Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2076 - Breaking the Formation, Giving Her the Parry Heavenly Fate Treasure Pagoda and the Ancient Temple

“Do you also feel that something’s wrong with these Chinese Parasol Trees?” asked Shen Huang while looking at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui shook his head and said, “It’s not just thoughts, there is indeed something wrong; this is a strange formation.”

“Will it help if we cut down the trees?” Shen Huang asked.

“I’d say, my lady. If we cut them down, this will become a mystery forever. Everything will be buried or even destroyed, though the latter is more likely to happen.” answered Qing Shui.

“Then, can you break the formation? Didn’t you say that there is no formation you cannot break?” Shen Huang said, smiling.

“Of course I can break it… Hehe, I just need some time,” Qing Shui replied with a smile. He began to walk towards the sky; he intended to see what kind of formation this was from the top. He was definitely one of the best in the Continents at understanding the intricate workings of formations.

His formations’ knowledge originated from the primordial era. Though the formations in the Nine Continents were from the ancient era, there were many similarities. Hence, Qing Shui felt confident that he would be able to break the formation, though he was still unsure.

After searching for a long time, Qing Shui still wasn’t able to achieve any result. Actually, Shen Huang didn’t have many expectations either, and thus, she didn’t feel too disappointed with such a result... Qing Shui let her ride the Dragon Slaying Beast to check if there were any treasures in the surroundings.

Qing Shui sat on the ground and stared at the trees. The time was ticking slowly.

When Shen Huang came back and saw Qing Shui sitting on the ground motionless, she walked over, smiling. She said, “If you can’t see anything, it’s fine. After all, it’s said that this formation was left behind by an ancient expert and it’s waiting for the right person.”

“I keep having this feeling that there’s something wrong. It’s just that the time isn’t right or something. Let’s keep waiting for a while.” Qing Shui didn’t look back.

Qing Shui was stubborn and didn’t give up easily. It was afternoon, then mid-afternoon, and the sun had slowly moved into the west. The sun was setting and thousands of slanted golden rays shone into the valley, lighting up the patch of Chinese Parasol Trees.

When the woods were bathed in the glow of the setting sun, Qing Shui suddenly stood up. His eyes flashed with the Heavenly Vision Technique activating. He broke into a smile, as he exclaimed, “Haha, I’ve got it.”

Qing Shui wove swiftly between the Chinese Parasol Trees, and every so often, a tree fell down. About an hour later, Qing Shui returned. With a careless strike of his palm, a tree not far away toppled down.

With the toppling of the Chinese Parasol Tree, the forest suddenly became a much clearer sight to behold. The tallest tree in the forest was actually a giant palace. It was grand and magnificent despite its simple architecture and desolation.

There wasn’t such a palace previously. In a forest, this massive one to boot, a palace reminiscent of an ancient temple atop such a titanic tree, would be enough to scare away someone who lacked the guts.

However, Qing Shui naturally wasn’t afraid. He and Shen Huang would enter the palace.

“You’ve really broken the formation?” Shen Huang looked at what was before her disbelievingly.

“Like I told you, there’s no formation that I can’t break. What do you think, ain’t I impressive?” Qing Shui grinned while boasting.

“What does this have to do with impressiveness?” Shen Huang side-eyed Qing Shui.

……

Qing Shui and Shen Huang walked towards the mysterious palace together with the Dragon Slaying Beast and the Dragon Spider in front of them. Qing Shui was on guard, as he couldn’t foresee the danger that awaited them and didn’t know if the palace had any trap mechanisms within.

The palace was surrounded by gardens and the tallest Chinese Parasol Tree was in the garden in front of the palace.

The palace had a pitch-black entrance that towered impressively over them. Qing Shui reached out his hand slowly; he gently pushed the front doors open.

Creak!

A low sound rang out, and the doors opened. A cold wind blew out, causing Qing Shui to feel uneasy. Shen Huang’s expression was also unnatural. Qing Shui snickered and asked, “Are you afraid?”

“I don’t know what’s happening, but I feel a little bit anxious,” said Shen Huang. She was frowning.

“There’s definitely something dangerous here. My gut is always right. We need to be careful,” Shen Huang continued to say.

“Wait, I need to give you something.” Qing Shui thought for a moment before taking out the Parry Heavenly Fate Treasure Pagoda and passing it to Shen Huang.

Looking at the exquisite Pagoda, Shen Huang was puzzled. She then asked, “What is this?”

“Listen to me and just bind the treasure, you’ll know in a moment. This is good stuff,” said Qing Shui. He was smiling.

Of course it was good stuff, as the effect would be more heaven-defying with the growth of the user’s strength. It could deflect an attack with equivalent power from its user’s. Moreover, Shen Huang’s abilities were absolutely monstrous, especially her attacks. In this case, being able to deflect the damage caused, with her as the standard; it was disgustingly heaven-defying.

At the moment, Qing Shui only had a little more than 100 million Dao Force worth of attack power and could only parry that amount of damage.

Shen Huang’s attacking ability wasn’t known to Qing Shui, but it was definitely stronger, a lot stronger than a unicorn’s. In her hands, the Parry Heavenly Fate Treasure Pagoda could display terrific might.

Sheng Huang followed Qing Shui’s advice. She truly believed that Qing Shui wouldn’t harm her. After all, she had been saved by Qing Shui multiple times. If Qing Shui wanted her life, she would willingly give it. Even if Qing Shui wanted to sabotage her, she wouldn’t resent him.

When the binding process was completed, Shen Huang was stunned by the existence of such an incredible object and its ability to defy the heavens. Shen Huang’s attacks had always far surpassed her defense, though this was made up by the Divine Flower Inheritance. After all, there was the Flower Storm Strangling Formation, but this technique couldn’t be maintained forever despite being a passive ability with zero energy consumption. However, this Pagoda was different; it had already imperceptibly formed a strong protective aura near her skin. It also had a formidable counteractive ability.

“Qing Shui, this is a treasure. Moreover, it’s extremely precious. It’s utterly unsuitable to give it to me,” said Shen Huang to Qing Shui.

“Why is it unsuitable?” Qing Shui smiled.

“It’s too valuable. If you give it to me, you’ll incur a great loss.”

“I haven’t lost anything, giving it to you makes me happy. Such joy can’t be bought even with a thousand pieces of gold,” said Qing Shui carelessly.

In reality, Shen Huang had accepted it in her heart. She had already begun to develop her own ideas a long time ago. Her and Qing Shui’s relationship was complicated, but since she had already made her own personal decision, she could accept the reasoning behind Qing Shui’s gift without guilt.

Qing Shui used the 9th Lotus Manifestation Stage and Shen Huang used the Petal Rain Under The Skies.

The Flower Storm Strangling Formation used by Shen Huang was much stronger than the one from the Flower Demon. The petals were vivid gold and the power they held was many times more destructive than the Flower Demon.

The moment they walked into the garden, what they encountered was an impossibly strong hurricane. Some mysterious objects were coming at them like a Petal Rain. Qing Shui’s expression changed and the Nine Continents Mountain appeared before their eyes in an instant. Even the Dragon Slaying Beast and the Dragon Spider were hiding behind the Mountain.

Ding ding... pu pu... chi chi...

Being bombarded by the attack, suddenly, Qing Shui felt as if he couldn’t move at all. It was a strange feeling, but fortunately, there was the Nine Continents Mountain acting as his shield or he wouldn’t know if he could escape unscathed... They were attacked with the hypertoxic Flower Swords and extremely fine poisonous needles. They looked impossibly sharp, with the needles made of demonic iron. Even Qing Shui didn’t dare to face the cold shimmering needles head-on.