The Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 904 - Qing Shui's Power, Using Formation to Curb Enemies (teaser)

Qing Shui didn't feel anything as he looked at the Sky Prison's Old Fifth, who was pointing at him. He didn't show any indication as he waited for the Mu Clan's decision.

Mu Qing was intelligent, but at this moment, she probably couldn't guess Qing Shui's intentions. She didn't believe that Qing Shui was someone who could go against the Sky Prison Sect and thus naturally wouldn't have guessed his thoughts.

Mu Fengyang had controlled this branch of the Mu Clan for 300 years, and his descendants had worked hard to prove themselves. Presently, his branch had become the mainstay of the Mu Clan. However, they were facing the Sky Prison Sect, a great sect whose legacy was much longer and whose abilities were more powerful than that of the Mu Clan.

Now, the Sky Prison Sect had come to their door. However, he knew that if he were to hand up that young man, everything would be over. Although the Mu Clan was in no way comparable to the Sky Prison Sect, the Sky Prison Sect would still not dare to do anything to the Mu Clan, at least for a few more decades.

Mu Fengyang's grandfather was still around, but he was in his final years. At most, he would live only 50 more years. Although the old man no longer involved himself with what was happening in the outside world, if his descendants were threatened with extinction, he would definitely start a war.

Of course, there were people in the Sky Prison Sect who could fight against this old man. Rather, if a strong expert like him were to go on a crazed rampage, even the Sky Prison Sect would suffer great damages.

Moreover, they had never thought of actually eradicating the Mu Clan. However, with the rumors spreading like wildfire, they were fighting to get back their reputation.

Mu Fengyang really felt at a loss. After all, the other party had already taken a step back and decided not to pursue the issue further against the Mu Clan. However, there was no way for them to let that young man off.

Mu Fengyang was very clear that the reason the Sky Prison Sect was here today was just to deal with Qing Shui. Their reputation could be salvaged if they dealt with him. However if they handed him over, the Mu Clan's reputation would be lost...

"Sky Prison's Old Fifth, he's a friend of our Mu Clan. You can forget about taking him away today."

They were very clear that Qing Shui had saved Mu Qing and the others. Moreover, news had already been spread out. If they were to let Sky Prison Sect take Qing Shui, the Mu Clan's reputation would be completely ruined.

Therefore, Mu Fengyang had no other choice. Even so, in such a life and death situation for their clan, he had considered handing Qing Shui over. It was because compared to the very survival of their clan, everything else wasn't important.

Furthermore, what had been spread out were just rumors. Rumors would gradually disappear as time passed.

"Today, even if we fight to the bitter death, you guys can forget about bringing him away." Mu Qian looked at Qing Shui and Mu Qing. Seeing his daughter's worried gaze, he was even more sure about his decision.

Moreover, he saw that Qing Shui didn't seem to be scared and that puzzled him. He felt that he had not been able to see through this young man at all. Now, he realized that Qing Shui was becoming even more inscrutable.

"Since that's the case, we can only forcefully bring him away," the Sky Prison's Old Fifth said, unconcerned.

Right now, Qing Shui had become the center of attention. This was something which he had not expected.

"Senior!" Qing Shui called out for Mu Qian, who was just about to speak.

Mu Qian looked at Qing Shui, puzzled.

"Thank you. Since this is something I had done and caused them to look for me, let me be the one to take care of it." Qing Shui said calmly, his tone as if he had just said something insignificant.

"Qing Shui, don't!" When Mu Qing heard Qing Shui's words, she anxiously grabbed his sleeves.

Many people looked at this scene in disbelief. To think that the city's first beauty, Miss Mu, had this side to her as well. Now, almost everyone had already felt that Miss Mu liked this young man, but the extent of her infatuation still clearly surprised them.

"Trust me!" Qing Shui gently pulled off Mu Qing's hand.

"Qing Shui, I'll protect you with my name on the line until I'm dead." Mu Qian said, after throwing a glance at his daughter.

"Uncle, I'm well aware of your kind intentions. Let me handle this. If I can't handle it, then you guys can step in. Will this do?" Qing Shui smiled and said. Since this was the Mu Clan's decision, Qing Shui couldn't just hide behind them.

Dong Yan and Sun Yan were standing next to Qing Shui. It was clear that they were going to stand alongside Qing Shui.

Qing Shui knew that these two were really people he could consider his brothers.

"Old Master, thank you!" Qing Shui looked at Mu Fengyang and said, bowing, before heading up to the front amidst Mu Fengyang's astonished gaze. He stood right before the people from the Sky Prison Sect.

"If I meet that idiot, that fool who thinks that forming a lousy thing like that makes him formidable, I'll still kill him," Qing Shui looked at that Sky Prison's Old Fifth and said.

Lousy thing... Their formation being described as some lousy thing, the Flower Crusher called a fool, and that he would still kill him if they met again...

Many people choked when they heard Qing Shui's words. No matter what, they had not expected Qing Shui to say this. They couldn't tell if he was arrogant or simply ignorant.

"You don't know how big the world is! You're really courting death!"

The Sky Prison's Old Fifth was infuriated by Qing Shui's words as he pounced toward Qing Shui, slapping down his palm toward him. He clearly didn't give a hoot about Qing Shui.

He had initially only wanted to bring him away. Killing a junior like him wouldn't reflect very well on his standing. Moreover, killing him here would only infuriate the Mu Clan. However, this young man who didn't know any better had really infuriated him.

One needed to have backing to be arrogant. Without any resources, an arrogant person could only be said to be ignorant. The attack by the Sky Prison's Old Fifth was one launched out of anger.

Even if Qing Shui could defeat the "Flower Crusher", there was no way he could compare to Old Fifth.

Old Fifth was considered a strong expert in the Sky Prison. Even he himself didn't know why he felt so infuriated to be looked down upon by this young lad.

This casual attack and the black fog on his palm, caused everyone to be on their toes, especially Mu Qing, Dong Yan, and Sun Yan. Mu Qing even closed her eyes, not daring to look at this situation.

Mu Qian didn't blink, but his body swayed slightly. Mu Fengyang looked at Qing Shui. Although he didn't move, his expression was especially solemn.

Qing Shui looked at the palm that was striking out towards him. To others, this palm strike appeared powerful and fatal, but to Qing Shui, it appeared to be very, very slow. He casually took a step forward.

Nine Palace Steps!

This step was very profound and mysterious, and few people present could tell that it was amazing. It made them feel astonished and speechless, as if they could only feel great admiration.

After taking one step forward, Qing Shui instantly raised his cultivation to its peak, lashing out with his right palm and striking the arm of the Sky Prison's Old Fifth.

Kacha...

The arm was completely mutilated and disappeared!

With a stifled grunt, the Sky Prison's Old Fifth spurted out fresh blood and fell into the crowd behind him before being caught by a few other old men.

Everyone was astonished and the majority of people had their mouths agape in great surprise. In that instant, their minds were completely blank. They had never expected this to happen.

It was as if time had completely come to a standstill, and it was so quiet that one could hear the sound of a needle dropping. Qing Shui was the only one who stood there, not feeling anything. He only felt that against someone like this, with a strength of about 150 stars, he could almost kill him instantly.

Moreover, he knew how powerful the Nine Palace Steps was. The Nine Palace Steps was pulled off almost perfectly in the attack earlier. When he performed the Nine Palace Steps, everything in his surroundings would be within his Nine Palace. He even could tap into the powers of Heaven and Earth to increase his speed and agility. Even a person who was of the same cultivation realm as Qing Shui wouldn't be able to hold a candle against him. This was how powerful the Nine Palace Steps was.

After a very long silence, it was as if there was an explosion.

"How is this possible?"

"How did this happen?"

...

People could tell from everyone's astonished gazes that what they were seeing was real. They then looked towards that young man and the people from the Sky Prison Sect. The sudden turn of events caused them to be dumbfounded.

With her eyes closed, when Mu Qing heard the sound of contact, she was so nervous that she started trembling. However, what had followed after was silence. It was that silence that caused her to make up her mind to open her eyes, worried about what she would see.

When she opened her eyes and saw the scene before her, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. After verifying that it was real, she felt regretful that she had closed her eyes and missed out on seeing how Qing Shui had dealt the Sky Prison's Old Fifth such a heavy blow.

Dong Yan and Sun Yan were also in a daze. They had not expected this outcome either. Right now, they were feeling surprised, great joy, and indescribable agitation.

The Sky Prison's Old Fifth got on his feet, looking at Qing Shui in great disbelief and horror, his earlier arrogance gone. He was unable to say anything.

As the few old men around him helped him apply medicine, they would occasionally glance at that young man in horror.

After crippling the Sky Prison's Old Fifth in one move, even if he had been too careless and had not shown off his full prowess earlier, to be able to destroy his arm completely required a substantial amount of power.

"Use formations to kill him! Kill him!"

Suddenly, the Sky Prison's Old Fifth shouted out. His face was pale as he looked at Qing Shui in horror.

"Formation? You mean that formation behind you? Can that rubbish be called a formation?" Qing Shui looked at them in disdain before taking out a small flag.

"Let me show you what a real formation is."

Qing Shui spoke as he casually threw out the flag. The opponents started moving and surrounding Qing Shui. However, Qing Shui threw out the small flags in his hands slowly as he easily dodged their attacks.

Having practiced creating the Duality Minutest Formation in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal multiple times, he was able to recreate it very quickly. When the last small flag landed, the formation was activated.

This was the Mu Clan's front courtyard and the space was very wide. Moreover, the Duality Minutest Formation which Qing Clan had set up was very small. After all, there were not many opponents and they were all gathered together. Therefore, he could quickly make use of formations to bind his opponents.

Qing Shui just so happened to be standing outside the formation, causing everyone else to be stunned. It was only now that they were able to see the formation, since from the outside they couldn't really understand the formation earlier.

Now, they could see that the people from the Sky Prison Sect were in huge chaos, feeling horrified as they were constantly being injured. Although the severity of the injuries varied, some were so heavy that three had even died.

From outside the formation, all this appeared to look very funny, but now, none of them felt humored. They only felt horrified. In this moment, Qing Shui appeared to be very strange to everyone present, including Dong Yan, Sun Yan, and Mu Qing.

He really had the right to say that the formation the Flower Crusher had formed was some lousy thing...

With a flash, Qing Shui entered the formation, moving with great ease like a fish in water as he used the Duality Steps. When Mu Qing saw this, she was extremely stunned. It was also then that she noticed that Qing Shui was using the Duality Minutest Formation that he had taught her before.

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