Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 892 – Golden Snake Grass, Silver Snake Grass, Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet

Although this Golden Jiao was not a true dragon, it was still uncertain whether if the dragons from the legends truly existed. Qing Shui believed that they existed but they might not be as mystical as he thought. After all, Qing Shui’s idea of them was that they were a god-like existence, it was a concept that he refused to change.

Perhaps dragons in the World of the Nine Continents were just extremely strong Demonic Beasts. They were probably not the godly chinese dragons that Qing Shui imagined. However, they were likely to be very strong, they might even have a little ‘godly’ aura. According to the legends, the phoenix should be similar. Aside from these, there were probably others as well but the ones that Qing Shui had the most opinions on were the dragons and phoenix.

These might not be accurate either. The dragon in Qing Shui’s memory existed in a desolate era. Even in the ancient times, they were the mounts of deities.

Thus, all of these were just guesses. Qing Shui now felt that everything was possible. If Qing Shui was told that deities existed in this world, Qing Shui might believe it.

Standing on the seashore that was not considered big, he felt a little angry now that he had arrived here. This was because he could see many turtles. Perhaps the creatures that were on the bottom of the food chain were not afraid of this Golden Jiao.

Since they were able to scare away the Golden Jiao, Qing Shui felt assured. Finding a good position, he took out the Pure Gold Fishing Rod. He had not gone fishing for a long time.

Qing Shui felt that the quality of the water here was very good, plus it was rich in Spiritual Qi. Thus, he felt that there must be something that was filled with spirituality. Even if he could not catch anything good, it didn’t matter. He would just consider it taking some time to relax. After all, he had already gained a lot from traveling in the Sky Penetrating Mountains.

Qing Shui, who was not expecting anything, actually managed to hook something the moment he cast the Pure Gold Fishing Rod into the water. He immediately pulled it up. He felt that this fishing trip would result in many fish, prawns, crabs, and turtles.

When Qing Shui pulled up the rod, he found a stalk of grass, a water plant, Golden Snake Grass!

Qing Shui did not expect that he would be able to obtain Golden Snake Grass here. Looks like this body of water was filled with spirituality. He looked at the herb in his hands and felt very satisfied.

This herb was incredibly valuable but only played a supporting role. It would not increase any medicinal properties. However, it was something that every alchemist would seek. This was because when a stalk of this was added, the refining of that pill would be 100% successful.

It was a heaven-defying supporting herb. The success rate of refining medicine was very low in the World of the Nine Continents. However, with the Golden Snake Grass, it would be a definite success.

For example, an important medicinal pill might require many precious and rare herbs. If the refining failed, all the herbs would be gone. At that moment, one would realize the preciousness of the Golden Snake Grass.

It was even more precious than those precious herbs. This was because it could bring out the most optimal use of those herbs. Or else, those precious herbs would end up being wasted.

Thus, even though it was not considered a miraculous treasure, it was more valuable than those miraculous herbs.

The Golden Snake Grass grew in the water, so Qing Shui threw it into the pond in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. He had never expected to have such a good beginning. He had received a good harvest on this trip to Sky Penetrating Mountains.

Although Qing Shui was very confident in his ability to refine medicine, it was not at a 100% chance. Just like the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

The herbs needed for these two pills were especially precious. If he failed, Qing Shui might cry till his tears ran dry. He had three Sky Penetrating Grass, thus Qing Shui could afford to fail once. As he had great confidence in his ability to refine medicine, if he failed once, Qing Shui was still quite confident in refining the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

However, now with this Golden Snake Grass, refining those two pills was now something set in stone. After this, Qing Shui continued to fish, he hoped to be able to obtain more Golden Snake Grass. With this, he could either keep it for his own use or exchange it for something good.

After the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn, the rod moved again. Qing Shui paused for a breath of time before pulling the rod up. When he saw it, he was stunned. There was a herb that was looked almost exactly same as the Golden Snake Grass but it was silver in color.

Silver Snake Grass!

It had a similar effect to the Golden Snake Grass but it was not a 100% percent success. Instead, it increased the success rate by 50%. Although its value was much less than the Golden Snake Grass, it was still a very valuable item. After all, it was not easy to find either, thus the number people able to use it weren’t many.

The rarer the item, the greater its value!

To others, an increase of 50% success rate would not result in a 100% success rate. However, it was different for Qing Shui. When using this Silver Snake Grass, Qing Shui was confident that he could achieve a 100% success rate.

It seems like this body of water was a huge treasure trove. Qing Shui actually managed to obtain two very valuable herbs. Although that Golden Jiao ran away, his gains were not inferior to that of killing the Golden Jiao.

Qing Shui cast the rod in for the third time, his mood was incomparably peaceful. This time, he was not too greedy for anything. Although he loved having good stuff, he knew that these matters could not be forced.

He caught a turtle on his third cast but he released it.

His fourth cast caught an ordinary fish.

His fifth cast was the same.

…

Qing Shui did not feel any dissatisfaction, he felt peaceful. With his current mental state, he felt that fishing was an enjoyable experience. Time slowly went by, he intended to catch one more thing before sleeping.

This time, he fished up an Interspatial Silk Sachet.

Interspatial Silk Sachet!

Qing Shui was astonished as he held this unimpressive Interspatial Silk Sachet in his hands. This kind of item was would not change even after a long period of time. However, the Interspatial Silk Sachet was weak to flames.

Qing Shui held the Interspatial Silk Sachet feeling curious but he was not anxious to open it. Instead, he brought the Five-Headed Demonic Spider away from this area. He intends to stay here for a few more days to fish and refine the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

After he entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal at night, he decided to bring in the Five-Headed Demonic Spider as well after thinking for awhile. He originally intended to leave it outside to watch for the movement of the Golden Jiao. However, in the end, he felt worried about doing that.

Although when the Golden Jiao saw the Five-Headed Demonic Spider, it would be frightened away, he was still worried. Right now, that Golden Jiao was no longer important to Qing Shui. Thus he did not have to put the Five-Headed Demonic Spider at risk.

After entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, he circulated the Ancient Strengthening Technique for a cycle, raising his state to its peak before starting to refine the pills.

Taking out the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron, Qing Shui first threw in a few herbs that were refined already.

Then, he prepared the other things as well. He refined the Golden Snake Grass and placed it to the side.

Qing Shui was very confident in himself but he was still prepared to use the Golden Snake Grass. This was because he could not make any mistakes.

During this time, Qing Shui’s spiritual sense and spirit energy were much stronger than before. When he refined the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet, he realized that any increase of spirit energy would result in an increase in his refining abilities.

He expanded his spiritual sense!

He then proceeded in an orderly manner. It was slow but smooth.

There was a bubbling sound coming from the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron. There was a layer of Emperor’s Qi in the Golden Flint Iron Cauldron that did not disperse.

He needed to wait for two hours before throwing in each pre-refined herb. The Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet required tens of herbs. A conservative estimate of the amount of time he needed was seven days.

……

It was nine days later before Qing Shui finally added the last herb. He had added the Golden Snake Grass long ago. Although the Golden Snake Grass could guarantee a 100% success rate, he still had to follow the normal process of alchemy. If someone who was not an alchemist blindly attempted this, it would fail.

“Ding!”

It was in the last 15 mins of the ninth day when Qing Shui heard that familiar ‘ding’ that comforted him. This melodious sound meant that it had succeeded.

Even though he knew that it would succeed, he was still incomparably happy.

Qing Shui did not even bother to take a look at that Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet and went to his bed and rested. He was too tired, he had spent nine days in a state of high concentration. Even with his strong cultivation, he still felt very tired.

Eight hours later, Qing Shui woke up. Regardless of how tired he was, Qing Shui would normally wake up after eight hours. After he woke up, he made some fish porridge and drank two bowls of it. He left some behind so he could heat it up later and eat it.

After that, Qing Shui eagerly walked towards that Golden Flint Iron Cauldron. After he opened it, he saw a violet colored pill about the size of a walnut. He knew long ago that there would only be one pill but he still hoped to see two or three pills.

He checked out the effects of the Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet: Increase of the body’s abilities from 50% to 100%. Depended on the absorption ability of the consumer. Will open the Tiantu acupoint.

……

After thinking for a long time, he stored this precious Ren Meridian Strengthening Pellet in a porcelain bottle. He breathed in relief. After that, Qing Shui was not anxious to refine the Du Meridian Strengthening Pellet.

He wanted to spend the next few days fishing, to see if he could obtain more Golden Snake Grass. Without a 100% guarantee, he did not want to make any careless moves.

Suddenly, he remembered that Interspatial Silk Sachet he acquired fishing the last time. Now that he had nothing to do, Qing Shui wanted to check it out. After all, it was obvious that this Interspatial Silk Sachet had belonged to a human.

Taking out the Interspatial Silk Sachet, Qing Shui scanned it with his spiritual sense first before looking inside of it. At this instant, Qing Shui only had this thought, I earned big…really big…

The first thing he saw was tens of stalks of Golden Snake Grass. This caused Qing Shui to feel like he had earned big time.

There also seemed to be even more Silver Snake Grass in there than Golden Snake Grass. Although the space in this Interspatial Silk Sachet was not big, it was filled with many precious items. Aside from the earlier mentioned items, there were many other herbs.

This caused Qing Shui to feel puzzled. Practically everything in the Interspatial Silk Sachet was herbs. Furthermore, they were precious herbs. This unexpected gain caused Qing Shui to think.

The owner of this Interspatial Silk Sachet was definitely an alchemist. He probably had found the Golden Snake Grass and Silver Snake Grass and stayed to look for more herbs.

Before finally dying at the claws of the Golden Jiao. This was Qing Shui’s guess. However, this should be quite accurate or at least quite close to the truth. After all, if a person easily found a Golden Snake Grass here and then managed to find another one within a short amount of time…

He might have stayed here to continue picking herbs. There would not be a lot of people who could control their greed after that. Maybe the Golden Jiao was not here then and had gone out, when it came back, it resulted in the death of this alchemist.

Qing Shui continued to search in the Interspatial Silk Sachet. Suddenly, he saw a piece of beast parchment in the corner. He felt excited because it was likely to be an alchemic recipe.