## AST 1972 - Qiao An, Battle Invitation

“Ah, you are Vice Palace Lord Qing’s father?” Said the two ladies in astonishment.

“Yes, she is Luan Luan, my daughter.” Qing Shui knew these two ladies were indeed from the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace, which was the same for Luan Luan.

“This is wonderful! It was a surprise to meet the father of Vice Palace Lord Qing. Sir, are you here to see Vice Palace Lord Qing?”

Qing Shui shook his head, “I just came here to walk around. I only remembered after hearing the name of the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace.”

……

……

After a casual chat, Qing Shui found out that it was the Dazang City and the Qiao Clan was the strongest force by name here. There were Divinities in the Qiao Clan. The Dazang City was huge. The cities around it were also grouped under the Dazang City and belonged to the Qiao Clan.

The Northern Underworld Immortal Palace was within the coverage of Dazang City. However, the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace was not interested in any fights so they only owned the Northern Snow City. This was an actual individual city which was huge and unique. Due to the presence of the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace, it was similar to the Dazang City.

The Northern Underworld Immortal Palace was not keen on the fights of territories. Yet, a great man cannot brook a rival. More than 80% of the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace were women. Plus, they were all beautiful. That was one of the reasons the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace and Qiao Clan could get along safely over the years.

However, in recent years, Qiao Clan would occasionally come and snatch people away from the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace. Hence, the conflicts between the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace and Qiao Clan were never-ending. Back in those days, they only minded their own businesses. Now, the situation was apparently going to change.

Somebody in Qiao Clan had achieved a breakthrough and could almost threaten the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace now. Half a month ago, he had proposed to marry the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace Lord.

The Northern Underworld Immortal Palace Lord was said to be a great beauty!

Qing Shui smirked, thinking that Qiao Clan had a good idea. One must capture the leader first, in order to get the remaining followers. Qiao Clan had intended to recruit the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace without spilling a drop of blood. It was not impossible, as long as they could make the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace Lord surrender. In that case, they could absorb more than half of the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace even if they could not conquer it entirely.

Though the two ladies from Northern Underworld Immortal Palace were not very powerful, they knew quite a lot. However, these were all common rumors. The ladies knew very little information about the Qiao Clan as he probed further.

Qing Shui decided to visit the Northern Snow City after escorting the ladies back.

The ladies did not turn him down. After all, they would get caught by Qiao Clan as soon as they returned.

Qing Shui did not ask why they would come to the Dazang City. It was the base of Qiao Clan with their men everywhere.

Just as they were about to leave, the restaurant was surrounded. Qing Shui and the ladies were just right next to the window so they spotted it immediately. The other guests left hurriedly in split seconds. It was no joke. It was the Qiao Clan’s matter. If one was slow, they could get killed.

Soon after, only three of them were left behind in the large and spacious restaurant. Qing Shui stayed calm and calmly refilled his wine glass.

Two old men and a middle-aged man led the gang, three of them had already achieved Divinities. The previous young man probably gauged Qing Shui’s strength as he returned. The presence of a Divine warrior in the Dazang City had called for Qiao Clan’s immediate attention. Moreover, this warrior had opposed the Qiao Clan together with the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace.

“I wonder what your relationship with the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace is. Why would you go against the Qiao Clan?” The middle-aged man asked.

The middle-aged man was tall and built, standing like a mountain. He appeared resolute and manly. His eyes were steady and calm, forming a distinct contrast with the giddy young man.

Qing Shui was not surprised. It was normal to have a few who were good-for-nothing in a big family. Still, the big family would be ruined if there were no talented men. Foppery was common and symbolic in big families.

“I have no relations with the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace. It’s my first day here. It was just not a nice scene, seeing a big crowd surrounding two young ladies.” Qing Shui said composedly.

He did not hurt the Qiao Clan’s men so they haven’t treated him as an enemy.

“Friend, this is the Dazang City. They killed our men first. Can you give us some faces? The Qiao Clan and I, Qiao An, would highly appreciate that.” Said the middle-aged man sincerely.

Since Qing Shui had nothing related to the Northern Underworld Immortal Palace, the middle-aged man lowered his defense after listening to Qing Shui. Everybody would show respect to Qiao Clan here. Also, it was better to befriend this man since he was very powerful.

“I have a policy that, once started, I can’t stop halfway. Although I have no intentions of making enemies, these two fine ladies are already my friends.” Qing Shui shook his head.

Qiao An frowned. He thought that Qing Shui would recognize the Qiao Clan’s honor and concede but surprisingly, this young man was stubborn. The Qiao Clan could not lose its dignity in the Dazang City. It would be extremely shameful to allow this man to bring the two ladies away.

Qiao An was different from the Young Master Qiao. He had no evil interests on the two ladies. It was all about his honor and dignity.

“Friend, is there no room for bargain?” Qiao An asked Qing Shui once again. His instinct told him not to go against this young man. A big family should be insolent but careful. A seemingly strong family could be wiped out overnight when misfortune hit because it was not the strongest family.

However, no one dared to declare themselves as the strongest. The universe had no limits. As their strength increased, people would only realize their ignorance after getting stronger. Hence, a stronger person would be more low-profile.

“How about this? Let’s have a duel. If you win, you can bring the two ladies away. If you lose, they will stay here. What do you think?” Qiao An looked at Qing Shui and said in a serious tone.

That might have sound fair, but it was actually Qiao An’s brilliant trick. If he lost and insisted to have them stay, it would definitely lead to a grapple and even harm the Qiao Clan. If the opponent lost, he’d let the two ladies go away but he had never promised Qing Shui to let Qing Shui himself go neither.

Qing Shui certainly knew the opponent’s plan. It was normal here and he would do the same thing if he were Qiao An. Thus, Qing Shui did not object the suggestion as he nodded.

Qiao An soared to the middle of the sky immediately while Qing Shui smiled at the ladies, “Wait a minute. I’ll be back soon.”

“Uncle, be careful!”

Qing Shui’s mouth corner twitched. His status was upgraded yet again as he aged.

He already had kids despite still being young. Most Xiantian warriors would only get married at his current age. To achieve the Martial Saint level, there were very little warriors who got married at this age.

Qing Shui leapt into the air and stood before Qiao An.

“Friend, I have a special feeling that I don’t want to be your enemy,” Qiao An said to Qing Shui.

“I’m not keen on making an enemy myself. However, sometimes, thing go out of the will for the sake of undeserved reputation.” Qing Shui replied with a smile.