The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 736 - Killed the Golden Lion Eagle, Blocking the Escape Route

"Where did the person-in-charge go?"

Zuoshi Yanlang ignored the earlier question from the officer of the Heavenly Palace and asked him his own question instead.

Even though the member of the Zuoshi Clan seemed stronger than the officer, this was still the Heavenly Palace - the top sect of the Greencloud Palace. At least that was what the members of the Heavenly Palace would like to think.

"Who are you people? If you don't state who you are right now, don't blame us for not going easy on you." The officer of the Heavenly Palace furrowed his brows as he looked at the elderly man in front of him with displeased expression.

"What a reckless man!"

As soon as the elderly man finished speaking, he quickly lashed his palm out at the officer. Before the officer could react or defend himself, he was struck on the head by Zuoshi Yanlang and exploded in a split second. The officer was dead on the spot.

"How dare you kill a member of the Heavenly Palace. Everyone, kill him!" One of the people in the crowd shouted. In an instant, dozens of people wielded their weapons and rushed towards Zuoshi Yanlang.

"You are all dead!" Zuoshi Yanlang lashed out in disdain as he moved himself instantaneously to the middle of the weapon-wielding men. Within a breath of time, all of those rushing towards Zuoshi Yanlang were killed on the spot.

The Heavenly Palace disciples who were itching for the chance to strike quickly halted their footsteps. There weren't many who would boldly throw themselves to the face of death when they saw one.

"Tell me, where did the person-in-charge of the Heavenly Palace go?" Zuoshi Yanlang looked at a towering young man and shot him a question.

"I don't know!" The young man looked at Zuoshi Yanlang and replied in a deep tone.

"I will give you another chance, say it!" Zuoshi Yanlang asked one more time.

"I don't know!"

Pu!

The young man was knocked out with a hole in his chest. Letting out a painful cry, he was instantly killed on the spot. Zuoshi Yanlang swept his fierce gaze across the crowd in front of him. Those who were met with his gaze were frightened to their bones.

"You, tell me!"

"You, tell me!"

……...

He had picked five people from the crowd - some didn't know the answer, some remained silent. But ultimately, all of them were killed in the same way by Zuoshi Yanlang.

"You, tell me!" Zuoshi Yanlang was pointing at a shivering man in his 30s.

"Don't kill me, I don't know!"

The man abruptly shouted at the top of his lungs, then a whiff of odd smell filled the air before the smell vanished. When Zuoshi Yanlang saw what had happened, he couldn't help but frown in disappointment.

It seemed that the shivering man had lost control of his bladder and peed his pants. He was frightened to the point of making an embarrassing situation for himself. Luckily for him, his life was spared. But he would have to live with this kind of embarrassment for the rest of his life.

Zuoshi Yanlang turned around and went to the side of Zuoshi Ziyan and said: "Old Ancestor, it seems that the head of the Heavenly Palace is not here. He must have hid himself quietly, even these people don't seem to know about it."

"They couldn't have gone too far, otherwise it is impossible for them to not know about it. They must be somewhere nearby in a secret room or something. Get these people to search and dig around. Those who don't contribute to the search will be punished to death." Zuoshi Ziyan thought for a while before he gave an order.

"Yes, sir!"

He let the people of the Heavenly Palace search and dig around the place for the main purpose of digging the nearby ground around three feet deep, in hopes they would be able to dig up some clues as to where the Qing Clan had gone to.

……….

After resting for a day, Qing Shui hopped onto his Fire Bird and went straight for the capital of the Greencloud Continent. Although he wasn't particularly worried about the safety of his Qing Clan, he still missed them dearly. Even if his enemies could find their whereabouts, they would still require some time to enter the secret room before they could get to them.

It was a peaceful day. The sun was shining bright and clouds were nowhere to be seen. However, Qing Shui's heart was clouded with haze despite the clear weather - he had a feeling that his day would not go so smoothly. Riding on his Fire Bird, they soared the sky continuously while leaving a long red trail behind their path.

Suddenly, Qing Shui could see a small dotted thing from afar. Although his eyesight was good, he couldn't make out what that thing was. But he could tell that it was gleaming under the reflection of the sun's ray.

A demonic beast - even if he couldn't make out what kind of demonic beast it was, he could tell it was definitely a demonic beast. Qing Shui was surprised by the sudden appearance of a demonic beast, so he quickly looked around the surrounding mountains and flew behind one of them without hesitation.

He had a feeling that the Zuoshi Clan had already reached the capital of the Greencloud Continent, and that they would turn back - at least someone would - to check on their residence once their search in the Qing Residence came out fruitless. Qing Shui had hoped that there would at least be a few members of the Zuoshi Clan turning back first.

He had a strategy to separate a few members away from the group and kill them first, then it would be easier for him to deal with the remaining ones later on.

He called back his Fire Bird and stood on a secluded area of the mountain top. Qing Shui was careful not to be seen by them while he stared at the demonic beast flying closer and closer. When he got a clear view of the flying beast, his heart skipped a beat.

There were four people on the demonic beast!

The demonic beast was a giant Golden Eagle, but with the head of a lion. Qing Shui was familiar with the beast - it was a mutated demonic beast called the Golden Lion Eagle.

Because of the demonic beast, Qing Shui was able to confirm that they were the members of the Zuoshi Clan. Moreover, their flying destination was exactly towards the direction of the Zuoshi Residence. Currently, they were getting closer to where Qing Shui was.

And then he saw it. They were wearing the attire of the Zuoshi Clan. Besides, the men riding on the Golden Lion Eagle gave off the aura that only members of the Zuoshi Clan could have. The Golden Lion Eagle was not to be looked down on either, so he decided to eliminate the demonic beast first before anything else.

He took out one pitch-black Frosted Iron Ball, which was the second one out of the eight balls he had made, to prepare for a strike. The Golden Lion Eagle was getting really close, and he knew he had no time to think of another approach right now.

The Golden Lion Eagle was only at the strength of one star and its flying ability could be considered incomparable to its own instantaneous evasion ability that could be used multiple times after a period of cooldown - both were still abnormally strong.

Moreover, the head of the Golden Lion Eagle was that of a Golden Lion, meaning that it was the sturdiest and strongest part of the entire body. Besides that, its teeth and claws were renowned to be extremely sharp, which was incomparable to those of the Shadow Mouse. Also, the terrifying speed of the Golden Lion Eagle was the one attribute that truly made the Golden Lion Eagle the horrible nightmare of any opponent.

Qing Shui summoned his Diamond Gigantic Elephant as he prepared himself for the surprise attack.

Just then, the Golden Lion Eagle let out a screeching cry and slowed down. Qing Shui knew he must have been discovered by the demonic beast due to its sharp senses.

Instantaneous Diamond Evasion!

During the moment as he rushed out from his hiding place with the instantaneous move, he struck the Frosted Iron Ball towards the Golden Lion Eagle with the speed that was incomprehensible to his enemies.

Meteor Smash!

Qing Shui had already locked on to the Golden Lion Eagle with his spiritual sense before he pulled himself closer to the demonic beast with Instantaneous Diamond Evasion. Most importantly, there was a mountain peak between the two of them, thus he used the instantaneous move to boost himself from behind the mountain rocks to the front of the Golden Lion Eagle.

The elderly men on the Golden Lion Eagle were caught by surprise and their expression on their faces changed in an instant. At that moment, the Golden Lion Eagle's full body gleamed in golden light, which indicated its next move - the instantaneous evasion battle technique.

Demon Binding Ropes!

Qing Shui struck out the Demon Binding Ropes he had prepared earlier. His goal was to interrupt the use of the Golden Lion Eagle's battle technique.

At the same time, Qing Shui used an Elephant Form technique on the Golden Lion Eagle that he had never used before in a battle.

Vajra's Glare!

A certain chance of disorientating the mind of the opponent - leading them to be stunned for a while.

Unfortunately for the Golden Lion Eagle, it had fallen into a trance by the Vajra's Glare. Usually, it wouldn't be a problem for the Golden Lion Eagle to regain its composure after being stunned for a while. However, that wasn't the case this time as a deadly Frosted Iron Ball was coming its way with no intention of stopping.

The Golden Lion Eagle could have evaded the incoming Frosted Iron Ball easily, but because of the Demon Binding Ropes as well as being inflicted with the Vajra's Glare, it had lost the chance by being stunned twice, thus allowing the poisonous Frosted Iron Ball to pierce through the weakest part of its body - the abdomen area. That area was exposed as there weren't any sturdy golden feathers to shield it from harm. Despite it being a small exposed area, it was also the weakest part of the Golden Lion Eagle's body.

Pu! The Frosted Iron Ball flashed through its body!

A loud roar rang out in the sky, but everything was too late. Qing Shui allowed himself a satisfactory smile after getting a result that he had expected. He had hoped for an outcome like this, but he didn't think he would be able to execute his plan this smoothly.

The Golden Lion Eagle began to dive towards the ground as it continued to scream in agony. The four elderly men had a ghastly expression as they quickly aborted their mount. It didn't take the Golden Lion Eagle too long to shrivel up as it dived towards the ground. Within a few minutes, the cries had dimmed. The last thing they could see was the figure of the Golden Lion Eagle falling to the bottom of the cliff.

"You don't need to look anymore. The seven Martial Saints in the Zuoshi Residence are already dead." Qing Shui stood on his Diamond Gigantic Elephant as he flashed a smile at the four elderly men. He noticed that they kept looking in the direction of their residence after the Golden Lion Eagle had fell to the bottom.

Qing Shui sensed their strength and found that they were all around the strength of two stars. There was one, however, who had the strength of two and a half stars or even more than that.

"Qing Shui, don't get ahead of yourself." The strongest one among the four took a step forward. His glare was as sharp as a knife as he stared at Qing Shui directly in the eyes.

This elderly man believed Qing Shui's words, because there were indeed seven Martial Saints who were assigned to guard the Zuoshi Residence.

"Third brother, what should we do? The Old Ancestor's Golden Lion Eagle is dead." One of the elderly men standing beside him forced out a frown.

"Kill him. It's the only way." The strongest one spoke and never took his eyes away from Qing Shui.

Vajra Subdues Demons!

Heavenly Talisman!

Qing Shui wasted no time and began his assault as well. He took out his Violet Gold Divine Shield and Thunder God as he proceeded to use the Instantaneous Diamond Evasion to evade the elderly men's attacks.

Fiery Golden Eyes!

Emperor's Qi!

Qing Shui did everything in a second with a calm attitude. The Vajra Subdues Demons was used solely against the strongest elderly man. He would have easily killed one of them if not for the number of people on their side.

Mighty Elephant Stomp!

The elderly men from the Zuoshi Clan had to be careful of the Diamond Gigantic Elephant's Mighty Elephant Stomp after their strength had been weakened by Qing Shui. The Mighty Elephant Stomp had the strength of two and a half stars, which was quite strong considering that it was also an area of effect attack.

Zuoshi Xilu could have easily defended himself against the Mighty Elephant Stomp, but with the strength of one and a half star after being inflicted with the weakening ability…..

Being weakened by an enemy was the most upsetting thing that could have happened to a martial warrior. His enemy wasn't as strong as he was in the beginning, but now his strength had been reduced to a mere one and a half stars…..

Zuoshi Xilu now knew why the men from the Zuoshi Clan would always die in the battle one after another when facing Qing Shui. This young man had cultivated a weakening technique that seemed unbelievably blasphemous.

At the same time, he finally knew why this young man needed to eliminate the Golden Lion Eagle first. Without the Golden Lion Eagle by their side, they had no way to escape from Qing Shui.

From the very beginning, this young man had harbored the intention to force them to stay within Qing Shui's reach.

When he remembered the purpose of the Golden Lion Eagle the Old Ancestor had lent to them, he couldn't help but think that everything was too late now.

"Kill him with all you got!" Zuoshi Xilu shouted at the top of his lungs and rushed towards Qing Shui in the lead.

Qing Shui was surprised, but in a good way. He was still thinking of various ways to separate the elderly men from each other, but seeing how they were eager to rush toward him, were they so desperate to point of plunging to their death?

Instantaneous Diamond Evasion!

State of One with Elephant!

Ten Thousand Great Thunderbolt!

Boom!

Unfortunately for Zuoshi Xilu, he didn't have any weapons that could resist the paralyzing effect of the thunderbolt. When he was paralyzed from top to bottom, he was able to get a glimpse of Qing Shui's Thunder God as Qing Shui flashed by in front of him. But soon after he saw the Thunder God, he was directly kicked on the neck after Qing Shui had flashed by one more time.

Tiger Tailwhip Kick!

Crack!

Instant death!

Qing Shui flashed behind the one of the elderly men who was still in shock and used his Violet Gold Divine Shield to ram against him. At the same time, he flicked two poisonous Coldsteel Needles at the two elderly men who were rushing in for an assault on both sides.

It had come down to this critical moment. If his opponents chose not to evade, they would be able to land a blow at Qing Shui, but if they chose to evade, they would lose their only chance. The two elderly man stared at the pitch-black Coldsteel Needles for a while before rushing towards the needles while gritting their teeth.

Qing Shui had been praying for this situation to arrive!

Divinity Protection!

Pu pu!

Almost at the same time!

But the battle was destined to end just a few moments later.

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