Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 564 - Parting with Di Qing

Qing Shui found out that the difference in strength between each Martial Saint Grade were all really balanced after listening to Qianyu Dingjun. Each and every grade differed by the strength of two hundred countries. The strength wasn’t actually multiplied. As Qing Shui thought deeper about this, he began to understand why.

The stronger a person was, the more significant their rate of increase in strength would be if compared to an ordinary people. For example, it was a lot faster for a Martial Saint to increase their strength by one country’s worth of strength compared to an ordinary warrior. But similarly, the amount of time and effort they needed to put in to grow stronger would be extremely terrifying.

For two Martial Saints whose strength differed by around two hundred countries, it would almost be impossible for the weaker one to bypass his grade and challenge the higher grade Martial Saint. But if it were two Martial Saints with almost equal strength battling each other, the chances of winning would depend heavily on their skills.

“Uncle Jun, is there anyone in Central Continent who is above the Martial Saint Grade?” Qing Shui looked at Qianyu Dingjun with a humble smile. He wanted to know badly what was the highest cultivation level that a warrior had achieve across the World of the Nine Continents.

“Actually, I am not so sure about this as well. This is because I haven’t really reached that level yet. There are countless people all across the World of the Nine Continents. Anything would be possible, what do you think?” Qianyu Dingjun looked at Qing Shui and chuckled.

“You’ve got a point too, Uncle Jun, how much do you know about the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord?” Qing Shui asked after thinking for a bit.

“One of the Seven Stars in Seven Star Country, the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord?” Qianyu Dingjun looked at Qing Shui doubtfully.

“Yeah!” Qing Shui nodded his head and answered.

Qianyu Dingjun stared at Qing Shui for a while. After that, he said:”Qing Shui, is there anything on your mind? I mentioned before that I will definitely lend you a hand if there is anything that you need help with.”

Qing Shui smiled as he looked at Qianyu Dingjun. Qing Shui clearly knew that Qianyu Dingjun has begun to realize something. But even so, he still insisted on helping him. This made Qing Shui feel that Qianyu Dingjun was truly someone that was worth befriending.

“Uncle Jun, I know, I won’t act rashly. If I’m really left without any options, I will come to look for Uncle Jun. For now, I am hoping that I can do things myself. Without these experiences, how will I improve?” Qing Shui smiled as he rejected Qianyu Dingjun’s offer.

“Haha, alright! That’s what I like about you! He`Er is still slightly inferior to you.” said Qianyu Dingjun randomly.

“Brother He looks quite good. Furthermore, he is really open-minded and is born with a profound insight. Don’t worry about it Uncle Jun! In the future, Brother He will have achievements that belong to himself.”

When Qianyu Dingjun heard Qing Shui’s words, he laughed really happily. Which father wouldn’t want their sons to be more successful than themselves? Most importantly, the compliments from the young man in front of him that made him feel really happy. From the first glance, Qianyu Dingjun could already tell that Qing Shui was really unusual.

“Qing Shui, Seven Star Country and Xing Hai Country are only separated by one country. Across the Central Continent, the strength of the Seven Star Country is considered to be fairly average. After all, the strength of the countries in Central Continent are almost equal. I’m not saying that every single one of the countries are strong. However, the Central Continent is the biggest one among the nine continents and it is also the most advanced. Regardless of whether it’s in terms of wealth or power, it can easily be included in the top three among the continents.”

Qianyu Dingjun explained slowly. After stopping for a while, he continued on: “The Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord is the weakest one among the Seven Stars in Seven Stars Country. However, they share a really good relationship with Di Clan. The Di Clan isn’t the strongest among the Seven Stars. Although the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord is the weakest one among the Seven Stars, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t compare to the others in terms of strength. The fact that they are able to be named as one of the Seven Stars proved that they aren’t actually that weak. But then again, there may also be formidable individuals in the Seven Star Country who are capable of sweeping across the entire Seven Stars. These things are all really unpredictable. There are also a few clans and sects that aren’t included among the Seven Stars, yet aren’t actually weaker than them. Therefore, the exterior doesn’t necessarily mean everything.”

Qing Shui strongly agreed with his point of view. This situation was exactly like some of the artists who became famous in his previous incarnation. There were artists who weren’t actually inferior to them, yet were unable to become popular. Hence, when Qianyu Dingjun said that the Seven Stars might not necessarily be the strongest clans and sects in the Seven Stars Country, Qing Shui strongly agreed.

“Uncle Jun, do you know what kind of strength the strongest warrior from the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord possesses?” Qing Shui was really concerned about this problem.

“In regards to this, I can’t really give you an accurate answer. What’s shown on the outside doesn’t necessarily mean anything. As far as I know, the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord has warriors who are fourth Grade Martial Saints.”

When Qing Shui heard this, he felt relieved. He felt that reaching that level wasn’t a faraway dream. Not to mention this was only the strength that the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord had shown to the public.

……

And thus, Qing Shui and Di Qing stayed over in the Qianyu Clan for a day. Despite the Qianyu Clan’s continued effort in convincing them to stay, they still decided to leave. However, even though it was only for a day, the relationship between Qing Shui and the Qianyu Clan had improved significantly. Both sides really appreciated this friendship.

They sent Qing Shui and Di Qing off and watched until they left their sight.

“Daddy, how’s big brother?” Qianyu Feifei embraced one of Qianyu Dingjun’s arm and asked charmingly.

“He is really good, it’s just that you’re still too young. Or else, I think you would have been a great match with him.” Qianyu Dingjun responded after thinking for a while.

“Daddy, I don’t mean it that way! Bad daddy, you only know how to make fun of me. Big brother is someone who already has a few beautiful wives! Each and every one of them are beauties who can topple over countries!” Qianyu Feifei stamped on her feet grumpily.

“Alright alright! We will stop talking about this!”

“He`Er, Peng`Er! I remember you guys telling me that there weren’t many young men who were superior to you guys. So, how do you feel about Qing Shui?” Qianyu Dingjun asked without even turning his head.

“Regretfully, I have to admit that I’m not a match for him!” Qianyu He gave a bitter smile. As soon as he met Qing Shui, he already had a feeling that there was a huge gap between him and the young man.

“I won’t really know unless I get to fight him.” The other young man said indifferently. He was the second son of Qianyu Dingjun and a well-known figure among his generation in Qianyu Clan. He was a peak Martial King despite his young age and was also a warrior who possessed the strength of ten countries. He was an important and outstanding young successor to the Clan Head of Qingyu Clan and the other old men. He was just like Qianyu Dingjun, a weird young man. It’s just that his personality was as cold as ice.

“You’re no match for him!” Qianyu Dingjun smiled softly.

“I’ll use the Soul-Reaping Sword!” Qianyu Peng responded after thinking for a while.

“You still lack something which he has!” Qianyu Dingjun maintained his smile as he responded.

Qianyu Peng’s personality was extremely cold. Despite this, he really admired his father, it was to the point that he only held admiration for his unyielding father, but not for anybody else, not his grandfather, the Clan Head, nor the other elderly men of the clan. He always felt that whatever Qianyu Dingjun said was right. But then again, that was because Qianyu Dingjun had enough strength to convince him of that.

……

“Qing Shui, will you come into my mansion?”

The Fire Bird flew towards the Seven Stars Country. After three days of flight, the Seven Stars City was already within their sight. The pair were standing on the back of the Fire Bird when Di Qing asked Qing Shui this question.

Qing Shui remained silent. It might have been because of Di Chen, but Qing Shui really despised Di Clan. Furthermore, they were on good terms with the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord. If he tried to battle against the Sky Tyrant Lord one day, would the Di Clan interfere?

“Forget it, I won’t force you, since even sister has accepted you secretly. We’ve arrived, let me go down!” Di Qing smiled gently as she looked at the unusually sincere man in front of her who was not good at lying. Throughout this three month journey, the more she interacted with him, the more she found him unusual. He could always manage to keep his head cool whenever he ran into precarious situations. He also showed a degree of mercy to himself but also his opponents. However, if it was a really serious problem, he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate them.

Di Qing was a bit distracted. Could it be that the reason why he cared so much about her was all just for her sister? During the times when she was with him, she felt that his abilities far exceeded those of the descendants from Di Clan as well as other aristocratic clans.

The arrogance and pride of the descendants from aristocratic clan was something that could never be abandoned completely, despite their utmost effort in trying to cover it up. This was because they didn’t feel the need to abandon it, and very few were able to realize that this kind of pride would harm others.

Qing Shui could already see an incomparably luxurious mansion in the distance. He could distinctly see an enormous fake mountain in front of the gate. Under the sunlight, the two large words ‘Wu Jin’ shone very brightly.

Di Clan!

The two large words were at least ten meters tall, directly facing the broad gate of the Di Clan. In front of the wide Wu Jin broad gate were two stone statues of towering beasts. They resembled the fire qilin from the legends in his previous incarnation.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” Di Qing looked at Qing Shui.

“I’ll pass!”

“Then where do you want to go? Do you have any places where you can go?” Di Qing knitted her umber-black brows.

Just as Qing Shui was about to say something, a few young men started approaching them. Judging by their stance, Qing Shui could already tell that they’re coming for him and Di Qing.

“Qing`Er! Qing`Er! It really is you! You’re back! This is great!”

The person taking the lead was a tall and sturdy cheerful man. The light armor which he wore made his body looked really well-proportioned. He exuded an explosive aura from his body.

“Helian Wei, are we that close to each other? If you still don’t know the right way to address me, I don’t mind hitting you until you get it into your head.” Di Qing knitted her brows as she glanced towards that man.

Around him, there were still four men around the same age. Each and every one of them looked really dignified. They exuded an arrogant aura and from the way they were dressed, people could already tell that they’re the disciples from aristocratic clans.

Even if one were to reject somebody, they would still have to think about the person’s family background. However, in the Seven Stars City, there weren’t many clans which could go face to face against Di Clan or show them attitude.

Qing Shui stood at the corner. After he came to the Central Continent, he realized that there weren’t any places where he belonged. Even the Seven Stars Country was really huge. All the Seven Stars resided in the Seven Stars City.

The areas where continent’s capitals were located in were usually areas which were really outstanding. For example, just the Seven Star City was already more than enough to take up one tenth of the space in Seven Star Country. In other words, among the eighty one countries, the Seven Star City itself was almost as big as eight to nine normal cities.

This was a normal phenomenon. The clans that ruled one part of the continent would gather their strength with the other clans and live together. For example, the Seven Stars chose to rule the Seven Stars Country and avoided the Continent’s Capital which people paid the most attention to. But naturally, in the Seven Stars Country, there would be a few formidable clans that gathered within the Seven Stars City. Even though they were quite distant from each other within the city, with the existence of Demonic Beasts and Flying Beasts, transportation didn’t really pose too much of a problem to them.

When they stayed together in one city, they would be able to look after each others back. Despite them being aristocratic clans for more than ten thousand years, they would still come short if it came to supporting a city or country by themselves. It would be really easy for them to be toppled over by other clans if they tried to forcefully support a city or country by themselves. Hence, instead of seeing each others as foes, the Seven Stars shared a friendly rivalry in order to protect the Seven Stars Country.

“Young lady Di Qing, may I know who this is?”

“My friend!”

“Where is your friend from? Green Cloud Continent?” Helian Wei looked at Qing Shui. He remembered that Di Qing had returned from Green Cloud Continent. For a moment, he looked at Qing Shui with a really complicated look.

To Qing Shui, this kind of gaze was quite familiar. It wasn’t the first time he saw this kind of gaze that held the intention of eliminating him. Despite that, he didn’t really bother much about it.

“It’s Green Cloud Continent! Are you that interested to know where I’m from?” Qing Shui looked at Helian Wei. Of course, Qing Shui knew what kind of intention this person had. Across the nine continents, the Green Cloud Continent was the poorest and weakest one. Furthermore, it was also the only continent without any Martial Saints. Compared to the other continents, their strength had a big gap.

“Hehe, since we are both lady Di Qing’s friends, that means that you and I are friends too. Shouldn’t friends be sincere to each other?” Helian Wei nodded his head as he said with a serious look.

“Yeah, then how should I address you?”

“Helian Wei, from the Helian Clan, didn’t lady Di Qing just mention it before?” Helian Wei looked at Qing Shui. He felt that Qing Shui was a really bad listener.

“Oh yeah, I have forgotten about it. Didn’t you just say that we have to be honest with each other? I’m also afraid of getting it wrong. So how many members are there in your clan? What do you guys do? Are you guys strong?” Qing Shui smiled as he looked at Helian Wei with a serious expression.

This left Helian Wei completely speechless. Why would someone ask this kind of question? In addition, Qing Shui even mentioned that part about being honest with each other. Hence, if he didn’t answer it, he would appear to be unreasonable. If he were to say that this was a secret, then wouldn’t he have lied when he talked about being honest with each other? For a moment, Helian Wei felt incomparably annoyed. How could he tell when there were so many members in the clan? Put aside this problem, even if he wanted to answer this string of questions, it would take him half a day to collect the information to do so.

“Brother Helian, is this question that hard to answer? Do you not want to be honest with me?” Qing Shui chuckled.

Helian Wei carelessly fell into Qing Shui’s trap. He was aware that Qing Shui was purposely trying to make things difficult for him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he felt. He was only a brat who came from Green Cloud Continent yet he was being so arrogant.

“Brother Helian’s house is too crowded. Why don’t we go to a place where we can sit down and talk properly?” A thin and handsome young man beside Helian Wei attempted to resolve the awkward situation and made a suggestion.

The most eye-catching features about this young man were his super bright eyes. It gave people the impression that he was a really knowledgeable person.

“Let’s do it next time! I still have a few things I need to do!” Qing Shui wasn’t really interested in their endless pestering.

After he finished speaking, Qing Shui glanced towards Di Qing: “Alright, I’m leaving!”

Di Qing felt really depressed. The two had been together for more than three months. This was what people called ‘familiarity breeds fondness’. Even if no feelings were built, they would still end up really, really close with each other. Especially after Qing Shui sacrificed everything and faced the Martial Saint Grade Demonic Beast to give her a chance to escape. Even if he was severely injured, he still didn’t care. At that moment, she felt that something in her heart was moved.

Was this considered as sharing pains together?

But she knew that Qing Shui was doing all these for her sister. She couldn’t see the same familiar look he had when he was with her sister in his eyes when she looked at her. But what made Di Qing feel even more puzzled was that he too didn’t harbor any thoughts of that kind towards her sister. Other than feeling depressed, this has also caused her to feel a bit confused.

So, he didn’t harbor that kind of thought for her. As for her sister, it was more like he respected her. So then… How did she feel about him?

“Be careful along the way. If you have free time or feel lonely, you can come and look for me. At least I’ll be able to talk with you!” Di Qing looked at Qing Shui.