The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 617 Arriving at Seven Stars Country Again, Four Seas Inn

Shield attack!

Boom!

Third Master Dongguo stopped the Violet Gold Divine Shield with his bare hands but he was already puking out fresh blood, his arms bent out of shape and his bones already shattered.

Shield attack!

Pfft!

Qing Shui's attack was like the violent storm, without any pauses. He had not even used the Big Dipper Sword in his right hand but already had such a terrifyingly damaging prowess just from his series of continuous attacks with the shield.

This was the result of not having a weapon. Moreover, the later impact from Qing Shui's "Sword of Fifth Wave" was strong and there were not many martial arts practitioners at his level who would be able to continuously fend off this attack.

Third Master Dongguo died, disappearing in the air from the consecutive knocks from the Shield attack. They were several li away from where their battle had first started. Qing Shui kept his Violet Gold Divine Shield and Big Dipper Sword, heading back the way he came from.

When he returned to the tent, the sky in the east had turned slightly white. Looking at Di Chen's concerned gaze, Qing Shui felt very warm inside.

"Are you alright?" Di Chen looked at Qing Shui and with a few steps, walked up to him, as if looking for any injuries on him.

"I'm fine, I'm totally fine." Qing Shui grabbed Di Chen's sleeve but was grabbed by her hand.

He then decided to also grab Di Chen's other hand. The two of them faced each other, holding hands. Qing Shui did not want to think so much into it anymore and had already accepted this woman who was like a goddess in her heart.

Qing Shui felt that the tender hands he was holding seemed to be a little nervous, trembling slightly. Qing Shui understood. He was very thankful. He knew that Di Chen understood him. If Di Chen did not take the initiative, Qing Shui would never take this first step forward. Maybe she had really wanted to fall in love with him, thus Qing Shui was already very contented to have a woman like her putting down her pride and getting close to him.

"I don't know what to say, but I really want to make you happy. I don't know if I really like you. I only know that I don't want you to feel any grief. I'm willing to do anything for you. You're beautiful, very beautiful and you're like a fairy in my heart. Since this is what you've chosen, I'll do my best to let you like me, fall in love with me. In the future, we'll have many many kids."

"Who's going to bear children for you, you only know how to spout gibberish." Di Chen's clear eyes had a hint of intoxicating smile, one that was very satisfied, very calm.

Qing Shui released her hand to take down the veil on her face, revealing her attractive looks. Her snow white face had a faint hint a of blush.

In this moment, Qing Shui felt that Di Chen was very close to him, not like how unreachable she previously was. Qing Shui even wanted to hug her properly, but ended up not having taken that step forward.

"Let's go and take a look at the Golden Light Eagle which was shot down!" Qing Shui held Di Chen's hand, smiled and said.

"Mmm!" Di Chen nodded.

The two of them walked over to that dead Golden Light Eagle. The distance was only about 200 meters but Qing Shui felt that the feeling he had when walking this distance was very delicate.

Di Chen let Qing Shui hold her as they walked, a faint smile on her face. She would occasionally turn to look at him but when Qing Shui met her gaze, he would lower his head slightly.

Very soon, they arrived at where the Golden Light Eagle's corpse was at. Other than having its head smashed, the rest of the parts were still perfectly intact. He proficiently skinned it, removed the tendons and demonic beast's Core, as well as collecting some blood and bones.

After all, this was a Martial Saint level demonic beast and was very valuable. For the rest of the things, he merely called the Fire Bird and burned up the flesh and whatnot with a fireball.

Qing Shui only cut off a few large pieces of meat from the Golden Light Eagle's back and feet, planning to roast the meat to eat. The meat of Martial Saint level beasts were quite delicious.

Another Martial Saint level cultivator fell. Qing Shui no longer felt anything about it!

...

Greencloud Continent, Qing Clan!

"Congratulations, sister-in-law, you've attained Peak Martial King." Qing Bei looked at Mingyue Gelou happily and smiled.

The other people in Qing Clan were also especially happy. Amongst them, the one who progressed the fastest was Luanluan, followed by Canghai Mingyue, Yiye Jiange and Mingyue Gelou...

Now, Mingyue Gelou had suddenly attained Peak Martial King, skipping over Grade nine and ten Martial King. Mingyue Gelou did not know what level her Tiger Form was at but only knew that she had attained another breakthrough to arrive at the Peak Martial King level.

Before he left, Qing Shui had left her with many medicinal pills as well as some recipes for medicinal soups to help her temper her body. After reaching her current level, her progress across cultivation realms would slow down but her abilities would enter a phase of rapid increase.

Luanluan now was already a Grade three Martial King cultivator and was proficient in the Crane Form, Tiger Form, Bear Form, Deer Cantering, and Back Connecting Fist. Her Taichi had also reached quite a high level and she had numerous powerful demonic beasts. Now, the Heavenly Fire-Armored Rock Bear had become quite a strong demonic beast at the Peak Martial King level.

Luanluan's progress let Qing Clan's third generation feel slightly helpless. Qing Bei was only at Grade 5 Xiantian while the others who were from Qing Clan's third generation, other than Qing You who was at Grade Four Xiantian, the others were all around Grade Two or Three Xiantian.

Such a speed was significantly perverse. Before Qing Shui left, he left enough Spirit Concentrating Pills and Aroma Concentration Pills, as well as other stuff which could increase their cultivation like the Tiger Vitality Pill and recipes for soups and stews. This was why they had progressed so speedily.

It was just that Luanluan had caused them to feel tremendous pressure.

Yiye Jiange and Canghai Mingyue both had a strength four countries, which was mainly thanks to the effects of the medicinal pills Qing Shui had left behind. Only after reaching at least Peak Martial King level, would taking of Wind Water Primordial Pellets, Great Revitalizing Pellets, Beauty Pellets and other stuff of similar levels allow their cultivation to increase greatly.

Huoyun Liu-Li and Shi Qingzhuang were slow in comparison. Huoyun Liu-Li was at Grade Five Martial King while Shi Qingzhuang was at Grade Eight Xiantian. Their progress were still considered quite fast.

There was also Wenren Wu-shuang. Even though she had lost her memories, the increase in her cultivation level was still at a terrifying rate. She had already become a Martial King level cultivator when Qing Shui first met her after she had lost her memories.

After such a long period of time, together with Qing Shui's pointers, she had surpassed Huoyun Liu-Li and reached Grade Seven Martial King level.

The reason for her quick progress was also partially thanks to the few Martial Saint level cultivators in Qing Clan. The things that Qing Shui taught them, some people were more suitable to cultivate them, for example, Luanluan, Yiye Jiange, Canghai Mingyue and Mingyue Gelou.

In comparison, the other people were slightly weaker. However, the few Martial Saint level cultivators in Qing Clan also gave pointers that did not lose out to what Qing Shui taught. To top it off, the main contributors were still the things Qing Shui left behind, including medicinal pills, soups, stews, medicinal wines, or the Eight Trigram Book of Changes. They had the effects including meridian cleansing, tempering of tendons, strengthening of the bones... These were all things that could not be achieved by ordinary people, even in their dreams.

Concurrently, as Qing Clan's level rose, their businesses also developed very quickly. Now, Qing Clan had already become the top contender in Greencloud Continent, the undisputable number one clan.

Of course, that was not taking into consideration the major clans who had concealed their identities from the world. However though Greencloud Continent was very big, it was just the tip of an iceberg when placed before the outside world.

...

Seven Stars Country!

After flying for two consecutive days, both Qing Shui and Di Chen arrived at the Seven Stars Country. Di Chen's gaze turned unnatural, and even had a hint of confusion to it.

This was a place she once had strong recollections of. This was where she grew up, the place which had given her the best and the most painful memories.

She thought that she would never return to this place in this life. Although she had thought of coming back, she had not expected it to be so soon. A faint feeling of anticipation grew in her heart.

Qing Shui looked at Di Chen whose brows were furrowed, and picked up her hand, "Don't think so much about it. There's still me. I'll listen to everything you say, alright?"

"I'm fine. I never thought of wanting to do anything. I just want them to know that their decisions back then were wrong..." Di Chen shook her head and said, in a daze.

Four Seas Inn!

This was the top inn in the west of the Seven Stars City. What differentiates this inn from others was its atmosphere, which appeared very strong and overwhelming, but yet not luxurious. The decor was all primarily white or grey in color.

There were nine storeys in the Four Seas Inn, each level had a hundred rooms and one big hall. The place was bustling with activity, with plenty of people moving in and out. However, on a closer inspection, one would be able to tell that most of the people were martial arts practitioners.

This was not strange. It was because the Four Seas Inn had another name, Warrior's Den. The Four Seas Inn had a strange regulation, which was that martial arts cultivators who had reached Peak Martial King level or higher could stay here for free permanently. Those at the Martial King level only needed to pay half the price, while Xiantian level could have a 30% discount.

This was also something that Qing Shui and Di Chen had known after entering. However, Qing Shui was not short of a little money and planned to just pay up. There was no need for him to prove his cultivation level to others.

The person who received the payment was a mature and charming looking lady in her thirties. She had a great figure and was wearing a set of clothes which was a good balance between conservative and revealing. Her mature charms would cause men of all ages to gulp.

"We want to stay here. Which storeys still have vacant rooms?" Since Qing Shui had decided to pay the money to stay here, he asked directly.

"Sir, please follow me!" The lady broke into a smile and got a guy to take over her position, before leading Qing Shui and Di Chen upstairs.

Qing Shui and Di Chen followed the lady, taking a look around the place while they headed up.

Qing Shui was astonished. The higher they went, the stronger the people they came across. From the first to the third level, there were still some people who were either not martial arts practitioners or had yet to reach Xiantian. But from the third level onward, they were mostly at least Xiantian level and the higher they ascended, the higher the level of the martial arts cultivators.

She led the two of them all the way up to the 9th storey where there were not many people. In the hall, there were only a few people drinking or chatting.

Qing Shui suddenly noticed that one of them was a Martial Saint level cultivator, while the others were also at the Martial King level!

Qing Shui seemed to have sensed something as he looked at this lady who had led them up, feeling puzzled. She only seemed to be a Peak Martial King cultivator at most.

"Could it be that she could tell that Di Chen was also at Peak Martial King level or is even stronger than herself and thus had brought us up to the 9th storey?" Qing Shui guessed.

"What do the two of you think of this room?" The lady smiled, opening the door to one of the rooms.

Qing Shui took a quick glance around. There was a small hall with a room in both the north and east side which should be the bedrooms.

There was also a room in the west side, but Qing Shui felt that it should be the washroom! There were usually no kitchens in inns.

"It's very good. What's the price? We'll stay here for half a year first. Let's settle the bill now!"

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