## AST 954 – Within The Nine Palace, He Was The King! As A Mother!

But right now, he couldn’t even fight back. He had suffered no less than ten blows in between. Every blow had sent Mo Zitong flying. He had only managed to counterattack once before the scene from earlier repeated itself, unless he could endure the blows. But there was no point of enduring the blows because he couldn’t even turn the situation of a single technique around. If it wasn’t for the miraculous battle armor on him, he would have been injured long ago. He could only use an absolute power to face this type of situation. Otherwise, he couldn’t even get near him.

“Do you think there’s still a need to fight?” Qing Shui questioned while he fought.

“You can’t break the defense of my battle armor. It’s still hard to determine the outcome of the battle!” Mo Zitong’s last bit of hope was a competition of endurance.

“I wonder if your head is as hard as your body!” Qing Shui said coldly while looking at Mo Zitong. If his opponent didn’t know when to admit defeat, Qing Shui wouldn’t mind teaching him a lesson.

Mo Zitong knew that he had been defeated. His opponent had been lenient towards him. But in a battle like this, he couldn’t perform to his full strength. He was utterly defeated in the face of his opponent’s absolute speed. He didn’t use his full strength. It seemed that his opponent didn’t use even a single killing technique.

A defeat was a defeat!

“Elder Wu, I have lost!” Mo Zitong said while shaking his head to the old man. He had a desolate expression on his face. He was completely blown away from this round’s failure. He had always been a role model among his peers in the Demon Gate, an unbeatable existence. He was the leading figure of his generation. He had never suffered any setbacks and was doted on excessively. His path had simply been too smooth-sailing.

Elder Wu frowned when he remembered the words the Clan’s Head said when he arrived. Tong’er’s talent was a blessing from heaven. The path he walked on had been too smooth. Those that could defeat him were all older than him and this made him lose the sense of crisis. If this kept going on like this, he would suffer a big loss eventually someday.

“Now you know that there is always someone out there better than you no matter how good you are. You’re a man, what’s there to sigh about? This isn’t a bad thing. Now you should know what to do in the future. You’ll be a laughing stock if you’re brought down by this tiny setback. Failure means nothing. Stand up and get your stage back sometime in the future. Such is the spirit of a man!” Elder Wu advised gently. There weren’t many opportunities like this. Therefore, he wanted to give this “future of the Demon Gate” a wake up call.

Mo Zitong was shocked. That was dangerous. He almost fell into that incurable emotion.

Every single one of the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures controlled the existence of a person. Regardless of being overjoyed or in great sorrow, they were harmful to the body. Too much of anything was bad. Ultimately, excessive feelings could cause one’s emotions to fall into a type of mental state such as being trapped in sorrow and agony…

He had been living in favorable circumstances since he was young, just like a boat that sailed with the wind and current from upstream to downstream. Going against the current all of a sudden was an unacceptable situation to him.

The elderly man’s words made him understand so much within a split second. He was able to suddenly understand many things that the senior used to tell him before too. He also understood what a blessing in disguise was as well, so his heart calmed down quickly.

“Let us fight once more!” The old man looked in Qing Shui’s direction. The battle intent in his eyes was overwhelming.

“You are no match for me! Your strength is not as powerful as your mouth!” Qing Shui shook his head and laughed. This elderly man’s strength was just slightly over 2,000 stars, but not more than 2,300 stars. He wasn’t really pressured when it came to dealing with this kind of strength.

Moreover, he could defeat his opponent with absolute strength. Only the Nine Palace Steps alone would suffice.

“Take this!” This time, the old man took a leap without saying much. Like an Azure Hawk, he threw himself towards Qing Shui. The entire White Bone Sword* was surrounded by an impressive halo. Chaotic gray shadows trailed behind him.

Qing Shui frowned when he felt a sensation akin to Corrosion Claws’ from the White Bone Sword. He muttered inwardly to himself about coming across yet another dishonest and vicious cultivation technique.

Facing such heresy, Qing Shui only needed to put in half the effort to deal with them with his current Nature Energy. The more vicious something was, the more it was feared by an ordinary person. But it would be powerless in the face of Qing Shui.

Qing Shui wasn’t going to be courteous either. He activated Nature Energy to its limit. His figure flashed just like before.

Nine Palace Steps!

His figure instantly appeared behind the old man on his right. The elderly man held onto his sword with his right hand. The right rear side was the most uncomfortable position for him. Even so, he still spun around quickly.

Raging Blow!

Without hesitation, Qing Shui unleashed this tyrannical attack. Otherwise, there would be a great disparity between their powers!

The light on the Violet Star Thunder God that was akin to violet thunder and lightning was crackling noisily. It clashed immediately against the gleaming White Bone Sword. The old man’s power was originally slightly weaker than Qing Shui’s Raging Blow. In addition to the angle issue, his power was reduced a little when he abruptly swung his sword. Furthermore, Qing Shui’s Nature Energy could restrain him.

Bang!

A dull noise rang out. It felt as if the atmosphere had been knocked apart from the strong clash. A wave of Qi aura observable with the naked eye dispersed. The old man’s face paled slightly, as he was knocked backward. Qing Shui smiled and lifted his foot. In a flash, his figure was right behind the old man.

Within the Nine Palace, he was the king!

Raging Blow!

The old man was once again knocked back. Qing Shui calmly and steadily took another step again as usual. No matter how far the distance was, it seemed like he could travel around in the blink of an eye. Of course, that was how it appeared to the others. But in Qing Shui’s eyes, this distance was still within the Nine Palace.

The further the distance when cultivating Nine Palace Steps, the faster the speed would become. The strength of the enemies who entered within the Nine Palace would also be somewhat affected. Just the speed itself would make them unable to turn over. Let alone the rest.

He unleashed the Raging Blow consecutively. Although Raging Blow required a high consumption, Qing Shui could still afford it. He unleashed the fourth Raging Blow, seemingly calm.

The old man spurted out a mouthful of fresh blood as he was sent flying back to those people.

“It’s not that I don’t dare to kill. It’s just that there are still certain things that I have yet to clarify. Leave! I shall visit the Demon Gate in the near future,” Qing Shui said dully while looking at them.

Every single person from the Demon Gate went silent. They had thought of many outcomes but not this. So the voices around him started to flare up, as his every sneering remarks had reached their ears. It was as good as a knife through their hearts. But now, no one knew who had said that. It was evident that the person who dared to utter such words was not afraid of the Demon Gate either. The Demon Gate was very formidable. But there were also many that were as powerful as them.

“Everyone has their own limits. Don’t think that Demon Gate is undefeatable. Remember not to come again to dig your own graves within this period of time. Next time, I may not be this patient!” Qing Shui got up and left as soon as he finished his sentence.

From Qing Shui’s words, not a single person thought that he was arrogant, for he was able to easily defeat Mo Zitong and the old man at this age. Furthermore, it looked as if he had casually defeated them. Just which clan was that outstanding young man from…?

The facial expressions of the people from Demon Gate changed when a wild guess traveled to their ears. They had hated the Marionette Sect to the core. When they saw the people from the Tang Manor as well as some people from formidable sects appear, they immediately left the scene. Staying would only further humiliate them.

“Little brother! Have a safe journey! I won’t be seeing you off!” Tang Wude smiled at Qing Shui.

“Take care of yourself, big brother!” Qing Shui waved, as he hopped on Fire Bird.

It was uncertain when they would meet again after this time. He waved his hand once again as Tang Wude’s figure faded into the distance. Qing Shui initially didn’t want him to see him off, but Tang Wude insisted until he was about to exit the Central Continent’s Capital.

Qing Shui wasn’t sure if the Demon Gate would still stop him. If it wasn’t for Huoyun Liu-Li, Qing Shui definitely wouldn’t have hurt only the old man like he did today. He heard Mo Zitong call out to Elder Wu or Fifth Elder earlier. It didn’t matter which one it was, this old man shouldn’t be a member of the Demon Gate.

Judging from this elderly man’s strength, he should have some status in the Demon Gate. Qing Shui had only injured his opponent due to the same reason, not because he was afraid of his opponent. He was not afraid of the Demon Gate at all now. Nobody could stop him if he wanted to leave.

The following journey was extremely tranquil. Duanmu City was already in sight. Qing Shui felt Lady Duanmu was the most complicated and most troublesome person. Even if this happened in his previous world, it would still be a very unique case. If Qing Shui and Lady Duanmu were to exchange their genders, it would be very normal in his previous world.

Qing Shui, who had been reborn once, was able to accept any unpleasant facts. He couldn’t be bothered by the opinions of those that didn’t matter or how they saw him. But Lady Duanmu couldn’t free herself from the shackles that she had put on herself.

That time was only a mistake, something he did because he had no other choices. So Qing Shui left the all the decisions to Lady Duanmu.

It had been a while since his last goodbye. He had even forgotten how long it had been, but he could still find the place easily. It seems that the Duanmu Residence had flourished more than before. Qing Shui was very delighted too.

Perhaps it had been a long while and Qing Shui had changed quite a bit from before. Perhaps it was also because the guards were no longer the same as the ones before. Qing Shui was stopped when he walked to the entrance of the Duanmu Residence.

“Who are you, sir? This is the Duanmu Residence.”

Maybe they could tell that Qing Shui was no ordinary person. After all, his bearing and the aura he exuded discouraged them from being rash with him. Hence, they asked him politely.

“I would like to meet Lady Duanmu,” Qing Shui said before thinking for a moment.

“Who are you? What business do you have with the madame?” a slightly older looking man came out and asked Qing Shui politely.

There was hardly anyone who came to look for the madame like this in the Duanmu City. They could either send an invitation in advance or the madame would inform them in advance who would be coming.

It was at this moment, a lavish carriage came to a stop. Then, a stunning woman in a blue dress stepped down from the carriage. Qing Shui could recognize that this woman was Duanmu Lingshuang with just a single glance. But she wasn’t as cold as she used to be. In fact, she even had a faint smile on her face. But Qing Shui had his eyes fixed at her arms.

She was cradling a child. A few months old child who was as delicate as a crystal. A rough and burly man then came over. “Lingshuang, let me carry the child.”

Duanmu Lingshuang smiled happily and passed her child over to him. “Be careful. Don’t injure our child again.”

“I won’t!” The man smiled and carefully held the child as if he was carrying a treasure.

Duanmu Lingshuang had a very warm smile on her face. She was stunned when she turned around and saw Qing Shui smiling at her. She stared for quite a while. “You are Qing Shui!” she said doubtfully.

Qing Shui smiled and nodded his head. “Miss Lingshuang! I’m so glad to see you!”

Qing Shui was actually very surprised that Duanmu Lingshuang already had a child, but not overly so. He never thought that Duanmu Lingshuang had fallen in love with him. It was just a joke at that time. Moreover, so many years had passed and she wasn’t getting any younger. He didn’t have the confidence to have a woman crying for him to marry her when she had just met him yet. It seemed like she had the hunch that she might not even see him again for the rest of her life.