Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 779 – Wuma Aristocratic Clan, Friendship

The two of them walked onwards, not knowing what to say. When Qing Shui looked towards Ye Guyan, he found that she was also looking towards him. When his gaze met her bright and beautiful eyes, his heart skipped a beat. Qing Shui felt that beautiful eyes and teeth were must haves for beauties.

Qing Shui turned his head without saying a word. He had only known her for about four days, and although she was a great beauty, Qing Shui had already decided to leave. He didn’t want to get himself involved with every single charming women he met.

It was better to not get involved in too many things. Moreover, Qing Shui had no feelings for her and he didn’t know when he would return to this place again. Qing Shui laughed at himself. What was he worrying about? It wasn’t as if she actually liked him.

This was the most relaxed and laidback meal he’d been at in the past few days. Everyone was very happy and the food tasted better than usual. When one was feeling troubled, he would have no appetite for food, no matter how good the food was. When one was in a good mood, even ordinary dishes would taste like delicacies.

Not long after they had their breakfast, someone came knocking on the door, saying that a member of the Wuma Aristocratic Clan was here to send something to Qing Shui. The group smiled and went out.

There were about a dozen people led by a middle-aged man. When he saw Qing Shui, he walked over, “Mister Qing, Old Master Ye, Miss Ye!”

“You are?” Qing Shui smiled and asked, nodding his head.

“We’re from the Wuma Aristocratic Clan. Our Old Master and Old Master Tantai told us to send this over to you.” The guy smiled and said politely. His attitude was one of respect.

Qing Shui didn’t stand on ceremony and merely gave his thanks. These were the things he deserved. He looked at the few fully-filled beast carriages that had been sent to the Ye Clan, not knowing what they were or what they contained.

There were also over ten Interspatial Silk Sachets. Before he left, the man smiled and said, “Our Old Master and Old Master Tantai have both invited you over for a chat when you’re free.”

“You can go back and tell them that I’ll visit today.”

The man smiled and replied that he would pass the message. He then bade goodbye to Qing Shui and the people from Ye Clan before leaving with the people he had brought over.

“Miss Ye, you’ll need to get someone to check on the goods.” Qing Shui smiled and said to Ye Guyan.

“Qing Shui, these are all for you. Take a look and see what they are. You can take it all with you when you leave.” Ye Guyan smiled, shaking her head.

“You’re asking me to bring all these beast carriages back to the Greencloud Continent?” Qing Shui smiled and asked Ye Guyan.

Stunned, Ye Guyan smiled and replied, “You can take a look and see what they are, taking the things you can with you.”

“I’ve said that everything is for the Ye Clan.” Qing Shui smiled, unmoving.

“Take a look, there might be some medicinal herbs, medicinal pills or ores and those kinds of things. See if they’re of any use to you. I understand your kind intentions.” Ye Guyan smiled softly and said.

When Qing Shui heard that there might be medicinal herbs and pills, he longer rejected her offer and checked the contents of the carriages. He discovered that there were really a lot of things, but they were all things that he wouldn’t need. How should he be saying it… These things were items that the Ye Clan needed but were useless to him.

The first carriage was filled with boxes of medicinal herbs, with the names, characteristics and age of the medicinal herbs and pills written on each box. The medicinal herbs were all at least 3,000 years or older.

As expected of an aristocratic clan, possessing such a great collection of items. The other few carts either contained jades, precious jewels, or money. These were all necessary for the Ye Clan’s development. Although Qing Shui now felt that money was very useful, it still didn’t hold much attraction for him.

There were also a lot of battle armors and armaments, but they were no longer as attractive to someone at Qing Shui’s level. However, to Peak Martial Kings, they were all very attractive items.

For a clan to develop, it didn’t only need just high level support, but also a large a number of middle-level cultivators. It was impossible for everyone to be geniuses. The people in this world were still mostly ordinary people. Moreover, if an ordinary person were to have great determination, he would have a chance to compete against lazy geniuses.

There were quite a few medicinal pills as well, mostly Spirit Concentrating Pills that had effects ranging from two times to six times, although there were not many with a six times effect. Most of them were still at the level of three times effect. Qing Shui only took the two bottles which had six times effect. The Spirit Concentrating Pills he could refine himself had a three times effect and he had more than enough of them. Therefore, he left the rest to Ye Clan.

Ye Guyan insisted that Qing Shui should take the ten Interspatial Silk Sachets. Qing Shui didn’t have to guess to know that these had been dropped by the people from Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan. After slightly hesitating, he took them all.

This action caused Ye Guyan and the others to be stunned. However, they had become used to Qing Shui’s surprises. Interspatial Silk Sachets could not be kept in another Interspatial Silk Sachet, but what Qing Shui had done was to store over ten Interspatial Silk Sachets at once. It went to say that what he had was not an Interspatial Silk Sachet.

Qing Shui didn’t bother to ask if the Wuma Aristocratic Clan and the Tantai Aristocrat Clan had also gained any treasures from the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan. From the start, Qing Shui had not planned to rummage through the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan’s residence since he was not from this place. At most, he would leave the rights to the Ye Clan.

However, it seemed even better to let the Wuma Aristocrat Clan and Tantai Aristocrat Clan do the job. Seeing that it was already late in the morning, Qing Shui spoke to Ye Guyan and the others and then left for the Martial God Street. He had been invited twice, and if he didn’t go now, it wouldn’t be nice.

Coming to the Martial God Street once again, Qing Shui noticed that people looked at him no matter where he went. He had already become well-known in Southern Sea City and it could be said that anyone who practiced martial arts would know of his existence.

The Wuma Aristocratic Clan was a special existence in the Martial God Street. Their residence stood out from the rest with its color and style. Looking at the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan that was not far away, he saw that it was now in a state of ruins, with many workers cleaning up the place. It looked like it was in the process of being reconstructed.

“Please help to inform…”

“Mister Qing Shui, please come in. The Old Master had said that once Mister Qing Shui was here, he could just head into the backyard. Old Master is in the backyard.” Qing Shui had not finished his words before a guard smiled and said.

Qing Shui eventually just said, “Thank you!”

Walking in, Qing Shui felt that the atmosphere slightly pressured him. It could be because of the gray color of the walls or the graphite-colored tile floors. However, the colors of the pavilions, artificial mountains and trees were all very normal, which did increase the vitality to the place.

The manor was very big but it was easy to locate the backyard. He only needed to head all the way in. He didn’t come across many people, but there were still quite a number of people in a large aristocratic clan like this. When they saw Qing Shui, they would first be astonished and then greet him politely.

Qing Shui smiled and answered them. After yesterday, there were probably many people who knew of him.

The backyard was strangely quiet and there were not many structures and fittings around. There was only a pavilion and a pond. There was a bridge over the pond and Qing Shui saw that Old Man Wuma was standing on the bridge, looking at him.

“Qing Shui, you’re here.” Old man Wuma smiled warmly and said.

“Mmm. Good day to you, Old Master!” Qing Shui smiled and headed for the bridge.

Qing Shui stood next to Old Man Wuma and looked down into the pond. There were fish, turtles, shrimp and crabs swimming freely in the water. Qing Shui thought about the pond in the Eastern Palace Aristocrat Clan. Their pond should also have been filled with fish and shrimp, but like the can itself, they were all dead.

This was just like the saying, ‘When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer’ [1]. Thinking about this, Qing Shui smiled.

“How long are you planning to stay in the Southern Sea City?” Old man Wuma smiled and signalled Qing Shui to walk with him to a pavilion not far away.

“It should only be for just a few more days. I might drop by the Southern Sea on my way back.”

“Mmm, it’s a pity to not visit the Southern Sea if you’ve come all this way to the Southern Sea Country.” Old Man Wuma smiled and said amiably.

Qing Shui didn’t dare to look down on this amiable-looking old man. He was one who could see through many things and would kill without a second thought. Moreover, Qing Shui had also sensed an unknown powerful and dangerous aura from him.

“How many years has it been since someone like you has emerged? You’re a young man with the greatest potential I’ve ever seen. I wonder what sort of relationship you have with the Ye Clan. That lass from the Ye Clan is also one with a great future in front of her.” Old man Wuma smiled and said.

The old man’s words were powerful and unrestrained, but Qing Shui understood what he was implying. He smiled and said, “I’m considered quite good friends with the Ye Clan. It’s not easy for Miss Ye to support a clan all by herself. If it’s not inconvenient, I hope that the Old Master can also show them some care in the future.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely do so. I shan’t be hypocritical either. Our Wuma Clan will take you as our good friend as well. In the future, if you have any troubles, we’ll cross great distances to help you. I also hope that in the event that we need help, you can also lend a helping hand if it’s within your means.” Old man Wuma said seriously.

Qing Shui knew that this had been Old Man Wuma’s true intention for inviting him over. He would naturally not think that the old man was hypocritical. Putting aside the fact that he was no match for the entire Wuma Clan now, there were no eternal friends, but only eternal benefits. No one would want to make friends with a useless person since doing so would be meaningless and purely a waste of time.

This was reality. To put it nicely, friends helped each other, but really, they did so to stay connected. No matter how close friends were, the friendship would eventually be forgotten as time passed if no connection was maintained. When trouble happened, everything would be vague like the mist. Therefore, only when people remained useful to each other would they continue to keep in contact grow their relationship to the point of becoming sworn family.

“Old Master is not hypocritical at all. I like such exchanges. I understand. If the Wuma Clan has any problems, I’ll definitely help out if I can.” Qing Shui smiled and said sincerely. Having one more friend opened one new path. He would naturally not reject the invitation of such a great aristocratic clan.

“Excellent, excellent!” Old man Wuma smiled happily and said.

In the pavilion, Qing Shui and Old Man Wuma chatted about strange happenings in the world. Most of the time, it was Qing Shui asking the questions and Old Man Wuma replying. Not long after, someone served tea to the two.

Drinking tea and chatting in such an environment was also a relaxing and enjoyable thing.

In the afternoon, Qing Shui had lunch at the Wuma Residence. He got to know many people, mostly the core members of the clan who were mainly direct descendents of Old Man Wuma. When they saw Qing Shui, they were also very happy to know someone of his stature. A lady even teased Qing Shui, saying that if she was not married, she’d definitely try and woo him.

Looking at her pair of puppy eyes, Qing Shui could only smile.

1. Idiom with the meaning that in a disturbance, innocent bystanders get into trouble.