Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 746 – Preparations To The Southern Viewing Continent, The Tough Yiye Jiange

Three days later, Qin Shang came again to the Qing Residence to invite Qing Shui to the Qin Residence. Naturally, Qin Shang went back to the Qin Residence together with Qing Shui, and this time everything went smoothly. However, a lot of people in the Qin Residence were surprised by the presence of Qing Shui when he had arrived. They were also puzzled as to why the old man of the Qin Clan would hand over the position of clan leader to Qin Shang, but finally understood it was due to Qing Shui’s influence.

Qing Shui was only there to show his presence and nothing else. After the time to take an incense stick to burn had passed, Old man Qin had finally announced that Qin Shang would be the next head of the clan. When there wasn’t any objection from the members of the Qin Clan, Qing Shui finally allowed himself to leave. He had fulfilled his promise to Qin Shang – he only came just for Qin Shang’s sake.

In any case, Qing Shui didn’t care much for other people’s gossips and speculations. After everything was over, Qin Shang and the higher-ups of the Qin Clan escorted Qing Shui out of the residence and bid him farewell. Qin Shang insisted on sending Qing Shui back to the Heavenly Palace personally, but that offer was ultimately refused by Qing Shui himself.

In a blink of an eye, the end of January had arrived. Qing Shui was relieved that the work development of the Heavenly Palace and Qing Residence were going smoothly as planned. Moreover, with Luan Luan and the ladies by his side, as well as the display of strength by the Martial Saints in the Qing Clan, he was more than happy to feel alive.

On the other hand, one of Luan Luan’s Earth Devouring Mouses had already reached the Elementary Martial Saint level after it had consumed the Beast Pellets as well as other strength-boosting medicinal pills from Qing Shui. After the upgrade, the said Earth Devouring Mouse had gained the ability to fly in the sky freely. It was also distinctively larger than the other Earth Devouring Mouses by one-third of their size, and its silver-white furs were visibly more textured than it was before. In addition, the speed of the larger Earth Devouring Mouse had been boosted by multiple folds as well, which allowed it to move much faster in a short amount of time.

Luan Luan was elated when one of her Earth Devouring Mouses had a breakthrough. Because of that, she began to developed a gleaming hope that the remaining nine Earth Devouring Mouses would be able to breakthrough to Martial Saint soon. When she thought about the idea that all of her Earth Devouring Mouses would become Martial Saints, she was filled with endless excitement. However, in order for a breakthrough to occur, a right opportunity must be presented at the precise moment. With that thought in mind, she had considered that the breakthrough to Martial Saint of that particular Earth Devouring Mouse was due to an accidental luck.

Even though the remaining Earth Devouring Mouses did not manage to had a breakthrough, their abilities were greatly boosted instead after consuming those medicinal pills. Because Luan Luan was the one who had fed the medicinal pills to them, their bond was further strengthened which made them closer as if they were a family.

Luan Luan could also communicate with her Earth Devouring Mouses through the Heart of Seven Orifices. The heart had also granted her the ability to feel their thoughts. Thus, she began to treat her demonic beasts as her friends, and also as her children. Due to the unbreakable bond that they shared with each other, the Earth Devouring Mouses would never betray her. When they chose to follow her, they had chosen to be with her for eternity, even if they had to die protecting their owner. The Heart of the Seven Orifices was indeed that compelling and powerful.

Other people could only force the demonic beasts to succumb to their commands through the brute strength of their martial arts. However, it was impossible to make some demonic beasts to surrender to their orders – they would rather die than succumb to the brute force of this people.

Qing Shui had made his way to Cang Wuya’s home. The old man had already grown various flowers around his home, but he wasn’t as passionate as before when it comes to breeding his fishes anymore. Cang Wuya would practice some of his fist techniques in the morning, however, he was still stuck at the realm of Peak Martial King. If he couldn’t find the right opportunity in Hhis remaining life, he would never be able to achieve another breakthrough.

“Qing Shui, you’re here.” Cang Wuya was quite happy when he saw Qing Shui.

“Morning, old man!” Qing Shui greeted Cang Wuya who was in the midst of sprinkling granules into the pond.

“I didn’t know you were this free to roam around for today. Normally you wouldn’t have time to come visit me even for a few minutes.” Cang Wuya put down the item on his hand and gestured Qing Shui to follow him to the pavilion nearby.

“What about Martial Uncle Fei? Will he be coming over today?” Qing Shui smiled.

“He will come later. He has been stopping by almost everyday for the past few weeks and have a meal or two with me. Why?” asked Cang Wuya as he shot a curious look at Qing Shui.

“I think I’m almost settled with the stuff regarding the former Old Ancestor. Once this is done, I might be able to relax for a while. Unfortunately, it might take a while, since this matter is still beyond my ability. Otherwise I would have been able to relax a long time ago.” said Qing Shui, as he felt a bit helpless with his current situation.

Cang Wuya let out a sigh, not knowing what to say to Qing Shui. The matters about the Old Ancestor should have been handled by him and the elders, but none of them were capable enough to see it through. Cang Wuya would always feel like a failure whenever he thought about their inability to handle the problem.

He also understood what Qing Shui meant by ‘beyond his ability’, it had something to do with Yiye Jiange. Qing Shui was only able to pacify the matters regarding the Lion King’s Ridges. Cang Wuya looked at Qing Shui and said: “You are still young, so there’s still a chance for you. Moreover, you have Luan Luan by your side. Perhaps she will be the one who can take down the Lion King’s Ridges one day.”

“Back then I had already decided that I will take down the Lion King’s Ridges within 20 years of time. The power of a supreme sect is unimaginable. It has been 10 years since I made that decision, and yet I am still far from taking them down.” Qing Shui couldn’t imagine that the power of a third-class supreme aristocratic family would be far more powerful than he was. The people from the Lion King’s Ridges would at least had the ability of the first-class, or worse, far more supreme than those of the first-class.

“You have tried your best for the past 10 years, and you will do better in the years to come. You can still make it in another 10 years. Besides, Jiange didn’t actually think that you would ask her to face the risks with the Lion King’s Ridges together. I feel that it might be the opposite, she wanted to go to face the Lion King’s Ridges head on by herself.” Cang Wuya said in a serious manner.

“Hmm. I know, regardless, I will definitely bring her along to the Lion King’s Ridges.” Qing Shui recalled the time she and Baili Jingwei had saved him and the Qing Clan from the depths of misery in the Hundred Miles City. He felt that he would never be able to repay her kindness enough regardless if he could defeat the Lion King’s Ridges or not.

Qing Shui wanted her to feel happy once more. He wanted to do something that was worth of her happiness, and that something was the confrontation with the Lion King’s Ridges. Even though it was beyond what he could offer right now, it certainly didn’t stop him from pursuing towards this matter. All he needed was a little bit more time…….

After a while, Fei Wuji arrived. When he saw Qing Shui after a long time, he was visibly stunned. After all, Qing Shui was the type who would rarely go out on a normal basis. Fei Wuji adjusted himself and finally said: “Qing Shui, you took the time to come here, did something happened?”

Qing Shui stood up and greeted Fei Wuji before they all sat down together. As he did so, he said: “Today I wanted to talk to Martial Uncle about when we could prepare our journey to the Southern Viewing Continent.”

Even though Fei Wuji had already knew that Qing Shui would inquire about the Southern Viewing Continent when he saw him, he was still taken by surprise when Qing Shui asked him about this. He looked at Qing Shui, clearly flabbergasted by the question.

“You really want to go?” Fei Wuji was a bit muddle-headed when he asked Qing Shui.

The affairs with the Southern Viewing Continent had been on his mind for a long time. Because of this matter, his grandfather had to single-handedly kill his father, and his mother lived on with this burden even until she died in the end. Although his grandfather had never spoken about it, he wasn’t able to break through the realm of Martial Saint due to the incident with the Southern Viewing Continent. His grandfather had to kill his only son due to the provocation by the people from the Southern Viewing Continent. Who wouldn’t fall into a state of grief and sorrow if they were forced to kill their own child…..

Ever since Fei Wuji was a young lad, he had hated his grandfather. But when he had realized that his grandfather was the victim in that incident after he grew up, he finally understood why he had to do it. His grandfather suffered the most, the pain that he had carried with him after the incident was indescribable – it was more painful than being stabbed and cut into pieces. Fei Wuji’s father was born into the world when his grandfather was almost at his prime. His father was the only child of his grandfather, and he was the closest to his own child than anyone else. When his grandfather had to kill his father – his only son, he felt extremely miserable that even committing suicide couldn’t drown this pain away. But there was no choice, he was just a pawn in the hands of the cruel men due to his lack of ability to stand up for himself. His pain was the amusement of his enemies.

Fei Wuji had once thought of standing above the Eastern Palace Clan one day and annihilate his old enemies all at once. He felt that he should had burn down the entire Eastern Palace Clan, that it might satisfy his anger one way or another. Even though he was still young back then, he had already shown the hardships of life in his eyes.

As his thoughts were running about his head, Fei Wuji’s eyes had became red as two droplets of tears rolled down his face. Men would only weep when their heart was truly broken.

“Martial Uncle Fei, we will depart after three days. What do you say?” Qing Shui gave a gentle smile at Fei Wuji.

Fei Wuji looked up to face Qing Shui. He had regained his composure slowly and calmed himself down before he turned to look at Cang Wuya. Only when Cang Wuya gave a slight nod that Fei Wuji was able to reply to Qing Shui: “I can depart anytime.”

Qing Shui had pondered for a bit and finally said: “Then it’s settled. We will depart after three days. Martial Uncle Fei, please talk to Elder Bai about it, and see how many people we need to bring to the the Southern Viewing Continent.”

Fei Wuji was confirmed to be joining the journey, but it was optional for the others. Of course, they were allowed to come if they wanted to, but it would be Fei Wuji’s decision to finalize the number of people allowed for the journey ahead.

“Okay. Martial Uncle, are you coming with us?” Fei Wuji turned to ask Cang Wuya.

Just then Elder Ge walked in with a smile on his face and said, “Go with them. Even though he didn’t have a strong cultivation base as Qing Shui, he could still provide a clear analysis on a lot of things. If Qing Shui wasn’t able to make a decision, he could always discuss it with Elder Cang.”

…………

“Qing Shui, please be careful this time. If you cannot overcome the Eastern Palace Clan, please retreat as soon as possible. As long as you are still alive, you can always exact your revenge any time.” Yiye Jiange said in a calm tone as he stood at the mountain peak.

“I understand, Jiange…..” Qing Shui didn’t know what else to say. It had been a long time since Yiye Jiange first came to the Greencloud Continent. She had spent most of her time at the Skysword Sect before she met him at the Hundred Miles City. From the moment they were acquainted with each other until now, their relationship had been stuck in a strange fixed point.

“Do you have something you want to say?” Yiye Jiange looked at Qing Shui as he reached out his hand to pat her head twice. Before he tried to touch her head, he had a few moments of hesitation in his action.

Qing Shui wasn’t quite sure himself, his heart burned with intense grief. Yiye Jiange had also suffered just as much as Fei Wuji did. If a great man like Fei Wuji couldn’t hold back his tears, then what about Yiye Jiange?

She had been alone for so many years. It must be difficult, so very difficult…..

Qing Shui had felt a pang in his heart as he looked at Yiye Jiange. Then suddenly, he went closer and hugged her. This was the first skinship they had ever done after they met each other for a long time. Surprisingly, Yiye Jiange didn’t refuse his embrace and continued to let Qing Shui hug her. She felt his emotions and sympathy when she saw his expression.

“Jiange, we are a family. I can do anything for you. So if you have any problems, please tell me. Maybe I haven’t shown you a lot of concern after such a long time…….” Qing Shui whispered softly into her ears.

“I have no problems. Meeting you was the best thing that has happened in my life. I am very happy.” Yiye Jiange sighed as she laughed. She returned his embrace by extending her arms towards Qing Shui before she released herself from his hug.

………

“Qing Shui, do you want me to follow you?” Di Chen held Qing Shui’s hand and smiled.

“The Misty Hall still needs your support.” Qing Shui picked up Di Chen and let her sit on his lap. He even placed her feet softly on the end table.

“Ah, you rascal.” Di Chen scoffed. Maybe she knew Qing Shui was going to leave soon, so she slowly placed her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat.

“I’m going to leave soon. So if you can, please fulfill your husband’s only wish.” Qing Shui gave Di Chen a pleasing smile as he looked at her face buried on his chest.

Di Chen blushed. Ever since that mysterious dream among the sea of flowers last time, their relationship had suddenly skyrocketed to a high level of intimacy. This rascal was even bolder as he used the word ‘husband’ in their conversation.

“What wish?” Di Chen knew that nothing good would come out of Qing Shui when he asked for something. But she still brought herself to inquire about it, all because he was going to leave soon. She had became more open-minded after the incident with the Zuoshi Clan had passed.

“Kiss me!” Qing Shui had a smile on his face as he looked at Di Chen.

Di Chen slowly lifted her head. She hesitated for a while, her face was instantly flushed with an intense red. She began to inch closer towards Qing Shui’s face, and then as slowly as she could, she closed her eyes and went for the kiss.

It was a peck on the cheek, yet the soft sensation he felt made his heart fluttered. He couldn’t resist the temptation anymore and quickly kissed her on the lips. It was a long, yet passionate kiss, which left a faint pink mark around her mouth after Qing Shui had finally released her lips.