The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1479 - Haohan Continent, Mysterious Existences

She said "now isn't the right time", not "no." Even Qing Shui felt that the time wasn't right, which was why he was so nervous the moment the words flowed from his mouth.

Qing Shui sensed that she wasn't someone who gave in to fate easily. If not, she wouldn't have acted this way today. Qing Shui smiled as he continued, "As long you are happy, anything is fine by me. I will treat you as someone who I love, but please don't let the fact burden you. Just treat me as someone you can trust."

"If I don't treat you as someone whom I can trust, how would I allow you to do all this?" Tantai Lingyan stated somewhat helplessly.

Qing Shui smiled. He knew that no matter how cold a woman was, she would never be so cold to herself for her 'first time'. This was why she handed over the initiative to Qing Shui right at the start. As long as Qing Shui could enter into her world, it basically meant that there was hope for him to pursue her.

If Qing Shui chose to remain forever in the Qing Clan of the Greencloud Continent, the initiative would fall on the woman for future interactions. However, Qing Shui had always worked hard, putting in effort and walking step by step until today. The initiative was in his hands. If there were no unexpected situations, this woman would be his for sure. Now, only time was needed.

Tantai Lingyan stared at Qing Shui's eyes. The eyes of this little man contained the vicissitudes of time. She could sense a feeling of being doted on. She felt somewhat in a daze, but her heart was warm. She no longer had any kin, and maybe this man was the person that's the closest to her.

The moment she thought of her family, she unconsciously thought about the many things that happened between her and him. A man who laboriously tried to catch up to her strength, slowly transforming into the point he was today. She couldn't help but to feel happy and blessed in her heart when she thought about this.

Qing Shui could see a trace of gentleness in her gaze. Leaning forward, he gave her a kiss on her jade-like nose. The woman was stunned, glaring at him in surprise, but not saying anything to blame him.

"Lingyan, during this period of time, there might be a few new powers emerging. They are all our own people and in the future, they might be of great help to us when we fight against the Haohan Continent." Qing Shui smiled as he thought of his women.

"Your women?" Tantai Lingyan asked.

"Mhm!" Qing Shui awkwardly replied.

"What a lascivious fellow. With so many women, why do you still come and chase me? Is it worth all the effort?" Tantai Lingyan curiously stared at Qing Shui. Actually, she knew now that there were over ten beauties who were Qing Shui's wives, but she didn't understand why he would still put in so much effort to chase her.

"I believe in this thing called fate. I feel that there's destiny between us, and as the saying goes 'A hundred years' efforts lead to crossingby the same ferryboat, a thousand years' efforts lead to sleeping on the same pillow.' I don't wish to miss this chance." Qing Shui seriously replied.

Tantai Lingyan instantly went red when she heard these words. The first time they had met was precisely in such circumstances. Upon thinking of this, a blush painted her face pink and she didn't dare match Qing Shui's gaze.

"My Lingyan is becoming more and more like a little woman." Qing Shui smiled, asking for a mile when given an inch.

"Disgusting, who belongs to you?" Although Tantai Lingyan said this, she wasn't angry in her heart. She pulled along Qing Shui's hand and went to some other place. She couldn't endure anymore under this atmosphere of love and emotion.

"I wish to go to the Haohan Continent to take a look." Qing Shui spoke as he walked by her side.

"Mhm, I guessed so." Tantai Lingyan softly stated.

"Do you want to go with me?" Qing Shui turned his head to Tantai Lingyan.

"I have to enter seclusion to cultivate my battle art. The inheritance of the clan has arrived. I can't accompany you. How about I go find you after I end my seclusion?" Tantai Lingyan shook her head.

"Okay. I can return here very quickly in any case. If I come back halfway and you've finished your seclusion, I will bring you with me." Qing Shui had the Five Elements Divine Flag after all.

"Mhm, you have to be careful since you are alone. There will be many people that miss you." Tantai Lingyan spoke in a light voice.

"Would you miss me?" Qing Shui stared at her in anticipation.

Tantai Lingyan stared at Qing Shui's eyes before nodding her head lightly.

Qing Shui smiled.

……

Three days later, Qing Shui bid farewell to his clan and executed the Nine Continents Steps.

Haohan Continent!

A wave of fragrance permeated the atmosphere in Qing Shui's surroundings. This place was in the air, while below him was a lively city. The tall buildings were so tall that they almost touched the clouds and one couldn't see the tops with a single glance. Several large flying-type avian demons flew through the air with their owners on top.

A lively city, this must be a lively city. The prosperity index was much higher compared to the Phoenix Dance and Soaring Dragon Continents.

According to normal logic, this place should be the central core region of the Haohan Continent. It could be considered the boundary of the depths of the continent. It still couldn't be considered the depths yet, and the air here was much fresher in comparison to the Soaring Dragon and Phoenix Dance Continents.

ROAR!

A thunderous dragon roar shook the sky, Qing Shui stared at the horizon only to see a gigantic fire dragon speeding through the air with hundreds of experts on top of it.

Qing Shui clicked his tongue. The Soaring Dragon Continent had the word 'dragon' in it, but there weren't many dragons to be seen there. Qing Shui had killed two that could be considered pure-dragon types. It was just that pure-dragon types were considered one of the weaker species of the dragon family.

The fire dragon he met earlier was very powerful, but its strength was only around a hundred million yang. For the weakest demonic dragon-type beast, their strength was ranked at least the demon immortal level. Mature dragons were even stronger. Although fire dragons were not the strongest of the species, they were already stronger than many others.

There were around a hundred types of dragons, or even more. There were some dragons who looked very unique, belonging to the pure-dragon species. Also, owning a dragon was a sort or status. Experts who could mount a dragon were usually people with extraordinary status and strength.

The moment he came he already saw a fire dragon, which seemed like the mount of some powerful sect. Usually only on special missions would the sect allow so many to mount the dragon.

Dragons had their own prestige. It was already the absolute limit if they allowed one person to mount them. Such a scenario like the one he saw earlier was very rare. Unless the sect leader was too powerful, surpassing the strength of the fire dragon by a lot, it shouldn't be possible. The Haohan Continent seemed more and more fascinating. There were about ten divine experts in the Five Tigers Immortal Sect. What concept was this? The mysterious Haohan Continent was filled with opportunity and danger.

In the Phoenix Dance and Soaring Dragon Continent, Qing Shui was afraid of no one. However, this place was different. There would always be a heaven beyond a heaven. But even so, Qing Shui was feeling pretty relaxed in his heart.

Before this, there had been some reason for him traveling to each place he had been to. He carried a lot of things while heading to those places. This time around, he didn't have many burdens in his heart regarding this trip to the Haohan Continent. This was a kind of experience-broadening matter for him.

What level of strength were divine experts at? Qing Shui had no idea. He should still be very far from that level. Although the people from the Five Tigers Immortal Sect said that they had divinities in their sect, Qing Shui knew that divinities weren't existences that were common in the Haohan Continent. A divinity who was also known as a divine expert was strong enough to be the hegemon of an area.

The Haohan Continent was too vast and too dispersed. Qing Shui watched as the fire dragon disappeared into the horizons before he descended onto the ground, melding in with the crowd.

Luckily the language spoken in this world was the same through the continents. This was much more convenient for Qing Shui as he didn't need to spare the time to learn new languages. At most, there would be dialects, but the dialects were still easy to understand.

This was an extremely lively city. Qing Shui walked on the streets and right in the centre, there was a huge pathway where many horses, carriages, and even chariots could be seen.

Passerbys walked on both sides of the street. There were some shops on one side, and a long series of tents which were all selling oddities and items, constituting an extremely bustling scene.

Despite being in such a bustling environment, Qing Shui's heart was quiet. Over here, everything was strange and unfamiliar and had nothing to do with him. His emotion now was extremely relaxed.

There were some unique snacks sold as well, Qing Shui brought some, savouring the taste as he enjoyed his walk. These snacks consisted of things like kebabs, or spicy salty foods, and the taste was excellent. Compared to his previous world, this world had too many things. One positive point was that there was no pollution, everything was natural.

There were many people roaming the streets leisurely like Qing Shui, eating snacks as they roamed about. Many youngsters held hands as they smiled at each other, laughing while roaming the streets, constituting a scene of youthful vibrancy.

Qing Shui actually wasn't that old. But he wasn't that young either. He had the memories from his past life but he understood that being young was merely a kind of perspective and a state of the heart.

Qing Shui didn't even know if the place he was at was the territory of a dynasty or powerful sect. He had no wish to know either. He only wanted to live a simple life over here, and didn't want to be concerned about anything else.

A sound of loud cheering rang out from afar, the melody of a grand wedding. Qing Shui smiled. It seemed like there was a place for free food for him today.

"The third young master of the Yin Clan is getting married. His bride seems to be none other than the young miss from the Ling Clan."

At this moment, a voice among the crowd was overheard by Qing Shui.

"What do you mean by it seems like? It's basically the truth."

Qing Shui slowly walked on, listening to the words of the other party and getting some free information.

"The reputation of the young miss from the Ling Clan is truly somewhat undesirable. What a pity that the third young master of the Yin Clan has to marry her."

"Big clans are like this. Even if the third young master is unwilling to, he would have no choice as well. The Ling Clan is too powerful and the Yin Clan can only accept. I heard that just yesterday, the young miss from the Ling Clan was still secretly meeting up with some other men."

"Hey, lower your voice. If others hear what you say, we might be in big trouble."

Qing Shui rubbed his nose. He was also familiar with the ways of large and powerful clans. Everything was for the sake of mutual benefits. The young master from the Yin Clan was truly to be pitied. Since the Ling Clan was so much stronger, it was basically impossible for him to marry again after having such a slut for his wife.

At the Yin Clan Manor!

There were many people there who were in charge of receiving the guests. Usually those who received invitations would naturally come. Once invitations were sent out, the sender would usually not ask for them back. This was why Qing Shui dared to so brazenly walk up to the front gates.

"Mister, how might I address you?" A middle-aged man smiled at Qing Shui, taking a step out and obstructing his path.

"My name is Qing Shui." Qing Shui smiled.

The others had all brought gifts and presents when they came but Qing Shui had nothing with him. There were also many servants in charge of receiving gifts at the entrance.

The middle-aged man frowned. He had never heard of this name before, and neither had he heard of any powerful experts with the surname of Qing from those great clans. Qing Shui's open and direct approach by strolling up the front door actually caused the man to have a hard time deciding whether to accept or reject him. He was afraid of allowing someone in that would cause trouble at the wedding, but on the other hand, he was afraid of offending a valuable guest.