The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 787 - It's So Nice To Be Home!

"Something will most likely happen to the Heavenly Palace!"

His words shocked the people around him. They curiously looked towards to that man. Even Qing Shui, Cang Wuya and the rest couldn't help but to look over there in panic too.

"Alright, stop keeping us in a suspense. If you don't tell us, no wine for you." The middle-aged man said with a smile.

"Am I not telling you right now? My cousin just came back from the Continent's Capital last night. He said that a new aristocratic clan has emerged there. Something by the name of Baima Aristocrat Clan and something may happen soon. They seem like they want to compete with the Heavenly Palace over the title of number one strength in the Greencloud Continent." Wu Laosan summarized his story, in fear of not getting any wine.

"Baima Aristocrat Clan? Are they very strong?" The middle-aged man frowned.

"I have no idea. My cousin said they are something like a supreme aristocrat clan and have moved here from another continent eight months ago." The slim man who appeared to be somewhat shrewd replied.

"Could it be this Baima Aristocrat Clan had no idea how the Zuoshi Aristocrat Clan died?" A middle-aged man named Uncle Xiang* asked the other middle-aged man with a frown.

"I asked my cousin the same question too. But apparently they knew about it but felt like that is only a rumor. On top of that, they said the Zuoshi Aristocrat Clan cannot be compared to them. They have already done their investigations on the Heavenly Palace over the past few months and are preparing to challenge the Heavenly Palace within these few days. But they seem to be waiting for something and keep delaying it." Lao Wusan continued.

"You are saying they only want to challenge the Heavenly Palace but not forcefully invade the Heavenly Palace right?" The middle-aged man unknitted his eyebrows.

"If the Heavenly Palace doesn't accept it then maybe they will use force against them. One of the sons from the Baima Aristocrat Clan was killed by a woman from the Heavenly Palace. They are going to challenge the Heavenly Palace under the guise of seeking for justice." Wu Laosan explained while he sipped on his wine. He loved the bottle as if it was his life. As long as he had wine, he was willing to share any information.

"Wu Laosan, you are saying that the Baima Aristocrat Clan is purposely provoking the Heavenly Palace and not for that disciple that had been killed?" Uncle Xiang asked him.

"That's what my cousin said. That disciple that had been killed was a lecherous guy. He was brazen enough to harrass a woman from the Heavenly Palace but he was instead unexpectedly killed by her." Wu Laosan downed another bowl with a single gulp as he explained with a flushed face.

Qing Shui had been holding his breath as he sat there and eavesdropped up to this point before he finally sighed in relief inwardly. The other party shouldn't have made their move yet. Since someone had said that the Zuoshi Aristocrat Clan was destroyed by him, they'd further consider their move too so they would most likely wait until he was back before making any moves. After all, knowing one's own strength and the enemy's is the sure way to victory. So Qing Shui concluded that they wouldn't blindly make their moves. Big clans were more cautious in their way of doing things compared to small clans. That Wu Laosan mentioned earlier that they seemed to be waiting around for something. They must be waiting for him.

But even so, Qing Shui still decided to head back first by himself. Cang Wuya and the rest had flying beasts. Besides, they were at the interior part of the Greencloud Continent. It was still very safe to travel from here to the Continent's Capital. On top of that, it wasn't like Cang Wuya and Fei Wuji were inexperienced so there was no need for him to be worried about them.

After sitting for a little longer, Qing Shui saw that Wu Laosan was already drunk and had fell asleep lying on the table. Since he knew he wouldn't be able to get more information out of him, he'd rather hurry back as soon as possible.

He rode on the Fire Bird and flew in the direction of the Continent's Capital!

He put away Fire Bird when he reached to a high altitude.

Nine Continents Steps!

He couldn't use this when there were a lot of people but it was an extremely convenient skill. He was able to forge more than a hundred thousand li ahead within a flash. Then he summoned Fire Bird and continued forging ahead. It should be the time to enter the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal right now, but Qing Shui wasn't in the mood to do so.

When one o'clock at night had just passed, Qing Shui once again used the Nine Continents Steps. Fortunately Fire Bird's speed was much faster now compared to before. With it and the Nine Continents Steps, the Heavenly Palace Mountain was already in Qing Shui's sight at the dawn of the third day.

In less than an hour, Fire Bird had already flown into the sky above the Heavenly Palace. Qing Shui breathed a sigh of relief in his heart when he saw no indications of anything happening down there. With him around, to hell with all those nonsense supreme aristocratic clans. If they got annoying, he wouldn't mind destroying them.

Many cheered when they saw the gigantic Fire Bird hovering above them in the sky. It was a happy cheer. Qing Shui was the Patriarch of the Heavenly Palace and also its pillar of support. He was also the spiritual dependence of many. Nowadays, he was kind of like a God-like existence among the Heavenly Palace's disciples.

It was because of his existence that this place could have such a morale. He waved at the people below, and then flew in the direction of the Qing Residence. The Qing Residence was situated at the peak where the Starmoon Hall was.

Qing Shui landed when he was about to reach there and walked on foot towards the Qing Residence. On his way there, there were endless of people greeting him respectfully. It had been more than a year. The Heavenly Palace had changed a little.

Buildings had shrunk a lot and the amount of houses and pavilions in the vicinity had reduced by a lot too. After all, only less than one-tenth of the population before remained. But he was actually very happy about the current situation. The remaining ones were basically all elites that had a strong and fearless heart.They had their own goals to pursue as well as their own principles. They were also more determined than others so naturally, they were also stronger than those people who had left.

Furthermore, the building of those aristocratic clans that had stayed were much more enormous now. Just like the current Qing Clan. Their manor were now way bigger than the one that they had exchanged from the Hai Clan.

Very soon enough, he arrived at the entrance of the Qing Residence. Qing Shui who hadn't returned for a year felt a little excited. After all, he was going to have two more children. He was looking forward to it yet he felt guilty at the same time.

With a complicated feeling, Qing Shui stepped into the Qing Residence. There were four guards by the entrance, but they were just some idle old men who guarded here in the morning but they were allowed to chat over tea. By night time, they would be replaced by younger people. Besides, this was the Heavenly Palace. There were already guards on the Heavenly Palace Mountain, the internal guards were just for show.

"Qing Shui!"

Wenren Wu-Shuang who had just came to the front courtyard from the back was startled when she saw Qing Shui. She greeted him happily before quickly walking over.

Qing Shui smiled as he watched the woman walked towards him. He then immediately pulled her into a tight embrace. "Have you missed me?"

"No!"

Wenren Wu-Shuang laughed happily.

"Is that true?" Qing Shui smiled as he slid his hands downwards from her delicate waist.

Wenren Wu-Shuang blushed and immediately admitted. "I missed you……"

"You're not honest at all." Qing Shui joked. His hands immediately fondled those two perfectly round globes. The indescribably pleasing sensation jolted his mind.

"You rascal. Someone is coming. Get your hands off," Wenren Wu-Shuang trembled as she quickly said in a soft voice.

Someone really came after that and she appeared from behind Wenren Wu-Shuang so Qing Shui was able to clearly spot her. The other person had also clearly seen Qing Shui caressing Wenren Wu-Shuang's perky rear…...

This person surprised Qing Shui greatly. So much that he forgot to retract his hands. It was Di Qing. It was actually her. The last time he left, she was still in the Central Continent. But now she was actually here.

Wenren Wu-Shuang pushed Qing Shui away as she rolled her beautiful eyes at him before looking at Di Qing. Di Qing instead looked at Qing Shui with a faint smile on her face before looking at Wenren Wu-Shuang.

"Sister Wu-Shuang, so you and Qing Shui are already……"

"Sister Qing…..." Wenren Wu-Shuang called out embarrassedly.

Qing Shui rubbed his nose in embarrassment but only saw Di Qing looking at him in bewilderment. He thought that she was looking at his face, but it took him a moment to realize that she was actually looking at his hand and his hand was at…...

She couldn't be thinking that he…...

"You're back!" Di Qing looked at him with a smile on her face. Her graceful appearance were peerlessly gorgeous. She had some of Di Chen's extraordinary grace, but she was a little more elegant and a little sly.

Just like now, Qing Shui could sense some teasing in her graceful smile. But he still nodded at her with a smile. "When have you returned?"

"I arrived just when Shizhuang was delivering." Di Qing smiled at Qing Shui.

"Oh. Hehe, I'm going to see the child!"

Staying here would only make the atmosphere more awkward so Qing Shui quickly said that and fled. Besides, he also really wanted to see his child so he ran towards the rear courtyard. Qing Shui was dumbfounded the moment he arrived at the rear courtyard. Many of the Qing Clan members were gathered here.

Di Chen, Canghai Mingyue, Huoyun Liu-Li, Mingyue Gelou, Shi Qingzhuang, Qing Qing, Luan Luan, Qing Yi, Qing Bei…...

The female members and children of Qing Clan were basically gathered here. Many of them saw Qing Shui too. The atmosphere quickly turned lively. Qing Shui smiled happily.

"Qing Shui!"

"Qing Shui!"

"Big Brother!"

"Daddy!"

………...

Qing Shui cheerfully told everyone he was back. He gave Qing Yi a hug first, then Qing Bei, Qing Luan and Yuchang clung onto him.

"Hurry and go see the child!" Qing Yi smiled as she pushed Qing Shui towards Mingyue Geloou and Shi Qingzhuang.

Shi Qingzhuang's hands were empty but Huoyun Liu-Li was beside her, with a small baby that was as precious as a crystal in her arms. Shi Qingzhuang was looking at Qing Shui with a smile. Qing Shui was startled as he discovered that her smile had lost a trace of that coldness that she used to have in the past.

On top of that, it was brimming with the brilliance of a mother. It was a very gorgeous.

Mingyue Gelou, who was a few steps away from Huoyun Liu-Li was also holding a baby. It was a baby boy that was like a jade sculpture. Her gaze met with Qing Shui and she showed him a very happy smile. This was the child of Qing Shui and herself.

Qing Shui knew that Mingyue Gelou had only now truly became part of this clan. Before, she would exclude herself. But now this child had connected her closely with Qing Shui and the Qing Clan.

The rest only looked at them and smiled.

Qing Shui took the little baby into his arms from Huoyun Liu-Li first. She wasn't four months old yet. Children of three or four months old couldn't really recognize anyone so they'd let anyone hold them.

Although Qing Zun and Qing Yin were still very young. Many things could happen in the span of one year…...

All of them walked towards the the big lounge at the front yard as they chatted and laughed. Everyone seemed very happy.

Qing Shui could still feel a low-spirited atmosphere the moment he entered the room earlier, but it seemed like the mood had turned lighter now. He couldn't help but to chuckle when remembered the news he heard at the Happiness Inn. "What's the deal about the Baima Aristocrat Clan?"

"Oh, so you know about it already." Huoyun Liu-Li exclaimed in shock.

"Go on, Liu-Li. What is it about?" Qing Shui asked Huoyun Liu-Li. He still had the baby, whom he had no idea what her name was yet, in his arms with a smile.

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