Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 220 – Tiger’s Descend Painting, Great Perfection Stage for the Tiger Form

Qing Shui continued to look at the wall paintings one after another. There were those that were large enough to fill up the walls of a lounge, and some that were as small as the size of a palm. However, all of them were so beautiful that it was too much for the eyes to feast on!

Amidst them all, Qing Shui saw a few which he could recognize, such as the Spring hiking Portrait which he recalled to be viewed as a presentable painting. However, in this world, they were put up for sale at the same prices as that of Mountain Setting Sun Portrait and Tiger’s Descend Painting. Even its charm would not lose out to the other two paintings.

Qing Shui still enjoyed looking at the Tiger’s Descend painting, which depicted a scene of a mountain with great majesty. It was displaying a full aura of a leader. Qing Shui recalled that there was a technique by the name of Tiger’s Descend in the Tiger Form. When he saw this painting, he had a very strong feeling that it would be very beneficial in his training of the Tiger Form.

Qing Shui noticed that time had passed very quickly. It might be because he was too engrossed in the paintings that the sky had already turned dark. Qing Shui took down the Tiger’s Descend Painting and headed towards the main hall. The main hall was where the cashier was at while the beautiful young ladies in uniforms were near the furnitures to assist any inquiries the customers had.

Qing Shui was not interested enough to ask them. Moreover, the reason he had decided to purchase this painting was because it had resonated with him. It was regardless of whether it was expensive or cheap, since he would still purchase it no matter the price.

At the main hall, the pretty younger sister saw Qing Shui holding the Tiger’s Descend Painting and her beautiful eyes on her small and white face formed a beautiful crescent. This painting was considered a relatively good one amongst all the other paintings. Qing Shui had seen that the price tag had 100,000 silver taels written on it.

Qing Shui thought that it all made sense. Spending 100,000 taels of silver for a painting was something that only the rich would do. When he saw the smiling face of the young female cashier, Qing Shui guessed that she had probably thought that he was a rich person and thus was smiling so happily.

After settling the bill, Qing Shui did not stay behind. He did not wish to face that lady’s gaze which was filled with interest. He noticed that she had shown the same gaze towards all paying customers.

Could it be that guys who were able to pay were really so attractive?

As he walked out of this furniture shop, Qing Shui placed the Tiger’s Descend Painting into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and headed for Canghai’s place. At the same time, he thought about borrowing some money before returning again the next day.

Although good things could not be bought with money, buying good stuff during shopping required money. It was just like how money was necessary for him to purchase the Tiger’s Descend painting today. While he still had tens of thousands on hand, Qing Shui had a feeling that it was not enough for him to spend in this place. He had not even gone up to the upper level to take a look at the expensive items.

Qing Shui spent the day in satisfaction and when he returned to Canghai’s place, it was already dark. However, there was no darkness in Continent’s Capital. Light stones lit up the place, creating many nightless cities in the world of the nine continents. There were even people who treated the nighttime as daytime. Under the lighting of the light stones, the view seemed more hazy, but the night city was still bustling with excitement.

When he reached the Canghai’s place, he noticed that everyone was around. Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li were happily listening to the stories told by the Canghai couple regarding interesting events or demonic beasts in the world of the nine continents. It was a harmonious scene.

“You’re back. We can start dinner now.” Canghai’s wife smiled and said when she saw Qing Shui. The charm of a mature woman was really gentle.

“What are you guys talking about? You all seemed so happy.” Qing Shui smiled and greeted everyone.

“Godfather was talking about Sister Mingyue’s mischievous days when she was a kid.” Huoyun Liu-Li grinned and said.

“Oh, come and tell me how mischievous she was.” Qing Shui sat on the only empty seat.

“Alright, let’s have dinner. We’ll talk after dinner. You’ve been out for the whole day, so did you find any interesting place?” Canghai Mingyue interrupted what Huoyun Liu-Li had wanted to say about her.

Qing Shui was successfully distracted. In fact, he had only carried on the conversation earlier, but he did not especially want to hear about it. Therefore, when Canghai Mingyue asked if he discovered any interesting places, Qing Shui immediately thought of that Greencloud Furniture City.

“The Greencloud Furniture City is not a bad place. I spent my day there.” Qing Shui smiled and replied.

“You spent the whole day there? You wanted to buy furnitures?” Huoyun Liu-Li asked in surprise. Even Canghai Mingyue threw a weird look at the guy who often brought them surprises.

“There are actually many things which are quite good there, such as the paintings.” Canghai interrupted and said.

Canghai’s words made the two ladies even more confused as they looked at Qing Shui, and then at Canghai.

“Seems like Senior thinks the same way too.” Qing Shui grinned and said.

“Paintings are good stuff. Those with a high level of comprehension can have a strong resonation with the painting, and can even gain large benefits from one’s new understanding.”

Canghai’s words clicked well with what Qing Shui had thought, and he nodded seriously in agreement.

“Alright, let’s have dinner. We’ll continue the talk after dinner.” Canghai Mingyue’s mother, Ruo Tong urged.

…

After dinner, Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li helped Ruo Tong to clear the table. Qing Shui waited till the few peerless beauties had finished clearing up before he prepared to leave.

“Senior, if I were to sell that Small Revitalizing Pellet, how much could I fetch?” Qing Shui wanted to take his leave, but he recalled that he needed to get his hands on more money. After all, with the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, he had plenty of space to store silver, gold, and even silver notes.

Qing Shui’s question made the other four turn puzzledly to look at him. Qing Shui rubbed his nose and smiled awkwardly, “I might be buying some stuff these next few days and am afraid that I might not have enough money with me.”

“You better keep that thing to yourself. We’ve received quite a lot from you. Would five million taels of silver be enough?” Canghai smiled softly and said.

“Hmph, you don’t even come to us when you need help.” Huoyun Liu-Li mumbled.

“Mmm, it should be enough, it should be enough. If it’s even more valuable, it’s likely that I won’t be able to get it with money.” Qing Shui gave it some thought and said.

“Daddy, I have some here, so I’ll give it to him!” Canghai Mingyue quickly said.

“I don’t have it on hand with me now. What I have is not enough for five million taels. I have no need for them, so you can have them all.” Huoyun Liu-Li said as she looked at Qing Shui, giving off the feeling as if she regretted not having brought enough money along.

Qing Shui was stunned as he said, “It’s all the same, it’s all the same. Thank you everyone.”

Back in his own room, Qing Shui quickly entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and the first thing he did was to go to where the Golden Flesh Lingzhi was.

Sensing that Qing Shui had entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, the flaming bird gave out a few cries happily.

Thank goodness that Qing Shui had told the flaming bird before to not eat this thing. If not, he would be feeling exasperated if it had been eaten by the flaming bird!

The Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal gave Qing Shui a feeling that he was in a greenhouse. There was no wind nor any weather conditions like clouds or rain. Qing Shui suddenly thought of the Tiger’s Descend painting which he had just bought earlier in the day.

Qing Shui hung it up on an empty area in the realm. This made Qing Shui feel that he should get a standing screen so that he would be able to hang all his paintings on the screen in the future.

Qing Shui made up his mind to get a standing screen in the Greencloud Furniture City the next day. It did not have to be a good one since its sole purpose was for him to hang up paintings. The reason he decided to get a standing screen was because he recalled seeing a Prideful Phoenix Portrait amidst the items for sale. He was not sure if the Greencloud Furniture City would have one of those.

Qing Shui took a good look at the Tiger’s Descend painting. It was often said that after the tiger mounted the mountain, it would be like a dragon ascending into the skies. In terms of the aura and explosive powers, it would be a descending tiger that was stronger. The majestic aura would be unstoppable.

In the painting, the drawing captured the moment a ferocious tiger was pouncing off from the peak of the mountain. The painting showed its large and strong body, its agility, and most importantly, the king’s aura.

Qing Shui naturally started to practice the Tiger Form tens of thousands of times as he looked at the ferocious tiger in the painting. He tried to sense the aura from the tiger in the painting before him, especially the king’s aura.

This time around, the Tiger Form not only had a majestic aura, but also gave off an overwhelming pressure. It had not appeared before so Qing Shui knew that this was the king’s aura. Initially, there were many areas which felt slightly off, but they had all become smoother now. The feeling of success when the conditions were all met and the additional king’s aura which seemed to hold a crushing force were all displayed in each stance.

Even the Tiger’s Roar was totally different. Qing Shui was satisfied with his Tiger Form now. It had reached the great perfection stage.

Qing Shui stopped and quietly looked at the Tiger’s Descend painting. The Tiger Form had reached the great perfection stage after toiling his efforts in the large success stage. To think that the unintended action today had allowed him to reach the great perfection stage. The 100,000 taels of silver were well spent.

Qing Shui felt that it was all very mysterious. To think that his lucky encounter at the Greencloud Furniture City had brought him such a good benefit. The Tiger Form at the great perfection stage had increased Qing Shui’s strength by 3000 jin.

Next, Qing Shui started his training for the Ancient Strengthening Technique. It was still stuck at 75 cycles, but Qing Shui felt that he would be able to break through to the 76th cycle soon. As long as he could reach 98 cycles, he would be able to attain the great perfection stage. However, Qing Shui also felt that this was an illusion and it was likely that he would only be able to attain the great perfection stage after reaching 99 cycles.

To reach the 5th heavenly layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, it was likely that he would need to break through to reach 100 cycles. After giving it some thought, Qing Shui decided to stop thinking so much into it. While he would receive a great boost in his powers after leveling up the Ancient Strengthening Technique, it was hard to break through each stage. If it were not for the heaven defying existence of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, he would likely only be able to scrape through to reach the 4th heavenly layer after his whole lifetime.

Qing Shui’s goal was to think of all the ways and means to raise his own abilities and complete his training missions. Qing Shui remembered that Canghai Mingyue had given him a prescription for the Endurance Pellet. He decided to concoct it now to increase his abilities.

Bringing out the Golden-Ringed Snake King’s core and the Endurance-Enhancing Fruit, and cutting off a portion of the Golden Flesh LingZhi, he put them aside before extracting a drop of blood from the Golden Medicinal Turtle and the 1000-Year Clam.

He placed all of these into the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron and added a suitable amount of water from the realm’s pool. Qing Shui then put in the rest of the fruits and heated it slowly with the primordial flames.

When bubbling sounds started to be heard, Qing Shui increased the heat of the primordial blames as he occasionally added in some other ingredients which he had prepared earlier.

Qing Shui had two prior experiences in concocting the Small Revitalizing Pellet. Therefore, he had great confidence in creating the Endurance Pellet this time. Moreover, he also felt that it was very simple.

Concocting medicines tested one’s patience, and those without it would never be able to concoct medicine successfully. The higher quality the medicine, the more this theory would be applied. It was said that there were even some Divine Grade Medicinal Pellets which would exhaust the alchemist’s vital energy and blood. Once created, the likelihood of the alchemist dying was very high, or at least, he would lose half his lifespan.

Concocting the Small Revitalizing Pellet had already required a high level of concentration. The more one concentrated, the more effort required. Therefore, the better the medicine, the higher the level of concentration required, and the more time required. This was a straining process.