Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 417 - Five Elemental Heavenly Fruit, bumped into the Mutated Beast Diamond Demonic Boar again

As Qing Shui jabbed the last Golden Needle on Lin Zhanhan’s Qihai Acupoint, he opened his eyes and looked at Qing Shui in pleasant surprise.

This was because Lin Zhanhan felt a faint strand of Qi of Xiantian entering his veins through “Tong Tian acupoint” while continuously nourishing the already dried up channels and the area around the pubic region.

“Qing Shui, incredible, this is too incredible.” Lin Zhanhan looked at Qing Shui with wide eyes. He was extremely amazed at the result.

“Grandpa Lin, try to cultivate the energy by yourself first. Your channels are not quite stable yet. You can try direct flow of energy to nourish them. I will draw out these needles in a few moments,” Qing Shui said. His tone sounded a bit exhausted.

Lin Zhanhan nodded. He looked at Qing Shui gratefully, and then he slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Qing Shui gradually sped up the progress of his Ancient Strengthening Technique. He was able to foresee future events after his Ancient Strengthening Technique reached the 138th cycle of Circulating Qi.

Qing Shui had also been thinking about the Great Revitalizing Pellet, which was still in his possession. He thought about its curative effects, which allowed twice the increase of the overall power to whoever consumes it, as well as adding an additional twenty years to the consumer’s lifespan. Moreover, the pellet could heal internal injuries quickly. The strength will be doubled within an hour, but after that hour has passed, the consumer will become as weak as an ordinary person for about a month. However, each person was allowed to consume one pellet at a time. Consuming a lot in one go will not stack the effects.

More importantly, because of its effect to cure any internal injuries, Qing Shui felt that it could apply to the healing of the channels within the body, the pubic region, as well as the wounded internal organs. However, Qing Shui was not certain about how much the pellet could heal after being consumed.

Unfortunately, he still had no clue on the whereabouts of the Phoenix Tail, so there was no way he could continue refining the pellet.

He had not given up hope just yet. There were a few instances where he was able to discover the Beauty Fruits in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. If the Beauty Fruits could be discovered, so could the Phoenix Tail. He just needed more time to find it. The main concern now was how he should find the Phoenix Tail in this vast world.

After one whole cycle of circulating Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, Qing Shui rested and regained his energy. Lin Zhanhan was still consistently cultivating the Qi of Xiantian within his body. He looked better as his complexion returned to a rosier color.

Qing Shui quickly took out the needles on Lin Zhanhan’s body. After a while, Lin Zhanhan opened his eyes and looked at Qing Shui with brightened eyes and feeling puzzled.

“Grandpa Lin, how do you feel?” Qing Shui smiled.

“That was amazing. I still couldn’t believe you have truly cured me. Did your “master” teach you this medical skill?” Lin Zhanhan asked. His eyes looked as if they were sparkling.

Qing Shui knew that the “master” he referred to was a sham, so he just smiled and nodded to save himself from explaining further.

Yet Lin Zhanhan thought differently of Qing Shui’s master. He had a suspicion that this master could be a highly skilled hermit because the skills of a Martial Saint level apothecary would still be unparalleled to that ungodly medical skill. However, after thinking thoroughly, there were a lot of extraordinary people in this world that have not reached the level of a Martial Saint. His suspicion was thrown out the window when he remembered about Qing Shui’s background and cultivation.

He thought highly of Qing Shui’s master because he was an adept physician as well as a highly skilled martial warrior. He was able to teach a child from Qing Clan with no experience of training and cultivate him into a martial warrior of immense power.

“Qing Shui, you have a great master. You have to grab every opportunity and accomplish as much as you can in the world of nine continents,” Lin Zhanhao said seriously as he grinned at Qing Shui.

“I will, Grandpa Lin! As long as I can find that herb, you will be able to recover your strength. Perhaps it might be able to help further your progress into the realm of a Martial Saint.” Qing Shui chuckled casually.

“I will be satisfied if my strength can be recovered. As for Martial Saint, it will require a lot of luck for me to achieve that. Those who can break through directly to Martial Saint are nearly impossible to none.” Lin Zhanhan shook his head as he laughed about it.

Qing Shui remembered that one would require some kind of rare treasure to be able to break through the realm of Martial Saint. However, it would be impossible to directly break through it. Qing Shui wanted to ask Grandpa Lin since he might know something about Martial Saint. Moreover, Lin Zhanhan was a Peak of Martial King martial warrior who came from the Westeria Continent where Martial Saints do exist. Unlike in the Greencloud Continent, Martial Saint was just a rumor. There were none that existed so far.

“Grandpa Lin, do you need anything particular to be able to breakthrough to Martial Saint?”

Lin Zhanhan was perplexed as he looked at Qing Shui. His master should have told him about it after seeing how strong Qing Shui had grown. Lin Zhanhan asked, “Did your master ever tell you about it before?”

“Master has never came to look for me for quite a long time….”

“Oh, then I will tell you about it. Actually, every person would require different things to break through the realm of Martial Saint depending on the element of their cultivation technique. For example, martial warriors who specialize in earth elemental cultivation would require a piece of “Dense Earth Fruit”. Water elemental cultivation would require a “Soft Water Fruit”, Fire elemental cultivation would require a “Fiery Fire Fruit”, Metal elemental cultivation would require a “Pure Golden Fruit”, and Wood elemental cultivation would require a “Live Wooden Fruit”.”

In this world, cultivation techniques have five different elements. Those with low levels of cultivation mastery would not be able to cultivate the properties of these elements. Because of Qing Shui’s Earth elemental cultivation, he would emit a yellow-colored Qi of Xiantian. Qing Clan’s Wood elemental Blue Lotus Art, on the other hand, would emit a white-colored Qi of Xiantian.

The Qi of Xiantian for Earth elements would be yellow, blue for Water elements, white for Metal elements, red for Fire elements, and green for Wood elements!

This was different from what he had learnt last time, but Qing Shui felt Lin Zhanhan had given him a more accurate explanation. After all, the rare treasure he had described would be of a great help to boost Qing Shui’s cultivation technique.

“Of course, all of these fruits are valuable. Each of them cannot be judged based on how valuable they are. This doesn’t mean that a Peak of Martial King would be able to successfully level up to a Martial Saint even if they could find their elemental fruit.” Lin Zhanhan smiled at Qing Shui, who was deep in thought.

“Grandpa Lin, are these fruits rare and scarce?” Qing Shui asked. He was uncertain whether it was necessary to know this information at this time, but he reckoned it would benefit him if he learnt about them earlier. Qing Shui was also curious about the effects of the fruits. The fruits may have other uncommon effects other than for the use of breaking through the realm of Martial Saint.

“They are scarce, of course, very scarce in number. “Dense Earth Fruit” is rumored to grow at the peak of the tallest Giant Beasts Mountain in the world of nine continents. Everyone knows how dangerous it can be in the Giant Beasts Mountain. This also applies to the other locations where the fruit may grow, except the chances of them growing elsewhere is slim. Then we have the “Soft Water Fruit”. They can be picked from the depths of the boundless “South Sea”. Of course, there will be a mutated beast as horrible as the one in the Giant Beasts Mountain.”

Lin Zhanhan sighed and continued, “Fiery Fire Fruit grows on top of the volcano in the most western part of the Flowerfruit Mountain. That volcano erupts quite often in a year. Not to mention the danger you could encounter in the vast Flowerfruit Mountain. So it would be nearly impossible to be able to find the Fiery Fire Fruit by yourself. Pure Golden Fruit grows on top of the “Golden Peak” of the Nine Peak Mountain, which is located in the northwestern part of the “Nine Peak Continent”. Similarly, the danger is no joke. There are countless poisonous insects lurking and crawling around. And lastly, the Live Wooden Fruit. This fruit cannot be pinpointed to an exact location because it has been discovered in both Southern sea and the Forest of Mystical Beasts.”

Qing Shui learnt from Lin Zhanhan that all the places he mentioned are the in the danger zone of the continent. No wonder these fruits were regarded as rare treasures. It would require a hefty price to obtain each of these fruits.

“These fruits are grown in the hidden parts of the world. They are also protected by powerful Guardian Beasts. So if you want the fruit, you have to kill the beast. Those who aren’t careful enough will be met with death even if they are able to find the fruits.”

Qing Shui then understood why there were no Martial Saint martial warriors in the Greencloud Continent. This had something to do with the Guardian Beast Lin Zhanhan spoke of.

“Grandpa Lin, does a Martial Saint level Guardian Beast exist?” Qing Shui asked.

“Well, most of them are at the Peak of Martial King level.They are the strongest amongst the Peak of Martial King beasts. However, there are a few Martial Saint level Guardian Beasts out there. Especially if the fruit is around 8,000 years old, Martial Saint Guardian Beasts will be there to protect it. But don’t look down on the Peak of Martial King Guardian Beasts because they have their own unique strengths. Some of them are toxic, some of them are fast, some of them have hard bodies like an adamantine…. What I’m trying to say is even ten Peak of Martial King martial warriors cannot defeat one Peak of Martial King Guardian Beast unless they all work together or sacrifice six to eight people to obtain the fruit. Even so, escaping from the Guardian Beast is extremely difficult.” Lin Zhanhan leisurely finished his explanation.

………….

After a while, they chatted until the sky began to turn dark!

“Qing Shui, come again tomorrow. Since I have regained the Qi of Xiantian, I can draw talismans again. I will explain the basics of Talisman drawing to you tomorrow and you can observe how I draw the talismans as well.” Lin Zhanhan smiled.

“Okay, then I shall take my leave first, Grandpa Lin!” After that, Qing Shui left.

The lunar year had just passed. Qing Yi and the others decided to stay for a few days before heading back to the Hundred Miles City. Besides Qing He and his wife, the others were still at the Qing Village.

After dinner, Qing Luo took Changfeng out to play and Feng Feiyan went back to Feng Clan to see her family.

There was some time left before Qing Shui could go to the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal to train. Since it had been a long time Qing Village was this lively, and the “new year” was not over yet, Qing Shui decided to go outside for a walk.

It had been a few years since he last got to relax with his mother at the Qing Village and Fengluo Town. He stopped by his mother’s room to ask her to go out with him.

“Mother, where’s Qing Qing? Let’s go out for a walk. Since we are all back together, let’s get some distraction from everything.” Qing Shui smiled as he asked Qing Yi.

“Alright, let’s go. Go call Qing Qing.”

Qing Yi’s room was located in the middle, with Qing Qing’s room to right side and Qing Shui’s room to the left side. After the three gathered, they walked towards the streets around the Qing Village. The sky had turned completely dark, yet a lot of people were out and about in the streets. Perhaps this world was different than Qing Shui’s reality world where he had televisions and computers to distract himself with. Without the leisure of technology, Qing Shui was willing to go outside and mingle with everyone.

“Aunt Qing, Brother Qing Shui, Sister Qing Qing, good evening!”

A lot of people greeted the three of them as they walked along the streets.

Qing Shui smiled and nodded at them. Qing Yi was more than happy to reply to their gestures. Qing Qing, on the other hand, gave a gentle smile at everyone.

Qing Yi felt quite content and pleased with the envious gazes she received. It was all thanks to her son for stomping the Yan Clan and bringing happiness to the people in Qing Village. It was because of Qing Clan’s matters with Yan Clan in the past few years, a lot of people in the Qing Village suffered from life-threatening threats by hostile people.

These hostile people had already grown older and weaker; some have became parents and some have passed away. In any case, whatever had happened cannot be undone. Qing Shui was happier that the matters had been solved. The victory against Yan Clan became Qing Village’s glory.

“Qing Shui, look at these pretty women. They are all staring at you.” Qing Qing chuckled.

Although Qing Qing would display a cold attitude towards strangers, she would express herself more in front of the members of Qing Clan, just like Shi Qingzhuang. Unlike before, she had become more content with her life, and would often smile.

“Brother Qing Shui, thank goodness we found you, come quick! Wu Zi said he found a Diamond Demonic Boar inside the Qing Woods.”

A panicked voice followed close to Qing Shui. It was a young man from the Qing Village.

“Diamond Demonic Boar?”

“Was anyone hurt?”

…….

In an instant, everyone surrounded Qing Shui.

“No, everyone kept their distance from the boar. When we discovered it, they sent me to call you back.” The young man was gasping for breath as he spoke. It seemed like he ran with all his might to find Qing Shui.

Qing Shui remembered that he had met a Diamond Demonic Boar once when he climbed the Wild Boar Mountains. He nearly lost his life back then, but it was due to the accidental meeting with the boar that he was able to break through the 4th Layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique and become a Xiantian martial warrior.

“Could it be the same Mutated Beast Diamond Demonic Boar from back then?”

Qing Shui was uncertain. There wasn’t much time left, so he turned to Qing Yi and Qing Qing and said, “Mother, sister, go ahead and stroll around first. I will go take a look.”

“That is a mutated beast, so please be careful...” Before Qing Yi could finish her sentence, Qing Shui smiled at her and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Then, he arrived at Qing Woods!

Qing Shui expanded his spiritual sense and quickly scanned the vast area of the forest. Just then, he realized that he had never really stepped deep into the forest before.

On his way to the woods, he bumped into a number of people from the Qing Village who gave directions to the location of the Diamond Demonic Boar.

Qing Shui was quite familiar with the Diamond Demonic Boar’s speed, but it did not matter to him whether it was fast or not. Perhaps this was due to the fact that he almost lost his life trying to fight off the beast. So when Qing Shui thought about meeting with the Diamond Demonic Boar once more, he got very excited.

Qing Shui increased his speed and ran into the depths of the Qing Woods. While passing by the large trees and bushes with incredible speed, he searched around the area for traces of the Diamond Demonic Boar with his spiritual sense.

After thirty miles into the forest, Qing Shui was finally able to detect its presence. Although he could only feel the intensity of its strength, Qing Shui was able to tell that it belonged to the Peak of Xiantian category.

He knew for certain that it was a Diamond Demonic Boar, but thought to himself, “How did this mutated beast level up so quickly in just a few years’ time?”

Qing Shui sped towards the beast with decent speed. Within fifteen minutes, he was able to spot it - indeed, a Diamond Demonic Beast. Qing Shui was amazed that it was the same one he bumped into last time, but it was no surprise to him since mutated beasts were rare to begin with. The thought of meeting a second Diamond Demonic Beast never crossed his mind.

He could tell from its gaze and aura that it was indeed the same beast from back then, though Qing Shui was shocked to find that its body had shrunk from a metre long to less than a metre long.

“It shrunk? The essence is still quite concentrated….”

Qing Shui could not make sense of it. The power of the Diamond Demonic Boar had greatly increased, but why did the body shrink? The beast was obviously smaller, but its nose, on the other hand, had grown a bit longer. Its body was covered in a shade of gold, which looked adorable. It was still different from the wild boars roaming around the Wild Boar Mountains.

There was a metallic sheen radiating from the well proportioned golden body. All four of its limbs felt strong, as if it was stepping on a bunch of floating clouds. Qing Shui felt quite unusual about the change in the Diamond Demonic Boar.