"Can we talk now?" Qing Shui smiled and walked over to the Vice Palace Lord.

  Having lived to such an age, the Vice Palace Lord's heart was trembling very intensely. His body was shaking a little as well and felt a little cold. When the sunlight shone down on his body, he couldn't feel any warmth at all. His dignified-looking eyes now didn't dare to look into Qing Shui's own eyes.

  He was given a scare by Qing Shui's earlier attack. The prowess of this attack was annihilative. If it wasn't because he had good items on him, he reckoned that even if he didn't die, he would have been severely crippled.

  "Talk…? Talk about what?" the Vice Palace Lord tried hard to ensure that he was speaking fluently while also trying to calm down his mental state.

  "There are two paths. The first is for me to kill you guys. Of course, you’re free to believe that I'm not capable of doing so. The second path is to break free from the Divine Palace Headquarters." Right now, Qing Shui wanted to cause the Divine Palace Headquarters to break down. However, he wasn't sure if he wanted to fight for the position of the Divine Palace Headquarters' Palace Lord.

  The Vice Palace Lord hesitated. He was still thinking of becoming the Divine Palace Headquarters' Palace Lord. However, he was left with no options right now.

  "If I were to break free from the Divine Palace, I'll die. Moreover, I'll be looked down upon by the rest of the world. If that’s the case, I might as well be killed by you. At least, I'll be able to leave a good reputation behind." The Vice Palace Lord gave it some thought before saying.

  "The Divine Palace here has already broken away from the Divine Palace's earliest oath." Qing Shui said.

  "The world is developing and this isn't something strange. Not only the Divine Palace is like this. Everything in the surroundings is changing as well. This is a world that reveres the strong. As long as you're strong enough, you'll be able to bend the rules to your will." This time around, the old man looked at Qing Shui to see if he had anything he wanted to say.

  Qing Shui didn't say a word at the beginning. Although he wanted to refute, he knew that this was how things were in this world. It was like the Divine Palace's Holy Maiden case which he had encountered earlier. Some people from the Divine Palace made use of their selfish desires. Since this phenomena existed, they had their own reasons for existing. Sunlight shone down on the world but there would always be places sunlight couldn't reach. If there were no evil existences, there wouldn't be any righteousness.

  Qing Shui understood this well and was able to accept this. There were even multiple cases where he had accepted such phenomena. This could be a sign of development.

  "What you said might be right." Qing Shui spoke up.

  "I don't know what reason you have for coming this far. Is it for fame? Or to get your hands on the Divine Palace? Is this considered your own selfish desire? Do you think that when compared to the current Divine Palace, you're right and you're lofty?" the Vice Palace Lord didn't think that Qing Shui looked like some very evil person and thus he didn't have as many reservations when speaking now.

  Qing Shui sighed. To be honest, it was true that what he did was for himself. Although he had a benevolent mentality, he didn't have such power. If it wasn't because of Tantai Lingyan, he wouldn't even come to the Nine Suns Domain. He wouldn't even come to the Upper Three Regions. If things were seen in this perspective, he could also be said to be doing things for his own selfish desires.

  "Alright. No matter what, I'll be overthrowing the current Divine Palace. Since you guys claim to be righteous, you can't be doing so many vile deeds. It's fine if it is just a few cases, but if everyone from the top to the bottom does this, then what difference is there from the Demon Gate?" Qing Shui shook his head.

  The Divine Palace Headquarters' Vice Palace Lord looked at Qing Shui, "You're very strong, but do you have the confidence to defeat the Palace Lord?"

  Although the Divine Palace's Palace Lord was reaching the end of his life, his strength was deep and unfathomable. He wouldn't let Qing Shui off after coming to know of his intentions. Therefore, the Vice Palace Lord was still very hesitant. The thought of that terrifying old man made his heart palpitate. It was a helpless resistance.

  "I don't know, but I'll definitely try." Qing Shui nodded and said with certainty.

  He had now reached level seven of the Nine Suns Domain. However, the Divine Palace Headquarters' Palace Lord should be stronger than this. After all, this was the Nine Suns Domain and he was the same person who was a dominator-level character of a super great sect.

  He was uncertain. He had now reached the seventh step of the Nine-Mortal Steps. Although he would be able to reach the Eight-Mortal Steps soon, he reckoned that the other party wouldn't give him the chance to perform this.

  Given no choice in the end, the Vice Palace Lord chose to break away from the Divine Palace. However, Qing Shui had no idea if he was doing so for real. He was going to see what the Vice Palace Lord's choice was. Sometimes, when a person made the wrong choice, they wouldn't have the chance to regret.

  The Vice Palace Lord and the others left.

  Qing Shui returned to the manor and his expression returned to normal. However, the others were feeling a little heavy-hearted. After all, this was one of the strongest influences in the nine continents. This was the headquarters, a great influence which retained its legacies and had an extremely strong foundation.

  "Alright, don't worry. The most important thing is still about focusing on cultivating. It's not as if we don't have the ability to take them on. Moreover, the scale of the battle wouldn't be too big." Qing Shui tried to console the others.

  Qing Shui didn't care about what was going on outside and carried on to do what he should be doing. He even forgot about the matters concerning the Demon Gate and didn't head to look for Tantai Lingyan at the Demon Gate either. Ever since he attained a breakthrough, his mind had been very stable, giving off the feeling that his heart was calm as water. It was as if everything had become serene.

  This was a feeling of having things within his grasp. This also meant that he had truly gotten stronger. This was the foundation, and what that gave him confidence.

  Two days later, Qing Shui sent out a message that rapidly spread out in the capital.

  Qing Shui was challenging the Divine Palace Headquarters' Palace Lord as a Battle God. In the challenge message, he mentioned that he wasn't satisfied with the current state of the Battle God Nation. He claimed that they had completely forgotten about the Battle Gods' oaths and were no better than bandits and bullies. Since that was the case, they should discard their names as Battle Gods and they were no longer deserving to be called Battle Gods.

  The news of Qing Shui challenging the Divine Palace's Palace Lord spread through the nation within a day. This wasn't all. Even the great influences in nearby countries got to know of this. There were many ways for the news in this world to transmit out very quickly with speed comparable to the internet in Qing Shui's previous life.

  …


  "Although that old man from the Divine Palace doesn't have a long time left to live, he is undoubtedly very powerful. To think that this young Battle God wishes to challenge him…" An old man from the Martial Association Nation clicked his tongue and said.

  "This young man is also a Battle God and is horrifyingly strong. It's said that he had almost dealt the Divine Palace's Vice Palace Lord an instant kill. Despite there being so many people, he instantly killed many of them."

  "To be honest, this young man is bad at restraining himself. If he were to lay in wait until the old man from the Divine Palace dies, who would be able to handle him?"

  "This old man doesn't have long to live, but he still has eight to ten years of lifespan left. It might not be impossible for him to even live on for 30 or 50 years. He probably can't wait."

  …


  At the garden behind the Demon Gate, Tantai Lingyan was teaching an exquisite-looking young girl to study. The little girl was like a beautifully carved piece of jade and ivory-like skin that was smooth and tender. She was like a porcelain doll. Her pair of crystal-like eyes were beautiful and pure.

  "You're still going to be making a move after all." Tantai Lingyan let out a soft sigh.

  "Mother, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking of Father?" The lass' crisp voice rang out.

  "He'll come back and look for us after a period of time." Tantai Lingyan rubbed Qing Tan's head and smiled, saying.

  "You say the same thing every time." Qing Tan pouted her lips and said, feeling dissatisfied.