Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1633 - Meeting the Sunset Palace Mistress Again, “The Heartless Brook Flows On”

Qing Shui looked at the Kappa who wasn’t exactly ugly, but also possessed the characteristics of a tortoise. In other aspects, there was not much difference between him and a human. The Kappa species could be considered to be very similar to human in appearance.

“I want to meet your Palace Mistress. Could you pass the message?” Qing Shui honestly didn’t believe that the message would be passed on to the Palace Mistress but it wasn’t his intention to make things difficult between them during his trip here so he was very respectful.

“Do you think our Palace Mistress will just meet anyone? Leave now as I’m in no mood to deal with you.” The Kappa impatiently waved off Qing Shui.

Qing Shui felt gloomy as he tried to speak politely with him but the other party did not take him seriously. Qing Shui was someone who was respected wherever he went simply based on his strength, not to mention that he’s also a doctor. Considering his medical skills, even a Divine would have to give Qing Shui some face.

Then again, it was only some bit part guy who did not take him seriously so Qing Shui didn’t get angry - he was not even worth getting angry over. Immediately taking out a Bone Strengthening Pill and passing it to him: “I do hope you’ll pass the message for me. I have something important that requires me to meet with your Palace Mistress.”

The Kappa saw the Bone Strengthening Pill and felt that it was full of pure spiritual qi while realizing the other party still remained courteous, so he nodded and said: “I can only pass the message to the leader of us Kappa and he can then pass it on to the Palace Mistress, but I don’t know if he would actually do it or not.”

“Then could Brother introduce to me your leader?” Qing Shui said while taking out a bottle of Constitution Nurturing Pills - with three in it at that - and passed to him.

Precious pills generally have one pill per bottle and the Bone Strengthening Pill and Constitution Nurturing Pill are in fact extremely precious, especially more so since they were refined by Qing Shui. This Kappa knew his stuff.

“Ok, come with me.”

In his previous life, it was said that money makes the world go round and in this lifetime, pills were more precious than money. The Kappa quickly brought Qing Shui to meet with his leader and it seems like his relationship with his leader wasn’t too bad.

“Leader, he wants to meet you and said he knew you so I brought him here.” The young Kappa certainly knew how to find an excuse.

Naturally, Qing Shui wasn’t going to expose anything. Seeing the leader of the Kappa in front of him, he was a swarthy and burly middle-aged man suited in a dark and chilling set of armor. This man was a peak Martial Emperor.

The leader of the Kappa let the young Kappa leave and then looked at Qing Shui. Of course, he knew that Qing Shui did not know him and cut straight to it: “Speak. Why are you looking for me?”

“I would like to meet your Palace Mistress” Qing Shui came straight to the point.

The leader of the Kappa gazed at Qing Shui. His strength was quite good and so was his foresight. Thus, he knew Qing Shui was stronger than him. With his intuition and experience, he thought for a bit before saying: “Do you mind telling me why you’re looking for our Palace Mistress?”

The leader of the Kappa already had an idea who the man was but didn’t reveal anything.

“I have no malicious intentions. Could you help me pass the message as she previously said that I could look for her.” Qing Shui calmly said.

The leader of the Kappa thought for a while and said: “Wait here for a while.”

After about half an hour, Qing Shui was bored senseless but continued waiting patiently.

After another half an hour, the leader of the Kappa returned with a Golden Shrimp General. The Golden Shrimp General and the Ancient Battle Crab King were similar in that they both had Ancient Bloodlines so they were both strong existences under water.

“The Palace Mistress asked you to come with me. I’ll bring you to see her.” The Golden Shrimp General said immediately with a kind of a metallic feel that was emotionless.

“Thanks! Sorry to trouble you!” Qing Shui nodded with a smile and then turned to the leader of the Kappa before leaving.

Qing Shui followed the Golden Shrimp General and rode a large goldfish that headed swiftly towards the depths.

Half an hour later, they came to a junction and the Golden Shrimp General stopped and said to Qing Shui: “Palace Mistress is waiting inside for you. Just head straight in.”

Qing Shui wasn’t afraid and thanked the Golden Shrimp General before heading straight in. There was a single palace here and it seemed to be an independent space - there were greenery, artificial hills, and pavilions. Everything here was made from jade-like stone that possessed a jade-like luster, which made him think of the bottom of the Ten Thousand Turtle Swamp, which he also transferred everything there into the Realm of the Violet Immortal.

In the distance stood a rather large cinnamon tree. However, this cinnamon tree was actually a piece of art. It only looked like the real thing. Qi circulated abundantly in the air.

She had a lithe body yet with exquisite curves, while her long slender neck arched gracefully. Her face was very beautiful and it was exactly how Qing Shui remembered it. After all, it was not long from their previous meeting. She had almond-shaped eyes and sweeping eyebrows, her beautiful locks bunned up on her head and with a cerulean pin casually inserted into her hair, she exuded an air of elegance.

While she had the same outfit as the previous time, she still created a really strong impression. This woman’s maturity possessed an air of dominance that was unlike Canghai Mingyue’s maturity, which had an air of confidence.

At this moment, the woman walked towards him. She had long and slender legs and was comparable to Qing Shui in height. Upon seeing him, the corner of her mouth curled upwards.

“I’m really surprised that you’re able to come. So what, you’ve thought about it and decided to try to get along with me?” The woman smiled as she walked until she was face to face with Qing Shui.

Qing Shui smiled in embarrassment, as meeting a woman like her caused him to lose his brazen demeanor and said: “Palace Mistress is an unrivaled beauty who should have many people courting her. You don’t have to do this!”

Qing Shui did not know her name and he felt a little awkward coming this time, but he would not have felt assured if he did not make a trip. Looking at the woman standing in front of him and smiling artfully, a strange feeling washed over him as if both of them were really bosom friends.

“I say, Qing Shui, you’re quite pretentious. That day, I made myself very clear. Will you die if you give me a chance?” The woman looked at Qing Shui bitterly.

Qing Shui now knew that being too attractive to women wasn’t a good thing and smiled awkwardly: “Matters of the heart cannot be forced. I have too many women and I don’t want to owe anyone feelings anymore.”

This was something Qing Shui already said twice, but of course, it was only the first time to this woman.

“You’ve already said that you have many women. Why would it bother you to have one more?”

What made Qing Shui shocked was that her reply was exactly the same as the woman whom he said the previous line to for the first time.

Qing Shui knew that it was rare for a proud woman to say something like this - it was hardest to bear the grace of a beauty so Qing Shui felt really vexatious right now.

Her daughter was already an unrivaled beauty. The Mermaid species were already extremely beautiful and could even compare to the women in the Portraits of Beauty. However, beauties were aplenty in this world and Qing Shui really couldn’t contemplate adding another woman to his harem.

“I don’t want you to suffer an injustice. Why should you put yourself through this?” Qing Shui helplessly shook his head. He really did not know what to do about this.

“Speak, what made you look for me today?” The woman did not want to badger and cling onto that question anymore.

“I hope to ask you for a favor.” Qing Shui said after a moment’s thought.

“Is it the matter with the Sea King Palace? Are you afraid that I’ll attack them?” The woman smiled coquettishly at Qing Shui.

“Something like that. When the Sea King Palace gets into any trouble, if it’s in the Palace Mistress’ powers, could you extend a helping hand? My wife is among them.” Qing Shui said earnestly.

It wasn’t that Qing Shui hoped she would not attack the Sea King Palace, but in fact, if the Sea King Palace got into any trouble and it was possible for the Sunset Palace to extend a helping hand, this could be considered advancing in order to retreat.

It was evident that the woman was stunned as based on her thinking. Simply not attacking the Sea King Palace was already good enough but this man even dared to request her to help the Sea King Palace.

But the woman was smart and knew Qing Shui’s intention. After all, raising his real request might cause her to be unhappy.

The woman smiled at Qing Shui and said: “Why should I help you? You should give me a reason after all.”

Qing Shui thought about this before and the other party was neither kith nor kin. In fact, there might be a little resentment, so there was no reason for her to help him. He thought of an answer before and hurriedly said: “I won’t ask you to provide assistance and gain nothing in return. Just say anything. As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll surely do it.”

“You definitely can do it but it’s just that you don’t want to.” The woman sighed.

Qing Shui actually did not know if what this woman said was true all this while. Even up till now he did not know what’s real and what’s fake so he would just wing it.

Qing Shui hesitated and did not know what to say but soon enough the woman sighed and said: “I know why you came here and I don’t want to put you in a difficult position. For your sake, I won’t attack the Sea King Palace. But of course, they can’t come to me looking for trouble. If that happens, I’ll be absolutely unforgiving.”

“I’m a doctor, is there anything that you need my help with? I can’t guarantee that I can cure everything but at least I can control and ameliorate it by 50%.” Qing Shui earnestly said.

“Since you’re Miraculous Physician, I’m not sure if you can see anything.”

Qing Shui was still unfamiliar with the woman, so he did not know what to say most of the time. While her body was a little uncomfortable, it wasn’t something serious.

He was really happy after the woman promised him. After all, he managed to complete his aim with haste.

Although the woman made a promise, it seemed to be a little rubbish. With that said, the legend of the Sunset Palace Mistress’ promise being weightier than a thousand bars of gold was well known. Moreover, it was also that the Sunset Palace Mistress hated people who reneged on their word the most.

Qing Shui bade farewell and the woman nodded her head as she walked him out. The woman remained silent and Qing Shui did the same. This feeling was extremely vexing.

Qing Shui was silent because he felt a little apologetic towards the woman. On the other hand, she was silent because she did not want him to find her irritating.

“Don’t worry, I’ll follow through on what I’ve promised. Qing Shui, if you have time, do come and look for me. I won’t let this go so easily.” The woman said slowly.

A bitter smile appeared on Qing Shui’s face when he heard her words. He waved his hand over his back and without turning to look as he headed in the direction of his return journey. The matter here was completed and no matter what, Qing Shui could set his mind at east. He believed that the Sunset Palace Mistress was someone of her word.