Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-1123

AST 1123 – Gale Scroll, The Powerful Beast King Medallion, Five Elements Divine Refining Technique

“My girl, what does this Beast King Medallion do?”

Most artifacts that had the ability to acknowledge its owner would be difficult for their owners to discern their true capabilities, especially in Qing Shui’s current situation where he wasn’t compatible with the artifact to begin with. Even if he had used his Heavenly Vision Technique to analyze the medallion, he wouldn’t be able to discern its capabilities clearly. After all, this kind of artifact was known to have a mind of its own.

“It can double the owner’s power and the success rate of taming demonic beasts, which also mean that the number of demonic beasts to be tamed will be doubled. This medallion will ascertain that demonic beasts maintain absolute loyalty to their owners too.” Luan Luan giggled as she explained to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui could only feel joy after listening to Luan Luan’s words. The medallion was worthy to be considered as a divine artifact and was more or less the same grade as the Arhat Rosary Beads. It would be comparable to the power of the Nine Continents Mountain too, becoming a divine artifact specifically for beast tamers. Luan Luan’s power could be doubled under the influence of the medallion, allowing the success rate of capturing demonic beasts to double as well. Furthermore, demonic beasts that had been captured successfully with the help of the medallion would have their power doubled as well. In a sense, the medallion was definitely a superb item that would only be able to show its true potential in Luan Luan’s possession.

“This Beast King Medallion is most suitable for our Luan Luan.” Qing Shui said with a smile as he rubbed Luan Luan’s head.

This medallion was able to boost Luan Luan’s power to an incredible level. Even though her power was only doubled, her demonic beasts were able to become much stronger than herself. With another boost to her power by a fold, the power of her demonic beasts would be quite unimaginable…

“Hehe, I was prepared to give this to daddy but who’d have guessed that it would recognize its owner instead in this unexpected turn of events.” Luan Luan squinted as she giggled at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui chuckled as well and rubbed her head. He looked at her and said, “This suits you and only you the best. Even if I got it from you, it would only return itself to you.”

“I knew from the start that daddy’s the best!” Luan Luan said as she proceeded to hug Qing Shui’s neck like a koala. She was already a grown woman who could charm a lot of men around her. However, in Qing Shui’s eyes, she would always be his dear little girl.

Qing Shui had been a part of Luan Luan’s growth since she was just a young child. On the other hand, she had grown attached to Qing Shui more than anyone else. In her heart, his place as her father could never be replaced. There was nothing in this world that he couldn’t do and this feeling lingered within her even till this day. Not even the Lion King’s Ridge could cause her faith in him to falter…

Even though Yiye Tian was back in her life, that didn’t change the bond she had forged with Qing Shui since she was a young child. Qing Shui and Yiye Jiange were finally in a relationship, which let Luan Luan breathe easier around them.

She already knew that she wasn’t their biological child and her foster parents had already birthed their own child, so she would feel a bit uncomfortable. She would feel that there was something missing in her life. Perhaps it was the lack of genetic relation with her foster parents. She was clearly different from them. Should Yiye Jiange become Qing Shui’s wife, she would be free at last. After all, Yiye Jiange, who was only her aunt, was also her foster mother…

Because of that, she had finally returned to her former self when she was just a young child. Qing Shui was elated to see her in her bubbly state, which was why he was able to breathe a sigh of relief when he had finally found Yiye Tian and his wife at that time.

Other people were not as lucky as Luan Luan. Some were able to retrieve weapons, medical pills, armors, and martial skills as their reward, which was always better than nothing. Qing Shui was still confused about what he had gotten for himself at the moment.

The ladies asked him about it but all he could say was that he had gotten a piece of an incomplete scroll. He took it out to let them see the scroll but ultimately tucked it back into his inventory when the ladies showed a lack of interest in the old artifact.

Palm imprint techniques were considered powerful among most battle techniques. They required a certain level of stamina and talent for one to cultivate successfully, just like the Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Imprint and Tidal Cloud Waves Seal. These two techniques were definitely strong, yet extremely difficult to cultivate.

Since they were already in the proximity, he decided to assist the ladies in capturing demonic beasts within the area. Strong demonic beasts would be abundant in this luscious mountain—especially on this particular mountain. They were already in the deeper parts of the mountain, which was also the hotspot for numerous demonic beasts to roam about.

After a whole day of searching and capturing demonic beasts, each lady was able to tame a beast for themselves. These demonic beasts had a power around ten thousand stars to twenty thousand stars in the Five Continents. If they were to reach the other Four Continents, their powers could reach about a hundred thousand stars or two hundred thousand stars.

These numbers seemed to show the limits of their taming abilities at the moment. Qing Shui did not capture any as the demonic beasts in this area was far weaker than the ones he already had. Taming another one would be useless and pointless for him.

The sun was already setting, so he decided to use the remaining time of the Nine Continents Steps then set up a tent to rest. After resting, they would begin their journey towards the Central Continent.

Qing Shui felt melancholy as he knew that after going back to the Qing Clan to spend a period of time at home, he wouldn’t be back again for about five to ten years once he had left towards the other Four Continents. It might take him longer than ten years should circumstances prevent him from going home.

The chances of his mother and the others reaching the other Four Continents was close to none. The low leveled Sacred Beast Pills in his possession could allow them to live easier in the Five Continents, at least during dire situation and emergencies. This was the reason why he had kept so many of these pills for his family, it was so that they may protect themselves from any harm.

After entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, the first thing that Qing Shui did was to look at the scroll containing the Seal of Xuantian. He could still understand the content of the scroll and he was beginning to grow interested in it. This was first part of the scroll, unlike the first time when he had gotten the scroll, where it was the middle part of the scroll. The middle part was unfinished and there was no beginning or end. Now that he has the first part, he could cultivate the skills contained in the scroll. If he was able to understand the first part, then he could naturally understand the middle part next. As for the final part, he had decided to leave it to his destiny.

The Seal of Xuantian was an imprint technique and was also known as the Xuantian Palm Imprint. The attack of this technique was more or less connected with the ways of the heaven. The first part of the scroll suggested that this was a battle technique of extreme force. The power of the technique would be raw and ferocious, much like the force of the heavens.

Half a day had gone by when he first started looking at the scrolls. He stopped begrudgingly and decided to take a closer look at the items he had received from the Peng Meng Immortal Mountain before he started his cultivation.

Gale Scroll!

He opened the scroll and was stunned by his discovery. Based on the contents, this would be a battle technique learned by demonic beasts specifically. Through telepathic communication, he could teach this technique to his demonic beasts. With this method, he could transfer the knowledge of the battle technique directly to the demonic beast’s brain, allowing them to instantly gain an understanding of how to perform the skill.

“Great stuff!” Qing Shui couldn’t help but praise the Gale Scroll as soon as he read the contents.

The Gale Scroll had the ability to increase a demonic beast’s speed drastically and its effects depended on the type of demonic beast Qing Shui bestowed the skill to. He would have to analyze the natural talent of his demonic beasts as well. However, the Gale Scroll could be taught to his family members and by all means, they could teach their respective demonic beasts through telepathic communication too.

There was no need to cultivate the Gale Scroll as the technique could be transferred directly into the demonic beast’s brain instantly through their consciousness. The demonic beast would naturally understand the technique and cultivate it on their own.

An amount of time had passed after settling the scrolls. The only thing he wasn’t concerned about inside the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal was time. He had already memorized the instructions of the Gale Scroll clearly. Sadly, humans were incapable of cultivating this skill.

This Gale Scroll was a great existence that has ever happened to a demonic beast. This technique allowed their speed to increase exponentially and would continue to increase as the technique continued to grow stronger. In that sense, the Gale Scroll could be considered strong and somewhat comparable to a passive ability.

However, it would take some time before one would know what kind of level this technique could achieve. In any case, Qing Shui felt that natural talent of his demonic beasts would be sufficient to completely unleash the full potential of the Gale Scroll.

After all that, Qing Shui finally turned his focus to the old and ancient box. As soon as he tore off the seal talisman in front of it, a wave of pure spiritual energy began to emanate from the box. Qing Shui felt that he was slightly familiar with this energy, which was almost similar with the one from that ‘stone entrance’. However, the spiritual energy emanating from the box was purer in essence.

As soon as Qing Shui opened the one foot long box, a golden gleam poured out from inside, revealing the only content in the box—a golden ancient book. He looked at the book and saw the words ‘Five Elements Divine Refining Technique’ written on it.

Could the strange energy that he had felt be the power of the five elements? Was it a singular energy or five types of energy that he had felt earlier? The five elements would mutually restrict or promote the relation of one another, so would the promotion of these elements fuse together to form a singular wave of energy?

Qing Shui picked up the book and proceeded to flip the pages…

The Five Element Divine Refining Technique was part of the technique that combined both the cultivation and the condensation of the spiritual energy. All things on earth would always be divided into five elements that mutually reinforced and counteracted one another. Metal would seek sharpness, water would seek softness, fire would seek explosiveness, earth would seek heaviness, wood would seek entanglement…

Qing Shui took three days to read the ancient book, completely absorbed in its contents. He discovered that the Five Elements Divine Refining Technique was right up his alley and that he was suddenly enlightened on many things all at once.

Originally, cultivation techniques could be categorized into five elements, regardless of whether they were attack-based, defense-based, or even control-based skills—each of them would be associated with one element amongst the five elements. Most importantly, one must be able to demonstrate the Five Elements Essence from their mastery techniques. The Five Elements Divine Refining Technique existed solely to assist martial cultivators in cultivating their Five Elements Essence successfully.

As he read more, he realized that he had somewhat wasted his time cultivating the techniques he had learned at an early age. He had a feeling that this Five Elements Divine Refining Technique could allow the power of his skills to surge dramatically, enforcing his ‘foundation’ to the maximum level and bear fruit to success. At the same time, each element stated in the Five Elements Divine Refining Technique were known to possess the ultimate basics of the spiritual battle techniques, providing a deeper understanding of the five elements.

Golden Sword, Wood Vines, Water Ripples, Fire Explosion, and Earth Mountain!

These five techniques were the very foundation of spiritual battle techniques. They would upgrade into something greater at a certain point. However, the degree of evolution of these techniques was still dependent on the martial cultivator’s talent and willpower.

Even though Qing Shui had been reading this book for several days, his spiritual energy was still full to the brim, which made him excited for what was to come. He observed the material used to construct this golden ancient box and deduced that this was the best material he had ever seen in the Peng Meng Immortal Realm—it was at least somewhat on par with the material that Luan Luan’s Beast King Medallion was composed of. However, as a matter of course, any beast tamer would certainly choose the Beast King Medallion over anything else at the end of the day.

Due to Qing Shui’s immense spiritual energy, these foundation spiritual battle techniques were easier for him to learn and adapt. Unfortunately, he soon realized that at some point, he wasn’t able to reach the desired level of the battle techniques as described in the ancient book.

The main attribute of the Golden Sword was its speed and sharpness. The Wood Vines would focus on sturdiness and the degree of constriction, whereas the Water Ripples would focus on ceaselessness and permeability. The Fire Explosion, on the other hand, would focus on its explosiveness and crushing force. Lastly, the Earth Mountain would focus on pressure and heftiness.

Qing Shui was able to understand the core of these battle techniques. Nonetheless, it would still take a lot of time and understanding to be able to reach that particular level. He would need a little bit of luck by his side too.

Condensation!

A golden longsword appeared from Qing Shui’s hand. This sword was formed from the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique under the concentration of his spiritual energy. Just like his Primordial Flames, he was required to use his spiritual energy to control the flames. However, it was his Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique that had created the flames in the first place.

Qing Shui’s Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique was the fire and the spiritual energy was the fuel. The stronger the fire was, the stronger the fuel would burn. However, in the absence of the spiritual energy, the power of Qing Shui’s Primordial Flames would diminish by a mile, which was why spiritual energy was the key to increasing the power of the Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique. Most importantly, he could increase his endurance as well. The mixture of the spiritual energy and the Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique was able to increase his power as well as minimize the consumption of energy slightly.

Wood Vines!

An emerald green vines the thickness of an adult’s arm glowed and grew exponentially in a swirling motion, this gave off a strong sense of vitality at the same time. The agile growth and spiraling of the rattan left him tingling in excitement.

The spiritual energy emanating from the glowing vines were terrifying. There were spikes about three inches long closely knitted with each other on the vines. This wasn’t an ordinary plant to begin with as the vines were formed by the coagulation of spiritual energy. If one were to be caught in the vines, it would certainly be ‘distressing’…