Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 183 – Divine Being? Big Dipper Sword

The next day, Qing Shui once again brought Luan Luan to the Thousand Buddha Cave for a look at the thousand statues of the Golden Buddha; only this time, they just admired the scenery.

Last night, in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui devoted all his time to training the Third Wave of the and even reached a satisfying level of power under the inspiration of the Thousand Buddha Hands.

When he first tried out the Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Palm, he merely used just his brute force alone. Now, he incorporated more technique to his moves. Only by perfectly combining strength and technique could his moves display formidable power.

Technique without strength was mere form and show; practising martial arts without power was futile because one with great strength could defeat ten with only martial art skills!

One who only possessed brawn would be at a disadvantage when faced with a stronger opponent or any person who was capable of advantageously using strength. The previous performance of the Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Palm was akin to a performance of a boor using brute force. Combining the Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Palm with the Thousand Buddha Hands felt like learning to efficiently use strength.

Qing Shui was awakened by this exceptionally pretty little girl pinching his nose. Looking at the girl who had such a gorgeous little face at such a young age, Qing Shui rubbed his nose, thinking that there would be another peerless beauty in the nine continents fifteen years later.

“Luan Luan, are you hungry?” Qing Shui smiled at the little girl lying in his arms.

After some food, Qing Shui brought her to the thousand statues of the Golden Buddha for one last look before leaving.

“Luan Luan, have you always been playing with Hu Hu and the rest in the Cang Lang Mountains?” After exiting the Thousand Buddha Cave, Qing Shui followed the periphery of the Cang Lang Mountains.

The Cang Lang Mountains was known as the spine of Cang Lang Country – not only did the winding mountains split Cang Lang Country into two, it practically ran through the entire country. It was also connected to the infamous and dangerous Giant Beast Mountains of the nine continents.

“Yes, I always ride Hu Hu. Sometimes Bai Bai and Little Grey aren’t fun,” Luan Luan blinked her pair of large, adorable eyes and replied as she pulled Qing Shui and jumped around.

“Is it fun playing in the mountains? Where do you usually play?” Qing Shui had nothing on, and decided to have a chat with the little girl to get to know her a little better.

“It’s very fun! Especially in that cave, ah, there are burly men who are, like, bald, but with hair, there was just one, and another big fellow who was lying down…the cave is on the side of the mountain, and it was not easy to find; if not for Bai Bai, we wouldn’t have found it… there were eggs inside…” Luan Luan rambled in a serious tone.

Qing Shui realised that a child’s thoughts were very unusual, jumping from one detail to another, being comparable to those of women. But Qing Shui’s curiosity was piqued; the same, tall statue became mystifying after Luan Luan’s description.

“Luan Luan, shall we go take a look?” Qing Shui felt as if he was conning a child.

“Alright, I’ll ask Bai Bai to bring us there.”

Qing Shui held Luan Luan and stood on the back of a White Feathered Vulture. He felt a little ashamed now that he had to depend on a lass to fly; at the Skysword Sect, he had to rely on goddess master.

They even look so much alike!

Experiencing the insane speed of a Flying Beast once more, a journey that would take a few days travelling on land was completed within 2 hours of rapid flying. Qing Shui discovered that a slit would appear on the back of a soaring White Fish Hawk to intercept gust and enhance its flight.

“Daddy, look, it’s there.”

Qing Shui looked in the direction she pointed at. It was an insignificant part of a magnificent cliff. One wouldn’t know of such impressive scene and captivating visuals if not for the imposing mountain range.

In his past life, the mountains had seemed grand and towering, but compared to what he was seeing now, they were like a child’s version. Mountains of more than 8,000 metres high were common here; there was no such talk as the air being thin in the energy-filled nine continents.

The entrance was a half-concealed door. For a gigantic body, the White Fish Hawk landed stably and lightly at the entrance. Qing Shui held the little lass as he jumped down.

Luan Luan lightly patted the lowered head of the White Feathered Vulture and giggled.

The White Feathered Vulture let out a low call and flew off.

Qing Shui held onto Luan Luan’s hands and walked closer to the high entrance. Only passing Flying Beasts and attentive passerbys would notice it; no one would recognise one jutting point amidst the endless cliffs and mountains.

The cave was dimly lit, but there was a top quality Light Stone on the ceiling, shining like a legendary luminous pearl. Turn a bend and the interior would appear to be as if it were a great hall.

To be precise, the cave dwelling was not very big compared to the Thousand Buddha Cave – this cave did not even amount to half of it. The cave was supported by four ten-meter-high pillars that were like Sky Pillars.

There would sometimes be birds flying through the spacious hall. Qing Shui had even seen a small pangolin passing by. Bird droppings dotted the ground. It seemed that fowls and pangolin-like wild beasts inhabited this cave.

“Daddy, it’s fun to play here. We can find lots of bird eggs.” Luan Luan remarked as her large, bright eyes glanced at the clefts on the stone walls and possible places of birds’ nests.

Qing Shui was tickled, the fun Luan Luan was referring to was picking birds’ eggs.

What was this? How could there be a gigantic hall here, on an inconspicuous cliff – could it be a tomb? Qing Shui scanned his surroundings.

He did not notice anything special, nor discover the statues that Luan Luan had mentioned, even after scouring the cave a second time.

“Luan Luan, where’s the burly man you talked about? I don’t see him”, Qing Shui watched the little lass busy herself. She was throwing stones at a plausible spot for a bird’s nest, and did appear to get bored.

“Oh that, it’s there.” The little lass pointed at a stone wall.

Seeing how puzzled Qing Shui appeared, Luan Luan skipped over happily and pressed a small, smooth stone pillar that was jutting out. With a chirring sound, a door appeared ajar before Qing Shui.

The space within was much smaller than the hall. It was only the size of 3 rooms, although the height was the same as the hall’s. The huge statue Luan Luan had mentioned came into sight.

Its size was comparable to some of the buddha statues in the Thousand Buddha Cave. It had a benevolent visage, donning a Taoist robe with which Qing Shui was familiar. An enormous, majestic tiger laid at its feet. This should have been the big, sleeping guy Luan Luan was talking about. What made Qing Shui so astonished was the overbearing presence exuded by the gigantic, Taoist-like statue.

Qing Shui was puzzled. What was that? A Divine Being?

Qing Shui saw that Luan Luan was not uncomfortable, and guessed that the presence would only be felt when a person’s skills increased. A small child like Luan Luan would not be able to feel it.

Qing Shui went 3 steps forward and felt the overbearing presence enveloping him. Even his bones felt like they were constricted tightly, making Qing Shui even more suspicious of the statue.

Only Divine Beings could emanate such an overwhelming presence. There was no deity in the nine continents; a so-called deity was a warrior who had cultivated to a certain level of modesty and divinity.

For only a hundred metres, Qing Shui had walked merely 10 steps and already felt unusually exhausted. Even the cracking of his bones could be heard. This was even after he had attained the Fourth Wave of the Ancient Strengthening Technique; if not, he would have already been crushed to pieces.

The Ancient Strengthening Technique that had been automatically flowing up was circulating faster now; the peanut-sized golden dew in his diaphragm started revolving rapidly.

Qing Shui was now relying on the Ancient Strengthening Technique and the matchless, brutal physique transformed by the image of Yin-Yang of his consciousness to withstand against the mountainous pressure from the statue.

He was already perspiring like a river. The speed of the Ancient Strengthening Technique flowing had reached its peak after days and days of circulation.

Bam!

After flowing through till the 69th cycle, the Ancient Strengthening Technique actually entered the 70th so easily!

Qing Shui stood steadily, discovering in surprise that the peanut-sized golden dew in his diaphragm was now the size of a grape. As it revolved, the immense Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique slowly circulated.

“I didn’t think it would achieve the 70th cycle; could this be a result of the pressure from the deity?” Qing Shui smiled and looked up at the gigantic statue. Such a pity, it was now difficult to walk closer even another step.

Qing Shui couldn’t help but sigh. He had wanted to have a closer look at the statue, but it seemed that it would be impossible to resist the pressure, even with a Martial King.

“Daddy, pull this; I can’t do it.”

Qing Shui watched as Luan Luan put a thin, silver chain onto his palm. The other end of the chain was actually behind the deity statue.

Qing Shui was speechless as he stared at this ravishing little girl who was calling him Daddy. Why didn’t she pull him to the statue, instead of opting to pull out the silver chain? Did she know that he couldn’t get near? Or did she find it fun to pull the chain?

Qing Shui grabbed onto the slender chain and pulled using some force. The chain went taut, but the other object was stock-still. Qing Shui was afraid that the chain would snap.

“Daddy, more force!” Luan Luan urged at the side.

Qing Shui steadily increased his force and gradually realised that the chain was very tough and that the object that was very hefty. When he had used about 2000 jin of force, a sound of a heavy object scraping against the ground came out from the other side.

Qing Shui saw that it was a rectangular box that was dragged out in front of the statue. He was baffled. The box was not big – it was approximately four feet long, half a foot wide, and only three inches tall!

“What could this be that it would be so heavy?” Qing Shui was puzzled as he slowly pulled it towards himself. He did not dare to yank it vigorously because it would be a problem if the chain snapped; little lass could not move it, nor could he get close to it.

Such a small item was so heavy. There was a faint trail on the stone ground that dragging the box had left. Qing Shui was now full of curiosity about the contents of the box.

Close up, there was a three-finger-thick layer of dust on it. Judging from the layer of dust, the box must have been ancient. Laying down the coiled chain,Qing Shui realized the chain was still gleaming silver. A chain as thin as a child’s finger could actually drag something of about one thousand kilograms. Although it was long, it could withstand such a great force. This chain must be something of value as well!

Qing Shui wiped clean the dust and revealed the luminous silver of the box. One side of the box was painted with quaint flower prints, giving off a old, dignified touch.

Qing Shui found the cover and opened it with force!

Clack!

The box opened. Before Qing Shui’s eyes laid a sword- a silvery white ancient sword, about three feet long and three inches wide. Qing Shui gripped the unblemished sword. It was very heavy!

It was made of white, refined metal, with a Big Dipper etched on the blade!

The Big Dipper sword!