Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1104 – A man must kill and kill without mercy

Qing Shui was a little stunned by Lin Zhanhan’s decision but he quickly responded with a smile. He felt that Lin Zhanhan’s decision was the best outcome. To Qing Shui, the best way of dealing with things was to adapt to the natural flow of things and direct them accordingly rather than using brute force to control all situations.

The Huo residence had already been totally razed to the ground. It seemed like a simple feat but it had been something impossible for Lin Zhanhan for so long. The destruction of Huo residence was of great significance to Lin Zhanhan and finding that Lin Clan still had descendants had also fulfilled some of his long-time desires. With that, he found some relief from the anger and grievances that he carried with him all these years.

Feeling that a large burden had been lifted, Lin Zhanhan couldn’t help feeling that the weather was great even though there was barely any sunlight, he wore his happiest smile on his face.

Some people say that a person’s life is determined by the sum of their emotions, so people should live life to their fullest and not let anyone look down on them. If a person is extremely depressed everyday, their lives would also be very bitter and difficult. In the worst case scenario, it would be worse than death and they would just breakdown.

Qing Shui knew how difficult it was for both Lin Zhanhan and Yiye Jiange, so he never stopped working towards resolving the issues which haunted them for so long. This was because he already treated their burdens as his. No man lives on an island. He felt that it was too selfish to just live for himself and he wouldn’t be happy if he chose to live that way. To him, happiness can be very simple. Seeing the happy faces of his family, lovers and friends already brought him great joy!

The people from Huo Clan were members of Lion King’s Ridge so killing them today meant that Qing Shui and his group were officially challenging Lion King’s Ridge. Furthermore, they were in Sealed Northern Ice Emperor Region where Lion King’s Ridge had a colossal influence so their actions were an obvious provocation.

To such a sect, this was a humiliation that they could not ignore. If one of their men was killed, they would kill the murderer’s entire family just to show their status and power and to warn others that they could not be offended.

However, Qing Shui was very difficult to track because he used Nine Continents Steps Effect to travel around. Even if the people from Lion King’s Ridge followed him closely, they needed time to catch up with him. Thus, they were still unable to find for him even after searching for him for some time.

Qing Shui and his group stayed in Lin Zhanhan’s grandchildren’s house for a day. Qing Shui actually wanted Lin Zhanhan to stay here until they were ready to fetch him but he insisted on going along with them as he argued that him staying there would attract the attention of others.

Qing Shui was not sure what Lin Zhanhan said to Bao Hong and Bao Lan, he could only guess that it was their family matters. When they left, they did not leave them any gifts. Qing Shui only told Cheng En to take care of that family.

If they didn’t want to disrupt their peaceful lives, they knew they couldn’t leave any gifts for them or give them any other ideas. Just as they came with a warning, they left quietly without any commotion.

“Qing Shui, Grandfather Lin needs to thank you!” Lin Zhanhan said happily with an earnest tone while they were riding the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant.

“Grandfather Lin, we are family, you don’t have to be so courteous to me. I’ll feel awkward,” Qing Shui laughed.

Lin Zhanhan grinned and did not say anything else. Qing Shui turned and flashed a smile at Yiye Jiange, she couldn’t help wanting to thank Qing Shui sometimes but Qing Shui always took advantage of that…

When Qing Shui noticed Yiye Jiange’s hesitation and her slight intention to avoid him, he chuckled and stealthily stroked her back. Yiye Jiange made a scoffing sound and turned her head away.

Such interactions gave Qing Shui an exceptionally good mood, he enjoyed them and they lifted his spirits.

He was especially delighted to see Yiye Jiange blushing and would have continued with his teasing if no one else was around them.

After they had flown for some time, Qing Shui started thinking about the place in Peng Meng Mountains. He decided that he would go there after he settled the matter with Lion King’s Ridge and before going to the Four Continents. He wanted to test his luck to see if there was anything special there.

Lion King’s Ridge was located within a man-made valley in a large mountain range and supposedly it took numerous workers to develope the area. The sect had many disciples of elite calibre and they were spread throughout every city north of the Northern Sea and they were usually the leaders of the cities.

There were definitely other groups which had the capability of challenging Lion King’s Ridge’s influence and power and perhaps more than one expected but most of them were weaker than the latter. However, Lion King’s Ridge would have to risk too much to take over these groups. To avoid losses from both parties, these other groups usually avoided confrontation with Lion King’s Ridge and vice versa.

To the contrary, Qing Shui had been searching out Lion King’s Ridge members in each city throughout their journey, killing off all powerful members.

Within 10 days, Qing Shui had already killed over 1000 Lion King’s Ridge members and each of them was of a certain standard. About 100 of them were even Martial Emperor and above. He felt that he hadn’t reached a unconceivable realm in terms of such massacres but he felt that he could in the future….

A man must kill without mercy[1] Killing is a never-ending cause.

In the past, people spoke of promises and brotherhood.

There were villains who killed indiscriminately, for a mere infraction, disregarding the value of life.

Then, there were also heroes and warlords, who killed countless men…

Killing a person every three steps,

Killing even if one’s heart stopped.

Blood flowing like a river,

Corpses piling up like mountains…

The strong will prey on the weak, this is the law of nature.

This will not change even if one has principles.

Don’t ask anymore, for a man has his own ways.

A man must be cruel and vicious.

Ignore morality and benevolence.

A man must show his worth on a battlefield.

With the courage of a bear and the savagery of a wolf.

As a man, one must kill.

A man knows how to protect his loved ones without ever being taught.

Kill one man and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men and you are a hero. Kill them all and you are a hero among heroes.

Yet all heroes profess a different purpose.

Disillusioned by the facade of morality,

Seeking only to be known.

Preferring infamy to good reputation,

Feeling no guilt even after killing millions…

Qing Shui did not wish to be a hero, much less a hero among heroes. He wanted to live for himself and for the people he cared for. He did not wish to kill even one innocent person. He believed that people who killed indiscriminately have their reasons, so those words are merely an ideal.

Qing Shui felt heavy-hearted when he thought of this massacre song, the number of people he killed was still far from that described in the lyrics but he still had many years ahead of him… Actually, this series of events had made him uneasy, he was afraid that he would unintentionally take the path of bloodlust…

……

Qing Shui did not know why Lion King’s Ridge hadn’t take any action. Was it because they were too large to care about this because it was all too common? Or were they waiting for him to be negligent so that they could stealthily deliver a lethal blow.

Copper Pot City…

Copper Pot City was not far from Lion King’s Mountain, it was already considered the central zone of Sealed Northern Ice Emperor Region. Lion King’s Mountain was at the north of Sealed Northern Ice Emperor Region and there were many powerful groups nearby.

Copper Pot City got its name because it looks like a huge copper pot from the sky. There was a Copper Pot Spring in the city. Many cultivators looked forward to bathing in the extremely famous Copper Pot Hot Spring here because it could relieve tiredness, boost one’s immune system and help people to reach breakthroughs.

At least, it was rumored that it had such benefits. The claims about the breakthroughs were questionable. Perhaps, there was such an incident which later added to the mysterious properties of this hot spring but it could indeed relieve tiredness, boost immunity and boost one’s cultivation a little.

In addition, due to its central position, various groups have branches in the city including Lion King’s Ridge. Of all these groups, Lion King’s Ridge’s branch was the strongest, at least in name.

This was an important branch which was governed by two Supreme Elders and one Elder. There were also quite a lot of normal members. Actually, not many members actually stayed within Lion King’s Mountain. In fact, the ones there were all living fossils.

They were the foundations of Lion King’s Ridge and the trump cards of the sect. They were so powerful that they could communicate with people from the Four Continents. Qing Shui heard about them throughout their journey. This information was not secret so he obtained it easily.

The Lion King’s Ridge branch in the west of Copper Pot City. The people from the groups in the city were not only cultivators, their families and disciples all ran businesses such as cloth shops, auction houses, etc to amass wealth or medicinal herbs.

The larger the sect or aristocratic clan was, the more important wealth was to them so it was common for them to gain rare treasure by using certain underhanded schemes or adventurers in their group would organize treasure hunts…

Not long after Qing Shui group arrived in Copper Pot City, more than ten humongous demonic beasts flew towards them.

Lion King’s Ridge!

Once he saw their clothes of the riders, he knew they were from Lion King’s Ridge.

Qing Shui smiled because this was the first time that Lion King’s Ridge took a proactive approach. It wasn’t much of a surprise to Qing Shui that they could find him as his group had been killing their members all throughout their journey and he did not make any attempts to hide their whereabouts.

Two old men led the Lion King’s Ridge group, they floated in the air without any demonic beasts, as their white long hair flowed to their ankles. Their faces were covered with deep wrinkles, like dried tree bark. At that moment, they looked calmly at Qing Shui’s group.

The youngest men among them were also past middle-age. They looked over fifty but were probably older and they were also eyeing Qing Shui and his companions.

Yiye Jiange, Yiye Tian and Luan Luan were on Qing Shui’s left side while Lin Zhanhan and little Fatty were on his right. The other women were at the rear.

“So you are the one who wants to get revenge for the Yiye Clan!” the old man said to Qing Shui, without any joy or anger. He sounded just like a thousand year old tree.

All this while, Qing Shui had been openly announcing his intentions to seek revenge for the Yiye Clan, on behalf of Yiye Tian and Yiye Jiange!