Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2277 - The Guardian Vine’s Gift, Peace and Quiet

Qing Nuo and Qing Xian were also here, and Qing Shui wrapped them in his embrace. Qing Shui always felt like he had treated these two girls poorly. They were of the same age as Qing Xiu, yet he had rarely been with them. He felt like he was an unqualified father.

“Daddy!” Qing Nuo pulled on Qing Shui’s hand, slightly reluctant to part with it.

This daughter was more familiar with him. So, it was Di Chen’s daughter Qing Xian that he practically didn’t see often. She was slightly younger but had already begun taking after Di Chen, maintaining her aloof, untainted personality as her clear, apathetic eyes made people feel distant.

Qing Shui rubbed Qing Nuo’s head, as he pulled her forward and squatted before the both of them.

His other hand held onto Qing Xian as he smiled, “What’s with our little princess? Who was it that didn’t use his eyes and offended Xian’er... tell Daddy, I’ll go vent for you.”

“None of that sort. Just that your sudden arrival... it makes me slightly uncomfortable.” Qing Xian said lightly.

She did not smile or laugh, only said her words lightly which carried her anger. Nonetheless, Qing Shui was still happy; he already knew that he wasn’t a qualified father. It was understandable that this child didn’t even want to call him daddy.

“Little lass, don’t you always clamor for daddy? Yet, now that he’s here, you don’t want to call him.” Di Chen also squatted down, pulling on Qing Xian’s other hand as she smiled, a hint of worry could be seen in her gaze. She was young, but she was always aloof and independent.

“I just can’t say it, mother.” Qing Xian curled her lips.

“Chen’er, it’s fine. We’ll take things slowly. Let’s go! Whatever you guys want to eat, I’ll personally prepare it for you.” Qing Shui carried each of them in one arm as he walked.

“Big sis, don’t be too worried. Xian’er takes after you, and Qing Shui is a good father. She’ll get used to it pretty quickly, relax!” Di Qing lightly said.

“I know!” Di Chen smiled. She knew that Qing Shui would always spoil and pamper the girls while being super strict on the little boys.

Qing Shui felt like he was still rather fair. He had never scolded the children, and they were indeed worthy of being his children, not needing others to worry about them. He wasn’t at home most of the time anyway, so he wouldn’t go and lecture them just like Qing Ming of the past.

Qing Ming had a weird personality and loved to rebel. He was the hardest to handle as tough love and goading wouldn’t work, and violence would make things even worse. Mingyue Gelou would frequently hit him, but he feared nothing, just laughing it off, making even the raging Mingyue Gelou unable to react. So even hitting him was pointless.

Qing Shui didn’t scold or hit him either, letting him live freely so long as he pleased. He would teach him the things he already liked, making Qing Shui the hero in his heart. Every child’s hero would always be their father, capable of everything.

And Qing Shui was indeed capable of everything.

Qing Yu too…

Qing Shui would feel especially blissful thinking of these matters, but time passed quickly as Qing Ming and Qing Yu were growing up, almost ready to spread their wings and fly off.

As he was busy working in the kitchen, Yiye Jiange came over to give him a hand.

“Xian’er has a little bit of a loner personality, you need to slowly teach her,” Yiye Jiange spoke softly.

“En, I will.” Qing Shui smiled as he quickly prepared the food, even making many snacks. They usually didn’t eat these, so having them once in a while was actually preferable to proper meals, not to mention the effort Qing Shui put forth.

A decadent feast was served up with many small sides and snacks together. There were vegetable snacks, meat snacks, stuff like hotpot and hot dogs, naturally at a much higher level despite the similar appearance.

The kids ate happily, including Xian’er. The allure of food was truly the greatest, especially since she was still a kid, so he specially made special snacks for her.

“Daddy, you’re really biased!” Qing Nuo protested.

“I also feel this way,” Qing Xiu smiled as he replied.

The rest simply watched the kids speak, finding their conversations very interesting.

After dinner, Qing Shui handed out many gifts, especially to the small kids, giving them a Constitution Nurturing session, teaching them the Yu Emperor Fist, and helping to cleanse their impurities.

With nothing to do in the afternoon, Qing Shui went to the back to look at the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine

The Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine didn’t seem to undergo any major changes, but the bloody red mist surrounding its body seemed to float around in some sort of rhythm. Others would not even realize that this was an extremely powerful Guardian Vine.

“Your improvement is truly astonishingly fast!”

The Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine actually spoke first, much to Qing Shui’s surprise.

“Is my current strength sufficient to enter the Nine Continents’ Nine Domains?” Qing Shui asked after some careful deliberation.

“You can enter four of them, but it’s better for you to avoid the rest,” The Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine said after some delay.

“Okay, then I’ll continue waiting!”

……

Qing Shui had nothing to do, so he just moved back into the Sea King’s Palace, enjoying the pinnacle of life at night with the most beautiful women, and enjoying the thrill of parenting in the day.

Xian’er became especially attached to Qing Shui, as there would be good food, fun games, and she could even learn powerful battle skills, drawing, and music. This father was simply omnipotent; a few days caused the little lass to basically stick to Qing Shui. She was brimming with joy.

She was the youngest so it seemed like an obvious result and Di Chen was also happy to see this development. But she felt that he was spoiling her too much, as whatever she asked for, Qing Shui would give it to her, within the realm of reason of course. Qing Shui wasn’t strong enough to pluck the moon to give to her if she asked for it.

Staying for two months, he decided to return to the Divine Palace and said farewell to the Guardian Vine.

“Wait, this is a little gift for you!” The Guardian Vine’s blood red vines entangled Qing Shui’s arm, as dozens of red liquid drops fell into Qing Shui’s arm, dissolving into his body. Qing Shui suddenly felt the power in him flow through his body like a raging torrent, madly running around.

His Caves appeared and two of them quickly turned gold….

“I saw that you were already on the verge but didn’t expect that you would leave before breaking through. That’s a wasted opportunity.”

Qing Shui expressed his thanks as his seven golden and two ordinary caves boosted his strength even further. He even wanted to step into the realm of Ten Caves, but it seemed nigh-impossible. He planned on waiting until each of his Caves turned golden before considering his next move.

Qing Shui was really eager to open the Tenth Cave, the aspiration of all cultivators. The key is that not just any cultivator could open it. Qing Shui however, decided to try since he already had seven golden Caves. He was already an existence as rare as phoenix feathers or Qilin scale in the Nine Continents.

Bidding farewell to the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vine, he returned to the Divine Palace where it was the same as before. The Northern Emperor Domain Divine Palace and Taiyi Immortal Palace were far above the rest, and the Northern King Domain’s ruler was the Demon Gate whose main battle force was probably entering the Nine Continents’ Nine Domains.