The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2452 - Tantai Lingyan's Daughter, the Mortal City

The Nine Moons Domain's Taiqing Emperor City, located in the extreme North!

Tantai Lingyan was now in a palace hall. It wasn't very big, but the decorations were giving off a warm feeling. The floor was covered in a snow-white carpet and the entire room was very clean.

She appeared to be spotless, dressed in snow-white clothes. She was pretty as a picture, appearing to be cold and as if she was an existence that transcendent the secular world. However, there was a hint of gentleness between her brows. Not far away, a lass who was about two years old ran toward her.

"Mother!"

The lass was exquisite looking, like a porcelain doll. She bore a 70% resemblance to Tantai Lingyan, but had an additional hint of mischief. She wore a thin princess dress and a small bell on her ankle. As she ran, a series of crisp bell tones would ring out.

Tantai Lingyan's face softened even more when she saw the lass. Her beautiful figure squatted down as she embraced the girl who was dashing toward her, "Qing Tan!"

If Qing Shui were there, he'd definitely find it unbelievable. The girl was Qing Shui and Tantai Lingyan's daughter. Although they had done it once through their clothes back then, he would never have believed that they'd hit the jackpot.

Qing Shui didn't take any contraceptive measures with Beihuang Fan and Shen Huan. Yet, despite them having been together for so long and spending time together practically every day, they still didn't have any children. Moreover, it was the same with both ladies. This showed how difficult it was for them to get pregnant.

However, it was unexpected that even though when it was with Tantai Lingyan, they didn't even take off their clothes but somehow managed to get a child.

This child made Tantai Lingyan feel a little dazed, but she was mostly happy about it, especially after the lass was born.

No one dared to question the lass' parentage. Right now, Tantai Lingyan was already the sect leader of the Nine Moons Domain's Demon Gate. It was the Demon Gate branch that was inferior only to the Nine Suns Domain. After giving birth to her daughter, Tantai Lingyan realized that she had more memories of Qing Shui. For example, she already knew about their first encounter, as well as many events where Qing Shui searched for her thereafter.

The other thing was her strength. Although she had a daughter, the increase to her strength did not slow down but rather, it became even faster. Right now, her Demon Gate's strength was very terrifying. There were several ten thousand powerful Demon King Inheritors alone, and countless many other members.

1.5 years ago, she took down that Demon Gate with ease while bringing along Qing Tan, who was six months old back then. She brought many Demon Kings along with her, and those people were her trusted aides.

"Hahaha, Mother, are you thinking of Father?" The lass smiled happily in Tantai Lingyan's embrace and asked.

"No," Tantai Lingyan smiled and replied. She was always wearing a smile before her daughter, and unknowingly, she started to smile a lot. However, she would only do that when her daughter was around.

"Then why is it that you're always calling Father's name in your dreams at night?" The lass was very mischievous and at two years old, she was already very clever and knew about some simpler things.

Tantai Lingyan didn't hide anything from the lass. Tantai Lingyan told her child that she had a Father, but he was very busy and would visit them in the future.

It was a rare sight to see Tantai Lingyan blushing. She stroked the lass' head and said, "What do you want to eat? Mother will make it for you."

"I'm not hungry. I want to look for Father." Qing Tan looked at Tantai Lingyan.

Tantai Lingyan wasn't scared of anything except this one request. This wasn't the first time the lass had said this. However, this time around, Tantai Lingyan could tell that Qing Tan was a lot more serious than she had been in the past.

"Alright. Shall Mother bring you along to look for him after we have our meal?" Tantai Lingyan looked at Qing Tan's crystal-like eyes and couldn't reject her. Moreover, as she had recalled more memories about Qing Shui, she also had the idea and the urge to go and see him.

She remembered many things, but the influence from her mission made her unable to put things down and she also felt guilty. However, when she saw Qing Tan, she would feel a little better.

This was his daughter, and also hers. Their daughter was very clever and her physique was also a rare spirit body.

...

It had been two months since they left South City. They had just come out from the Nine Moons Purgatory.

The Nine Moons Purgatory was an iconic location where many influences or cultivators would head to for trials. It was a dangerous place filled with treasures, Desolate Beasts, and Poison Beasts. There were also many rare medicinal herbs, poisonous plants, as well as strange flowers.

Qing Shui led the group there to train themselves during those two months' time. They encountered great danger on multiple occasions and had almost caused some of the Battle Gods to die on several occasions. If it weren't for Qing Shui's amazing medical skills, at least half of them would have died, with the remaining half also wounded.

There was a saying that martial arts and medicine were part of the same family. Martial arts cultivators would definitely need to be equipped with some medical skills. Otherwise, they would have been crippled a long time ago.

Qing Shui had already reached the pinnacle of the third level of the Nurture God Realm for quite some time, and finally attained a breakthrough during those two months. Of course, his Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal was also vital. A few days ago, he had reached a breakthrough to reach the fourth level of the Nurture God Realm.

After reaching the fourth level of the Nurture God Realm, Qing Shui felt that his entire body became very comfortable, filled with overwhelming powers. Both the fourth and third levels were demarcation points. He had progressed much more when compared to the third level, especially concerning Qing Shui's strength. The increment received from his caves were the same as before. His tenth cave had doubled his foundational strength and the remaining nine caves increased his foundational strength by half.

Qing Shui understood that this was due to there being a balance between himself and the existences nurtured in the caves. Otherwise, as the caves got increasingly stronger even though his strength was weak, he might become the main target for attacks by others. If his actual body were to die, the caves' abilities would naturally be gone as well.

Therefore, the increment to his strength from the fourth level of the Nurture God Realm caused Qing Shui to be a little surprised. However, he wasn't very astonished. He was merely happy.

...

The Mortal City!

This was one of the strongest cities in the Nine Moons Domain. In the Nine Moons Domain, the Nine Moons Emperor City was the strongest. There weren't actually any cities that were ranked second or third as they were equally matched. However, the Mortal City was one of the next strongest cities after the Nine Moons Emperor City. Other than the Nine Moons Emperor City, there weren't any other cities that could suppress it.

The Mortal City was situated in the center of the Nine Moons Domain, inclined towards the north. The Mortal City had a long history and was rumored that in the past, a mortal had started from this place and eventually reached the pinnacle in his cultivation. This city was built to commemorate that person.

Back then, the Mortal City was very small, but it was now extremely vast. The countless cities around the Mortal City all belonged to it. However, they each had their own names. It was in a similar situation as to how a county or prefecture would each have their own names, but would all belong to a certain province. The places around the Mortal City all had their own names, but eventually, came under its purview.

The Mortal City's City Lord Manor was said to be the clan of that mortal from back then. It had a legacy of countless generations and was extremely strong. The legacy they formed had its own uniqueness. Their talents were also very terrifying, possessing the most sacred powers of mortals.

Qing Shui and the group purchased a manor in the most prosperous spot in the Mortal City.

In places like the Mortal City, the Nine Continents influences would tend to have a branch there. Qing Shui planned to start accumulating the Divine Palace's powers there and then fight his way to the Nine Suns Domain from that point. This process could be very quick, or it could take up over ten years, several decades or even longer.

But he had now seen hope. Now, he was at the fourth level of the Nurture God Realm. However, it wasn't enough. He needed to continue working hard. As he got stronger, he might be able to influence the Nine Continents' set up in the future.

His thoughts drifted very far away. There were both of yearning and bewilderment. He had always been advancing passively and hadn't thought of contending for anything in the Nine Continents. Maybe he was already a part of the contention, such as in the case of his women.