## AST 1091 – Collapsed At The First Blow

Qing Shui’s raging spiritual energy poured out toward his opponent, causing the man to bleed out from his ears, nose, and mouth. This all happened in the instant after he was suppressed by Qing Shui’s powerful spiritual energy. The Beast Blood Tribe’s weakness was their spiritual energy, after all.

Qing Shui would not forgive those who tried to assault his women. Furthermore, he did mention that everyone in the opposing party would die should his opponent lose this battle. Initially, Qing Shui decided that he would let the others off even if his opponent failed to defeat him. But when he turned to look at the massive number of people surrounding them, he knew that no one should be left alive, regardless of whether he wanted to punish them as a warning to others or he was being persuasive with his words.

“Third Master Xiong!”

Some of the men from the Beast Blood Tribe shouted abruptly. Most of them even picked up their weapons and rushed towards Qing Shui. However, these people were nothing in Qing Shui’s eyes. With his palm outwards, he released the Great Golden Buddha Palm towards the incoming crowd!

In an instant, one of the two who was rushing towards Qing Shui was squished to death. With a wave of his hand, the Nine Continents Mountains quickly appeared above the other opponent and simultaneously grew larger. Before everyone could see it coming, the mountain smashed into the ground with an abrupt motion, causing the eyes of the panic-stricken crowd to widen even further.

A large crater was bored into the earth with depths beyond comprehension. Those people were suddenly met with misfortune and the unexpected confinement to their power, allowing Qing Shui to beat them into a pulp quite effortlessly. All of his opponents were crushed into the endless pit, ending all signs of life in an instant.

No one would expect any fortunate signs of life to come out from the pit. The power Qing Shui had demonstrated was enough to eliminate any lives instantly, forcing those who felt it have a desire to escape immediately. However, they realized they couldn’t even move their feet. The worst part about the situation was that they knew this young man could kill them very easily should he desire to do so at the moment.

The surroundings became so quiet that one could even hear a pin dropping onto the ground. Everyone here was extraordinary in terms of power, as only powerful cultivators were allowed to enter this zone. They could also be considered the best in their respective hometowns, wherever that may be in the World of Nine Continents.

Rise!

Qing Shui growled. The Nine Continents Mountain rose up from the earthen ground with a grumbling noise that appalled those who could hear it. They could hear their own hastened breaths despite the tremors of the Nine Continents Mountain.

The ladies stood behind Qing Shui in silence, yet their thoughts were scattered everywhere. The strongest would be absolute in the World of the Nine Continents. Only those with power would be able to live a life of their choosing—they would be able to guarantee the safety of their family and themselves.

The stronger Qing Shui became, the happier the ladies would feel. They would feel safer and happier as long as Qing Shui continued to grow more powerful. Furthermore, they would be able to stay by his side with no worries whatsoever.

Lives were already taken. Qing Shui knew that he would be pursued with endless troubles by those who sought an answer for the deaths of these people. Fortunately, he had already annihilated the two Guardian Clans from the Northern Sacred Lu Continent when they were at the Greencloud Continent. Moreover, their sole purpose of coming to the Northern Sacred Lu Continent was to destroy the Lion King’s Ridge once and for all. The Northern Sacred Lu Continent was destined to fall into calamity under Qing Shui’s hands, so there was no harm in killing a few people now and then.

Qing Shui swept his gaze across the surrounding crowd and proceeded to lead the ladies out from the scene. He had no doubt that this incident would cause the onlookers to watch their tongues when they spread rumors. Of course, there would always be those who were fearless of death and would rather watch the whole world burn with glistening eyes.

Qing Shui and the ladies managed to cross the hundred meters wide halo surrounding the Ancient Ruins but were soon overwhelmed by the powerful force of the world’s regulation in an instant. However, at the same time, Qing Shui’s spiritual energy was beginning to push back the force of the world’s regulation—this was clearly an effect produced by the Arhat Rosary Beads.

At that moment, his lips curled into a smile. He could sweep the entire Five Continents with both his spiritual energy of 1,200,000 stars and his spiritual battle techniques. He felt quite at ease in this moment and because of that, he suddenly felt that the Nine Continents Mountain within his Dantian was becoming closer to him. It was a mysterious feeling, almost like when as if his techniques had reached a breakthrough. It was vague, to say the least and it wasn’t quite obvious to his senses. Overall, all he could gather from this realization was nothing more than a feeling.

Qing Shui didn’t analyze his Dantian immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. There were quite a number of people outside the Ancient Ruins who had just got out today. It was already late and by mid-day tomorrow, the Ancient Ruins would be closed off from public access.

Whether the Ancient Ruins would open again or be closed forever, no one had a clue. Perhaps it might open again soon or perhaps it might take another thousands of years before it would be opened for access once more. There might be a possibility that the Ancient Ruins may be closed forever.

Qing Shui didn’t see Tantai Xuan, so she must have left already. He shook his head—he had no idea how strong her master from Mount Putuo of the Southern Sea was in the other Four Continents. Despite that, he looked forward to seeing the structure and system of the other Four Continents.

The time to head to the other Four Continents was rapidly approaching. Before that, he would have to settle everything in the Five Continents first. He would rather postpone his journey to the Four Continents by five years than leave hastily without settling his matters properly.

“Daddy, let’s go look around the Dragon Spine Mountain. It’s already quite late today, so let’s continue our journey tomorrow!” Luan Luan made a suggestion while hugging Qing Shui’s neck happily.

Only Luan Luan would do such a thing. Maybe if Huoyun Liu-Li was here, she would do the same thing too. The other ladies couldn’t force themselves to do it. However, they were already satisfied by watching Luan Luan being close with Qing Shui, as it proved that their bond as father and daughter was nothing short of amicable. Despite Qing Shui’s young appearance, he already possessed the mannerism that only a father would have.

“Alright, my little girl has spoken. We will follow her words. Tomorrow we will go back and fetch Grandpa Lin, then we will go to Lion King’s Ridge together,” said Qing Shui as he rubbed Luan Luan’s head and smiled.

“Mm, that’s great. I’ve been waiting for this day to come.” Luan Luan laughed and jumped with joy, as if she didn’t care whether the people around her would look at her with a surprised expression.

Compared to Luan Luan’s overwhelming excitement, Yiye Jiange was as stiff as a board. The day she had been longing for was getting closer. Would it finally happen? Would the hope that she had longed for all those years finally come true because of him?

She smiled as she looked at Luan Luan and Qing Shui stood together. Her smile gradually turned to that of immense gratitude. Yiye Jiange felt blissful that a man like him would show concern towards her. She didn’t know when it happened but her impression of him had changed entirely since she had first met him years ago.

Qing Shui used to be her disciple. Even though he was a disciple in name only, she was still far stronger than he was back then. As time passed, she eventually treated him like a junior and cared deeply for his well-being.

Despite her genuine concern for him, she had never really shown it through her expressions. She soon became a bit conflicted after being called ‘master’ several times, yet she couldn’t understand why she felt that way and why her mentality toward him had changed. It wasn’t until now that she finally understood why—she had been in love with him for a long time.

It wasn’t difficult for two people who didn’t hate each other to develop feelings for one another after being together for a long time. Because she didn’t hate him, there was no conflict. Both were clearly of different genders, so there would be skinship somewhere along the way. It would be easier to develop a relationship with each other as well.

Yiye Jiange didn’t know when she had developed such feelings for him. Romance could happen at any time, so when the moment came, it would always start with an emotion, then moments of awkwardness and changes in their manners with one another.

“Jiange, what are you thinking about?” Qing Shui approached her and asked when he noticed that her head was in the clouds.

He also understood her feelings at the moment. After all, this moment would change her life forever. One could also say that her life would change the moment her burden was released from her heart. Her purpose of life would take on a different meaning as well.

“Nothing. I was just thinking of some stuff.” Yiye Jiange replied unnaturally. Qing Shui, however, didn’t think too much of it and continued ahead towards the distance with the group.

It wasn’t until they were far away from the crowd that they finally called out their flying beasts and demonic beasts to roam around the Dragon Spine Mountain due to its enormous landscape. If they were to travel on foot, they wouldn’t be able to cover the entire area even if they continued on until night time.

The Dragon Spine Mountain looked like a meandering snake with an uneven terrain on its back from a bird’s eye point of view. Now that the sky was becoming dim, the mountain was like a silhouette of a giant dragon that laid down on the ground. This mountain has its own unique Spiritual Qi, as well as its own majestic aura as a grand mountain.

They were traveling at an appropriately moderate speed, enough to roam around the Dragon Spine Mountain while taking in its overwhelming sight. There were quite a number of people mounted on Qing Shui’s Thunderous Beast at first but it was quickly mounted by everyone in the end. The giant Thunderous Beast seemed nothing like a demonic beast once it was mounted by Qing Shui’s group.

Qing Shui’s ears moved toward the shifting sounds and turned to look behind him. At that moment, a scornful smile could be seen appearing on his mouth.

“What is it? Is someone following us?”

“It’s nothing. We shouldn’t be concerned with anyone coming for us now since we’re going to destroy the Lion King’s Ridge. Are you still afraid of those clowns?” Qing Shui smiled nonchalantly.

“Qing Shui, you can’t be too careless either. Remember what I said to you before. If you fail, we are finished. So in other words, you can’t afford to lose, especially before we manage to lay our hands on Lion King’s Ridge.” Yiye Jiange felt almost powerless speaking those words herself. However, her words were touching, enough to show her concern for Qing Shui at the very least.

“Alright, woman. I know what you’re worried about. Just relax. I’m very confident in myself this time. Even if we can’t destroy them this time, we can still retreat without worrying what they will do to us after that.” Qing Shui said with a relaxed smile.

Yiye Jiange shot him a helpless glare after listening to what he had to say.

Then at that moment, a number of large blue demonic beasts flew towards their direction and trapped the Thunderous Beast by surrounding it in a swift motion. Qing Shui observed his surroundings without saying a word. The clothes on these perpetrators seemed like the uniform of the Violet Dragon Mountain.

The leader of this group was an old man who was also wearing violet robes. He had a strong and dignified air in him. With just one look at this man, Qing Shui could tell that he was a person of high status and position. He also hated the superiority that the old man was showing as soon as he laid eyes on this arrogant leader.

The other men following this leader were also wearing violet robes that were slightly lighter in color than that of the old man. These men exchanged glares with Qing Shui —both parties remained silent as they observed one another. Qing Shui didn’t feel pressured by their presence ever since he had emerged from the Ancient Ruins. If he hadn’t gone into the Ancient Ruins first, Qing Shui might have felt immensely pressured by their presence and succumbed to their will more easily.

“What do you want from stopping us?” Qing Shui frowned as he asked with a displeased tone.

“Were you the one who issued a challenge to my grandson?” The old man finally spoke after he observed Qing Shui thoroughly for quite a while.

“Yes, is there anything wrong with that?” Qing Shui asked the old man calmly.

“And you killed them in the Ancient Ruins?” The old man remained calm while shooting his question at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui kept his composure as he shook his head and said, “I did no such thing. I’m the type who would boldly confess if I ever killed someone, you know. But the man you spoke of—your grandson is indeed dead. However, I swear to the heavens, I have nothing to do with his murder whatsoever.”

The old man was still unfazed as he remained his focus on Qing Shui. “Then can you tell me who killed him?”

Qing Shui shook his head and replied, “I can’t. I’m not afraid of them but I think you already have an idea who might have done it. Why do you need to ask me then?”

Qing Shui said it deliberately as he didn’t have good feelings toward the Violet Dragon Mountain. Besides, for a large force to be able to do such things, they would more or less attract enemies or stir up rivalries for themselves. Qing Shui didn’t feel the need to explain himself clearly to them and he would prefer to let them delve into their guesses and miscellaneous thoughts. It was a dog-eat-dog world in the Northern Sacred Lu Continent due to the battle of powers from different forces. He wasn’t particularly concerned for those who lost the battle, because the fewer competitors there were, the better.