
His cultivation was for the sake of Chu Wuwei. Even if he himself died, Chu Wuwei must live on.
Maybe even Chu Wuwei himself had no idea that when he told Chu Mang to live on peacefully after his death in the future, these words only further strengthened the conviction in Chu Mangâs heart.
Suddenly, Qin Wentian halted his steps. A group of people had just appeared in front of them, and one of those people, was none other than Yan Kong.
There were quite a few people standing beside Yan Kong. There was one youth with a skinny-looking frame, who was extremely hideous to behold. His triangular eyes also gave people an extremely sinister feeling.
âThatâs the guy that dared to touch Uncleâs woman. I donât even know how far their relationship has progressed,â Yan Kong spoke to the youth while pointing at Qin Wentian, a cold smirk painted on his face.
Back then, when Yan Kong was humiliated by Qin Wentian, he completely ignored the silent agreement among the younger generations and went to complain to his uncle. He wanted to use Leng Ning to hurt Qin Wentian.
He would never forget the humiliation he felt that day. He wanted Qin Wentianâs death.
âHee hee, my master told me that after the Leng Clan girl is sent over to our residence, he will gift her to me for my enjoyment. After Iâm tired of her, I shall refine her into a Puppet. Such a beautiful Puppet truly causes me to be filled with anticipation. A beautiful thing that will never age, she shall accompany me forever.â That sinister youthâs triangular eyes gleamed with an evil light.
Qin Wentianâs countenance was painted over with cold anger. They were indeed a bunch of bastards, the Yan Clan had never viewed Leng Ning as a human. Sending Leng Ning there to be played with before being refined into a Puppet?
An ice-cold killing intent gushed forth from Qin Wentian. That sinister looking young man? He would no longer exist after today.
âHeh heh.â Yan Kong could already imagine scenes of Leng Ning being tortured by this young man. There were no traces of pity in his heart. If they wanted to blame someone, Qin Wentian and Leng Ning could only blame themselves for not having eyes and offending him.
âQin Wentian donât worry, I wonât kill you. Instead, I will cripple you and capture you alive. I want you to see with your own eyes how your woman is played and tortured, before being refined into a human Puppet.â An extremely wretched expression twisted Yan Kongâs face. He had never hated anyone this much before.
âBig Bro Chu Mang, other than this person, kill the rest for me,â Qin Wentian spoke. Chu Mang nodded his head, as the aura of a fifth-level Yuanfu Cultivator erupted forth. A terrifying pressure pervaded the air, a golden bow appeared in Chu Mangâs hand as the will of his Mandate instantly locked onto the opponents nearer to him.
âMandate.â The countenances of Yan Kong and his group changed. An instant later, rumbling sounds thundered as all of them unleashed their Astral Souls and Mandates in preparation.
âSwoosh.â The sharp tip of an arrow broke apart space, resembling a streak of golden lightning, stealing the lives of people it shot through. This was the first level of insight for the Mandate of Arrows, Insta-shot.
Two cultivators slumped over dead, with Astral Arrows penetrating through the middle of their brows. Death in a single shot.
âFast, how can his attack be so fast? Is he already at the Advanced Boundary for the first level of insight?â Yan Kongâs countenance paled. If Chu Mangâs will of Mandate locked onto him, he would definitely die. It was impossible to evade it.
The first level of Mandates could be further classified into the Initial Boundary, Advanced Boundary, Transformation Boundary and Perfection Boundary.
The Initial Boundary of first level insights for the Mandate of Arrows could allow oneâs arrows to be coated by a kind of attribute named âinsta-forceâ, causing oneâs arrow speed to heighten dramatically. The Advanced Boundary granted an even more monstrous increment in terms of speed, causing oneâs arrows to resemble a lightning tearing across space.
Without giving away any traces of their presence beforehand, an expert in the Dao of Archery could effortlessly kill people a thousand miles away!
âFight him in close-combat. Quickly, activate the formation,â Yan Kong frantically commanded. He was worried that Chu Mang would target him with archery. If that was the case, he would be dead almost instantly.
Indeed, as the surrounding cultivators rushed Chu Mang and suppressed him with violent attacks, no more arrows were shot.
ROAR! Chu Mang howled, and abruptly, a golden-colored greataxe appeared in his hands. His physique somehow grew larger, as the terrifying aura of another Mandate emerged.
âBEHEAD!â Chu Mang roared. The first level insight of the Mandate of Axe was, Beheader. Eradicating everything with brute strength, this was the second Mandate which Chu Mang had comprehended, and similarly, it had already reached the Advanced Boundary.
Bzzz~ The body of another cultivator was split into two by Chu Mang. His force was so great that it imposed a âlockdownâ on the surrounding space, giving his target no chance to dodge. Yan Kong stood there, astounded by Chu Mangâs strength. This peak fifth-level Yuanfu Cultivator, how could he be this powerful?
Abruptly, runic outlines appeared in the middle of thin air, Qin Wentianâs countenance sank, he felt as though he had stepped into another space.
âFormation!â Qin Wentian studied the formation in detail. So, this formation was already pre-set up, he didnât notice it prior to its activation because its energy fluctuation was masked by some technique. He had been too careless.
After the formation was activated, a smile appeared on Yan Kongâs face. âGood, now I want to see how he will die.â
Within the formation, Qin Wentian noticed that the outlines of Yan Kong and that sinister-looking youth had grown blurry, it seemed as though they were right here, yet very far away. There was no way to harm them.
âKneel and beg me. I may still consider letting you die an easy death, instead of one filled with torture.â Yan Kong contemptuously stared at Qin Wentian.
âBig Bro Chu Mang,â Qin Wentian called out.
âIâm fine, just that this space feels a little weird,â Chu Mang replied.
âJust defend for now,â Qin Wentian added. After which, he saw the sinister-looking youth waving his hands as numerous black-colored lances, each made from bones, erupted his way.
Qin Wentian closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses, contemplating the brilliantly circulating runic outlines of a formationâs Divine Inscription.
BOOM! He stomped on the ground as numerous small mountains appeared to surround him, defending against the onslaught of the bone lances.
âHe truly is a third-ranked Divine Inscriptionist.â The sinister youthâs gaze grew cold. With another wave of his hands, the bone lances rained down from the Heavens, as the attacks increased in numbers and speed, emitting a terrifying, swishing, ear-piercing sound.
âFormation Breaking Method; as long as I can understand the core of the formation, I can destroy it.â Qin Wentian recalled the information he had read in Bailu Yiâs notes. One of the volumes referenced Formation Methods, and it stated that even though formations could undergo a myriad of changes, as long as one understood the core of it, they would be able to negate it effortlessly.
âThere.â Qin Wentian sensed the location of the formationâs core.
The core of the formation was difficult to detect, and even more difficult to destroy.
Qin Wentian didnât immediately act to negate the formation. He continued defending against the shower of bone lances while a frown creased his face. This disciple of Yan Tie was already so powerful, how powerful might Yan Tie himself be then? No wonder he was so arrogant.
âHe still refuses to kneel. Very well, pierce his arms and legs and cripple him. I want him to watch as you pleasure Leng Ning.â Yan Kong glared at Qin Wentian. The humiliation from back then, he wanted to repay the debt ten-fold.
However, it was as though Qin Wentian hadnât heard his words. His closed eyes, abruptly snapped open as a sharp gleam of light flickered within. Qin Wentian stabbed forth with his finger, as the formation trembled, causing the bone lances to break apart.
âNegate!â
Qin Wentian growled, as the reverse-form of its runic outlines took shape in the space in front of him. Rumbling sounds rang out as the earlier formation broke apart, leaving Yan Kong and that sinister-looking youth standing there, thunderstruck.As the formations crumbled, Chu Mang brandished his speed as he exploded forth with crazy momentum. Sweeping his axe forwards, another cultivator was easily slain by his hands.
Qin Wentian stepped forth only to see the sinister-looking youth rubbing his interspatial ring and a human-formed Puppet appeared. Qin Wentianâs eyes narrowed as a scene flashed through his memories.
âHades.â
This sinister-looking youth was actually the evil cultivator that had been defeated by Bailu Yi during their duel in the Hell Arena.
âBig Bro Chu Mang, kill him!â Qin Wentian shouted out, as he defended against the Puppetâs attack. Chu Mang nodded in response as a golden bow coalesced in his hands. Instantly, Hades only felt a sensation of being âlocked-onâ, as his eyes widened in terror.
âDIE!â Chu Mang roared, as he simultaneously fired three arrows. The arrows transformed into streams of light, directly penetrating through the brain of the escaping Hades. The momentum from the arrows caused him to be further propelled some distance, before he ultimately slumped onto the ground, dead.
The blood drained from Yan Kongâs face upon witnessing that abrupt death, he was in so much terror his countenance had gone as white as a sheet of paper!