/
AGM 266 - Berate
The change was too great, in a mere six months, Qin Wentian’s transformation had left Bai Fei almost unable to recognize him.
Although it could be said that she didn’t really have much of an impression of Qin Wentian  back then in Chu, they had still met a few times before and had even exchanged words. The memories of Stellar Martial Cultivators were all exceedingly good, and not recognising Qin Wentian could be an indicator of how much he had changed.
She could still vaguely remember Qin Wentian as an impulsive youth, with hints of immatureness in his aura, as well as that ‘pride’ of a genius from a small country. Back then she held Qin Wentian in total derision, and had once told Qin Wentian to wake up from his fantasy, to stop dreaming of being together with Mo Qingcheng. Bai Fei would never have expected that today, she would meet Qin Wentian again under such circumstances.
The youth back then had completely rid himself of all childishness, his features now had an intense look, extraordinarily sculpted. His eyes reflected a calm confidence, but now, also flickered with cold intent, causing fear to those he looked at.
This was a marked difference compared to the faint arrogance he had unconsciously exuded before.And what confounded her the most was that his once ‘lowly’ character was now a peak-tier, third-ranked Divine Inscriptionist today, able to seamlessly kill off over tens of peak-level Yuanfu cultivators.
Such a huge contrast caused Bai Fei to temporarily be unable to reconcile the differences.That youth, had actually come to the Moon Continent.
Could it be that he didn’t understand that regardless of how talented he was in Chu, the Grand Xia Empire was like a sky-high mountain that was unscalable to him.
“It’s actually you.” Bai Fei stared at Qin Wentian. “Are you intentionally pretending not to know me?”
Qin Wentian merely glanced at Bai Fei as he shot back, “Am I very familiar with you?”
Bai Fei’s countenance froze, her faintly covered snow-white peaks trembled as she drew in a shivering breath, the sight of it causing the blood of males to surge with arousal.“Mhm?” The sinister young man felt extremely interested as he calmly noted what was  happening.
Bai Fei and Qin Wentian were acquainted with each other, but it seemed as though Qin Wentian was holding a grudge against her.
Other than that, Bailu Yi who was a captive of the Star-Seizing Manor elder, was the person Qin Wentian wanted to save.
A cold light flashed in that black-robed elder’s eyes as he shook his head, angered by Qin Wentian’s impudence.
“I think, you are still unaware of the current situation.” The old man snorted as he brandished a palm towards Qin Wentian, a fearsome energy emanated from it as though his palm strike was capable of sinking even the stars and moon.
“Hey hey, don’t break the peace.” The young man took a step forth as he too sent out his palm, blocking the attack of the old man, the impact causing the sound of rupturing air to ring out.
“What do you mean?” The black-robed elder coldly stared at the sinister-looking young man.“We all just want to exit the formation safely, why is there a need to fight against each other?” The young man laughed. “Brother Qin, this place is fraught with danger, so if you can help us leave this place, I can guarantee that he will release his captive. I would also gift this beauty to brother Qin to deal with. Isn’t that perfect? Moreover, this friend from the Star-Seizing Manor has a bad temper, why act to ignite it? Wouldn’t it be a win-win situation if we all cooperated instead?”
Bai Fei’s countenance stiffened, she was to be gifted to Qin Wentian?
Qin Wentian naturally understood the faint, underlying threat behind the sinister young man’s words. He replied, “Sorry, I have no way to trust any of you.”
“Hmph.” The black-robed elder coldly snorted as he placed his hands threateningly on Bailu Yi’s shoulders. “Do you think you have a choice?”
“Brother Qin, please reconsider. Miss Bailu is as pure as jade, and has the beauty of that which could cause the moon to hide and shame the flowers.” The sinister young man laughed evilly. After hearing his words, the black-robed elder grinned as he started caressing Bailu Yi’s back, causing her to turn pale-white.
“If you dare try anything again, you can stay here forever,” Qin Wentian replied. He then continued, “The traps ahead are many times stronger compared to before, I can assure you that even with your strength, you would be unable to force your way through it. I personally witnessed an expert from the Hua Clan making that attempt, but all that’s left of him now are ashes. That was why I stayed here to further contemplate the formation. Of course if you wish to seek death, I won’t stop you.”
The old man’s palm froze in mid-action, not daring to make another move. “Does that mean that you agree to cooperate?”
“Release her first,” Qin Wentian coldly replied.
“Hehe, don’t worry, I will personally take care of her safety. Just lead the way.” How could the black-robed elder release the bargaining chip that was Bailu Yi?
Qin Wentian frowned, “I don’t trust you to take care of anything female.”
“Haha, seems like you have feelings for this girl.” The black-robed elder laughed, as he narrowed his eyes. “But since I know this, all the more reason for me not to release her.”
Qin Wentian’s countenance became colder, “Since that’s the case, you can kill me right now and test your luck against the traps.”
Qin Wentian’s eyes were steel-like, filled with an unbendable determination. The old man frowned, how unexpected that Qin Wentian would act in such a crazy manner, he was too much of a slave to his emotions.
“Brother Qin, don’t talk like this, death won’t solve anything. Bailu Yi is such a beautiful woman, it would truly be a waste if she were ravaged by that black-robed man. How could you die in peace, then?” The young man continued smiling evilly. Neither party was willing to back down.
Indeed, Qin Wentian’s countenance grew increasingly ugly to behold. After a moment of silence, he continued, “Take me in her stead. You guys can walk behind the two of us, we will be your ‘meat shields’.”
The black-robed elder’s eyes flashed, as he exchanged glances with the evil young man. Soon after, the two of them laughed out loud. If that was the case, they would accept the conditions.
“Come stand before us then.” The black-robed elder grinned.
Qin Wentian didn’t hesitate, immediately walking over. Only when he stood right in front of the black-robed elder did he release his hold on Bailu Yi.
Qin Wentian placed both hands on her shoulders as he stated, “I’ll protect you.”Bailu Yi froze, shyness could be seen on her innocent face. She hadn’t thought that Qin Wentian would perform such an intimate action.
However an instant later, she could see an extremely terrifying light flickering in Qin Wentian’s eyes as he used his strength and pushed her far away.
“HOW DO YOU WANT TO DIE?” All of a sudden, Qin Wentian stomped onto the ground, activating the Inscriptions he had inscribed while waiting for Bailu Yi’s arrival earlier. The ground cracked beneath the black-robed elder’s feet, as a suction force pulled him downwards. Simultaneously, Qin Wentian borrowed the gravitational force from that Ascendant statue, using it to power his own Inscriptions.
A blood-curdling scream echoed in the air, the black-robed elder’s legs were rended to pieces by a sword-type Inscription hidden underneath the earth.
Bai Fei stood there, stunned. Suddenly, without warning, she felt someone slamming her with a palm, pushing her out of the formation.
Bai Fei was unceremoniously blasted onto the ground as she involuntarily cursed, ”Bastard.”Yet her heart couldn’t help but secretly sigh in relief as she witnessed how powerful Qin Wentian’s trap was.
That fellow had long completed his preparations, creating a multi-layered formation here.
"MERCY!” the old man screamed, but how could Qin Wentian show mercy to him? Being merciful to one’s enemies equated to being cruel towards oneself. In fact, not only did he ignore the old man’s plea, he even increased the tempo of the sword slashes, eventually mincing the old man’s body into little bits.
As for that sinister young man, the moment Qin Wentian stomped his feet to activate the formation, he had also been caught inside the trap. This was a multi-layered formation; there were trapping Inscriptions as well as killing Inscriptions embedded within. Qin Wentian had been waiting for Bailu Yi’s arrival, he didn’t expect Bai Fei and her captor would be here as well.
A golden radiance shrouded the young man within, blocking him from the trap’s attacks. At the same time, he repeatedly tried dashing outwards, only to feel as though he was in a maze, he couldn’t get out.
Eventually, the young man halted his movements, not daring to move randomly about. He wasn’t familiar with Divine Inscriptions and formations, and knew that it would be extremely tough for him to escape. However, he also knew that as long as he was cautious, he wouldn’t be easily killed by the formation. Hence, he decided to pause his movements, he didn’t want to suffer the same fate as that black-robed elder.
The terrifying keen of swords wailed, yet the sinister young man manifested a pure gold body of a sculpture in front of him, deflecting the sword slashes.
“Brother Qin, your formation won’t be able to kill me. Let me out and from now onwards, both of us will have nothing to do with each other,” the young man called out.
Qin Wentian’s countenance remained cold. He knew that if this man didn’t die, there would surely be repercussions.
However, Qin Wentian also understood that it was one thing to use third-level Inscriptions to slay an unsuspecting peak-level Yuanfu expert and a different ball game altogether if he wanted to do the same with someone that was on his guard.
Receiving silence as an answer, the sinister young man’s expression grew cold as killing intent flickered in his eyes. A golden lance then appeared in his hands, a menacing aura of destruction emanating from it.
“Careful,” Qin Wentian warned. Abruptly, a beam of golden light directly penetrated through the formation, causing a small rupture in the Inscription, as it rushed towards Qin Wentian and his group.
“Run.” Qin Wentian grabbed Bailu Yi before dashing away. The young man had an extremely powerful Divine Weapon, it would only be a matter of time before he broke through Qin Wentian’s formation.
Qin Wentian’s actions were exceedingly decisive, choosing immediately to leave, pulling Bailu Yi along. Bai Fei’s countenance stiffened before she too, followed after Qin Wentian. She was too weak in here, her only hope of survival lay with Qin Wentian.
“Scram.” Qin Wentian abruptly turned his head back, coldly staring at Bai Fei.
Bai Fei stuttered, “You
”
“I, Qin, am merely a poor and uncouth fellow who isn’t worthy enough to interact with Miss Bai Fei,” Qin Wentian stated detachedly, his words causing Bai Fei to pale. Back then she had regarded Qin Wentian with utter contempt but today, the circumstances were reversed. Now she was the one ‘begging’ to follow Qin Wentian.
“Even now, you
 you
 are still unworthy to be together with Qingcheng!” How could Bai Fei stand for such an attitude. She spat coldly at Qin Wentian, “As for you two, you look truly compatible with each other.”
“Worthy or not, that is not something for you to decide. I saved you today for one reason, and one reason only—that you are in the same sect as Qingcheng. As for me and Bailu Yi, only friendship exists between us. Tell this to Qingcheng for me. I, Qin Wentian, will definitely pay a visit to the Pill Emperor Hall one day to take her back.”
And with that vow, Qin Wentian immediately turned and walked away, leaving the dumbstruck Bai Fei rooted to the spot!