Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1149 – Craving for Power, Arrogant Bai Rilong

“Do you have interspatial silk sachets? Do you think that I won’t be able to get my hands on what I want if I don’t have one?” The old man looked at Qing Shui and asked, relaxed. However, he found it slightly weird too.

“Then why don’t you try?” Qing Shui had the Arhat and his spirit energy techniques could fend off about 70% of spirit energy attacks. He shouldn’t be forced into too bad a state.

“Do you know that there is a battle technique called Soul Search? After a person dies, within the time for one incense stick to burn, you can search through a bit of his memories.” The old man continued to speak calmly.

Qing Shui was stunned. He knew of such spirit energy techniques as well and there were also many which were very vicious and would deplete a lot of spirit energy. There were even possibilities of backlash effects. Most of these techniques were often used to search through a person’s memories and the success rate was very low since it couldn’t search through a lot of one’s memories. It would only be able to bring out the memories which the deceased person held the most attachment to.

“If you insist on doing that, then I’m left with no choice. I can only tell you that after I’m dead, even if you can find that information through the search, you won’t be able to get your hands on it,” Qing Shui said very calmly. He didn’t think that the old man would be able to kill him.

Although Qing Shui wasn’t very strong now, he had trump cards up his sleeves. Moreover, if Qing Shui was bent on escaping, even a State Master level expert wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“Uncle Zong, it’s fine. Stop joking with Mister. Since Mister doesn’t wish to sell, he would have his own reasons for that.” Miss Yan stopped the old man who was about to say something.

The lady should be a very assertive person but it seemed like she wouldn’t pressure others. Qing Shui was able to sense that. It wasn’t that he didn’t wish to sell the item to this lady but more of that he felt that he couldn’t do that so quickly.

“Mister, then are these things something I can buy?” The lady pointed to the accessories mentioned earlier and said, smiling.

This time around, Qing Shui saw her smile. It was one which he had never seen before, one that was confident, graceful and was like the spring’s breeze. It was beautiful that it had a charm that could make one fully accept her views.

“Of course you can!” Qing Shui smiled and walked over.

“Uncle Zong, help me buy these. Oh, right, have you taken back the weapon?” The lady’s actions were very graceful, as if each of her expressions and smiles, each word and each movement, would attract one. She wasn’t doing this intentionally. It was her most natural state.

“I’ve brought it. Miss, take a look to see if you’re satisfied!” The old man handed the lady a white sword that was three feet long. It was like the autumn water, glittery. It was clear with one look that it was made from quite a good quality material. It should be some high grade materials.

The lady picked it up and took at it for a while but there were no changes to her expression. She was neither shocked nor disappointed.

“Miss, Yan Clan has many weapons which are much better than this. Why do you insist on forging one here? Is it just because of this Greencloud Stone?” The old man shook his head.

“Greencloud Stone?” Qing Shui spoke in a soft voice out of slight astonishment. However, the lady looked toward Qing Shui.

“You know of the Greencloud Stone as well?”

“I don’t. I only know of Greencloud Continent and my daughter is called Qing Yun [1]…” Qing Shui shook his head and said.

Actually, when Qing Shui saw this piece of stone, he recalled a sword from his memories, Four Elements Greencloud Sword. It was as powerful as Mu Qing’s Mystical Connection Divine Sword. However, it was as if Mu Qing’s Mystical Connection Divine Sword was sealed up and the unleashed prowess was only 1-2% of the original prowess.

The Four Elements Greencloud Sword Qing Shui recalled had 符印s which were split into earth, fire, wind and water.

When it was swung around, the world would be encompassed by darkness, fire snakes would dance around, sand would be blown everywhere and tsunamis would be brought forth.

However, it would be hard to say if the prowess was so great. Moreover, Qing Shui felt that even if he were to try, he wouldn’t be able to forge a weapon with that prowess. Therefore, he tried to act ignorant.

“Mister, have you ever thought of changing the place where you work? You have great talent in forging and if you were to wish to change locations, I’ll satisfy any conditions you may have and let you strive to become a higher grade master blacksmith.” The lady seemed to be bringing this up casually.

“Miss, thank you for your kind offer. Right now, I like this place a lot. If I were to wish to work in a new place in the future, I’ll go look for you. When the time comes, don’t say that you don’t recognize me.” Qing Shui replied casually as well.

“That’s a promise then. I can be sure that you’ll definitely not stay long here. I’m very happy to have met you. I am Yan Jinyu. How do I address you?” The lady took the opportunity to follow-up.

Qing Shui hadn’t expected the lady to do this. The old man was even more astonished. Since when had their young miss taken so much initiative to get to know a guy? Many young masters from great clans weren’t even able to have a chance to talk to her. This lad was really able to keep his cool.

“I’m called Qing Shui. Nice to meet you, Miss Yan. You’re as your name suggests, a beautiful jade on earth,” Qing Shui sincerely praised her.

Yan Jinyu looked at Qing Shui, saw his clear eyes and smiled, “Mister Qing shouldn’t be that old but it seems that you have experienced quite a lot of things in life. It’s no longer early, how about I treat Mister to a meal?”

“I had wanted to be the one to treat you to a meal but was afraid that you might think that I’m just trying to get into your good books and be seen as a bad person. Let’s have a meal next time. Next time, I’ll be the one to treat you,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

Yan Jinyu scolded Qing Shui to be a bastard in her heart. This guy was beating about the bush while scolding her. However, she found it funny as well. She really had an objection. Humans were all like that. Today, in front of him, she really had appeared to have acted in bad taste.

“That’s good too. Then we shan’t disturb you any further.”

Yan Jinyu and the old man left after paying and bidding Qing Shui farewell. Qing Shui sent them off to the entrance and then went back.

He didn’t wish to expose his abilities too soon, otherwise he would find himself in the similar situation as an innocent who finds himself in trouble because of his wealth. Even if this Yan Jinyu might not do anything to him, it didn’t mean that the others won’t.

Right now, what he needed to do was to get stronger and then be able to unleash his influence. Qing Shui returned to his forging while Yan Jinyu stood outside the shop, listening to the hammering sounds which remained as calm and stable as ever. After seven and a half minutes, she let out a sigh and left with the old man.

Many people in Divine Weapon Street had seen Yan Jinyu heading to Firecloud Blacksmith Store and then left. Qing Shui knew that after this event, there shouldn’t be many people who would come and look for trouble. Of course, there might be exceptions as well.

Old man Wang and his grandson came out again very soon. More people came to the store. Blacksmith stores didn’t just sell weapons. Many people chose to specially make items. They would list out their required designs and other requirements to the shops. They could prepare their own materials or choose from those available in the stores.

Cultivators tended to have extremely high requirements for their weapons, armor and other items. Regardless if it was a powerful cultivator or a low grade one, everyone would try to find the best within their grade. These were things which concerned their lives and they mustn’t be careless about it.

Within just a few days, Qing Shui’s reputation of being a young and handsome master blacksmith spread out in the area. It wasn’t easy to for one to gain a reputation as a master blacksmith.

Right now, news of Qing Shui’s Firecloud Blacksmith Store had also started to spread out far and wide. Of course, there were people who said that these were just rumors but such claims were soon drowned by others.

The weapons, armor and limited numbers of accessories which were forged by Firecloud Blacksmith Store started to spread out. Although they weren’t of the highest quality, they were the most practical and were well suited for many people. After all, the number of ordinary people was quite large.

It had already been ten days since Qing Shui came. Today, he continued to be casually forging weapons in the shop. There were already over ten people in the shop. Suddenly, there was a loud commotion and another ten over people entered.

“Irrelevant people please leave!”

A clear and abrupt voice rang out. When some of the customers in the shop saw the people who came, they didn’t say anything and just left. Qing Shui, who was still forging something, didn’t stop what he was doing.

“Young Master Bai is here? Please come in, please come in!”

Old man Wang came up and welcomed him warmly.

“Old man Wang, you really have good judgement!”

The person who spoke was the one in the lead and seemed to have just turned middle-age. His figure was upright, his eyes like bright stars and his nose slightly hooked, making him appear to be very capable and decisive. Right now, he was looking at Old man Wang and spoke, smiling.

Qing Shui stopped what he was doing and came over. Since these people had chased away all his other customers, he naturally had to come out to take a look. Moreover, this person went with the surname, Bai. In this area, how many other Bai Clans were there who could be so arrogant?

Qing Shui looked at his guy who seemed to look a little similar to Bai Riyi and recalled the scene when Bai Riyi had come the other time. Qing Shui could sense Bai Riyi’s strong desire for material gain, he could also sense that Bai Riyi shouldn’t have too high a status in his clan.

The person who came today seemed to be very strong as well. However, he shouldn’t be capable of being so arrogant yet. Could it be that there were other reasons? Qing Shui wondered as he walked over.

“This shop is yours, right? This place has been quite well-known recently. The reason I’ve come to look for you today is because I have something to discuss with you,” When the man saw Qing Shui, he said directly.

“Previously, a Young Master Bai had came by. I hadn’t expected another one again. Go on, what matters do you have?” Qing Shui spoke casually. As for the things that had occurred between them, he decided to leave it to their imagination.

“I’m Bai Rilong and am considered to have some status in Bai Clan. The reason I’m here to look for you is to ask you to come under our Bai Clan. Your future will be guaranteed,” the man looked at Qing Clan and said, smiling.

“I wonder how Bai Clan compares to Yan City’s Yan Clan?” Qing Shui smiled and asked.

“You’re not going to say that Yan Clan had invited you but you didn’t accept, right?” Bai Rilong’s smile was even wider now.

When Qing Shui saw that there was hints of contempt in Bai Rilong’s smile, he knew what he was thinking about. However, he still smiled and answered, “Why, is that impossible?”

“Haha, have you overestimated yourself? Do you think that anyone will believe that? What kind of clan is Yan Clan? It is one of the top few clans in Great Yu Dynasty. While your talent in forging might not be bad, it’s just not bad. There are too many people in Yan City whose blacksmith skills are superior to yours. Young man, say things which are tenable. Don’t be too arrogant.” Bai Rilong looked at Qing Clan and said with a tone of a senior speaking down to a junior.

Qing Shui felt like laughing. Often, people who called others arrogant tended to be the ones who were arrogant. He didn’t wish to waste too much time bickering with people like this one on such a topic. He shook his head, “Alright, I don’t have the intention of going under anyone. I just want to make a living.”

“Hmmm? Our Bai Clan is inviting you but you’re rejecting us?” Bai Rilong’s tone clearly went up.

What kind of power did Bai Rilong, Young Master Bai, hold in this area? To think that an insignificant blacksmith would dare to go against his words. This caused him to be infuriated. It was as if a servant at home had answered back to him defiantly.

“I’ve said it earlier, I only want to be able to stay here and forge freely.”

“I can make it clear to you. In this place, you’ll live if our Bai Clan lets you live and you’ll die if our Bai Clan wants you to die. Let me ask you one more time. Are you going to come under our Bai Clan or are you going to choose death?”

[1] Qing Yun has the same characters as Greencloud.