Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1050 – Seven-Headed Crystal Beast, Sees Northern Sacred Lu Continent

Yiye Jiange smiled and touched the Crystal Beast’s beautiful head, mumbling something softly. She could also understand the demonic beast’s language. After all, she came from a beast tamer clan.

Dressed in a set of snow-white clothes and wearing a faint smile, Yiye Jiange stood before the huge Six-Headed Crystal Beast; this made her appear very sacred. When she stood next to the Six-Headed Crystal Beast, it presented a very harmonious and beautiful vision, and even Qing Shui was stunned. Many scenes, of how it would look if other people were to stand next to the crystal beast, flashed across his mind . However, he still felt that the most suitable was for Yiye Jiange to be standing there.

Qing Shui was very happy. Having Yiye Jiange tame the beast made him feel even happier than if he had tamed the beast himself. The Six-Headed Crystal Beast was more powerful than any of his demonic beasts. Of course, that was excluding the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm in his Central Palace Blood Essence Pool. Even he wasn’t sure if it could deal with this Six-Headed Crystal Beast, but the chances were very high.

Luan Luan tamed the three Five-Headed Windfire Wolves. These three Five-Headed Windfire Wolves were more powerful than Luan Luan’s other demonic beasts. They might only fall short when compared to the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant. This was because they were not as powerful as the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant’s overall abilities.

Over 30 minutes had passed and they had managed to subdue the Six-Headed Crystal Beast so Qing Shui planned to just rest there for now. Qing Shui decided to just set up tents on the mountain slope.

Yiye Jiange was very happy. The Six-Headed Crystal Beast had already recovered from its wounds. It was only subdued because Qing Shui was around. Otherwise, even with everyone here and all the demonic beasts, they wouldn’t be a match for the Six-Headed Demonic Beast.

Little Fatty was also becoming insanely powerful!

Qing Shui gave the Hallow Pills, the Crimson Pellet from the Nine-Headed Moon Wolf’s Core, and other medicinal pills to Yiye Jiange and told her to give it to the Six-Headed Crystal Beast..

They had already set up their tents not far away and Qing Shui watched as Yiye Jiange fed all the stuff he had given her to the Six-Headed Crystal Beast. She first started with the Hallow Pills, Beast Pill and so on.

The Six-Headed Crystal Beast experienced great growth and Qing Shui continued to sense its progress. The Six-Headed Crystal Beast seemed to be especially excited and it was as if taking two Hallow Pills just weren’t enough.

This made Qing Shui think of the Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent in the medicinal herb sacred land…

After the Hallow Fruits were refined into Hallow Pills, each person or beast could only take two of them. The amount of strength gained would be relatively high and it even gave Qing Shui the feeling of reaching the Great Perfection Stage.

When the Six-Headed Crystal Beast saw the Crimson Pellet from the Nine-Headed Moon Wolf’s Core, there was a strong craving in its eyes. It was only then that Qing Shui recalled that this Crimson Pellet was the one from the Nine-Headed Moon Wolf’s Core.

Nine-Headed Moon Wolf!

The Six-Headed Crystal Beast was a transformation from a mutation of the WindFire Wolf. Most of its blood was still that of a wolf’s and with the Nine-Headed Moon Wolf being a legendary divine beast, could it be…

Both were wolf-type demonic beasts with multiple heads.

When Yiye Jiange fed the Crimson Pellet of the Nine-Headed Moon Wolf’s Core to the Six-Headed Crystal Beast, she didn’t give it much thought. This was because she didn’t know that it was the Crimson Pellet of a Nine-Headed Moon Wolf’s Core.

After taking the Crimson Pellet, the Six-Headed Crystal Beast leapt up into the air. All six of its heads let out a low howl and rippling circles, that looked like crystals, were emitted from its body.

“Qing Shui, is it going to be alright?” Yiye Jiange asked, feeling worried.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. This might be a big opportunity for it,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Really?” asked Yiye Jiange with great surprise.

“Woman, I’m jealous. Console me…” said Qing Shui pitifully as he looked at Yiye Jiange.

“Pffft!”

“Are you looking for a beating? What are you talking about?!” Yiye Jiange blushed and complained.

Qing Shui took her hand, feeling very happy as he looked at how beautiful she was.

Yiye Jiange smiled and shook her head helplessly, letting him hold her hand. She lifted her head and looked at the brilliant Crystal Beast. It was now encompassed by a crystal-like layer.

They couldn’t hear much from the outside and could only hear sounds resembling a low rumbling thunder — which weren’t very loud but were very deep.

Qing Shui expanded his spiritual sense and sensed as the Six-Headed Crystal Beast’s body went through amazing changes as it constantly grew stronger. Various signs of vitality were increasing and it was a rapid transformation.

After the three Five-Headed Windfire Wolves had taken the Crimson Pellet, they had also completed their evolution. Since they were of the wolf lineage, the effect was much greater. Out of the three Five-Headed Windfire Wolves, only two of them evolved into Six-Headed Windfire Wolves, which was a bit disappointing.

Luan Luan looked at the three Windfire Wolves, sensed their powerful abilities and felt especially happy. Right now, Luan Luan could be said to have become an extremely powerful beast tamer.

After consuming the Crimson Pellet and going through the evolution, they were now completely tamed by Luan Luan. Right now, they would exist only for Luan Luan. This was the life of a beast tamer. Moreover, Luan Luan also possessed the Heart of Seven Orifices.

Luan Luan lifted her head to look at Qing Shui and Yiye Jiange, breaking into a smile when she saw them holding hands. She knew that this ‘mother’ of hers wouldn’t be able to marry any other person for her entire life, and she was especially happy to see the that her mother could tame the Six-Headed Crystal Beast. She felt happier than if she were to tame it herself. This might be because one tended to hope for the people around oneself to become more powerful so that one wouldn’t feel as worried.

Pa!

A crisp sound rang out. It was akin to the sound of egg shells shattering. In an instant, the ‘big cocoon’ in the air fell apart and the Crystal Beast’s brilliance appeared. When everyone saw the Six-Headed Crystal Beast, they were all stunned.

It had gain an additional head!

Seven heads!

If it was just an additional head, it wouldn’t be that big of a surprise. It was just that what the Six-Headed Crystal Beast had gained was the seventh head. In the World of the Nine Continents, demonic beasts’ strength could be gauged based on the number of heads or tails they had. It was said that the legendary Nine-Headed Snake and the Nine-Tailed Fox were both extremely powerful beings.

Qing Shui’s Ancient Strengthening Technique and Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Palm were also broken down into three, six, and nine sections.

Seven was a very crucial number. There wouldn’t be anything to be amazed about if it was the increment from five to six heads, just like it was for the three Five-Headed Windfire Wolves. They became a lot more powerful, but it was nothing surprising.

However, going from six to seven was a great leap. Qing Shui’s Nine Waves Great Golden Buddha Palm currently stopped on the sixth wave. The Ancient Strengthening Technique had also started to form a golden pellet when it broke through the sixth heavenly layer to the seventh…

And right now, the Six-Headed Crystal Beast’s seventh head grew right next to the main head. It was about the same size as the main head and looked exactly the same as well. It was hard to tell where it even grew out from and it was exuding an extremely violent aura.

It still maintained the appearance of a Crystal Beast, but now, it should be called the Seven-Headed Crystal Beast. Its size hadn’t changed, but it was much more powerful than before. Right now, Qing Shui didn’t even have the confidence that he could defeat it in battle. He reckoned that it would be hard for him to confine it using the sixth wave of the Great Golden Buddha Palm.

However, Qing Shui should have no problem protecting himself.

Wuwu…

Its voice was like a wolf’s howl but not entirely so. With a flash, it appeared before Yiye Jiange and Qing Shui, and it intimately moved a few of its larger heads right in front of Yiye Jiange.

Yiye Jiange petted it happily, unable to hide the joy in her eyes.

“I’m really jealous…” Even if this Crystal Beast’s voice was a female’s, Qing Shui still didn’t feel happy about it.

Yiye Jiange turned around, blushing, as she knocked Qing Shui over the head.

Qing Shui rubbed the part where he was hit and looked at the face which was as beautiful as the setting sun. He once again fell into a daze.

…

The next day, Qing Shui found a spot for his morning practice the moment he woke up. He was already used to getting up early and not rushing to travel the moment he woke up. He wasn’t the only one who was now used to this. It was the same for the rest. The World of the Nine Continents was very vast and if people wished to go somewhere, most of their time was wasted on travelling which wasn’t even safe. Travelling around was a huge pain since it really required far too much time.

Things were good now and they had too much free time. It so happened that in this barren land, there were no humans; there were only demonic beasts around. Of course, they would occasionally encounter some cultivators or traders who were travelling between Central Continent and Northern Sacred Lu Continent.

Even if they were traders, there would also be powerful cultivators amongst them. Otherwise, there was no way that they’d be able to cross this vast barren land. Even with a strong cultivator, passing through this place was a gamble; a gamble where they would place their lives on the line. No one had the confidence to deal with waves of powerful demonic beasts and if they were to encounter something like that, they could only blame themselves for being unlucky.

Other than spending time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui would also walk around the vicinity. He would look for rare medicinal herbs or fish in the lakes or rivers. His time spent was very fulfilling and the others also needed to cultivate. This was something that Qing Shui requested.

Although Lin Zhanhan didn’t have as bountiful an experience as Qing Shui, and would just cultivate occasionally, he had now fully recovered. However, he had already missed the best phase for his cultivation.

With Yiye Jiange gaining the Seven-Headed Crystal Beast and Luan Luan gaining the three Windfire Wolves, Qing Shui felt much more at ease than before. He would feel safer when they entered the Ancient Ruins.

Although heading for the Ancient Ruins was kind of a tough training and held the possibility of a chance encounter, Qing Shui was more worried for their safety. However, as long as they stayed together, they should now be able to protect themselves.

The other thing was that he now felt more confident in heading to the Lion King’s Ridge. This had been put off for over ten years, or closer to twenty years. It was even longer for Yiye Jiange. The heavy feeling was an extremely huge burden. There were some things which one knew that one must never do, but yet isn’t able to let go off.

In the blink of an eye, one month passed by and he could see a hint of Northern Sacred Lu Continent. The fluctuating heights of a stretch of the mountain range seemed to have no end to it when seen from the sky. It was just a feeling; a feeling of vastitude and boundlessness.

The temperature here was already considered very low and there had even been a few rounds of snow. Each round had consisted of large snowflakes which accumulated to over two feet deep in just a short period of time. Even the paths were blocked.

“We’ve finally arrived at Northern Sacred Lu Continent.” Qing Shui looked out into the distance and let out a long breath.

Qing Shui stood on the top of a mountain, looking toward the distance, and spoke slowly. The last Nine Continents Steps he used had landed them on this mountain peak. The others were also standing there and looking out into the distance.

Their expressions were all different, but they all looked toward this young man who was tall and upright like a mountain!