The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 949 - Central Palace Blood Essence Reservoir, Keeping a Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm, A blessing in Disguise

Trap the silkworm and extract it.

That was Qing Shui's current plan. He would have used another method in the past. There was another method that he considered but did not use, as he did not want to risk hurting Qin Zongheng.

Buddha's True Eyes! It was a pity that he couldn't try it out.

After that, Qing Shui used Roc's Might and slowly approached the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm only to find that it did not react...

A quick thought came to him: this Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm was more powerful than the one that was planted in his body. It could even ignore his spirit energy. Qing Shui had originally planned to condense his spirit energy into threads to kill the parasite, but now it was apparent that it will not work.

Ding!

Qing Shui stabbed the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm accurately, but was surprised to find that its hide was so thick that his gold needle could not penetrate it and was reflected off instead.

Is this Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm really so tough?

It seemed to be as hard as a diamond or even harder. Spirit energy had no effect on it. Once it entered a person's body, it was like a dragon in the ocean. Unless it came out of the body by itself, there was no effective medicine. Even if he could cut open the patient, the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm could escape easily. It could easily dig into any of it victim's organs, even dig through soil and stone.

It was an inch long and it had the girth of a baby's finger. A Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm was indeed the most unreasonably effective poison in the world. It was rumored that if a Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm was nourished by an expert cultivator or one with a special bloodline, it would mature into an extremely powerful creature.

But usually nobody dared to keep such a creature. It was just like a venomous snake or a ferocious wolf. One would never know if it would turn on its owner. If so, it would be lethal.

Remove!

Qing Shui activated his gold needle and trapped the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm. Both his hands moved quickly above the Yin Yang Image, flicking each of the needles. The rotating needles gave the illusion that the image was actually moving.

Gradually, the image got brighter and brighter, especially, the center of the image. It shone brightly like a mysterious Yin Yang Image.

More and more sweat appeared on his forehead, but Qing Shui did not care to wipe it away. He went into a high focus mode and channeled all his aura to his two hands, trapping the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm within the area of the Yin Yang Image.

Get out!

Qing Shui suddenly hit the extreme end of one of the gold needle. The bull-hair like gold needle started trembling. The speed of the vibration was beyond description. If they weren't gold needles, there was no way they could withstand the intensity.

After this, he could see a bright spot following the barrier of the needles. It was as if there was a small snake under Qin Zongheng's skin, which was glowing faintly.

Pu!

Suddenly with a spray of blood and a flash, the light headed for Qing Shui. Qing Shui was shocked, he must avoid it at all cost. He took out the metal canister he had previously prepared. It was made of 10,000 year coldsteel. He targeted the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm and then was not sure what he should do next.

Qing Shui could feel his Dantian suddenly reacting. The slightly liquefied Qi in his Dantian changed into liquid at a more rapid speed and spun in his Dantian in a whorl like a never ending hole. Just when the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm was about to enter the canister. There was a large flow of energy which sucked Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm towards himself. To the observers, it was as if the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm rushed towards Qing Shui of its own accord…

Everything happened too fast, so Qing Shui froze on the spot. Weng Xue was also dazed when she saw the empty canister and Qing Shui's expression. She knew that something went wrong, after all she saw the glow entering his body.

This time around, it was actually Qing Shui's Dantian which absorbed the silkworm into his body. Though Qing Shui was worried, he was not particularly nervous but rather he was very surprised. When he regained his composure, Qing Shui grinned awkwardly and wiped the sweat off his face. He helped Qin Zongheng up and healed his wounds.

"Elder Sis, it's a success. I will go take a bath now." Qing Shui turned away after giving Weng Xue a complex expression.

"Qing Shui, what will happen to you? How could I stay calm with you like this?" Weng Xue gave Qing Shui a worried look, she already witnessed how painful the experience was from the way her husband acted.

Qin Zongheng was still unconscious at that point.

"You've forgotten that someone planted that in me before. It is easy for me to extract it," Qing Shui smiled and said lightheartedly.

"I will give you this medicine. Don't leave. You must let me see that you are able to extract it yourself, otherwise, I won't let you leave." Weng Xue grabbed onto Qing Shui tightly.

"Okay. Don't worry. I am alright. I will let you see it when I extract it out." Qing Shui took the bottle of Snow-hearted Echeveria Pill and smiled at her.

Even though she was still a little unconvinced, she released Qing Shui.

"Don't worry, Elder Sis. Trust me. Since I can remove the poisonous worm from Brother Qin, I can also force it out of my body."

Weng Xue remembered Qing Shui's shocked expression and felt that it was not as simple as he had explained. She could tell that it wouldn't be as easy as he claimed. She felt as if she had put Qing Shui in a terrible situation and was uneasy.

After she met Qing Shui, he gave her a Violet Jade Pendant and her two children a wondrous fruit each. All these were very valuable items but the most important gift he gave to her, was Qin Zongheng life...

After he went upstairs to take a bath, Qing Shui shut his room door and used his Inner Sight. He had already used up his maximum time quota for his Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal for the day.

When he used his Inner Sight, he was stunned.

It is rumored that humans have three Dantians. But basically, everyone could only use one Dantian, the Lower Dantian, which is the one that was around the lower abdomen. It is the most common and most important Dantian.

Around Qing Shui's Zhongfu acupoint was where the Middle Dantian was located. He could actually develop his Upper Dantian with his Niwan Palace in his sea of consciousness. Qing Shui was surprised when his Niwan Palace produced a small marble, because that meant that he had developed his Upper Dantian.

The Upper Dantian controlled one's spirit energy, the Lower Dantian one's Qi and the Middle Dantian controlled one's marrow...

He finally realized that the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm had entered his Middle Dantian and that controlled his blood and bones. To rear a Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm, one had to feed it with blood essence. With this in mind, he looked toward his own Middle Dantian.

There was a pool of blood there!

That area was quickly liquefying. There was already a Blood Essence pool which was about the size of his palm. The color of the Blood pool was not beautiful, it was instead rather plain but it still had a jade like quality. It was shaped like an octagon, with one side representing each direction.

The most amazing thing was that the blood in the pool was dark red with a light tint of brilliant purple. He suddenly saw a purple gas mixing with his blood.

This was his Blood Essence Reservoir!

At the other end of the purple gas, he saw his Emperor's Qi connected.

He could see the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm swimming freely in the reservoir as if it enjoyed its environment…

After he observed it for a long time, suddenly a mysterious spirit energy started binding with the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm. It was just like the binding process with his demonic beasts. A sudden surge of energy overflowed from the Blood Essence pool.

Qing Shui measured his own ability and found that it had increased!

Ten stars!

He did not expect that when his Central Palace turned into this Blood Essence pool, it would help him gain ten stars of strength. Now Qing Shui's base strength was already at 100 stars. He could feel an extraordinary change in his body.

His Spiritual sense seemed to have leveled up and his entire world seemed very different.

The most profound change was not the 10 stars of strength brought by the Blood Essence pool. The thing was that the Blood Essence pool controlled his blood and bones. He could feel a large change in terms of the hardness of his bone and his recovery pace, etc.

Bones are what support the entire structure of a person. The strength and speed of one's muscles are intricately connected to a person's bones. A person's blood was their river of life, so it brought energy around the person's body...

Once again, he had received a blessing in disguise. However, Qing Shui felt that he needed to get to the bottom of the issue with the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm, otherwise he could not stop worrying. He felt that there shouldn't be much of a problem since he saw their spirit energy connecting.

After this connection, Qing Shui was really amazed. This was because he could fully control the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm in his body. Qing Shui could not believe, he had quickly called it to come to him.

When he reached out for it, it immediately appeared on his hand.

Now, Qing Shui was convinced. This was really a large blessing!

Qing Shui stared at the little one inch creature in his hand. It was shining brightly and was quite weighty. It was beautiful. He could see its two silver white eyes which were the size of a pinhead, they were rather cute. Its body was glowing, yet it had a translucent quality. It seemed to have some sort of armored skin which looked very tough. It stared at Qing Shui, not moving.

Qing Shui found it amusing that this little creature could cause so much pain to a powerful man like Qin Zongheng, who was already at the beginner grade of Martial Emperor.

"Later when I leave, I need you to cooperate," Qing Shui said as he felt a response from his sea of consciousness. Qing Shui placed it in the canister. He now had another incredible weapon he could use to kill. With some time, even if he was dealing with a Martial Emperor, he would be able to use his Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm to properly punish his opponents.

With all that time and the time he spent 'curing' Qin Zongheng, it was now getting dark. He walked out of the room he was given and back into the main hall. The two children were now eating their dinner and both Qin Zongheng and Weng Xue were frowning.

When he saw them, Qing Shui knew that he made the right decision to acknowledge Weng Xue as his sister. In the future, he would have a close relationship with Sky City. Qin Zongheng was very powerful, so he had already removed the silver needles in his own body without Qing Shui. Even if Qin Zongheng did not inherit the governing rights to Sky City, he was definitely a powerful man in the region.

"Brother Qing Shui!" Qin Zongheng rushed over when he saw Qing Shui.

"Elder Sis, Brother Qin, don't worry! Look here." Qing Shui shook the 10,000 coldsteel canister.

"I must look at it. Don't lie to me." Weng Xue walked over and said in a serious manner.

Qing Shui opened the canister a little. As the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm glowed, it could be clearly seen even through the small gap. Weng Xue recognized the glow and finally believed him.

"Qing Shui, you are really my benefactor." Weng Xue eyes beamed.

Qin Zongheng looked at it and nodded his head, "Indeed. Qing Shui, I won't say any grateful words to you. Just know that if you have any requests or if you need any help, your big brother here will do all he can."

"It is really okay. Don't be so courteous if you take me as your brother." Qing Shui laughed and placed his canister into his Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. The two other people did not actually notice that the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm returned to Qing Shui's Blood Essence pool in that instant.

"Qing Shui, you must get rid of that worm properly. It is quite horrible." Qin Zongheng warned worriedly.

"It's okay. I can use it as an alchemy ingredient, so I will keep it." Qing Shui knew that none of them would even dare to touch it. It was just like any other lethal poison. Qin Zongheng already experienced that horrible pain, as the silkworm nibbled at his organs and bones every day. He really had had enough of that pain, if it weren't for his wife and his children, he would have killed himself.

If you would like to unlock some [Portraits of Beauties] for the flavor as well as wish to support us, please consider pledging ->Patreon!