Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-222

AST 222 – The White Crane Spread it’s Wings, The Mysterious Lady

Majestic rivers and mountains! The standing screen was embroidered with a drawing of mountains and rivers. It was very colorful, it had exquisite workmanship and it would add a tinge of joy to a comfortable home.

Qing Shui was happy that he had finally seen a 3rd grade piece of furniture!

Seeing this majestic river and mountain standing screen, Qing Shui was deeply attracted by its magnificent. It had an indescribable beauty whose majesty could no longer be described by the word ‘beautiful’. No matter how beautiful or exquisite an item was, it would appear inferior and unpresentable in front of this majestic screen.

It was similar to how Canghai Mingyue’s beauty’s had a majestic beauty to it. It was as beautiful as Yiye Jiange’s beauty, which could cause the fall of cities and countries, and it was as beautiful as Huoyun Liu-Li’s beauty which could bring suffering to the country and its people. As for which of the three was the best, it would depend on the individual’s preference.

The standing screen had a length of 5 meters and a height of over 3 meters. In the drawing, the mountains was as if they were the bones, the rivers the spirit, the heaven and earth the paper. There was pouring water streams, and one could vaguely see the gigantic flying beast in the air. On the mountains, there were also a few blurred figures of beasts and a very small human figure on one of the mountain peaks. It was a drawing that was imbued with a strong force, but it was still very charming. Even Qing Shui felt that the person who embroidered this painting had very good skills as well as a strong mental energy.

Looking at this screen made him feel that humans were really insignificant. To think that the majestic aura from a standing screen was already able to give him such a feeling, Qing Shui wanted to very much know what level of cultivation the artist was at. It was just that he was slightly puzzled as to why such a high level standing screen as well as the drawing on it would be classified together with furnitures. The screen felt more like an exquisite art piece with excellent workmanship.

Qing Shui stood a distance away to take a look at this majestic screen with river and mountains, exclaiming to himself on the interesting things and some things with hidden mysteries in the world of the nine continents.

Qing Shui liked to look at paintings, and two types in particular, namely paintings of beautiful women and paintings of mountains and rivers. The former could make one feel joyful, and mentally enriched. The latter, especially majestic paintings like the one in front of him, not only broadened one’s views, it could also broaden one’s heart such that one would not stay at a bottleneck by being a frog at the bottom of the well.

Qing Shui walked up to the drawing, and he realised that the more he looked at it, the more he grew to like it. Seeing that the price was 500,000 taels of silver, Qing Shui felt that it was a price that he could accept. While it was 5 times more expensive than the Tiger’s Descend painting, Qing Shui felt that it was worth it.

Because Qing Shui had been standing in front of this standing screen for a long time, a lady wearing Greencloud Furniture City’s uniform came over.

“Hello! Is there anything I can help you with?” Her voice was sweet, her smile heartwarming, and her appearance was quite good as well. She was a lady who was tall and lean, with beautiful fair skin, and when she talked, one could see a bit of the beautiful white teeth behind that small mouth of hers, giving one a pleasant feeling.

Qing Shui looked at the charming lady in front of him, especially at her pair of bright eyes which were like the stars in the night sky. He lamented that such a beautiful young lady could only be a store assistant here.

“Nothing much. Do you have many items in the store of this quality? Is there anything else of a higher quality?” Qing Shui casually asked.

“This is already considered outstanding in the second level, but there are a few other pieces that are comparable to this. Would you need me to introduce them to you?”

Qing Shui could hear that the lady’s voice was very calm. And while it was a very pleasant voice, it did not have a seductiveness, numbing, coy, hoarse, sharp, or intoxicating tone to it…

Her voice was very soft, as if he was talking to a beautiful girl next door. Her voice was not sharp and crisp, it was very nice, and it would make one fall more and more into it.

Looking at the astounding number of furniture around him, he thought that he would need to take a long time with those piece of good items. In addition to the fact that the lady was very beautiful and gave one a pleasant feeling, Qing Shui felt that it might be scenic to have her accompany him.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you. Right, I’ll be buying this. Later, you can take me to the cashier as well.” Qing Shui knew that this lady would be paid a commission from the things he bought.

“It’s no trouble, please come with me.” The lady was neither humble nor pushy, nor did she appeared overjoyed when she heard that Qing Shui was going to purchase the standing screen. Of course, she maintained her smile all this time.

Qing Shui followed the lady and he looked at that especially beautiful butt of hers. While it was not big, it was perky and round, and it was a good match with her waist as well as her pair of long and beautiful legs. While she walked, the soft and light sashay gave him a very pleasant feeling.

“Sir, this is the White Crane Spread it’s Wings. It is considered one of the best items around here.” The lady’s soft, pleasant voice rang out, interrupting Qing Shui’s lewd thoughts.

However, when he heard the name of the item, he got very excited.

How could he keep thinking about the Phoenix’s Pride Portrait and forget about this White Crane Spread it’s Wings? Qing Shui no longer cared about the quality of the items according to the knowledge from his previous life. So long as the items were useful to him, he did not care if they were 1st grade, 2nd grade or 3rd grade stuff.

Qing Shui looked in the direction that the lady pointed in, and he saw a curtain with the length and width of over 3 meters. While he could not tell what material it was made of, he felt that it may have been woven from some kind of precious silk.

The picture on the curtain was that of a snow white crane that was about to take off amidst the greenery. This curtain gave him a different resonation to the Tiger’s Descend painting as well as the majestic scenery embroidered on the standing screen.

The Tiger’s Descend painting emphasized on the aura, the incisiveness, and it was as if the it had accumulated strong aura and then released it. It was a kingly aura that would bravely advance forth.

The standing screen was more majestic, and when placed together, even the Tiger’s Descend painting would be like a child standing before a burly man. One painting focused on the aura of an individual, while the other was that of the heaven and earth. It was not comparable at all!

However, the White Crane Spread it’s Wings had given one a casual and relaxed feeling. The greenery in the drawing was very beautiful and the crane was standing by the river, and it was about to take off. It had a light stance as it stretched out its body, giving one a harmonious and natural feeling. Qing Shui looked at the crane quietly as if he could appreciate something from it. An intoxicating smile hung on his face, and the lady in uniform blankly stared at him until she eventually turned away shyly.

After a very long time, Qing Shui finally regained his senses and he saw that the price was also 500,000 taels of silver. Qing Shui no longer held on to the concept of money, and so long as he had enough money on him, 500,000 taels of silver aside, he would still buy it without hesitation even if it was a million or two million taels of silver.

“What other items are there? Take me to have a look!” Qing Shui grinned.

He naturally would buy White Crane Spread it’s Wings, and even though he had spent a million taels of silver at one go, he was very happy with what he got. Don’t look down on a million taels of silver. Even some well-to-do families might not be able to afford this amount of money. If a person had a million silver taels, he would be considered rich.

The lady smiled sweetly and they headed for another area. This time around, Qing Shui did not stare at the lady’s beautiful butt, he looked at the furniture on his left and right. On the way, he recognized some items which were ordinary from his knowledge.

The items on the 2nd storey were all of excellent workmanship. Even the worst ones on this level were about the same as the best ones on the level below. Qing Shui liked to see the items, but when he saw the unbelievable prices, he could not start to imagine what was the actual value of this Furniture City was.

However, he was curious as to who owned this Furniture City? Qing Shui felt that it should be either the Immortal Sword Sect, the Joyous Sect or the Imperial Beast Aristocrat.

Walking over to the area for tables, he saw that there were all sorts of tables, some even coming as a set with chairs. However, the quality of the items here was obviously much higher than those from the level below.

“This is the Hundred Beasts Evil Suppressing Table, made from the most precious 1000-Year red sandalwood, and it was exquisitely crafted. It’s said that the drawings of the 100 beasts could suppress evil and weaker beasts would not dare to step near it.” The lady pointed to a set of red sandalwood table and chairs which had drawings of various demonic beasts on them.

Only when he came across them did Qing Shui realise that tables and chairs could give such an overwhelming feeling. It was no wonder that there were many who had the habit of keeping such items for collection.

The hundred beast drawings were vividly carved, each presenting various postures but with perfect coordination. It came with chairs which were like the ones that Qing Shui was familiar with, just that there were many pictures of beasts carved on them.

Qing Shui suddenly thought of his Nine Animals Mimicry Technique, he thought of the value of just one Tiger’s Descend painting, and decided that he would not give it a miss.

“What other things are there? Items similar to these?” Qing Shui noticed that quite an amount of time had passed and he wondered what Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li were doing.

“There’s one more item which is of the same quality as this, also made from top quality 1000-Year red sandalwood. I’m just not sure if you’d be interested in it.” The lady appeared slightly embarrassed as she said this.

Qing Shui did not take note of the lady’s expression, but he quickly said when he heard that it was of the same quality as this Hundred Beasts Evil Suppressing Table, “Then let’s go and take a look.”

The amount of people on the 2nd floor was only 10% of those from the 1st floor, thus Qing Shui could only see the sparsely distributed people on the vast area on the 2nd floor. But while it was sparse, there were at least two to three hundred people around.

When Qing Shui saw these valuable items, he had an atrocious feeling. It was because the beautiful lady had brought him to the toilet bowl area, and Qing Shui also saw one that he was familiar with.

Red sandalwood toilet bowl!

Qing Shui knew why the lady felt embarrassed earlier. After looking at the lady, he returned his gaze to the extremely expensive toilet bowl. It was the first time that Qing Shui had seen one made of wood, but he had to say that this red sandalwood was very beautiful.

If a peerless beauty were to use this red sandalwood toilet bowl, it would probably be a very beautiful scene…

While Qing Shui did not buy the red sandalwood toilet bowl, he purchased the screen with the majestic scenery painting, the White Crane Spread it’s Wings, and the Hundred Beasts Evil Suppressing table. In just the blink of an eye, he spent 2 million taels of silver.

Qing Shui could not find Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li, and when he asked the cashier, he was told that they had already left. Qing Shui thanked the lady who looked at him with yearning eyes. When she saw the items that Qing Shui had bought today, the beautiful lady was already looking at him with a gentle gaze which made Qing Shui want to escape.

He had wanted to take a look at the 3rd floor, but he was told that it was not open to the public and there was no furniture in there either. Therefore, after bidding farewell, he left on the coach he hired.

A lady whose beauty could be comparable to that of Canghai Mingyue stood at the window on the 3rd floor of the Greencloud Furniture City. She had beautiful brows and a pair of bright black eyes which exuded a mysterious glow. While she was tall and lean, she was curvy and even though she was wearing a set of plain looking clothes, they seemed surprisingly elegant on her.

The elegant charm she exuded was a bit similar to Yiye Jiange’s. She was not an ice cool beauty, she was one who hovered between might and ice cold. Her beauty was one that seemed unreal and fluttery!

She saw that the three items were bought by a young man, and he seemed to be especially interested in the pictures on these items, especially those of demonic beasts.

“Go investigate that young man!” The lady did not even turn her head as she said softly, her voice was also fluttery that it was hard to fathom.

After saying her piece, there was no reaction behind jer, and the lady did not continue. It was as if she had been talking to the air.

In a remote area, Qing Shui had placed all the furniture into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal before he disappeared from the the coach. It made the coachman feel as if he had been daydreaming and he would have believed that everything was just an illusion if not for the fact that there was additional money in his pocket.

Not long after Qing Shui had disappeared, an ordinary looking middle aged man stood where he was, looking lost as he looked at the departing coach.

After entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui placed the screen on an empty piece of land near the borders. It was where he usually rested and had his meals.

Thereafter, he hung the Tiger’s Descend painting on the screen, the White Crane Spread it’s Wings on the back of the screen, and the Hundred Beasts Evil Suppressing table in front of the screen.

After some decoration, Qing Shui felt good to see that the place felt like it was a room, with a bed, table, chairs, screen, curtains, pots and bowls, ladle, and his old set of tables and chairs.

After the simple decoration, Qing Shui took a casual look around the realm, especially at the 5000-Year Golden Flesh LingZhi. Qing Shui had been spending more effort on it recently.

Qing Shui quickly exited the realm after seeing that there was no one outside, before he casually prepared to head back to the Canghai’s place. He was considerably satisfied with his gain today. But thinking of how he had spent 2 million silver taels in just one day, Qing Shui felt that money was really not sustainable.

One would not be able to purchase valuable things with money, and slightly more expensive stuff would already need an incredible amount of money. Qing Shui had the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, and he could not help but wish to secretly stash all the valuable items from the Greencloud Furniture City into the realm without anyone noticing.

However, he did not do that. He knew that there would always be a reason behind each consequence, and he did not wish to implicate innocent people just to save himself some money. He knew that if Greencloud Furniture City were to lose some precious items, there would definitely be innocent people who would be implicated.

The most important thing was Qing Shui’s mentality. To those who were wealthy but heartless, Qing Shui would not mind snatching some benefits from them. But if he were to bring trouble to innocent people, he would rather let those people continue to be wealthy but heartless.

This was the rule, the norm which all sorts of characters would follow, and the necessity to survival. Qing Shui usually would not break the balance for those who were totally unrelated to him. He enjoyed being the good guy, but no one would one-sidedly try to be on good terms with everyone.

When he returned to Canghai’s place, it was already close to noon. Ever since Qing shui came, especially after the time Canghai Mingyue had cooked a meal, now, no matter what they ate, they would add some of Qing Shui’s spices.

This made the Canghai couple both happy and worried, especially Canghai. Now, he was able to enjoy delicacies that he had never taste before, and to drink the Tigerbone Yang Amplification Beauty Purification Wine which was loved by both men and women. But what would happen if Qing Shui were to leave?