Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 563 - The powerful Martial Saint Qianyu Dingjun, Differences between the Grades of Martial Saint

“Alright, alright! Come, everyone let’s go inside. There are no strangers in this household.”

……….

Indeed, there were no strangers around the dinner table because all of them were direct descendants of Qianyu Dingjun. Qing Shui also knew that this place was Qianyu Dingjun’s mansion. There were also a few dozen buildings similar to this mansion in the Xinghai Country. However, the master of this Qianyu Clan was not Qianyu Dingjun, but the chances of him becoming the master were very high according to sources.

“Qing Shui, you saved Feifei’s life. So please accept this as a token of our small gratitude,” said Qianyu Dingjun as he pointed at an adorned box that was being brought to Qing Shui.

“Uncle Jun, what do you mean by this?” Qing Shui shook his head gently as he stared at Qianyu Dingjun.

“She was born frail and weak, and there were numerous times where she could barely live. I didn’t know what to do, Qingqing was adamant about bringing Feifei to find a cure in the weakest part of the World of Nine Continents - the Greencloud Continent. Even with the best facilities in the various regions of the Central Continent, there was nothing that could cure her. Well, she said Feifei’s savior lives on the west side of the world. And you, that savior, is here now. You must accept this. It makes me the happiest person in the world knowing that Feifei can still live on healthily.”

Those were the words that came straight from his heart – those were the words of a father. Qing Shui liked two kinds of people – a person who respected their parents, and a person who would protect their children with their life. These two kinds of people had something in common, and that would be kindness. They would never lose their nature, so even if they did something wrong, Qing Shui would still be able to forgive them easily.

“Uncle Jun, when I saved this little girl, the intention of taking these fortunes had never crossed my mind. Even if she is a kid from a normal family, I still would have lent my hands to her without hesitation.” Qing Shui smiled and refused the gift. There were some principles he still needed to maintain. Otherwise, things would become awry very quickly and easily.

“You didn’t know who we were at that time. You only knew about our clan today, right?” Qianyu Qingqing grinned.

“Qing Shui, whether you accept or not, I still want to thank you.” At this time, a woman appeared behind Qianyu Dingjun and spoke out. Qing Shui had been insistent on refusing the gift, which pushed Qianyu Dingjun to give up his attempts to persuade Qing Shui any further.

She was an attractive and elegant woman with a charming demeanor that could put all other women to shame. She could easily rival other women with her charm that seemed to have accumulated with experience and practice over many years. Qing Shui looked at Di Qing who was standing beside him. He was having thoughts about how she could become as beautiful as this woman as she grew older.

This woman was Feifei’s mother. Qianyu Dingjun married her willingly even when she had Qingqing by her side.

“Madam, please don’t go through so much trouble for me. I treated Feifei as my little sister and nothing else. If you were in my shoes, I don’t think you would accept either.” Qing Shui said as he gave her a smile.

Qing Shui’s insistence on refusing the gift had impressed some of the members of the Qianyu Clan. Anyone who had half a brain could see that he was not a trickster or someone who intended to profit from the wealthy people. Of course, there would be others who thought Qing Shui intended to seek better benefits by playing humble.

“Uncle Jun, we shall take our leave first. We will come back some other time!” Qing Shui looked over to Di Qing, signaling to her that they were to take their leave. Then he stood up and politely excused himself.

“No, no. You just came and now you are leaving so soon? I know you are rushing on your journey, but it won’t be much to take these two days off, right? If you need anything, the Qianyu Clan might be able to offer their help. As long as it’s something I can do, I will do it.” Qianyu Dingjun said calmly after he pondered for a while.

Qing Shui chuckled when he heard those words. He shook his head lightly and politely refused. He could tell that these words were spoken with sincerity and kindness. Even though he wasn’t a physiognomist by nature, he could still sense the intentions of other people. This may be one of the signs that Qing Shui’s Spiritual Sense had grown stronger.

“Uncle Jun, it’s alright. I can solve my problems by myself. If I can’t do it, then I will be in big trouble. By then, I will come back and seek your assistance. Please don’t disregard this ‘nephew’ of yours if I come back later on.” Qing Shui chortled.

“Haha. Qing Shui, I cannot speak for the others, but my words do carry their weight. When I have chosen my words carefully, I will never take them back once I have said it. If I make a promise, I will fulfill them even if my bones were to be crushed into tiny pieces.”

Because of that, Qing Shui had no choice but to stay at the Qianyu Residence for one night. Because of his stay, he was able to know some important things about the Qianyu Clan as well.

The current master of the Qianyu Clan was Qianyu Dingjun’s father. The Qianyu Clan was also densely populated. This was because his father had a dozen siblings who lived under the same roof. Some had passed away, but a few remained. Qianyu Dingjun also had a handful of siblings, cousins from his father’s side, and cousins from his mother’s side. Then they also have a few members from Qianyu He’s generation, which totaled up to about a thousand members altogether. However, some of them did not live under the same roof with Qianyu Dingjun, otherwise, their family would overflow the mansion within a thousand years.

This was the definition of a great family. The birth of the master would eventually lead to the birth of his grandchildren. Just like Qianyu Dingjun; he had about ten sons and six daughters. His other wife still had the other five children with her.

The women in the World of Nine Continents were known to have an average of two children. However, a powerful man would always have dozens of women by his side. Even if each of the women were to give birth to only one child, it would total to about a dozen as well.

In essence, a commoner would only have one wife. They would have an average of two to four children, and up to five or six children. These parents would raise their children to support them in their old age. Moreover, martial arts was highly encouraged in the World of Nine Continents, so it would be common for someone to die from fighting in the path of cultivation. As a result, the more children they could bear, the better. If one was met with an unfortunate event, the remaining children would still be able to support their parents.

At the same time, the fact that Qianyu Qingqing was not Qianyu Dingjun’s biological daughter lingered in his mind. Before he met that woman, she was already a mother to her child. But Qianyu Dingjun was madly in love with her, so he decided he would marry her. This incident was rumored to have caused quite a stir in the family, especially to the master of the Qianyu Clan, who was greatly enraged at his own son.

And for that reason, Qianyu Dingjun was not considered for being the next successor of Qianyu Clan. If it wasn’t for that incident, he would have been the most ideal successor to take over Qianyu Clan among his siblings.

Even so, Qing Shui still had a lot of respect for Qianyu Dingjun because of his manly resolution and his sense of responsibility towards the matters of his family. During the day, Qianyu Dingjun had witnessed a middle-aged gatekeeper’s unforgivable actions, and in a fit of rage, he killed that man on the spot. He even beat Qianyu Ji who instigated the issue in the first place for about a hundred times using a plank. Qianyu Ji was then grounded in his room for a month. After that, no one dared to say a word about the incident.

Qing Shui did not know the reason for the gatekeeper’s spontaneous execution and Qianyu Ji’s detention until recently when he gained knowledge about their family. If he knew about it earlier, he wouldn’t have let them boldly bully Qianyu Qingqing in front of the gates. Regardless, Qingqing would not say anything about being bullied to her father, and Feifei wasn’t allowed to tell Qianyu Dingjun as well. She knew she wasn’t his biological daughter, so she chose to keep quiet about it.

Unfortunately, Feifei was driven mad by her sister being bullied, so in a fit of rage, she inadvertently told Qianyu Dingjun about the incident. This, in turn, made Qianyu Dingjun furious. He went to beat Qianyu Ji without hesitation. The woman he loved could only shake her head in disappointment. Qianyu Ji’s mother and the others pleaded for Qianyu Dingjun to stop beating Qianyu Ji with a plank, but he kept going. He had a certain technique when he beat his son; he would beat his son on the flesh, but not on the bone areas. The plank beating was a kind of punishment passed down from generations to generations. It took about a hundred beatings before Qianyu Dingjun stopped. Qianyu Ji’s flesh was battered and torn, but his bones were still fine.

Even Qianyu Ji’s mother could not make a sound. She just stood at one side and wiped her tears!

After the incident!

“Xuan Yu, even if Qingqing kept quiet, why didn’t you tell me about it? Plus, I have given you all the rights to all the family matters. Why didn’t you help Qingqing? Do you feel good watching her suffer like this?” Qianyu Dingjun said after he had finished beating Qianyu Ji.

Qianyu Dingjun must have felt uneasy when he beat Qianyu Ji a hundred times. Even though Qianyu Ji was worthless, in the end, he was still his son. All these years no matter how much he tried to control him, he was still a good-for-nothing child. He was a narrow-minded, intolerant, short-sighted, and stingy. Sometimes, Qianyu Dingjun would question how he could have raised such a worthless son during his lifetime as a father.

The woman sighed: “Qingqing wouldn’t let me say it, otherwise, she would leave Qianyu Clan. You know how she is!”

“Since Qing Shui is here with us today, I will make this clear now. I wasn’t afraid of people laughing behind my back 30 years ago, and I am still unafraid of that now. Qingqing is my daughter, and she is undeniably related to me more than my own biological daughters. In the future, if anyone dares to trouble my daughter any further, I will scrape off their skin.” Qianyu Dingjun held Qingqing by her hands and spoke in a roaring tone.

These words were meant for the members of Qianyu Clan as well as the present outsiders. Some disciples from other clans who were equally matched in terms of strength with the Qianyu Clan would sometimes use this topic to tease the disciples of the Qianyu Clan.

“Father, please don’t be like this. How am I supposed to stay with you like this?” Qianyu Qingqing looked at Qianyu Dingjun’s eyes. She tried her best to hold in her tears and maintain her calm composure, but in the end, she couldn’t keep her cool and ended up crying in Qianyu Dingjun’s arms.

Qing Shui was happy for Qianyu Qingqing because she has a great father. He sighed in relief after things had finally wrapped up. Everyone had their stories to tell, just like himself. No one would know about another’s past if their story wasn’t told to anyone.

So it wasn’t weird that this would happen in front of his eyes!

“Uncle Jun, can I ask you something regarding the matters of cultivation?” Qing Shui could feel that Qianyu Dingjun could rival the Sky Tyrant Lord’s power despite being uncertain of his real strength. However, these two were both Martial Saints. As to which level Qianyu Dingjun belonged to, Qing Shui was uncertain as well.

“Of course you can. Follow me, let’s talk in my study room!” Qianyu Dingjun was very welcoming and friendly. He brought Qing Shui with him and they waved goodbye to the other members of Qianyu Clan before leaving the living room together.

They walked along the narrow and flat stone path surrounded by fauna and flora. Because of the abundance of plants and flowers alike, the air was filled with a clear fresh scent. Within a few moments, they had arrived at a secluded courtyard.

Qianyu Dingjun opened the door to the study room, and went inside together with Qing Shui. This was a study room with an ancient style. The room was surrounded with rows of bookshelves crammed with books and works of literature. The books were neatly arranged, but the number of books was beyond measure.

The two of them sat opposite to each other around a study table. The room was filled with a subtle smell of books and papers!

“Uncle Jun, I want to know the difference of strength between each Martial Saint warrior.” Qing Shui didn’t want to think about the right time for his breakthrough to the Martial Saint level anymore. It didn’t matter whether he needed the physical strength of ten countries or needed to consume the Five Elements Heavenly Fruits to surpass a Martial Saint, because he felt that the breakthrough to the Sixth Heavenly Layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique was more important than the breakthrough to a Martial Saint.

“The weakest Martial Saint only has the strength of ten countries. A Grade One Martial Saint would have the strength of ten countries to 200 countries. A Grade Two Martial Saint would have the strength of 200 countries to 400 countries; a Grade Three Martial Saint would have the strength of 400 countries to 600 countries, and so on. The next grade proceeding until Grade Ten would always add the strength of around 200 countries. As for the rest, I am not sure anymore.” Qianyu Dingjun said in a calm manner.