Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 283 - She is from the Yan Clan, Yan Clan that was sentenced to death

The sky darkened, Qing Shui watched the sparse crowd around him, many of them gesticulating, even making comical movements.

Qing Shui laughed, people were probably too shy to let go of themselves. Now that it was late and few were still around, there was only a single person in front of each stone tablet, they then became less restricted. Everyone avoided each other on purpose, though there were some fanatics who cared less about others and imitated on the same spot, as if they were out of their minds.

Once they started practising, imitating and training by looking at the “beast forms” carved on the stone tablet, there would be some who, accidentally or not, caught hold of the secret within. Among them would, with persistence and perseverance, learn the most basic of the imitation forms.

Should anyone want to attain the level of Qing Shui’s Beast Punches, they would need excellent perception, for Qing Shui was trained in the Nine Animals Mimicry Technique, or it would be difficult for anyone to achieve such results within such a short time.

He walked towards his lodge, smiling and shaking his head. If he had not been trained in the Nine Animals Mimicry Technique, hoping to attain his current level would need at least twenty years of hard practice. This was the result of him possessing the Sea of Consciousness with the image of Yin Yang and two enlightenments.

Slowly walking back, his mind was full of the carvings on the stone tablets. Qing Shui did not plan on using them against his opponents after learning them. Through the stone tablets, his Nine Animals Mimicry Technique could be enhanced and his capabilities would also be enhanced simultaneously. Moreover, his killer techniques were Hidden Weapon, Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Palm, Third Wave Sword, and of course, certain moves within these supplementary techniques were powerful.

Tiger Tailwhip Kick, Ripping Tiger Claw, Bear Support, Bear Dazzle, these venomous and powerful techniques were sometimes enough to kill the opponent in an instant.

With his mind running wild, he reached his lodging without knowing and realized the door of the room downstairs was slightly ajar. He had stayed for a night yesterday without noticing anything amiss, it was so this morning, too.

Qing Shui was about to go up when the door opened, and out came a woman looking like a girl. Qing Shui was shocked that she was the exquisite girl who came to him to practise the Heavenly Palace Sword Technique.

Yan Ling`er!

“Brother Qing Shui!” Yan Ling`er’s delicate lips parted slightly as she smiled and greeted Qing Shui.

“Mm, you stay here?” Qing Shui asked in shock.

“Yes, is Brother Qing Shui staying here, too?” It was Yan Ling`er’s turn to be shocked; she had been living here all the while.

“Yes, I’m right above you!” Qing Shui chuckled.

“Brother Qing Shui must have moved in yesterday!” Yan Ling`er was right in front of Qing Shui as she finished her sentence.

Her gentle and graceful height reached Qing Shui’s chin, it was only now when he noticed that this girl-next-door her was well developed. Her face was delicate and young, but those bosoms were round and full, her clothes bulged high, even when they couldn’t be seen, one would know they were definitely not small.

Her soft waistline was slender, her round buttocks especially perky, and her long slim legs made her look especially young and beautiful.

“Mm, how did you know?” Qing Shui asked, though he knew the answer - the girl was not at home only last night. Qing Shui guessed that she had fooled around with that man last night.

“I stayed at Sister Xi Yue’s last night, turned out Brother Qing Shui started living above me,” Yan Ling`er laughed crisply.

Qing Shui could feel that Yan Ling`er’s abilities were at the beginning of Xiantian, but achieving that at this age was considered brilliant. Looking at her up close, Qing Shui had an inkling.

She looked similar to the sister selling tea leaves at Yan City, especially her nose bridge and face shape, and these features of the older sister did not look like her mother. Qing Shui suddenly noticed her surname, Yan. It had not seemed weird meeting a girl with the surname Yan in Heavenly Palace.

But now, Qing Shui stared unblinkingly at Yan Ling`er. “Where is your house?”

Yan Ling`er was a little confused hearing Qing Shui, but replied with a smile. “It is in Yan Jiang Country in Yan City. Does Brother Qing Shui have any problem? My family in Yan City should still have some strength. If you go Yan City in the future, I will entertain you well.”

She actually said her family was in Yan Jiang Country in Yan City, only the Yan Clan had the surname Yan in Yan City. She said her family had some power. Qing Shui was pained; his most pressing goal now was to stamp the Yan Clan flat!

Qing Shui smiled bitterly and walked up, leaving Yan Ling`er who was a little dazed. After knowing that she was part of the Yan Clan, any positive feelings towards her vanished in a flash.

Qing Shui entered his room and locked the door, feeling lost. This girl reminded him of the Yan Clan once again. The growth of the aristocrats had always had history of blood and tears, for families rose by stamping on many others. A general builds his success on ten thousand bleaching bones; an aristocrat clan was no different.

Qing Shui had given the Yan Clan the death sentence after seeing the stubborn woman in Yan City and any related persons would not be spared.

Now Qing Shui knew this girl was part of the Yan Clan, even possibly his sister from the other mother. He had always thought that he had only one mother. He would give back a hundred, thousand times to those who had helped his mother, but to those who had bullied her, no matter who, would not dream to live, even if it takes ten, twenty years, or his entire life’s effort.

Qing Shui was one who could give his all for vengeance, and that day was soon to come!

Qing Shui tried hard to stop himself from thinking about it, especially the woman who suffered in Yan City. Qing Shui did not even dare to tell his mother for she would sacrifice her life just to go to Yan City!

Persevering for so many years, be it mother or “sister”, he could care less about these two years. Qing Shui fought to stop himself from thinking further, and casted them away temporarily.

Qing Shui started immersing himself in training after entering the Realm of the Violet Immortal. The Ancient Strengthening Technique was now in the cycle of ninety-four days and very soon it would break through to the ninety-fifth. However, Qing Shui knew the days after that, especially the ninety-ninth day, would not be completed so easily; there were still the obstacles after entering the Five Waves!

For the Ancient Strengthening Technique, one stage included the first to the third waves. It was the foundation stage, like a base, but moving up to the Fourth Wave was the key; not only does it need abilities and perceptivity, but also some luck.

Qing Shui had been blocked out by the wall of the Fourth Wave for six years, but he did not know how long it would take for him to break down the wall of the Fifth Wave.

Thinking about it demoralized Qing Shui, but he had made long term preparations. Though he would not be able to attain the Fifth Wave within this period, he could enhance his abilities through medicinal pellets and supplementary techniques, and probably breakthrough whilst he was not aware.

Tiger Form!

The few stone tablet carvings he had seen in the day gave Qing Shui a deeper understanding of the Tiger Form. The first carving of a tiger roaring in the mountains gave off an air of aggressiveness.

Roars erupted one after another. This time, they were louder and thicker than the previous ones, jolting one’s chest. Aggression; it erupts from the bottom of one’s chest, making one terrified inside and out, as if the tiger roars had shocked the soul.

Qing Shui let out a hint of a smile in between roars, imitating the beast forms and their expressions; imitating their forms required one to copy the movements of the “beast form”, for only through that would one’s strength and speed be amplified to their limits. However, imitating the expressions would not require that as one would have perceived the key and essence, thus using it would enable one to attain the ideal results.

The moves of both Tiger’s Mount and Tiger’s Descend enhanced one’s presence; one accumulated it and the other discharged it. The best would be for one to achieve the extent of “shoving a falling wall1”!

Oppressing others by force, that was the air of the Tiger’s Mount; to bring up the presence to a terrifying extent, one can lose physically without losing his presence, for he would lose without it.

A Tiger’s Descend was like a heavenly river gushing downwards with an unstoppable force, using it well would bring the power of one’s technique to a new height.

Qing Shui thought about it while trying it, gradually bringing up his presence using the Tiger Laceration, Ripping Tiger Claw, Tiger Tailwhip Kick, even the Bear’s Claw and sword moves.

In between, Qing Shui did not forget to quench the Soulshake Bell, using up the forty times of quenching available each day. Within the month from starting the journey to Heavenly Palace to reaching it, he had finally reached the third level!

1 to take advantage of the other’s bad situation

The distance from attaining the third level of Soulshake Bell was increased to four hundred metres. There was still the caption stating the probability of letting beasts crazily attack those around it, but there was an additional line about the probability of shocked beasts dying abruptly!

Qing Shui had been ecstatic about that attribute for a long time, and especially ran to a deserted area to experiment on beasts. He discovered that the chance of shocking wild beasts below the level of Demonic Beasts was nine out of ten, and using it against a Demonic Beast had only a success rate of four out of five.

This let Qing Shui recall the time when he used it at the Black Champion Monarch Falcon; it actually succeeded with one try. Now that he thought about it, luck played a large part. Experimenting it several times more, Qing Shui discovered that the success rate was only twenty percent, with one success in every five tries.

The second day, Qing Shui once again went to the square to listen to the elder’s lecture, when he suddenly saw that his usual place was occupied by Yan Ling`er, who was now smiling at him.

“Brother Qing Shui!”

Qing Shui found it awfully sharp to hear that call, and could not help but ask, “When I passed Yan City, there was a lady from the Yan Clan selling tea leaves. What do you know about her? I am really curious!”

Yan Ling`er recalled yesterday when Qing Shui appeared evidently disgusted when he heard about her Yan Clan and looked like he had thought of her as a heartless person.

“You don’t know, I am just a junior, Sister Qing Qing is already...Brother Qing Shui, you seemed to be very concerned about Sister Qing Qing!” Yan Ling`er asked, surprised.

“Don’t you think she is pitiful? A little miss of the Yan Clan selling tea leaves on the street. Not only that, she seemed to be bullied by some Xiao Master. Can the Yan Clan take it down?” Qing Shui replied calmly.

Yan Ling`er sighed. “You don’t know, you only see the surface, there are good people in the Yan Clan,” she, looking wronged.

“Haha, what’s that got to do with me? And don’t look for me anymore. I don’t have any positive feelings for the Yan Clan!” Qing Shui said, and he turned to leave.

Yan Ling`er saw how Qing Shui was like, her eyes filling up with tears as she watched his back view walk away!

“Ling`er, what happened? He bullied you?” A gentle voice sounded!

“Sister Xi Yue!” Yan Ling`er hurriedly wiped her tears and called out to the beauty beside her, her joyous voice did not sound anything like a person who almost cried.

The lady was dressed in a pale emerald flowy dress, the way she walked had a charming demeanor, her eyebrows looked like crescents, and her eyes were a distinctive black and white and were very attractive.

Her nose was especially tall, making her look persistent and of character. Her red, moist lips were slightly pouted, with a hidden bitterness instead of a smile. With that well developed physique, she was one in a million.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Did that rascal bully you?” The lady’s gentle voice was calming, allowing one to calm down easily.

“No, he didn’t,” Yan Ling`er giggled. She really wanted to cry, but had wiped her tears dry by the time the lady came, and pretended to be alright.

Qing Shui changed his place, and in a while, the elder appeared on the battle stage. Today he continued with the following ten moves, the elder calmly scanned the floor.

“I can only explain for everyone here, anyone who wants to use it proficiently against his opponent would need tough practices. I only brought everyone to the door, whether or not you can walk up the altar will be up to yourselves,” the elder said, revealing a subtle smile.

The elder modeled while explaining. The ten moves today were obviously more powerful and ferocious. Qing Shui had just comprehended the usage of presence through the Tiger’s Mount stone tablet and Tiger’s Descent stone tablet last night.

Hence, there seemed to be a resonance with the understanding of the elder’s explanation of the Heavenly Palace sword techniques, Qing Shui even already knew of a large part of his explanation, resulting in a feeling of enlightenment and full comprehension when the elder was finished.