Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 846 – The Leveled Up Image of Yin-Yang, Expert Level Focused-Concentration

Looking at the Thunderous Beast now, Qing Shui was still quite satisfied. Although its actual attacking powers were not comparable to those of the Diamond Gigantic Elephant or the Fire Bird, when it teamed up with him, they were unrivalled. Therefore, he let the Thunderous Beast take the two Ice Snow Sacred Fruits as Qing Shui felt that this time around, he would definitely be able to use the Thunderous Beast but the Diamond Gigantic Elephant and Fire Bird might not be of much use this time around.

Most important, with the Thunderous Beast’s constitution, the enemies would not dare to hit it with ordinary physical attacks since they might be paralyzed. The Thunderous Beast’s speed was also quite monstrous and although the side effects of the Thunderbolt and the Violet Lightning Strike brought to the enemies were strong, their attack prowess was also very strong.

The other two Ice Snow Sacred Fruits were also going to ripen soon. Qing Shui didn’t know if he should give them to the Thunderous Beast against. After all, he would definitely be heading to the Sky Penetrating Mountains.

Looking at the last remaining Mysterious Fruit, after over two months had passed, it was ready for use. He had initially wanted to refine it into Fate Pills and to give them to the people around him. However, thinking of how the time ratio in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal had increased by a lot and there were now two Mysterious Fruit Trees, there were plenty of chances to do so in the future. Now, it was more crucial to keep it for his own use.

After making the decision, Qing Shui didn’t hesitate and swallowed the last Mysterious Fruit. Although this was the third time he was taking it, he was still filled with anticipation and full of expectation toward the results.

The possible effects the Mysterious Fruit could bring were too many. It could randomly allow the breakthrough of one martial technique, random increase in an attribute such as strength, speed and defence to be two times as strong or even having the chances of comprehending the essence of a martial technique or allowing him to gain an alchemy recipe…

Of course, the success rate was still extraordinarily low but Qing Shui had succeeded on his two attempts. Therefore, he felt that there must be other reasons why he had the Mysterious Fruits. Despite this, the chance for him to gain things which were of little value was still very high.

He quietly digest the powers of the Mysterious Fruit and everything progressed steadily. Qing Shui’s brows relaxed and he was so calm that it was hard for others to tell that he was absorbing heavenly and earthly treasures.

Boom!

Qing Shui suddenly felt a tremble in his head as he appeared in his consciousness. This scenario just like what had happened when he had battled against the Marrow Nibbling Worms previously. Just as he was struck by confusion, he suddenly realized that the image of Yin-Yang was circulating much faster than before.

The image of Yin-Yang didn’t seem to have any change in its size compared to before but it appeared to be even stronger, with a rustic feel to it. It exuded the most basic mysterious powers in the world. At this moment, Qing Shui’s mind was very clear.

The colors of the image of Yin-Yang became even more rustic and mysterious looking and the image of the Yin-Yang fish was increasingly clear, being the most basic grey color, just like the color of the primordial flames.

Could it be that his image of Yin-Yang had leveled up?

From the very start when the image of Yin-Yang seemed to be very weak, it had continued to level up and had now become a powerful existence, constantly exuding mysterious powers to temper his organs and replenish his physical strength and spirit energy.

The image of Yin-Yang was much stronger than before, allowing Qing Shui to be able to better resist pressures and attacks through spirit energy. Although the leveling up of the image of Yin-Yang didn’t allow his abilities to be increased directly, the benefits were even better than having his actual cultivation level increased.

The other thing was, he felt that he could better focus his spirit energy compared to before. Under extreme focus, the powers he could display were more powerful and he felt that everything seemed to be slower.

Expert level Focused Concentration!

Tremendous increase in speed and strength!

The Focused Concentration he had comprehended when he was at the Southern Sea had actually leveled up here. With his Focused Concentration, both his his attack prowess and his defence could increase by about 20%.

Now, Qing Shui looked at the expert level Focused Concentration!

With the expert level Focused Concentration, not only would his attack prowess and defence be increased by 20%, it could also increase the resistance against spirit energy, allowing the powers of his spirit energy to be better unleashed.

Qing Shui smiled happily and retreated from his consciousness very quickly. This was considered good and he was very satisfied. After all, the chances of him being able to attain a breakthrough to the seventh heavenly layer through the Mysterious Fruit was close to zero. Although everything was possible with the Mysterious Fruit, the chances were too low and even if there was a possibility, it was merely a possibility.

After all this, it was about time for him to leave the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Ever since coming out from the crystal palace, his luck seemed to be quick good.

After cleaning up and changing into a fresh set of clothes, he left the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

He had nothing planned in the morning and planned to have a walk around the city. Tang Wude accompanied Qing Shui and the two of them chatted as they walked.

“Brother, how powerful do you think a Martial Emperor is?” Qing Shui asked casually.

Qing Shui’s Ancient Strengthening Technique had been at the Peak of the sixth heavenly layer for quite a long time but he had not been able to attain a breakthrough. Based on estimation, the Ancient Strengthening Technique at the seventh heavenly layer would increase his abilities by at least ten times. Would he be able to attain the Martial Emperor level then?

“Martial Emperor, haha, that’s a far off existence. Qing Shui, you’re already very strong now and your talent is the best that I’ve seen so far. When the opportunity comes, maybe you’ll be able to breakthrough to the Martial Emperor level,” Tang Wude smiled and said.

“Brother, do you know if there are any Martial Emperors in Central Continent?” Qing Shui already had the answer but he still asked. It was because he felt that that lady in the crystal coffin should be at least an elementary Martial Emperor .

“Yes, there are still Martial Emperors but they seldom show up.” A hint of enthusiasm flashed in Tang Wude’s eyes.

“How powerful is a Martial Emperor?” Qing Shui sighed and said.

“Peak Martial Saints would be weak in front of them as ants in front of a Martial Saint. A Martial Emperor would not even need to move a finger to kill a Peak Martial Saint,” Tang Wude shook his head and said.

Qing Shui only smiled bitterly. Wasn’t he like that before that lady? It would be extremely easy for her to kill him. However, seeing that he was still alive despite having been attacked twice, it could only meant that she did not go all out to try to kill him. Otherwise, it would merely take a though for her to kill him. He did not understand why she did not. Before her, he was so inferior that he could not find an answer he felt was right.

Emperor City Auction Hall

What a domineering name! This was what Qing Shui felt. The Central Continent could be considered the Emperor City but Qing Shui could not help but think of Dragon Emperor Mountain. He felt that the Emperor City Auction Hall was a property of Dragon Emperor Mountain, just because of the word ‘Emperor’.

“In this area, Tang Manor is considered to have the best medicinal hall, while for auction halls, it’ll be this Emperor City Auction Hall. This belongs to Dragon Emperor Mountain,” Tang Wude smiled and said.

Qing Shui smiled and nodded. As expected, it belonged to the Dragon Emperor Mountain. The two of them headed for the entrance.

“Fifth Master, you’re here! Please come in!” When the guard saw Tang Wude, he smiled and quickly came up to welcome him, leaving the other guests aside.

“No need to attend to me. I’ll head up myself,” Tang Wude smiled and said.

“Alright, alright. Fifth Master, please feel free!”

Tang Wude and Qing Shui went up to the second storey from the side door. The auction hall was very big but there were only two storeys. The first storey was the hall while the second storey had private rooms separated off by partition boards. Although the rooms were small, the decor was luxurious but yet did not block the view.

Qing Shui came here to try his luck, to see if he could come across anything which would be useful to him. Usually, there would be two rounds of auctions in a day, with one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each round would take two hours.

Qing Shui and Tang Wude only left Tang Manor in the late morning. Although the auction had not yet started, it would be starting soon.

In the private room, they could see most of the places on the first storey. This auction hall would not lose out to Cloud Adventurer Guild’s hall and there were definitely more than several tens of thousands of people seated there.

The auctioneers for large-scale auctions would all be martial arts practitioners who were at least Xiantian. Otherwise, it would be hard for them to be heard by everyone present.

The people on top could clearly see those below but the reverse was not true. Moreover, those on the second floor were people with status and reputation. There was food and drink provided in the private rooms and if required, there would even be two beautiful maids who would help to provide massages.

However, Qing Shui and Tang Wude did not request for the maids to stay.

“Brother, how are the things in this auction hall?” Qing Shui smiled, sat down and asked.

“How should I say it? This is the biggest auction hall in the area. It has everything, from medicinal pills, medicinal herbs, weapons, demonic beast’s core, bones and hide, as well as defensive equipment.”

“But for miraculous medicines and divine artifacts, you can basically forget about it. Only idiots would sell them. More people come to try to dig for treasures.”

“Dig for treasures? What do you mean?” Qing Shui asked directly.

“There might be new and interesting things being put up for sale. There could be the case where you recognize the value of something even though others don’t or it could also be no one recognizes the value but you find out that it’s a treasure after purchasing it. It’s just that the chances of the latter occurring is very low,” Tang Wude smiled and said.

Qing Shui knew about these. He was only here to try his luck today. Afterall, he’djust attend one auction and leave in the afternoon.

Very soon, it was time for the auction to start.

There were three auctioneers wearing black colored professional clothes. One of them was an old man while the other two were middle-aged men. The moment they came out, they greeted everyone present. It was clear from their professional smiles and presentable actions that they were very experienced auctioneers. The old man’s tone was very pleasant and amiable.

“Let’s cut a long story short, I’m sure many of you present knows me. I have also introduced myself earlier. Now let me announce that the auction for today has officially started. We’ll start off with the first item.” Hearing the old man announcing the start of the auction, the noisy auction hall immediately fell silent.

“Ten 500 Year Snow Lotus Seeds. The starting bid is 1,000 silver taels and each increasing bid must not be lower than 20 silver taels. The auction starts now.” The old man said softly but his voice could be clearly heard by everyone.

Qing Shui was not interested in this but this did not mean that other people were not interested. No matter how big the auction hall, it was impossible for everything on auction to be miraculous medicine or divine weapons. It would be considered good if there were a few good pieces at the end of each auction.

In this world, no matter how good the stuff you bring out, as long as you can name a price, someone would be able to afford it.

Competition was not very tough and someone got it very quickly at 1,300 silver taels. The Snow Lotus Seeds relieve heatiness and toxins. To ordinary rich merchants, they were considered quite good.

After all, there were many medicinal pills which ordinary people could not take.