## AST 657 – Distance, Poison Dragon Pearl

“How about this, let my father tell you about the strength the other clans have on the surface!” Di Xuan hesitated for a moment before he replied to Qing Shui with a smile. Only after replying did he respectfully turned his gaze towards Di Xiong.

Qing Shui was momentarily stunned before bowing towards Di Xiong and said, “Would esteemed grandfather please enlighten us!”

“Sure, I’ll tell everyone what I know. I’m getting old, it’s time for you youngsters to shine.” Di Xiong seemed really happy, first glancing towards Di Xuan and then towards Di Chen and Di Qing.

Undeniably, Di Xiong has experienced a lot in life. While the Di Clan’s experts were still around, Di Xiong was also considered as one of those who had the ability to stir up trouble in Seven Stars City. Unfortunately, he has been feeling down and out lately.

A hundred years ago, people respected Di Xiong because of his father. In recent times, the roles have reversed. The experts of the Di Clan had passed away, and Di Xiong’s strength was insufficient to uphold the status and position of the Di Clan. When others saw the opportunity and that no one could protect the Di Clan, it naturally led to the current situation.

Di Xuan had broken through, but it was still insufficient to support the Di Clan’s great undertakings. Something was still lacking. Perhaps the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect just didn’t want the Di Clan to rise again, thus choosing this moment to take action. They wanted to use this opportunity to remove the Di Clan from the Seven Stars.

“The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect was not inferior to the Di Clan in any way in the past. It’s just that they cultivated the path of poison. They have only two Grade Ten Martial Saint warriors. However, their strength shouldn’t be measured based on their cultivation. The most terrifying part about them is their poisons. That is why even a Peak Martial King warrior from the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect should not be underestimated.” Di Xiong’s expression turned bitter as he narrated.

Qing Shui remained silent, listening attentively. He was now aware that within Seven Stars City, Grade Ten Martial Saints were already considered peak existences. However, Grade Ten Martial Saints could possess strength ranging from five thousand countries to nine thousand and nine hundred countries…

Qing Shui didn’t know how strong the two Grade Ten Martial Saints in the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect were. However, they were likely to be slightly superior to Old Madam Mo.

At present, Old Madam Mo had just recovered her strength of Grade Ten Martial Saint, only reaching the strength of Old Demon Ba’s Red Jiao. Without Qing Shui’s trump cards, this battle would be extremely hard.

“The Sima Clan is a senior ranked clan in the Ten Thousand Poison’s Sect. Their clan also has a Grade Ten Martial Saint warrior, who had only broken through in the recent years. Because the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect is one of the Seven Stars, Sima Clan never fought to be part of the Seven Stars, even though they’re definitely qualified to be amongst the Seven Stars.” At this point, there was a tone of defeat in his voice.

The Di Clan had a bright future. Unfortunately the Di Clan’s experts had passed away early, and the generations bridging these experts to the younger generation were inadequate. The younger generation were all really outstanding and given enough time, the Di Clan should be able rise again very quickly. Perhaps this was the reason, that many people did not want the Di Clan to rise, hence they took this opportunity to halt the Di Clan’s progress at while they were still developing.

“The remaining three clans, the Zuo Clan, Guan Clan and Du Clan, appear to be as strong as the Di Clan, with their strongest warriors only at Grade Eight Martial Saint, at least on the surface.”

Qing Shui was not sure how he felt about this. Ever since he broke through, he didn’t feel that Grade Eight Martial Saints were a threat. However, there were many who truly knew the strength within Seven Stars Country. If not for the Di Clan’s Old Ancestor, the current Di Clan would only be on the same level as the Zuo Clan, Guan Clan and Du Clan. Honestly speaking, the Di Clan already lacked the qualifications to be part of the Seven Stars.

If the three clans only had Grade Eight Martial Saints as their strongest warriors, Qing Shui felt that they could basically be ignored. Utilizing his full strength, he should be able to instantly kill Grade Eight Martial Saint warriors.

Qing Shui had a feeling that even Grade Nine and Early Grade Ten Martial Saint warriors were nothing to him. However, Qing Shui noticed that Di Xiong kept mentioning that this strength was the strength only shown on the surface. Could there be other hidden cards? Furthermore, poison would play a major factor in the batte.

“The two old men from the Ten Thousand Poison Sects as well as the Sima Clan’s Old Ancestor all have powerful poison beasts. I only know that the poison beast of Sima Clan’s Grade Ten Martial Saint is a Five Elements Poisonous Jade Sable. It’s about 33 centimeters long and it has patterns of the five elements on its body. It specializes in Five Element Poison, is extremely fast and has a very strong toxicity. Even though it only possesses strength of a Peak Martial King, Grade One Martial Saint demonic beasts will usually be forced to run away if they meet it. If you see it, you have to be careful.” Di Xiong let out a long sigh.

Even after Di Xiong finished speaking, everyone remained silent. There was still a large difference in strength between the two sides. Most importantly, everyone was clear about the strength of the Di Clan, but they only knew what appeared to be the opponents’ strength and that information was already outdated.

“Qing Shui, you should decide on who will participate. How about choosing the five strongest, we can only try our best.”

At this moment, Di Xuan turned and faced Qing Shui as he spoke to him. Since everyone had come and didn’t leave, Di Xuan did not speak as though Qing Shui was an outsider. Beside, he had confidence in Qing Shui. Even if Di Xuan had to sacrifice himself to protect the Di Clan, he felt that it would be worth it.

Di Xuan’s words caused many Di clan members to feel undeniably surprised. Di Xuan had actually asked a young man’s opinion in such an important matter.

There was a middle-aged man from Di Jing’s bloodline that wanted to voice out something but was stopped by Di Jing. This was a special situation. Originally, Di Jing shouldn’t be around. However, his punishment was temporarily suspended.

Hence, Di Jing stopped the middle-aged man, his face filled with displeasure. Presently, they had no say in the matter. For them to be present for this discussion was already quite fortunate.

“Qing Shui, you decide. We will all support you, you can do it.” At this moment, Old Madam Mo said with a smile.

Since things have reached this point, Qing Shui stopped declining the responsibility. He pondered over it and said, “We will only send three people to battle — Senior Di Xuan, Old Madam Mo and myself.”

When Qing Shui said that, everyone was silent. The Fight of the Ultimate Life and Death would allow entry of up to five participants, hence each side would normally send out five participants. For sects like the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, the more participants, the better. Because those who weren’t as useful could still toss poisons from the backline.

“Three people, if there are five opponents, wouldn’t we be at a disadvantage?” At this moment, Yuan Hua frowned as spoke. He was the strongest person present after Old Madam Mo and Di Xuan.

After all, he had planned to aid them in the fight. Yet, all he could do now was to spectate. He was actually happy to do that, and acknowledge that he had insufficient strength. However, he still felt unhappy to be looked down by others.

“Three seniors, I know you are aware that the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect specializes in poisons and there are also various other clans involved. I hope seniors can help look after the safety of the others. This is more important than the fight in the arena as we will need to defend ourselves against the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect and the Sima Clan.” Qing Shui responded after thinking for a while.

“Haha, that’s nothing. It’s all the same to us. However, I just wanted to know why Little Brother Qing Shui only wants three people to participate?” Yuan Song responded with a silly smile.

“I think having more people will not be a good thing. In direct combat, we are weaker than our opponents. By having more participants would only widen that disparity. If the opponents are really strong, two more participants would still not be a threat to them. Furthermore, there will be many spectators. I believe that our opponents wouldn’t send five participants if we only sent three.”

Actually, Qing Shui had another plan. Even if the opponent sent five participants, as long as their strength were below Grade Ten Martial Saint, Qing Shui would seize the opportunity to instantly kill the Grade Eight and Grade Nine Martial Saints. If the opponent’s strength had reached Grade Ten Martial Saint, it would be futile to send two more people. This would only cause more casualties. Therefore, why not just let them protect the others.

“Are you confident?” Di Xuan asked calmly.

“Yes!” Qing Shui said firmly after hesitating for a while.

Qing Shui’s expression made many people smile. This was because everyone realised that they actually began to believe in Qing Shui wholeheartedly. It was a strange feeling. Qing Shui’s expression when he was deep in thought made them feel that he had made serious considerations before giving his answers.

Previously, a few of Yuan Su’s uncles had already distributed a few antidotes to the people present. Qing Shui took out the Pure Jade Pellets and gave one to each person. They were to consume the Pure Jade Pellet if the other antidotes given were unable to resolve the poison.

Qing Shui additionally gave Di Chen and Old Madam Mo a few Five Dragons Pellets. He also gave some to Di Qing to use when the situation called for it. Just by explaining the perverse secondary effects of the Five Dragon Pellet, she should know what to do without much explanation.

“Why are you here?” Yuan Su was shocked when she saw Qing Shui outside her door.

“Am I unwelcomed?” Qing Shui smiled awkwardly, surprised by Yuan Su’s tone.

“Hehe, I don’t mean it that way. You have such a beautiful wife by your side, why aren’t you accompanying her more?” Yuan Su smiled as she led Qing Shui into her room.

“No matter how beautiful she is, I can’t be holding her in my hands at every moment right?” Qing Shui casually responded.

Yuan Su didn’t respond as she poured a cup of tea for Qing Shui. As they sat opposite each other, Qing Shui observed this unique beauty.

Qing Shui took out the snow white porcelain bottle and passed it to her. “Could you help to figure out what’s in this bottle?”

Previously, Qing Shui has tried taking a look with his Fiery Golden Eyes, but he didn’t manage to gather any information. He didn’t want to blindly open it, hence he decided to seek Yuan Su’s help.

As Yuan Su took over the bottle, a bright and dazzling light flashed in her eyes. She then gently closed her eyes, probing the item in the bottle. Qing Shui had heard her mention before that she was very good at sensing things. This was an innate talent, or what was considered sixth sense by Buddhists.

The sixth sense, was the additional sense of heart sense, after the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste.

Qing Shui felt that Yuan Su most likely possessed an extremely powerful sixth sense. And it was this mysterious ability that allowed her to create alchemy recipes.

After a long time, Yuan Su once again opened her eyes. Her face was filled with happiness and disbelief. After staring at Qing Shui for a few breaths of time, she unhurriedly said, “This is a Poison Dragon Pearl!”

“Poison Dragon Pearl?” Qing Shui couldn’t believe his ears, asking doubtfully.