Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1007 – Huoyun Liu-Li’s Background, No Room for Conciliation?

Time passed by very slowly. Huoyun Liu-Li was already decided and Qing Shui was thinking about how he should be heading for Demon Gate. Should he be heading there alone with Huoyun Liu-Li or should he be bringing along Qing Yu and the others?

Qing Shui found it hard to come to a decision but eventually, he decided to discuss it with Huoyun Liu-Li. This was primarily because Qing Yu was still too young but Huoyun Liu-Li wouldn’t be able to part with her for an extended period of time and would also be afraid that the lass would cry badly when she was left behind.

Although Qing Shui had headed to Huoyun Liu-Li’s place to look for her, he knew what her decision will be. If there was any danger, she would definitely not let the lass follow them. However, she’d definitely not be assured to leave her here.

After giving it some thought, Qing Shui still felt that it was better to bring one more person along. At least at the crucial moment, the person would be able to help him.

Luan Luan!

Luan Luan was quite strong now. And most importantly, she had many powerful demonic beasts, she had made great progress during this time and there was also the Four Phases Formation.

Qing Shui thought of her ten Earth Devouring Mice. Although they were also considered spiritual beasts, they were considered low grade ones. However, Qing Shui planned to bring the strongest one of them all into Martial Emperor. It should be manageable if there weren’t any accidents.

He couldn’t do anything about the rest since the gap was still far too big.

As long as the Earth Devouring Mouse could become a Martial Emperor, with the Hallow Pill, it would become a terrifying existence and would also be able to bring about a great impact, even if there was only just one.

“Qing Shui, if anything were to really happen, are you confident in handling it? I can’t bear to leave our daughter behind but yet don’t wish to get her involved in danger,” Huoyun Liu-Li frowned and said.

Qing Shui knew that this would be the case and thus could only smile and say, “Let’s bring the lass along, it’ll be fine. We’ll get Luan Luan to go with us and on that day, we’ll leave the lass with Luan Luan.”

“Alright!” Huoyun Liu-Li hesitated a little before agreeing.

Right now, Qing Clan’s cultivation was getting on track. Two months later, Mingyue Gelou attained a breakthrough. The ladies’ cultivations were originally about the same level and even if there weren’t any Hallow Pills, Qing Shui would also think of ways to bring them up to early Martial Emperor. By rights, from early Martial Emperor onward, the rate of improvement to one’s cultivation would become slower but the rate of power gained would be much faster.

Qing Shui did some more work on Mingyue Gelou’s Skywolf Claw, reforging it with more materials. It was now about the same level as the others’ weapons and she also took two Hallow Pills and Violet Qi Pellets

Qing Shui also took the time to refine two rounds of the Violet Qi Pellets. He still had a few Purple Qi Star Grass and they were growing in the realm’s pond which was now much bigger than before.

During alchemy, Qing Shui would add in quite a number of other valuable ingredients, including Crystal Physique Cards. Even so, the Violet Qi Pellets would only increase one’s strength by 30 stars at most and then the Hallow Pills would further increase one’s physical strength by 100 stars each. If he hadn’t added those additional ingredients, he didn’t know what the effects would be like.

He couldn’t help but think of Di Chen. She had the ability to head for the other four continents, which meant that her abilities should be very powerful. Qing Shui felt that she hadn’t merely exceeded a strength of 5,000 stars but had probably reached a terrifying stage. He thought of the Heartmatched Fruit which he had gotten his hands on. Was this thing really useful?

There was also Wenren Wu-shuang. Qing Shui hadn’t been able to put her out of his mind but yet he wasn’t able to find time to go and look for her. Qing Shui felt that she should have gone to see her elder sister to take her mind off things. He hoped that she would be able to come back soon.

This was just Qing Shui’s guess. He was going to wait for a little while more. If it didn’t work out, he would head to Hundred Miles City to take a look. It was hard to find a person in this world, even for an influential faction. No one had that wide a reach.

There was still some time and Qing Clan let the members of Qing Clan stay at home to cultivate. There would be no changes to the plan and Qing Shui would head out with Luan Luan toward Hundred Miles City. Firstly, it was to see if Wenren Wu-shuang was there and secondly, it was to prepare to enter the Giant Beasts Mountains.

Luan Luan had attained a breakthrough to Martial Emperor and could now tame powerful Demonic Beasts. Qing Shui was also preparing to refine demons and increase the abilities of his demonic beasts. He also wanted to become stronger in preparation for the trip to Demonic Beast Mountains.

Luan Luan was Qing Shui’s daughter and thus the two of them could also use the Nine Continents Steps. This increased their travel speed by a lot. Moreover, the Fire Bird had become much stronger and faster than before.

Luan Luan had a strong reliance on this father of hers. Even after she knew of her own background and felt a little distant from him, she still treated him as her father, the person closest to her. This was something that would never change. Moreover, it seemed certain that her aunt would get together with her father. It was just a matter of time.

Hundred Miles City!

Qing Clan felt very emotional to be coming here again. He went straight to Wenren Wugou’s tomb to take a look but didn’t see the familiar figure. He went to Shi Clan and Yu Clan to take a look before heading to Firecloud Blacksmith Store.

After the couple from Firecloud Blacksmith Store took the Xiantian Golden Pellets Qing Shui gave them, they were now both Xiantian cultivators. With Shi Clan, Yu Clan and Xiang Clan around, as well as the fact that Xiantian cultivators were considered a powerful existence in Hundred Miles City, the blacksmith store didn’t have many enemies.

Qing Shui and Luan Luan finally entered the Firecloud Blacksmith Store. This time, they just wanted to learn more information about Liu-Li’s parents.

Upon entering, they saw Liu-Li’s foster father. The burly built and straightforward man was explaining weapons to someone.

“Qing Shui, you’ve come. This is?” The burly man happily apologized to the other guy and walked over.

“Uncle, this is my daughter Luan Luan.”

The man warmly brought Qing Shui and Luan Luan to the backyard, leaving the blacksmith store to his disciple. The man smiled and asked, “Is Liu-Li still well?”

“She’s well. Uncle, Liu-Li and I now have a daughter. We’ll bring her to see you next time,” Qing Shui smiled and said as they walked.

“Alright, alright. As long as Liu-Li is happy, we’re happy.”

They arrived at the backyard and saw that amiable looking lady standing not far away. She had heard their conversation earlier and walked over happily when she saw Qing Shui.

“You have a child with the lass!” There was an indescribable surprise in her eyes.

“Aunty, we now have a daughter who is about two years old. She’s very playful and intelligent.” Qing Shui was also very happy at the mention of Qing Yu.

After a short chat, Liu-Li’s foster mother went to cook. Qing Shui hesitated for a moment before asking the straightforward looking man, smiling, “Uncle, soon I’ll be bringing Liu-Li to Demon Gate. The reason I’m here today is because I hope to get some news about Liu-Li’s parents.”

When the guy heard Qing Shui’s words, he was first surprised. After looking at Qing Shui for very long, she spoke, “You have the confidence now?”

“I have!” Qing Shui replied firmly.

“If you really have the confidence, then I’ll tell you!” the man paused for a long time, as if he had made a huge resolution.

Qing Shui didn’t say a word but quietly listened.

“Liu-Li’s father is Buddha Sect’s Huoyun Peng. He is the important fifth son of the Buddha Sect’s sovereign while Liu-Li’s mother, Mo Hongluo, was the daughter to Demon Gate’s sovereign. Buddha Sect and Demon Gate are archrivals but the two of them developed feelings for each other and even had Liu-Li. Their relationship was known by Buddha Sect and Demon Gate and thus they had no choice but to hand their child to me, an ordinary man. They were only thinking of looking for an ordinary family but for some reason, decided on me even though this place is extremely far from the Central Continent. This might be an affinity between me and Liu-Li.”

When Qing Shui heard the man’s words, he was surprised. To think that something like this had happened. He didn’t say a word since he knew that the man was going to continue.

“Buddha Sect and Demon Gate are on bad terms with each other and neither party can do anything to each other. They won’t forcibly go to war either, since other people could easily take advantage of the situation if that were to happen. However, there was no way that they would let Liu-Li’s parents be together since the two clans were enemies. Huoyun Peng and Mo Hongluo knew that this daughter of theirs must not be known by Buddha Sect or Demon Gate since neither party would allow her to continue to live.”

It was only now that Qing Shui realized that this man, who wasn’t very strong, was actually very intelligent.

“Huoyun Peng and Mo Hongluo each returned to their sects and it was said that they were grounded. However, the two of them made several attempts to meet and were eventually imprisoned. Therefore, Qing Shui, you can’t be rash. Right now, you and Liu-Li have a daughter. I know that the lass must be very happy now, so you can’t be rash. Buddha Sect and Demon Gate will definitely not give in on this matter. The problem here is that Buddha Sect and Demon Gate are enemies and there’s no way that they would be able to come to a conciliation. It’s extremely difficult to let Liu-Li’s parents be together.” The man couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Qing Shui fell silent too. Earlier, he thought this matter only concerned Demon Gate but hadn’t expected that it also involved a sect which was the one with the deepest roots in Central Continent.

Since he was going to face them, he would have to get stronger first. When one was strong enough, there was nothing that couldn’t be resolved. At most, he could just take the two of them away and beat up whoever was in their way. As he thought of this, Qing Shui felt that it was actually no big deal.

Things were easier said than done. He didn’t really know how strong Demon Gate and Buddha Sect actually were. There was still some time and Qing Shui planned to make good use of the time he had.

Qing Shui and Luan Luan didn’t stop in Firecloud Blacksmith Store for long. They then flew toward the Giant Beasts Mountains.

Hundred Miles City was very close to Qing Village and Giant Beasts Mountains was slightly to the southwest of Qing Village. It was neither near nor was it far. It took only two hours when the Fire Bird flew at rapid speed.

It was a pity that he had used up his Nine Continents Steps for the day. Otherwise, they could just use it!

Qing Shui felt that the Giant Beasts Mountains seemed to be even more dangerous than the Sky Penetrating Mountains. It was on the west of the Greencloud Continent. The Spiritual Qi in Greencloud Continent was the weakest amongst all continents and many people believed that Giant Beasts Mountains was very dangerous. However, there probably weren’t as many treasures as the Sky Penetrating Mountains. Therefore, no one was willing to enter the area since they couldn’t get much good out of it.

No matter how great the danger, the borders were relatively safe in comparison. The villages in the area would hunt for a living and although there might be accidents at times, the mountains were still a source of income for these people.

At the start, Qing Shui and Luan Luan travelled very quickly. When they exceeded the 1,000 li mark, demonic beasts with the strength of about 2,000 stars started to appear. Qing Shui now felt that this world was very strange. The demonic beasts in these dangerous areas would tend not to leave their own territories. However, he thought of how there were also some people who weren’t willing to live in the city or country they had been living in and from there, he seemed to have understood some things.

The reason Qing Shui had brought Luan Luan here was not only for her to tame demonic beasts but also for her to get some training and battle experience.

Luan Luan had great talent and could now, albeit barely, reach the level of the Four Phases Steps. However, her progress had slowed down, Qing Shui taught her the Four Phases Formation, Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation and other things. She was now considered to be quite familiar with them.

Formations were also segregated into many tiers and it wasn’t hard to learn them at the lower tiers. However, each time the formation leveled up, it would be as if tremendous changes had been introduced. With regard to formations, the hardest thing to improve was the application and flexibility, which was the increase in mastery.