Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1924 - Hypothesis, The Formidable Barbarian Emperor

Qing Shui thought about many things in an instant. Though previously, Lin Zhennan didn’t mention too much about the Barbarian Emperor, Qing Shui remembered him. After all, the current Great Confucian Empire was under this person’s control at the moment. It didn’t matter whether or not he was simple-minded. The fact that he was able to hold the position of a “king” in an empire, that must be something about him that stood out among others.

Second Young Master Hua nodded, “Yes, the Barbarian Emperor.”

“Do you know the condition of the Barbarian Emperor?” Qing Shui asked.

“I know a bit about it.”

At the moment, Qing Shui had no idea exactly which side was the Second Young Master Hua belonged to. He used to be from Dongfang Zhiqiu’s side. And Dongfang Zhiqiu was on the same side as the Fox-Wolf Immortal Master. But now, Qing Shui felt that things might not be as simple as he thought. It seemed that the true identity of Second Young Master Hua might have become more and more mysterious.

Second Young Master Hua continued on to say, “Apparently, he is looking to get his brain fixed. For some unknown reason, the Barbarian Emperor seemed to have undergone some changes. He seemed to have become more brilliant. But at the same time, he also felt that he is unable to make proper use out of it.”

Qing Shui was even more shocked upon hearing that. This kind of situation had come to reveal a very mysterious question. For instance, no one would ever think that they were foolish. Such a case even applied to idiots. If a foolish person was aware that he was stupid, then this would cause a contradiction.

Usually, people like them were not being able to utilize their brains properly. Even if they interacted with things that they deemed as difficult, that was merely because they had no knowledge about it. If they had learned about it, it wouldn’t have been difficult. The mere reason they found it difficult was because they had yet to be exposed to it. It was more common for people to have mindsets like this. Rarely would there be a case when people actually related it to their own brain.

In the case of the Barbarian Emperor, it was indeed a weird phenomenon to suddenly have thoughts about not properly utilizing his own brain. In fact, for someone simple-minded like him, it just made it all more mysterious.

“I can try to treat his illness.” Qing Shui smiled and said. Qing Shui would never let go of the opportunity to meet such a huge guest. If suddenly, the Barbarian Emperor of the Great Confucian Empire was to become more intelligent, along with the tremendous power which he already possessed, what exactly would happen?

“Alright then. Mr. Qing, the Barbarian Emperor will come tomorrow morning. Let’s meet again when he comes.” Second Young Master Hua smiled and said.

Second Young Master Hua left. The people along the streets also went back to normal. The Imperial Cuisine Hall had gone back to run its business like normal. Be it Tian Yi or the current Imperial Cuisine Hall. Money was no longer an issue. Despite that, it was still important to earn money. Even though some of the earnings, which they got, were enough to let them live, it wasn’t enough to catch the Imperial Cuisine Hall’s eyes.

Saving people of their diseases wasn’t just about earnings, it was a mission and also a kind of virtue.

Slowly, they would begin to earn reputations of their own. Saving people and curing them of their illnesses were also largely dependent on the patients. Some people were rich, but they exhausted their bodies in the process of earning and now were required to spend their money to prolong their lives. People who were rich would be required to work more. This was like the saying “endeavor to the best of one’s abilities.” Hence, making an income from it couldn’t necessarily be considered as profiting from one’s disaster. The Imperial Cuisine Hall’s income was largely dependent on the riches.

On the next day, during noon, five people came. The person leading the group was a huge guy who was as tall as an iron tower. Qing Shui’s expression changed as soon as he saw the man. With his Heavenly Vision Technique, he managed to see a halo which looked like a mini sun on top of the person’s head. It was abundant with violet qi.

What a rich life energy!

Qing Shui was able to see certain people’s life energy with his Heavenly Vision Technique, but it was only limited to people with unique physique or inheritance. It was his first time seeing something like this today. He didn’t know if it was due to his Heavenly Vision Technique making some breakthrough during this time or he only managed to witness such an existence today.

Qing Shui still had an idea of what he saw in his mind. If he saw a red light, it came to say that the person possessed a decent life force. The said person was bound to be rich and prosperous one day. In the case of the huge guy he was seeing, it was something which resembled a miniature sun. It revealed that he was bound to become a Heavenly Emperor.

The huge guy was half a head taller than Qing Shui. He had a very huge figure. His skin color was a bit lighter than “dark” with a healthy face and bright eyes. He was a very dignified man. Although, behind his dignified look, it lacked some sort of rhythm and characters.

When Qing Shui saw the huge guy behind the Second Young Master Hua, he automatically knew the identity of the man.

The Barbarian Emperor!

No wonder this person possessed such a rich life energy! He was truly meant to become a Heavenly Emperor one day. It revealed that he must be even more splendid than the Great Emperor of the Great Confucian Empire. With this thought, Qing Shui was instantly able to come up with an answer.

It seemed that all he needed to do now, was to make the Barbarian Emperor smart again and everything would be easily solvable.

There were no guards around the Imperial Cuisine Hall. When they saw Qing Shui who was standing behind the door, Second Young Master Hua nodded at him and went along with the huge guy.

“Mister Qing, let me introduce you to the Barbarian Emperor. Almighty Barbarian Emperor, this was Mister Qing.” Second Young Master Hua said quickly.

Other than the Second Young Master Hua and the Barbarian Emperor, there were also three other old men. They were very old and wearing loose-fitting grey gowns. The Nature Energy surrounding their bodies were significantly more powerful than Cheng Yuan’s and the others. These people were all the State Masters of the Great Confucian Empire. To be more precise, they were actually the Supreme State Masters, but other people would usually address them as the Almighty State Masters. It was a position even higher than the Grand State Master.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, almighty Barbarian Emperor.” Qing Shui smiled and said.

Following on, Qing Shui was shocked to see the huge guy extending his hand just to rub his head. At the moment, he looked unusually simple and honest as he cracked a smile on his face, “Nice to meet you, I am here to get you to help me diagnose my illness.”

When the huge guy was silent, he seemed to be quite a dignified man. But as soon as he opened his mouth, it reminded Qing Shui of Little Fattie. Qing Shui would have never expected for such things to happen. He seemed to be very simple-minded. However, both of his eyes seemed to be hiding with profound wisdom. Urged by his own curiosity, Qing Shui examined the huge guy with his Heavenly Vision Technique.

As soon as Qing Shui did so, he was dumbfounded by what he saw. Could he have been implanted with archs?

Archs, a term which Qing Shui had heard about since his previous incarnation. Such things could only be found in Miao Jiang (A place in China). However, he had only heard about it. He hadn’t truly seen one before. In fact, he was a bit unconvinced by it because of how mysterious these insects were told to be. They were fearsome beings.

However, now that Qing Shui was examining the huge guy’s brain, an arch already came out of it.

One-third of the Barbarian Emperor’s brain had already been consumed by the Arch. This had truly terrified Qing Shui. To think that he could still be alive even after getting that much of his brain consumed… However, if this went on, the Barbarian Emperor would only have another ten to twenty years to live.

Who was the one responsible for planting this venomous insect? What was the true motive of the person? Did the Great Emperor know about this?

Qing Shui came back to his senses and invited them in. While walking, a question had constantly remained in Qing Shui’s head. The emperor must be very powerful, could he possibly be aware of the insect that was currently residing within the Barbarian Emperor’s head? Qing Shui already knew that the insects have remained within the Barbarian Emperor’s head for a long time. What could happen if the emperor also knew about it?

Just from this assumption, Qing Shui felt a chill down his spine. Qing Shui came up with a daring hypothesis from such an assumption. If the person who implanted the insect within the Barbarian Emperor’s brain was truly the emperor, could he be plotting something really big?

What would have happened if the Barbarian Emperor wasn’t as foolish as he was now? Qing Shui could already tell that the Barbarian Emperor was bound to accomplish spectacular things. Could the emperor also manage to see through this? He wanted the Barbarian Emperor to lead the Great Confucian Empire, but at the same time, he was also reluctant to entrust the entire empire to him.

Qing Shui’s brain was constantly revolving around these hypotheses. Eventually, he reached a conclusion. He might be able to find the answer after treating the Barbarian Emperor.

“Please allow me to feel your pulse!”

The Barbarian Emperor cooperated well with Qing Shui and extended his arm. Qing Shui put his finger on top of it. For quite a while, he had his eyes closed. Actually, Qing Shui should have been able to figure out the condition of the Barbarian Emperor even without feeling his pulse. Now, Qing Shui was sensing the Barbarian Emperor’s strength. However, he was shocked by the result which he got from it.

The Barbarian Emperor possessed extremely fearsome strength. He cultivated the Monarch Dragon Elephant Technique, an extremely dominant technique. Qing Shui failed to sense the exact strength which he possessed, but he could feel it now.

This was just counting his normal innate strength. If he was to unleash his sure-kill move, Qing Shui might potentially be killed instantly.