Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-1157

AST 1157 – Four Kings Street, Extremely Positive Person, Plagued With Relationship Issues

Adding one more seat made it seem a little squished but everyone shifted backward a little and it was just nice. Yan Yangzhao picked up a cup and took a sip.

“Brother, this wine is the best that I’ve ever drunk. Tsk tsk, in terms of age, it might not be the longest but the wine itself is superb. It should bring great benefits to cultivators of all levels,” Yan Yangzhao said and took another sip. Such wines were extremely hard to come by.

“Look! It’s the young master from Yan Clan!”

“That’s right, Miss Yan just came by a few days ago!”

“Did you guys see how respectful Young Master Yan was toward that lady? Who is she?”

“He had addressed her as Fairy Tantai earlier. Only the people from the Sacred Land can be referred to as fairies. And they must be of quite a reputable standing. The only Sacred Land in Yan City should be Southern Sea’s Putuo Mountain!”

…

Qing Shui kept quiet. He hadn’t thought of making use of someone else’s reputation since it would be meaningless to him. However, he didn’t mind coming into contact with some people, like Yan Clan for example.

It was because even if he were to get stronger, he would still need a platform. This wasn’t something which Yan Clan could give him, but he would still need their help. Moreover, he had quite a good impression of Yan Yangzhao and it wasn’t a bad idea to make friends with him either.

Very quickly, the vat of Plum Blossom Wine was finished up by the four of them. They all felt as if they wished they could have more. However, even if Qing Shui were to bring out another vat, they wouldn’t drink anymore. It was because it would be a waste of such great wine for it to be just chugged down like that.

“I spent the whole night forging yesterday and connected the sword for you. You can take a look and see if you’re satisfied.” Qing Shui smiled, took out the Cloud Eruption Healing Sword and passed it to Yan Yangzhao.

When everyone saw the sword, they were all stunned by the aura on it. Qing Shui knew that they must have been affected by that warm spiritual Qi. This was the aura which could provide healing qualities.

Yan Yangzhao picked up the Cloud Eruption Healing Sword, channeled in his Qi and then looked at Qing Shui in surprise. “Brother, you really managed to fix it for me. I’ve brought this sword to many blacksmiths but none of them could do anything about it. My younger sister really has good judgment. I’m very satisfied with this sword. Although it can’t give me an additional life daily, it can give me another half a life.”

“I was just lucky. It’s good that you’re satisfied with it!” Qing Shui smiled and said before describing the capability of the sword. This was something which all powerful blacksmiths could do.

Tantai Xuan cast Qing Shui a strange look. She had been looking at Qing Shui ever since the mention of Miss Yan. Even her Master thought well of this guy. He seemed to know a lot of stuff and was highly skilled. She already knew that his cultivation level was high. The wine he made was the best she had ever drank; the meals he cooked could cause imperial chefs to die of shame; and it seemed that his forging ability was even better than those powerful blacksmiths.

“Brother, since you have the company of beauties today, then I shan’t disturb you. I’ll come to express my thanks to you again tomorrow,” Yan Yangzhao stood up and said, smiling.

“Brother, this is nothing much. If we’re brothers, then don’t be making a big deal out of it,” Qing Shui spoke calmly.

“Then… alright, I shan’t stand on ceremony then,” Yan Yangzhao said, waving his hand to bid goodbye to the two ladies and left.

“Qing Shui, are you busy here? If not, accompany us to go shopping. It’s rare that you can get a breather,” Yu Ruyan smiled and said.

“What’s there to be busy about? No matter how busy, I’d still have to accompany my wife,” Qing Shui chuckled.

Tantai Xuan smiled, speechless. She didn’t want to say anything now since she wouldn’t be able to get anything good out of it and might even end up getting teased by this guy.

She was a great beauty but was neglected time and time again. She didn’t care about this but still felt a little uncomfortable. This was an instinctive problem people tended to have.

The three of them headed out and they informed old man Wang on their way. The Divine Weapon Street was just right outside. The Firecloud Blacksmith Store was located in quite a decent location along the Divine Weapon Street but was just a little small. However, Qing Shui felt that the size of the shop didn’t really matter to him.

“Where shall we go? The Divine Weapon Street is filled with blacksmith stores and there’s nothing much to look at.” After they stepped out of the store, Qing Shui asked the two ladies.

“Let’s go to the Four Kings Street!” Tantai Xuan suggested.

“You’re the host, you call the shots. Just the name sounds quite special,” Qing Shui looked at Tantai Xuan and said.

“The Four Kings Street is quite a distance away from here. It’s better if you can bring us there. It’s about 10,000 Li to the north. The reason the street is called this name is because there are four great clans there who are considered to be powerful existences in the outer cities. Moreover, the four clans have political marriages and are on very good terms. They are considered to be the ones dominating the region.”

“Oh? Are there fun things in Four Kings Street? Could it be that your…” Qing Shui said with a teasing gaze.

“What are you talking about? The Four Kings Street is well-known for the wishing stone they have there. It’s said that if one were to make a wish there, the chances of having your wish fulfilled would be very high,” Tantai Xuan said, with slight annoyance.

Qing Shui didn’t expect that a lady like Tantai Xuan would like such things as well. He thought that only little girls would be interested in things like making wishes.

The three of them rose into mid-air and Qing Shui once again took Tantai Xuan’s soft hands. Of course, he did the same for Yu Ruyan. The warmth from the two hands caused him to feel a little light-headed.

Yu Ruyan was his woman and holding her hand gave Qing Shui a warm feeling. It was just that Tantai Xuan’s hand kept on trembling slightly and he even felt that she seemed to have a slight urge of wanting to pull back her hand.

She felt helpless about this too. This was the second time. Before they came to the four continents, this guy had already hugged her before. The more she thought about it, the stranger it felt. Toward this man who had helped her before, this man who had a persevering character, she didn’t know how she felt about him. She didn’t dislike him but neither did she like him either.

If there was a need to describe their relationship, it’d be acquaintances?

They should be considered friends. Yes, they are friends!

Nine Continents Steps!

This time around, the Nine Continents Steps only brought them 10,000 Li away. When they came to a stop, Qing Shui looked down, “Miss Tantai, do you see it?”

“We’ve arrived! It’s over there!” Tantai Xuan wanted to point with her hand but realized that Qing Shui was still holding it.

“Shouldn’t you be letting go already?” Tantai Xuan reminded Qing Shui.

“Oh, I just felt that it’s quite comfortable to hold it,” Qing Shui smiled and said but released her hand.

Tantai Xuan’s beautiful gaze seemed a little surprised, but she didn’t say anything. She took Yu Ruyan’s hand and pointed to the wide street not far away from them, “It’s over there.”

Qing Shui rubbed his nose. The line he said earlier was much like a hooligan. He only felt that Tantai Xuan was very good to Yu Ruyan and thus subconsciously felt closer to this lady and eventually spoke out of line. That subconsciousness seemed to have caused him to treat Tantai Xuan as Yu Ruyan.

Yu Ruyan threw a weird glance at Qing Shui, causing him to feel a little uncomfortable.

He looked toward the street Tantai Xuan was pointing at. From the air, he could see that there was a large area which was the most prosperous and was also the widest street. The street was straight but no big carriages passed through there. There were only small luxurious horse carriages running through the middle. The two sides of the street were all pedestrians.

The three of them landed. Although they could see the Four Kings Street, they were in fact up to 100 Li away. They glided down diagonally toward the Four Kings Street’s sky platform.

Wide streets here would all have a huge sky platform meant for flying beasts to land. Otherwise, if they were to land anywhere they pleased, they could cause a lot of chaos.

The three of them walked along the Four Kings Street, occasionally looking at the stores and stalls at the sides. Qing Shui kept a lookout to see if he could uncover some treasures here as well.

The wishing stone was in the middle of the Four Kings Street where there was a large pond. The stone was situated in the middle of the pond. Tantai Xuan had said that the wishing stone was actually a stone statue whom people said to be the statue of a female goddess. It was said that there was a big story behind it.

As they walked, Qing Shui looked to the two sides. However, he suddenly felt that he bumped into softness. The two ladies had stopped and it seemed as if they wanted to check out something. Qing Shui didn’t notice and bumped into them.

And it just so happened that he had bumped into Tantai Xuan. Qing Shui felt very awkward now. Although the two ladies were wearing clothes which were slightly loose and their perky butts were covered up, when Qing Shui bumped into Tantai Xuan, he could clearly sense the well-roundedness. Tantai Xuan let out a soft cry and then turned back and glared at Qing Shui angrily.

“I’m sorry, I was looking at the things at the side and wasn’t looking at where I was going…”

Qing Shui felt extremely awkward, because he realized that he already had a reaction from earlier. He knew that Tantai Xuan must have felt it. When hardness bumped into softness, the difference would be very obvious.

Qing Shui took a deep breath and let himself calm down.

Tantai Xuan now felt that she shouldn’t have came today. She did see the self-reproach in Qing Shui’s eyes and knew that he must have not done that intentionally. But this was beside the point.

Yu Ruyan threw another glance toward Qing Shui, smiled as she pulled Tantai Xuan, “Let’s move on, the people around us are looking.”

Qing Shui didn’t dare to stand behind them anymore but stood diagonally behind them. It would still be fine if the one he had bumped into was Yu Ruyan but it had to be Tantai Xuan.

Qing Shui suddenly saw an old man who had set up a stall in a remote corner. The warm sunlight shining down on him made him appear especially amiable.

The old man was dressed in ragged clothes, his eyes closed, as if he was asleep. He looked very amiable and even the wrinkles on his face seemed to be very relaxed. This was what that had made Qing Shui astonished.

No matter how high spirited and how outstanding a person was, he would have his own downs, worries and troubles. However, when he saw this old man, Qing Shui realized that he was an extremely optimistic person.

Just from this point alone, Qing Shui knew that the old man was definitely not simple.

There wasn’t anyone at the old man’s stall. Qing Shui held back Yu Ruyan, called out to Tantai Xuan and headed in the direction where the old man was.

“Qing Shui, what’s wrong,” Yu Ruyan asked, doubtfully.

“Let’s go check out a stall together,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

It was only when he had reached it that Qing Shui realized that the old man was selling wooden figurines. There were also many which weren’t made of wood but these wooden figurines weren’t considered exquisite. Even if someone dropped one in the middle of the street, no one would pick it up.

Just then, the old man opened his pair of kind and amiable looking eyes. Even his ragged clothes couldn’t hide the old man’s calming aura. In that moment, it felt as if no matter how luxuriously dressed a person was or how reputable he might be, the person wouldn’t stand out at all before this old man. This was a bizarre feeling, a spiritual feeling.

Looking at this old man would make one feel at ease and all troubles would be forgotten. When the old man saw Qing Shui, his eyes also lit up. The old man then looked at the two ladies behind Qing Shui.

“Young man, you have a respectable life but you’re plagued by relationship issues. Don’t forcibly try to control it. If it’s meant to be, you won’t be able to push it away; if it’s not meant to be, you won’t be able to keep it by your side.”