Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty) Ancient Strengthening Technique Chapter 654-655

 

AST 654 – Using the 'Descending Heavens Taliman' to improve something perfect, Fate Pill Refined

 

 

A little more than a month had pa.s.sed in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Qing Shui held in his hand many successful 'Descending Heavens Talisman.' However, he hadn't tested out the might of these 'Descending Heavens Talisman' yet.

 

 

It was better to test it out on the Diamond Gigantic Elephant. He summoned out the Diamond Gigantic Elephant and quickly stuck a Descending Heavens Talisman onto it. What caused Qing Shui to be shocked was the speed at which the Descending Heavens Talisman flew out and stuck onto the Diamond Gigantic Elephant.

 

 

A strange light enveloped the body of the Diamond Gigantic Elephant, Qing Shui carefully inspected the abilities of the Diamond Gigantic Elephant. There was a decrease of about 30 countries of strength and 60 countries of defense.

 

 

2%!

 

 

Qing Shui thought about the situation in the past when he learned how to draw a Heavenly Talisman. Back then, he would immediately obtain the effects of a Grade Two Heavenly Talisman. Although the reduction of 2% was not much, it could still barely be used. It was very difficult to cultivate it to Grade Ten but Qing Shui was already at an advantage since he was able to start one grade ahead of others.

 

 

This way, for those with the abilities of 5000 countries, this talisman could reduce their abilities by 100 countries. If it only weakened the opponent abilities by 100 countries, those strong experts would not even bother about it, it was too insignificant. However, Qing Shui had the Emperor’s Qi, Fiery Golden Eyes, and many other techniques. Thus, this 'Descending Heavens Talisman' could be used to further improve the scenario.

 

 

Putting down the things he had on hand, Qing Shui took a stroll in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. He then discovered that there was a bunch of three-inch tall 'gra.s.s.' This 'gra.s.s' was grown from those fiery-red seeds that he had obtained from the location on the treasure map.

 

 

It had actually blossomed and from the looks of it, it had already blossomed for quite a while. However, Qing Shui did not know what this 'gra.s.s' was. Recently, Qing Shui discovered a strange phenomenon, the Fire Bird seemed to be very interested in this 'gra.s.s' that looked like clumps of flames. It stood guard over it for a period of time every day.This was how Qing Shui discovered the blossoming of these 'gra.s.s'.

 

 

Could it be that these small 'gra.s.s' were related to the Fire Bird? Or perhaps this flame-like gra.s.s was very attractive to the Fire Bird, maybe it could allow the Fire Bird to raise its cultivation?

 

 

Putting all these aside, Qing Shui suddenly noticed that there was a snow-white porcelain bottle amongst the clump of medicinal herbs.

 

 

Porcelain bottle?

 

 

Qing Shui tried his best to recall. Soon, he remembered the origins of this porcelain bottle. Back when he was fis.h.i.+ng in the Stellar Horse Lake, he had fished this up and had just casually tossed it into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. The events that followed caused him to forget about the existence of this porcelain bottle.

 

 

He only saw it again today after all this time. Qing Shui bent over and picked it up, it felt like jade and was slightly cooling in his hands. That gentle texture caused one to feel comfortable. The mouth of the bottle was tightly sealed.

 

 

Qing Shui gently shook his head!

 

 

De De&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;

 

 

That was the sound of a solid object hitting the sides of the bottle. Qing Shui felt that it was the sound of Medicinal Pills, there was a slight hum amidst the tinkling sound.

 

 

He was not in a rush to open it. Instead, he examined the bottle carefully. There were no words on the bottle and the entire bottle was as clean as jade. There was not a speck of dust or any trace of defects on it. The bottle was simple yet it carried a pure type of beauty.

 

 

Open it?

 

 

Qing Shui hesitated, he was sure that there were Medicinal Pills inside. However, he hesitated because some Medicinal Pills had to be consumed in a short period of time after being unsealed. Qing Shui was worried that this was that kind of Medicinal Pill. Since he didn't know of its name and effects, he did not dare to use it. He might end up wasting it. Most importantly, it was fished up from Stellar Horse Lake, the Stellar Horse Lake was filled with highly toxic poison.

 

 

"En! Yuan Su."

 

 

Qing Shui thought about that woman who had an unsurpa.s.sed gift for Medicinal Pills. He felt that she might know what kind of pill this was or maybe the effects of this pill.

 

 

The strength of two was better than one, Qing Shui intended to find Yuan Su tomorrow before he opened the bottle. Once he verified that this Medicinal Pill was harmless, then according to its properties, he would consume it or let his Demonic Beast consume it.

 

 

Finally, Qing Shui began to refine the Fate Pill, this was the pill that gave Qing Shui the most hope. As long as this Alchemy Recipe succeeded, Qing Shui believed that he would have the ability to have a one on one battle with those experts with abilities greater than 5000 countries. Thus, Qing Shui had to treat this seriously, he had to succeed.

 

 

He had three blossomed Flowers of Life and he had collected several Peaches of Immortality. Additionally, he had the Red Jiao's core and bones, along with other materials that were of superior grades. The ingredients had all been completely collected.

 

 

Qing Shui felt that the heavens were helping him this time, thus he had a feeling that he would definitely succeed. This time, when he a.n.a.lyzed the properties of the medicinal herbs, he was even more serious than the time he a.n.a.lyzed the properties of the 'Gale Pellet'. He could not afford to fail this time.

 

 

Looking at the Alchemy Recipe, the Flower of Life and the Peach of Immortality were not the only rare ingredients. The most important main ingredient was the Mysterious Fruit.

 

 

The reward for unlocking the Sixth Level of Realm of Violet Jade Immortal included a Mysterious Fruit Tree. In reality, it only needed two and a half years of time to mature one fruit.

 

 

Mysterious Fruit: One fruit matures every 500 years. After consuming it, there is a 1% chance for an unexpected gain, such as the doubling of strength, defense, speed, breaking through a realm for a martial technique or being enlightened on the obscurity of the five elements&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;

 

 

This was also why Qing Shui felt that the heavens were helping him. Aside from himself, the number of people who had these three ingredients were too few. All of this was thanks to the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

 

 

With his limited quant.i.ty ingredients, Qing Shui only had the chance to refine this once. Thus, Qing Shui had to be very careful. At this moment, he felt that the opportunity of having three chances before was luxurious.

 

 

There was a saying, happiness was relative. When compared to before, succeeding one time out of three was already a blessing. However, when comparing the second time against the first time, it was a disaster&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;

 

 

Qing Shui steeled his heart. After he prepared all the ingredients, he picked up the third flower of the Flower of Life. This was worth two years of real time and in the time within the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, that was 400 years of time.

 

 

Before this refinement, Qing Shui had ensured that he had enough rest, and that his spirit had recovered to its optimal state. If it had been earlier, he might have lacked confidence. However, after refining the Gale Pellet, he found that his abilities to refine Medicinal Pills had increased significantly. It was not just an increase in a grade, it was more like a jump of an entire realm. That feeling was as though he had absolute control of everything within his hands. He might not be able to do it perfectly but he had the confidence that he could succeed.

 

 

This was because of the earlier increase in Medicine Refinement Realm, a realm increase could be discovered but not sought. Of course, his confidence was only valid if the Alchemy Recipe was one that had a possibility to succeed.

 

 

This time, when Qing Shui refined the medicinal pills, it seemed strangely smooth. It was as though he had done it countless times already. His movements were not fast but it would cause one to feel that it is very smooth and natural.

 

 

At the start, he placed in five medicinal herbs, White Hundred Birds Flower, Redbud Flower, Chinese Redbud, Ghostly Gra.s.s, and Stardream Gra.s.s. The age of the herbs were all five thousand years.

 

 

Qing Shui controlled the primordial flames and made it half an inch tall. Refining medicinal pills required a lot of time and effort, the number of people who could use the flames of their body like Qing Shui were limited. Most Alchemists would choose to use the 'Earth Fire' or 'Stone Fire'. These were the people who were in a good situation; those with better situations could find some flames of the five elements to refine medicine. However, the flames of the five elements were elusive and couldn't be easily be found.

 

 

The flames of five elements could be found where the five elements were denser. This flame could increase the quality and the success rate of refining medicines.

 

 

Following that, Qing Shui added a medicinal herb every now and then, it was only when he used half the ingredients then he threw in the Mysterious Fruit Tree&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;

 

 

Three days pa.s.sed in an instant!

 

 

Qing Shui shut his eyes, the primordial flames was still half an inch tall and it gently roasted the bottom of the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron. There was a faint smile on his face, he looked relaxed and calm.

 

 

Suddenly, Qing Shui's eyes snapped open and he swallowed a Vital Essence Pill. 15 minutes later, a bright flame suddenly sprang out from his hands. Despite the flames being gray, it still seemed very gorgeous.

 

 

Ding!

 

 

Qing Shui released his breath but he didn't dare to relax yet. He was successful in forming the pill but it still needed to be nourished. The primordial flames started to slowly weaken, turning more gentle.

 

 

This carried on for a whole day before Qing Shui slowly stopped, he then just laid down and shut his eyes. His mind was already extremely exhausted, not sleeping for a few nights was a small issue but he did not even eat or drink. Furthermore, he had continued to maintain a large energy output. If it was not for the fact that his techniques were so mystical and could continuously replenish his Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique automatically. Additionally, he had the Yin-Yang Image in his sea of consciousness replenis.h.i.+ng his spirit energy. If any of these two were missing, he wouldn't be able to withstand this.

 

 

He had focused his mind to a high degree and his strong spiritual sense was continuously active throughout this long period of time. This might have been the reason for Qing Shui's high success rates of refinement, or it might also be the effect of the Yin-Yang Image.

 

 

This time, he slept longer than before. When he woke up, a day had pa.s.sed. He rose up to eat something, since it was best to just leave the refined pill in the Refining Furnace. Unless he took out his best quality Medicinal Pill porcelain storage bottle, it would be easy for the Medicinal Pill to lose its medicinal effects.

 

 

40 days of time had already past in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. He only had 10 more days of time before he had to go out. When he got back to the Refining Furnace, Qing Shui was a little excited.

 

 

This was the Fate Pill. According to the talents and absorbing abilities of the body, it could raise the bodies abilities by up to 500 countries. Although this was very attractive to other people but to Qing Shui, this was something that he would be willing to risk his life for.

 

 

Thinking of the Diamond Gigantic Elephant that broken through two grades earlier, every level up caused Qing Shui's eyes to go red with jealousy. It was a good thing that it was his Demonic Beast, thus he still felt happy.

 

 

Cultivation! Qing Shui recovered himself to an optimal state before circulating his Qi around his whole body. Qing Shui knew that this would be much more painful than earlier. Qing Shui even took out the Gold Needles, all 81 of them. Qing Shui knew that it was very dangerous but he still wanted to give it a try, he was very confident in his medical skills and the strength of his body.

 

 

This time, this was the biggest change that he would encounter thus far but at the same time, it was accompanied by an enormous danger. There were some people, who after consuming a Divine Heavenly Pill, discovered that their body exploded and ended up dying. This was the same for many heavenly treasures. Thus, it would require the Alchemist to separate out the medicinal strength and absorb it bit by bit. Another option was to refine it into a medicinal pill that would make it safer and easier to absorb. Although this might not result in an explosive increase in strength and a large portion of the medicinal strength may be lost, it would at least guarantee the safety of one's life.

 

 

AST 655 – Consuming the UnG.o.dly Fate Pill, Skyrocket

 

 

His whole body was dominated by sheer imposing force as he sat cross-legged beside the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron. Qing Shui wrinkled his forehead and frowned. He knew that improving his abilities was definitely favorable, but it would take an extreme level of endurance to withstand the excruciating pain through this method. It might even cost him his life if he wasn't careful enough.

 

 

Having cultivated the art of [Rebirth], Qing Shui did not fear pain, but he feared that he might accidentally end his life right now. He still had a lot of things to accomplish and a lot of people he couldn't leave behind.

 

 

He had also prepared a Five Dragon Pellet on his side, which he could use to cure any poisonous effects. Not only that, the Five Dragon Pellet had another blasphemous ability of delaying the user's death by one full day.

 

 

The Five Dragon Pellet was indeed wondrous, due to its nature as an antidote and also its ability to extend the user's life by one day as long as the user did not suffer any injuries around the head, abdomen, inner organs and bones. However, Qing Shui's most valuable lifeline was none other than the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus floating in the middle of the lake.

 

 

Nonetheless, he still wasn't sure if the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus really possessed the miraculous ability of the Bones of the Living Dead. It was a legend that was pa.s.sed down by generations, and was believed by almost everyone to be true. There were only a few people in the world who had seen a divine medicine that was as extraordinary as the Bones of the Living Dead.

 

 

Because of that, Qing Shui wanted to depend on his own effort to push through the pain during this very critical moment instead of relying on the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus. If the Golden Buddha Aura Lotus did not work as it intended to, the outcome would be dreadful.

 

 

At this moment, Qing Shui felt completely lost. He had no intention of dying – He couldn't accept being killed due to him not consuming the Fate Pill. If he had to choose between watching something bad happen to Di Chen and self-explosion, he would rather explode into oblivion and die a horrible death.

 

 

Although, he could not afford to lose his life as there were things he has yet to accomplish, he decided to gamble his life on the Fate Pill while believing in his own luck. There was no way he was that unfortunate to have refined a Fate Pill and then explode into oblivion after consuming it. Even ghosts would be p.i.s.sed off by that unlucky turn of events.

 

 

Qing Shui promptly took out all his Golden Needles as a precaution to secure his own life. He was confident in his own medical skills and the tenacity of his physical body. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be deciding if he should consume the Fate Pill at this moment.

 

 

Even though the Fate Pill might be too much for his current ability, he would at least still be able to survive. If he happened to explode and die, the entire Di Residence would be affected as well as the effects of the explosion would still wipe away everything within its radius.

 

 

Why did this have to happen now? Was it a coincidence?

 

 

Qing Shui felt depressed. If he and Di Chen were still in Greencloud Continent, the Fight of the Ultimate Life and Death would not have happened. Was it triggered by Old Demon Ba's death? Or was it triggered by the pa.s.sing of the powerful old man from the Di Clan?

 

 

He would only feel worse if he kept thinking about it, hence he stopped his train of thought and refocused on the Fate Pill. He had ten days left before the Fight of the Ultimate Life and Death. If he was able to absorb the effects of the Fate Pill by then, he would be able to boost his strength by a considerable amount. Of course this would depend on his level of absorption – how much strength he could absorb between the range of 100 to 500 countries.

 

 

If he was able to absorb 400 countries worth of strength into his body, his chances of winning would be increased by 30 percent. It would be perfect if he was able to complement his supplementary skills with whatever strength he received from the Fate Pill.

 

 

And that was the root of the problem – he had no idea how much strength he was able to absorb into his body. Even though he was confident in his strength and the tenacity of his body – that he would be able to absorb a good portion of strength, he felt that if he could absorb at least 350 countries worth of strength, he would be invincible.

 

 

Qing Shui picked up three Golden Needles and inserted them at the Shanzhong, Juque, and Qimen Acupoints, which could s.h.i.+eld the heart pulses from harm when stimulated. This was so that even if something bad were to happen to him, he would still be able to mitigate the situation and stay alive.

 

 

After sitting down for a while, Qing Shui decided to open the lid of the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron and check the Fate Pill. The moment he opened the lid, a pleasant fragrance emerged from the inside. The pill smelled exquisitely delightful, perhaps even more delightful than food doused in the condiments from the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Or perhaps he simply felt nauseated from the smell of the condiments, and the pleasant fragrance of the pill was more refres.h.i.+ng.

 

 

The Fate Pill was the size of a walnut and gave out a soft l.u.s.tre s.h.i.+ne on the surface. It was snow white in color and as smooth as a jade. Qing Shui could feel a strong energy within the pill as it emanated a spiritual Qi that was powerful enough to choke someone.

 

 

Without much hesitation, Qing Shui quickly chucked the Fate Pill inside his mouth, which melted instantly at the touch of his tongue. A swift, cool feeling flowed through his throat, leaving an aromatic flavor in his mouth. It was quite a wonderful experience.

 

 

This must be the taste of a superb wine that only G.o.ds were allowed to savor. Qing Shui had never tasted such wine before, so he could only imagine how the wine would taste like after he consumed the Fate Pill. The sensation he felt from consuming the Fate Pill was as if he had a pa.s.sionate kiss with the woman he loved the most, while sucking the sweet juices from her dainty mouth. It was indescribable yet phenomenal.

 

 

Ancient Strengthening Technique!

 

 

Qing Shui could not afford to relax. He quickly circulated all his techniques through his body. Unfortunately, the Violet Gold Divine s.h.i.+eld and the Heavenly Talisman could not be used in this situation.

 

 

He could feel his Dantian and meridians swelling up immediately, but it wasn't painful at all. The swelling felt positively comfortable, which came as a surprise. However, this comfortable sensation would soon fade away as he could sense the energy in his body continuously surging to the maximum – he knew the next thing he would feel was the excruciating pain.

 

 

Qing Shui slowly cleared his head of distracting thoughts. He only had one thing in his mind, and that was to succeed no matter what. Now would be the greatest life-changing moment of his entire life. He only needed to get through this and welcome the wide clear path at the side with the greener gra.s.s. If he was able to get through this, he would skyrocket himself to the heavens.

 

 

Qing Shui unconsciously entered a realm that resembled a State of No Conscious. Was this an epiphany?

 

 

Whether or not it was an epiphany, Qing Shui had no clue. All he could feel was that he was sinking into a wondrous realm, and that his strength kept increasing at a crazy rate.

 

 

He had also lost track of time, so he didn't know how long he has been in this realm, although it feel like a day had already pa.s.sed by. Suddenly, Qing Shui opened his eyes after feeling a stinging pain. He woke up and realized that his body was covered in a thin layer of blackened blood. The blood had a very strong stench. However, Qing Shui was quite happy when he saw the blood, as it meant that the impurities cleansing had taken place.

 

 

Qing Shui then took a Golden Needle and inserted it into his Zhangmen Acupoint, and then another one into his Shenting Acupoint!

 

 

After every hour, Qing Shui would insert a Golden Needle to release a bit of Qi from his body. Although he would be releasing a bit of the medicine effect together with the Qi from his Ancient Strengthening Technique, he had no other choice. It was better than to endure the full extent of pain without a sense of relief.

 

 

Qing Shui still had no idea how long he had been in the State of No Conscious. Nonetheless, he was able to feel that half of the medicinal effects had already been absorbed into his body.

 

 

Feeling the intense pain creeping in, he had no choice but to circulate his Ancient Strengthening Technique to the maximum level, hoping that the Qi from the Ancient Strengthening Technique could absorb the continuously increasing energy. If he still couldn't endure the pain, he would then insert another Golden Needle to release a bit of the medicine effect in his body.

 

 

After the 36th Golden Needle, Qing Shui felt that he could finally control the violent energy in his body. The previous Golden Needles he had used weren't simply for the purpose of releasing some of the medicine effect and Qi, they were also used to strengthen his meridians as well as to consolidate and nurture his const.i.tution temporarily.

 

 

Three days had pa.s.sed before Qing Shui began to slowly open his eyes. He smiled widely, knowing that he had succeeded despite the bloodstains all over his body.

 

 

Qing Shui couldn't gauge the energy absorbed within his body, so he tried to get a sense of it. When he knew how much energy he had gained, he laughed even more heartily. He had gained the strength of 400 countries and his defense had increased by 500 countries.

 

 

This was more than he had expected. Ignoring the b.l.o.o.d.y odor on his clothes, he slowly yet excitedly circulated the Nature Energy, State of Immovable as Mountains, Frenzied Bull's Strength&h.e.l.lip;..

 

 

The improvement of the Fate Pill this time had led to the increase of Qing Shui's attack power to around 800 countries of strength, while his defense power had reached about 1100 countries. Under the pa.s.sive effects of Diamond Qi and Diamond Protection, his attack was further boosted to about 1600 countries, and his defense further boosted to about 2200 countries. His speed and endurance had received quite a substantial boost as well.

 

 

Nature Energy!

 

 

Diamond Qi!

 

 

Qing Shui had achieved an attack of roughly 2800 countries and a defense of 3300 countries without having equipped his weapons and armors. As the powerful energy surged through his body, he quickly took out the Violet Gold Divine s.h.i.+eld and Big Dipper Sword, equipped them straightaway.

 

 

G.o.dly Force Talisman!

 

 

Divine s.h.i.+eld Talisman!

 

 

Not only were his powers sufficiently boosted, the formidable force of the Heavenly Talismans were boosted as well! If Qing Shui were to release all of his strength at once, his attack would reach 4300 countries worth of strength. Under the effects of the Divine s.h.i.+eld Talisman, his defense would reach 3800 countries worth of strength. Moreover, his defense could be briefly doubled if he equipped his Seven Star Armored Vest, which would only last for about an hour&h.e.l.lip;.

 

 

Now that his speed was at supersonic level and his defense at a ridiculous level, his trump cards, Critical Damage, Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb, the formidable Hidden Weapon Technique, the State of One with Elephant that could be used simultaneously with the Combination Sword Technique while riding the Diamond Gigantic Elephant, had all become invincible.

 

 

At that moment, Qing shui was stunned. It wasn't even two months in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and Qing Shui's strength had already went from Early Grade Six Martial Saint to his current Peak Grade Nine Martial Saint, albeit barely&h.e.l.lip;..

 

 

This was indeed skyrocketing. In the blink of an eye, he had actually reached an unbelievable level of strength. It took Qing Shui quite a while to absorb the reality before he returned to his senses.

 

 

Fate Pill, as its name implied, would entirely change the fate of the person after consuming it. Their speed would become faster, and their defense would be stronger, just as Qing Shui's did. Now, he would be able to fight head on with Grade Ten Martial Saints in a battle. Moreover, with his Critical Damage at its maximum lethality, he would be able to land a deadly blow to his enemies.

 

 

At this moment, Qing Shui felt an indescribable satisfaction and relief as he felt the stream of vivacious energy radiating through his body. At the same time, he was actually looking forward to the upcoming Fight of the Ultimate Life and Death in two days time, unlike the worrisome sensation he had before.

 

 

Only at this moment, did he look down at his clothes smeared with blood and finally realize that he was giving off a stench of b.l.o.o.d.y odor. Qing Shui quickly gathered some water from the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and cleaned his body. He then changed into his Lunar Silk Garment, which had the ability to cleanse itself whenever it was stained or dirtied. His garment was quite tough as well, which had Qing Shui suspecting whether it was at the level of Fake Divine Artifact. However, that wasn't a big concern as Critical Damage was one of the supplementary skills attached to the Lunar Silk Garment.

 

 

As his time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal was almost up, Qing Shui spent the remaining time eating some food and walking around the field. When he saw his Diamond Gigantic Elephant roaming nearby, he was lightened up with happiness and joy.

 

 

In a short amount of time, his strength as well as the Diamond Gigantic Elephant's strength had experienced a tremendous change. Before, both of them did not possess the strength lethal enough to kill his upcoming opponents. Now, they could undoubtedly make them pay and weep in grief.

 

 

Qing Shui walked towards the poisonous pond and looked at the poisonous beings growing inside. They were already filling up the pond, and this was due to the abilty of the Five-Colored Daylily Gra.s.s he had planted, which doubled the toxin production of the poisonous beings.

 

 

That being said, Qing Shui had been busy collecting a lot of poisonous beings to fill out the pond. Once the pond was fully packed with these poisonous beings, he would try tempering the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb after the Fight of the Ultimate Life and Death was concluded. This time, he planned to use the crystals extracted from the Crystal Lion to boost the toxicity of the web.

 

 

If you would like to support our translations, please consider pledging to our