## AST 1656 - Sunset Palace Mistress' Dejectedness, North Sea Dragon Palace

With great power, it was easy to turn the tides of the situation. The Sunset Palace was in cheers. It was like they were given another chance. The more one recovers something after losing it, the more they would treat the thing preciously.

However, the members of the Golden Sand Palace were as if they had dropped into an ice cave. Victory had been snatched away right before their eyes. If their Palace Lord got to eat meat, they would be able to have a share in at least the soup as well. By then, they would be able to do anything to the Sunset Palace. However, right now, it was that others could do whatever they wished to them.

After the top-notch cultivators were crippled, the rest wouldn't be able to do much. They were all left to be dealt with by the Sunset Palace. The things were settled very quickly in less than an hour after Qing Shui had arrived.

This was the benefits of great power. Absolutely suppressing. Even the Golden Sand Palace which was even more powerful than the Sunset Palace was unable to hang on for an hour before Qing Shui.

The Sunset Palace Mistress walked up next to Qing Shui. The enemies had been wiped out but the surroundings were still filled with the stench of blood. However, the sea's ability to protect and cleanse itself was very strong. It wouldn't take long before the place would become as pure as before.

"How are your injuries?" Qing Shui turned and said, smiling at the Sunset Palace Mistress.

Her countenance looked a little pale and her charm had dropped a little. Instead, there was now a pitiful and feminine aura. She had been extremely charming to begin with. Extremely feminine even amongst all ladies. At this moment, the way she appeared gave others an indescribable urge. The feeling of seduction was very strong.

The Sunset Palace Mistress looked at Qing Shui with a slightly dazed expression as he looked back at her and she felt very happy. A smile appeared on her face, "Am I beautiful?"

"You are!" Qing Shui said honestly.

"Do you like it?" The Sunset Palace Mistress asked, slightly lowering her head. This lady had never appeared so weak before Qing Shui. In the past, she had maintained a powerful image but now, she appeared to be a little shy.

A lady like her could only be subdued by a powerful man for her to be willing to give her heart to the man. Moreover, it wasn't just to be strong in power. The man must also be someone she liked. For example, the Golden Sand Sea-Tiger King was stronger than her but she didn't like him.

"I do!" Qing Shui smiled and said.

"Then shall I give myself to you, with the Sunset Palace as my dowry." The Sunset Palace Mistress lifted her head and looked at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui shook his head helplessly and said, smiling. "Like and love are different. I like all beautiful ladies but if I were to marry all of them, won't I die of fatigue?"

Qing Shui had spoken a little too straightforwardly as he rubbed his nose, feeling a little embarrassed. The Sunset Palace Mistress also felt a little embarrassed. She was a mature lady. There were many things she had not experienced, but she did know about them.

"You said that you like me. What would I have to do to make you love me? I love you." The Sunset Palace Mistress said softly.

Qing Shui didn't understand. When this lady had first met him, she had wanted to become his. It was still the same now. He said helplessly, "Loving someone is very strange. It might happen at the first sight, or it might never happen even after living together for a lifetime. Love is something that happens unintentionally. When you realize that you have fallen in love with the other party, you wouldn't know when the love had started."

"I fell in love with you at first sight. I'm willing to wait for you, to let time prove it. You don't have to say anything. I won't shamelessly bother you. However, you must allow me the freedom to love you." The Sunset Palace Mistress said slowly, her beautiful eyes looking at Qing Shui with deep feelings of love.

Qing Shui slowly turned away his gaze. It wasn't that easy to digest a lady's loving feelings. This was a problem that was the same for all men. Toward ladies, especially beautiful ladies, it wasn't hard for men to develop feelings for them.

Qing Shui looked at the lady who appeared slightly dejected, not knowing how to console her. It might be that the more he tried to console her, the harder she would fall for him. He might as well let nature takes its course. Maybe her feelings for him would slowly fade away with time, just like how it was for Ziche Sha. Wasn't she living a blissful life as well?

When Qing Shui visited the Sunset Palace again, the Sunset Palace Mistress' injuries had mostly recovered. Qing Shui asked casually, "Are the Sunset Palace's losses this time huge?"

"With your medicinal pills, not many powerful cultivators died. Those who were injured could still recover from their injuries." As the Sunset Palace Mistress said that, there seemed to be a hint of grief in her eyes.

"Don't be sad. This is the destiny of all cultivators. They had expected for such a day to come. You've already done a very good job." Qing Shui consoled her.

"Your wife is the Palace Mistress of the Sea King Palace and she now has your help. It's very hard for ladies to survive in this world, especially for people like us. Not only do we have to compete for benefits, we must also keep our guard up to prevent others from targeting us." The Sunset Palace Mistress sighed as she spoke with great misery.

"Is the North Sea Dragon Palace very powerful?" Qing Shui thought of what the Ancient Golden Sand Sea-Tiger King had said earlier, repeating trying to use the North Sea Dragon Palace to pressurize him.

"The Ice Ocean Domain is only a branch of the North Ocean Domain. The truly powerful influences in the north sea. The Sea Dragon Palace is considered a powerful influence but I'm not sure how powerful they are. However, they are much more powerful compared to the influences in the Ice Ocean Domain."

Saying this, the Sunset Palace Mistress appeared a little worried.

"Don't worry, the North Sea Dragon Palace won't step into this place. I won't let them wreak havoc here." Qing Shui gave it some thought and said. After all, this place was where the Sea King Palace was situated and as long as the Sunset Palace was fine, the Sea King Palace would be as well.

Both Yiye Jiange and Muyun Qingge were now in no way inferior to the Sunset Palace in terms of their strength. However, the Sea King Palace was short of powerful experts.

"Qing Shui, I don't know how strong you are, but it's said that the Sea Dragon Palace has Divinities." The Sunset Palace Mistress looked at Qing Shui and said. She was actually clear that even if she didn't know of Qing Shui's exact cultivation, this man was definitely at the Divine grade.

When Qing Shui hear about the Divine grade now, he wasn't as resistant as before. In the past, he would feel apprehensive at the mention of this. In that case, although he might be able to run if he were to encounter Divinities, there would always be a situation where he wouldn’t be given the chance to flee. Yet, he wouldn't have been able to win against them.

"There's no need to worry. I feel that the Sea Dragon Palace won't take action just for a Golden Sand Palace. At the least, they wouldn't be so fast in taking action." Qing Shui gave it some thought and said.

"The Golden Sand Palace has many people. The news will reach the Sunset Palace very quickly." The Sunset Palace Mistress shook her head and said.

Qing Shui's heart felt a little heavy, just a little. With his current abilities, in additions to the fact that he could weaken his opponents, he would still have some chances of winning even if he were to encounter some slightly stronger Divinities.

As these ran through his mind, he still felt great. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. We'll deal with things as they come. We just need to live every day happily and fulfilling. Whether we worry or not, we still have to go through the days. Relax."

When the Sunset Palace Mistress saw Qing Shui like this, she smiled, "When you're around, there's nothing that I'm afraid of. This is a very strange feeling and I like it."

Qinghan Ye smiled. This was the first time that a lady was wooing him so fiercely. Even Xiang Bao hadn't been like this in the past. There was also a lady with the Nine Yin Body. Qing Shui suddenly thought of Qinghan Ye, the lady with a great beauty who had the Nine Yin Body. It had been so many years and he wondered if she was doing well.

Qing Shui suddenly realized that upon thinking of her, he missed her a little. He only wanted to see her for a little bit. In the past, he had been very close with this lady and there had been strange feeling between them. Although there were many times when he had forgotten about her, she hadn't been completely out of his mind.

Now that he thought of her, he had an urge to see her immediately.

There were no other intentions behind this. He simply wanted to see how she had been.

"Who are you thinking off? Why are you so deep in your thoughts?"

Qing Shui shook his head. Of course, he wouldn't say who he was thinking about. He smiled and said, "I'll watch out for the things happening here. If any experts were to come, I'll be able to notice them. Don't worry. I was the one who killed them so they should come to look for me."

"I'm not afraid that they'd come to look for me. I hope that you'll be well." The Sunset Palace Mistress turned and headed to the window as she said this.

The hardest thing to receive was a beauty's favor. Qing Shui didn't know if this counted as a beauty's favor but he really felt that he did owe her something. Thinking of this, he knew that it was because the Sunset Palace Mistress liked him.

"Both of us will be fine. A cultivator's life is fragile yet long. If there aren't any accidents, both of us will be able to live on for very long. Cherish life." Qing Shui smiled and said.

"I will. Can you promise me one thing?" The Sunset Palace Mistress turned to look at Qing Shui.

"Go on, I'll promise you whatever I can." Qing Shui's words gave him a lot of leeways. He would promise what he could but if it wasn't something he could do, he won't be able to give his word.

"In the future, if you have time, can you come and visit me? We're friends, so you won't reject me, right?" The Sunset Palace Mistress looked at Qing Shui and said. She was afraid that Qing Shui would reject her and she was also afraid of seeing his unwilling gaze.

"What kind of request is this? If I have time, I'll definitely come to look for you." Qing Shui cheerfully said.

Qing Shui didn't stay for very long and bade farewell. before he left, he told her not to worry. If anything were to happen here, he would definitely do his best to rush back.

The Sunset Palace Mistress smiled and sent Qing Shui off. As she looked at Qing Shui's departing silhouette, she couldn't hold back her dejectedness. Being attracted to someone yet not being able to do anything was really depressing. It was a feeling of keeping things stuffed up in the heart and unable to release them.

She had no idea if Qing Shui would return. The Sea Dragon Palace's power was very terrifying. She hoped that Qing Shui would be able to appear when she was in trouble and yet, she also hoped that he would never appear.

She felt very contradicted. Qing Shui's departure made her felt very empty inside. Suddenly, her feelings for many things seemed faded and the world seemed to be a lot colder. She didn't know that she would experience such changes and her beautiful silhouette seemed to have become weaker and softer.

Qing Shui returned to the Divine Cave. This time around, both ladies were around. They weren't surprised by Qing Shui's appearance. Yiye Jiange smiled and said, "You just came back from the Sunset Palace, right? How are things?"

Qing Shui knew that they would definitely find out when there was such a great commotion. He smiled and said, "It's probably over for the Golden Sand Palace. However, the North Sea Dragon Palace may come. Oh right, how does the Sea Dragon Palace fare in terms of their strength?"

Muyun Qingge frowned, "The North Sea Dragon Palace is about the same level as a weak Immortal Sect."

When Qing Shui heard this, he didn't feel optimistic. The influences in the world of the seas were all connected. An influence would have a stronger influence backing them up and that stronger influence would have an even stronger influence backing them up. However, most of the connection would break off after one or two chains. It was impossible for the chain to continue on forever. It was because those at the top wouldn't care for the fight between two ants and thus, they wouldn't be interested in getting involved.