Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 622 – Di Qing’s Ascension to Martial Saint, The Unknown Power of the Di Clan

Qing Shui was satisfied as he contentedly put the long sword back to the weapon’s rack. After that, he began to cultivate his Taichi Fist as usual. He executed his Taichi Fist with a certain finesse. It was about the strength or the aesthetic of the execution and about the feeling of executing the Taichi Fist.

Nature Energy was a process of steady accumulation. As of now, the Nature Energy had already reached the fourth level of its cultivation. It would now require a much longer time to reach another breakthrough compared to the previous ones.

At that moment, Di Qing saw Qing Shui practicing his Taichi Fist. She had a smile on her face as she approached him.

She stopped walking when the distance between them were about ten meters. Sensing someone behind him, Qing Shui turned around and saw Di Qing standing there with a smile. He stopped practicing his Taichi Fist as Di Qing slowly came closer to him.

“Let’s go eat something!” Di Qing kept smiling while she stared at Qing Shui. Her eyes were lit up with curiosity.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” asked Qing Shui while rubbing his chin.

“Do you notice any changes?” Di Qing seemed delighted as she looked at Qing Shui.

At first, when he looked at Di Qing, he thought she was still as beautiful as the first time they had met. But then, he felt a tingle in his Spiritual Sense, and he finally realized that Di Qing had indeed experienced a change. He was surprised and exclaimed: “A breakthrough? You are a Martial Saint now?”

“Mhm. Thank you. Before that I felt quite uncomfortable, and I always have the urge to cultivate my techniques. And so I did. The medicinal pill you gave me was quite effective, I didn’t think that I would break through to Martial Saint this peacefully during cultivation.” Di Qing looked at Qing Shui with her mystifying eyes as she explained.

Di Chen and Di Qing had more or less the same level of cultivation. However, Di Chen was on a higher level than Di Qing, which was why Qing Shui was surprised that Di Qing would be the first among the sisters to break through to Martial Saint. Di Chen was actually on the edge of the gate towards Martial Saint, but she would need an opportunity to fully break through to the Martial Saint Realm.

“Congratulation Miss Qing for the great advancement of your strength.” Qing Shui chuckled.

“Hmph. Were you thinking why it wasn’t my elder sister who had a breakthrough, but me instead?” Di Qing blinked at Qing Shui. Her eyes were different than Di Chen’s eyes despite the similarity in their attractiveness. Di Qing’s ‘wild’ eyes were definitely alluring, but it was impossible for them to control men, unlike her elder sister’s eyes.

“No. Your sister just needs some more time to break through to Martial Saint, that’s all.” Qing Shui felt a bit guilty even though he didn’t think of it that way. However, the problem with Di Chen’s breakthrough was still lingering on his mind.

“Oh right, I want to ask you a question. You know I will be going back to the Qing’s Residence with your elder sister, right? So I was thinking if I could ask you some questions about your family’s situation.” Qing Shui hesitated for a while before he finally decided to ask Di Qing about her family.

“I thought you would never ask. Okay, ask anything. I will answer if I can.” Di Qing laughed as she gestured to Qing Shui to sit at a nearby table together.

Qing Shui knew that he would never have conflicts with the Di Clan, so he was brave enough to ask Di Qing about her family. Otherwise, he would never ask anyone and ultimately Di Chen would never tell him about it.

“Do you know what kind of power in the Di Clan has as their most powerful strength?” Qing Shui started asking after the two of them sat on the bench.

“I don’t know!” said Di Qing without a shred of hesitation.

Qing Shui rubbed his nose as he laughed at her reaction. Then he looked at Di Qing who still had a face full of smiles and asked: “What is the most powerful strength amongst the young members of the Di Clan?”

“Martial Saint. Actually my father doesn’t seem that old. His line of generation still look quite young, so do I consider them as young people or not?” Di Qing said cunningly while giggling at her answer.

“Fine then, I never asked. Let’s go eat something!” Qing Shui chuckled as he rubbed his nose again before he stood up from the bench.

“Okay. Actually, I am not so sure. My elder brother is the absolute genius of the Di Clan and he is already 45 years old. Oh, and he is not my biological brother. He is my uncle’s son. Grandfather had already given the ‘Scorching Red Sword’ to him too. Also, even the Grade Six Martial Saints cannot defeat him. As for my father and his brothers, I am not sure. I only know that my father is around a Grade Seven Peak Martial Saint. The difference between their cultivation realm is just a step away from each other.” Di Qing stood up as well while she continued giggling. She admitted that her previous answer was depressing to Qing Shui, so she tried her best to explain her family situation to him.

“Thank you!”

“You don’t have to be so polite with me. Why don’t you try calling me ‘big sis’ once in awhile?” Di Chen walked shoulder to shoulder with Qing Shui. It was hard to perceive the expression she had with those deep eyes.

Qing Shui couldn’t understand; was it really that exciting to call her ‘elder sister’? He could never understand what Di Qing was thinking. But Di Qing, on the other hand, had noticed that every women Qing Shui had liked were mostly older than him…..

Qing Shui had never noticed that connection before. The World of Nine Continents had an abundance of Spiritual Qi everywhere, so normal people would be able to live up to almost 200 years. Those below 60 years old would still look young, and if they were able to take good care of their skin, they would be able to maintain their youthfulness even when they’ve reached 80 years old. Moreover, once a normal person reached Xiantian, their lifespan would extend for about 500 years while retaining their youthful appearance for a longer period of time. If the person was already an elderly, then it would be impossible to revive the youthful appearance once they have reached Xiantian.

“Can’t you just call me ‘elder sister’ for once?” Di Qing seemed to care about Qing Shui calling her as an elder sister very much as she gazed at him with serious eyes.

Qing Shui touched his nose as he took a glance at her eyes that were full of anticipation. He couldn’t reject her request no matter how hard he tried. It wasn’t a big deal after all, so he smiled and called out: “Sister Qing!”

Di Qing’s smile widened and she laughed happily. She raised up her hand, rubbed Qing Shui’s head and said: “Good little brother!”

Without waiting for Qing Shui’s response, she left with a hint of contentment. Qing Shui speechlessly gazed at the alluring woman running off in an aloof manner and shook his head, then he went on his way to meet with the others.

On his way to the dining room, Qing Shui was still thinking about the matters relating to the Di Clan. He had a lingering feeling that the average strength in the circle of the Di Clan would be at least around the strength of a Grade Eight Martial Saint.

Moreover, those who were able to reach Grade Eight Martial Saint or above were only counted as the minimum strength required to join the circle, which would be the strength of 3000 countries combined.

Qing Shui then analyzed his own strength and ended up with the estimation of the strength of 1000 countries. He was nowhere close to the strength of the Di Clan – the gap of strength between him and the Di Clan was vast. If Di Qing’s father was a Grade Seven Peak Martial Saint with the strength of 2000 countries, then what about Di Qing’s uncle? And not to mention the elders of the Di Clan – what would their strength be like?

Things were much more complex and enlightening in the Central Continent than he had anticipated. Amongst the continents, the Central Continent was the epitome of the World of Nine Continents. However, it was still too early to say that it could represent the whole Nine Continents, but as an example of what the best continent could be, the Central Continent would not disappoint.

It seemed that Peak Martial Saint really do exist. It was still unknown how terrifying their powers were, especially those who were from the ancestral sects and clans with long-standing legacy. The Buddha Sect and Demon Sect were definitely the most influential and terrifying sects that had ever existed in the Central Continent.

Not only that, the well-known families living in the mansions had an unfathomable power as well!

When he came down to the living room, Di Qing and Di Chen were nowhere in sight. So he went straight to the dining room and noticed that they were already in front of the dining table, waiting for him to arrive.

Di Qing shot a smile at Qing Shui when she saw him. Meanwhile, Di Chen was urging Qing Shui to sit down so they could begin to eat. As he sat down, he took a glance at Di Chen and noticed that she was almost close to Martial Saint.

Among other things, he had also noticed that Di Chen’s Qihai Acupoint was giving off a bright light. It seemed to be showing signs of connection despite its detached state.

Then, he remembered that her ‘Yong Quan Acupoint’ was going through the same phase as before, but it was cleared with the use of medicinal pills. Qing Shui was confident that he could use the Golden Needle to clear her Qihai Acupoint, but he was hesitant to do so.

‘Yong Quan Acupoint’ was located at the sole of the foot, while the ‘Qihai Acupoint’ was located three inches below her navel, which was also the borderline to her private parts. Even though their relationship had improved by a lot, Qing Shui was still unsure if he should do it or not.

“What are you thinking?” Di Chen gently nudged Qing Shui on the arms.

“Nothing. Come on, let’s eat!” Qing Shui picked up some food from the dishes and placed them on Di Chen’s bowl. As soon as he did that, he quickly realized that he was being quite suspicious in front of Di Chen. Oddly enough, he calmed down when he learned that the chopsticks he was holding were new.

After that, Qing Shui immersed himself in the food while still thinking about other things. Qihai, Baihui, and Shanzhong were the three largest acupuncture points in a human body. Qing Shui didn’t think that Di Chen can clear her Qihai Acupoint any time soon, so he would really like to help her with his current abilities.

If he left her alone to clear her Qihai Acupoint by herself, it would end up the same as the ‘Yongquan Acupoint’ last time – it could clear up tomorrow, or it would never be cleared in more than ten years.

“Sis, today I will bring you two to somewhere nice to ease your mind.” said Di Qing as she faced Di Chen, then she took another glance at Qing Shui after talking.

“Okay! Then we should go. There are no more memories to make if we keep staying inside.” Di Chen laughed softly.

“Qing Shui, are you coming too?” asked Di Chen as she turned to face Qing Shui.

“It’s no fun if it’s just us two. He should come with us. At least there is someone who can protect us if we happen to meet some bad guys.” Di Qing giggled. She had basically took the words out of Qing Shui’s mouth.

“Miss Qing, the gang from the Four Seas, do you know who they are?” Qing Shui put down his bowl and asked Di Qing.

“Lei Clan from the Seven Stars Country, why?”

“Nothing, it’s just that I feel that the Four Seas Restaurant has to pay a lot of money to them despite being a large restaurant. I just want to see what kind of clan they were to have such a big appetite.” Qing Shui smiled as he wiped his mouth.

“Hehe, so you want to know what kind of family the Lei Clan is, right?” Di Qing gave an amiable smile at Qing Shui.

“Hmm, do you know something about them?”

“You had been to the Four Seas Restaurant, so you should already know that the Lei Clan is not as simple as you think. Even though the Lei Clan is not one of the stars of the Seven Stars, their power is still as comparable to the family clans among the Seven Stars. But too bad, they don’t have the same influence and power as the Seven Stars.”

……..

The Longevity Street!

This wide street was known as the Longevity Street, where the Medicine Sect was the main authority of this area. It seemed that every name of the streets under their domain had something to do with medicinal pills.

This street was also considered to have the most abundant medical ingredients, medicinal pills, and recipes in the Seven Stars City. There were buildings of commerce on both sides of the street, half of which were selling medical ingredients and medicinal pills, as well as a handful of hospitals.

As expected, there was a lot of people walking along the streets and stopping by at some shops. Besides the merchants and martial warriors occupying the street, there were also a large number of wounded patients among the crowd. That was to be expected since there were a lot of hospitals in the area as well.

Perhaps it was due to the name of the street, the businesses for medical ingredients and hospitals were thriving more than the others. Moreover, the patients who came for treatment were also seeking for good luck in their recovery. Furthermore, the effects of recovery was much more faster compared to other places in the country, so gradually this street had become one of the most popular places in the world. Hence, a lot of people started to come here for the treatment of their wounds due to the rumors.

When Di Qing asked him where he wanted to visit, Qing Shui didn’t think twice and chose this street to roam around.

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the other side of the street. There was a bunch of people running through, carrying a person covered in blood while shouting for the crowd to quickly make way. At the same time, crying sounds could be heard following these people to the hospital.

There was also a gigantic beast carriages running through the middle of the road in a continuous motion, carrying a significant amount of cargo that was tightly covered with beast leather. The cargo also had a faint fragrance of medical herbs, so it was obvious to everyone what the cargo was.

Besides the medical herb shops, medicinal pill shops, and hospitals, there were a lot of restaurants and inns as well. Due to the population in this street, it was natural for these people to find some places to eat and rest.

Medical Prescription Chamber!

Suddenly, Qing Shui saw a small extravagant building on the side of the street, particularly the three words on the storefront sign. Qing Shui stopped in his tracks as he was attracted to the splendidness of the small building. This store surprisingly stood out from the neighboring stores because of the grandeur and elegance of its architecture.

When Qing Shui saw these three words on the sign, curiousity had piqued his mind, and he decided to take a look!

“Let’s go there and have a look!” said Qing Shui to Di Qing and Di Chen.

“Medical Prescription Chamber, sure, let’s go!” Di Qing laughed after reading the storefront sign. Her expression was like that of a playful child.

“So this place sells alchemy recipes?” asked Qing Shui while walking towards the store.

“Yes!”

“Are the recipes good? How is the business so far? Do they sell anything else other than recipes?” Qing Shui was curious about a lot of things, making him ask a series of questions in a row. After all, there weren’t that many places that would sell alchemy recipes for a living.

“Even though they sell alchemy recipes, these recipes do not sell well. Other than that, they also sell medicinal pills. Oh, do you want to know who is the owner of this Medical Prescription Chamber?” asked Di Qing.

“Oh, is it the Medicine Sect?” Something had clicked inside Qing Shui’s mind as he turned to face Di Qing.