Ancient Strengthening Technique

<AST 1172 – Sword Completed, The Powers of A Grade One State Master, Turbulent Undercurrents

Hammering and tempering was a process that required meticulous handling of the finest details. This time around, Qing Shui wanted to once again enter the State of No Conscious but it was a pity that this time around, his mind was absolutely clear. He could even count the number of strikes he made with the Thousand Hammer Technique Clearly.

Very quickly, he broke through 10,000 hammers but there was still no change to the Big Dipper Sword. Qing Shui liked it this way as well. When it finally reached 13,000 hammers, the six-colored glow finally appeared, extremely brilliant. It even had a slight rustic glow to it.

There was originally a gemstone embedded into one of the seven indentations on the sword’s handle. However, it was a pity that it had been depleted previously and was left empty. Qing Shui hadn’t found a suitable gemstone to embed into it at a later time. It could be due to the quality of the gemstones. Primarily, it was because there were no high-quality gemstones. Otherwise, the prowess of the Big Dipper Sword would be even greater. He didn’t wish to waste his time on low quality gemstones since the embedding process was troublesome as well.

Right now, Qing Shui looked at the Big Dipper Sword he was holding, feeling satisfied with its attributes.

Big Dipper Sword: Formed from the convergence of unique silver sand of the Heaven and Earth, the materials were then forged into a sword by a skilled blacksmith. The sword has the ability to unleash a lethal damage power as well.

The Big Dipper Sword could also increase the user’s power by five times, double spirit energy attacks and increase the speed and attack speed by 20%. There would be 20% chance of doubling the attack damage for each attack, decreasing 20% of the damage received and reduce 20% of the user’s energy depletion. The user would also have a chance to receive an unexpected surprise from the sword.

Qing Shui smiled. Right now, the Big Dipper Sword was only incomparable to the Four Elements Greencloud Sword in terms of the enhancement it provided for the user’s spirit energy. In all, it was still considered very powerful and what he needed to do next was to engrave Seal Formations.

The process of engraving the Seal Formations was very smooth as well. It didn’t further increase the weapon’s attributes and there was only a 10% chance for it to gain the effects of either the Gloom Covering Skies and Earth, Fly Sand Rolling Stones, Fire Snakes Frenzied Dance or Soaring Dragon Sea Quake.

Right now, Qing Shui had an exhilarated feeling. When he held the Big Dipper Sword, his physical strength was at 11 nimbus, his seven-colored pellet increases his physical strength by 720%, allowing his physical strength to reach 1,600 nimbus. If he were to attack with his Nine Continents Mountain, it would be with a strength of 3,200 nimbus and was considered to have reached the lowest grade State Master level.

His spirit energy seemed to have become more powerful. The Big Dipper Sword had doubled the prowess of his spirit energy attacks and they were now at 4,300 nimbus.

All these numbers were just in principle, but he would still need to test them out to be sure. It shouldn’t be wrong. He slowly channeled his Violet Gold Divine Force gradually into the Big Dipper Sword, causing a surging force to feedback from the sword to his body.

Rise!

Qing Shui used the Roaming Dragon Steps, following the flow of the Nine Palace positioning in the air, flashing as he moved from one position to the next, lashing out with his Big Dipper Sword each time. An explosive and shattering power shot out, leaving a faint smell of destruction in the air.

The damage was doubled!

Earlier, when he attacked, he succeeded in attaining the 20% chance, unleashing the prowess of a grade one State Master. However, usually, his usual attacks would only be half of what he had just unleashed. Despite this, Qing Shui was quite satisfied with it.

Wood Vines！

The tip of the Big Dipper Sword fluctuated with a tremendous force and a large spread of huge demonic vines appeared in the distance. It was the same in size as before. They were about 1,000 meters long, had the thickness of an adult’s upper thigh and there were over ten of them. The violet colored demonic vines had many sharp barbed spikes which were half a foot long. Their appearance would send shivers down one’s spine.

Although there were no changes to their size, the speed at which they spread out and their vitality were much stronger than before. They were also more sturdy and had a higher level of endurance.

The explosive and damaging impacts made Qing Shui feel that they were much stronger than physical attacks. Right now, even the Nine Continents Mountain’s attacking prowess wasn’t their match. However, Qing Shui felt that in the future, the Nine Continents Mountain would definitely be more powerful.

Right now, he had finally reached the level of a grade one State Master and he heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. They were going to enter the inner city soon and by then, the people there would have increasingly high level of cultivation and if he wasn’t strong enough, he wouldn’t be able to speak up.

By the time he came out, the sky had already turned slightly dark. The staff from the inn had already served their food!

While they were having their meals, in another pavilion, Yang Yicun was chatting with a few other men.

“Young Master Yang, you must think through this carefully. Yan Jinyu is Yan Clan’s young miss. It’s said that she even has a Master from Heaven Secrets Academy backing her up. You need to think through it carefully before you decide to lay your hands on her,” a handsome man in white clothes frowned and said to Yang Yicun.

“Yan Clan is going to fall soon anyway. As for Heaven Secrets Academy, there’s no need to worry. A teacher in Heaven Secrets Academy is of no concern. Moreover, we aren’t going to kill her. We’re just going to use her to scare Yan Clan a little. Her father dotes on her a lot. Basically, we can definitely kill her dad just by threatening him with her.” Untamed flames continued to throb in his eyes.

“Young Master Yang, come out with it. Which clan is Yang Clan working together with? Leng Clan? Rong Clan?” The guy in white clothes looked at Yang Yicun and asked calmly.

“Brother Wu, even if you hadn’t asked, I’d tell you. I know that you’d have guessed something. It’s just that this time around, the ones we’re working with are the Yu Clan.” Yang Yicun squinted his eyes slightly.

“You’ve really gotten Yu Clan to work with you?” The man whose surname was Wu looked at Yang Yicun in astonishment.

“Of course. Otherwise, how could I dare to touch Yan Jinyu? How is it, Brother Wu? Yan Jinyu is of top quality. Are you interested?” A hint of maniacal greed flashed on Yang Yicun’s face.

This was definitely a great temptation. Lust was something which could make one lose their rationality. However, at a time like this, especially when it was a lady like Yan Jinyu, one would really be willing to die for it. Moreover, they weren’t thinking of the possibility of dying.

“Then are we going to work together with Yu Clan? Or are we going to take action first?” The man whose surname was Wu swallowed and spoke with difficulty. Right now, his heart was very conflicted.

Wu Clan was also considered a great aristocratic clan in the area and was slightly worse off than Yang Clan. Moreover, their clans were very close and Yang Yicun and Wu Meng were close as real brothers.

It was just that this time around, laying hands on Yan Jinyu was just Yang Yicun’s own plan. He wanted to take action first since it had already been decided for them to go against Yan Clan. This was why he had decided on laying his hands on Yan Jinyu. If Yang Clan and Yu Clan failed to defeat Yan Clan, there was only death waiting for him. If it really were to come down to that, laying his hands on Yan Jinyu this time around would have satisfied one of his wishes. If Yang Clan and Yu Clan were to win, then it would be even better.

Therefore, after much consideration, he made up his mind. He knew that Wu Meng would definitely support him since he was an intelligent person. Since Yang Yicun had already shared his plans with him, Wu Meng would have no option but to not agree.

“Young Master Yang, of course I’ll go along with you. It’s just that Yan Jinyu is a State Master level cultivator. If we were to let her escape, then we’d have alerted the enemies.” Wu Meng was both excited and worried.

“You don’t have to worry about this. Although we’re not her match, two seniors from my clan will join in the action. When the time comes, we’ll cripple her of her cultivation. Brother Wu, why don’t you bring along two from your clan as well? This will add additional insurance to our plan,” Yang Yicun smiled and said to Wu Meng.

“Alright. Shall we let our elders in the family know about this?” After a long hesitation Wu Long asked softly.

“Why do we have to let them know? We just need to do a clean job. The reason I’m approaching you is because Wu Clan is involved in this as well. Don’t you know? You’re a clever person. Is there a need to make it clear to you on whether we should lay our hands on Yan Jinyu?” Yang Yicun wore an expression a gambler would wear.

Wu Meng knew that as well. It was just that the branch he belonged to wasn’t the main branch of Wu Clan. He wasn’t that daring nor was he as crazy as Yang Yicun. He knew that the important thing wasn’t whether they were going to touch Yan Jinyu but whether they would be able to bring demise to Yan Clan.

“Then we’ll take action tonight. Failure will not be allowed!” Yang Yicun’s gaze shot out a glow that was like that of a venomous snake’s.

…

After having their dinner, seeing that it was still early, Yan Jinyu smiled and said, “Qing Shui, the night market here is quite good. Let’s go and take a look!”

“Alright!”

Qing Shui answered without hesitation. He had gotten much stronger and his spirit energy could reach over 4,300 nimbus. Moreover, he had his Nine Palace Steps and Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring. If any accidents were to occur, he’d be able to handle the situation.

The two of them cleaned up and headed out of Yang Clan Inn.

The streets were bright as day and the traffic along the roads was about the same as it was in the day. The huge and clean-looking moon in the sky was especially bright and pure, shining down its light and it seemed to even let one feel purified.

Qing Shui looked at Yan Jinyu who was next to him. In such an environment, she seemed to appear even more beautiful. Her snow-white skin was translucent and if he didn’t come to this world, he wouldn’t have been able to see such skin.

Yan Jinyu saw that Qing Shui was looking at her and she didn’t know what to feel. She waved her hand before Qing Shui. Qing Shui regained his senses and said, “Sister is so beautiful.”

When he said this, it was very natural. His eyes appeared very clear as well and there was no hint of greed or lust in his eyes. It was just a feeling of pure admiration. There were already many great beauties around him and he really didn’t wish to get himself involved with other women. Therefore, he didn’t have any expectations with this sister. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become sworn siblings with her back then.

Yan Jinyu really liked Qing Shui’s clear looking eyes.

She, who was dignified and quiet, had seen too many gazes men had cast on her. No matter how well they tried to conceal themselves, she could clearly feel the lust behind their modest gazes. She didn’t like those gazes.

Therefore, she felt that Qing Shui’s gaze was very nice and warm. She also liked his clear and handsome eyes as well as that light violet mark on his forehead. It gave him a lethal attractiveness. Men could also appear very attractive to women.

Every time a thought like this appeared, Yan Jinyu would feel flustered. That feeling was very strange. Back when she had first seen Qing Shui at the Firecloud Blacksmith Store, she already felt a faint cordial feeling from him. She hadn’t felt this way before and that was the first time. She liked that feeling and thus had grabbed Qing Shui to become sworn siblings with her.

Standing next to this guy, walking together with him through the crowd, occasionally talking… This feeling was very strange. She hadn’t felt this way before. If this guy hadn’t become sworn siblings with her, would she be able to be next to him so naturally? Would they be so close together?

Suddenly, Qing Shui looked toward Yan Jinyu and noticed that she was also looking at him. It was because both of them felt that a spiritual sense had locked onto them again. He smiled and said, “Come, let’s bring them for a walk around the streets first!”

Yan Jinyu smiled and nodded. Although this man wasn’t as strong as her, she felt that when she was next to him, she would feel at ease. This feeling came from deep within and she felt as if he would be able to protect her.