Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1142 – Tidal Cloud Waves Seal, Monstrous Wave

Qing Shui was stunned when he saw the two girls walking out. They were already beauties that were capable of toppling over cities to begin with, with the combination of their gorgeous and graceful attire, it helped make them look even better.

“Did you use the Black Tortoise Shell?” Tantai Xuan looked at Qing Shui in shock. She knew clearly what he was doing at night back in his room. Hence, when could he possibly find time to forge it? But as she reminded herself of the things that happened yesterday, she panicked yet again.

“Yeah, I forgot to tell you that I’m a blacksmith,” Qing Shui smiled and responded.

“But where did you get the time to forge these?” Tantai Xuan asked confused.

“At night. The night provides sufficient time for me to forge these Black Tortoise Golden Scaled Battle Skirts.” Qing Shui replied calmly.

“At night? Weren’t you guys…….”

Tantai Xuan’s tongue accidentally slipped. Even though she held her tongue, everyone was clear now. Only the people involved would know exactly what they themselves did yesterday. Except now, Tantai Xuan immediately lowered her head. It that instant, to Qing Shui’s surprise, he noticed that her eyes looked as confused as a dense fog.

Qing Shui now understood everything. He could sense that it must have been because this woman heard his and Yu Ruyan’s voices of joy which as a result, caused her to not be able to have a good night’s sleep. He also understood why she looked a bit pale today. It was most likely she didn’t manage to sleep well. While they were having a pleasant night together, she was left alone to suffer in her room……

Qing Shui stared at Tantai Xuan with a strange look. No wonder her behavior towards him this morning was weird. But it couldn’t have been just because of something like this, could it? He was still a bit puzzled by it.

Yu Ruyan was so embarrassed that she was unable to show her own face. Last night, she never thought that Tantai Xuan would actually hear them. Which made people wonder, how would she react if she found out Tantai Xuan saw those embarrassing positions of hers and Qing Shui’s.

“Alright, time’s almost up, we should go!” Even though it was Tantai Xuan who heard them, Yu Ruyan still felt unusually embarrassed. Luckily, Tantai Xuan was a woman, hence in comparison, things would feel much better for her. She started urging them to leave at once to change the topic.

“Alright alright, let’s go, I’ll send you guys off to Southern Sea.”

Qing Shui quickly responded and started stepping up into the sky. He used Nine Continents Steps while he was standing in air. By doing so, not only would he be able to get his bearings more accurately, he would also be able to draw out the full potential of Nine Continents Steps.

Qing Shui noticed that the Nine Continents Steps could also be used on the ground. However, a large amount of spiritual qi would have to be consumed to pass through certain barriers. This would cause the distance that Nine Continents Steps could cover to be greatly reduced.

Qing Shui chose the direction to travel. Qing Shui was actually a bit upset with the Nine Continents Steps. When he first started acquiring it, it could only be used by him. Soon after, the amount of people that could ride on the Nine Continents Steps increased to two, however, they would have to hug each other in order to travel together. Now, it could carry even more people. Even though they didn’t necessarily have to hug each other, it was best for them to hold hands and form a circle. Or else, the steps wouldn’t be that stable in the middle of the journey. There was also a huge possibility that a situation where the people riding it would end up squeezing each other.

Qing Shui grabbed Yu Ruyan’s hand while Yu Ruyan held Tantai Xuan’s hand. At the moment when Qing Shui extended his other hand, Tantai Xuan suddenly felt conflicted. She looked a bit panicked, as if she saw Qing Shui’s body again. That scene was just like a devil’s curse, causing ripples in her mind that had forever been calm.

It seemed like she didn’t really know how she could extend her hand to Qing Shui. Now, the only thing that she wanted to do was to get away from this man as soon as possible. In the future, the fewer times they met each other, the better. All the things that have happened were already too much for her to handle.

Nine Continents Steps!

……

After using it four times, Tantai Xuan told Qing Shui to stop using it. They summoned out demonic beasts and flew on. It was already not so far away because the surrounding was a huge ocean.

Southern Sea!

This was the Southern Sea. Despite being an inland sea, it spanned into the distance further than the eye could see. This inland sea was already considered to be quite huge. The Putuo Mountain was on a huge island located within this inland sea.

“Alright, we’ll stop here!” A number of flying beasts could already be seen from far away. There was a young woman on top of each of the beasts. Merely by their physiques, one could tell that these women were unusual.

Tantai Xuan looked at Qing Shui. After that, she smiled and said, “No man is allowed on Putuo Mountain!”

“Alright then, please take care of Ruyan for me,” Qing Shui looked around and said to Tantai Xuan.

“Leave this to me!”

“Senior sister!”

Around ten young ladies approached them and politely greeted Tantai Xuan.

Tantai Xuan nodded her head towards the young ladies then nodded her head towards Yu Ruyan. After that, she looked towards Qing Shui.

For all the female disciples on Putuo Mountain, once they were married, they would no longer be allowed to stay on Putuo Mountain. For Qing Shui and Yu Ruyan, they were not considered to have been married. Other than that, such a rule was not absolute in Putuo Mountain.

For example, the Sect Elder. There were a lot of grannies who already had a lot of descendants in Putuo Mountain. The biggest secret about Putuo Mountain was precisely these old women.

“When you guys are done, come look for me at the manor,” Qing Shui told the girls.

“If you want to look for Sister Ruyan, just come here, someone will pass on the message for you.”

“I’m not allowed up there. You guys can go first.”

……

Qing Shui stood in the sky and looked at the islands in the distance. Even though they were far away, he was able to faintly see the outlines of the islands. Other than that, he was also able to spot the gigantic mountain silhouettes on it.

Qing Shui continued to watch them as their figures disappeared into the island. Even after that, he still continued to stand in the middle of the sky. Considering that he still had quite a lot of free time today, it would be ok for him to wait there for a while longer.

Qing Shui, who had nothing to do, took out the Pure Gold Fishing Rod and stood on the surface of Southern Sea. This place was considered one of the deep parts of Southern Sea. It had been a long time since he fished. So he would just treat it as relaxing his mind.

Soon afterwards, the fishing float of the Pure Gold Fishing Rod moved about signaling that a fish was hooked. Qing Shui smiled and pulled the rod up. The fish he got was only a Black Carp Fish that was half a meter long with a thickness of an adult’s arm. It was constantly struggling in mid-air.

Qing Shui shook his head and returned the Black Carp Fish back into the sea. It was not possible for the Pure Gold Fishing Rod to capture valuable things all the time. The precondition for it was for there to already be something valuable around before it started. When it was in a situation where there was a lot of stuff, the Pure Gold Fishing Rod would capture the good stuff.

He put the average size Black Carp Fish back. Legend has it that Carp Fish was an extraordinary being. “Carp Fish leaping over a dragon’s gate”, legend has it that a Carp Fish from the sea would turn into a dragon once it jumped over the dragon’s gate. The dragon’s gate on the other hand, was said to be a huge gate in the palace of the Dragon King in the deep sea.

Of course, this was only a legend. There was also another saying about Carp Fish having less than a one in ten million chance of evolving into a dragon. Qing Shui didn’t really believe it, nor did he doubt it. He had a feeling that this was a kind of belief, a belief that provided hope for the weak.

Not long after, the fishing float signaled that another fish was hooked. Qing Shui pulled it up only to find it to be a Green Grass Fish. Looking at the struggling Green Grass Fish that was less than a foot long struggling for its life, Qing Shui imagined himself as the meat on someone’s chopping block. He shook his head and once again put it back into the sea.

Just like this, Qing Shui repeated his actions, captured a fish, then let it back into the sea again. He enjoyed the feeling of not knowing what he would catch and the feeling he got when he finally caught something. Also, he enjoyed the scene when the fish was struggling and the feeling when he saw it getting its freedom once again.

Without noticing, time had passed. Qing Shui’s state of mind seemed like it was constantly changing. In one moment, the sea became a thrashing torrentlively, in the next moment, it went back to being calm. Water could provide life and yet it could also bring about death.

Qing Shui passed the Pure Gold Fishing Rod into his left hand and slowly lifted up his right hand. The only thing seen was a surging, enormous wave rising up. Qing Shui on the other hand, looked just like one of the fish within the sea.

Tidal Cloud Waves Seal!

As Qing Shui abruptly swung his hand, a monstrous wave could be seen surging in the surroundings. This time, he finally got to experience the strength of water. The vast fire and water showed no mercy. Both fire and water were equally as terrifying but water on the other hand, was about swallowing everything within it.

Monstrous Wave!

The only things to be seen were a lot of huge whirlpools appearing in the waves of water. Furthermore, those whirlpools looked like bottomless pits. One would panic with only one glance at them.

Whirlpools could already be seen appearing in the surging waves of the Tidal Cloud Waves Seal. Qing Shui was already really happy with its ability to entangle. But compared to the current Monstrous Wave, it totally paled into insignificance.

The Monstrous Wave that he comprehended today was one of the actual killer moves of the Tidal Cloud Waves Seal. For Qing Shui, this also meant that he had already managed to step into the late-stage of this battle technique. He could decide to kill someone with this technique at a moment’s notice if he so desired.

When Qing Shui used the Tidal Cloud Waves Seal, he was just like an agile fish within the water. It was just like a duck to water, he managed to draw out the best potential of his strength. Not only this, his enemies would experience a great reduction in their strength. Furthermore, the Monstrous Wave was ridiculously strong.

Qing Shui never expected himself to be able to significantly improve his Tidal Cloud Waves Seal by fishing here. Water benefits all, life and death are separated by a hair’s breadth. This was the ability of water.

On top of the Putuo Mountain on the other hand stood two figures. One of them was Tantai Xuan whereas the other one was a beautiful middle-aged woman. This woman seemed slightly more mature than Yu Ruyan. Her slender body looked unusually well rounded. Her chest looked bountiful and firm to the point that it really attracted everyone’s attention immediately.

She was wearing a plain colored court dress. Despite it looking plain, there was a kind of indescribable tidiness to it. Her face looked mature and composed. There was no trace of wrinkles on it. Both of her eyes looked moist and carried along a calm and farsighted wisdom. She was just like the bright moon in the night sky.

“Xuan`er, this young man has unlimited potential. Even though I have seen quite a lot of young prodigies, compared to him, they’re a hundred or thousand miles behind.” The mature woman’s voice sounded a bit hoarse. However, her voice still carried charming kind of rhythm that was hard to describe with words. At this moment, she was speaking while looking at Qing Shui using the Monstrous Wave.

“Yeah, that’s most likely it!” Tantai Xuan didn’t seem to be surprised.

“Xuan`Er, what’s wrong? You seem to be distracted, if you have anything on your mind, speak up. I will solve it for you,” the woman said with a smile.

“Master, I don’t have anything on my mind,” Tantai Xuan chuckled.

“Little brat, you’re old now. Do you seriously think that I won’t know if you have something on mind? But since you refuse to tell me, I won’t force you.” The girl’s smile was warm like the wind in spring. It felt as if it had the ability to help soften one’s tendons.

“Oh yeah master, why don’t you let Sister Ruyan cultivate with me!” Tantai Xuan said with a smile.

“It’s up to you. I assume Ruyan shares quite a deep relationship with this brat. Master wishes that you won’t fall into it too soon. Your mind used to always be calm. I may not have a clear idea of what happened but I hope that you won’t fall in love so early,” the woman said softly.

“Master, I didn’t, I have said before that I will not get married to anyone,” Tantai Xuan said hurriedly.

The woman shook her head and smiled, “My disciple is an extreme beauty. It would be a waste had she not gotten herself married to someone. In fact, one who never experiences love will never be considered to have a complete human. It’s only after one experiences love that they will be able to see through some things. It’s only through love that they will they be able to call their life a perfect life. Hence, despite hoping for Xuan`er to not fall into it so soon, I will still support whatever decisions you make.”

“Master, you’re making fun of me again! But well, master, you’re still the best.” Tantai Xuan would behave like a small girl only when she was in front of this woman.

“That little brat is worried for Ruyan. You and Ruyan should convince him to leave.” The woman smiled. She left after she finished speaking.

All along, Qing Shui was standing there trying to comprehend the Tidal Cloud Waves Seal. After that, he would use it. It’s as if he was obsessed with it.