The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1533 - The Battle Against the Gu Clan

Qing Shui didn't regard Gu Yelong who was charging towards him as a threat. Though Qing Shui might have had his attention in the younger generations of warriors and that Gu Yelong might have been one of the outstanding warriors among the generations in the Gu Clan, he was only considered a decent one. There was still a huge gap between him and Qing Shui or Qin Qing.

Qing Shui was standing still while Gu Yelong held his long sword in his hand. Somehow, Qing Shui kept feeling that Gu Yelong was holding the sword just to show off.

Taichi Cloud Hands!

Qing Shui didn't move, yet he managed to avoid Gu Yelong's sword. He immediately extended his hand and grabbed Gu Yelong's neck. The longsword dropped out of his hand and down the arena, making a loud and clear noise.

It only took one move and Qing Shui had already managed to choke the opponent. He held him up in mid-air as Gu Yelong was struggling. Everyone could tell that if Qing Shui had wanted it, he could have killed him with ease.

Before this, Gu Yelong was really embarrassed already. And now, with just one move, he was being raised up in the air like a struggling chicken by a man younger than him. The humiliation which he received was more than enough to kill him.

"Answer me. Why do you want to dig your own grave so badly? Is it because you think that I am weak enough to bully? Why would the Gu Clan have a useless brat like you..."

Qing Shui's voice was very loud and clear. Any smart person would know at whom his words were directed at. The faces of a lot of people from the Gu Clan looked totally red. News about Gu Yelong was passed around very quickly.

Gu Yelong was well-known in Qin King City for being a playboy. How could he possibly endure it when people found out that a playboy like him couldn't perform the most basic sexual intercourse? The entire Gu Clan had completely lost its face.

"Assistant, he lost."

Following that voice, Qing Shui saw a man standing at a spot not far away from him. Qing Shui didn't bother looking at the man and said, "Why were you being so loud? That scared me and almost made me pinch him to death."

Qing Shui's words revealed how much he despised their Clan. Pinched to death… Gu Clan… Only small things like ants would be pinched to death. Everyone was able to figure out that Qing Shui was describing the Gu Clan as trash.

"You… You… He already lost, let me fight on his behalf!" Another man looked really furious. However, he sounded calm by the time he finished his sentence.

At this moment, Qing Shui lifted up his head and moved his sight towards the man. At the same time, he tossed Gu Yelong out of the arena.

The man looked middle-aged. He had a well-structured face. The only problem was that his nose and eyes seemed a bit sharp, making his entire face look a bit gloomy and fierce. Usually, people with this look weren't easy to work with.

"Don't come out and humiliate yourself. You are not strong enough to face me." Qing Shui claimed slowly.

Indeed, the man was incapable. However, the fact that Qing Shui said it out loud while adding his confidence made the man feel as if he was already admitting defeat before he even started fighting. This was what people would call dominance.

"You lost." Qing Shui repeated once again.

The man moved his brows. After that, a silvery white long spear appeared in his hand. The tip of the spear was sharp and thin. It was giving out blue light. The first impression people would have from seeing it was that it contained poison.

Indeed, it contained poison. Qing Shui didn't express any emotions from seeing the opponent's poisonous weapon. However, deep down, he had already made up his mind that his opponent was done for.

Qing Shui would never go easy on the people who intended to kill him. He took out the Golden Battle Halberd. He didn't feel like dragging on the fight because he wanted to crush the Gu Clan's faith from the battles.

Silver Spear Soul Annihilation!

It was a silvery white long spear. Even during daytime, the blue colored tip could still be seen as being really bright. It was just like a smaller version of a sun, so eye-piercing. It charged its way towards Qing Shui very fiercely.

Qing Shui casually swung his Golden Battle Halberd.

Ding-ding-ding.

On the fifth strike, the man was run through. The man's silver spear immediately broke in half. While the opponent was still frozen in shock, Qing Shui shot the Golden Battle Halberd towards his chest.

The man spurted out fresh blood and dropped down. Qing Shui had his limits. The man wouldn't be able to live for more than three days. In Qing Shui's view, he must never be soft with evil people.

Now, the Gu Clan was incensed. Usually, this kind of challenges would last for a long time. The reason being that the warriors who represented their clan at the beginning would usually be the weak ones. This was a kind of culture and also a way of testing their opponents.

However, on Qin King Manor's side, Qing Shui went up right away. Though he might be young, his strength wasn't something which could be compared to those from his generation. Thus, they skipped through the entire process and it would seem just as if they had already entered the final stage of the challenge.

It appeared that no one was able to believe what they just saw. The Gu Clan was still testing Qing Shui. As of now, they felt that it was an embarrassment to send out the experts from their clan. The reason being that Qing Shui was a young man and that he had good relationships only with the juniors from Qin King Manor.

Just like this, after Qing Shui battled for almost ten rounds, the Gu Clan finally realized the mistake they had made. Indeed, this young man couldn't be compared to normal juniors. This time, one of the elders was sent out to the arena.

"I heard that Qing Shui is Miss Qin Qing's fiance."

"Fairy Qin's heart has also been moved. Before this, I used to think that she would stay single her whole life. I never thought for someone to be able to match up to her in this world.

"That trash, Gu Yelong. To think that he is still thinking of going after Fairy Qin… He used to always be so arrogant… Who would have expected him to be a person who couldn't even get erect. Compared to him, I feel that even a beggar would live a happier life than him."

……

"Young man, you are indeed a bold one."

The person who went up the arena this time was an old man. There wasn't even one wrinkle on his face. Both of his eyes looked very lively. However, his brows were already snow white in color. They were hanging all the way down to his shoulders.

"Old man, what do you mean by that?" Qing Shui asked even though he knew full well what the old man was referring to. He knew for sure that the old man was very old.

"Young man, you won't be able to handle the consequences once you go over the line with the things you do. You are too young, you have no sense of propriety." The old man calmly looked at Qing Shui. Deep down, he actually really admired this young man. The only unfortunate thing was that he was an enemy of the Gu Clan.

Qing Shui shook his head, "Does the Gu Clan have it then? At times, when a person accuses another of being stupid, they are usually unaware that they, themselves, are the stupid ones."

The old man looked at Qing Shui with a serious expression, "Since you are so confident with yourself, I shall teach you just how big the gap is between you and me."

"I will wait for you!" Qing Shui smiled and said.

Heavy Mountain Fist!

At the moment when the old man finished speaking, he thrust out his fist towards Qing Shui.

At the instant the old man's figure moved, the aura in the surroundings gathered up together at a really fast speed. They swiftly condensed and formed an enormous mountain figure on the old man's fist.

Hong!

The huge fist afterimage smashed its way towards Qing Shui. Now, Qing Shui finally understood why the old man was so confident. He was strong enough to do so.

Bloodthirsty Demonic Vines!

Qing Shui immediately shot out the Bloodthirsty Demonic Vines to block the enormous fist.

Qing Shui may not know if the opponent's Heavy Mountain Fist belonged to the earth element. He still wanted to give it a try.

Peng!

After a loud explosion, the old man disappeared. He lifted up his fist and this time, his entire fist color turned gold as he thrust it towards Qing Shui.

Qing Shui brightened up his eyes. To think that it was the combination of the earth and metal elements. Basically, this technique was no longer under the influence of the other five elements. However, it was able to counter against the rest of them.

Nine Continents Mountain!

Qing Shui summoned the Nine Continents Mountain. After that, he swung his hand and unleashed the Art of Pursuing.

The old man who felt his speed reduced was stunned. But very quickly, he calmed down. Naturally, for this young man to be so arrogant, he definitely had his own sure-kill move. Techniques which could reduce an opponent's speed were indeed very fearsome. Speed meant everything. Without it, a warrior would simply be helpless. If a warrior failed to hurt his opponent, it would be useless no matter how much power his attack contained.

Beng!

Qing Shui smiled and released his move.

Emperor's Qi!

He managed to reduce the opponent's overall strength by 20%. As for his speed, it got reduced by 40%, which was very fatal. Originally, Qing Shui never expected to do it so fast. By now, he had managed to reduce almost half of the speed of his opponent. The winner had already been decided.

Qing Shui had tons of sure-kill techniques at his disposal. Hence, he wanted to fight this battle slowly. He wanted to let Gu Clan realize how stupid it was for them to organize this challenge.

As this happened, the old man was stunned. If it was the things from before, he was still able to accept a 20% reduction in speed. He thought that this would be Qing Shui's strongest sure-kill technique. But now, his overall ability dropped down by 20% as well. Furthermore, it stacked with the previous 20% drop in his speed as well.

20% of strength and 40% of speed…

Qing Shui swung his Golden Battle Halberd while unleashing his Nine Palace Steps to make his way towards the old man.

This time, the old man had finally come to realize how it felt to be suppressed to the point he couldn't even retaliate. It's not that he wasn't strong enough, it's just that he was unable to get a grasp on where his opponent was. He was not used to the sudden drop in speed. Against the Golden Battle Halberd, he got pierced twice. Luckily, he managed to avoid the fatal areas. Though his speed was greatly reduced, he was still able to withstand the attacks.

By now, the old man's speed was once again reduced by another 20%. This phenomenon immediately made him felt like surrendering. But he decided not to do so because he felt that he couldn't afford to lose face in front of this man. Despite all that, he couldn't even unleash his Sure-kill Heavenly Technique.

Pu!

The old man got careless and was struck in his shoulder. Though his shoulder wasn't penetrated, he had still been injured and spurted out fresh blood. The old man used his momentum and retreated quickly.

Naturally, Qing Shui wouldn't let his opponent go so easily. He immediately followed after him like a shadow.

Golden Earth Primordial Dragon Explosion!

The old man thrust out both of his fists. The yellow colored earth energy started gathering up from the surroundings like a solid substance. It was gathering up towards Qing Shui.

This ability was a lot more fearsome than those boiling metal water. As soon as Qing Shui spotted it, he already realized that his movement had been slowed down. He was already in the center of these energies. It felt just like when an ordinary person dropped down into a swamp, unable to move even a single step.

The torments brought upon by these energies were still something which Qing Shui could withstand. However, he was aware that the old man would still have more moves up his sleeves. By the time he figured it out, it would most likely be too late. Qing Shui

was left with no choice but to temporarily enter the realm.

By now, no one from the outside was able to see what was going on.

Ever since reaching its eighth grade, Qing Shui was able to enter and exit the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal within a very short time span. Though it might not be instantaneous, it took him only a few blinks to enter the realm.

Very quickly, Qing Shui saw the energies from before gathering together to form a huge sphere. The golden yellow and earthen yellow colors were twisting around each other and giving out water-like lusters. They were spinning constantly, condensing with each other and solidifying into a sphere.

Beng!

It was a huge explosion, triggered with the golden spheres at the center. The five elements disappeared. The sun, moon, and stars appeared like the pictures on the television screen from his previous incarnation. But very quickly, the place quieted down again.

At the moment when the entire area quieted down, another person appeared around the area.

Qing Shui!

Qing Shui was standing there in perfect shape. Prior to this, when Qing Shui was engulfed by the exploding spheres, almost everyone thought that Qing Shui would have been done for.

Qin Qing was right below the arena. For a few times, she felt the urge to charge forward. However, rules were rules, and she mustn't break them. Furthermore, it's was already useless for him to forfeit the match now. At that instant, the only thing in her thought was for him to be alive. So long as he lived, she was willing to agree to any of his requests.

At the instant when the explosion occurred, she felt as if her heart had broken into pieces. Though she might know that Qing Shui was really strong, the Golden Earth Old Demon opposite him was also not someone to be taken lightly of with his fearsome strength.

At the moment when she saw Qing Shui standing there in perfect shape, both her eyes teared up. Suddenly, she came to the realization about how much the man meant in her heart. She even began to think that if Qing Shui died, she would feel as if her heart had died as well.