The Ancient Strengthening Technique

593 The Fifth Portrait of Beauty, The Exceptionally Beautiful Face Within The Crystal Coffin

Qing Shui looked around and realized that there was nothing else in here. The Treasure Map in his hand had already vanished the moment he entered this palace. This was a clear indication that the location on the Treasure Map was here.

He then shifted his gaze towards the palace wall of the east side. It turned out that his view had been obstructed by the crystal pillars of this palace earlier. This wall was different than the wall on the west side. The drawings were directly painted on the west wall, but on the east wall, a painting drawn on Beast Parchment was suspended on the wall.

There was not only a beast in the painting but also a person. Qing Shui was surprised earlier to see a familiar painting on the wall, it was similar to the Portraits of Beauty that were suspended in his Realm of Violet Jade Immortal.

The fifth Portrait of Beauty!

Qing Shui looked at this painting. The lady in this painting had a beauty that could topple kingdoms. She had beautiful dark eyebrows, a pair of gorgeous deep eyes and an imposing beauty that could subdue someone. The lady in the painting also looked as if she was in midair.

Canghai Mingyue!

Qing Shui only came back to his senses after a long time. Although he had always suspected that Canghai Mingyue was one of the ladies from the Portraits of Beauty, he still got pretty excited and emotional when he confirmed it with his own eyes.

……….

Qing Shui shifted his gaze onto the other painting. It was an old man who looked like a sage. His white clothes were whiter than snow. On top of that, his hair was snow white and he had a long snowy white beard. His appearance was surprisingly tidy.

There was neither a description nor an introduction. The old man in the painting appeared to be in a deep thought. After gazing for awhile and not making any discoveries, Qing Shui shifted his gaze to the other painting beside it.

This time, it was a painting of a strong-looking middle aged man who was fully dressed in battle armor. He had a pair of thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a straight nose. His lips formed a tight straight line, showing his unyielding determination. His dark armor brought out his grim aura.

……….

Qing Shui gradually looked upwards. The more he looked, the more all this collection of paintings appeared to be like a family tree…...

The series of paintings clearly conveyed the family's dismal decline over the ages. The Portrait of Beauty that was suspended at the most bottom part stood out.

Qing Shui didn't take that Portrait of Beauty but he instead slowly made his way towards the crystal coffin. He felt that the gorgeous crystal coffin was a little strange in this extremely spacious and empty great hall.

He suddenly recalled the question he had asked the old turtle. He had asked it if it needed any help and the old turtle had actually nodded its head.

The crystal coffin was about three meters long, two meters wide and one meter high. Colors were reflected on it, but it wasn't transparent. Most importantly, the crystal coffin was not covered.

He approached the crystal coffin curiously. Qing Shui had killed quite a number of people so he wasn't afraid that there would be a dead person in the crystal coffin. Besides, a dead body lying in a coffin was nothing out of the ordinary. However, he had a lot of questions in his head. For example, what was this place? Who were the people in the paintings? What did the old turtle need help with…...?

Qing Shui was flabbergasted when he saw what was inside the crystal coffin. It wasn't the sinister-looking skeleton nor the horribly mangled dead body he imagined, although it was a person as expected.

It was a divine-looking woman!

Her eyes were shut, her hair was worn in a high bun. She had a pair of gentle looking and beautiful eyebrows. Although she didn't wear any cosmetics on her delicate face, she was still a beautiful woman that looked like a slumbering goddess.

Not even her snow white simple clothes could conceal the fine curves of her unusually beautiful body. Her shoulders were chiseled, the curves in front of her chest were extremely gorgeous, her soft waist was like flowing white silk. Her slender and exquisite figure was like a jade sculpture sculpted by God. Her delicate exposed bare feet glowed with radiance…

Even when she was laid there with her eyes shut, she still exuded an aura so holy to the point of causing one to feel blasphemous when staring at her. This was the most distant woman that Qing Shui had ever seen. It wasn't because of her coldness, but because of the pride and aloofness that came from her very soul.

Her expression was very tranquil, but Qing Shui didn't believe that she was a dead person. He reached out and put his hand on the wrist of this exceptionally beautiful woman. Her wrist was smooth and silky but also a little cold.

A wave of bone-chilling icy cold qi entered Qing Shui's body through his arm. But he quickly expelled it with Ancient Strengthening Technique and Nature Energy.

He then placed his gaze on the woman's chest. There was a silver chain around her slender and fair neck that reached in between those fine breasts, concealed underneath her clothes. Qing Shui was pretty sure that it was something precious because he could feel the strong soul-cleansing qi that it exuded.

He hesitated for a while before reaching out to touch her breasts that were soft and perky. Then he felt something about the size of a pigeon egg wedged in between those wonderful breasts. The numbing pleasure he could feel in his hands caused him to very quickly retract his arms as he realized that his heart was beating very fast…..

In the end, Qing Shui had confirmed that the woman was not dead. She had only been sealed with the help of this crystal coffin and the 'divine stone' around her neck. The woman had been poisoned by a type of strong yin poison, which was also a cold poison.

Qing Shui hesitated for a moment but didn't take any action because he knew that it was unlikely he could do anything about it right now. Any minor slip up could cost him his life. It wasn't a risk that he would take on.

Perhaps he would be able to save her when he had grown stronger. But then again, he also had second thoughts. Why should he save her? He took another look at the woman before he rose up and walked to the east side to take the Portrait of Beauty away.

When he left the palace, he saw that the gigantic old turtle was still outside. Qing Shui hesitated for a moment before telling it, "I am not powerful enough right now. I shall return here again to save her in the future!"

The old turtle was very calm when he heard Qing Shui's words. It spat out a silvery white pearl about the size of a walnut from its mouth. It slowly floated in front of Qing Shui.

Qing Shui was very skeptical, but he still reached out to accept it. He then glanced at the old turtle who was already retreating. Qing Shui didn't know where it was going, but it seemed to be going upwards. Then he saw a layer faint glow separating the water around him. He did some experiments and discovered that as long as he exerted enough force, he could exit from the waterless globe around him. As soon as he went out of the waterless space, he was back into the water. But very soon enough the water around him retreated again, forming a waterless globe of about two meters radius around him.

He looked at the pearl in his hands!

It was a Water Repelling Pearl!

Qing Shui didn't expect this thing to be something so magical; it could actually repel water. Why did the old turtle give him a Water Repelling Pearl? Was it for the convenience of his next visit in the future or did it just simply wanted to give it to him…...

He rushed out of the water and discovered that he was still in that lake. He had no idea if his treasure hunt this time was a mistake, but at least he found a Portrait of Beauty and most importantly, it was of Canghai Mingyue.

As for that woman in the crystal coffin, Qing Shui planned to only think about her when the time came. He felt that he was being influenced by the old turtle to save her, but he was not going to do something as idiotic as risking his life to save a stranger's life.

He climbed onto Fire Bird and soared towards the precipice above them!

Fire Bird soared into the air very quickly. Its speed was particularly fast when it ascended. They immediately took a shortcut home with their fastest speed as they flew at a low altitude. Qing Shui kept thinking about the crystal coffin and that old turtle.

That place was the location on the treasure map. Was the crystal coffin the treasure or that woman?

Could she be one of the women from the Portraits of Beauty?

Qing Shui didn't have a single doubt on that woman's quality. She wasn't in the least bit inferior to any woman, including Di Chen, Yiye Jiange, and Canghai Mingyue, even when she was just lying there with her eyes closed.

He also thought that the woman seemed to be a very, very powerful person. Even he himself wondered why he felt that way. But he knew that his feeling was very accurate because it was what he had felt with his spiritual sense.

The speed of his return journey was much shorter compared to when he came since he was familiar with the return route. When he came, he had to search every mountain range from north to south. That caused his journey to Flowerfruit Mountain to be a few times longer than his return journey.

It only took him about twenty days to exit the Flowerfruit Mountain at top speed. Qing Shui instantly felt a great relief in his heart after he exited the area. He then hurried towards the Qing Residence with full speed.

It had been nearly half a year since he left the Qing Clan. He had no idea if the two elders from the Residence of Sky Tyrant Lord had already returned. He hoped that they'd behave. Although he longed for their assistance, he wouldn't allow them to have even the slightest bit of ill intention.

At night, Qing Shui entered the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal with the Fire Bird!

Over the past six months, only two Crystal Lions produced two crystals. Then there were the Demon Binding Ropes and Defying Dragon Tendon. Qing Shui would free up some time anytime to refine them every day, just like he did with the Soulshake Bell.

He nurtured the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb with poison as usual. Only when he didn't have enough toxic materials would he use the crystals produced by the Crystal Lions.

Cultivation, refining, and refining demons…… The time in the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal ticked away. He had some food in between and took a look at the things around the realm.

Those little flame-like grasses that were only a little more than two inches had now grown a little taller. But he had no idea when they would mature. A flower bud was seen at their tip, making Qing Shui wonder if these little flame-like grasses were going to bloom flowers.

"They can actually bear flowers and fruits with their tiny size?"

He safely arrived at the Greencloud Continent's capital in a month and a half without any accidents and quickly made a beeline to the Qing Clan.

When he saw those perfectly undamaged pavilions and buildings, he let out a breath of complete relief. He only stopped worrying after seeing the moving figures of the Qing Clan from midair.

Screech!

Qing Shui put the Fire Bird back into the realm after he slowly landed in the front yard of the Qing Residence. At that moment, he heard the heavy running footsteps coming towards him.

The Diamond Gigantic Elephant came running from a distance. It had been more than seven months since it last saw him. It circled around Qing Shui in happiness and kept rubbing its gigantic head against him.

Announcement to Patreoners

Only one last slot for Five-Element Sovereigns ($100 tier -> 35 advanced chapters) remaining.

Can't wait for tomorrow? Want to read the rest of this right away? Want to show your support and have access to AST's private stash of up to 35 translated chapters? Come be a Patreon!

We've broke through to the 6th Reward Tier, there will be 18 regular chapters and another 33 bonus chapters starting from April!

Click on 'Next Chapter' below for a preview of Chapter 594!

……….