## AST 439 - Is It A Bane If A Woman Is Too Beautiful? Returning To Heavenly Palace

Greencloud Continent City was already within sight. It would not take more than half a day to reach there. The three of them had already journeyed for about a month. Some time had passed since they were last in the city.

The second trip to the Heavenly Palace was very different from his first trip. The only thing that was similar was Qing Shui’s frame of mind. After he met with Sword Demon Huang Qing, he knew how powerful the Peak Grade Martial King warriors of Greencloud continent were.

“Are you thinking of that woman who looks as beautiful as the Palace Mistress?” Huoyun Liu-Li teased Qing Shui mischievously for the umpteenth time.

“No!” Qing Shui smiled bitterly.

“Why? Don’t tell me she is not beautiful,” Huoyun Liu-li giggled as she questioned.

“She is beautiful, very beautiful,” Qing Shui replied earnestly.

“Am I beautiful?” Huoyun Liu-Li narrowed her alluring eyes into beautiful crescents. This almost made Qing Shui breathless.

“You’re beautiful…”

“Is she more beautiful than me?” Huoyun Liu-Li’s eyes completely revealed her craftiness.

“She is not as beautiful as you!” Qing Shui would never commit such a rudimentary mistake. Qing Shui had always abided by his principles when it came to answering such questions so he sounded certain.

“Yeah, hypocrite. Everyone can see that you think that she is more beautiful. It’s okay. I can accept that. So just tell me the truth, is she more beautiful?” Huoyun Liu-Li smiled at him.

Qing Shui did not know why Huoyun Liu-Li wanted to pursue the topic further. He felt that she had a personal issue regarding the question and that she was not teasing him.

Huoyun Liu-Li felt that she was not as beautiful as Canghai Mingyue, let alone the Palace Mistress of Misty Hall. When she saw the gorgeous woman called Huang Qing, she truly felt like she could not compare.

As Qing Shui looked at the pretty woman in her graceful purple dress, he did not think that she was inferior to anyone. Qing Shui was captivated by her naturally seductive charms. He never got tired of the way she teased him each time. He felt the most relaxed, most comfortable and the most natural with her.

“Liu-Li, in my eyes, you are in no way inferior to anyone. You are the most beautiful. Beauty is not a fixed concept. Sometimes, it is more of a feeling,” Qing Shui said with exceptional sincerity.

Qing Shui could never imagine that a woman like Huoyun Liu-Li would have moments when she lost confidence in herself. However, no one could blame her. After all, Canghai Mingyue, Yiye Jiange, Di Chen and now with the addition of Huang Qing, were all beauties that seemed who were sculpted from fantasies.

Even the ladies in Hundred Miles City like Yu He, Shi Qingzhuang and Mingyue Gelou could match her beauty. This made her feel helpless even with the confidence she had in her appearance.

“Why do you say that? Tell me, how am I better than that Huang Qing woman?” Huoyun Liu-Li smiled.

“Let me put it this way. It isn’t a good thing for a woman to be as beautiful as her or the Palace Mistress.” Qing Shui laughed.

“Oh, what sort of explanation is this? Which woman doesn’t desire to look as beautiful as a goddess and which man wouldn’t like his woman to be the most beautiful?” she looked at Qing Shui with surprise.

“Every man wishes for his woman to be a living, breathing person beside him; a woman of flesh and bone; a woman with desires, love and frustrations; a woman he can touch and reach for. Not a goddess to be worshipped on a pedestal,” Qing Shui explained genuinely as he looked at Huoyun Liu-Li.

Surprise was written all over Huoyun Liu-Li’s face. “What about sister, is she a goddess?” She laughed out happily.

“She was, but I have pulled one of her legs out from the “Goddess Gateway”. If I work harder, maybe I can free her other leg as well. Why should such a good lady be a goddess? What do you think, Liu-Li?” Qing Shui looked at Canghai Mingyue; she looked slightly uncomfortable, but smiled bashfully.

“Yeah. Qing Shui, you are the only one that doesn’t like women who are like goddesses. Hehe. When I see women like Huang Qing or the Palace mistress, even I feel slightly attracted.” Huoyun Liu-Li watched Qing Shui intently.

Qing Shui touched his nose and smiled sheepishly. “Men look for women to pamper and love. Unless they are crazy, why would anyone want a goddess to worship daily...”

“You can come up with all sorts of odd reasons, but you do have point. Though do you really have not even a bit of feelings for them?” Huoyun Liu-Li smiled; the craftiness was replaced with a lightheartedness. She was just like a beautiful little fox.

“How should I put it? They are like the stars in the skies. They are too far and our paths will never intersect. Even if they do, they will be like shooting stars. It will only be resplendent for that short moment.”

“What..What about me? What am I to you?” Huoyun Liu-Li asked in a quiet, nonchalant voice.

Qing Shui knew that she cared a lot about how he was going to answer her. She would only act indifferently when she really cared.

“You are my “sweet dessert”. I am a hungry man. Do you think I will think about the stars in the skies or will I eat the sweet dessert I like the most?” Qing Shui laughed heartily but his gaze showed his seriousness.

“No way, I am not your sweet dessert. You are a real baddie,” Huoyun Liu-Li said with slight disdain, but he knew that she was very happy from that mesmerizing smile of hers.

“We are reaching soon. Let’s get down,” Canghai Mingyue reminded.

“It’s okay. Don’t forget, I am already an Elder of the Heaven Palace.” Qing Shui laughed. In the Heavenly Palace, only Elders and above had the privilege to ride up the mountains or fly without restraints around the nine halls of the Heavenly Palace on their flying beast - with the exception of a few special places.

“I’ve really forgotten that you are already an Elder,” Huoyun Liu-li quipped.

His Firebird flew directly towards Heavenly Palace Mountain. Instinctively, it headed to Cang Wuya’s abode. However, as it reached the skies above the Heaven Palace, it landed.

Qing Shui thought that it would be better to walk such a short distance!

After all, It had been some time since he came. He was surprised to find that many people in Heavenly Palace still remembered him. Apparently, Qing Shui placed himself in the spotlight the last time he was here.

“Is that Qing Shui?”

“Who is Qing Shui?” A youth asked in confusion.

“He is the youngest Elder in Heaven Palace. Now you know!”

“Is he that brash man who fought against nine people from Sword Tower himself?” the youth asked as his eyes sparkled when he saw Qing Shui.

“Yes. And he was the one who killed that monster, Xi Ri.”

“He is also the youngest Elder!”

……

Even though they discussed in hushed voices, Qing Shui could hear them clearly. He realized that the two ladies were hiding their smiles.

After they walked past stone gardens, forests and followed a gravel path, they finally reached Cang Wuya’s house. They spotted him waiting for them at the gate

“Grandpa!”

“Grandpa!

“Grandpa Cang!”

Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li hugged Cang Wuya as they greeted him. Qing Shui could see that the both of them were very happy, especially Canghai Mingyue.

Qing Shui grinned as his eyes met with Cang Wuya’s.

“You’re back! How are you all doing?” Cang Wuya asked cheerfully. Qing Shui could tell that Cang Wuya was genuinely glad.

Cang Wuya’s son was dead and he did not have any other living descendants. Even though Canghai was his disciple, he treated her as well as his son and had taken care of her since she was young. He had always treated her as his own granddaughter.

“Yup, we are okay.”

“Grandpa Cang, when we arrived, I think I saw many other sect members from Sword Tower and the other sects at the mountains?” Qing Shui asked Cang Wuya about what they saw.

“That’s right. I wanted to discuss it with you. All of you came back at the right time. You are just in time for the Greencloud Continent Capital's Six Sects Tournament.”

“Six Sects Tournament?” Qing Shui asked Cang Wuya, puzzled.

“Yes, the six largest sects in the Continent Capital are: Heavenly Palace, Sword Tower, Alchemist Sect, Demonic Beast Sect, Qin Clan and Hai Clan!” Cang Wuya listed out the names of the sects and families involved as he knew that that was what Qing Shui wanted to find out.

“Are these the strongest sects in the Greencloud continent?” Qing Shui knew about Heavenly Palace, Sword Tower and had heard of Alchemist Sect and Qin Clan. Guo Polu’s father was a warrior from Qin Clan.

However, Qing Shui had never heard of Demonic Beast Sect and Hai Clan.

“On the surface, it seems that way. However, in Greencloud Continent, even just the Continent Capital, who knows if there are any hidden experts. So even if they are known to be the strongest sects, it is really only for this region.”

Qing Shui agreed. Considering the vastness of the Central Continent, what was known was only a drop in the ocean. For example, who would have known that in a small city like Hundred Miles City, there was a powerful demonic beast in the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp? Even the Art Maestro died there.

“Grandpa Cang, is the Demonic Beast Sect strong?” Qing Shui was curious about this sect with Beast Tamers.

“Demonic Beast Sect was once the strongest sects in Greencloud Continent as they had two Elders who managed to tame a Martial King level Demonic beast each. It instantly boosted their ranks to the strongest sect, but people are never satisfied. When they came to know of the location of the demonic beast “Golden eyed Ape King”, which had just reached Martial Saint level, they decided to try to tame it. Unfortunately, they did not manage to. They were badly defeated and lost many people. That battle caused their rank to drop immediately. Despite that, even if they were weakened, they are still considered strong. Who knows if they have a strong backer who has a Peak grade Martial King Demonic beast.”

After hearing Cang Wuya’s introduction, Qing Shui could not help being curious about the Demonic Beast Sect. Due to Yiye Chuge and Luanluan, he knew a bit about beast taming. After all, beast tamers have one of the most powerful professions in the world of the Nine Continents.

Qing Shui did not know how formidable Demonic Beast Sect’s beast taming techniques were, but he knew that they cannot compare to Luanluan. This was expected. However, Qing Shui felt that they were way more inferior to her. After all, how can it be so difficult to tame a demonic beast of the same level as them?

“Grandpa Cang, is it very difficult for a tamer to tame a demonic beast at the same level?

“Yes. Under normal circumstances, beast taming is very difficult as you need to defeat the beast. This is already very difficult as a single demonic beast can defeat multiple martial warriors who are at the same level as itself,” Cang Wuya explained as they all walked towards the hall.

“How do the beast tamers of the Demonic Beast Sect tame beasts who are at their level?” Qing Shui thought of a few methods, but he was unsure if they were correct. Especially when it comes to the problem that the two Peak Grade Martial King level beast tamers were able to tame beasts of the same level.

“The most direct method of taming a beast is to defeat it. After it fears you, you can start taming it. Another is to get help from an expert to injure the demonic beast first, then go forward to tame it. Of course, the success rate of the latter is much lower but much safer. This is how seniors can help their juniors and how relationships are improved between these beast tamers. Another method is to help a badly wounded demonic beast, even if they may be strong, you might be able to tame them after that. Though, that is very dangerous.”

They sat down on the couches near the tea table. It matched his guess, however, Qing Shui did not know that people could team up for that. In Greencloud Continent, there were only Peak Grade Martial King warriors. Even with the help of one person, it would not be easy to defeat a Peak Grade Martial King Demonic beast.

“Grandpa Cang, what are the rules and purposes of the Six Sects Tournament?” Qing Shui asked. He thought about the person he met at Sword Tower previously and wondered if he could kill him if the conditions permitted it.

“Nominally, it is to exchange views and learn from each other. In fact, it is basically for resolving grudges. “

“Resolving grudges? What is that about?” Qing Shui asked as there was a glint in his eyes.

“In this continent capital and the surrounding regions, these six sects wielded the biggest power. All the other smaller sects and clans are quite insignificant. Therefore, grudges are usually kept within these six sects. Just like the relationship between Heavenly Palace and Sword Tower.”

“Is killing permitted in this tournament?” Qing Shui looked at Cang Wuya smiling.

“In the Six Sects tournament, no one can come down from the battling stage unscathed.” Cang Wuya laughed.

At this moment, Qing Shui felt his blood boil as he thought of Sword Tower. He then turned to Cang Wuya and continued asking, “ Grandpa Cang, are there any rules or limitations for this Six Sects tournament?”

“Yes. People of the same seniority can directly challenge each other. If a person of a higher seniority wants a match with someone of a lower seniority, the person with a lower seniority can decide if they want to accept the match. Anyone who has a lower seniority than the person on the battling stage can directly challenge the opponent on the stage. The rest is up to fate.” Cang Wuya summarized the rules.

“That is easy. The lives of martial arts practitioners are more fragile than the commoners.” Qing Shui sighed.

After a while, Fei Wuji came over happily. As Cang Wuya liked wines, Qing Shui took out some of the various wines he had kept in the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal.

“Qing Shui. So will you be participating in the Six Sects Tournament? “ Fei Wuji asked after he drank a huge gulp of aged nu’er hong (wine).

“It depends.” Qing Shui thought about that person, if he stood on the battle stage, Qing Shui would definitely go up, too.

“If you participate, Qing Shui, do remember that you can only fight with someone of the same seniority,” Fei Wuji told him seriously. There were many people vying to take this opportunity to kill a genius like Qing Shui.

“Yes, I will take note of that. Thank you, Senior Martial Uncle.” Qing Shui was thankful for Fei Wuji’s concern. In the world of Nine Continents, there were not many people who cared for him as such.