Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 922 – Helping Mu Clan, Stopping Temporarily, Heading for Godly Sword Clan

Qing Shui set up the Spirit Gathering Formation in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal where his medicinal herbs were at. Seeing his many Spirit Gathering Formations being set up, he could clearly sense that his ability to set up Spirit Gathering Formations was getting increasingly stronger. This made him very happy.

Although he had only set up small Spirit Gathering Formations, it didn’t mean that their prowess was very low. They were only small in terms of their size. If his ability to create formations was to improve, the prowess of a small Spirit Gathering Formation wouldn’t be something to be underestimated either.

There was still a small Spirit Sealing Minor Formation which Qing Shui had yet to look into. However, he could have a brief understanding what it could do just by hearing its name. It was just that at this moment, he didn’t have any concrete information on it. This was why he didn’t have any plans to study this small Spirit Sealing Minor Formation yet.

He had been away for quite a long time and the Mysterious Fruit would be ripening again soon. There was also the Ice Snow Sacred Fruit as well. Qing Shui had also collected a lot of items that he had no use for now. As the ratio for the time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal increased, the number of items accumulated also increased.

He had also accumulated quite a number of Vermillion Fruits. Qing Shui had made wine out of a large amount of those plum blossoms and stored it away. The fish and other creatures in the pond were also growing rapidly. Although there were a lot more spiders now, the pond was very big and the black fish and turtles were reproducing very quickly. Moreover, there were also no cases of natural deaths.

Moreover, this was the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and the things that grew here were spiritually stronger than normal ones. While there were plenty of demonic beasts such as spiders, they tended to eat once every half a month and didn’t eat much each time. However, they do eat more than people.

The next day, he woke up early as usual. Based on the customs of the World of the Nine Continents, they needed to pay their respects to the dead on the second day. Qing Shui joined them to pay respect and offer incense to Mu Clan’s old man.

Because they went very early and the location was not very far away, the servants had only started to prepare breakfast when they returned back to the Mu Clan. Qing Shui went for his morning practice. Mu Fengyang looked at Qing Shui, as if he had something to say but he eventually didn’t say anything.

“Are you going to leave?”

Qing Shui had just finished his morning practice when Mu Qing’s voice rang out.

“Are you eagerly waiting for me to leave?” Qing Shui smiled and asked teasingly.

“I’m eager for you to never leave.” Mu Qing said seriously. It was after she had said this that she realized how misleading it was. Feeling embarrassed, she turned her head away.

“It’s going to be the new year soon and I won’t be able to reach home in time. I’m planning to stay here for the new year before I leave,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Really?” Mu Qing looked at Qing Shui in surprise.

There was another month to the new year and if he were to be spending the new year here, he would have to stay for at least 40 days. She had initially thought that he would leave within these few days. Therefore, when she heard that he was only going to leave after spending the new year here, Mu Qing realized that she seemed to feel as if she had gained some treasure.

When she saw Qing Shui’s warm smile looking at her, she threw a glance at him shyly.

Qing Shui didn’t choose to stay here in order to stay for the new year, nor was it because he couldn’t bear to part with Mu Qing. He had stayed in order to strengthen the foundations for the Mu Clan and thus he wanted to help Mu Qing train up a team who was strong in formations within the month.

“You won’t be able to relax for the month.” Qing Shui smiled and said.

Mu Qing was stunned for a moment and quickly knew what Qing Shui had meant. She said happily, “I’ll listen to what you say.”

When a lady like her said something like this, Qing Shui felt a tingling feeling all the way down to his bones. Today, Mu Qing was still wearing a set of snow-white mourning clothes and appeared to be so beautiful, that she was like a snow lotus flower in the snow.

“Find some people who are the most loyal to you, are young and have the most potential. Get senior and the others too. Tell senior to find the people he can trust the most.” Qing Shui said causally. He knew that Mu Qing would be able to understand what he meant.

Mu Qing nodded happily before heading off to have her meal with Qing Shui.

Thankfully, there were some people in the Mu Clan who were now at the elementary stage in the area of coordination in formation and some of them had even mastered the elementary stage.

Mu Qing was the one with the highest level of mastery and she had also been the strongest and the most hardworking of them all. The other people in the Mu Clan had also been working very hard. They were all elites and thus could be said to be very intelligent. To the Mu Clan and the others, this was an opportunity for them.

Every single one of them put in great effort to learn. They practiced, had meals and even lived together. They standardized their living schedules, eating then cultivating. What was required for formations was teamwork and the greater the teamwork, the greater the power unleashed.

The Mu Clan had sent many people away, leaving less than 10% behind. These people had been carefully picked and Qing Shui planned to do his best to train them up, to let himself be at ease too.

They continued to have their meals together. This was what Mu Qing had wanted. After they had their meal, Qing Shui gave Mu Qing a look to indicate that he was going to leave first. Mu Qing stayed behind and joined Mu Fengyang, Mu Qian and the others in a quiet room.

“Grandfather, father…”

After entering the room, Mu Qing looked at them with a complicated expression.

The people here were the direct descendants from the Mu Clan, were from the main branch and belonged to Mu Qian’s generation. There was only a handful of those who were Mu Fengyang’s generation and not many from Mu Qing’s.

“Lass, if you have anything to say, just go ahead. Is Qing Shui going to leave?” Mu Qian looked at Mu Qing and asked. He was also worried now that Old Ancestor was no longer around. If Qing Shui were to leave, the Mu Clan would be in a great fix.

Although there may not be anyone who would openly mess around with the Mu Clan, there would be some who would do so in the dark. Therefore, they were also worried now that there was no one in the Mu Clan who would be able to be the support for the Mu Clan.

Mu Qian saw Mu Qing’s disappointment and thought that Qing Shui was going to leave. He didn’t know what to say either. Judging by the situation, his daughter and Qing Shui didn’t seem to be going very well. When he thought of this, he also felt very helpless.

When Mu Qing saw Mu Qian’s expression, she blushed and said, “Father, what are you thinking? Qing Shui is only going to leave after the new year. He’s going to impart some formations to the people from the Mu Clan and came to ask me to find some people who are loyal to the Mu Clan.”

Hearing Mu Qing’s words, Mu Fengyang, Mu Qian and the other people from the Mu Clan had their eyes light up. At their age, they could see through things very clearly. For example, it was impossible to have Qing Shui stay in the Mu Clan. Even they knew that and thus they had not thought of continuing to rely on Qing Shui.

This time around, going up against Sky Prison Sect made them understand how amazing formations were. Old Ancestor was no longer around and if the Mu Clan was to get back together in the short term, the best way to do so was through formations.

This was a long term plan that they could take and all of them were looking at Mu Qing happily. This junior of the Mu Clan now played the most important role.

They knew that this was a crucial point for them and they mustn’t miss out on this opportunity. Otherwise, it was likely that the Mu Clan would be devoured by other people. It seemed that they would need to go all out this time around.

…

Qing Shui came to a training ground in the Mu Clan. This was the place with the widest space and there was also an arena in the middle. Even now, there were also people training here. However, there weren’t many of them.

After they all saw Qing Shui, they greeted him respectfully.

Not long after, a group of people walked over. There were about 100 of them. Dong Yan, Sun Yan and the others were around as well. Qing Shui had specially called them over. Right now, the Mu Clan and the Dong Clan had joined forces. This was good as well.

There were twenty people of Mu Fengyang’s age, most of whom Qing Shui had met before. It was because most of these people were the ones who had entered the Sky Penetrating Mountains previously. When they saw Qing Shui, they were very happy as well.

Currently there were over 30 people from various age groups. Although they were not exceptional, the rest of the people were much weaker. There was also a bunch of 40 to 50 youngsters but most of them were in their thirties.

These people all knew some basics to formations and were split into three groups. Mu Qing led one group, Mu Qian led one group and Mu Fengyang led the last group.

However, Qing Shui paid more attention to teaching Mu Qing, Dong Yan and Sun Yan. Of course, he wouldn’t say this to the others. He paid more attention to binding formations. On the other hand, the others would be focused on starting with the Five Elements Minor Formation and the Duality Minutest Formation.

Today, Qing Shui planned on imparting to them the Five Elements Minor Essence. However, the people at the eye of formation learned a different Five Elements Minor Essence from other people. This was the privilege of the people to be stationed at the eye of the formation. This would allow their prowess to be much stronger than usual.

This type of Five Elements Minor Essence could be merged with the original Qi of Xiantian and was like a martial technique, bringing only benefits. Qi of Xiantian imparted this to some of them, just to reaffirm the importance of the eye of the formation.

This could allow the rest to surround the eye of the formation. Only with the eye of the formation around would they be considered a powerful entity. Without the eye of the formation or if they were separated, their individual powers were nothing.

Therefore, they were now very clear and felt that it was good to be doing this. This was something they were willing to see.

Qing Shui already knew that Mu Qing had a Supreme Treasure. Looking at that “Holy Bracelet!” which was exuding a warming aura, he understood why she could improve so fast. What made Qing Shui the happiest was that she had a great talent in mastering the foot techniques.

The Duality Steps had already reached a high level of mastery.

Practice for formations was boring but they were all filled with a strong will and patience. It was because if they wished to survive and make a break for themselves, this was the best opportunity for them. They mustn’t let it go and must try their best.

Qing Shui led Mu Qing throughout the Duality Minutest Formation, darting about. He would force her to be in the formation for two hours everyday and then let her set up the formation. Her speed and prowess were also changing endlessly.

In the blink of an eye, ten days passed by!

In the past seven days, the transformations that had occurred were tremendous. The Five Elements Minor Essence they were cultivating had started to bring about quite a good effect. It was because during this period, Qing Shui had also made use of medicinal pills, including performing some slight impurities cleansing.

Since he had started doing it, he decided to put in his best effort for it. He didn’t care for this little stuff and thus the progress the Mu Clan’s members made was in leaps and bounds. However, on this day, Mu Fengyang planned on visiting the Godly Sword Clan.

Qing Shui planned on joining him since they couldn’t afford to have anything happening to Mu Fengyang. Otherwise, what they had done earlier would have all gone to waste. For a very long period, the Mu Clan still needed Mu Fengyang to be around to call the shots.

Mu Fengyang didn’t reject Qing Shui’s intention of joining him. The reason the Godly Sword Clan had shown respect to Mu Fengyang was all because of Qing Shui. In fact, the Godly Sword Clan wasn’t interested in the Mu Clan but was only interested in Qing Shui. However, they knew that the Mu Clan played a critical role here.

The others stayed in the Mu Clan and carried on with their training. The place was still filled with Duality Minutest Formations. One of the reason was for training, while another was for Mu Clan’s safety.

The Godly Sword Clan was situated along the borders of the city and they dominated the western area and was back facing the Sky Penetrating Mountains. A great river passed through the bottom of the mountain, with densely packed buildings stretching out from the bottom of the mountain to the peak. On the other side of the cliff, there was a huge carving of a saber. It was a tremendous stone saber.