The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2480 - Messed Up Divine Palace Nation

Divine City!

By the time Qing Shui's group arrived in Divine City, half a year had already passed. It was a long journey and they weren't in a hurry. Sometimes, they would even stop at a place for a couple of days. There were some places which could allow them to travel via teleportation arrays, and in those places, Qing Shui would choose to do so.

The Divine City was the same as Mortal City. It wasn't just a city but was actually a region that was comparable to an Empire. Be it the Divine City or the Demon City, they each represented an area that was within their influences. They were the dominators in the area.

The city walls appeared old and prestigious, dignified but not boring. This place wasn't like the ancient era in the world of Qing Shui's previous life. Qing Shui felt that it would be very outdated and the colors would be dominated by black and white. However, there was another type of civilization here. There were light stones and extravagant-looking buildings. Although there were no automobiles, there were luxurious beast carriages. There were no planes here, but there were huge flying beasts. These gave an even greater impact than the flying swords mentioned in Qing Shui's previous life.

The area was wider, the speed was faster, and the strength was greater than that of the bulldozers and big trucks...

Qing Shui had no idea how things were for Tantai Lingyan in the Demon City. However, he knew that she should be vying for the position of the Demon Gate's sect leader in the Demon Gate's headquarters about now.

The Divine City had an endless rustic aura. It was an ancient legacy and from the moment they entered the city, Qing Shui immediately noticed that many people dressed up in a way that was similar to that of Battle Gods. However, they were not actually Battle Gods. Those people should be considered to be those at the lower levels of the Battle Gods influence.

The times were changing and the things in Qing Shui's inheritance weren't fully accurate anymore. In the past, the Divine Palace should be very fair and harmonious, just like the age of Yao, Shun, and Yu [1] in Qing Shui's previous life. However, things changed there their times and Qing Shui felt that the situation here was similar to that.

Right now, the Divine City was about the same level as the sects with inherited legacies and royal families, passing on their positions. They each had their own strength and had formed a sect amongst themselves. This was, unless there were stronger people who were capable of taking down the Divine Palace. After arriving in the Divine City for half a day, they had obtained some simple information.

They found a random inn to quickly take a rest and then continued on their way. This time around, Qing Shui didn't use the Nine Continents Steps. He tried to find more information along the way. On the way, Qing Shui realized that there were many Divine Palaces in the Divine City. There would be at least one Divine Palace in each place. There were Nine Continents Divine Palace—Clea River, Nine Continents Divine Palace—Carp River…

A random person from the Divine Palace would be like an aristocrat from an Empire. They had to be branched out. Otherwise, the people from the headquarters wouldn't be able to manage them. Moreover, the headquarters didn't have the time to deal with this.

This was the Divine City, and Qing Shui wanted to see how strong the Battle Gods here were. Most of them had their own respective inheritances. Some of the Battle Gods had been in this place for no less than several decades and their influences had already been deeply-rooted to the place.

For a massive organization like the Divine Palace, the Divine City was the foundation. The Divine Palaces Qing Shui had encountered in the past were far cry from them, not connected like the ones here. This was the real Divine Palace organization.

"I beg of you, let my daughter off. She doesn't wish to become the Divine Palace's Holy Maiden. Please let her off! I'll kowtow to you. I beg of you."

Many people crowded around and crying sounds could be heard.

"It's her blessings that the Divine Palace has chosen her. Don't obstruct the Divine Palace from its duties. Otherwise, we'll arrest you." An arrogant voice rang out.

"Sigh, this is really sinful." An old man sighed and shook his head.

Qing Shui and the group happened to walk over. He smiled and asked, "Uncle, what's the matter here? Why does it look like someone is being forced to become the Divine Palace's Holy Maiden?"

Qing Shui saw a married lady kneeling on the ground with disheveled hair. She was pulling another lady next to her. They were facing ten more more men with burly builts. One of them was looking at the beautiful lady with a lewd expression.

The old man looked at Qing Shui with some wariness, shook his head, and didn't say anything.

"I have no ill intentions, nor am I one of them. I've just arrived in this place today and they gave me the feeling as if they are forcibly seizing women." Qing Shui knew that the old man was scared of getting into trouble if he were to speak recklessly.

"Hah..." The old man sighed again and shook his head.

Qing Shui could tell that the old man wouldn't say anything, but he had already known what was happening. Therefore, it no longer mattered whether the old man spoke up or not.

"I beg of you. I don't wish to become the Divine Palace's Holy Maiden. Please let me off." The young lady begged while trembling.

"You guys are really daring. Do you think that you have the option of not becoming the Holy Maiden just because you say so? Do you still have any respect for the Divine Palace? Do you believe that I can arrest you guys and have you be confined for life?" The arrogant man glared and said.

"Young Master Shen, I only have this daughter. Please let us off. I'll erect a plague for you at home and pray for your blessings." The married lady wailed as she grabbed onto the man's sleeves.

"You don't know what's good for you. Take them all away. They deserve to be killed for looking down on the Divine Palace." Young Master Shen waved his hand.

People from the surroundings headed over, wanting to take this mother and daughter pair away.

"Who gave you the right to do this? Since when has there been Holy Maidens in the Divine Palace? What Battle Gods are you guys?" Qing Shui was enraged. He was a Battle God Inheritance and felt that this inheritance he received was sacred. However, he didn't expect things to turn out like this. It seemed that they were no better than the Demon Gate. Qing Shui suddenly felt very disappointed in the Divine Palace.

"Who are you? This is the Divine Palace's matters." Young Master Shen looked at Qing Shui and said sternly. However, his eyes quickly landed on the few women behind Qing Shui.

Young Master Shen's eyes gleamed. His hand was still grabbing on that young lady from earlier. He had thought that this lady was very beautiful and wanted to bring her back to have some fun, using the recruitment of a Holy Maiden as an excuse. It wasn't the first time he had done something like this. However, after seeing the few women behind Qing Shui and then looking at the young lady he was grabbing onto, the latter no longer seemed beautiful. He let go of his hands, "Alright, you guys can leave. I'm in a good mood today and shan't pursue the matter of you offending the Divine Palace."

"Thank you Sir, thank you!" The mother and daughter cried out in joy and then quickly left after saying their thanks.

Qing Shui shook his head and wanted to leave. He was in no mood to deal with something like this. Anyway, the guy had already let that mother and daughter off. Although there were things that one might find hard to accept in life, they had their reasons for existing. Moreover, Qing Shui felt that many people in the Divine City were like this.

"Stop right there. Did I say that you can leave?" Young Master Shen shouted toward Qing Shui.

"Oh? Is anything else the matter?" Qing Shui smiled, but there was strong killing intent in his eyes.

"Our Divine Palace is looking for a Holy Maiden. The few of them seems suitable. Congratulations." Young Master Shen said with a solemn expression.

Qing Shui felt that this guy was like an idiot. Who hired this guy to act like a clown...?

"F*ck, where did a fool like you come from? Why would we need your congratulations? I'd be disgusted if I had to kill trash like you. I have no idea how you managed to survive until today." Hao Tian couldn't hold back and cursed.

If this person was a real idiot, it'd be fine. The thing was, this idiot was trying to put up a clever act. He treated everyone else as idiots, thinking that other people wouldn't be able to tell what lewd thoughts he had, being a toad that lusted over a swan's flesh. He seemed as if it was other people's good fortune that he could enjoy their women.

"Oh? You're berating me?" Young Master Shen looked at Hao Tian in astonishment.

"Hmm, of course I am. You're really too idiotic, not even knowing that I've berated you." Hao Tian nodded.

"There hasn't been anyone who dares to oppose me, the Young Master Shen. You're courting death. Do you know what place this is?" Young Master Shen wore an expression which seemed to say that Qing Shui's group had gotten themselves into big trouble.

[1] Early Chinese often speak of Yao, Shun, and Yu the Great as historical figures, and contemporary historians believed they may represent leader-chiefs of allied tribes who established a unified and hierarchical system of government in a transition period to the patriarchal feudal society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Yao