Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 899 – Worries, Going to the Mu Residence, An Aristocrat Clan

Capital City…

Eastern Victory Divine Continent’s prefecture and capital city were very close to each other that it made no difference what to call them. It could be said that they were basically the same place.

They only took a short time to return to the capital city but they took a few breaks on their way back because they were not in a hurry. During their breaks, Qing Shui would either travel around with Dong Yan and Sun Yan, or he would teach Mu Qing about formations and the Nine Palace Steps.

Unfortunately, they only took a few breaks so Mu Qing’s progress was relatively slow. Nonetheless, Qing Shui still felt that she was quite talented. Besides, she had also mentioned that she had a special treasure to help her. Qing Shui could tell that this was true. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to progress at this speed.

In addition to that, she was wise so she managed to grasp the concepts of Nine Palace Steps and the other formations quite quickly.

After that, Dong Yan and Sun Yan also joined them. They felt rather awkward at first, even though they had quite a good relationship with Qing Shui. After all, when Qing Shui and Mu Qing were practicing together, it looked to the brothers that the pair were dating…

It was only when Qing Shui invited the brothers to join them that they found out what the pair were doing. The brothers accepted his invitation and listened to Qing Shui while he gave his explanations. But when it was time for them to reflect, both men would distance themselves. Qing Shui was speechless towards this behavior but did not want to explain any further. If he tried, it would appear as if he was trying to hide something instead.

Every time this happened, Mu Qing would smile at Qing Shui. She was already certain that this man was extraordinary and that his talents were definitely immeasurable.

Once a woman starts to grow curious about a man, she would start to like that man soon. Women are usually more curious than men. When a woman that was usually apathetic becomes curious, it will be even harder for her to control her feelings.

Qing Shui wanted to help Mu Qing to the best of his abilities. He knew that her problem was definitely connected to the Sky Prison Sect. If he wasn’t going to deal with the matter personally, he wanted to make sure that Mu Qing could handle her opponent’s formation techniques.

With this in mind, Qing Shui also got the Elders to join in. He wanted to familiarize them with those formations and their positions. At the same time, he wanted to see how difficult it was to impart this skill.

This was because he wanted to teach his own family members some formations when he returned to his Qing Residence. This was a good chance to see how long it took.

Supreme techniques were considered superior because not everyone could practice it and reach its highest form. In addition to that, anyone that practices a supreme technique would become much more powerful. Even practicing a bit of the skill would provide its users with great benefits. Nonetheless, perfecting it was extremely difficult.

Everything seemed peaceful in the expensive looking capital city, it might be due to Qing Shui’s new mindset. They took a beast carriage and headed towards the Mu Residence.

Mu Qing spent most of her time at the Azure Cloud Pavilion and would rarely return to the Mu Manor.

It only took a short time for their beast carriage to arrive in front of a luxurious residence. Qing Shui and the others alighted in front of the large entrance doors. There was a large sign hanging above the door inscribed with two words—Mu Clan.

There were two large demonic beast stone statues at the sides of the entrance. They were a little like the Qilins and a little like the tigers in his previous life. Qing Shui was surprised that he could not identify them.

“Those are statues of Cloud Beasts from the prehistoric times, they are auspicious creatures.” Mu Qing explained after she noticed that Qing Shui had been staring at the statues for quite a while.

“Do they still exist?” Qing Shui asked nonchalantly as he walked into the manor with Mu Qing.

“They are rarely spotted nowadays. These Cloud Beasts are considered Divine Beasts.” Mu Qing replied as she shook her head.

“Missus!”

“Elders!”

……

The guard at the entrance greeted Mu Qing and the other Elders respectfully. They were now at the manor of the Mu Clan or more accurately, one of the branches of the Mu Clan.

This was the branch of Mu Qing’s great grandfather and it was the largest branch. The other branches were still alright but they were visibly on a decline.

They had not walked for a long time before a handsome scholarly middle-aged man and a few other people came out to welcome them.

“Third Elder!”

“Third Elder!”

“Dad!”

The old men greeted the middle-aged man respectfully while Mu Qing ran over and held the man’s arm. This man was Mu Qing’s father.

Qing Shui was amazed when he sensed this man’s strength. If he hadn’t grown stronger over this period of time, he wouldn’t have been able to tell!

It was above 150 stars!

However, Qing Shui knew that this man hid his strength well. If his spiritual sense hadn’t become so keen, he might not be able to tell that man’s true strength even if Qing Shui was stronger.

Qing Shui did not know if the other members of the Mu Clan knew his strength. However, from the way that the Elders greeted this Third Elder, he knew that this man was not just an ordinary member of the clan.

The man also observed Qing Shui carefully. He had seen his daughter walking beside Qing Shui and could tell that his beloved daughter had finally met a man that she could fall in love with.

On the other hand, Mu Qian was also rather amazed by Qing Shui. He was unable to clearly see through this young man. Of all his children, Mu Qing was the most powerful. She was much stronger than her other siblings and was one of the most outstanding members of the Mu Clan’s younger generation.

Moreover, Mu Qian had never shown less love for Mu Qing just because she was a girl, in fact she might even be his favorite child. It was very likely that the future of the Mu Clan was dependent on Mu Qing.

He never interfered with his daughter’s’ love life. Despite this, he held worries for his daughter since she didn’t seem to have eyes for any man, nor had she ever had a close relationship with a man. However, even he himself found that many of the sons of the other aristocrat families simply could not compare with his daughter…

That wasn’t really important to him. As long as his daughter had a man she loved, that was enough for him. Unfortunately, she had never found a man she loved. It was only two months ago that he found that his daughter was acting little weird, only to find out that she was actually waiting at the entrance of the Sky Penetrating Mountains for a man.

It was easy for him to get information about the situation but he only knew very little of the details. He was just worried, but he would never interfere. This was the reason why he only got to see the man that his daughter had fallen for now.

He couldn’t help but feel curious about Qing Shui, though he did trust his daughter’s judgment.

“You must be Qing Shui!” Mu Qian smiled mildly at Qing Shui.

The other Elders had already excused themselves and left. Even Dong Yan and Sun Yan left after greeting Mu Qian. They said that they would continue drinking with the old men. Qing Shui found it difficult to wrap this around his head…

The people who remained with Qing Shui were Mu Qing, Mu Qian, three other young men and a woman who was just over twenty. The three young men and the woman looked somewhat similar to each other.

“Hello sir, I am Qing Shui. Sorry for the bother.” Qing Shui smiled at Mu Qian. This man was really handsome. His genes were probably the reason why Mu Qing was considered the most beautiful woman in the capital city.

“It’s not a bother. We’re happy to have you here. Come, let go inside to talk.” The man said then gestured to Qing Shui. The group then went into the main hall.

Qing Shui was from the same generation as Mu Qing. Many other members of the Mu Clan around their age had heard the news that Mu Qing invited a man to the Mu Manor. Recently, it was rumored that this man had a close relationship with Mu Qing and was now even at their manor.

They swore that they would have a look at this man since they hoped that Mu Qing would marry one of the men from the aristocrat families in the capital city. She was more than qualified to choose.

At the same time, the other Elders in the family were having the same thoughts. However, they did not dare to bring this up because they knew Mu Qian’s personality. The Third Elder, Mu Qian, loved his daughter the most and would never allow anything that would hurt his daughter.

Qing Shui and the others walked into the main hall, or rather the guest hall. As they chatted, Qing Shui quickly found out that the three young men were Mu Qian’s sons and that young woman was Mu Qian’s youngest daughter.

Mu Qian only had these five children. For a large clan like theirs, having just five children was on the lower end of the spectrum. Of his five children, Mu Qing was his middle child with two elder brothers, a younger brother and a younger sister.

They were all half siblings who had different mothers. Mu Qian had three wives. His eldest son and his third son were from his first wife. His second son and his youngest daughter were from another wife, while Mu Qing was her mother’s only daughter.

They had not sat for long when three charming older women came in. It was easy to tell who they were. After a round of pleasantries, everyone settled down.

The people closest to Mu Qing were now sitting with her at this family dinner.

Mu Qian’s eldest son was already 40. His mother was Mu Qian’s first wife. Although he seemed to have maintained his looks, perhaps because of his low cultivation, he was already showing signs of his age.

Mu Qian’s eldest son, Mu Fang did not inherit his father’s talents. His limits were probably already fixed at the peak Grade of Martial King so it was difficult for him to even breakthrough to Marital Saint.

Even though large clans had good alchemy and battle techniques, not everyone possessed the prerequisites to advancing to Martial Saint, let alone a peak Martial Saint. Nonetheless, most of the Martial Saints in the World of the Nine Continents were indeed found in large clans.

Mu Qian’s second son, Mu Jian did not look much younger than Mu Fang. He was stronger than Mu Fang and was a Grade Three Martial Saint. Even though he could still be considered quite powerful since he was a Martial Saint, his standards were nothing to boast about compared to the other members of the Mu Clan.

Mu Qing was one of the strongest members of the entire Mu Clan but she was a woman. That was still a disadvantage for her no matter how much talent she had and how powerful she was.

Mu Qian’s third son, Mu Lin, inherited his father’s talents. He was one of the members of this branch with the highest potential. Despite his age, he was already a Grade Ten Martial Saint and was only a step away from the peak. Qing Shui was surprised as that meant that Mu Lin’s innate talent was really quite remarkable.

Lastly, the youngest daughter, Mu Xue, was actually an early Martial Saint despite her age. Qing Shui found it puzzling that for this branch, the younger they were, the more gifted they were…

Qing Shui also observed Mu Qian’s three wives. The cultivation level of his first wife was rather low but his two other wives were quite powerful. Mu Qing’s mother was actually even more powerful than Mu Qing…

In another hall, there was another group of men who were around Mu Fang’s age. There was food and wine on the table but they were all looking at the man in the middle of their group, which was a strong burly man.

“Big Brother, Third Uncle favor Qing’er most. We can’t interfere but we can’t let Qing’er marry a nobody without any background,” a man in green silk clothes frowned.

“That’s right, Big Brother. It is not advantageous for our family if she marries that man. Young Master Yin is one of the most well-known figures in the capital city, his family is also extraordinary,” a thin skinny man smiled at the burly man.

“Fifth brother, do you have any ideas? I also wish that Qing’er would marry Young Master Yin. He would be a good husband for her. Our families are well-matched,” the burly handsome man spoke mildly though there was a certain firm magnetism about his voice.