The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 638 - Hidden Weapons Technique - 'Twin Dragon Pearls', Crippled Red Jiao

The Red Jiao was fast indeed, it made Qing Shui not dare slow down his movements. In the midst of bewilderment, he had swiftly released the Demon Binding Rope from his hands at the Red Jiao once again. But as soon as he did that, he felt that he made a huge mistake.

Roar!

Unexpectedly, the Red Jiao seemed to have some sort of fear towards the Demon Binding Rope, which looked like a giant dragon floating in mid-air. The Demon Binding Rope had entangled the Red Jiao in an instant.

The Red Jiao had stopped its track completely after being bounded by the Demon Binding rope, but only for a few moments.

The Demon Binding Rope returned to Qing Shui's hands after that. For a moment, Qing Shui thought of a possibility. Despite the Old Demon Ba's immunity against the Demon Binding Rope, it can still slightly affect the Red Jiao even if only for a few moments. Even though it was not that effective as Qing Shui would like it to be, he could still use it to temporarily stun the Red Jiao during dire situations.

Qing Shui quickly released his Emperor's Qi and pushed it against the stunned Red Jiao!

ROARR!

The Red Jiao became furious after it had been inflicted with Qing Shui's Emperor's Qi, so it let out a loud roar that had a subtle chant in it. It turned around and faced Qing Shui, then rushed towards him like a strong gushing wave while it covered the whole sky with its gigantic physique.

Old Madam Mo had already rushed towards the Red Jiao and struck it with her 'Diamond Scepter' as if she was plunging 'the wrath of the sea' against the frightful beast.

Old Madam Mo's Diamond Scepter had a length of three meters in total, and the shaft of the scepter was as thick as an average human's arm. The tip of the scepter seemed to have a circular knife blade attached, which gleamed in flickers of frosty golden lights. It also possessed an eerie Qi around it, and a sharp sound could be heard with every movement of her scepter.

Bang!

The clash between the Red Jiao's enormous claw and Old Madam Mo's scepter had created a muffled yet loud impact, causing Qing Shui to be worried about Old Madam Mo. However, she was only slightly pushed backward by the impact as she remained perfectly fine.

Qing Shui was relieved when she saw her uninjured. They would gain the advantage of winning this fight if they could stall for more time. If they couldn't withstand even one blow from this opponent, then this fight would be doomed to hell.

"Old Demon Ba, I guess you have never thought that you would end up in a tie with a Grade Eight Martial Saint like me. Things have gotten this far, and the past will always be the past. However today, we shall have a conclusion!" Di Xuan said as he wielded a rod-like, sharp weapon.

Qing Shui could tell with one glance that Di Xuan and Di Qing had the same skill set because the type of weapon that Di Xuan wielded had the ability to bring out the potential of the Volution Force.

Bang bang….

"Boy, don't try to flatter yourself. It's still too early to tell who will win this battle." Old Demon Ba had lost control and shouted madly.

Devil Eater!

Old Demon Ba shouted abruptly while he simultaneously released a flash of black halo around him. His overall strength was boosted to an alarming rate of 30%, while the broken blade in his hand flashed with black lights as well.

Old Demon Ba's weapon was a long, broken blade. Even in its broken state, the blade was about four feet long. It was as black as the darkest ink, which gave off an ominous feeling to anyone who had caught a glimpse of it.

Qing Shui moved further away to evade when he had witnessed Old Demon Ba's changing his aura. He quickly summoned his Diamond Gigantic Elephant, which appeared in the mid-air with its giant foot ready to stomp Old Demon Ba. At that moment, the Diamond Gigantic Elephant glowed in a golden light.

In an instant, that golden aura had enveloped Old Demon Ba and bounded his movements.

Vajra Subdues Demons!

His overall strength had been weakened by 10% by the Vajra Subdues Demons!

"Ah, I will kill you! What else do you have except these three pitiful techniques? I will kill you……" Old Demon Ba shouted madly.

"I don't care what kind of techniques they are, as long as I can finish you off, these techniques are good enough." said Qing Shui while he casually dismissed Old Demon Ba's remarks.

Old Demon Ba's eyes had almost turned red as he was driven mad by Qing Shui's casual reaction. His strength was supposed to be much stronger than his opponents, but he was now choked with frustration by this unacceptable situation of being weakened again.

Even if he try to use the Devil Eater technique again, he would only become slightly stronger than Di Xuan, which would only drive him further into madness.

Binding Talisman!

Armor Break Talisman

Body Securing Talisman!

Qing Shui had secured the right opportunity to slap all the talismans on Old Demon Ba's body. Even though the Body Securing Talisman had a short aftereffect, the Binding Talisman and the Armor Break Talisman could still last for a longer period of time.

Currently, Qing Shui had an increased of 40% for his speed and an increased of 40% for his defense. Even though his defense of 130 countries was nothing for Old Demon Ba, the decreased of the old man's speed by 40% was enough to sink him into the pits of nauseation.

Qing Shui was both excited and anxious because he wouldn't be able to directly participate in this type of battle and could only assist on the sideline. Moreover, Qing Shui and his Demonic Beasts can't inflict any damages to Old Demon Ba. Even if Qing Shui use the Critical Damage against him, he wouldn't be able to inflict severe wounds on Old Demon Ba if he couldn't attack his weakness. However, Qing Shui would still need to be careful from his attacks, otherwise, his life and the battle would end immediately. The effects of the Emperor's Qi and the Heavenly Talisman would also disappear, causing Old Demon Ba to revert to his mighty self.

After that, Qing Shui quickly hopped onto his Diamond Gigantic Elephant and went straight to the Red Jiao!

Vajra Subdues Demons!

With the activation of the 'State of One with Elephant', the Demonic Beast of Grade Eight Martial Saint had its strength weakened by another 10%. Qing Shui had instinctively tried to weaken the Red Jiao with 'Vajra Subdues Demons' because he initially thought that the weakening effect of this technique would be quite difficult to inflict on the Demonic Beast.

Roar!

With a loud roar from the Red Jiao, the Vajra Subdues Demons had finally entered into its body despite the display of momentary resistance. This was a good news to Qing Shui as the powerful Red Jiao with dragon blood flowing inside it could not even resist his Diamond Gigantic Elephant's weakening attack. Indeed, the Diamond Gigantic Elephant was considered as one of the rarest beast species in the world, which was why Qing Shui had faith that his Diamond Gigantic Elephant could somehow subdue the Red Jiao's strength.

Demon Binding Ropes!

Binding Talisman!

Armor Break Talisman!

Around the same time when Qing Shui had released his Demon Binding Ropes, he also swiped a batch of Heavenly Talismans against the Red Jiao. In that instant when the rope bounded the Red Jiao, the talismans had simultaneously turned into speckles of golden lights and disappeared into the Red Jiao's body.

Three Shadow Scepter Attack!

Old Madam Mo's silhouette had flickered instantaneously as she used her Diamond Scepter to attack the Red Jiao. It instantly became three scepters the moment she stroke her Diamond Scepter. At the same time, Qing Shui had ridden his Diamond Gigantic Elephant and struck the side of the Red Jiao.

Instantaneous Diamond Evasion!

State of One with Elephant!

Shield Attack!

Heavenly Thunder Slash!

Art of Pursuing!

Divinity Protection!

Bang!

Everything happened at once.

Qing Shui had taken the opportunity and pulled the first move as he attacked the Red Jiao heavily with the Shield Attack. He specifically used the Shield Attack due to its special characteristic. Right after that, he struck the beast with his Heavenly Thunder Slash, and as a precaution, he also activated the Divinity Protection on his body.

The paralyzing effect of the Heavenly Thunder Slash didn't appear, and Qing Shui's 'State of One with Elephant' couldn't push the Red Jiao backward even a little. However, his efforts were not in vain as he had gained something more worthwhile.

Art of Pursuing!

With that, he had successfully suppressed the Red Jiao's speed, which practically crippled its movements. The Red Jiao became furious and spat out a cloud of hot burning flames towards him.

The red raging fire was of the purest kind. Even if Qing Shui possess the Primordial Flames, he still wouldn't risk to expose himself to the fire. He initially had wanted to block the flames with his Violet Gold Divine Shield, but it would be unnecessary because he still had his Diamond Gigantic Elephant in the field. Moreover, the Red Jiao's tail rushed towards him, which meant that he wouldn't be able to block the two attacks from both ways.

Instantaneous Diamond Evasion! Qing Shui had used that technique and evaded the scorching flames.

This was also the reason why Qing Shui rode on the back of his Diamond Gigantic Elephant. He could take advantage of the Instantaneous Diamond Evasion in a small area to evade or inflict a sneak attack, which was very practical.

Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb!

In that instant when he had evaded the flames, he simultaneously threw the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb that he had refined numerous times in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal at the Red Jiao!

The Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb had spread out like a sea of black clouds and enveloped over the Red Jiao like a blanket. Qing Shui smiled with hearts full of hope as he witnessed the following events.

At the same time, he was already empty-handed. He then relaxed both his palms and his arms!

Roar!

The Red Jiao could feel the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb closing in, and in the midst of fear, it let out an alarmed, loud roar. The Demonic Beast knew that the chances to evade the web were slim due to its speed being crippled. Moreover, it was ambushed by the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb during Qing Shui's 'Instantaneous Diamond Evasion', so the Red Jiao had nowhere to run.

However, all of this was just the beginning.

The moment when the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb had caught onto the Red Jiao, subtle corroding noises could be heard along with painful cries of the Demonic Beast.

Roar!

Both of Qing Shui's hands instantaneously reached out as if two snakes had sprung out for a kiss. He extended his arms and crossed his hands together while two Frosted Iron Balls with the size of a baby's head flashed across his arms.

Hidden Weapon Technique: Twin Dragon Pearls!

The two Frosted Iron Balls had flashed across in a straight line before it curved oddly in a wriggly motion as they shot straight up into the air, which formed a temporary silhouette of twin dragons for a brief second.

Pu pu!

The two Frosted Iron Balls went straight into both of the Red Jiao's eyes!

Roar…..

The Red Jiao's eyes were completely crushed by the impact as it jerked around violently due to severe sensation of pain. A series of miserable shrieks had ringed out as it fell straight down to the ground, clearly too distracted by the pain to maneuver its movements in the sky. When it fell, the buildings underneath the fallen Red Jiao were completely destroyed. Because the Red Jiao was enormous, the aftermath of the impact had also caused the demolition of the surrounding areas, as if it was a giant wasteland.

The battlefield had moved to the lower area, almost a few meters above the ground.

Qing Shui had waited for the right moment to release the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb against the Red Jiao. The web had also entangled the Demonic Beast slowly and tightly - taking its time to corrode the Red Jiao completely. Even though the toxicity wasn't enough to kill it instantly, it might as well be considered to be dead due to the cold poison from the Frosted Iron Balls slowly damaging its brain. The eyes were already blinded, so sooner or later the Red Jiao would be completely crippled.

The Red Jiao could only struggle madly from the corroding pain of the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb, which had already entered into its body and corroded it's internal organs.

When Old Demon Ba heard the painful shriek from the Red Jiao, all he could see when he had turned around was his deformed Red Jiao. Old Demon Ba was filled with anger instantly. His blood boiled with violent rage as he shook himself away from Di Xuan's attacks with all his might.

After that, he took out a red-colored medicinal pill and quickly consumed it!

"Devil Transforming Pellet!"

Old Madam shouted the name of the red-colored medicinal pill in surprise when she saw Old Demon Ba taking out the Devil Transforming Pellet.

"What is that?" Qing Shui asked curiously.

"It is one of the top Royal Grade medicinal pills that possesses one kind of ability. When a Martial Saint consumes it, he could gain an additional half of his current overall strength. This means that a Martial Saint with 5000 countries of strength can instantaneously increase to 7500 countries of strength." Old Madam Mo said in a despaired tone.

Old Demon Ba's original strength was only 4500 countries, but when he was inflicted with Qing Shui's Emperor's Qi, his strength had decreased to 3600 countries. After that, he used the Devil Eater to increase his strength to about more than 4000 countries. However, his strength was weakened once again by the Diamond Gigantic Elephant's 'Vajra Subdues Demons' to less than 4000 countries.

This was one of the reason why Old Demon Ba had gone crazy. It was unbearable because he wasn't able to fully utilize his powers after being weakened again and again by Qing Shui. Moreover, when he first came to meet the Di Clan, he was even warned not to fail such an easy task.

So when he took the Devil Transforming Pellet, his strength had instantly increased to 5400 countries. Even though Old Demon Ba was displeased with his current strength, it was still enough to go against his opponents. He was also able to increase one level of the Martial Saint cultivation, which meant that he was now a Grade Ten Martial Saint warrior.

One grade difference would have a vast impact on the outcome of the battle. As he looked over to his crippled Red Jiao, Old Demon Ba mourned deeply in his heart, but soon it had turned into rage when he glanced over to Di Xuan. His eyes were filled with a murderous intent that could even tear the heavens apart.

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