The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 863 - Preparation, Peak Martial Saint Thunderous Beast

"Oh, go ahead. You, Young Master Dong, seldom asks for favors. As long as it's within my means, I won't reject you."

The lady sat opposite Dong Yan and company. In the middle, there was a very large tea table between them, keeping them at a distance of three meters apart. This was how Mu Clan's Young Miss did things. Usually, people would be unable to get within three meters of her.

"My brother Qing Shui wants to enter the Sky Penetrating Mountains. Therefore, I'd like for you guys to let him join you when you enter. I'll definitely offer my great thanks," Dong Yan said to the lady.

The lady was in no hurry to promise Dong Yan. She frowned slightly and looked at Qing Shui. At this moment, it was as if she wanted to use her beautiful eyes to see through Qing Shui.

"You're sure that you want to go?" The lady said softly, looking at Qing Shui.

"I'm sure!"

"To be honest, even for us, we don't have absolute confidence that we'll be able to stay alive. It's just that we've been quite lucky. I won't say much if you were to want to go but I won't be able to guarantee your safety. It's because no one who goes will be able to guarantee that they'll be able to come back," the lady smiled lightly and said.

Qing Shui knew that the lady was in fact saying this to Dong Yan or maybe she was telling him but the intention was for Dong Yan to know about it. The lady's cautiousness was something which Qing Shui felt was good. This was only normal.

"I know. Actually, I would have gone in even if I went by myself. However, Eldest Brother is worried and wants me to find company. This is why we're here to trouble Miss." Qing Shui was speaking the truth.

"If that's the case, I don't mind going together. With more people, we can help take care of each other. After all, there's still some time before we enter the Sky Penetrating Mountains. During this time, you can decide to withdraw anytime. It's really dangerous inside."

Qing Shui knew that she didn't wish for him to go since she wouldn't feel at ease. She was leading her own people in and could command them as she wished. The efficiency would be greater this way. If there were outsiders, that would not be the case. It was not good to be giving instructions to outsiders but if her own people were all able to return with just the exception of himself, she would find it hard to explain it to Dong Clan.

"I understand. When the time comes, there's no need to stand on ceremony with me. I'll listen to whatever you say. If there are any accidents, I would be the one to be blamed too. The blame wouldn't be on you." Qing Shui knew what the lady was thinking and thus made it clear.

The lady knew that Qing Shui could tell what she was implying. This was good as well since it wouldn't be that nice to make everything too clear. She then turned to Dong Yan, "There's no need for thanks. I just hope that everyone will be safe."

"Miss Mu, when will we be setting off?" Qing Shui gave it some thought and asked

"Between half a month to one month," the lady gave it some thought, smiled and said.

"Mmm, is there anything I'll need to prepare?" Qing Shui gave it some thought and said.

"If you have medicine for injuries or antidotes, try to bring as many as you can. They might be useful. It's best if they are medicinal pills which can instantly recover one's physical strength. If you don't have any, I'll prepare some for you. Bring along everything that you feel is useful. It's extremely dangerous in the Sky Penetrating Mountains and sometimes, there's nowhere to hide and the only option is to fight it out. We might even need to kill a large group of demonic beasts," the lady said casually.

"Oh, I have all of these," Qing Shui quickly smiled and said.

"Oh, then that's good!"

Seeing that it was about time, Dong Yan and company took their leave, with the lady seeing them to the door. Looking at the time, the three of them went to look for an inn for a drink.

There was an inn not far away from Azure Cloud Pavillion, "Elegance Inn"!

To be able to set up an inn along Heaven Stepping Road, they were definitely no ordinary people. The three of them entered and very quickly, a waiter came out to welcome them. The three of them sat in a corner. They neither wanted to enter a private room nor mix with the crowd, thus they chose a corner in the hall.

They opened a pint of "Flowerain Wine" and a strong fragrance flowed out. This was a mellow wine which had aged at least 100 years. Qing Shui did not take out his treasured collection of mellow wines, each of which had an age of 1,000 years. It was just that it was not appropriate to take it out now. Moreover, it was still better to try the local wine available when in a new place and he wanted to store some in his collection. After all, there was sufficient space in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

"Have you guys heard? Cheng Clan has came across a Chieftain Level demonic beast in the Sky Penetrating Mountains and all of them were wiped out. Cheng Clan is considered to have fallen."

Just as the three of them were drinking, an abrupt voice rang out, causing Qing Shui's brows to furrow tightly. It was because Qing Shui had came across a Chieftain Level demonic beast back in the Flowerfruit Mountain.

"This was all because of their greed. A large majority of the capable people in the clan had entered the Sky Penetrating Mountains, all for the sake of that Bloodjade Crystal Then this happened." The one who spoke was a long-haired middle-aged man from the same table as the previous person who said that.

"I heard that there's no match for that Chieftain Level demonic beast amongst all Martial Emperor cultivators," a guy who was wearing a beautiful set of clothes said.

A Chieftain Level demonic beast had basically reached a powerful level and those who had entered its territory, regardless whether man or demonic beast, would have their abilities weakened while its own abilities would be strengthened. With one side being weakened and the other side strengthened, the gap was very very different.

"Do you know what that Chieftain Level demonic beast was?" A young man asked curiously.

"It seemed to be the Golden Dragon King!"

...

Qing Shui was also slightly nervous. If he were to come across a Chieftain Level demonic beast like that, would he be able to escape? He had the chance to use the Nine Continent Steps twice and had also six hours in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Now, his spirit energy had soared by a lot and as long as he was not completely confined, he should be fine.

Moreover, he still had the Buddha's True Eyes. Qing Shui had long since started to cultivate the Buddha's True Eyes and its greatest use now was to increase his spirit energy and increase his resistance to attacks from spirit energy. It also let his Vajra's Glare progress even faster.

He had yet to reach the small success stage and did not have the ability to attack his opponent's "soul".

...

In the middle, Qing Clan knew that Dong Yan's grandfather had gone to Mu Clan once. Although Miss Mu was the one to call the shots in regards to entering the Sky Penetrating Mountains, there were still a couple of experts from Mu Clan who had gone alone. It could be said that she was the only youngster from Mu Clan who was entering the Sky Penetrating Mountains. The others were at least middle-aged, with a great majority of the group being old men. They were Mu Clan's main force.

In the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal!

Qing Shui watched as his demonic beasts were gradually powering up. After all, there was plenty of time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. During this time, the Fire Bird and the Jade Emperor Queen Bee had powered up the fastest. It could be because they had been "born" in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

One thing that made Qing Shui happy was that the horde of Jade Emperor Bees had grown to close to 1,000 in number. Before the Jade Emperor Queen Bee attained a breakthrough to Peak Martial Saint, the Jade Emperor Bees would no longer increase in numbers.

Out of the 1,000 Jade Emperor Bees, half of them were at Peak Martial King level, three of them had attained a breakthrough to elementary Martial Saint. This made Qing Shui very excited. After a few more years, they would all become powerful demonic beasts and it would be a big group of them. Maybe, by then, the numbers would grow even higher. Imagining the scene where all the Jade Emperor Bees shot out their stingers made Qing Shui very agitated.

The Gold-Silver Colored Butterflies were always around. They could fly around in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, going everywhere. Even some medicinal herbs had started to appear on some empty spaces far away. Those were the acts of the Jade Emperor Bees and the Gold-Silver Colored Butterflies. They must have unintentionally scattered the seeds.

That Ice Snow Sacred Fruit from two days ago had also matured. Qing Shui once again fed it to the Thunderous Beast. The two Ice Snow Sacred Fruits had pushed it to Peak Martial Saint and its cultivation had increased by a tremendous leap. It was quite a big achievement for a Grade Ten Martial Saint to reach Peak Martial Saint.

Even Qing Shui felt that luck was on his side. The two Ice Snow Sacred Fruits were well worth it. It had increased the Thunderous Beast's physical strength from one star to three stars, causing him to feel very excited.

He could not help but looked at the Thunderous Beast's powerful battle techniques.

Violet Thunder Protection: Unique ability of the Thunderous Beast, can increase all abilities to become two times stronger. It doesn't deplete energy and automatically circulates. If it received physical attacks, the Thunderous Beast has a chance of inflicting paralysis on the opponent.

Having its abilities increased, the Thunderous Beast which now had a strength of six stars, had improved greatly in various aspects. Most importantly, those who dealt it physical blows would end up in a tragic state. As for those who attacked with magic arts, the Thunderous Beast could dodge with its speed. Moreover, the Thunderous Beast's resistance ability was now also extremely powerful.

Thunderbolt: Releasing an electrifying attack through the Core within four hundred meters. The attack would have a slight paralyzing, speed reducing, reaction reducing effect on the opponent. The effects could be accumulated.

"Mmm, it has leveled up!"

Qing Shui hadn't noticed the distance previously but now, he realized that it could reach twice as far as before. This was good. It could now attack opponents from afar now.

There was not much change to the Violet Lightning Strike and the Lightning Recovery.

As for medicinal pills and such, Qing Shui had accumulated enough of them and naturally did not need to worry. He had also accumulated quite a lot of experience for the next alchemy recipe.

...

Unknowingly, half a month went by. Qing Shui didn't stay at Dong Clan but at the Elegance Inn on the Heaven Stepping Road, the place where the three of them had had a drink the previous time. It was very close to Azure Cloud Pavillion.

Sun Yan had returned to Yun City and said that he would return after some time. Therefore, there was only Qing Shui and Dong Yan now and they would occasionally go to Azure Cloud Pavillion.

"Eldest Brother also came to Azure Cloud Pavillion frequently in the past?" Qing Shui smiled and looked at Dong Yan.

"Not really," Dong Yan shook his head and said.

"Does Eldest Brother like Miss Mu?" Qing Shui looked seriously at Dong Yan, waiting to check out his reaction.

Dong Yan didn't appear to find it strange nor was he surprised. He merely looked at Qing Shui, gave it some thought before shaking his head and saying, "It's normal for men to like her. But it's not good to fall in love with her, otherwise you'll go crazy."

"She eventually has to get married. She can't possibly refuse to get married forever?" Qing Shui smiled and looked at Dong Yan.

"Regardless of whether she will be getting married or not, our relationship will stop at friends. There's no other possibility. And if a guy who's good enough for her doesn't appear, she might stay single forever," saying this, Dong Yan also smiled.

Qing Shui shook his head. He had not expected that a person like Dong Yan would also have moments where he would feel inferior. It wasn't hard to feel inferior. For example, the fact that Dong Yan was not as powerful as her was sufficient.

Dong Yan appeared very at ease when he said this but Qing Shui knew that he was controlling himself, making himself not fall in love with that lady. Knowing that nothing would come of it, so he shouldn't go ahead with it. Otherwise, in the end, he would be the one who would be covered in injuries.

"But third Brother, I feel that you have a chance." Dong Yan looked at Qing Shui and that familiar smile appeared again.

"Me? Forget it. I already have several wives and a few kids," Qing Shui smiled and said.

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