The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 611 - The Nine Palace Pendant, The Nine Continental Boots, The Village of Mo Clan below the Fire Plume Mountain

The old man did not feel ashamed after being brushed off by Qing Shui. He politely bowed and slowly retreated into the crowd, and all the while kept his focus on Qing Shui's hands.

"Well, I'll be! No wonder he looks familiar, he is the Martial Saint Alchemist from Ling Xi Country!"

"He's from the Medicine Emperor Yi Clan of the Ling Xi Country?"

…...

When the identity of the old man was revealed, the surrounding people began to gush their excitement around him. The Medicine Emperor Yi Clan of the Ling Xi Country was very well-known due to their connection to the top ten rankings of famous alchemists in the Central Continent.

A person might be able to become an alchemist under the circumstances that they were able to reveal their extraordinary ability without rousing jealousy from the public. After all, those with a little bit of power would easily have an affinity with medicinal pills. Moreover, if they were able to be familiar with a strong alchemist, then they would be able to accomplish twice as much with half the effort.

There was also the matter of medical ethics that was taken more seriously in the World of the Nine Continents. For example, if a person was facing imminent death, the alchemist can choose to save this person's life under the condition that no one else would object, and the alchemist can save the life without much effort. This was considered as one of the unwritten laws of being an alchemist.

Considering that, there was no guarantee that one may not encounter such a situation in their whole life. After all, was there such a thing as a martial warrior who would not suffer wounds or injuries in their path of cultivation? One of the reasons why alchemists were extremely popular was because they were able to meet with a lot of martial warriors who need medical attention most of the time. Ultimately, the alchemist clans have one of the highest survivability rate in the World of the Nine Continents.

Also, no one would go murder an alchemist out of the blue, not even if the target in question was an elementary level alchemist. Unless there were something wrong with the alchemist in question, then the alchemist would be completely isolated from all other alchemists. Isolation by a large group was a powerful thing that could lead to the potential harm of the said alchemist.

Qing Shui was one who did not fear rousing jealousy from the public by revealing his medical skills in front of a large amount of people. Alchemists were known to be bold when it came to their strength in a medical related situation. The glory they received from everyone was impeccable.

Qing Shui took out a Gold Needle and sterilized it with his Primordial Flames. It was an unnecessary procedure because the Gold Needle was known to be the best instrument for detoxification without the fear of being infected with poison and dirt. Even though he knew this, it was a habit of his to take extra precaution when dealing with medical concerns.

Furthermore, Qing Shui had also forged the 81 Golden Needles from the Gold Extract Essence he previously acquired from the Wolf King Hall. The sizes of these needles were a mixture of three-inch, five-inch, seven-inch, and nine-inch. He had also left a set of needles for the ladies and another set for his family.

The thickness and the length of the needle would be used to treat specific patients based on their gender and age. Qing Shui would be using a seven-inch Golden Needle to treat the old woman's grandchild. It was hard to tell the thickness of the seven-inch needle based on its appearance alone, but one would be able to tell that it was a bit slimmer compared to the nine-inch Golden Needle.

Liver Qi Stagnation!

Qing Shui slowly inserted the Golden Needle into the area of the little boy's liver!

Primal Chaotic Divine Needle Technique was the name of the acupuncture method that Qing Shui was currently cultivating. The cultivation could be divided into Reinforcing the Vital Essence and Strengthening the Primordial Qi, Five Elements Acupuncture, Impurities Cleansing, Bone and Spirit Cleansing, Acupuncture Clearing, and Meridians Strengthening….

Qing Shui was able to use the Five Elements Acupuncture, Reinforcing the Vital Essence and Strengthening the Primordial Qi, and Meridians Strengthening without any difficulty. Impurities Cleansing, Bone and Spirit Cleansing, and Acupuncture Clearing could be considered as the 'Small succession Paragons' because they could only be used for minor problems. Not only could these three techniques be used accordingly to the situation at hand, but they could also be used for detoxification and other miracle uses.

Qing Shui was currently using the Five Elements Acupuncture on the little boy. According to medical science, the five internal organs of a human body have a correspondence to the five elements, which were metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

There was also the matter of the inter-promotion and inter-inhibitions of the five elements!

The liver would generate the heart as to how wood would produce fire, which meant that the liver would store blood to nourish the heart. While the heart would generate the spleen as to how a fire would generate the earth, which meant that the heat of the heart would warm the spleen. While the spleen would generate the lungs as to how the earth would generate the metal, which meant that the spleen would transform and distribute essence to replenish the lungs. The lungs would generate the kidney as to how metal would generate water, which meant that lungs would dredge the water passages to help the kidney. Lastly, the kidney would generate the liver as to how water would generate the wood, which meant that the vital essence of the kidney would nourish the liver, and so on.

Lungs were known to be associated with metal while the liver was known to be associated with the wood elemental. Therefore, the clearing of the lungs could restrict the hyperactivity of the Yang liver. The liver could smooth and regulate the stagnation of Qi in the spleen, and while the spleen was known to be associated with the element earth, wood would restrict earth. The spleen would transport nutrients and prevent the overflow of water of the kidney, so in this case, earth would restrict water; the ascension of the Yin kidney could prevent the fire-elemental Yang heart from hyperactivity. This was why the water would restrict fire; the Yang heat of the heart could control the hyperactivity of the lungs; therefore fire would restrict metal.

Qing Shui applied the Five Elements inter-promotion theory to his treatment and used the Five Elements Acupuncture on top of his Ancient Strengthening Technique to stimulate the little boy's Qi of Life.

He would first need to stimulate the Qi of Life of a random organ which had tenacity in order to take advantage of the interrelationship of the five organs to promote the healing of the body. Initially, Qing Shui wanted to stimulate the heart, but he decided to tackle the liver first.

Wood corresponded to the spring season, fire corresponded to the summer season, earth corresponded to the long summers, metal corresponded to the autumn season, and water corresponded to the winter season.

The liver was known to be associated with the element of wood, plus it was currently the spring season, so he decided to start with the liver! Qing Shui's Saintly Hands had also infused a large amount of Qi of Life into the little boy's body before the procedure.

As time passed, Qing Shui had finally succeeded in reviving the liver. After that, he applied a large amount of Ancient Strengthening Technique Qi to shield the livers from further harm. The next vital part he would need to tackle was the heart, so he took a long time to build up his Qi because the heart was considered the most important organ of the human body. Moreover, he could not afford to make any mistakes when it came to the heart. Otherwise, it would end up creating a bigger mess than it was before and then everything he had done up until now would go to waste.

As they said, "Wood-element liver stores blood to 'nourish' the fires of the heart". Qing Shui took another Golden Needle and inserted it into the stomach area. Meanwhile, the Golden Needle around the liver area spun at a faster rate. The spinning of the needle gave out a slight buzzing noise as well.

Qing Shui tapped the acupuncture points around the area continuously with his other hand. A Golden Needle was also inserted into the heart area, but unlike the other areas, the needle was inserted in a shallow manner.

…….

This went on for about four hours until Qing Shui was done with inserting the Golden Needles into the little boy's body. He let out a sigh of relief as he stood up and stretched his body. As he did so, he noticed that he was surrounded by a horde of people observing the Golden Needles that poked into the little boy's body. Some of them were still focusing their eyes on the old man who came to speak with Qing Shui earlier.

Qing Shui could still remember what the crowd had mentioned, something along the lines of 'Ling Xi Country Medical Emperor Yi Clan'!

Even though the emaciated little boy was still closing his eyes, his complexion seemed to have improved a lot compared to before. His face was rosy in color, and the signs of vitality seemed good and strong.

The old woman kept glancing at her grandson until she wept for quite some time. She turned to look at Qing Shui and said: "You have saved my grandson. You are truly our savior. I may be old, but I still have some energy left. For the remaining of my days, I will follow you wherever you go."

The old woman was about to bend over to bow at Qing Shui when suddenly he stopped her by holding her up and said: "You don't need to do this, grandma. You are just going to shorten my life by doing so."

"No, I have to repay you…." The old woman was lost in deep thought as if she was thinking of ways she could repay Qing Shui.

"Grandma, I will take these as your gratitude to me. So I will not pay for these, how about that?" Qing Shui picked up a worn-out Nine Palace Pendant and showed it to the old woman.

When the old woman saw the worn-out Nine Palace Pendant in Qing Shui's hand, she was visibly stunned. But after a while, she reach into her pocket and took out another item. Before Qing Shui could take a good look at the item, he could already tell what it was from its shape. He froze when he saw the item in the old woman's hand.

She had an Interspatial Silk Sachet all this time…..

"Well, if you want it that way, I will give you another item. Also, if you have any troubles, feel free to go to the Village of the Mo Clan to find me. You will have no problem finding me as I had planned to never leave the Village of the Mo Clan for another 30 years." said the old woman as she handed the item she took from the sachet to Qing Shui.

"Village of the Mo Clan?" Qing Shui was extra careful around this old woman. He knew she was different when he noticed that she was in possession of an Interspatial Silk Sachet. And then something clicked in his mind; he finally knew why he had an obscure sense of her Xiantian strength - it was an illusion to cover her real strength.

"The Village of the Mo Clan below the Fire Plume Mountain." replied the old woman with a smile.

Qing Shui took the item from the old woman's hand and what he saw was a pair of boots!

The Nine Continent Boots…..

The boots were worn-out as well, probably from damages it had received during its prime. Despite its shabby appearance, Qing Shui could still recognize it as the Nine Continent Boots. When he thought about the possible connection to the World of the Nine Continents, he felt that the boots may be in possession of some mythical powers or skills.

Qing Shui received the boots and smiled at the old woman: "Thank you!"

"I should be the one thanking you. I must be on my way now. Remember, if you have any troubles, come find me. I might be able to help with your problems." The old woman reminded Qing Shui about what she had said earlier. Because of that, he was certain that she was genuinely a powerful woman masked beneath the illusion of a Xiantian.

However, he had no idea why she would 'set up a stall' around here. Based on her capabilities, she might have already searched for the best alchemist in the world. However, she might have difficulty in finding someone who would be willing to use a divine medicine that bring the dead back to life on someone they barely knew. This kind of medicine certainly does exist, but no one would be willing to part with it.

Qing Shui watched on as the old woman held the little boy in her arms while slowly disappearing into the crowd. As soon as she blended into the crowd, she vanished in an instant.

Around this time, the nearby old man from the Medicine Emperor Yi Clan approached Qing Shui and said: "Sir, can we talk for a while? Your medical skill is really unparalleled in this world. I have lived this long and cured many diseases for 200 years, but this is the first time I have seen such an extraordinary skill. Now I have seen everything."

The old man had a tone of a devout practitioner and a pair of blazing eyes full of admiration as he looked at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui casually put the two items he received from the old woman into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal before he turned to the old man with a smile and said: "What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I am a member of the Medicine Emperor Yi Clan from the Ling Xi Country. I was wondering if you are interested in working for our Medicine Emperor Yi Clan due to your highly-skilled medical skills. It would be a waste if you don't plan to join us." The old man said in a serious tone as he looked at Qing Shui with earnest eyes.

Qing Shui almost laughed when the old man told him to visit the Medicine Emperor Yi Clan. It turned out that the old man wanted to rope Qing Shui into his medical center as an employee. The Medicine Emperor Yi Clan must be famous judging by the old man's tone. Otherwise, he wouldn't be this confident in his attempt to hire Qing Shui on the spot. However, Qing Shui replied with a smile and shook his head: "Not interested!"

"Sir, please consider it again. Our Medicine Emperor Yi Clan is the top alchemist clan in the world. You will definitely further improve your medical skills and refining medicines abilities by working with us. Furthermore, we can satisfy all your requests and needs as long as we can fulfill them." The old man tried to persuade Qing Shui after his offer was swiftly rejected.

"Not interested. If there's nothing else, I shall take my leave." Qing Shui couldn't care less about the old man and his Medicine Emperor Yi Clan.

"Then if you feel like joining us one day, please feel free to do so. The Medicine Emperor Yi Clan will always welcome you!" The old man left his parting words when he realized he could not force someone like Qing Shui to join unwillingly.

The time had passed by again. Qing Shui and the ladies decided to head back.

"Miss Duanmu, is the Medicine Emperor Yi Clan powerful?" Qing Shui was curious about the Medicine Emperor clan because he saw the old man riding a Snow Lion on his way back home. Moreover, Snow Lions were typically Martial Saint level demonic beasts that only powerful warriors could tame.

"Medicine Emperor Yi Clan is a distinguished and influential clan in the Lingxi Country. Although they are not the most powerful clan there, they are certainly one of the top clans in the Lingxi Country. They also have saved countless people since their establishment, which means a lot of people owe them their life. All in all, the Yi Clan is a neutral clan that exists in the Lingxi Country, as well as in other countries." Duanmu Lingshuang had a faint smile in her charming eyes as she explained the Medicine Emperor Yi Clan to Qing Shui.

……...

At night, Qing Shui entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

First thing on his agenda was to examine the two items he had received from the old woman - the Nine Palace Pendant and the Nine Continent Boots!

The number 'nine' was highly esteemed and was considered as a auspicious number in the world of numerology. Qing Shui picked up the Nine Palace Pendant and observed its shabby condition. Despite being worn-out, Qing Shui could vaguely see the portrait of the Nine Palaces inscribed around the rim of the pendant. However, a corner of the pendant was slightly damaged.

Qing Shui was unsure of the materials used to make the pendant. But he decided to go ahead and use the Quad-color of his Ancient Rainbow Art of Forging to fix it.

It would require a bit of material to fix the Nine Palace Pendant, but not the common natural materials that could be found anywhere in the world. The materials were crucial because, for the most parts, Qing Shui wanted to 'change the color' of the pendant the most. After a long period of time deciding which material he wanted to use, he finally went with the violet jade that he received as a reward from the upgrade of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

And then he started quenching the pendant!

Qing Shui used his hand to hold the Nine Palace Pendant and continuously used his godly force to wash the surface. He was careful to wash along the lines of the texture that revealed the portrait of the Nine Palaces so that it would not be harshly damaged. After all, he had some knowledge of the nine palaces through research and study, which was why he was brave enough to attempt the repair of the pendant. Otherwise, if he didn't know what to do, he would never be able to fix the pendant, or he would damage the pendant further by carelessly using his godly force to wash the surface.

After a while, the Nine Palace Pendant gradually released a faint odor that smelled old and ancient. The odor was released from the constant washing of the dirt on the pendant. Moreover, after the pendant was washed, the original color of the surface was finally revealed. It was gray, but it was a sparkling kind of gray. The pendant was now cleaner and more dignified than before.

After that, Qing Shui picked up the violet jade!

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