Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 1334 – The Birthday of Yehuang Clan’s Old Master, The Power of the Longevity Noodles

Hearing the words ‘Yehuang Clan’, Qing Shui was a little worried. After all, they were a powerful clan who headed an entire country. A country in the Dancing Phoenix Continent was comparable to the size of one of the continents in the five continents. Most importantly, they were in the Dancing Phoenix Continent.

If Yehuang Guwu hadn’t told him of her background, he wouldn’t think much of it. Therefore, he could only take it one step at a time now. If there was a need to, there wouldn’t be any problems for him to treat the people from Yehuang Clan. After all, whether or not he could cure them wasn’t something which he could decide. Yehuang Guwu told him not to provide treatment to the people from Yehuang Clan. All he need to do was to provide treatment but not allow the patient to fully recover.

Qing Shui and Soulsearch walked out of the room and came to the hall. There were two middle-aged men seated in the hall on the fifth story. The two of them were on the borders of middle-age and would soon be considered old.

The two of them were wearing violet robes with a print of a female phoenix or it could be one of a male phoenix. Qing Shui didn’t take a close look at it. A powerful aura that came from people in power and those of superiority came gushing forth.

Seeing Qing Shui and Soulsearch, the two of them stood up and they broke into amiable smiles, “Miraculous Physician Soulsearch, this must be Miraculous Physician Qing. It’s really envious for one so young to have such great achievements.”

“I don’t deserve the compliments. Yehuang Clan is the greatest clan in the Yehuang City. There are numerous people who are envious of the two of you.” Qing Shui smiled, walked over and signaled for them to take a seat.

Tea had long been served. Yao Qubing was the one who had brought it up.

The two of them also signaled for Qing Shui and Soulsearch to take a seat.

“I’m Yehuang Duzui and this is my elder brother, Yehuang Duxing.” The man who spoke had a head of black hair but it was a little messy, as if it was swaying even though there wasn’t any wind.

Qing Shui was stunned. Their names had a lot of character to them. In Yehuang Clan, people from Yehuang Guwu’s generation had the word ‘gu’ in their names, while the previous generation had the word ‘du’ in their names. However, Yehuang Guwu was the youngest in her generation and thus she had a very large age gap with the people from the ‘du’ generation. Furthermore, Yehuang Clan was a very big clan and had many people.

“Good names. I wonder matter do the two of you have today?” Qing Shui smiled and asked.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Yehuang Clan feels that Miraculous Physician Qing has great abilities and thus would like to cooperate with you. Don’t be in a hurry to reject, hear me out first. You can have any conditions you want. As long as you can name it, Yehuang Clan will do our best to fulfill them. You can even decide on the terms of the cooperation. Everything will be to your satisfaction,” Yehuang Duzui smiled and said.

How brazen! To think that they would allow him to state any conditions he wished. It was a pity that Qing Shui was really not very interested in cooperation. However, since they had brought it up, he could have a talk with them. When the time came, before they entered into collaboration, Yehuang Clan would be brought into chaos by Yehuang Guwu.

“My conditions are very simple. Help me find someone. As long as you can find this person, we’ll talk about cooperation. However, I’ll state this upfront. If you can’t find this person, I won’t work with you. Also, I’m a physician, so I won’t do things that would bring harm to others, nor will I be free for you guys to incite to save whoever you wish. I’ll only promise to save one person at most in a month. This number cannot be accumulated but since life is something to be treated with utmost care, it can occasionally be brought forward,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

Qing Shui’s words caused Soulsearch to be taken aback. He had initially thought that Qing Shui would reject it flat out. He hadn’t expected that Qing Shui would accept it. However, Soulsearch trusted Qing Shui and thus didn’t say anything.

“As long as the person is within the Dancing Phoenix Continent, I’ll be able to find the person you wish to find.” Yehuang Duzui said.

“I only know that the person is in the three continents. He might not be in the Dancing Phoenix Continent. If it was that simple, would I state this as a condition?”

Yehuang Duxing frowned slightly but still remained silent.

“Oh? Who is that person? Do you have any leads? For example, his portraits, estimation of his whereabouts, his abilities…”

Qing Shui took out Yan Zhongyue’s portrait and handed it over. “It’s this person. He should have become quite strong. You guys can work it out from here.”

Yan Zhongyue’s portrait looked very similar to Qing Shui but it was clear that they were two different people. On seeing the portrait, Yehuang Duxing understood that this person really existed. It shouldn’t be Qing Shui randomly taking out a portrait to deliberately make things difficult for them.

“The person in the portrait really looks similar to Miraculous Physician Qing,” Yehuang Duzui smiled and said.

“In terms of blood relationship, I should call him father. But I’ve never met him before and thus I’m looking for him.” There were no feelings of kinship in Qing Shui’s words and others might even feel that they were enemies. This made the two men feel a little awkward, not knowing what they should say.

“This is also the reason why I’m here. As long as you guys can help me locate his news and location, it’ll be fine.” It was rare that help came knocking on the door and it was a clan who had the abilities to help him search. To be able to not offend them but yet get the job done… It was basically killing two birds with one stone.

“Alright, I’ll agree to Miraculous Physician Qing’s condition. But there’s someone in the Yehuang Clan whom we need your help with. Is it convenient now?”

“It is!”

Qing Shui smiled and replied. He knew that Yehuang Clan were also guests here and he didn’t have any other choice. A man should be able to bend and adapt to circumstances. Moreover, they were just making use of each other.

“Miraculous Physician Qing, tomorrow is Old Master’s birthday and he is also the one who requires treatment. Would you be able to give the honor and be present tomorrow?” Yehuang Duxing smiled and said.

Qing Shui nodded, “Since it’s Old Master’s birthday, then I’ll make a trip there.”

After all, Yehuang Clan was the leading faction here and Qing Shui wasn’t strong enough to go up against them yet. However, he didn’t wish to slip away like a coward either. Since he was going to toy with them, he’d do it slowly. He felt that the Yehuang Clan wouldn’t be able to be smug for too long.

Yehuang Duzui and Yehuang Duxing left. It was the birthday of Yehuang Clan’s Old Master tomorrow and he was also the one who required treatment. Qing Shui had no idea if the False God existence in the Yehuang Clan was this Old Master but he felt this possibility was very low.

There was another reason why Qing Shui wanted to go. He wanted to bring up his reputation. Therefore, he must go and he must go with a high profile. He must let everyone know of his existence.

…

The next day, Qing Shui and Soulsearch didn’t head over that early and only reached Yehuang Clan between 11am and 1pm Many people had already gathered at the Yehuang Clan but the crowd wasn’t overwhelming. All the people who were here were people with high statuses.

Yehuang Duzui and Yehuang Duxing had been on the lookout multiple times and it was only at Qing Shui’s appearance that he let out a sigh of relief. Everyone present knew that Yehuang Clan was waiting for a mysterious guest.

Seeing Qing Shui’s appearance, Yehuang Duzui, Yehuang Duxing, as well as some other members of the Yehuang Clan quickly went up to welcome him. Qing Shui was holding onto a decorated plate which was covered with a piece of embroidered cloth and had not a hint of dust on it at all.

Qing Shui smiled and greeted Yehuang Duzui and the others. He then walked up to the most conspicuous spot where the birthday person was at. A valiant looking old man sat there. However, the old man appeared to be of very old age and was wearing a smile. He looked just like a lofty mountain.

Yehuang Clan’s Old Master didn’t stand up. He had the rights not to. Everyone felt that he deserved to be seated there and it was how things should be. The courtesy the other members of Yehuang Clan had shown was already giving Qing Shui respect. “Wishing Old Master everlasting longevity and fortune!” Qing Shui smiled and placed the decorated plate on the table before Yehuang Clan’s Old Master.

“Miraculous Physician Qing is really a dignified person!” the old man smiled and said.

Qing Shui knew that the old man was trying to say that he liked to put on airs. However, he didn’t think much of it and smiled, saying, “Compared to Old Master, I’m just like a dim light compared to the bright sun and moon. Earlier, there had been a few patients who were on the brink of death and thus we were delayed. I apologize to have kept everyone waiting.”

“Your reputation as a benevolent physician is really true to its name. Miraculous Physician Qing, today is my birthday but there’s also a high possibility that it might be my last day. Are you able to extend my life?” The old man smiled and went straight to the point.

Qing Shui was taken aback but still smiled and said, “I had already wished Old Master to have longevity and good fortune earlier. This is Longevity Noodles and can only be eaten on one’s birthday. Having one bowl of it each year can extend one’s lifespan by one year.”

When Old Master Yehuang heard what Qing Shui said, he had already guessed that it was Longevity Noodles. However, he didn’t really believe in it. He didn’t have many days left, so he could give it a try.

Old Master Yehuang slowly took off the cloth which was used to cover a porcelain bowl with a cover. The snow white and exquisite looking porcelain bowl had a lifelike image of a phoenix. On the lid, there was a smaller phoenix.

The old man’s eyes lit up. Even for such an event held by the Yehuang Clan, this porcelain bowl could hold its stand. Of course, it was also partially because it was brought out by this young Miraculous Physician.

The old man gradually opened the lid and in that instant, a warm heat came out together with a light fragrance. Many people were stunned. After all, there had only been a few bowls of Longevity Noodles which had been presented in public and there were some people who had tried it before in the Imperial Cuisine Hall. However, the impact they had received from it previously wasn’t as strong as it was right now. This was Longevity Noodles, a symbol of prestige, status and identity.

“How fragrant!” Even Old Master Yehuang could not help but praise.

“Miraculous Physician Qing, is this Longevity Noodles really so amazing? Why don’t you make more of it?” the old man asked calmly.

“Old Master, you’ll know when you try it. If you’re able to provide me with Longevity Fish, I’ll be able to make more of it,” Qing Shui smiled and said casually.

“No wonder. To think that the Longevity Fish is required.” The old man’s gaze when looking at Qing Shui was now very different from before.

“How many bowls of this Longevity Noodles can one eat? It’s impossible for one to keep on eating. Wouldn’t that mean that if one has Longevity Fish, one would be able to extend their life endlessly? Furthermore, a person can only take a limited one or two Longevity Fish as it is in one lifetime. He has already taken it before.”

“I only know that it can at least extend one’s life for 50 years. I’m not sure if it is still effective beyond this period,” Qing Shui said with certainty.

The old man broke into a smile, nodded, picked up the Longevity Noodles and started eating.

The old man ate very quickly and after the time taken for ten breaths, the bowl of Longevity Noodles was finished. He put down the bowl, as if craving for more. Then, he closed his eyes, as if he was resting.

Many people watched on curiously and waited. They were waiting for Old Master Yehuang’s comment on the Longevity Noodles. Not long later, Old Master Yehhuang opened his eyes and looked at Qing Shui. “This is really good stuff. But I heard that you still know of other means of extending one’s life.”

“The potential of Old Master’s body is already full and the heavenly and earthly treasures you’ve taken have already brought your body to its limits. For now, I don’t have any other means. This is unless I can attain a breakthrough in my medical skills. Don’t worry, I guarantee that I’ll definitely be able to extend your lifespan again within 50 years. I’ll definitely be able to attain a breakthrough in my medical skills within 50 years. If I’m lucky, I’ll only require 10 years and the chances are very high.”

Qing Shui didn’t even blush when he lied. Right now, he only wanted to tie down this old man from the Yehuang Clan with the Longevity Noodles. He believed that with this, at the very least, Yehuang Clan wouldn’t do anything to him. They didn’t ask how he got his hands on Longevity Noodles. For one, they knew that it was impossible to rear Longevity Fish. The old man didn’t have enough time. Another thing was that they didn’t know how to make the Longevity Noodles either.

Qing Shui had everything planned out the moment he saw the old man.