Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1132 – The Body May Be Dead, The Body May Live, Leaving, Going Forth

Qing Shui left first. He needed to have a talk with Qingqing to further understand the situation. The news he had received today was too abrupt. However, it was overall still some good news.

Qingqing and Duamu Lingshuang were watching a few children playing. The slightly older ones didn’t need to be watched over as they were all sensible enough. However, they still had to keep a close eye on those around Qing Yu and Qing Yun’s age. After all, they still weren’t that sensible and didn’t know of dangers.

He went up to them and greeted them with a smile. He then turned to Qingqing. “Big Sister, can you let Lingshuang watch over them for a moment first? I have something to discuss with you.”

After Qingqing informed Duanmu Lingshuang, she followed Qing Shui to a room.

“What is it?” Qingqing was clueless as to what Qing Shui wanted to ask her. Qing Shui’s expression seemed to be very relaxed earlier but now he seemed to be a little worked up and slightly more agitated.

Qing Shui only looked at Qingqing after they had taken a seat in the room. “I would like to know about Father. You mentioned that his grave was empty. Are you sure about that?” Qing Shui asked.

Qingqing was taken aback. Her countenance also greatly changed as she stared at Qing Shui. “It was never my intention to say this. It was a slip of the tongue that day. Mother must have thought of investigating this now that she sees that Qing Clan has gotten a little stronger.”

“Big Sister, just tell me all you know. I also wish that he’s still alive, even if it’s for the sake of Mother only.” Qing Shui looked at Qingqing.

“Do you still resent him?” Qingqing gave Qing Shui a worried look. She seemed to be a little afraid to find out if Qing Shui still resented him. Qing Shui reckoned that this reason must be the reason that she didn’t tell him about it. Otherwise, she would’ve told him this since long ago.

“I don’t. It must’ve been very difficult for him too.” Qing Shui answered with a smile.

A small smile appeared on Qingqing’s face too when she saw Qing Shui’s smile. “Back then, I was still very little. When I went to offer incense on the third day, I heard some grave robbers saying that the coffin was empty. That was just two days after the burial.”

“So Big Sister, are you sure if that grave is really empty?” Qing Shui was very concerned with this question.

“It was empty. I snuck in through the hole that the grave robbers left behind. I have now realized another possibility.” Qingqing told Qing Shui.

“And what would that be?”

“Father’s body was stolen by someone. There was a line of words left at the bottom of the coffin on the inside. I only thought of the possibility that Daddy may not be dead after I grew up.” Qingqing said while trying to recall her memories.

“What words?” Qing Shui couldn’t help but ask.

“The body may be dead, the body may live. Life leads to death yet death leads to life. Ambitions beyond the green clouds. Dragon soaring in the four seas. The four seas are blessed with peace and fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix.” Qingqing slowly uttered every word on the bottom of the coffin from her memories.

Qing Shui was stunned. He didn’t even know if all these words were linked to each other. But he was able to vaguely make some sense of them. ‘The body may be dead, the body may live. Life leads to death yet death leads to life.’ This probably implied that he was still alive, but he was no longer the same person he was in the past. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have mentioned something like this.

“Could it be that someone knew him and rescued him, even though he had most likely lost his memories? There are many bizarre medicines in the Main Continent, such as those that can make someone amnesiac either temporarily or permanently.”

Qing Shui stood there, deep in his thoughts. The first part implied that he was still alive, but he no longer knew who he was. Otherwise, he should have returned to Yan Clan after all these years. Or could it be that he didn’t have the freedom to act out of his own volition?

“What does the next part mean?” Qing Shui pondered while thinking of the next part. He couldn’t hold himself back from asking Qingqing when he saw that she also had a frown on her face. “Big Sister, have you figured out the meaning behind these words?”

“The first part should be implying that Father isn’t dead yet. Otherwise, his body wouldn’t have been stolen. I have no idea what to say about the next part. It was also because of the first part that my tongue slipped, accidentally telling Mother that his grave was empty and that it was possible that Daddy wasn’t dead.” Qingqing’s graceful eyebrows were knitted together while she explained, as if she was in deep thought.

“I interpreted the first part in the same way that you did. But I wonder, why did someone steal Father away? Is there some sort of secret in there?” Qing Shui wondered, thinking just as hard as Qingqing.

Qing Shui knew that two heads were better than one. However, it was still better to keep knowledge of this matter to a minimal number of people. The most important thing right now was to make some sense out of these few phrases. Perhaps they would be able to pinpoint his whereabouts from this.

“Ambitions beyond the green clouds… If these ‘green clouds’ is a reference to the Greencloud Continent…!”

This idea suddenly popped up in Qing Shui’s mind. The Main Continent was too vast. Finding someone among the Five Continents was already a task that was easier said than done, let alone in the other Four Continents as well.

However, he couldn’t be bothered to think about all this now. He was thinking that if the ‘ambitions beyond the green clouds’ were indeed referring to the Greencloud Continent, then this covered not only one continent but even maybe the Five Continents……

“Dragon soaring the four seas, Dragon soaring the Four Continents… Could it be that this dragon refers to him?” Qing Shui recalled that his father’s strength was quite decent among the Yan Clan, although it was still not enough to be considered a prodigy at all……

Qing Shui couldn’t afford to worry over if he was correct or not. He had to arrange his thoughts first. ‘The four seas are blessed with peace’ was pretty self explanatory. For ‘fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix’, he came up with a few interpretations. Two of the other continents among the other Four Continents were named after the Dragon and Phoenix – the Soaring Dragon Continent and the Dancing Phoenix Continent*.

Furthermore, ‘fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix’ could be linked with ‘the four seas are blessed with peace’. This was used to describe a scene so Qing Shui didn’t think too hard about it. However, if ‘fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix’ was referring to a man and woman, did that mean that the other Four Continents have to be as peaceful as suggested by the line, ‘the four seas are blessed with peace’……?*

Although Qing Shui didn’t know the full details, he knew that the other Four Continents were governed by both sects and a dynasty. Hence, he knew that things would definitely never be peaceful there. There was never peace in the world of cultivators to begin with……

The more Qing Shui tried to interpret these words, the more it didn’t make sense. If this was the case, then his father was most likely on the other continents. His status and position would most definitely be exceptional too…….

Qing Shui explained his thoughts to Qingqing. She nodded but also shook her head at his explanation. It seemed like she didn’t really get it.

“I’m leaving for the other Four Continents very soon. I have a portrait of him, so I will try to see if I can catch any winds on him over that side when that time comes.” Qing Shui said with a smile.

“You’re leaving?!” Qingqing exclaimed in shock. At least now, she finally knew why Qing Shui had made everyone in the clan tame a powerful demonic beast with those miraculous medicinal pills when he returned back then. He had even given them a powerful magical ring for protection.

“I can still stay home for another few days.” Qing Shui said with a smile.

“This can be considered your longest stay at home. I know that.” Qingqing said sadly with a smile.

“There’s still a very long time ahead of us. Wait till I am powerful enough to gather everyone together, then we shall live together merrily like we do here.”

“You should take care of yourself too. Big Sister knows that things haven’t been easy for you and everyone actually knows that too. We are just incapable of helping you. You are our pillar of support. With you around, everyone’s life is as blissful as in the Heavens.” Qingqing pinched Qing Shui’s nose and chuckled.

“I know. Rest assured. I’m not willing to die just yet, there’s wonderful life ahead waiting for me.”

“What are you talking about? Do not utter such ominous words.” Qingqing gave Qing Shui’s nose a harder pinch.

Next, Qing Shui informed that he was going to the other Four Continents to the people closest to him, though not everyone knew. After all, letting more people know about this wasn’t necessarily a good thing. As long as Qing Shui was in the Five Continents, no one would dare to do anything to Qing Clan. However, it would be a little difficult for him when he went to the other Four Continents.

Although he had taken all the preventive measures to ensure and that the strength of Qing Clan was definitely at the peak, he still tried his best to keep his departure to the other Four Continents as a secret.

Another few days passed by in the blink of an eye. The Qing Clan were all seeing Qing Shui off in the courtyard. He was leaving. This had been postponed for long enough so Qing Shui didn’t only have to use the Nine Continents Steps, he also needed to fly every day for half a day in order to make it before the Ancient Gate Formation activates.

Qing Shui held both his sons and daughters in his arms and crouched down to speak with Qing Zun, Qing Yin and Qing Yan. Farewells were always sad. Even if one tried their best to hide their sadness, it could still clearly be felt.

“Cultivate hard. If I don’t return after five years, whoever wants to go over should just go over. I will be there to welcome you all.” Qing Shui gently reminded the few ladies again.

He had already discussed this with the few ladies before. Qing Shui had a hunch that he should be able to have some breakthroughs there in five years’ time. By then, it should be possible for him to survive there.

“Daddy!”

……….

When Qing Shui was about to leave, Qing Yu, Qing Yun and Qing Yan started crying while pulling on Qing Shui, unwilling to let him go. The rest were still alright. The children knew that Qing Shui was leaving, but they didn’t know where. Rather, the children felt like crying when they saw so many people sending Qing Shui off.

Qing Shui had to spend a long time coaxing them and wasn’t able to leave until half of the afternoon had passed.On top of that, he had to sneak away. He actually preferred to leave without bidding farewell so that he didn’t have to go through a scene like that, but he knew that he shouldn’t be doing that.

Qing Shui and Yu Ruyan immediately used the Nine Continents Steps twice. The remaining two times were left unused in cases of an emergency. They planned to only use it again at the final few hours of the day. This had already become a habit. Qing Shui then summoned the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant and flew in the direction of the Northern Sacred Lu Continent.

“Those little fellows are really fond of you.” Yu Ruyan looked at Qing Shui while smiling.

“By the time we have a home over there, do you want to have a child too?” Qing Shui chuckled while holding Yu Ruyan’s hand.

Yu Ruyan’s body quivered. She shook her head. “Let’s talk about this some other time, alright?”

Qing Shui knew that she still had a little knot in her heart. Listening to her tone that was rarely as soft as this, he pulled her into a gentle embrace. “I’ll listen to you. It’s been such a long time, is Ruyan still unsure of what kind of person I am? You are my wife. Although I am not a loyal man, I love all of you with the whole of my heart instead of dividing it between you all.”

“I know that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have stayed together with you. Qing Shui, do you really not mind about me?” Yu Ruyan looked at him.

“I’ve said this before. I only have myself to blame for not meeting you sooner. There’s no room to mind about someone when it comes to love. If someone has to mind, then it should be you who mind about me.” After all, Qing Shui had the soul of a modern person. Just like Mingyue Gelou, a great woman like her would forever be a great woman and Qing Shui was willing to forget about her past. To be able to meet her was already a blessing from the heavens. He felt the same way too about Yu Ruyan.

……….

Though unfamiliar at first, they grew familiar with the route soon enough. Going to and forth, they had pretty much traveled along here twice. This time, their journey was even faster. Although they encountered some demonic beasts on their way, the demonic beasts were very easily killed in a flash by them.

The Realm of Violet Jade was still a secret so Qing Shui would still disappear six hours every day, usually after Yu Ruyan fell asleep. For a man and woman to journey together, the feelings between them gradually deepened. Qing Shui only now realized the gentleness of this woman over this period of time.