Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty) Ancient Strengthening Technique Chapter 1120-1121

AST 1120 – Looking Back, It Has Been A Very Long Journey…

Late in the afternoon of that day, Qing Shui and the others returned to the Beitang Residence in Lion King’s Ridge and looked around. Qing Shui finally found some low grade Sacred Beast Pills. There were over a hundred bottles of them…

He only had a few bottles earlier and felt that they weren’t evenly distributed but it was all fine now. It was enough. Other than low grade Sacred Beast Pills, he also found quite a number of medicinal herbs, medicinal pills, martial techniques, and refining materials. Gold and silver suddenly became the most worthless thing.

Qing Shui had no need for the other stuff. After storing away some of the low grade Sacred Beast Pills, medicinal herbs and such, he gave the rest to the ladies. However, Beitang Clan’s battle technique was something that they could pick up.

It was getting late and since Qing Shui was still injured, he decided to bring the few ladies along, including Luan Luan. He did this to let them use the low grade Sacred Beast Pills to tame some powerful demonic beast. Moreover, after things were done here, they could head for the Peng Meng Immortal Mountains or make a quick trip back. Otherwise, there won’t be enough time since he needed to make the next transportation to the other Four Continents.

Entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui didn’t do anything but lie down. His body needed some time to recuperate and the realm would allow him to do so in a short amount of time.

The matters with the Lion King’s Ridge was settled and Qing Shui heaved a sigh of relief. If it was in the past, he felt that he would have already been able to sit down and rest. Or rather, he could already stop where he was. With his current abilities, he was already at the very peak of the Five Continents.

Thinking of this, Qing Shui went into a daze. Unknowingly, he had already gone very far in his life, having reached a height which he could only think of or maybe a height which he might not even have dared to dream of in the past.

He had thought of eradicating Lion King’s Ridge. In the past, he had thought that a hundred thousand stars would be enough to allow him to destroy it. However, he only barely managed to accomplish this act with his current level at over two million stars. He almost had to give up his life for this too.

In the past, he hadn’t expected to be able to become this strong so quickly. The Nine Continents Mountain and the Dragon Qi had allowed his abilities in the Five Continents to soar. However, he knew that the most important thing was the Arhat Rosary Beads. Without it, Qing Shui felt that he probably would still have no hopes to deal with Beitang Clan.

Laying here made him feel extremely relaxed but upon thinking about Di Chen, he felt a little worried. The growth in his strength also made him craved for more power. Only with power would he be able to protect his family and the friends around him.

Right now, he still didn’t feel that he had great ambitions. He only wanted the people around him to live a happy and blissful life. Nothing else was important. He would live together with his women and kids. It was just so simple.

However, because of his family background and the fact that some of his women came from exceptional backgrounds, he had to take this route. He didn’t regret this. There were two sides to everything. Sometimes, trouble might not be a bad thing. When the trouble was resolved, one would be able to feel that life was more wonderful than before.

Now that the trouble here had been settled, it was time for them to head back. He would go back, stay for a while, go through some preparations, and then head off to the other Four Continents.

Peng Meng Immortal Mountains, was also on the north side of the Northern Sacred Lu Continent, it was not too far away from where they were. Qing Shui decided to bring the few ladies with him tomorrow and help them tame their demonic beast while taking a look at the area as well.

He looked at the Demonic Beast Token which had sealed the Golden Ni Lion. The good thing about the Demonic Beast Token was that after a demonic beast was sealed inside, time would stop for it. Although this Golden Ni Lion was on its final breath, after being sealed in, it was frozen in that state.

The Five-colored Art of Forging could already be considered quite stable. However, with his current abilities, the things which he forged would no longer provide great improvements like before. At this level, one would still need to rely on their own abilities. Clothes were just for appearances only.

Of course, there were still some legendary weapons, armors, and even some divine artifacts which were very powerful. However, even some slightly useful things would have some effects, albeit their effects were lesser.

Thankfully, there were quite a lot of precious forging materials in the World of the Nine Continents. In addition to the fact that quite a lot had been left behind since the ancient times, as long as one was strong, there would be quite a lot of benefits to be gained by joining a major influence.

Qing Shui had killed quite a number of powerful demonic beasts. Moreover, a sizeable amount of Beitang Clan’s collection was suitable for forging armors and weapons. Qing Shui planned to leave the items he forged for his family and women. Most importantly, these armors and weapons had all been engraved with a Seal Formation.

For clothes, they tended to be defense Seal Formations; for clothes, they would be Seal Formations which would increase one’s damage; for shoes, there would be Galewind Seal Formations. They were all at the lowest level but it took Qing Shui a lot of effort before he could engrave them successfully. Ever since he engraved the Seal Formations, he hadn’t stop and would engrave some daily.

As he engraved them, he realized that he was not limited to Seal Formations and he could engrave 'Heavenly Talisman' as well. However, this made sense. Since talismans were drawn on, they would have a similar effect if engraved using the same methods as Seal Formations. However, it was a pity that they couldn’t be used together with another Heavenly Talisman. For Qing Shui, this was the same as saving the effort of putting talismans on himself. Of course, this would be even more suitable for the other few ladies.

This wouldn’t work for attack-based Heavenly Talismans such as the Descending Heavens Talismans and Heart Toxin Talismans. For these talismans, they could only be drawn!

After getting stronger, Qing Shui decided to use even stronger beast hides to forge armors, battle skirts, and other stuff for them, he also engraved the Seal Formation on these items. He was also planning to leave several sets for them, including those for battle wear, fur robes, and those which were of a softer quality…

The Five-Colored Art of Forging had also reached a later phase and this made Qing Shui very happy. Although he hadn’t been using the hammer as a weapon, he had been practicing the Thousand Hammer Technique and could even hammer out over ten thousand times.

This was progress. From the first hammer, he continued to engrave items to be left behind for Qing Clan. These items would be useful for strengthening one’s body and tempering the bones.

Qing Shui didn’t neglect the Combination Sword Technique either. However, it seemed to be increasingly hard to train it. Right now, he barely managed to grasp the Five Moves Combination Sword Technique. Out of every ten attempts, he would fail eight times.

The Four Moves Combination Sword Technique could increase one’s physical strength by 40%, and when the Five Moves Combination Sword Technique was successful, it could increase one’s physical strength by 80%. This made Qing Shui very agitated. In the future, each additional increment in sword moves would increase the prowess by one fold. Two Moves Combination Sword Technique increases physical strength by 10%, Three Moves Combination Sword Technique increases by 20%, Four Moves Combination Sword Technique increases by 40%, and now, the Five Moves Combination Sword Technique increases by 80%…

Qing Shui’s current physical strength had reached about 25,000 stars and a 40% increase in strength would be quite a significant amount when put together with the weapons and the increment from the Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation.

If he could include one more move, then the prowess…

Qing Shui had expected that this would be the case earlier but he wasn’t very sure. With each additional move incorporated, the difficulty would be more than one fold. Moreover, the most important factor in cultivating the Combination Sword Technique was one’s level of comprehension.

Even ordinary people would be able to pick it up as long as they had some basic knowledge of martial techniques. After all, some stances required highly difficulty movements. Other than that, it also required familiarity and comprehension of the Basic Sword Techniques.

An increase in physical strength by 40% would increase his overall abilities by about 150,000 stars. This also caused Qing Shui to feel that the further he advanced in the Basic Sword Techniques, the more powerful he would become. It was just that the latter parts would be even more difficult but the greater the increase in his physical strength would allow the Combination Sword Technique to unleash an even greater prowess. Moreover, the Combination Sword Technique used the most direct moves and was especially troublesome to deal with.

There was also progress in his level of drawings but he didn’t manage to attain a breakthrough. However, he had recently picked up two Heavenly Talismans that were related to spirit energy. One of it increases the target’s spiritual energy, the Cloud Spirit Talisman. The other one reduces the target’s spirit energy, Spirit Absorbing Talisman.

These two Heavenly Talismans were similar to the Descending Heavens Talisman, the increment of weakening effect was at 5%.

It was better than nothing. Moreover, Qing Shui could engrave the Cloud Spirit Talisman onto helmets or phoenix crowns with the method of engraving Seal Formations. In battles, martial artists would also put on helmets or phoenix crowns since they could save lives in times of emergencies. However, good helmets and phoenix crowns were hard to come by and if one was unlucky enough to be struck on the head, it would be useless even if the person was wearing a helmet unless they were wearing a legendary or divine artifact.

Qing Shui only started cultivating his skills after resting for over ten days in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. After three months, he had already fully recuperated. He practiced for half a day before taking a break. He saw those Portraits of Beauty hung behind those magnificent mountains and rivers screen. He now knew of a secret behind these portraits. If one were to have s.e.x with a lady from the portraits, one of his heavenly meridians would be cleared. A person has twelve heavenly meridians and he didn’t know what benefits he would obtain if he were to clear all of them. However, he knew that it should be a very difficult feat. It was because he didn’t even know if he could encounter all twelve women from the Portraits of Beauty. Thinking of this, he shook his head. S what if he knew who they were? Was he really going to marry all of them?

Di Chen was in the other Four Continents and Tantai Xuan also wanted to head for the other Four Continents. Suddenly, Qing Shui thought of the lady in the crystal coffin. After he had 'eaten' her, he had never seen her again. He didn’t know how she was now. He looked towards that Portrait of Beauty which she was drawn on.

The lady’s hair was done up high, she had soft brows and her beautiful face that lacked makeup was like the morning sun reflected on snow. She had the beauty of a G.o.ddess but her eyes were as cold as winter.

She seemed divine. Her snow-white plain clothes couldn’t hide her curves. Her shoulders were sharp, her chest was in the shape of a beautiful arch and the curves at her waist flowed beautifully. Her slender figure made her appear like a jade carving created by the G.o.ds, her bare feet exuded a crystal-like glow…

She exuded a disposition that made her seem like an existence which couldn't be tainted. Out of all the ladies that Qing Shui had encountered before, this one seemed to be the most difficult to get close to. She wasn’t cold but she had an arrogance that flowed right from her soul.

As Qing Shui looked at the portrait, he went into a daze. Although he had saved her, he always felt as if he owed her one. Suddenly, a familiar feeling surged.

Sensing and communicating through consciousness!

He found himself in a place facing mountains and the lady from the crystal coffin stood atop one of the mountain peaks. Qing Shui wasn’t far away from her. The dream among the sea of flowers?

Qing Shui recalled the dream among the sea of flowers from a very long ago. It had been a place that he had not been to before. He later met Di Qing in Southern City Furniture Store and this lady in the crystal palace.

He hadn’t expected that he would meet her in his consciousness a second time at this moment. This place was one he had never been to before, just like the situation in the other dream among the sea of flowers.

When Qing Shui lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes met her ice cold beautiful gaze. Her eyes were very beautiful, touching even one’s soul. However, it gave one a chill which seemed to run through one’s body from the bottom of their feet to the top of their head.

Qing Shui felt a little uneasy to be standing before her. The other time, she hadn’t killed him but now he wasn’t sure if he could win against her. He had once thought of fighting her when he could win but as time pa.s.sed, he felt that he was a little despicable if he did that and felt that he owed her one…

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AST 1121 – Transformation, Marrow Nibbling Golden Dragon Silkworm, Peng Meng Mountain

With an increase in strength as well as a change in his frame of mind, the sense of guilt he felt towards her increased as well. After all, that was the most precious first time for her. It was already fortunate that she did not kill him that time. The main reason why she did not kill him was because he did it to save her and she knew that it was an accident. Otherwise, she would have killed him instantly.

The woman looked at Qing Shui and not too far from her side was the gigantic old turtle. Now it seemed to be even bigger. It was the biggest demonic beast that Qing Shui had ever encountered—its was similar in size to a small mountain peak.

Qing Shui knew that if he did not speak up first, she would never speak. As such, he walked towards the woman and stopped twenty meters away from her and said, "We meet again, this way of meeting each other seems a bit weird."

Qing Shui forcefully laughed and said. Now that Lion King’s Ridge's issue was over, he was feeling pretty relaxed and he was more than happy to apologise to this woman.

"But i really don't wish to see you, not even in situations like this." The woman said in a pleasant but cold and disappointed voice. It was a kind of pleasantness that could not be described with words. The coldness in her voice could freeze a person's soul but it attracted people to listen to it.

"I know. No matter what, it was my fault that time. Thank you for showing me mercy. If not, I would not have had the chance to complete my wish. " Qing Shui calmly told her. There was no sign of closeness nor estrangement between these two people. It was just like a normal conversation between two people but they seemed a bit closer compared to strangers.

The woman was shocked by what Qing Shui's words. She had an unpleasant expression on her face as she said, "I hope we will never meet again, not even under circ.u.mstances like this and I hope you will forget that incident too."

"I know you dislike me and hate me to the point that you want to kill me. I just want to apologize to you. I know that you won't be interested in me. I don't have any other motives, I just don't want you to be so sad." Qing Shui said, feeling agonized. He had no idea what to say to her. A woman maintained her body purity for so long and in the end, it was ruined by him. He had no reason not to hate himself.

The woman kept quiet for awhile and said, "I don't hate you because I never remembered you!"

At this moment, Qing Shui had no idea what to say. Dealing with issues like these were outside his scope of expertise. Moreover, this woman hated him so much.

"Are you at the other Four Continents."

"I'm leaving." As soon as the woman finished her words, her silhouette faded away.

"Consider it as I owe you one. I will make it up to you. No matter what you want, I will give it to you." Qing Shui said softly and clearly as he looked at the fading silhouette of the woman.

Withdrawing from his consciousness, Qing Shui's mood was not good or bad either. He felt that a man must be responsible for his actions regardless if it was right or wrong. The responsibility that needed to be a.s.sumed, must be a.s.sumed unless the other party disapproved, scorned or loathed the man. He paused as he got to this thought and gave out a bitter laugh because this was exactly him now. The woman loathed him……

She said she never remembered him and that she had never hated him. All of these words were lies. Qing Shui could feel the hatred from her and it was intense. It's because of this that he wanted to compensate her. If she really forgot about him, he would not have the thoughts of compensating her anymore.

Qing Shui had no idea how to telepathically communicate with the lady in the Portraits of Beauty. He really hoped to telepathically communicate with Di Chen, but he could not do it. He could not establish a telepathic communication with any other women from any of the Portraits of Beauty, nor could he establish a telepathic communication again with the girl within the crystal coffin. It seemed like it could only be accomplished unintentionally.

Forget it, now was time for happiness. There was no point in dwelling over this matter. Throwing these matters to the back of his mind, Qing Shui calmed his heart down and focused on his cultivation.

Another thing that Qing Shui was happy about was the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm in his Central Palace Blood Essence Pool, it had surprisingly undergone some changes to its body after eating the blood essence of the Golden Ni Lion. Its body had enlarged by one third. Most importantly, it's small brain changed too but it still looked adorable. It looked just like the mini version of a Jiao. Due to its small size, it didn't seem to be fierce or evil at all. In fact, it looked messily nice.

Marrow Nibbling Golden Dragon Silkworm!

It had transformed already!

This could be considered as another major surprise of this Marrow Nibbling Golden Dragon Silkworm. This silkworm was Qing Shui's greatest and scariest trump card. As such, the more powerful the Marrow Nibbling Golden Dragon Silkworm grew, the happier he would be and the more confident he would get.

Additionally, after Qing Shui's blood started to experience changes, the blood in his Central Palace Blood Essence Pool became purer. This greatly benefited the Marrow Nibbling Golden Dragon Silkworm's growth. Even Qing Shui had no idea how terrifying this small creature was.

On the second day, Qing Shui woke up pretty early. His injuries had already completely healed. He was practicing the Taiji Fist in the courtyard while feeling refreshed. Soon after, the women and Little Fatty all came out.

To people who practiced martial arts, this period of time was crucial and important for their cultivation. That's why since ancient times, there was a saying that is about practicing or training diligently. Time would pa.s.s very fast while cultivating.

Lion King’s Ridge had already stabilized, it’s just that its strength was a lot weaker than it was before. However, a lean camel was still bigger than a horse. Thus, it could still be considered a strong sect.

After breakfast, a group of people flew towards Peng Meng Mountain. It was not a long distance from here to Peng Meng Mountain. Departing this time could also be considered leaving Northern Sacred Lu Continent because they would go back to Central Continent right from Peng Meng Mountain.

People like Du Yannian and Zi Longs.h.i.+ came to send them off, Qing Shui also said some polite and formal words to them. No matter what, their thoughts and sincerity were genuine and this was more than enough. To be able to come such a long way wasn't an easy feat anyway.

The distance between Peng Meng Mountain and Lion King's Mountain wasn't too long, it would probably take around two days time to reach one mountain from the another but since they had their Nine Continents Steps, it would take less than one day to reach there. In actual fact, Qing Shui didn't really have much hope towards Peng Meng Mountain since he couldn't confirm the authenticity of the information he knew regarding this mountain.

The mountain in this area was the Peng Meng Mountain. Qing Shui asked Du Yannian regarding this mountain. Although this gigantic mountain range was not as magnificent as the Dragon Spine Mountain, it's not inferior in any other way. It gave off a rich and broad vibe.

Qing Shui remembers clearly that Wen Clan mentioned that the Realm of the Peng Meng Immortal was positioned at its center. It's guarded by demonic beasts, that's why the place was dangerous. After witnessing how terrifying and scary the Golden Ni Lion was, Qing Shui was no longer afraid of the powerful and strong demonic beasts of the Five Continents.

That battle improved Qing Shui battle awareness tremendously. These battle experiences were very important and crucial. It’s similar to a man learning a martial art for three years. They might not necessarily be able to win a hooligan in a fight who fought on the streets for three years.

如果是普通人，这样的大山想找到准确的位置难如登天，这里到处都如深山老林，随时都有可能出现毒蛇猛兽，可怕的妖兽更是不断的出现，但一靠近青水等人就会逃跑，不说他们一行人的强大，就几人乘坐的妖兽也足以让它们转身就逃了。
If it's ordinary folks, it's nearly impossible to find such a specific location on such a big mountain. On this mountain, everywhere was part of deep mountains and old trees. Additionally, poisonous and vicious beasts would appear at any time and anywhere, not to mention that terrifying demonic beasts would show up every now and then. However, the demonic beasts would flee once they approached Qing Shui and his crew. Not to mention how powerful they were, just the demonic beasts that they were using as mounts were enough to scare the demonic beasts in the mountain.

Peng Meng Mountain's temperature was relatively higher and the towering old trees could be seen everywhere. In addition, the temperature rose and the trees were denser as people got closer to the center.

"Qing Shui, where's the Realm of the Peng Meng Immortal that you mentioned? Why are we not there yet?" Di Qing looked around at the surroundings and asked.

The group had already spent half a day at this center area but there's still no sign of a place to cross where they will be able to find the entrance to the Realm of the Peng Meng Immortal.

"Should be soon, it's said to be a place where people can cross. Right in the center area." Qing Shui laughed and replied.

Right after Qing Shui replied, his spiritual sense picked up a very swift and strong aura, giving Qing Shui a misperception. However, his spiritual sense was very special, he had already gotten a hold of the hidden aura. Coincidentally, he wanted to find demonic beasts for the women to tame and this aura was suitable.

Following the aura, everyone halted and froze after a while because right in front of them was a chasm that was so gigantic that it seemed like this split the entire mountain into two. This split was ten li wide. The source of the aura also appeared right before Qing Shui.

All of the greenery within was split and two humongous demonic beasts appeared in front of Qing Shui. The strong aura earlier came from these demonic beasts.

Silver-winged Feather Snake and Scarlet Flame Azure Wolf!

Qing Shui was not surprised about his feelings about the aura when he saw these two demonic beasts. This was because among all demonic beasts that were both vicious and can hide well, snakes and wolves were among them.

The body of the Silver-winged Feather Snake was a few meters thick and was at least as thick as three big water tanks. Its light green and huge body looked surprisingly magnificent and beautiful. The huge snakehead wasn't as terrifying as everyone thought and its body which was a few hundreds meters in length was especially stunning. In addition, its pair of gigantic Silver wings made it look extremely beautiful.

Although the Silver-winged Feather Snake was cla.s.sified as a type of snake, among all snakes, it had the most royal lineage. When compared to normal snakes, this type of snake was far superior. This was a spiritual beast, specifically a Spiritual Type of Heaven and Earth.

Scarlet Flame Azure Wolf was red in color. In the Five Continents, it was also at the top of the food chain. Its powerful attacks and defense allowed it to charge around violently.

Although it was indeed strong and powerful in the Five Continents, Qing Shui still was not bothered by the demonic beasts. One trip to the Ancient Ruins had caused drastic changes to Qing Shui's strength. The demonic beasts that may seem terrifyingly powerful to others could be deemed to be extremely weak by Qing Shui's standard.

"Among you all, who want the snake and who want the wolf?" Qing Shui looked back and asked. Those who already possess demonic beast shall give it a pa.s.s, each person can only use the low grade Sacred Beast Pill once.

"I want the snake!" Yu Ruyan smiled and said, breaking the silence.

"Alright!" The women immediately agreed. Actually, this Silver-winged Feather Snake was very suitable for ladies as it was extremely beautiful and formidable, it could even be used as a formidable flying mount.

It's easy to tame and it didn't take long for Qing Shui to tame the two demonic beasts. The Silver-winged Feather Snake was tamed by Yu Ruyan while Scarlet Flame Azure Wolf was tamed by Yu He.

Yu He initially had her own flying mount and it was a pretty decent one. Nonetheless, Qing Shui wanted her to tame another demonic beast. Thus, this demonic beast was considered to be tamed by her as instructed by Qing Shui.

There's no need for everybody to panic as there were low grade Sacred Beast Pill and Qing Shui. Hence, there's no fear of the demonic beasts. After taming the two demonic beasts, they walked through the split and saw a valley in front of them. The gra.s.s was so soft that it looked inviting to sleep on. Although it's very cold and the vegetations were very unusual, what matters the most is the fact that it's very quiet and beautiful here.

Suddenly, Qing Shui had a feeling as if there was a mysterious force leading him. This feeling was very incredible. In fact, it felt surreal. However, Qing Shui believed in this feeling as he felt that it was a connection with something that's a part of him.

Relaxing his spiritual sense, he followed his feelings and slowly walked towards the other side of the valley.

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