Ancient Godly Monarch
chapter-972

"God's blood?" Qin Wentian furrowed his brows as his eyes gleamed with sharpness. The long spear he'd materialized with the God's Hand had dissipated. His heart was filled with bewilderment. What did the Golden-Winged Great Roc mean by its parting words?

He stared at his palms that were shining with a resplendent light, both interwoven with currents of power from his two bloodlines.

"That golden-winged roc was truly fearsome. I'm afraid it most probably still had many other innate techniques it had yet to display. I could only kill it by piercing through its body with an overwhelming attack." Qin Wentian's heart trembled. If his last attack had failed to penetrate the great roc, he would've truly been at a loss on what to do next. There were no other attacks in his arsenal of techniques that could surpass the power of that final strike.

Right now Qin Wentian was confident that his strength had reached its true supreme peak below immortality. It was highly likely that there wouldn't be any opponents that could match him below the immortal-foundation. Ordinary peak ascendants could be effortlessly destroyed just by the power of his constellations alone, but that Golden-Winged Great Roc had truly given him such pressure that he could feel death.

Right now, an ancient pathway appeared before him, heading upwards into the sky. Qin Wentian's eyes gleamed, the trials should be over, right?

If that wasn't the final trial, then he was truly helpless.

Stepping out, Qin Wentian walked onto the ancient pathway and he was instantly seized with the feeling of being shuttled across worlds. An instant later, as his foot landed, he arrived at the other end of this ancient pathway.

On the other end, he saw a holy-looking hall under the stars. Astral light cascaded down, giving it a sacred and imposing feeling. Qin Wentian stared ahead; he could see the statue of a figure standing between the heavens and earth, so tall that its head touched the sky. Was this the statue of a divine being?

Other than him, there was no other being.

"Is this place really a divine ruin?" Qin Wentian stared at the statue. He'd passed so many trials and had come all this way just to see a statue?

Qin Wentian's gaze flickered. He noticed there was a scepter in one of the statue's hands. This statue was also immense, as though it symbolized supreme authority and power, exuding an incomparable prestige. Stepping out, he walked towards the statue. His eyes gleamed with a dazzling light as he stretched out his hand and reached for the statue.

The moment he did, boundless runes flowed frenziedly around the scepter. Right as his hand closed on it, Qin Wentian's mind was invaded with streams of information. He could see the entire Antiquity City through his eyes, staring past the Ancient Path of Stars. In his mind, he was currently standing in a divine estate. The Antiquity City was situated at a space below this divine estate, and this place could only be reached by traversing the Ancient Path of Stars.

The divine statue and scepter in this divine estate, symbolized an unparalleled authority. It could peer down on everything that happened in the Antiquity City, and could even control the trials of the city.

Closing his eyes, Qin Wentian could even see the scenes of those outside the Antiquity City. The disciples from the Eastern Sage Immortal Sect were pacing about. They were still obstructed merely from the first test. Qin Wentian felt an extremely strange sensation. It felt like with the scepter in his hand, he could even shut down the Antiquity City if he wished to.

"There are three paths. A total of three entrances." At this moment, Qin Wentian's perception continued extending outwards as more scenes appeared in his mind. The Ancient Path of Stars he'd taken wasn't the only passageway to arrive here. There were two other pathways that led to two separate places. The two other places might be linked to the second and third level of the City of Ancient Emperors.

"No good, Qingxuan is in danger!" Suddenly, Qin Wentian discovered that Zi Qingxuan, who was in the midst of taking the trials of the Ancient Path of Stars, was in grave danger after being heavily injured by a powerful ancient demonic beast.

"Exit!" Qin Wentian's will transmitted outwards via his connection with the scepter. As she fought for her life, Zi Qingxuan suddenly felt a supreme will bore down on the demonic beast. She instantly retreated, leaving through the astral gate, and then appearing outside the Ancient Path of Stars. Her heart pounded violently as she stared at the sky. Earlier, that supreme will she felt was like that of a God. There was no way to resist it at all. Was that a divine decree?

But why did it feel like the supreme will was trying to save her?

Qin Wentian then turned his attention to the others taking the trials of the Ancient Path of Stars. He used his strength, and tried to take the scepter from the statue; yet the moment he attempted to do so, a terrifying runic light flashed as a thunderous rumbling rang out. The image of a gigantic black dragon appeared and its immense eyes were looking right at him.

Qin Wentian opened his eyes, staring at the black dragon.

"You are still too weak. The you right now still cannot take the scepter away." The black dragon spoke, his words causing Qin Wentian's heart to tremble. This was the black dragon guarding the oceans surrounding the City of Ancient Emperors. However, the figure here was most likely only manifested from a strand of that black dragon's immortal sense.

"Since I've passed the trials of the Ancient Path of Stars, why can't I bring the scepter away?" Qin Wentian asked.

"You've already formed a strand of connection with the will of the scepter. In the future you can come here any time. When your cultivation realm reaches a certain level, you can come back again. I will protect this place for now and close this divine estate for you," intoned the black dragon. Qin Wentian's eyes flickered. Ancient Emperors had all come here for the purpose of gaining control of a divine estate, but all had failed to do so. From black dragon's words, it seemed that he could inherit this particular divine estate?

"Little fellow, your luck is truly good. In the river of history, there were many supreme talents who've come to this place before. But it was precisely due to their excessive strength that the the trials on the Ancient Path of Stars generated even more fearsome opponents for them. But in spite of this, there were quite a few supreme figures who fought all the way till the ninth trial before they were defeated. You have outstanding talent, and have undergone the baptism of the Sacred Luminance, cultivating the secret art of an ancient emperor. And with the benefits of your tyrannical bloodline, you have managed to make it all the way here. Your lower cultivation actually became an advantage for you. But sadly, with your current cultivation level, you are still not strong enough to control the scepter."

The black dragon spoke unhurriedly as it continued, "Come back again in the future."

"But to leave just like that will make me feel that this divine estate has failed to live up to expectations. At the very least, could Senior grant me a few treasures? Maybe…some ancient sacred treasures would be good." Qin Wentian stared at the black dragon with a smile. "Oh, and the Sacred Luminance! I feel like taking some of its holy light with me. Senior should have a solution, right?"

"You are truly greedy," said the black dragon. "Look at the left hand of the divine statue. You'll find a treasured cauldron. It's none other than the ancient treasure that you wanted. The Sacred Luminance can only be contained within an ancient storage treasure such as that."

A look of blazing heat flickered in Qin Wentian's eyes. An ancient treasure!

He stared at the left hand of the divine statue, and saw that the gigantic hand was truly holding onto a treasured cauldron. It was a square-shaped cauldron with mysterious ancient-looking runic words engraved onto it. Despite his attainments in divine inscriptions, Qin Wentian couldn't understand the meaning of those runes.

Qin Wentian stretched his hand out to lift the cauldron. However, he discovered that he couldn't even move it. It weighed at least several million kilograms.

"So heavy." Qin Wentian's expression stiffened. His body expanded, and he used both his hands and wrapped them around the cauldron. Resplendent runic light circulated around him, and with a loud shout, a thunderous rumbling sound rang out as the cauldron was finally lifted up by a bit. However at this moment, a dazzling light shone from the ancient runes on the cauldron. After which, a terrifying vortex unleashed an intense absorption force so strong that Qin Wentian couldn't resist. His gigantic body was effortlessly sucked inside of the cauldron.

"This…" Qin Wentian reappeared in the interior of the cauldron. Despite his gigantic body, he was still absorbed into the space inside the cauldron. The ancient-looking complex runes possessed a mysterious energy. A bright light suddenly flashed as a towering might radiated, enveloping around Qin Wentian's gigantic body. In the next instant, Qin Wentian felt as though his body was about to be refined by the cauldron. His countenance instantly paled as he struggled to get out.

"You lied to me?" Qin Wentian tried to soar into the air. However, the boundless streams of energy wrapped around him—he had no way to exit the cauldron.

"This is an ancient treasure. It's purely beneficial, and would be of no harm to you. Just relax and enjoy the process." Qin Wentian's body felt like it was about to be ripped apart. The ancient runes generated waves of terrifying might, endlessly blasting into him. At this instant, he felt like he was enduring a combination of power from countless innate techniques. As the attacks blasted continuously into him, his gigantic body gradually turned illusory.

"ARGH!" Qin Wentian unleashed the power of his bloodlines and let out an earth-shaking roar. That flowing pure-white light circulated around his entire body, repairing the damage dealt to it.

His body was continuously being destroyed and rejuvenated again and again. Such agony made Qin Wentian feel his will was about to collapse. He was almost at his limits and couldn't endure for much longer.

"NO!" Qin Wentian roared wildly, gritting his teeth and persisted on. He'd already made it all the way here. How could he allow a cauldron to destroy him? This ancient treasure wouldn't be able to destroy his will.

Beams of runic light rushed straight into Qin Wentian's body, causing the power of the runes to seep deep into his blood and his bones. However, such agony caused Qin Wentian to faint many times. This lasted for about an hour, but to Qin Wentian, it felt as long as an eternity.

When everything stopped, Qin Wentian's entire body was doused in his perspiration. However, his skin shimmered with even more brilliant light. In his body and his bones, he could feel a wild surge of vibrant energy just like that of a desolate beast. Turning his gaze to the treasured cauldron, its engraved runes seemed to be much clearer than before. The runes faintly resembled diagrams that floated before his eyes. He understood now that storage was just a small function of this ancient treasure. Its main purpose was for attacking, as it contained boundless supreme might.

"There are innate techniques inherent to this cauldron?" Qin Wentian felt his heart shuddering. Right now, he could sense the connection between him and this ancient treasure, but the smile on his face was bitter. He still didn't know who it was that had refined whom.

Qin Wentian's body flickered, exiting the cauldron. He glared harshly at the black dragon—this dragon had actually lied to him!

However, the black dragon was as emotionless as before. It faintly spoke, "I've already sent away your friends and that other fellow. I've also closed the entrance. Do you want to leave now?"

"No hurry, I'm going to fill this ancient cauldron full of Sacred Luminance first," Qin Wentian replied. With a wave of his hand, the ancient cauldron spun about, shrinking in size, and then flying to his palm. With his other hand around the scepter, he directed his will at it and he immediately vanished, reappearing at the area filled with the Sacred Luminance.

Qin Wentian stared at the beautiful holy radiance cascading from the sky. The hatred he felt for the black dragon gradually vanished. This was the Sacred Luminance from the legends. Once he filled the ancient cauldron up with it and took it out, even immortal emperors would have to grovel before him if they wanted it. However, Qin Wentian clearly understood that if he managed to bring the Sacred Luminance out, this must be kept an absolute secret or he would end up dying an extremely miserable death.

With another wave of his hand, the cauldron expanded, becoming extremely immense as it flew into the area of the Sacred Luminance. Instantly, the boundless holy light flowed into the cauldron, transforming into numerous light runes, filling it to the brim!