## AST 530 - Returning To The Heavenly Palace, The Time Of The Old Ancestor Of The Heavenly Palace Was Up

“Xiantian Golden Pellet?”

Lin Zhanhan exclaimed in shock when Qing Luo openedthe small porcelain bottle. This was the first time the composed old man had lost his composure.

“Xiantian Golden Pellet?!”

……....

Almost everyone was shocked. Most of them knew, or had at least heard of the Xiantian Golden Pellet. Countless people yearned for it, but not many had actually seen it.

The ‘Xiantian Golden Pellet’ could just barely be considered an item from legends. There were quite a lot of people on the Main Continent who were unable to breakthrough to Xiantian due to their own reasons. There were also some who were crippled and became an ordinary person.

These people may be rich millionaires or even important figures in those aristocratic clans. Perhaps strength was insignificant to them, but they wanted to retain their youth for a few more decades. They were after those extra 500 years of life and that resistance to heat of summer and winter’s cold…...

There were many people on the Main Continent who were capable of gathering the ingredients needed to concoct a Xiantian Golden Pellet. Quite a handful among them could also successfully concoct it, but their success only happened after more than 100 failures. Due to the extremely low success rate in concocting a Xiantian Golden Pellet, each pellet could fetch a sky-high price.

Among the ingredients that were lost during the 100 failures, more than 1,000 years worth of lifespan had been lost solely from the amount of Peaches of Immortality…...

Then there was also the 5000-Year Ling Zhi, 4000-Year Demonic Beast’s Core and the precious Snow Melted Wood…….

Tears immediately welled up Qing Yi’s eyes while she looked at her son. No one understood Qing Shui’s thoughts better than her. She knew very well the hardships that her son had suffered.

……

Qing Luo’s hands trembled. With his age over a hundred years old, no one knew the worth of this item better than him. He had expected to die like an ordinary person in thirty to fifty years, but this pill could extend one’s lifespan by 500 years. No one would want to die; it was normal for people to yearn for a long life.

Qing Jiang and Qing He were able to reach the Xiantian realm long ago with the help of Qing Shui because they didn’t consume the Crippling Divine Pill. While Qing Hu, Qing Hai and four of Qing Shui’s aunts each received a Xiantian Golden Pellet.

Judging from their current strength, it was basically hopeless for them to breakthrough to the Xiantian realm!

Each of them were extremely surprised while the three generations of the Qing Clan were jealous!

“I’m pretty sure all of you are aware of the biggest drawback of the Xiantian Golden Pellet. I still hope you all can breakthrough to Xiantian with your own capabilities. Otherwise, all of you can only pass your life as a rich man in a place like the Hundred Miles City.” He laughed while looking at the three generations of the Qing Clan.

He saw a dumbfounded expression on Qing Zi and Feng Feiyan’s face!

“Brother Qing Zi, sister-in-law, I have actually prepared one for each of you too. But both of you are still young, do you understand? The Xiantian Golden Pellet should only be consumed if you really cannot breakthrough. Don’t easily feel discouraged,” Qing Shui laughed after seeing the expression on their faces.

Qing Zi nodded in understanding. “There’s no rush. We are still young.”

“Let’s just keep this Xiantian Golden Pellet to ourselves,” Qing Shui said after thinking.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Most of them knew what would happen if news about this had gotten out.

Fortunately, the Qing Clan was not a big clan and most of them were adults so there were no issues as long as he communicated!

……...

In just one day, the Qing Clan had gained eight Xiantian cultivators. Although they were Xiantian cultivators of the lowest level, Qing Shui still felt more relieved in his heart.

Those who broke through could hardly contain their excitement. Everyone was overjoyed, especially Qing Luo. This was his lifetime wish. When he knew that he would never be able to break through the Xiantian realm, he had placed all his hopes on the next generation. That was the reason why even under such a difficult situation, he didn’t let Qing Jiang or Qing He consume the Crippling Divine Pill.

When Qing He broke through to the Xiantian realm, Qing Luo specially came all the way to the Hundred Miles City. He was relieved and happy. When a Xiantian cultivator held a blade to his throat back then, he couldn’t protect even one child from the Qing Clan…..

Even in his dreams, he had never expected to set his foot into the Xiantian realm for the rest of his life. He looked at Qing Shui. As long as the Qing Clan had Qing Shui, everything would be fine.

……….

One month after the New Year was a particularly happy day for the Qing Clan. The first Xiantian had emerged amongst the three generations of the Qing Clan. Qing Bei who had broken through to Xiantian had her arms wrapped around Qing Shui in excitement for the entire day.

Qing Shui had predicted that it would take a year, which was by the end of last year. Although it had been delayed by a month, it was still within their expectation. Qing Bei’s breakthrough had motivated Qing You and the rest work even harder.

There was another one who had already set a foot into the entrance of the Xiantian realm!

Luan Luan!

Luan Luan, who was already ten years old was preordained to breakthrough to Xiantian this year. Anyone would be utterly shocked at a ten-years-old Xiantian.

As haste makes waste, little lass never thought about which realm she wanted to cultivate to and she had never fretted over breakthroughs. Perhaps it was this kind of attitude that made it easier to breakthrough.

With the blink of an eye, it had been four years since Qing Shui had returned to the Qing Clan!

Qing Shui felt emotional every time he thought about it!

Fortunately his strength had increased throughout this final year, although his Heavenly Dan was still at third grade, while the rest remained pretty much the same. Qing Shui had mostly been doing re-evaluations.

This included condensing all his previous cultivation arts and solidifying his foundations. On top of that, Qing Shui could control three lotus flowers in the Blue Lotus Art with ease now.

The talisman drawing seemed to have hit a wall, although he was getting better at it. Even with the Golden Calligraphy Brush and the Moonstone Ink Slab, he was only able to draw Heavenly Talismans that yielded a little more than 30 percent effects. He had practiced diligently for over one year, but he still wasn’t able to breakthrough to increase innate skills by 40 percent. Even so, he was happy that he seemed to be getting better in talisman drawing and had a feeling that he was close to a breakthrough.

He thought about the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp and recalled how he had leisurely fished there for quite a long while. An ignorant person was indeed fearless. He still shuddered a little now whenever he remembered about what had happened.

Just when Qing Shui was planning to take a walk outside, he saw Canghai Mingyue walking towards him!

Seeing Qing Shui standing there and looking at her, Canghai Mingyue approached him with a smile. There was an indescribable feeling in that smile of hers.

Ever since there was a breakthrough in his relationship with Canghai Mingyue, his confidence had increased significantly. He now felt less inferior in front of her.

“Mingyue, let’s take a walk!” Qing Shui smiled at pulled on her hand.

“Someone will see us….” she said. But she didn’t pull her hand away off.

“What are you so afraid of? You are my woman, my wife. Let’s go!” Qing Shui squeezed that jade-like hand and laughed.

“Stop your blabbering!”

The two of them climbed on the back of Fire Bird after exiting the Qing Residence. Looking at the lofty mountains in a distance, Qing Shui let the Fire Bird fly leisurely.

“Mingyue, do you want to return to the Heavenly Palace? Are you tired of being in the Qing Residence?” Qing Shui gently asked.

“It doesn’t matter where, as long as you’re there!”

Qing Shui looked at the heavenly woman. He felt proud and blessed. He pulled her into an abruptembrace and latched onto those gentle and supple lips.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar filled the air!

Qing Shui jolted. He released Canghai Mingyue’s slightly reddened lips and glanced in the direction where the roar had came from.

Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp!

He recalled that demonic beast that dwelled within the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp. Up to this point, its strength remained a mystery to him. But he had a hunch that the beast seemed to be unable to leave the swamp.

Qing Shui let Fire Bird cautiously fly towards the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp. Just what kind of demonic beast was it to have almost taken his life?

Even the Art Maestro died at its hand…..

Screech!

When the Fire Bird was approaching the sky above the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp, it wasn’t able to advance any further. This completely dashed Qing Shui’s hope of only getting a glimpse of the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp’s demonic beast.

He had no choice but to suppress his desire of paying another visit to the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp and let the Fire Bird resumed its route back home!

By the time Qing Shui and Canghai Mingyue returned about to the Qing Residence, there was somebody that had actually came!

Di Chen!

Di Chen who had gone but returned!

But she looked a little anxious right now!

She moved swiftly and gracefully as soon as she saw Qing Shui, “Qing Shui, it seems like you need to return!”

“Return?” Qing Shui felt that something was a little off.

“Yes. The Old Ancestor feels that his time is almost up. He wishes for you to return to take over the Heavenly Palace,” Di Chen informed sadly.

“How much time left?” Qing Shui was frowning too. He didn’t expect the Old Ancestor’s time would be up so soon. He had mentioned before that there was still twenty years left…...

“Half a year!”

“Alright. Have a rest first. We will return to the Heavenly Palace tomorrow!” Qing Shui said after thinking for a moment.

Qing Shui knew that this was a pressing matter. The Heavenly Palace might be in a complete mess once the Old Ancestor’s time was up. Some thieves would even seize this opportunity to plunder the Heavenly Palace.

Most importantly, it was possible that the Sword Tower would try and make the Heavenly Palace vanish completely. Time was of essence!

Qing Shui was actually prepared to return to the Heavenly Palace. He wanted to visit the other continents. However, the Heavenly Palace was a breakthrough point so Qing Shui wanted to wait for one more year before returning.

He didn’t expect something like this to happen!

He needed to inform the clan first!

The next day, Qing Shui left with Di Chen, Canghai Mingyue, and Huoyun Liu-Li while the rest stayed at the Qing Residence for now, as he knew that something was bound to happen during this visit to the Heavenly Palace.

As long as the two girls and Di Chen stayed together with Di Qing, they could be taken care of by Cang Wuya and the rest. Qing Shui knew that his return this time was to take over the position of the Old Ancestor at the Heavenly Palace.

When everything had settled down, Qing Shui would bring all the few ladies to the Heavenly Palace…..

They didn’t take many breaks during the journey because it would take two to three months’ time to reach the Heavenly Palace at that pace. Although the Old Ancestor still had about half a year, it was still better to be safe than sorry. If anything happened in between this period of time, the aftermath wouldn’t be easy to settle.

“How do you feel, now that you are going to become the Old Ancestor of a great sect?” Di Chen looked at Qing Shui.

“Nothing. I didn’t really want to be this Old Ancestor. How about Sister Chen take over?” Qing Shui gave her a bitter smile.

“No way. Hehe. But I think this position fits you quite well. Your current strength should be more than enough for it,” Di Chen said pensively.

“I’m a cripple. Seems like I have to take over this Old Ancestor position and have to establish my power. How stressful!” He recalled how he had left there four years ago as a cripple.

“Your return this time will be a hard slap on many people’s face,” Di Chen murmured softly while looking into a distance.

“Sister Chen, will you support me if I want to destroy the Sword Tower?”