Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 613 – Incomprehensible Thoughts

Qing Shui had intended on giving it to Huoyun Liu-Li initially, but this item has a stronger impact on someone who was at the Martial Saint level. Amongst those around him, Di Chen was stronger. Moreover, she was on the cusp of a breakthrough to the Martial Saint level, thus Qing Shui was waiting for that to happen. Huoyun Liu-Li liked the color purple. He could use the violet jade to forge some accessories for her. When his Ancient Art of Forging once again attains a breakthrough, Qing Shui planned to forge some armor and accessories he had been devising for quite a while.

“I’m giving you something!” Qing Shui smiled and took out the Nine Palace Pendant. This should be the second time that he was giving her something. The first time was the ‘Silver Moon Wolf Earrings’ from the Wolf King Hall, which she has been wearing all along…

Hearing Qing Shui’s words, Di Chen saw the Nine Palace Pendant he was holding. It was a beautiful and magnificent pendant. She looked at Qing Shui, puzzled, as if she was asking why he was gifting it to her.

“Why aren’t you taking it…” Qing Shui smiled and looked at Di Chen who had fallen into a slight daze.

“Why have you thought of giving me an accessory today? I’ve already bought quite a few pieces yesterday.” Di Chen must have thought that Qing Shui had especially bought the pendant for her.

“We’re husband and wife… Isn’t it perfectly normal for me to give you a present? Shall I put it on for you?” Qing Shui smiled at her. At present, Qing Shui could somewhat be at ease, but it was still a bit uncomfortable for him to speak such intimate words to her.

Di Chen did not rebut what Qing Shui said and received the Nine Palace Pendant from Qing Shui. Although she appeared very calm, her thoughts were not as much. Both times she received his presents, her feelings were of an extreme.

When he gave her the ‘Silver Moon Wolf Earrings’, he only had a day of his life left. Despite so, he still did not forget that he was supposed to gift her with a pair of earrings.

Back then, her heart was as if it was pierced harshly. It might be then when he truly entered her heart. Although she did not know what feelings she had toward him, she knew that she would not forget him in this life.

However, he still could not let himself go before her. He did not have enough confidence and needed her to give him an additional push to let him mature quickly. When that time comes, maybe he would find her cute.

Upon putting it on, Di Chen’s deep eyes were now filled with astonishment. It was because she could feel the effects from this Nine Palace Pendant. The feeling of having her abilities raised was very good, especially in the area of her spirit energy.

“Chen`er, I’ll impart to you the Nine Palace Art circulation technique. You can try it out later.”

Qing Shui went through the “Nine Palace Art” battle technique, which came with the Nine Palace Pendant, with Di Chen once. Afterwards he then explained to her that it could only be used when she was wearing the Nine Palace Pendant.

With Di Chen’s talent, she picked it up very quickly. When she used it, the Nine Palace Pendant before her chest exuded a faint purple glow. When she looked at Qing Shui, her eyes appeared very dreamy.

Just as the two of them were locked in each other’s gaze, Duanmu Lingshuang walked in. She could only see Di Chen’s backview, but she saw Qing Shui’s smiling gaze when he was looking at Di Chen. That gaze gave her an indescribable feeling, making her feel a little envious. In that instant, she had a strange feeling. It was not pain, but something along the lines of stuffy.

Qing Shui naturally saw Duanmu Lingshuang. He casually spoke, “Miss Duanmu, you’re here!”

Duanmu Lingshuang, who usually did not think much about it, now felt that the address ‘Miss Duanmu’ was especially uncomfortable. It did not even sound better than when she was called ‘woman’ back when they were on Flowerfruit Mountain.

From young till now, the man whom she was closest to was her father. However, he left her long ago. From then on, she had not been willing to accept any man’s attention and gifts. This persisted until she was at Flowerfruit Mountain, when she was forced to accept everything given to her by Qing Shui.

For a woman, even a cold one, once her heart was slightly opened up by a man, even if it was just a minute gap, she would inevitably fall.

Duanmu Lingshuang knew that she should not be letting her imagination run wild at this point in time. However, when she recalled the few days back on Flowerfruit Mountain, the thought of the time she had spent together with Qing Shui, now made her feel as though she had lost something, something that seemed to be very important…

“Let’s go have our food, it’s all prepared!” Duanmu Lingshuang went up to hold Di Chen’s hand as she looked to Qing Shui and said.

It was then that Duanmu Lingshuang saw the Nine Palace Pendant on Di Chen’s chest. After awakening from her short stupor, she went to the hall with Di Chen and Qing Shui to have their meal. However, this was the first time she had felt a throb in her heart.

She was feeling both a bit anxious and slightly at a loss!

…

When they were having their meal, Qing Shui noticed that Duanmu Lingshuang was not herself. She kept looking toward the Nine Palace Pendant Di Chen was wearing, and then occasionally at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui was very slow when it came to matters of love and tended to be very passive most of the time. Even though he saw how Duanmu Lingshuang seemed to be very interested in the pendant, he did not have another one on hand to give to her. During this time, she had been spending a lot of time together with Di Chen, and now that he had given Di Chen a gift, she had noticed it as well. But now, if he were to give her some kind of accessory, it would not be as nice as the one he gave Di Chen, which would probably make Duanmu Lingshuang even more unhappy.

Finally, Qing Shui decided to gift her with a “Beauty Pellet”. It was in women’s nature to love beauty, regardless of their age or if they were pretty or ugly. No woman would mind becoming a little prettier.

“Madam, Miss Duanmu, I have something to gift the two of you. I hope that both of you beautiful looks will be long-lasting and that you’ll forever appear youthful.” Qing Shui placed two bottles of Beauty Pellets before Madam Duanmu and Duanmu Lingshuang.

“This is?” Madam Duanmu smiled and looked at Qing Shui.

“Beauty Pellet. It can retain one’s youth for thirty years as well as increase one’s cultivation by a little.” Qing Shui explained the Beauty Pellets’ effects.

“I forgot that you’re an outstanding alchemist. I can’t hold back from such good stuff. I’ll accept it then.” Madam Duanmu smiled and said.

Duanmu Lingshuang took it as well, as if she had made up her mind after much effort!

…

Unknowingly, Qing Shui had stayed at Duanmu’s residence for a month and had gradually gotten familiar with the place. Duanmu City’s Duanmu Clan was undoubtedly the strongest clan.

Other than the Duanmu Clan, there were also a few other reputable clans and sects. However, they were no match for the Duanmu Clan. They were respectively the Jin Clan, the Sword Sect, the Xiao Clan, the Chen Clan, and the Dongguo Clan.

The Jin Clan was considered the strongest clan in Duanmu City after the Duanmu Clan. It was the clan Jin Shang, the person he had met previously, belonged to. The Sword Sect was a small sect which seemed very mysterious. Many people, including Duanmu Lingshuang, were not very clear about it, but Madam Duanmu had mentioned for them not to create trouble at the Sword Sect. Although Madam Duanmu had warned them against causing trouble in multiple places, Duanmu Lingshuang felt that it was slightly different when she brought up the Sword Sect.

More importantly, during these days, Qing Shui noticed that the people from the Sword Sect all had a very low profile and it was even hard to come across anyone of them. It was the Jin Clan, the Xiao Clan, the Chen Clan and the Dongguo Clan who were more active.

The Duanmu Clan was strong, the Sword Sect was low profile, and the remaining four clans also jointly had the control over half of Duanmu City. Of course, on the surface, everyone appeared to be as if they were on good terms.

…

“Qing Shui, let’s go over there to take a look!”

This day, Di Chen and Qing Shui were taking a casual stroll outside. This time around, Duanmu Lingshuang had something to attend to and thus had not join them.

Qing Shui followed Di Chen’s gaze and saw that there were many people gathering around. It was a battle arena on the streets. However, it appeared to be unusually lively.

Such street battle arenas were commonly seen since martial arts prevailed in this world. Therefore, regardless if they knew each other or not, many people would first have a spar in the arena.

As the population was very big, there were always battles in the street arenas. Next to them, there would be people setting up gambling stalls to liven things up. And no matter if the banker won or lost, the side who lost would give 30% of the profits to the winner of the battle.

The people who would compete in such arenas tended to come from varying backgrounds, but there would also occasional be some extremely strong challenges, albeit very few.

Currently, there was a tall and muscular looking young man against a skinny young man. Both of them were fighting with their bare fists. The tall and muscular looking young man had a height of almost two meters and had the built similar to an ape. Each time he swung out his fists, a strong and powerful force would bring about a series of explosions.

His lower body was very well trained, and each step he took was very stable, causing many people from the crowd to cheer for him.

In comparison, the skinny young man was about one head shorter, and his figure was only about half the size of his opponent. He appeared slightly feeble, but was able to dodge his opponent’s fists every single time.

“Come and place your bets! The minimum bet is one hundred Liang, and there’s no upper limit! This gambling stall is managed by the Dongguo Clan, and our integrity is assured. The odds for the fatty is 1 to 1.12, and the odds for the skinny one is 1 is to 2…”

“Dongguo Si, do you know anything else other than running?” Many people from the crowd were shouting out.

By then, Qing Shui and Di Chen had both joined the crowd. The scene was very lively, and the atmosphere was blood-boiling.

15 minutes passed!

Qing Shui felt that the two in the arena were merely having a tussle. The one with the big build was attacking endlessly. While, on the other hand, the skinny one by the name of Dongguo Si was only dodging and shuttling around, occasionally attacking the fatty’s weak spots strongly and viciously, forcing him back and causing him to yell out in a fury before launching into another series of maniacal attacks.

“Chen`er, who do you think will win this?” Qing Shui looked toward Di Chen s he smiled and asked Di Chen.

The skinny young man in the arena was like a fleeting boat on a massive ocean, appearing as if he could lose his life at any moment amidst his opponent’s attacks.

“The skinny man will win!” Di Chen took a look then smiled and said.

“Actually, the skinny man can’t win, but he’ll still have to win in the end.” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Why?” Di Chen looked at Qing Shui, obviously not understanding what this meant.

“Look over there!” Qing Shui pointed to a gambling stall. Di Chen looked over, then looked back at Qing Shui, “You mean everything is rigged by the Dongguo Clan?”

“Come and place your bets! The minimum bet is one hundred Liang, and there’s no upper limit! This gambling stall is managed by the Dongguo Clan, and our integrity is assured. The odds for the fatty is 1 to 1.12, and the odds for the skinny one is 1 is to 2…”

“See that? Although the payout for those who bet on the skinny man is high, most people will choose to bet on the fatty.” After saying that, Qing Shui shot out a small rock in his hand.

Pfft!

Just as the skinny man was avoiding the fatty’s incoming punch, he suddenly felt that his body had turned numb all over as a huge fist landed on his head.

Dongguo Si, who had just regained his senses, was knocked out completely.

The fatty looked at Dongguo Si in a daze. Although he had won, he did not feel happy in the least. However, the crowd went wild!

“Finally won one…”

“I was still thinking that the Dongguo Clan was manipulating this, offering such a high payout rate but yet such an unexpected thing had occurred. The Dongguo Clan will have to pay out quite a large sum of money. I was wrong, I shouldn’t have doubted the Dongguo Clan…”

If the people from Dongguo Clan were to hear this, they would probably not know whether to cry or laugh.

Suddenly, Qing Shui sensed the powerful aura of an expert and slowly turned. It was an old man who seemed to be in his sixties, looking at Qing Shui coldly.

Qing Shui was surprised, but he looked at this tall elderly without any change to his expression. Concurrently, he pulled Di Chen behind him.

“Lad, although you did it secretly, this old man’s eyes has yet to blur. Do you know how foolish you are for doing so?”

Qing Shui smiled. The old man did not have any proof and thus did not speak out in a loud voice since there was nothing he could do if Qing Shui were to deny it. It would only make the Dongguo Clan appear as if they were bullying others.

“I don’t really understand what you’re talking about.” Qing Shui looked at the old man with a perplexed look, but his voice was quite loud.