Heavenly Jewel Change

“Very well. I accept.”

When Shangguan Tianyang heard Zhou Weiqing said these four simple words, Shangguan Tianyang felt as though he had been relieved of an enormous weight. He couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a smile.

“But.” Zhou Weiqing suddenly added, “I hope that there will be no further alterations to our agreement. Otherwise, I won’t be needing your permissions in marrying Xu’er, Fei’er, and Bing’er.”

Zhou Weiqing’s words were extremely aggressive. He wasn’t made out of clay, to be molded as others saw fit. In addition, even a real clay man had 30% of the earth’s toughness. Although Heaven’s Expanse Palace was mighty, there was no way Zhou Weiqing would let it repeatedly bully him.

Tang Xian raised an eyebrow. Just as she wanted to say something, Shangguan Bing’er tightly pulled at her hand. She could sense how frantic her daughter was, which startled her for a moment. In the end, she didn’t say anything. As the saying goes, a daughter’s heart will invariably be with her husband. If this really did end up causing such a bitter fight that Zhou Weiqing stormed off with all three of her daughters, she wouldn’t even have a chance to regret her actions.

Shangguan Tianyue lowered his head slightly, as though he hadn’t heard Zhou Weiqing’s words. Although on the surface it seemed as though he had been acting against Zhou Weiqing the entire time, in truth this ‘father-in-law’ cared about him the most and had been helping him out in secret. The ever-smiling Shangguan Tianyang was actually the toughest one to handle, as he was the true controller of Heaven’s Expanse Palace.

Shangguan Tianyue didn’t respond to Zhou Weiqing’s aggressive words, because he knew that Shangguan Tianyang really was bullying him a bit too much. Before Zhou Weiqing had left for the Xuantian Continent, Shangguan Tianyang had already made a vague promise to allow all three Shangguan sisters to marry him. Now, he was putting up new roadblocks. Anyone would be unhappy with this.

Shangguan Tianyang lived up to his reputation as the Palace Master. His smile didn’t change at all, despite Zhou Weiqing’s rather provocative words. He nodded and said, “We were waiting for you to return in order to finalize these things. There’s naturally no way that there shall be no further alterations. Weiqing, would you like to rest first?”

Zhou Weiqing shook his head. “No need. If I don’t handle this, I won’t be able to fall asleep. Where shall we do this?”

Shangguan Tianyang smiled. “Right here at the Drill Grounds of Heaven’s Expanse Palace.”

Zhou Weiqing had never before visited the drill grounds here, and he couldn’t help but feel secretly surprised at what he saw. It was a large, empty area filled with swirling clouds that was actually a miniature spatial plane of its own.

Zhou Weiqing was no longer at the same level he had been in the past. He didn’t know what sort of mechanism Shangguan Tianyang had activated, but he was sure that they had been teleported to this place.

Aside from everyone else who had been within the meeting hall, Zhan LingTian was also here in the drill grounds. Or, to be more precise, Zhan Lingtian had been training here. When Shangguan Tianyang saw him, he gestured for him to remain and watch. Zhan Lingtian was also Shangguan Tianyang’s disciple. The chance to view this battle would have varying levels of benefits for any Heavenly Jewel Master.

Although this was a flat plane, it didn’t seem to be different from the Boundless Mainland. The sun shone in the skies as it would anywhere else, but the clouds swirling around it made it look like an Immortal realm.

Shangguan Tianyang brought Tang Xian, Shangguan Bing’er, and Zhan Lingtian over to stand and watch from afar, then nodded at Shangguan Tianyue. At the same time, his lips trembled slightly as though he was saying something to this little brother of his.

Shangguan Tianyue frowned slightly, but then nodded slowly. As for Zhou Weiqing, his lips curved upwards slightly. He didn’t even need to guess; he knew that Shangguan Tianyang was telling Shangguan Tianyue not to show any mercy and to defeat Zhou Weiqing with all his power, ensuring that Xue’er would remain their heir.

A long stick of sandalwood joss incense flew out from Shangguan Tianyang’s hand and hovered in the air. He was the Palace Lord, after all. There was no way he would permit for any cheating.

Shangguan Tianyue and Zhou Weiqing had already walked over to the drill grounds and were staring at each other. Shangguan Tianyue said calmly, “Use all the power you have. I won’t show any mercy.”

Zhou Weiqing respectfully bowed towards Shangguan Tianyue. “Go ahead, father-in-law.”

Shangguan Tianyue was very satisfied with Zhou Weiqing’s respect. All my hard work wasn’t for nothing, at least. In truth, if it wasn’t for his hidden support, there was no way that Heaven’s Expanse Palace would’ve supported Zhou Weiqing and the Heavenly Bow Empire at such an early stage. In fact, it wouldn’t even have given him the chance to meet with the three Shangguan sisters on so many occasions. It could be said that the person who favored Zhou Weiqing the most was actually Shangguan Tianyue. The constant complaints he directed at Zhou Weiqing were meant to prevent the kid from becoming too complacent and smug. Now, it seemed, Zhou Weiqing finally understood what his intentions had been, which was why the kid was now so respectful.

But of course, none of that had anything to do with this battle. They had to fight this duel, and Shangguan Tianyue was going to fight with all his power. His brother was watching. If he showed any mercy, it would be discovered. That would just cause more trouble. However… Shangguan Tianyue was thinking something else to himself. Oh, dear brother… did you really think Zhou Weiqing would be this easy to handle?

As soon as Zhou Weiqing had reached the island, Shangguan Tianyue had personally tried to sense just how powerful the kid had become. Alas, he had been unable to do so. It might seem common for a person to be unable to detect how powerful a second person was, but what if the first person was a Heavenly Emperor? What level of power had Zhou Weiqing actually reached for that to happen?

Now, Zhou Weiqing only needed to hang on for the time it took for the stick of incense to burn, not actually win. It wasn’t completely impossible. Although Shangguan Tianyue felt a bit conflicted as to whether or not he really wanted to let this little brat take such advantage of him and steal all three of his precious daughters, he was also a bit eager to test Zhou Weiqing’s strength.

The two, prospective father-in-law and son-in-law, stared at each other from afar. A vast aura that was as awesome as the sea had already begun to emanate out of Shangguan Tianyue’s body… but the strange thing was, he didn’t cause any disturbances in the world around him.

Zhou Weiqing quickly scanned the area and learned why this was so. These drill grounds were rather unique. They were completely cut off from the atmospheric energies of the outside world, which meant that neither of them would be able to borrow energy from it. They would have to rely on their own cultivation bases to fight each other. That way, the power of their attacks would drop dramatically. Otherwise, if a Heavenly Emperor’s power was to actually explode forth on Heavenly Jewel Island, even the Zhongtian City would be affected by the shockwaves.

In the face of the Heavenly Energy ripples emanating from Shangguan Tianyue, Zhou Weiqing simply stood there unmoving. He looked as calm as ever, almost as though he was nothing more than an ordinary person.

Zhan Lingtian watched from Shangguan Tianyang’s side, staring unblinkingly at Zhou Weiqing. He had heard long ago that Zhou Weiqing had made yet another breakthrough, and so he himself had been training like a madman. Just a short while ago, he himself had broken through to the nine-Jeweled stage as well. He was filled with enmity towards Zhou Weiqing, his romantic rival, and this had served as motivation for him to train harder.

Although he didn’t know what had happened, the fact that Zhou Weiqing was actually facing up against Shangguan Tianyue caused Zhan Lingtian to feel stunned. Shangguan Tianyue was a Heavenly Emperor! Forget about surviving for the time of a joss stick to burn, even a casual blow from the man would be beyond what Zhan Lingtian could withstand. Did this mean that Zhou Weiqing was now at a level where he could actually block attacks from someone like the Second Palace Master? This was impossible, right?

Shangguan Tianyang felt just as shocked. He was a Max Level Heavenly Emperor, and Zhou Weiqing’s calmness caused him to feel incomparably stunned. Just like Shangguan Tianyue, he was actually unable to see through this youth.

“Let us begin,” Shangguan Tianyang said. He waved his right hand, causing the joss stick in front of him to light up. A wisp of smoke began to rise from it.

Zhou Weiqing wasn’t in a hurry to attack. He took a half-step back with his left foot, staring intently at his father-in-law.

Shangguan Tianyue naturally knew what this meant. He snorted, then struck out with his right palm, sending a fierce burst of Heavenly Energy towards Zhou Weiqing. It could be said that he was the first to attack.

Zhou Weiqing chuckled, bringing up both hands. His Personal Jewels were already gleaming, and when Shangguan Tianyang and Zhan Tianling actually saw the ten sets of Heavenly Jewels glistening around his wrists, they couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed.

Heavenly King. He’s actually a Heavenly King! In this instant, Zhan Lingtian’s heart plummeted. He had thought that after reaching the nine-Jeweled level, he once more had the right to challenge Zhou Weiqing. Now, it seemed, the distance between them had become as vast as heaven’s moat. He had grown up in Heaven’s Expanse Palace and so he naturally knew how enormous the difference between a nine-Jeweled cultivator and a Heavenly King was. Simply put, Heaven’s Expanse Palace had many powerhouses, but it had less than a tenth as many Heavenly Kings as it did nine-Jeweled cultivators. This was just a single step’s difference, but it represented a distance as vast as the starry sky! In addition, Zhou Weiqing was much younger than him.

Right at this moment, Shangguan Tianyue actually attacked. As he had said, he didn’t show Zhou Weiqing any mercy at all. An incomparably mighty aura came blasting out of his body. The Boundless Infinitum Technique was, by nature, a technique which carried boundless majesty and weight. This powerful pressure he controlled instantly condensed around Zhou Weiqing, completely focusing on him.

This showed the difference between a Heavenly King and a Heavenly Emperor. Heavenly Kings also had tremendously powerful auras, but there was no way they could actually control their auras the way Heavenly Emperors could.

A dim layer of golden light emanated from Zhou Weiqing’s body in response to the enormous pressure. Aside from him and his opponent, the only person present who understood what was happening Shangguan Tianyang, because only he was at a level high enough to understand it.

Although Tang Xian didn’t understand how this duel between the two worked, she could tell that the ever-present, calm smile on Shangguan Tianyang’s face had suddenly vanished without a trace. What had he just seen?

He saw that when Shangguan Tianyue’s incredibly dense aura had pushed down upon Zhou Weiqing, it had simply parted and rolled past him without having any effect at all. The faint golden light emanating from Zhou Weiqing looked very weak, but with it covering him it resulted in something not even Shangguan Tianyang could understand.

Shangguan Tianyue didn’t release his Consolidated Equipment since Zhou Weiqing wasn’t using his either. As a senior, how could he possibly summon his equipment first? This impacted his honor as an expert.