Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2075 - Gimme Another Kiss

“Hehe, it was my first time kissing someone else’s butt…”

“Bastard, just die!” Shen Huang annoyingly replied. With a blushing face, she glared at Qing Shui, with no idea of her own allure. Her face exuded an indescribable charisma, one that could captivate crowds.

“Just give me another kiss…”

Shen Huang did not reply and continued walking. She knew that staying on this topic would only humiliate her even further. Saying ‘This bastard’ inwardly, but she did not actually hate him. She was just slightly flustered; even feeling something that she had never felt before.

Qing Shui smiled as he caught up, “Are you angry, my lady?”

“Who the hell is your lady!” Shen Huang ignored him and just continued walking.

“But I remember you saying that you’re my lady and mine alone.” Qing Shui said, smiling as he watched her exquisite figure. It was as if a fairy was sauntering leisurely amongst the mortal.

“I won’t be saying that anymore in the future, you bastard.” Shen Huang replied angrily.

Qing Shui’s words simply humiliated her. This rascal was too daring with his words.

“Okay okay, I am a bastard. Don’t be angry anymore alright? How about I let you kiss my butt?”

“I don’t want to, you’re so disgusting.” Shen Huang was about to explode with anger. This little rascal really knew no bounds.

“I thought that if I got bitten somewhere you would save me. It turns out that I thought too highly of myself.” Qing Shui said sheepishly.

Shen Huang froze. She turned back to look at Qing Shui, knowing that he was just playing around. After that, she lightly stamped her foot,“ You really know how to bully me. I know you’re just kidding with me. If it really happened as you said, I wouldn’t leave you to die. Don’t say such things next time, you big baddie.”

Qing Shui let out a chuckle, imagining the scene of Shen Huang kissing his butt and it showed on his face. Shen Huang caught him and pulled Qing Shui’s ear, saying, “Get rid of those dirty thoughts.”

…...

“Right, you said that there are no treasures on the Phoenix Mountain?” Qing Shui rubbed his nose. He knew the boundaries; he could not continue lest he came off as repulsive. Even though life was more exciting and invigorating with such thoughts, there had to be some self-restraint. Otherwise, too much would just disgust others.

“Of course there are, the Phoenix Mountain entices countless people to Phoenix City. Just for the sake of the treasure,” replied Shen Huang without hesitation.

“Why don’t we also look for some treasures? We might be able to find some good ones,” said Qing Shui, then he proceeded to release the Dragon Slaying Beast.

“Treasures aren’t as easy to find as you may think. If they were that easy to find then they wouldn’t be treasures at all,” Shen Huang sighed.

“Yes, but I am not like the others. I have a treasure-seeking beast. This guy also seeks treasures,” said Qing Shui while pointing at the Dragon Slaying Beast.

No one knew that the Dragon Slaying Beast was once a treasure-seeking beast or a Spiritual Medicinal Beast.

“We could try looking for some since we don’t have anything to do anyway. Follow me somewhere, there might be larger treasures there,” Shen Huang suggested.

Qing Shui’s eyes lit up. Shen Huang’s troops were based in the Phoenix Mountain; it only made sense that she understood this place inside out. Furthermore, every force would have a team which was specialized to find these treasures. They would be called ‘the treasure-finding team’. Every sect and clan had people with such skills.

The team members, especially the leaders, were all extremely important. Their character was an important aspect; since a treasure could easily entice people to covetously pocket it, or even devolve the situation into team-killing.

Furthermore, to establish a proper carrot-and-stick system, one had to maintain a tight grip on them. Not only did you have to strike fear in them, but you also had to make them respect you, or else the result would be subpar.

The Royal Phoenix Organization naturally had such a group of people. They scouted countless areas and found many treasures. Though a lot of them were rather mediocre, some of those treasures were still decent, and most importantly, they found a very peculiar area.

Phoenix Valley!

This was a very mysterious area. There seemed to be some intangible illusion preventing the people of the Phoenix city, even Shen Huang, from seeing anything out of the ordinary. However, judging by their intuition, this place definitely held treasures.

“Let’s go to Phoenix Valley! Someone highly skilled previously set down an illusion formation, or at least I think so; I can’t be absolutely sure. Are you interested in checking it out? Legend says that there was a Phoenix nest; there was an absolutely enormous Chinese Parasol Tree in there,” suggested Shen Huang.

“Alright, let’s go and take a look. Don’t worry, I am a formation master. It doesn’t matter what kind of formation it is, I will be able to break it.” Qing Shui bragged.

At least from Shen Huang’s perspective, he was bragging. However, she knew that Qing Shui understood about formations. The first time Qing Shui saved her, it was through the means of breaking a formation, and hence, Shen Huang thought of bringing him to the Phoenix Valley to take a look. There were many formation masters in the world, but those who could break ancient formations were quite a few in number. At least amongst the ones that Shen Huang had come across.

She felt that out of all of the formation masters she knew, Qing Shui was the strongest one.

The Phoenix Valley was not far since it was in one of Phoenix city’s large mountains. Furthermore, they were out of the mountain. With their powerful and fast beasts, it did not take them long to reach the Phoenix Valley.

The rocks were dyed with bright and crimson-red color. Moreover, the surroundings seemed slightly warmer, but the air remained fresh. Though it was in the middle of the frigid winter, the Phoenix Valley was a fiery summer all year round.

They had deep cultivation bases. Otherwise, any normal person would sweat non-stop. It could be said that the weather here could steam buns. However, none of this had any effect on Qing Shui and Shen Huang since they did not sweat one drop. Instead of heat, they felt a light breeze blow past them with an indescribable comfort. The weather was good and since they could not feel the heat, with their body’s strong ability to adapt, it felt like spring for them all the time.

“We are here. Are there any hidden formations here?” Shen Huang said while pointing to the valley’s entrance in front.

Qing Shui took a look and did not see any formations,“ Let’s go in and take a look.”

After walking in, they did not realize anything different. It seemed like any other valley, filled with flora and fauna. There were many huge Chinese Parasol Trees, especially the one in the middle. Compared to the rest, it was at least twice as large. It was the largest Chinese Parasol Tree in Phoenix valley.

Legend said that there were once many Phoenixes here, but it could have been just one clan or one family of Phoenixes that had occupied this valley. It could also very well be just a single Phoenix.

The Divine Phoenix Dragon was still a fabled existence. Qing Shui’s Dark Phoenix was also a species of Phoenix, but its bloodline was lacking compared to a true Phoenix. The bloodline of a Phoenix could be split into 3 different levels. A demonic beast’s bloodline was strictly hierarchical. A weak bloodline would perpetuate weakness, just like the exponential difference when multiplying different numbers by the same amount. The difference in bloodline level was even more unforgiving.

Qing Shui’s gaze stopped upon these Chinese Parasol Trees. His expression became even more serious. There were a lot of such trees, nearly around ten thousand or so. At the first glance, he could not sense anything, yet there was this strange and lingering feeling that he vaguely felt. However, even after a close inspection, he could not tell what was wrong.

“Do you also feel that there’s something wrong with the Chinese Parasol Trees?” asked Shen Huang while looking at Qing Shui.