Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 930 – Inborn Poison Physique, Battle at the Wedding Banquet

When it was noon, no more people came and the banquet started. The tables and chairs laid out in the backyard were basically full. Even though it was winter, large-scale wedding banquets were mostly outdoors since wedding banquets tended to come with an arena battle.

Mu Fengyang stood at the “main arena”, put his fists together and said, “Welcome, everyone. Today is the big day for Qing Shui and our Mu Qing…”

Qing Shui and Mu Qing went around, receiving toasts from some people. This was a formality, generally with representatives of those powerful sects. Right now, Qing Shui’s status and identity were very special.

Silken Web Ridge and Poison Mountain Stockade were present as well!

It might be because of where they were seated or due to other reasons but after Qing Shui and Mu Qing went to the tables with the Godly Sword Clan and some others, they first went to where Yu He was at with a few ladies from Silken Web Ridge. Qing Shui didn’t know what to feel when they were walking toward Yu He.

He didn’t even know what he felt toward her right now. There weren’t the vague feelings he had toward her in the past and the things that had happened between them were like a dream.

After all, they had not met for many years. Back then, there was not a deeply engraved love between them, but Qing Shui knew that he had taken quite a lot of advantage of her. When he eventually brought it up to her, she had rejected him.

He didn’t know if Yu He didn’t want his love, which was as if it was given out of charity. Maybe right now, Qing Shui still didn’t know what Yu He was thinking back then. He had never felt that he was trying to offer his love to her out of charity, but instead it had taken a lot out of him to have come to that decision.

Time had passed and although he was very agitated when he saw Yu He earlier, Qing Shui felt that he had met someone he knew. She hadn’t gotten married. Why had she come to the Eastern Victory Divine Continent? With her being together with the people from Silken Web Ridge, does that mean that she had been here for a very long time…

Qing Shui then thought of how he had been here for over a month. If she was here, would she have come earlier? Could it be that she hadn’t been here for long either?. But the Silken Web Ridge and her…

Since he couldn’t understand, Qing Shui decided not to think about it. Everything happened in a short moment. He raised his cup and Mu Qing did the same. Yu He and the other ladies all stood up as well.

“Sister Yu, I’m happy that you guys can come. I’ll bottom up my cup.”

Yu He also smiled and said a few polite words before letting Qing Shui and Mu Qing move onto the next table.

Very quickly, Qing Shui and Mu Qing arrived at the table where the people from Poison Mountain Stockade were seated. No matter what, they would still have to go over. There were three old men there and two young men. Qing Shui could recognize only one of them.

It was the young master from the Poison Mountain Stockade!

However, when Qing Shui saw the other young man, his brows furrowed slightly. This young man was very strong. Most importantly, he had a strange power. If not for the fact that Qing Shui’s spirit energy had attained a great breakthrough, he wouldn’t have noticed it.

Poison Technique!

Inborn Poison Physique!

This was a poison technique. Qing Shui hadn’t expected that the Qi of Xiantian in this young man’s body to be poisonous Qi and his body was also a poison physique. Most importantly, he was a Martial Emperor cultivator.

“Today is the big day for myself and Qing`er. I’m very honored that senior could come. We’ll raise a toast to everyone.” Qing Shui smiled and said.

To begin with, the Mu Clan didn’t have any grudge against Poison Mountain Stockade. There were only mild disagreements with Gu Song. However, Gu Song was the reason that Gu Wu had dissatisfactions against Qing Shui, bringing up the matter of who would be the top expert amongst the younger generation.

Gu Song had exaggerated very badly to say that Qing Shui had humiliated Poison Mountain Stockade, causing Gu Wu to wish to challenge Qing Shui or rather, to fight for that useless title. However, Qing Shui didn’t know about all this. He only knew that the young master wouldn’t let it go at that.

The people from Poison Mountain Stockade politely met their cups with Qing Shui and then the couple quickly left. A junior from Mu Clan walked up the arena and greeted everyone with a bow.

“Everyone, welcome! I’ll perform a sword dance to raise the atmosphere!”

This was a custom, for a person to first perform a sword dance before the others joined in or issued a challenge. However, since this was a wedding banquet, everything done was to raise the atmosphere and even battles would be appropriately stopped.

Therefore, generally, the people who took part would be the juniors from the clans. Most of the people who came to offer their good wishes wouldn’t take part and even if they did, it would only be for fun, to raise the tension. Everything would just be for the sake of performance.

Of course, if the two parties were evenly matched, they could have a spar. However, it would only be a friendly one. Even if one was able to defeat his opponent, one would still leave some leeway.

There would still be situations where people would get hurt, but there wouldn’t be many of those scenes. However, in a world where the strong were revered and with such a big event going on, it wouldn’t be much of a problem even if some blood was shed. However, no one would dare to create such havoc if the host was a powerful clan.

There would also be sparrings within the clan internally, to raise the atmosphere.

The junior from the Mu Clan who was standing on the arena was performing a sword dance while using the Duality Steps. To be able to take the stage, even if he wasn’t the strongest junior, the person would also have to be one of the better performers.

Everyone here was just looking from the side and even felt that everything would end after a simple performance. However, once the person had started the performance, everyone was astonished.

Although they could not see the footwork clearly, they discovered that it was very practical and had a strong damaging prowess. It immediately drew in the majority of the people’s attention.

The young man on the arena was only in his twenties and was a Martial King. However, he moved in quick flashes on the arena, moving erratically, while demonstrating the Mu Clan’s Brushing Willow Sword Art. Many people could tell what sword technique he was using but when used with this strange foot technique, the damaging prowess was increased to become at least twice as strong as before.

“To think that the Mu Clan has such an amazing foot technique?”

“The Mu Clan today is no longer what it was before. It must be related to this young man.”

“The Mu Clan is really lucky!” That old man who was the leader of the Poison Mountain Stockade let out a sigh and said.

“Since so many of us have come today, shall we join in for some fun?” An old man next to him hesitated for a moment before asking.

“Silken Web Ridge will no longer stand together with us. This new lady who has come has taken over the position of the leader of the Silken Web Ridge and is very much against us. Where on earth did this lady come from?” The old man said, dispirited.

“Haha, of course we should fight. Why shouldn’t we? Didn’t they set up this arena so that we can have a spar?” Just then, Gu Wu smiled and said.

When Gu Wu said this, even the other two old men looked at him in astonishment. Gu Wu’s status in the Poison Mountain Stockade was not low, especially amongst them, the core members. It was because they all knew how terrifying Gu Wu was.

“Today, if we don’t take the edge off this young man, even if we were to come to this city in the future, we’ll only be able to lay low,” an old man who had not spoken till now said.

The old man looked ordinary, but he had a pair of especially bright eyes. He appeared very elegant as well, giving off the aura of one in power.

“There mustn’t be any deaths!” The old man who was in the middle let out a sigh and said.

“Don’t worry!” Gu Wu smiled.

Very quickly, a young man from Poison Mountain Stockade went up. The young man had a big build and a poison scorpion embroidered on his clothes. After he went up, he cupped his hands and said, “Wang Dong from Poison Mountain Stockade. Please give me your guidance!”

The young man from the Mu Clan was stunned for a short while before he quickly recovered, cupped his hands and said, “Mu Lin. Please make your move!”

This young man was an internal member from the Mu Clan and was from the same generation as Mu Fengyang’s grandson. The young man from the Poison Mountain Stockade who had gone up was about the same cultivation level as Mu Lin, but the spar went very quickly.

Two moves!

With a leap, the opponent’s black sabre was pushed back and Mu Lin then suddenly advanced with the Duality Steps. Then, with a “Brushing Willow Welcoming The Wind”, his sword was held against the opponent’s neck.

“Thank you for letting me win!”

The young man from Poison Mountain Stockade cupped his fists together and came down from the arena. In a battle like this, it was unfair to the Poison Mountain Stockade because they had held their skill with poison, but yet it wasn’t appropriate for them to be using poison in an event like this.

However, if they were to not use any poison, they would definitely lose!

The Poison Mountain Stockade lost another two consecutive rounds. However, when someone went up once again, it was actually Gu Song. He smiled and said to the young man on the arena, “Gu Song. Please give me your guidance!”

Mu Lin knew the gap with the opponent he was up against, but he still gritted his teeth and went up. Sometimes, cultivators could not shrink back and thus, he charged forth.

The Duality Steps did still require one to be strong, but his abilities were far from a match for Gu Song’s. When Gu Song saw the longsword thrusting at him, he threw out a punch which was covered with a thick layer of black fist Qi.

Ding!

Mu Lin was sent flying back, spurting out a large mouthful of fresh blood in mid-air and fell off the arena.

Gu Song’s expression was weird and he smiled awkwardly, “I’m sorry, I lost control. Thank goodness Brother Mu is fine. Let’s just say that this is adding on to the joy for this great event today.”

Mu Lang caught Mu Lin and looked up at the arena in fury. Everyone could tell that Poison Mountain Stockade didn’t come with good intentions.

“Eldest Brother, let me go up!” A member of the Mu Clan said.

“You’re not his match. Let me do it!” The strong looking guy got someone to bring down Mu Lin who had fainted. With a move, he appeared on the arena and stared at Gu Song.

“Brother Mu Lang, I had already held back earlier. I didn’t expect Brother Lin to still be injured.” Gu Song said politely to Mu Lang.

“It’s nothing. It’s inevitable for there to be casualties in a fight. When I saw Brother Gu Song, I really itched for a fight too. Please do give me your guidance!” Mu Lang drew out an emerald colored thin sword and said, smiling hypocritically.

In the past, even though Mu Lang had something against Qing Shui, he had changed after knowing how powerful Qing Shui was and how much he had done for the Mu Clan. He did what he did for the Mu Clan and targeted events, not people.

He had also received a jade pendant from Qing Shui and he received a lot of advantages just by carrying it with him. Now, even if he was up against Gu Song, he felt very confident. After all, Gu Song was the Young Master of Poison Mountain Stockade and rumor had it that he was very proficient in the use of poison. Therefore, he was very nervous. On this arena, he didn’t think that the opponent dared to use poison. Although it was a bit sneaky to be using poison, there were no rules which said that they couldn’t be used in a battle.

“Take this!”

A stream of crimson glow flashed on Mu Lang’s thin sword. At the same time, he exuded a strong aura and attacked with the Duality Steps!

Brushing Willow Welcoming The Wind！

Even though it was the same Duality Steps, when used with different techniques by people of different cultivation level, the effects were completely different. What Mu Lang had unleashed was something that even left some powerful experts stunned. It was too profound and too terrifying!

Boom!

Gu Song didn’t dare to let down his guard either. Mu Lang appeared very young. Although he was the same generation as Mu Qing, he was much older than her.

Although Mu Lang was now about the same cultivation as Mu Qing, due to their difference in age, his talent was far from a match for Mu Qing’s. However, as a guy, he still held a great chance of becoming the next head of Mu Clan.

On the first contact, Gu Song was pushed back several steps. His face turned pale and the black sword he was holding flashed a gleam of black glow, releasing a one foot long black aura.

“Poison weapon!” Qing Shui looked at that black longsword.