The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2290 - Divine Buddha Portrait Brings Disaster, Lower Three Regions

In the end, Qing Shui and crew took up residence at the Chi Clan. To gain the Chi couple's trust, he needed to allow their strength to recover, which would take anywhere from three months up to half a year.

Their strength didn't deteriorate, but the hidden injuries made them unable to use even half of their cultivation base. That was the real issue here.

Qing Shui instantly cured a tenth of the pair's injuries, a feat inconceivable to them. They had already sought out many physicians and pill masters who ended up unable to help them recover any further. For his treatment to have such a tremendous effect was truly stunning.

Qing Shui was able to instantly heal a tenth of their injuries that many others had been unable to deal with, even healing the overall injuries. This ability would have made countless powers to vie feverishly for Qing Shui.

All cultivators had their own hidden wounds, potentially reducing their lifespans. Some had lighter wounds; some had heavier ones. After all, those who had spent their lives cultivating would rarely get by without hidden wounds.

Three days later, Qing Shui was finally briefed by the couple about the Chi Clan's story.

The Chi Clan originated from the Eight Desolates Region, belonging to the uppermost tier of powers in the region. The Eight Desolates Region itself was the third amongst the Nine Domains, while the second was the Six Rivers Domain.

With the Eight Desolates Region as the strongest and the Nine Continents' Star Ocean Domain as the weakest, there was definitely a gap of strength between the three regions. As a preliminary guess based on the Bu Clan and the Chi Clan, the gap should be roughly two-fold.

As a prominent clan in the Eight Desolates Region, the Chi Clan was matched by more than a dozen of powers on the surface, and there might even be greater powers hidden away in the region. The Chi Clan's disaster began with a secret manual, one of the Buddhist origins.

To be precise, it was a single portrait, a Divine Buddha Portrait.

This Divine Buddha Portrait had nearly caused the extermination of the Chi Clan. As a consummate treasure of the Divine Buddha Sect, it hid powerful Buddhist secrets and acted as a sect-protecting treasure.

The Chi Clan's fortunes were in dire straits until the birth of the twins. It was a joyous occasion worthy of celebration, with many parties offering up gifts as they came forth to join in the festivities. Gifts were rarely opened before guests, as comparisons would lead to unpleasant situations.

However, these gifts would usually bear the name of the sender, for the receiver to identify them.

The issue was that amongst the various gifts, one of them was the Divine Buddha Portrait.

This was a consummate treasure of the Divine Buddha Sect that wouldn't be passed out for no reason, not even discussing the fact that the two parties didn't have extremely close ties. The Divine Buddha Sect was another gargantuan monster in the Eight Desolates Region, even more titanic than the Chi Clan.

Three days later, a group of experts from the Divine Buddha Sect rushed into the Chi Clan in a fury, claiming that the Chi Clan had stolen their treasure. They then began a massacre.

Chi Yang felt aggrieved as he recounted, knowing that they had been schemed against. The Divine Buddha Portrait had been given to the She Clan by an elder from the Divine Buddha Sect. After that, the She Clan had sent for someone to deliver the gift, creating an imaginary persona whose name couldn't be traced to anyone.

The She Clan, also a giant in the Eight Desolates Region, had waited for Chi Yang's wife to be at her weakest after giving birth before carrying out their plan, striking while one of the two central pillars of the Chi Clan was crippled.

Besides the She Clan, the Ke Clan and the Heavenshaking Gate had also participated while only a single branch from the Divine Buddha Sect had partaken in the assault. It was noted that the instigating elder was of the She Clan.

This matter was naturally dropped given the destruction of the Chi Clan. Even those with good ties to the Chi Clan had given up, doing nothing but seeing their annihilation.

Nobody was willing to fight the She Clan and the Divine Buddha Sect for a clan that didn't even exist anymore.

Qing Shui also felt that the cause was too simple, but it was obvious that there were already underlying tensions, and even if not for this matter, something would've happened eventually. This matter was simply unpreventable.

Chi Yang hadn't believed Qing Shui's rant about restoring the Chi Clan, but with Qing Shui's guarantee that Chi Feng and Chi Ao would be allowed to rejoin their Chi Clan, he wanted to give it a shot.

It was far too tempting, plus he was hellbent on revenge. Qing Shui had given him a goal, and a hope.

If his injuries could really be cured, he would even charge in those degenerates' domain alone

This was Hua City. After the incident, they had tried wandering out of the Nine Domains, but only here could they hear more about the Eight Desolates Region while avoiding their prying eyes.

Suffering from grevious hidden injuries, forced to abandon their flesh and blood, the Chi Yang couple bore a heavy burden and a blood feud. Their hearts and minds were tempered in these dark situations.

Nobody bore the pain they did. Even death was a release, as their lives had simply been worse than death itself.

Someone had given them a chance: a chance to have revenge; a chance to restore their clan; a chance to pacify their ancestors, as well as Chi Yang's father. They could rest peacefully knowing the clan hadn't been destroyed during their time.

The Chi Clan's manor was bustling with noise and excitement as the small courtyard suddenly accommodated a dozen more people.

Though the number of his Black Ice Divine Worms was halved with only four remaining, each one could easily become a powerful weapon upon growing up, not to mention four of them.

There were precisely two couples amongst the worms, so there was the potential for even more worms after they laid eggs.

This life in Hua City continued on for half a month, and Qing Shui finally got a better understanding of the bigger picture within the Nine Domains. It was split into the Lower Three Regions, Middle Three Regions, and Upper Three Regions. They currently resided in Hua City of the Nine Continents' Star Ocean Domain, the weakest of the three Lower Three Regions

The strength of experts throughout the region wouldn't deviate much. Though this wasn't the provincial capital, there wasn't much of a difference despite this being a border region.

Qing Shui recalled the Silver Dragon Palace that Cong Yunlong was from. It was also a peak power in the Nine Continents' Star Ocean Domain, though his strength was slightly lacking. There was probably a stronger senior holding the fort in the Palace.

Qing Shui didn't intend on paying Cong Yunlong a visit since the Silver Dragon Palace was a great distance away, and he would leave the Lower Three Regions soon anyway.

...

Some people had already begun to investigate the truth behind the Cai Clan's destruction. It was the Bu Clan. Supposedly, the Cai Clan's head had an affair with one of the Bu Clan head's wives, and Cai Zhong had even teased the Bu Clan's young mistress. Despite him being crippled, the matter still turned the Bu Clan into a laughingstock.

Qing Shui didn't buy it since an alternative reason was suggested. It was said that the Cai Clan had found an object which the Bu Clan desired. The object in question was still unknown since the Bu Clan never admitted to doing anything. There was yet to be a closure to this issue.