The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 905 - Ability of a Grade One Martial Emperor, Preparation

Mu Qing was stunned. She had also been studying this Duality Step recently, as well as the Duality Minutest Formation. However, she had never expected that the formation would have such a great killing prowess.

And those flags... He seemed to have told her about them before. Mu Qing seriously looked at Qing Shui's each and every action and took note of the positions that Qing Shui had placed the flags.

She might be the only one who could understand this formation. Now that she had witnessed it for herself, she had the feeling as if it was 'deeply engraved' into her. In just this short moment, she had learned too many things.

Her heart was in an even greater mess now. She recalled the time when they had parted in the Sky Penetrating Mountains. Granny had said that he might soar and reach great success very soon.

He had really soared to great success. She felt very happy from the bottom of her heart. His earlier calmness must have been because he had great confidence. He probably chose not to speak up about it because he feared that she would be worried...

...

After entering the formation, Qing Shui darted about, injuring the people from the Sky Prison Sect. Everywhere he passed, people would collapse in a flash. Qing Shui took this opportunity to retrieve his flags.

The formation was scattered!

Qing Shui didn't kill all those people but they were practically crippled and could only live as an ordinary person in the future. However, whether they would be able to accept living a life like this was another matter.

Everything returned to how it was previously. To the people outside the formation, there weren't any changes, and the only thing different was the absence of those small flags. However, to the people from the Sky Prison Sect, there had been tremendous changes.

Formation... To think that this young man also knew about formations. Moreover, it seemed that the formation he knew was even more powerful the Sky Prison Sect's formation...

"The reason I didn't kill you guys is so that you can bring back a message to the Sky Prison Sect. Formations are not invincible. Once the opponent can find the trick behind the formation, it would become like a piece of paper, broken with just one stab. I don't know if the Sky Prison Sect can still be so arrogant without your formation." Qing Shui said as he now looked at that shrunken Sky Prison's Old Fifth.

The people from the Sky Prison Sect left. No one else said anything.

These people were all crippled and they were of no threat to them. Moreover, they would still have to deal with the other experts from the Sky Prison Sect. Qing Shui hadn't planned on wiping them out. There was no need to do so.

The people from the Sky Prison Sect left and even the corpses of those who died were brought away. The people who remained were all extremely happy and some of them even saw hope.

They saw hope for the Mu Clan, with Mu Qing being the linchpin.

The Sky Prison Sect's formidability stemmed from the Sky Prison Sabre Technique, their formations, and the like. Without these advantages, the Sky Prison Sect's prowess would be weakened by many folds. Right now, this young man had the ability to rid the Sky Prison Sect of one of their advantages. If he was willing to help the Mu Clan, then the Mu Clan wouldn't have to be scared of anyone in the future.

Everyone was also curious what Qing Shui's cultivation realm. To be able to cripple Sky Prison's Old Fifth in a single move... How many people in the Mu Clan could actually pull this feat off?

Qing Shui turned back. Mu Fengyang and the few old men, Mu Qian and the others, Dong Yan, Sun Yan, Mu Qing and her siblings. They were all looking at him from a short distance away.

There was a gratified smile on Mu Fengyang's face. Although they were astonished, they were all very happy, especially when they're looking at Mu Qing. They all had their own set of thoughts. They had seen clearly the actions between Mu Qing and Qing Shui earlier.

It could be said that a large part of the reason that Mu Qian had tried to protect Qing Shui was because he was the man that his daughter had taken a liking to. Now, he realized that it was only a young man like this who could be a match for his daughter and could make his daughter fall for him.

"Old Master, Uncle, I was the cause of this problem. I'll get this settled before I leave." Qing Shui smiled and said to the people of the Mu Clan.

"Qing Shui, what are you saying? Although our Mu Clan might not be that strong, as long as we are around, we can't let our friends suffer from any injustice," said Mu Fengyang seriously as he looked at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui looked at this old man. he should be the main pillar for this branch of the Mu Clan, he was Mu Qing's grandfather. He had a strength that was slightly over 300 stars. In a clan like this, a person of his abilities was already considered to be at his max—Early Martial Emperor.

"Qing Shui!" Mu Qing called to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui looked toward her and noticed that there was joy in that pair of worried, beautiful eyes. However, she didn't say anything more.

"Alright, let's go in, let's go in. Today was a good day!" Mu Fengyang said happily.

The group headed for the hall but many of them left automatically. A lot of them weren't that important enough to be present on an occasion like this. Moreover, this was the branch Mu Qian led.

Or rather, it was the primary branch!

This was Mu Fengyang's branch, but Mu Fengyang had quite a number of children. Mu Qian's father had died early, but Mu Qian had proven himself well. Although there weren't many people here now, their abilities weren't to be underestimated. His siblings were all quite strong too and thus this was considered the primary branch. It was a pity that Mu Qing was a woman, otherwise, it would be even more lively.

There were only slightly more than ten people in the group. The four old men, Mu Qian, Mu Qing, Qing Shui, Dong Yan, Sun Yan, and Mu Qing's elder brother—Mu Ying.

Mu Qian's strength was close to 100 stars and that was the reason why Qing Shui had paid attention to him. After knowing how strong Mu Fengyang and the few old men next to him were, he knew that Mu Ying, with his strength of around 100 stars, was also considerably powerful in the Mu Clan.

The reason they had gathered together was primarily to discuss the issue of the Sky Prison Sect. Of course, they would also talk about Qing Shui. These old men were all very shrewd and wouldn't ask Qing Shui any questions that he would find hard to answer.

They knew that if Qing Shui wanted to say certain things, they wouldn't have to ask. By the same token, if he didn't wish to share, he wouldn't say anything even if he was asked. Maybe it was because everyone was in a good mood that they ended up having an enjoyable chat.

Mu Qing had sat right next to Qing Shui. When they all took their seats, everyone had a mutual understanding to let Qing Shui and Mu Qing sit next to each other. Qing Shui didn't know what to feel.

To be able to sit next to a beauty and a lady of unparalleled beauty at that... Qing Shui felt that it was very strange. When he was very weak, it was so hard to woo even a single lady. It was just like how he had faced great obstacles back with Shi Qingzhuang in the past. The Situ Clan alone was a great obstacle to him back then. Without power, it would be but a wild wish for him to be able to stay together with her until they were to grow old.

Power was good. A strong cultivation wouldn't just strengthen the body, it could also strengthen one's soul and confidence. Even one's charms would increase as well.

Now, Qing Shui didn't know what to feel. When he looked at Mu Qing, his feelings toward her were still the same. However, he felt that their relationship was more cordial now, a stark contrast to how unattainable she felt when they had first met. Back then, she was just like the stars in the sky.

Since there were no outsiders here, Qing Shui gave it some thought before asking Mu Fengyang, "Old Master, what determines if you're a Grade One Martial Emperor?"

Mu Fengyang was stunned for a short while before he smiled and said, "As long as you're able to reach a strength of 100 stars with just your physical strength and your martial techniques, you can be considered a Grade One Martial Emperor. Every time you rise up one grade, you'll gain a strength of 1,000 stars. I only know that this is the case for the first five grades. A Grade Five Martial Emperor has a strength of 5,000 stars. I don't know about the grades after that." Mu Fengyang smiled and said.

For the first five grades in the Martial Emperor realm, each additional grade provided a difference of 1,000 stars. When one's strength reached a certain level, grades no longer meant anything, strength was more determined by one's abilities. Grades were just an empty title, strength in terms of stars was a more reliable method of judging one's strength.

Qing Shui's physical strength was at 40 stars and with the enhancements from Diamond Qi and Diamond Protection, it would be at 80 stars. If he were to add on his other martial techniques he would have long exceeded 100 stars. This was before he even relied on any external items.

After hearing this, Qing Shui sort of had an idea. He and his Five-Headed Demonic Spider were both Grade One Martial Emperors, while that Long-armed Vicious Monkey King might be a Peak Grade One Martial Emperor that had a strength of around 1,000 stars.

Right now, he would have no problems defeating it by weakening it and with his Nine Palace Steps. Although his understanding of the Martial Emperor realm was only up to about 5,000 stars, he felt that many things were much clearer—at least for now.

"Old Master, how strong is the strongest person in the Sky Prison Sect? Do you have any idea?" Qing Shui asked Mu Fengyang. He was especially concerned about this. Right now, he wasn't sure how strong the experts in the sects and clans in this city were. However, after seeing Mu Fengyang's cultivation, he heaved a sigh of relief. He thought that they shouldn't be too much stronger, especially since the Sky Prison Sect mainly relied on formations to become powerful.

"The Sovereign of the Sky Prison Sect relies primarily on formations. However, the experts in the Sky Prison Sect are still quite powerful. Two of them have a strength of about 1,000 stars. As for whether there are any other hidden experts, I'm not very sure. However, I think there shouldn't be any. Otherwise, they wouldn't be giving in to our Mu Clan." Mu Fengyang gave it some thought before replying.

The strength of about 1,000 stars... This was a level which Qing Shui could accept. The formations they relied on shouldn't be of much use against him. Although he has yet to succeed in the Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation, it was sufficient for him to rely on the Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation and the Duality Minutest Formation.

Despite this, Qing Shui was still a bit worried about the opponent's formations. Although all the formations in the world were based off the Nine Palace and the Eight Trigrams, there were also many mysteries across different formations. There were even formations which were extremely vicious and made use of some devilish items. With the Sky Prison Sect having such a long legacy, Qing Shui didn't believe that they had no hidden tricks up their sleeves. The crux was whether their hidden tricks were strong enough.

This was also what Qing Shui was worried about. Before the Sky Prison Sect came again, Qing Shui needed to study formations and the Nine Palace Steps well. With that, he should be able to protect himself. As long as he could protect himself, Qing Shui had the confidence of breaking their formations.

If they dared to use some powerful and vicious formations to try and kill him, Qing Shui wouldn't mind killing those old fogeys. Qing Shui felt that he should still be able to kill those who were about the strength of 1,000 stars.

What kind of person was Mu Fengyang? Of course, he could tell what Qing Shui was thinking and thus he smiled and said, "The people from the Sky Prison Sect who are coming might be stronger than we expect. Therefore, we must be fully prepared. This time around, we'll listen to what you say."

These words weighed a lot. Everyone was surprised that Mu Fengyang would say this. How powerful was this young man? However, after recalling that he had a good command of that strange formation, they no longer felt as astonished.

Qing Shui knew that this old man must have sensed that he was stronger. The old man wasn't able to clearly sense Qing Shui's cultivation but he probably had a vague idea. It was because Qing Shui could easily cripple Sky Prison's Old Fifth with just one move. Moreover, Qing Shui still had his formations.

"Thank you, Old Master!" Qing Shui expressed his thanks. He didn't wish to involve the Mu Clan in this since he could attack and retreat as he wished. As long as he was fine and didn't get the Mu Clan involved, they probably wouldn't dare to do anything to Mu Clan either.

Moreover, Qing Shui wanted to strengthen Mu Qing's cultivation of formations. Even if he were to eradicate all the strong experts from the Sky Prison Sect, inevitably there might be people who manage to slip away. Moreover, he had never thought of wiping them out all of them. However, even if he were to let some of them go, Qing Shui wanted to make sure that they had no means of retaliating. Only Mu Qing's mastery of formations and the Nine Palace Steps was crucial, everything else was unimportant.

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