## AST 764 – See Who Can Hold It In

Ye Guyan stood there and watched Qing Shui from afar as she wait for him to finish his practice. She only walked closer towards him after she saw that he had stopped.

“Let’s go have breakfast. Later on, you’ll still need to go for…” Ye Guyan did not finish the sentence with ‘the battle’, she felt that these words were too heavy for now.

“Alright. Cheer up, nothing will happen. With you worrying so much for me, I’ll definitely live.” Qing Shui teased her as he looked at her crestfallen face.

Ye Guyan didn’t say much or reprimanded Qing Shui. It might be because she wasn’t in the mood for it. She turned around and head to the hall together with him.

There were more people than usual who had joined them for this meal. Qing Shui was now very close with the people from the Ye Clan. The Ye Clan had an additional ten over people and even that crazy old man was around, each of them had a grim countenance.

The mood during the meal was very heavy, but Qing Shui didn’t paid much attention to it and was very relaxed instead. Other than him, that crazy old man also had a very normal expression.

Martial God Street！

The area near the arena was already crowded with people, and more people still rushed over non-stop which had blocked up the entire Martial God Street.

The Martial God Street was about 1000 meter wide with a huge arena set up in the middle. Any large-scale beast carriages were forbidden to pass through the Martial God Street and people could only either walk or came by with their flying beast. Small-scaled luxurious horse carriages was only the privilege of the clans in the Martial God Street. Other people’s beast carriages and horse carriages were strictly forbidden.

There were some tables and chairs set up along the Martial God Street. Some people, who seemed to had a reputable standings and were mostly elders, were seated there as they drank tea and talked with each other.

“Old Man Qu, what should we do this time around?” An old man who gave off a healthy glow asked the question to another amiable looking old man. Both of them were seated in one of the tables together with the other elders as they drank tea.

“Old Man Gaoyang, what’s there that we need to do? Can’t the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan even handle a small case like this?” Old Man Qu answered in a relaxed manner as he took a sip of tea.

“That’s true. When one is old, one would worry more about useless stuff.” Old Man Gaoyang said as he looked at Old Man Qu.

The other elderly didn’t say a word but just smiled as he watched. These old men had a tremendous amount of experience in life and were able to see through a lot of things, their abilities to protect themselves were all top notch.

“Young Master Tuoba, it’s about time, but why haven’t they appear yet?” Qu Jiao asked the white-haired Young Master Touba.

“Haha, no need to panic. Participants can be late for an hour or two. If the young man doesn’t arrive, Donggong Taiqing will not appear either. He would feel that this action is beneath his status.”

“Haha, that’s true. These two are really fighting it out. I’m going to see who will be the one who can’t hold it in.” Qu Jiao smiled and said.

They walked into the crowd. Many people would give way even when they didn’t uttered any single word. They walked towards a certain table and sat there together with another five to six people, all of them fit nicely around the table.

“Old Man Wuma is here!”

A few elderly men at the table waved to an old man with a burly built. The old man waved back with a smile then turned to the middle-aged man next to him and said, “Songyang, I’m going there. Remember to take a good look at the battle later.”

“I know grandfather. You can go there and join them.” said Wuma Songyang as he smiled. After the old man had left, he headed into the crowd where a few middle-aged people around his age waved to him.

Time had slowly passed by and it was soon late morning, but the arena was still empty. However, it seemed that such things happened frequently so no one complained.

It was normal for people to be late because it was allowed. No one would be willing to stand on the arena for others to look at, of course, there were exceptions as well.

An hour had passed by and many of the tables were fully occupied. The people who could sit at the tables were all people with status. As the time go by, the people around the arena started to grumble.

“Damn! How long are they going to keep us waiting? None of them are here. They can’t be making a fool out of us, right?” Someone grumbled.

“For the people from the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan to make a fool out of you? Who do you think you are?” Someone immediately laughed.

“Then, why they have not appeared yet? The wait is so annoying.” The person who spoke earlier was about to burst out in anger when he noticed that the other party seemed to be stronger than him.

“You’re only waiting, why are you so anxious? They are going up for a life and death battle. Is there a need to hurry when it’s a matter with their lives? Why don’t you go up?” The other person retorted, not even giving a single glance to the impatient man..

More time had passed by!

“They should be here soon… There’s only half an hour left.” A cheerful and handsome man looked at the sky and said.

“Look, the people from the Tantai Aristocrat Clan are here too. This is going to be lively.” A sharp-eyed person noticed a luxurious horse carriage was coming over.

Many people stood up and crowded around the horse carriage. Although the horse carriage was not big, it was still about five meters long. Over ten people descended when the carriage had stopped. Two old men, two middle-aged men, and the others were all at a young age, or at least, they looked like they were the younger generation. Tantai Aoyun was also one of them.

“Old Master Tantai, this way, this way!” The Wuma Clan’s old man stood up and shouted.

“You guys watch from the sides. Fourth Brother, let’s go over. Those who had the rights to sit at the same table with the older generation from the Tantai Clan were only the elders from the Wuma Clan, the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan, and a few other clans.”

After another 15 minutes, the people from the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan arrived which was led by an old man. The person was very old, but his violent aura had caused many people to unconsciously step back.

Donggong Taiqing stood behind the old man as he smiled. There were also about twenty elderly and middle-aged people that stood behind the old man.

“Taiqing, go up.” The old man looked at Donggong Taiqing and said.

“Yes, Old Ancestor.” With that, Donggong Taiqing turned around. He leaped towards the huge arena and landed in it. The old man and two other elderly went over to sit at a nearby table.

“Old Man Dongong, you’re here!” Old Man Wuma said as he stood up with a smile.

Some of them casually chatted about a few insignificant topics after a bit of polite exchanges, no one even mentioned or commented about the upcoming battle at all. However, they knew that everyone, including them, were waiting for the battle to start.

Now that Donggong Taiqing had appeared and there wasn’t much time left either, they knew that the battle would start soon. Therefore, everyone looked towards the south and the north of the Martial God Street. They were waiting for that young man to appear.

“Haha, this young man can really hold it in.” The Wuma Clan’s old man said with smile as he sipped his tea.

“That’s right. There’s only 15 minutes left. His patience is hard to come by.” Old Man Tantai also said as he laughed.

“It’ll be fine if he can rush here within the time limit. It’s another second he can get to live.” The one of the youngest amongst the few elders in the Wuma Clan spoke up.

“Have you guys thought of the consequences if Taiqing failed to win?” Old Man Wuma smiled and asked casually.

“The present Taiqing can’t even be compared to the Tantai Clan’s Miss Xuan and some of the young masters. There aren’t many others who can beat him. This, I’m confident.” The youngest elder of the Wuma Clan said.

“To be honest, many things are not absolute. Have you thought of the consequences if Taiqing were to lose?” Old Man Wuma continued to ask and smile.

“It’s impossible for him to lose. You guys will find out in a while.” The Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan’s elderly said, full of confidence. His tone was that of affirmation that didn’t gave any leeway for doubt.

The few elders also went into deep thought!

“No, we must all go!” Ye Yan looked at Qing Shui and said stubbornly.

Qing Shui had initially planned to go alone but the others, including Ye Yan, did not agree. He was afraid that if the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan were to create havoc, he wouldn’t be able to put the situation under control.

“Let’s all go. Qing Shui, we’ll go with you. Maybe we’ll be able to help you in some ways.” The crazy old man smiled and said.

Qing Shui nodded after some hesitation. They took the Ye Clan’s huge beast carriage and together with Cang Wuya, there were fifteen of them. Among them were the Ye Clan’s best warriors.

When there were only seven and a half minutes left, Qing Shui and the others arrived at the Martial God Street. Qing Shui stopped the beast carriage and walked towards the arena.

Seven and a half minutes was more than enough for them. Ye Yan was carried by the crazy old man and their group also headed towards the arena.

“Look, they’re here!”

The moment that Qing Shui and company appeared at the Martial God Street, someone immediately noticed them and cheered out which attracted everyone’s gazes. Earlier, at least half of the people had their eyes on Donggong Taiqing, but now everyone stared towards Qing Shui’s direction regardless if they could see him or not.

“Damn, he’s finally here. I thought that he had ran away.” Upon seeing Qing Shui, someone said happily.

“Ran away? Do you think that the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan would let him do so?” A person laughed at the previous person who spoke.

“That’s true. I hope that this battle would be more exciting. It wouldn’t be fun if he gets killed instantly by Donggong Taiqing.”

Qing Shui and the Ye Clan went into the crowd and the people around them automatically made a way for them towards the arena. A moment of silence appeared.

“Old Man Ye, come over here and have a seat!” Old Man Wuma said as he stood up and smiled.

“I’ll pass today. Let’s have a meetup again on another day.” Old Man Ye laughed, his draping hair covered up his face. However, there was still someone who had cried out in astonishment when they saw his pitch black eyes.

Old Man Ye didn’t accepted the invitation so that he could take care of the others, the other party didn’t insist either and he let him be. At this moment, Qing Shui stepped into the air and headed towards the arena gradually.

When his feet had landed on the arena, the timing was just right as the last incense burned off.

Many people were astonished over how well he had grasped his timing. There were also many of them who saw him for the first time. Compared to Donggong Taiqing, Qing Shui’s appearance was more pleasing to the eye.

After Qing Shui arrived on the arena, everyone fell silent and just stared at the two person on the stage. It had been very long since they last saw a battle at Donggong Taiqing’s level.