Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-396

AST 396 - She is part of the Qing Clan, Her surname is Qing, not Yan

“Grandfather, we didn’t have anything to do with Qing Qing getting booted out from Yan Residence.”

“I am her grandfather. You all are her uncle, brother, and sister. Let’s forget about whether or not you are involved. The fact that you didn’t do anything is already a crime to Qing Shui. Even if you did, don’t expect to live for long,” Yan Haoran said angrily.

“But the blood in his veins is of Yan Clan. He is your grandson!” said the graceful young man shockingly. He was the young person other than the burly young man in the sixth branch.

“Do you think the blood flowing through our veins is precious? Do you think he looks up to the blood of Yan Clan? Do you even know what he said to Yan Yidao after he had killed Yan Yishao?” Yan Haoran looked at his ignorant grandsons disappointingly.

“She is part of the Qing Clan. Her surname is Qing, not Yan. From the moment she stepped out from the Yan Residence, she has no relation with the Yan Clan whatsoever.”

These words were considered a humiliation towards the entire Yan Clan. Alas, this was the relationship between Qing Shui and Yan Clan! An irreconcilable relationship.

…………

Inside the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal!

Qing Shui completed his training for now. His power had grown slightly, but the Ancient Strengthening Technique was still in its 136th cycle of circulating Qi. However, it will reach the 137th cycle very soon.

Although he was only accumulating energy for the breakthrough, the time needed to do that became longer. However, the power gained also increased progressively for the subsequent breakthroughs. In this case, it will take more than three years for the 136th cycle of circulating Qi to reach 137th cycle. In the real world, it would take about a month or more with continuous diligent trainings.

As he was washing his face and rinsing his mouth, he saw the three portraits of beauty hanging on the folding screen, which was painted with the scenery of magnificent rivers and mountains. He recognized two of the women in their respective portraits, except the ethereal one in the middle. He wasn’t sure if such a person really existed in the world of nine continents.

The next thing Qing Shui needed to do was start on making the remaining fox fur. It was difficult when he first started crafting the furs, but it became progressively easier as he continued. He saved quite a lot of time from crafting as his workmanship slightly improved. In the end, it was a success.

One purple fox-fur robe!

One red fox-fur robe!

Two snow-white fox-fur robes!

The quality of the robes was very similar to the one he made before. Qing Shui was already pleased with the end result. When he first made the robe, he felt like he needed to indulge himself in the realm of ‘selflessness’. He was really happy when he made the next four fox-fur robes with the same quality as the first one.

Other than the robes, Qing Shui took the time to make a pair of boots. The outer layer of the boots was made with a snow-white fox skin, and the inner layer was constructed with a couple of Level 50 skeleton frames made with tempered metallic essence.

He made the boots specifically for Qing Qing. His mother had already received a full set of battle armor and boots...

During the forging of the boots, Qing Shui was not able to calm his emotions. He kept on thinking about Qing Qing, especially the image where she was bare-footed in the cold harsh winter...

Qing Shui couldn’t help but think of those depressing images inside his head. His hands trembled as he gradually calmed his emotions. He decided he would try his best to make it up to his elder sister.

He will give her all the happiness and freedom in the world.

………...

Suddenly, a dazzling bright light lit up the whole area. Qing Shui was forced to close his eyes as the light became brighter!

It was a pair of snow-white long boots. Qing Shui could feel a strong Qi energy fluctuating within the boots. Suddenly, he remembered about the bright light a few moments ago, and quickly analyzed the boots using his Heavenly Vision Technique.

Fox-fur Battle Boots; it has the ability to increase the user’s speed by 30% with an additional increase of 300 units to the user’s strength, agility, endurance, and energy as well as an additional increase of 100 units to the user’s stamina! Additional skill bonus: Flickering Light Passing Shadow!

When the Flickering Light Passing Shadow was activated, the speed of the user will be doubled for a duration of 15 minutes. This skill can be activated once per day!

………...

Qing Shui was puzzled. The special skill imbued in the Seven Star Armored Vest was determined by the choice of his weapons. But what about the boots? He never even heard of the Flickering Light Passing Shadow skill before.

Qing Shui made these boots with Qing Qing in mind. Men have larger feet than women, so it was impossible to fit into women’s boots. He wouldn’t have thought in a million years that these boots could come with such a strong skill.

Qing Shui felt exhausted as he came out from the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. So he went straight to bed!

Without the concept of time, Qing Shui felt like he had come to a strange place. What was this strange feeling? Qing Shui then remembered about the dreams in the sea of flowers he had last time.

Dreams in the sea of flowers?

However, this was not the same place he had remembered. Furniture was scattered everywhere, including some unknown legendary furniture that Qing Shui heard about before. Nevertheless, this place bore some similarity to the dream of garden.

Where is this place?

Qing Shui looked around suspiciously!

“Hmm, Southern City Furniture Store?”

Qing Shui was confused when he realized he was inside the Southern City Furniture Store from the Greencloud Continent. He knew for sure that this was the same situation as the one last time. In an instant, his heart was beating fast.

There was no way that the Southern City Furniture Store would be this huge. He surveyed the magnified furniture store and followed the stairs leading upwards. Qing Shui felt like someone was calling him.

Last time, he was blocked from going up to the third floor. But now, there were no obstruction. In any case, he walked up the stairs cautiously!

The third floor was still a large hall, but the size of the hall was significantly smaller than the floors below. The first two floors felt huge, almost like the size of the wilderness. However, the third floor seemed normal.

There seemed to be a Red Sandalwood Carved Cabinet, a Red Sandalwood Carved Chair, a Hundred Beast Demonic Table, a White Tiger Rug….

These all were the furniture and decorations that Qing Shui greatly adored. His eyes followed the trails of the endless valuable furniture towards the end of the hallway. His head slowly lifted up as he scanned the display. And then, Qing Shui froze.

At the far end of the hall, a woman stood up and stared at him!

She was a fancy woman with dark eyebrows and a pair of dark mesmerizing eyes. She was also tall and slender, but with a full feminine figure. The woman was surprisingly elegant despite the plain clothes on her body.

Her elegance reminded Qing Shui of Yiye Jiange. Her aura was not as cold, but somewhere in between assertive and cold. Her beauty, however, was bewitching!

As Qing Shui stared into her mesmerizing eyes, he felt like was being possessed. She seemed like a noblewoman who would not be easily influenced by anyone.

She was the woman in the second portrait of beauty that he had acquired. It was as if she came to life from the portrait. Qing Shui was very shocked to see her in person.

He couldn’t believe that he would be in a similar situation when he first saw Misty Hall Palace Priestess. He wouldn’t dare make the same mistakes he did back at the dreams in the sea of flowers.

Because of that, Qing Shui did not wish to go near her. He was content looking at her from ten metres away.

“It’s you!” The woman was surprised when she saw his face.

She had a gentle voice, similar to the sacred voice of the Misty Hall Palace Mistress. However, Qing Shui was more surprised at the words that came out from her mouth.

“Do I know you?” Qing Shui asked with curiosity lingering his mind. Her eyes were mesmerizing as he stared into them. He was surprised that she recognized him.

“You bought some furniture from here before!”

“So you are from the Southern City Furniture Store?”

“What is going on, why are we connected by telepathy?” The woman frowned as she gazed at Qing Shui.

“What do you mean by telepathy?” Qing Shui asked.

“Like how we are communicating right now….”

As she finished talking, her figure began to turn hazy. The entire furniture store slowly became hazy as well. Qing Shui was no exception. After that, he woke up.

Qing Shui sat up on his bed and stared into the blank space. He pondered on what had happened just now. The reason he was able to connect to her by joint consciousness was because of the portrait of beauty. Most importantly, he found out that the woman in the portrait was currently at the Southern City Furniture Store.

When he thought about the furniture he saw on the third floor, he contemplated on whether he should go back to the furniture store next time. However, his subconsciousness was trying to fight that thought away from his head.

Qing Shui still couldn’t understand what had happened just a few moments ago. He felt very confused because the art maestro said the portraits of beauty were great treasures. Misty Hall Palace Priestess was the woman on first portrait of beauty he acquired. She was the one who helped him break through the 5th Layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique and saved his life.

Other than her statuesque figure, Qing Shui figured that her assistance would be the great treasure the art maestro mentioned. All things considered, there was nothing more valuable than being able to break through his technique and having his life saved by the Misty Hall Palace Priestess.

Qing Shui shook his head and promptly perished all those thoughts. There were still more important things to do. He got out from bed, washed his face, and brushed his teeth. After having breakfast, he returned to his bedroom and went into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Then, he changed into his battle armor.

He grabbed a few fox-fur robes and a pair of boots and came out from his room. The old man, Qing He, and Qing You wore a fullbody of battle armors, which were made by Qing Shui back in the Hundred Miles City.

Qing Qing was wearing the fox-fur robe that Qing Shui had initially given to Qing Yi. So he gave two of the snow-white fox-fur robes to his mother and Canghai Mingyue.

He gave the red fox-fur robe to Shi Qingzhuang!

And the purple fox-fur robe to Huoyun Liu-li!

“This one is for you, sis!” Qing Shui took out a pair of beautiful snow-white boots in front of Qing Qing.

Qing Qing stared at the spotless snow-white boots. She looked at Qing Shui, who was now smiling at her. Everyone had been showering her with a lot of care and love since yesterday, but she still wasn’t accustomed to all the affection. However, she was still grateful at the man who called her ‘sister’ and everything he had done. She was slowly opening up, as if a gap had been cracked open in her ice-cold heart.

It was a small gap, but she could feel the warmth seeping inside her!

“I made it myself. If you like it, just wear them. We will be going back to the Yan Residence in a few minutes.” Qing Shui handed over the boots with a warm smile.

Qing Qing grinned at him, but he felt the grin lacked a sense happiness. Her hands were shivering as she received the boots. She felt conflicted. All her life she had been waiting for her mother to take her back home. But now having met her own mother and being treated well, she couldn’t adapt to her new life.

After taking the boots from Qing Shui, Qing Qing went upstairs to change!

Right at this moment, someone knocked on the door!

It was Lai Jiutian and Lai Chusong!

“Qing Shui, I have prepared a few of my best men for you. Let them accompany you and see that everything is in good order.”

“Thank you, uncle. But I have said this before, we Qing Clan will settle the matters with the Yan Clan ourselves!” Qing Shui declined Lai Jiutian’s offer.

Qing Shui refused because he didn’t want to rely on others, and more importantly, he would owe them a big favor if he were to accept their offer!

Not long after Lai Jiutian and Lai Chusong left, Qing Qing came down wearing a snow-white fox-fur robe and a pair of snow-white boots. There was a certain enthusiasm in her movements.

However, all Qing Shui could see was sadness on her beautiful face!

“Let’s go back to Yan Residence!”

His words were calm but infuriating. The day had finally come!