Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 2094 - The Enemies Are Here. Seventh Grade Formation Eye Stone

Qing Shui returned to the street in front of the Imperial Cuisine Hall, where noises of the pedestrians could be heard all around the place. Deep down, he was upset. The Imperial Cuisine Hall had a decent location. Thus, even though he just started his business recently, it still shouldn’t be this empty. The humans in this part of the world might have outstanding physiques, but they were still omnivores and fed on all kinds of unhealthy stuff. Therefore, it was normal for them to get sick.

Moreover, it was very common for people to injure themselves. Countless warriors engaged in battles every day in fights against demonic beasts or wild animals. Thus, the clinics here tended to focus more on attending to people’s injuries and saving their lives.

Today was the third day since the Imperial Cuisine Hall opened. On the first day, there were people from the Ji Clan and the Kong Clan who came by for the opening celebration…

But from that day onwards, his business had been cold. Even though a lot of people were aware that this was a clinic, they left as soon as they saw Qing Shui’s age. It seemed that they preferred the older physicians, as they would have more experiences.

The Kong Clan and the Ji Clan wanted to help Qing Shui advertise his clinic, but he rejected their offers.

Right at this moment, an old man came. The old man was dressed ordinarily, one of his arms dripping with blood.

Qing Shui only sensed that he was an ordinary man. It was obvious that no matter how prosperous a place might be, there would still be poor people in it. This old man wasn’t rich, nor did he have high cultivations. And Looking at his wounds, it was safe to assume that he got bitten by a wild beast.

“Dear physician, my arm is bleeding continuously. Can you please help me to stop the bleeding?” The old man’s face looked very pale when he was speaking.

“Sure!” As soon as Qing Shui finished speaking, he immediately stopped the old man from bleeding out by poking him a few times. The old man was shocked. There were no such things as hitting a pressure point in this world. Or rather, the myths about completely paralyzing a person by striking their pressure points didn’t exist in this world.

Qing Shui was an expert in the field of acupuncture and had a complete understanding of the meridians. He could numb a person, make a person lose a part of his sensations, or even cause him to lose his consciousness or die. However, he wasn't able to halt all the movements of a body, leaving only the eyes and brain functioning properly.

But stopping a person’s bleeding was easy. Sealing meridians? They were both nothing to a person with high level cultivations.

The old man looked at Qing Shui in surprise... Initially, he planned to go to another clinic to get his wound wrapped up once Qing Shui stopped his bleeding. But by now, he was already frozen in shock by the things which Qing Shui had done.

Qing Shui cut off the shirt on the old man’s arms. The wound was large and had gotten so deep to the point it hurt his meridians. Qing Shui first took out his Gold Needles and pierced through the old man's skin. Moving on, he used the tip of the needle and pricked it on the gap between the snapped meridians—Force of Rebirth! The old man’s wounds healed in a few seconds. However, he still needed some time to stabilize the meridians.

Qing Shui then applied some medicinal herbs which acted as disinfectants on his skin.

The entire procedure went on smoothly, and the old man was so shocked to the point he became silent. It might not be his first time getting injured, but it was definitely the first time he saw his injuries recovering so quickly. Not only was it fast, but it was also perfect. It was unlike any other physicians, who would stitch his wounds and remove the stitch again on a later date. That wasted a lot of time.

“Alright, do not exert any strength for three days. Eat more food and you will be back in shape by then,” advised Qing Shui.

In the end, the old man wanted to pay but got rejected by Qing Shui, “Since my business just started, I won’t charge you for it. You can help me advertise my clinic though.”

The old man nodded after a moment of thoughts, “Definitely! Dear physician, please accept my thanks.” He left the Imperial Cuisine Hall with a huge grin on his face, even partially hopping around happily.

Qing Shui wasn’t short of money. Even in other places, he wouldn’t charge any money from the poor people. Even though the old man might not exactly be poor, he was just an ordinary man. Moreover, he was one of the first patients in a while. If it had been some other time, Qing Shui might have asked him back for some initial costs instead.

It was a law. Just like in his previous incarnation, some people who didn't lack money continued to look for jobs to keep themselves occupied. Despite not being short of money, they would still take their salaries.

After about two hours, Cong Yunlong came out with his wife. By now, Tong Ruo was no longer as pale as before and instead, she was looking a lot more brilliant and lively. She bowed down upon seeing Qing Shui, “Thank you, Miraculous Physician!”

“I dare not call myself a Miraculous Physician. Elder sister, you can call me Qing Shui!” Qing Shui decided to answer humbly.

“Tong Ruo, it isn’t that easy to recognize a younger brother like this.” Cong Yunlong suggested cheerfully.

“Alright, I would very much like to have a younger brother, but……”

“It is destiny which brings us together. A lifetime may seem long, but it isn’t actually the case. While I am alive, I don’t want to care about too many things. It is too exhausting. I think simple life is the best life.” They understood what Qing Shui meant.

By now, Cong Yunlong could already confirm that Qing Shui knew about their identities. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Younger brother, you are such a straightforward person. If you don’t mind, from now on, we will be brothers with each other.”

“I couldn’t have asked for more. Brother Long!”

“Brother Shui, alright, let’s go outside and enjoy a few drinks together!” Cong Yunlong said in joy.

“We are not going outside today. The Imperial Cuisine Hall isn’t just for treating illnesses and helping the patients. And it’s not like I am trying to boast myself, but so far, I have yet to see anyone who surpassed me in their cooking skills.”

“Ah!” Both Cong Yunlong and Tong Ruo were shocked.

“Let’s go to the backyard. It is more quiet there.”

Qing Shui closed the Imperial Cuisine Hall for the time being. In any case, no one would come in even if he left the door completely open.

It was not like Qing Shui hadn’t thought of the benefits when he made friends with the couple, but he could guarantee that he had no intentions to harm them. Anyway, they would not lose anything by befriending him and might even profit in return. As the old wise man always said: “Friends were meant to help each other out and move forward together. If they didn’t see eye to eye, even if they shared a decent relationship for a moment, the friendships would slowly begin to deteriorate as time passed.”

Just like a golden rule, he saw it happened in both of his worlds. Relationships based on profit or something along the line would fall even quicker with the time. The only exception was the family bond, as it was the only thing which one could never cut off from their life. It was a part of them. The blood was connecting them in more sacred and undeniable ways.

Soon, Qing Shui’s statements were proven to be true…

The dishes which Qing Shui prepared was delicious and so was the wine. Initially, Tong Ruo didn't feel like drinking, but she felt shy to tell Qing Shui about it. Thus, she reluctantly took up the wine cup.

“Sister, this is no ordinary wine. Not only will it not hurt your health and the baby, but it can even bring benefits to both of you. You can call this the medicinal wine.” Naturally, Qing Shui was able to figure out what Tong Ruo was thinking.

After hearing this, Tong Ruo finally felt relieved. It was as though she would believe whatever Qing Shui said.

Without realizing it, three days had passed, and Tong Ruo had recovered completely. Cong Yunlong bid his farewell to Qing Shui and passed him a token, “Younger brother, you should have been able to tell that we aren’t humans. It’s as you said, don’t think too much. I am your friend, and if there are any things which you need my help with in the future, feel free to come to Nine Continents Star Ocean Domain. This token will lead you to the Silver Dragon Palace.”

Qing Shui took over the token. As he was about to say something, numerous energies suddenly began to gather in the sky. Cong Yunlong’s expression changed, “Little brother, can you please do me a favor?”

Qing Shui looked at Cong Yunlong, “What favor?”

“Long story short, the enemies are here. It’s thanks to them that your sister gets injured like that. I’ll try to hold them off while you take Tong Ruo and run away from this place. This way, at least there is someone who will continue the legacy of the Cong Clan.” Cong Yulong gave Qing Shui a helpless-kind of expression when he chose the obvious way to protect his family.

Qing Shui looked into the sky, and smiled lightly, “It’s true that the people outside may be strong, but we don’t need to worry nor run away from them. They won’t be able to handle the things that are awaiting them outside.”

At the moment Qing Shui finished speaking, he swung his arm and immediately, the things around him went through a significant change. A layer of faint qi began to shroud the entire manor.

Formations!

Whenever Qing Shui arrived and settled down at a place, he would set up a large formation which he would only activate in emergency situations. And thanks to the formations, he would have some time to control the situation or bring the people with him to safety.

A few flags appeared in Qing Shui’s hand. After that, he tossed them into the surroundings because the purpose of the flags was to stabilize the formation.

Qing Shui who had the Formation Eyes Stone with him would naturally be able to accomplish great things with his Formations. After all, merely one Formation Eye Stone was enough for him to surpass everyone on the same level in the way of Formations.

Formation Eye Stones(seventh grade): Increased the power, endurance, resistance, and duration of the Formation by seven times. It also reduced the materials to set up a Formation by the same amount.