## AST 1640 - A life-and-death challenge

Just like this, the candidates for the Life-and-Death Challenge were decided. Yin Tian insisted on taking part in the match only to be rejected by Feng Xi and Yin Cha. Even Qing Shui disapproved of him taking part in the match. At the moment, a lot of people were aware of Yin Tian’s body condition. The Hong Clan was very likely the culprit responsible for it.

The reason behind the Hong Clan’s action was to inform the people from the Divine Moon Immortal Sect that Yin Tian was a useless person. If Yin Tian were to take part in the match, he would definitely be one of their main targets to be eliminated. Yin Tian possessed a unique status. If anything was to happen to him, Divine Moon Immortal Sect would be in danger.

If Yin Tian chose to not take part in it, the majority of people would still have faith in the sect. Since there were only four people taking part in the fight, it would give the audience the impression that the Yin Clan couldn’t be bothered about fighting. If the Yin Clan managed to win it, it would further make the things which the Hong Clan said prior to be invalid.

Qing Shui didn’t know the actual name of Old Man Wang. He only knew him by the way he addressed him. Old Man Wang was a very casual person. After dinner, Old Man Wang started inquiring Qing Shui about his cooking skills. Qing Shui was very selfless in terms of this. He gave Old Man Wang some of his ingredients and let him take them home to try them out.

Qing Shui still had a lot of the ingredients stocked up in the realm. They were things that would be consumed very slowly. Hence, there was no need for him to be stingy with them. The realm had been stuck at eighth grade for a long, long time. Qing Shui had no idea when it would break through to the ninth grade.

The Nine Animals Mimicry Technique, the final Dragon Form……. Qing Shui had basically mastered everything which the Phoenix Form had to offer. His Ancient Strengthening Technique was also at its Eighth Heavenly Layer. Just like usual, there was no sign showing that it’s going to break through anytime soon. His Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Palm was also at its Eighth Grade. If it was to break through yet again, its prowess would definitely multiply many folds.

Qing Shui had a considerable amount of killer techniques. He put his main emphasis on cultivating his body. Furthermore, his defensive prowess was his most powerful asset. In comparison, his offensive prowess was slightly lacking. Now that he had the Diamond Staff, he managed to receive a boost in the offensive prowess of the Five Elemental Forces.

Hence, for the time being, he could only coordinate his attacks with Feng Xi.

……

A Life-and-Death Challenge was a very huge issue. Though this matter might not have alerted the people outside of the Divine Moon Immortal Sect, it was already known throughout the entire sect itself. The time of the match was set to be after three days, in the morning. The location of the match would be in the upper-sky of Divine Moon Immortal Sect.

Qing Shui returned to the courtyard and immediately went to the two girls.

“Auntie said that the victor of the match will be decided with just one round. Both parties mustn’t send out more than ten people.” Qing Shui sat down opposite the two girls as he explained to them about the match.

Tantai Lingyan and Qin Qing were sitting together. Together, they formed a kind of harmonious beauty which words couldn’t describe. Qing Shui was reminded of why so many people enjoyed threesomes from his previous incarnation. If one day, he could see the both of them being tormented by him at the same time… That scene……..

As Qing Shui thought about this, he started feeling a bit restless. But for now, all he could do with these two girls was just look at them. He still couldn’t touch them. Naturally, both Tantai Lingyan and Qin Qing noticed Qing Shui’s fiery eyes. It’s just that they didn’t know what he was thinking deep down.

Because the two girls were together, they didn’t make too many comments about it. Despite that, the both of them couldn’t help but shoot glares at him. Otherwise, it would take him forever to come back to his senses. Even though sometimes, they might blame him for being so rude, deep down, they still felt really happy. Yes, this was how women were. They enjoyed it when the person they liked indulged in their beauty. But sometimes, they would also blame him for being rude. Actually, they couldn’t really blame him for anything…. But in the case when the three of them were together, it was reasonable for them to feel angry at him.

“How many representatives do we have on our side?” Tantai Lingyan asked.

“Four!” Qing Shui answered quickly.

“It seems like there is no need for Sister Qing and I to battle.” Tantai Lingyan said.

“I am just there as a side character. The true candidates in charge of fighting the matches are Auntie Feng and Yin Cha.”

“Who is our other representative?” Qin Qing asked after a moment of thought.

“Old Man Wang, the cook.” Qing Shui smiled and said.

Upon hearing that, the two girls were in great shock. They knew who Old Man Wang was. They met him once at the banquet. He was the person who served them dishes. It’s just that they didn’t intentionally try to know him. No one would expect him to be an expert warrior.

……

For the past two days, Qing Shui hadn’t been cultivating. Just like before, he aided the two girls in stabilizing their strength. However, he spent even more time in aiding Feng Xi. Qing Shui possessed very unique strength. His aid could help her neglect the opponent’s strength. It didn’t matter whether the opponent was strong or weak, he would still be of help.

Other than Feng Xi, he also helped Yin Cha and Old Man Wang. When they had time, he would also tell them to practice the Four Symbols Formation together. Old Man Wang stood at the White Tiger position whereas Qing Shui stood on the Green Dragon’s position. Yin Cha would stand on the Black Tortoise position. As for Feng Xi, she was left with the Vermilion Bird position to stand on.

Qing Shui’s ability was to control the tide of the battle. Not only did he seek more speed, he also wanted to strengthen the formation. He chose to not make any move in the battle. Instead, he left Old Man Wang in charge of the main offensive role. The position he was standing on was the most brilliant one. Basically, the fighting style didn’t change. The only thing they needed to do was to coordinate with each other as well as constantly move in between positions. Qing Shui informed them about the importance of a formation and also coordination.

Qing Shui’s demonic beasts would also be of use. As mentioned before, Old Man Wang was the person mainly in charge of taking down the opponents. He had a Shield Beast. It’s just that it had been a long time since he last sent it out to battle. Qing Shui was stunned upon seeing it being summoned before him. The beast was a Meteorite Beast. It was not in the slightest inferior to Qing Shui’s Hell Nightmare Beast. More importantly, the Meteorite Beast possessed strength which was a lot more powerful than the Hell Nightmare Beast. Hence, the current Hell Nightmare Beast, was simply inferior to the Meteorite Beast.

They were all experts and had quite a few powerful tamed beasts with them. Hence, Qing Shui needn’t worry about them. Since he himself had powerful demonic beasts, he would expect them to have powerful beasts as well. Qing Shui didn’t plan to summon his beasts. As for how well they could coordinate with their own demonic beasts, this should definitely not be a problem for them.

The reason why Qing Shui chose the Four Symbols Formation wasn’t simply because there were four of them. This formation didn’t require much time to learn. One did his job by just standing on a specified position. Hence, it’s considered one of the easiest formations to learn. Another reason was that it was also the formation which could bring forth the most potential from all four of them.

Old Man Wang and Yin Cha were amazed by this. Their strength was significantly boosted. The position which Qing Shui stood on enabled him to raise his speed by 30%. Old Man Wang’s position helped increase 30% of the overall damage he could cause to the opponents. As for YIn Cha, his position increased his overall defensive prowess by 30%. Last but not least, Feng Xi’s position increased her Spirit Energy by 30%.

Frankly speaking, they were all envious of this formation. Qing Shui, on the other hand, smiled and said, “If you guys are interested in learning it, I will pass on the technique to you guys later on. But brace yourself. It can’t be learnt that easily.”

The actual power of the formation was even higher than how it’s supposed to be. This was because Qing Shui had used the Formation Eye Stone together with this formation. After that, QIng Shui also further boosted it with his Phoenix’s Battle Intent as well as the Battle God Halo.

In just a short while, he stunned everyone around him except Feng Xi. Feng Xi was also very surprised. Even though she might have learnt about Qing Shui’s mysterious abilities earlier on, she never expected for them to be this strong.

It took a long while for Old Man Wang and Yin Cha to finally come back to their senses. They looked at Qing Shui with eyes which looked like they were looking at a monster.

“Don’t look at me like that. Do you know why Auntie Feng wants me here now? This is all I am capable of. When it comes to battling, I don’t think I will be of much help.” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“This is so bewitching. My strength has been doubled in such a short while. I managed to increase my offensive strength by almost 80% and my defense by 50%. What kind of concept is this……”

As for Yin Cha, his defensive prowess increased by nearly 80% and his offensive prowess increased by about 50%.

“At the moment, I have a feeling that I can eliminate the entire Hong Clan alone.” Old Man Wang said with his heroic spirit reaching to the clouds.

But he then let out a sigh after he finished speaking, “But without Qing Shui, my strength will revert back to how it used to be……”

Everyone agreed strongly with Old Man Wang’s words. What kind of concept was it for them to almost double their strength? Unfortunately, this wasn’t their own power.

Without noticing, three days passed. Qing Shui woke up really early today. He went out to practice his fists. Not long after, he could already see Old Man Wang engaging in martial arts in the distance. What surprised Qing Shui was that in Old Man Wang’s hand, he was holding a normal kitchen knife.

It was a totally normal kitchen knife. He seemed to be able to swing it with ease. It felt more like he was trying to look for inspiration to wield it. All Qing Shui knew was that Old Man Wang was practicing his martial arts with a kitchen knife. But after a while, he noticed that his movements were compatible with a kitchen knife……

Qing Shui didn’t interrupt him. Throughout these few days, Qing Shui had given him some medicinal pills and helped him perform Constitution Nurturing. He largely benefitted from this.

There was a huge plaza within the Divine Moon Immortal Sect. At this point of time, the huge plaza was already crowded with people. The Divine Moon Immortal Sect was an enormous sect. There were a considerable amount of people in it. Though it might be a huge plaza within the sect, it wasn’t located inside the headquarters itself. The headquarters mostly consisted of clans which shared the closest relationship with the sect itself and expert warriors. The majority of their disciples were distributed around the headquarter.

Today, they were all here. Other than just the Divine Moon Immortal Sect, there were also a few outsiders. The people from the Hong Clan were already there when Qing Shui and the group arrived. At the moment when Yin Tian and his group arrived, the entire area became quiet. However, there were people from below the arena who shouted Yin Tian’s name.

“The Sect Lord is back. Yin Tian has returned.”

“Yes, it seems this time, the Hong Clan is truly done for.”

“Are you crazy? Yin Tian is back, and yet the Hong Clan still dares to challenge them to a battle. What does this tell us? Do you really think that Hong Clan will be so foolish?”

“The things which the Hong Clan said before might really be true. I am sure that Yin Tian’s strength must be significantly weaker than how it used to be before.”

“The Hong Clan is so despicable! To think that they would take advantage of other people’s misfortune!”

“This is natural. He still possesses such a high status even after losing his power. It’s not weird that people will start looking down on him.”

……

Three days ago, Feng Xi proposed the way the match was going to be held to Hong Clan. The Hong Clan easily agreed to it. Ten people, from their view, the more people they put in, the more advantages they would have. It’s practically impossible for Yin Clan to ask for external help.

An old man appeared in the upper sky of the plaza. As he saw the crowd of people below, he put down both of his hands to gesture the people to keep quiet. After that, he spoke up, “Today is the day when the Hong Clan and Yin Clan are going to have their Life-and-Death challenge. I am sure that all of you must have known about it, hence, I presume there is no need for me to talk about it. Let me go through the rules with you guys.”

At the moment, the people under the stage were all very quiet. The old man seemed to be very satisfied, “I am the Grand Elder of the Divine Moon Immortal Sect. I am here today as a notary to keep an eye on the situation here. The rule of the Life-and-Death match is really simple. Both sides must not send out more than ten representatives from their team. The winner will be decided through this single round. Every participant is responsible for his own life. Regardless of who wins, no one must bring calamity upon the opposing clan. I hope that both clans can abide by these rules.”

“It’s a battle royale. The participants are responsible for their own lives……. I wonder who will emerge victorious this time.”

“Ten people, do you guys think the Sect Lord will take part in the match?”

“Definitely! Their clan already has very few people to begin with. I heard news saying that the Hong Clan has even forced Qing Feng and Ming Yue to the extent they entered their seclusions. Do you think that the Yin Clan will have anymore people taking part in the match?”

“It seems that the Yin Clan is truly in a bad state. The Hong Clan has always been keeping their strength well-hidden. If I am not wrong, this time, the Divine Moon Immortal Sect is going to go through a tremendous change.”

……

“I now welcome the representatives from both parties to come up the stage!” The Grand Elder said slowly.