The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1515 - Earth Divine Stone, Qing Shui's Divine Artifact In The Realm of Violet Jade

With just one move, the surroundings became quiet. The old man was knocked backwards. Even though he had been crippled, he seemed to have forgotten the pain of losing his arm. He marvelled at Qing Shui, seemingly unable to accept the reality.

Qing Shui could only frown after witnessing the current state of the old man's cultivation. In fact, not all who practiced crude techniques were bad people. However, they were all absolutely vicious. Because of their practice of such techniques, they were more cruel to other people and themselves during the process of their cultivation.

This was also the reason why it was said that those who cultivated crude techniques were bad people. One example was the Rotting Corpse Palm, where a practitioner needed to insert his palms into a decaying human corpse. It was certainly thought-provoking to require a decaying corpse for those who were able to successfully cultivate the Rotting Corpse Palm.

The old man's Diamond Venomous Claw wasn't that vicious. However, he needed to soak both of his hands in poison during its cultivation. In the process of that, he would have to confront with the threat of being poisoned.

"Big brother, how are you doing?" The old man behind him came and supported his elder brother anxiously.

"I have misjudged the situation. This person is a supreme master." The old man now realized the gravity of the situation. He felt terrified after considering the words that Qing Shui had spoken to him before this.

Qing Shui then walked towards them slowly.

"We are members of the Taixuan Sect." There was a slightly worried expression on the old man's face, but he was at least still calm.

"The Taixuan Sect? Never heard of it." Qing Shui said casually. He really hadn't heard of such a sect before. The continents were too vast, and there were many things in the world that he didn't know about.

"I had already given you a chance before. I did remind you more than once, but you refused to give up. You have two choices now. Cripple your cultivation and leave, or allow me to make you stay here forever." Qing Shui said as he grinned at the old man.

This grin seemed more like the devil's smile in the old man's eyes. Cold sweat was dripping down his spine. A person's cultivation was more important than his life itself, not to mention how cultivation was the embodiment of his entire life. If he were to cripple his cultivation for real, he wouldn't be able to go back either. Demonic beasts in this world could easily kill him. Moreover, the distance from here to their home was quite far. Those without cultivation would have to walk for an unknown amount of years should they decide to go back home from here…..

Without their cultivation, their mounts would definitely abandon them or even revolt against them. When they had tamed their mounts initially, they had utilized brute force to make their mounts submit to them. The characteristics of a powerless demonic beast would show eventually.

"You are trying to force us to desperation. Even a provoked rabbit can bite people. You have to show mercy to us." The old man was neither humble nor arrogant at this moment. He was trying to fight his way out with force, using an apprehensive approach.

"When you thought that you were stronger than me, you decided to be ruthless. But when the situation isn't right, you immediately became frightened. On top of that, you want others to show mercy to you. However, will you be able to do the same?" Qing Shui sneered at the old man.

The old man had an unnatural expression on his face. However, nothing was worth more than a life. He could only lower his posture once more and said, "Let them go. I will offer my apologies by committing suicide, alright? You have a family too, and you can't incriminate a crime onto their families either. Let them go. You can kill me as you please."

Qing Shui looked at the determination in the old man's eyes. The people in this world always used the excuse of not incriminating their families to make others show mercy. But there were times where genocide was necessary. Qing Shui had only crippled one of the old man's arms. There was certainly enmity, but not to the point of being unable to come to a resolution.

Besides, Qing Shui didn't want to cause trouble at any given opportunity. There was no hatred to begin with. Even though these people wanted to kill him, they had only planned to because of the treasure here, not because they had any enmity with him. Because of that, Qing Shui didn't take this incident to heart.

It would be fine to become a lousy good person for once. Qing Shui shook his head and said, "Just go. Remember this, as I will just say it once. I will not hold back next time. You old folks aren't young anymore. There are some people you just can't provoke."

After he was done, he waved his hands at them!

The old man acted as if he had been granted amnesty. He bowed at Qing Shui and left with his men quickly. Qing Shui wasn't afraid that the old man would come back to exact his revenge or plot something against him. He was a bit powerful, but Qin Qing was the same too. He was the only one here, so there was nothing to worry about. Most importantly, Qing Shui didn't take those people as a threat. He didn't feel anything when he showed mercy to them.

Qing Shui stood here quietly and waited. He knew that this woman would be fine based on her cultivation. The treasure map was the key. If he wanted to go there, it would be difficult to do so.

Time passed by slowly. He was still in a good mood and he wasn't upset because he hadn't gotten any benefits. He didn't know why he felt this way. Perhaps he felt that he had become generous with others...

Approximately half a day later, Qing Shui suddenly lifted up his head and saw Qin Qing standing on top of the Battle God Statue. She was still wearing the Goddess Divine Set for her overalls….

He shook his head when he saw that Qin Qing hadn't changed much. However, her aura felt a bit strange, somewhat transcendent. She was emitting a strong sense of etherealness to her surroundings.

She seemed like a fairy, despite Qing Shui having never seen one before. He didn't know how a fairy would look like, yet 'fairy' seemed to fit her quite well.

Qin Qing smiled. Her silhouette flashed and she re-emerged beside Qing Shui.

It was incredible when he felt her aura beside him. The more she emitted her aura, the more impalpable it was for him. After looking at her for a while, he said, "How is it? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. How should I thank you?" Qin Qing smiled at Qing Shui.

She was aware of the value of this treasure map. She had come to help him this time, but she hadn't expected that she would be the one to reap all the benefits in the end. The Metamorphosis Pill was certainly a treasure too….

"How about giving your body to me?" Qing Shui thought for a while and laughed.

Qing Shui became bold when he saw the pleasant smile on her face. In fact, he didn't mean anything by his words. He just wanted to try his luck when he saw how this woman had become slightly unfettered with anything….

Qin Qing wasn't angry. There weren't any changes in her expression when she said, "Alright, but don't regret it."

Qing Shui was stunned. This was the first time he realized that he was at a loss in front of a woman. It felt like he didn't know how to continue the conversation. He stared at this woman. She was calm and almighty. She gave Qing Shui a feeling that they were quite distant from one another.

That feeling was as if a rich, fair-skinned beauty had requested a loser to marry her, and this loser had nothing of value but no intention of ever marrying someone else. It wasn't a pleasant surprise at this point, but more of what this loser should do next because he wasn't able to accept the reality of the situation.

Qing Shui was feeling the same as that loser. He rubbed his nose and said, "I'm not prepared yet. I'm a bit nervous…."

This time, it was Qin Qing's turn to become surprised. She snorted and laughed. The otherworldly smile on her face was as beautiful as a flower, and as pretty as a magical illusion. Qing Shui felt as if the sky was clear and serene.

"Beautiful!" Qing Shui regained his senses and let out a genuine smile.

"I will give you everything. I have nothing except this thing on me." Qin Qing took out a piece of strange black rock and gave it to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui took the rock and asked, "What is this?"

Despite asking that, he realized what this item was as Qin Qing shook her head in response.

Earth Divine Stone!

Once buried on the ground, it could fill the surrounding soil with fertility. The mature period of plants would be shortened by half. The range of effect would not exceed more than 5,000 meters in radius, affecting only plants and vegetation.

Qing Shui was now slightly in disbelief that there was actually an item like this. He suddenly thought of the Heavenly and Earthly Treasure. Perhaps there could be Earth Divine Stones under those treasures? Of course, this was only speculation.

"Isn't this thing custom-made for me?" Qing Shui was no less excited then when he obtained divine artifacts. This item could certainly be regarded as Qing Shui's divine artifact by default.

Qing Shui had already received the Golden Battle God Inheritance, so he didn't expect that he would be able to reap anything from this place. It was a good thing that Qin Qing had travelled with him together. Otherwise, he would have wasted his journey this time. However, there was a treasure map here. In essence, that map would belong to him sooner or later, unless the map had already vanished from this place.

In any case, he didn't expect to find an Earth Divine Stone in this area right now. When Qing Shui realized that this Earth Divine Stone was focused on ground and soil, he wondered if could there be a Water Divine Stone, too.

He felt that he was a bit too greedy. Even if there was a Water Divine Stone, he felt that the Earth Divine Stone was more useful to him. After all, medicinal ingredients were mostly grown on the ground. Besides, the pond on the ground was just a small lake. Whether it had any effect on the herbs was unknown.

This could be considered an accidental bliss - a huge accidental bliss indeed.

"Qing Shui, do you recognize this thing?" Qin Qing asked casually after noticing how happy Qing Shui was.

"This is the Earth Divine Stone. Once buried in the ground, it can shorten the maturity period of plants by half." Qing Shui said with a smile.

Qin Qing was shocked at first but continued to shake her head, "That seems a bit worthless. There are many medicinal herbs that require tens of thousands of years to mature. Even if the time is cut down by half, it will still take thousands of years for them to grow."

"Not necessarily. There is also a secret method to planting medicinal herbs that can reduce undesirable growth time. On top of that, this Earth Divine Stone is definitely astounding. It's a divine artifact for growing medicinal herbs in the medicinal garden." Qing Shui knew that Qin Qing was intentionally belittling this item in front of him. Even though she had said that it was a bit worthless, this was definitely a divine artifact. To Qing Shui, that this artifact was divine was an absolute fact.

"Hmm, it seems like they were already driven away by you!" Qin Qing noted when she realized Qing Shui was the only one left.

"Mm, these people aren't too obtrusive. They actually thought of stealing from you after seeing your appearance. When I saw them trying to do that, I was upset…."

Qin Qing stared at Qing Shui and smiled. For a moment, Qing Shui couldn't finish his sentence.

"Let's go. There isn't anything here anymore." Qing Shui decided not to say anything further after seeing no result from the conversation. He decided to go back. This time, he had reaped something big.

"Alright!"

Both of them went back to the path leading home. Qin Qing had also obtained the Battle God Inheritance for herself. With that, she had pulled the relation between her and Qing Shui closer than before. Every Battle God Inheritance had a certain mark on it, which could make everyone a bit more affectionate towards other inheritors.

This time, both of them had gotten an extremely large benefit. Their speed of return home was faster. It was quite calm on their way back too. Qing Shui and Qin Qing communicated with each other a lot more this time.

However, Qin Qing didn't say how she would want Qing Shui to help her, but he knew she definitely had something she wanted help with. She remained silent on the topic, and Qing Shui didn't pester her about it. When the right time came, she would naturally tell him about it.

After a month passed, Qing Shui and Qin Qing reached to Linhai City. Qin Qing followed Qing Shui to the Imperial Cuisine Hall and stayed there as well.

Both Yi Tong and Lan Lingfeng knew this woman had also obtained the Battle God Inheritance. Most importantly, Qin Qing's fathomless strength was even stronger than that of Qing Shui's.

Qing Shui's return was naturally a happy thing for everyone. After preparing a grand feast, everyone sat down and discussed the experiences they had during those times they were gone. Nothing had happened for a month inside Linhai City.

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