Ancient Strengthening Technique
A man named Qing Shui, who transcended dimensions and arrived in the Kyushu continent. Storms of blood and wind, resulting in corpses and bones strewn about are extremely common here. The young warrior Qing Shui forged ahead in his path to cultivate, using 10 years to train himself, only to seek vengeance for the one who had forsaken his mother!
Note from Author: I am superfluous To put it simply, this is a story about the rising up in ranks, and getting hot chicks along his journey to stand at the summit of this world.
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Ancient Strengthening Technique : Chapter 1 – Qing Clan, Qing Shui
This is a small village surrounded by hills and mountains, the scenery is breathtaking. The village's surroundings is filled with the abundance of flora and fauna. Even the quality of the air here is fragrant beyond comparison.
Sitting atop of a hillside, was a little boy, roughly about five years old. The little boy was frail and weak, with a very thin physique. Currently the little boy was in a daze. If anyone was to look at the little boy at this moment, they would be flabbergasted! He could be considered considerably good looking, with that delicate small face and a pair of beautiful black eyes, but in this instance, the sorrowful expression in his eyes was not fitting for his age. It was a look that no ordinary five years old should be able to emulate.
"It has been five years.. Why did I appear in this world? This world and my original world are drastically different, I'm even unsure of what era of history this place belongs to, the only thing I know is that this continent is called Kyushuu.
"Everyone in my current family has the capability to practice martial arts. Why is it that I am a useless trash that is unable to cultivate?" Qing Shui mumbled. The moment there were any hints of strenuous exercise, he would get exhausted, have to gasp for air, palpitations in his heart and even fall unconscious!
"I was originally playing Western Fantasy [1] with my classmates. How on earth did I suddenly end up in this world!?"
"Qing shui! Qing Shui!" The voice of a woman sounded. Upon hearing it, Qing Shui gradually recovered from his melancholy and regained the bright-eyed naive look of a 5 year old child.
"Mum, I am here!" After he said that he waved his hands and quickly ran towards a woman who excluded a charm that was distinctively different from any ordinary village women.
"Child, why did you travel so far to play? If you want to go that far in the future, let me accompany you, alright?" Holding his hands, the woman smiled with a tender look in her eyes as she gently berated Qing Shui.
Qing Shui felt warmth in his heart. When he came to this world, he was still a fetus developing inside the woman's body. Now that five years had passed, Qing Shui was uncertain of the exact reason, but he no longer thought of things as before. He knows that this woman really feels affection for him, other people treats him as trash, but she's the only one in this world that treats him like a treasure!
Since his birth, Qing Shui had not seen his father. From infancy till now, it had always been this gentle and graceful woman before him that was responsible for his upbringing.
As a result, Qing Shui followed the surname of his mother. His mother is named Qing Yi, belonging to the Qing Clan. The Qing Clan in the Qing village, in this remote region, was considered the absolute authority. The Qing Clan was the most influential family within a 100 li radius because of their connections, as well as their secret family martial arts techniques that were passed down generation after generation. The Qing Clan could be considered as the only family that could rival the top three great families in Hundred Miles City!
As a result, in this remote region, no one could afford to make an enemy out of the Qing Clan. Qing Shui knew all of this because, in these five years, while the other kids in the family practiced martial arts, Qing Shui was the exception. Therefore, he had plenty of free time on his hand and thus, paid more attention to the information flowing around.
Even the commoner kids would practice some form of inferior martial arts. Even in his past life, Qing Shui also had the mentality and wish to become a top-tier expert that possessed heaven shaking and earth shattering strength, able to sweep humanity off its feet.
The chance had finally come, he was reincarnated into a different world. However, he turned out to be a trash that could not cultivate! As he thought of this, he covertly glanced at the beautiful lady by his side. Qing Yi was also gazing at Qing Shui compassionately but there were hints of doting, hope, and a sense of unfairness for Qing Shui in her eyes…
As he glanced at the hope in her eyes, Qing Shui lowered his head. He was afraid that Qing Yi would be disappointed. All parents in this world would want their child to achieve something outstanding in life, it goes without saying, no parents would ever want their child to be a trash! However, looking at the current circumstances, Qing Shui was afraid that he would have no choice but to disappoint his mother.
In the last five years, the one that fed and clothed him was this woman. This woman whom which he calls mother, Qing Shui was very afraid that she would one day leave his side.
"Qing Shui, are you hungry? Even if you go out to play, you still have to remember to eat your meals!" This woman had always been intellectual and caring, possessing a demeanour akin to an angel. This made Qing Shui feel that his mother was not ordinary, initially he thought that people respected her because she is the daughter of the Qing Clan's grandmaster, but it seems that this was not the case.
"Mother, am I useless? Other children can practice martial arts, but I am unable to.. Will you eventually become the same as them and think of me as trash?" Qing Shui whispered, his expression somewhat holding back tears.
Qing Yi felt her heart shuddered with pain, the weight of her hope was pinned onto this child's shoulder. However, this child was unable to cultivate, her hope was destined to be extinguished. One cannot have everything they want in life. Forget about Qing Shui accomplishing anything outstanding, as long as he can live a carefree and happy life, she would be extremely satisfied!
"Shui'er, no matter what, you will always be close to my heart. No matter what, I will always love you, you will always be my pride and joy, in my heart you will always be the most excellent and outstanding person, only when you are happy Will I be happy!" Qing Yi chastely kissed his cheeks.
Such heartwarming and affectionate actions were quite common between them, Qing Shui was quite used to it. He felt extremely blessed, no matter what, there is still someone who love him. With regards to those who calls him trash or looks down on him with contempt, what does that matter? He just could not help but feel sorry that he had not met Qing Yi's expectations.
Qing Clan was located at the most northern site of the Qing Village. Over there, everywhere within a radius of about 10 Li [3] was all populated by the Qing Clan main and branch families. Currently the clan master of the Qing Clan, Qing Luo was already a hundred years old, but due to him being at the peak of Houtian Stage, he still looked like a middle aged man. Humans at the peak of Houtian Stage had a life expectancy of two hundred years, as compared to normal humans who only had a life expectancy of a hundred and thirty years.
Qing Yi is the youngest daughter of the Qing Clan's clan master. The clan master had a total of four sons, and a single daughter. Qing Yi was the only daughter, not only that, she was also the youngest child. Needless to say, she was the apple of his eyes. The Qing Clan, currently collectively had about twenty plus grand children, one could say that Qing Luo was very contented. He would always smile genuinely from his heart even when he interacted with Qing Shui. There were countless talented geniuses within the two later generations, so even if there was an addition of one more genius, or one more trash, it didn't really matter much in his eyes. Furthermore, Qing Shui was the son of his precious daughter Qing Yi, even if he could not cultivate, as long as he could peacefully live out his life, Qing Yi would also feel reassured. And as such, Qing Luo was very protective of Qing Shui.
Located within the Qing Clan, there was an enormous courtyard. This courtyard an extremely important place in the Qing Clan. As both Qing Yi and Qing Shui entered, they could see the grandsons and grand daughters of the Qing clan boisterously practice their martial arts, everyone of them was akin to a ferocious tiger cub!
Qing Yi could see the sadness in Qing Shui's eyes so she silently sighed. This child at such a young age, had such a unyielding personality that seeks strength, it may be a curse instead of a blessing..
She gently guided Qing Shui into her embrace, unwilling to let him see the children that were currently practising martial arts!
But all her actions were futile, because at this moment, sounds of ridicule and contemptible laughter targeted at Qing Shui rang out. This sensation was even worst than being directly called trash!
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Chapter 2 – Three Years Later
Time flowed by, like an arrow shooting speedily across eternity, akin to a white steed flying across a gap. Even though Qing Shui had grown taller, he still looked delicate and scrawny. His only saving grace was his pair of beautiful black eyes which seemed to have become even more charming with the passage of time. To Qing Shui, the passing of time was not very advantageous. He was still unable to cultivate any martial arts!
"Qing Shui! Qing Shui!" A youth with a robust build comparable to a tiger ran over, shouting for Qing Shui.
Whenever he had spare time, Qing Shui usually chose to jog on the nearby hills and mountains. He loves the quiet solitude of the open hills, being out with nature calms him down and helps him to temporarily release the burden in his heart, making him become less irritated. As he grew older, the frequency of which he jogs gradually increased with time.
Qing Shui turned his head and saw that the person calling him was actually his closest friend, Qing Hu!
Qing Hu was younger than Qing Shui by a year. He had already managed to master the Qing Clan's hereditary martial skill "Blue Lotus Art" to the 3rd grade of Martial Warrior.
Cultivation in this world could be broken down into 10 realms. These 10 realms are: Martial Student, Martial Warrior, Martial General, Martial Commander, Xian Tian, Martial King, Martial Saint, Martial Emperor and False God. Each of these realms further consisted of 10 grades.
Qing Hu was the youngest grandson of the Qing Clan, there were 3 other grand children the same age as him. It could be said that during the year he was born, the Qing Clan had been blessed with a total of 4 grandchildren.
There were many members of the same generation as Qing Shui in the Qing Clan who despise him, this was a world where cultivation was everything. For someone who was destined to be unable to cultivate, that person could only be considered trash and held in contempt by everyone. The only true friend he had was Qing Hu!
The moment he stepped into this world, because of his lack of cultivation talent, it was already determined that Qing Shui would be lonely and forsaken by others.
Qing Shui had lived for a total of 26 years. 18 years in his previous world and 8 years in this world. Thus, his mentality was a lot stronger than a normal child's, he did not cry out nor feel abandoned despite his loneliness. In spite of all of the bullying, there was basically no one who had ever seen him cry or throwing a tantrum!
Qing Shui was also reluctant to squabble with the stinking brats because of such insignificant matters. He had no patience for them. Despite the increasing amount of cold stares and sarcastic remarks floating his way, he was unconcerned. However, he really treasured his friendship with Qing Hu. Despite the fact that Qing Hu was a little kid compared to him, he was still really happy to have made a true friend in Qing Hu.
The Qing Clan's grand master, Qing Luo's cultivation was at the peak of the Hou Tian Realm. Out of his 4 sons, 3 had already reached the level of a Martial Commander, 8th Grade. Some were at the peak of the 8th stage and some were not.
The only exception was the 2nd son, Qing He. Qing He had already reached the level of a Martial Commander, 9th Grade! However, no matter how much he tried, he was still unable to breakthrough into the peak of the Hou Tian Realm [1].
Now, Qing He needed to fully concentrate on his cultivation, hoping to make a breakthrough and enter the level of Martial Commander 10th Stage, reaching the peak of the Hou Tian realm. Only when there are 2 peak Hou Tian stage experts within the Qing Clan, will they be able to clash directly with the Shi Family from Hundred Miles City!
Within the 3rd generation, there are also quite a few geniuses. Because of Qing Luo's personal nurturing, the eldest grandson, Qing Zi, had already broken through to Martial Warrior, 7th Grade at the age of 21!
Another outstanding genius, by the name of Qing You, actually broke through to the realm of Martial Warrior, 6th Stage at the age of 13. This cultivation speed was even 2 years faster than Qing Zi. This made Qing Luo extremely elated, to the point where he was even smiling in his sleep. The meaning behind reaching the same stage with a 2 year difference was extremely clear. Qing You could be compared to those heavenly-defying geniuses, a genius among geniuses! Qing Luo had tremendous faith and huge expectations regarding this grandson of his.
In this world, where cultivation was everything, the topics of discussion between people naturally revolved around cultivation. This word "cultivation" was the bane of Qing Shui. He detested everything that had to do with it. And so, whenever he was neither sleeping nor eating, he would jog in the hills and mountains alone, basking in the great solitude of nature.
As time passed, his personality became colder and colder, Qing Yi was the only one who had the capability to coax out a smile from him. Even Qing Luo was unable to thaw his frosty countenance.
Qing Shui doesn't know that each time Qing Yi saw his lonesome figure, she would feel stabs of pain in her heart. During the past 3 years, Qing Yi had accumulated countless precious medicinal herbs for Qing Shui, to try and help him improve his constitution, but it was all for nought.. The frosty expression on his face would thaw during the times when he was asleep, only when he was having a good dream would he be able to truly smile in his heart.
—-
"Hey Qing Hu, why are you sneaking out to play instead of cultivating? Are you not afraid of your Father punishing you by hitting your buttocks?" Qing Shui intense visage loosened up and he broke into a slight smile as he joked with Qing Hu.
"No problem, it's not painful at all, nothing to be scared of!" Qing Hu brushed it off lightly. Qing Shui felt that the way Qing Hu replied was very adorable, as if he was pretending to be an adult.
"Alright, let's go back now! If not, Aunt Yi will come and catch you again." Qing Hu said in a commanding tone as he opened his eyes wide!
Qing Shui softly sighed as he glanced at Qing Hu's strong, robust body, comparing it to his own frail and delicate one. "Do I have to live like this, being unable to cultivate for the rest of my life? Why are there so many stories of legendary characters transcending dimensions, becoming world-shaking experts, but I'm the only exception?" Qing Yu lamented in exasperation.
—– Qing Shui and Qing Hu arrived back at the mansion just when Qing Yi was about to go out and look for them. Upon seeing them, Qing Yi hurriedly ushered them into the dining hall for the reunion dinner. Today was the last day of the month. During the last day of every month, the Qing Clan would hold a reunion dinner where the whole family eats together. This way, there would be a place for family members to exchange news as well as it being a time for family bonding.
Seated at the main table, alongside Qing Luo was Qing He, Qing Zi and Qing You. The other remaining members of the second and third generations were not privileged enough be seated at the main table along with the geniuses of the Qing Clan.
Despite Qing Zi and Qing You being in the third generation, they were able to dine at the main table because of their strength and talent. This sitting arrangement was arranged by none other than Qing Luo. He wanted to nurture the rest of the clan members by creating an atmosphere of friendly competitiveness. Being seated at the main table was a position of honour. It was something that everyone regarded like a badge of glory. Not only that, the allowance of those seated at the main table was also much higher compared to the rest of the clan members!
Qing Shui silently finished eating at Qing Yi's side, the other clan members of similar strengths would usually congregate together with the exception of Qing Shui. Ever since he was young, Qing Shui had always been alone. As a mother, seeing her child bereft of friends and companionship, Qing Yi felt really helpless!
Qing Yi had always suppressed her emotions deep in her heart. 3 years.. In these 3 years, it seemed that his demeanor had completely changed. In the past, there would still be moments where Qing Shui occasionally exhibited his childish side. Now, Qing Shui seemed to have aged prematurely in both his personality and mentality, losing his childhood in the process. As Qing Yi look at the lonesome figure of her beloved son, tears would involuntarily flow down her face.
She had broken down and wept tears of helplessness countless times in the past 3 years!
Translator note [1] In case you guys are confused, Hou Tian realm refers to all the stages before Xian Tian. It consists of: Martial Student, Martial Warrior, Martial General, Martial Commander. So the peak of Hou Tian realm equates to Martial Commander, 10th Grade.
TL:Bluefire Edited by: Ziltch
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Chapter 3 – Body transformation
Qing Shui was walking away alone from the Qing Family. Besides going to the hillside he doesn't have another place to go. He doesn't know how many times he has come here. Looking at the high and steep cliff of the mountains he even wished to die, but he already knows that he can't. Every day looking at the earnest hope of his mother, he tells himself that he must keep living strongly, not for anyone else, only for the hope is her eyes!
Qing Shui is not resigned to be a waste. The more he thinks about it, the sadder he becomes. He cannot help but feeling crazy and cursing to the sky: "Evil heavens, I'm not will admit defeat. If you want to repress me, then I shall repress you!" His soft and immature voice unwilling to resign was transmitted very far away!
After finish shouting crazily, he ran towards the mountain. His disaffection and anger came out completely! Otherwise, he felt that he would blow up!
But his body didn't allow him to do so! After a number of breaths he felt stuffy but like he was unaware of it, he continued dashing towards the mountain while clenching his teeth!
The sweat continued falling down like it was a stream. Like they were a thorn is his eyes, they incited his nerves and willpower! And of course, the stifling was caused by the pain of his organs!
"I will not admit defeat, I must become strong, and I must overpass myself…" He doesn't know how much time he was reckless running but at last he let his head down and loses consciousness!
The time passes slowly, the sky turns dark, and the moon on the sky was extremely bright. The moon was sprinkling slightly his gently shining white light. Qing Shui was still unconsciousness. He was lying down halfway on the mountain and his small body looked tiny and solitary!
When Qing Yi was looking for Qing Shui, seeing that she couldn't found him, immediately she goes to the place where he always goes, the hillside. But she didn't found any traces of Qing Shui. Again she looked all around but she didn't discover any traces of Qing Shui!
Qing Yi finally started to panic, hastily returning home to send all the Qing Family to look for him! Her insanity by force comes out. Until now many people of the Qing Family knows that the young lady was originally an expert! Her elegant and graceful nature was due to the former days of her son but now she was losing her head!
When Qing Shui was running wildly and his brain loss consciousness, in the second when he collapsed, he feels like a door was opened inside of his brain. And an unending stream of information came to him!
A strengthening technique, meditation, method of refining medicine, forging technique, concealed weapon, tailoring, cooking, hunting, the way of maintaining good health, method of training, craftsman…
Those were not my complementary skills from when I played Fantasy Westward Journey? Not only that, there are extremely detailed methods of cultivating! But outside of the Ancient Strengthening Technique I can't cultivate all the others!"
Qing Shui was quite excited, if you play Fantasy Westward Journey, you would know that the human race has the strongest capacity in learning. It was possible to cultivate to the peak with immortal magic, but he is aware that immortal magic doesn't exist in this world. The most formidable warriors can destroy a city in a flash!
When playing Fantasy Westward Journey the martial arts were not the most powerful but the secondary skills. Only with the secondary skills you could be the most powerful without rival even if you don't have any martial arts. It was natural because only with the secondary skills you could cultivate to the peak! Now with the secondary skills, it was not in vain to not be able to practice martial arts!
Qing Shui found printed deep in his mind the name and details about them. He remembers long ago the name Qing Shui, but those detailed explanations were very difficult to understand. Qing Shui unexpectedly resembled the image he had in his mind!
(TN: He uses another name in the last sentence which is written in the same way, so maybe he was referring to his character name on the game or his past life? 清水居然就像印在腦子一樣！)
Those were imprinted in my memory?
After they finished flashing though his mind like they were a mirage, a shocking scene happened. A large image of a Yin and Yang appeared into his mind!
A Yin and Yang symbol! Or it's was a Yin and Yang picture?
"After the world of chaos ended, the Yin and Yang was divided, nevertheless it can be called a Yin and Yang picture!" Qing Shui was thinking.
The Yin and Yang picture slowly becomes tiny, finally ended in the same size of one jujube. It was rotating slowly, and he clearly feels it with the rotation that it was emitting a little of power. That little power nevertheless was traveling through every place of his whole body, nourishing his own meridians and internal organs!
In this moment, Qing Shui feels like he was brimming with unlimited strength. Why I have these abilities even though I died electrocuted when playing Fantasy Westward Journey? For what reason this appeared now?
Don't tell me that is connected with me running madly until all my strength was exhausted?
Forget about it, originally I was a waste; I would rather die than continue as I was!
Qing Shui found himself Incomparable conscious nevertheless he was unable to awake. The Yin and Yang picture continued rotating. He was sure that it would continue slowing rotating forever. Qing Shui doesn't know why he has that kind of intense intuition. Qing Shui feels that perhaps this Yin and Yang picture could be able to change his fate!
Suddenly he hears mixed voices. There were voices of shouting mixed!
"Hey, answer me!"
It was his mother's voice. Qing Shui hears the impatient and anxious voice of his mother. His heart was filled with warmness. He wanted to open his mouth, nevertheless he wasn't able to open his mouth yet.
"Qing Shui!"
"Qing Shui!"
…………………
"Here is, at last I found you! " Qing Shui doesn't even know who shouted, who was right in front of him!
"Qing Shui! Qing Shui!" Qing Shui hears again the yelling of his mother. Even though Qing Shui cannot see his mother, he believes due to her sobbing voice, that her cheeks were streaming with tears!
He feels that he was lifted and was being tightly hugged by his mother. It was a familiar warm embrace. Remembering that his beautiful and graceful mother raised him alone, Qing Shui is at the same time happy and sad, hating more the man that abandoned her! He vows to pay back that debt in the future!
Qing Shui doesn't know how much time he was asleep. But before he was asleep he felt that somebody was checking his pulse and also the voice of his mother talking with somebody else. But then he felt the voice becoming smaller and smaller!
Qing Shui was smiling asleep. He felt that tomorrow the sun would be quite warm!!
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Chapter 4 – Ancient Strengthening Technique
The next day, just when dawn was breaking, Qing Shui awoke naturally. He noticed that Qing Yi was sitting next to his bed, holding his hands. Hints of worry and exhaustion could be seen on her face, even her gentle and beautiful eyes had traces of blood in them!
After noticing that Qing Shui was awake, Qing Yi hugged him with a happy expression on her face.
"Shui'er, you've finally regained consciousness. Are you feeling alright? Is there any discomfort?!" Qing Yi ardently asked.
"Mother dearest.." Qing Shui tenderly called out, his heart filled with gratitude. Knowing that Qing Yi had stayed up the whole night just to accompany him tugged at his heart strings as bitterness filled his heart.
As he called out, Qing Yi could feel that there were hints of grievance and regret in his voice. In this world, as a male, if you could not hold your own against others, then no matter how much money you have you will still be trash! Even those of low cultivation would have the right to trample you. This dog-eat-dog world was simply following the simple logic of 'might makes right'.
Qing Yi hugged her son tightly, feeling that she had somehow let him down.
"Mother, go to sleep. You must be very tired after staying awake the entire night." Qing Shui could only adopt a child-like way of speaking in an attempt to coax Qing Yi to go sleep. Even so, Qing Yi felt warmth in her heart and could tell that Qing Shui's intelligence was far above the norm. What a pity that he was unable to cultivate. If not for that, based on his high level of comprehension he would most certainly have been a genius. Not only that, he was ultimately the son born of her and that man..
But now… Sigh.. There was no use for regrets..
In the end, she was still coaxed by Qing Shui and obediently laid down on the bed. As Qing Shui wanted to get down from the bed to make space for Qing Yi, she reached out and embraced her little boy. Qing Shui nestled up close to her bosom and gently lay in his mother's embrace.
Qing Yi promptly fell asleep. After all, she had been up for the whole night and was exceedingly weary. Seeing that Qing Shui was fine, she could finally relax and fell into a slumber.
After waiting for Qing Yi to fall asleep, Qing Shui lightly stepped out of the room, enthusiasm slowly filling his heart. Now, he was no longer the trash he had been! He felt that he had undergone a miraculous transformation. Maybe now… he could be like the others and embark upon the road of cultivation. It did not matter that he was slightly older than the rest when they started, as long as he had a inextinguishable will to succeed, then no matter how many obstacles there were before him, he would not stumble!
Qing Shui wanted to test his hypothesis. The moment he stepped out of the Qing Mansion, he started to run at top speed. At this moment, his heart was filled with trepidation, he was worried that all that had happened would turn out to be an illusion, and that his dream of cultivating would once again be shattered.
With only a single breath, he managed to run half the distance to the top of the mountain. Even though he was breathing hard, he did not feel asphyxiated, like in the past. There was a remarkable difference when compared to before! He felt that since last night, his body had undergone an extremely phenomenal change. After contemplating on it, he guessed that it must be because of that image of Yin-Yang which was now embedded in his sea of consciousness!
Qing Shui closed his eyes, slowly entering into a state of mediation. His spirit gradually going into his sea of consciousness where he saw the Yin-Yang symbol again. The Yin-Yang symbol was rotating relentlessly, emitting unending streams of energy, slowly transforming Qing Shui's body and organs.
During the bout of unconsciousness yesterday, a lot of information regarding foundation building and strengthening techniques had flowed into his mind. He had already decided there and then that he would use them to strengthen his constitution. Moreover, as of now, he no longer had the same frail and delicate body from before. The Yin-Yang symbol in his sea of consciousness was constantly nourishing him with energy, slowly transforming his body. He was sure that alongside with his current physique, by practising the Ancient Strengthening Technique diligently, he would not need too much time before the quality of his body would become stronger than common cultivators.
Time flowed by quickly, dawn had already arrived. Looking at the sun slowly rising up, casting its golden glow onto the organisms of the earth, the freshness of the air in these mountains as well as the fragrance of the flowers and plants, they made one feel joy in one's hearts.
Qing Shui tidied up the various information in his mind and decided to focus all of his attentions on mastering body strengthening techniques! The most important point of the strengthening technique lied in having a solid foundation. The toughness of his body and bones. As long as the quality of his body was strong enough, there would basically be no difference between him and the other cultivators.
Strengthening techniques formed the basis of a cultivator's foundation, the technique that appeared in Qing Shui mind was one of the most ancient strengthening techniques ever created by mankind. It could even allow cultivators who cultivated it to it's peak to clash with gods and demons. It wouldn't be wrong to say that all strengthening techniques had traces of their origin come from the Ancient Strengthening Technique that Qing Shui was planning to practise. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this technique was one of the strongest techniques!
Practising the Ancient Strengthening Technique could allow a cultivator to build up his constitution. The effects were somewhat similar to the rotating, seed-sized Yin-Yang symbol inside of him. The Ancient Strengthening Technique could also nourish one's bones and marrow, refine the organs in one's body, eventually evolving the muscles to become soft to the touch, yet at the same time also be capable of rivaling the toughest steel and iron!
This is what strengthening techniques meant. They could even greatly enhance the vitality of the practitioner!
Qing Shui tried to recall the details of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. It appeared that he could do so effortlessly, confirming the fact that he now had eidetic memory! The Yin-Yang symbol was also entwined with him, continually rotating within his sea of consciousness!
Qing Shui found a secluded spot and went over there to practise the Ancient Strengthening Technique. To practise it, one did not need to mediate. The cultivator only needed to calm his heart and slowly rotate the Qi inside their body.
Qing Shui started to analyse and fumble his way through the methods of cultivating the Ancient Strengthening Technique. After trying to do it for some time, he was still unable to form a single strand of Qi. Qing Shui persisted on as he knew that Rome wasn't build in a single day. If it was that simple to become strong, the world would've already been filled with countless experts!
Qing Shui continue to persevere and continued attempting to form the strand of Qi over and over again. Each time he failed it merely motivated him to try harder and harder.
Gradually, Qing Shui began to feel numb. He had attempted this for what seemed like an eternity, but he was still unable to form that first strand of Qi!
After another hour passed, Qing Shui opened his eyes and realised that it was almost noon. He knew that he would have to return home soon, as he did not want Qing Yi to worry about him. Despite standing in this remote location for the whole morning, Qing Shui did not tired at all! He began to slowly jog back to Qing Mansion.
Upon arriving at the Qing Mansion, Qing Shui realised that the training session for the Qing Clan's younger generation had yet to end. Now, while looking at them practising their close combat skills and swordplay, he felt nothing. The previous feelings of envy and jealousy he got while watching them had now been replaced with the determination to become even stronger than them!
After entering the courtyard, he bumped into Qing Luo. "Qing Shui, did you go out to play again? You should rest at home more and nurse your body back to health!" Qing Luo gently rebuked him.
"Grandpa, I was just taking a stroll near the entrance of the Qing Mansion, do not worry about me, I am completely fine!" Qing Shui knew that his grandfather was truly worried for him.
"En, you must be more careful. Today, I sent someone to Hundred Miles City to purchase the stalk of a 100 year old purple ginseng. We will boil and extract it's essence so that you can have it for dinner tonight!" Qing Luo said with a doting gaze in his eyes.
Qing Luo could also tell that Qing Shui had exceptional intelligence. Every sentence of his was spoken with both clarity and intent, he was almost like an adult in terms of mentality. What a waste it was that he was unable to cultivate.. Qing Luo sighed..
TL:Bluefire
Editor: Ziltch
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Chapter 5 – Qing Shui wants to practice martial arts
The day was quite tranquil. Qing Shui still perseveres every day with the ancient strengthening technique and although he still hasn't felt any kind of qi, he believes firmly that he will succeed!
The Yin and Yang picture continues rotating slow in his mind and constantly were refining his whole body. Now Qing Shui feels his body more and more better and it's not was the kind that was exercising his muscles but rather it was strengthening his bones and internal organs!
Qing Shui still looks thin and weak but inside his body, he was full of vitality. His two black and beautiful eyes were becoming more and more beautiful and their color deeper!
Qing Shui knows that his body is completely fine and he should let the others know as well and begin practicing martial arts. Originally he didn't want to let the other know but the eyes of his mother full of hope and love, Qing Shui must tell his mother even if it is to only make her happy!
Once again he returned from the mountain, going towards the Qing Family. In the martial field were training the healthy third generation of the Qing Family. They were refining themselves together with improving their strength and practicing the Blue Lotus!
Due to the distance he couldn't hear what they were saying but since Qing Shui wasn't able to practice martial arts for several years, when they see this "waste" passing though, they weren't astonished!
The inner court!
The slender body of Qing Yi was standing on the courtyard. That was the courtyard where Qing Yi and Qing Shui live and there was a feeling of youthful in there. And although it was a small courtyard, comes complete with flowers and plants. In the middle there was a small pond with clear water in which was possible to look at the group of blue carp playing with the water plants!
Qing Yi was standing beside the pool. Her graceful and elegant manners together with her beautiful complexion only by standing there, she looked like she was the most beautiful picture. But now standing there she looked lonely!
Qing Shui far from the door looked at his mother. He doesn't know how many times he heard his mother talking about what she wanted. Because he was different from the others children, maybe she didn't believe that he wasn't able to understand them talking so it's was natural to them to be helpless when talking about secrets. And although Qing Shui doesn't know completely her wish, he knows that he must be strong first to fulfill it!
Clearing his head of thoughts, Qing Shui pretends to run back from outside while shouting: "Mother, I returned, I'm fine, I'm fine!"
When seeing Qing Shui and hearing his footsteps, Qing Yi change his expression, showing a kindly smile as if her previous melancholy was never there!
Qing Shui heart hurts, "My mother suffered greatly so I would be happy. In front of me she always was happy. She only showed her helpless side when is alone!"
"Mother, my body is fine now, is fine now!" Qing Shui was saying it in the same way that a kid would say it.
Qing can clearly see in her eyes that Qing Yi was happy!
"Whether or not you are fine, I will not permit you to do it. Mother only thinks about your wellness, Qing Shui!" Qing Yi talked with a little of reproach to Qing Shui, after all, his weak heart was something that he was born with!
Qing Shui knows that it's improbable that his mother believe him easily. The happiness in her eyes perhaps was because she saw me happy!
"Mother I'm really fine. Grandfather gave me two days before a lot of purple ginseng to drink and he said that was a very precious hundred years old purple ginseng!" Qing Shui still said it happily! Being a small kid he said it like one!
This time, Qing Yi feeling happy, said surprised: "Qing Shui, explain careful to your mother. This isn't like you speak normally!"
"Two days before, I drank a purple ginseng that grandfather gave on the soup, and I found that I could feel qi. Not only that, I felt powerful so I started to run slowly although you said don't. When running for a while nothing happened so happily I ran faster and I found that nothing happened to me!" Qing Shui says cheerful!
"Really, what you said was the true?!" Qing Yi had the eyes slightly moist!
"Grandfather already knows, he cried when he felt that my pulse was good. It was not definitive so he went to search for a doctor so I came to tell you personally, mother!" Qing Shui grabbed the sleeves of the garment of Qing Yi!
"Good! We overcame it!" Qing Yi feeling happy grabs the small hands of Qing Shui. Qing Shui could sense it that she was really excited but tried to suppress it. This time mother was really happy. Qing Shui knows that she is happy because of him, so he must make her forever happy!
"Master, let me congratulate you. The internal organs of the young master Qing Shui are fine. Compared with normal people they are better, his whole body is also fine. It's incredible!" Dr.Wu said happily.
The Dr. Wu said only a few words but that briefly words caused to Qing Yi to let a few tears to fall when she was hugging tightly Qing Shui! In this moment his mother was shedding tears, but they were of happiness!
"Mother, don't cry!" Qing Shui was wiping the tears of her beautiful face!
After sending back the Dr. Wu, Qing Luo face expression was strange!
Originally Qing Shui body was weak and Qing Luo also regrets it. After all, it was the son of his beloved daughter, and now he was recovered. Even compared with ordinary children his body was stronger. This child in the future would become someone outstanding. He didn't reconciled with his daughter and her son was distressed for his mother. They must want justice now! Cough, what disaster!
"Grandfather, mother, I want to practice martial arts!" Qing Shui only spoke a few simple words, nevertheless Qing Luo together with Qing Yi were startled!
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Chapter 6 – Martial Art Blue Lotus
Qing Luo and Qing Yi were startled!
Qing Luo is already happy but also in pain. Qing Shui was destined to not be able to practice martial arts so he would live a peaceful life, but then if he is able to practice them, maybe he would able to accomplish something in the future. He didn't know if this would bring good fortune or a disaster to the Qing Family.
Compared with Qing Luo, Qing Yi was brimming with happiness. Her son's body was fine. He wouldn't faint anymore and not only that, now was possible to her to calm his heart otherwise if Qing Shui was able to become stronger, in the future she would going insane!
The part most important was this: "Qing Shui, mother doesn't have the capacity to stop you and bring you home now that you can practice martial arts. So in the future you must return home."
Qing Shui understands a little thanks to his scattered memories. He is aware of what was troubling Qing Luo and Qing Yi! Although he can only understand a portion of it, that was sufficient.
Qing Luo slowly exhales, and then he saw a Qing Yi nodding while patting the head of Qing Shui!
"Mother, it seems that grandfather doesn't' want me to practice martial arts?!" Qing Shui pretends as he had a doubt!
"How that would be possible? Your grandfather only is afraid that when you practice martial arts you could get hurt because when going outside it would be inevitable to fight against other people!"
"Then mother you could start to teaching me martial arts! I want to learn right away!" Qing Shui said with earnest! After all he couldn't make work the ancient strengthening technique, and for above its great difficulty that can only work when making exercise. To make the best use of the technique I would need to use another formidable martial art. It may be hard to start learning but Qing Shui but he wishes to learn those good looking martial arts!
"Good, come with me, Qing Shui. First I will tell you some important things about the martial arts." Qing Yi happily pulled the hand of Qing Shui.
"En!"
This was the study room of Qing Yi. It was small, quite simple and crude nevertheless it was clean. It had a faint fragrance of ancient books. It was quite good!
"Qing Shui, practicing martial arts is very difficult. You are not afraid?!" Qing Yi allowed to Qing Shui to sit and then she seated beside him!
"Mother, I'm not afraid. No matter how many hardships appear before me, I will overpass them!"
Qing Shui let out a happily smile. She and her son, their temperament were exactly the same! But when thinking about that she is again a bit sad!
"Qing Shui, the martial arts goes together with exercising. Exercising is the foundation. Only after exercising you would be able to practice martial arts and only then you would be able to display a formidable power"
"Mother, exercising can't be compared with effort, ah!" Qing Shui replied seriously!
Qing Shui by himself replied. Her son was indeed bright and talented!
"You could say that. So for those who don't train, in the end, their martial arts are in vain!"
"Mother, is possible that could you teach me the Blue Lotus?!" Qing Shui belonged to the Qing Family for a long time so he was aware that everyone was practicing the Blue Lotus!"
"En, the martial art, Blue Lotus also knows as one of the most difficult to learn was passed from the generation to generation in the Qing Family. The Blue Lotus is a martial art combined with exercising! You have to know that is in its major part is exercising, and not to mention that there aren't many who can defend against their power. Therefore the Blue Lotus is definitely a good method of exercising."
"Then, the Blue Lotus must be very powerful, right?!" Qing Shui blinked his beautiful eyes when asking!
Qing Yi sighed, "Long time ago the Qing Family's ancestor practiced the Blue Lotus to the nine stage, and in that time he became one's of the world best experts. After him the Qing Family went in declining more and more. Until our home changed into a small mountain village!"
"Mother, what is the Blue Lotus nine stage?!"
"When cultivating the Blue Lotus, every time that you reach certain strength a flower appears protecting your body in the form of a lotus flower. The lotus flower can attack or defend. In the Qing Family the ancestor couldn't cultivate passed the ninth lotus flower!"
"Mother, you are also cultivating the lotus flower?" Qing Shui looking forward her answer asked!
Qing Yi feeling a little embarrassed said: "I only reached two flowers!"
"And grandfather?" Qing Shui pulled the hand of Qing Yi while asking!
"Your grandfather is at three flowers. And in the actuality he is on the peak of his strength!" Qing Yi gently said it!
"Mother, in how many stages is divided the Blue Lotus? Also, until what stage is possible to cultivate the lotus flower?"
"The secret martial art, Blue Lotus is divided into ten stages. In the tenth layer of the warrior stage is improbable that appears. In the Wu Jian stage neither appears. Only in the seventh layer could appear one flower. On the eight layer could appear two flowers and in the tenth layer appears three flowers!"
"Then, the Qing Family's ancestor how could make appear nine flowers?"
Looking at her son blinking his two beautiful pair of black eyes asking her with hope in them, Qing Yi sighed with sorrow. Her son was quite intelligent, but she cannot tell him that!
"The secret of the the Blue Lotus wass lost long ago and only some parts were recovered. It's said that the original technique was lost if not your mother would be in the Xiantian realm by now!"
"Your mother is going to teach you the very base of the Blue Lotus!" Qing Yi stood up and pulled Qing Yi towards her cultivation place!
The place was a bedroom in the basement!
Qing Yi tells him about the eight meridians. Qing Shui already knows due to the ancient strengthening technique. With only one explanation from Qing Yi he already remembers them. And because he practiced the ancient strengthening technique many times he becomes enlightened at once!
Two hours later!
Qing Yi goes out from the room; nevertheless Qing Shui was slowly entering into a calm state of mind!
Meditation! To meditate was practicing martial arts! Especially for those practicing martial arts was one of the most essential conditions. If your heart doesn't calm down then you are very far in walking the path of the martial arts.
But, Qing Shui appears to be able to enter in the meditation his first time so Qing Yi was incessantly happy. Qing Shui was really gifted!
Qing Shui was slowly activating the Blue Lotus and according with what Qing Yi said, he has to do it slowly. Again and again It resembled the ancient strengthening technique. He slowly entered into a fantastic realm. It was like his soul was flying!
Suddenly, Qing Shui found that something like a refreshing stream of qi was traveling a though his lower abdomen dantian and was slowly passing through his veins as it could anytime break them!
Gradually, that stream of qi tuned around for a whole day returning slowly to his lower abdomen!
Qing Shui happily opens his eyes. His face was covered with a happy smile.
"If I tell mother about my result, she would be frightened!"
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Chapter 7 – Cleansing of impurities
The expression of Qing Shui was now refreshing. He never felt in this way, feeling excessively well. He resembled a thirsty man who was about to die wanting water. Naturally his body and soul were relaxed.
He slowly moves away from the basement!
"Mother!" Qing Shui happily shouts!
Looking at Qing Shui coming out after he actually reached two hours of meditation, Qing Yi was astonished when hearing what Qing Shui said when she approached him happily.
"Mother, I was able to flow qi, but it was quite thin, like a thread of hair!"
The always graceful and refined nature of Qing Yi changed, his jade face changed into a red one. It was clearly that she was quite excited!
"Qing Shui, extend your hand!" Qing Yi said a little earnest!
Qing Shui obediently extended his hand! Qing Yi also extended his white and slender jade hands tightly grabbing the small hand of Qing Shui!
"Qing Shui, now you have to work according to the Blue Lotus!"
In that moment, Qing Yi happily lifted Qing Shui, and gave him two kisses on his resolutely small face.
"Son, you have talent!" Qing Yi was a little happy that she forgotten all restrains. It was natural facing her son Qing Shui!
When Qing Shui looked to Qing Yi being so happy, his heart also was warmed. Because Qing Yi always looked happy with a faint smile on her face all the time, Qing Shui was aware that she wasn't really happy! But now he knows that right now she was really happy!
"Mother has a talent in making delicious food!" Qing Yi was patting the head of Qing Shui when he said that.
Qing Yi goes out to prepare a meal and Qing Shui didn't know to whether laugh or cry. His real age compared with Qing Yi was not smaller. This body can be small but nevertheless it has eight years. Not only that, although this kid was eight years old, the adults listened to the way that this kid praised them…
Only Qing Shui feels that as long as he has his mother, Qing Yi, even if the heaven were to collapse, it would have nothing to do with him. Qing Shui as long as he has his mother Qing Yi, he would be happy!
Perhaps was due to his good mood. Compared with before, now Qing Yi was eating a bit more and so its was Qing Shui. He didn't know if the reason could be because him practicing martial arts or being his good mood!
"Mother, I will stroll outside. Tomorrow I will go to the same place as them to practicing!" Qing Shui said while laughing and blinking in cute way after finishing his meal!
Only in front of her, his mother he reveals his child's smile!
When seeing acting like that, Qing Yi cannot help but feel distracted but soon after she recovered!
Qing Shui goes out by the door of the Qing Family and runs towards a cave in the mountain. He found that hidden and small cave accidentally when he was wandering though the mountain. And these few days he would came to this cave to practice the ancient strengthening technique!
The cave was quite small but it was of the size of one small house. When he went inside the cave he was hoping to find some rare books or treasures but he didn't found even a pile of junk. Nevertheless at the corner he discovered a very small oval jade pendant of the size of a thump and it was extremely old. Qing Shui originally he didn't fell anything about it, but he saw on the top of it a faint Yin and Yang picture on his back so he picked up. When he touched he felt warm his hand!
The picture of the Yin and Yang came to his mind so at once he hangs the pendant on his neck and placed under his clothes!
After that, he would come every day to the cave and each time he would practice the ancient strengthening technique, he would leave after, and today was not the exception. One more time he practiced the ancient strengthening technique. Qing Shui would never give up in cultivating the martial art that he learned on his mind!
It hasn't come out yet the so called flow of qi by using the ancient strengthening technique, and nor it has formed a whirl of qi on my dantian!
Today, contrary to what I expected, by cultivating the Blue Lotus in my datian has appeared a cloud of mist.
Sited cross-legged, Qing Shui put to work one more time the ancient strengthening technique but to his surprise, cultivating the Blue Lotus, the stream of qi was slowly flowing on the route of the ancient strengthening technique!
Qing Shui was a little confused!
But after running a far distance he found that he wasn't feeling bad, he even felt that the stream of qi was making itself stronger. It was becoming a more thick and solid thread!
The ancient strengthening technique has to be used with others techniques. Maybe that's why it has its own stages!
The ancient strengthening technique is divided into nine layers on behalf of the nine heavens, and in spite of what is said it possible to cultivate itself, the middle dantian and even its capable of making pellets!
"Forget about it, first I will train!"
Qing Shui continues careful training with closed eyes. He didn't found a suitable area on his chest for where can pass thought the stream of qi. Although the jade pendant emitted a tiny warm light and together with the stream of qi from the Blue Lotus, they looked like they were interweaving!
Although he didn't know when his dantian had become a whirl of qi, he felt that the flow of qi was slightly turning around. And from what considered Qing Shui, it was distributing a formidable strength!
"Originally the ancient strengthening technique needs other techniques to execute it. It's no wonder that why I wasn't able to cultivate it!" Qing Shui face was covered with happiness!
The stream of qi of the Blue Lotus was a light blue color and the other stream of qi of light yellow color must be from the ancient strengthening technique!
"Finally a stream of qi, as long as I rely on the ancient strengthening technique and the Yin and Yang picture, in the future, the strength of my body would be able to reach an astonishing level! At that time with only relying on my body I would be able to become an expert!"
"Furthermore, I cannot neglect the Blue Lotus. I must be able to cultivate it to the ninth flower that mother talked about!" But thinking about the lost part he feels uneasy. Qing Shui feels that it was difficult to his mother to talk about the last part. That's what he felt!
"Forget about it, the most important now is the ancient strengthening technique, and for now I will not put in my mind the Blue Lotus. I will only cultivate it so I can fool other people!"
Although I only started today cultivating the ancient strengthening technique, but I will not think about when I started cultivating. It's like mother said, don't bite more than what you could eat. I must be realistic!!
When Qing Shui stooped cultivating, he found that all over his body, a layer of what it's similar to black grease was all over his skin and gave off an unpleasant odor.
It was cleaning his impurities?
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Chapter 8 – Innate superhuman strength?
The next day Qing Shui started to practice martial arts in the same place that the third generation of the Qing Family. That was Qing Shui dream after seeing them in the martial field using their forces as much as they like it. That's why after the body of Qing Shui became fine, the first thing that he wanted to do was to practice martial arts. And the second was the he would participate in the martial field every day doing the necessary training! The one supervising and teaching was the Qing Luo's fourth son, Qing Hai that was also the father of Qing Hu!
The martial art, Blue Lotus was divided into ten layers at warrior, Wu Jian and Wu Shuai stage. Therefore, the Qing Family has three versions of the Blue Lotus. They are, low level, intermediate level, and advanced level. As for the Martial Servant in this big continent was not divided into ten layers but as long you practice martial arts, you are considered to be in the Martial Servant stage. But the Warrior stage has a certain requirement and that is that originally you have to practice martial arts for three years to become one. So it's was natural that the Warrior stage was the most weak stage!
Now that Qing Shui was able to produce a stream of qi, he was in the pathetically low level layer. Compared with other people of the Qing Family, Qing Shui was the weakest but still he was happier and brimming with confidence!
"Congratulations for finishing, Qing Shui. Now you would be able to accomplish your dream!" Qing Hu said it in low voice!
Qing Shui laughs because it was the first time that he could step on the martial field. He was aware that the martial field was simple and crude. The wide flat ground was build it with numerous blue stones and it was one meter higher than the ground, and the top of it was similar to a pavilion!
The wind was tough here, nevertheless regardless of wind or snow, practicing martial arts was the top priority.
Everyone which was cultivating interior qi for the Blue Lotus was doing on their basement. Each person of the Qing Family that was practicing martial arts doesn't matter if it was from the younger generation, have their basement!
The martial field was the place where you could train your fist techniques, martial techniques and as well test the strength of your body!
The Qing Family didn't approve that the third generation began prematurely learning martial arts, but as long as they practiced the inner energy was sufficient. After all you need inner energy to support formidable martial arts to display them. Practicing martial arts prematurely can lessen your power.
In the martial field you can only practice in the simplest way to maintain good health and that was stretching and boxing so your body would be more coordinated and easy-going. And if you want to practice other martial art you have to reach the warrior's sixth layer!
The only that can practice another martial art of the third generation of the Qing Family is the eldest grandson Qing Zi and Qing You, the remains doesn't have the power yet! Not only have they yearned to practice martial arts, but also to reach the Wu Shuai seventh layer so a lotus flower would appear in their body protecting them, and the same time attack with the Blue Lotus!
In the Qing Family was improbable that they could reach the warrior sixth layer on this martial field, therefore Qing Shui was aware that the eldest grandson Qing Zi and Qing You possessed talent!
When looking at Qing Hu lifting an enormously stone lock, Qing Shui measured that it was not less than 200 jin. He wanted to try but looking at Qing Hu having a little of problem with it and being on the Blue Lotus third layer, Qing Shui abandoned the idea of trying!
After all Qing Shui's mind was already mature, he was not afraid of losing face and let alone being ashamed of this group of kids. He will never be afraid of losing face on front of kids!
Now he has eight years but in his past life he could lift 20 jin and was quite big for a children!
Qing Shui found the smaller stone lock on the martial field weighing on 50 jin. Although he felt small being in this body but since flowing qi thanks to the ancient strengthening technique his strength was quite big. He hasn't used all of his strength but he felt a little nervous when stretching his thin and small arms…
He slowly grabbed the stone lock using almost all of his strength. Then exerting all of his strength he lifted upwards!
But the other children started to laugh!
Because although he used all of his strength he fell to the ground!
But nevertheless, Qing Shui was in this moment abnormally happy, because he didn't feel at all the 50 jin and only because he used all his strength it was he felt to the ground!
The others children believe that Qing Shui wasn't even able to lift a stone lock of 20 jin so he fell down!
"Of what are you laughing all of you?" With a sentence from a brave young boy of fourteen years all closed their mouth.
In a hurry, Qing Hu ran to Qing Shui side!
"Are you okay? You don't have to start practicing these first!" Qing Hu deeply concerned said!
Qing Shui felt Qing Hu was sincerely concerned for him so he felt quite happy. But as if he didn't heard their laughter, Qing Shui was with a smile
"Thank you, Qing Hu, but I'm fine!"
And in that time, that brave young boy approached.
"If you are fine Qing Shui, then first run, then a bit the boxing and last stretch your muscles!"
"No, thank you!" Qing Shui was laughing. Qing Shui knows that this young boy was from the third generation and was called Qing Yang. He was one of the most strong of the third generation after Qing Zi and Qing You. Actually he was on the peak of the warrior sixth layer. He didn't treated bad Qing Shui so he showed to him a sincere smile!
Qing Yang was gently laughing, telling Qing Shui to be a bit more careful!
The boys plus a girl together with Qing Shui are sixteen. But only the family of Qing Hu has a daughter and the other families contrary to what you would expect they had an average of four boys for family.
Qing Hu's younger sister was called Qing Bei and was the sole girl in the Qing Family. Although she had five year as result of being the only girl she received much love in the Qing Family. Even Qing Yi loves the cute little girl as if was his own daughter!
"Qing Shui-gege, you have to be careful, otherwise aunt will cry!" Qing Bei concerned blinked her big eyes when saying it. (TN: gege: Older brother)
Looking at this very small girl, he earnest nodded. He scarcely realized that his body had eight years and so it was small!
After experience it for first time, he would slowly lift the stone rock the second time. This time he felt it quite light. He felt as if the strength from when he was adult returned to lift this 50 jin stone lock helping him in doing any effort!
He exchanged the stone for one of 80 jin, 100 jin and 180 jin…
Qing Shui did just come to where Qing Hu was. Everyone in the martial field, included Qing Yang were with his eyes open. They saw something unimaginable when looking at Qing Shui! Qing Hai already left if not he would be surprised too!
Qing Shui was a little strained when he lifted the 200 jin stone lock. Every one of them were with their open mouth. The martial field was quite calm!
Qing Shui was very excited because although when he lifted the 180 jin stone felt that his strength was less than what he expected, in that time the ancient strengthening technique automatically started to flow qi and like he ate an stimulant he was capable of lifting the stone with no difficulty!
When he lifted the 180 jin stone lock, he didn't wanted the others to think that he was a monster and also he didn't wanted any trouble, therefore he pretended that he was doing a strenuous effort!
"Qing Shui, I was unable to tell that you had that big strength. I can barely lift it with the Blue Lotus, and you only with your physical strength were able to lift it." Qing Hu happily said it. He wasn't jealous instead he was quite happy.
Qing Shui laughing said, "This is already my limit!"
After finishing training everyone left, originally Qing Hu was going to call Qing Shui to leave together but due to him wanted to stay he left in advance!
After seeing that nobody was around, he went for the biggest stone lock of 800 jin that the disciples of the third generation could lift in which they were on the peak of the Warrior's fifth layer!
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Chapter 9 – Break Through to the Second-Layered Heavens!
Time flowed by, another year has passed, since that time where he forcibly lifted up the 800 jin heavy rock, Qing Shui was even more certain of the benefits of strengthening his body and he was even more determined to walk on this path!
The Ancient Strengthening Technique obviously could be cultivated to temper his body, and that Yin-Yang symbol rotating in his sea of consciousness had been constantly emitting energy to nourish his bones and the organs in his body. Other than the refining of his bones and organs, the Yin-Yang symbol was also constantly raising his vital energy level to its peak, allowing Qing Shui to be even more perceptive..
After 1 year, Qing Shui no longer looked that delicate and frail anymore. Although his body frame were lacking in muscles when compared to the rest of the 3rd generation members, his body was extremely well balanced.
Qing Shui knew that this was a result of the benefits given to him by both the Ancient Strengthening Technique and the YinYang symbol. Qing Shui in his current state, could have already easily lifted up rocks weighing more than 1000 jin, however he was determined to keep his true abilities a secret and as such, none of the others found out.
—
In the one year that had passed, Qing Shui had cultivated to the Martial Warrior, 2nd Grade, for the Blue Lotus Art. Although he had already condensed Qi, no one knew about it and thus, he was classified as a Martial Student as based on the standards that he had not cultivated for a period that is longer than 3 years.
The majority of the 3rd generation disciples no longer taunted him, he was no longer the trash in their eyes. Qing Shui did not even notice their change in actions, After all, he was an adult in all aspects with the exception of his body and had never allowed the jeering and taunting to affect him.
Nonetheless, he did not mind interacting with these young disciples, he understood that they possessed the inherent nature of a child, all those taunts from before were without malice, they would obviously dislike that which was different from them.
Interaction with them actually granted Qing Shui a second chance to experience once again the heart of being a child, allowing himself to maintain a purity of heart that borders on innocence. He naturally wouldn't bother too much about them.
Qing Shui still had not had any interactions with the eldest grandson Qing Zi and the genius Qing You. After all, the 2 of them were not required to join in the daily training sessions of the Qing Clan. In contrast, he met Qing Yang quite often, now that Qing Yang was 16 years old, other than the traces of heroic bearing that could be seen from his features, he had also begun to exhibit a mature aura.
In this world, being 16 makes you of age and could be considered an adult. Qing Yang had broken through to the Martial Warrior, 6th Grade of the Blue Lotus Art, slightly before the age of 16, entering into an important phase of his life. In the future, he would also no longer need to join in the Qing Clan's daily training session.
After Qing Yang broke through, the Qing Clan decided to have a banquet to celebrate as it can be considered a joyful event. If Qing Yang had broken through at the age of 17 instead, there would not be so much fanfare and importance placed on this celebratory banquet!
16 years old was the great divide. If Qing Yang had broken through to the Martial Warrior, 6th Grade only after the age of 16, in this life, his potential would only enable him to reach Martial Commander, 8th Grade at the very most. It would be highly improbable for him to break through to the 9th Grade and not to mention, the peak of Hou Tian.
However, if one broke through before the age of 16, one would usually be able to reach the Martial Commander, 9th Grade during his 40s or 50s. Reaching the 10th Grade (Peak of Hou Tian), would require on the individual's luck and destiny.
Within the 3rd generation, the ones with the greatest talent, other than the genius Qing You, and the eldest grandson Qing Zi, Qing Yang could also be considered as one of the better known figures.
Qing Bei's potential was also higher than average, it was just that she was born a female, female usually have more limitations when they are cultivating when compared to males, in order to compensate for that, Qing Bei would require a plethora of medicinal herbs and tonics.
As dawn approaches, after Qing Shui finished his daily morning regime, he returned home to breakfast with Qing Yi. Since Qing Shui recovered, he could see that Qing Yi was smiling more often, even her eyes were brighter, appearing to have somewhat lighten the burden in her heart.
Qing Shui vaguely knew about the burden in Qing Yi's heart, he wanted to eradicate it totally, however he was only 8 years old now, he did not have sufficient power. Qing Shui made a vow to himself, the road ahead, no matter how arduous, he would unequivocally accomplish his mother's wishes!
"Qing Shui, I have already delayed my return to the City for half a month, I would need to return to the City after the meal today. This time round, I would need to escort a large batch of medicinal herbs, promise me that you will cultivate obediently at home okay? In the future, mother would still need to depend on your strength to fight for our rights against those despicable bloodsuckers." [1] Qing Yi gently said as she patted Qing Shui's head, with such an intelligent son, she did not bother hiding this sort of inconsequential things from him.
Qing Shui slightly nodded his head, hints of unwillingness appeared in his eyes as he did not want to part from Qing Yi, but he knew that at this moment, he should maximize his cultivation time. Only after he gets stronger, would he be able to help Qing Yi. After learning from Qing Yi that the business she was in charge of was related to medicinal herbs, Qing Shui could not help but be startled. Imprinted in his mind, there were information regarding Alchemy as well. It was just that in the present, he had no way of tapping into his potential knowledge potential on the art of pills concoction!
Initially, he had planned to accompany Qing Yi during her assignment. After which, he decided not to. With his current strength, he would only be a burden to Qing Yi as she would still have to divide part of her attention to protect him. Qing Shui could only sulk and allow Qing Yi to go alone.
"Mother, you have to be cautious during this trip, your safety should be your priority, even if the business transaction failed, the money lost could always be earned again. Mother, you only have a single son.. Give me a few years; I would definitely make you the happiest person in the world." The reason why Qing Shui kept reiterating was to leave a deep impression behind in Qing Yi's mind. He wanted to remind her that no matter what, she could not let herself be harmed, her safety was the most important, she still has him as her son! Even though he was young now, he would protect her when he grew up eventually.
Qing Shui only knew that Qing Yi was a medicinal herb merchant back when she revealed to him. He could also deduce that the business partners of Qing Yi all had backings from other families and clans with power much greater than the Qing Clan, so when it comes to splitting the profit, Qing Yi would always get the shorter end of the stick. Even though the business partners would siphon more than half of the profits away, the remaining profit could still said to be considerable. There would be no lack of people from the Qing Clan wanting to take over if Qing Yi decided to relinquish her hold on it. Even though her heart was not feeling too comfortable, Qing Yi still decided to endure it.
If he could gain comprehension regarding the art of alchemy, there would not be a problem to concoct and refine some excellent grades of medicinal pills; Small Revitalizing Pellets, Golden Fragrant Jade Pills, Golden Sore Ointment, Beauty Temptress Pills, even legendary artifacts such as refining the Glowing Buddha Seeds and the 9 Souls Reincarnation Pellets. If this was the case; women, riches, authority and power would all belong to him! Qing Shui was eagerly anticipating the arrival of this day.
Qing Yi had departed; Qing Yi could be said as the source where most of Qing Clan's income comes from. Over half of the Qing Clan's income came from the medicinal herbs business of Qing Yi. Other than Qing Yi, there was apparently a few other Qing Clan members which were helping her out, if not it would be totally impossible for her to return and accompany Qing Shui for a period of more than 10 days.
Qing Shui was circulating Qi around his body based on the Ancient Strengthening Technique over and over again, after a year of cultivation, be in rain or shine, he had never stopped his cultivation before. Although the Qing Clan was somewhat stringent regarding the training of the 3rd generation disciples, other than that, they were free to do whatever they want outside the time needed for the training sessions.
Although Qing Shui was only 8-9 years old, in terms of mentality, he was already an adult, he evidently knew the importance of strength in this world. With his kid-sized body, he could not yet achieve the wishes of Qing Yi, therefore, he expended all his effort and time on practicing his cultivation.
In his body, the streams of blue and yellow Qi was only slightly thicker than a strand of hair, converging together. For the past year, Qing Shui had been assiduously cultivating the Blue Lotus Art and had already broken through to the 2nd level.
However, for the Ancient Strengthening Technique, it was very bizarre, it was as if, the moment he had stepped in the door to the layer of the first heavens, he could already enjoy the benefits such as impurities cleansing. It was as though he did not need to cultivate to the peak of the first layer to enjoy the benefits it brought.
But even despite expending all his efforts and assiduously cultivating the Ancient Strengthening Technique for the past year, he had only reached the peak of the first layer, unable to break through the second layer!
In this past year, he did not know if it was coincidental, or the reason was because the Ancient Strengthening Technique was a complementary supporting art, Qing Shui found out by chance that he could simultaneously activate both the Blue Lotus Art and the Ancient Strengthening Technique together! This discovery made him overjoyed. Reaping twice the benefit with only half the effort!
Qing Shui was cultivating silently in his basement, circulating his Qi over his body over and over again, he could feel that he was on the verge of breaking through, but seemed to be lacking something.. He knew that he was at the final bottleneck but whenever he tried to overcome the last barrier, he always failed. Rivulets of sweat flowed down his face in testament of the efforts he expended.
"I must make a breakthrough, for the sake of my mother, and myself, I will never succumb to failure, i must be stronger, i don't want to be labeled trash ever again, I MUST STAND AT THE SUMMIT OF THIS WORLD!" RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
An unknown amount of time passed, and as a faint whitish glow was appearing in the eastern skies, "Peng!" a sound akin to the popping of a bottle cork rang out, Qing Shui could feel an extremely comfortable and cooling energy flowing through his whole body. All of the 360 acupoints and his pores on his body were shivering as if in delight.
The hair-thin strand of Qi, after Qing Shui had broken through to the second-layered heavens had grown thicker by more than 10 times! It was as thick as wool now.
After slowly circulating his Qi for 36 cycles, Qing Shui could feel explosive energy in his body, even his perceptiveness increased, he could seem to see the world clearer, he could even see an ant walking on the ground clearly from far away. In a radius of 10m, he could hear everything lucidly.
[1] Weight measuring system by the Chinese, 200 jin roughly equates to 100kg.
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Chapter 10 – Concealed weapon, lonely nimble fist
"Concealed weapon technique!" Qing Shui was thinking about the concealed weapon technique!
Indeed, today happened two simultaneous happy events in the family. For a long time he couldn't break through the ancient strengthening technique but now he was able. Not only his strength advanced by leaps and bounds, now he was able to cultivate the concealed weapon technique. Qing Shui was aware that now was the time for the weapons age and for the concealed weapon is was quite formidable, especially in the hands of an expert. The so called weapon was easy to hide and attack on the back and quite difficult to protect from them. It was very rude to compare the might of the concealed weapon with the common bow and arrow or even a crossbow. The concealed weapon was not even a bit inferior compared with them.
The remarkable of a concealed weapon was that could accomplish something when you less expect. When you reach certain level, you could even shoot a willow leaf to kill a person and don't even speak of a pebble or something else! Therefore, in this time an expert on concealed weapon would be formidable!
When breaking though the second layer of the ancient strengthening technique, Qing Shui understood that the technique was the foundation of it. And only when he cultivate to a higher realm he would gain more skills. Only when he has more physical strength and metal force he would be able to learn more things!
He felt his body brimming with force. Qing Shui in his mind he has more than twenty years, but after all he was only a feeble scholar, but now, even though he was a kid, in only a few years he was able to lift a stone lock of more than 800 jin. Now a year later, it's was granted that he was able to lift huge stones of more than 1000 jin thanks to his breakthrough!
After having a breakthrough, the strength of 1000 jin it felt small. Looking at the basement corner, a huge stone block, he suddenly sends a fist towards and broke it in many pieces
Peng!
Many stones flew. Qing Shui feels now more comfortable with his punch and more considerably satisfied with the strength of his fist. The strength surpassed what he imagined!
When thinking in my mind about the method to cultivate concealed weapons in addition to the body acupuncture, it came out a technique together with how to master its power. Unexpectedly was a method have flexible hands, a fighting technique of agility and it was called the lonely nimble fist!
"What a strange name!" Looking at the name, he never showed a smile!
The lonely nimble fist have only a move, nevertheless, one change into two, two into four, four into eight, and it's said that if you practice it to the peak, then you would have countless changes. It could change your arm making it extremely flexible, but the most important was that could make you able possible to practice any technique!
Thinking of his world history of his past life, about a certain concealed weapon expert which becomes a hero under the heavens and all started with a throwing knife on his hand. It's clear that concealed weapon continued being formidable and matchless!
At the very same time he tried roughly and slowly to imitate the ten moves with dozen of punches, but as if there was any change, there wasn't any!
From his stomach came a sound and taking a look outside it was already noon. He actually stayed on the basement for a whole two days but he was capable of acquiring superficial knowledge about how to use the technique on a morning and it was also early in the morning!
Washing happily his whole body and putting food on his mouth, he at once went out from the basement!
"I'm really bored, apart from cultivate there is nothing to do. After all I can't act like a kid of ten years old and play with other kids!" Depressed, Qing Shui patted his head!
Precisely, because Qing Shui should not be in touch with people of the same age plus he cannot be too outstanding in front of adults. And although he has a reputation as intelligent he doesn't want to be recognized as evildoer. He was still a lonely fellow and it was natural because they still think that he was a waste. After all in the Qing Family disciples, Qing Shui was in the blue lotus second layer and was in the bottom compared with everyone! And not only that, he was the biggest in his generation and still was in the martial servant stage. Qing Hu was in the warrior stage because martial servant was used to measure the age, and as long you practiced martial arts for three years you would be in the warrior stage. So you can clearly see how pathetic Qing Shui was in the martial servant stage!
"Forget about it, what can they understand? As long as I know what path I have to pursue, one day the whole world will look at me. How they will understand these small fry the ambition of the great? Although my path is very far and difficult!"
"Qing Shui!"
Qing Shui hears somebody calling him and looking at his back he found that was Qing Hai!
"Ah, fourth uncle!"
"Why you didn't go to train this morning? Or it's that your body is feeling bad!"
"Oh, is not that, fourth uncle. Yesterday I stayed up to late training and today I fell asleep. I will pay attention the next time!" Qing Shui said while scratching his head and feeling embarrassed!
"It's not good, pay more attention to your health. Only the effort is slowly accumulate every day or you will become fat slowly!" Qing Hai saw during these past years the inhuman effort that Qing Shui did with his own eyes! It's was good that his nephew has not become as cold as it was a year ago. It's was not unreasonable, in the family many were happy but also Qing Shui didn't care for them, only his mother, Qing Yi!
"En, I'm aware, fourth uncle!"
After Qing Hai leaves, Qing Shui returns to the Qing Family entrance, even when he was walking he was swaying his fist according with the lonely nimble fist!
The ancient strengthening technique already makes him powerful and flexible but ordinary people cannot understand that it can easily be done, even was possible to do two things at once. He was matching the pace of his feet with his breath and slowly and his movement becomes harmonious as well!
For more than a year Qing Shui trained his inhuman strength and his sturdy body. Until now he hasn't learned any other technique. If he were to fight against another person he could only use his brute force, but they must not underestimate him. His ancient strengthening technique was shaping his body with super exercises! Qing Shui sees the ancient strengthening technique as the most important! But yet he is more aware that the martial arts are with the same importance, because a genuine killer uses also combat skills!
Gradually Qing Shui becomes skilled using the technique and when the people see him, they only see a blur! Qing Shui felt that it was like grappling technique like the ones of his past life, but only better than it! And it resembled the singing spring fist with a personal bunt!
The cause must be the ancient strengthening technique together with the blue lotus, or maybe he was about understanding and fusing them. Qing Shui is already aware of it because he knows his meridians and acupuncture points on his whole body like the back of his hand! And not only that, he is aware that those acupuncture points are weak points as well!
"Since the lonely nimble fist uses a fist then it must be capable of hurting people. A fist is also a kind of sharp weapon!" Qing Shui was thinking deeply!
"En, with these moves I can exercise the flexibility of hands, arms, and even the joints. As well attack the acupuncture points on the joints of his enemies or even their weak arteries in where they rely on their fist techniques!" Qing Shui was happy like he was able to found a whole new world!
The fist technique keep changing along with him thinking, so much that he reached an inconceivable extent, nevertheless, Qing Shui was with his eyes closed at this moment because his motive was to practice. At the same time his mind was whirling, he was reflecting on how to change to defend and to attack theses acupuncture points!
思考著擊打那個穴道被格擋住後的變化防守和變為去攻擊那個穴道！
Immediately Qing Shui stopped walking, he entered into one kind of vacant state!
An enlightenment!
If people would see this, then they would be with their chin downwards because this type of state can be discovered but not sought because somebody could train hard decades and they may not see one. There is a Buddhist saying that if you have enlightenment then you would become a Buddha immediately due to how rare is it to have one, but at the same time it's a opportunity big as the heavens!
Qing Shui doesn't know that he had an opportunity big as the heavens. He thinks that it was natural for using the ancient strengthening technique, so much that the blue lotus was working together with the nimble solitary fist making possible to display the complicate details. He only thought that everything was methodical arranged beautifully!
Qing Shui woke up from his enlightenment and was already noon. Like he was in sort of a big dream but it was so clear like it was real!
Qing Shui rapidly stretched his hand and played the technique in the same way that he had imprinted in his memory. Regardless of his strength, he was able to grasp it accurately and because he gained insight that he was a bit strange…
That was the enlightenment true power, rich of experience and even upgraded the ones he had!
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Chapter 11 – Testing the concealed weapon
For the first time, the enlightenment had changed the strength of Qing Shui from top to bottom and also slightly his state of mind. Now his heart was beating, full of confidence yearning for tomorrow.
He has woken from his enlightenment just now filled with happiness but he hasn't realized that his whole body was stinking and covered with impurities which looked like black mud. When he calmed down he found the extremely unpleasant odor but he knew that was because the ancient strengthening technique cleaning his impurities. When he break through the ancient strengthening technique's first layer it also happened the same, he had a big layer of impurities. If he didn't saw himself on that moment, he would be thinking in how was possible that many dirty things came from his tiny body!
Although at the time when he had his breakthrough into second layer it didn't happened. He didn't believe that it was possible to happen again when he had his enlightenment. Now he knows why it's was praiseworthy having one. It opposed to the heavens, it was something that you couldn't control…
He ran to the mountain stream's brook while sighing with great sorrow. And although the brook was small, it was possible to jump in it.
Puff!
After washing the black and filth mud of his whole body, he looked at his skin. His skin was smooth, white and delicate. Unlike other children who grew in this enchanting scenery, Qing Shui was the unique that had the body well-proportioned and not looking robust like the other children!
He cannot return naked so he washed his dirty clothes on a stone in the cold shore. He was remembering about the last time this happened; now this time was easier. He cannot help but remember about the novels that he has read. When people pass though, in the novels they had a space ring, a universal bag, money, unique martial arts or they were casually embracing beauties and yet he had lived here for more than ten years in this mountain village and never had heard about those things. Even though this place was isolated, he knows vaguely that his mother travels to many places and even his grandfather who was an expert didn't had these things and even they didn't had heard about it!
Qing Shui didn't have money, but this Qing Family's mountain village was one of the influential ones that you could count with one hand and besides, with a small amount of money was sufficient to live here. The families here were farming and even hunting in their spare time for themselves and it's was natural because they lived on the edge of a mountain. After all ordinary people wouldn't venture for themselves on the deep of the mountain because it was rumored that in the depths there was fierce beasts and even formidable devil beasts!
Qing Shui was smacking his lips when thinking on beautiful women, but then looking at his small body and although in his heart he was ready, his small penis was saying other thing so he only can let out a small sigh. In his past life he was obsessed with online games so he had not a girlfriend when going to the bed!
He didn't expected coming into this world, and if were not for his mother's love, he believes that he would have committed suicide already. After all, in this world where martial arts were respected, he born with a fatal defect!
For better or worse, he didn't believe that a game of his past life could change his fate. Feeling the breakthrough to the second layer he felt so powerful from his head to his feet and his mind felt especially steady!
Thanks to his enlightenment it was possible for Qing Shui to display at the present stage the peak of the lonely nimble fist. Unconsciously Qing Shui extended his hand and displayed his skilled play and although what was displayed was a blur it was so clear for him. If he didn't gained his insight then the lonely nimble fist would mess with his eyes and mind!
He slowly withdraws his hands and put his clothes already dried. Brimming with a very small sense of satisfaction when looking at his clean body, he looks to the sky, it was already middle afternoon. The wind was brushing his face and although the sun was shining, it was not hot at all!
He slowly climbed to the top of the hill, which was not so far from the Qing Family's entrance door. The Qing Family was surrounded by a natural barrier of mountains, and although they were called mountains, they were not so taller. Inclined they were less than 200 meters!
Standing at the top of the hill it was possible to see far away farmers working on the fields. You could see farms as far as your eye could see. The Qing Family's farmstead radius was also nearly 200 li, so Qing Shui can't help but sigh at how big this world was. One village was already this much big. What scene would he be able to see 200 li from here to outside of the city?
Around the mountain was full of trees and the unceasing chirping of birds. They were bringing thriving life to this quiet hilltop. This let him feel that there were many birds and not only that his place was a beautiful one but also the same time, that this was a good place to practice the concealed weapon!
He grabbed two small stones from the ground and in the same time he felt the flow of qi traveling though his body. Closing his eyes, he started practicing normally the lonely nimble fist together with testing the strength of the concealed weapon technique!
After a cup of tea time, motionless, so much that even his breath was weak. His heartbeat was also changing into slow and gently one that you couldn't hear!
A small yellow bird landed near the feet of Qing Shui bouncing around, like Qing Shui wasn't there!
A sort of black eagle, unfolded his three metes big wings and from that distance it was likely that the eagle would come here, and on the eagle eyes were like was traveling electricity though them!
At this time, the small bird that was chirping near Qing Shui was about to escape flying and in the same time Qing Shui opened his eyes looking at it. Not seeing his left hand he threw a small pebble, and do it so, made a whoosh sound, even when traveling through the air was making a xiuxiu sound!
Pu!
With a yelling, the pebble passed though the brain killing it!
Qing Shui gently tilted his mouth!
"So this is the concealed weapon!" Qing Shui was looking at the distant mountain, looking the bird falling down!
Qing Shui's face faced towards the west, and in the west was where the Qing Family goes to hunt, in the blue forest. It was called so because in the edge of the forest, the trees were color blue. And because of it, the people called this path the gateway to the depths of the danger zone!
The Qing Family's people can't go to hunt if their strength is lower than the seventh layer, but at the same time you could say that if your strength is on the seventh layer then you could go to hunt all for yourself into the blue forest!
"I have to look at the dead big bird immediately!" Using the excuse of searching the bird, he slowly took measure of the environment!
Having found nothing strange, he slowly starts walking to the area!
Going upwards was easy but going downwards on the mountains was difficult, especially on the west side because he doesn't know it was artificial or natural the small slope, but that perpendicular slope was leading almost to the blue forest!
But because it was not very high, Qing Shui was extremely confident because he knew that this forest doesn't have any fierce beast at all. After all it was on the Qing Family's edge!
Like Qing Shui was a nimble monkey or an ape, he was careful slipping down!
It was not strange that going upwards was the easy part on a mountain but only now Qing Shui understands that saying. Although it was less than 200 meters, he already use half of an hour but also climbed from below took him a quarter of an hour!
From the mountain's foot to the blue forest the distance was 100 meters approximately. Qing Shui could see the big bird falling on the blue forest's edge. Looking that nothing was wrong, he slowly went towards the dead bird!
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Chapter 12 – Giant Golden Wolf
There wasn't a heat wave like on summertime and neither wind like a sharp blade on winter, only a gently mountain wind. If this place were in his previous life, then, this place would be certainly one of the most high quality resorts, a tourism place or maybe even a pension place!
Although Qing Shui was here, he didn't understood completely, but the adults warned repeatedly that this place is dangerous. Although Qing Shui hasn't found anything strange at the moment, he advanced forward carefully. Inside his heart, Qing Shui had an indescribable feeling, he wished to jump on the beast and unleash all his strength of his body.
On the head of the dead big bird had passed a pebble. Each one of the pebble that were on the hand of Qing Shui were not more than the size of a chicken egg!
Looking at his masterpiece, at the dead big bird, Qing Shui doesn't know what type of bird is. The bird was very similar to the eagles he knows, but it size was very different. He endlessly sighed with sorrow because he used pebbles this time but if he had been his past self, the waste, the bird would have escaped!
The confidence comes from strength. Now Qing Shui knows; his future was brimming with infinite hope, like he could see his future happiness. He longed to live!
Suddenly, he felt like being looked, a feeling like someone was spying on him. You must know that when Qing Shui broke through the peak and reached the second layer, the ancient strengthening technique sharped his mind/spirit, so he was extremely sensitive. Even if Qing Shui doesn't know from where he was being watched, he can roughly determine the place and the distance!
"Thirty meters behind a blue tree there are two people!" That was the place that he could feel. What are they, he doesn't know!
Qing Shui was motionless, making an incomplete fist with both hands and tightly locked with his mind the two things that were behind the blue tree. Qing Shui didn't dare to move recklessly because he is aware that if they were beasts, they could run the thirty meters in a wink so he can only rely on his strength. Qing Shui hopes on being capable to settle this dispute with his two pebbles, with his nimble solitary fist. He doesn't know why, but he feels that the two things back there are going to be difficult to deal with!
The time was passing slowly, and in the hands of Qing Shui, the two pebbles were soaking with sweat. Qing Shui is aware that this cannot continue because if he no clears his mind, then, the enemy would succeed in their sneak attack!
The sunset was setting, and between the woods was filled of shadows. Qing Shui was able to focus on it, and behind the tree was exposed a shadow. Naturally, it was the shadow of a beast, which resembled a wolf, but it was a little bigger than it!
Qing Shui guessed that he was right, only a wolf would be so cunning and an expert to have such patience in mounting a sneak attack!
Imbued with strength, Qing Shui was determined to bring the enemy out!
Pa!
Qing Shui fired the pebble that was on his left hand imbued with strength to the head of the shadow!
Pa! A burst of dust rose!
At once, a big shadow came out from behind the tree charging!
Although Qing Shui was mentally prepared but having it jumping to him startled him. This was a giant golden wolf; his body was more than three meters long and its height almost two meters. It had a huge body nevertheless was exceptionally strong and healthy. The muscles of its whole body full of strength looked extremely overbearing!
Its pair of eyes with ominous glint showed caution, like they were about to jump on Qing Shui!
"This is a wolf? It's too big and compared with a water buffalo is more robust and big so without doubt it has to be more powerful. I remember in my past life when I went to the zoo. You cannot compare the golden wolf with a lion; its immense, robust and formidable strength of its claws cannot be compared!"
It cannot help that Qing Shui is afraid; it was his first time finding a situation like this. Even if he was aware that he has a big power, before his eyes is a big wolf weighing more than 500 jin plus its formidable agility and strength. Qing Shui can only think about being afraid!
Qing Shui is aware that the pebble on his right hand can be his salvation!
In a split second, Qing Shui though about many things, about his grandfather, about his mother, about his uncles comparing notes while practicing martial arts, and although no one ever compared notes with him, Qing Shui is aware that he cannot fall in fear. Rapidly he put his hand on using the solitary nimble fist to hold back the attack and retreat backwards!
Thanks to his enlightenment, Qing Shui reached the condition where he could use the solitary nimble fist as he pleases. He didn't dare to approach the giant wolf, but he had to test how big its strength was!
!!
Using rapidly the solitary nimble fist, he beat three times the front legs of the giant wolf, and between these, he slapped the wolf's head but his arms went a little numb!
The wolf's head was like iron, its tail like copper, and its waist like tofu. Qing Shui in this moment is aware that the wolf's head was of iron but compared with the water buffalo's waist was not inferior at all. Qing Shui knows that its composition doesn't fit the giant wolf!
The golden wolf stopped in front of Qing Shui again taking measure of Qing Shui. Originally the wolf was going to eat the big eagle but didn't expect a human child and less that it would make feel that it was dangerous to him, so the wolf decided to mount a sneak attack!
After fighting for first time, Qing Shui was no more restless like in the beginning, instead gradually he felt calm and excited, he felt like putting all his strength!
His first were tightly clenched but they were not holding any dead beast and in that time, the ancient strengthening technique was flowing though his body. Qing Shui felt like his strength were rising without stopping. At the beginning when Qing Shui was frenetic, he hadn't displayed his true strength, so now he wanted to test how big his strength was. He decided to test his strength without holding back, but if he isn't careful, he could lose his life!
Perhaps the idea of Qing Shui fighting angered the giant wolf; the wolf raised the head and howled. It was like with its howl, it was imposing under the heavens. That howl also let the instinct of Qing Shui satisfied. The Giant Gold Wolf's momentum rose and its robust body were like a big wall!
Ao! (TN: Wolf Howl)
With a loud and clear yelling, one more time the Giant Golden Wolf threw his immense body with full force towards Qing Shui, attacking him. Afterwards the Giant Golden Wolf opened his ferocious mouth to take a bite of Qing Shui's head!
This time Qing Shui gradually calmed down. Qing Shui was looking at the Giant Golden Wolf which was closer and closer. Instantly, Qing Shui extended straight his right hand and used all of his accumulated full strength, rapidly hitting it!
Xiu!
The pebble flied towards the Giant Golden Wolf's mouth. The yelling was ear-piercing!
The moment when the pebble hit, Qing Shui didn't retreated instead he advanced, and with his hands crossed, like an mud fish the pebble soared into the sky from downwards of the Giant Golden Wolf body!
Ca!
Ao!
Suffering a fracture, a loud scream came!
It hit the elbow of Qing Shui. Retreating, Qing Shui looked at the corner of the Giant Golden Wolf's mouth filled with blood but then fell on his back legs, looking with fear of Qing Shui!
Qing Shui's heart was very calm; just now he took big risks, if the pebble didn't had any effect, then Giant Golden Wolf with all his strength could catch off guard at Qing Shui!
Wolfs by nature are cunning, even if they are in that condition, Qing Shui didn't dare to be careless. He carefully was watching the Giant Golden Wolf, its whole body was already wretched and its highly willpower exhausted!
Now, looking at the seriously injured giant wolf, Qing Shui was relaxed. He feels his whole body lacking on strength and even he was only half-consciousness, but above all, he was swaying when standing!
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Chapter 13 – Third layer, Ghost Step
Qing Shui felt a burst of dizziness, the yin and yang jade pedant on his chest was distributing rapidly a refreshing feeling on his whole body. It was as if the drought that Qing Shui felt from a long time ago found by chance, sometime like nectar!
That kind of cool and refreshing feeling did not stop, and although he felt his four limbs all lacking in strength, he felt lazy but extremely comfortable. Qing Shui was relaxed like in the past when he fell asleep when something strange happened!
This time, he hasn't entered into panic when he had his breakthrough through the ancient strengthening technique's second layer, he felt exceptionally calm. A trace of warm qi was surrounding his whole body, and it was moistening his bones and meridians. The flow of qi that was like knitting wool it became thicker. Qing Shui felt that his meridians were also becoming more tough and durable, and even thicker too!
The strength is gradually returning to his body and felt like he surpassed the second layer's peak in excess. Simply speaking, he couldn't do two things at the same time. Qing Shui is aware that the ancient strengthening technique has nine layers and every three has a new stage. In the actuality he was on the third, so as long as he enters into the fourth, he would be in a new realm. Unconsciously, he barely entered into the third layer so Qing Shui was now yearning for the fourth layer!
The ancient strengthening technique was travelling on each edge of his whole body. Qing Shui was incomparably happy, and it was not strange at all, he experienced real combat. Although it was dangerous he gained enormous benefits!
Looking at the Giant Golden Wolf with great care, Qing Shui knows that it was a dog cornered. He felt that the Giant Golden Wolf was slowly retreating!
He would not chase a cornered enemy and besides, Qing Shui felt that it was thanks to the Giant Wolf that he was able to reach the third layer. When inspecting his meridians and datian, he found a lump of qi but that wasn't everything, the blue lotus also reached the third layer. And also, he found that his ancient strengthening technique was mixed with the blue lotus, and now the blue lotus was different from other people of the Qing Family. What part is different? Qing Shui was unable to tell. Qing Shui is with a wrong impression, but by no means, the ancient strengthening technique is in par with the blue lotus, at most they differ in category!
"Could be that I'm not more a waste?" Qing Shui hasn't been looking at the Giant Golden Wolf who escaped, rather, he was in the middle of a doubt!
"The ancient strengthening technique will become only more complicated to cultivate. I don't know when I will be able to break through the fourth layer, but I will not give up even on the blue lotus. Could be that never again I will be a waste…?"
"Forget about it, I have the ancient strengthening technique, the solitary nimble fist and now the concealed weapon, en. That's right; now that I broke through the third layer I have a new technique!" Thinking on that, Qing Shui was jumping without stop on his mind, and the best medicine for his heart would be refinement technique…
"Escape technique!" That was his new martial art for reaching the third layer! Looking at his new technique, he wanted to cry but no tears fell down!
"Now I have an escape technique? Even If I hadn't obtained a technique to refine medicine, at very least I wanted the way of maintaining good health, ah. I'm really depressed now. I don't know how many days; months would take me to have a breakthrough through the fourth layer. When I would be able to learn the refinement medicine technique, the small pellet, the Buddha relic, a five dragon pellet, or even the nine revolutions resuscitation pellet? Tsk, tsk!"
The reason why Qing Shui wants to learn as soon as possible the refinement medicine technique is to not run out of herbal medicine and make some for Qing Yi's health, so it's a pity. The other reason is to make some medicine pellet to help with his cultivation, because if he relies on his body, then it would be very difficult to make estimation with his aptitude. The ancient strengthening technique is incomparably powerful, it's sufficient to oppose the heavens, but at the same time there are many restrictions! If he had elixirs, he could save half of the time when cultivating!
"Escape technique. It's better to have something to nothing. The only thing is that I don't felt like is suitable for me at the moment. If this technique wasn't one of the best, then it would be good to practice. After all is hard to find one to technique to save one's life." Qing Shui is aware that the technique is excellent and first class!
Qing Shui closes his eyes, and looks at the technique inside of his mind. He found that it was similar to the techniques that thieves use. Inside of his mind, there are many complicates details and matchless plans to every kind of topography, every kind of concealment technique making full use of the environment. Qing Shui cannot help but be amazed!
"But how I will be able to escape if this is for hiding? If I am found, what I will do?" Qing Shui was muttering for himself. He felt that this should not be all of it and although he didn't finished seeing all, he knows that there must be another part of the technique!
As expected, after Qing Shui rapidly finished seeing that sort of stealth techniques, at the end there was an escape technique. That escape technique also needs the ancient strengthening technique to work!
The footwork technique name was very vulgar, it was called Ghost Step!
Qing Shui didn't care about names, because from the concealed weapon and with the solitary nimble fist he could learn many things. So now, Qing Shui was yearning without stop for the ghost step.
But learning caused headaches to Qing Shui. He is aware that isn't easy to learn as he imagined. He learned the concealed weapon easily because of the enlightenment if not he would have taken more than ten years of hard learning.
He counted about nine steps to learn the ghost step and they were the same like in the numerology, spread in a mat. It was not the best thing to learn. Although they were forced in his mind, he needs a long time because it takes time to digest!
鬼步的學習居然要學九宮算數、奇門遁甲一類的東西做鋪墊， (TN: It's referring to something like this: IMAGE , it was a little confusing to translate this sentence and that thing is used to make divination)
Qing Shui shook his head; he decided to leave the wolf. He didn't want to touch the powerful beast, because it could bring him many benefits but if he is lucky enough, it could bring another Golden Giant Wolf or a pack of them. He believes that he wouldn't be able to run away if that happens!
"No! I can't even run, but if I learn this Ghost Step, then it would be safer!"
Qing Shui wanted to learn the Ghost Step because it could be used the footwork to attack and coordinated with the nimble solitary fist it would be possible to display several times it formidable power!
The sun was falling on the hillside outside of Qing Family, it was leaving only afterglow. From the west the sky was bright red. The burning clouds resembled a lion, a horse and a rabbit…
Strike the iron when it's hot. Qing Shui started his first practice of the ghost step above the hillside. To practice the ghost step he needs the nine steps together with the numerology. It's hard in the beginning but no hard to use. The first realm is the speed; need to be fast to the limit, so fast that a mirage appears. In order to escape he needs to use them, because to enter one inch into the realm requires the nine steps and the numerology!
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There is something that I have to tell you all. Recently I've noticed that maybe I didn't translated something and why I didn't translate that? Because it didn't make sense then, it's nothing big and not so important to the current chapter. In the ancient strengthening technique, every 3 layers he gains a new technique and also enters in a new realm of that said technique, so if I understand correctly the first three layers are called heavenly(that's what I didn't understood and didn't translate before and maybe its wrong but I will put them from now on until we see the fourth layer and if the name changes).
Chapter 14 – Still a waste
Time flies and now five years had passed. Qing Shui now has 15 years and has the height of a teenager. His two eyes were still beautiful nevertheless a little cold and a little indifferent too, as if nothing in the whole world could arose his interest!
Qing Shui once again has been put the hat of a waste. The difference with before is that this time he has changed! He was not negative, in face of everything he didn't care in first place because after all he reached the ancient strengthening technique's heavenly third layer peak. But after reaching the third layer peak two years before he hadn't progressed the slightest amount. And not only that, it happened the same with the blue lotus; it stopped in the third layer peak!
Qing Shui's mind has been put into a severe test once again. He put more effort than anyone in the Qing Family in this whole five years so the concealed weapon and the solitary nimble fist already reached an ideal level, including the ghost step which he succeeded but only a bit. And although he wasn't capable to use the scale into inches, he was able to use fully the ghost image a bit. Now he could change into attack to defense, and using together with the solitary nimble fist it would be possible to take it to unimaginable levels!
(TN: 縮尺成寸(scale into inches) I think that is a technique to move really fast hence the name, but I think that it's never explained until very late!)
In that time, in the Qing Family, the eldest grandson Qing Zi with the blue lotus had cultivated to the warrior seventh layer and also Qing You but with the difference that he is already on the peak of said stage. Excluding Qing Yang who is in the middle of the warrior sixth layer, almost every grandson of thirteen to fifteen years old was on the beginning of the warrior fifth layer. Qing Hu was also on the early stage of the warrior fifth layer and despite being older than him; Qing Shui was still stopped on the warrior third layer! For practicing martial arts for three years he already had taken off the hat of martial servant.
Every day when exercising, Qing Shui was oldest of all present there but also weakest! Originally there were two that were older than Qing Shui, Qing Hui and Qing Chuan but when they turned sixteen they had their breakthrough to the sixth layer!
The sixth layer decides your future in the Qing Family! What the Qing Family wish is that their offspring reach the blue lotus sixth stage before turning sixteen. As longs as you reach the blue lotus sixth stage and you had not surpassed the sixteen years, then the whole family would use all of their strength to support you! But at the same time they would use you as bargaining chip outside for ensure the family safety, after all everyone wanted to benefit from partnership with strong clans!
All those who could not reach the sixth layer before the coming of age ceremony, will be sent to the outside world to help with the family business and they only would be able to practice martial arts in their spare time!
Although the Qing Family was not so big, in the surroundings of the village they were still a famous family but compared with others families from outside, they were a little more inferior. Therefore, the Qing Family in this region is better than many families of ordinary people. And besides, they have the possibility to become an important family, due to the master's sons whom can continue to progress even more!
Qing Shui is fifteen years old and as long as he doesn't exceed the sixteen years, he still need to reach the blue lotus sixth layer or if not he will be sent outside to help with the family business. Qing Shui is aware that the blue lotus and the ancient strengthening technique are tied together so he knows that is a pipe dream to wish a breakthrough to the sixth layer in one year!
Even if Qing Shui's grandfather is Qing Luo, he had never left this region and less the village from the moment he was born. The reason was that he was a waste who couldn't even exercise, so maybe he would live for his entire life in the village. Even if he would have turned sixteen nobody would bother for a waste that couldn't even practice martial arts, but now was different. He already washed away the tittle of a waste, but now that it was possible to move and even not faint when exercising he definitely will be sent to help with the business of the family!
Qing Shui had decided long ago to help his mother and conveniently he would gain knowledge about herbal medicine. Qing Shui wish is the same, because he hadn't completed his mother cherished desire. He cannot give up and stop bothering about it. And although he couldn't have his breakthrough through the ancient strengthening technique, he had now the concealed weapon, the solitary nimble fist plus his formidable strength and even the strange ghost step so it's was possible to him to fight one to one. Speaking the true, Qing Shui didn't care about the children of the third generation because only by leaning with his strength of his strong body it would be possible to stamp them. But Qing Shui after all was not a little child, so he is aware that showing them his strength too soon is not something good!
"Forget about it, it's not good to think in that way. Maybe I would gain a good opportunity to experience a breakthrough once outside!" Qing Shui only could sigh helpless.
"Shui-gege!" Qing Shui hears coming from outside the voice of Qing Bei!
Qing Bei appeared yelling out on his courtyard. Qing Bei already was thirteen and had become somewhat a beautiful girl. She had a delicate small face, big and beautiful eyes and her body was beginning to develop. After all, she was only three years to be a full adult and in that time there is sufficient time to grow!
To this sole little girl on the family is treated extremely like a treasure. Even if the other disciples from the third generation don't get along with her, they still love her from their hearts!
"Small Bei, come here!" Qing Shui smiling calls her. Qing Bei is one of the talented on the Qing Family. At the age of thirteen she was already in the peak of the fifth layer and for that reason the elders are depressed because she is a woman. In the future she must marry someone, and as a matter of fact, countless people came already!
After reaching the heavenly third layer peak, he could not make any more progress. He has a vague feel that he wouldn't have another breakthrough in a while! That's why he started half year ago teaching the lonely nimble fist to them, because he has nothing better to do!
Because he has the knowledge that he can teach them! With whom he gets along better from the third generation disciples are Qing Hu and Qing Bei. The other rarely gathers together, especially Qing You and Qing ZI who only could see a few times a year. At the present, as long as Qing Yang, Qing Hui and Qing Chuan reach the blue lotus sixth layer, they would increase their training adding pharmaceutical martial arts. That's why, every one that reach the blue lotus sixth layer would have to spend genuinely a hard time. And not only that, everyone would have to fight the elders reached the sixth layer or more and also exchange pointers with other disciples of the third generation. The others who hadn't reached the sixth layer would have no other choice but to be a spectator!
Qing Bei and Qing Hui already were half year practicing the nimble solitary nimble fist. In that time Qing Shui understood how lucky he was to have enlightenment. In half a year, Qing Hu becomes aware of one third of the 360 acupuncture points. He was truly skilled in attacking the arms, chest and the head, but also depends of the counterpart strength!
Compared with Qing Hu, Qing Bei already was a bit better. Girls are careful, so contrary to what you would expect, she already remembers all, even every critical point of the joints but she was inferior attacking to the head compared with Qing Hu!
"Qing Hu?!" Qing Shui hadn't seen Qing Hu. They would always come to practice half a day after dusk and they never missed one day of practice!
"Just a moment ago, Qing Hu met with Lan Yan the son of the Lan family so he ended injured. That's why he can't come!" Qing Bei said it a little angry and helpless!
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Chapter 15 – Lan Yan, Lan family's daughter
"Lan Yan?"
The name was unknown to Qing Shui but when thinking about it, an image appeared in his mind of a slender and elegant girl. Her two big eyes could absorb you, and also her small mouth was a little tilt.
Of course, she was an arrogant girl. The reason why Qing Shui remembers her is because between the people of the same age, is said that she is the envy of the genius. Everyone knows that Qing Shui is a waste, that's why he only saw her face long ago accidentally and because she has a well know reputation, Qing Shui was especially careful around her but he didn't expect her to be a beautiful girl. Even if she had fifteen years, her talent was second only to Qing You. She was the pride of the Lan Family.
The Lan Family unexpectedly was one of the biggest families on the Qing Family village. The population was flourishing; especially the third generation of the Lan Family which is always compared with the Qing Family. They had more offspring compared with the Qing Family.
The Lan Family always wanted to replace the Qing Family to become the protectors and change the village's name. So the Qing Family had not spared efforts on training the third generation because they are the family's hope.
"Beibei, the injury of Qing Hu is serious?" Qing Shui frowned.
"No, he has only a bloody nose and a swollen face. He was afraid to lose face so he hid inside his home." Qing Bei said it with a smile. Maybe she thought on the appearance of Qing Hu.
"Why are you laughing?" Qing Shui also feels like laughing. Qing Hu was beaten and it was something which happened often but he was afraid to lose face.
Qing Bei stopped her lively laugh and his delicate small face showed signs of being embarrassed. That let Qing Shui a little puzzled, because he knew the reason of it.
"Gege, he said again that he liked Lan Yan?" Qing Bei sighs. Qing Shui feels that the sigh of this small girl was quite funny. The people on the continent were relatively precocious because when you reach sixteen, it was possible to take a wife.
"But why he ended with bloody nose and a swollen face?" Qing Shui was quite puzzled.
"Maybe the brat didn't want to let go the small girl?" Qing Shui frowns.
This time the one who was puzzled was Qing Bei.
"Shui-gege, you are the same as her. Calling her a little girl as if you were already an adult is weird." Qing Bei who always is indifferent, was whispering into Qing Shui's ear.
Since Qing Shui's body had changed, his attitude also had changed. After all, although he is in this small body, he is an adult. When he was able to cultivate the ancient strengthening technique, he didn't despair anymore on his daily life, so the Qing Shui that Qing Bei knows is tranquil, calm and has self-confidence. Or at least that is what Qing Bei knows in his mind.
After knowing that was nothing serious, Qing Shui let out all his tension. Qing Shui knows that Qing Hu loves Lan Yan, and although he had fourteen years, he already started to develop those confused feelings. In fact, those children from the nobility already embraced others people.
Qing Hu is small but very assertive. He already had in mind what he wanted and even persists, he does not give up. He started to pursue the girl, but she was already very mature and compared with Qing Hu, she was one year older. On his eyes, Qing Hu was a brat, but helpless she promised a commitment to Qing Hu.
"She wouldn't marry Qing Hu if he can't defeat her."
Qing Hu hadn't thought much about that and accepted, because she wouldn't marry someone who is unable to defeat her. The game started but the difference between their strength was big, so he ended beaten, with a bloody nose and a swollen face!
The first time that she ended beaten him, also was the first time that Qing Shui become aware of her name. He noticed the reputation that accompanies the talentless little girl called Lan Yan from the Lan Family. And in the same time Qing Hu realized how difficult it would to marry Lan Yan.
That was half year ago!
Afterwards, this half year, Qing Shui started to instruct the solitary nimble fist to Qing Hu and Qing Bei. Qing Shui felt that the solitary nimble fist had in it a bit of taiji, a personal bunt. And because when you attack you have many weaknesses is that you need to make a mortal blow. After all the human body had many weak acupuncture points and weaknesses, such as Achilles heel!
"Brother went to find her to compete, but he only lost!" Qing Bei said helplessly.
So he still lost? She was on the warrior seventh stage and he on the fifth. Qing Shui only can smile and shook his head.
"Shui-gege, it was useful that you taught us the solitary nimble fist but it's a pity that his strength is too low. If older brother were in the warrior seventh stage, then he could not have lost to her." Qing Bei was a little happy but also a little unwilling.
"Eh? Why is that?" Qing Shui becomes interested because he knows how the martial skills were divided. They were divided into Houtian(Not innate), Xiantian(Innate), Legend, God-level, and each were divided into four levels!
The blue lotus of which mother spoke was a houtian martial skill and also it was a houtian the martial skill from the Lan Family. Their martial skill was called icebound sword and was an earth level. Even if Qing Shui wanted to know the level of the ancient strengthening technique, he wouldn't be able to tell because he doesn't know the level!
Qing Shui hadn't used the solitary nimble fist on another people, only on the Giant Golden Wolf, so when Qing Shui hears that Qing Hu used the technique on Lan Yan who was two levels higher, Qing Shui wanted to know the details about the match. Because among what Qing Bei was talking, Qing Hu suffered a misfortune.
"At the beginning, it was clear that Lan Yan didn't see my brother as opponent, so I saw that she used the same strength like my brother. Maybe she thought that she didn't need to use martial skills against a rookie on the fifth stage to surpass him. She used her fingers instead of a sword, and because she underestimates the enemy, she was forced to retreat and not only that, even his arms were trembling."
Thanks to the dragon tomb technique he was aware where Qing Hu hit his enemy and it was on the Quchi Acupoint.
(TN: The Quchi acupoint is located on the elbow.)
"After it was obvious that Lan Yan would use all of her strength. Almost every move of Qing Hu was repelled so in the end he lost!"
"That was good, to be able to temper oneself. Perhaps even Lan Yan will be able to improve herself. Qing Hu cannot lose himself on that; if not there will be future consequences." Qing Shui is aware that the two families do not get along and it's unclear until when the families could maintain the peace. Maybe shorts five to eight years or it could be hundreds of years.
Qing Shui touched his forehead while thinking. Qing Shui was not worried about the Lan Family because the objective of Qing Shui was quite big. If the Qing Family was expelled from this place, how he could the fight against the most powerful people on the nine continents, or how he could challenge the sect that were passed generation on generation for thousands of years, or even think about challenging the influential clans that were about thousands years old!
But first he must understand the grudges of his mother transmitted generation to generation for thousands of years and challenge them!
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 16 – Revered Professions – I wanna be a Alchemist
If he wanted to seek redress for Qing Yi, at the very least, he would definitely need to clash with one of those established clans!
Qing Shui went with Qing Bei to visit Qing Hu, other than the external injuries, there wasn't anything to be concerned about, his injuries should heal in a day or two! Qing Hai's manor was similar to the manor of Qing Yi, they are both located inside of the Qing Clan's massive courtyard. The environment was pretty good in this place with picturesque scenery.
The rooms are bright and spacious, though the design was simple and somewhat crude. After all, the Qing Clan frowned upon the excessive spending on things that are unneeded for cultivation. The tables and chair were made of peachwood; the chairs were all taishi armchairs [1] and the tables were all 8-immortal tables [2, Qing Hu was unwilling leave the basement, let alone coming out to the living room or even going out of his manor, he did not want anyone to see his swollen face!
"Qing Shui, come taste the tea I brewed for you!" Qing Hai's wife, Song Yan warmly invited.
"Auntie, there is no need to trouble yourself!" Qing Shui said as he glanced at his auntie Song Yan. Qing Shui felt that, Song Yan was the most beautiful in the Qing Clan after Qing Yi. Long flowing hair tied up in a bun, with a lovely oval egg-shaped face, fair skinned with polished features and a slender waist with gigantic twin peaks and a well rounded bottom. Song Yan actually looked younger than her age! Now that Qing Shui was already 30 after adding both his age in this world and his previous world, he did not feel the raging hormones of most teens and had no burning desires to bed woman. However, mature and charming ladies like Song Yan could still set his heart aflutter.
"Was he the MILF[3] hunter from the legends?
"Qing Hu this child can be quite troublesome, he must not fall so deeply in the river of love and end up unable to extricate himself from it, Lan Yaner is already betrothed to the son of the Heavenly River City's City Lord! Although her status will only be a concubine, if they knew that Qing Hu still had not given up, this matter would be sure to bring trouble to the Qing Clan! It is really vexing."
Qing Shui heard Qing Hai sighed depressedly, he too felt that this matter was somewhat worrisome. With Qing Hu's personality, once he had decided on a target, his focus and objective would never change.
"4th Aunt, Heavenly River City, is it far from here?" Regarding the places on the continent of Kyu Shu, Qing Shui knew very little of the world outside the mountainous region where the Qing Village was located.
The Hundred Miles City was a small city located nearby the Qing Village. Because the Hundred Miles City was actually the smallest city located in the Cang Lang Country, the name of the city was a misconception, it refers to the distance between the Qing Village and the Hundred Miles City. Qing Shui had once heard Qing Yi said that the Hundred Miles City actually had a circumference of about a 1000 Li. [4]
There was another assumption in the Qing Village. People said that the Hundred Miles City only had a circumference of a 100 miles, 100 years ago. It was only after the development of these 100 years that it had the scale of what it had now. That was why, initially, the city was named the Hundred Miles City.
"In this world, there are 9 continents. Each continent have 81 countries, and each country have 81 cities. Cang Lang Country belongs to the Northwest continent named the Green Cloud continent.The Hundred Miles City was the smallest city, situated at the western region of the Green Cloud Continent. There was absolutely no comparison between the Hundred Miles City and the Heavenly River City. The Heavenly River City had a circumference of over 10.000 Li, indicators of their prosperity could be found everywhere. rumour has it that there were even Xian Tian lifeforms there." stated Song Yan.
"Xian Tian? Isn't that the realm that grandpa could not break through to? Grandpa said that the cultivators at the Xian Tian Realm possessed power beyond our comprehension!"
"Right, that was the realm that your grandpa had mentioned, there are no weaklings among those that had broken through to the Xian Tian Realm, each of them are true powerhouses of our continent! In this continent, other than cultivators, there are also beast tamers. Beast tamers usually depend on the demonic beasts they tamed to do battle. It could be said that an expert beast tamer was even more terrifying than cultivators."
"Hahaha, anyway, the topic had gotten out of point!" Qing Hai laughed somewhat awkwardly. He was laughing at himself for being too naggy.
"No, no, I want to know more about the beast tamers, how do they subdue the demonic beasts? What are demonic beasts?" Curiosity was burning in Qing Shui's heart. After all the rumours of beast tamers which he heard from the grapevine was probably not as accurate as the information from his 4th uncle, Qing Hai.
"Normally, only after a beast lived and cultivated for more than 500 years, would we call them demonic beasts. All demonic beasts have formed a demonic core inside their body and had strength on the level of Xian Tian lifeforms." Qing Hai said, with traces of remembrance flashing in his eyes, it was as though he had seen one up close or participated in a fight with one before.
"Basically, a beast tamer that does not have a contracted demonic beast, cannot be considered a real beast tamer at all. After all, beast tamers could only use a specialised sealing technique to form a contract only after a wild beast has evolved into a demonic beast.
After the evolution, all demonic beast will gain intelligence, and especially for those demonic beasts that had cultivated over 1000 years; they can be even smarter and more cunning than humans! Therefore, the requirements for one to become a beast tamer are just too harsh, not only must one be strong enough to contend against the demonic beasts, they must also be proficient in those cryptic incantations, restrictions and sealing techniques!" Qing Hai explained, as he sat on the Taishi Armchair and slowly sipped his tea.
The cultivation realms before Xian Tian are known as Martial Student, Martial Warrior, Martial General and Martial Commander. The realms from Martial Student to martial Commander is also known as the Hou Tian Stage. The doorway to the Xian Tian Realm could be considered a natural moat, blocking almost all but a selected few who are allowed to step through it. Just like Qing Luo, who had been stuck at the realm of Martial Commander, 10th Grade for many years, yet still unable to break through the last bottle neck..
In general, the Qing Clan's 3rd generation disciples had all cultivated to the Martial Warrior Realm, the 2nd generation disciples, at the very least had cultivated to the Martial General Realm. Only Qing Luo was at the 10th Grade of the Martial Commander Realm. He was only 1 step away from breaching the doorway to the Xian Tian realm! But this single step… the inability to take the last step, had proved to be the bane of many cultivators, and was the biggest regret of their entire lives.
Although the Blue Lotus Art could be considered a Hou Tian level technique, it was at the pinnacle of all Hou Tian techniques, with a rating of the Heaven Grade. After all, Xian Tian level techniques are akin to the stars in the skies, the essence and concepts behind it are too unfathomable for most people to grasp, so a Hou Tian level technique with a Heaven Grade could be considered as extremely valuable! Majority of the cultivators in the Kyushu world could only employ Hou Tian level techniques. Only those from very established sects or big clans with deep roots would have the possibility to possess Xian Tian level techniques or higher; even the rumoured Legendary level and God level techniques!
Cultivating the Blue Lotus Art would allow one to reach the peak of Hou Tian. Similar to Qing Luo, with a cultivation realm of the Martial Commander, 10th Grade. As long as he could step inside the Xian Tian realm, his life force would be more than doubled, from 200 years to 500 years. But Xian Tian lifeforms…. even in a extremely large city, the numbers of Xian Tian cultivators could be counted on 1 hand, how could there be an existence like that in the Qing Village? Over here, including the Hundred Miles City, one could already be considered an expert once their cultivation had reached the peak of Hou Tian.
Qing Shui got all this information from Qing Hai, and discovered the many benefits of reaching the Xian Tian Realm. Just solely based on the fact that a Xian Tian cultivator could live up to 500 years, already proved to be an extremely attractive carrot, inspiring all cultivators of the Hou Tian stages to push forward to break through.
Qing Shui did not know what exactly was his level of cultivation, after all, the Blue Lotus Art he practiced was different from the rest of the clan. The strongest 3rd generation disciples of the Qing Clan so far was Qing You and Qing Zi, both who had broken through to the 7th Grade of the Martial Warrior realm.
Martial students could not be considered as cultivators, only those who had reached the realm of Martial Warriors could be considered as one. Qing Clan's 3rd generation disciples had all broken through to the Martial Warrior Realm, so when someone was said to have broken through to the 6 Layer, it actually means that they have broken through to the realm of Martial Warrior, 6th Grade.
Even though the Blue Lotus Art was said to be a Hou Tian level technique, there still exists a miniscule amount of probability for a cultivator to break through to the Xian Tian Realm. The percentage of successfully breaking through was only about 1% success rate. After all, the Blue Lotus Art was a Heaven Grade, Hou Tian Realm technique, The rest of Hou Tian level techniques; Earth Grade, Mystic Grade and Huang Grade are all considered rubbish in front of it. The probability to breakthrough to the Xian Tian Realm does still exists, with a success rate of less than 0.01%.. Other than the rogue cultivators, unaffiliated with any clans or sects, there were no other cultivators willing to cultivate those rubbish techniques to its peak with its low success rate of breaking through.
Although there were plenty of cultivators, there were plenty of other ways to survive in this world. The one with the most advantages were the beast tamers, the alchemists and the medical doctors.
There are also a lot of people who chose to be architects, cooks, tailors and blacksmiths but this professions were not as revered as the beast tamers, alchemists and doctors.
As the proverb states "every profession would produce a master, as long as you put in enough love and diligence in your work" The people of this world would still need to eat, need weapons to fight with, will fall sick and get injured..
So it doesn't matter which profession one was in, as long as you were the absolute best in that profession, riches, woman and respect will come to you too.
Especially for the alchemists, they are the most revered profession in this world. Alchemists could concoct the Yuan Replenishing Pellet to block pain and aid in recovery, or the legendary Dragon Martial Pill which raise the chances of breaking into Xian Tian Realm by 50%!
Any alchemists, no matter if they are high or low ranked, even if they failed a thousand times in pill concoction, they would still be revered and venerated by the masses! Pill concoction also requires luck. Who knows… that lowly ranked alchemist which you snubbed yesterday may produce an immortal-grade elixir today.
All of this information was told to Qing Shui, by his 4th uncle Qing Hai and his wife Song Yan. Qing Shui was extremely interested in the Xian Tian Realm and the alchemist profession. He decided that one day, he too would walk down the path of alchemy, to be revered and venerated in the whole of Kyushu!
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 17 – The Eldest Grandson of Qing Clan
Although he knew that the path he wanted to walk on was a long and arduous one, Qing Shui had the utmost confidence in himself.
"15 years.. It has been 15 years since he was born in the Qing Village, maybe it was time to explore the world of Kyushu. Reaching the peak of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, Qing Shui could feel that the current might he was capable of exerting, was more than 10,000 jin just based on his bodily strength alone. In addition to that, with his hidden weapon techniques as well as the incredulous state of his body, he had no doubts that he was more than competent enough to protect himself!" Qing Shui deeply pondered. If he don't experience the trials of the world, and face real danger through life and death situations, he would not be able to temper himself. The bottleneck of the peak of 3rd layer Ancient Strengthening Technique, would be only be more difficult to break through.
"Mother should be back in a few days, I will say my goodbyes to her then," Qing Shui decided, certain that his choice to explore the world outside the Qing Village was the right one.
"Why do those people in the legends who transcended dimensions always have godly weapons or storage rings but I don't even have a single thing (-_-). The main characters of those legends were always geniuses but here I am, a living example of one who had transcended dimensions, and yet I am only trash.." Despite the fact that Qing Shui had never acknowledged himself as a trash, he had no choice but to admit it now.
"It is so inconvenient to carry things along without a storage ring, but at very least, I still possess the Ancient Strengthening Technique. Thanks to that, the toughness of my body has already reached an inconceivable state, capable of exerting a force of more than 10,000 jin. In addition, my strength is now roughly equivalent to the realm of Martial Warrior, 7th Grade, mwehehe. Through my observations for the past few years, I dare say that I could send most of the 3rd generation disciples sprawling on the ground with injuries that would take them 2 weeks to a month to recover with only a single punch!" Qing Shui self-assuredly stated.
"In the face of absolute strength, all strategies are meaningless. Using strength to counter against the intricacies of techniques, and not to mention that the Solidary Rapid Fist most assuredly is a top tier martial technique, if I could execute the stances with my 10,000 jin level of force, attacking the weaknesses and acupoints of my opponents, I would undoubtedly leave them crippled with every move i make." Qing Shui sneered.
Qing Shui was mumbling to himself after he departed from Qing Hu's residence. He was extremely conceited as he thought of the many things he had learnt. However, Qing Shui had matured from before, and was able to control his ego.
"I must not be arrogant and overestimate myself, the world is so large, the only way to move forward on the path of cultivation is constant improvement!" Qing Shui silently reminded himself.
Attaining the peak of the 3rd layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique felt great, but being unable to breakthrough made Qing Shui feel helpless. In his heart, he longed for the might that he would be able to wield at the 4th layer. After all, the 4th layer represented the crossing into another realm. Entering the 4th layer meant crossing the threshold of the mid tier for the Ancient Strengthening Technique. By then his body and strength would probably be further refined by an insane margin. Qing Shui was also desirous of the skills he would unlock at the 4th layered heavens of the Ancient Strengthening Technique.
"Ai, Qing Shui, it's you!". A voice called out his name just as he was in the middle of his self-reflection.
Raising his head, Qing Shui realised that it was the eldest grandson of the Qing Clan, Qing Zi, who had called out to him. Qing Zi was very amiable by nature, although he rarely interacted with Qing Shui. However, each time they interacted, Qing Zi was quite friendly to him.
Qing Zi was 25 this year, with a upright appearance, he was also extremely big sized, with the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear, giving the appearance of a dauntless behemoth..
"Brother Qing Zi, how did you manage to find the time to come here today?" Qing Shui felt that it was a bit weird for Qing Zi to be out here today. After all for those disciples of the 3rd generation who had broken through to Martial Warrior, 6th Grade were all busily spending their time honing their martial techniques.
"keke, can't i just take a breather after making a breakthrough?" Qing Zi scratched his head and said somewhat straightforwardly. Looking at the comical actions of Qing Zi, Qing Shui felt the distance between them shortened. After all, their difference in age was not too big, there would still be topics of interest for discussion between them.
"Ah, another breakthrough? Congratulations to brother Qing Zi!" Qing Shui happily congratulated Qing Zi. Qing Shui knew that if it was some other 3rd generation disciple making the same statement, there will bound to be hints of mockery hidden within, silently and sarcastically hinting to Qing Shui that he was nothing but trash. But Qing Zi was different. He was known for his forthrightness, he also found Qing Shui to be a straightforward person so they actually got along well together. If Qing Zi exists in Qing Shui's previous world, he would be known as the fool that is easy to trick.
Qing Zi smiled deprecatingly, as if the breakthrough occurred only through luck and not his own efforts..
"Qing Shui, you must work hard too! Let me know if you need any help, I would do my best to help you." Qing Zi said simply. Just from these simple words, Qing Shui could feel the sincerity in Qing Zi's heart.
"I will, don't worry about me, maybe in the future, I would be even more powerful than you, you won't be upset right!" Qing Shui joked with Qing Zi. It sounded like a joke but at the same time, Qing Shui was partially serious about the question too.
:I believe you would be able to achieve it. If you managed to surpass me, I will be happy for you. The stronger you are, the more happy I would be!" Qing Zi laughed as he patted Qing Shui on his shoulder.
"Why? Why would you be happy if i'm stronger than you?" Qing Shui curiously asked. He knew that especially in the larger clans, the competition within the clan members was very intense. After all, the strongest disciple in that generation had the hope that they would become the clan head one day..
Nevertheless, the tail of a phoenix cannot be comparable to the head of a chicken! One would rather be the head of a small clan as compared to being a retainer of a large clan.
Qing Shui asking this was perfectly normal, Qing Zi, after his current breakthrough was the strongest within the Qing Clan's 3rd generation disciples. At least, it appeared so on the surface. He was the one with the highest possibility to be the Clan Head! Furthermore, although Qing Zi was honest and straightforward by nature, he had the ability to see far and think ahead, and knowing the intelligence of Qing Luo, Qing Shui could deduce that it was just a matter of sooner or later, the position of the Clan Head would be given to Qing Zi.
"Because simply.. we are one family, if one day, you managed to break into the Xian Tian Realm, you would be the pride of our family, how would i be upset by it? After all, the one breaking through to the Xian Tian realm is my very own cousin" Qing Zi said forthrightly.
Qing Shui did not know if Qing Zi was saying this honestly or was it because he was an idiot. But still, he felt really happy to have Qing Zi as someone he could count on.
Qing Shui and Qing Zi chatted as they walked alongside each other.
"Brother Qing Zi, are you going outside the Qing Village?" Qing Shui asked nonchalantly.
Qing Zi was not startled by Qing Shui's question. He scratched his head and smiled, "The furthest I have ever been to was the Hundred Miles City, it was way more prosperous and developed than our Qing Village in this remote region."
"Brother Qing Zi, have you thought of leaving to see the world outside before? A world filled with colour and excitement, hopes and dreams of young men painting the skies with their radiance." Qing Shui had always assiduously focus on his cultivation and had never stepped out of the Qing Village before. He had not even been to the Hundred Miles City; colours of pink tinged his cheeks as he thought ruefully. Although airplanes and cars don't exist in this world, there were other means of transportation like horse riding. Travelling to Hundred Miles City would only need to take 2 hours by horseback.
"I heard Grandpa state that the world outside is filled with danger, betrayal of your companions could come any moment, you can only trust yourself. If you had not achieved a certain level of strength, it would be better to stay in the Qing Clan, rather than going out to throw your life away." Qing Zi stated sombrely, mistiness filling his eyes.
From the misty look in Qing Zi eyes, it could be seen that he too, longed to make his standing in the world outside of Qing Village. Which youth was not filled with dreams? One day to become an expert, travelling through the continent with ease and possessing a name that would resound across generations!
"There would definitely be a day, when we have a foothold in the world of cultivation, we would be like lords and kings looking down on this piece of land with disdain" Qing Shui resolutely said with hints of coldness flashing past his eyes.
Qing Zi glanced at Qing Shui, shocked. He never thought that the trash Qing Shui would have the gall to utter such words.
At this moment, Qing Shui gave Qing Zi an unfathomable sensation, emitting a deep and immeasurable feeling. Qing Zi actually felt inadequate in front of Qing Shui! Strange…..
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 18 – Ravishing Beauty
"Could he really stand on the summit of Kyushu one day?" Qing Zi mumbled, he was completely dumbfounded.. That feeling he got from Qing Shui……
Qing Zi shook his head, trying to clear away the unsettling feeling slowly creeping into his heart. How could he even imagine that such an illogical thing would happening? After all, it was known that Qing Shui was born with a weak constitution. It would be amazing enough if he could already cultivate, but to step onto the peak of this world? Highly improbable..
Looking at Qing Shui who was emitting an air of certainty, Qing Zi could feel that Qing Shui was special. He was one of a kind, different from the majority of the 3rd generation disciples. Especially when looking at that pair of beautiful eyes, Qing Zi could see traces of coldness, disregard and competitiveness hidden within them.
The two of them were standing on the summit of a small mountain near the Qing Village. Qing Shui was enjoying the beauty of nature, the air was permeated with so much Spiritual Qi that even the normal humans who did not cultivate would be able to live to 150 years old in this world.
Standing on the summit not only allowed one to have unobstructed vision; the ability to see far across the distance without hindrance, it also enabled the one standing at the top to emanate a sense of heroism; like a chosen one, looking down upon the masses.
"No wonder all humans want to be admired by others, standing at the top of humanity, overlooking the entire world."
Qing Shui and Qing Zi nonchalantly began to chat about matters of no importance, discussing the strained relationship between the 3rd generation disciples. Although the Qing Clan was the largest and most powerful clan in this mountain filled region, their influences and authority only stretched so far.. They were not even comparable to the large clans residing inside Hundred Miles City. If it wasn't for Qing Luo who had cultivated to the peak of Hou Tian Realm, those large clans would probably not even bother to have the slightest bit of interacting with the Qing Clan.
After all, those large clans residing in Hundred Miles City all had deep roots and a rich history spanning about a 1000 years; their connections with various powers and reputations were also not something that could be compared to the puny Qing Clan. Luckily, the Qing Clan possessed a unique inheritary cultivation technique. Thus, despite not having a large amount of people, the Qing Clan could still stand their ground.
Just as Qing Shui's mind was wandering, thinking about all the things he learned today, he heard footsteps approach him. Turning his head he spotted Qing Bei running towards him.
"Qing Zi gege, Shui gege, there are visitors arriving. Grandpa wants you to go back now." Qing Bei said with almost no breath, exhaustion was clearly painted all over her face.
"Visitors? Where are they from?" Qing Zi's brow slightly creased as he asked.
This expression of Qing Zi only lasted for a second before it changed back to his normal amiable look. This action of his made Qing Shui tense slightly, the normally honest looking Qing Zi actually had such a expression on his face? It appears that Qing Zi was not as simple as he looked.
"I am not too certain, but I heard that the visitors were from Hundred Miles City." Qing Bei blinked her eyes innocently.
"Hundred Miles City!" Qing Shui exclaimed.
The name of this city was extremely familiar to him, Qing Shui even knew the names of some of the large clans residing within Hundred Miles City. After all, Qing Yi was the one in charge of the Qing Clan's medicinal herbs business in Hundred Miles City.
"Qing Shui, Qing Bei, let's go." Qing Zi started to run back in the direction of the Qing Village after he shouted. The posture of each of his steps emanated the air of a dragon and a tiger.
"It appears that I was right, the eldest grandson of the 3rd generation was not as simple as he looked!" Qing Shui was deep in thoughts as he began to slowly run back towards the village, but after thinking about it, it made sense. If Qing Zi was as honest as he looked, there was no way that he could be the next successor of the Qing Clan.
Currently, within the 3rd generation disciples, Qing Zi was undoubtedly the strongest. Qing Shui was an exception, after all, he had not really exhibited his full strength yet.
Just as the 3 of them arrived at the entrance of the Qing Mansion, they saw a troop of majestic horses tied up near a post. One of the horses was completely red in colour, with a body length about 4m and a height of 2m, it excluding a majestic presence. The bristles on this horse were thick, but extremely smooth to the touch. Brawny, Majestic, Vigorous. It was as though there was a divine spirit in this fiery-red horse, as it was capable of emanating a pressure far beyond that of a normal war horse.
An expression of awe appeared on Qing Shui face as he observed the horse in front of him, this horse definitely belonged to one of the large clans in Hundred Miles City. Qing Shui had the feeling that the fiery-red horse in front of him had a strength that could easily allow it to trample over lions and tigers.
Although Qing Shui had not seen many horses or wild beasts during the 15 years he's spent in the Qing Village, he knew that the abundance of spiritual Qi in the air could allow animals to grow bigger compared to the animals of his previous world. Not only wild beasts, even domestic animals like dogs and pigs could grow to become 1 size bigger than in his previous world!
Qing Shui was not in awe because of the size of the horse, but because of the aura it excluded! With its head held high, akin to an emperor gazing at his subjects, just the aura emanating from it alone was sufficient to daunt the other horses surrounding it.
"All journeys undertaken while mounting this horse, would undoubtedly only require half the time compared to the other mounts!"
"En, the bones are solid and broad, with muscular forelegs and hind legs. Mounting it on a journey would be like stepping on clouds, the speed at which it gallops would be so fast that not even the earth would be disturbed" Qing Zi touched his chin and mumbled nonchalantly while admiring the horse.
"Brother Qing Zi is an expert on horses!?" Qing Bei asked.
Qing Zi shook his head "Nope, I only overheard some people discussing traits of good horses before, but they all pale in comparison to this fiery-red horse that is currently in front of me."
Laughing as he ended the conversation, Qing Zi took the lead as they entered the Qing Mansion's Courtyard
Qing Shui recalled some of the history books he read in his previous life. "Emperor Wen once offered a horse of the snow-lion species, capable of traveling a thousand li, to appease the anger of the mongolians."
"This fiery-red horse should also have the bloodline of a lion." Qing Shui deduced.
Seeing that Qing Zi and Qing Bei had already entered the courtyard, the hint of a smile appeared on his face. Seems like the fun time are beginning hehehhee.
"Hey red horse, looking at your haughty and arrogant demeanor really pisses me off, your father, me, is definitely going to make you submit." Qing Shui extended his hands, wanting to touch the red horse's mane.
Just when his hand had extended to about 1cm away from the mane, the fiery red horse snorted, as if it was warning Qing Shui of the consequences and also giving off the appearance of looking down on him.
"Oh, how dare you be so stubborn you piece of shit!" Qing Shui couldn't control himself anymore and vulgarities started spewing from his mouth. If this sight was witnessed by others, they would definitely be surprised that profanities actually emerged from the mouth of Qing Shui.
Qing Shui only allowed himself to lose control when there was no one else around.
Qing Shui still persisted in forcing the fiery red horse submit to him. The warning snort of the red horse, Qing Shui had completely disregarded it and continued to extend his other hand to touch the rump of the horse.
Qing Shui guessed that this horse might be female, but now, his actions had infuriated it.
The 4m long body of the fiery red horse reared up. A sound akin to a dragon roar rumbled out from its throat, its muscular body slammed down, preparing to stomp Qing Shui into tiny pieces, and continue stomping to the point where the tiny pieces became even tinier pieces, eventually turning him into nothingness.
"Ai, seems like your temper is pretty fiery right?" Qing Shui intentionally continued to extend his palm to the rump of the horse, giving it a swift slap on it's bottom before jumping up, executing a somersault in midair and then land onto the back of the horse, mounting it. His silhouette was now filled with an oppressive, overbearing aura, tinged with gracefulness and beauty. "There, I have mounted you, you piece of shit!" Qing Shui roared triumphantly.
"Ai, young man, you are actually able to mount my emberlion steed." An extremely gentle voice akin to the wind ruffling a teenage beauty's hair rang out, disrupting the victorious thoughts of Qing Shui.
Trying to locate the source of the voice, Qing Shui turned his head and saw a teenage girl, around 20 years old, wearing a fiery red horse riding corset. She was a ravishing beauty, and her sexy little mouth, now containing hints of a pout, actually made Qing Shui's normally calm heart tremble as he gazed at this vision of loveliness.
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Ancient Strengthening Technique – Chapter 19: Portrait of Beauty
As Qing Shui stared at the ravishing beauty in the fiery-red corset, he visibly gulped. His mind was filled with the thought of pushing her down right there and then, as hints of seduction reflected in his eyes.
The girl in the fiery-red corset noticed Qing Shui's stare, her brow slightly creasing as she was unsure of Qing Shui's intentions. This was partly because, looking at Qing Shui's charming pair of eyes, she did not think that Qing Shui was capable of thinking such dirty thoughts, with her as his main point of focus.
This could hardly be blamed on Qing Shui. After all, he had essentially been a geek in his previous life, he had close to zero experiences with love. Not to even mention that he was currently 15 years old, at the age where hormones rages wildly in one's body. The moment he saw this girl, he was hooked.. just like a moth to a flame. Qing Shui felt that this girl was just perfect, her beauty was beyond comparison. Especially her jade white face, it was a portrait of beauty! The only negative thing he could pick on was that the girl's countenance was cold, akin to that of a ice princess. Still, even the most beautiful actresses and movie stars of his previous life were akin to sh*t when compared to her.
"Hi, does this horse belongs to you? Can I ride you it?" Qing Shui calmed himself and collected his thoughts while asking a question that made the girl in red surprised.
As Qing Shui asked, he was fiercely using his strength to suppress the emberlion horse underneath him. Although he was asking for permission from the owner, he had no intention of dismounting at all.
"You wish to ride my emberlion horse?" The girl in red coldly said, her cold countenance contrasting with her fiery-red corset, making her look even more striking.
Qing Shui also found this action of his laughable. The owner had yet to give him the permission to mount her steed, yet he was already riding on it. Meeting someone so despicable, the girl in red could only directly ask Qing Shui, as if wanting to tell him that her permission still mattered.
At this moment, Qing Shui did another somersault and landed back on the ground, smiling shyly as he stared at the girl in red. At close range he noticed that she was pretty tall, furthermore, her pair of snow-white legs were slender and long, Qing Shui secretly took note of it. Bobbing his head, Qing Shui asked "You are from Hundred Miles City?"
"Yup!" After all, there was no need to keep this a secret. Anyone who was not an idiot could tell with a mere glance that she was an outsider.
Just when Qing Shui wanted to chat with her further, ask her whats a nice girl like her was doing in a place like this, Qing Luo appeared, accompanied by another old man and a youth.
The old man's garb was plain and unadorned, yet one could see that the sewing technique used to tailor it was exquisite. This coupled with the solid and heavy aura emanating from that old man, one could easily tell that this guy was someone of authority, a bigshot in some other place.
The youth behind the old man appeared to be of the same age as the girl in red, but the clothes on him were completely different from the old man's. His clothes were made from the finest silk and cotton, bestowing a sense of nobility on the already good looking youth. Just by looking at the youth, anyone could tell that he had an extraordinary background. The only thing that might put people off was that the youth had a haughty and arrogant expression in his eyes, as if looking down on the world was completely natural for him, like it was his right to do so. Qing Shui wanted to laugh when he saw this youth, because the temperament of this youth somehow reminded him of the emberlion horse which he had suppressed earlier.
Qing Shui saw that the 3 of them were smiling as they walked over. Could it be that they already wanted to leave?
"Qing Shui, come and greet your Uncle Nan Tian!" Qing Luo beckoned Qing Shui to come over as he happily did the introduction.
"Uncle Nan Tian, this junior Qing Shui greets you!"
"Ahh, so you are the son of Qing Yi?" The old man asked in surprised. Qing Yi was still relatively young but she already had a son this big. "Good to see you little fellow." Situ Nan Tian said warmly, giving off an comfortable feeling.
"Come let me introduce you. Qing Shui, this is my grandson Situ Bu Fan, and this lady here is Shi Qing Zhuang!"
"And she is my fiancee!" Situ Bu Fan interjected with a smile that was yet not a smile, hints of coldness emanating from his eyes.
"Oh, okay, what a pity." Qing Shui could not hide the feelings within him. Maybe it was because Qing Shui already had a bad impression of Situ Bu Fan the moment he laid his eyes on him, not to mention the c*cky expression on his face when he said that Shi Qing Zhuang was his fiancee. Qing Shui really felt like going over and punch out Situ Bu Fan's teeth.
In contrast, the moment Qing Shui first laid his eyes on the lady in red, he already felt that her beauty was incomparable to any other living creature. Although she was a bit cold, Qing Shui was sure that just a simple smile from her would be comparable to the flowers blossoming in spring!
"You.. you.. what did you say?!" Situ Bu Fan was angered to the point of stuttering. He belonged to one of the 4 great clans in Hundred Miles City, he was the young master of the Situ Clan, he had never been spoken to like this before.
The meaning behind Qing Shui's words were very clear, it was as if he wanted to infuriate Situ Bu Fan on purpose.
Looking at how Situ Bu Fan acted and his low level of tolerance, Qing Shui was filled with disdain. Situ Bu Fan was just another useless spoiled brat from a large clan who did not know how high the heavens were. If he went out to adventure in the outside world on his own, he would inevitably offend someone he shouldn't offend and invite misfortune on himself.
Turning his head, Qing Shui looked at Shi Qing Zhuang. She didn't appear to be affected by the war of words between the two of them. She was calmly stroking the mane of the emberlion horse as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
The gigantic emberlion horse closed it's eyes and stood still, seemingly enjoying Shi Qing Zhuang stroking it.
"Bu Fan, how many times have I told you? You must be polite and respect others! Your capacity to tolerate must be immense and your vision must be far, have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Situ Nan Tian angrily stated. On the sidelines, Qing Shui grinned, he felt like there was a breeze of cool air blowing past him, giving him a very comfortable feeling. It was tremendously gratifying to see Situ Bu Fan getting lectured in front of him.
Situ Bu Fan meekly lowered his head and didn't dare to utter anything during the tirade unleashed upon him by his grandfather.
"Qing Shui, you are not allowed to be impolite to Situ Bu Fan." Qing Luo appeared to be blaming Qing Shui, but his tone was warm and gentle, giving Qing Shui the feeling that Qing Luo actually admired his behaviour.
Anger brewing in his heart, Situ Bu Fan mused, if this meeting occurred elsewhere instead of the Qing Village, he would definitely crippled Qing Shui, after all, there were countless people wanting to curry favor with him – the young master of the Situ Clan.
—————
So her name is Shi Qing Zhuang!
In Qing Shui's heart, he felt that not only was she beautiful, even her name sounded nice, she must be from the Shi Clan in the Hundred Miles City. The Shi Clan was also one of the 4 great clans of Hundred Miles City, and they are the strongest of all, it was rumoured that the City Lord of Hundred Miles City was someone from the Shi Clan.
Reaching the entrance of the Qing Village, "Brother Nan Tian, I shall accompany you till here, I will visit you again when I go to the Hundred Miles City in the near future." Qing Luo slowed his steps and said to Situ Nan Tian.
"Brother, you need not be so polite, after all we are comrades, the Situ Clan is also the Qing Clan and vice versa, there is no need to stand on ceremony with me." Situ Nan Tian angrily said.
After which, Situ Nan Tian and the 2 others left momentarily.
"This old damnable fox, it has been so many years and yet he is still so cunning!" Qing Luo sighed with a hint of helplessness.
"Grandpa, this Situ Nan Tian seemed respectable and amiable, he shouldn't be too bad?" Qing Shui asked.
"Hahaha, you this little fox, no need to act in front of grandpa, do you think that grandpa is unable to tell what you are thinking of? I have a feeling that you would be even craftier than Situ Nan Tian when you reached his age." Qing Luo burst out laughing.
"Grandpa… you wronged me T_T, how could i be so cunning heh heh." Qing Shui grinned evilly.
"You are intelligent, and smart enough to be suspicious, and have a good sense of judgement for people, what a pity that your constitution is so weak.. If this was not the case, taking into account your comprehension level, you would definitely have world-shaking accomplishments in the realm of martial arts." Qing Luo patted Qing Shui on his shoulder and said, with a contradictory expression appearing on his face.
—–
"Grandpa, why did you stop me earlier, how dare that Qing Clan kid humiliate me like this, I would have definitely given him a thrashing." Situ Bu Fan was gnashing his teeth in frustration.
"Ai!" Situ Nan Tian let out a breath that he was holding, looking at his grandson, traces of disappointment could be seen in his eyes. His talent in martial arts could be considered above average, but his EQ and way of interacting with people was seriously too shitty. Situ Bu Fan could only afford to be arrogant, behaving in such a way in the Hundred Miles City because he had the backing of his Situ Clan. But what he didn't know was that in the vast wide world outside, the Hundred Miles City was nothing.. just a speck of dust when compared to the truly great cities of the Greencloud continent.
TL Note:
Situ Nan Tian – Situ is a surname, Nan Tian literally means Northern Skies
Situ Bu Fan – Bu Fan means extraordinary.
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 20 – Grades of Medicinal Herbs
After watching Situ Nan Tian and company leave, Qing Luo brought Qing Zi, Qing Shui, and a few other 3rd generation disciples back to the Qing Mansion. Qing Shui wanted to know the objectives of the people from Hundred Miles: why were they here, and what were they doing here in the Qing Village, but he refrained from asking although his curiosity was great.
The moment they stepped into Qing Mansion, Qing Shui froze. He saw an extremely familiar face smiling at him from afar, Qing Yi had returned!
"Mother! You have returned!" Qing Shui happily ran up to Qing Yi, embracing her. It was uncertain of when exactly it happened, but Qing Shui already stood head and shoulders tall with Qing Yi.
Looking at his beautiful mother, Qing Shui felt indescribable waves of emotions stirring his heart. Age had left no traces of its gruesome touch on her face, Qing Yi still looked the same as she did 5 years ago. Thinking of this beautiful woman, changing his diapers, feeding him, bathing him, doing all of this for him, yet expecting nothing in return moved Qing Shui. This woman was his mother! His closest kin in this world!
In the past, when he was younger, he had lived majority of his life in Qing Yi's embrace, under her protection and care. Now that Qing Shui had grown up, he was resolved to be the one protecting Qing Yi instead, he wanted to make her feel proud of him!
"Qing Shui, I have just returned. Wow, you have grown so much taller. You're almost taller than me, you have finally grown up." Qing Yi pinched Qing Shui's cheeks and brought her face closer to Qing Shui, studying his features intently as if comparing their features. Qing Yi lips curled upwards as she smiled sweetly at him with hints of laughter in her eyes "Let's go home."
"Mother, you are the most beautiful person in the world!" As though they had never been separated in the past 5 years, Qing Shui happily held her hand just like he did in the past, and walked towards the courtyard they used to live in.
Qing Yi was slightly startled by Qing Shui's random comment. After recovering she smiled as she looked amusedly at Qing Shui. Qing Shui was her only responsibility, and she was his support. Inadvertently, Qing Yi was worried for her son's future. "Hmm he is still at the 3rd Grade even after 5 years. Shui er's talent in martial arts is not that good… sigh. I shouldn't hope for too much, compared to the time when he could not cultivate, the fact that he had managed to reach Martial Warrior, 3rd Grade could already be considered a gift from the Heavens."
"After all, contentment is happiness!" Qing Yi was no longer worried. As she straightened out her thoughts, a smile comparable to the brightness of the sun broke out on her face.
Qing Shui had always been stressed over the fact that he could not break through. Although he had managed to increase the number of cycles he could circulate the Ancient Strengthening Technique from 36 cycles to 48 cycles over the last 5 years, he knew that his current power was still far from enough. With this small amount of power, not to think about the vast world outside, even dreaming of standing at the top of Hundred Miles City could at best be treated as a joke to laugh about over a cup of wine.
No matter what, he had to get stronger. Only with sufficient strength would he be able to protect the people he wanted to protect. As Qing Shui glanced at Qing Yi, he silently vowed to himself "Even if the whole world becomes my enemy, I will never let her suffer!"
"Shui er, it does not matter if you have broken through to the 4th grade or not. When you are of age, mother will teach you how to run a business, okay..? With your intellect, becoming a rich merchant in the future would not be so bad. At least you should be able to live comfortably." Qing Yi took care to moderate her tone of voice, she was worried that if Qing Shui managed to deduce from her tone that she was actually more concerned than him with regards to his cultivation problems, Qing Shui would blame himself more and suffer in silence.
If Qing Shui was perpetually in pain, as a mother, how would she be happy? Although the wishes in her heart would most likely never be fulfilled, but living like this, living a life of peace and contentment could also be considered a blessing, right?
Qing Shui smiled, he knew that the 4th grade Qing Yi was talking about was referring to the 4th level of the Ancient Strengthening Technique!
After all, no one understood where his problems were more clearly than him. Qing Shui did not want to live a peaceful life as a rich merchant. After observing how Qing Yi had carefully refrained from hurting his pride, he longed to tell Qing Yi his secrets… But how would any sane person believe in him? No, he cannot tell anyone, it is for the best if his secrets are buried inside his heart.
"But, I should still gradually let mother know of my true strength." Qing Shui was contemplating on how to best inform Qing Yi.
"Mother, what did the Situ Clan from Hundred Miles City want from our Qing Clan this time?" Qing Shui decided to ask Qing Yi. Qing Shui knew that given a choice, Qing Yi would never choose to purposely conceal secrets from him.. Of course, Qing Shui also knew a few secrets as he got to know about them while he was still an infant, but he understood that Qing Yi had her own reasons for not confiding in him yet.
"They are coveting the few stalks of 1000-year old Lingzhi [1] that we possess." Qing Yi sighed helplessly.
Qing Shui's heart trembled slightly when he heard the words "1000-year old Lingzhi." In his past world, it was already extremely difficult to find a 100-year old Lingzhi. Who would have thought that he would encounter 1000-year old Lingzhi stalks here.
Even in the Kyushu World, spiritual herbs were rare. In the Qing Village pharmacy, one would at most only be able to purchase medicinal herbs that were 100 years old. Out in the wilds, only when one was extremely fortunate would one be able to find a herb that was 200 years old or higher.
"Mother, are those 1000-year old herbs extremely short in supply?" Qing Shui asked when he saw that Qing Yi now had a heart-wrenching expression on her face.
"100-year old herbs, even 800-year old herbs, as long as they are not 1000-year old herbs they can all be considered as common medicinal herbs. Only when a herb has aged 1000 years or more can it be considered an extremely precious medicinal herb. There is only one grade difference between common herbs and precious herbs, but that one grade difference is the same as the distance between heaven and earth! For example, many alchemists tend to concoct pills and pellets to increase cultivation, or to extend one's life. During the concoction of these valuable pills and pellets, every single piece of herb and ingredients have to strictly meet the criteria outlined in the recipe. If the alchemist uses a 999-year old Lingzhi instead of a 1000-years old one, the effect of the pill will be lost and the concoction will most likely end up in failure." Qing Yi gently smiled as she slowly explained her knowledge of herbs to Qing Shui.
"Precious Grade ingredients? Common Grade ingredients? Are ingredients classified based on their age? If so, how about ingredients that are 10,000 years of age?" Qing Shui decided to consult Qing Yi on her knowledge of medicinal herbs. After all, Qing Yi was the one in charged of the medicinal herbs business of the Qing Clan. She should be the most qualified person to consult regarding information about medicine and herbal ingredients.
"Medicinal pellets and herbal ingredients can be classified into Common Grade, Precious Grade, Jade grade, King grade, Royal grade, Emperor grade, Saint grade and Divine Grade." Qing Yi explained.
Without even giving a chance for Qing Shui to ask questions, Qing Yi ploughed on "Other than classifying them into precious or common grade, the cost of the herb is also largely dependant on it's age. For example, a common grade herb of 100 years and a common grade herb of 900 years, the difference in price can still be quite excessive. With age as the criteria, herbs could roughly be classified in this manner."
0-999 years = Common Grade
1000-2999 years = Precious Grade
3000-4999 years = Jade Grade
5000-6999 years = King Grade
7000-7999 years = Royal Grade
8000-8999 years = Emperor Grade
9000-9999 years = Saint Grade
10,000 years and more = Divine Grade
"Shuier, why the sudden interest in herbs?" Qing Yi laughed questioningly, she felt extremely proud of her son. Considerable and kind-hearted and with intelligence far beyond the norm. (TL: considerable and kind-hearted really? =.=)
"Who wouldn't like such good stuff, heehee" Qing Shui grinned.
Qing Yi appeared somewhat downcast as she sighed "For the medicinal herbs, even if we could obtain precious herbs or herbs of better grades, it would still be useless… We cannot use the herbs as we please. Usually we will sell the herbs off for a high price, or exchange them for some cultivation pellets from alchemists. Of course, the value of the exchange would not be fair and we would still suffer some losses from the sale."
A bright glow started to shine in Qing Shui's eyes as the topic shifted to alchemists.
Qing Shui knew that Qing Yi had always been oppressed by her business partners. As he was fearful of making Qing Yi feel sad, he decided not to ask anymore.
"Could it be that herbs of the precious grade and above couldn't be directly consumed?" Qing Shui mused. He knew that people in his previous world actually consumed things like 100-year old ginseng with no ill effects!
[1] Lingzhi also can be translated to spiritual mushroom: a 1000year herb that is suppose to give your cultivation a boost when this term is used in wuxia/xianxia context https/en./wiki/Lingzhi_mushroom
TL:Bluefire
Ed:Ziltch, Comfortabull
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 21 – It is Tough to be Strong
"Could it be that herbs of the precious grade and above can't be directly consumed?" Qing Shui mused. He knew that people in his previous world actually consumed things like 100-year old ginseng with no ill effects!
Qing Yi patted Qing Shui on his forehead and gently said "Herbs of the common grade can be directly consumed after slight processing, but of course the percentage of medicinal strength one can absorb would only be about 10-20%. The majority of the leftover medicinal strength will be wasted. Naturally, there are some exceptions to this. When herbs are aged 500 years or more, the herbs can no longer be consumed directly. If you ignore the safety restriction, and are set on doing so, instead of helping you, the herbs will cause great harm to your body. If the herbs are of Precious Grade or higher, directly consuming it may even lead to one's death!"
"Ooo, then how about the herbs that cannot be directly consumed? Maybe there is a method for us to absorb the medicinal essence inside of them?" Qing Shui speculated. As the thought about it, the alchemy profession suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Alchemist!"
Seeing that Qing Shui seemed to be extremely interested in the alchemy profession, Qing Yi gave a detailed explanation "The herbs that cannot be directly consumed will need an alchemist to concoct them into pills. Using various methods, after extracting the herbal essence and finally coagulating them into the shape of a pill, they will be able to prevent the excessive loss of medicinal strength! And thus, in this way it will also be more beneficial for a cultivator to consume the pill concocted, rather than the herb itself."
So that's the reason why. Qing Shui understood it better now. Initially he thought that directly consuming a herb would at most only lead to a miniscule loss in the amount of energy retained. He originally thought that because the body wasn't able to absorb such a large amount of energy in one go, the excess energy would be dispersed as waste. He never expected that for herbs graded Precious or higher, the excess amount of energy would cause one's body to explode, leading to one's death!
"Mother, since herbs and medical ingredients can be divided into grades, what about alchemists? What is the difference between the pills created by a 3rd ranked alchemist and a 5th ranked one?"
"The higher ranked an alchemist is, the better the quality of his concocted pills will be. Obviously, a common ranked alchemist will find it almost impossible to refine and concoct pills of the Precious Grade." Qing Yi replied.
The ranks of alchemists was somewhat similar to the classifications of herbs. It was only slightly more complex in comparison. Common, Precious, Jade, King, Royal, Emperor, Saint, Divine. These 8 grades of spiritual herbs were comparable to the 8 different alchemist ranks. The only difference was that, for alchemist, each rank was further divided into 10 levels. Eg. Common-Ranked Alchemist of the 10th level.
"Hmm, it is actually the similar to [Western Fantasy]. The higher the rank of an alchemist, the higher the quality of concocted pills. However, I still do not know when I will be able to master the alchemy arts gifted to me by the Ancient Strengthening Technique. I wonder… If I concoct pills based on the ancient recipes from the Ancient Strengthening Technique, what grade will they be?" Qing Shui's eyes gleamed with a light, he was getting more and more excited about becoming an alchemist!
"The Situ Clan from Hundred Miles City wants to buy all the precious graded herbs from our Qing Clan. Could it be that they are hiding an alchemist?" Thinking back on how arrogant Situ Bu Fan acted, as well as that cold glance of Shi Qing Zhuang when she was introduced by Situ Bu Fan as his fiancee, Qing Shui could not help but clench his fist. Pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place inside his mind. "Could this be the reason why Qing Shi Zhuang was forcibly betrothed to Situ Bu Fan as his fiancee, despite her unwillingness?"
Qing Yi looked at Qing Shui in shock. This child… his power of deductions are almost godlike.. She smiled and rustled Qing Shui's hair and said "Your guess is correct, the reason why the Situ Clan is so illustrious in Hundred Miles City is because one of Situ Nan Tian's sons has broken through to the Jade-Ranked Alchemist level."
"Just a Jade-Ranked Alchemist, and yet he dares to be so arrogant?" Qing Shui exclaimed in displeasure.
Hearing that, Qing Yi almost coughed out blood. Using a bit of force, she tapped Qing Shui's head and said "What do you mean with 'just a Jade-Ranked Alchemist' Do you think there are plenty of alchemists? Even in the entire Hundred Miles City, the amount of reputable alchemists can be counted on a single hand. Although the one named Lei from the Situ Clan has only reached the 1st level of the Jade-Ranked, he naturally has the ability to be arrogant!" Qing Yi giggled, half in humor and half in consternation at Qing Shui's ignorance.
Qing Shui gently shook his head and smiled, seeing Qing Yi happy made him happy too.
Only in front of Qing Yi would Qing Shui appear to be a child… A simple and naive little child.
"Since being an alchemist is so revered, why doesn't the Situ Alchemist leave Hundred Miles City and go to some other bigger cities to develop? Why would he want to limit himself?" Qing Shui could not understand.
"Hai, do you not understand the theory behind 'one would rather be a big fish in a small pond compared to a small fish in a big pond'? Over there, his status is akin to a diamond. Out there in the vast world, he may only be a piece of stone." Qing Yi explained.
Qing Shui finally understood!
"With a status of a 1st level Jade-Ranked Alchemist, he was nothing compared to the stronger alchemists out in the world." Qing Shui was getting more and more excited about the prospect of heading out into the vast world of Kyushu. It was a pity that he still did not have sufficient strength. The world outside could be fascinating, but also dangerous. Qing Shui did not want to throw away his life for nothing!
"Yeah, although people usually say that alchemists have terrifying might. The alchemists they are referring to are the alchemists that are King-Ranked or higher. Because those who are able to concoct King Grade or higher pills are usually Xian Tian Cultivators!
Qing Yi's words jolted Qing Shui out of his contemplation. "Xian Tian? A cultivator at the Xian Tian realm could wipe out Hundred Miles City with just a flick of his finger. Not to mention a Xian Tian Realm Cultivator who was also an alchemist. Just being an alchemist alone already grants one a revered status. In addition to the fact that he is a Xian Tian Realm Cultivator, to also be an Alchemist? Even the City Lord would have to show him respect!"
Being an Alchemist is so awesome! After all, they spent every bit of their time delving into the arts of pill concoction, sometimes even to the point of neglecting their own cultivation! If everyone could easily concoct King Grade or higher level pills, how could the alchemy profession still be considered as the profession with the most revered status?
"This profession truly has strict requirements needed to train in it. To produce King Grade pills or higher, one would need to be at the Xian Tian Realm. Only at the Xian Tian Realm will the cultivator be able to use their Xiantian Inner Fire to aid them in pill concoction!" Qing Shui and Qing Yi had already arrived at their own courtyard in the midst of their discussion.
"Although it is exceedingly tough to breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm. If I want to reach the stage of a Common, Precious or Jade-Ranked alchemist, will the requirements also be as difficult? After all, in Hundred Miles City which has a population of over 1 million people, there are only a few Jade-Ranked alchemists." Qing Shui mused.
"The main point is that training to be an alchemist is very tough, the prerequisite is to memorize and understand everything inside the books , and . Just this initial step alone is considered a barrier, these three books restrict 80%-90% of the people who want to become an Alchemist. It is insufficient to merely possess determination. Memorization skills and a high level of comprehension are both extremely important as well!"
"Only after completing the initial steps of memorizing and completely comprehending the essence of these three books will you be considered a Medical Physician. If you truly want to become an alchemist, you will need to seek out a master. Only with the guidance of a master alchemist will you be able to learn the true alchemy skills, such as essence extracting and pill concoction techniques."
"For pills concoction of the Common Grade to Jade Grade, the process is known as Essence Extracting. Only after you have reached the Xiantian Realm will you be capable of concocting King Grade level pills or higher with the use of Pill Concoction Techniques.
"Oh, I see.. Mother, those 3 books which you mentioned earlier, can I find them in our library?" Qing Shui eagerly asked.
TL: Bluefire
Ed: Ziltch, Comfortabull
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 22 – Helpless Lies
"Oh, I see… Mother, those 3 books which you mentioned earlier, can I find them in our library?" Qing Shui eagerly asked.
The 3 books that Qing Yi mentioned were not rare or valuable books, they could in fact be considered relatively common. Just from the titles of these books, one could tell that the knowledge recorded in them was elementary knowledge on herbs that served as the foundation of an alchemist's knowledge.
"Therefore, copies of these books are extremely commonplace, even commoners that do not belong to any clans will have a copy of them. Almost all of the adults in Qing Village have flipped through the contents of the 3 books, memorizing it as much as possible. After all, when they are out hunting or foraging in the wilds, with luck they might be able to discover valuable herbs which they might overlook if not for the knowledge from the books." Qing Shui explained, with hints of curiousity in her eyes as she looked at Qing Shui.
After learning from Qing Yi that the copies of , and the were extremely widespread, Qing Shui could confirm that the knowledge within these books was at most elementary knowledge that made up the foundation of an alchemist. If the books were rare and valuable, how would so many people be able to have access to them?
Since Qing Shui had already decided that he wanted to become an alchemist, he decided to take the chance now to read the books containing information pertaining to the art of alchemy. Since there was nothing he could do to facilitate his breakthrough to the 4th layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique at the moment, Qing Shui wanted to obtain the chance to gain more insights into the art of alchemy, he wanted to read more and find out if the alchemy he knew from [Western Fantasy] was similar to the one they practiced in World of the Nine Continents.
"Qing Shui, why the sudden interest in reading?" Qing Yi could sense that Qing Shui had a burning curiosity regarding the knowledge these books contained.
"Keke, Mother, you are in the medicinal herbs business, I wish to understand more about herbs so that I will be able to assist you. Who knows, I may even become an alchemist in the future as well. Qing Shui said half-jokingly.
"You little brat, how could it be so easy for one to become an alchemist." Qing Yi smiled gently. "Nevermind, we will look towards the future, after all, a moment of oppression counts for nothing. As the saying goes: one must suffer before one can accomplish great things." Qing Yi warmly said as she rubbed Qing Shui's hair. Looking at Qing Yi, Qing Shui once again felt the greatness of motherly love..
"Mother, I am planning to leave Qing Village in the next few days. I want to see the outside world. After all, I'm already 15, and I have never even stepped out of Qing Village before! People would label me as a country bumpkin if they knew." Qing Shui yearned for the world outside immensely. He also knew that bringing this topic up would cause Qing Yi to worry about him, after all, his strength was supposedly only at the level of 3rd grade of the Blue Lotus Art.
Qing Yi furrowed her brows in worry and blamed herself in her heart. She blamed herself for not bringing Qing Shui along when she went to Hundred Miles City. Qing Yi was afraid that Qing Shui might become overly intrigued by the beautiful sights outside of Qing Village and refuse to return! He was bound to suffer and get bullied outside of Qing Village with the meager bit of strength he possessed."
What Qing Yi didn't know was that Qing Shui's mental state had already matured to the state of an adult a long time ago. Pain and suffering? What are those? Before true determination, those are nothing! Qing Shui had long since understood that, in this world where cultivation was key, the strong ruled over everything. Power is the most absolute authority, while strength determined a person's status. It was the same throughout the ages.
Looking at Qing Yi's furrowed eyebrows, Qing Shui knew that she was worrying about him. This was also expected.. If he wanted to leave the village, he would have to come out with a reasonable excuse.
"Mother, are you worried that I will be bullied?" Qing Shui blinked his eyes, seemingly innocently, trying to make the atmosphere less edgy. After all, all children are close to the heart of their parents, how could Qing Shui not understand Qing Yi's worry for him.
"Hmm, Qing Shui, how about this? Just stay here for a few months longer, after I become less busy, I will accompany you to tour the outside world together, alright?" Qing Yi felt bitter in her heart. After all, a large clan like the Qing Clan needs plenty of capital to operate. Her medicinal business in the Hundred Miles City was imperative to the survival of the Qing Clan. In addition, recently there had been a a huge business transaction taking place. Hints of hesitation appeared in her heart, because on one hand she wanted to accompany Qing Shui, while on the other hand, she would need to conclude this business transaction personally.
Qing Shui went over and comforted Qing Yi, as he could see that Qing Yi was torn between the two fronts.
"Mother, actually I am not as weak as I appear to be, I have something that I always wanted to tell you." Qing Shui started to squirm uncomfortably, he could not tell the whole truth, but he needed something close to that, something which also sounded reasonable so as to allow Qing Yi to believe him.
"Oh, you little brat, after you grew up you decided to play tricks on your mother uh?" Qing Shui smiled as slightly berated Qing Shui. "Okay, go ahead, tell me what is it that you are hiding."
After Qing Shui saw the smile appear on Qing Yi's face, he knew that this was a good thing, if he could successfully convince Qing Yi now, he would have the chance to explore the world outside of Qing Village.
"Five years ago, at the bottom of the western mountains, I met an extremely ancient man. After seeing me, the old man laughed and said that this was a chance meeting, he had a feeling that this must be an arrangement of destiny! The old man reviewed my cultivation techniques and said that the strengthening technique I was currently practicing was not suited for myself. After that, he taught me a set of strengthening techniques that would not only be able to refine my tendons and bones, but also massively increase my level of strength! In addition, before he left, he also imparted to me a set of fist techniques. Back then, I was young and ignorant and didn't really understood much. However, I practiced the techniques the old man taught me and have gained some small success within the last 5 years. Now that 5 years has passed, I regret not learning more from him. Because now that I think about it, he must have been a Xian Tian cultivator!" Qing Shui hurriedly sprouted out a whole bunch of crap, mixing in some elements of the truth.
Qing Yi held an unbelieving gaze in her eyes as she discovered the many glaring loopholes of the story Qing Shui explained. However, she still silently let him finish.
"You said that you had some small success after cultivating for 5 years, so what is your actual strength now?" Qing Yi appreciated that Qing Shui was trying to make her feel less worried. However, she hoped what Qing Shui said was true!
"Hmm the old man didn't say so I am not really sure what level my strength has reached. However, I can say for certain that currently, my strength can be counted within the top 20 of the 3rd generation disciples" Qing Shui didn't dare to tell Qing Yi about his true strength.
"Since it is like this, and seeing how confident you are, Mother shall suppress her strength to Martial Warrior, 6th grade and have a small competition with you." Qing Yi said with anticipation. She could not wait to find out how much had Qing Shui grown in these 5 years.
Qing Shui smiled with elation in his heart, his scheme had succeeded "If I manage to win, can mother grant me permission to leave Qing Village?"
Qing Yi hesitated for awhile, looking at the confident expression on Qing Shui's face, she was uncertain if she should be happy or sad. She was worried that Qing Shui might end up the victor, but she also hoped that he would win, proving to everyone that his strength level could be comparable to Martial Warrior, 6th grade! The stronger he was, the better! This meant that he would have the ability to protect himself when he is journeying outside Qing Village.
Qing Yi gave Qing Shui an ultimatum. "Defeat me and you will have my permission!" Although, her heart was thinking that if Qing Shui proved to be stronger than expected, she would just stealthily increase her strength accordingly.
Qing Shui beamed, with a wide smile on his face. "Okay, I am ready!"
Qing Yi was at the realm of Martial Commander, 8th Grade, if Qing Yi suppressed her strength to Martial Warrior, 6th grade, then he was absolutely certain that she would not be a match for him.
TL:Bluefire
Ed: Comfortabull, Ziltch
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 23 – Questions about Martial Grades
"Very well, let me see what that ancient old man taught you!" Qing Yi laughed as she readied her stance for battle.
In fact, Qing Shui had always been extremely puzzled, why was it that Qing Clan's 3rd generation eldest grandson, Qing Zi, was already considered to be at the "peak" when his cultivation was only at 8th Grade Martial Warrior. In comparison, Qing You at 18, whose cultivation was at the peak of 7th Grade Martial Warrior was considered a genius.
While the 2nd generation of Qing Clan had broken through to 8th Grade Martial Commander, and some had even broken through to the 9th Grade. Qing Luo's cultivation was at 10th Grade Martial Commander, but he was already over a 100 years old.
Although Qing Zi, who was already 25-26 years old was considered as the leader amongst the 3rd generation, he had yet to step into the Martial General realm. Even if he broke through to the Martial General realm in 5 years and Martial Commander realm in another 10 years of time, he would at most be able to reach the realm of 1st Grade Martial Commander at the age of 40 . In comparison, the current 2nd generation members who were 40 years of age or older, had at the very least already cultivated to the realm of 8th Grade Martial Commander!
Clearing his mind of distractions, Qing Shui knew that his speculations were right! There was definitely some complications with the cultivation of the 3rd generation. Either that, or the members of the 2nd generations were all peerless geniuses whose talents exceeded even Qing You! How could there be so many geniuses within the Qing Clan? How very suspicious.
Because of the sparring session, Qing Yi brought Qing Shui to the backyard of the Qing Mansion. This backyard belonged to the Qing Clan. Situated within it was Qing Yi's house and practice chamber. Other warehouses were also located in it. The backyard was extremely spacious, with 10 meter high walls surrounding it in all four directions. Far off in the distance there were a few black dogs, the size of a bull, lazily lying there, gazing around with vigilance, giving off the appearance of guarding something. These dogs were named Moriyama Tiger Mastiffs, they were similar in appearance to the Tibetan Mastiff of Qing Shui's past world, albeit much bigger in size, as well as being much more muscular and ferocious!
Sadly, in this world, there were many animals and wild beasts with traits which far exceeded these dogs. Therefore, the mastiffs could only be used as guard dogs in the Qing Clan. Any ferocious beasts that wandered past, could easily slaughter these seemingly oversized Moriyama Tiger Mastiffs for dinner. After all, these Mastiffs only looked deceptively strong, they were no match for any beast with true might.
All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, after which he looked at Qing Yi who was already prepared, Qing Shui then also entered into his opening stance. To demonstrate his intent, Qing Shui struck out with a single fist. As he struck out, just using his bodily strength, without the aid of his inner Qi, this seemingly slow strike actually caused a gentle wind to be generated around his fist. Containing tyrannical might, his fist travelled in the direction of Qing Yi.
"Ai!" Qing Yi was thunderstruck. Hints of terror and awe flashed past her eyes. Qing Yi knew, just by looking at that single punch. This strike… this strike of his… actually contained power far beyond that of a 6th Grade Martial Warrior!
Qing Yi wasted no time, she summoned her internal Qi and extended her right hand speedily in Qing Shui's direction, trying to catch Qing Shui's fist as it neared.
"Keke" Qing Shui laughed slightly, just when his fist was about to come into contact with Qing Yi, he shifted the direction of his attack with breathtaking speed. Qing Shui's originally tightly clenched fist relaxed as he extend out his index and middle finger, forming the shape of a sword [1] as he swiftly stabbed at the Shao Shang, Yu Ji, Tai Yuan, Lie Que acupoints [2] of Qing Yi's right arm.
Akin to a frozen statue, Qing Yi stood there mutely in shock! She discovered that her right arm was completely devoid of strength, and was filled with numbness!
She would never have expected that Qing Shui had mastered such a terrifying technique, capable of locking the acupoints and breaking the energy channels of the opponent. Confusion rose in Qing Yi's heart. This sort of martial arts, although powerful, is extremely difficult to train in. After all, it requires the practitioner to have a profound knowledge about the positions of all the distinct meridians, energy channels, and acupoints. Those who successfully mastered this were doubtlessly heaven-shaking geniuses with a will many times stronger than ordinary people. After all, one would be required to expend exceedingly tedious effort in order to master this technique. The practitioner had to take the reaction of the opponent into account. The speed, the amount of strength and angle of attack. All of these had to be calculated in a millisecond!
"En, it appears that it was true when he said that he learnt a technique that would massively increase his strength. This child is full of surprises, the aura that was emanated when he performed that strike was extraordinary. In addition to that, the technique he performed earlier is rarely seen within Greencloud Continent. Qing Shui had actually made used of the moment where Qing Yi had been momentarily surprised to carry out his attack.
Qing Yi was estatic! Her son had actually managed to reach the realm of ! If his intelligence was this high, then there might really be the possibility of him becoming an Alchemist!
Common-Ranked Alchemists were actually only a little bit better off when compared with a Medical Doctor. Using mortal fire to concoct pills, with the rate of failure much higher than success, thus the quality of the pills concocted were low but expensive. After all, the pills concocted succeeded only after a multitude of tries. The reason why there were so few alchemists was because of the cost of successfully grooming one, which far exceeded the fortunes of many clans.
"Our Qing Clan does not have sufficient resources to train an Alchemist." Qing Yi depressedly sighed.
———————
"Mother, are you alright? Does your arm still feels uncomfortable?", Qing Shui gently held Qing Yi's right arm, circulating his internal Qi, which originated from the Ancient Strengthening Technique, and quickly, the pain and discomfort on Qing Yi's arms dissipated.
"Shuier, you have grown…" when Qing Shui was transmitting his inner Qi to Qing Yi, she could feel that his internal strength was thick and solid. Now, Qing Yi was thoroughly convinced that the story about the ancient old man was true, her son did indeed have a fortuitous encounter! To her surprise, now that she was observing Qing Shui closely, Qing Yi could sense an unfathomably deep aura imperceptibly emanating out from Qing Shui.
"Mother will allow you to leave the Qing Clan, but, you must take care to put your safety above all things. You are not allowed to venture too far and you must come back by the end of the year to participate in our Qing Clan's coming of age ceremony!" Qing Yi rustled Qing Shui's hair fondly. After all, she might not get the chance to do so again after Qing Shui departs for his travels.
"Mother, I want to read the , 10,000 Herbology Encyopedia and . After the year is over, I should be able to help you with your business!" Qing Shui smiled.
"Okay, having more knowledge is always good, mother will support you. Come, let me bring you to the Qing Clan's Library."
Hearing that Qing Yi was bringing him to the secretive Qing Clan's Library, Qing Shui was filled with excitement. After all, the library was only open to those with the strength of 6th Grade, Martial Warrior and above. Thus, he had never been there before.
"Mother, I have a question regarding Martial Grades!" Qing Shui thought of the question lingering in his heart, and decided to ask Qing Yi.
"Just ask, Mother will not hold anything back from you." Qing Yi smiled.
"Why is it that our Qing Clan doesn't really have any Martial Generals? Other than a large bunch of Martial Warriors, the rest of the clan are people like yourself with cultivation levels of Martial Commander. What does this imply? Is there some underlying circumstances that caused this to happen?"
Looking at Qing Shui after hearing a question so far outside of her expectations, Qing Yi visibly paled as her heart shuddered. Why would he ask such a question? This kid, his intelligence is inhumane.. far beyond the scope of geniuses!
"Because… of a certain medicinal pill. With the exception of your grandpa and 2nd uncle, if not for that medicine, the rest of the 2nd generation would only be at the realm of Martial General, or at most, the 1st grade of Martial Commander.
"What the…? There was such a miraculous pill out there? From what mother has said, this pill could increase one's cultivation level by leaps and bounds, forcibly breaking through from Martial General to Martial Commander!" Qing Shui felt that this was too inconceivable. How could there be such a good thing in the world.
"Not only that, if your potential is high, this medicinal pill can even increase your level from Martial General Grade 1, directly to the peak of the HouTian Realm! Even if their potential is low, at the very least, for normal cultivators, this pill would still be able to increase their levels from Martial General Grade 1, to Martial General Grade 10." Qing Yi explained.
"What sort of pill could that be..? What pill could be so miraculous to the point of defying the heavens!?"
[1] Sword Fingers: step 1 – clench ur first, step 2- extend your index and middle finger and hey voila, sword fingers.
[2] Acupoints position
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 24 – Miraculous Pill or Forbidden Medicine?
"What sort of pill could that be..? What pill could be so miraculous, to the point of defying the heavens!?"
Qing Shui felt that this was just too incredible, just what kind of pill could forcibly raise the level of one's cultivation by an entire realm? An entire realm that may not even be reachable after a period of 10 years, 20 years, or even an entire lifetime spent in cultivation!
The art of alchemy was too terrifying… It could even beget the creation of such a pill that defies the order of nature, seemingly proclaiming to be in opposition to the heavens!
"The name of this pill is known as the 'Crippling Divine Pill'!" Traces of complexity filled Qing Yi's eyes, as if she had many things in her heart, but was unsure of how to tell them to Qing Shui.
"Mother, why does such a miraculous pill have the name of 'Crippling Divine Pill'? This name gives the impression that it is a trash pill instead of a divine pill." Qing Shui curiously asked.
"Solely on the basis that this pill can elevate one's level of cultivation by an entire realm, the grade of this pill would already classify as a Saint Grade concocted spiritual pill. However, one truly had to consider all avenues and carefully weigh their options before making the decision to ingest this pill as the side effects caused by it are irreversible and the consequences too horrifying!" Qing Yi sighed, sadness and helplessness was evident on her face.
"Side effects?" although Qing Shui looked young, he understood the connotations behind the meaning of the more beneficial something was, the worse its side effects would be. After all, he had the experiences of 2 lifetimes. Qing Shui had already vaguely sensed that this pill was too good to be true, but he just could not put his finger on what the side effects could be.
"Yes, and the prerequisite for ingesting this pill is that the cultivator must have already broken through to 10th Grade Martial Warrior, and the cultivator can be no older than 30 years of age. Depending on one's potential and talent, the Crippling Divine Pill will at least forcibly raise one's level of cultivation to 10th Grade Martial General realm. For stronger individuals, they could possibly even breakthrough straight into the different grades of the Martial Commander realm! However, there is a limit. Users of this pill will never, in their entire life, ever be able to break through to the peak of Houtian realm. The highest level they can reach will be the 9th Grade of Martial Commander realm. Those who use this pill are forever doomed to make no breakthroughs in their cultivation, destined to be stuck at Houtian stage forever." Qing Yi softly explained as she studied Qing Shui's expressions.
Qing Shui felt relief in his heart as he heard Qing Yi's explanation. If such a powerful pill had no side effects, it would be a tragedy. Tyrannical cultivators would be as common as the clouds, ravaging the land as they pleased. Luckily, the future ramifications of taking this pill limited many cultivators from doing so, and at the same time, also restricted those who had taken the pill to be stuck on the 9th grade of Martial Commander.
To be at the realm of 10th Grade Martial Warrior while at the age of 30 years or less, cultivators who could fulfil this conditions would not choose to use this sort of forbidden methods. Not only is the Crippling Divine Pill expensive, the possibility of reaching the Xiantian realm was completely severed by ingesting this pill. The majority of cultivators would never choose this method to increase their strength, for it is tantamount to destroying their future path in cultivation.
Looking at Qing Shui, Qing Yi actually felt astonished. Regardless, she continued saying:
"Reaching the Xiantian realm is the dream of all of mankind, but how many can reach it? That 0.1%, no, 0.01% of hope of breaking through to the Xiantian realm was the only source of motivation which prevented the majority of cultivators from ingesting the Crippling Divine Pill. Even if they wanted to digest it, the ingredients needed to concoct the Crippling Divine Pill were extremely sparse. thus it was expensive to manufacture. Even with money, there was no guarantee that one could purchase it."
"Mother, you mean that our clan members consumed this Crippling Divine Pill, right?" Qing Shui thought of the question he had asked before, about why there was no Martial Generals in the Qing Clan.
"Other than your 2nd uncle and your grandpa, the rest of the 2nd generation including myself have all consumed the Crippling Divine Pill." Qing Yi mumbled softly, with traces of helplessness and unwillingness in her voice.
"Does this mean that the rest of the 2nd generation will never have the chance to break into the Xiantian Realm? Qing Shui frantically asked, with a little sympathy and distress in his voice.
Qing Yi grimaced, "Qing Shui, back in the days, the Qing Clan was nothing. Your grandpa ventured here to establish his roots, our Qing Clan then began to slowly build up its foundations, and after 20 years of toil it could be considered a relatively small clan. Back then, only the potential of your 2nd uncle could be considered above average. Your 2nd uncle had already broke through to the 2nd Grade of Martial General at a young age, while the rest of us were stuck at the peak of Martial Warrior, sorely unable to breakthrough to the 1st Grade of Martial General!"
Qing Shui noticed that Qing Yi slowed down and guessed that there were still plenty of stories behind this, so he stayed silent and inclined his head to continue listening.
"Before that, we were being greatly suppressed by the clans in Hundred Miles City. However, after your grandpa broke through to the peak of Houtian realm, the 4 great clans of Hundred Miles City actually conspired to disable your grandpa! They were afraid that the Qing Clan would somehow adversely affect their standings in the Hundred Miles City."
"Luck was on our side, your grandpa discovered their plot ahead of time and took out all of his treasured spiritual pills. He wanted the Qing Clan to have a ray of hope to look forward to, the possibility of reaching the Xiantian realm, and as such he did not allow your 2nd uncle to consume the pill. However, although your grandpa had the cultivation level of peak Houtian, he was only a one man, he could not fight against the combined efforts of the four great clans of Hundred Miles City alone."
"Without a choice, other than your 2nd uncle, the rest of us in the 2nd generation consumed the Crippling Divine Pill and broke through to the realm of Martial Commanders. After realizing what we had done, the members of the four great clans retreated without attacking, but it was too late, the damage had already been done. In the 2nd generation, all of us were stripped of the hope of cultivating to the Xian Tian realm with the exception of your 2nd uncle! So do you see how important the 3rd generation is to our Qing Clan? We would never willingly allow any of you to consume the Crippling Divine Pill."
"No wonder it is called the Crippling Divine Pill, the beneficial properties of it can be classified as mystical, almost godlike, but at the same time it is nothing but a trash pill! Especially in a large clans, there is no way the clan head would willingly allow his progeny to consume this type of medicine, thereby severing their paths to the realm of Xiantian. In addition, those who consume the pill to forcibly break into the realm of Martial Commander, are absolutely no match for those who cultivated by scratch to reach the same level. The reason behind this is that those who took the shortcut would never have the opportunity to experience that moment of epiphany and the tempering of their dao heart, compared to breaking through with efforts."
"So the main users of this pill will be those cultivators with limited potential, since they already know that they will never reach the Xiantian realm in their lifetime, they will not mind sacrificing their entire fortune just to exchange for a single pill."
The ultimate grouse of the poor was that the things they needed to work so hard for, was taken for granted by those born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Just like in cultivation, those who spent their backbreaking efforts in cultivating, would find himself outdone by a rich young master who had a single Crippling Divine Pill.
"In the World of the Nine Continents, with a population of more than 10 million people, how many are able to successfully breakthrough to the Xiantian realm? This is why, even though the Crippling Divine Pill is a trash pill, it is still fiercely hoarded by large clans. That year, because of some fortuitous events, your grandpa managed to obtain 7 Crippling Divine Pills. We have used four of them, now there are only three remaining. Thus, the three remaining Crippling Divine Pills can be considered as a treasure of our Qing Clan."
"Mother, if in the past, the 2nd generation members did not consume the pill, would you all have the chance to step into the Xiantian Realm now?" Qing Shui could hear the disappointment when Qing Yi spoke.
Looking at his expression, Qing Yi understood what Qing Shui was thinking.
"Silly child, how could it be so easy to breakthrough to Xiantian? Breaking through to Xiantian depends on an individual's karma and destiny. Xiantian means gaining insight into the way of Heavens. Without a sudden flash of insight, without entering that special state of enlightenment, one will never be able to break into the Xiantian realm! Your grandpa spent 60 years! A whole 60 years at the boundary of the Xiantian realm, yet he is still unable to take that single step and break through!"
"Gaining insight, into the way of the Heavens?" Thoughts were spinning in Qing Shui's mind as he heard this.
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 25 – Library of Qing Clan, Elder Lin appears!
"Gaining insight, into the way of the Heavens?" Thoughts were spinning in Qing Shui's mind as he heard this.
Qing Shui recalled the state of enlightenment he had previously attained, and he knew well the tremendous benefits which originated from it. Every time one completes their meditation in a state of enlightenment, the benefits gained far surpassed 10 years of hard work. But other than enlightenment, was there no other way to gain insight into the way of the Heavens? There seemed to be no other way indeed. After all, gaining insight into the way of the Heavens depended on an individual's karma and destiny, the majority of the cultivators would never experience that special state of enlightenment throughout their entire life! Some would even have an encounter similar to Qing Shui, entering that special state, but not at the peak of Houtian!
Unconvinced, just as Qing Shui wanted to ask Qing Yi about other methods that would allow one to gain insights of the way of Heavens, Qing Yi interjected.
"Qing Shui, we have arrived at the library!"
Qing Shui looked down and realized that they had already reached the end of the path. In front of him, there was a 3 story building constructed entirely from heavy stones. A secretive and slightly oppressive feeling permeated the atmosphere. There were no windows in this building, even the door entrance was built out of thick slabs of solid rocks!
The width of the door was roughly about 3m in length, with a height of 4m. Hanging atop the door was a plaque carved with 3 words , "Qing Clan's Library"!
The stone door to the library was tightly shut. At the end of every year, the library would only be open for a period of two months. During these two months, disciples with cultivation level equal to or higher than the 6th Grade of Martial Warrior would be able to enter the and have the opportunity to select from the vast collection a martial techniques that were suitable for their cultivation. During the other ten months, only direct descendents of the Qing Clan had the opportunity to enter. The remaining disciples could only enter during the last two months of the year.
This was the first time Qing Shui had seen the library. After all, the Qing Clan still had it own rules. Although the collection does not consists of many rare and valuable books, there were still many martial techniques and heterogenous books like the
(Continental Medical Annal) lying around.
Other than martial techniques, there were also cultivation arts that were located in the 3rd and 2nd level of the library. Those relatively more common books and martial manuals with a lower grade would usually be placed in the 1st level. Qing Clan's disciples who reached the required level of cultivation, are allowed to browse through the books and manuals, and even copy them down. The only restriction is that you would not be allowed to divulge the clan techniques to outsiders!
Walking to the entrance, with an exertion of force that could not be considered light nor heavy, Qing Shui eagerly raised his hands and knocked 3 times on the stone door. "Boom, Boom, Boom" the sound reverberated across the lawn.
After a moment, the heavy stone door opened, a senile looking old man with cloudy eyes and a head full of white hair appeared. Qing Shui stared mutely, the attire of this old man was totally different from what Qing Shui expected from someone like this. The old man looked like he could not be bothered with the slightest bit of personal hygiene, yet his clothes were the epitome of cleanliness.
"Elder Lin, I brought Qing Shui over to the library to borrow some books!" Qing Yi greeted the old man respectfully.
Looking at her smile, Qing Shui felt that Qing Yi had quite a deep relationship with this old man.
"Ah, so it is you, little kiddo Qing Yi, come in, come in! It has been ages since your last visit." Elder Lin warmly smiled. After saying that, he glanced at Qing Shui. The cloudy look in his eyes was replaced by an instance of clarity, but it quickly faded back to normal.
"So you are Qing Shui, good… very good!" Elder Lin with a face full of smiles, praised Qing Shui twice in succession, Qing Shui felt very surprised, for he knew that Elder Lin rarely complimented people. Even Qing Zi nor the genius Qing You had never received compliments from him before.
"Grandpa Lin, Qing Shui greets you!" Qing Shui bowed low as he respectfully greeted Elder Lin.
"Young man, hahahahaha", Elder Lin for God knows what reason, had his lips curl up in a smile.
After which, Qing Shui and Qing Yi followed Elder Lin as he led them into the library.
The moment they entered, Qing Shui realized that the space within was much larger than what he had previously imagined, and there was almost no natural light in the library. The only source of light was emitted by the few panels of Jadestone pearls attached to the wall. The light the pearls emitted was soft, but was sufficient for users of the library to read what they wanted to clearly.
Past the panels of the Jadestone pearls, were rows and rows of ancient looking wooden bookshelves. From an initial glance, the wood materials used in construction of the bookshelves looked old and dilapidated, but upon closer observation, the wood was actually thick and heavy, giving observers a solid and durable impression.
With that half-bent back, and that slouching posture, Elder Lin looked so old, one could almost mistake him for a fossil. It was said that Elder Lin had been the caretaker of the Qing Clan's library since tens of years ago!
"Elder Lin, I want to borrow some books on elementary medical knowledge for Qing Shui" Qing Yi said.
Elder Lin slowly lumbered towards an inconspicuous corner of the library, and pulled out a few books that were covered with dust. He slightly patted the books to displace the dust and returned.
During the whole process where Elder Lin was retrieving the books, Qing Shui has been constantly monitoring Elder Lin's movements. He had a intuition that this keeper of the library Elder Lin was not the senile and confused old man he appeared to be. Qing Shui had the feeling that this old man in front of him was actually a terrifyingly strong expert! But after that thought flashed past his mind, Qing Shui silently laughed it off. After all, the strongest in the Qing Clan was Qing Luo, how strong could Elder Lin be?
"For a period of 40 years, these books have just been lying there collecting dust… There was no one who would even deign to look at them. Forget it you don't need to return the books after you are done with them. Even if you did not borrow them today, sooner or later I would have chucked these books out. Since no one in the Qing Clan ever reads them, just take it then." Elder Lin passed the books to Qing Shui as he said expressionlessly.
Qing Shui felt that the Elder Lin today was very strange. The Elder Lin that everyone knew was someone who didn't really talk much, preferring to spend his time in silence and solitude. But today, he was unexpectedly in such a talkative mood!
Qing Shui accepted the books from Elder Lin, the more he looked, the more he still felt that Elder Lin was hiding his true abilities in an act of clumsiness.
"Thank you, Grandpa Lin!" Qing Shui earnestly thanked Elder Lin. After that, Qing Shui realized that other than the three medical books he had initially requested, there was an additional 4th book which he did not request.
Qing Shui curiously peered at the 4th book, it was titled (Basic Sword Techniques)!
Qing Shui wanted to question Elder Lin, but who would have thought Elder Lin initiated the conversation. "After you are done with the four books, just toss them directly into the trash, you need not bother to send them back."
Since he was to dispose of them, Qing Shui decided that he might as well keep them; after all, with a title like (Basic Sword Techniques), how profound could the techniques contained in it be? But to the current him, he could still learn something from it! After all, Rome wasn't build in one day, and all lakes and oceans originated from a single drop of water.
Bidding their goodbyes to Elder Lin, the heavy stone door tightly closed as Qing Shui and Qing Yi left the library.
Qing Yi had long regarded Elder Lin as part of her family. Despite his senile and befuddled facade, she knew that deep in his heart, Elder Lin treats the descendants of Qing Clan as his own flesh and blood. Especially Qing Yi, ever since she was young, Elder Lin would spare no expenses and dote on her. Even now, after the passage of so many years, Qing Yi still respected this old man just as she would have respected Qing Luo.
Feeling elation in his heart, Qing Shui was holding on to the pile of books, in his previous life, he had been too addicted to gaming. Reading books? Visiting the library? Not a chance! Who would have thought that the current Qing Shui, out of his own volition, wanted to browse the Qing Clan's library for books to read!
"Humans were really unpredictably weird!"
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 26 – Continental Medical Annal
After returning to his home in the Qing Mansion, Qing Shui placed the rest of the books on a table, and decided to browse through the contents of the first.
"Exploring ways to a Healthy Lifestyle", "The Organs in the Human Body", "The Meridians and Energy Channels" , "Reasons on how Illnesses Occur", "Ways to Strengthen your body during the 4 Seasons" were all chapters in the . Qing Shui continued browsing through the contents until finally he saw..
"Method to nourish one's vitality, Body and Spirit as one".
Qing Shui stopped flipping the pages as he found this chapter interesting and thus, had decided to focus in-depth on the above topic.
The 5 emotions in medical terminology refers to joy, anger, anxiety, worry and fear.
Any changes in emotions, no matter how minor, would affect the functions of the internal organs. In every individual, there exists a source of latent energy that when utilized correctly, could make one feel awake and clear-headed, in contrast, when influenced negatively, would result in one being dispirited and listless. This source of latent energy, in chinese medicine was also known as the 5 emotions, but alternatively, when the 5 emotions intermixed, they are known by another name – spirit.
The stronger one's spirit was, the stronger one's mental strength would be! Everything in nature, follows a cycle; the absolute peak was also the absolute bottom.
Calm your emotions leading to less desires, compose your heart and know fearlessness, quiet your mind and know not of fatigue, achieving a smoother flow of Spiritual Qi, no matter what desires one holds, one would be able to fulfill them! "This was the oracular formula to train one's spirit!"
Just from this sentence, Qing Shui already felt that he had gained tremendous benefits, at the same time, he also understood the reasoning behind "the oceans were originally formed from a single droplet of water". If he wanted to build a strong foundation, he should truly spend his time completely comprehending these basic bits of knowledge.
Qing Shui continued reading about the interactions between the 5 emotions and the functions of the internal organs.
"Happiness affects the heart, Anger affects the liver, Worry affects the lungs, Anxiety affects the mind, and Fear affects the kidneys." The 5 emotions had an intimate relationship with the functions of the human body. Spirit too, was of paramount importance. The stronger the spirit, the stronger mental strength one would have. Remaining calm in the face of danger, handling affairs in a state of tranquility. These attributes would only appear in humans with strong spirits!
At the side, as Qing Yi saw that Qing Shui was immersed in that state of concentration, happiness bloomed in her heart, but she shook her head helplessly. After all, the young are made of dreams, Qing Yi did not want her son to fall too hard. Did she err when she decided to introduce Qing Shui to the path of Alchemy?
"Sigh, only after he meets some obstacles that cause him to stumble, would he know how tough the road ahead would be." Qing Yi silently said to herself.
Qing Shui continued reading in greater detail, it was as if he had forgotten that Qing Yi was still in the room. One could sense palpable waves of concentration emitting from Qing Shui in his intense state of focus as he continued reading the book. "The 5 emotions would only transmogrify into the root of illnesses when they are overdrafted. Excessive anger, excessive depression, etc would first cause the body to deteriorate, before damaging the spirit!
Other than damaging the spirit, the negative emotions of "Anger, Anxiety, Worry, Fear" would also adversely affect one's Yuan Qi.
"Yuan Qi!" Qing Shui heightened his concentration as he came across this term. He understood that Yuan Qi could also be known as the Vital Essence. Vital Essence was the source of energy for humans! In other words, Vital Essence was also Yuan Qi, if one's Yuan Qi was exhausted, one would lose his life!
All of a sudden, Qing Shui inclined his head and saw Qing Yi's doting gaze looking at him, and as he thought of his earlier actions, of being too engrossed in reading the book to the point of forgetting her existence, Qing Shui fidgeted around as he grinned awkwardly.
"Sorry mother, this book was just too interesting to the point that I lost myself in the midst of concentration."
"Don't worry dear, I am very happy. After all, the proverb goes :"only with great will and obsession, would one be able to truly accomplish great things." It seems like our Shuier would become a great doctor in the future" Qing Yi warmly smiled. In her speech, she had purposely lowered the target for Qing Shui. She did not want to see this headstrong child of her to feel depressed because of being unable to become an alchemist. After all, the entirety of Qing Clan's fortune may not even be sufficient to cultivate a common-ranked alchemist.
Qing Shui understood the meaning behind Qing Yi's phrasing perfectly. In the past when he was younger, even when counting in his experiences and age from his previous world, at most Qing Shui could only be considered a half-grown up kid. His thoughts and mentality had not matured yet. He could only hate the heavens for being unjust, gifting him with a weak constitution, and placing such a huge obstacle on his path to cultivation. However, the Qing Shui now had learnt much from his experiences. Contending himself with the sneers of his family members, tempering his heart and improving his state of mind. The current him actually possessed a mental strength and determination far beyond the norm!
"Mother, there is no need to worry about Shuier, I have already grown up. Let me be the shield for you to rely on when you are sad or tired, and the halberd to attack your enemies should anyone dare to slight or bully you. No matter what mother wishes for, I would definitely accomplish it. Woe betides those who doubt me." Qing Yi was extremely touched when she heard those words, she struggled to contained herself before happily bursting out with laughter.
How could she be unhappy, her son had finally grown up!
"Mother, I will be leaving tomorrow, and as promised, I won't venture too far and will return to the Qing Clan before the year has ended. Mother can rest assured that I have sufficient power to protect myself." Qing Shui reassured Qing Yi again and again, as he did not want Qing Yi to be worried for him.
Qing Yi felt a warmth in her heart as she softly sighed. The thing she has dreaded most had finally come, and could not be put off any longer. She patted Qing Shui on his head as she lost herself in memories of the past. "Sigh… how fast my child grew up."
"Mother, you must be careful too alright, regardless of what will happen in the future, even if the Qing Clan loses its entire fortune, the money we lost could be slowly earned back. Please remind grandpa not to be impulsive, I just want all of you to be safe." Qing Shui gravely reminded Qing Yi, with sincerity apparent in his eyes.
Tears flowed down her face as Qing Yi sobbed silently. Qing Shui understood that she was involuntarily reminded of that man… that man who was his father, that man who had abandoned them! Looking at the forlorn and helpless expression on her face, Qing Shui gritted his teeth and silently vowed. "I must seek redress sooner or later, and quickly gain strength to accomplish the wishes in mother's heart."
From the ramblings Qing Yi had let slip when he was still an infant, Qing Shui knew that his father was probably from an extremely powerful clan. In any case, he knew that even if he could increase his strength, unless he made a breakthrough to the Xiantian realm, it would still be insurmountably tough for him alone to clash against an ancient clan that had existed for over a thousand years.
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 27 28 – Off to the 1,000,000 Li Mountains
The second morning, Qing Shui opened his eyes, a cheery smile hung upon his lips.
Finally, Qing Shui had managed to achieve 48 cycles of qi circulation per activation of his Ancient Strengthening Technique, it was as if all his pores were shivering in delight.
Since 5 years ago, Qing Shui had been stuck at the bottleneck at the peak of the 3rd heavenly layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. Throughout these past five years, he did not slack off at all. He still unceasingly practiced his cultivation daily, and now he finally had something to show for all his efforts. Since five years ago, when he was at the peak of the 3rd heavenly layer, with each activation of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, Qing Shui would be able to circulate his Qi up to 36 times. The current him, despite still being stuck on the peak of the 3rd layer, could actually cycle his Qi more than 48 times per activation!
Through trial and error, Qing Shui discovered that with each additional cycle of Qi Circulation, the more his strength would increase. This was perhaps the only consolation for him as he still could not break through to the 4th heavenly layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. Who knows, just from increasing his bodily strength, there may be one day he might be able to break through the bottleneck… Like a dying man clutching at straws to save his life, Qing Shui could not disregard the probability of that happening no matter how low that probability was.
Throughout these past five years, although Qing Shui only managed to increase the number of circulations from 36 cycles to 48 cycles, he was required to put in efforts 100 times that of others. Just with this increase of 12 cycles of circulation, his strength had directly upgraded from being able to lift 10,000 jin to 13,000 jin, an approximate 30% increase in strength! If he could cultivate to the point where he could circulate 108 cycles or more per activation, Qing Shui didn't even dare to imagine how tyrannical his strength would be then… This way of circulating the Qi originated from the Ancient Strengthening Technique, it seems to Qing Shui that there exists no peak, or more accurately, no limit to the maximum number of cycles one could cultivate. But just only increasing 12 cycles actually took him five years of time… He didn't know how long would it take for him to cultivate to the stage of 108 cycles or more.
Alas, he was unable to break through to the 4th heavenly layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. If he could do so, there was no need for him to laboriously slowly increase the number of cycled circulations. He would directly receive a colossal upgrade in strength! After all the 4th heavenly layer could be considered the mid tier of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. It was an entirely different realm when compared to before.
Leaping out of his bed, Qing Shui proceeded to open his door, walking towards his backyard just as the sun was rising. Ever since he could cultivate the Ancient Strengthening Technique, he had been the most diligent and dedicated cultivator in the entire Qing Clan.
Maybe it was because of the Yin-Yang symbol inside his sea of consciousness constantly nourishing his spirit and soul, but Qing Shui had an excellent fortitude and mental strength when compared to others. His current self only required 2 hours of sleep per day. The rest of the time when Qing Shui was awake, almost all of it was spent in cultivation!
Despite this, he was unable to shake off the label of trash, just why couldn't he break through? Even though his true current strength could be considered at the peak of the Martial Warrior realm, this meager bit of strength was not even worth a fart in his eyes. Only with sufficient power, would he be able to do as he wishes, and protect the things he wanted to protect.
Reincarnation – checked.
Talent – checked
Intelligence – checked
Fortuitous Encounters – checked
But why was he still unable to break through!? Just what had he done to deserve this? Qing Shui bitterly smiled as he arrived at the spacious courtyard. His thoughts then drifted to the various encounters he had after he had started cultivating the Ancient Strengthening Technique.
Solitary Rapid Fist!
Qing Shui knew that the Solitary Rapid Fist technique was probably one of the more profound striking techniques. His skill in executing the Solitary Rapid Fist had already reached an unfathomably high level, almost to the point of perfection. It was all thanks to that bout of enlightenment he had before, if it was not for that, even if he had spent 10 years training this fist technique, he would still be far away from the realm he was currently in! Qing Shui held extreme confidence in the Solitary Rapid Fist, and his confidence was well founded. If not, there would definitely be no way for Qing Yi to suffer disadvantages in a spar just with the exchange of a single move. Not to mention, he refrained from using his internal Qi. One could only imagine how terrifying his strikes would be if Qing Shui used his internal Qi to complement the strikes of the Solitary Rapid Fist.
The Solitary Rapid Fist was immeasurably deep. The underlying concepts and essence behind the Solitary Rapid Fist were steeped in the arts of hidden weapons techniques. Both techniques shared the same foundation. To measure the level of profoundness would be impossible to do so accurately, as hidden weapon techniques would usually enable a weaker practitioner to achieve victory over a stronger one.
After his reflections, Qing Shui knew that it was time to leave. He returned to his room and packed the [Continental Medical Annal, [10,000 Herbology Encyclopedia, [Herbal Combination Formula] and lastly, the [Basic Sword Techniques]. After which, he decided to write a letter and left it on top of the table. The contents included in the letter was him reassuring Qing Yi, and that he would be back before the end of the year. Beseeching her to bid farewell to the other elders on his behalf.
Surrounding the Qing Clan, other than the rivers in the east and the south, the only other notable land feature was a vast plot of fertile land that was suitable for farming. If one followed the eastern river, one would be able to reach the Hundred Miles City. Of course, the path would not be able to lead you directly into the Hundred Miles City, as there were many small villages and towns situated on the road to Hundred Miles City.
The Qing Clan had absolute authority over a radius of 100 Li, many of the smaller clans nearby earned a living by farming or hunting under the protection of the Qing Clan.
Qing Shui departed the Qing Village and headed towards a western direction. The west of the Qing Village consisted of mountains and the Greenwood Forest. Further ahead of him was the Greenwood forest where he had met the Golden Direwolf. Qing Shui decided to proceed up the western mountains and traverse beyond them to reach the 1,000,000 Li Mountains. He chose this route to temper himself, and thus gain benefits for his cultivation.
With a small bag on his back, Qing Shui left the Qing Clan seemingly unprepared. He only brought the 4 books, 2 sets of clean clothes and some dried rations. As he walked towards the western mountains, he was ceaselessly complaining to himself again. "Lame backpack, stupid backpack, where the hell are my storage rings? Damn this piece of shitty backpack!"
The grumbling lasted for about the time an incense stick takes to burn [1]. Qing Shui had finally reached the bottom of the western mountains! With the damnable backpack on his back, Qing Shui chose a path up the mountains after searching the nearby ground for 2 stones the size of goose eggs and equipping them in his hands.
The mountainous region nearby was filled with danger. The wild beasts did not pose a threat to him, but if he ran into a beast of the ferocious or desolate grade, that would prove to be an entirely different matter. After all, he was out in the wilds, it would be safer if he was armed.
In this world of the 9 provinces, beasts can be categorized into 4 different levels. Wild Beast, Ferocious Beast, Desolate Beast, Demonic Beast. The ones with the weakest attack powers would be classified as the wild beasts. The demonic beasts are beasts who had already formed a demonic core in them. Their strength could be directly inferred from their age, the longer they had lived the more terrifying their level of strength would be! It was said that even Xiantian cultivators would not be able to prevail over demonic beasts of the same level! It appeared that the golden direwolf Qing Shui met earlier was only of the ferocious grade.
Qing Shui knew that cultivators who only chose to live a safe and stable life when compared to one who tread the perilous way, would be akin to a egg compared to a stone. Those who did not enter battle would not be able to go far in the long run! That was precisely why Qing Shui decided to head to the 1,000,000 Li Mountains! He wanted to gain combat experiences, and at the same time temper his state of mind and find an opportunity to break through!
Only while being out in the wilderness would one even begin to strive to gain an understanding of the Heavens and Earth. To comprehend the meaning of life, through contemplating the spiritual significance of the five elements in nature!
Every day, other than spending his time in cultivating the Ancient Strengthening Technique, Qing Shui would briefly study the contents of the 4 books he brought with him. Currently, the only book which he was fully immersed in understanding its contents was the [Continental Medical Annal]. Qing Shui could not help but exclaim in wonder, the knowledge of the ancients were at the very least on par or could even be considered superior when compared to the modern medicine in his previous world!
People say that a excellent practitioner of the martial arts would also be half a medical scholar as well. Excellent martial artists would have some knowledge on the medical arts pertaining to injuries and wounds, and the meridians and acupoints of the human body. Qing Shui continued reading, and was not surprised to find that the facts recorded in the book was actually consistent with the information he unlocked with the Ancient Strengthening Technique.
—————
Only when Qing Shui arrived at the foot of the 1,000,000 Li Mountains, did he truly know the true meaning of the word "spacious". In his line of sight, as far as his eyes could see, the surrounding region was filled with majestic peaks and mountains, seemingly endless.
"Xuuuu" At this instant, a light breezy mountain wind begin to rise and blew past Qing Shui. As it was the summer season now, the light mountain wind was a welcome change to alleviate the heat of the summer sun. Qing Shui begin traversing the mountain path by executing Ghostly Steps! He wanted to cultivate it to the point where he could unconsciously execute each step with the minimum amount of strength required.
A week had passed, in this period of time, Qing Shui did not know exactly how far had he traversed. He only knew that he climbed five mountains and slew over 300 wild and ferocious grade beasts. Out of these 300 beasts, there was a particular battle with an Earthen Gigantic Elephant that filled him with much excitement.
Initially, Qing Shui was nervous to be facing against such an opponent. The Earthen Gigantic Elephant had a body size of 5m in height and 15m in length! How would he be able to fight on equal grounds with it? To clash directly with it was pure madness! In terms of strength and body size, there was no way Qing Shui would be comparable to it, thus Qing Shui had no choice but to temporarily retreat.
Although the elephant was colossal in size, and with a hide with the toughness of steel plates, there was no hindrance to its movements! With speed that one would not have expected from that massive frame of body, its muscles flowed together in perfect harmony as the elephant sped over to Qing Shui, causing tremors that shook the ground with each step it took.
Taking measure of his opponent and his own strength, Qing Shui knew that the current him did not have the power to injure this ferocious beast. If he wanted to prevail, he had to use his wits instead! Advancing in the guise of retreat, by using the Ghostly Steps, Qing Shui led the Earthen Gigantic Elephant through a series of wild dances before strategically baiting it to a point near the cliff. Using his swiftness and agility, Qing Shui execute the Ghostly Steps to dodge the killing blow unleashed. A moment later, he appeared behind the elephant and with his full explosive strength, he threw a fist aiming at one of its massive hind legs, succeeding in his attempt to push the elephant off the cliff.
"Kacha~" The sound of bones breaking resounded as the elephant beast plummeted with a tragic cry filled with rage and misery!
After a glance at the giant corpse at the foot of the mountains, Qing Shui stared dumbly at his own hands, even though he a strength of 13,000 jin, it still took the entirety of his strength to deliver the killing blow. A smile broke out on his face as hints of savage victory filled his heart. So this was how the ruler of the wilds felt like. By using his own strength and wits, he had caused the Earthen Gigantic Elephant to be smashed beyond recognition!
This bout had made Qing Shui appreciate the Ancient Strengthening Technique even more… If he had cultivated using normal methods, the strength gained from them would pale in comparison to the Ancient Strengthening Technique, and his defeat would be unquestionable. The Ancient Strengthening Technique was undoubtedly the strongest strengthening technique, and when cultivated to its zenith the refinement of his body would be comparable even to the Gods and Demons!
Although he was content with the victory, there exists a more pressing problem in front of him. Qing Shui had already run out of drinkable water! He had also not come across any water sources or beasts in the last 3 days.
"Damn, I'm in trouble. Without a water source, there would naturally be no beasts nearby, no wonder I had no other encounters for the past 3 days." Wetting his parched lips with his saliva, Qing Shui frowned. All of a sudden, a huge shadow blotted out the sunlight. "Huh?" Qing Shui inclined his head in surprise, and swiftly after, his expression changed drastically for the worst.
[1] around 15mins
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: The Line between Life and Death
"Huh?" Qing Shui inclined his head in surprise, and swiftly after, his expression changed drastically for the worst. A gargantuan shadow blotted out the sun and skies as it savagely zoomed towards him. The might of the wind force generated by the flapping of those huge wings was tremendously powerful, to the point where the huge rocks weighing a few hundred jin on the nearby ground were also chaotically rolling about, as if they were bereft of gravity.
Qing Shui immediately channeled his inner Qi down towards the soles of his feet, rooting him to the ground. The stone hidden in his right hand was also charged to the brim with the circulated Qi from the Ancient Strengthening Technique.
Qing Shui flicked the stone towards the gargantuan body of the huge flying beast and in the same instant, also executed the Ghostly Steps, speedily retreating to some distance away.
Qing Shui decided to target the heart of the flying beast. He knew that with only such a small stone as a weapon, there was no way for him to deal huge amounts of damage to the beast; he would at most only be able to slightly injure it. The only solution left was to target the critical weak spots.
"Xiu!" The stone created a terrifying sound as it soared through the air, with a speed so fast that it was almost to the point of breaking the sound barrier.
"eEeeEKK!" a ear-piercing sound screeched out. Hints of undisguised humiliation and rage filled the cry as the gigantic creature retreated back to the air.
Qing Shui knew that he had missed the heart of the beast, but looking at the blood showering down, akin to the squirting of a fountain, he knew that at the very least, he had managed to injure it.
The current Qing Shui had already retreated to a safe distance away as he took the time to identify the flying beast soaring through the skies. Upon closer observation, Qing Shui was incessantly astonished! The wingspan of this bird was approximately 30-40m wide. The head was similar to a eagle and condor. Its whole body was covered with inky black feathers with only a patch of white on its head.
"3rd Grade Desolate Beast, White-headed Inky Jade Condor!" Qing Shui breathed. He had finally identified the gargantuan flying bird.
Since that time Qing Hai explained the various professions in the Continent of the 9 Provinces to him, Qing Shui did some light research on the beast tamer profession, and also on the descriptions of the various beasts that inhabited this world.
There were a total of 4 levels of beasts. Wild Ferocious Desolate Demonic. And each level could be split into 9 grades. In total, the ranking system for beasts could be ranked from 1st Grade to the 36th Grade. The White-headed Inky Jade Condor in front of him was of the 21st grade, no wonder the aura it emitted was so terrifying.
Only desolate beasts who had formed a demonic core would be considered to have stepped into the realm of demonic beasts. Even the weakest amongst the demonic beasts had strength comparable to a cultivator of the Xiantian realm. The longer the demonic beast had lived, the stronger it would be, the disparity in strength between each grade at the demonic level could be comparable to the difference between Heavens and Earth!
Qing Shui looked at the White-headed Inky Jade Condor hovering in midair, that gargantuan body was incomparably huge, just the size of the it's leg could be comparable to the girth of a fully grown human male.
He remembered reading in the books he researched previously that the White-headed Inky Jade Condor was prone to nursing grudges. The injury that Qing Shui caused it to suffer earlier was just a small matter. What matters here was the injury Qing Shui had caused to it's pride! From the cold and evil glint in the White-headed Inky Jade Condor's eyes, Qing Shui knew that the bird would never give up on him, not unless one of them died. It was just waiting for an opportunity now to catch Qing Shui off his guard.
Transferring the stone in his left hand to his right, Qing Shui determinedly stared at the White-headed Inky Jade Condor. Maybe, it was the stone in Qing Shui's hand that gave it pause and forced the giant condor to act out of caution. Earlier in that exchange, the condor could feel an unnatural strength infused in the stone that injured it. Once bitten, twice shy. Now that it knew of Qing Shui's strength, it did not want to rush in blindly and possibly suffer injuries or death due to a moment of impulse!
Licking his parched lips, Qing Shui felt a great thirst bubbling up from inside of him. He had not drank any water for the past three days. In these three days, there weren't even any traces of other flying beasts! Now Qing Shui knew why… it was probably because of this huge condor in front of him. The condor must have been the predator that scared everything away.
This can't carry on, he needs water to sustain his life. If there were other beasts around, he could still drink their blood for sustenance. Coldness flashed in his eyes, " Very well, it seems like today no matter what, I have to think of a way to ensure that this giant condor would not escape."
Despite its huge size, it seemed to be like a fish in water when it was in the air. There was no deterrence to its speed! The aura emitting from it was tyrannical beyond measure, possessing herculean strength, it's condor claws could split mountains and crush rocks. There was also the pair of jet black wings, being struck by it would be akin to disintegrating into piles of dust. Also not to neglect the beak of the White-headed Inky Jade Condor, a single peck would be sufficient to split a human-being into two.
What a majestic presence, what overwhelming strength. Rivulets of sweats were flowing down Qing Shui head, as he was contemplating how best to gain victory against the condor.
Qing Shui was somewhat nervous, but he was not afraid. Not being able to gain victory today would only mean that it was his destiny to die here. "If I can't even prevail against a single desolate grade flying chicken, why am I still alive? The promises I made to mother was all just words filled with empty air?"
"F* your mother, this damnable bird is freaking annoying. If you want to fight, get down here and I will be happy to accompany you to the gates of hell. If you don't want to, just F* OFF! Why the F* are you hovering in the air?!" Qing Shui cursed.
However, it seemed that Qing Shui's cursing was ineffective.
After a while, Qing Shui knew that this was not the solution, he could not stand there like an idiot enabling this feathery bastard to anger him to death!
After thinking for a short while, Qing Shui decided to lie flat on the ground. The remnants of the crumbled 100 jin rocks had been swept clean by the gale force generated by this White-headed Inky Jade Condor when it first swept in to attack Qing Shui earlier. However, in the same instant as he lay down, he also stealthily crumbled a part of the stone cliff, hiding a small stone in his left hand.
Qing Shui closed his eyes, and took a risk. He did not believe that the refinement of his current body with the power of only the 3rd level of Ancient Strengthening Technique would be able to defend against the White-headed Inky Jade Condor's sharp claws and pointed beak. Those were no ordinary claws or beak, very likely, even if it was Qing Shui, he could not withstand a single blow.
Patience, Qing Shui did not lack. The fact that he assiduously spent all his free time in cultivating already proved that his will power was beyond the norm. He could be patient if he wanted to.
Time passed as the minutes drifted by, Qing Shui squinted his eyes as he peeped out of the corner of his eyes. His body was tensed up, Qing Shui was prepared to to grasp any opportunity that presented itself to perform a one hit kill!
"F* it, is it even still interested in fighting? F* its mother, staying in the same position, neither coming down nor flying away." Qing Shui cursed.
Maybe, some God heard Qing Shui's prayers as his curses were gradually beginning to affect the bird. That white-headed inky jade condor slowly begin to circle nearer and nearer.
"This cunning feathered bastard, just wait till I catch hold of it!" Qing Shui muttered hatefully.
The White-Headed Inky Jade Condor was no fool, it appears that it was trying to test the waters. Circling closer and soaring out of reach. This continued on for quite some time before it apparently decided to go all in. With a burst of speed akin to lightning, it finally flew towards Qing Shui.
This was the moment he had been waiting for! Qing Shui eyes snapped open, as he flicked both stones in his hands, aiming for the eyes of the White-Headed Inky Jade Condor!
The distance of 10m was covered in an instant! As he flicked out the stone, Qing Shui curled up his arms and legs, adopting the posture of a rabbit as the Qi from the Ancient Strengthening Technique circulated and infused his body.
"EeEKekK"
A shrill voice cried out in shock, but the huge body of the white-headed condor didn't even slow in the slightest. In fact, the speed even increased by a gear!
At the critical moment of impact, Qing Shui's body was akin to a carp leaping out of the water. Gathering Qi in his arms and legs, and borrowing the force of impact, Qing Shui violently made use of his limbs to bounce away. The rebound was incredible, both his arms felt like they were going to break at any moment.
Because of that miss, the White-headed Inky Jade Condor was screeching in displeasure.
Qing Shui looked down at the red patch blossoming in front of his chest, there was a wound the length of a foot long! Blood was unceasingly flowing out from it. Even though he managed to avoid the full brunt of the impact, as Qing Shui had frantically dodged, the tip of the condor's claw still managed to pierce his chest. The injury was bone deep! Although he had managed to escape from certain death, he was still inflicted with heavy injuries!
Looking at the blood flowing unceasingly from the wound, Qing Shui was shivering from the extreme pain of having his chest sliced open. Feeling bitterness in his heart, could it be that he was really going to lose his life today? In that instant, many things flashed past his eyes, especially thoughts of Qing Yi. Before he left, Qing Shui still repeatedly reassured her that he would take care of himself. He was extremely unwilling to die here just like this!
Qing Shui has yet to help Qing Yi fulfil her wishes, he cannot die here. If he is dead, what would happen to Qing Yi? She would be bereft of support, her only flesh and blood taken away from her. Just imagining that scenario happening actually hurts more than getting sliced open. What will happen if others trampled roughshod on her? No, he gritted his teeth, he cannot die here.
Despite his will, Qing Shui's consciousness was starting to get fuzzy, the blood flowing out from his chest dyed his whole body red, and at the same time some of his blood also splashed upon the worn and tattered Yin-Yang Pendant that he always wore around his neck…
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Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 30 – Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal
In that instant as his consciousness was fading, the Yin-Yang Pendant came into contact with blood of Qing Shui, after which, the pendant actually took on a dark violet hue! The Yin-Yang Pendant begin to emit waves of soft violet light, slowly enveloping Qing Shui, as if he was an infant that was lying in his mother's embrace. From what the naked eye could see, the pendant seemed to be incessantly drinking in Qing Shui's blood as the waves of violet light got stronger and stronger.
That instant, felt as long as an eternity yet as short as a single second. In that same moment, instead of his fuzzy consciousness, Qing Shui actually felt extremely clear headed, little could he imagine what unbelievable sights would be waiting for him once he opened his eyes.
He clearly remembered that he was in an extremely perilous situation just moments before, he was just about to die with a heart full of grievances and unwillingness born out of the will to protect Qing Yi. But what has happened exactly? The first thing Qing Shui realized when he awoke was that this was no longer the mountainous region he had been in just moments ago, it seems that somehow… the landscape had shifted. The current landscape he was in could be considered relatively cramped. The landscape had a circumference of roughly a 100m, just with a single glance, Qing Shui had a panoramic view of the entire region.
"What am I doing here? Is this the place all humans come to after they die?" Qing Shui stood up as he surveyed his surroundings. He did an inspection of his own body as he suddenly exclaimed in surprise!
"My injuries have actually healed!?" Qing Shui said in a daze, looking at the bloody and tattered clothes he wore, and that foot-long wound on his chest, he was certain that the fight with the White-Headed Inky Jade Condor was not a hallucination! However… the last thing he remembered was dying, and yet he was not dead!
"Hmm, where is this place, what the hell am I doing in here?" Qing Shui surveyed his surroundings again.
"Ah, there's water!" Qing Shui's lips were already chapped, his throat was dry as dust and swollen due to his extreme thirst.
In the middle of this otherworldly landscape was actually a small pool of water!
Oblivious to any danger, Qing Shui ran over and drank his fill. Only after he was satisfied, did he realize that the water which he just drank was unusually delicious. Not only did it sate his thirst and hunger, even his body seemed to be filled with a mysterious source of boundless energy.
It was only at this moment, after his thirst was sated that Qing Shui looked clearly for the first time at this pond of water. The pond had a circumference and depth of about 10m, the water in it seemed to sparkle with the shine of crystals and it looked so pure and pristine, devoid of any pollutants.
"Ai!" Qing Shui felt that this was a day filled with bizarre occurrences. Because now that he had come to his senses, he also discovered a weird looking tree, as well as a stone monument at the side of the pond. This stone monument had a height similar to a full grown human male and had the girth of a giant tree.
The stone monument gave off a stately aura, just as if it was the emperor that held absolute authority in this otherworldly place, dictating the rules to his subjects. As Qing Shui walked in front of it, he saw that there were actually inscriptions on the stone monument! [Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal]… So this place is the realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.
At the top of the stone monument, the words [Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal] was written in bold strokes in a calligraphic style. The words were extremely eye catching and emanated a mysterious aura that attracted Qing Shui's attention.
Directing his gaze downwards, Qing Shui discovered even more inscriptions.
[The realm of the Violet jade immortal only allows entry to the sovereign of this realm. Other than the sovereign, no other human beings are allowed in here, unless they are already dead]
As Qing Shui read the words.. "only allows entry to the sovereign… could it be that I'm the sovereign?" Qing Shui was grasping at straws in the dark, he had totally no clue what was going on. Thus, he decided to continue reading the other inscriptions on the stone monument for now.
[Time flows at a rate of 100:1 in the realm of the Violet jade immortal compared to the outside world]
Upon reading this made Qing Shui jumped in excitement! Spending a 100 days in this realm was equivalent to a single day outside!
After which there weren't much inscriptions left, only a few more words at the bottom of the stone monument.
[Once the first layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal had been unlocked, a vigorous looking tree would appear in it. This tree takes a 100 years to mature, and every 100 years, it will produce 10 fruits. The name of the fruits this tree produce are known as the Energy Enhancing Fruits. If ingested by normal humans, this could increase their strength level by 500 jin. Alchemist could use this fruits for pill concoction as well. Note: effect of Energy Enhancing Fruits can only stack 2 times, consuming more is pointless.]
And the rest of the inscriptions at the bottom of the monument are as follow:
Effects of:
[Unlocking the 2nd Layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal,
[Unlocking the 3rd Layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, all the way to [Unlocking 9th Layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal]
After Qing Shui finished reading the stone monument, he glanced at the sturdy and vigorous looking tree beside it. Could this be the Energy Enhancing Tree that he read about in the inscription on the stone monument? The tree was roughly about 2m in height, with branches the thickness akin to a steel pillar from his previous world. Despite the branches of the Energy Enhancing Tree being extremely short in length, only about 1 foot long, they still looked strong and solid.
Qing Shui peered upwards, and saw 10 glistening blood red fruits hanging from the branches of the Energy Enhancing Tree, emitting an extremely alluring smell that made him salivate. Now, Qing Shui already had a rough idea that what the existence of this spatial realm meant to his future cultivation. A grin broke out on Qing Shui's face as he thought of the future possibilities. "Within this realm, normal restrictions no longer apply to me! There is nothing I can't accomplish. I don't believe I would still be unable to breakthrough to the 4th layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique!"
"Sigh, what a pity that this realm was only usable by the one person, if not Qing Hu and Qing Bei could enjoy the benefits here too. Well, it's fine that way too, I can't let anyone know about this secret. Humans would already be willing to commit murder for gains significantly less valuable than this. I must not invite a calamity upon myself." Qing Shui decided.
Qing Shui did not know how much time elapsed, he had already thoroughly explored the landscape of the Violet Jade Immortal Realm. The spatial realm was approximately the size of 1 hectare. Looking at the loose purple soil beneath his sole, he felt that this space was excellent for crop planting."
After exploring the spatial realm, Qing Shui realized that there was no exit! How could he return to the world outside?
Just at the precise moment he thought of exiting, he realized that he was already back in the mountainous region where he had been previously! It seems that the Violet Jade Immortal Realm was already attuned to his will.
"Enter!"
"Exit!"
"Enter!"
"Exit!"
With the slightest intent of his will, he could enter and exit the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Qing Shui happily experimented with it, just like a small child playing with his favourite toy.
After that, Qing Shui silently mused for a long while, "How did this Violet Jade Immortal Realm suddenly appeared? And why did it choose me?" Despite his intelligence, he still had no conclusions and thus decided to temporarily ignore the mystery. Anyway, it was not something disadvantageous for him.
Following which, Qing Shui inspected his attire. Laughing bitterly as he looked at the tattered clothes on his body, Qing Shui took a fresh set of clothes from his backpack and proceeded to change. It was at this moment that he realized that the Yin-Yang Pendant which he had always wore around his neck had disappeared!
Qing Shui frantically did a search of the surroundings and even entered the spatial realm again, but he could not find any clues relating to the disappearance of the Yin-Yang Pendant! "Could the disappearance of the Yin-Yang Pendant be related to the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal?"
Currently, if only Qing Shui could view his own reflection, he would have stopped the search for the pendant. Because, situated right in the middle of Qing Shui's eyebrow, was a speck of violet-colored pearl the size of a bean. The pearl was shaped exactly like the Yin-Yang Pendant! It had somehow unknowingly amalgamated with Qing Shui after he fainted.
The speck of violet pearl that destiny arranged, situated between his brows were akin to an artist adding the vital final touch to a masterpiece, adding on a hint of otherworldly magnetism to Qing Shui's already charming eyes. Previously, Qing Shui could already be considered good looking, but now with that hint of magnetism, the aura he exuded could only said to be extraordinary.
Since the pendant was missing, there was no need to keep the chain of the pendant as well. Qing Shui threw the chain away as he changed into a new set of clothes, and only after that, did the disappearance of the White-headed Inky Jade Condor occur to him. Qing Shui inclined his head, looking about. He finally spotted the corpse of the White-Headed Inky Jade Condor somewhere far off in the distance.
"It died?" Qing Shui walked over, and after a brief inspection, realized that the cause of death was the 2 stones he flicked out earlier! The 2 stones had hit their target and were lodged in the eyes of the white-headed condor. "How terrifying, was its pride really that important? Despite being injured, it still wanted to perish with me." "The impact from earlier when it tried to smash me to death must have caused the stones lodged in its eyes to penetrate its brain. What a tragic death!"
"In any case, it looks like I'm having barbequed White-Headed Inky Jade Condor for dinner tonight." (TL: xD xD yummy~)
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Ancient Strengthening Technique Chapter 31: Limitations of the Spatial Realm
"In any case, it looks like I'm having barbequed White-Headed Inky Jade Condor for dinner tonight."
After Qing Shui knew of the various enchantments and effects of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, he couldn't help but grin even in his sleep. Now, with him being the sovereign of a spatial realm, there was no need for him to carry a backpack any longer. And how could the storage rings in the legends even compare to this? No, they can't even be mentioned in the same breath. Qing Shui could not help but to burst out into raucous laughter. That laugh seemed to consolidate all his anger, anxiety and worries that had been burdening his heart, and disperse them all together as gales of laughter that rang out.
From his now useless backpack, Qing Shui tooked out a knife, flint, salt, and a cup made out of porcelain, and after which, he search the surroundings of the mountains for dry, thin branches that could be used as firewood.
"Stare at your father, me, more, you stupid chicken, if looks could kill back then, I know that I would already be dead. Go on, don't you like hovering in the air and staring at me? You stupid flying chicken, now I want you to look at me as I barbeque your chicken drumstick. After all, the tendons and muscles are thick without excessive fat, seems to be pretty good as a supplement and eating it should be able to provide nourishment for my own legs." Qing Shui said vehemently, with a sardonic glint in his eyes, as he began to defeather and wash the poor condor.
Previously, a few days before, Qing Shui almost died of thirst. But now, suddenly, he had an abundance of water! Qing Shui took the water from the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. As he washed the carcass, he couldn't help but feel that it was a waste. After all, the water from the crystal pond possessed mystical properties, but to use it to wash a carcass? He couldn't help but to shake his head. Also, Qing Shui was unsure if the water used up would be replenished by the spatial realm and as such, he set a water marker to gauge the water level. From his observations, this pool should be able to contain 800,000 liters of water.
Qing Shui cut a large piece of flesh from the hind-leg of the giant condor, and began roasting it after he started a fire. This was the first time Qing Shui was doing the barbecuing personally. Previously, he had only observed members of the Qing Clan doing it. Now that he tried it for himself, Qing Shui could tell that it was not as easy as it looked to be!
The aftermath of his first experiment in cooking resulted in the meat being either being too charred to be eaten or too raw. Only after experimenting a few times could he successfully barbecue a piece of meat that could barely be considered edible…
Heedless to the dangers of eating uncooked meat, Qing Shui begin digging in with relish. After all, this was the first time he was roasting meat, Qing Shui ate the meal he prepared with gusto. After his hunger was satiated, he look at the carcass of the giant condor. The size of it was so gigantic, despite Qing Shui's many experiments in cooking earlier, the reduction in mass was barely noticeable.
After which, Qing Shui decided to store the remains of the carcass in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.
Qing Shui could not help but to exclaim again, "Ahh, this must be fate, who would have thought that the heavens are so good to me? The pendant which I randomly picked up was actually a heavenly treasure! Nothing in the world could make me happier, not even bedding a top grade ravishing beauty!" Although Qing Shui had not had his first taste of women yet, he was in no hurry. He knew that in this world, strength and power were the absolute authority. If one was strong enough, they could even forcibly snatch the woman away. Who would dare to contradict him then? Absolute power was what he sought after! In comparison, this treasured pendant, one did not know how much karmic merits they would have to accumulate over many lifetimes before they could obtain it!
As his thoughts drifted to the injury he received, he was reminded of the pendant which hung on his neck. "Damn, in the future whenever I get anything, I must drip my blood on it to test it. Who knows, that which appears torn and tattered, could be another heavenly treasure. If in the off-chance I miss anything, there is no point crying over spilt milk!"
After that battle with the giant condor, and discovery of the spatial realm, followed by the cooking of the carcass, the sun was already setting. The resplendent rays of light shined upon the whole region, dying the mountains with a golden glow. Especially for a few mountain peaks, the golden resplendent rays of light shining on them actually made them emit a sort of majestic presence, akin to that of Golden Buddha statues.
The current Qing Shui had never been so excited before in his life. His current state could only be described as something similar to the "second stage of enlightenment taught by Buddha himself – seeing mountain as not a mountain, seeing river as not a river." [1] Even if there was a pile of dog sh*t in front of him, he could also be certain that it would be able to germinate good crops from there.
"Forget it, I shall go and cultivate inside the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Hahaha! A time ratio of 100:1, I must abuse it to the maximum!" Qing Shui teleported to inside the spatial realm with a mere intention of his will. Now that he was calmer, he discovered that the air here was saturated with an abundance of thick spiritual energy, even more so than the world outside!"
Qing Shui sat down cross-legged, entering into the state of meditation and activated the Ancient Strengthening Technique emanating an air of profoundness.
1 Cycle of Qi Circulation, 2 Cycle of Qi Circulation…….
The past 5 years, Qing Shui manage to cultivate from 36 cycles of circulation to 48 cycles currently. This time when he activated the Ancient Strengthening Technique, it came as no surprise that he peaked at 48 cycles. More haste less speed, Qing Shui was not anxious. After all, Qing Shui had only recently broken through to 48 cycles. He did not want to rush and as a result suffer from Qi Deviation.
As the time passed, Qing Shui cultivated slowly without haste, whenever he was tired, he took a break. Whenever he was thirsty, he drank some water. He went on like this, relentlessly practicing his cultivation with a will like a madman, also training his Ghostly Steps, Solitary Rapid Fist, and the art of hidden weapon techniques continuously. Qing Shui also had completely read all 3 of the medical books which he brought along with him. After all, with a time ratio of 100:1, he wanted to abuse this effect to the maximum, if not it would be a waste.
Cultivating in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui was uncertain of how many days had passed inside it. All he knew was that the earlier barbecued meat had already been finished by him. Now, he was subsisting on water and the dried rations which he had bought from the Qing Clan.
After getting frustrated chewing on the dried rations, Qing Shui decided to exit the spatial realm in preparation for roasting some meat again. This time round, after so many failed experiments, Qing Shui could finally roast something that was edible, and Qing Shui also discovered another effect of the spatial realm. Apparently, food in there would remain fresh with no hints of decay! There was no change in the condition of the food and it would remain the same state as when it entered.
After Qing Shui was done roasting the meat, as he prepared to re-enter the spatial realm, he suddenly stopped and appeared dumbstruck! For some reason, he discovered that he could not enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal!
"Huh why am I barred from entering?" Qing Shui refused to believe it, and persisted in trying to enter… Looking at the skies, Qing Shui deduced that about 2 hours must have passed, and in these past 2 hours he must have tried entering it over a 1000 times! He had no choice but to conclude that there seemed to be some sort of limitation and rules set to entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.
Every 2 hours spent outside the spatial realm, was equivalent roughly to 16 days inside it. During the time when he was drinking water from the crystal pond, Qing Shui had already noticed the speck of violet-colored pearl situated right in the middle of his brows! The moment he saw it, Qing Shui already knew that this was a mini version of the pendant which had always hung on his neck.
Looking at his current features, Qing Shui could not help but to slightly frown. He could be considered relatively good looking with exquisite features. "Damn, I must be more masculine, if not people would mistake me for a sissy. Wuwu, nevermind, after second thoughts, in the future if I ever run into a desperate situation, I could depend on this handsome mug of mine to beg for meals." Qing Shui was trying to find humor in a desperate situation.
"Argh I don't have time to joke." Trepidation filling his heart, Qing Shui persisted in trying again and again to enter the spatial realm, but to no avail. Rivulets of sweat appeared after the repeated failures made him immeasurably frustrated.
"F* this shit, please stop pranking your father, damn it, If I can't go in again, I might just as well jump down the mountain" Qing Shui desperately cussed, only when there were no people would he allow himself to lose control like that, with profanities spewing from his lips.
After the sun setted and the skies were dark, Qing Shui was still trying to enter the spatial realm. Qing Shui persisted in trying to enter every hour. Unknowingly, it was already approaching midnight, arriving at the Zi period*. TL Note: Zi period – the time between 11 pm and 1 am.
Tonight, the moon was full, silvery white light cascading down, softly illuminating the mountain. What a pity Qing Shui was not in the mood to appreciate the fine scenery. He was already going crazy with anxiety, occasionally extending his hand to feel the jade pendant embedded between his brows, heaving a sigh of relief every time he discovered that it was still there.
For the next hour, Qing Shui persisted in trying to enter the spatial realm again and again, but… he was still unable to gain entry. No matter what he did, he was unable to calm his fretful heart down!
After the Zi period had passed, Qing Shui tried again. To his surprise, he finally managed to succeed! The instant when he had entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal almost made tears came out of his eyes… He finally succeeded after countless hours of trying.
"Exit!"
"Enter!"
"Exit!"
"Enter!"
……………………..
As if he was trying to make up for the all the times which he failed to enter previously, Qing Shui experimented again and again.
After a few days, Qing Shui finally discovered the reason! The longest period that the spatial realm allowed the user to stay in, was a period of about 15-16 days, equivalent to 2 hours in the outside world. Every night, after the Zi period has passed, the whole cycle would reset, and the user would be able to spend another 16 days inside the spatial realm.
"Why did the Violet Jade Immortal not inscribed this rule on the stone monument, freaking causing me to worry for nothing." After Qing Shui discovered the limitations of using the spatial realm, he became much more relaxed. In these few days, the profanities which he spewed, were even more than what he had said in his entire lifetime!
In the next few days, Qing Shui would always stay in the spatial realm before he was forcefully ejected. 2 hours on the outside was equivalent to 16 days in the spatial realm! Making use of this effect, Qing Shui took the chance to completely read and memorize all the contents of the 3 medical books which he had brought. After undergoing his body transformation and acquiring the Yin-Yang symbol in his sea of consciousness, Qing Shui discovered that his memorization power and comprehension level had already reached a terrifying stage..
", it's about time I read this."
[1] 2nd stage of Buddha Enlightenment – Scroll down to the 2nd commentator. It's freaking profound, I can't even understand a single sh*t lol
Apparently there are 3 stages to this.
a) see mountain as mountain, see river as river
b) see mountain as not a mountain, see river as not a river
c) so the mountain was still a mountain, the river was still a river
TL Note: The previous Chapter, the author stated the time ratio was [100:1, but in this chapter, the author states that 2 hours in the outside world is equivalent to 15-16 days in the spatial realm. After some calculations if 2 hours = 16 days, the exact ratio should be [192:1]. I'm too lazy to do the calculations for 2 hours = 15 days lol. Not too sure if the author made a mistake in this.. well, for now just enjoy the story first, i will edit in the future after reading the raws.
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Ancient Strengthening Technique Chapter 32: Basic Sword Techniques
After he finished reading the 3 medical books, Qing Shui felt that he had benefited immensely from the contents within. Especially from the , this book listed and explained the effects one would get by mixing various herbs together. For example, in some cases, when mixing two types of herbs of the healing element together, the end product may end up being poisonous. Conversely, when mixing two types of poisonous herbs, depending on their properties, the two herbs could actually end up complementing each other, nullifying the poisonous elements within and form an end product that could save lives!
The thick book mainly speaks of the complex relations and interactions between herbal properties, such as "warm", "cold", "wet", "hot", "cool". The book also explains the effects and things to take note of when mixing medicine in great detail.
After receiving the nourishment of the Yin-Yang symbol in his sea of consciousness, Qing Shui's memory could be said to have become perfect. Despite being unable to comprehend the entirety of the detailed information in such a short amount of time, he was still able to engrave the information in his mind. Every time he needed something, he could just refer to the information stored in his brain, akin to flipping the pages of a book.
In all job professions, the intricacies of each would be wide-ranging and profound.
Qing Shui knew that his wish to embark on the path of an alchemist could still be considered as extremely distant. It was unlike alchemists in MMORPGs, who could just throw a few herbs inside a cauldron and poof, a pill would be concocted. How could being an alchemist be so simplistic? Not to mention, in this world's 9 continents, the alchemist profession was the one with the harshest conditions and highest requirements!
Taking one step at a time, with an effort that was worth 100 times, nay, 1000 times of others, and unyielding determination! These were all qualities that Qing Shui possessed, and in addition to his recently acquired spatial realm, they made him immensely confident.
Qing Shui could only enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal for 2 hours a day. After that, the natural limitations of the spatial realm would kick into place. This means that, for him, a single day could be compared to 15 days for others! Qing Shui was no fool, he deeply treasured the time lengthening effect of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and seized every chance he could to cultivate in there.
Normally, Qing Shui would purposely select the time period (9pm-11pm) to enter the spatial realm. This way, after the Zi period (11pm-1am), the limitations would reset and he could immediately use it again. During the daytime, Qing Shui would travel or slay beasts that were unfortunate enough to cross his path. However, ever since the encounter with the 3rd Grade Desolate Beast, White-Headed Inky Jade Condor, Qing Shui had no other dangerous encounters.
The fiery sun in the sky fiercely shone down on Qing Shui's body, yet his body was entirely devoid of sweat. His body looked akin to a lithe leopard, with his muscles corded, yet not rigidly stiff.
Ever since Qing Shui obtained the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, the lines of worries on his face had smoothed, making him appear more carefree and relaxed.
"F* it, with my current looks, if I was in my previous world, I would be a top grade gigolo, dancing with the filthy rich cougars, eating them up and earning their money. However now, in this World of the Nine Continents, looks are useless! What I want is power, power!" Everytime Qing Shui looked at his charming countenance in the water's reflection, he began to involuntarily cuss.
Qing Shui's features were exquisite, without any hints of femininity. Either by nature or design, there was a look of cold indifference reflected on his face. Charisma reflected off the irises in his beautiful eyes. And the violet-colored pearl situated in the middle of his brows, actually had the feeling akin to a master painter adding the finishing touches, granting life to a portrait.
Despite Qing Shui gloomily messing up his hair, he was still good looking.In addition to that, there was the absence of even an ounce of excess fat on his graceful and lithe body. People looking at him would have nothing but compliments about his good looks.
On his journey, Qing Shui knew that as long as there were water sources, there would be beasts nearby. In this case, he did not need to worry about not having enough to eat! After his countless experiments with barbecuing, his skills could be said to have reach an unfathomably high level. The meat he roasted, be it the color or the taste and smell, were all of a high quality.
After travelling for an entire day, Qing Shui went in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal to rest, after that he started to cultivate. Qing Shui's current cultivation level only allowed him to hit the 48 cycles of circulated Qi. He clearly remembered that during the first heavenly layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, the requirement was to hit the 12 cycles of circulated Qi. At the second heavenly layer, the requirement was 24 cycles of circulated Qi. Now, at the third heavenly layer, the requirement was 48 cycles of circulated Qi… Could it be that for him to break into the next heavenly layer, following the pattern so far, he would need to cultivate to double the 48 cycles? To 96 cycles?
As he pondered, Qing Shui could not help but recall the instance when he broke through from 12 cycles to 13 cycles and 24 to 25 cycles of circulated Qi.
Bottleneck? Obstacles?
After contemplating, Qing Shui sighed, he knew that the path of cultivation was not easy to advance on. First, let's not talk about breaking through to 49 cycles. Even after that, he still had to hit 96 cycles, 192 cycles and 386 cycles…
No wonder that practicing the Ancient Strengthening Technique to its zenith would allow one to gain a body comparable to the Gods and Demons. The practitioner would have his strength increased by increasing the number of circulation cycles. They would possess tyrannical might just based on their body strength alone!
Everytime he encountered a bottleneck, Qing Shui would circulate his Qi in order to break through. The backlash was no joke, in the past 5 years, any breakthroughs of 1 cycle to the next, would entail Qing Shui breaking through a bottleneck! Even though the bottleneck from one cycle to another was small, the pain was still extremely excruciating!
The Ancient Strengthening Technique holds two major bottlenecks. The first was from the 3rd layer to the 4th layer, breaking from lower to middle tier, and the second was from the 6th layer to the 7th layer, breaking from middle to top tier!
Circulating his Qi based on the Ancient Strengthening Technique, Qing Shui repeatedly tried to break through the barrier of the 48th cycle into the 49th to no avail. That obstacle was as unyielding as a huge mountain, and try as he might, he was still unable to budge it the slightest. Qing Shui gritted his teeth, ignoring and enduring the pain! This was precisely the point of the Ancient Strengthening Technique! Making use of the pain from the backlash in order to temper one's body!
Sighing, Qing Shui decided to rest for now. It looks like it would not be so simple to break through the major bottleneck to the 4th heavenly layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique.
Qing Shui took out the few books he had as he decided to use his time to fully comprehend the contents in each book. After taking them out his gaze fell to a rest on the untouched , although he had not yet read the book, he knew that the teachings in it would not be too profound. After all, the basic sword techniques, as its name stated, formed the basis of every swordplay in the World of the Nine Continents. As long as one was a user of the sword, at some point, one would surely have read this book!
Frowning, Qing Shui narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Why would such a common book have a spot in our Qing Clan Library?
"Forget it, I shall take a look first. Everyone in the World of the Nine Continents knows that the techniques within the are the lowest grade of sword play. Not to mention low grade, they are so weak that they can be considered as ungraded. Despite that, the foundations of every sword user is built from this! Most of the sword users read the book when they were young and only moved onto the more advanced sword arts after they mastered these basic techniques.
Flipping open the first page of the , the first page, other than listing out the title of the book, also had a parenthesis that marked the book in his hands as the initial volume. (Beginner). Could it be that there were (Intermediate) and (Profound) levels as well?
Ignoring this, he continued reading, "Introduction to Swords".
The sword, was reputed to be the first amongst the myriad of weapons, emitting an intent of benevolence, suffused with a heroic aura! It could also be considered as the God of weapons and also possessed an air of elegance. So what makes up a sword? A sword comprises of the following: Sword Body, Sword Tip, Sword Sharpness, Sword Core, Sword Spine, Sword Edge, Sword Frame, Sword Hilt and Sword Sheath.
Following the introduction, next up was the various sword postures and methods. The main methods of attacking positions consist of: Hooking, Hanging, Pointing, Carrying, Piercing, Slicing, Hacking! During practice, the way of the sword requires the sword to follow one's body, the sword user to use their body and guide the sword. When using the sword as a weapon, one must attain a state of oneness with the sword, one with the Qi, and one with the Spirit!
Looking at the elementary content which could be recited by any Martial Warrior, Qing Shui could not help but ask: "So how many of the millions of sword users can actually attain this state of oneness mentioned?" After all ,the more simple a thing was, the more profound the knowledge hidden within it would be. All the basics were derived from the learnings of millions of sword users, condensed down into their most basic form!
The way of Sword emphasizes "Speed, Accuracy, Decisiveness" Using these three words as the mantra to complement each of the basic sword attacking positions when practiced to the pinnacle, could kill with 1 hit, destroying your enemies with only a single strike!
The way of Sword also further emphasizes on hand-eye coordination, posture, footwork and form.
When the user of the sword art has cultivated it to its peak, any part of the sword can be used as a weapon! After attaining the stage of man and sword as one, amalgamating with the sword, and the next stage of heaven and man as one. The user himself, without his sword, can be considered as an unsheathed sharp sword!
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Chapter 33 It takes 10 Years to Forge a Good Sword.
Qing Shui's imagination wildly soared as he continued reading. He was daydreaming about when would he be able to step into the fabled realm of Man and Sword as One, and Heaven and Man as One. After which, he shook his head: "A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step. I should stop dreaming and start with the basics. After all, even accounting for the experiences of my past life, I do not have any experience in the way of the sword. I merely dabbled in exercises like practicing the Tai-Chi Fist and the Tai-Chi swordplay. Those were just empty stances full of air with no real substance behind them.
As he read on, other than the main basic methods of attack positions, which consisted of: Hooking, Hanging, Pointing, Carrying, Piercing, Slicing and Hacking, the book also, in great detail, explained the amount of strength which had to be exerted for each strike, the position of the sword, the posture of the body as well as breathing methods that could be utilized. Other than the descriptions, there were also pictures depicting a human wielding a sword in the various forms of sword attacks.
The more Qing Shui read, the more he was confused. "How could the techniques the Basic Sword Techniques be so complex? If this is the case, what about the profound sword arts? How could I even begin to train in them if I don't even understand the basic techniques?" Qing Shui was lost in contemplation.
Everytime Qing Shui saw a picture, he would match it with the details stated in the description and practice them. Using his fingers in place of a sword, he held the book in one hand and practiced the basic forms of attacks: Hooking, Hanging, Pointing, Carrying, Piercing, Slicing and Hacking with the other one. One stroke after another, relentlessly pursuing perfection.
Qing Shui carried on his practice as time inexorably passed on. He did not know the exact amount of time that passed as there was no day and night cycle within the spatial realm. Qing Shui, akin to a madman, practiced almost to the boundary of Qi Deviation, continuing on his journey to comprehend the truth behind the way of the sword.
"Going all out is the only way for me to improve, even if I have to step close to the boundary of Qi Deviation, I have to succeed!" Qing Shui said with determination blazing in his eyes.
Qing Shui did not lack perseverance or determination. He understood well that he was akin to metal. Metal needs to suffer blows from the smith's hammer and be refined in fire before it can be forged into a good sword. In addition to that, the Yin-Yang Symbol in his sea of consciousness, was also enhancing his spirit and mind, granting him a high level of comprehension. That, when coupled with his unyielding personality as well as the aiding effects of his spatial realm meant that nothing would be impossible for him!
When comparing Basic Sword Techniques to to the 3 other thick medical books, it could be considered rather thin. In addition, the contents of the Basic Sword Techniques book explained the most basic of all sword stances. Compared to the complex Herbal Combination Formula and the Continental Medical Annal, it was infinitely easier to remember.
On the last page of the book it was written that the essence of the sword could be summarized into four insights, in a single sentence of four realms in swordplay. [Application of Knowledge, [Profoundness within Simplicity, [Swiftness equates Invincibility, [Back to Nature]!"
Qing Shui understood all of them, except for the last part, [Back to Nature]. He only seemed to have a rudimentary grasp on the meaning it contained, but nothing concrete.
For the first realm, [Application of Knowledge, essence of this insight referred to knowing when was the right circumstance, when was the right place, and when was the right time to execute which of the basic attacking sword forms. Simply put, to execute the correct moves at the correct time.
For the second realm, [Profoundness within Simplicity]", essence of this insight referred to not pursuing perfection of form. Form is secondary and intent is primary. Swordplay that looks beautiful and dazzling looks good, but is nothing in comparison to true power. In fact, the more profound the sword art is, the more ordinary it would look when executing the techniques within. Upon stepping into this realm, the techniques executed those who understand the dao of the sword might even looked clumsy and sloppy.
For the third realm, [Swiftness equates Invincibility, the essence of this insight referred to, under the vast domain of heavens, the same philosophy holds true for all martial arts. As long as one achieve sufficient speed, he would be able to defeat anything in the world. With sufficient speed, one might indeed achieve the realm of invincibility. What a pity that this was just a theory. After all, who would dare to say that they are the swiftest in the world?
For the last realm, [Back to Nature, he only had a rough understanding of the insights behind it. Qing Shui could not comprehend which level this realm of swordplay belonged to. "Could it be the legendary realm..? After one had mastered the sword, one could infuse sword intent into everything in nature. At that realm, everything in nature could be used as a sword!
Sword intent! Qing Shui got lost in contemplation as his thoughts drifted far away.
After he finished the book, Qing Shui closed his eyes and started meditating. He wanted to organize his thoughts and to his heart to comprehend the various details outlined in the book.
After a long time, Qing Shui finally opened his eyes. This was indeed the basics of sword arts! No matter how profound a sword technique was and no matter which realm a sword user had attained, traces of the Basic Sword Techniques would still exist within them!
"If that is the case, when Basic Sword Techniques is cultivated to its pinnacle, could it also possess the might of profound sword techniques?" Qing Shui was lost in contemplation.
The carcass of the giant condor and the dried rations, had long since been finished off by Qing Shui, therefore he had no choice but to hunt. As he exited the spatial realm, dawn was already breaking. Although Qing Shui could spent approximately 15 days in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal per real day, every day he chose to split the maximum of 15 days into 3 smaller segments. When he would enter on the 3rd segment, he would stay within the spatial realm until it forcibly extricated him after he passed the time limit.
A period of one month passed, Qing Shui had learnt plenty of things in the last month. He was also out in nature where he could contemplate on the significance of the 5 elements, as well as try to gain insights into the heart of the heavens.
The state of a person's heart was very important. For people with a large frame of heart, they would naturally be able to contain more things. People with a narrow frame of heart, could be compared to a frog living in a well, forever unable to imagine or appreciate the beauty of the vast outside world!
A wild boar was hunted by Qing Shui. After which, he removed the bristles, cut open its stomach, removed the intestines, blood, internal organs, then he scraped the carcass clean, even the head of the boar was not spared.
"What a waste, how inconsiderate!" Qing Shui laughed self-deprecatingly.
Luckily, this wild boar could be considered muscular and fit, there was no excess fat in its body. During this period of time, the thing that Qing Shui ate most were the wild boars. Especially the pig trotters… Yummy, they were to die for. To satisfy his palate, Qing Shui hunted many wild boars and experimented on them to practice his cooking skills.
Currently, Qing Shui felt that his cooking skills could still be considered slightly above average. After all, he felt that the food he cooked had a superior taste when compared to other fine inns or restaurants.
After finishing his dinner, Qing Shui stored the three remaining trotters inside the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. He then walked to the side of the cooking fire and picked up a wooden staff measuring 3 foot 3 inches long from the ground.
Entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal again, Qing Shui had long since mastered the basic sword forms of: Hooking, Hanging, Pointing, Carrying, Piercing, Slicing and Hacking. Now, he wielded the wooden staff, as he would have wielded a sword, the staff almost appeared to be alive in his hand, vigorously performing each of basic sword forms to perfection. After all, both of his arms had already been trained to an extremely agile state, including his palm, his wrist, his fingers, and every other part of his hands due to practicing the Solitary Rapid Fist, as such they had long since reached the peak of agileness.
All thanks to the bout of enlightenment from before, it was as if all the insights gained during practicing the Solitary Rapid Fist had been absorbed by his pair of hands. So when he practiced his sword techniques, Qing Shui could achieve double the results with only half the effort, advancing at a tremendous pace.
As the saying went, "It takes 10 years to master the saber, and a 100 years to master the sword!"
Sword Arts were immeasurably deep and profound, Qing Shui knew deep in his heart that if he wanted to master the path of the sword, he would definitely need to expend tremendous amounts of efforts and time. In any case, Qing Shui was not worried. After all, he was the sovereign of the Realm of the Violet Jade immortal.
The sword follows the body, the body leads the sword, a sword user must be able to attain the state of sword and body as one, body and Qi as one, Qi and Spirit as one. Although Qing Shui was only in the beginning realm of sword users, he could still roughly understand some of the laws of the profoundness of the sword arts!
What Qing Shui understood was, using Qi to control one's sword, the breath and execution of the sword techniques must complement each other in addition to one's form and footwork. However, regarding Qi and Spirit as one, Qing Shui had not the slightest clue about it.
However, he did not need to fully comprehend this now. What Qing Shui needed to currently attain, were the three mantras associated with sword arts! Swift, Accurate, Decisive. Especially for the first mantra, Swift!
Currently, Qing Shui, with the strength of one, could already defeat 10. Now, if he managed to successfully comprehend the meaning of swift, he would be akin to a tiger that had grown wings!
Swift! Qing Shui, in order to comprehend the meaning of swiftness, unceasingly tried out different forms of sword attacks, altering their angles.
Just like this, Qing Shui decided to practice the most elementary form of all sword movements. Drawing his sword from the scabbard, Returning his sword back to the scabbard, Iaido. What Qing Shui currently wanted to master, was the Iaido [1] technique.
This was because Iaido only placed emphasis on Swiftness. Once the sword is drawn, one must kill. Swift to the point of dazzling your opponents, leaving the opponent with no chance to defend!
[1] https/en./wiki/Iaido
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