Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 287 - To Prosper 100 Years with an Ancestor, 200 Years with a Son and 300 Years with a Grandchild!

Canghai Mingyue saw Qing Shui’s expression and was glad that he wasn’t really paying attention, though for some reason she felt at loss too!

“Let’s go, Old Master must be missing you very much!” Huoyun Liu-Li laughed. This made Canghai Mingyue’s face burn up even more.

“Liu-Li, why don’t you say something about yourself too, after all, we’re the same…” Canghai Mingyue muttered gloomily at Huoyun Liu-Li, who was still laughing.

Qing Shui looked at the two girls in confusion. The three of them then set off towards Cang Wuya’s residence together.

“Qing Shui, who was the guy that was beaten up by you when you arrived? Do you want to tell the Old Master first?” Canghai Mingyue who had been quiet this whole time asked softly.

The person standing beside Qing Shui was no longer the same from the past; she had lost the arrogance she had before. Although she was still acting so aloof and detached from the world, her soft whispers still made Qing Shui feel a little nostalgic.

It was said that if a woman changed herself for a man, then this would mean that the woman was starting to fall for this man.

Did she like him?

“That burly man was the third son of the Gongsun clan. Let’s go back first to ask Old Master what kind of a clan is the Gongsun clan. Anyway, all I beat was just a dog. I think these brothers of the Gongsun clans are weaklings,” Qing Shui slowly said after thinking a little.

“Yes, the Old Master is considered to be someone of importance in the Heavenly Palace. He should be able to help us,” Canghai Mingyue said softly.

The three of them walked slowly in the golden evening sunset towards the residence of Cang Wuya. Qing Shui looked at the beautiful sceneries dyed by the sunset around him, accompanied by his beautiful escorts.

The others looked at Qing Shui with envy. Huoyun Liu-Li was even pulling Qing Shui’s hand and Canghai Mingyue was on his other side, although she didn’t link her hand with his.

Cang Wuya was cooking by the time Qing Shui and the two girls reached to his residence. He looked extremely happily. “Qing Shui, you’re here. Food is almost ready!” he said happily when he saw them.

“Let me give you a hand, Old Master!” Qing Shui smiled. He could feel that Cang Wuya treated him like his own grandson. The two girls must have already told him about himself and what happened at the Canghai’s house.

“You all have a chat first, I’m almost done!” Cang Wuya chuckled.

Qing Shui had gifted various condiments and Drunken Fragrance Fruit and Perilla, Thyme and a lot of Multi-fragrant Fruits. As long as the food was not overcooked or undercooked then there shouldn’t be any problems. Over these past few days, he was not only able to let Cang Wuya taste very delicious dishes but also able to fulfill his regrets of not being able to cook.

“Old Master, what kind of clan is the Gongsun clan?” Qing Shui asked Cang Wuya after he finished his meal.

Cang Wuya was surprised but then explained with a smile: “The Gongsun clan has a Supreme Elder, an Elder and the Chief Senior Disciple of the Starmoon Hall is actually the eldest daughter of their family.”

Upon hearing that, Qing Shui immediately knew that the Gongsun family was f*cking awesome. In the Heavenly Palace, power was within the hands of the Supreme Elders, Elders, and those clans with three living generations. Clans without descendants would only prosper for a generation. A clan would prosper for 100 years with an ancestor, 200 years with his son, and 300 years with his grandson!

Elders would be promoted to Supreme Elder, and Chief Senior Disciple was an equally high position. In the Heavenly Palace, Chief Senior Disciples of different halls had roughly the same position as the Elders, although they were inferior than Elders in terms of titles.

“What’s wrong, Qing Shui? Even though the Gongsun clan has quite a bit of a background, I the Old Master am not bad either. Remember to mention this old man’s name whenever you are powerless,” Cang Wuya said calmly. His peaceful tone made people feel his kindness and care. This must be what they mean by as steady as a mountain. He was indeed like a mountain.

“You have my thanks, Old Master!” Qing Shui sincerely thanked Cang Wuya.

Cang Wuya laughed: “Hoho, from now on we are family. No need to be so formal!”

Qing Shui smiled back at him unthinkingly. He must be this nice to him because he knew about the complicated situation that he, Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li were in. Regardless of the reason, Qing Shui would remember this in his heart.

Canghai Mingyue turned her head around awkwardly while Huoyun Liu-Li laughed out heartily. That seductive voice made Qing Shui’s heart itch. He couldn’t help but recall the tender moment they shared on the back of his Fire Bird. The lower half of his body slightly reacted to the memories. The sensation of them gently grinding against each other and her quivers were as fresh as yesterday.

“Qing Shui, come here tomorrow and learn something with YueYue and Liu-Li. This is the most the Heavenly Palace can offer. This old man has 200 years of experience of the heart and can give you all some shortcuts,” Cang Wuya said with a smile when Qing Shui was about to leave.

“Thank you, Old Master!” Qing Shui was not good with words so he could give his sincerest smile, but still he was not able to conceal the pleasant surprise on his face.

After saying their goodbyes, the three of them returned to their residence. Qing Shui immediately locked his door after entering his bedroom then entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Seeing the medicinal herbs that were brimming with vitality everywhere, Qing Shui roughly did a count and could tell that they should be about 300 years of age, and had already formed. He stood in the midst of the field of medicinal herbs joyfully envisioning these herbs that were going to be 1,000 years of age, 2,000 years of age in the future…

The Flower of Life that was plucked before had already grown a new bud now. It should take another year outside for it to blossom again. For Huoyun Liu-Li, Qing Shui would even use up the whole Flower of Life, let alone plucking a single Flower of Life. As long as there was hope in saving Huoyun Liu-Li’s life, he would not hesitate to use it.

After so long, that unnamed tree root still only had a single flower bloomed. There was not even a slight change in that bowl sized pinkish red flower.

Could it be that it needed 100 years to sprout, another 100 years to bloom and another 100 years to bear fruit? As for how much time was needed for the fruit to ripen, Qing Shui had no idea. If even blooming flowers took more than 100 years, then it would probably take even more time for the fruits to ripen...

However Qing Shui wasn’t too worried about the length of time. After all, this is the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and he had plenty of time. The longer it took, the better it should be.

He had almost forgotten about that Golden Flesh LingZhi. It had obviously grown larger a size after so long. The golden colour was exceptionally beautiful, and the uneven shape made it look like a fatty. Maybe the Golden Flesh LingZhi was a badass fatty?

The Energy Enhancing Fruit, Agility Enhancing Fruit, Endurance Enhancing Fruit and Physique Enhancing Fruit were almost formed and almost ripen. Qing Shui wondered when the Spirit Enhancing Fruit would finally bear and what effects it would give? Perhaps it could raise spirit energy?

When he was looking around, the Fire Bird which was perched on the towering Chinese Parasol Tree in the distance, and let out a few joyful chirps when it sensed Qing Shui’s entrance. Qing Shui happily responded with two long whistles back at it. Qing Shui felt that Fire Bird was getting more and more intellectual. As expected of a Mutated Beast of Heaven and Earth which had a trace of the Phoenix’s bloodline.

He then looked at the black fish, turtles, Golden Medicinal Turtle and the 1000 Year Clam. Although their numbers were still growing, there had been an obvious decrease in the growing speed ever since the Fire Bird’s arrival to the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal as it needed to feed on some black fish and turtles daily.

Starting a fire, Qing Shui stewed a pot of fish soup and a pot of All Aspect Nourishment Soup. He would usually do this whenever he entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. After boiling, he would let it slowly stew with small flame and take some whenever he was hungry. The rest of the time was spent on cultivation. If he was really sleepy then he’d take a nap. Missing a few days of sleep wouldn’t really affect cultivators much, but there was still a limit to it. Besides, sleeping was also beneficial for the mind and this was the reason why cultivators would sleep for at least awhile everyday.

Qing Shui would only start his cultivation after finishing all this. The first part of his cultivation would be the Ancient Strengthening Technique. It would not only let one feel refreshed but also let the body achieve a good state after practising for the whole day.

Then he moved on to Sword Techniques - “Basic Sword Principle” and “Heavenly Palace Sword Art”. For the Heavenly Palace Sword Art to be labeled with the name “Heavenly Palace”; the name of a super great sect, even if it wasn’t an ultimate technique it would at least be a decent technique.

Qing Shui was not bored of repetitive practices. He then lifted a big hammer. His Thousand Hammer Technique was considered quite high to date. This hammer technique used to pound on steel had already reached the Truth Realm.

Qing Shui currently did not have any plans to use this Hammer Technique on opponents. He was just hoping for it to reach the Obscure Realm or even the Heaven Realm. Then maybe he would be able to forge 2-colour graded, 3-colour graded or even higher graded items, and maybe he might also be able to enhance item quality at its original grade.

The very next day, Qing Shui was still doing his morning cultivation at the public square. He realised that the public square and the stone monument region were always the two most crowded places. Perhaps the fact that the stone monument region behind the mountain was open to all in the Heavenly Palace and many were interested in the Beast Form Fist were the reasons behind the stone monument region getting about 30,000 daily visits. Each stone monument was seen by an average of 30 people. A thousand stone monuments would mean at least 30,000 people.

And the only public square with an arena was the public square of the Starmoon Hall. It could hold even 20,000 people at the same time so Qing Shui could easily find an empty spot during his morning cultivation.

Today’s morning cultivation went smoothly for him. Although he attracted the attention of many, he didn’t care because in the end, no one bothered him. After Qing Shui deemed that he had practised enough for the day, he left for Cang Wuya’s residence.

Upon his arrival, he discovered that the two girls were already there and seemed to be discussing about something with Cang Wuya.

“Qing Shui, now that you’re here we can do it together, or else the Old Master would have to repeat twice,” Huoyun Liu-Li waved at him.

“Haven’t you all started already?” Qing Shui asked uncertainly.

“We were joking. Today is our first day too,” Huoyun Liu-Li chuckled. Her beautiful and delicate breasts slightly jiggled. It was very enticing.

Qing Shui quickly averted his gaze. His ability to concentrate was becoming worse lately. He wondered if it had anything to do with the “Duo Cultivation Technique” that he had been cultivating daily.

“Today we will learn the Cloudmist Steps first. Try to understand what I am about to tell you and then use your heart to feel it. Don’t bother so much with the rest and just keep practising it. Footwork is all about practising to perfection. You will discover the secret behind the Cloudmist Steps when the right time comes. Do not chase after the true form of Cloudmist Steps because it differs for everyone.”

Cang Wuya had this aura of dignity when he started to teach and talk about martial arts although he still maintained his usual calm demeanour.

“The Cloudmist Steps focuses on “sliding” and “gliding”. The steps should give you the sensation of floating, as if walking on the clouds. The Cloudmist Steps are known for their variation and swiftness. I will teach you the qi circulation method first.”