The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1628 - San Wu City, The Inexperienced Jiu Yunlong

The women in his past life liked shopping. Men were willing too, but men were only willing to shop with the women they loved. Similarly, if mean had to shop on their own, then they wouldn't be that willing anymore.

Women were more active about it than men, but just like men, they liked to shop with the people they loved; they could feel happiness this way.

This was part of Dancing Phoenix Continent, and Feng Yan Lake was the nearest to it. Although the place wasn't situated within the Dancing Phoenix Continent, it was close in distance and could be categorized as such.

Due to her body constitution, Tantai Xuan's condition was great without any signs of illness. Besides, Qing Shui was a miracle physician.

San Wu City!

This isolated city was called San Wu City. It was huge and the majority were people who had gone into hiding. The locals were actually the minority. Within San Wu City, there were aristocrats and sects, but it didn't look as terrifying as it seemed.

While the city nominally belonged to Dancing Phoenix Continent, the latter was still in a mess. Qing Shui had no idea who the Guardian Clans or powers of the Dancing Phoenix Continent or Soaring Dragon Continent were.

Although the Phoenix Dance Organization and the Soaring Dragon Organization carried Phoenix Dance and Soaring Dragon in their names, Qing Shui knew that they were not Guardian Clans. Under normal circumstances, each continent would have a Guardian Clan or power in charge, perhaps even more than one.

The three of them walked along the street and bought snacks along their way. Most of them were delicious. After all, there was a wide variety available here and so just a taste of it was enough. Walking along the long street, the three of them laughed as they talked and explored.

Many of the surrounding pedestrians would look over at the three of them as well. After all, Yu Ruyan and Tantai Xuan were beautiful women who couldn't be found even thousands of miles out from here. Wealth, beauty and authority were what people chased after in his past life. In this world, it was wealth, beauty and might.

There wasn't any conflict about what was the most important; with might, anything else would naturally fall into place. On the other hand, wealth could turn useless. In the past, there was a saying that money rules all; being wealthy was also a form of might.

"Young Master, look at how beautiful those two women are." A voice chimed from the distance.

Qing Shui's ears were sharp. In all honesty, he expected such things to happen the moment he brought the two women out. After all, there were many who thought themselves as strong. Moreover, even he would have wanted to win the hearts of the two women if they had swapped positions…

This was why it would be impossible to be with a beautiful woman if one did not have might. Even if she was willing, there were many wolves out there waiting to rob her away with everything they had.

Qing Shui turned his gaze to check out the impudent person who dared thinking of snatching his women from him. There were only three people in their opposite direction. Among them, there was a handsome young man with and imposing aura and a cheery disposition. A confident smile hung at the corner of his lips and his sunken eyes looked great on him as well. Even Qing Shui couldn't deny that the young man was charming.

"How do you do? I'm Jiu Yunlong, please to make your acquaintance." With a smile, he walked over and greeted them.

Qing Shui was frozen for a moment; there weren't many with the surname of Jiu. Through the Golden Battle God Inheritance, he found out that Jiu was an ancient surname. He didn't think he'd meet someone of that surname here.

"Do I know you?" Qing Shui didn't know how to be courteous, but he still flashed a smile when he asked.

Qing Shui's might had increased dramatically from before and had even broken through a Heavenly and Earthly Meridian. The benefit he had received from it was substantial; as long as they were not a Divine, Qing Shui was confident in winning any battles.

Jiu Yunlong wasn't angered by Qing Shui's words. "We didn't know each other at first, but every relationship starts off with the two as strangers. Weren't you strangers with the two beautiful ladies beside you at first?"

Qing Shui could feel a strange power from the man. It was concealed and very subtle. The man was powerful, just a step away from False God.

Qing Shui was already a Peak False God now, but it didn't mean that he could run rampant just because of it. Qing Shui's might would make going against a False God easy; after all, he had attained such a level of cultivation. There were many False Gods at this stage.

Qing Shui wouldn't be able to scratch a Divine now, for he had not reached that level of might. However, with his strength now, he could still go up against the lower levels of Divine, but he had not yet met with any of them.

The man should be around Qing Shui's age, hence, with his power at such a young age, he must have been extremely gifted. Furthermore, there was a strange, concealed power in the man which made Qing Shui think that he might be near the elementary level of False God.

"I don't like making friends this casually. Why don't you just tell us what you want?" Qing Shui smiled.

There was a hint of condescendence to his words but the man did not become angered. Instead, he looked towards Qing Shui. "I like the ladies beside you, but I also like a fair battle. You don't have to guard against me like this!"

"They're my women. Why should I fight with you over them?" Qing Shui didn't hide the disdain in his scoff. The faux gentleman in front of them was really just a flirt at heart.

Still, that man wasn't a flirt, and didn't have the right to be. Men who had a little authority and an aristocrat background didn't know their place, and those who did were far too few.

Jiu Yunlong was well-known in San Wu City. The Jiu Clan was one of the three most powerful forces in San Qu City; in fact, the other two forces would have to form an alliance to even stand a chance against the Jiu Clan. Jiu Yunlong was the eldest in his generation, although his generation was the youngest in the family. The patriarch was his great-grandfather.

The continuation of the patriarch's power relied on combined power and not just a succession between generations. More often than not, a single patriarch would manage the clan for several hundreds of years or perhaps even longer. Hence, a strong clan could maintain its family for hundreds and even thousand of years. There's no space for mistakes in selecting a patriarch.

Jiu Yunlong was likely to be the next patriarch of his clan; the current patriarch still had two hundred years left in his life and that would be enough to train Jiu Yunlong to be even stronger. This was why his position in Jiu Clan was high. This reflected in the status he held in public.

"You're wrong. No one is in possession of anyone or anything in this world; even consciousness might not be yours at times, much less that of any others." Jiu Yunlong shook his head and retorted.

A crowd of spectators was beginning to form at their interaction. At this time, a young man beside Jiu Yunlong spoke up. "This is San Wu City; to have our young master take a liking to your women is your fortune and theirs. Our young master does not wish to destroy the harmony. How about this? Let them stay and our young master will grant you anything you wish."

Qing Shui's face did not betray any emotions. However, at the moment the man was done talking, Qing Shui slapped his hand towards them.

His gestures weren't fast and Jiu Yunlong wanted to block it, but chose not to in the end. Instead, there was a small smile that tugged at his lips, which seemed sly and scheming, as though he had gotten what he wanted.

Slap!

The young man who was talking earlier was flung to the side from its impact. Without a single sound, he fainted in mid-air.

"What a despicable thing." Qing Shui laughed as he said, but those words were not only target at the young man who fainted.

Qing Shui didn't think about killing as much as he once did. Taking the young man for example, Qing Shui didn't see a need to kill but a punishment was definitely necessary. Perhaps because of the disparity between them, he didn't feel as much rage as he imagined he would. These people were mere clowns in Qing Shui's eyes.

"You've got guts indeed, to dare to lay a hand on my man." Jiu Yunlong's smile disappeared when he regarded Qing Shui.

Slap!

Qing Shui struck Jiu Yunlong's face with another slap. He didn't budge on impact this time, but his face was swollen. Even though there was a saying that fighting should happen to the body and not the face, Qing Shui still felt satisfied at the slap.

Jiu Yunlong was stunned by the slap, in disbelief that there was someone who dared slap him. He didn't think about why he hadn't dodged it, but instead focused all his thoughts on the very fact that someone had dared do it…

"Did you really think you could do as you pleased with just a little advantage on your side? Fool. You're not worthy of it. If this had happened in the past, I would've killed you off straight away." Qing Shui's words were cold, but he delivered them with a smile, leaving Jiu Yunlong's heart in a tremor.

He knew that Qing Shui didn't say these words just to scare him. The aura he exuded in that instant only made Jiu Yunlong look up. He suddenly realized that he had hit his head on a nail this time, but he was still unwilling to leave things as they are. After all, there were many spectators who had just witnessed the slap inflicted upon the young master of San Wu City's Jiu Clan.

"This is San Wu City. You don't have the right to run rampant." Jiu Yunlong waited on Qing Shui, and all of a sudden, a pale red light shot from his own eyes into Qing Shui's.

The Yin-Yang Image in Qing Shui's consciousness began spinning at once. Qing Shui could feel the fuzziness in his brain, as if he was going through a hangover. The feeling was faint though, for his mental strength was great. He still had the Arhat Rosary Beads and other items that could cancel out any attacks on his consciousness too.

After a split second, a cool light from Jiu Yunlong's hand sliced towards Qing Shui's throat.

Qing Shui's eyes glistened abruptly, his eyes staring into Jiu Yunlong's as he plunged the latter into a daze with a surge of his mental strength.

A boomerang effect. This was something that Qing Shui was aware of as well. It was easy to be on the receiving end of it when in combat with someone who had higher level of skills. If unexpected, the success rate was great. Such techniques of yin poison were risky.

Just as Qing Shui was about to make his next move, numerous silhouettes appeared in haste; there were two old men and three younger men. A dignified voice rang out, "Stop!"

Qing Shui didn't attack eventually, but on top of the slap he had given Jiu Yunlong earlier, the backlash effect had caused Jiu Yunlong much harm.

One of the old men walked towards Jiu Yunlong's body and pinned two spots before stuffing a pale red pill into his mouth. He spoke to a man behind, "Ru Liu, bring him back first."

Qing Shui took this time to measure up the two old men. Regarding the three other men, Qing Shui didn't even bother sparing a glance.

The two elderly men were very old in age, but it seemed as though their appearance hadn't changed in many years. Besides their grey hair, they didn't seemed weighed down by age at all.

The two elderly men were of the False God level. Qing Shui had no choice but to re-evaluate the might of Jiu Clan. One had to know that in the Dancing Phoenix Continent, False God warriors were the best around.

The two old men were between Grade 3 to 4 of False God, and they were both watching Qing Shui now.