Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1076 – The Powerful Demon Binding Ropes, Unexpected Surprise

The smaller Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox did not attack Qing Shui but kept on staring at the Thunderous Beast instead. Qing Shui was perplexed as he stood close to the Nine Palace Formation, because he would have to think of another way to attract those beasts into the formation.

Qing Shui had been battling with the bigger Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox for a while now. Even though he had the Arhat Rosary Beads and whatnot, he would still need to maintain his constant usage of the Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation and the Buddha’s True Eye. The rate of energy consumption wasn’t a lot but the total amount was still quite staggering.

With two powers of the same level clashing with each other, it would take quite a long time before a victor emerged from the battle, especially for demonic beasts as they would take longer to battle than human beings because of their ability to regenerate their health quite quickly. Qing Shui’s power was a bit higher than the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox’s under the influence of the Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation and Buddha’s True Eye, so he had a higher chance of winning this fight against the giant ox.

In most cases, demonic beasts would be weaker in terms of their spiritual energy when compared to their physical strength. Of course, there would be some exceptions where some demonic beasts would specialize in attacks that required the use of their spiritual energy to annihilate their foes.

The strength of the demonic beasts was mainly drawn from their physical bodies, just like this Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox, which was powerful due to its great body strength. The spiritual energy of the ox was less powerful, however. Unfortunately for this ox, it was forced to exchange blows with Qing Shui by using its lesser spiritual energy to deal its primary damage.

This was also why the usage of spiritual energy was considered unique. When one had reached a certain level – much like Qing Shui and the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox, they would prioritize using their strongest psychic attacks against each other. During this process, the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox would have the chance to use its physical strength to take out Qing Shui in one go.

After the time required to burn an incense stick had passed, Qing Shui switched the Sacred Jade Stone on his left hand with the Soulshake Bell and began shaking the artifact vigorously.

Qing Shui also used the Nine Palace Steps to turn things around by switching his position with this Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox in an instant, enabling the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox to enter somewhere close to the gates of the Nine Palace Formation.

Violet Lightning Strike!

At that very moment, the Thunderous Beast released its Violet Lightning Strike with Qing Shui simultaneously unleashing his Sword of Sixth Wave. It was a normal Sword of Sixth Wave, yet it was enough to hit the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox during the limited window of time it was left paralyzed by Thunderous Beast’s attack.

Bang bang…

A deep roar rang out. This was just a low leveled ancient desolate beast, so Qing Shui was able to push it into the Nine Palace Formation. It was at that moment that the smaller Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox came rushing toward Qing Shui with a brilliant halo of runic symbols trailing in its wake.

The stature of the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox was still large despite being slightly smaller. However, it didn’t seem unnatural at all, as the figure of the ox was superior beyond transcendence. This was also an attitude of a certain realm and this Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox already had a posture that was uniquely its own.

Qing Shui had expected that the Soulshake Bell couldn’t give him the effect he had wanted, so he quickly released a psychic attack under the effect of the Buddha’s True Eye.

Buddha’s Piercing Eyes!

The Buddha’s True Eye was already overbearing but even then, all of his attacks were still nothing against the formidable ox, regardless if they were physical attacks or psychic attacks. This time, Qing Shui was able to unleash a substantial attack against the ox, albeit only barely.

The Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox in mid-air shook for a moment before it began to fall from the sky to the ground. Qing Shui’s Primordial Flame Whip lashed onto the ox’s giant head. He didn’t want to kill it, which was why he didn’t use hidden attacks to exploit the ox’s weakness in the beginning – its eyes.

Clack!

Demon Binding Ropes!

At that moment, Qing Shui immediately used the Demon Binding Ropes to bind the giant Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox, while the other end of the rope was still in his hand.

In the past, if he was able to bind his opponents completely, it would have been enough for him to unleash his lethal attack in that split-second moment. Normally, he wouldn’t have to hold onto the other end of the ropes just so he could bind his opponents himself.

He did use the rope to tie the ‘box’ found under the deity statues once but the ropes were limited in length at that time. He hadn’t experimented with the ropes fully after that, until now. The Demon Binding Ropes were able to bind the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox completely, with a bit of leftover ropes still in Qing Shui’s grasp. It was at that moment he realized the Demon Binding Ropes had grown longer and his spiritual energy was still being infused into the ropes slowly.

“Oh right. I’m using my spiritual energy to use the Demon Binding Ropes this time. So then, before this….”

Qing Shui was excited. Exhausting a bit of his spiritual energy wasn’t a big deal. He looked at the golden-gleaming Demon Binding Ropes that were thick and sturdy, not expecting that it could become this powerful one day. He was excited because the ropes that he had thought were mediocre had become something more than valuable.

“Such a waste, not using such a great item in the past. This is like a small divine artifact.” Qing Shui tried his best to control the Demon Binding Ropes but could only bind his opponent for less than two breaths of time before the opponent broke free. Perhaps the ropes were still insufficient in level. Qing Shui wasted no time and threw the ropes against the ox once more.

The Demon Binding Rope was now in grade seven, achieving a level that could overcome powerful enemies easily. However, this level seemed like a bluff – or perhaps it was indeed a bluff. Otherwise, Qing Shui wouldn’t have a hard time trying to bind the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox with the Demon Binding Ropes a few moments ago.

The Demon Binding Ropes hadn’t had an upgrade for a long time. The seventh grade was essentially a large pit hole that hindered the Demon Binding Ropes from advancing further. However, Qing Shui had faith that it would upgrade again in the future. Even now, he still thought of this artifact as a minor divine artifact or a second-rated divine artifact.

This was also his first time using the Demon Binding Ropes after a long time. If he was able to master the ropes after a while, he could enhance the effects of the ropes even without a breakthrough. By then, going against the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Bull would be nothing less than an easy feat.

At this crucial moment in time, he unexpectedly discovered the formidable power of the Demon Binding Ropes. It was a big surprise to him. He continued to control the Demon Binding ropes like a golden giant serpent or a golden jiao, which became livelier as he persisted in using it. The aura above him became increasingly stable, as well as increasingly powerful.

Thunderous Beast’s Thunderbolt strike did not stop once within this period of time. That was what he wanted, because the end result of being struck with the Thunderbolt continuously would be a successful infliction of paralysis, which enabled the Bloodhorn Silverhead Demon Ox to continue being confined by his Demon Binding Ropes.

The ox could easily shake off the ropes because of the strange runes, forcing Qing Shui and Thunderous Beast to switch positions continuously. Qing Shui had a bit of difficulty in withstanding the formidable power of the ox’s Bloodflame, so he had no choice but to escape in the midst of blocking against the Bloodflame. This was even after Qing Shui had debuffed the ox. It would seem that the low-leveled ancient desolate beast was still as powerful as ever.

Qing Shui continued to struggle with the ox for about an hour. In the end, the ox was defeated by the Thunderbolt in one strike. To be exact, the demonic beast fell due to being paralyzed by the Thunderbolt, causing the ox to go limp with weakness.

At this stage, it would be easy for Qing Shui to give any medicinal pills to the ox without being retaliated against but he had no such thoughts. Instead, Qing Shui took out a ‘Demonic Beast Token’ and contained the ancient desolate beast inside, allowing it to slumber within the token.

The ‘Demonic Beast Token’ was somewhat similar to the Interspatial Silk Sachet and this item would normally be in the possession of a beast tamer. Instead of items, this token was used to contain demonic beasts. The demonic beasts inside would be in a state of slumber but remained alive. While Interspatial Silk Sachets that could contain such a large demonic beast do exist, their survivability would not be guaranteed.

Qing Shui had collected quite an amount of these Demonic Beast Tokens back in the day. Luan Luan has an abundant of these tokens in her possession because she needed them for her demonic beasts to rest and recuperate their health.

Since he had decided to keep one demonic beast inside a token, he thought that he might as well tame the rest for his own collection. The collecting process seemed simple but only because of the formidable prowess of the Demon Binding Ropes that only Qing Shui had knowledge about. With the cooperation of his Thunderous Beast, no demonic beast was impossible to tame.

Because of that, Qing Shui was overcome with emotions. He didn’t think that the Demon Binding Ropes that he had ignored all this while were able to become this powerful one day. This was genuinely, way out of his expectation.

Qing Shui felt that the Demon Binding Ropes were essentially the kryptonite of most demonic beasts. That was indeed good news, as he could prepare this artifact in advance should he face a wild demonic beast in his journeys. It was troubling at first but now he felt at ease. He had no clue whether the Demon Binding Ropes were one of a kind but he could definitely conclude that the ropes were powerful. Moreover, the Sacred Beast Pills were great, yet they were scarce.

………

Little Fatty and the ladies were quite relaxed throughout the journey as they went to find new paths and search for treasures. Yiye Jiange, whose powers had recently gotten stronger, was also dreaming of becoming a beast tamer. However, after acquiring the Seven-Headed Crystal Beast, she was completely uninterested in taming demonic beasts of that type.

Luan Luan was different. Even though the powers of her demonic beasts could not be compared to that of the Seven-Headed Crystal Beast, they were still comparatively powerful. Most importantly, the number of demonic beasts she had tamed was more than anyone else. She managed to tame two demonic beasts in one day and they were as strong as the Six-Headed Windfire Wolf as well.

This was the prowess of a beast tamer. Once one was able to tame a demonic beast on their own, they would eventually be able to tame progressively stronger ones in the future. Before that, a beast tamer must have sufficient spiritual energy in order to tame a demonic beast. Additionally, a beast tamer must not underestimate the power of the demonic beast that they wished to tame, because if they weren’t careful enough, the beast tamer, along with their demonic beasts, would be annihilated easily. The job of a beast tamer was essentially the same as risking their lives at the hands of demonic beasts.

Luan Luan had the Heart of Seven Orifices but that didn’t mean that she could tame as many demonic beasts as she liked. It would be absurd if she was able to tame thousands or tens of thousands of demonic beasts by herself. But if that should happen, then there would only be one possible outcome: she would become a king to one species of demonic beast that she had tamed.

Because of that, Luan Luan had been strategically taming demonic beasts that could complement her existing demonic beasts. She would look for a demonic beast that could increase or buff the stats of the others, a demonic beast that was proficient in agile physical attacks and demonic beasts that possessed control skills…

With that said, the two demonic beasts that Luan Luan had captured were the Golden Light Sable and the Earth Bear King. The Golden Light Sable could increase the defense and attack of the allied demonic beasts within an area. The sable was also adept in its speed and the sharpness of its claws was almost the same as that of the Earth Devouring Mouse.

The Earth Bear King, on the other hand, was a slow-witted grey giant bear that specialized in earth elemental attacks. Any opponents hit by its attack would increase in weight, decreasing their speed in the process. This type of demonic beast could be a control type too.

Luan Luan’s group of demonic beasts could be considered a small-scale group. Throughout the journey, the ladies were happily chatting with each other, with occasional giggles and laughter, while Little Fatty followed behind them as he took precautions around the area.

……….

Ten days later, Qing Shui was standing in a strange place. There seemed to be countless layers of heavens and the pressure in this area was fluctuating in endless cycles, like the waves in the sea. He knew this was the furthest he had gone in the ancient ruins and he wouldn’t be able to see another soul in this area any time soon.

Qing Shui had already used his Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation, which managed to suppress the overbearing force around the surroundings. Suppressing the overbearing pressure did not mean that the effects had been ignored completely, because no one in the world could do that. If the pressure was of the same level as his power, he could ignore the effect completely or do something more than ignoring the effects. However, even if the pressure was powerful to a certain degree, he could still ignore its effects completely. Nothing could faze through the prowess of absolute power.

Qing Shui was now gazing at a large mountain range in the distance. There were countless mountains in his sight. Strangely, he felt that he wasn’t able to carry everything into his eyes. This was a strange place indeed. However, among the mountains around in his surroundings, only this one was deemed possible to climb.

The first mountain!

After climbing the first mountain, Qing Shui’s brows began to curl into a deep frown. He noticed that the pressure in this area had become progressively stronger, just like the time in the places of deities but only stronger. Even though there were only a few layers of mountains to climb, he felt that it would be a bit impossible to climb through the last mountain with his current ability.

“Since I’m already here. Let’s give it a try!” Qing Shui lifted his head and scanned the view. There was still nine layers of mountain left.