Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2424 - Entering the Magical Wonderland, Mysterious Daoist Temple?

Emperor City!

Qing Shui and his gang hurried to the Emperor City without any hassle.

It was crowded with people and vehicles. Standing in Emperor City, a sense of wealth was felt in the air. It was an extremely luxurious sense that was really much more bustling and flourishing here than in Blue Star City. Even the atmosphere was exceptionally prosperous here. 

Qing Shui and his men headed to the Nine Star Mountain directly.

The Nine Star Mountain was easily located. It was said that the Nine Star Mountain was part of the Sky Penetrating Mountains, but Qing Shui was not sure how true that was. They moved without rest and arrived at the Nine Star Mountain.

Nine Star Mountain was part of the mountain range of the Nine Star Domain, but it was not under the control of any country or force. Yes, a part of it belonged to a certain nation, such as the part of it which was located in the Ice Star Nation. For instance, the sacred place of Ice Star Nation, the Ice Star Divine Hall, was in the part of Nine Star Mountain which belonged to the Ice Star Nation.

The Nine Star Mountain was very high and enormous,  like a gigantic dragon when it was seen from far away. It was the biggest mountain in the Nine Star Domain. It was a sacred place of warriors. It had the biggest number of the precious, magical demonic beasts and animals. Treasures were most commonly found here.

They arrived at the foot of Nine Star Mountain. There were neither too many nor too few people here. In fact, it was like this all the time here. These people were all here for adventures. During special occasions like when a magical treasure land opened, the crowd would be much greater.

It was late now. This place must not be the entrance to the magical wonderland. Otherwise, there should have been more people here.

Yet, after asking a big guy, they only realized that this was indeed the entrance to the magical wonderland. However, the wonderland opened a long time ago and many people were already inside. Those who wanted to enter had already done so, and those who did not want to enter would probably stay behind. Hence, there were not many people.

In that case, Qing Shui and the gang entered directly. After all, they used the Nine Continents Step throughout the journey and were not too tired.

Soon after they entered, they saw a glowing main entrance at the border. The door was round in shape as if a cave entrance was carved on the cliff.

The group entered at once.

As soon as they stepped in, the spiritual sense was abundant. There were many people here. In fact, many people came here either for treasure hunting or training.

This magical wonderland was a non-recurring one. Once discovered, it would be open forever until the people used up the spiritual sense inside. Then, it would become an abandoned magical wonderland. There were many similar things in the Nine Continents. The boundary still existed but there were no more treasures. It would slowly become a trainer’s cave or even become an abandoned site.

The magical wonderland was actually a place in the Nine Continents and not an interspace that existed independently. Thus, once discovered, it would always exist. Meanwhile, some interspaces that existed independently would open once after a certain period of time.

“A Daoist temple appeared in front. Nobody can enter it, that is so frustrating,” A man was approaching from far while complaining to himself.

“It’s been three months. People left and nobody has hope for this Daoist temple anymore. They said there is some ancient great formation around it that is unbreakable.”

“In that case, there must be great stuff inside. What a shame, nobody can enter it. Watching a golden mill yet unable to use any is so upsetting.”

“Even if we could enter, we wouldn’t be the ones who get the good stuff. Thus, there must be someone who is more anxious than us about being unable to get in.”

……

Qing Shui was moved as he listened to that. Some things depended on fate. He was rather good in formations, so he walked over without saying anything. He did not plan to ask these people about the location of the Daoist temple.

“We are about to leave and yet there are still people coming in. This group looks very young,” Someone from the previous group said.

“See, there are a few pretty women among them, they are really beautiful,” A guy who was dressed up luxuriously said while staring at the women in Qing Shui’s group.

“Young Master Shui, how come you still want to bring a woman home when you’re leaving?” someone said jokingly.

“I wanna bring those back. The more I see, the more I feel like these few women are prettier than my women.”

“Pretty women are really a disaster when met, Young Master Shui. An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth,” The previous man sighed.

“Haha, women are a man’s face. Beautiful women can only be owned by a strong warrior. An inadequate man should not own beautiful women. Otherwise, it would only bring him endless disasters and even death. Beautiful women are the best treasures.”

    ……

“Friend, please stop!” Young Master Shui and his men blocked the path of Qing Shui’s group.

“Hmm, what’s up?” Qing Shui smiled at him.

There were about fifty men on Young Master Shui’s side. After all, people usually come to the magical wonderland in a big group. The more people, the greater the power. It would be more advantageous too when they were in a fight for treasures.

“Friend, you’re late. There are not many goods left in the magical wonderland. There is something in the deepest place but there are scary demonic beasts protecting it. I reckon you guys can’t win against the demonic beasts,” Young Master Shui said with a smile.

“We are just looking around. We are not going to meet the strong ones. Otherwise, we will find a place to practice for some time as there is ample spiritual Qi here,” Qing Shui smiled.

Qing Shui’s group was a bunch of young people. It was easily mistaken for a weak group. Though there were some young people who were very powerful, the actual strong warriors were usually at least middle-aged. Most of them were elders or old men.

“I see. We are also about to find a place and rest for some time. How about we go together, let’s take care of each other?” Young Master Shui said happily.

“I’m sorry, we don’t like to be with strangers,” Qing Shui smirked.

Young Master Shui was stunned, “Even though we don’t know each other now, we can do that soon, we can take care of you too.”

“We don’t need to be taken care of,” Hao Tian giggled.

Hao Tian noticed that the man kept his eyes glued on the few women.

“Don’t be unappreciative, our Young Master Shui looks highly on you to offer to take care of you,” A young man sounded very unkind.

“What a bastard, what are you barking?” Hao Tian replied directly.

“You’re asking for death!” The young man looked at Hao Tian.

“Just you, a bunch of rubbish,” Hao Tian laughed at them.

“Alright, we don't wanna pick a fight, let's move separately!” Qing Shui smiled to Young Master Shui.

“Nobody has ever dared to be so rude to me, you aren't bad. I really wanna find out what you have to be so reckless?” Young Master Shui smiled. He appeared very confident as if everything was under his control.

“In fact, this is what I wanted to ask you, could it be your strength of Cave Realm’s peak?” Qing Shui looked at Young Master Shui.

The strongest one among them was Young Master Shui, at the peak of Cave Realm. This was actually very great and powerful, considered something to be proud of in the Upper Three Regions of Nine Continents.

The pupils of Young Master Shui constricted. He did not expect this young man to see his strength at one glance. On Qing Shui's side, everyone was weaker except for Qing Shui. Qing Shui's strength was vague. Young Master Shui was unable to see his actual strength. Previously, he sensed that he was much weaker than Qing Shui.