Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-561

561 [Kill, Divine Connection Realm of the Tiger Form, Xing Hai Country of the Central Continent]

The Diamond Gigantic Elephant was kept in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal by Qing Shui. For it to compete against a peak Grade One Martial Saint demonic beast, the Diamond Gigantic Elephant’s strength was far from sufficient. It also lacked the ability to fly. It was a good thing that the Diamond Gigantic Elephant had sufficient potential for growing stronger.

The flight abilities of the Fire Bird and its Hellfire let Qing Shui see some hope, even the strong Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast was fearful of the Hellfire.

However, the strength of the Fire Bird was just too low. Qing Shui felt that when it reached the Martial Saint Realm, just one Hellfire would be sufficient to force the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast to flee...

Qing Shui did not care about anything else now. He did not even notice the stunned Di Qing in his embrace. He carried her and leaped onto the back of the Fire Bird. Quickly, he took out a stack of Heavenly Talismans, including Binding Talismans, Body Securing Talismans, and Armor Break Talismans. Without hesitation, he threw them at the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast.

“En! It got hit!”

Qing Shui looked at the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast that was stuck in its original location!

He looked at Di Qing, who was in a daze, took the Crimson Dragon Bow from her hands, and nocked and drew back the Poison Dragon Arrow. All of these were done in a single breath.

“Xiu!”

It was a pity that it did not cause the demonic beast much harm!

“Why did this Poison Dragon Arrow not affect it much?” Qing Shui continued to throw out talismans while feeling depressed and continued to shoot out some arrows!

Soulshake bell!

Qing Shui held the Soulshake bell, from time to time, when the demonic beast drew near, he would hurriedly throw out a stack of Body Securing Talisman. One to three breaths of time was sufficient for the Fire Bird to flee a few thousand meters.

Qing Shui got the Fire Bird to fly higher, the arrows shot out by the Crimson Dragon Bow targeted the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast’s last eye on its the middle head.

Suddenly, Qing Shui sensed the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast’s body stop. He felt joy in his heart, he knew that the poison of the Poison Dragon Arrow had started to take effect.

However, Qing Shui felt that this Poison Dragon Arrow’s poison was not strong enough. It was not life-threatening, at least not to the big fellow below him.

The Fire Bird flew higher and higher!

The Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast reluctantly pursued doggedly. It continued to roar and relentlessly spat out a black fog.

Suddenly, the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast’s body stopped again, it even dropped down by a meter!

Qing Shui knew that the time was right!

Body Securing Talisman!

Armor Break Talisman!

He ferociously leaped from the back of the Fire Bird and changed the weapon in his hands to the huge Heaven Shaking Hammer!

He attacked with all his strength!

“Bang!”

The Fire Bird caught Qing Shui!

He once again chased after the descending Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast and used the Violet Gold Divine Shield in his hands to use a Shield Attack on the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast!

The Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast’s reaction already became slow!

Ripping Tiger Claw!

The remaining eye on the middle head was destroyed, even the smaller head on the right was shattered.

It quickly fell downwards as it roared miserably!

Qing Shui struck it once again with the Art of Pursuing!

With the 20% increase in weight, Qing Shui was planning for it to fall to death. He would not give it a chance to make a desperate counter attack while dying, that would be a great loss.

As it fell from that unknown height, it’s falling speed got faster and faster, Qing Shui’s Fire Bird was no longer able to keep up with it. When it reached the bottom, there was a loud boom, which proved that the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast had hit the ground.

A 50 meters long, 20 meters tall huge demonic beast, its weight would be in the hundred thousands of Jin. Falling from that height in addition to the increased speed would result in an extremely horrifying impact.

Qing Shui finally descended and saw that the huge demonic beast was smashed to a pulp, but that black beast armor was fine. Qing Shui was very happy, a Martial Saint beast was truly extraordinary.

He actually killed a Martial Saint level demonic beast by himself!

However, he did it using tricks!

Qing Shui did not bother about the details, instead, he leaned on the body of the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast without moving. This battle took a total of 2 hours, and the eastern sky already had a trace of the approaching dawn.

From the start to the end, Di Qing did not say a single word. Her mind was filled with the scene of Qing Shui calling her a stupid woman. When she remembered the anxious tone behind the words coming from that figure fighting with the huge beast, despite being called a stupid woman, she did not feel angry. Instead, she felt a little comforted.

When he was escaping, he did not abandon her. The first time she got hugged by a man, it was a young man, one whom her elder sister had feelings for.

She felt very weird, she did not hate the distance between them, and even when she was hugged, it did not evoke a hateful feeling. Di Qing felt very confused.

“Am I really stupid?” Di Qing asked as she walked to Qing Shui’s side and watched him as he panted with his eyes closed.

Qing Shui opened both his eyes and smiled bitterly at this woman who was as pretty as a fairy from the moon palace. He was in too much of a rush earlier and had even called her a stupid woman a few times.

[TL notes: fairy from the moon palace is a reference to Chang`er, she is supposed to be very pretty]

Di Qing looked at Qing Shui, although she did not blame Qing Shui for scolding her. However, ever since she was young, everyone only lavished praise and love on her, no one had ever called her stupid, yet he called her a stupid woman…...

“That was circumstantial, when you came back, it caused me some inconvenience, that nearly killed me, as such, calling you stupid was normal.” Qing Shui smiled awkwardly.

“Heng! This lady will forgive you this once, but you are not to call me stupid again……” Di Qing looked at Qing Shui as she panted with rage.

Qing Shui rubbed his nose and smiled bitterly!

When Di Qing saw Qing Shui’s expression, Di Qing could not help but laugh, causing Qing Shui to be very puzzled.

“Thank you!” Di Qing leaned against the Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast like Qing Shui did, nearly touching Qing Shui.

“There is no need to thank me, you are the younger sister of Sister Chen, this is what I should do.” Qing Shui slowly closed his eyes and said peacefully.

Di Qing felt slightly disappointed in her heart, although she did not know why... Di Qing thought that she did not want to be involved with Qing Shui but she did not know why she was disappointed…...

Following that, Qing Shui opened up the chest and abdomen of the huge beast. In order to dissect the demonic beast corpse easily, Qing Shui used Gold Essence to refine a pair of 30 centimeters long Gold Essence scissors and a small Gold Essence knife!

Although the thick armor was difficult to break, but by following the lines, it became like splitting wood along the grains. With the Gold Essence Scissors and Gold Essence Knife, the job of dissecting the huge beast was completed very quickly.

The Inner Core and the miscellaneous items which included the beast’s blood, bones, and blood vessels were obtained in large quantities. They were parts of a Martial Saint level beast, thus they were valuable beyond compare.

By the time he finished everything, the sky was already bright!

He once again set up the tent, then he looked at Di Qing and said: “I’m too tired, let's rest for another 4 hours before traveling again.”

“En!”

Qing Shui entered the tent and left the Fire Bird and the Diamond Gigantic Elephant outside, then he entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Things can happen suddenly, he had to use up an hour of time first while he could. Or else, if anything were to happen, he might not be able to enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal early enough to use up the remaining time.

After practicing a round of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, he practiced a round of the Tiger Form!

Now that he had broken through to the Great Perfection Stage of the Tiger Form, Qing Shui did not know what stage he was in. However, that was not important, what was important was that his might had increased significantly.

“Let’s call it the Divine Connection Stage!” Qing Shui gave the new stage a name. Now that his Tiger Form was in the Divine Connection Stage, it would be a long time before he could break through to the next stage.

Mysterious Fruit!

To be able to kill this Martial Saint demonic beast, asides from the Poison Dragon Arrow, the Mysterious Fruit and the Obscure Realm of Heavenly Thunder Slash would not be able to slash it apart.

Having many skills would not put him at a disadvantage. Qing Shui felt especially happy, if he did not have these skills, he could forget about leaving in one piece, he might even lose his life. All of this was a result of the advantages of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

When he finally came out, it was mid-morning, and Di Qing was already waiting outside. Qing Shui looked at her, knowing that she did not sleep. When Di Qing saw Qing Shui, she turned her head and smiled.

“You are done resting!”

Qing Shui nodded his head, he felt that Di Qing seemed to have suddenly changed, and seemed a little different from before. Qing Shui just could not tell exactly what it was, she just felt a little more real, unlike the Misty Hall Palace Mistress, who was impossible to get a hold of.

“En, you did not rest?” Qing Shui looked at Di Qing and casually asked.

“I’m not tired!”

When they rode on the Fire Bird again and were about to make their way to the Central Continent, Qing Shui’s mood was different from before. The Divine Connection Stage of the Tiger Form had allowed Qing Shui’s strength to stably reach the level of a Grade One Martial Saint. It was a pity that he had not reached the 6th Layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. Qing Shui felt that once he reached the 6th Layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, he could have handled that peak Grade One Martial Saint Three-Headed Dark Cloud Armored Beast with his bare hands!

Xing Hai Country of the Central Continent!

After their three months of hurried traveling, Qing Shui and Di Qing arrived at the Xing Hai Country of the Central Continent. Xing Hai Country was located at the borders of the Central Continent. The terrain was strategically situated and easy to defend. The people were valiant, however, it was a messy place with many bad people mixed in with the good people.

“We have arrived at the Central Continent, let’s go to the Xing Hai Country to take a look!” said Di Qing with a warm look on her face as she looked at Qing Shui.

“Sure!” Qing Shui also wanted to see the differences between the Central Continent and the Greencloud Continent.

The Fire Bird landed on a piece of empty ground in the Xinghai Country. Maybe because it was near the borders, there were fewer people than the Greencloud Continent City. When he thought of that endless expanse of wilderness outside, he felt relieved.

There were frequent demonic beast attacks in Xinghai Country, thus life here was like living on the edge. For those who thought they were strong but were forced to live here or those who grew up here, the most important point was that they needed a strong sect or family clan to oversee them.

In this martial cultivation oriented World of the Nine Continents, everyone respected strength and worked towards it. Basically, everyone cultivated, but those who had some accomplishments were one in ten thousand. Out of them, only one in ten thousand would stand out and could accomplish great things in the future.

Maybe because it was a city at the borders, the streets of the city were unusually wide. The human traffic was not high, and the style of the buildings here were low but very sturdy.

Qing Shui discovered that the walls were made of a special type of rock, even the doors were made of a special type of metal, they were extremely thick. The doors even looked like they were a solid piece.

“Do you feel that the architecture here is very weird?” Di Qing watched as Qing Shui looked around in interest, laughing at the man beside her.

“En, yes, the buildings look very sturdy!” Qing Shui did not see any tall buildings.

“Outside this city is the millions of miles of wilderness, there are occasionally some demonic beasts coming in. If regular demonic beasts came in, then the people just had to return home and they would be safe.”

“Right, how is the Central Continent distributed?” Since Qing Shui arrived at the Central Continent, he wanted to know a little more about it.

“The Central Continent is the same as the other continents, there are 81 countries, each country has 81 cities. The Central Continent is a necessary place for traveling within the World of the Nine Continents. The Central Continent is the center of the World of the Nine Continents, in order to travel between continents, you must travel via the Central Continent. Thus the Central continent is the most bustling and the messiest continent.” explained Di Qing to Qing Shui as they walked shoulder to shoulder on the streets of Xinghai country.

“What is the difference between the Central Continent and the other continents?”

“In the other continents, the Continent’s capital is the biggest city and most lively place. The strongest sects and family clans have influence in there, but the Central Continent is different. Aside from a few countries, most of the countries are not inferior to the Continent’s Capital. In the end, the Continent’s Capital is the center of communications, thus it is still the most lively place, but as for strength, they are the same as the other countries on the surface.”

When he heard Di Qing’s words, Qing Shui felt that it was truly so, in such a big place, it was not easy to move a family. Moreso, a sect or family clan with many youths, would not easily leave their ancestral home. Those homes were the results of thousands of years or even tens of thousands of years of effort. It was very complicated and messy, not to mention that they would lose all their connections. When a region got big, naturally, there would be an increase in people, and there would always be family clans or sects on the rise.

It seemed that the center of communication between the different countries would be Central Continent City. Qing Shui guessed that the Central Continent City would have either a very strong sect or family clan leading the city, or else the Central Continent City would have turned into a battlefield long ago.

“What about the Xinghai country?” After all, Qing Shui had only just arrived at the Central Continent and the Xinghai country, he could not make any judgments based on what he saw.

“Xinghai countries is not among those weak countries, thus the Xianhai country is a very strong country.”

“Elder sister, look, that’s big brother.”

A lofty and somewhat familiar voice could be heard!

Qing Shui saw a 16 or 17 year old girl, she was very pretty with big eyes. She brimmed with the energy of spring, and her exquisite complexion could be compared with Yan Ling`er. She had the air of someone from an influential family. An ocean blue embroidered shirt outlined her slender waist, her figure was tall and was full of energy, just that she seemed young and inexperienced.

Qing Shui felt that she was familiar but could not recall her, Qing Shui did not know anyone in the Central Continent. However, this girl’s eyes were joyfully looking at him, it could even be considered ecstatic.

Qing Shui puzzledly shifted his gaze to the other girl beside her, who had shouted elder sister, then he understood everything.

Qianyu Qingqing!

She was the one Qing Shui almost mistook for Qing Qing, the 5 or 6 year old girl from back then had grown into an outstandingly slender and elegant woman.

Since they said goodbye in the Hundred Miles City, it had been more than 10 years.

Qianyu Qingqing’s face had not changed much, but her tall figure now had a trace of poise and noble air, her face seemed to have matured and had a certain charm to it.

“Big brother!”

In the time he was distracted, the girl had already happily ran in front of Qing Shui, as though she wanted to hug Qing Shui, but she resisted.

“You have already grown so big, if you weren’t with your sister, I would not recognize you.” Qing Shui smiled and naturally rubbed her head. It had been ten years, it was not surprising that she grew this much.

“Big brother!”

The girl hugged Qing Shui and happily cried out. Her life was saved by Qing Shui, and she was very attached to Qing Shui. Although it had been a long time, this kind of affection would only grow with time.

Patting the girl’s back, he looked at Qingyu Qingqing, who was walking over, and said: “It’s been a long time, how are you doing?”