## AST 2387 - Transforming Ox-Headed Beast

Although Qing Shui had claimed that he wanted to attack the Demon Gate, he wouldn’t just charge towards them straightaway. Nuo Lan sought out information regarding the depth of the Demon Gate. Besides, he knew that the Exploding Arrow Battle God didn’t trust Qing Shui that much.

Qing Shui understood the Divine Palace’s behavior completely. This was good too. If it hadn’t been this way, Qing Shui might have had doubts about their survival instead.

“Are you thinking of your Miss Tang Xi again?” Qing Shui approached after seeing how dispirited Hao Tian was.

“Let’s attack the Demon Gate slowly. Otherwise, I won’t be able to see Tang Xi once we leave.” Hao Tian’s eyes lit up as he turned to Qing Shui.

“You should hasten your progress. Perhaps Tang Xi will follow us when it’s time to leave.” Qing Shui smiled.

“Will she?” Hao Tian eyes brightened even more.

“It’s possible. The Divine Palace has limited area for growth. Tang Xi is the Heavenly Dance Battle God; her potential is the greatest in this city’s Divine Palace.” Qing Shui knew that the Heavenly Dance Battle God was extremely strong in ancient times, and so he thought Tang Xi would likely leave one day. He just wasn’t sure if they would be the reason for it.

Three days passed quickly. Nuo Lan received much information about the Demon Gate as well and reported to Qing Shui.

“You’re saying that the Demon Gate has an even more powerful Guardian Beast, and one that has been constantly improving? In that case, it will be able to destroy Divine Palace in eighty years or perhaps a century’s time.” Qing Shui frowned at that.

He knew that the Divine Palace had a Guardian Beast as well with nearly 10 trillion Dao of might. If the Guardian Beast at the Demon Gate was stronger, then what was it? Just how strong was it?

At that moment, Nuo Lan continued. “The Demon Gate’s Guardian Beast is a Transforming Ox-Headed Beast.”

Qing Shui froze at the words. The Ancient Ox-Headed Beast was already an unfamiliar creature on its own, much less a transforming one. There were things which transformed in the Nine Continents and they were usually even stronger after this process. Their aptitude, innate skills and battle techniques would all increase significantly, surpassing the other creatures of the same type.

The Ancient Ox-Headed Beast had weaker and stronger variations as well, just like humans. Those which could transform were definitely skillful among them. Their innate abilities were already the cream of the crop and with the transformation skills, they could fling any ordinary Ancient Ox-Headed Beast down ten streets.

The Transforming Ox-Headed Beast’s abilities should be stronger than those of the Guardian Beast at the Divine Palace by a little. If not, the Divine Palace wouldn’t have been able to counter it.

Qing Shui still hadn’t made a move on the Demon Gate. Nuo Lan found Qing Shui in the morning and smiled. “The Demon Gate has arrived at the Divine Palace. Seems like a battle is about to begin.”

Qing Shui couldn’t help asking, “Could it be about the Black Diamond Demon King?”

Qing Shui could only correlate those two incidents. Even if there were other reasons, he wouldn’t be able to guess it.

“Hm. The Divine Palace killed the Black Diamond Demon King. He deserved it though, there’s no grievance even if a degenerate like him was killed a hundred times over. Killing him is letting him off easy,” Nuo Lan said.

“Let’s take a look. Since we’ve already declared our motives for attacking the Demon Gate, then let us go now. I was going to wait a few days, but it seems that’s not needed now. We can leave after we deal with this.” Qing Shui stood up with a smile.

……

“Ignorant old man, hand over Da Hei and we’ll pretend nothing happened,” A tall and well-built elder stood at the entrance of Divine Palace and shouted.

The elder was dressed in a black robe, his eyes being the most striking feature. He seemed as ruthless as wolves and tigers, apart from his nose which tipped towards the sky like a pig’s snout.

“I say, you seem like a tiger yet not, like a wolf yet not, but you’re really a pig. Scram. Don’t embarrass yourself here.” the Exploding Arrow Battle God laughed.

“Come, come. Don’t cause disputes through gossip. If you don’t hand him over, I’ll destroy the Divine Palace,” The Elderly roared.

“I’m more afraid you wouldn’t. What’s Da Hei? A big black dog?” the Exploding Arrow Battle God feigned ignorance.

“Since you have a death wish, then I—the Three Perfections Demon King—shall grant it to you,” The Elderly said coldly.

“Master Ox, I will have to trouble you.” The Elderly turned back and spoke politely.

At that time, a three-meter-tall human silhouette appeared. There wasn’t any difference between its body and that of a human, but it had a formidable ox head. The ox head was more ferocious than that of a buffalo or a bull. There were two strange horns on its head, but they weren’t like an Ox’s. The creature was short yet thick and sturdy.

“It’s fine, don’t worry,” The Transforming Ox-Headed Beast said confidently.

The Three Perfections Demon King smiled gleefully. He held a tri-edged pitchfork on his left hand and a broken blade in the other. It wasn’t a sword nor a dagger. It emitted a faint white glow, and was incomparably chilly.

The Exploding Arrow Battle God calmly took out a silver great bow. The bow was huge, about two meters long, with a body as thick as a man’s wrist. Looking at the quality, it must have been made from a strong demonic beast’s bones, and the bowstring from its veins were as big as fingers.

He fixed a bone arrow, resting upon the bowstring.

However, at this moment, a voice rang out, saying, “Hold on!”

The owner of the voice belonged to Qing Shui as his group rushed over.

“Who are you? Leave quickly and don’t get yourself involved in this. Otherwise, your lives might get mixed up in it.” Three Perfections Demon King said, displeased.

“Mister Qing, could it be that you all…” Exploding Arrow Battle God laughed.

Qing Shui nodded. “We were the ones who said that we want to destroy the Demon Gate, so naturally, we should do it. I had been planning to wait for a few more days, but who knew you were in such a hurry. Rather than arranging a fixed time, we might as well do it now since we’ve run into them.” Qing Shui smiled.

The Three Perfections Demon King’s eyes widened. He had thought that he must have heard wrong. He watched Qing Shui in disbelief. “What did you say? You want to destroy us?”

Qing Shui nodded without a hint of joke. “Yes!”

“Oh—Haha… Young man, your joke isn’t funny.” the Three Perfections Demon King burst out laughing.

Not just the Three Perfections Demon King; the others began laughing as well. To them, Qing Shui’s words were hilarious, like a kindergartner declaring to Hercules that they would defeat the latter.

“Is it funny? You’re going to cry in a bit.” Qing Shui looked at the other party and smiled

without restraint.

“Alright, since you are bent on interfering, then we’ll send you on your way.”

“Sect Leader, there’s no need to waste a knife for cows on a chicken. I say, a slaughter knife for pigs should be enough in this case.” a man said.

“Say, Da Dun, isn’t the butcher’s knife for cows and pigs the same?”

“Rubbish. One is for pigs and the other for cows, of course they’re not the same.”

The Three Perfections Demon King nodded. The man walked over, holding a one-handed hammer. “Hey, come on. My hammer is thirsty. I’ll show you the greatness of it.”

Before Qing Shui could move as he observed the man who was almost as wide as he was tall, Hao Tian stepped forward. “I’ll deal with you, fatty. Hm… You’re just as ugly, just as ugly as that Dark Fatty.”

With Hao Tian’s words, there were several who laughed. Qing Shui laughed but didn’t move. It wasn’t a bad idea to let them train through a battle like this.

Hao Tian’s eagerness had to do with Tang Xi’s presence as well…

“I hate it most when others call me ugly and fat. You’re dead for sure, rascal. Have a taste of my hammer!” The fat man was surprisingly agile despite his huge stature. With the hammer, his body leapt towards Hao Tian as well.