## AST 1236 – No Road To Treat, Letter of Challenge

Boom!

Qing Shui’s profound attack clashed directly with the old man. Qing Shui shook a little while the old man was forced to take two steps backward. Qing Shui stood up again, using the Nine Palace Steps while attacking with Taichi’s killing attacks.

Right now, his Taichi was only left with the feeling of Taichi. When accompanied by the Nine Palace Steps’ profound footwork, each step had a terrifying prowess. With a single move, the old man was pushed back, causing him to lose his advantage with the first move.

He!

The old man’s fists and arms suddenly swelled up by 30%, and their surface became golden and shimmery. With a loud bellow, he stabilized himself and his huge fists smashed out one after another.

Great Strength Diamond Fist!

A hint of surprise flashed in Qing Shui’s eyes. He had seen the use of the Great Strength Diamond Fist before. However, this kind of martial art was split into different grades. Many of them were low grades martial arts. However, he knew that his old man, who was like a golden armored battle god, would definitely have a Great Strength Diamond Fist—a high grade martial art. In the Western Oxhe Continent, there would definitely not be a lot of people who could cultivate such an expert level of martial arts.

Back Connecting Fist!

Qing Shui circulated his abilities and his arms seemed to grow a little longer. He was also glimmering in golden light due to the Nine Yang Golden Body. Therefore, Qing Shui’s Back Connecting Fist could be called the Diamond Back Connecting Fist.

The name itself was not important. What was important was the prowess of the move. In a battle, it didn’t matter who was stronger. It was dependent on who could remain alive. The survivor would be considered the winner.

Boom boom…

A series of loud explosive sounds rang out in the air. Both Qing Shui and the old man activated their Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation. Qing Shui’s breaths were very long and his attacks were like waves, sweeping out one after another as if it were endless.

The more the old man attacked, the more astonished he became. When he once again retreated after clashing with Qing Shui, a pair of huge golden gloves appeared in his hands.

This pair of gloves was his weapon. Maybe the old man gained some admiration for Qing Shui after having fought for a while because the old man then said, “Bring out your weapon. Otherwise, you’re not my match.”

Qing Shui nodded. “Don’t worry, when I need my weapon, I’ll bring it out. But let me tell you, you aren’t a match for me. You’re going to lose.”

“Arrogant! Take this!”

The old man seemed to be a little infuriated. He straightened his back and then arched backward to be like a tightly drawn bow. He was golden and shimmering, filled with explosive powers. He then suddenly let loose.

Open!

The old man’s figure was unbelievably fast. The golden shimmer around him brought about a stream of light and shadows. Right now, his fists were like two spinning drills, charging out toward Qing Shui.

Nine Continents Mountain!

Go!

Qing Shui activated the Nine Continents Mountain without panicking. The old man’s abilities were close to four million nimbus. This was his entire strength. A person with his abilities could be considered to be a very powerful existence in the Heaven Secrets Academy.

A strength of two million nimbus would be a Peak Grade Four State Master. There was a huge barrier there and many people whose strength were at 1.9 million would stop there forever, never being able to step into the doors of a Grade Five State Master.

If one wasn’t able to cross that threshold, they wouldn’t be able to raise their abilities. This golden armored old man was clearly a Grade Five State Master and was one with a strength of close to four million nimbus.

It was a pity that the prowess of Qing Shui’s Nine Continents Mountain was over five million nimbus. The gap between two attacks was tremendous. One was at over five million nimbus, the other wasn’t even at four million nimbus Therefore, when the Nine Continents Mountain came smashing toward the old man at great speed, the latter’s countenance fell.

Golden Armor Shadow!

The old man suddenly came to a stop. He swayed a little, leaving behind a phantom image as he quickly retreated!

Boom!

The Nine Continents Mountain collided against the phantom image and then headed toward the old man once again.

This was how cultivators who trained in physical martial techniques fought. When the person came across an opponent with an even more powerful physical attack, it would be a disaster. For them

“All of us attack at once! Capture him and take him back!”

The person who was on the extreme left amongst the few remaining old man shouted out and rapidly entered the battle scene, charging toward Qing Shui.

Qing Shui wasn’t surprised but his gaze was full of contempt and there was a hint of viciousness in his eyes as well. He didn’t like this way of doing things. If Qing Shui was the one who had initiated the attack, it was one thing for them to attack all at once. However, today, they were the ones who came to find trouble for him, and then they decided to attack together when they saw that they were no match for him. When dealing with people like this, Qing Shui would not usually let them have a good ending.

Divine Nebula Formation!

Primordial Flame Dragon Whip!

Right now, Qing Shui’s spirit energy attacks were even more terrifying, even if he did not use the Seal of Roc. This caused the chances of his attacks being doubled to be removed. He must not place too much hope on those additional chances.

Pa!

The old man who dashed forth went on full defense, but he was still trembled from the whip attack and was sent back. They weren’t on the same level. He was much weaker compared to the golden armored old man, but he was slightly stronger than Elder Tianyi.

Right now, a casual whip from Qing Shui’s Primordial Flame Whip would have a prowess of over three million nimbus. Moreover, it was flexible and mysterious, making it hard to fend off. The old man was on the verge of death just from this single whip alone and was sent flying out.

The golden armored old man was held back by the Nine Continents Mountain. Out of the three remaining old men, one was seriously injured while the other two were only starting to take action. However, they could only stop in their tracks. They weren’t stronger than the other old man who had been seriously hurt from just a single attack and they weren’t going to be idiots and make useless sacrifices.

“We’re Heaven Secrets Academy’s Elders. You’re offending the people superior to you!” A slightly fat old man from the two remaining Elders shouted out.

“Don’t try to bring out your status as an Elder to suppress others. What have you done earlier? Even an Elder from the Heaven Secrets Academy has no rights to capture someone for his personal interests.” Although Qing Shui didn’t try to kill, he wouldn’t let them get off easy either.

“Old Second Jin, you seemed to have bumped into a steel plate!”

Just then, several old men laughed and flew over. Before they were within sight, their joyous laughters had already arrived.

Looking at their clothes, Qing Shui knew that these people were from Lord Sect.

“This is our Saint Child Band’s matters and doesn’t have anything to do with your Lord Sect. Stop sticking your nose into this.” Although the golden armored old man was in a dire state, he still shouted out furiously toward the few old men who had just arrived.

“Haha, we’ll just watch as you guys get thrashed then. Haven’t you always thought that you’re very powerful? Why are you guys trying to bully with numbers and flaunting your seniority?” The old man who spoke up earlier seemed to be very happy.

These words caused the golden armored old man and the others to become even angrier. The golden armored old man got away from the Nine Continents Mountain while the other two old man supported their injured comrade. All of them found an opportunity and fled.

They didn’t say anything before they left. At this stage, no matter what they said, they would just humiliate themselves even more. Therefore, it was better to not say anything. As for this young man, someone else would teach him a lesson.

“Lad, you have a high level of cultivation!”

That old man from earlier was like the Maitreya. Even if he wasn’t smiling, he would look as if he was smiling. Qing Shui knew that someone like this must either be a person of great good or great evil.

“Hello!” Qing Shui knew that they were from Lord Sect and might even be related to Tian Jiange.

“Since you’re fine, we’re assured. Little Tian was worried and insisted that we make a trip here.” The old man said warmly.

“I’ve trouble the few of you. Why don’t you guys come in for some tea?” Qing Shui said politely. He knew that Little Tian referred to Tian Jiange. It seemed that Tian Jiange’s status in Lord Sect had started to rise.

“Perhaps next time. We have plenty of chances in the future. We still have things to attend to and shall head back first.”

“Alright!”

Qing Shui watched and sent them off. No matter what, these people had come. This represented Tian Jiange’s stance, and it was also could be considered that Lord Sect was helping him.

Now that the four old men had left, the Saint Child should come personally next. In addition, given that Qing Shui had injured his people, if there were no accidents, the Saint Child would probably fight against Qing Shui.

After this battle, Qing Shui’s name spread very quickly through the Heaven Secrets Academy. There were rumors saying that he had defeated four Elders by himself, of him challenging the Saint Child Band, and even some which were saying that Qing Shui had sent a letter of challenge to the Saint Child to a life and death battle in two days.

Qing Shui wasn’t that stupid. He could leave some rumors be but now, even rumors of him sending a letter of challenge had appeared. Qing Shui knew that it was some tricks pulled by some people intentionally. The ones behind it could only be the people from the Saint Child Band.

The rumors said that Qing Shui was extremely arrogant, had challenged the Saint Child Band, and had even deployed underhanded means to poison Saint Child’s younger brother. They were even saying that Saint Child Band had made several requests for him to cure him of the poison, and also said that Qing Shui injured Elders and had no respect for seniority…

Many people didn’t know of the actual situation and thought that a young lad who was craving for reputation and didn’t know how big the world was had found a wrong target. Therefore, many people were full of despise toward Qing Shui.

Qing Shui didn’t feel anything toward these rumors. No matter how foul they were, they wouldn’t disturb his mental state. He had a clear conscience and no matter what other thought, it was not his problem. People didn’t live for the sake of unimportant people. Otherwise, it would be too tiring. Who would really be able to make it so that everyone was satisfied?

Sitting in the pavilion, Qing Shui took out pen, ink, and paper.

“Since you’ve sent out the rumor that I have issued you a letter of challenge, then let’s make it a reality. This should go according to your wishes.” Qing Shui gave it some thought and started to write on the beast parchment.

When the Eldest Princess came, Qing Shui was done with his final stroke.

“What are you writing?” The Eldest Princess smiled and looked toward the beast parchment on the stone table.

“Letter of challenge!” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“You want to challenge him?” The Eldest Princess spoke in astonishment. Her sexy mouth was now slightly agape in surprise and when Qing Shui saw those seductive red lips, he couldn’t help but have evil thoughts. He quickly dismissed those thoughts.

“That’s right. Since he has spread words that I’m going to challenge him, we might as well just fight it out. It’s better to be taking the initiative.” Qing Shui said without a care.

The Eldest Princess looked at Qing Shui. She suddenly felt that she didn’t recognize this calm-looking guy at all. It was a very long time before she said slowly, “How confident are you in winning him?”

“30%!” Qing Shui gave it some thought and said.

“You’re challenging him despite having only 30% chance of winning?” The Eldest Princess looked at Qing Shui in disbelief.

“It’s because I don’t know his abilities. Sometimes, there are things which men have to face. It’s not possible to avoid them.”

When Qing Shui said 30%, he didn’t just come up with a random number. He really felt that his chances of winning were at 30%. If he could refine the powers in his body, he felt that his chances of winning would be at least 80%.

It was because Qing Shui had Emperor’s Qi, Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant, and Vajra Subdues Demons. No matter how powerful the Saint Child was, how powerful could he possibly be? If Qing Shui could refine that power in his body, he should be able to attain a breakthrough to have a strength of ten million nimbus.

He didn’t know if there was enough time. If there wasn’t, then he could only rely on the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant. It was just that Qing Shui wasn’t very confident if were to only rely on the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant when going up against the Saint Child.

Name of a Bodhisattva. In China Budai, image is one of the main forms in which Maitreya is depicted in China. Budai also has the nickname of Laughing Buddha.