Ancient Strengthening Technique

The peaceful days passed just like that and in a flash, it was already three months later. At this moment, Qing Shui was in his Violet Jade Immortal Realm and awaiting the third level of the hundred treasure chest to open. There were still two hours before it would open and Qing Shui was filled with anticipation.

Right now, he needed many divine crystals and divine square cauldrons to upgrade his divine weapon. He also didn’t know how many treasures he would get, once the third level of the treasure chest opened. He could only hope that there would be sufficient materials for him to upgrade it twice. The time needed to open the treasure chest took longer and longer. He was worried that the next opening might need a year’s worth of time, and the next might even need ten years or a few decades. The main point was, the passage of time was counted in the real world.

Hence, after the fifth-level, Qing Shui felt that it wouldn’t be so easy to open the hundred treasure chest anymore. Qing Shui felt that he would at most, open it up till the fifth-level. Hopefully, from the third to the fifth level, he would be able to gain many divine weapon crystals and square cauldrons.

Unknowingly, the two hours had passed by. Qing Shui stared at the hundred treasure chest, feeling very excited in his heart. There were many treasures that came out.

There were a total of one hundred and twenty aptitude pills, a hundred and twenty potential pills, and a hundred and twenty growth pills. There were also three hundred square cauldrons, three divine weapon crystals, three hundred cultivation pills, one 4th-grade attacking talisman stone, one defense talisman stone, a recovery talisman stone, an endurance talisman stone, a power talisman stone, a tenacity talisman stone, and one 4th-grade evasion talisman stone.

Right now, Qing Shui was most worried about the square cauldrons and divine weapon crystals. He just gained three hundred of them. He didn’t take them out but directly placed them inside the treasure chest. This would enable it to increase its capabilities once. You could upgrade any item by doing so. The effect was just like the treasure basin. However, the treasure basin couldn’t be placed inside the hundred treasure chest and vice versa, or one might devour the other. In the worst case, they might both disappear.

In any case, he needed some time before he could upgrade his flying sword. He then turned his attention to the time needed before the fourth level of the treasure chest could be opened.

Half a year later!

Qing Shui heaved a sigh of relief. The time needed was still acceptable. In this case, to open the fifth-level, around a year of time should be required or even longer. Qing Shui was actually somewhat depressed when he thought of this. It seemed like he would still need to collect more square cauldrons and crystals from other sources.

The upgrade time of the hundred treasure chest wasn’t considered too long but to Qing Shui, because it needed roughly a month’s worth of time, it felt arduously long. This would be considered quite fast by others.

After upgrading his flying sword, he decided to upgrade his other treasures as well. Because now, the capabilities of the upgrade were up by 1x. His three hundred crystals and square cauldrons could be considered as six hundred.

To upgrade to the 14th-grade, he needed two hundred square cauldrons and fifty divine weapon crystals.

To upgrade to the 15th-grade, he needed two hundred square cauldrons and a hundred divine weapon crystals.

To upgrade to the 16th-grade he needed, two hundred square cauldrons and one hundred and fifty divine weapon crystals.

Qing Shui discovered that the number of square cauldrons needed didn’t change after each grade. In that case, he might as well use them all up.

The number of divine weapon crystals needed kept increasing as the level upgrade increased. He wondered if the increase would remain at a constant of 50 or not…

Qing Shui stopped thinking about these things. After using up all the materials, he felt extremely happy. After that, he equipped all the 4th-graded talisman stones. Although the boost to his strength wasn’t that significant, it was still better than nothing.

After that, he happily looked at the upgraded flying sword.

Big Dipper Sword, a flying sword-type divine weapon 

16th-grade!

The user would take 10% less damage in combat. It also increased 16% recovery speed of the user; the damage dealt by 3.2 billion Dao, increased Dao defense by 3.2 billion, as well as minimizing injuries by 3.2 billion Dao.

Divine Weapon Seal: When activated, it can embed a talisman stone.

Attack, defense, evasion, recovery, endurance, speed, tenacity, and power were all increased by a factor of 6%.

Qing Shui’s current strength ranged from 6 billion Dao to 60 billion Dao.

Heavenly Fate Treasure Pagoda of Defense. Increased defense by 20%. This had made Qing Shui’s defense reach 72 billion dao.

Heavenly Fate Treasure Pagoda of Violence. It increased 6 billion Dao in blocking effect, giving Qing Shui roughly around 78 billion Dao in defense.

With the additional effect of his flying sword, he could resist another 3.2 billion Dao of injury and increase his defense. All in all, his defense reached roughly around 85 billion Dao. That, in addition to the defensive attribute that was already primary on his weapon, it could resist up to another 2.6 billion Dao with his Emperor’s Qi, providing another 2 billion dao in defense. In any case, he could almost negate the strength of his opponent’s attacks by half.

Unknowingly, Qing Shui had reached an unprecedented peak. Those twice as strong than Qing Shui might not even be able to defeat him. There were many factors to consider in combat. For example, speed and endurance were all included, as well as special techniques and methods. Hence, one couldn’t compare just by pure strength alone.

Also, Qing Shui had a Nine Yang Body. His bones were sturdy, his tenacity was immensely high, along with his extremely quick recovery power. He even had the Nine Yang Dragon Soul, boosting his soul power. Right now, Qing Shui could be considered a powerful body refinement cultivator. There were truly not many who could defeat Qing Shui.

After exiting the Violet Jade Immortal Realm, Qing Shui had a satisfied look on his face. Time had gone by too fast. The Imperial Cuisine Hall had expanded during these three months, as they had purchased the feudal land it was on and opened it again.

Also, they invited many doctors and physicians. Those people all had a connection with either the Divine Palace or the Taiyi Immortal Palace and were extremely dependable. As of now, he had no plans to accept any disciples but he wouldn’t be stingy with his medical techniques. He would share his skills with the doctors as long as they could learn it. It would belong to them alone.

Those people were all at least middle-aged and had a very powerful cultivation base. Naturally, there were also some who had no cultivation base at all, but all of them still respectfully referred to Qing Shui as ‘teacher’ when they were there.

Referring to him as ‘teacher’ was a term of respect. If they referred to him as ‘master’, it would mean that he would pass down inheritances to them. Many of these people naturally wanted to have him as their master but they didn’t have the fortune for it to be so.

Right now, Zhang Yue was completely in charge of the Imperial Cuisine Hall. He was a disciple of Qing Shui. Qing Shui would not interfere if nothing major happened in the Imperial Cuisine Hall; unless, of course, there were people coming here to find trouble or patients Zhang Yue wasn’t able to treat.

“Qing Shui, that Tai Dashao came here to look for you.” Beihuang Fan came to his courtyard and spoke.

Beihuang Fan coincidentally met Tai Dashao when she went out. Tai Dashao was extremely respectful and clearly stated his intentions for coming. This was why Beihuang Fan was willing to help him relay his message.

“Tai Dashao?” Qing Shui was bewildered. He then spent a few moments recalling that it was a person whom he had cured a few months ago. He wondered what Tai Dashao had come here for.