Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1801 - Joining The Phoenix God Organization, Fine Gold Token

Qing Shui continued to observe her for a very long time without uttering a single word. What shocked him the most was that this woman did not utter a single word either. Likewise, she looked back at him with a gaze that could traverse beyond the moon and stars.

Qing Shui had no idea what was going on inside her mind. Her expression was exceedingly calm too. At the very least, he did not detect any sort of agitation from her. Even if there was any, he wasn’t able to see through it. Her beautiful eyes did not blink even once the whole time they were staring at each other.

This scenario seemed like some sort of contest, as if whoever tried to speak first would lose the match. After a long while, Qing Shui sighed and asked gently, “Who are you?”

Even though Qing Shui already had an idea about her identity, it was still an assumption, which was why he decided to ask for her name to get a precise answer. Moreover, this flow of questioning was quite normal.

“It’s quite shocking to finally meet you. Seems like I really didn’t waste my time coming here.” There was a hint of melodious tone in her speech. The slightly hoarse voice was quite delightfully enchanting and extremely seductive. This sort of voice showed a bit of contrast with her celestial-like image.

Qing Shui narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing her voice. He realized that he liked hearing this sort of voice. It was comparatively nice to hear, just like the good songs he had heard in his past life.

“Who are you?” Qing Shui inquired politely again. His voice remained calm as usual.

The woman’s eyes lit up slightly after she heard Qing Shui’s question. Then, she looked at him and softly replied, “Others call me Shen Feng and some call me Phoenix. However, my surname is Shen.”

Qing Shui was still quite shocked to hear a reply because he thought that she wouldn’t want to answer his question. He didn’t expect her to be courteous with her response either.

Qing Shui had a thought when he heard that her surname was ‘Shen’. Through his memories from the Battle God Inheritance, he received an information telling him that those with the surname ‘Shen’ were considered rare. Each of them was also considered favorites of the Heaven and Earth. Some even regarded them as the descendants of the Gods.

不过这个世界可以肯定的是没有神，不过有一些是被神眷顾的人，这些人就是神的后裔，青水看着神姓女人没有说话However, there was certainly no God in this world. Even so, some people were blessed by the Gods and they were indeed descendants of the Gods. Qing Shui continued to look at this woman with the surname Shen and said nothing else.

“The Phoenix God Organization welcomes you to join us.” The woman said, calmly. She was decisive and straightforward with her approach.

Qing Shui was clearly stunned by the invitation this time. He had told Yehuang Guwu before that if the Phoenix God Organization displayed a bad attitude toward him, he would make them suffer a bit. However, he realized now that it wouldn’t be that easy to do so.

Nevertheless, this woman didn’t seem to display such an attitude like the two old men did. They were not powerful at all. In fact, they were rampant and ignorant. This woman, however, did not make him feel antipathy despite being incredibly powerful.

It wasn’t because she was a woman that he felt this way. Qing Shui had no weird thoughts on this woman at all, not even in the slightest. If he wanted to seek a woman, he wouldn’t go out all the way to find a Goddess. Goddesses were meant to be worshipped…

“Can I not join this organization?” Qing Shui said after thinking for a while.

The woman went silent as if she was ineloquent toward this reply. She had no idea how to answer his question. After gazing at Qing Shui for a while, she said, “I wish to acquire your assistance.”

Qing Shui did not reply right away this time. Instead, he spent some time considering the situation. This woman didn’t seem desperate or impatient as she silently waited for his reply.

“I have no clue about the Phoenix God Organization whatsoever. I can sense that your power is stronger than mine, so what can I even help you with?” Qing Shui diverted his question back to the woman.

This time, the woman gave a swift reply, “I know those two have caused you to misunderstand the Phoenix God Organization. There’s actually not that many people in this organization and most of them are considered outsiders too. Maybe you aren’t stronger than me, but the stronger you are, the more enemies you will attract. There’s only a handful of people here so it will be beneficial for you once you join us. I can guarantee that you will have complete freedom, but I hope that everyone can stand together against future crisis when the time comes. However, I won’t force you to do it as you must be willing to do so. What do you think of this?”

These conditions had a lot of freedom, even Qing Shui felt the same way too. He didn’t know how he should object to these conditions even if he had one to begin with. The other party had no restrictions at all. Even if something happened to the Phoenix God Organization, he could choose whether he wished to participate or not.

Qing Shui actually knew that this woman was trying to play the emotional card. She knew that Qing Shui would definitely interfere, should anything happen to the Phoenix God Organization in the future, if he decided to join the organization.

Since she did not put any restrictions on him, she was quite sincere with her invitation. Qing Shui considered the conditions for a while before he gave her a nod, “I will accept your invitation. However, I don’t want to feel restraint, and I don’t wish anyone to disturb my family too.”

Qing Shui gazed at this woman with a serious expression.

“I will accept your condition. Welcome to the Phoenix God Organization. This is for you.” The woman took out a piece of the golden Phoenix-carved token and handed it over to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui reached out and held onto it. At that exact moment when he touched the token, he was shocked because he realized that this token was actually made with fine gold….

Fine gold! This is a super-grade forging material which was widely recognized as Divine-grade forging materials. Qing Shui looked at the token in awe and noticed one word inscribed on it.

Guest!

This was a high level existence within the Phoenix God Organization; with power yet not bounded by any sort of restrictions. Under that premise, he was given the capability to handle this position. This small token was definitely invaluable.

Qing Shui even thought about smelting this token in his Golden Battle Halberd one day…

“This token is of good quality. It’s not entirely impossible to forge a Divine Artifact with this material.” Qing Shui said as he let out a chuckle.

The woman looked at Qing Shui and said, “This isn’t fake. There aren’t a lot of blacksmiths who can use fine gold to forge weapons. I’m satisfied with the blacksmith I found as he was able to forge this token for me.”

“Actually, I’m a competent blacksmith. I can forge items with fine gold too. However, this gold is too valuable. They aren’t easy to find anymore.” Qing Shui had a plan regarding the gold but didn’t know how much more this woman had.

The woman was straightforward. She took out another piece of large fine gold that was big enough to separate the both of them. The fine gold was brilliant and dazzling too. She then said, “This is for you. If you truly have the capability, then I will have to trouble you to forge a long sword for me.”

Qing Shui gazed at this large piece of gold, if he could forge the gold into swords, it would be sufficient to produce quite a number of them. There was no harm to forge a sword for her since she had given him such a valuable item.

“No problem. However, I can’t guarantee that I will definitely forge a Divine Artifact. Anyway, I think you might already own a Divine Weapon based on your current strength.” Qing Shui said, bewildered.

“No, I never thought of having a Divine Weapon before. I was scared that good weapons would stagnate my progress. I still feel the same way even now, which is why it won’t matter whether you are able to produce a Divine Artifact or not. I just want a decent weapon to wield, that’s all.”

Her response was certainly refreshing. Many people had the same ideal as her. However, the ideal wouldn’t remain in their mind if they were truly able to possess a Divine Artifact.

Just like playing games in his past life, Qing Shui would rather equip a set of garbage equipment than to equip the decent ones. This could serve as a comparison to her situation, and she was certainly as independent as she looked.