Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 406 - A Lifted Burden, Another Side of Her

“That’s good too. In any case, it is not that big of a deal. The two of them are indeed the two most beautiful women in my Misty Hall. I heard that there are a lot of guys that really envied you.”

In no way would Qing Shui ever thought that a girl like her would ask such a question. It seemed that they could almost be considered as friends already.

Qing Shui also did not explain anything because there really wasn’t anything much to explain for this kind of matter.

“What kind of grudges do Heavenly Palace and Sword Tower hold against each other? Can you tell me about it?” Because of Mingyue Gelou, Qing Shui was almost turning into a sore point to Sword Tower.

“Heavenly Palace and Sword Tower are old enemies. Legend has it that the elderly of Heavenly Palace who established Heavenly Palace and the elderly that established Sword Tower were fellow apprentices. Their hostility was also because of a woman. The story is really conventional. It just got passed on like that. In between, there were constantly contradicting views. Lord Cang’s son died exactly in the hand of the people from Sword Tower, and so on. Exactly in this way, the problems became more and more intense, so much so that there were a few times when they almost went to war.” The Misty Palace Mistress simply explained for a while.

“Then, are both sides thinking of eliminating the opposite sides?”

“Yeah. After all, the people that established these two sects are long gone. Of course, the brotherhood between them have already ceased to exist when they were alive. Slowly, the problem became more and more serious, both wanting to eliminate their own counterparts. A huge component of it was also due to the fact that they were forced by their false reputation and outer appearance. Sometimes, many things are not as simple as it looks from outside. Sometimes, even if you know that it is wrong, you will still have to hold onto it. There will eventually be a day when the contradiction between Heavenly Palace and Sword Tower breaks out as well.”

Even though the Misty Palace Mistress’s explanation was short, Qing Shui had gotten an answer. However, Qing Shui currently dared not to think of eliminating Sword Tower by relying on his own strength.

That was a sect that was as formidable as Heavenly Palace. Qing Shui did not know how many warriors there were in Sword Tower that had reached the pinnacle of Martial King.

In Green Cloud Continent, the measurement of strength for sects of this level would be a contest between the warriors that had reached the pinnacle of the Martial King Realm. To be more precise, it was exactly the contest of military force and number of Martial King warriors that were at their peak.

Thus, Qing Shui knew that the amount of warriors at the pinnacle of their Martial King Realm would absolutely not be any less than Heavenly Palace. As Qing Shui thought of the Heavenly Palace Elderly Gathering and the group of frightening old men, he instantly felt lost about long it would take for him to be capable of challenging the whole Sword Tower by himself.

The cultivation level of the sixth layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique was still far in the indefinite future. If now, he already had the cultivation level of the sixth layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique, it might still be a bit possible. However, Qing Shui knew that it would be really difficult if he wanted to break through to the sixth layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique by himself. The Ancient Strengthening technique of the sixth layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique would absolutely enable him reach the Martial Saint Realm.

Martial Saint warriors, the ruler of Qing Yun Continent! How could it possibly be that easy?

But soon after, Qing Shui shook his head and threw away this thought. Nevertheless, doing it realistically without flights of fancy would still be better. For now, thinking about those things were still a bit too far away.

…………

The Misty Palace Mistress was also temporarily staying in Lai Clanfor a time. Many influential clans in Yan City envied Lai Family because of this. The warriors who were at the pinnacle of their martial king realm had once been to Lai Clan. The power of human speech was formidable. It hasn’t been half a day and Lai Clan, Qin Clan, along with those warriors at the peak of their martial king realm, had all became relatives.

What did the outsiders know. That was why Lai Clan, this powerful paper tiger, would very quickly stand even higher. Furthermore, it could stand exceptionally firmly for a very long period of time.

Lai JiuTian had long felt happy to the point of going up to heaven. His son had great fortune. With this layer of relationship present, Lai Clan would very quickly become the strongest family in Yan City.

“Qing Shui, we are going to bring the hall master up to look for rooms.” After HuoYun Liu-Li greeted Qing Shui, she went upstairs with Canghai Ming-Yue and Misty Palace Mistress.

Qing Shui smiled while waving his hands and let them do as they wished.

Qing Yi looked at Qing Shui’s face, which was filled with smiling expression. It was any parents’ wishes to long for their child to succeed in life. The son’s huge accomplishment had made her even happier than the huge achievement of herself as a mother.

Her own issue that weighed heavily on her mind for twenty years was uncovered, and his father’s mental issue was also uncovered. For a moment, she felt the huge burden in her heart lifting. She felt extremely relaxed.

The mother’s honor increased as her son’s position rose. Qing Yi knew that for someone like her who came out from Qing Clan Household in a country city like Yan City, her own family background and cultivation realm would not be much more powerful compared to common people. But now, even the landlord from Lai Clan, a clan that had been influential for generations, talked to her with unusual respect.

This was all because of her own son, Qing Shui!

“Qing Shui, you have suffered throughout this years. Do you remember back when you were still small? At that time, when you knew that you could not cultivate yourself, I still remember clearly the depressing look of yours. Never would I have thought that it was actually because you were afraid that you could not step into Yan Clan in the future, afraid that you could not demand a speaking for me. I was even more unaware that you would actually encounter Qing Qing after that. There was once again another person that made you cultivate with all your might.”

As Qing Yi spoke, the smiling face of hers was suspended with a disconsolated smile. The “mistake that she made” herself at that time, however, required her son to cultivate bitterly for fifteen years. As she thought about it, she dripped with tears of happiness…...

“Mother, today is a happy day. Don’t cry. The issue that has been weighing heavily on your mind for many years has been resolved. Mother, sister, today, our family has reunited. We should be happy.” Qing Shui looked at Qing Qing next to him whose eye sockets were also wet and comforted her.

“Mother is happy, is happy……”

At the side, everyone looked at Qing Shui: Qing Luo, Qing He, Qing You and Shi QingZhuang, as well as Canghai Ming-yue, Huoyun Liu-li, and everyone else. It made Qing Shui feel that all of the things that he had paid for was all worth it.

Shi QingZhuang also knew about the incidents in Qing Family. She looked at the man who already had a magnificent style and was unmatched in his generation. This man was her own fiance. She thought of the scene of him riding on her lion buckskin the first time she had come to Qing Clan Household. At that time, she would never have thought that he would have a day like this.

Unfortunately, it was destined that he would not belong to her alone.

The afternoon food was made by Qing Yi and a few ladies. However, the Misty Palace Mistress did not come down. Qing Shui knew that she was not used to occasions like this. Most importantly, her coming down would make other people felt reserved.

“Qing Shui, deliver the food to the owner. In any case, you too have to thank her properly. She is on the third floor, in the room near the stairs on the left.” Huo Yan Liu Li chuckled.

And so, Qing Shui took a huge, bright wooden board. There were nine dishes and two soups placed on it.

He went up following the staircase. On the second floor, Qing Shui and the people from Qing Family were staying there. On the third floor, there were only Qing Shi Zhuang, Huoyun Liu-Li, and Canghai Ming- Yue. The three of them were staying in there.

Lai Family’s small pavilion of this kind was also three storeys tall. Originally, this kind of small pavilion was suitable for small family household to live, just like Lai Family’s sons and grandsons. When they got married, they would be separated to a small courtyard like this.

Very quickly, Qing Shui had already arrived on the third floor. He noticed that the room on the left side was left open around the size of one palm.

Qing Shui was stunned, however, when he was preparing to enter. It wasn’t because there was any charming and gentle scene inside the room. The Misty Palace Mistress stood at the window spot with a snowy cotton yarn all over her body, her body slightly leaned towards the side.

That angle happened to let Qing Shui see her perfect side.

Qing Shui did not actually retain his sight on that undulating body of hers, even though that body was really beautiful, to the point that it made people palpitated with eagerness to do something. At this moment, however, Qing Shui stared at her side face blankly. As he looked at the bewildered and depressed eyes, Qing Shui had never thought that someone like her would have such a sexy side, so much so that Qing Shui could see a bewildered look from her beautiful pupils.

As it turned out, she hasn’t withdrawn herself from worldly affairs as much as what’s seen from the outside. On the other hand, she buried all of her worries deep in her heart. She was the real loneliness. Even if she was compared to Qing Qing, she might not be any more powerful. It was just that the way she expressed was different. Perhaps it could be said that her appearance now was faked and that she would only show her true color when there was no one.

“Dong-dong-dong!”

Qing Shui cleared a hand and knocked three times at the door. And then he proceeded to push open the door and walked in. At the moment when Qing Shui got in contact with those pupils, they have already recovered back to the usual: fine, clear, and extremely outstanding.

Looking at Qing Shui carrying so much stuff, a slight smile could be seen in her eyes. In Qing Shui’s perspective, there was an extremely moving quality to that expression he was unable to express.

Qing Shui placed the food one by one on the small side table.

“Let’s sit down and eat together!”

When Qing Shui heard these words, he suspected if he had an illusion and looked at the Misty Palace Mistress with a doubt.

The gaze of the Misty Palace Mistress seemed like it has slightly dodged out of the way for a moment.

“There is so much, let’s eat together. I can’t finish it by myself.”

This time, Qing Shui has heard carefully. Thinking of the scene that he saw when he just came, he felt a bit grieved. She was a strong woman and didn’t pamper herself.

Qing Shui had already known that there were people like them from his previous incarnation, feeling lonely to the bone. But for those people, they would either commit suicide or choose to be undisciplined and degrade themselves. They would drink alcohol, dance madly, and fall into bad companies with men, because loneliness was the most fearsome thing in the world.

“Alright, being able to eat with you was exactly what I have been looking for. In the past, I did not ever dare to think about it.” Qing Shui chuckled.

When they were eating, the scene that made Qing Shui stunned was that the Misty Palace Mistress had actually removed her veil. In that instant, Qing Shui had a feeling akin to witnessing the bright moon emerging after a black cloud. In a short while, the whole room seemed like it had become brighter.

“You look really pretty.” Qing Shui secretly swallowed his saliva and smiled.

Her feelings were sincere to the straightforward compliment from Qing Shui, and she was not disgusted with Qing Shui’s gaze and language.

“Come, let’s eat first!”

Qing Shui handed over the white jade chopsticks. On top of that, he continuously carried the plates in front of her. In her heart, she felt Qing Shui’s expression to be especially caring. It may be because of her expression which he accidentally saw just now.

Women’s institution was particularly strong. Regarding a lot of things, they could already feel the real intention of others just by relying on their intuition.

She looked at Qing Shui’s movement, which seemed a bit choppy yet particularly sincere. More importantly, she felt that there was only warmth in his heart, a special kind of warmth.

“Thank you!”

Qing Shui did not know whether the manner in which the Misty Palace Mistress was eating could be considered graceful. This was because a beautiful girl like her would not look unsightly no matter how they ate.

……

When Qing Shui carried down the dishes they finished, he received the strange looks from other people. In particular, the looks he got from Canghai Ming-Yue and Huoyun Liu-Li, as well as Qing ShiZhuang. However, Huoyun Liu-Li’s look was the most amusing one.

Canghai Ming-Yue and Huoyun Liu-Li knew what kind of a woman the Misty Palace Mistress was. A guy that could have a meal with her... it wasn’t because they had seen it today, there was no way they would ever believe that.

Qing Shui could only smile awkwardly. “Today, everyone should rest properly for a while. Tomorrow, we will be going to Guo Family. At the latest, we will go back on the day after.”

Happy smiles could be seen on everyone’s faces. There was still people from Qing Family who were worried. Since the matter had been handled, they went back immediately.

Looking at everyone’s happy smile, Qing Shui smiled as well. However, in his heart, he was sighing, he was thinking of Mingyue Gelou...

New tiered Patreon rewards: Portrait of Beauty

Have you ever wanted to see how the beauties in Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty) looked like? Here’s your chance, we are offering new tiered rewards for our Patreoners

Tier 1 ($1) : Canghai Mingyue

Tier 2 ($5) : Canghai Mingyue, Shi Qingzhuang

Tier 3 ($10) : Canghai Mingyue, Shi Qingzhuang, Mingyue Gelou

Tier 4 ($20) : Canghai Mingyue, Shi Qingzhuang, Mingyue Gelou, Huoyun Liu-Li

Tier 5 ($40) : Canghai Mingyue, Shi Qingzhuang, Mingyue Gelou, Huoyun Liu-Li, Yu He

Tier 6 ($50) : Canghai Mingyue, Shi Qingzhuang, Mingyue Gelou, Huoyun Liu-Li, Yu He, Qing Qing, Qing Hanye, Zhu Qing

Tier 7 ($80) : Canghai Mingyue, Shi Qingzhuang, Mingyue Gelou, Huoyun Liu-Li, Yu He, Qing Qing, Qing Hanye, Zhu Qing, Wenren Wushuang, Yiye Jiange

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