The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1525 - Battle with Leng Ye, Battle Royale

With everything ready, Qing Shui looked towards the man named Leng Ye, and said unhurriedly, "When everything's said and done, I hope you will have no regrets."

"I, Leng Ye, have never regretted anything in my life." As Leng Ye met Qing Shui's gaze, he strengthened his conviction.

"Alright, let's start then!"

Qing Shui was well aware about the advantage of striking first. He had the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant attack with its Diamond Sword Qi and Vajra Subdues Demons, while Qing Shui simultaneously used the Heavenly Talisman, Art of Pursuing and Emperor's Qi.

As he began his offense, so did Leng Ye. The ten Dark Demonic Jiao Kings started spouting clouds of black fog towards Qing Shui at odd angles.

Area Dominance!

Regardless of its toxicity, Qing Shui's body had long been immune to toxins. However, there was also Qin Qing and some of his other beasts with him. In that instant, with Qing Shui at the heart of its focus, the blackened fog was expelled from the white-clad area that appeared.

Roar!

The Giant Azure Dragon let out a resounding roar. Its huge stature circled and, like an overturned river, bouts of water began pouring down from the sky, cleansing the fog away from their surrounding area.

A black halo began glowing on the bodies of the Dark Demonic Jiao Kings. Along with the old men and Leng Ye, more than a dozen people from before were also waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

Bang!

Qing Shui's Emperor's Qi could envelop its target in a moment, but the same could not be said for the Art of Pursuing. The moment the battle began, the Dragon Slaying Beast was knocked back from the attack of a Dark Demonic Jiao King.

Thunderous Beast!

Qing Shui summoned the Thunderous Beast to release its Thunderbolt attacks relentlessly in the distance. He also brought out the Eight-Headed Demonic Dragon Spider. While protecting themselves without help would prove to be a difficult feat, there were still the Azure Dragon, Hell Nightmare Beast, Hellfire Phoenix and the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant to protect them. Maintaining this state for a short period of time should not pose an issue.

Qing Shui gave Qin Qing the best position within the Battle God Halo, while his position with the beasts was a little less ideal. Still, with the combined strength of the Phoenix Battle Intent and the relevant Formations, Qin Qing's strength was terrifying at this stage.

Unlike him, Qin Qing was not as confident in her own might and looked over to Qing Shui with an unsure gaze. Qing Shui merely nodded, and Qin Qing settled her focus on the Dark Demonic Jiao Kings.

With a lift of her hand, the small, ice-blue Phoenix appeared in her hand. It was beautiful and strange at the same time, exuding a deadly aura.

Qin Qing waved her hand, and the tiny phoenix set its trajectory before flying towards a Dark Demonic Jiao King, locked onto its target.

Bang!

The Dark Demonic Jiao King's body was frozen in that instant, and couldn't even let out a roar. At that time, another of those ice-fiery phoenixes appeared on the Absolute Seal of the woman's hand once more.

The phoenix was a lot bigger than the last one and its speed was a lot faster as well. With a flash, it came into contact with the Dark Demonic Jiao King from before.

Crack, bang!

After a resounding clap, a tenth of the area around the Dark Demonic Jiao King's head, where its ferocious face was located, disappeared.

With Qin Qing's strength, being able to eliminate the Dark Demonic Jiao King in a split second was not all that surprising. It was only surprising that everything happened so abruptly, and too fast. Qing Shui watched the woman as she smiled at the tiny phoenix.

These people were going to be played to their deaths today.

They had not expected the woman to be such a troublesome character. Seeing this, the two old men charged decisively towards Qin Qing. They must first eliminate her, or things would only become more difficult later.

Nine Continents Mountain!

Qing Shui watched the two elderly men and made his move to block their path with the Nine Continents Mountain. He didn't seek to hurt the enemy with it, but to cause interference to their movements.

Art of Pursuing!

At such a reduced speed, the old men were robbed of any possible advantage they had in one fell swoop.

The Dragon Slaying Beast was now charging towards the Dark Demonic Jiao Kings. As a beast that hunted dragons, it had an absolute power of repression over beasts with dragon blood flowing in their veins. Forget about the Dark Demonic Jiao Kings, even the Black Dragon would tremble in fear at the sight of the Dragon Slaying Beast.

The Emperor's Qi from earlier had weakened, but the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant's Diamond Sword Qi was also effective against the Dark Demonic Jiao Kings. Coupled with the Dragon Slaying Beast's absolute suppression of the dragon type, they were as formidable as tigers among a flock of sheep.

Just as the two old men managed to overcome the Nine Continents Mountain, they were greeted by such a sight. How their hearts throbbed. These Dark Demonic Jiao Kings that were being torn apart had the potential to become as powerful as the Black Dragon and they were usually treated so preciously.

Leng Ye was furious. He rushed towards the Dragon Slaying Beast, but there was something strange about his speed. His huge frame moved like a ghost. As the fourth Dark Demonic Jiao King was defeated by the Dragon Slaying Beast, he struck an attack towards the latter's body.

The Dragon Slaying Beast flew backwards from the impact and let out a grunt. Qing Shui let his Hell Nightmare Beast collaborate with Qin Qing and the Thunderous Beast, while he charged towards Leng Ye.

Mighty Dragon Elephant Stomp!

Qing Shui held onto the Golden Battle Halberd while he headed for Leng Ye. Leng Ye's weapon was also strange. It was huge and looked like a sword, but it wasn't one. The weapon moved towards Qing Shui.

One was an inheritor of the Battle God and the other an inheritor of the Demon King.

Qing Shui's weapon was of the Golden Battle God Inheritance, ranked within the top three. At the same time, the Black Dragon Demon King Inheritance was also one of the strongest inheritances among Demon Kings.

Qing Shui's might was inferior to his opponent, but he still had other tricks up his sleeve. He had no plans to hold back this time round; he would exert all he had in unleashing the Art of Pursuing, Seal of Xuantian and Heavenly Talisman.

However, only the Emperor's Qi and Art of Pursuing could play an effective role.

Qing Shui knew that his opponent had a technique that could forcibly increase strength, though in relative terms, it was still far from the extent which Qing Shui could weaken. He started moving.

Nine Stances of Ancient Divine Battle Technique, Nine Palace Steps!

The Dragon Slaying Beast returned to pursue the Dark Demonic Jiao Kings; there were five remaining out of the ten. Even when the two old men knew very clearly that the Dark Demonic Jiao Kings were not a match for the Dragon Slaying Beast, they needed to buy some time.

The Dark Demonic Jiao Kings were all within Leng Ye's proximity, which meant that they would be able to protect each other and avoid being killed with one blow from the Dragon Slaying Beast.

Qin Qing was already engaged in battle with the two old men, but the Azure Dragon had coiled itself around one of them. Along with the Seven-Headed Spider [TL Note: didn't it become Eight-Headed? Author error?] and Hell Nightmare Beast, the two sides remained an equal match.

Qing Shui knew that he could not delay any further. At this level of combat ability, the tides could reverse in an instant. He summoned the Dragon Slaying Beast forth to help out, and the Thunderous Beast had also appeared within the effective range of Leng Ye.

Thunderbolt…

The Thunderous Beast was unrelenting in its thunderbolt attacks, and Leng Ye had likewise grown aware of the danger that this beast posed. He knew that he could not delay any further either, and with a shift of his eyes, the body that had been several times larger than Qing Shui started to change.

Dragon Transformation!

Dragon Form Eruption Strike!

Leng Ye unleashed the Black Dragon Demon King's Sure Kill Heavenly Technique. A shadow swiped through like a whirlwind. Qing Shui had the intention of blocking it, but by the time he wanted to command the Thunderous Beast to use its Violet Lightning Strike, it was already much too late.

Bang!

The Thunderous Beast was covered with its violet blood and flew back from the impact. Qing Shui didn't know for sure if it was still alive, but he could still feel the Thunderous Beast's breath. Qing Shui was furious now.

Nine Palace Steps, Great Reversal!

Qing Shui and the Thunderous Beast swapped position instantly. It was fortunate that the Thunderous Beast was strong enough, or it would have been killed in a split second. When Qing Shui rushed to its side, there were still violet lightning surrounding it.

Lightning Recovery: the Thunderous Beast grew up freely in the golden lotus of Buddha's aura, and possessed an extremely powerful healing ability. With the Lightning Recovery, it can instantly heal about 70% of its wounds, and the rate of recovery is also faster than normal by about 10 times. The duration for the improved rate is about an hour each time, and with every two usages, there's a cool-down period of two hours.

It was the greatest strength of the Thunderous Beast; as long as it had one last breath, it'll be able to save its own life. It could recover from 70% of its injuries in record time on top of the ten fold recovery rate in the next hour.

Leng Ye was upset by this. Even with his Dragon Form Eruption Strike, he was still unable to eliminate the Thunderous Beast. He wouldn't have been this surprised if he had known about its healing powers.

Violet Lightning Strike!

Violet Lightning Strike!

With Qing Shui's Nine Palace Steps, he appeared in front of Leng Ye in a flash. The Golden Battle Halberd in his hands plunged towards the hideous head. Despite Leng Ye having grown by twice his original size, his head had grown proportionately, so when struck by the Golden Battle Halberd, even he would be crippled if he didn't die first.

Bang!

Although it had not pierced through, he was still made of flesh and blood. With the transformation, Leng Ye had grown bigger and stronger, but Qing Shui's weapon was a Golden Battle God Inheritance, and hence, even if it didn't pierce through, the sharpness was still several times mightier.

The tip of the Golden Battle Halberd plunged into that huge skull.

Roar!

Leng Ye cried out, sounding out something akin to the wailing of a beast. The two old men from afar were shocked by the sound, and the scene when they looked back left them shaking in fear. If Leng Ye had got himself injured, then there was no way they could live through this either.

The two old men wanted to withdraw themselves, but it was impossible for Qin Qing to allow it. Still, she was unable to keep both of them at bay and one of them had begun rushing towards Qing Shui.

Qin Qing called upon the Azure Dragon to assist Qing Shui.

Bang!

Qing Shui was well-prepared. When he had plunged the weapon into the huge skull, he had poured in divine power with the attack. It might not have been deadly before, but with this new addition, it was definitely fatal. Besides, the brain was the most vulnerable part of the body.

When the old man arrived, Leng Ye's body had already begun to droop and fall, reverting to his original appearance. The only difference was the bloody pit on his head, which by itself wouldn't have killed him. What killed him was the divine power that Qing Shui had exerted.

When used for the first time without the opponent's knowledge, it was most typical for Qing Shui and the Thunderous Beast to kill them alone. Qing Shui was definitely confident in killing an opponent in an instant. Any opponent would be unable to defend against the pair, unless they had prepared a powerful beast in advance.

He had fooled Leng Ye this time around, but it was still not easy to kill him. Not to mention that, there was a limited amount of times which the Thunderous Beast could be utilized. With the strength of the old man, Qing Shui estimated that they might need three or four tries before they could achieve the same effect as before on Leng Ye.

The old man's eyes were raging. He knew it was over. He had never expected to misjudge this. The nature of martial artists lay in their love for battles. When he had seen Qing Shui's arrogance at that time, the old man had the urge and confidence to fight as well, but he did not expect such a result.

If he had known, then he would have given way magnanimously. At the very most, he would tell them words out of sheer courtesy and he would not have lost anything in the process. It was too late now. Sometimes you're finished the moment you lose. Some mistakes can never be made in your entire lifetime, because there would be no chance to return.

"If you killed Leng Ye from the Sacred Might Dynasty's Leng Clan, even you will be done for." The old man seethed and shouted.

Qing Shui hadn't heard of the Leng Clan, and he didn't know about the Sacred Might Dynasty, but he wasn't one to be threatened by mere words. At this stage, as long as they weren't of Divine cultivation, then there was no one he feared. Even then, there weren't many Divines around. Furthermore, no Divines would be provoked by such a small matter.

Qing Shui didn't care. He rushed towards the old man, but this time, it was just a cover-up. The real culprit was the Hellfire Phoenix above.

Nine Phantoms Slaughter! It was the Hellfire Phoenix's Sure Kill Heavenly Technique; Qing Shui wanted to end the battle.

Nine Phantoms Slaughter: Enhances lethality for 15 minutes. Under the effect of Nine Phantoms Slaughter, depletion will increase tenfold. This can only be used once a day.