Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 347 Promoted as an Elder. Farewell, Setting Foot on the Journey Back Home

“Qing Shui, it’s been a long time since we have seen each other!”

Qing Shui felt it was unexpected that Mo Yan was the one initiating a conversation with him. He was even more surprised when Mo Yan showed a faint, subtle smile on his face.

“Yes, thank you for treating my wounds last time!” Qing Shui replied, unknowing of any other formalities.

“Don’t mention it. I feel embarrassed that what I did had no contrasting effect. You could have easily treated yourself. I felt like I was just meddling around.” Mo Yan laughed.

This time, he laughed out loud. His smile was gentle, and although it was a bit perverted and indifferent, it actually suited him well. It made people feel pity for him.

After they exchanged a few random words, both of them bid farewell to each other. Qing Shui aimlessly walked around the Heavenly Palace. He slowed down whenever arriving at a crowded place, but he sped up whenever he passed a secluded place. However, when he spotted a good and attractive scenery, Qing Shui would stop to take in the view. There was a certain impact to a person’s mood when looking at such scenery.

The second day!

??? ……...

The bell in the Starmoon Hall rang nine times! This meant that there was something important going on among the halls in the Heavenly Palace. The sound summoned everyone in the Starmoon Hall to gather together.

Everyone from the Starmoon Hall went to the public square and assembled after they heard the bell ring. Within an instant, the public square was already in a great commotion as people were moving about in the crowd. There were still many disciples, protectors, elders, and others who had yet to arrive in the square.

“What is happening again. It’s been a long time since the bell rang for nine times.” Already, there were discussions amongst the crowd.

“What is going on? Using nine rings to summon us here... I was just doing my work. I am in a bad mood, not knowing exactly what is happening right now!” A handsome young man yelled in resentment.

“What are you saying? We did it over and over again and you are in a bad mood...” A beautiful young girl on his side shyly scolded him.

“Over and over again….” The people surrounding them began to whistle, making the girl run away with her face covered!

The man, however, gazed at the surrounding crowd excitedly before leaving with the girl.

“Normally when the bell in the Heavenly Palace rings nine times, it could be a ceremony to worship our ancestors, a ceremony to promote someone to an Elder, or a ceremony to sack Elders... ” said a seemingly wise-looking young man.

“If you know so much, then what do you think will most likely happen?” A tall young man beside him asked curiously.

“Ancestor worshipping is impossible. If it is to punish an Elder, then maybe this is a ceremony to sack an Elder. But recently, there has been no news of any Elders making unforgivable mistakes!” The young man’s eyes gleamed.

“Could it be a ceremony to promote someone as an Elder?” The other young man asked absent-mindedly.

“Who could it be then? Who has the ability to be promoted to an Elder?”

No one knew who had shouted out those words, but after that, a lot of people became silent because they thought of two scenarios that had already happened: Qing Shui’s challenge to the nine warriors from Sword Tower, and Qing Shui’s battle with Xi Ri.

Nobody knew what kind of power Qing Shui possessed to be able to defeat even Xi Ri in a battle. It may be sudden to promote him to an Elder, given his age and potential of growth, but after a few more years, perhaps nobody would fuss about it anymore.

Qing Shui appeared on the arena fully clothed after he had a bath!

The arena was entirely filled with Elders and a few Supreme Elders. Although the Supreme Elders worked under the Elder Association and did not belong to any halls, they still treated the former halls that they had worked under as their family. Even though they were representing Heavenly Palace as a whole, the concerns over the halls they had worked under did not affect the Supreme Elders whatsoever.

The Starmoon Hall Palace Lord appeared as well. He did not uttered a word, but looked at Qing Shui happily. The lord felt satisfied knowing that Starmoon Hall would always be proud of him no matter what happened.

“I would like to announce a piece of good news to everyone today. Starmoon Hall will have the addition of a new Elder, and he is none other than Qing Shui whom you all should be familiar by now. He is also the youngest Elder in the history of Heavenly Palace.” One of the Elders smiled as he announced to everyone below the arena.

Although a lot of people had expected Qing Shui to know about it, judging from his clean appearance and clothing, they still felt it was incredible to hear from the Elders. In an instant, the crowd exploded into a frenzy.

“Crap, he just got promoted to Elder straightaway, and at a very young age. This is the Elder of the Heavenly Palace we are talking about! ”

“This status basically allows you to go anywhere unchallenged in the Greencloud continent!”

“He became an Elder at a very young age, his future is endless!”

……………...

The praises were endless!

The Elders on the arena also chatted with each other endlessly about random things. Some talked about the law, some made congratulatory remarks, and some were simply excited….

A lady walked towards Qing Shui and bestowed an Elder uniform to him. He accepted the uniform and carefully put it on. The violet robe made Qing Shui look even more gentle than before. Even the women nearby were captivated by his new appearance as well. However, they nervously lowered their heads when the surrounding people teased them of being spellbound by Qing Shui.

The second lady walked towards him carrying a beautiful crystal-clear token, directly pinning it onto Qing Shui’s waist area. This token represented the status of an Elder.

Qing Shui could clearly see the words “Order of Elder” on the front and the words “Heavenly Palace” on the back!

A third lady came and bestowed him a White Jade Sword, which symbolized his status as an Elder. The sharp sword is extremely valuable, but it could never be used against opponents in battles. However, it goes without doubt that this was the well-known White Jade Sword. Although it was less inferior to “Order of Elder”, it was still one of the important item used to symbolize an Elder.

Since Qing Shui was an Elder of the Heavenly Palace, he bowed to the surrounding crowd around him.

“Elder Qing, please give more guidance to me.”

Huoyun Liu-li said, looking at Qing Shui before going back. But she had not been able to hold her charming laughter after saying that to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui rubbed her head softly and messed up the hair that had been held up by her hairpin. She appeared charming when she looked at Qing Shui with such a bitterness gaze.

And then, three days have passed just like that!

“Qing Shui, be careful on your journey, please take good care of Mingyue and Liu-li.” Cang Wuya and Fei Wuji sent Qing Shui and the two women all the way to the bottom of the Heavenly Palace.

“Old man, please go back. Don’t worry, I will not let anything harm them. Martial Uncle Fei, thank you so much!”

“Grandpa, we will be back soon to see you again!”

The Firebird and Canghai Mingyue’s Golden Winged Thunder Condor circled around the sky above them. The phoenix crown on Firebird looked much bigger than before. Eventually, they left for their journey back home under the reluctant eyes of Cang Wuya and Fei Wuji.

It was Cang Wuya’s first time seeing Qing Shui’s beast. He was especially relieved after he saw the phoenix crown on its head.

The two women, however, were teary-eyed, especially Canghai Mingyue. It had been rare for Qing Shui to see this sensible side of hers.

“Mingyue, Liu-li, we will still come back in the future. So try to be happy! As they say, all good things must come to an end!” Qing Shui comforted both Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-li.

Perhaps due to Firebird’s acquisition of the phoenix crown, it did not cling onto the Golden Winged Thunder Condor as much as before. But what surprised Qing Shui was that the Golden Winged Thunder Condor took the initiative to rub itself on Firebird affectionately.

Canghai Mingyue was flushed with redness after she saw what had happened. Anyone would have their hearts melted instantly if they saw a shred of childlike shyness from a lady like Mingyue.

It was an indescribable beauty. Even the word ‘beauty’ would not be able to fully describe it. It was a kind of exquisite and romantic beauty that could overwhelm a human spirit. It was also a kind of beauty not solely for the pleasures to the eyes.

The reason might be because of the phoenix crown. Qing Shui eliminated the idea of a possible evolution for the Golden Winged Thunder Condor. Qing Shui did not see any light emanating from the its head. Undoubtedly, Firebird may have a bit of the phoenix blood.

As Qing Shui thought about his journey back home, he felt that his heart was already back at his house. The thought of going home grew intense as he began to feel impatient.

It couldn’t be helped since the Firebird was not on the same level of Golden Winged Thunder Condor. It was much faster now, but unfortunately, it could only go according to a Golden Winged Thunder Condor’s speed.

Qing Shui planned to let the Firebird and Golden Winged Thunder Condor rest for two hours everyday. He also decided not to change his usual training time. Not only that, Qing Shui had communicated with Firebird that he would enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal on its back. During this time, Firebird must not go near the two women or allow them to go near to him.

Firebird seemed excited. It may be due to his freedom from the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal, or it may be because of its newly-acquired phoenix crown. But either way, it was in its element as he soared across the sky.

After that, half of the month passed. They spent their time mostly on air, which was a good thing, as they could travel faster. Golden Winged Thunder Condor had also progressed its powers by half with the help of the Beast Pill. As a result, its speed and endurance had improved greatly.

It would take 20 days to reach the Southern City. Qing Shui initially wanted to skip past the city, but he knew that Canghai Mingyue would want to drop by and pay a tribute to her parents.

Qing Shui’s Ancient Strengthening Technique broke through to 101 cycles of circulated qi in half of the month and reached its peak. Soon, it would surpass 102 cycles.

What made Qing Shui happy was the fact that his powers had increased by 1% after one day without any additional external assistance. This also meant that Qing Shui would gain about 20,000 jin from the 1% of his 2,000,000 jin strength. His attack, speed, and spirit energy… would also all increase by 1%.

Qing Shui knew too well about the abnormality of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. That was why he hadn’t been that surprised anymore!

Southern City!

Qing Shui estimated that half of the time was cut down. One more month and they would be able to reach Cang Lang Country City. However, it would require two days to travel from Cang Lang Country City to Hundred Miles City.

“Mingyue, Liu-li, let us go pay a tribute to the seniors!”

Qing Shui spoke softly when he saw that Canghai Mingyue was at loss for words after arriving at the Southern City. She wasn’t shocked about what happened last time, but she would have never thought that Qing Shui would say those words. She had expected for him to fly over the city without hesitations. Those words made her happy.

Canghai Mingyue nodded. Her frown started to fade away!

As she put on the incense to her dead parents, Canghai Mingyue couldn’t help but cry… This year, she had tasted the meaning of loneliness. It was a loneliness that pained her from deep inside her bones.