Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 441 - Beast tamer Chi Tianhao, Tigon Beast

The discussion grew fierce as Qing Shui and Xi Ri were being followed by a stream of people. Some were even discussing topics concerning Qing Shui.

Although a lot of people had already seen Qing Shui before he left the Heavenly Palace, they were still quite excited about his return.

“Haha, Qing Shui has come back. We can finally kill them during the competition. This would be our time to shine,” one of the Heavenly Palace disciples shouted agitatedly.

“Yeah, Qing Shui is the strongest amongst our generation in the Heavenly Palace,” another disciple immediately followed up. He looked like he had the desire to cause trouble and chaos.

“Qing Shui has finally come back. Haha. Kill them and turn them into shreds and dust.”

…..

“Hahaha, this is too funny!” A towering voice abruptly interrupted the disciples’ enthusiastic cheers.

The laughter instantly died down. As they turned towards the direction of the voice, they could see a crude youngster standing in plain sight. He had a pair of bright wide eyes, thick brows, and a straight nose. His beard was shaved cleanly except for an area with a bunch of dark blue hairs, which gave an impression of an aggressive and barbaric man.

“Are you a member of the Mythical Beast Sect?” someone from the crowd curiously asked as they saw the crude youngster’s Mythical Beast Sect uniform.

Beast tamers and alchemists of the same level co-existed in harmony since a long time ago. Usually, alchemists would not be very useful in a battlefield because of their limited skills. However, an excellent alchemist would always be prepared with special medicinal pills to enhance their power greatly in a short amount of time. Other than medicinal pills, an alchemist would also prepare some unique medicinal powders to decrease the effectiveness of the opponent’s abilities.

Beast tamers were known to be excellent warriors even without their beast companions. They could also perform better without commanding the beasts to do their bidding. Moreover, the beast tamers would never battle alone since their demonic beasts would always act as supporters. In normal cases, beast tamers could only tame demonic beasts of the same level as themselves. However, there would be some special beast tamers who were able to tame demonic beasts of higher levels without any difficulty. Because of how versatile the alchemists and beast tamers were, martial warriors would generally develop an admiration towards them.

Many people respected alchemists because of their skills. Beast tamers were also respected naturally by many, not just because of their skills, but also their strength!

This was why the disciples did not scorn the crude beast tamer when he appeared. Most of the beast tamers were easily accepted into the society without problems, especially if they had an overbearing aura of tremendous strength.

“Do you think you can defeat Qing Shui?” a disciple asked unconvincingly as he thought about Qing Shui’s strength.

“Haha, you are all so naive. You guys don’t even understand how powerful a beast tamer can be. You see, competition and murder are two different concepts. This is not a competition between two people. Today, it will be a killing spree. Some people have false reputations generated by rumors. What you see on the outside doesn’t mean what it is on the inside.” The young man spoke at a slow pace, but his tone was powerful.

The young man was open about his opinion. He was proud and arrogant, but he had an air to him that others did not find unpleasant.

It might have been his sense of perception towards others, or his spiritual values, or maybe it was just his unique personality!

“Brag somewhere else!”

“Yeah, I used to have high respect for beast tamers because they have beast companions assisting them on the battlefield. They are strong, and it’s easy to find women as a beast tamer. But after I have seen Qing Shui’s power, I realized that martial warriors can also be extremely powerful. It is possibile to kill demonic beasts as a martial warrior,” another person refuted the crude youngster.

…..

Humans have always been a feeble creature. As soon as someone else showed their arrogance and pride, they would try to put others down to make themselves look and feel better.

It was crucial for a person representing their own sect to not disrupt the sect’s prestige. Otherwise, they would become the butt of a joke. The crude youngster, however, had received a stream of mockery and sarcastic remarks from the crowd.

The crude youngster did not retaliate, but gave the crowd a smile without moving an inch. He looked down on the crowd like he was looking at a bunch of ants. Then, he turned around and left.

“What’s this? He ran away because he couldn’t fight back.”

“Yeah, one look at him and you already know how weak he is. Pitiful!” a young man with long sideburns said with despise in his tone.

“Yeah, he is more pitiful than us, pretending to be a hot shot, what a clown!”

……….

The crude youngster took every one of their words into his heart. His smile did not falter one bit as he said to himself, “What a bunch of trash. They can only use their insults as a way to cheer themselves up. They will always be losers!”

Qing Shui and Xi Ri found a suitable location to stop for a while. There was a large crowd gathered in the middle of the big public square. The members from the six sects came in a large number as well. After all, they would be able to learn and gain some important knowledge and experience by spectating the competition.

The members from the Nine Halls of the Heavenly Palace stood together at the east side of the arena. They stood out because of they had the largest amount of people around the arena. There were a few Elders sitting at the back, and a few Supreme Elders could be seen chatting with each other.

The south side of the arena was occupied by members of the Sword Tower. They had the second largest number of members in the arena. The members wore swordsman uniforms accordingly to their respective towers. Even though each of them wielded different sizes and types of swords, they seemed to complement each other.

Behind these warriors were the Grand Elders and Supreme Elders. Qing Shui looked around their group and could not find the two Grand Elders from before. Perhaps they were ashamed from the last incident and decided not to attend.

Huang Qing was nowhere to be found as well. Although Qing Shui already knew the reason for her absence, he was not surprised by it. Huang Qing was never concerned with matters involving Sword Tower, so it was normal to not see Huang Qing anywhere near them. Qing Shui rode on the Firebird and finally made it to the Heavenly Palace very quickly but calmly.

Qing Shui passed by the disciples of the Sword Tower as he moved through the crowd. It could have been because because of the massive number of people shuffling about, but he did not see the seven disciples from the original nine disciples as he passed by.

Qing Shui quickly searched around the moving crowd. He had a certain technique for finding people, especially when his target was an outstanding person who stood out in the crowd, as if they have a ring light around them.

“Hmm, ring light?”

Qing Shui closed his eyes slowly and expanded his spiritual sense around the area. In this spiritual sense, Qing Shui was able to see multiple luminous particles floating about like fireflies in the dark. These luminous particles represented the “spirit” of every living person. The brighter these particles were, the stronger their “spirit” would be. And naturally, their strength would be more powerful as well.

However, there was a limit to his spiritual sense; Qing Shui would not be able to detect these particles if they were located too far away from him.

The unfathomable elderly men who stood at the back row had “spirits” the size of a light bulb. These bulb-like “spirits” covered the other small luminous particles around them. However, all of the bigger “spirits” were the size of a light bulb, but the light emanating from each “spirit” was different in luminosity.

Could this be the mark of a Peak of Martial King “spirit”?

Qing Shui tried to sense the lights around him once more. Xi Ri who stood beside him has a “spirit” the size of a light bulb. Could it be that the level of Martial King corresponded to the size of the “light bulbs”? And those who could enter Xiantian has the “spirit” the size of a firefly?

He analyzed the lights to reaffirm his theory. When Qing Shui saw Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li, he used his spiritual sense to examine their lights. Canghai Mingyue who had recently entered the realm of Martial King had a “spirit” of a “15 degrees light bulb”. The elderly men’s “spirits” he had sensed earlier were all around “100 degrees” or higher. The difference between Mingyue’s and the elderly men was vast.

It seemed that the size of “light bulbs” were connected to the “spirits” of the Martial Kings and Peak of Martial Kings. The brighter their “light bulbs” were, the stronger they seemed to be. Qing Shui was pleased with his discovery since it would be a great help in analyzing the strength of his opponents accurately, even if they had a skill that hides their true power. After all, only Martial Saint warriors would be able to use this type of spiritual sense. Even though Qing Shui’s spiritual sense was not as strong as the Martial Saint’s, he was able to upgrade it slowly as he grew stronger. Eventually, his spiritual sense would be able to expand further.

Qing Shui had a sudden thought, “It would require an enormous strength and power to have a spirit as radiant as a “bright moon” or a “mini sun”.”

“They would have to be a Martial Saint, or maybe something greater….”

“Qing Shui, look. That guy is Chi Tianhao from the Demonic Beast Sect. He is the youngest member as well as one of the top three important figures in the sect.” Xi Ri pointed at the west side of the arena. The young man he pointed out was very conspicuous.

Qing Shui observed him. He looked quite big and tall, at least taller than Qing Shui by a head. His shoulders were abnormally wide, which could be compared to the size of a small mountain. His eyes were as sharp as a knife, and he gave out a fierce aura like a beast from his whole body. He also wore a fullbody of black battle armor and battle boots.

“If you try to compete with him, how will it go?” Qing Shui stared at Chi Tianhao while asking Xi Ri.

“If I were to battle him, there’s no telling who would win or lose, but if his demonic beast assists him during battle, I will definitely lose badly and quickly.” Xi Ri did not hesitate as he replied.

“Is his demonic beast that strong?” Qing Shui felt envious about being a beast tamer. They had the ability to make their beast listen to their every command. Moreover, they were able to battle at the back line so they would not be able suffer damage from the front. It would be an ideal tactic if he could use his hidden weapons and strike a sneak attack to create an opening for his beast to launch a follow-up attack. Qing Shui felt awesome as he thought about it.

Suddenly, he remembered his Diamond Demonic Boar. It might be too hasty to refine the “Divine Marionette” since it was made specifically for those with the strength below a Martial Saint.

Qing Shui quickly dispersed his thoughts. He should not regret what he had already done. After all, his favorite Diamond Demonic Boar was different than the others. Qing Shui had been giving the beast some “Beast Pills” to increase its strength. He was not sure whether or not it would continue to evolve further.

“He only has one demonic beast so far. It’s the 7th Grade Martial King “Tigon Beast”!” Xi Ri did not explain further because it was a well-known beast in the world of martial arts.

Of course, Qing Shui knew about it. Tigon Beast was the most iconic beast a beast tamer could ever acquire. Many of the Peak of Martial King beast tamers had already owned at least one Tigon Beast.

A Tigon Beast consisted of a tiger head, lion’s body, tiger’s tail, and tiger’s claws. It had a body five metres in length, and two metres in height. Their strength could vary from 1st Grade Martial King to 10th Grade Martial King. Meanwhile, a 10th Grade Martial King Tigon Beast would be known as Tigon Beast King.

There would always be one Tigon Beast King in every 10 Tigon Beasts. Tigon Beasts survived together as a group with one of them being the strongest one. However, there would only be one Tigon Beast Champion in every ten thousand Tigon Beasts. A Tigon Beast Champion was considered to be in the level of a Peak of Martial King.

Tigon Beasts lived together as a group of thousands. However, there would be a few Tigon Beast that acted as vagabonds, drifting away from the group. Typically, a Tigon Beast King and a Tigon Beast Champion would always be surrounded by high levelled Tigon Beasts, which explained why no one was able to tame a Tigon Beast Champion. Despite that, some beast tamers were able to tame a number of Tigon Beast Kings. One example would be the Supreme Elders from the Demonic Beast Sect who were able to tame more than one Tigon Beast King successfully.

Qing Shui was shocked to know that Chi Tianhao was able to tame a 7th Grade Martial King Tigon Beast since they would rarely appear alone. In certain cases, Tigon Beasts that were kicked out from the group would mean that it was once a Tigon Beast King. This would also mean that it had been replaced by a newly appointed Tigon Beast King. Beast tamers would often luck out because they were able to catch the abandoned Tigon Beast easily instead of facing thousands of Tigon Beasts in one go. Otherwise, beast tamers would have no choice but to escape as quickly as possible.

A Tigon Beast King would often be challenged by stronger Tigon Beast, and if they lost the challenge, the former Tigon Beast King would be kicked out, whilst its female companion would be given to the newly appointed Tigon Beast King. However, the challenger would most likely end up dead if it were to be defeated by the current Tigon Beast King.

This was the law of nature of the Tigon Beasts. Regardless whether the Tigon Beast Champion was challenged and vice versa, they were natural born leaders and champions. Some would say that they had better genes than other Tigon Beasts, giving them the starting line ahead. Most Tigon Beast Champions typically had faster growth as they could reach twice the size of a Tigon Beast when they reached adulthood. Moreover, normal Tigon Beasts had fiery red coats while Tigon Beast Champions had deep purple coats.

As mentioned before, Tigon Beast Champions were born natural leaders, which was why no Tigon Beast would ever challenge them. Furthermore, they would always have one offspring with a deep purple coat. The other Tigon Beasts would naturally protect the Tigon Beast Champion offspring until it reached adulthood. Otherwise, if the offsprings were not protected carefully, the wild Tigon Beasts would devour them.

The Tigon Beast Champions had an unnatural talent - once they reached adulthood, they would be able to gain the strength and power of a Peak of Martial King! They were natural born hunters as well. No other Martial Saint would be able to tame the Tigon Beast Champions because of the companions of other Tigon Beasts surrounding the champion.

Tigon Beasts had a huge range of growth. A Tigon Beast would eventually evolve into a Tigon Beast King, so in any circumstances, a Tigon Beast would be able to gain the power of a 10th Grade Martial King in due time under certain favorable conditions.

Most beast tamers - especially those who were able to tame Martial King level demonic beasts easily, hoped to tame a Tigon Beast successfully one day. This was because a Tigon Beast had the highest chance of evolving into a Tigon Beast King among other demonic beasts.

Moreover, a 7th Grade Martial King Tigon Beast would be able to take on an 8th Grade Martial King martial warrior. This showed how powerful a demonic beast could be, and how remarkable a beast tamer would be if they were able to tame it successfully.

This beast tamer was actually pretty skillful. If he were to compare himself with a martial warrior of the same level, he would be able to battle a dozen warriors with ease. An abnormally powerful beast tamer had the capability to tame multiple demonic beasts. He would be able to tame about a dozen of them without any problems…...

“Have you found the youngster wearing silver armor?” Xi Ri turned to Qing Shui and asked as he flashed a smile.

“Yup!”

Qing Shui replied with a short response and looked at the handsome young man with a full body of silver armor. He looked about thirty years old, which was around the same age as Xi Ri. He had a rigid facial structure, but his eyebrows looked elegant and refined. His eyes were as bright as stars, and the corners of his lips arched slightly upwards. He had a straight nose bridge as well. Most importantly, he looked quite handsome wearing a full body of shining silver armor, and he would always show a smile on his face.

He was the most handsome man Qing Shui had ever seen in his lifetime. This man may be even more handsome than Canghai himself, but he was less manly. However, it did not matter because there were a lot of infatuated women staring at this young man lovingly.