The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 689 - Xijiang Country Cold Ice City, Meeting Hai Dongqing again

The Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal has brought countless benefits to Qing Shui. Even the Fire Bird's insanely powerful Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens could be used limitlessly.

No matter how often Qing Shui was engaged in battles, it would be impossible for him to have more than ten battles every day, he would also need some rest between the fights. Hence, the fact that the Fire Bird broke through and attained the Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens made Qing Shui feel as if he had just added a pair of wings to a tiger. The Fire Bird had finally awakened its formidable innate talent. Merely the Phoenix Paradise and the Phoenix Dance of the Nine Paradise were already more than enough to prove it.

The Fire Bird completely burnt up the Three-legged Crow within a few breaths of time.Then Qing Shui put the Fire Bird back into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. On normal occasions, Qing Shui would usually leave his demonic beasts inside the realm. By doing so, it would help them raise their strength faster.

The cultivation of demonic beasts was different than that of humans. Normally, the standard unit used to measure a demonic beast's cultivation level was the beast's age. The age of the demonic beast was one of their most important features. The beasts' cultivation levels grew with their age. Of course, the species of the beast as well as the Heavenly Talisman were even more important. If not, why would there be some demonic beasts that spent their entire life stuck at Xiantian Grade while there were some that were able to achieve Martial King Grade or even higher grades?

After three days, Qing Shui had yet to find any traces of the Three Tailed Immortal Fox. Hence, Qing Shui made up his mind to leave. It would be a waste of time if he continued staying here.

Prior to this, Qing Shui's original intention was to go to the place that Old Man Ying Sheng mentioned before, which was thousands of miles away from here, the place which even a peak Martial Saint Warrior should never go. However, after thinking for a while, Qing Shui gave up on this idea. He felt that there was no need for him to go on such a risky adventure.

He returned quite quickly. He managed to arrive at Village of Longevity within a day and once again got greeted warmly by Old Man Ying Xing, except this time he was accompanied by one more young man.

It was a charming and mischievous young man. He should be a few years older than Qing Shui and he looked both handsome and confident. Furthermore, there was also a noble aura coming from his body.

Qing Shui only found out that he was the third son of Ying Clan in Village of Longevity, Ying Shaoqing after being introduced. Normally, people would just call him Third Young Master Ying or Master Ying.

What puzzled Qing Shui was that this young man seemed to be even more outstanding than Ying Lie. However, Old Man Ying Xing didn't praise this young man as much, which somewhat bewildered Qing Shui.

"Brother Qing Shui, I have been paying attention to you for a long time. After living for thirty years, there is finally one more youngster who deserves my respect." The young man said in a natural and casual tone. The way he talked made people feel really relaxed and happy.

"Brother Ying, I'm not as good as you think." Qing Shui said politely. He felt really good about this young man.

"No, I have always been a really straightforward person. If you don't have enough strength, I wouldn't even waste my time pretending to congratulate you." The young man chuckled.

"Why can't you change your attitude, don't you know that you have offended a lot of people with that bad habit of yours? And yet you still insist on doing it." Old Man Ying Xing said helplessly.

"Gramps, it's too disgusting to talk to fake people like them." The young man chuckled. After he finished speaking, he even showed a disgusted face to Old Man Ying Xing.

This caused Old Man Ying Xing to let out a sigh: "I have no other choice. Qing Shui, you probably can tell as well that this brat is far superior to his brother. He has the innocent heart of a child. The only problem is that he isn't really good at communicating with others. Not only that, he has even managed to offend a lot of people. I myself don't dare to let him get too far away from me."

"Gramps, it really isn't unusual, Brother Ying has a pure heart. If not, he wouldn't have been able to progress so fast in his cultivation. Don't worry, Brother Ying is a good man. He will definitely have great achievements in the future." Qing Shui chuckled while looking at the young man.

"It's all thanks to you! With your words, I am already feeling a lot more relaxed. Let's have some wine together!"

……

Qing Shui stayed at the Village of Longevity for two days and left. Before leaving, Old Man Ying Xing gave him quite a few medicinal herbs. Qing Shui didn't hold back either. After all, from the moment Qing Shui got the Qianji Wood from them, he already knew that he would have to speak good words to them.

Luckily, even though Qing Shui knew this principle, Old Man Ying Sheng didn't really say anything much about it. Nor did he make Qing Shui feel annoyed. As it turned out, old ginger would often be hotter than young ginger. They were much more far-sighted than normal youngsters.

At present, Qing Shui's strength was considered to be average. He could go to the majority of places in Central Continent. The next area which Qing Shui decided to explore was the Cold Ice City in Xijiang Country.

Xijiang Country and Seven Stars Country were close to each other. Normally, Qing Shui would choose to explore the country which was closest to him. Considering that he also needed to go to a cold area, he eventually settled on the coldest city in Xijiang Country, the Cold Ice City.

Qing Shui rode on the Fire Bird which had now become really powerful and flew towards Xijiang Country. Even though Seven Stars Country and Xijiang Country were quite close to each other, in between countries, there would often be empty land which could be up to a thousand miles long. This once again made Qing Shui feel that the World of the Nine Continents was truly vast.

The current speed of the Fire Bird was about four times the speed of sound. It could fly as far as two hundred and thirty thousand miles per day. Even if it was to pause to rest , it would still be able to fly one hundred thousand kilometers.

With the addition of the Nine Continents Step Effect of the Nine Continents Boots, Qing Shui could travel a lot faster now than before. It was roughly a threefold increase in speed. Prior to this, it took him about three months to fly from Green Cloud Continent to Central Continent. Now, it would only take him a month to do so.

It's really formidable!

It only took Qing Shui a day or so to reach Xijiang Country. In reality, the countries in Central Continent were really similar to each other in terms of how advanced they were. In this place, everything was decided by one's strength. Hence, as long as one was strong, he or she would be able to be the king. It was not a problem for them to take control of a city but it was really hard to do it when it was a country. After all, the area coverage was too large. At most, they could only rule in name because in reality, it was very hard for them to control the overall situation. Not to mention that everywhere, there would be talented individuals in hiding. Once they showed up, if the ruler had insufficient strength to go against them, the ruler wouldn't even know how he or she died.

The Cold Ice City was located at the westernmost part of Xijiang Country. It was really close to the Ice Sea. That place was bitterly cold almost year round. Roughly every three days, it would snow at least once. By the time Qing Shui arrived at Cold Ice City, it had already been a week.

By the time Qing Shui arrived at the Cold Ice City, it was already snowing heavily. Qing Shui felt really good when he was standing in Cold Ice City. The snowy weather was one of his favorites. He really enjoyed seeing snow, so much so that he was starting to plan to move here in the future.

The snowflakes in the sky were really huge and filled up the sky. People could see the silver decorations wherever they go. The surroundings looked so snowy white that it made people feel as if their hearts were being purified.

There were a lot of people along the street. Most of them were only pedestrians. There were very few beast carts. A lot of children would play on the snowfield while young ladies would often hold up their fancy umbrellas in the snow. Their movement looked really elegant. Adding on that they were doing it on the snowfield, it helped them give off a different kind of beauty.

Qing Shui stood in the middle of the snowfield and let the snowflakes in the sky drop onto his body as they wished. In a while, there was already a thick layer of snow covering him. Qing Shui looked far into the distance and for a moment, felt like he lost all kinds of desires and intentions. This was an Emptiness Realm.

Qing Shui was aware of the things that were happening around him, yet he chose to not think about it. This kind of feeling wasn't really an epiphany, it resembled more of a temporary purification of mind.

All of this somehow had to do with the snow but right at this moment, a pink colored umbrella appeared on top of Qing Shui's head, surprising him.

As Qing Shui turned around to to see who it was, he was stunned.

It was a graceful and noble-looking woman. She had beautiful hair that was tied up. On her mature and noble face were a pair of wise and beautiful eyes. She had snow white skin, a slender neck and that slim body of hers looked really fine and delicate. The front part of her body's bulges would drive people wild with fanciful thoughts. Her body was really slim and she had a well-rounded butt. It was so perfectly curved that it could drive men crazy. The flowing cloud skirt that she wore made her look really beautiful. She was at the borderline between being an angel and a human.

Hai Dongqing!

It's actually the extreme beauty from Hai Clan. The woman who looked noble and elegant. At that time, Qing Shui knew that Hai Clan had moved away but he didn't know that they actually ended up moving to Central Continent, nor had he thought that they would actually be in Cold Ice City of Xijiang Country.

"Is this what people know as fate?" At this moment, Qing Shui couldn't help but be surprised with the miraculous fate.

Cold Ice City was located in the most western part of Xijiang Country while Di Clan was more towards the eastern side of Seven Stars Country. Therefore, there was still quite some distance between Cold Ice City and Di Clan. At first, Qing Shui wasn't sure if Hai Dongqing was aware of the ruckus that he caused in Seven Stars Country. But as he thought about it, he felt that it wasn't really important whether she has heard about it or not.

"Hello!" An attractive and sweet-sounding voice rang. Hai Dongqing smiled as she looked at Qing Shui. Other than that, she also looked a bit surprised.

"Hello!" Qing Shui responded with a smile. He never expected to see Hai Dongqing here. So as it turned out, Hai Clan had moved away from Green Cloud Continent to Central Continent.

It was snowing heavily everywhere. Qing Shui on the other hand, was sharing an umbrella with an extreme beauty. It felt unusually good. The atmosphere around it was also really beautiful.

"How long have you been in Central Continent? It's such a coincidence that we're able to meet each other here." The smile on Hai Dongqing's beautiful face looked really warm. That was a kind of true happiness.

A truly happy smile was really contagious and could be felt really easily. Qing Shui smiled at her: "I have been here for quite a while. I have been in Seven Stars Country."

Hai Dongqing's umbrella wasn't actually that big. Now, the two were standing together. As Qing Shui noticed that quite a lot of snowflakes has fallen on Hai Dongqing's shoulders, he hurriedly took half a step out.

Actually, snowflakes like this were nothing to cultivators. But then again, it's already become a part of her habit to hold up an umbrella. Not to mention that it was also more convenient for a woman to hold an umbrella.

"The snow is only going to get heavier and heavier. It will take a while for it to subside. Why don't you come to my house?" Hai Dongqing smiled as she talked to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui was here for the Three Tailed Immortal Fox. Since the snow was quite heavy and he had just arrived, he planned to look for an inn to stay in for the night. His original intention was to investigate this place first before he made his moves but he never expected to run into Hai Dongqing here. Frankly speaking, Qing Shui didn't really feel like going to Hai Clan as it would be quite troublesome.

"Hmm, is there anything wrong? In any case, I'm the landowner here. Not to mention that we have also seen each other a few times before. It's my responsibility to be a good host to you." Hai Dongqing said gently after she saw Qing Shui being hesitant.

Her voice sounded attractive and seductive. Within the elegant and dignified sound was a kind of beauty that couldn't be expressed in words. Every single one of her smirks and smiles was really graceful, with no imperfections.

"Nope, well then, I'm sorry for the interruption, Miss Hai." Qing Shui thought about it for a while. Since he would still have to look for an inn, he felt that it would be better if he just went to Hai Clan instead. This way, he would be able to learn a bit about the situation here. Considering that he didn't really know anyone from Cold Ice City, Hai Clan would already be considered to be more or less half a friend to Qing Shui. Not to mention that the current courtyard where Qing Clan currently lived in once belonged to Hai Clan. Hence, there was a relationship between them that couldn't be described in words.

The two took up an umbrella and began walking in the snow. Qing Shui tried his best to distance himself from from Hai Dongqing. Even so, their shoulders would still collide with each others from time to time.

"Look at that, isn't that the Fairy Hai?"

"Oh yeah, who's that man? He does not seem to be Hai Long." A young man at the side asked in confusion.

"What kind of eyes do you have? You don't even have to look to know that he isn't Hai Long." The person from before responded.

"But it seems like Hai Xianzi is not yet married. Nor have we heard of any young masters from any clans getting close to her."

……

When the two of them stopped at the beautiful and graceful courtyard, they both froze in shock. There's no way such a small courtyard would be able to contain everyone from Hai Clan.

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