Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1182 – There’s Something Fishy, Losing the Advantage of First Attack, Start of the Battle

“I just happened to meet with Young Master Yu and the others when I arrived. Maybe next time. Next time, I’ll go and visit Young Master Yan,” the man smiled and said.

“I wouldn’t dare to ask for that. Then I’ll leave the Third Prince and the Seventh Princess. I’ll give you a treat on another day,” Yan Yangchi quickly said.

“Alright, then we shan’t disturb you.”

“3rd Brother, 5th Sister is here as well. I’ll wait for her.” The Seventh Princess didn’t leave but just spoke casually.

There were no changes to the Third Prince’s expression. He smiled and said, “That’ll be good too. Then you can join Young Master Yan. When 5th Sister is here, she’ll come to look for Young Master Yan.”

The Third Prince left together with the people from Yu Clan. From the start, Yan Yangchi and the others didn’t speak a word to the people from Yu Clan. Neither party met the other’s gaze too often. It ended up that Qing Shui was the one who had a thorough look at them, even the Third Prince and the Seventh Princess.

He looked at them very openly but the Third Prince, Seventh Princess and even the people from Yu Clan wouldn’t notice. However, even if they were to notice, there would be nothing they could do. It was because Qing Shui’s gaze was one that was fully at ease. Even the Seventh Princess wasn’t able to find any fault for her to blame this man.

It was also this reason that during this period of time, the Seventh Princess had looked at Qing Shui no less than three times. Although she couldn’t say anything, she didn’t have any special feelings about him. She only felt that this man’s gaze was very clear and he also appeared to be a little bewitching looking, it made her feel a little conflicted. The violet mark on his forehead had a bewitching feeling to it but his eyes were very clear and had a hint of world weariness to them.

The group left but the Seventh Princess stayed behind.

“Young Master Yan, let’s go wait at the front. 5th Sister should be arriving very soon.” The Seventh Princess looked at Yan Yangchi and smiled.

Her smile was very calm and was very graceful. She had an indescribable charm to her and was able to unknowingly attract other people’s gazes.

“Alright!” Yan Yangchi said and then looked toward Qing Shui and the others.

“Let’s go, the more the merrier. I just don’t know if Seventh Princess minds,” Yan Yangzhao smiled and said.

“What on earth is Young Master Yan saying? I like to make friends. Why, are you not going to introduce us?” Seventh Princess smiled and asked.

She only recognized Yan Yangchi and Yan Yangzhao.

Yan Yangzhao quickly made introductions. However, when it came to Qing Shui, the Seventh Princess was a little surprised. To think that this young man wasn’t a member of Yan Clan.

“Hello, Seventh Princess. I’m a blacksmith. It’s nice to meet you.” When Qing Shui was introduced, he smiled and spoke a greeting.

“Really? What kind of things do you forge?” The Seventh Princess seemed to be very curious.

“Weapons, armor, accessories and stuff like that. I have a Firecloud Blacksmith Store not far from here. If Seventh Princess has any need, I’ll give a 30% discount…” Qing Shui quickly introduced. This was an opportunity. If she were to advertise for him, the effect should be quite good.

The Seventh Princess was stunned for a while before she smiled. There hadn’t been anyone who would still offer to give her discounts after knowing of her identity… Other people would all gift it to her and she would still reject them. Now, this person was offering her a 30% discount… She found it quite interesting.

Yan Yangzhao quickly smiled and said. “Qing Shui is just joking with you. If you were to go, it’ll definitely be free.”

“30% is the max I can go. I only earn a little profit, you can’t be expecting me to make a loss, can you?” Qing Shui laughed. However, he said it very seriously.

“Then I’ll thank you. I’ll definitely go take a look at Master’s shop,” Seventh Princess smiled and said.

Yan Yangzhao couldn’t understand Qing Shui, but he still felt a little worried. The other party was a member of the royalty. Who was able to clearly say how deep the people from the royal family were? Even a Grade Two Dynasty, if given enough time, would have a very strong foundation. Moreover, it was also hard to tell how great a power this member of the royalty could summon. For example, if a talent from a Grade Two Dynasty were to enjoy a very high status in a powerful sect and might be able to bring about great benefits to the great sect, then the power that the Grade Two Dynasty could call forth would be very huge…

As they were chatting, a group of people walked over. The ones in the lead were a young lady and a man.

“Fourth Brother, Fifth Sister!” Seventh Princess greeted the two in the lead, seeming to be especially happy.

“Why are you here?” The lady looked at Seventh Princess and asked, smiling.

The lady was very mature and charming and had an especially beautiful pair of eyes. Qing Shui knew that this was Yan Yangchi’s fiancee and felt that he was very lucky. He had taken a look at the Fifth Princess earlier. She appeared very graceful in appearance, but she was secretly a seductive person. When she was with a man she loved, she would show her other self and could be considered a man’s ideal woman. He wondered if Yan Yangchi had enjoyed her before…

When Qing Shui saw her, he was reminded of Huoyun Liu-Li. They were both women who were born with an inner seductive charm to them.

“I’m waiting for you! Why, do you find us in the way? We’ll leave later,” Seventh Princess smiled and said.

“You only know how to spout rubbish!”

Yan Yangchi and the others were already talking with the Fourth Prince. Qing Shui looked at this Fourth Prince. The latter had an outstanding demeanor, giving a feeling of tolerance and magnanimity. Qing Shui felt that this was a guy who would be able to achieve great things.

“Suya, shall we look for a restaurant to have a seat? It’s rare that all of us are gathered here today,” Yan Yangchi said to the lady. It seemed that they already had a very close relationship.

“That’s good as well!”

The Fourth Prince nodded in agreement too. The group found a restaurant in the vicinity. It was a property of Yan Clan and was thus very convenient. They went straight to the highest floor, which was usually not open to customers.

Qing Shui had a strange feeling. It was because he was sure that the Third and Fourth Prince did not get along and could even be said to be on opposing sides. One of them was supporting Yu Clan, the other Yan Clan. This time around, Yu Clan’s actions could even have been instigated and pushed by the Third Prince.

In this world, strong competition always exists.

The connections between these young people or rather, the younger generation, was not as representatives of their respective clans for now but it might be different in the future. Right now, their respective clans wouldn’t stop them from interacting and might even support them. Of course, the prerequisite was that they could accept the other party.

Yan Yangchi and the Fifth Princess were engaged and it was said that they were going to have their wedding very soon. The Fourth Prince and the Fifth Princess shared the same parents and it could be due to this reason that they were very, very close.

“Yangchi, you guys have to be careful. This time around, I keep having the feeling that they have something planned,” the Fifth Princess looked at Yan Yangchi and said.

“We also feel that something is amiss, but we aren’t sure if we’ll be able to guess what it is. We also don’t really feel at ease.” Yan Yangchi felt a little uneasy, he also felt that something wasn’t right.

…

Very quickly, two days passed by. Today was the day of the competition between Yan Clan and Yu Clan. The location was at the biggest arena along Yan City’s Yan Street.

Yan Street was the most prosperous street in the area. Although it was an arena, the real battle would be in the air. Many people had already started to look for a good viewing position from a few days before the competition.

The competitors between Yan Clan and Yu Clan were decided long ago and there was even an unbelievable bet on the line, with the losing party going into seclusion. This seemed to be unfair to Yan Clan but this was how some things were. Power decided everything, regardless of fairness.

Yan Clan, Yu Clan and even the members of royalty were here. They were already around the arena. There were many tents set up and one could guess their identities from the tents.

There was quite a number of people from Yan Clan here. Other than those participating, Yan Dingtian and some old men were also around. This battle was very important to them and although sometimes the wager between big clans may seemed to be very childish, sometimes this was how things were. Gamblers could be very crazy and there might even be times where they were faced with no choices. For example, Yu Clan could have been forced by the Third Prince….

Yan Jinyu stood next to Qing Shui. She seemed to want to say something but didn’t. Qing Shui occasionally looked toward Yan Yangxing, Yan Yanghong, Yan Yangsong and Yan Yangliu, who would also glance toward him occasionally, smiling coldly.

Through those people’s gazes, Qing Shui seemed to have sensed something. It was because there seemed to be disdain and cold smiles in their gazes, as if they were looking at idiots…

“Sister Yan, can we still change the participants?” Qing Shui asked softly.

“We can change the ones from our side, but we can’t change the four of them.”

Yan Jinyu’s words seemed to let Qing Shui sense something. He smiled bitterly and said, “Today, you’ll only be able to win if the few of you were to all gain victory. If any of you were to lose, it’ll be a loss for Yan Clan today.”

Yan Jinyu went into a daze. She should know this as well since she wasn’t too surprised. At this moment, Yan Yangchi and the others came as well. Yan Jinyu mentioned it to them.

Yan Yangchi let out a sigh, smiled and said, “We can only win and not let Eldest Uncle get his way. If we lose, everything will be gone.”

Qing Shui felt that amongst the true leaders of Yan Clan, those old men, there should also be a number of them who were supportive of Yan Yangchi’s Eldest Uncle’s faction. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to go against Yan Dingtian.

“Eldest Brother, then do you think that all of us will be able to win?” Yan Yangchen frowned and said.

“If the other party were the ones to step up first, we should be about on par. After all, we’ve gotten a lot stronger. However, now it’s fixed with each side deciding on their first participant each time, making it a little tricky.”

Qing Shui knew that this was similar to horse racing. When it was time to lose, it was best to let the weakest go against the opponent’s strongest member.

“We’ll see how it goes. There’s still a winning chance. But will I’ll be able to participate?” Qing Shui asked once again. It’d be bad if he wasn’t allowed to participate due to the fact that he was an outsider.

“There’s no problem. It’s fine as long as you’re not over 100 years old. The regulations say that we’re able to find a helper.”

“Then that’s good. Later on, we’ll discuss how to go about with this. I think you guys should know as well,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Mmm, I get it. We’ll tackle it as it comes!”

…

An old man landed slowly on the arena, wearing light blue colored clothes. His hair was completely white and his silhouette wasn’t tall but when he stood there, he gave off a formless pressure.

“I have been sent by the royal family to host this competition. There’s no need to bring up the rules in detail. There’s a total of nine rounds and both sides will start by drawing lots, with the side drawing the smaller number to decide on the first participant. From the next round onwards, each side will then take turns to choose their participants first. The side that is able to clinch five victories will be the winner. Alright, we’ll start the drawing of lots.”

The old man had just finished his words and several thousands lots flew about in the sky. In the end, one of the lots flew toward Yan Clan while another flew toward Yu Clan.

When both sides raised the lots up, Yan Clan had a four but Yu Clan had a five…

Based on the rules, Yan Clan would have to choose their participant for the first round first and wait for the challenger. Qing Shui was a bit unhappy about this. This was a very important step, but they had lost their chance.