Chapter 176: Defeating Yao Yue!

Cold, trembling.

This was Yao Yue's state at this very moment. Not only were her hands trembling, but even her eyelids were quivering.

"The person I saw back then must have been Palace Master Liang Lady Lianxing."

Gu Qing glanced at Yao Yue, using a voice that trembled, "It was just that after seeing Palace Master Liang Lady Lianxing, I couldn't stop thinking about her. When I asked others, I heard that the Palace Master of the Moving Flower Palace was peerless under heaven, so I always assumed that the fairy in the painting was Palace Master Yao Yue."

Yao Yue turned completely cold at this moment.

Throughout this journey, Gu Qing had expressed his love a hundred times over. To win her favor, he had even abandoned his principles, transforming from a righteous hero into a cunning villain who orchestrated conspiracies and let others fight to the death. Upon arriving at Dongtinghu, he had even been willing to sacrifice his life just to see her one last time.

As long as he could see her once, he was willing to commit suicide.

What a testament this was to Yao Yue's charm!

But now, you're telling me you recognized the wrong person?

"Are you playing with me?"

Yao Yue asked coldly.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare."

Gu Qing apologized repeatedly, saying, "It was truly a mistake. Now that I think about it, the person who said Palace Master Yao Yue was peerless under heaven wasn't entirely correct; at the very least, you are on par with Palace Master Liang Lady Lianxing."

I am on par with Liang Lady Lianxing?

Yao Yue took a deep breath. In Yao Yue's heart, she was unique; no one could contend with her, and no one could be mentioned in the same breath as her. Hearing Gu Qing reverse the order of importance, she said without a hint of warmth, "So, you aren't going to die anymore?"

Gu Qing nodded and said, "If I cannot see Palace Master Liang Lady Lianxing, I will not be able to close my eyes in death."

Gu Qing had shifted his allegiance with lightning speed.

"And what about me?"

Yao Yue asked coldly.

"Uh..."

Gu Qing looked at Yao Yue, thought for a moment, and said, "We loved each other?"

"Swish!"

Yao Yue stepped forward and swung her palm. In an instant, she crossed the two-zhang distance and arrived before Gu Qing.

The martial arts of the Moving Flower Palace were dazzling and complex upon execution. Yao Yue's palm strike was intricate and magnificent, containing a hidden suction force that enveloped Gu Qing completely.

The Claw of Shattering Hardness.

Gu Qing instantly utilized the techniques from the Nine Yin Manual, his hands crossing as claw shadows piled thick—three to the left, three to the right, three above, three below—forming twelve small circles to parry Yao Yue's moves from all sides.

Gu Qing and Yao Yue were figures standing at the absolute peak of the world at this moment. Their moves were extremely swift, their changes exquisite, and the hidden force contained within was enough to split mountains and shatter rocks. Yet, the small boat they stood upon remained steady, showing no signs of collapsing.

During this exchange, the various techniques Gu Qing had learned flashed through his mind, used as soon as they were recalled—palm strikes, finger jabs, shoulder shakes, elbow strikes—all changing without end. Yao Yue's martial arts were even more unpredictable; her palm techniques, whether spitting or sucking force, contained endless mysteries.

"Take this!"

Yao Yue and Gu Qing traded palms, and a strange force surged over, attempting to draw Gu Qing's true energy to counterattack himself.

This was precisely the Moving Flower Palace's "Moving Flowers and Grafting Jade."

Back in the world of *The Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword*, Gu Qing had used the Great Expansion of the Universe to claim the title of "Returning the Favor with the Same Method." Moreover, at this moment, he possessed the Wedding Dress Divine Art, the Primordial Qi Art, the Tendon-Changing Scripture, and many other arts. His true energy was the most condensed and his changes the most unpredictable. When he traded palms with Yao Yue, the strange force failed to stir his true essence; instead, Gu Qing's true essence borrowed the momentum to strike back, startling Yao Yue into retreating to the bow of the boat.

Borrowing force to strike back existed in many martial arts routines, but to use it at Gu Qing's level and even counter the Moving Flowers and Grafting Jade was truly reaching the level of perfection.

"The Wedding Dress Divine Art." Yao Yue's sleeves fluttered like a fairy's, her expression filled with suspicion.

The Moving Flower Palace's Bright Jade Divine Art was peerless in its generation. The only internal energy capable of contending with it was the Wedding Dress Divine Art. Apart from that, the higher one's internal energy, the more susceptible one was to being countered by Moving Flowers and Grafting Jade.

"If it weren't for the Wedding Dress Divine Art, how would I dare to be a match for the Palace Master of the Moving Flower Palace?"

Gu Qing's voice was gentle, his gaze pure. He cupped his hands toward Yao Yue and asked, "Palace Master Yao Yue, may I ask if Palace Master Liang Lady Lianxing is currently at the Moving Flower Palace?"

Yao Yue merely looked at Gu Qing coldly.

Previously, Yao Yue had wanted to slaughter Gu Qing because he knew her plans. Now, she wanted to kill him out of personal spite.

In the Moving Flower Palace, Yao Yue always had to be the one to take the lead. Gu Qing, in front of her, had first expressed intense love without regard for his reputation or life, and then claimed his true love was Liang Lady Lianxing. This was a slap to Yao Yue's face.

Jiang Feng falling for Hua Yunu back then, with the two of them sneaking around, had already been unbearable for Yao Yue. Gu Qing's public declaration followed by his claim of loving Liang Lady Lianxing was ten, a hundred times more detestable than Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng leaving with Hua Yunu had caused Yao Yue heart-piercing hatred.

But Gu Qing's behavior caused Yao Yue's hatred to surge wildly. If not for the restraining nature of the Bright Jade Divine Art, she would have spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Swish!"

!

Yao Yue shot toward Gu Qing like an arrow.

Gu Qing was already at the stern of the boat. At this moment, he swayed his body and flew backward. In mid-air, he unleashed a flurry of palm strikes, trading blows with Yao Yue. As they exchanged strikes, they left the boat and plunged directly into the waters of Dongtinghu.

"Slap! Slap!"

Gu Qing tapped his toes on the water, sending up sprays, and flipped into the air again. Yao Yue, her lightness skill peerless, tapped the water like she was gliding on ice, her palms flying and carrying water arrows as she surged toward Gu Qing.

Amidst the sprays, Gu Qing only watched Yao Yue's hands. He let the other water droplets strike his body, but the protective power of the Wedding Dress Divine Art naturally blocked them. With palms condensed, Gu Qing once again utilized the Shaolin-style "Palm of Treading Frost and Breaking Ice."

The frost arrives with the tread.

Amidst the water sprays, Gu Qing discerned the reality of Yao Yue's palm techniques. On the waters of Dongtinghu, Gu Qing's palm techniques were singular and true. Within Yao Yue's dazzling palm strikes, he was often able to meet them head-on. Relying on this Daoist palm technique, Gu Qing dragged Yao Yue into a war of attrition.

The bright moon shone, ripples spread across the water.

The two of them stirred up waves on Dongtinghu, which were then vaporized by the heat of the Wedding Dress Divine Art. As they traded blows for a long time, a mist as thin as clouds and as white as silver rose up, swirling around the two of them, scattering and condensing.

"Slap!"

Gu Qing tapped the water and rose again, while Yao Yue was now knee-deep in the water.

In terms of lightness skill, the Palace Master of the Moving Flower Palace was indeed peerless, but Gu Qing possessed two sets of lightness skill systems—one normal, one based on extra-meridian points. By switching between them, whenever his breath was insufficient, he could use the other to compensate, buying time. Thus, as they flew back and forth, Gu Qing remained carefree, while Yao Yue had been using one set of internal breath from the start.

Her lightness skill was beginning to falter.

As their palms met, Gu Qing's hands suddenly drew a dozen large circles. Within these circles, he entangled Yao Yue's arm and pushed forward with a palm.

At this moment, Yao Yue's eyes were filled with hatred. As their arms entangled, she allowed the internal energy to strike her body, using Moving Flowers and Grafting Jade to circulate the force through her body. Risking internal injury, she struck a heavy palm against Gu Qing's chest!

This was Yao Yue's desperate, fatal move while at a disadvantage.

"Boom!"

After this palm strike, Yao Yue's lightness skill failed. Her legs went soft, and she collapsed into the waters of Dongtinghu. Seeing Gu Qing's expression remain steady despite the strike, she watched as a wave surged beneath his feet. Using the momentum of that palm strike, he flew into the air once more, then pressed a hand onto the peerless face that no one dared to look at directly, and shoved her head-first into the water.

"Glub, glub, glub..."

Yao Yue had suffered an unprecedented, thorough defeat.

(End of Chapter)