Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1069 – Ancient Ruins, the Place Not Influenced by the Laws of Heaven and Earth

The closer Qing Shui, the girls, and Little Fatty were to the Grand Energy Gate, the more they were able to feel the repulsive force emitted from it. Nevertheless, this kind of repulsive force didn’t really prove much of a challenge to them.

The instant they entered the gate, the pressure felt as though it was squeezing them on both sides. Qing Shui was constantly observing the surroundings with his Spiritual Sense. At the instant he entered the gate, Little Fatty also appeared beside him, alongside with the girls. He waited until only this moment to swiftly analyze the surroundings. There were already a lot of silhouettes in the distance. They were all advancing even further ahead.

This was a vast and boundless land. The air was fresh but, at the same time, mixed with vivid smell of smoke. The mountains and forests in the distance had no bounds. To his surprise, the Laws of Heaven and Earth didn’t apply in this place.

Back when he was at Sacred Land of Panacea, that place also wasn’t restricted by laws from heaven and earth. Now, a similar thing happened at the Ancient Ruin. He wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing.

Under the effect of Arhat Rosary Beads, his spiritual energy was capable of neglecting the Laws of Heaven and Earth. Hence, this situation would most likely be unfavorable to him. However, he managed to get quite a significant boost to his physical strength. It was just that his strongest attack was based on his spiritual energy.

Right now, Qing Shui had a bad omen. He expected that there would definitely be people who had set their sights on him. Without the Laws of Heaven and Earth, there would most likely be a few people who were capable of beating him. For example, the elder of the Wen Clan who had returned to live his life in retirement. If he appeared here, there would be a huge gap in strength between him and Qing Shui.

Qing Shui put his hand on his chest. He felt more at ease with the Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm in the Central Palace. Then, he turned around and looked towards Yiye Jiange. Her Seven-Headed Crystal Beast should prove to be a really formidable weapon.

When they arrived at a quiet place, Qing Shui made Yiye Jiange summon the Seven-headed Crystal Beast. In just a short while, an earth-shattering aura was emitted into the surroundings. It was comparable to the Seven-headed Scarlet Serpent from the Sacred Land of Panacea.

Even Yiye Jiange herself was shocked by it. Except for Yu He, none of the girls had strength which exceeded five thousand stars. As a result, they had yet to experience the Laws of Heavens and Earth.

Though they didn’t feel the strength that had been capped by the Laws of Heaven and Earth However, the terrifying aura of the Seven-headed Crystal Beast which had appeared out of nowhere left them dumbstruck instead.

Even, Qing Shui, as joyful as he was, was a bit stunned. If it had been him running into a Seven-headed Crystal Beast, the only thing he could do was run away.

“Jiange, remember to not spread out too far. When you guys run into danger, coordinate with the formation and do your best. You guys can only rely on yourselves here.” Qing Shui said this for a reason.

Not long after, when he would leave the five continents, this place’s fate would be up to them. Qing Shui had helped the Qing Clan establish their position by teaching them formations and the Nine Palace Steps. As long as they mastered these skills, they should not have issues protecting themselves. The girls were actually really strong and more importantly, they were improving at a really fast rate.

“I know, don’t worry. You too, please be careful. We all hope that you will be fine. As long as that’s the case, we can deal with whatever happens in the meantime.” Yiye Jiange said in concern. She remembered that Qing Shui had mentioned that he wanted to take action against the Lion King’s Ridge.

“There’s a one month time limit for the Ancient Ruins. Remember to come out by then. I will leave this little fella to you guys. As long as I’m not too far away, I will be able to sense where you guys are.” Qing Shui said, leaving the Ten Thousand Poisonous Violet Sable behind.

Yiye Jiange originally intended on saying something, but eventually, she decided to keep it to herself. Qing Shui went towards her and embraced her.

“I also want one!”

Luan Luan immediately hugged Qing Shui as soon as she finished speaking.

“Little brat, there is a formidable Demonic Beast here. Now that you have the foundation and capabilities, you can try taming the Demonic Beast yourself. Just do only what you can.” Qing Shui happily embraced Luan Luan.

He was able to feel the changes in his daughter. It somewhat had to do with her biological parents. Having her biological parents with her made her felt less lonely. Furthermore, the relationship between Yiye Jiange and Qing Shui had finally been firmly established. Both Luan Luan and Qing Shui were as if they had gone back to their previous father daughter relationship.

“Daddy, I know, you are the best daddy!” Luan Luan put her hands around Qing Shui’s neck like a koala and said in a shy voice.

Next, Qing Shui went on to hug the others including Yu Ruyan. He hugged Little Fattie last, “Fattie, please make sure you stick with them and help me look after them.”

“Big Brother Qing Shui, don’t worry. So long as I’m alive, I won’t let any one of them be in danger.” His voice could be heard clearly and loudly.

Qing Shui left behind a few Heavenly Talismans and Gale Pellets. As long as the Heavenly Talismans already had Qing Shui’s drawings on it, they would be able to utilize it. Hence, he gave each of them quite a few. Simultaneously, he also reminded them to be careful while using the talismans, especially to be wary about being attacked from the blindside when they used the talismans.

Qing Shui had made them test a few of the Heavenly Talismans that weakened their opponents before. However, either the speed at which they had casted the talisman wasn’t fast enough, or they had not accurate enough in terms of tossing it. With that being the case, it was a bit tough for them to defeat their opponents. If they were to accidentally injure one of their allies, things would just take an even worse turn. Qing Shui only gave them a few Heart Toxin and Descending Heavens Talisman. They were both considered for only life-saving use. These two talismans were said to have a hundred percent accuracy. Moreover, he had also made them practice using talismans during this period of time. After all, it was considered one of the formidable killer moves.

The Ancient Ruins would be open for a month. During this time, people could come in and out of it as they pleased. But if they were still in thereafter a month, they would be stuck and would have to wait for the next time it opened to come out. It was unlike the Sacred Land of Panacea, that had a fixed time when it reopened. The Ancient Ruins opening was more like a volcano erupting. It could become an extinct volcano where it would only open once and become unlikely to erupt again. Many Ancient Ruins would only open once.

Qing Shui waved his hand at the girls and Fattie. At the moment when he was about to leave, the people from Demon Gate approached him. There were around twenty of them. As Qing Shui saw them, he thought to himself that the people from Buddha Sect and other sects should also already be here. It’s just that he wasn’t able to see them yet. It might have been because they weren’t able to make it in time.

“Old man!”

Qing Shui approached the old man from the Demon Gate with a smile.

Only at this moment did Qing Shui have a clear view of how strong the old man from Demon Gate was. Without the restriction of the Laws of Heaven and Earth, the majority of the people were able to instantaneously become a lot more powerful. This made Qing Shui aware that although there may not be many people who could kill him in the outside world, the same thing could not be said within the Ancient Ruins.

After all, one with an actual strength of three hundred thousand stars could at most bring out thirty five thousand stars worth of their strength. With the addition of some treasures, their strength would be at most around forty to sixty thousand stars. Hence, here, it was if they were horses that just had their reins cut loose. This made Qing Shui feel a bit nervous.

This was what he thought. Nevertheless, Qing Shui was aware that people that had reached this kind of level in their cultivation would normally have their own cards up their sleeves. For example, something that could help neglect Laws of Heaven and Earth. Since they had already made up their mind to stay behind on the Five Continents, it would be a wiser choice for them to look for a treasure that could help neglect the laws rather than cultivate more at a reduced effect.

In fact, Qing Shui had only seen one person with three hundred thousand stars of strength so far. There were far more people with strength from ten to a hundred thousand stars.

The old man from Demon Gate, on the other hand, was a lot stronger than Qing Shui here. Nevertheless, it didn’t necessarily mean that Qing Shui would lose in a fight.

“Qing Shui, you have to be careful when you’re here. It’s different from the outside world.” The old man from Demon Gate knew that Qing Shui understood what he meant, so he only gave him a reminder.

“I know, old man, you too should stay alert. If the chance arises, I hope you can help me look after them for a while.” Qing Shui said with a smile.

“I knew that you would eventually part with them, but with the Seven-Headed Crystal Beast here, no one will dare provoke them.” The old man looked at the mighty Seven-Headed Crystal Beast with admiration.

Qing Shui smiled and stopped saying anything. Previously, he had greeted the old man not just out of politeness. This old man had a wealth of experience and in any case greeting him would still be a wise choice in improving the old man’s opinion of him.

After bidding his farewell to the group, Qing Shui summoned the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant and flew far away into the distance. The weather within a hundred li was sunny and warm like the Spring. This made Qing Shui feel that the Ancient Ruin should be located somewhere in the continent. By constantly flying forward, where would he possibly end up?

The sky outside the initial hundred li was gloomy and covered up with dark clouds. Soon, a faint spiritual pressure arose. Qing Shui’s strength wasn’t actually weakened by it, nonetheless the spiritual pressure was still really strong.

Luckily, Qing Shui was able to ignore the spiritual pressure. The spiritual pressure didn’t necessarily weaken one’s ability right away. Instead, it influenced the abilities itself. It might not directly weaken one’s strength, but it would make people that could feel the spiritual pressure think that there were disruptions in their strength, so that they might not even be able to draw out ten percent of their original strength. They wouldn’t be able to do anything, despite having their strength within them.

Qing Shui remembered his Roc’s Might. This was also a technique to cultivate spiritual pressure. It was just that it was only at the small success stage. Hence, it wouldn’t be helpful when used against people stronger than himself.

There were mountains, water, ancient caves, temples and altars in the Ancient Ruins.

However, the last few were a bit rare. If one was to encounter any one of them, they would definitely earn a fortune. Of course, there was also possibilities of the areas being run down and emptied, as there was more than one entrance which led to the Ancient Ruins. It’s possible that the ancient temple that one discovered had been looted by previous visitors. With that being the case, things would turn out to be disappointing.

Nine Continents Step!

Qing Shui headed deeper within the Ancient Ruins by using his Nine Continents Step. He wanted to catch up with the people in front of him. The best things in the Ancient Ruins were likely to be deep inside the ruin itself, as no one could be sure if it was the first time the Ancient Ruins opened. Adding on that there was a time limit, people would usually choose to not go too far into the ruin.

Qing Shui didn’t advance forward immediately after using his Nine Continents Steps. He had traveled 400,000 li in distance. This place wasn’t as gloomy as the previous area. Instead, the spiritual pressure that could be felt was even stronger. Qing Shui was able to neglect the spiritual pressure and not become influenced by it. Nevertheless, he was still able to feel its existence.

He had very good vision, but unfortunately, with so many mountains and forests in the distance, Qing Shui was unable to determine if there was any ancient temple or altar with a single glance. Qing Shui decided to explore the surrounding area a bit, at the same time he would catch up to others and see where they were.

As Qing Shui began his search, he ended up having a headache. As if looking for small temples, altars and caves in a vast and boundless land would be such an easy task!

Spiritual Sense?

Qing Shui had hoped for there to be either formidable spiritual fluctuations or strong Demonic Beasts to protect the treasures. This way, it would at least be relatively easier for him to search for them. Suddenly, an intense spiritual pressure appeared. There was a really dangerous feeling.

Nine Palace Steps!

Qing Shui avoided it with his reflexes.

Bang!

The only thing that appeared in Qing Shui’s sight was lightning a few meters wide striking right in front of the spot where he had been standing on.

……

“Crap! What have I done……” Qing Shui lifted up his head and looked into the sky. He couldn’t help but start cursing. The sky might have been covered up with black clouds, but the lightning still struck without any warning. Furthermore, it had struck right at the spot where he had been standing at.

Nature was indeed dreadful!

Bang bang!

Yet another two rumbling noises resounded, except that this time, the noise came from a distant mountain. Considering that the mountain was a distance away from here, Qing Shui was only able to see a bit of it. He had long since summoned the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant and began to fly towards the enormous mountain far away.

Bang bang…