Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 818 – Qing Shui’s Medicinal Pill, Plan

Very soon, day was starting to break. Seeing that there was still some time before the sun rose, Qing Shui started to practice his Crane Form. The Soaring Crane Steps was already at the great perfection stage and he had long since merged them together with other techniques.

Now, what Qing Shui was practicing was the Thousand Crane Slash. He had thought that the technique did not have much damaging prowess but to think that its prowess was only shown when it was at the large success stage. Previously, he had spent all his energy on the Elephant Form and thus had gradually forgotten about it. When he eventually was able to cultivate the Crane Form, he did not think of cultivating the Thousand Crane Slash.

For the Crane Form, being graceful was the most important. When performing, it would look beautiful and speed was the most important. Another thing was the flow, letting it flow through your body and then release an instant explosion. What was important was the impact.

The Thousand Crane Slash, which was at the small success stage, could only leave a pair of palm prints. This was also why Qing Shui had given up at the beginning. Since it would create over ten palm prints at the large success stage, then there should be at least four of them at the small success stage. However, there was only two and the prowess was only slightly higher than his physical strength. This was the reason why he had “casually” put it aside.

In his consciousness, he felt that it was very strange as well. The description for the Thousand Crane Slash was extremely simple. The Crane’s Might flowed through one’s body and it followed the Thousand Crane Slash’s flow in the meridian channels, accumulating essence, before hitting out with an extremely strong force.

The description was very simple. As for the rating that it would have a powerful impact at the very end, this was something which had seemed to be applicable for any technique. It was because there was no fixed standard for it.

When he saw the palm imprints created by Qing Qing at the large success stage, he knew that he was wrong. There were no rubbish martial techniques amidst the Nine Animals Mimicry Technique. Therefore, he planned to pick up the Thousand Crane Slash once again.

As he practiced it time and time again, time passed by slowly.

When he heard some motion, he turned to see that Qing Qing was walking over with the Four-eared Macaque. She was now wearing clean-looking clothes or rather, training clothes. They were a radiant white color and seemed to give her an additional hint of valiance. She now looked so different from when he first saw her. In the past, she had a silent hint of loneliness but now, she seemed to be a lady in the prime of her beauty. This made Qing Shui very happy.

“Elder sister, you’ve woken up so early,” Qing Shui stopped and said, smiling.

“Didn’t you wake up earlier than I did?” Qing Qing smiled in reply. The Four-eared Macaque had already run far away.

After exchanging a few words, they went on with their individual practice. Looking at the sky to check the time, Qing Shui started practicing Taichi. The other members from Qing Clan were also waking up in turn.

Some of them prepared breakfast while the majority of the rest looked for an empty spot to start their morning practice or to spar directly. It was very lively here and occasionally, they could hear Qing Zun’s and Qin Yin’s happy laughter.

…

Another month later, everyone from Qing Clan headed back to the Heavenly Palace. Everything here was as before. Qing Shui knew that he would probably not stay long here, at most a year. Therefore, he planned to make good use of this time.

It was very lively when they returned to the Heavenly Palace and he had also met Fei Wuji’s wife. She was a beautiful lady with a great curvy figure, seeming to be in her thirties. The only makeup she had on was a light lining of her eyebrows, her mature and dignified charm was not something that ladies from ordinary families would have..

Thereafter, Qing Shui returned to the Heavenly Palace and the lady was then recognized as Fei Wuji’s wife. If Qing Shui had not returned, she would not be considered Fei Wuji’s wife. It was only then that Qing Shui knew that the lady was the daughter from Starmoon Hall’s Luo Clan, Luo Tong.

…

Time passed quickly and it was already one week after their return!

Both Qing Ming and Qing Yan were nine months old and starting to walk wobbly. Occasionally, they were able to say words and the one they said the most was fight…

The two of them were even more playful then Qing Zun and Qin Yin had been, especially when they were having their meals. The two kids would be taking up a pair of chopsticks and poking around…

Qing Zun and Qin Yin were not much better. They were at the age where children were the most playful. You could try to talk sense to them but they would not understand, they would be very playful. It was good that there were many people in Qing Clan and with them taking turns to play and carry them, everything seemed to be quite fine and the atmosphere appeared to be very lively..

Qing Shui had not spoken to Huoyun Liu-Li about the Demon Gate, nor did he tell her that her parents were there. However, with all the years that had passed, no one was even sure if her parents were still alive and well.

Central Continent’s Demon Gate was one of the strongest forces in the Central Continent. Even if they could not compare to Lion King’s Ridge, it was not a force that Qing Shui could afford to go again at the moment. Central Continent was a place with a mix of good and bad people alike and Demon Gate needed to rely on just this point to be able to do well in the Central Continent.

Across the nine continents, Greencloud Continent was the weakest, Central Continent was the most flourishing yet messed up one, with the greatest land boundaries and thus the strength of the Demon Gate was indisputable.

He decided to wait a little more. After all, Yiye Jiange’s problem was already a tricky one and adding Demon Gate was of no interest to him. Now, what was most important for him was to raise his cultivation level.

The effect of the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet was not bad but it was a pity that he was not able to refine it yet. The alchemy recipe for the Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet would be coming out in about another three to five days but it was a pity that he did not have the medicinal herbs for it. The reason that Qing Shui had decided to head out was to go in search of medicinal herbs.

The Eastern Victory Divine Continent had plenty of spiritual Qi and was comparable to the Southern Viewing Continent. Moreover, there were also plenty of interesting people in Eastern Victory Divine Continent with countless heresies around. The place was filled with mysteries and was a place that Qing Shui yearned to go to. There might be things there which he required.

Although he wanted to go to the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, he decided to wait a little bit more and see how much the abilities of Qing Clan improved. The medicinal pills he had accumulated all these days amounted to quite a bit too.

Dantian Strengthening Pellet, strengthens the Dantian by 20%. Only one can be taken in a lifetime. Other than himself, none of the people from Qing Clan nor the people around him had taken it before.

Tri-Acupoint Clearing Pellet, clears the three acupuncture points, namely the Zhi Yin, Kunlun and Shen Mai. Only one can be taken in a lifetime. Other than Qing Shui himself, no one around him had taken this before either.

Tiger Vitality Pill, each increases one’s strength by 1000 jin, only ten can be taken in a year. This was something they had been taking regularly.

Constitution Nurturing Pill, strengthens the foundation. Everyone in Qing Clan had taken it but not the rest of the people.

The Bone Strengthening Pill was similar to the Bone Tempering Pellet but its effect was not as good.

The Endurance Pellet, which could be taken by both humans and demonic beasts. Similarly, most people in Qing Clan had not taken it before.

The Beast Pill. Other than the Spirited Snake Turtle which Qing Shui had tamed, all the other demonic beasts and mounts in Qing Clan had taken it.

Demon Beast Advancing Pellet has a 10% chance of increasing a demonic beast’s current level. It’s only limited to increasing the level of the demonic within the same martial realm. Other than Qing Shui’s few demonic beasts, the others had not taken it before.

There were still the Small Revitalizing Pellet, Great Revitalizing Pellet, Wind Water Primordial Pellet, Beauty Pellet, Everlasting Pellet… All these were for increasing abilities. There were also the Five Dragon Pellet, Pure Jade Pellet, Vital Essence Pill, Gale Pellet, Spirit Concentrating Pill and many others.

Most of the people had not taken the listed medicinal pills, with the exception of the Small Revitalizing Pellets. Di Chen and the others had already taken the Great Revitalizing Pellet and the Beauty Pellet, so now, Qing Qing, Qing Bei, Qing You, Wenren Wu-shuang and the others could still increase their abilities by a lot.

Qing Shui had more or less put aside some of these medicinal pills. For some of them, only one or two could be taken. Therefore, even though he did not have a lot in stock, they were enough.

There was still the Fate Pill, which was primarily refined from the Mysterious Fruit. With just one Mysterious Fruit and some other medicinal herbs, multiple pills could be created.

Effect of the Fate Pill: Cultivators who were below Martial Saints could increase their strength by one to three countries and cultivators who were above Martial Saint level could increase their physical strength by 100 to 500 countries or more, depending on the individual’s talent.

Prerequisite: Must be at least a Xiantian cultivator!

Every time he saw this effect, he felt excited. It was too powerful and too heaven-defying. However, the restriction was also very strong. Each person could only take one Fate Pill in their entire lifetime and the person must be at least a Xiantian cultivator.

Another thing was that the Fate Pill would definitely have effect, unlike the Mysterious Fruit. The Mysterious Fruit gave one a 1% chance of receiving a great opportunity but the success rate was truly insignificant. The reason he had refined the Mysterious Fruit previously was that he was scared that he would fail with it. It really took too long for a Mysterious Fruit to grow.

The Mysterious Fruit gave the user a 1% chance of receiving a great opportunity, which could potentially increase the user’s attack or defence by multiple folds. Or it could also be a breakthrough in terms of spiritually or in terms of one’s potential or even in a martial technique. It could even breakthrough one’s spiritual shackles…

If he were to attempt going for that 1% chance, it would be better to do so when one was stronger. If the effects from taking the Mysterious Fruit was too low because the person was too weak, it would not be as valuable as refining the Fate Pill.

Qing Shui had tried that low percentage and succeeded. Other people would probably be less likely to attempt it. After all, there was only one Mysterious Fruit and the success rate was too low.

The Fate Pill was more worth it for those who were around Martial Saint level. Xiantian cultivators would be able to rise up to Peak Martial Kings, saving them a lot of time. Martial Saint level cultivators would be able to have an increase of 100 to 500 countries worth of strength, depending on one’s potential.

Each person could only take one of it in a lifetime but there were not many alchemists who could refine the Mysterious Fruit into Fate Pills. Moreover, the Mysterious Fruit was also something very precious and even Qing Shui only had one. However, he had two Fate Pills which he had not taken all this time. They were left over from the previous time. The last time he refined the Mysterious Fruit, he had received three Fate Pills.

Qing Shui wanted to take one Mysterious Fruit directly, betting on his luck. If he was lucky, he might be able to breakthrough to the seventh heavenly layer. There were no limits to the Mysterious Fruit but the success rate was very low.

Just thinking about it made Qing Shui agitated.

After all, each person would only be able to take one Fate Pill in a lifetime. As for the other two Fate Pills, Qing Shui wanted to give it to the people around him to increase their abilities.

He decided to give one to Luan Luan. With her talent, there should be no problem to increase her strength by 500 countries.

As for the other one, after much thought, he decided to give it to Huoyun Liu-Li. He hoped that, together with the Five Elements Fruit and other stuff, she would be able to break through to the Martial Saint level.

He had initially wanted to give it to Wenren Wu-shuang. To be honest, Qing Shui was very conflicted. Yiye Jiange, Mingyue Gelou, Canghai Mingyue and Di Chen were all suitable for it. Even Di Qing… However, for now, Qing Shui did not seem to have given her much consideration…

On the other hand, Huoyun Liu-Li was not the one most suitable for it. Therefore, Qing Shui planned to wait a little more. The next Mysterious Fruit was going to mature soon and by then, after refining it, he hoped that each person who was suitable for it would be able to get one.

With that, all of their abilities would increase by leaps and bounds. The Demon Beast Advancing Pellets could let Luan Luan’s demonic beasts become stronger once again. The Demon Beast Advancing Pellet was also something which he had refined recently and he had only done so because he was about to leave.

He decided to wait it out. To be honest, none of the ladies would have any issues no matter who Qing Shui decided to give it to.