Ancient Strengthening Technique

298 - Stone Monument of the Resting tiger, ‘Inner state of immovable like the Mountains

"Wow, to think that someone could actually ignore Gongsun Jianwu. This is something new!"

"I really suspect if he's actually impotent..."

...

"Elder Mo, are you sure that Qing Shui can win Jianwu?" A white-haired handsome middle-aged man asked, exuding great aura which seemed to be more like surging waves.

"Palace Lord, I believe I'm still able to judge this clearly. He is not only stronger than Jianwu, he probably wouldn't lose out to the Chief Disciples of the other halls." Elder Mo smiled and said.

If Qing Shui were here, he would notice that Elder Mo was the elderly who had imparted them with the Heavenly Palace Sword Art.

"Of course I trust that Elder Mo has good judgement. I'm aware of the prowess of the Golden Eye."

"It seems like you're full of admiration for this young chap," The handsome middle-aged man who was Starmoon Hall's Palace Lord said gently.

"Admiration? Of course I'm full of admiration of him. But he is with Old Master Cang and Elder Fei," Elder Mo said looking as if it was a pity.

"Oh, so that's the case. It seems like our Starmoon Hall would rise again in the future." The Palace Lord chuckled, his voice low but strong, such that one would be able to stand listening to it for a very long time.

"Then in next year's competition, should we have Jianwu or Qing Shui as the Chief Disciple?"

"About this, mmm, I'll have a talk with that lass. I'll check if she'll take the initiative to step down, if not, we'll let them have a sparring." The Palace Lord gave it some thought before he said to Elder Mo.

"Mmm, Starmoon Hall's male disciples are hopeless, causing us old men to lost face, too," Elder Mo said and chuckled.

"I'm the Palace Lord, but I'm no different. Even Starmoon Hall's men would scold me."

Qing Shui practised at the square for a short while before he left. It was already past noon and many people had gone for their lunch. Qing Shui directly entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal from a place with no one around.

It was very convenient to settle his meal in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, since everything was available. Most important, the things that were left inside would not spoil even if left for a very long period of time.

Even if Qing Shui stewed a pot of fish and left it in there for sixty to seventy days, it would still be fresh and tasty, and did not go bad at all.

Qing Shui knew that this was the uniqueness to the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. From the start, Qing Shui could finish a pot of fish every half a month. The pot of fish would not spoil within the half month period, and after being heated up, it would be no different from a freshly stewed pot of fish.

There was once when Qing Shui did not manage to finish the food before he was kicked out of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. When he entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal once again, while it had only been half a day in the actual world, it had been over seventy-five days in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal . What had astonished Qing Shui was that the leftover fish and that All Aspect Nourishment Soup had not gone stale at all. After heating them up, they tasted just as good as before.

Every since then, Qing Shui would stew fish, fish soup, turtles, and the All Aspect Nourishment Soup unceasingly. This way, it would be more convenient when he was settling his own meals.

After his meal, Qing Shui walked around in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. But suddenly and unexpectedly, he noticed that the thousand-year Gloomy Wood had already sprouted.

Just like how it was with that nameless branch, Qing Shui had high hopes on what it would sprout from it. But after all, in his memory, since this thousand-year Gloomy Wood was only a material for a magic treasure, and he had not much use for it for now, he decide to sow it, having little hope that it would actually sprout.

A green tender branch which was one inch long sprouted out from the tip of the thousand-year Gloomy Wood. Yes, it was a most vibrant green color, so green that it was astonishing, and had given out a dangerous aura.

The closer Qing Shui got to it, the more he could sense the cold aura it was giving out, or rather, a chilly aura that was spine-chilling. It was how they said that the more beautiful an item was, the more dangerous its poison. Such a strong chilling aura was comparable, if not stronger than that of the thousand-year coldsteel.

If the chilly aura from this inch of sprout was even more threatening than that of the thousand-year coldsteel, what would become of it in the future? Could it be that this thousand-year Gloomy Wood was also chopped down from a tree?

Qing Shui noticed this was a troublesome issue. However, it should only be possible for things like wood blocks to be chopped down from trees. What kind of object was this thousand-year Gloomy Tree?

Did it sprout fruits?

He could not help but think of the Heaven Shaking Hammer made from the ten thousand year coldsteel. Qing Shui recalled that when he first received it, he did not feel the cold aura it was emitting. But considering that it was a weapon made from a ten thousand year coldsteel, it should not be such that he could not feel any cold aura from it at all.

Qing Shui lowered his head and looked at the young sprout of the thousand-year Gloomy Wood, so green that it was exuding a weak glow, and it was extremely beautiful!

Since there was no way to forge any magic treasures at the moment, let it grow then. At the very least, in the future, there would be no lack of thousand-year Gloomy Wood. It'd even better if there were some unexpected rewards. Qing Shui, happiness would always come at you suddenly.

He went up to the screen with the majestic mountain and river painting, picked up the Heaven Shaking Hammer, and once again looked at it with his Heavenly Vision Technique to see that it was still a twenty percent increment to his strength, a three hundred point increment to his strength.

Could it be because of the lack of workmanship of the blacksmith who had made this Heaven Shaking Hammer, that he had not been able to forge it to be with cold poison? When he grabbed it in his hands, he also did not feel any cool aura. It was just slightly colder than the usual metals.

When he was waving it around the other day, he could only feel its power and aura. It did not have any cold poison nor was it so spine-chilling cold...

Just to prove that he was right, Qing Shui went to the empty spot where he usually went through his training when he was in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, increasing his aura, and channeling his strength into the Heaven Shaking Hammer. The black hammer itself was like a like a bundle of dark clouds, and when he had channeled strength into it, its surface emitted a faint black fog.

He waved and hammered!

Qing Shui continued to increase the amount of strength channeled in, striking, horizontal slashing, and hammer vibrations...

The thousand year coldsteel had seemed to be like a block of ice, but the Heaven Shaking Hammer in Qing Shui's hands which was made of ten thousand year coldsteel was black and bright. He could not understand why this was so.

After spending some time thinking about it but yet could still not understand, Qing Shui decided not to think about it anymore. He left the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and headed towards the stone monuments which were at the back of the mountain. It had been a few days since he had last came.

Tomorrow, he still had to learn the Heavenly Thunder Slash from Cang Wuya and the thought of it made him very excited. Every man revered violence, and the martial techniques in the Heavenly Palace, the one which Qing Shui yearned to pick up the most was the Heavenly Thunder Slash which would raises one's attack by thirty percent.

There was not much for him to do in the afternoon, which was why he had planned to take a look at the stone monuments. He was afraid that if any damage were to come to them, he would feel too depressed.

The area where the stone monuments were was still filled with people walking about. It would not change just because someone had came by, or had not gone. However, the only difference was that if there was a beauty appearing before a certain stone monument, there would be more people standing before that particular stone monument, men in particular.

Qing Shui continued to looked at the Tiger Form which he had not finished going through. He looked for the stone monument he should be looking at to discover that there was not a single person in front of it.

When Qing Shui saw the image on it, he understood why it was so. A inscription of a tiger was inscribed on it, with a tiger lying down, eyes squinting, feeling lazy, giving one the feeling of peace.

When Qing Shui saw this carving, his hair stood up. It was because this carving did not appear very gentle in Qing Shui's eyes.

This tiger's expression was akin to an unmoving mountain, and would definitely not lose out to that Tiger carving he saw back then. Of course, people who did not understand this would never be able to understand its crux.

Qing Shui stared at the fierce tiger on the stone monument, and while the smooth lines of the tiger's body was lying down on the ground, Qing Shui knew that it could immediately launch the most fearsome attack in an instant.

Qing Shui looked at the stone monument and unknowingly, the circulation of the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique slowed down, but its strength increased. Qing Shui stared at the whole tiger fixedly, not wanting to miss out on any single detail.

Many people came and left, not understanding why Qing Shui was looking at the gentlest tiger, and very very intoxicatedly at that. Some of would stop for a moment, and then left, shaking their heads and sighing.

Unmoving like the mountain!

Qing Shui finally understood what it meant to be unmoving like the mountain. It was like the old chaps in the Heavenly Palace, each of them being like an existence which was unmoving like a mountain.

By right it was only those who had accumulated hundreds of years of comprehension and experience would be able to arrive at the Unmoving Like The Mountain Realm.

Unmoving like the mountain. For one to stand there like a block of mountain, emitting an aura and pressure which would stop one from coming close...

The concept of this monument was simply for one to be unmoving like the mountain. Amongst all the beasts, only the ferocious tiger would be able to achieve this, and only the ferocious tiger would be able to have dignity of the King of beasts.

The moment Qing Shui was comprehending this, the Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique which had been circulating in his body unceasingly underwent an intriguing change, causing a huge change to occur to Qing Shui.

Insight！

This was a leveling up in terms of one’s conception, and was something that was hard to come by, just like a person's disposition. Disposition was something built up by time and the environment, so is the same for concept.

Qing Shui only felt that the Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique flowing through in his body, and that liquid in his Dan Tian suddenly condensed a lot, just like how they had increased a lot in amount, and had become more dense in his meridian channels and his Dan Tian, allowing him to feel his strength strengthening by a lot throughout his body.

Pa!

At that moment, the Ancient Strengthening Technique suddenly broke through from the 95th cycle to the 96th cycle, and it seemed to show signs of being able to breakthrough to the 97th cycle.

While he felt that his had gained a lot of strength earlier, once again, he received additional increment, bringing so much astonishment to Qing Shui such that he was at a loss. It was like a person who had suddenly won a prize of five million, and had just collected the money when someone told him that something went wrong, and what he won was actually thirty million instead.

"Haha, it's going to reach the 97th cycle soon, and it'll be the final cycle for the 4th layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique after the 98th cycle. So long as I can break through the 99th cycle and enter the 100th cycle, it'll be the 5th Layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique and I'll be able to head to the Yan Clan then." Qing Shui smiled happily, and was even laughing out loud.

Many people in the surroundings all casted a strange glance towards this handsome guy who had been standing in the same spot for the whole afternoon, and now, he seemed to be smiling foolishly.

"Lunatic..."

"Did he fall out of love? Who would bear to abandon such a handsome man? It's a pity that I'm already attached, if not, I'd offer myself to him in marriage." A woman with thick makeup on looked at Qing Shui, feeling heartache for him.

"Aunty, you? He'd be able to get a better candidate if he had casually grabbed someone," A man said and chuckled.

"You heartless person. Do you think I don't recognize you?

"The other day when you were having the ball of a time on me, what was it that you had said?" The woman asked.

The man ran off sneakily!

Qing Shui rubbed his nose and shook his head, "To think that I've gotten ahead of myself!"

Qing Shui would never have expected to be able to comprehend the state of being unmoving like a mountain from this inscription. Not only did it increase his aura by at least fifty percent, the condensation of the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique would at least increase Qing Shui's powers by over ten percent, which had a greater effect than a Small Revitalizing Pellet. And most importantly, there was an intriguing change to his aura.

Qing Shui was well aware of the importance of exerting pressure. Why would he not be overjoyed to increase it by fifty percent? "Unmoving like the mountain, haha, unmoving like the mountain!"