Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-730

AST 730 – Showdown with Strength of Two Stars

Zuoshi Clan once again showed up. When Qing Shui saw them coming in force, he felt bewildered. Could it be that they have already managed to find out that he killed people from Zuoshi Clan in such a short time?

But Qing Shui still kept his calm and walked out to greet them. There were around twenty people on the opposite side and the person leading the group was a wise old man. His eyes looked as sharp as a hawk’s eyes. Qing Shui could tell that they were here for him.

A handsome young man was standing next to the old man. He had sharp eyebrows and a face that looked as pure as jade. The aura which he exuded while standing there felt really refreshing, giving the others a favorable impression of him. Qing Shui could already tell that he was Zuoshi Yun, the young man with the most outstanding talent in Zuoshi Clan, by merely sensing his strength.

There were three elderly men behind him. Each and every single one of them were just like old antiques. The remaining people were mostly middle-aged men, with a few young men mixed in.

Qing Shui smiled after he sensed the opponent’s strength. The elderly man taking the lead had strength of two stars, strength that’s worth twenty thousand countries. The other three old men at the back on the other hand, had strength which slightly exceeded that of one star. The few young men in particular, they were at either the early or middle stage of Martial King. They were most likely here with their clan members to gain experience.

Qing Shui let out a sigh of relief. His strength was already worth around twenty two thousand countries. He had a few countries more than the strength of two stars. Even if he was to face them on forcefully, he was confident that he would be able to trap them here. Besides, reducing opponent’s strength was his specialty.

“Who are you?” Qing Shui blocked their path and asked with his brows knitted.

At this moment, the rest of the members from Qing Clan had also begun coming out one after another. A few of the Martial Saint elderly men were also coming out along with Canghai Mingyue, Di Chen, Mingyue Gelou and Yiye Jiange. At the moment, there were already quite a few Martial Saints in Qing Clan.

When the Martial Saints from Qing Clan came out, the leading old man had a deep discontented look on his face. From his perspective, if they were to combine their strength altogether, he would still be able to instantly kill them one by one. For someone at his level, it’s not a difference that could be filled up by numbers.

“Qing Shui, you dare kill people from Zuoshi Clan?” The old man was straightforward. His voice may sound hoarse and weak, it still felt really pressuring.

This was the strongest opponent Qing Shui ever faced. Back then, the clan head of Luo Clan, Luo Di too only had strength barely below two stars. This old man on the other hand, he had already achieved two stars.

“I killed people from Zuoshi Clan? Zuoshi Clan? Never heard of them.” Qing Shui shook his head and said.

“You don’t have to look for anymore excuses. You killed them and even destroyed the entire building. What? Do you not dare to admit what you did? There’s a saying, if you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it. Today, I’m here not because I want you to admit that you did it, I just want to let you know that Zuoshi Clan isn’t a clan you can challenge with your strength.” The old man looked at Qing Shui with his sharp eyes. It was as sharp as needles. A normal person would die under his gaze because it was congealed up by Qi.

“Oh, you’re talking about those people? I thought they were some idiots. Not only were they rude to me when they were in Qing Clan, they were the ones who started the fight, that’s why I killed them. I should have asked them who sent them at that time. If I did, I would have been able to go up to you guys to fight for my rights.” Qing Shui said patiently.

The old man looked towards Zuoshi Yun in confusion. Zuoshi Yun’s expression looked abnormal, despite so, he only remained silent. The old man also didn’t really say anything.

“Haha, you indeed have great talent. You’ve already become the patriarch of Heavenly Palace at such a young age. Unfortunately, you are still quite inexperienced in life. You don’t know that there will always be people stronger than you. You’re looking at the sky from a well, which is laughable.” Upon hearing Qing Shui’s words, the old man also laughed. But it’s an insulting and disdainful laugh.

“Even if I am, not only are you guys proud and arrogant just because you are a supreme aristocratic clan, you even tried to snatch away a commoner’s wife without realizing how big your heads are. How long can a clan like this survive? Not to mention that a supreme aristocratic clan that’s near the bottom in terms of ranking shouldn’t be considered a notable existence?” Qing Shui slowly took out his Violet Gold Divine Shield because he knew that the fight today would be inevitable.

Qing Shui also used the Heavenly Talisman on himself. He did all of this calmly. Instead of bothering about his opponents, he turned back and informed the people from Qing Clan: “Get further away from here. Remember, do not take part in the fight.”

Di Chen first took a look at Qing Shui, but eventually, she also nodded her head. The others also grudgingly moved back. They knew that they would only end up a burden to Qing Shui if they were to help with their strength.

“Young man, I really admire your bravery.” The old man said slowly while looking at Qing Shui.

“Bravery? It’s something that’s needed to be supported by strength, what do you think?” Qing Shui smiled.

Qing Shui’s smile looked calm and tranquil. This showed that he had a lot of confidence in himself which the old man really hated. The old man did not like seeing his opponent being so calm. Instead, he preferred to see his opponent shivering in fear. The old man subconsciously squinted.

“Are we going to start by having a single match between you and I or are you guys going to come after me all at once?” Qing Shui smiled looking at the people in front of him. He was concerned for his clan members behind him. If it hadn’t been because of them, he wouldn’t have had any difficulty dealing with the people in front of him. After all, there was only one person with strength of two stars and three people with strength that slightly exceeded one star.

“Young man, you don’t have to push me. If I couldn’t manage to kill you, there’s no point for me to live. Step back.” The old man unsheathed a huge red sword that was as tall as an actual person and said.

The people behind the old man gradually stepped back. Being a core member of Zuoshi Clan, he possessed outstanding strength. He was among the top five strongest members in Zuoshi Clan. Being a warrior who was at the peak of Martial Saint, it was very easy for him to kill this young man.

Qing Shui observed the huge sword in the elderly man’s hand. The color of the sword resembled the color of blood and the blade itself was jagged. The violent aura exuded from the surface of the sword could be felt from even ten meters away.

Qing Shui didn’t summon the Diamond Gigantic Elephant or the Fire bird because it wasn’t the right time for them to show up yet. It would only be counterproductive and end up attracting unnecessary attention from his enemy.

Qing Shui first tossed a Talisman at the old man and unsurprisingly, the Heaven Descending Talisman was effective.

A strength reduction as much as four hundred countries!

Twenty thousand countries, strength of two Stars!

Sometimes, what the eyes see wasn’t necessarily the truth. Not only so, there was also a chance that what they felt might be fake. But Qing Shui had faith in his Heaven Descending Talisman. He could finally confirm the old man’s strength.

The elderly man didn’t really care about the four hundred countries of strength reduction casted by Qing Shui. He slowly took a step ahead and locked onto Qing Shui with his aura. He thought to himself that he would let Qing Shui make the first move. Then he would take the opportunity to cripple him with one move and make him understand the difference in their strength.

Fiery Golden Eyes!

Qing Shui smiled. He made yet another move and straight away reduced his opponent’s strength by one thousand countries.

The old man slightly knitted his brows, but he still maintained the same position as before. Including before, he only got a thousand and five hundred countries worth of strength reduced, so he wasn’t really that worried. He was waiting for Qing Shui to make his move.

Nature Energy!

Immovable Mountains!

……

Qing Shui raised his strength all the way to its peak without letting out any of his qi. After that only did he slowly take out Thunder God. At that moment, the eyes of the old man changed.

He stomped the ground and violently charged himself towards Qing Shui. The old man’s figure didn’t really look big and sturdy but at this moment, it felt as if he could shatter the earth with it. This was the old man’s qi. Qing Shui waited until this moment to let out the final Emperor’s Qi.

Emperor’s Qi!

In just a short while, the opponent’s strength was reduced by four thousand countries. Including the previous reduction, the old man’s strength was already less than that of the strength of half a star. Qing Shui picked this moment to use his most powerful technique.

Ten Thousand Great Thunderbolt!

Qing Shui’s speed instantly got raised to its peak. He immediately charged himself towards the old man’s enormous red sword while protecting half of his body with the Violet Gold Divine Shield.

Bang!

A noise which sounded like thunder rang out. The old man was pushed back by Qing Shui. The red light on the sword intertwined with the violet light. It turned out that the elderly man wasn’t stunned by Qing Shui’s Ten Thousand Great Thunderbolt.

“The sword actually has this kind of ability.”

Qing Shui originally planned to instantly kill the elderly man. It seemed like he would have to waste a bit more time on it. But now, there was already quite a large gap between their strengths. Even though he wasn’t killed by the shockwave, his five viscera and six bowels were still damaged by it. A thread of fresh blood flowed out of his mouth.

Qing Shui had a feeling that the opponent’s weapon still had other uses. For example, it could defend against a limited amount of attacks. Otherwise, his attack from before would have most likely crippled the old man. However, the opponent could still barely fight him. If Qing Shui was to attack him once again, he would be crippled.

Cloudmist Steps!

As if Qing Shui would keep him alive at such a crucial moment. He swiftly charged towards the elderly man. At the same time, the other three old men who were watching the fight also went after Qing Shui. Two of them approached him head-on whereas the other one attacked him from the side.

Shield Attack!

Qing Shui’s Violet Gold Divine Shield immediately collided against the weapons of the two elderly men in front whereas the Thunder God sneakily went towards the old man who attempted to sneak attack from the side.

Heaven-Shaking Attack!

Qing Shui right away used one of the powerful techniques of the Thousand Hammer Techniques. The strong hammer hit one of the warriors with strength of one star and caused him to fly away. He spit out fresh blood, his weapon broke and both of his arms disappeared. He laid down on the ground gasping out his last, he shouldn’t have much time left to live.

After all, their strength differed greatly. The attacks of the hammer itself already had 20% additional power in it. This was the hidden ability of the hammer and also the advantage of having a heavy weapon. Of course, it also had its own disadvantage. For large weapons like hammers and axes, the disadvantage of using them was that the user would become slower.

The two elderly men in front were also blown away. Even though there were two people, the amount of damage that each of them suffered were as serious as Zuoshi Long’s. Qing Shui’s Shield Attack was a technique which boosted attack.

Zuoshi Long got both his liver and guts destroyed. He felt furious and at the same time shocked. He has been making a huge mistake since the very beginning thinking that his opponent’s strength differed from his by hundreds or thousands of miles. For a moment, he had a feeling that all his life has been a waste.

“I can’t die like this. It seems that the people who came today will not be able to make it out alive. Even if I die, I will still have to cause great suffering to the enemy.” The eyes of the elderly man was filled with hatred and anger when he looked at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui once again pressured the two elderly men with strength of one star. The Violet Gold Divine Shield and Thunder God in his hand became his most fatal weapons.

Right at this moment, Zuoshi Long switched his sight to the two children in Qing Yi’s arms. At the moment when Qing Shui charged towards the two old men, he made his move. He waved his enormous bloody sword and charged towards the people in Qing Clan.

Qing Shui’s heart thumped. He never thought that the opponent would still make the decision to do so even though he has long since been prepared for this kind of scenario. All along, Qing Shui was worried that the opponents would lose their minds and do something like this. Therefore, he has been keeping an eye on it.

Qing Shui shot one of the Frosted Iron Balls that he had been holding in his hand all along towards Zuoshi Long. This was Qing Shui’s all-out attack, naturally, it would have incredible speed and strength. It blocked the path of his opponent and forced him to make a large change in direction.

Qing Shui wouldn’t allow anything to happen to his family members.