Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1202 – Seal of Roc Small Success Stage, Divine Might Dynasty

“Sister, don’t worry, I haven’t grown to like him. We’re just friends.”

“Alright, you’re still young and there’s no need for you to think about these things so early. Focus on your cultivation.” Eldest Princess smiled. It might be since she had thought of how she was still single despite her age.

“Sister, you should find one. It’s just that there are too few people who are a match for you.”

“Lass, you only know how to speak gibberish. Your little mind only think of such weird things.” Eldest Princess said happily to Seventh Princess. At this moment, she was very happy.

“Has Sister’s quota for recruiting members for the Heaven Secrets Academy this year been filled already?” Seventh Princess suddenly asked.

“Mmm, that’s right. It’s already been half a year. What about it?” Eldest Princess asked.

“He seemed to be interested in entering the Heaven Secrets Academy. However, if he were to know that his wife is in Divine Might Dynasty, I wonder if he’ll head there directly.” Seventh Princess gave it some thought and said.

“Didn’t he say that he’ll come again after the wedding ceremony? There’s no more quota this year and he’ll have to wait till next year. If he wishes to enter—seeing how you’re so sincere—I can give him a quota. However, if he were not to accept it, then you can’t fault me for that.” Eldest Princess looked at Seventh Princess. Seeing the hopeful gaze in the latter’s eyes, Eldest Princess could only sigh to herself.

“I know that Elder Sister is the best!” Seventh Princess grabbed Eldest Princess’ arm happily. When Eldest Princess was around, she was quiet and calm. It was only when she was with Eldest Princess that she appeared to be just like a little girl.

“This time around, will you be going back to Heaven Secrets Academy with me or with Jinyu?” Eldest Princess smiled and asked.

“I’ll join Jinyu. Sister is a busy person and I’m a more leisurely person. I will head back later.” Seventh Princess chuckled and said.

Eldest Princess felt that her younger sister must have some other reason but the latter had already grown up and had her own freedom. Therefore, she neither said much nor did she make any guesses. There are somethings which one could only think through themselves.

…

Qing Shui and the little girl had already stayed in the mountain valley for over ten days. The girl’s cultivation had soared by leaps and bounds and Qing Shui knew that it was only during this period that her cultivation would grow so quickly. After some time, it would slow down. However, the rate of her progression should still be very much faster than ordinary people.

Within these ten or more days, the girl went through a tremendous change. The pernicious aura in her body had calmed down a lot and she could faintly control it. If it was required, she could unleash the pernicious aura in her body to a terrifying level. Usually, she would be able to keep it calmly in her body.

Of course, at the current moment, she was still unable to completely utilize it fully!

After more than ten days, Qing Shui could also be considered to have quite a good breakthrough. His Seal of Roc had reached the small success stage not too long ago.

The achievements he had made over these ten or more days was comparable to about three years of other people’s cultivation. Qing Shui stood in midair, forming seals with his hands, and a hint of a golden glow flashed on his body.

Ning!

A loud and piercing shrill rang out and a huge roc appeared. This was something formed from the condensation of Qing Shui’s powers. It was glimmery gold and seemed material.

A powerful spiritual sense was unleashed from his consciousness and he locked it onto his target. It then dashed out toward the target, shining with a glittery golden light. It brought along with it a domineering and violent killing aura. It also formed the mysterious forces of the Heavenly Dao!

Explode!

The prowess increased by one fold!

Qing Shui smiled. This was the result of the Seal of Roc reaching the small success stage. The attacking prowess increased by one fold and was considered a spirit energy attack. However, the depletion was huge. Thankfully, he could use it consecutively for a few times but it couldn’t be used over a long period of time.

When Qing Shui’s Seven-Seven Divine Nebula Formation was in effect, it could bring his strength to 35,000 nimbus. If he were to perform the Seal of Roc, his attacking prowess could almost reach 70,000 nimbus. If he could unleash the chance for his attacking prowess to be doubled, the prowess would be truly terrifying.

Qing Shui was very happy now. He was very satisfied to have such achievements. This was when the Seal of Roc was only at the small success stage. He wondered how strong it would be when it reached the large success stage. This could now be considered one of his killing techniques and it was very practical.

There were less than ten days until Yan Yangchi’s wedding and it was time to head back. Another thing was about that Eldest Princess. It seemed that he would still need to look for her to understand his own abilities.

Another thing was that he felt that Seventh Princess would ask Eldest Princess about Di Chen. He didn’t know if she had already asked. After packing up, he brought the girl back to Yan City’s Firecloud Blacksmith Store.

The day that they went back, news of Yan Clan’s Eldest Young Master’s wedding had already spread far and wide. Moreover, the preparations were already in progress.

Not long after they had returned, Yan Yangchi and the others came by. Seventh Princess was here as well but not Fifth Princess. When they saw Qing Shui, they were very happy.

“Are you alright? Everyone was very worried since you left that day.” Seventh Princess was the first one to speak upon seeing Qing Shui.

Yan Jinyu was stunned as well and made a weird face as she threw a glance toward Seventh Princess. However, she also asked how Qing Shui was.

“Aren’t I fine?” Qing Shui replied happily. No matter what, the few of them were still good friends. Between friends, sentiments were important.

It was only when the sentiment was present could one of them put it into action. If one didn’t even have the heart to, then everything else would be nothing.

Qing Shui had wanted to spread the reputation of the blacksmith store but it was a little hard. It wasn’t something which could be achieved within a short amount of time. Moreover, operating the blacksmith store wasn’t something which was sustainable in the long run. It could be used for self-amusement though. Additionally, there were limitations to what the blacksmith store could achieve.

After seeing how strong Eldest Princess was, Qing Shui felt that other than trying to get stronger, he also needed to have a better understanding of the world. Only by getting more exposure to other things would one then be able to raise the one’s state and thus allow one’s cultivation to advance even faster.

It was just like how, for a frog in a well, the state he was in would restrict the ability for him to progress. Only by knowing how big the world out there was, would one be able to smash the shackles binding them.

Right now, Qing Shui no longer wanted to rely on spreading the reputation of the blacksmith store. He wasn’t able to do so in terms of the time he had. One would be able to profit from having influential friends. Right now, he felt that there was a need for him to make such influential friends.

For example, it would be a good option if he could get himself the status of a member of the Heaven Secrets Academy. Before a person attacked another, he must first assess who was the one supporting the target. There should be no problems for him to enter the Heaven Secrets Academy and become an elite disciple. When that happens, the treatment he would receive would become even better.

“Qing Shui, you’re not angry with Elder Sister, right?” The group of them sat down in the hall and Seventh Princess asked Qing Shui while he was pouring tea for them.

“What on earth are you thinking? Why would I be angry? I even want to thank her. If it wasn’t for her, we’ll probably still be there. How could we possibly still be drinking tea and chatting here?” Qing Shui smiled and said.

…

“Oh, right. Qing Shui, I’ve asked my sister. Three years ago, she met your wife in the Divine Might Dynasty. However, she didn’t know what your wife was called and doesn’t know if she is still in Divine Might Dynasty now.” Seventh Princess recalled this and quickly brought it up, not wanting to dwell too much on the previous topic.

Qing Shui shuddered. He had finally gotten news of Di Chen. It was good as long as she had appeared before. He knew that Eldest Princess knew because Seventh Princess must have brought out that portrait.

Hearing news of Di Chen still made Qing Shui feel quite agitated. It had been quite a while since he had heard news of her. Just this alone was sufficient to let Qing Shui be thankful.

“Thank you. I’m too happy to be able to hear her news.” Qing Shui looked at Seventh Princess and thanked her seriously.

When Seventh Princess saw how happy Qing Shui was, she was both happy and disappointed. She didn’t know where her disappointment came from but that feeling left her feeling a little gloomy.

“Right, Qing Shui, do you still want to enter Heaven Secrets Academy?” Seventh Princess looked at Qing Shui. She felt that after hearing news of Di Chen, he might not want to enter the Heaven Secrets Academy anymore.

“I do. Could it be that Seventh Princess has a way?” Qing Shui knew that Seventh Princess must have a way since she had brought this up. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have said a word about this.

“I’ve spoken to my sister. There are no more slots for this year and you’ll have to wait till next year. Are you able to wait for a while?” Seventh Princess looked at Qing Shui and said.

“Of course. I don’t have any urgent matters to attend to for now either, and its good for me to stay around for half a year too.” Qing Shui felt that it wasn’t a bad idea for it to be slightly delayed.

“Right, Brother Yan, when you’re having your wedding, will the people from Scarlet Flame Region still come and create and trouble?” Qing Shui looked toward Yan Yangchi.

“By right, they shouldn’t, unless they’ve gone out of their minds. However, we’ll still need to be careful.” Yan Yangchi said casually. It seemed that there wouldn’t be too big of a problem.

“Help me thank your elder sister!” When they left, Qing Shui looked toward Seventh Princess and said.

“Mmm, I will. You don’t have to stand on ceremony so much either!” Seventh Princess waved and smiled then departed with the rest.

…

Another week passed by. Yan Yangchi’s wedding was to be held in two days. This time around, Yan Clan was having a wedding with a member of the royalty. In this world, there was an unspoken rule that those who were to marry a lady from the royal family would only have that single woman for his entire life.

This was a form of respect to the royal family. This was why, after learning that Qing Shui already had a wife, Eldest Princess had looked at Seventh Princess with some surprise.

In fact, it could also be because of this that Seventh Princess couldn’t make sense of her feelings. She didn’t even understand the feelings between her and Qing Shui, nor know if she liked him. Sometimes, humans can be very strange.

Qing Shui brought the girl along and appeared at Yan Clan. Many people had come, not only for Yan Clan, but for the royal family as well.

People who appeared here were all leaders of their own areas. They all wore smiles as they greeted and chatted. There were people from all age groups. There were also many young misses and madams who were nobles. They all wore extremely luxurious clothes while they sipped tea and chatted…

Qing Shui’s and the girl’s appearances attracted quite a lot of attention. The girl was too eye catching and she would stand out no matter where she went. Moreover, Qing Shui’s appearance was also quite eye catching. As he attracted the gazes of a number of ladies, he also attracted the hatred of some others.

“I thought that you wouldn’t dare to come. After the other time, you were nowhere to be seen. I hadn’t thought that you would still dare to appear.”

Just then, an eccentric voice rang out. Qing Shui felt that it sounded a little familiar and soon knew who it was when he looked over.

It was the few people he had encountered when they headed to Rong City the other time. It was just that this time around, there was clearly more people.

“Look at that lass next to him. Why does she feel a little eerie? Why are you out here when you are so ugly that you look neither like a human nor a ghost…”

Pa!

Before the person finished his words, Qing Shui lashed out with a slap across space, sending the person flying while spewing out teeth.

Today, the girl was dressed in all black. Moreover, she still exuded that aura. Although she had concealed quite a bit of the aura, it still gave off a slightly eerie feeling. Although she wasn’t ugly, she was still a little horrifying!