Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 780 – Tantai Aristocrat Clan, Symbol of Peace

Qing Shui had originally thought that the people of the Wuma Clan were very wicked, since they were specialized in Gu. Then he found out that they weren’t anything like what the rumors outside had portrayed. What you hear about may be false, but what you see is genuine. Qing Shui now believed that the people of Wuma Clan were quite decent.

They were just like individuals from his previous world who seemed unreasonable or especially hard to get along with. One would realize that they were no different than the others after spending some time with them. People actually longed for friendship. As long as one could put themselves in other’s shoes, most people would be able to get along with each other very well.

Qing Shui stood up to take his leave soon after they finished their meal. The people of the Wuma Clan knew that he had some other things to do, so they didn’t ask him to stay longer after he excused himself. The few of them sent Qing Shui off at the entrance.

After waving at them, Qing Shui started walking south. He still needed to visit the Tantai Aristocrat Clan, he would be able to take a break from things after that. Perhaps he would visit the Southern Sea, or maybe even just return home.

Although he was still quite a distance away from Tantai Aristocrat Clan, Qing Shui didn’t rent a beast carriage. He didn’t sprint or ride on his flying mount either. He just walked with a speed that was considered neither fast or slow.

There was quite a number of people entering and exiting the Martial God Street even after noon had passed. Qing Shui had always thought that the population in his previous world was high, but it hardly compared to the population of the boundless World of the Nine Continents. However, the population density was still quite similar, because the World of the Nine Continents’ region was simply too vast.

Time flies when one was deep in thought. Before Qing Shui could realize it, the eye-catching manor of the Tantai Aristocrat Clan had appeared before him. Tantai Aoyun had already came out when he’d just arrived at the entrance.

“Brother Qing Shui, you have arrived.” Tantai Aoyun came out and gave him a friendly smile.

“Brother Aoyun, you’re about to go out?” Qing Shui smiled back at him.

“I was bored at home and was thinking of going out to get some fresh air before I bumped into you. Let’s go in together. Old Master has been harping at why hadn’t you arrived yet.” Tantai Aoyun laughed.

“How considerate of Old Master.” Qing Shui said before they walked towards the Tantai Residence.

This was the most lavish manor Qing Shui had ever seen. In fact, the Tantai Aristocrat Clan was also the largest clan he had ever seen. No one among his acquaintances knew of Tantai Aristocrat Clan’s true strength. The Tantai Aristocrat Clan was able to stand at an unreachable position solely because of Tantai Xuan.

That woman was what Qing Shui had heard about the most in the Southern Sea Country. She was a woman who was said to be akin to a fairy. Not only men, even women sang praises of her without any jealousy. Jealousy no longer existed when there was such a large disparity. That woman had already far exceeded the limits of an ordinary person in others’ hearts.

The Tantai Clan was a supreme aristocratic clan. The population of their clan was a lot higher than the Wuma Clan. There was always a standard in the population of aristocratic clans. It was also one of the essential conditions.

There would only be more people of outstanding talents among a fixed population, and this could also ensure the future of the clan’s bloodline. A clan with a small population could perish easily. After all, cultivators lived dangerous lives. Regardless of whether a clan was large, no cultivators could escape certain casualties. Therefore, population was a basic foundation.

There were many separate courtyards within the manor. People of different genders and varying age groups were seen walking around the manor. Each and everyone of them were lavishly dressed. Anyone could tell that they were part of a large clan from their noble temperament.

The aristocratic clans lived a luxurious life and this lifestyle was part of their identity, it was quite a normal showing. It was something achieved through strength, and it didn’t matter where they were. Although Qing Shui was born to a relatively poor family, he had never despised the rich or blamed God for being unfair. He knew that the world had never been fair. If life was fair, then no one would be destined to live a life of luxury and spend their life in glory and splendor. And some others were destined to be beggars from birth and spend their life as people of the lowest standing on the social ladder.

If a newly born baby was already a victim to such unfairness, what was there to be further discussed about fairness? There was no way things could ever be fair…

“Qing Shui, you really came at the right time.” Tantai Aoyun laughed as they walked.

“Oh, why is that so?” Qing Shui gave Tantai Aoyun a puzzled look.

“Because my elder sister is coming back home today. She only returns once every three years. Don’t you think it’s a great coincidence?” Tantai Aoyun seemed a little excited when he explained, but he also seemed to be very proud of it mostly.

“Your elder sister?” Qing Shui asked curiously.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Her name is Tantai Xuan.” Tantai Aoyun smiled.

Although Qing Shui could more or less guess it, he was still shocked. He had never expected to meet the lady who was rumored to be akin to a divine being. The most he had expected was to get some things done so he could return as soon as possible. He had been longing to spend a peaceful and quiet life for a period of time.

He had visited the Wuma Aristocrat Clan, and now the Tantai Aristocrat Clan, but he didn’t expect to have such an opportunity. He wasn’t certain if he was very lucky or if it was an unintentional positive outcome.

“Then I must be extremely fortunate.” Qing Shui didn’t mind having a look at just how strong this lady was, since he was already here. He had seen his fair share of remarkable women. Yiye Jiange, Di Chen, Di Qing, Canghai Mingyue, Wenren Wu-Shuang, Hai Dongqing. Then there were also Mingyue Gelou, Huoyun Liu-Li, Shi Qingzhuang, Yu He, Qinghan Ye, Zhu Qing, Gongsun Jianwu and that woman from the Feng Clan. Although it was impossible that all of them were women from the Portraits of Beauty, they weren’t in the least bit inferior. After all, it was impossible for the twelve Portraits of Beauty to include all the women. Perhaps the twelve portraits were only categories, and each beauty on the portrait was the finest from each category.

Qing Shui suddenly remembered about the lady resting inside the crystal coffin in the palace under the lake. Di Chen had an extraordinary grace while Yiye Jiange had an otherworldly aura. Although that lady in the crystal coffin had her eyes shut, the aura she exuded was very similar to Yiye Jiange. Qing Shui could feel a wave of oppressive aura on top of that. It was a very strange sensation, but he seemed to feel a great pressure when he was in front of her.

“I think she should be back soon. She had always been punctual, so she usually arrives by mid afternoon. I’m guessing she’ll appear in another hour.” Tantai Aoyun smiled as he looked towards the sky.

As they were chatting, they arrived at the big courtyard on the left wing. The old man from Tantai Clan was there and seemed extremely happy after seeing Qing Shui. Tantai Aoyun also smiled at the old man and greeted him as the Old Ancestor.

Qing Shui had already knew that the old man was neither the Tantai Aristocrat Clan’s head nor the strongest cultivator among the clan. But Tantai Xuan’s lineage was the branch with the most potential in the clan. It was only a matter of time before she became the pillar of the Tantai Aristocrat Clan because she was the direct descendant of the old man.

The few lineages of the Tantai Clan was branched out from the old man’s generation. The old man had seven brothers and he was the third generation of the Tantai Aristocrat Clan. Tantai Xuan was the eighth generation. Qing Shui didn’t feel anything particularly odd when he heard that, since people here had longer lifespans. There was nothing weird for eight different generations to live under the same roof. In his previous world, there were cases of five different generations living under the same roof. However, big clans usually had very strict requirements. The outstanding ones couldn’t get married too early or too late. So having eight generations living under the same roof was considered a very normal scenario.

A few people came in succession after they became aware of Qing Shui’s arrival. There were old people, middle-aged people and young people among them. There were also quite a decent number of them. However, Qing Shui knew that this was just a form of etiquette and also a form of respect towards him. At the same time, he was also aware that they had the same objective as the Wuma Clan.

To be able to form a good relation with the Tantai Aristocrat Clan was exactly what Qing Shui had wished for. He knew that the Tantai Clan and Wuma Clan were after his potential and this reason was extremely normal. Why would they invite him otherwise?

This kind of foresight was vital in large clans. It was also a technique. If they reached out to those with potential earlier on, the pay-off would be enormous in the future. It has been said that it was easy for humans to be ungrateful. In actuality, humans knew the most about being grateful and returning favors. After all, the ungrateful ones were of minority, or perhaps they had some reasons for doing so.

It was only shortly after noon. Everyone sat under the pavilion harmoniously and had small talks about their clans or some incidents in the Main Continent.

Qing Shui had gained a better understanding of the Tantai Aristocrat Clan after all the small talk. Although the Tantai Aristocrat Clan still had an Old Ancestor on top of them, he wasn’t really involved in the matters of the clan. He wouldn’t be unless the clan was facing a catastrophe or was breaking up.

The current clan head was the old man’s third bother, but he was going to retire very soon as well. Qing Shui could tell from the conversation that the old man’s lineage had already became the main branch of the clan. It would eventually be the main lineage while the other family members who were still the current key members would slowly become the auxiliary branch and end up as one of the external clans, just like the current external clans of the Tantai Aristocrat Clan

The external clans were all people of the Tantai Aristocrat Clan, pure Tantai Aristocrat Clan’s blood coursed throughout their body. They had only been pushed aside gradually due to the survival of the fittest. This was a competition, so elimination would always happen.

Other than that, as long as extremely outstanding disciples like Tantai Xuan emerged among any of these external clans, they’d be able to immediately return to the internal clan or even take over the clan. Power was regarded above all else. This system was an incentive to ensure that the clan would flourish for generations.

So many external clans were doing their best in hopes to return once again to the clan someday. The concept that had been passed down throughout the generations was that the clan was of utmost importance, and returning to the clan was an honor. This ensured the prodigies of the clan would not be lost or stray away.

It was only now that Qing Shui realized there was indeed quite a number of rules in aristocratic clans. It couldn’t be helped either, since the growth of a big clan was not simple and it seemed like they all had their own ways of doing things.

Compared to these clans, Qing Shui felt that his own clan had barely started. They still had a very long road ahead of them.

Time passed little by little. Qing Shui and those of the Tantai clan had a great time talking to each other. He was enjoying this alot, because he was able to learn and understand a lot of things. It was very difficult for him to gain knowledge on these things since he hadn’t reached that level yet.

Someone came over and bowed right at that moment, “Old Master, Young Miss has reached Jade Cloud Street. She’ll reach home in about half an hour.”

“Alright, you may go.”

The person made a sound of acknowledgment before he retreated.

“Qing Shui, our Xuan’er is coming back. I will introduce you to her later.” The old man chuckled lightly at him.