## AST 1470 - Losing a round, Old Man Moxiang

After Zhan Yu finished reading it, he put down the war challenge and the group started sharing gazes with each other. Eventually, they all settled their sights on Tantai Lingyan.

Tantai Lingyan looked at both Qing Shui and Zhan Yu and said, “Do you guys not have anything you’d like to ask?”

After a moment of thought, Qing Shui responded, “What does the Divine Sound Sect have to say about this? They are the landowner. We are only here to help. I think it will be better if we let them decide instead.”

“We may be here to help, but they have made up their mind to pass the authority to us. They are allowed up to two contestants for the match, but only one is guaranteed to win. As for the other one, I don’t have much confidence that she will win.”

“Five matches. Out of these five matches, four are one-on-one battles. If the Divine Sound Sect can guarantee one victory, there is still a chance that we will win. The only thing we are not certain about is what effect the outcome of the battle will bring upon.” Qing Shui said with a smile.

“The victor will be allowed to request something reasonable from the losing side. If the loser doesn’t agree to it, the victor will launch their attack.” Tantai Lingyan explained to Qing Shui while staring at him.

“We will accept the challenge. So long as the Divine Sound Sect is able to win one of the matches, we will be able to win.” Qing Shui said after a moment of thought.

“Qing Shui, we mustn’t act recklessly. Putting the last battle royale aside, I am sure that the people who the Divine Beast Sect and Wild Ghost Valley have elected for the four battles will be expert warriors.” Tantai Lingyan said, looking a bit concerned.

“As long as Divine Sound Sect is able to win one of the matches, then it shouldn’t be a problem for us. By then, I plan to go out for one of the matches. If I win, we will immediately forfeit the remaining two matches and settle everything in the battle royale.” Qing Shui said after thinking for a while. Somehow, he was very confident that they would emerge victorious in the battle royale.

Though Qing Shui might be really confident, considering that his opponents were the Divine Beast Sect and that it was a battle royale, up to fifteen people from their side would take part in the battle royale. The amount of demonic beasts they could summon out would be huge. Furthermore, they would definitely be formidable demonic beasts as well.

However, Qing Shui thought that he could counter them with the Soulshake Bell in his hand. Added on to that, the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant and Hellfire Phoenix could also help him suppress the other beasts, Qing Shui wasn’t really worried. It’s likely that the beasts were the only thing which the Divine Beast Sect relied on.

After a moment of thought, Tantai Lingyan nodded, “Alright, I believe in you, but please be careful. When the Divine Sound Sect comes back later, come and meet their experts as well. We will discuss how to work together.

After about an hour, three people from the Divine Sound Sect showed up. One of them was the charming and innocent-looking Sect Lord Shen, whereas the other two were old grannies. One of them seemed as strong as Old Man Lu. In her hand was a coiled dragon staff. The peaceful and compassionate aura which she emitted didn’t give people even the slightest clue of the enormous energy within her. Though that might be the case, Qing Shui was certain that the granny was sure to win the match.

After greeting each other, everyone sat down. The granny was the sect lord of the Divine Sound Sect. She now no longer involved herself in the affairs of Divine Sound Sect. Instead, she was now the Supreme Elder of Divine Sound Sect,

The other granny on the other hand, was the Grand Elder of Divine Sound Sect. She took charge and made decisions for a lot of things for Divine Sound Sect.

Since things were already decided, they responded back to the Divine Beast Sect and Wild Ghost Valley, telling them that they accepted their challenge. As to how each participant was going to be allocated in each of the matches, they decided they would only deal with it right before the matches.

In the afternoon, the group ran into people from the Wild Ghost Valley and Divine Beast Sect at a spot about three hundred li away from themselves. There were about five thousand people from the opposing side who came. As for Demon Lord Palace and Divine Sound Sect, there were only about three thousand people in total.

Qing Shui’s Spiritual Sense was really formidable. As he neared his opponents, he sensed quite a few formidable auras among them, which were not at all inferior to the elderlies from Divine Sound Sect. In fact, theirs might even be stronger.

As it seemed, the sects with inheritances indeed had rich heritages. The Battle God and Demon Lord were both at the same level. Every single person with either the Battle God or Demon Lord inheritance were formidable figures. Even if they didn’t manage to completely inherit either one of those heritages, there was no way they would be weak.

Both parties were about two or three thousand meters away from each other. Given that this place was really empty, they could see each other very clearly. It was fairly easy for them to converse with each other as well.

The middle-aged man had a back which resembled that of a tiger and the waist of an ape. He had a tall and upright figure. The wild aura emitted from his body was unusually strong. Both of his eyes looked as sharp as those of wild beasts. Despite this being the case, they still looked really good and unusually attractive.

“We are from the Divine Beast Sect. I have come here as a representative of both the Divine Beast Sect and Wild Ghost Valley to talk to you guys. Since you guys have accepted our challenge, I will tell you the rules now.” The man smiled as he gazed Qing Shui and the rest of the group.

“Go ahead.” Qing Shui got pushed to the front by Hua Rumei as a representative for the Demon Lord Palace and Divine Sound Sect.

“Young man, is your pubic hair even fully grown yet? Are you sure you are ready to represent both the Demon Lord Palace and Divine Sound Sect?” The man was shocked when he saw Qing Shui. Soon after, he started laughing.

“About that, I don’t really care whether it’s fully grown or not. But I am sure that yours hasn’t. But if you dare to check right now in front of all of us and can prove that it is fully grown, I will take it as our loss.” Qing Shui smiled.

Though Qing Shui may be a Physician, his medical expertise hadn’t reached the level where he could see whether one’s hair was fully grown. The Heavenly Vision Technique only allowed him to detect the person’s internal organs. It wasn’t meant for going through the surface of one’s body. If that was really the case, Qing Shui would have been able to see the art of human bodies.

However, Qing Shui was sure that this man would never take off his pants in front of the crowd.

Right away, Tantai Lingyan pretended like she didn’t hear anything. Hua Rumei, on the other hand, looked at Qing Shui in a funny way. Qing Shui didn’t turn his head. In fact, he didn’t have a choice. He didn’t like people verbally insulting him, thus, he had no choice but to suppress the opponent.

The man didn’t seem really mad, but it’s obvious that he didn’t feel comfortable with it. He revealed a grumpy smile, “Since you are able to represent the two sects, it is for the best. Well then, I will go through the rules with you. We are going to send out one person at the same time. If any of the sides intentionally slow down on sending out their representative, the match will be considered to be their loss. Five matches, the side that manages to win three of them emerges victorious. Do you have any opinion about it?”

“It’s fine. Alright then. Later on, we will count to three together. By the time we count to three, the representatives from each side must appear on their specific spot.” The man went back to discuss with the other members after he was done explaining the rules while waiting for Demon Lord Palace to gesture the count.

Qing Shui also went back to discuss with his allies. He had already made up his mind on who to go for the matches before he came. The only thing he had to do now was to arrange the order of the matches. Somehow, this felt a bit like Tianji racing against his own horse, where he was willing to accept one loss in order to ensure two wins.

Though the first match was really important, it’s not a match in which victory must be secured. Once a side won the first match, the side who lost would start being more cautious. Losing the first match would cause influence the team’s morale. It’s the same as losing the initiative in a match. Good thing was that ,at the same time, it would cause the opponent to be indulgent in their victory and as a result, let down their guard. Thus, it had its advantage as well as its disadvantage.

“Grand Elder, I will put you in charge of this match. It doesn’t matter whether you win or not, the only thing you must make sure is to not get hurt.” Qing Shui said to the old woman.

Though the granny was a bit puzzled, she nodded. Initially, she thought that Qing Shui would expect her to try her best to claim the victory. She never expected for him to say something like this.

Qing Shui passed the message to the opponents and together, after counting to three, two human figures appeared on their respective specified spots, almost at the same time.

At the moment when Qing Shui saw the opponent on the opposing side, the first thing which came into his mind was that they had lost this match. The faint aura emitted from the opponent made even Qing Shui feel surprised. Most importantly, the old man was from the Wild Ghost Valley.

The old man had a very skinny figure. He wore a loose-fitting cloth which seemed like it was hanging on his body. Red light could be seen flowing across both of the old man’s sharp eyes. Even when Qing Shui was far away from him, he could feel the dangerous aura from the old man.

The match was considered to have started the moment the warriors stepped onto the stage. There was no referee for the match, meaning the warriors were responsible for their own lives.

“I hope you have a great match.”

“The same goes for you too.”

The voice of the old man from the Wild Ghost Valley sounded deep and rough. From far away ,however, Qing Shui didn’t see the old man open his mouth. This voice was coming through his throat.

The granny’s weapon was a golden rod. At the tip of the rod were three spheres the size of three fists.

Divine Rod of Heaven and Earth! First Style, Heaven and Earth Shock!

As the granny’s figure moved, she thrust out the long rod in her hand. The rod formed an afterimage in the air as it pressed towards the opponent.

Ji-gu-cha!

An ear-piercing noise came through. It almost felt as if eardrums were going to be pierced by it. Following on, a black wolf fang sword appeared in the hands of the old man.

Beng-beng…...

A series of explosions were heard. For a moment, it disrupted the five elements in the air. The granny was totally suppressed by the opponent in terms of speed, strength,as well as battle techniques.

Heaven and Earth Soul Shaking Rod!

At the moment when the granny swung the long golden rod in her hand, it turned into an enormous rod almost the size of a mountain.

“Such an insignificant trick!”

Ghost King Devours the Sun!

The Wolf Fang Sword within the old man’s hand released an enormous Ghost King which was even bigger than the mountain. It opened its gigantic mouth and swallowed the golden rod.

I admit defeat!

Seeing as the opponent was once again charging towards her and was about to use another of his sure-kill moves, the granny thought about Qing Shui’s words and said reluctantly.

Hearing that, the old man opposite her stopped. In a battle, everyone needed to be responsible for his very own life. However, the warriors also had the option to admit defeat.

The granny returned and let out a sigh, “For me to lose a match, I am truly a worthless old woman.

“Granny, please don’t blame yourself for this. It is normal to lose a match. In fact, I am still going to need your aid in a while.” Qing Shui smiled as he comforted the old woman.

“Alright, when it is my turn to battle again, I will definitely give it my all, even if it means losing my own life.” The old woman said.

The Divine Beast Sect and Wild Ghost Valley who had won a match cheered in joy. As for the Demon Lord Palace and Divine Sound Sect, they remained in silent.

“Shall we make some preparations first or start the second match right away?” The voice of the man from Divine Beast Sect came through.

“Let’s begin!” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Granny, fight him with all you have got and try your best to win this match.” Qing Shui said in a patient tone. If she was to lose this match, they would be put under a passive situation.

“Worry not. I am absolutely sure that I will win.” The wise old woman said in a confident tone.

Qing Shui wasn’t sure why the granny could be so confident. As a matter of fact, her strength hadn’t reached the extent where people would fear her. Could it be that combat wise, she had a formidable Sure-kill Heavenly Technique?

Even if her Sure-kill Heavenly Technique was a passive skill, it was something which couldn’t be noticed from the outside. Qing Shui’s Paragon Golden Armor would be a great example of this. It was constantly boosting his defensive prowess, yet no one was able to notice it.

At the moment when both participants counted to three, they both arrived at their respective spots which they were supposed to be at.

This time, the opposing team sent out a tall and sturdy old man. He resembled an enormous lion. Figure-wise, he was about two and a half meters tall. He was born with an unusual look. The aura circulating his body felt really warm and thick. He seemed to be a dignified and sharp man, causing people to feel pressured around him.

Old Man Moxiang!

The graceful Sect Lord Shen yelled out.

Throughout the whole time, Qing Shui kept feeling that the old woman was no simple figure. The only problem was that he was unable to tell what about her was powerful. Her expression hadn’t changed the whole time. Could it be that she had something really powerful which she could rely on? Or was it solely because she had strong willpower?