Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-873

AST 873 – Star Steel, Lightning Bees, Golden Beast, Powerful Woman

Within the Sky Penetrating Mountains!

Qing Shui had been in the mountains for two months. Currently, they didn’t dare to split into groups to seek for treasures. Furthermore, they would try to obtain a thorough understanding of their surroundings before taking any action. As of now, they were already 500,000 kilometers into this place.

A large portion of the ‘Treasure Hunting Pigs’ were already stored by the lady. However, the lady had summoned tens of ‘Lightning Bees’ which caused Qing Shui to be stunned for quite a while.

The Lighting Bees were also called the path searching bees. They were the size of a thumb and their bodies were a grayish white. They were as resilient as diamonds and as quick as lightning. Although they didn’t have any offensive capabilities, there were able to increase the scope of view of their master.

This was the most precious thing for an adventurer. Having numerous Lighting Bees would allow an adventurer to avoid many dangers, including potentially fatal ones. Lightning Bees would allow their master to feel the movements of the wind and the movements of every stalk of grass within their surroundings.

Although the Lightning Bees lacked offensive capabilities, they were fast and small. Most demonic beasts were simply unable to attack them. As for those small beasts that eat bugs or birds, they were simply unable to eat them. The lady proceeded to lead everyone further into the mountain range. As they walked, they made numerous turns, allowing the Treasure Hunting Pigs to direct her from time to time. She aimed to search for treasures while evading strong demonic beasts.

Qing Shui was feeling a bit curious about this lady. Her family refines demons yet she was able to bring out tens of Treasure Hunting Pigs. Additionally, she brought out tens of Lighting Bees. The demonic beasts that she summoned were unable to fight, however, each and every one of them was worth cities…

“To the left!”

The lady spoke these two words before following the Treasure Hunting Pig. The pig dashed towards the left side of the mountain top. Qing Shui and the rest hurriedly followed her. At this current place, he had to bring out 120% of his effort to settle everything. Even Qing Shui didn’t dare to have the slightest degree of carelessness.

During these past few days, it could be considered that he had seen the dangers of this Sky Penetrating Mountains. He had avoided quite a bit of poisonous miasma and faced that terrifying horde of Five Coloured Poison Beasts.

They arrived at an area with a group of swamplands in a valley. There were dense and numerous Five Coloured Poison Beasts, including Five Coloured Poison Alligators whose bodies hadn’t even reached a meter in length. Additionally, their speeds were just average, if they were faster, Qing Shui’s group would be neck deep into trouble.

While he fled, Qing Shui didn’t forget to catch a few poison beasts, tossing them into the poisonous pond within the Realm of the Violet Immortal. Plants and animals were able to live in the Realm of the Violet Immortal, including Qing Shui’s demonic beasts. In addition to demonic beasts, there were also aquatic creatures. Even amphibious existences were able to live in his realm, including tortoises. The Five Coloured Poison Alligators were amphibious poisonous beasts.

They followed the Treasure Hunting Pig and ran to the peak, only to see it continuously knocking against a gigantic rock on the mountain peak. After a while, a jet black item appeared, infused with a cold glint.

Star Steel!

Everyone was shocked that this mountain peak actually had Star Steel. Furthermore, this piece of Star Steel seemed to be very large. Star Steel was the leftover essence from meteors after they were worn down from falling from the sky.

They were uncertain of the exact size of this Star Steel but this piece was at least three meters in size. Star Steel was an extremely precious metal. Most fires were unable to melt it and even sharp weapons were unable to cut it apart.

The lady took out her Mystical Connection Divine Sword and tried to cut the steel a few times before finally giving up helplessly. Although she was able to leave a few scratches, wanting to extract it was an impossibility. The Star Steel was very thick and dense. With that weight, it wasn’t a load that their spirit energy could withstand. Furthermore, it wasn’t something that they could fit into their Interspatial Silk Sachets…

It would be very unfortunate if they couldn’t bring it away. Suddenly, she looked at Qing Shui, who was standing a bit far away. Walking over, she gently asked, “Are you able to bring the Star Steel away? It’s too much of a pity to leave it here.”

“I’ll give it a try!” replied Qing Shui after thinking. The Realm of the Violet Immortal could hold tens of thousands of these. However, he didn’t know if his spirit energy could handle it, nor did he know if there would be any repulsion. Despite this, he still had to give it a try, after all, ‘controlling items’ with spirit energy was different from using one’s strength. The lady’s spatial item was absolutely big enough but her spirit energy probably hadn’t reached the required level.

Qing Shui slowly placed his hands on the surface of the Star Steel. He could feel a strong spiritual energy emanating from it, causing him to become speechless. Only by touching it did he realize that this Star Steel wasn’t like regular objects. Slowly, he started to activated his spirit energy.

The Yin Yang Image in his sea of consciousness rapidly started to revolve and gradually increased in speed. Spirit energy and strength had one aspect in common. If one suddenly used up too much and there was no response from their target, it would lead to injuries and damage. This was just like a man trying to lift a heavy rock. If he tried to use his full strength to move it, it would result in exceptional suffering if he was unable to move it. In fact, his body would suffer injuries. Therefore, one had to slowly increase their output. This would reduce the likelihood of injury, as spirit energy injuries would result in injuries to the spirit.

The gigantic piece of Star Steel and the surrounding rock disappeared in a flash before everyone’s eyes. Qing Shui had used around half of his spirit energy to store this gigantic piece of Star Steel. This was the immense efficacy of the Yin Yang Image. In that instant, the image had shone brighter than usual.

After Qing Shui was able to store it, everyone felt extremely happy. It was better that one of them managed to store it, rather than just leaving it here. The lady smiled towards Qing Shui before kneeling down to pat the head of the little gold pig beside her. The Treasure Hunting Pig closed its eyes in enjoyment, before suddenly opening its eyes and rapidly rushing down the mountain.

The harvest for today could be considered sufficient. Such a big piece of Star Steel, its value simply couldn’t be calculated. However, they couldn’t stay here for too long. The lady’s group was unable to take it away, so Qing Shui being able to take it away was a good thing. Furthermore, the lady vaguely felt in her heart that despite not taking away the Sky Penetrating Grass, the items that she had gotten were absolutely more valuable than it.

After all, she was also a Beast Tamer…

Before they started walking down the mountain, they heard the dense cries of numerous birds appearing in a place across the horizon, their sharp calls breaking the Heavens. Everyone was still standing on the mountain top and upon hearing this, they hurriedly ran down the mountain.

When they were half way down the mountain, the lady suddenly stopped. With an extremely unnatural expression, she looked at the group, before she slowly said, “There are numerous Berserk Dragons rushing up here from the bottom…”

Berserk Dragons were demonic beasts that possessed the bloodline of dragons from legends. Its appearance was similar to an earth dragon, albeit being somewhat smaller in size. However, the degree to which it could go berserk was comparable to the Violent Blood Bear. It was a Peak Marital Saint and its abilities were at least at three stars. Their highest strength was uncertain, as a few mutated stronger subspecies would often appear.

Roar…

Sky rending roars continuously rang out as a large flock of birds appeared in the distance. When they saw the flock, everyone became even more flustered. There were so many Vampiric Falcon Vultures that it made cold shivers run up everyone’s spines.

The appearance of the Berserk Dragons had let everyone guess that the flock of birds were Vampiric Falcon Vultures.

Vampiric Falcon Vultures weren’t very different from the Blood-Thirsty Bald Eagle, with strength ranging from Early Martial Saint to Late Martial Saint. Only a small number were barely able to reach the Peak Martial Saint level. However, the probability was one in a million. They were approximately ten meters wide, possessed good speed, and their attacks had a poisonous attribute. This poison could accumulate and when they saw blood, they would get crazy. As long as blood was seen, they would want food no matter what.

A Vampiric Falcon Vulture was dark red and it had a falcon’s head. Its beak was lined with densely packed half a foot of long sharp teeth. The poison came from its teeth.

The lady looked at her surroundings without being flustered. Looking at the nearby mountain, she saw a space that seemed like a shallow cave. The rocks here were exceptionally hard and dense, forming a large mountain. Even the Vampiric Falcon Vultures wouldn’t dare to bump into this mountain. After all, they weren’t demonic beasts with strong bodies and their strength was unable to cause the mountain to collapse.

If it were the mountains in Qing Shui’s past life, it could possibly collapse. However, this was the World of the Nine Continents.

Everyone stood before that spacious ‘cave entrance’. The mountain peak above gently protruded out, so they wouldn’t have to worry about getting attacked from the top. Just as they stood firm, immense roars started to ring out from below.

Berserk Dragons!

Qing Shui looked at the innumerable Berserk Dragons and his goosebumps stood up uncontrollably. Their scarlet bodies were like a lion’s and they were approximately 30 meters long. Their fierce heads were a cross between a lion and a camel, and their jaws filled with massive sharp teeth. A thick stench of blood came hurtling over.

Being almost ten meters tall, their four thick limbs that were armed with sharp claws could rip almost anything to shreds.

As the innumerable Berserk Dragons dashed about, a great thumping noise rang out from the ground. The hurried noises seemed to resonate with everyone’s hearts but the mountain where they hid didn’t have a single trace of vibration.

Originally, Qing Shui thought that this mountain might collapse. He thought about the scars that the meteor had caused when it landed on the mountain peak. It looked like the rocks here were hard and firm and had a frightening density. However, it was a pity that this stone couldn’t be refined and reforged.

The lady wielded her Mystical Connection Divine Sword as she faintly frowned. With a wave of her hand, four golden beasts appeared. A few of the other old people also summoned their demonic beasts. However, they only summoned one demonic beast each, and their demonic beasts weren’t as eye catching as the lady’s four golden beasts.

The golden beast was a rare demonic beast. Its body was similar to that of a Berserk Dragon and it looked noble and graceful. The strength of this demonic beast lied in its penetrative attack and its extraordinarily high defense. Its massive body was tough as diamonds. It was one of the best in term of its application of raw strength since it had abandoned magic and combat technique type attacks. Therefore, its defense, speed, and the might of its claws and teeth were all extraordinarily strong.

What a trump card!. Every time this lady took action, it would always be a major move. Qing Shui summoned his Diamond Gigantic Elephant and the Ten Thousand Poisonous Violet Sable. Naturally, there was also the Fire Bird. Due to the Spirit Gathering Lamp, the Fire Bird’s attacking power would double. This was an enormous breakthrough.

Upon climbing up, those demonic beasts started attacking crazily. Fortunately, their location was unique and prevented them from being attacked from behind. The number of attacking demonic beasts did not exceed 30, with the Berserk Dragons being the primary attackers.

The base strength of the Fire Bird was close to a star, and its strength was already more than 9,000 countries. Under the effects of Phoenix Dance, its abilities were permanently doubled. Additionally, the Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens and the might of the ‘Hell’s Inferno doubled its strength once again, allowing the Fire Bird’s attack power to reach four stars.

As of now, with the Spirit Gathering Lamp, its attack power could even eight stars. It took to the skies and rushed towards the Vampiric Falcon Vultures and the Berserk Dragons. The Vampiric Falcon Vultures were similar in strength to the Fire Bird, with the Vampiric Falcon Vultures having the advantage of a poison attribute and numbers.

The strength of the majority of Berserk Dragons weren’t even a bit inferior to the Fire Bird and there even a small amount that exceeded it.

Although the individual strengths of Qing Shu’s group were significantly higher than the Berserk Dragons and the Vampiric Falcon Vultures, it was difficult to fend off so many enemies. Even a hero wouldn’t be able to withstand that many foes. A small mistake could cost all their lives. Due to the innumerable amounts of demonic beasts in the sky and on the ground, if they were to attract even stronger demonic beasts, they would be in real deep sh*t.

At this moment, a few crystal cards appeared in the lady’s hand, which she tossed onto the golden beasts. She had a few cards left, so she casually gave Qing Shui one.

At this moment, Qing Shui saw the effects of the cards. These cards seemed to increase the strength and destructiveness of the user’s attacks. This improved their penetrative power. Only now did he remember that the Mu Family was a family of Demon Tamers.

The Mu Family was very strong!

This was what Qing Shui’s felt.

The Fire Bird’s Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens could only be sustained for 15 minutes but its might was truly enormous. The strong Hell’s Inferno had immediately killed many Vampiric Falcon Vultures instantly.

Even the Berserk Dragons on the ground couldn’t endure the flames. After continual use of Hell’s Inferno, tens of Beserk Dragons were killed directly. However, this attack had an unfortunately high consumption rate. Although the Fire Bird could enter the Realm of the Violet Immortal to recover, it would still require some pills and occasionally some Vital Essence Pill.

The Ten Thousand Poisonous Violet Sable was as quick as lightning. It only needed to attack the weak parts of the Berserk Dragons, which were the face, the ears, and the abdomen. After those parts were attacked, the Berserk Dragons would die in a few hours.

The poison of the Ten Thousand Poisonous Violet Sable had already become something that the previous version couldn’t be compared to. After being strengthened by Qing Shui’s medicinal pills and that pearl, it wasn’t far from becoming six colored.