The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1555 - Sword of Father and Son, Soul Lock, In the Nick of Time

Once the battle commenced, the old man took out a dagger and the bewitching younger man took out a sword. The two weapons were similar and the only difference was their lengths.

They were both broken swords.

"The Sword of Father and Son!"

Qin Qing exclaimed in shock. Hearing her words, Qing Shui froze as well. There was really nothing as inconceivable in this world— Sword of Father and Son? What a strange name for a weapon!

"What's with the Sword of Father and Son?" Qing Shui glanced at the similar weapons. The color of the dagger on the older man was slightly grey while the sword on the younger man was bright.

"According to the legend, the two swords were crafted by a father, using his life essence as a sacrifice. During the crafting process, the sword took a liking for the owner's blood and hence, the father sacrificed himself for the son. However, the sword shattered and the distraught son leaped into the sword furnace. The sword was split into two from then on, they were jointly named the Sword of Father and Son." Qin Qing explained its history briefly.

"Is it powerful?" Qin Shui asked after some thinking.

"It's a pretty decent weapon among all the other legendary stories. It is said that when both swords are used together, their power would increase drastically and even bear a mystical power. We should be careful." Qin Qing warned Qing Shui.

They were still in peak condition and had only exchanged a few sentences when the two opponents charged towards Qing Shui. One of them stood further back while the other was in front. There was about a meter's gap between them.

Chaotic Fire Net!

Qing Shui stretched a hand out, and a haze of fire assembled into a net as a shield against the two men. There was a bright halo glistening at the top, filling the void in the atmosphere with a dangerous aura.

The charging men met midway, the intersection of the swords giving out a crisp, melodic sound, then two silhouettes were released from it. They charged towards the fire net.

The two silhouettes were the images of a slouching old man and another of a healthy youngster. They looked like sharp swords, as they dashed towards the fire shield.

Bang!

Following the sound of impact, the Chaotic Fire Net vanished but the two silhouettes were still charging forward and towards Qing Shui. It was similar to a spirit energy attack but at the same time, far more powerful in comparison.

Such attack cannot be blocked physically, as it can easily break any obstacles blocking it. Even the damage caused by a similar, spirit energy attack would be greatly reduced. That was the reason why the two opponents were so terrifying.

Nine Continents Mountain!

Still, Qing Shui didn't have a choice. Even though the Nine Continents Mountain was a physical object, it wasn't ordinary. It was a treasure, able to block any kind of attacks.

The Nine Continents Mountain now had thrice the speed and damage dealing capability, though it was still a physical attack and not on par with spirit energy. Hence, even with these tripled stats, the impact wasn't much stronger than the Seal of Roc, but it wasn't all that much inferior either.

The Nine Continents Mountain blocked the attack while remaining unscathed and their opponents were startled by this. The pair of old and young men had trained with the Sword of Father and Son for a long time now and by virtue of this unique attack, many powerful martial artists would have died in their hands.

They had thought that they would be able to inflict damage this time around too and were confident with their strike. Never had they expected the treasure of their opponent to be able to block it this easily.

Seal of Roc!

Qing Shui linked both his palms together and struck forth. A Scarlet Flame Phoenix appeared in front of him. It wasn't huge in size but it exuded a disturbing burst of energy.

Go!

The Scarlet Flame Phoenix measured at a few meters in size as it charged towards the opponents with a trailing blaze.

The two silhouettes cried out and with a coordinated strike of the swords, a band of light shielded the pair of contenders.

The battle was swiftly reaching the point of intersection; the clinking sound rang ceaselessly. Qing Shui and Qin Qing weren't hasty neither. It was best to increase your experience through observation during combat. Once you had a wider range of experience, whatever tactics you encountered would bring about an inspiration to increase your damage potential.

Which was why battling was also a kind of fortune, but you needed to learn how to grasp it. Otherwise, when you're dead in a ditch, you wouldn't even have time for regrets.

On top of his terrifying defensive power, Qing Shui still had the Paragon Golden Armor and thus, he remained confident. Pulling out the Golden Battle Halberd, Qing Shui smiled. the Golden Battle Halberd alone would be enough to block his opponents' attack.

The Golden Battle Halberd was also a treasure, even a weapon of the magical type. It would even be able to damage a divine artifact.

At that instant, the clash of weapons resounded.

The Sword of Father and Son was truly extraordinary. Despite the numerous attacks, Qing Shui was still unable to penetrate its attack. It seemed like any attempts at breaking through with the Golden Battle Halberd would be dependent on the material of the rival's weapon.

The opponents' defense was tight and without loopholes. The old man was in charge of defense and the young man was assigned to offense. Like a venomous snake, the young man's sword brought on a sharp energy attack that could prove fatal when he unleashed it. This reminded Qing Shui of wolves and cobras from his previous life.

The contenders used the defense ability of their Sword of Father and Son, emitting a series of intriguing protective halos in succession. Seeing this, Qing Shui and Qin Qing had likewise switched to a defensive stance.

Qin Qing didn't want to use her Sure Kill Heavenly Technique at this point. Qing Shui grew gloomy whenever he was put in this position. Even if they were powerful, he still had too few Sure Kill Heavenly Techniques at hand and so, he could only take a beating.

In the beginning, when he managed to attain three Sure Kill Heavenly Techniques within a short time length, he had still been weak. In comparison to those of his level at that time, he had two more in excess of what others possessed.

At his current level, however, he had a lot fewer than the others. Even though he came to the realization that Sure Kill Heavenly Techniques were not as useful as one would think. Qing Shui could confidently say that he had the least Sure Kill Heavenly Techniques among those around his rank.

In fact, Qing Shui didn't know that it wasn't necessary to learn a type of Sure Kill Heavenly Technique whenever you reached a new level of strength. Instead, having a multitude of them wouldn't change the course of the battle, as only some would be powerful enough. Those with a fewer number of Sure Kill Heavenly Technique would likewise concentrate more on those and have more experience at using them. Once you had grasped them well, then you'd naturally be able to wield them as you wished, and their essence would also be stronger.

Without concern, the two men continued attacking Qing Shui and Qin Qing with their aggressive strikes.

Double Soul Guide!

Merging the silhouettes of both swords, the grey phantom turned almost realistic. Its body brought upon a grey, fireworks-like element, but it wasn't Primordial Flames or any other types of fire. It was a type of soul attack.

Soul Lock. Destroy!

The grey phantom rushed at Qing Shui. The latter's expression shifted. He could feel the dangerous aura emitting from the entity and hastily shifted the Nine Continents Mountain to shield him.

Bang!

With the attack, the Nine Continents Mountain flew beyond Qing Shui's controllable range, like a small boat among billowing waves. As though it wasn't at all affected, the phantom continued charging towards Qing Shui.

To be able to attain such level of strength, the Yue Clan must have a few Sure Kill Heavenly Techniques up their sleeves and their power must be terrifying. Qing Shui gritted his teeth and rushed forward with his Golden Battle Halberd.

At this time, Qin Qing held out a snow-white, slender sword and pierced forward.

Deterrence. Soul Dispel!

A glaring white light emitted from that sword of hers and penetrated through the phantom. As though it was a balloon that had just been pricked by a needle, it shriveled immediately and vanished.

Qing Shui looked at Qin Qing. The woman's saintly energy was so strong, it was scary. Such spirit energy attacks couldn't even withstand a single blow from her.

On the other hand, there was a sense of disappointment that flashed across the face of their opponents. Initially, the attack could have at least inflicted heavy damage on their target, yet it was defused with such ease by Qin Qing. They had once thought that they could use this 'Soul Lock' and 'Destroy' tactic to win this battle, and perhaps even kill them with it, but now it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.

Qing Shui was delighted. It appeared that he had belittled Qin Qing. Her true strength wasn't what he had expected. The fact that she could control dragons already exhibited her incomparable might, and now she even had the additions of the Phoenix Battle God's Inheritance, the Goddess Divine Set, and the Goddess Divine Technique!

Qing Shui speculated that the attack must have had something to do with the Goddess Divine Set; it was too saintly. One had to realize that when someone reached such level of power, the damage from an attack would come from a combination of spirit energy and physical weapons, and this mix would far exceed the power of mere spirit energy attacks.

This didn't mean that physical attacks weren't going to make the cut. As long as you were gifted enough, whatever attack you made would be effective. This was illustrated with the saying: Defeating a superior force with a weaker force.

Qing Shui's attack alone wasn't enough but it was reinforced by Qin Qing. In this case, Qing Shui could assist her instead. Since the last time Qing Shui controlled the situation at Qin King Manor, he had temporarily found his place.

His place was to assist the others around him and make them stronger. He could also weaken the strength of their opponents, then disrupt them with his own attacks and beasts. This would let the battle end in record time.

The attacks made by those men weren't effective. It was like a predator to a prey, and Qin Qing's saint-type attacks were the predators. The two of them didn't give up. Even if they couldn't lay a finger on Qin Qing, they would find a way to eliminate Qing Shui.

Learning from other people's mistakes, they knew that it would be either Qing Shui and Qin Qing, or themselves who would die in this battle. So the two people swiveled, making use of the last bit of time left for their halo to disappear from sight.

Double Sword Unison. Shield!

Soul Lock. Destroy!

The grey silhouette was even brighter than before, and there was a shadow of a blade with it.

Soul Lock. Destroy!

Bang!

Qing Shui flew backward, spurting out a mouthful of fresh blood but it wasn't a fatal blow. However, another attack forced itself onto him right after, followed by the appearance of a golden glimmer.

With the injury he sustained, he could not have endured an even stronger blow from his opponent's Sure Kill Heavenly Technique. It was only fortunate that the Paragon Golden Armor was able to defend against the attack. Before Qing Shui could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw the silhouettes in front of him merging into one.

Double Soul Slaughter!

Qing Shui widened his eyes. In the instant it happened, Qin Qing was already too late to help. It was already too late even for him to enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, but he recalled his own saintly attacks.

With such soul locking attack, unless he wanted to be killed, Qing Shui could only force a block. There was also the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus…

Saintly Hands!

Paragon Strike!

Qing Shui's hands turned translucent like a glistening snow-white carving. From afar, Qin Qing's courage surged, rushing towards Qing Shui without a care for her own life but she still wasn't as fast as the Double Soul Slaughter.

Bang!

The snow-white halo combusted with speed, looking very much like a miniature sun at that moment.