The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 869 - Grade Eight Sunstone, The eighth Portrait of Beauty (teaser)

This was the first time that Qing Shui had seen this third kind of expression from this lady. A faint smile, a worried expression, and the previous slight anger. Of these three expressions, the first one was for everyone, while the second and third were for himself.

She was very beautiful regardless of her expression, beautiful to the utmost degree. Qing Shui did not dare to look more and only laughed while turning his head to the side.

"You're not greedy, but I'm greedy." Qing Shui said as he shook his head.

"Okay, let's go and see what's inside. What a coincidence that we're actually able to come across a Deity Statue. In so many years, I've only come across one before, and that was a long time ago. That occasion changed my life." said the lady. While she talked, she seemed to have realized something. She had been acting slightly unusually today. She was talking more than usual and did some things that were slightly abnormal. Her mind also seemed to be slightly confused.

He did not know what exactly was happening to her, however, she knew that it was related to the man before her.

Qing Shui smiled and nodded his head and the two of them walked into the inner temple.

The deeper they entered, the greater the pressure!

The two of them could be considered as people who had received great benefits from the Deity Statue. Therefore, both of them had a considerable amount of anticipation about the good things that this Deity Statue would bring to them. Qing Shui truly hoped that this Deity Statue would be able to bring him two stalks of Sky Penetrating Grass.

At that time, he would use the other items to exchange with this lady. Since she was able to say those words previously, that meant that he still had hope. He would not let her suffer a loss.

As the two slowly headed towards the inner hall, the pressure gradually grew stronger and stronger. When Qing Shui saw the familiar gigantic Deity Statue, he had some complicated feelings.

If they did not have the Treasure Hunting Pigs, perhaps it would have been very hard to discover this place. This area was extremely well concealed and was covered in dense vegetation. In the vast and expansive Sky Penetrating Mountains, even if people walked by, it would still be very hard to discover this place. This was because it was impossible to search every inch of land.

Therefore, even though they had not gone very deep into the Sky Penetrating Mountains, those who entered the mountains would most likely search within 1,000 li from the entrance. There were many places to search as there were mountain peaks everywhere. Therefore, the search sites were not only on the ground but also halfway up the mountain, on the mountain peaks, caves as well as underground.

"Will you do it, or should I?" asked the lady as she smiled towards Qing Shui.

"You go for it!" Qing Shui did not wish to fight with her over it. Furthermore, he wished to see how this lady was going to get the box from underneath the Deity Statue.

"Okay!" the lady replied straightforwardly.

Resisting the pressure, the lady slowly walked towards the Deity Statue. Qing Shui looked at her, knowing that it was impossible for her to use her hand to directly take that box. Therefore, the method she would employ should be similar to his.

The lady resisted the pressure and walked approximately half the distance, then she drew out her Spiritual Link Divine Sword and proceeded to control it, sending it flying towards the box.

Humm Humm!

There was a sharp resounding hum, and he saw the Spiritual Link Divine Sword enter a crevice in the box. A swaying moment then followed. However, a change happened at this very moment.

This was followed by an intensification of the humming noise. The Spiritual Link Divine Sword vibrated even more intensely, however, the box only vibrated gently yet did not seem to have the slightest movement.

Controlling an object!

The lady's Spiritual Link Divine Sword could leave her body and be controlled with her mind, just like Qing Shui's hidden weapons. However, at present, the results were unclear. Despite this, he could tell that her sword was very strong, otherwise, it would have been destroyed by the pressure.

Qing Shui did not know if she had used this method to retrieve the her previous box. However, this time he had felt that it would be difficult for her to obtain it. Mental strength was very mysterious and its strength was very weak, similar to Qing Shui's Hidden Weapons. Qing Shui mainly used his hand to unleash his hidden attacks and only used his mental strength to change their directions.

The lady had similarly used her hand to launch the Spiritual Link Divine Sword and then she tried to use her mental strength to drag it back. This wasn't impossible, but the difficulty was high. The Spiritual Link Divine Sword could be considered a treasure, but he still didn't know if she could achieve it.

After trying to pull it out twice and being met with failure both times, she did not continue trying. Instead, she sent out an extremely sweet sounding clear whistle and the Treasure Hunting Pig quickly came running over. What happened in the next moment left Qing Shui dumbfounded.

This golden colored Treasure Hunting Pig was actually able to ignore the pressure...

Its plump little body ran straight for the Deity Statue and it used its head to lift the box up. At this moment, the lady used her mental strength to control the Spiritual Link Divine Sword, which in turn controlled the path of the box. Just like that, the box slowly arrived by the lady's side.

Don't look down on this Treasure Hunting Pig for being only a foot long. Its entire body was tough like diamonds. Although it wasn't powerful, its defensive capabilities were shocking. Furthermore, it had great strength and an even more astonishing stamina and its survival capabilities were extremely impressive.

Just like that, the lady walked over to him with the box in one hand. With a faint smile on her face, she looked at Qing Shui who stood somewhat close. The lady gently sashayed as she walked. Her golden phoenix dress was unspeakably moving and her beautiful eyes were akin to the limpid autumn waters. Her exquisite nose was akin to jade.

"Let's see what's inside this box. It could be the Sky Penetrating Grass that you want." said the lady towards Qing Shui with a light smile.

Qing Shui smiled but did not say anything.

Walking out of the great hall, the girl used her Spiritual Link Divine Sword to pry the box open. The box was not large, and there were only a few things within it. A book, a painting and a blood red gemstone that looked extremely powerful. Standing by the side, Qing Shui could clearly feel the spiritual energy fluctuations on the gem's surface. The gem seemed to hold some kind of berserk power.

Other than those items, there was also foot long stalk of a mysterious medicinal plant.

With a single look, he could tell that it was the Sky Penetrating Grass. Its entire stalk was translucent like jade and rainbow colors swirled on its surface. The grass radiated a power Spiritual Qi. From its Spiritual Qi, Qing Shui was able to confirm that it was definitely over 5,000 years old. Although this grass was only a foot long, it gave people the sensation that it was especially tall and straight. At the tip of its stalk were a few star-like specks of snow white silver grains that looked extremely splendid and magnificent.

Sky Penetrating Grass, this was the Sky Penetrating Grass!

The lady first picked up the painting. Qing Shui knew that it was a Portrait of Beauty, and it was the eighth one he has seen.

The lady slowly opened it before gawking. Immediately, she looked oddly at Qing Shui, before passing it over to him and asking, "Why is there a painting of your wife here?"

Qing Shui gawked and took a look. This was too coincidental…

The woman in the painting had her hair bunned up and her black brows painted a certain gentleness. Her countenance was as radiant as snow reflected on clouds of sunset. Despite lacking makeup, she was as beautiful as the Goddess of Mount Ba and her beautiful eyes looked like ice on a winter day.

Wasn't this the lady in the crystal coffin? This was too coincidental. He had just drawn her in the Azure Cloud Pavilion and now the genuine painting had appeared… It had to be said that in regards to drawing skills, Qing Shui was far too inferior in comparison. In a single painting, the artist was able to make it difficult for people to shift their gaze. Qing Shui looked at the painting of this woman and stared at those bone-chillingly cold matching beautiful pupils. They were beautiful, akin to ice and snow, pure but cold to the bone.

When Qing Shui thought about the matter that happened between them, he felt a burst of bitterness. It was an indescribable feeling. Looking at the painting again, a complicated expression hung on his face.

The Mu Family girl stood at the side and looked at the absentminded Qing Shui. She felt that this man had become more and more mysterious. Why would the box of the Deity Statue have a painting of his wife?

Although the one he had painted was incomparable to this, the copy he had painted would also be able to fetch an astronomical price. All of this made her feel bewildered.

How does one explain this? Could it be that this man had hidden this painting here?

Only Qing Shui knew the reason. This was a Portrait of Beauty. That woman being one of the Portraits of Beauty was not a strange at all. However, it just so happened that this was too coincidental. Casually, he placed the painting into the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal. Since this lady had misunderstood, he would let her continue to misunderstand.

"Grade Eight Sunstone, increases one's base strength by 200%." The lady took out the high purity blood red stone.

"For you!" said the lady as she threw the stone at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui did not understand why he was giving this stone to her so he looked at her perplexedly.

"It looks like this Deity Statue and you are brought together by fate. First, it has a painting of your wife. This stone is the same as the one I've brought. Since I can only use one, this one is for you. The one you're currently carrying should be the Black Divine Stone(black treasured stone). In the future, I'll find a top-notch forging master to forge it into a weapon for you. Or you can just wear it. My weapon can't be inlaid." The lady's pleasant voice rang out.

Qing Shui looked at the divine stone that looked like a sunstone to him. The red agate in this world might not have the same effect, and it might not even be called a red agate.

"Earth grade peak combat technique 'Raging Blow', suitable for hammers… this is also for you, take it!" the girl exclaimed again as she tossed the book towards him. At this moment, she was actually really depressed. The items within this Deity Statue box seemed unexpectedly be tailored for this man.

Actually, she had been stunned from the start by that painting. This Deity Statue gave her a feeling that these were left for him by his woman...

Especially the last item, the Sky Penetrating Grass.

He had come here specifically to find the Sky Penetrating Grass...

"For you!" Standing up, the girl handed the Sky Penetrating Grass to Qing Shui. Coming to the Sky Penetrating Mountains to search for treasures and finding the Deity Statue, she had felt that she had not come here for naught. Thinking back on the previous time she had been here, not only did she obtained martial arts manuals, she had also obtained the Spiritual Link Divine Sword, the sacred item 'Holy Bracelet' and some mysterious medical pills and a grade eight sunstone...

This time around, if she were to obtain the Sky Penetrating Grass, it would be considered a huge harvest, and an absolutely huge one at that. This kind of heavenly treasure was truly too hard to come across. She honestly wished to keep it for herself and perhaps this grass was originally hers since she found it first. However, despite this she still handed to Qing Shui for some curious reason.

The Deity Statue this time was comparatively inferior. Why would it contain a painting of a woman? The martial arts manual were also inferior, they were not even at the heaven grade. Only the Sky Penetrating Grass was a good item. However, this man had come here just for the Sky Penetrating Grass. She had felt all along that they should divide the spoils equally and the man came here just for the grass. In the end, the one who drew the short end of the stick was her. Furthermore, this man seemed to be very mysterious to her. Perhaps this could be considered a gigantic opportunity for her!

Feeling more and more depressed, when she compared this feeling to her previous excitement, the disparity made her feel like vomiting blood.

Qing Shui truly had never thought that this lady would hand over all these items to him. Other than the Eighth Portrait of Beauty, he placed the other four items into the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal. These items were the Grade Eight Sunstone in his hand, the earth grade peak combat technique and the Sky Penetrating Grass that the girl was currently handing over to him.

"Take it. Your luck today is truly good." Although the lady was depressed, she still happily handed the grass to Qing Shui. Regarding this man, there wasn't any like or dislike, only an intense curiosity.

"I can't obtain such huge benefits for free. These few things are priceless. I'll make an exchange." Qing Shui did not immediately take the Sky Penetrating Grass offered to him, as he did not like to owe others.

"As long as you agree not to go to the deeper regions of the Sky Penetrating Mountains, all of these will be the reward for your agreement, is that okay?" thinking about it, the girl replied him with a smile.

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