Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1156 – Cloud Eruption Healing Sword, The Arrival of the Two Ladies

The mysterious powers held such mysterious abilities. Even Qing Shui wasn’t able to explain this. It was just like applying the right medicine for a particular illness. It would feel like it was amazing medicine but it was hard to explain the reaction.

A light blue colored glow flashed. It wasn’t strong and had a warming feeling. Qing Shui could not help but watch it with his Heavenly Vision Technique. He wanted to have a good look at this longsword which Yan Yangzhao had liked so much.

Cloud Eruption Healing Sword！

It’s name was very strange. Qing Shui couldn’t help but read on.

It was a sword which could allow one to recover from injuries automatically and was rumored to be a sword which a powerful physician had forged before he died. The Greencloud Stone itself had a certain level of self-recuperative abilities and after many years of research, the powerful physician had managed to forge the Cloud Eruption Healing Sword.

It increases the user’s strength by three times and the user’s spirit energy by a little. It has a 20% chance of letting the prowess of the attacks be doubled and depletion reduced by 20%. When the user suffers from injuries, it could immediately recover half the injuries and allowed him to remain clear-minded. It would then continue to gradually heal the wounds for 24 hours. During the recovery process, there would only be one time which it would be able to heal 50% of the injuries immediately.

Qing Shui smiled after taking a look at it. This sword wasn’t as powerful as his Big Dipper Sword but it was about the same as the Violet Jade Sword which he had forged in the past. It was just that this Cloud Eruption Healing Sword had an additional 10% chance of inducing a critical attack and had healing traits.

The moment the injuries were inflicted, 50% of the damage would recover immediately and the remaining damage would recover gradually. The effect would last for 24 hours. Although there were no time restrictions, it could only be used once a day.

For example, if the user was injured for the first time, 50% of the damage would be healed immediately while the rest would recover slowly. However, in the next 24 hours, should the user suffer from any additional injuries, he would only be able to let them heal gradually and not be able to recover from 50% of the damage immediately.

This sword was considered to be quite good. Qing Shui had already realized by now that it was already considered quite good for the cultivator’s weapons to be able to increase their abilities by threefold. In the five continents, not many people were able to have such a weapon.

Qing Shui smiled. It seemed that his forging abilities would be well-received over here. The materials available in Western Oxhe Continent were even better and his forging abilities might be brought to a higher level.

The increase his in powers made Qing Shui feel that his current forging skills had improved. Recently, he had been spending his time on forging and the progress was quite good.

However, it seemed as if there were still some difficulties for him to attain a breakthrough to the 6-colored grade. It was already the max for him to reach the 5-colored grade. Although he might attain a breakthrough any time, it was also possible that he might never be able to attain a breakthrough.

Qing Shui had completed the repairing of the Cloud Eruption Healing Sword. He didn’t know if Yan Yangzhao would be pleased with it, but he felt that this sword was useless for him. Putting its healing properties aside, it was considered ordinary amongst powerful cultivators to have weapons that increased their strength threefold. The weapons would also be a symbol of their status. It wasn’t that there were any of a higher grade but there weren’t many, with the exception of legendary grade weapons or divine artifacts. Those items were basically found in the hands of powerful State Master level cultivators.

It was just like how Qing Shui’s Big Dipper Sword was already considered a terrifying existence to be able to increase his strength fourfold. Most State Master level cultivators might not have weapons that were comparable to his.

Right now, Qing Shui felt that his status as a blacksmith master was quite good and he could continue to use it. In Western Oxhe Continent or any other places, a powerful blacksmith master or alchemist would be highly respected.

Another thing was that Qing Shui had yet to use Rune Seal or things like that. He planned to wait first until he had gotten a little stronger. He also planned on using this period of time to learn more about learning how to carve Seal Formations.

Cultivation. The time he spent in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal was basically the most boring. He would just cultivate regardless of whether it was day or night and eat some food when he was hungry. After all, it was very convenient. He had prepared ready food and would only need to heat the food up when he was hungry. In the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, he didn’t have to be concerned that the food would go bad.

Qing Shui had never thought that he had exceptional talent. He even felt that in Qing Clan, his talent might not be the best, let alone when he was compared with the ladies. However, he was lucky. Not only had he received the legacy of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, he even had the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. He had achieved what he had today from hard work. Of course, chances and opportunities were also included.

…

The next day, Qing Shui continued with his morning practice before he headed for the Firecloud Blacksmith Store. Qing Shui now had a better understanding of the dynasty in Western Oxhe Continent. This world was too prosperous and the land area was also very vast. Each city was comparable to a country and each year, they would have to pay a 20% tax to the Great Yu Dynasty. When in a war with other dynasties, the cities must heed commands without any conditions. When required, the royalty can rob the city lord of his title. However, such situations were very rare.

Yan City was one of the five major cities of the Great Yu Dynasty and was considered to be a jumbo-sized one. It had vast land area and could be considered to be a dynasty by itself. However, it came under the jurisdiction of the Great Yu Dynasty.

When Qing Shui walked into the Firecloud Blacksmith Store, there were already quite a number of people around. Old man Wang was handling the customers by himself and he greeted Qing Shui when he saw him.

Qing Shui signaled for him to continue while he headed for the forging platform. Before he could do anything, he felt two familiar auras. He smiled, put down the hammer in his hand and looked toward the door.

Tantai Xuan and Yu Ruyan walked in.

“And I was wondering why there was a Firecloud Blacksmith Store here,” Yu Ruyan smiled and said. After all, back in the five continents, she knew that Huoyun Liu-Li’s home was the Firecloud Blacksmith Store.

“The two of you are quite well-informed!” Qing Shui smiled and led the two ladies to the table at the side. The location of the table was in a quieter area in the blacksmith store and there were no weapon racks and the like there. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to come here. Although the blacksmith store wasn’t huge, that was only compared to the other stores. Moreover, Qing Shui didn’t put out many things for sale and the items could only be considered exquisite items meant for ordinary people.

The small table wasn’t very big and the three of them barely managed to sit around it. Qing Shui reached out his hand and three snow-white tea cups as well as a small vat of Plum Blossom Wine appeared on the table. Of course, he had taken them out from the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

Qing Shui found his own actions hilarious as they made him think of the magic tricks from his previous life. The most basic tricks were that the things would disappear when placed somewhere, as well as to bring out stuff out from nowhere. Right now, he felt that he’d be able to do a great job in performing magic tricks and there wouldn’t be any flaws at all.

The ladies didn’t find Qing Shui’s actions strange in the least. They could also do something similar with their interspatial silk sachets. Although, they might not be able to do it as naturally and elegantly as Qing Shui had.

The moment the vat of Plum Blossom Wine was opened, a refreshing wine fragrance spread out in the blacksmith store. Even Yu Ruyan couldn’t help but ask, “How can it be so fragrant? This seems even better than the ones in the past.”

“The age of this wine has exceeded 3,000 years. Can you believe it?” Qing Shui smiled and poured wine for them.

“I believe!” Tantai Xuan looked at Qing Shui and said seriously.

Qing Shui was stunned. He had spoken the truth, albeit in a joking tone. He felt that the two ladies would definitely think that he was joking but hadn’t expected Tantai Xuan to believe what he said immediately.

“It’s so fragrant. Only divine wine would have such a fragrance. It feels as if just smelling it would allow one to gain wisdom and be enlightened!”

“That’s right, if I can have a sip, I’d be able to die without regrets!”

…

Sounds of discussions and envy broke out in the blacksmith store!

There’s a saying which went ‘no matter how good the wine, it would fear a deep alley [1]’. However, the wine fragrance floated out from the blacksmith store and even reached out to over 1,000 meters away into the streets. When a good wine had an age of a few thousand years, it would have this effect. Moreover, these thousand year plum blossoms were mutated types to begin with. When they were used to be fermented into wine, the essence in the wine would have amazing effects.

It didn’t take long for many people to come to blacksmith store. They appeared as if they were looking for weapons and such but were in fact here to enjoy the wine fragrance. This wasn’t the first time Yu Ruyan drank this, but she was still so surprised that her beautiful eyes were gleaming. The feeling was as if she was drinking ambrosia of the gods. Although no one had drank that before, they could only use this to describe the wine.

Tantai Xuan went into a daze for even longer. Qing Shui didn’t find this strange. Back then, Di Chen only liked the Plum Blossom Wine she had tried and it was far inferior to the one now. Just the age alone was incomparable.

Thinking of this made him think of Di Chen again. He shook his head to get the thought out of his mind. Tantai Xuan smiled and slowly savored the taste, appreciating the wine. She was unlike Qing Shui who just drank it all in a gulp, filling his mouth with the fragrance. It felt very good.

“This thing brings great benefits to the body. Ruyan, Miss Tantai, quickly drink up. I’ll fill up your cups,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Qing Shui, look, there’s so many people. This is unfair competition!” Yu Ruyan handed Qing Shui her cup and said, smiling.

“My blacksmith store is just for show. I’m not selling these for money.” Qing Shui shook his head and filled up Yu Ruyan’s cup while he said this.

“You’re doing this to find Sister Di Chen, right?” Yu Ruyan knew immediately.

“It’s not just that. I’m fishing!” Qing Shui smiled.

“Fishing? What are you fishing for?” Tantai Xuan was very puzzled.

“The fish is here!”

After saying this Yan Yangzhao walked in and said, “Brother, what wine is this? It’s so fragrant!”

“Hmm, Fairy Tantai?!” Yan Yangzhao said in surprise when he saw Tantai Xuan.

“Oh, it’s Young Master Yan!” Tantai Xuan smiled and said.

Qing Shui didn’t say anything. It seemed that Tantai Xuan had quite a bit of reputation in Yan City. However, those who knew her were probably people with high statuses. Although she wasn’t as strong as Yan Yangzhao, she had tremendous potential and had powerful backing. Putuo Mountain’s strength wasn’t something which Yan Clan could compare with. In Great Yu Dynasty, Putuo Mountain had an exceptional standing and was referred to as a sacred land.

They hadn’t met for a while and Tantai Xuan had grown a lot stronger. It was the case for Yu Ruyan as well. Qing Shui had a strong spiritual sense and he felt that Yu Ruyan must have taken some medicinal stuff or things like that.

Qing Shui also had medicinal items which were of high quality. It was just that he couldn’t find certain ingredients earlier. Some of them had yet to reach a sufficient age and thus, the medicinal pills which he could use were very low in number. Moreover, he had already used them.

It was different for large sects. They would have medicinal pills suitable for different phases and they might even have some unique martial techniques which could raise their cultivation level rapidly.

Tantai Xuan was astonished as well. She hadn’t expected Qing Shui to be addressing the young master from Yan Clan so quickly. It had only been a few days.

Qing Shui took out a cup, filled it with wine and passed it to him, “Brother, come have a taste. This is wine which I have made myself. I feel that it’s still acceptable.”

“It’s beyond acceptable. Just from the fragrance alone, I can tell that it’s a divine wine.” Yan Yangzhao was also astonished, not by Qing Shui’s wine but by Qing Shui’s relationship with Tantai Xuan. He knew that Miss Tantai had no past experiences of sitting down and drinking wine with other men.

Moreover, there was another lady who wouldn’t lose out to Tantai Xuan either. A beauty of her level wouldn’t lose out to his own younger sister. Suddenly, he felt that Qing Shui was someone he didn’t know at all!

[1] A Chinese saying which has the meaning that no matter how good the wine, if it is located deep in an alley, no matter how fragrant it is, there would be people who wouldn’t be willing to spend the effort to look for it. It is used in modern days to indicate that no matter how good a product, if it isn’t well promoted and advertised, people would neither know about it nor would they take the effort and initiative to look for it.