Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 0122 – The Qi of Xiantian!

“How could this be?” Within a short moment of negligence, Wenren Wu-shuang’s sword was flicked off by Qing Shui’s move.

“Again!”

This time around, Wenren Wu-shuang persisted for ten moves before she was once again defeated by Qing Shui!

“You’ve broken through and reached Xiantian!” Wenren Wu-shuang looked towards Qing Shui while she frowned and asked.

“Mmmm, I just broke through not long ago.”

Wenren Wu-shuang felt that it was unrealistic. He seemed to have yet to reach 17 years old? What kind of logic was it for there to be a 16 year old Xiantian cultivator? And to think that he had also easily defeated herself, who was a Xiantian cultivator who had taken two Clear Wind Fruits.

“Congratulations! If others were to learn that you are now a Xiantian cultivator, a lot of them would choose to go bang their head against a wall. Even I am a bit jealous of you!” Wenren Wu-shuang smiled brightly after going through a short moment of surprise!

“Hehe, you did promise to wait for me for ten years, and that if I were to break through to Xiantian within ten years that you would agree to my pursuit. Hehe!” Qing Shui put up an appearance of an hungry wolf.

Wenren Wu-shuang was momentarily stunned, before she said self-mockingly, “Right. It’s funny just thinking about it. I even said that I’d wait for you for ten years, thinking that it was already fast enough for you to be able to reach Xiantian within ten years. Who’d have thought that you only needed half a year. Half a year. Should I be calling you a genius, or a demon?”

Wenren Wu-shuang smiled curiously as she looked towards Qing Shui!

“It’d be best for you to call me husband!” Qing Shui rubbed his nose and said seriously!

“You rascal. I only promised to let you chase me if you were to break through and reach Xiantian, and win against me in a fight. I can give you the right to chase me, but whether I agree or not would be another thing altogether.” Wenren Wu-shuang was stunned, as she lowered her head and spoke with a tinge of both joy and blame.

Qing Shui smiled, but did not continue. Suddenly, he recalled that his Xiantian Qi was not the normal milky white color. Now was a good chance to ask her about it.

Qing Shui quickly exerted his Qi which extended one inch and was an earthen yellow color. “Wu-shuang, why is it that my Xiantian Qi is a different color than others?”

Wenren Wu-shuang looked at the thick and profound earthen-yellow-colored Qi and stood rooted to the spot. It took her a while to regain her thoughts and she said, “To think that it is Xiantian Earth Elemental Qi!”

“Xiantian Earth Elemental Qi? You mean even the Qi of Xiantian cultivators would split into the five elements?” Qing Shui was aware and familiar of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

Wenren Wu-shuang gave Qing Shui a weird look before she smiled and said. “You are really a lucky rascal. The Xiantian Qi of most people is not associated with the five elements. Take myself for example. My Qi would not be classified in the five elements. Only the martial techniques of the legendary level or higher would be classified into the characteristics of the five elements.”

Qing Shui was stunned at the mention of legendary. Martial techniques were classified in the 4 realms of Houtian, Xiantian, Legendary and Divine. Each realm was further classified into 4 grades: Royal, Mystic, Earth and Heaven. Qing Shui would not be surprised if the Ancient Strengthening Technique was a technique of the Legendary Realm. He could only speculate previously. Now that it was affirmed, he felt a bit happy, a bit shocked, a bit proud, but overall it was just an extremely pleasant feeling.

It was just that he was not sure what realm his Ancient Strengthening Technique was at. But, even if it was a Houtian Royal grade technique, he would still persist in it, let alone now that it was confirmed that it was at least at the Legendary realm. The differences in the techniques from different realms were massive. A Xiantian Mystic grade technique could never compare with that of a Xiantian Earth grade technique. Of course, there would still be situations where geniuses or monsters were able to train crap techniques into an unbelievable level.

“What are the characteristics of Earth Elemental Xiantian Qi?” Qing Shui looked towards the smiling Wenren Wu-shuang and asked as he did not really understand.

“Each element type of Xiantian Qi has their own characteristics. The characteristic of metal lies in its sharpness; for fire it is its attack; for water it is its fluidity; for wood it is its recovery, and for earth it would be its sturdiness and defence!” Wenren Wu-shuang picked up the wooden sword she had dropped and slowly explained.

“I do know of some of the basic characteristics of the five elements. But what about the specifics?” Qing Shui was keen to know the specifics on how it could be used and its prowess.

Upon hearing Qing Shui’s urging, she could not help but cast a sidelong glance at him. Qing Shui also knew that he was too rushed, and smiled awkwardly. “It’s all because I’m in too much of a hurry. Oh dear esteemed elder, please be forgiving and share your knowledge with little me.”

“Your Earth Elemental Xiantian Qi increases your body’s physical defence by two folds, and can reduce half the Xiantian Qi of the same realm, while also returning half to the opponent. It would mean that when your Xiantian Qi collides with someone else’s who is at the same realm as you, the impact of the other party’s Xiantian Qi will be reduced by half, while yours would be increased by half. Now you understand? I’m sure that you’re happy to hear this.” Wenren Wu-shuang said coquettishly.

Qing Shui was very happy, so much so that that he was stunned. “Lewd. Is there anything else that is more lewd than this? Mmm, right, there is still the other four element. It’s also good to listen and learn more.” Qing Shui thought to himself.

Wenren Wu-shuang looked at Qing Shui in amusement and continued after Qing Shui lifted his head. “I know what you want to ask. I know of a little and can share it with you to kill some boredom.”

“Metal Elemental Xiantian Qi increases sharpness by one fold, and able to break through a tougher defence by one fold. It also increases the sharpness of the slash of metallic objects! Fire Elemental Xiantian Qi increases one’s destructive powers as well as a higher degree of burning by one fold. Amongst the five elements, it can inflict the greatest damage. Attacks from the Water Elemental Xiantian Qi will be accompanied by 30% resistance, as well as a reduction of the expenditure of Xiantian Qi by half. It is the most enduring!” Wenren Wu-shuang said all this in one breath.

“What about Wood Elemental Xiantian Qi?” Seeing that Wenren Wu-shuang had stopped, Qing Shui could not fight back the urge, and popped the question.

“Wood Elemental Xiantian Qi increases one’s defence by 30%, and increases one’s recovery skills by 3 times! The Xiantian Qi is also able to help to heal wounds, and is the most important condition to becoming a top notch alchemist! Of course, these are for references only. There are too few who are able to train techniques which are of the Legendary realm or higher. I myself had merely chanced upon this information in an ancient record!”

“Aren’t the five elements contradictory? Why did you say earlier that they do not contradict?” Qing Shui was puzzled.

Wenren Wushang smiled gently, her light-hearted smile was soothing to look at. “The contradiction of the five elements is just a concept, but it’s not absolute. For example, fire and water, water can extinguish fire, but can also be evaporated by heat. In front of absolute power, there does not exist the concept of weakness and contradiction!”

Following on, Qing Shui and Wenren Wu-shuang tried out Qing Shui’s Earth Elemental Xiantian Qi. It was as Wenren Wu-shuang had said, it could deflect half the strike to the opponent. Originally, the Xiantian Qi of two Xiantian cultivators who cultivated normal techniques were unable to clash. But, when faced with an Elemental Xiantian Qi, they would not only clash, but the opponent would suffer from a big disadvantage.

As for whether the physical defence was two times what it originally was, Qing Shui did not pay it any heed. After breaking through to the 4th Heavenly Layer, his physical defence had increased by 10 times. The technique that Wenren Wu-shuang had referred to was probably a technique of the lowest level. Qing Shui did not want to think further. The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became.

After a while, Wenren Wu-gou also came up. It was just nice that Qing Shui had wanted to consult about the cost of properties in Hundred Miles City. The Qing Clan had wanted to place the couple’s new room in the Qing Clan’s Medicinal Store. But since Qing Shui had some money, he decided to make the wedding a more glorious affair.

“Grandpa didn’t even throw in some money to support. He probably knows that I have money!” Qing Shui felt that this was very heart-warming. He liked this feeling.

“Aunt Wu-gou, approximately how much would it cost to buy a small house near the Qing Clan’s Medicinal Store?” Qing Shui looked towards Wenren Wu-gou and asked ‘politely’.

“Pftt!” Wenren Wu-shuang burst out laughing, which was a rare sight. Qing Shui was almost blinded by her white sparkling teeth. Her bright eyes and white teeth were a godly leve of beauty!

“You… this chap must be trying to anger me on purpose!” Wenren Wu-gou said laughingly.

“Just joking. Moreover, you are so young and beautiful, why would you be scared of this? I’m sure that you’re not so boorish. You are a confident, mature and knowledgeable beauty!” Qing Shui looked amusedly at Wenren Wu-gou who was matured like a peach, as if she were so tender that a slight pinch would squeeze out juice.

“Alright, I knew you’d say something like that. What do you need a house for? To hide a beauty? Who’re you planning to hide?” Wenren Wu-gou asked another three questions thereafter.

Qing Shui laughed bitterly. “One of my brothers is getting married next month. Don’t know why, but the old master delegated this task to me.”

After a short moment of being stunned, Wenren Wu-gou and Wenren Wu-shuang burst out laughing. “Your elder is also trying to train you in taking up responsibilities. But, it’s also quite interesting to be getting you to handle this matter. You don’t even have any experience yourself!”

Wenren Wu-gou laughed as she said this!

Qing Shui rubbed his nose. “I’d need the two of you to show me some face and attend the event then. So, how much would it cost to buy a small house of 2 mu in size near the Qing Clan’s Medicinal Store?”

“About 350,000. It just happens that I have one in the area which isn’t bad. How about sister gifts it to you?” Wenren Wu-gou smiled charmingly.

“Although you are very rich, why are you gifting it to me? You want to keep me as a gigolo?” Qing Shui stared at Wenren Wu-gou in shock, giving a face that seems to be saying ‘you better not do anything weird’.

“Take it as a token of appreciation for helping Wu-shuang to detoxify the poison. What do you think?” Wenren Wu-gou smiled gently, and looked at Qing Shui without blinking. She looked very sincere and willing.

Qing Shui could not continue to joke further and said, “It was out of my free will to help detoxify the poison for Wushang. You should know that some people are very willing to help some other people without asking for any repayment. It brings joy to help out willingly, even though there is no reason nor any repayment. ”

Wenren Wu-shuang looked at Qing Shui with her pretty eyes. The smiling expression in her eyes was so stunning and intoxicating.

“Of course I know. Because I’m also that kind of person.” Wenren Wu-gou smiled and replied.

On hearing this, Qing Shui felt weird. He could not understand the meaning behind these words of Wenren Wu-gou. He wanted to understand it as the guy that Wenren Wu-gou had taken a fancy to was himself. But, was that possible?

”If you’re not willing, then how about we do this, you take the house, and if you were to think about me in the future, then you can gift me some good stuff. For example, I can make do with some medicinal pills which can retain one’s youth, or a Xiantian Golden Pellet.” Wenren Wu-gou said casually as if making a joke.

Qing Shui gave it some thought and nodded his head. “I’ll get you a Xiantian Golden Pellet in the future.” Qing Shui smiled happily. While the money he had was enough to get a house, there were still many other things that he would need to buy.

“Let Wu-shuang accompany you to check out the house to see if you’re satisfied with it!” Wenren Wu-gou handed Qing Shui a big bunch of keys!

“Qing Shui, make me some of those black fish and turtles of yours. I have had a craving for them, but seeing as you weren’t around, I was too embarrassed to head over!” Wenren Wu-shuang said as she headed out, sticking out her small tender tongue and licking her lips unknowingly.

Qing Shui stared hard at Wenren Wu-shuang. He did not expect that such a graceful lady would behave so sexily that it aroused others.

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1: classifier for fields / unit of area equal to one fifteenth of a hectare