Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-136

AST 0136 – Core! Ambiguous Feelings

When Qing Shui crawled out from within the pile of the snake’s body after the tough fight, covered in the snake’s blood, he saw Wenren Wu-shuang standing not far away, with a tearstained beautiful face!

Wenren Wu-shuang tossed away the Golden-Ringed Snake Fruit Plant and the Golden-Ringed Snake Fruit in her hands, ignoring the stench of the snake’s blood which had covered Qing Shui all over and held him tightly as she softly sobbed.

“It’s alright now, don’t cry. Be good, listen to me!” Qing Shui lightly patted Wenren Wu-shuang back and consoled her. Looking at the Wenren Wu-shuang now, Qing Shui felt that everything was worth it, and felt very blessed!

“The only reason why I wanted you to come along was for this Golden-Ringed Snake Fruit. I didn’t intend for you fight with the Golden-Ringed Snake King, let alone knowing that there was actually a dead end inside. I’m sorry!” Wenren Wu-shuang hung her arms tightly around Qing Shui’s neck, refusing to let go.

“Alright, Wu-shuang, it’s nothing. Aren’t I fine now? I’m dirty, and now I’ve dirtied your clothes as well.” Qing Shui smiled warmly as he spoke.

Wenren Wu-shuang only let go of Qing Shui after some time, her beautiful face covered with crystal-like teardrops. Qing Shui’s heart ached seeing her like this. Suddenly, he lost his self-control, and gently reached down to kiss her face to wipe off the tears.

It was slightly salty. When his lips came into contact with Wenren Wu-shuang’s exquisite face which was like a piece of jade, the soft and exquisite feeling left Qing Shui stunned.

Wenren Wu-shuang turned red and panicked, not knowing what to do. The usually graceful and mature lady panicking like a little girl had a very cute appearance.

“Wu-shuang, let’s go and have a look to see what the core of a demonic beast looks like.” Qing Shui was exceptionally happy and blissful when he said this.

“Mmm!”

Qing Shui slowly let go of Wenren Wu-shuang. Seeing how lost she was in her thoughts, he knew that he was the first man who had kissed her. Maybe she had yet to fall completely for him, otherwise she would not be so panicky and lost in her thoughts.

Skinning it, Qing Shui knew that the skin of the Golden-Ringed Snake King was something good. Moreover, it was very large, and he managed to get a lot of of it, including the guts, bones, and most importantly, its core. This was the core of a demonic beast, the most important thing on a demonic beast. Finally, he cut off a big chunk of snake meat, preparing to roast it. This was the meat of a demonic beast. It was too bad that it was just too big, otherwise he’d have brought it all back with him.

The core of demonic beasts were usually silvery-white in color and they came in various sizes. In most situations, the bigger the cores, the stronger they were. When Qing Shui removed the core of the Golden-Ringed Snake King, he discovered that it was the size of a human head, translucent, and was a sparkling silvery-white color.

It felt warm and smooth in his hands, and after applying some pressure, he realized that it was very tough, yet it also had some springiness to it, like silica gel. “Wu-shuang, hold on to this, I’ll check and see if there is anything else!” Qing Shui tossed the core to the curious Wenren Wu-shuang.

Qing Shui saw that just the snake skin alone formed a giant pile. “Thank goodness that I am strong enough! I would even be able to move the Golden-Ringed Snake King whole by myself!”

“Wu-shuang, wait for me. I’ll go wash up over there since I’m all covered in snake’s blood. Do you want to join me? I’ll help you wash your back.” Qing Shui looked at Wenren Wu-shuang who was holding onto the core.

“No need, you rascal. You’ve taken enough advantage of me.” Wenren Wu-shuang shot back at Qing Shui in slight annoyance.

Qing Shui grinned sneakily, dragging the big piece of snakeskin, and headed towards the familiar lake. When he passed by Wenren Wu-shuang, he saw the Golden-Ringed Snake Fruit Plant and picked it up in passing.

“Don’t peep!”

After saying this, Qing Shui grinned and set off for the lake under Wenren Wu-shuang’s dumbstruck gaze.

Qing Shui looked at the small lake which was approximately 1000 meters wide. The water was so clear that he could see the bottom, but it was too bad that there were no fish or prawns, nor were there even any worms or frogs and such. Qing Shui removed all his clothes and washed himself up in the water. Afterwards, he quickly inserted the Golden-Ringed Snake Fruit Plant into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, right next to the pool.

Following that, he threw the snakeskin into the lake, meddling with it as if it were a streamer, muddling the whole lake!

The skin of the Golden-Ringed Snake King was tough as steel, but at the same time, was surprisingly soft. Most importantly, it was not just soft, but light as well. This was also the reason why Qing Shui could not bear to discard any of it.

After washing it clean, Qing Shui rolled the snakeskin into a huge roll. He could have put it in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, but this was a secret which Qing Shui would not share with anyone. It was not that he did not trust other people, but that it would bring about a lot of troubles.

After all, they had brought a carriage!

After cleaning up, Qing Shui went back to look for Wenren Wu-shuang. He saw that she was completely clean, showing not even a trace of the blood which was on her clothes earlier!

“You’ve changed?”

“Yes! Why?”

“I want to peep, peep…” Qing Shui hollered loudly!

Wenren Wu-shuang shyly rolled her eyes, speechless.

“Let’s go while it is still early. We can still get out of the Golden-Ringed Valley before it gets dark!” Qing Shui picked up some snake bones and gut!

“Mmm!” Wenren Wu-shuang tossed the Golden-Ringed Snake King Core back to Qing Shui and picked up a cotton bag. Looking at the bulge, Qing Shui knew that it was the Golden-Ringed Snake Fruit.

“Why, you don’t like this core?” Qing Shui smiled and asked casually.

“Other than to alchemists, this thing is only useful to other demonic beasts. I have no use for it even if you were to give it to me.” Wenren Wu-shuang held on to the small cotton bag, looking very poised. Qing Shui felt an itch in his heart, wishing that he could hold on to her tightly.

Looking at Qing Shui’s weird gaze, Wenren Wu-shuang laughed out and moved on. From behind, Qing Shui could see that graceful figure, the soft lines, and the charming look as she moved. They all came together to present a stunning beauty.

“Qing Shui, do you know alchemy?” On the way back, Wenren Wu-shuang asked curiously.

“Yes, but at the moment, I can only create two things, and I can’t find all the ingredients.” Qing Shui replied. These were not things that he needed to hide.

“Are you able to cultivate the Xiantian Golden Pellet?” Wenren Wu-shuang probed, with eagerness reflected in her eyes.

“I can’t right now, but I don’t know about the future. If I’m able to get hold of the recipe for the Xiantian Golden Pellet, as well as the ingredients for it, I may be able to.” Qing Shui thought about it and replied.

“Although I do not know alchemy, I know quite a bit about the Xiantian Golden Pellet. Do you know what the success rate for concocting the Xiantian Golden Pellet is?”

“I don’t know!”

Qing Shui really did not know. To him, the concept of a success rate was something that he had neglected. After all, with the primordial flames he rarely failed.

“One out of a thousand!”

“Damn, to be able to only succeed once out of 1000 tries, so many precious ingredients would be wasted.” Qing Shui had heard from her previously that the ingredients required for the Xiantian Golden Pellet were all highly expensive ingredients. Rather than relying on the Golden Pellet to enter the Xiantian stage, it would be better to rely on oneself to break through. Otherwise, one’s level would forever be stuck at Xiantian, and it would be almost impossible to break through to reach the realm of the Martial Emperor.

“You’re not allowed to curse!” Wenren Wu-shuang knocked Qing Shui on the head and was stunned.

Her action was so familiar. After giving it some thought, she had said the same thing and knocked him once previously!

“Right, I’ve yet to thank you for teaching me that set of moves. To think that it would complement my <Moonsteps>, and increase my speed by quite a lot.” Wenren Wu-shuang recalled the strange technique which Qing Shui had taught her.

All of Qing Shui’s techniques were basically supporting techniques, therefore the biggest advantage was that they could be complemented with any skills or techniques, allowing them to reach their fullest potential.

“Why are you being so polite. Be careful that I’d ask for compensation from you. You should train that technique some more. Once you’ve achieved some success, it can increase your speed by 20%.” Qing Shui maneuvered the carriage at a moderate speed and said softly.

“What compensation do you want? I can give you anything I’ve got, mmm, other than myself.” After saying this, she smiled and looked at Qing Shui.

“Forget it, other than your precious self, you don’t have anything that has any worth.”

Wenren Wu-shuang lowered her head lightly, and sneaked a look at Qing Shui’s tall and broad back.

“The skin of this Golden-Ringed Snake King is enough for us to make plenty of clothes. Each of them would likely be able to sell at quite a high price.” Qing Shui said to Wenren Wu-shuang.

“You plan to sell it?” Wenren Wu-shuang asked in astonishment.

“What can I do if I don’t sell it? We wouldn’t be able to wear it all.”

Wenren Wu-shuang frowned as she gave it some thought, before saying, “Why don’t you present it as a gift to your sect, the Skysword Sect instead? I believe that it would be able to increase the abilities of the Skysword Sect slightly. If they were to benefit from it, the Skysword Sect would definitely give you a huge reward. With that, you can ask for what you need. Sometimes, money can be the cheapest thing there is.”

“Hmmm, I can’t tell, lass, your foresight is almost catching up to mine.” Qing Shui turned his head and reached his hand out, wanting to pat Wenren Wu-shuang on the head. But, seeing that her beautiful hair was tied up and he could not do so, he smiled awkwardly instead.

Wenren Wu-shuang was amused by Qing Shui’s comical actions. She enjoyed seeing Qing Shui being embarrassed.

“Qing Shui, there’s a total of five Golden-Ringed Snake Fruits. I’ve taken one and will be leaving one for my sister. As for the remaining three, you can give it to aunty and them, mmm, you’ll need to give one to the mother of your daughter as well.” After saying this, Wenren Wu-shuang smiled brightly as she looked at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui looked at the crafty Wenren Wu-shuang. It was rare that she would show off such a cute side of her. A smart and mature woman would be even more appealing when they showed off such cute appearance.

“Are you thinking of getting a Xiantian Golden Pellet for your sister?” Qing Shui recalled the look of hope that Wenren Wu-shuang had when they had talked about the Xiantian Golden Pellet. The Xiantian Golden Pellet was of no use to her, that’s why he had guessed that it was for her sister.

“Yes, she is the one closest to me. When our parents were no longer around, despite her young age, she had kept me around and persisted for three years. Not once did she think of abandoning me. Now that I’ve achieved Xiantian, I hope that my sister can be with me for a very long time!”

“Trust me, leave this to me!” Qing Shui said seriously.

“Mmm, I trust you!” Smiling gently as she looked at Qing Shui, her smile was so warm and calm!

“Then I’ll be keeping this core to be used for alchemy in the future! I hope you won’t mind!”

“These things are all yours, no need to discuss with me. You still said that I was being too polite. What about yourself?” Wenren Wu-shuang replied in a sour manner, her pretty lips which were like flower petals slightly pouting. That small curve had a breath-taking beauty to it.

They travelled during the day, and rested at night. Finally, they had returned to Hundred Miles City in half a month’s time!

Hearing that Qing Shui was back, Mingyue Gelou’s graceful figure stood waiting at the doorstep, emitting a holy beauty with the purity of a mother as she carried her little girl. “Daddy!” The little girl struggled to come down and ran towards Qing Shui as she shouted out!

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