442 - Hai Clan’s Pride, Hai Long, Feng Clan’s Elder Yun, Disastrous

“In another 10 years, he’d be even more attractive to women than Canghai!” Qing Shui thought while looking at the youth who should be from the Hai Clan.

“That’s the most talented one from the Hai Clan. The first among the younger generation, and also considered to be the most outstanding one among the entire Greencloud Continent.” Xi Ri turned his head around and told Qing Shui.

“Even you think so highly of him. Seems like he’s really not that weak after all!” Qing Shui smiled at Xi Ri.

“That’s not all. For a mere 35 years old to be at the peak of Martial King, although just barely, he has already left the rest far behind him.” Xi Ri added with a slightly bitter tone.

“Peak of Martial King?” Qing Shui was shocked too. The disparities between them were simply too great, so Qing Shui wasn’t able to sense his strength at all. He thought about his own situation. He had quite a lot of heaven-defying opportunities, but he had only barely made it to the peak of Martial King even when he had utilised all of them. However, he knew that he would also be able to officially squeeze himself into the peak of Martial King ranking very soon. 

“That’s right. He even put a lot of geniuses to shame!” Xi Ri said bitterly.

Qing Shui wondered if that included Xi Ri himself among them. But he could tell that Xi Ri admired that person from the bottom of his heart, to the extent of wors.h.i.+pping him. 

“His future achievements will be boundless!” Qing Shui smiled, sighing inwardly to himself that the waters of the World of Nine Continents were indeed deep. He had thought that he wasn’t in any way inferior among the cream of the crop from the younger generation with all that he possessed right now, even though he still couldn’t compete with those bunch of old monsters.

He had also believed that he was bound to be standing at the highest summit eventually someday. But now, his faith had been wavered slightly. Cultivation was indeed difficult!

“Not only boundless. Hai Long can most likely become a Martial Saint grade cultivator. His Hai Clan should really be thankful for having someone like him in their clan.” It was difficult to tell if Xi Ri was insinuating anything from the tone of voice.

Qing Shui wondered how many people would be shocked again if news about him also being barely at the peak of Martial King had gotten out.

“How strong is the Hai Clan?” Qing Shui was completely clueless about it. Hai Long was the only person he knew for now.

“In terms of inheritance, the Hai Clan is inferior to the Heavenly Palace and the Sword Tower. However, the Hai Clan is very powerful. It holds even greater potential than the Heavenly Palace and Sword Tower. Not only Hai Long, the other young disciples among the six sects are very excellent. The Hai Clan’s weakness is that it is small.”

“Thank you. Seems like you have cleared your misunderstandings towards me.”

Qing Shui had gained quite a lot of knowledge from Xi Ri. Besides, he had never really hated this man who reeked of blood from the Starmoon Hall since their first encounter. As for the battle last time, it was merely a way of exchange between them.

“I have actually never misunderstood you. I was merely giving myself an account last time. I’m sure you will understand my circ.u.mstances, and I should thank you for going easy on me that time.” Xi Ri smiled at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui only smiled back without saying anything. But he could feel the mutual understanding between them, or should he say the friends.h.i.+p between them. Most of the time, friends.h.i.+ps weren’t just something verbal, they were a kind of feeling and tacit support.

“It’s about to start!”

“It’s starting!”

……….

Voices of discussions rang out. Qing Shui lifted his head and saw a person of moderate build with completely gray hair and beard standing on the arena. His snowy white hair hung down to his waist.

“Welcome to the Heavenly Palace. Since this is not the first time the six sects have competed with each other, I shall make this short. I will repeat the contest rules one more time. Violators of the rules will receive the most severe punishment. Number one, the moment you step into this arena, you are responsible for your own life and death. Number two, you may use anything in this arena, as long as they belong to you. Number three, you are not allowed to have an a.s.sistant and you are not allowed to battle in a group. Number four, the challenged may refuse a challenge with his right fist. Number five……” 

Qing Shui realised that there were quite a number of rules. Although they were mostly superfluous words, they could be quite useful!

“d.a.m.n, he said he’d make this short. My a.s.s. It’s like this every year.”

“d.a.m.n straight. The sun is already this high in the sky and he’s still not done yet. He’s indeed long-winded.”

……..

“Alright, that’s about it. We’re going into free mode. Whoever wants to issue challenges now may stand on the arena and shout out the opponent’s name,” the elderly man finished his sentence with a smile and stepped down.

This statement was like a melody to everyone’s ears.

……....

An unexpected brief silence instantly followed. Many were looking at the arena while some were scanning their surroundings, trying to see if anyone was going to walk up the arena.

“Brother Xi, it’s been awhile now. Why have no one taken any initiative?” Qing Shui realised that 10 minutes had pa.s.sed and no one had made a move yet. Discussions were starting to fly around them now, causing a chaotic scene.

“Don’t panic. Very soon. People tend to be more prudent about battles of life and death.” Xi Ri laughed as though he had seen this kind of situation many times before.

Qing Shui could only nod and observe his surroundings. His gaze once again stopped at the Misty Hall. Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li were standing there conspicuously. Everyone else around them were all girls, and everyone single one of them were gorgeous, making for an attractive sight. Qing Shui could see that almost everyone had their attention in that direction too. 

The Misty Hall’s Palace Mistress was absent, but Qing Shui knew that she wouldn’t appear in events like this. He s.h.i.+fted his gaze towards the others from the Heavenly Palace and saw a few familiar faces. Among those who crossed gazes with Qing Shui, some smiled at him in return, whereas some immediately averted their gazes.

The master of the Emperor"s Audience Hall was Jin Changzheng, who was also an heir of the Jin Clan. The tall and handsome youth nodded to Qing Shui with a smile when their gazes met.

Qing Shui naturally responded with a smile too. On the other hand, Song Lang, who was now the Chief Senior Disciple of the Starday Hall, had an immense hatred that could devour Qing Shui alive with his gaze when he saw him.  But Qing Shui calmly disregarded it and pretended he didn’t see him. Just when he was about to take a glance at the other halls, a woman entered his line of sight. A very familiar woman.

She had crossed paths with Qing Shui before. The woman who had a one night stand with him before!

She was that woman from the Feng Clan!

Although she was far away, Qing Shui could still clearly see her beautiful face. Just the sight of that slender, well developed body figure and her plump b.r.e.a.s.t.s that held her dress up made one’s mouth go dry.

Her waist was beautifully connected to her rear like a piece of fine art, making her rear appear full and plump. Her legs were gracefully long and well shaped.

Just then, the woman lifted her gaze up and met Qing Shui’s. He felt a little nervous in his heart and had some other strange sensations.

The woman’s gaze was a little complex with slight contempt. She stared at Qing Shui briefly for a second before looking away. There wasn’t any hatred nor admiration in that gaze. It was just like the way Qing Shui had looked at Song Lang earlier.

“So this is how being ignored feels like……” Qing Shui smiled wryly and rubbed his nose.

“Someone’s going up! Look, someone’s going up!”

“Someone really went up there!” A yell was heard!

……..

Qing Shui looked towards the arena and discovered that it was a man who appeared to be middle-aged, but his sideburns were gray. His body size was normal, and he looked ordinary too. Qing Shui only had one comment about him – that he looked extremely balanced. Not particularly handsome, but just pleasing to look at.  

“Qi Xingui, come up here if you’re still a man.” The man calmly said without even looking down.

“Who is Qi Xingui?”

“Who knows?”

“Qi Xingui is the Elder from the Sheathed Sword Tower of the Sword Tower!” Someone yelled.

……...

Not long after that, almost everyone knew that this Qi Xingui was the Elder of the Sheathed Sword Tower of the Sword Tower.

Right at this exact moment, Qing Shui realised the reason behind the popularity of this Six Sects Tournament. It was almost impossible to reject a challenge. Rejecting would not only mean losing your own reputation, but also the reputation of the whole sect or clan.

As expected, a tall and powerful-looking middle-aged man walked up the arena after a short while. Qi Xingui’s hair was like the mane of a mighty lion, and his body seemed rather extraordinarily well built. The long changshan fitted well on his body, though his sleeves were a little too long.

“Since you want to die so badly, I shall grant your wish today,” Qi Xingui said coldly to the man across him.

“It’s uncertain who will emerge as the victor. You killed my son. So it’s either you die or I die today. Whatever the outcome is, I’m happy.” The man spoke through clenched teeth.

“Enough with your rubbish. I shall send you on your way now.”

Qi Xingui frowned. He immediately hopped towards the middle-aged man as soon as he finished his sentence.

He hopped like a rabbit, agile and nimble. At the same time, the man across him bended his torso and abruptly sprang up. His arms were akimbo and his legs were taut, throwing himself at Qi Xingui like a falcon.

“Elephant form fist!” Qing Shui watched the two person fighting on the arena with a smile on his face.

Bam bam!

Gigantic noises rang out from the arena endlessly. The man’s technique were mostly executed from a higher to a lower position. Qi Xingui’s, however, carried the feeling of a “rabbit ascending a falcon”.

Whether it was the falcon catching the rabbit or the rabbit ascending the falcon, it all came down to their strength in the end!

The man had his five fingers curled inwards into the form of a claw. Faint green qi was visibly circulating around them. His whole palm looked abraded,  but every attack was filled with enough force to sever iron.

Peals of deadly noises filled the arena!

“DIE!”

The man leapt high into the sky once more. When Qi Xingui was evading, he was caught off guard by the man’s midair kick to his body. He struck like a snake with the speed of lightning and grabbed Qi Xingui by his throat.

His moves were silent yet deadly.

The expression on Qi Xingui’s face changed, but his sleeves suddenly puffed up and a ray of light shot out! Like two meteors, they shot out towards the man’s eyes.

Swords in his sleeve?

Qing Shui clearly saw two silver “swords” that weren’t much bigger than his own Gold Needles. Cold, sharp and also quite exquisite.

The look in the man’s eyes turned fierce, his hand remained on his throat and his taut legs abruptly struck out like a giant attacking a snake!

Bam!

AH!

Everything turned peaceful again within an instant. The man’s feet landed a blow on Qi Xingui’s chest, but his eyes were pierced through into the brain. The first round ended with a double death.

Some were fired up while others grieved in silence!