The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2457 - Forced Into Battle, Taichi Against Taichi

This development had caused the two of them to come to a complete standstill. Soft and slightly cool, a light fragrance was transmitted into Qing Shui's mind. The tips of their noses came into contact and what Qing Shui saw was her beautiful eyes that were like black gemstones. Right now, this pair of eyes were filled with surprise and anxiety.

When the lady got back to her senses, she immediately took two steps in retreat. Her face turned slightly flushed, causing her innocent aura to become increasingly innocent. Right now, they were glaring at Qing Shui as if happy but also with some reproach.

Qing Shui rubbed his nose awkwardly, "Accident! It was definitely an accident! I didn't do it intentionally."

The beautiful lady shook her head helplessly. This was an extremely mature action, but on such a pure lady like her, it gave off a special disposition. She continued walking forward, and said, "You still haven't answered my questions."

Qing Shui needed some time before remembering her question from earlier. "I only got to know that the He Clan is the clan of the Mortal City's City Lord after I came to the auction hall. I had not heard of them prior to this."

"That's really a coincidence then. There were probably many people today who thought that you were targeting He Fan," The lady smiled and said.

"Sometimes, this is how things are. Why is it that when there are so many different things being auctioned, he wants the same things I do?" Qing Shui also felt that this was really a great coincidence.

"This is destiny in a way. It's a pity that the setting wasn't right. Otherwise, the two of you may have just become friends," The lady smiled and said.

Qing Shui realized that she could also smile in a relaxed way. She wasn't that cold, but she didn't smile that much earlier on.

"Forget it. There's probably no way for me to become friends with someone like him. It's already bad for us to become enemies." Qing Shui shook his head.

"However, it seems that you've already become enemies." The lady stopped and looked towards the distance.

They had left the Divine Grade Auction Hall, but there was a group of people standing there in the distance. The person in the lead was as expected, He Fan. Right now, he was looking at Qing Shui and the lady with an amused expression.

"Alright, you better go back and not get yourself involved in this," Qing Shui looked at He Fan and his group then said to the lady.

"I was the one who brought you here. I can't leave you alone." The lady gave it some thought before saying.

"No matter how I leave, they would still stop me. Regardless, I still have to thank you. I can handle this by myself." Qing Shui looked at her.

"Miss Li, go back. This has nothing to do with you. I won't blame you," He Fan looked a the lady and said with a smile.

"What do you have to blame me for? He is my friend. I hope that Young Master He doesn't make things difficult for my friend." the lady looked at He Fan and said in a calm tone.

"Alright. Get him to hand over those two things and I'll treat it as if nothing happened." He Fan stated his conditions.

The lady frowned and was about to say something when Qing Shui patted her gently on the shoulder and took a few steps forward. He stood in front of the lady and faced He Fan before he started talking, "Young Master He, was it? Were you waiting for me here?"

"Lad, what are you putting up a pretense for? Since you dared to target me, you should be prepared for this." He Fan looked at Qing Shui in amusement.

"Target you? I think you're overestimating yourself." Qing Shui said, puzzled.

"You... Alright, since you dare to go up against me, bring out what you've got. Otherwise, you can forget about leaving the Mortal City." He Fan smiled out of fury.

"The He Clan is the ruler over the Mortal City, the strongest existence here. It's a pity that someone like you makes them seem a lot weaker. If everyone in the He Clan is like you then it would be too disappointing. One more thing. I advise you not to be so intense. If you were to die one day because of your actions, your clan might not stand up for you." Qing Shui stared at He Fan.

"Why are you pretending to be something big? Do you think that I don't know your identity? You're just a simple battle god. To think that you dare to act so arrogantly here. You're really courting death," He Fan said coldly.

"Then I shall see what gives Young Master He the right to be so arrogant."

With that, Qing Shui gathered his fingers together and thrust out.

Diamond Finger!

Although He Fan wasn't weak, he was very careful and wouldn't put himself into danger easily. Therefore, he backed off a few steps instead of advancing. A middle-aged man next to him walked out and extended a hand to block.

When an expert made a move, one would be able to gauge his capabilities.

This man was like a massive mountain, standing there as if he were a 10,000-year old pine tree. His hand was like a branch, strong and sturdy, and had a mysterious rhythm.

Pa!

Qing Shui's Diamond Finger was negated, but he changed his fingers into a fist.

Berserk Dragon Fist!

A dragon's roar exploded in the sky like rolling thunder, as his fist smashed onto that man's hand.

A huge collision sound rang out and Qing Shui's figure trembled slightly. However, the middle-aged man performed a strange swaying movement and negated Qing Shui's powers. Then, his figure became like an advancing python. It didn't seem to be fast, but he rapidly got up to Qing Shui and put out his hand again.

His arms were like willow branches or like waves, having a mysterious power.

Qing Shui performed the Windwhisk Willow, moving with the wind within that small space and dodged that mysterious killer. This man was very strong, being at the Nurture God Realm. Moreover, his realm should be slightly higher than Qing Shui's. Most importantly, this man seemed to have mastered some kind of Heavenly Technique.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to reach that level. Right now, Qing Shui was consciously tempering himself and didn't use his strongest battle technique. After all, this was the Mortal City and it was best not to reveal some of his trump cards too early. There were many killing moves that other people would never get to find out. It was because those who had seen them would have already died.

Taichi!

Qing Shui knew that the other party's Heavenly Technique should have the essence of Taichi's yin and yang. It was superior compared to Qing Shui's Taichi. Their earlier contact had made Qing Shui feel that his understanding had increased by a lot. Therefore, he also used Taichi to counterattack.

Qing Shui's Taichi was no longer the same as before. It had incorporated Taichi, the Mountain Push Stance, the Berserk Dragon Fist, and even a hint of the Berserk Dragon Fist and the Yu Emperor Fist. It was a combination of force and gentleness, and could switch between the two with a single thought.

Right now, what Qing Shui needed to do was to detect that essence.

When Qing Shui performed Taichi, the middle-aged man was also very surprised. He hadn't expected this young man to also know of this Heavenly Technique. Furthermore, It was out of his assumption that his realm wasn't weak at all.

The many paths of martial arts led to the same result. Qing Shui didn't think that he was the only person in the world who knew of Taichi. It could be that it wasn't known as Taichi in this world, but there would definitely be people who had battle techniques similar to Taichi. This man was one such example, and his level of mastery was very alarming.

Boom boom...

The two of them got into contact rapidly and their figures kept passing by each other, occasionally releasing stifled sounds. The people in the surroundings saw that for most of the time, they would separate upon contact, and only the two people directly involved in the fight would know how fierce and dangerous the situation was.

If one party were to be able to use their opponent's force against them, their attacks' damages would be at least twice as strong. If one wasn't careful, they would suffer serious injuries.

Qing Shui had an astounding resistance toward attacks. Moreover, he had the Divine Weapon Flying Sword's damage reduction and other things. Therefore, he was now focusing more on secretly learning from the middle-aged man. Or rather, it could be said that he was tempering his own Taichi. During that short period of time, Qing Shui's Taichi mastery had improved at a tremendous rate. He kept on absorbing precious experience crazily and many small barriers which he hadn't understood previously or found it hard to break were now being transcended incessantly, like a series of consecutive quick-fire.

The middle-aged man he was up against, on the other hand, felt very depressed. He could clearly sense that Qing Shui's strength was constantly increasing. Moreover, this was his own skill that was being absorbed. What he didn't know was that Qing Shui's mastery of Taichi was of no less than 100 years (in terms of the time flow in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.)