The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2066 - Shen Huang's uncertainty

"Qing Shui!"

Looking at Qing Shui's face, Shen Huang was a bit speechless. She had no choice but to call out to him. Actually, Qing Shui wasn't really that obsessed with her. If she had been his enemy, he wouldn't be so distracted by her. It was because he knew that she was Shen Huang that he willingly made himself distracted by her beauty. He wanted to test how it felt to lose himself.

Besides, he also gained something from having this kind of feeling. It was greatly beneficial for his heart that it could experience this kind of changes. Furthermore, he had a strong self-control to begin with. The heart was also trying out new things as one meticulously enjoyed the irresistible charm. This was similar to the drug-resistance in his previous incarnation. It was like having a fever: certain people could recover by only taking two medications; some people couldn't recover with medications and would have to take injections; in the worst case scenario, some might not even recover from that but have to be hospitalized instead.

Qing Shui came back to his senses and said, "Congratulations!"

"There is nothing to congratulate me on. I can't even take it with me when I die," Shen Huang shook her head and said.

"I won't let you die. If we really fail to find the Blaze Moth, I will…"

"Stop! You bastard." Shen Huang quickly interrupted Qing Shui and even quickly let out her hand to cover his mouth.

A faint fragrance and a unique sensation went into Qing Shui's nose and mouth. He couldn't stop himself from landing a kiss on her soft palm. Upon feeling the ticklish sensation, Shen Huang got so shocked that she pulled her hand back like a frightened little rabbit. She shot a glare at Qing Shui. In her clear and pure eyes, there was a kind of charm that was never-before-seen. That was a kind of gracefulness which she attained automatically along with the inheritance, simple yet elegant.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop talking about it. Just remember that when the time comes and we are left with no other choice, I will…"

"You…"

Qing Shui chuckled and grabbed her hand as they rode on Little Rin once again, flying deeper into the Sea Ocean.

Qing Shui was grabbing Shen Huang's hand and by doing so, he could delay the time when the coldness broke out again. After so many days of holding her hand and hugging her, Qing Shui was already used to it. They were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the back of Little Rin. Shen Huang's fine black hair touched Qing Shui's face, causing him to feel a bit itchy, yet he didn't know how he should describe it.

Them encountering the Flower Demon this time was an accident. After all, the Flower Demon should only be found in the deeper parts of the Flower Ocean. It was also unfortunate of her to run into someone like Qing Shui. Otherwise, a lot of people would have died in the hands of the Flower Demon.

He had managed to gain a lot of benefits from this encounter. Shen Huang received the Divine Flower Inheritance which caused her strength to increase by multiple times. Qing Shui's 9th Lotus Manifestation Stage once again went through a mutated change under the influence of the flower storms. By now, his 9th Lotus Manifestation Stage also possessed decent strength. It was able to both attack and defend with a terrifying strangling force.

Qing Shui also summoned the Dragon Slaying Beast, since it was capable of one important thing: treasure-hunting. Thus, along the way, even though they were flying at a high speed, whenever there were formidable treasures, the Dragon Slaying Beast would be able to track them down.

One of the most important reasons why a treasure could be considered one was because of its rarity. It was not something which could be found everywhere. Thus, even though they only managed to find a small number of treasures along the way, Qing Shui wasn't really upset about it. He also didn't purposely try to search for them. This might have caused him to overlook the chances of finding treasures, but the main purpose of his visit this time was to hunt the Blaze Moth.

"Eldest Mistress, do you have any dreams or wishes?" By now, Qing Shui had also become familiar with Shen Huang, even though he wasn't really sure how he could describe the relationships between them.

"Little brat, I know what you are thinking. Are you trying to get me to tell you my secret?" Shen Huang put on a slight smile and looked at Qing Shui.

"What do you mean 'little brat'? You should know better than anyone else that it's not small and it can't be any bigger." Qing Shui was having a serious face while saying that.

If Shen Huang was unable to read Qing Shui's mind, she wouldn't have understood what he meant. But unfortunately, she was able to interpret his words even if she didn't want to. The worst thing was that this brat acted all serious as he was saying it. Besides, she grabbed it herself... He never forced her to do so.

"Are you mad? I am sorry, can you please forgive me once?" Qing Shui noticed that Shen Huang stopped talking.

Qing Shui was the only person who would have the guts to say such vulgar things in front of her. It was weird that she didn't seem to be angry at all. If he were to say that thing in the past, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Could it be that she had degraded herself?

...

"I was just trying to make you happy. What I just said may sound vulgar, but back in where I live, we have a saying: 'Women are attracted to bad boys'. It's always been emphasized that women tend to find jerks more appealing. I am actually an honest man; you don't know how much courage I have to summon up just to say that. What I said just now doesn't reflect how I actually am." Qing Shui apologized sincerely.

"What nonsense are you saying. Only people who like each other are allowed to…" When Shen Huang spoke up to this point, she noticed that her tongue might have slipped. She didn't know why she would say something like that.

Qing Shui chuckled, "That's true. When people who have affections for each other talk about this, it is happiness. But if these things were to come out of the mouth of someone whom you don't have feelings for, it will be no different from listening to immoral drivel."

"I am not mad. I just don't know how I should respond to what you say. If that's the case, will you feel that I am not a serious woman?" Shen Huang said and shook her head.

"How are you not serious? You are a virgin."

Seeing Shen Huang's murderous eyes, Qing Shui knew it was time to end this topic. He then looked up into the sky and added, "What a good night scene."

At the moment he finished speaking, he moved on to look at the beautiful sphere-like object in the sky, "The moon today looks a bit brighter!"

Pu-chi!

Shen Huang smiled, even though it was only for a moment. She then slowly entered his embrace and said, "I am feeling a bit tired, let me rest for a while."

Qing Shui moved his hands and let her lay down on the crook of his arms so that she would feel more comfortable. Deep down, he was very happy. Even though what he said just now might sound unreasonable, it still ended up having quite a huge impact. Otherwise, she wouldn't have leaned onto him no matter how tired she felt.

Qing Shui was immersed in her look when she smiled before. Even though her smile might not look as cheerful as the Flower Demon's, it was a lot more beautiful and bewitching than hers. That was a kind of amazement he felt deep from within his heart. He didn't know how to describe it. His heart was stirred up at the moment when he witnessed that, yet he failed to come up with any dirty thoughts of her. He only found her to be really gorgeous, beautiful enough to stun anyone present.

When Shen Huang saw Qing Shui's distracted look, she extended her hand and pinched his waist, "Stop looking!"

Qing Shui nodded like an old man who was calm and didn't have any worldly passions. He thought about a lot of things. And he wouldn't be persistent with chasing after her, nor would he avoid it. To the current Qing Shui, having a woman like her was only a kind of luxury. He should consider himself lucky to be able to experience things like this with her. If he were still single, he would have thrown away everything just to win her heart over.

Even though he might have more than one woman now, he no longer found it as unfair as he did before. Love itself was already unfair to begin with. Even though he might have come to accept this, he would still remind himself to not emphasize too much on these things.

Qing Shui shut his eyes while pondering over all of these. Shen Huang, on the other hand, had her eyes opened looking at the man who was within arms reach. As time passed, she felt that she had begun getting gradually closer to him. Not only physically, but also spiritually and mentally.

She knew that Qing Shui was already married and had his own children. He was married not only to one, but multiple wives and some of them were almost equal to her in terms of looks. She didn't know what she should do. Even though she didn't like this man, or rather, she wasn't sure if that was still the case at this point.

Seeing that she was able to lay in his arms so comfortably, if she didn't like him, would she have allowed herself to do that?

She only had a few days more to live. Back then, her life had been saved by this man, and until now, he was still the person keeping her alive. If, in the end, he really ended up using that kind of method to save her as a last resort, what should she do?