Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 411 - Great Perfection Stage of Mighty Elephant Stomp

The career of a bandit reeks of blood and violence. Yet it is undeniable that such a “profession” is a very enticing one. After all, it is human’s weakness to thirst for success without labor. Thus, bandit guilds would use various methods to attract talent.

Once they have someone as a target, it is difficult for that person to escape. If the person joins, they can forget about leaving unless they are dead.

If their offer was not successful, it was only because it was not tempting enough. There is no one in this world who cannot be tempted, just like there is no one who does not betray. It is only a matter of how high the stakes are.

Bandits can use women, money, martial skills, rare equipment, coercion or blackmail. As long as they can get their hands on a person’s weakness, they can be certain that the person will submit.

There is only one type of person that will not be tempted, and that is a dead person!

Ever since Qing Shui’s reputation rose, many bandits in Hundred Miles City moved away to look for a more suitable city for themselves. However, there were some who wanted to recruit Qing Shui.

About three hundred miles away from Hundred Miles City, there was a medium-sized mountain range known as “Parallel Mountains”. Two rows of parallel mountain ranges extend for about thirty miles. This was the only route to Zhanyuan City.

In the past, there were many bandits living in these mountain ranges. Then, a gang of even more vicious bandits arrived. There were about five hundred over people in their gang and each of them wore crimson clothes, so people living nearby called them the Crimson Gang.

The Crimson Gang were powerful and their ambitions were even greater. After eliminating some of the nearby bandits and scaring some others away, there were still quite a few remaining bandit guilds. However, they had to give up a portion of their assets to the Crimson Gang.

In such times, there was stiff competition even in this shady business and it was cruel. Failure would mean death. It was precisely because of this that bandits ate well, drank well and ‘played’ with the most beautiful women. After all, they were living dangerous lives and could die at any moment.

A few years after their establishment, the Crimson Gang’s ‘business’ had already expanded to the three nearby cities. All passing traders and merchants from Hundred Miles City, Zhanyuan City and Tianwu City had to pay tolls.

Nothing was more precious than one’s life and it was normal to spend money to avoid trouble. Gradually the traders and groups of merchants became familiar with the bandits. The area became like a “city gate” and people had to pay a toll each time they wanted to pass through. The thing was the toll was much higher.

The leader of the Crimson Gang was Wu Yitian. He was a burly middle-aged man. His weapon was a horse-chopping saber and he was quite prudent. Most importantly, he was a Poison maker and was confident that he was one of the best in this expertise. He only knew how to make poison and did not know how to make any medicine to cure people.

In his thirty-year career as a bandit, he relied mostly on poisons. Many people who were much stronger than him died in his hands. He was also quick-witted and had original insights, so he easily found success everywhere he went.

Unfortunately, when he was in another country, he had robbed a pair of mother and daughter from an influential clan. He even raped them both. He stirred up a hornet’s nest and the five thousand-strong Crimson Gang had to make their escape to this small unremarkable area. They only had five hundredmen left and they could not bring too much attention to themselves.

He did not have any great dreams and did not think of changing his profession. He just wanted to expand his Crimson Gang so that it was larger than before. He just wanted to reach the top of his profession. He wanted to be able to match the largest clan or sect in a country. Then, take the opportunity to join up with a larger bandit guild.

“Big brother, do you really plan to recruit Qing Shui? He is a man rumored to have defeated two large clans,” A similarly well-built but more grim-looking man said to Wu Yitian.

“That is why I wanted to recruit him! We must do everything in our power to make him join our Crimson Gang. We must succeed or die trying,” Wu Yitian said as his eyes set ablaze with fire.

“Big Brother, are you planning to make him eat the ‘Divine Marionette’? If we fail, we could be totally wiped out.” The grim-looking man asked in alarm.

“Yes. Danger can never be overcome without taking risks. If we have him, the Crimson Gang can even operate in the Continent’s capital. We can earn more money and play with even more beautiful women…”

…………

Qing Shui entered the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal at night.

He took out the treasures such as the weapons and armors that he took from the Yan Clan Treasury and distributed them among the Qing household. When he saw their excited faces, he also felt happy.

Of all the demonic beast cores that Qing Shui had taken from the Yan Clan Treasury, the best core was an orange one which was about 2,500 years old. If he wanted to synthesize a Xiantian Golden pellet, he would still need one 3,000-year, one 3,500-year and one 4,000-year Demonic beast core.

Xiantian Golden Pellet recipe: 500-year Demonic beast core, 1,000-year Demonic beast core, 1,500-year Demonic beast core, 2,000-year Demonic beast core, 2,500-year Demonic beast core, 3,000-year Demonic beast core, 3,500-year Demonic beast core, 4,000-year Demonic beast core…

2,000 years Snow Melted Wood, one Peach of immortality, three drops of 5,000 years Tortoise blood, 1,000 year Ginseng, 2,000 year Lingzhi, thyme, 1,000 Fleeceflower Root, 1,000 year Blood Coral and 1,000 year Immortal Fox Saliva!

A 500-year demonic beast was about Xiantian Level, 1,000-year beast was at the peak of Xiantian, 1,500-year beast was at Martial King beginner grades, 2,000-year beast was about Grade 5 Martial King, 2,500-year beast was about Grade 7 Martial King, 3,000-year beast was at Grade 8 Martial King….

The core of a 4,000-year demonic beast required hunting a demonic beast which was at the peak of Martial King level. A demonic beast can fight on par with three humans of the same level…

Even if there were five peak grade Martial King level warriors, it might be difficult to defeat a 4,000-year demonic beast. A Martial Saint level warrior can easily get it done but all martial saint level warriors were too far away.

Qing Shui shook his head. No matter how hard it was, he must succeed.

…………

Qing Shui felt very happy looking at the huge heap of gems. There were Moonstones - known as Moonlight Stone in the Central Continent, Black Treasured Stones, Red Agate - known as Firestones in the Central Continent and there was a type of sky blue colored stone. Qing Shui did not know what they were.

“Should I use this time to synthesize gems?”

Gem synthesis also involved the use of Ancient Art of Forging. He only needed a smelting furnace and it did not involve any complex steps like forging weapons or armor. However, it required a significant amount of vital energy.

The process of smelting, fusion and refinery required full concentration and a large amount of vital energy, a large amount of spiritual sense and a good fusion method.

Qing Shui did not know the fusion process used by people from the Central Continent. Qing Shui’s method was very unique but simple. The prerequisite was that he needed to use Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique as a foundation. He would use his Spiritual Sense to observe and conduct the fusion process. A slight mistake would mean that everything will have to be scrapped.

Qing Shui found that it was not that simple after his first synthesis. Fusing two Level 1 Moonstones into a Level 2 gem was actually a little strenuous for him. This must be the reason why Level 4 gems were quite expensive in Greencloud Continent.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that this was his first time, so he felt exhausted. He had to keep himself in a focused state for a long time to avoid ruining everything with a small mistake. Despite that, Qing Shui was glad that the “Minute Subtlety” of his vital energy and strength had actually become stronger. Qing Shui did not expect such a side benefit. It seemed like this was a result of controlling his strength with such high precision while being in an extremely focused state.

Qing Shui decided to incorporate the activity into his cultivation. Anyway, it would take a long time for him to fully use up that heap of gems. After he had finished fusing all the level 1 gems, he can fuse the level 2 gems and so on. Each gem could be used more than once and the process was very time consuming. It was only because it was that time consuming that it had that side benefit.

Qing Shui channelled one huge cycle of Qi using Ancient Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. He was already at the 137th cycle and was about to reach the 138th cycle. Qing Shui could feel that the time it took to complete each cycle was getting long and longer. He did not know how long it would take to reach the 199th cycle.

Qing Shui could not wait to quickly get to the 199th cycle. It was not that he did not want to reach the 6th Layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, but that was not easy. On the other hand, reaching the 199th cycle only required the accumulation of time.

Mighty Elephant Stomp!

Qing Shui already practiced Mighty Elephant Stomp for a month. Even though he did not spend all his time on Mighty Elephant Stomp, the time he spent practicing this skill was already close to one year’s time in the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal. Yet, he still could not feel that “Diamond Qi”.

Qing Shui had never given up because he knew that the skills at the back will not be that easy. After all, even the various forms had taken him quite a significant amount of time. In the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal, it would have been equivalent to over ten years of hard training.

Qing Shui slowly took in a long, deep breath. Following the instruction of the “Diamond Qi”, he channelled the Qi gradually through his meridians, viens, limbs and bones...

It always stopped short of completing the cycle. He did not know how many times he had tried. It was to that point where he felt that if he just completed the full cycle, he would be able to successfully gain the ability of “Diamond Qi”

Sigh..

Qing Shui stopped as he sighed. Another day had passed, but he still did not felt any reaction from this “Diamond Qi”. He did not know how many times he had sighed.

Qing Shui felt alright after sighing as it was within his expectation anyway. He ate a little and tried to level up his Soulshake Bell.

After the Soulshake Bell had increased one level, it stopped levelling. Qing Shui stopped using it but he tried levelling it up everyday.

Just like this, Qing Shui spent most of his time on the Ancient Strengthening Technique and also continued practicing the other techniques. Time passed quickly in this manner.

Blue Lotus Art!

After he felt an unusual change practicing Blue Lotus Art, Qing Shui continuously practiced it. He condensed his Qi of Xiantian to the shape of a lotus. Qing Shui was now somewhat proficient at controlling three golden lotus flowers, but it was only a method for him to control his strength and vital energy. He had not planned on using this on an opponent.

Basic Sword Technique!

Heavenly Palace Sword Art!

……

Qing Shui practiced all his techniques everyday at least once or multiple times. Then, he spent his remaining time on Mighty Elephant Stomp. Qing Shui held a belief that the harder it was to master a technique, the more powerful it was. Besides, Qing Shui was very aware of the prowess of the Mighty Elephant Stomp.

“It stopped again!”

“I am always just one step away!”

……

Every time Qing Shui channelled his Qi, it failed. Every time he reached that Lingtai acupoint , it failed. If only he could break through that Lingtai acupoint at his back, he only needed the Qi to pass through the point and the cycle would be complete.

After he thought about it for a moment, Qing Shui took another long, deep breath. He once again channelled his Qi all throughout his body.

Once again, he pushed his Qi towards the position of the acupoint. When he reached the spot, Qing Shui suddenly channelled his Nature energy. Even though he was unable to channel his own Qi of Xiantian when first practicing Diamond Qi, Nature Energy was considered the most mysterious sort of “qi” in the cosmos so Qing Shui decided to just try it out.

The unobstructable Nature Energy, the most righteous and divine Qi in the cosmos!

He had spent such a long time practicing his Nature Energy every morning facing the east. It was now much stronger, especially after the previous breakthrough, it had improved a lot.

The Nature energy became one with the “breath” and it rushed towards the Lingtai acupoint!

Pak!

It broke. It broke like a knife through butter!

Qing Shui broke through the spot that had bothered him for such a long time. After that, Qing Shui felt a golden hair-like strand of Qi rise from his dantian and felt it slowly travel through the path stated in the Diamond Qi technique. It was automatic and seemed to function similarly to the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening technique, but it took a different path through the body meridians.

At the same time, he felt a slight change in his strength, defence and the strength of his internal constituent. His body felt numb…

Qing Shui controlled the gold strand of Diamond Qi and channelled it through multiple cycles. One cycle, two cycles...

Even though the Diamond Qi was thin, it was durable, sharp, domineering and slowly strengthening. It was not easy to cultivate this “Diamond Qi.”

He brought it through more than one hundred cycles. Half a day had passed!

According to the introduction, Qing Shui was already at the small success stage of Mighty Elephant Stomp. Even so, it must be the lowest stage level of that stage.

After he was comfortable channelling the “Diamond Qi”, he needed to use his own Qi of Xiantian to drive it, but he was stunned when he used his Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique to come in contact with the strand of Diamond Qi.

Qing Shui could feel that there was a little change in his body in that instant. It was as if a fish leaping into water. Qing Shui was astonished that his own Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique did not travel in parallel with the “Diamond Qi”. Instead, the muddy gold colored Qi enveloped the strand of yellow Diamond Qi.

Qing Shui could clearly feel the Diamond Qi in the middle of his Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. It felt like it was already almost as thick as a thread of wool yarn. Qing Shui could feel that his bones, meridians, dantian, internal organs, and limbs were significantly stronger. Not only his body defences but it felt like he had an overall boost in strength and speed.

Mighty Elephant Stomp (Large Success Stage)!

He had reached the Large Success Stage of Mighty Elephant Stomp directly!

The crux of the Mighty Elephant Stomp technique was the “Diamond Qi”. If he could successfully cultivate Diamond Qi, it would be considered as Small Stage Success. Gaining the ability to fuse that and the cultivators Qi’s essence would be at Large Success Stage. Finally, the Great Perfection Stage would be when there was a total fusion of the two.