Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 491 - Massacre, Crimson Dragon Bow, Poison Dragon Arrow

The chilling light swept towards Qing Shui’s nape like a meteor falling in the night sky. There was an aura of bloodlust gleaming from the bright light. It was the speed of light, and it was of another realm.

Qing Shui felt a cold sweat when he sensed that his neck was exposed to danger. Even though he had a defense of seven countries combined, there were some vulnerable points around his body that could be easily exploited.

He was able to attain the defense of seven countries combined because of the set of armors he wore, which protected the vital parts of his body by resisting heavy blows from his opponents. He didn’t know what to do when he sensed the bloodlust aura aiming for the nape of his neck.

Qing Shui leaned forward instinctively, and before he had any chance to react-

Clink!

Qing Shui heard the sound of large weapons locking against each other about a few feet away from his nape!

Qing Shui felt inferior from the energy blast resulted from the clash of weapons. He could tell from the strength of the attack that it was of the Obscure Realm. There was a “paragon” realm that one would be able to achieve by surpassing the very peak of their respective realms. Every known realm would have this type of extraterrestrial realm existing within them.

Qing Shui hasn’t even reached this realm yet. But he had a hunch that the person who assaulted him was none other than the strange old man from before.

The assault this time felt deadlier than Feng Shamo’s merciless strike. Since he was caught off guard, Qing Shui felt that he would not able to defend himself from the incoming attack. Moreover, the “Minute Subtlety” effect had already diminished completely, so there was nothing he could do!

But when Qing Shui heard the distinct sound of weapon clashing with each other, he felt a sense of relief; he knew he was safe. However, the next wave of assault was already coming towards him from the sky.

Thump!

Qing Shui performed a back kick, which was the ferocious tiger form - Tiger Tailwhip Kick!

Crack!

Qing Shui turned around. The strange old man was holding a dagger as black as the darkest ink with one hand, while his other arm was fractured by Qing Shui’s kick.

“Bai Gui! Heavenly Palace is really something. They even sent someone like you to protect this kid.”

The strange old man turned pale and gritted his teeth when he saw another white-haired man nearby. The skinny white-haired man scanned the area calmly while wielding a seemingly ordinary dagger.

“Another one with a “paragon” realm cultivation!” The man named Bai Gui was the epitome of demon-like speed.

Sometimes, it would be the best thing to be satisfied, like ending one’s cultivation at the Truth Realm, Obscure Realm, or Ancestor Realm without any restraints. Maybe in a few years or a hundred years later, or even two hundred years later, one would be able to return to the basics of cultivation within these realms, and eventually reaching a realm of “perfection.”

The strange old man had already reached that kind of realm, as evident by his speed and the use of his sword hidden in his sleeves. However, the man named Bai Gui seemed better in those areas than the old man was.

“Qing Shui, I will take care of this old guy. I was supposed to take you to safety, but I guess that will have to wait!”

The white-haired man dashed towards the strange old man as soon as he relayed his message to Qing Shui. At the same time, the big tiger and the tall burly man rushed to assault Qing Shui!

They were getting closer!

Qing Shui was confident about the Diamond Gigantic Elephant’s defense against the incoming assault in addition, there was no time for it to counter with the Mighty Elephant Stomp. The stomp, however, would not be able to injure the big tiger even if Diamond Gigantic Elephant was able to execute a counter-attack.

But first, he must eliminate that wretched beast tamer!

Qing Shui found an opening and swiftly jumped upwards when the Diamond Gigantic Elephant and the big tiger clashed. As he maneuvered in the air, he aimed at the back of that big tiger as his landing spot!

Bang!

The Diamond Gigantic Elephant was pushed back forcefully by the large claws of the big tiger. The big tiger was much stronger than Qing Shui’s Diamond Gigantic Elephant.

Everything happened too quickly, like a strike of lightning. The man facing him was shocked when he realized Qing Shui was in the midst of landing on top of his big tiger. He quickly swung his giant axe towards Qing Shui.

A large green Mountain Piercing Axe hurled towards Qing Shui with a brilliant demolishing force!

However, Qing Shui was calm. In fact, he felt ecstatic and excited!

Mighty Elephant Stomp!

Qing Shui had planned to use this tactic the moment he jumped towards the sky. As of now, he had reached a shocking strength of 15.6 million jins.

This would also mean that the weight of the Mighty Elephant Stomp contained about eight countries of strength!

Moreover, the big tiger’s defense had already been lowered by Qing Shui’s Armor Break Talisman earlier. It had been reduced by one country’s worth of defense!

Bang!

Crack…..

The sound of bones shattering was heard right after the loud shuddering stomp on the ground!

Shield Attack!

Simultaneously, Qing Shui shielded himself against the approaching giant axe with the Violet Gold Divine Shield!

He was quick, but he had used up most of his energy with the Mighty Elephant Stomp. However, Qing Shui wasn’t worried as long as he wasn’t dealt a heavy blow to his vital areas.

As a precaution, he used the Violet Gold Divine Shield to block the attack!

Even though he had activated Shield Attack, Qing Shui was nevertheless sent flying off the ground by the demolishing force. Despite that, he didn’t receive any injuries due to his powerful defense. He would not be critically wounded as long as the force resistance of the shield was able to hold off the attack.

Roar! Moan!

The big tiger was roaring in pain as it stumbled to the ground. Qing Shui’s stomp directly broke its bones, muscles, and organs into pieces. After all, the force of impact had directly crushed its body, leaving no room for escape.

No one would be able to endure the force of the stomp, not even the Golden Eyed Hurricane Tiger!

Everything happened in a flash. Qing Shui made his move during the collision between the Golden Eyed Hurricane Tiger and Diamond Gigantic Elephant. Furthermore, the big tiger’s speed had been reduced by three folds earlier by Qing Shui’s Binding Talisman.

He felt great stomping the big tiger to death. This feeling was much better than hugging a beautiful woman. Likewise, this would be the second time he had used the Mighty Elephant Stomp on a demonic beast. The destructibility of the technique was far superior to the force that resulted from the average bashing technique.

The chances of using the stomp technique like this were rare. It would require multiple coincidence to make it happen again.

In an instant, the big ferocious tiger was on the verge of death. The tiger’s head drooped to the ground as it took its last breath.

Everyone was shocked at what had happened!

The members of the Demon Beast Sect were even more stunned when they saw the big tiger laying dead on the ground. They knew all too well that this Golden Eyed Hurricane Tiger was the Old Ancestor’s prized mount. The Old Ancestor chose the big tiger as his mount instead of the average flying beasts because of its formidable strength.

Unfortunately, the formidable tiger was crushed to death by a single stomp…...

All the other sects and clans who were sent to kill Qing Shui had prior knowledge about the formidable strength of this demonic beast. The tiger was the main show of the event, which was why they desperately tried to force Qing Shui to battle against it so that he will die by its claws. However, the result was not what they had anticipated.

Roar!

Qing Shui faced the sky and let out a loud roar!

The mental state akin to the Immovable Mountains was raised to the peak once more, and he released an imposing aura. Most of the Peak Martial Kings with the strength of three countries backed off when they felt his aura.

Qing Shui flew upwards about 20 meters from the ground and landed around 10 meters from the unkempt man who had utilized poison against him!

When the unkempt man saw Qing Shui landing a few meters from him, he was utterly surprised! But he quickly made his move to defend himself.

Bang!

A cloud of magnificent fume filled the air. He took out a strange and small crimson bow from his mail armor with his right hand while simultaneously taking out a black arrow with his left.

Zoom!

“Damn, Pei Sanyuan must have spent a fortune on that. He finally used his one and only “Don't forget the Hallucinogen Powder that can disorientate people’s senses too!”

“Crimson Dragon Bow? The force from the combination of the Crimson Dragon Bow and the Poison Dragon Arrow had the ability to puncture through any armor and shield with the thickness of up to one foot…..”

“Pei Sanyuan sure kept all the good stuff to himself. Both the Crimson Dragon Bow and the Poison Dragon Arrow were crafted from materials harvested from the Martial Saint grade Crimson Dragon and Poison Dragon respectively…”

…...

Qing Shui instinctively used the Violet Gold Divine Shield to block the incoming arrow!

Clink!

Spurt!

Qing Shui was once again blasted away from the unkempt man. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, indicating that his internal organs have been inflicted with light wounds. He stared at the man with the crimson bow with murderous intent.

“What kind of shield is that, how did it manage to block my Poison Dragon Arrow….” Pei Sanyuan was stupefied. The arrow was supposed to pierce through any shield, and the poison would immediately take effect and corrode his opponent once they have touched the arrow. The tip of the arrow was made with the most venomous tooth of the Poison Dragon. Not only was the tooth as sharp as a knife, it was also lethal.

Core Qi Method!

Cloudmist Steps!

Qing Shui abandoned his fight with the burly man wielding the giant axe. The burly man was still rushing towards him recklessly. In a split second, Qing Shui commanded his Diamond Gigantic Elephant and completely passed the burly man by jumping over him.

Clop!

Qing Shui was rushing down from mid-air while in the stance of striking with his Big Dipper Sword!

Clink!

The sword hacked into Pei Sanyuan’s head like a hammer to a nail!

Boom!

On the other hand, the Diamond Gigantic Elephant shook the entire area with the Mighty Elephant Stomp, causing a complete mess as the martial warriors were sent flying in the air.

All of this happened within two breaths time before the martial warriors finally fell onto the ground!

Around the same time, Qing Shui had already mounted the Diamond Gigantic Elephant as was heading towards the the burly man!

Gong Qi was scared. He was terrified for the first time when he witnessed how quick the young man in front of him was. Qing Shui was swift like a vanishing shadow. Gong Qi felt that Qing Shui was only getting stronger every time he disappeared and reappeared for a mere second….

He was a demon, definitely a demon!

Boom!

At the same time, the man named Bai Gui slashed the throat of the strange old man with his dagger. Then, like a lion who had entered the lamb’s den, he began to go around and kill more people. Those Peak Martial Kings with the strength of three countries could only watch on as their throats were slashed one-by-one as they weren’t able to defend themselves.

Qing Shui observed that man’s body movement and speed carefully. Qing Shui had always been confident about his speed, especially when he needed to evade or attack his opponents. But he was shocked to see that Bai Gui had already surpassed the realm of “Minute Subtlety” and was way more advanced than Qing Shui in terms of evasion and sneak attacks.

Qing Shui knew he wasn’t in the realm of “Minute Subtlety”, but somewhere far stronger than Qing Shui’s current “Minute Subtlety.” Of course, Qing Shui would still be able to catch up to him if he was able to upgrade his realm to another level.

Shield Attack!

Qing Shui’s Violet Gold Divine Shield clashed with the burly man’s giant axe. However, the burly man was sent flying off from the ground!

Qing Shui was an unforgiving man. While the man was bashed backwards, Qing Shui took the opportunity and rushed towards him while abruptly swung the Big Dipper Sword forward!

With all his might, he released the Sword of Fifth Wave!

Boom boom….

A series of explosions rang out!

The burly man was forcefully sent flying off once again. This time he was blasted away more quickly than with Qing Shui’s Shield Attack. The man’s giant axe was thrown off from his grasps. His body was distorted beyond recognizable.

The tide has turned!

Those who had wanted to murder Qing Shui had lost half of their will to fight after witnessing the deaths of the burly man, the big tiger, as well as the death of the Silver Horn Tyrant Bull King.

When Qing Shui turned to look at them, most of them had a frightened look on their faces. However, they weren’t frightened to death because there were still about a dozen people remaining that were able to fight back.

Without realizing it, the white-haired man was already standing beside Qing Shui!

“Thank you!”

Qing Shui thanked the white-hairded man while he still has the chance!

“You see those three over there? If you eliminate them first, the rest will be a piece of cake.” The white-haired man glanced towards Qing Shui. It was hard to tell what he was implying.

Following the man’s glance towards the dozens of men standing in front of them, he was able to spot three elders who seemed like the leaders Bai Gui was talking about!

These three men were wearing the Sword Tower uniform. Their hair were as white as snow and reached the waist area. Each of the elderly men wielded a dark green long sword that was 5 meters long and 7 inches wide. Although the color of the sword was unpleasant to the eye, it did not seem to be an ordinary weapon!

The three of them wielded the same sword. Qing Shui decided to analyze the swords by utilizing his spiritual sense!

Sword Tower seemed to have a good handle on the training of their members since the three elderly men standing here held the strength equivalent of five countries combined. Qing Shui had a hunch that they may have a few powerful items that enhanced their strength by multiple folds.

“Seems like Sword Tower really wants me dead.” Qing Shui squinted his eyes while he glared at the calm elderly men in front of him.

“You were able to see it right? These three are extraordinary because they are all guardians of the Sword Tower. But they are not in their strongest form right now. No one knows their names, except the fact that they are the three brothers commonly known as the three demons of Sword Tower.” The white-haired man calmly explained to Qing Shui.

“Are they biological brothers?” Qing Shui noted the subtle similarities between the three elderly men.

“Yes, they are biological brothers. Not only that, they are triplets with a spiritual connection.” The white-haired man smiled.

“Spiritual connection?” Qing Shui gave a puzzled look at the white-haired man.

“Yes, that’s right. Spiritual connection. More importantly, all three of them had cultivated the same martial techniques and to the same grade of cultivation realm. Even though they only have the strength of five countries, they are able to work together in harmony. They can reach about 60% synchronization easily.” The white-haired man glanced back at Qing Shui as he described the three brother’s spiritual connection.

Qing Shui thought about the time he figured out that he could also use Diamond Gigantic Elephant’s Mighty Elephant Stomp ability. It wasn’t a type of joint attack, but rather a type of interchangeability ability between the two of them to create an explosive force towards their opponents.

The requirements for the interchange of ability were not only high, but they were strict as well. He managed to use the Mighty Elephant Stomp the first time because of his “desperation” to use it. However, Qing Shui was still able to understand the harmony and compatibility level the white-haired man was talking about.

This type of harmonious attack was also considered a joint attack of higher degree because of how their energy was sychronized!

If these three were able to synchronize their energy by 60%, it may be possible to outlast the strength of nine countries combined….

Qing Shui gave an astonished look at the white-haired man. The World of Nine Continents was quite vast indeed. There was no official Martial Saint warrior in the Greencloud Continent, but those who have the strength of nine countries were considered the greatest in the continent.

However, these three could easily achieve the strength of nine countries through synchronization. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to defeat a martial warrior with the strength of six countries even with their current strength of five countries.

It was important to note that it was possible that these three could achieve the strength of nine countries very easily…..

“The only way to eliminate them is to cripple one of them first.” The white-haired man said softly after observing Qing Shui’s gaze.

“How about this, try to pin those three down while I will find the chance to eliminate one of them.” The white-haired man continued.

Qing Shui nodded and laughed: “Okay!”

Qing Shui agreed to his proposition because of his confidence in his Diamond Gigantic Elephant. Having said that, he knew he would still be in a difficult situation due to the weakness of their defenses. Even though the strength of Diamond Gigantic Elephant’s defense and the Divine Shield Talisman, in addition to other emergency defense mechanics would add up to about nine countries, once the vulnerable points were exposed and exploited, Qing Shui and his Diamond Gigantic Elephant would be in great danger.