Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)
chapter-965

AST 965 – Instant Kill, Establishing Authority With A Name As Backing, Zheng Clan’s Choice

Looking at the sword that swung in his direction, Qing Shui reached out one of his hands!

Ripping Tiger Claw!

A powerful tiger’s roar rang out and he smashed against his opponent’s sword, creating a crisp sound together with a low sound. It was like the sound of a watermelon being smashed.

Pfft!

Zheng Chenglong spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood and flew out. The spot he was falling toward just so happened to be where Zheng Clan was at.

An old man in his fifties went to catch him and did so successfully. It was just that he hadn’t had enough time to see if the person he caught was still alive when he sensed a powerful strength coming down from above.

Boom!

The old man was hit by the attack. He was dealt a serious blow and he spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Everyone was stunned. This was unacceptable. Many people knew of Zheng Chenglong’s abilities. He was the top amongst all of the youngest generation in Zheng Clan, an absolute genius. He was frivolous, domineering and arrogant. However, he was strong. He had defeated all the profligate sons in the west of the city and when a senior who had the strength of eight stars came out, Zheng Chenglong killed him as well.

From then onward, everyone got to know how powerful Zheng Chenglong was. He was handsome and somewhat of a player by nature but many ladies were willing to fall prey to him anyway. He had always had Hai Dongqing on his mind but his seniors at home at not allowed him to do anything.

It was because it wasn’t time yet. Back then, Zheng Clan was still having interactions with the main clan. They were just a branch and just had the rights to join the main clan. This was why they didn’t wish to have any problems. As long as they could join up with the Zheng Clan’s main branch, it would be easy to deal with Hai Clan.

Moreover, Hai Dongqing had not gotten married and thus he could still keep his cool. Although he had his share of fun with women outside, he had always decided that Hai Dongqing would become his. He could have his fun outside but if he were to get married, it would definitely be to Hai Dongqing.

However, he hadn’t expected Hai Clan to suddenly send them a wedding invitation. When he saw that it was for Hai Dongqing’s wedding banquet, he had wanted to kick up a fuss. Moreover, the two Elders from Zheng Clan from Tonghai Country had also thought well of Zheng Chenglong. When they knew of the situation, they were very supportive of Zheng Chenglong going to snatch the bride.

This was how humans were, helping those who were close to them and not what was logical or right. For some conflicts, there was no right or wrong. The standards to determine if one was right or wrong were dependent on how close one was with the person involved. It was that simple.

Zheng Chenglong was extremely happy to have received the support of the two Elders. The seniors from Zheng Clan had still wanted to say more but when the two Elders had spoken, they merely smiled. With them around, there wouldn’t be any accidents.

To them, a marriage between Zheng Clan and Hai Clan was a situation where Hai Clan was connecting with someone of a higher status than them. Therefore, they decided to snatch the bride on this day. There wasn’t any need for Zheng Clan to fight to determine their rank in Cold Ice City, they would just subjugate Hai Clan who was ranked first in the city.

Everything was possible because Zheng Chenglong had a high status in Zheng Clan. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to be so reckless. However, he hadn’t expected himself to fall so hard that he’d never be able to get back on his feet.

“No one can come cause trouble for Hai Clan, no matter who they are. Even you, Zheng Clan, are but ants to me,” Qing Shui looked toward where Zheng Clan was and said coldly.

This time around, Qing Shui had stunned them completely, telling them that no matter who they were, if they wanted to lay their hands on Hai Clan, they would need to consider his existence. Before they could do anything to Hai Clan, they must first get rid of him.

And at his current state now, he was unafraid of anyone coming up to challenge him.

When the people around heard Qing Shui’s words, they turned their gazes toward Zheng Clan. They wanted to see what Zheng Clan was going to do. What Qing Shui was saying was reasonable and Zheng Clan was the one who had challenged them in the first place. Now, the problem would lie in who was stronger.

Zheng Chenglong was dead and the old man who had caught him earlier was his uncle. However, he was also dealt a serious blow, causing him to be both astonished and furious now and he fainted on the spot.

Two old men with a strong and muscular built sat at the head positions of the table. Right now, they were looking at Qing Shui. After a very long time, one of them leaped up and landed on the arena.

He didn’t say a word but continued to look at this young man which gave him a strange feeling. but should be quite strong. To him, these young men were all but arrogant clowns. However, this young man before him did have the right to be arrogant.

Earlier, the old man estimated that the strength this young man had hit out with was at 50 stars. Most importantly, he had a good grasp of his strength. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to injure another person who was about the same level as Zheng Chenglong.

With such power, even if he were to be put into an aristocrat clan, he would be considered one of the top three amongst the younger generation. Even in a great clan, a person with his talent would be prioritized for nurturing and would be a candidate of becoming a future pillar for the clan.

“Young man, since you said that people from our Zheng Clan are like ants in your eyes, I’ll see what right you have to be so arrogant today.” The old man was very calm. There was no way he could sit back in such a situation but he still had to be on guard. If it was any other people, after hearing what Qing Shui had said, they would have already be engaged in a battle.

However, this was not the case for the old man. He wanted to understand a little bit more or find some flaws. Right now, the best thing was to be able to kill in a single move. He would also have to consider what the repercussions would be if he wasn’t able to kill him in a move.

“I haven’t heard of Zheng Clan. Is it stronger than Demon Gate?”

“How is it when compared to Mo Zitong?”

“I wonder if an Elder from Demon Gate would be able to wipe out the entire Zheng Clan,” Qing Shui looked at the old man and said gradually. He spoke very slowly but everyone could hear him very clearly. With each word he said, the other party’s countenance turned even paler.

Demon Gate was a top notch faction in the Central Continent and Zheng Clan was not even fit to hold their shoes for them. Why was the young man saying all these? However, he knew that it was not useless for Qing Shui to be saying these.

“Ahh, there were rumors that Demon Gate’s number one genius, Mo Zitong, had been defeated by a young man and even the sect’s Elder Wu was seriously injured.”

“It should be true. It’s said that the Marionette Sect had been wiped out of half their strength by a young man and the Demon Gate had stood up for Marionette Sect. However, it seemed like they suffered a defeat and didn’t make any other moves. However, that young man didn’t kill anyone from Demon Gate. He must still have some hesitations.”

…

The old man’s clothes were drenched in perspiration. It was better to believe in rumors than not to believe anything at all. Moreover, he had also heard about this in Tonghai Country. After all, Zheng Clan was a great clan and they had good news sources. It was just that they hadn’t expected that this young man was the one mentioned in the news.

Right now, the more he thought about it, the higher the likelihood was that this was true.

This was a grave issue. If Zheng Clan was put into a bad state due to this trifling issue… The more he thought about it, the more scared he was. Suddenly, he suddenly did a deep bow.

“Mister Qing, this old man didn’t know any better and have brought you unhappiness on the day of your wedding. I’m offering my apologies to you here. If you have any requests, I’ll make sure that all of them are met. Even if you’re asking for my head, I’ll guarantee that I’ll give it to you immediately without any complains.” Bent over, the old man’s voice was not soft in the least and everyone around could hear him.

He had lowered down his attitude the best that he could.

The people below the arena were stunned as well. In fact, many people didn’t believe that Qing Shui was that powerful, when they saw the people from Zheng Clan lowering down themselves so, they believed it now. Right now, many people’s gazes at Qing Shui was that of excitement.

“It’s no wonder that Hai Clan’s clan head has been waiting for him for several years.”

“That’s right, only a person like him could match up to Hai Clan’s clan head.”

“It’s all over for Zheng Clan now. They’ve brought such great humiliation to themselves that it wouldn’t be possible for them to hold their heads up high in Cold Ice City and in Tonghai.”

“It’s not a humiliation to have been done in by this young man.”

Commotion broke out.

…

Qing Shui hadn’t expected things to change like this either. He looked toward the old man who was not far away from him and was bent over but felt no pity for him. The strong was revered and if he wasn’t strong, he might not have been able to protect Hai Clan today, nor his own woman.

“Break off one of your arms and scram back to Tonghai with your people. Get your clan head to come here before noon tomorrow. If he doesn’t arrive before then, don’t blame me for being vicious,” Qing Shui continued to speak calmly.

His words caused everyone to be astonished, including Hai Dongqing and the others. People from the other clans found this to be unbelievable and they felt that Qing Shui was being too arrogant. After all, even they weren’t certain that Qing Shui was able to defeat an Elder from Demon Gate because he was far too young.

Just as they were feeling that Qing Shui had gone overboard, the old man on the arena swung his sword and chopped off one of his arms, not even letting out a grunt.

“Mister Qing, I’ll definitely get my clan head to rush over here before noon tomorrow to offer our apologies,” the old man’s countenance was very pale but he still forced out a smile and said.

“You can leave now. Remember what you’ve just said,” Qing Shui waved his hand and said.

Together with members of the Zheng Clan from Cold Ice City, the old man bowed toward Qing Clan and then toward Hai Dongqing and the others before leaving. The place fell quiet, with no one saying a word.

Qing Shui returned to his seat while Hai Dongqing looked at him blissfully. Her beautiful and graceful eyes now had a faint charm to them and was glowing, giving Qing Shui the urge to just leave with her immediately.

During the banquet, many people kept on coming up to toast to him. Out of all of them, many of their motives were to check out the descendents of Hai Clan to see if there were any of them whom they could have the members of their family get married to.

This was a rare sunny day and the afternoon sunlight lit up the place. It was hard for there to be a sunny day in Cold Ice City, at least, not to this extent.

When the sun set, the banquet ended. Hai Dongqing and her branch were all in the hall and so was Qing Shui. However, Hai Clan’s Old Ancestor wasn’t around. He had already handed everything over to Hai Dongqing and he now know that under her lead, Hai Clan would definitely prosper. Even if they were to offer Hai Clan and its properties to to Hai Dongqing and Qing Shui, they wouldn’t want it either.

“Qing Shui, do you think Zheng Clan’s clan head will come to apologize?” Hai Dongqing continued with some unease.

“Don’t worry. You just focus on managing Hai Clan and when Hai Long is able to take over, just hand Hai Clan over into his hands. Let’s not be apart from each other anymore, okay?” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Uncle can’t bear to part with aunt,” Hai Shiya chuckled. She had gotten addicted to teasing Hai Dongqing.

…

The group didn’t stay for long but left the time for Qing Shui and Hai Dongqing to spend alone. After all, today was their big day and before she left, Hai Shiya had still wanted to say something but was pushed out of the door by Hai Dongqing.

“Even you’re laughing at me.” Hai Dongqing said to Qing Shui in slight annoyance.

“Why would I? How could I bear to? I’m very happy to see you like this.” The Hai Dongqing Qing Shui had seen in the past had never smiled so happily from the bottom of her heart before.

“I’m very happy. It’s Qing`er’s greatest fortune to have met you.” Hai Dongqing smiled gracefully, appearing to be very charming.

“Come, let us go back. Today is our big day.” Qing Shui led Hai Dongqing toward their building.

Hai Dongqing smiled shyly and her grip on Qing Shui’s hand tightened.