Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1140 – Manor, Black Tortoise Shell, Embarrassed Tantai Xuan

Searching for a manor was a very simple task. As long as one had the money, this kind of thing could be settled very easily. He found a manor in the northwest. It was relatively more secluded here but only comparatively so. After all, it was still a bustling area here.

This manor was bought through an auction. Before the auction house could even auction it, Qing Shui had already bought it. There were usually a few prices tagged on auction items, one was the base price while the other was the fixed price. If the seller had stated a fixed price, then the auction house may sell it directly at that price.

If the seller insisted that it had to be auctioned, then there was a possibility that it wouldn’t be sold off or it might be sold at the base price. But of course, it was also possible that it might be auctioned at a much higher price than the base price or fixed price

Although Qing Shui had spent a fortune, he didn’t really feel anything. He had quite a lot stashed in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and had indeed accumulated a little too much over these years.

In the world of cultivators, money can’t buy you good things. Luckily, this kind of manor could still be purchased with money. This was mainly because this wasn’t the most ideal location. Even so, it was still sold at a sky high price.

The manor wasn’t small. There were no less than six courtyards in the front and rear. In every courtyard were two smaller manors. Every manor consisted of a building and a garden of its own. Within the garden, there were flowers, plants and trees, rock garden, pond, pavilion and an arch bridge. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have fetched such a high price.

“Qing Shui, why are you buying such a big manor for yourself?” Yu Ruyan asked Qing Shui while she walked around the courtyard.

“This is our first house in the Western Oxhe Continent and will forever be our home. It’s better if it’s a little bigger and relaxing. If we can’t live in all of them, then we can rotate around. We can live in this courtyard tonight, then the next one tomorrow……” Qing Shui answered casually.

“Sister Ruyan, you have to be cautious. Well… having a huge house isn’t necessary a good thing.” Tantai Xuan, who had been quiet all this while, spoke up just then.

Qing Shui shook his head at Tantai Xuan. “Although I already have a few wives, I don’t easily pick up just anyone.”

Tantai Xuan’s anger welled up in her heart. Although her emotions weren’t observable on her face, she was inwardly cursing Qing Shui as a bastard endlessly. The look in that guy’s eyes was blatantly telling her that she didn’t amount to anything in his eyes…….

A woman’s heart is very strange. Tantai Xuan had met him once at her home but her memory of that incident was very hazy. On top of that, she had only recalled it when he reminded her. Back in the Ancient Ruins, he had greatly helped her and she was also unexpectedly embraced by him………

It was for this exact reason that she actually hadn’t been able to find an equilibrium in her heart all this while. For a situation like this to befall a woman who had always been as clean as ice and as pure as a jade, it was quite a big shock.

She wasn’t a petty woman and it wasn’t like she had some feelings for Qing Shui from that. She had merely become curious about Qing Shui when they were in the Ancient Ruins. Her curiosity had stemmed from Qing Shui’s strength, rather than other factors.

It could be said that other than her own brothers, she had pretty much never interacted with any men. Even her sect, the Putuo Mountain, was all women. The married ones would leave the sect. Even if they left the sect, they were still part of it. Every single woman of the Putuo Mountain was exceptional. With the Putuo Mountain behind them, they were able to marry members of aristocratic clans and most of them were the primary wives.

It was also for this reason that the Putuo Mountain had a very high position in the Great Yu Dynasty. This was because the wives of many members among the royal family were from the Putuo Mountain!

Qing Shui rubbed his nose awkwardly when he saw that Tantai Xuan was ignoring him. He didn’t know what was going on right now. Perhaps it was because they had met a few times and also because she was one of the women among the Portraits of Beauty. She could pretty much be considered a friend now.

“Alright, Qing Shui, you’re a man. Be a little more magnanimous.” Yu Ruyan was watching Tantai Xuan who refused to look at Qing Shui. At least her expression was calm and it didn’t have any changes in it.

Qing Shui didn’t particularly feel that he was against her. He didn’t have that much of a desire to conquer this exceptionally beautiful woman. Even if there was a slightest bit of that desire, the Portrait of Beauty would probably be the reason behind it.

But he would never get himself involved with Tantai Xuan for this reason alone.

He had the feeling that Tantai Xuan was a woman whose personality could not be ascertained. There was a saying that a person’s personality was similar to the look in their eyes. This was what it means by the eyes are the mirror of soul. Her eyes were somewhat elegant, refined, sacred as well as slightly deep and impressive.

She was quite refined and didn’t gossip. She stood aloof from worldly affairs. She was somewhat elegant, intelligent and so pure that no one could bring themselves to taint her. Her voice was very similar to Di Chen, sacredly melodious.

Perhaps he felt this way because he missed Di Chen!

Tantai Xuan very rarely took the initiative to speak to Qing Shui. Now, she didn’t want to speak to him even more. This man was getting too brave…….

“Alright, alright. I’m giving this to you!” Qing Shui hesitated for a moment before passing a ring to Tantai Xuan. It was the Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring.

Tantai Xuan only stared blankly at Qing Shui without accepting the ring. Her eyes were filled with bewilderment as she looked at Qing Shui, seemingly asking him the reason behind his action.

“Don’t overthink it. This is for your survival since you’ll be spending a lot of time with Ruyan in the future. This is for the sake of Ruyan’s safety!” Qing Shui laughed and explained.

Qing Shui then explained the function of the Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring. This time, he finally saw ripples in Tantai Xuan’s beautiful eyes that were always calm. She seemed to be very fond of this ring. But she still hadn’t reached out to accept it.

She looked at the ring, then at Qing Shui and shook her head. “I like this ring very much. But it’s too expensive so I can’t possibly accept it.”

Tantai Xuan’s tone of voice was very firm. She seemed to be thinking about something else.

“I’ve said it already, I am giving you this for the sake of Ruyan. Treat it as a reward for helping Ruyan!”

“I don’t need any reward for helping Sister Ruyan. I don’t help someone for rewards. So I can’t have this.” Tantai Xuan continued shaking her head but the look in her eyes contradicted her words.

“What a stubborn woman. We are pretty much friends already. Treat it as a gift from a friend then.” Qing Shui told her.

“We don’t have that deep of a friendship. This ring is too valuable.” Tantai Xuan told Qing Shui in a very serious tone while looking at him.

Qing Shui choked, “Forget about it then, I’ll take it back!”

“Well, I like this ring a lot.” Tantai Xuan hurriedly said when she saw Qing Shui about to put the ring away.

Qing Shui was gloomy. He even felt like this woman was messing with him, although it didn’t really seem like it.

“Well Young Lady, what should I do? You said that you liked it, I gave it to you but you didn’t want it. Now that I’m putting it away, you are not letting me to. Then why don’t you tell me what to do?” Qing Shui laughed, seeing that she liked it. His intention was to give it to her anyway. That way, her chances of survival with Yu Ruyan would greatly increase.

“I would like to exchange it with you for something but I don’t have anything that is as valuable as this ring.” Tantai Xuan looked at Qing Shui. She didn’t want to owe him a favor.

Qing Shui naturally saw through it. This woman was quite a feminist!

“I have a decent piece of Black Tortoise Shell here that can be used in forging. It’s a quite a nice material but it’s only useful to forge smiths. I wonder if you’ll like it?” Tantai Xuan took out something that looked like a tortoise shell. The patterns on the tortoise shell were simple but they were glistening. It was more than a meter wide and long in size and about half a foot thick. This thing looked like part of a tortoise’s carapace.

Qing Shui laughed as soon as he saw this tortoise shell. This woman didn’t know that he was a forgesmith. If she knew that this tortoise shell could be used in good ways, she would definitely be able to exchange this with him without any qualms. Right now, she felt that there was too much difference in the value of this tortoise shell and the ring.

“This tortoise shell is very important to me. At least its value isn’t lower than the ring, since Ruyan and I both have this ring. If there was only one of this kind of ring, then it would be more valuable. This is fine. If you don’t have any objections, we shall consider this a fair trade.” Qing Shui allowed no further discussion as he took the tortoise shell and shoved the ring into her hand. He could feel her shivering the moment their hands came into contact with each other.

The manor was considered bought. Qing Shui spent another fortune to employ a few guards and housekeepers to manage the manor since this place still had to be cleaned and taken care of when they were out.

The two ladies still had to return to Putuo Mountain. Qing Shui asked them stay a night here and he would send them there the next day. The two ladies very quickly agreed to his proposal.

Yu Ruyan was going to share the same bedroom with Tantai Xuan that night but there was no way Qing Shui would allow her to do so. She was leaving tomorrow and it would probably be a long while before they saw each other again. Over this period of time, the two of them were stuck together like glue. They really felt a little reluctant to part with each other all of a sudden.

That night, Qing Shui and Yu Ruyan drowned themselves in euphoria and indulged in each other’s lingering touches. Qing Shui was wildly demanding and Yu Ruyan was also very passionate tonight. As long as Qing Shui made any requests, she would satisfy them all.

Half of the night passed just like that. Qing Shui used almost all the positions and movements he knew and it was pure ecstasy. Yu Ruyan welcomed it all shyly, even though some positions made her feel a little embarrassed. For instance, when Qing Shui made her kneel on the soft and fluffy bed and stick her plump and perky rear up high……

Yu Ruyan had only followed his wishes after Qing Shui gave her quite a few compliments. She had her whole head buried under the blankets while Qing Shui admired her plump, fair and gorgeous rear. The attractive view before his eyes made his blood surge. For such a graceful figure to be displaying such a sexy pose….

Qing Shui kept ramming against her wildly. Without realizing it, the blanket that was covering Yu Ruyan’s head had fallen off. He watched that misty beautiful face that was tinted with an intoxicating redness and those eyes that were already lost in pleasure…….

They continued their pleasurable activities without sleeping much the whole night. However, Tantai Xuan, who was just next door, was feeling depressed. She regretted the fact that she had stayed in a room that was close to theirs. A cultivator had very good hearing. Every bit of the noise clearly traveled into her ears, including those embarrassing words.

This wasn’t the most embarrassing part yet. She tried to seal her spiritual sense and sense of hearing but soon realized that it didn’t do any good. Those sounds crept into her mind like a magical spell. The thing she couldn’t stand the most was seeing the hazy figures of Qing Shui and Yu Ruyan indulging in the acts. She could even vaguely make out some of the details, including that ‘thing’ on Qing Shui’s body that shocked her.

These images invaded her mind. At first, she thought she was hallucinating but she eventually found out that she wasn’t. Everything was real. It was no use even if she closed her eyes. She was even more ashamed about the fact that her body got extremely hot and she felt very restless. Furthermore, she also discovered that her undergarment was already wet…….