Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 0083 – Firecloud Blacksmith Store

This little glob of Golden Essence Extract was actually worth 2 million taels of gold. The feeling of striking nouveau riche all of a sudden, caused Qing Shui to temporarily be unable to accept this.

Golden Essence Extract, besides needing a huge volume of gold to refine, it could also appear naturally in the deepest level of a gold mine. However the amount that occur naturally was so miniscule that it was insubstantial.

Golden Essence Extract was the purest form of gold, and had additional effects such as absorbing poison or even driving away demons. Not only that, but using the golden extract for the forging of weapon, or merely coating a layer of golden essence extract on the weapon’s surface would cause the weapon to become incomparably sharp, and even elevate it a few grades. After all, of all the five elements, metal (gold) was the sharpest.

Looking at the Golden Essence Extract in his hands, Qing Shui gauged that it weighed about 1 jin as he mumbled, “What can this be used for? Forget forging weapons, I don’t even know if it’s sufficient to coat a weapon!”

Actually, Qing Shui had been mistaken. In reality that amount of Golden Essence Extract was sufficient for him to forge at least three pieces of weapons or armor, and he would still have enough remaining to refine and elevate the grades of the crafted equipments.

Any one of the crafted equipment, would be considered priceless treasures. If he used the Golden Essence Extract to craft a full set of battle armor, it would definitely cause an uproar in the world of the nine continents. Not many were capable of such extravagance.

“En, there’s no need to think about crafting or coating weapons. I don’t even have any weapons, so what else can I do with it?” Qing Shui pondered as he looked towards the Golden Essence Extract in his hands.

“I’ve got it! Golden Needle! Golden Essence Needle!” Qing Shui happily called out.

Qing Shui smiled, finally, he knew what he needed – golden acupuncture needles! In his sea of consciousness, he could see records of seven golden needles which were as fine as hair, yet tougher than steel! It seemed that he could finally create them now.

If he refined the golden essence further and created needles manufactured from pure golden essence extract… Qing Shui grinned, even if the weapons created were smaller and thinner than the majority of weapons, it would still be considered an extremely priceless treasure.

Qing Shui had never intended to exchange the Golden Essence Extract for money. He knew that once the golden needles were crafted, it’s usefulness and worth would far exceed that of money.

After coming to a decision, and deciding to craft the divine golden needles, Qing Shui was immensely pleased. Of course from his experiences in two worlds, he knew that wealth with no power would only lead to disaster. That was partly why he didn’t want to exchange the Golden Essence Extract for direct wealth. After all, wouldn’t it be better if he had something that would aid him in treatment, which could cause strong powers like Baili Jingwei to owe him a debt of favor instead?

Suddenly, a frown appeared on Qing Shui face. How is he going to craft the divine golden needles that existed in his sea of consciousness? There wouldn’t be molds or casts fine enough for the hair-thin divine golden needles in his consciousness.

Forget it, and just ignore it. For now he will just continue refining. Activating the primordial flame to his utmost limits, Qing Shui grit his teeth and set about doing it. Although the primordial flame was able to burn and refine all things in existence, based on Qing Shui’s current strength, there were still things that he would be unable to completely refine. However, the refinement of the Golden Essence Extract was still something that he was barely able to do.

Gradually, the Golden Essence Extract in Qing Shui’s palms transformed into a liquid state with no signs of impurities, which shone with a golden yellow, as resplendent light radiated out from it.

Qing Shui slowly extinguished the primordial flame. He intended to look for a blacksmith store tomorrow to find a mold that was similar to the divine golden needles in his sea of consciousness. That way, he would then be able to craft the golden needles.

Unknowingly, he had already spent 10 over days within the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, and during the refinement process, he had gained even more enlightenment from the usage of the primordial flame. This could be considered killing two birds with one stone – refining the golden essence while improving his Ancient Yin-Yang Flames technique.

After which, Qing Shui began practicing his piercing sword techniques while paying attention to the control of his strength, as he gathered his Qi onto the tip of his sword. Practicing it to the utmost limit would even enable him to reach a realm of using an egg to smash a rock!

During the time when Qing Shui crossed swords with Wenren Wu-Shuang, it seemed as though he had understood something, but that feeling was extremely illusive, seemingly there but not there, and caused him to be unable to fully comprehend the insights gained.

Practice after practice, contemplation, trying to find that exact feeling he had when he splintered Wenren Wu-Shuang sword.

Angle of attack, the right amount of strength, the flick of the wrist, Qing Shui finally understood. It was only through a myriad of factors combined before he could unleash such a strike!

Eventually, after countless amounts of practice, Qing Shui could finally approximate a feeling close to that strike he used against Wenren Wu-Shuang. Although it started out clumsy, that feeling was getting stronger and stronger.

Qing Shui knew that, practicing alone wouldn’t be able to benefit him as much as directly sparring. The time it took, and insights gained during solo practice could never be compared to having someone that could react to your attacks.

Soon after, Qing Shui was ejected by the spatial realm. The tired Qing Shui fell asleep straight after his head landed on the bed

The second morning, after breakfast, Qing Shui hit the streets, with the intentions of looking for a blacksmith store.

“Is there any blacksmith store nearby?” Qing Shui asked Qing Yi, before he left the house as he did not want to waste time getting lost!

“Blacksmith store? There are plenty of stores selling weapons, but the most famous one would undoubtedly be the Bai Clan’s Firecloud Blacksmith store. They have over a 100 years of history”, Qing Yi explained.

Soon after, Qing Shui rented a horse carriage, just like how he would flag a taxi down back in his previous world, and told the driver what he was looking for.

Very quickly, Qing Shui saw the big red-colored signboard of the Firecloud Blacksmith Store. Above the signboard, there was also the carving of a strong man wielding a hammer, while below the sign board there were also carvings of various completed weapons.

After paying money for the transport, Qing Shui walked towards the entrance of the store. The store’s black gate were wide open as streams of customer flowed in and out of the store.

“Wow, business seems to be booming.” Qing Shui mumbled with a smile as he entered into the Firecloud Blacksmith Store.

Upon entering, only one word was sufficient to describe his feelings – spacious!

The spacious main hall had a plethora of weapons ready for sale. There were rows of weapons such as sabers, spears, swords, halberds, hatchets, battle-axes, hooks, tridents, whips, truncheons, hammers, claws, rods, lances, cudgels, throwing stars, bows, crossbows, pikes and shields……!

Qing Shui could feel that the temperature within was much higher as compared to the temperature outside. In anycase, it was better to be warm instead of cold, as it was still the winter season.

Looking at the sea of customers checking out the weapons, “They wouldn’t all gather here just for keeping warm right.”

Qing Shui pondered in his heart.

“Hi Sir, may I help you with anything?” A lovely voice rang out, causing Qing Shui to turn his head!