The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1539 - Three-Headed Jadewater Snake King, Annihilate

"The Poison Dragon Flower is an extremely poisonous substance. It is irrigated by the toxicity of the Poison Dragon and can only grow in places corroded by extreme cold poison. Although it is named Poison Dragon Flower, if one could remove the poison itself from this flower, it could be refined into a saint-grade medicine, able to revive the dead and boost your strength. If a poison cultivator or a poison beast directly used this flower, it would be extremely effective in increasing their powers."

Qin Qing casually explained but Qing Shui already knew how valuable this flower was. This flower wasn't in any way inferior compared to the Phoenix Grass.

"This is a really good item." Qing Shui's eyes brightened.

"Qing Shui, listen to me. This Poison Dragon is too tough to handle. We might not be its match even if we joined forces." Qin Qing thought for a moment before she sighed.

"How do we know if we don't try? Qin Qing, let's give it a go!" Qing Shui stared at Qin Qing's beautiful face with anticipation in his eyes.

Qin Qing looked at Qing Shui's expression, feeling a rush in her heart. She always felt the words of Qing Shui to be filled with many different possible meanings. She rolled her eyes and replied, "Are you confident?"

"I will do my best. How can I bear to let anything happen to you?"

When there was a chance, Qing Shui wouldn't forget to express his love for her.

To this, Qin Qing felt helpless. But, she didn't dislike it either and would even feel like laughing at times. She just felt it was interesting, which led to her feeling happy in her heart.

"Let's go and take a look then." Before they came, Qin Qing and Qing Shui had already decided to explore the Poison Dragon Pool but they were still filled with hesitation.

The place they saw here wasn't the true Poison Dragon Pool. Only by passing through here and entering the valley at the back, would the true location of the Poison Dragon Pool be found.

The two of them sped towards the true location of the pool. On their way there, there were countless poisonous snakes that tried to attack them, but the snakes weren't able to even get close to their bodies.

But for some powerful Poison Dragons, they were able to spew poison rain from a distance, but their physical strength wasn't that strong. Qing Shui would still be able to use the Nine Palace Laws to protect them.

But during this process, Qing Shui needed to hide away. He simply held on to Qin Qing's hand, attaining his private goals while using this dangerous outing as an excuse. Qin Qing didn't reject, allowing him to hold her hand. Not only that, she found that she was extremely calm.

This pathway could still be considered okay to traverse, but this was relative only to them. Here, poisonous substances were scattered everywhere. Even for powerful cultivators, they might not dare to come here without proper protective items. Who knows, they might get unlucky and be poisoned by an unknown toxin, leading to their deaths.

Qing Shui was at the central core position of his Area Dominance and Nature Energy. He had absolute confidence in them. In addition, with his poison-neutralizing herbs and Nine Continent Steps, his safety was guaranteed.

After going to the end of the path, they went through the first area. This zone acted as a barrier to keep people out from the Poison Dragon Pool. Ordinary people would have died countless times in there, let alone being able to reach the Pool.

Qing Shui didn't relax his hold on Qin Qing's hand. He pulled her towards the Pool's direction.

Qing Shui wasn't as calm as Qin Qing. His heart was a little nervous when he held on to her hand. This wasn't the first time, but his heartbeat quickened every time he held her.

Very soon, Qing Shui saw the Poison Dragon Pool. Although it was named as a pool, it was more like a large lake instead. The water here was actually extremely clear with a little jade-like luster, appearing very tranquil.

"Is this the Poison Dragon Pool?" Qing Shui curiously asked. There were multi-colored flowers in the surroundings which were also filled with poison. In the pool, there were also turtles, shrimps, and fishes. Sadly, all of them were also poisonous creatures.

"Yes, this is it for sure. Although the pool's water is clear, its toxicity is extremely high. The creatures and plants around here are all extremely poisonous substances, able to adapt to life here."

In their surroundings, the white halo around them melted the poison qi so they weren't affected.

"Sister Qin, could it be that we have to go into the Poison Dragon Pool?" Qing Shui glanced at his surroundings. This pool should be the nest of the Poison Dragon.

"Mhm, we have to, I believe. The Poison Dragon Flower is right at the bottom of the pool. If our luck is good, we might be able to obtain it without needing to fight the dragon." Qin Qing smiled at Qing Shui.

But Qing Shui knew the possibility of them getting the flower without a fight with the dragon was almost zero. He still had some methods for them to go into the pool if needed. An example was the Water Avoidance Pearl. Although back then Qing Shui returned it to that old turtle, he had collected quite a few of such pearls during these few years. Also, both of them still had the poison-resist effect now, and given their cultivation levels, they would be able to travel within the water. Area Dominance could also be activated when in the water.

Without any further hesitation, the two of them directly jumped into the Poison Dragon Pool. The water around them gradually receded as they proceeded down into the depths.

"Qing Shui, we must be careful. The poison dragon wouldn't be affected in terms of his strength when in this toxic pool, but our strength would be diminished by around 20%." Qin Qing warned.

This was the law of the world. Humans might be able to soar through the skies but they are still unable to breathe in water. They are able to release 100% of their strength on land or air, but their strength would be weakened by around 20% when in water.

For water-type demonic beasts or any demonic beasts with the water element, they would be able to enjoy a boost of 20% to their strength instead. But when they came up onto land or was in the air, their strength would be diminished.

For demonic beasts who could fly, their strength would be augmented by 20% when in the air, but similarly, their strengths would be weakened by a little when they were on land or in water.

Dragons were a unique existence. Be it in air, land, or water, they were extremely formidable existences. Oceanic dragons had the ability to boost their strength up to one fold when in water, but they could only boost their strength to less than 50% when in air or land.

The little fishes and shrimps in their surroundings all fled far away, avoiding the two of them.

Sisi!

Abruptly, a sound drifted over. The two of them were startled. They glanced towards the direction of the sound only to see a shocking sight.

Three-Headed Jadewater Snake King!

This demonic beast had a concentrated blood of the Jadewater Dragon. Having three heads meant that it was at the extreme limits of its cultivation. The Jadewater Dragon was jade green in color but for the three-headed snake king, other than the head in the center which was jade-like, the other two heads at the sides were jet black in color.

Its body was as thick as three water vats and it was around 500 meters in length. Its sinuous form in the water resembled a dragon, and when it noticed Qing Shui and Qin Qing, it let out that weird hissing noise.

Its emerald green pupils shone with a brilliant light. But before it could do anything, a thunderous roar was heard as the Dragon Slaying Beast directly rushed over. Being in the water didn't affect its speed at all. When the Three-Headed Jadewater Snake King saw the Dragon Slaying Beast, its body couldn't help but tremble as the notion of fleeing appeared in its mind.

The Dragon Slaying Beast had a suppression effect on creatures with the bloodline of dragons. At the very least, dragon-type species would lose 20% of their power when facing against it. In addition, the instinct to flee was ingrained in them, and that would further cause them to be unable to unleash much of their strength.

Bang!

The Dragon Slaying Beast directly rushed over. Only now did Qing Shui understand the meaning of barging straight ahead. The rush of impact was especially great when he saw the tiny Dragon Slaying Beast rushing towards that gigantic beast.

Now, the Dragon Slaying Beast's strength wasn't weak. As long as its opponent's speed didn't match it, the Dragon Slaying Beast was like an existence equal to the devil to its enemies.

The Three-Headed Jadewater Snake King was precisely a beast that wasn't proficient in speed but strength instead. It was extremely toxic but all that amounted to nothing as it couldn't match up to the speed of the Dragon Slaying Beast.

Pupu...

Sisi...

Black-colored blood continuously flowed out into the Poison Dragon Pool, emitting sizzling sounds. Very soon, the Jadewater Snake King lost all signs of life. With a wave of his hands, Qing Shui sent the corpse of this snake into his Violet Jade Immortal Realm. The Snake King itself could be considered a treasure. Many parts of its body could be harvested as materials for medicine or poison.

Qin Qing was no longer surprised when she saw Qing Shui instantly putting away such a large carcass. When Qing Shui relocated the Diamond Tree back then, she even felt that if Qing Shui really wanted to transplant it, he would be able to obtain diamond fruits in a very short time.

Both of them felt a little fatigue after killing the Three-Headed Jadewater Snake King. They also felt pressured because the death of this snake king might alert the fact of their coming to the Poison Dragon.

"Sister Qin, do you know the estimated strength of the Poison Dragon?" Qing Shui smiled as he asked.

"I'm not very sure of it. If I knew I wouldn't be feeling so nervous now. I'm actually starting to regret this." Qin Qing shook her head, with unease in her heart.

"Am I not here? There's no need to fear. No matter what happens I will always protect you." Qing Shui laughed.

"A guy shouldn't make such promises so easily." Qin Qing replied.

"Oh, I made the promise only after thinking long and hard about it."

Qin Qing didn't say anything. Between her and Qing Shui, there was still a path for them which they needed to walk. The path ahead wasn't going to be easy to traverse, as in her heart, love was something sacred but also selfish. She wasn't willing to share her man with other women. This was why she hadn't accepted him yet.

Qing Shui hadn't fully understood her thoughts but he could guess a bit. This was also the reason why he didn't force her. Although Qing Shui has already determined he loved her and would do his best to pursue her, if they didn't have fate between them, he would give it up despite the fact that she was one of the women depicted in the Portraits of Beauty.

Time flew by. The Poison Dragon Swamp was truly deep. Their speed of descent was considered decent and considering the length of time, they most likely had already descended over a thousand meters.

A beam of light flashed from below. Qing Shui was instantly reminded of the Crystal Palace. This place emitting the light should be something similar to the Crystal Palace!

Pu!

The two of them and the Dragon Slaying Beast broke through the light and appeared in a vast location. It wasn't a palace but was something akin to a deep water ravine.

Submerged mountains could be seen everywhere. The amount of spiritual energy here was extremely saturated and very swiftly, Qing Shui knew that this place should be a spiritual vein that was larger than most spiritual veins.

This place was very quiet. There were no traces of other demonic beasts, but vegetation of all types could be seen growing around the area. There were even many rare plants that were over 10,000 years old!

Qing Shui was amazed because he realized many of the medical plants here were things he had always wanted. Hence, he ignored everything else and began collecting them with haste.

Very swiftly, the plants in this area all vanished… Qin Qing stared at Qing Shui, thinking he was like a pirate. A pirate filled with greed.

"You are really greedy." Qin Qing smiled at the insatiable Qing Shui.

"Look, there's still some over there. Since I'm already greedy, I'm going to be greedy to the extreme!" Qing Shui laughed, but he kept his eyes fixed on Qin Qing. His intentions were evident. He was greedy. Greedy for her.