Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 914 – Killing the Third Sovereign, Changes of the Realm

After killing the Fourth Sovereign, the Five-Headed Demonic Spider immediately spun some poison webs around the surroundings….

The Fifth Sovereign of Sky Prison Sect didn’t come as he was crippled. The Second, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Sovereign had all fallen. Now, the Fourth Sovereign was dead as well.

Out of the eight Sovereigns, only the Eldest Sovereign, Tianyu Liangyi, and Third Sovereign remained as of now. Those from the Sky Prison Sect, the ones who were stunned by Qing Shui’s flock of demonic beasts, weren’t able to collect their thoughts, since they were once again caught by the gigantic Five-Headed Demonic Spider.

Once again, there were ten casualties in the surrounding. Qing Shui held a 10,000 Years Coldsteel Bead in his hand as he stared at the Third Sovereign of Sky Prison Sect. As long as he settled the Third Sovereign, he could basically consider this battle won.

Tianyu Liangyi was now on the verge of spurting blood. He was feeling grief, fury and some other indescribable feeling. His heart felt desolated to the point where life or death no longer impacted him.

Tianyu Liangyi stood dazed on the spot with an enormous golden sabre in his hand. Although, his aura slowly oozed from his body into his surroundings, especially into that enormous golden sabre.

“Oh no! He is about to breakthrough!” Mu Clan’s old man suddenly yelled before dashing towards Tianyu Liangyi in lightning speed. He swung the long rod in his hand towards Tianyu Liangyi’s head.

“You are courting death!”

The Third Sovereign of Sky Prison Sect immediately stood in front of Tianyu Liangyi. The Sky Prison Sabre in his hand blocked the blow from the long rod. Furthermore, he actually managed to repel Mu Clan’s old man.

He repelled him very agilely. This surprised Qing Shui, who was standing at one side. The Third Sovereign of Sky Prison Sect seemed to be much stronger than the Second Sovereign. He knew that this was a chance and he must kill his opponent. It would certainly bring him a lot of troubles otherwise.

Vajra Subdues Demons!

Fiery Golden Eyes!

Emperor’s Qi!

Mu Clan’s old man dashed ahead once again and swung his rod downwards.

“Sky Prison Trap!”

A trail of Dark Qi was seen surrounding the Third Sovereign of Sky Prison Sect. A brutal wave of energy rose fiercely and his sword struck towards the Mu Clan’s old man.

A violet thunderbolt abruptly streaked across, locking the Third Sovereign of Sky Prison Sect on the spot. While Mu Clan’s old man swept unrivalled through a thousand enemy troops just like before, completely annihilating them.

Pu!

Just like the sound made when a watermelon was smashed, a dull noise rang out. A terrified look flashed across the Third Sovereign’s face for a split moment before his head got smashed in….

The Third Sovereign of Sky Prison Sect died!

Poison webs!

Right at this moment, the poisonous web that Qing Shui had the Five-Headed Demonic Spider spray towards Tianyu Liangyi was about to catch him. Just then, a golden light flashed out from Tianyu Liangyi, and the poison webs that were about to trap him were held still in mid air.

Mu Clan’s old man once again raised his rod towards Tianyu Liangyi without any hesitation.

The long rod struck out with dark clouds. This was a full force blow from Mu Clan’s old man. He knew that Tianyu Liangyi was breaking through. It would’ve been disastrous if he weren’t able to kill him before he broke through. Therefore, he struck out with all his might. Even if it couldn’t kill him, it should’ve at least heavily injured him.

Pow!

A golden light flashed and knocked Mu Clan’s old man back, so much that blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth. This made Qing Shui realize that things were getting a little bad.

He put away his Thunderous Beast and most of the demonic beasts, then handed over a bottle of medicinal pills to Mu Clan’s old man. He ordered Mu Qing, “Quick! Send everyone into the formation!”

Screech!

Roar!

Qing Shui held the Poison Dragon Dagger in his hand and sped towards the remaining people. The Five-Headed Demonic Spider followed closely behind him.

Nine Palace Steps!

He took out the Thunder God. Under the state of his full strength, Qing Shui was like a tiger among a flock of sheeps. He exhibited the Nine Palace Steps to its peak. The massacre had begun.

He was feeling very relaxed even though the situation was tense. This was because the so-called Sky Prison Sabre Formation was no match for Qing Shui’s current Nine Palace Steps. By the time Qing Shui returned to his original position, those people had only started to collapse.

Mu Qing and the others hadn’t even entered the formation yet. They were stunned by Qing Shui’s action, and the Mu Clan’s old man had an inconceivable look on his face. That move was like an art that was so divine that it could rival mother nature. It was also executed skillfully, as if done by the spirits. Within its profoundness was a desolate killing intent. It was a move that shouldn’t have appeared among humans….

Qing Shui held the Thunder God in one hand and the Poison Dragon Dagger in the other. He had put away all of his demonic beasts after he returned.

“Get in quickly. Old man, you get in too!” Qing Shui spoke slowly to Mu Clan’s old man.

He seemed to have realized something when he saw Tianyu Liangyi break through earlier. It made him understood a little more about his Nine Palace Steps. He had discovered that it had only really been raised by a huge step in its realm when he exhibited the skill earlier.

He now understood the things which he didn’t previously. It was as if he was looking through a thin sheet of window film previously; able to see, yet unclear. Now, the window film had been ripped and he was able to see everything clearly. This was akin to a huge breakthrough in the realm.

This was also the reason Qing Shui wished to battle Tianyu Liangyi with his own strength alone. He felt that he should be able to defend himself, and could even fasten on him. He wasn’t sure if he could kill him though.

“I’m an old man, I don’t have much time to live. Perhaps I can help you out a lot. This is for you, it might come in handy.” The Mu Clan’s old man handed over ten demonic beasts’ crystal cards to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui and the others stood at the entrance of the formation in a distance. The rest had entered the formation, except for Mu Qing. Qing Shui knew there was no point in saying much, thus he gave up on trying to persuade her.

He stared at Tianyu Liangyi, who still had a faint layer of golden light on him. The Sky Prison Sect had deployed about a thousand elites and there was only one remaining. Regardless of everything, he was already considered defeated.

He would still be defeated even if he were to kill everyone in here, since Sky Prison Sect was basically considered gone. Although he still had some energy left in him, and there were two more powerful members in the sect, the Sky Prison Sect would vanish in the next ten years or so.

That was because those two elderly men’s days were numbered. Nowadays, the Sky Prison Sect had to rely on Tianyu Liangyi, the eight sovereigns, and their underlings. Now, they were all dead. The link binding the chain had been broken, and was the most important link.

Meteor Smash!

Qing Shui unleashed an extremely poisonous hidden weapon on Tianyu Liangyi, who was standing very still. He was hoping to find out if he was able to kill his opponent, but the outcome made him feel helpless.

He didn’t expect that Tianyu Liangyi would be put into an invincible state during his breakthrough. It was similar to Qing Shui’s Divinity Protection, but the time for this was surprisingly lengthy. It had been more than three breaths of time.

Qing Shui might as well stop and silently wait for his opponent to breakthrough. It should be very quick. This Tianyu Liangyi was the strongest among the few of them, so he felt a little uneasy. Now that he had broken through, he should be as powerful as the two super powerful men within their sect.

Another two breaths of time passed. The golden light on Tianyu Liangyi’s body suddenly became even more magnificent. A wave of powerful energy erupted abruptly in all directions!

“Ahhh…..”

A frantic shout as Tianyu Liangyi opened his eyes. He scanned the surroundings with his bloodshot eyes and stared dead into Qing Shui’s eyes.

Although he was immobilized during his breakthrough, he was well aware of the events occurring around him. He now hated this young man to the core, so much that he wanted to hack him into pieces. Nothing could diminish the hatred in his heart.

“Damn you! Everyone in here shall die!”

His voice was chilling to the bone and overflowing with deep hatred. Tianyu Liangyi’s heart was bleeding. When he came here, he wasn’t bothered by the Mu Clan at all. He didn’t take them seriously at all. But now…

Qing Shui could feel Tianyu Liangyi’s killing intent from the distance. The feeling was so intense that it was almost about to come true. He didn’t dare to be reckless, as he knew the next attack from his opponent would be extremely incisive.

“Haha! Didn’t you plan on doing this from the very beginning? Damn it! Who exactly should be dead?” Qing Shui stared at Tianyu Liangyi and said scornfully.

“Go to hell!”

Tianyu Liangyi shouted. A golden light flashed from his enormous golden sabre as it struck towards Qing Shui at lightning speed.

Fast!

Too Fast!

Qing Shui shifted his body and had barely avoided it. He then swallowed the Gale Pellet without any delay. He felt a chill down his spine and was covered in a layer of cold sweat. Due to the previous strike, it felt like a bit of gamble to use the Nine Palace Steps.

Next, he took out an Agility-Enhancing Fruit and ingested it.

This young man had unexpectedly dodged a heavy strike from Tianyu Liangyi. It was a little unbelievable. The footwork of his opponent was too miraculous and inconceivable.

Tianyu Liangyi once again slashed dozens of times towards Qing Shui, only to discover that his opponent had easily evaded his every slash. This angered him all the more and he was in disbelief. He had broken through to the strength of Grade Two Martial Emperor and assumed he would manage to cripple him with a strike. Such a result was very normal with the disparity between their strengths. He thought the first dodge was just pure luck, but after dozens of consecutive slashes, he felt that this young man in front of him wasn’t even a human. He was a heaven-defying monster.

Qing Shui was burning inside now. The thrill had calmed down. Although he would’ve been slightly faster under the effects of the medicinal pill, the most important one was the Nine Palace Steps. Within the Nine Palace, the distance seemed like it could be remote or near. Qing Shui now felt the frightening speed from before was just so-so. He didn’t feel that he was fast, but he slowly discovered that his opponent was not fast either. Mu Qing and Mu Clan’s old man, who were standing outside, stared blankly at Qing Shui’s illusionary and calm figure. Their mind went blank.

The miraculous Nine Palace Steps!

Qing Shui had now taken control of another level of the realm. Perhaps one level deeper into the realm. He was the Lord of Nine Palace!

This realm would make him the Lord of Nine Palace. In the Nine Palace, he was the king, the Lord. For the current Nine Palace Steps realm, Qing Shui could easily defend himself as long as there wasn’t a large disparity between him and the opponent.

Qing Shui hid calmly. The smile on his face was getting more relaxed and satisfied. To be tempered under such circumstances where one’s life was deeply threatened, it was the most convenient to breakthrough. Easiest to improve by leaps and bounds and to achieve realization.

He had even forgotten what he wanted to do right now. He only wanted things to stay like this longer because he felt that his Nine Palace Steps realm was still growing slowly. It was very important to slowly strengthen it.

“Is this all you’ve got?” A scornful voice came from Qing Shui.

Tianyu Liangyi felt powerless and despaired right now. He was so old, his eternal peaceful mind was now extremely restless. No one would be able to calm down when such incident had befallen them.

Pu!

He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His fury had caused damage to his heart and internal organs. It could only be caused by extreme furiousness. Tianyu Liangyi calmed down and stopped going after Qing Shui. He held the golden sabre as if he was building up his power.

Qing Shui didn’t weaken his opponent because he lacked the time from the beginning. But as time went on, he grew accustomed to it. Moreover, this was a chance to especially temper himself. It was only now that Qing Shui felt like he reached the stage of half-step Qiankun.