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Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty)
Chapter 1274
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AST 1308 – Sacred Object Great Sacred Buddha Stone, Arrival of the Beitang Clan
"It"s the dynasty established by the Beitang Clan. They are the same clan as the Five Continent"s Lion King"s Ridge"s Beitang Clan," the old monk explained.
"Does this Beitang Clan know that the Beitang Clan from the five continents has disappeared?"
"They do. They even know that Mister Qing is the one responsible for it."
Qing Shui now understood why the old monk didn"t hesitate to tell him the things about the buddha stone when he heard Qing Shui"s name. But what exactly was this buddha stone?
"Buddha Stone? It seems to be related to buddha. What"s the point in them trying to take this?" Qing Shui was really confused. Nonetheless, he was certain that this buddha stone must be a good item or else the Great Northern Dynasty and the Silver Lion Dynasty wouldn"t have pushed the Buddha Sect.
"The buddha stone is a really mysterious thing. It has great effects. If you immerse the buddha stone in water, it can be used to cast metals or make medicines. The buddha stone also has spirituality. It"s said that using such water can help one to pry into Heavenly Dao. It can help them cultivate the Buddhism"s martial techniques. For now, the only thing I know is that drinking that water can help increase cultivation and ascend grades. Cultivating the Buddhism"s martial technique will help speed up the process. As for other things, I am not really clear about them just yet." Grand Master Fa Ying didn"t try to hide anything when he explained.
"No wonder both the Great Northern and Silver Lion Dynasties wanted to come and steal it. It seems like this thing might just be a really great treasure." Qing Shui felt really agitated. This kind of thing was already considered a treasure. Since he came across it, he felt that it would be a waste if he didn"t witness it. Besides that, Qing Shui also felt that the reason why these three people"s cultivations were so well-hidden and that their battle prowess exceeded their strength so much had to do with the water which had the buddha stone immersed within it.
"Mister Qing, the buddha stone comes in pairs. We will give Mister Qing one of the them. We just hope for Mister Qing to help us through this difficult situation." Fa Ying said seriously after seeing Qing Shui"s expression. That expression looked really sincere.
"How is that fine? The buddha stones come in pairs. A n.o.ble person don"t take away people"s belongings." Qing Shui said seriously.
"I have tried it before. Whether there are one or two of them, the effect is the same. I feel really weird that the quant.i.ty of this thing isn"t the issue. If both the Great Northern and Silver King dynasties want one, they could have exchanged it with something of equal value. I might"ve agreed to that. But they are too greedy. They intend to take it by force just because they are third grade dynasties. The limit of three days which they gave me will end tomorrow. It is G.o.d"s intention for us to meet Mister Qing. G.o.d has shown me the savior for the Buddha Sect." Fa Ying quickly said in a firm tone.
He knew that QIng Shui was really powerful. He was afraid that Qing Shui would step back after hearing two dynasties. Hence, he was very firm. He even told Qing Shui about the issues about having just one of the stones.
Running into this problem, Qing Shui would naturally provide them help. After all, he had promised the Patriarch from Buddha Sect. Not only that, but the foes they were facing were from the Beitang Clan. This gave him all the more reason to help. Besides, he also got a buddha stone as a return gift.
Seeing that Fa Ying had spoken up to this point, Qing Shui stopped pus.h.i.+ng. If he continued to do so, it would make him seem like he was reluctant to help. He followed Fa Ying and together, they returned to the northern courtyard.
Among the three old monks, including Fa Ying, none was actually an abbot. But even if an abbot was to run into them, they would still have to call them Martial Grand Uncles. Qing Shui settled down in the room located at the corner of the northern courtyard. Other than Fa Ying, the other two bid their farewell and left.
Even Qing Shui himself felt that it was a coincidence. He smiled and asked, "Grand Master, if i hadn"t come, were you guys still going to fight against the Silver Lion and Great Northern Dynasties?"
"Against these forceful behaviors, I would rather the buddha stone get destroyed than letting them have it."
Qing Shui never expected for Fa Ying to have such an upright character. As he thought about it, it also sort of made sense. For a grand master from Buddha Sect to run into this kind of issue, if they had a bit of temper, they would definitely not compromise. Fa Ying himself also felt that they had a chance to win, despite being up against third grade dynasties.
"Grand master, please tell me about the Great Northern Dynasty of the Beitang Clan"s!"
"The history of Beitang Clan in the Great Northern Dynasty could be considered short, much shorter in comparison to the Great Qi Dynasty. But now, the Great Northern Dynasty was already a mid-tier third-grade dynasty and it"s rumored that their true strength is already comparable to an initial-tier fourth-grade dynasty. The population of the Beitang Clan is extremely numerous, and it"s rumored that they were able to develop so fast because they acquired some grand treasures.In a few short hundred years, the Beitang Clan destroyed the original royal clan of the Grand Yun Dynasty, changing history, and causing the Grand Yun Dynasty to become the Great Northern Dynasty, slowly evolving from a peak-tier first-grade dynasty, to the current mid-tier third-grade dynasty."
Fa Ying tried to make the long stories short when he explained about the Beitang Clan.
"Does the Beitang Clan really enjoy doing these forceful things?" Actually, Qing Shui wanted to know more about the style of Beitang Clan. He wanted to know if they were the kind of nasty people who would seek revenge for even the smallest grievance.
"They have done quite a lot. They are very arrogant, but it seems as if they have someone behind their backs. However, they won"t do anything out of line to the people within their dynasty. On the other hand, they are really horrible to the dynasties and some of the aristocratic clans nearby them. They even went as far to organize a forced marriage."
"A forced marriage?" Qing Shui said in shock.
"Yes, for the Third Young Master of Beitang Clan, the Third Prince of Great Northern Dynasty. He happened to come across one of the small princesses from the Great Zhao Dynasty by accident. In the end, the Great Northern Dynasty tried to exert pressure on Great Zhao Dynasty and got the young princess to marry him and be made a maid. This kind of forced marriage is a big insult to Great Zhao Dynasty, but the Great Northern Dynasty is a third grade dynasty. It is also considered normal if the Great Zhao Dynasty is the one who helped to bring out this problem. But the main thing in this is that the Great Northern Dynasty had forcefully tried to accomplish the marriage this time."
Who would have thought that the habits of Beitang Clan in the five continents would be related to the Beitang Clan here as well? While talking, the voices of the two old men from before came through from outside. After that, they proceeded to come in. There was a silver colored metal-made tray in one of the old men"s hands. On top of it was a brocade cloth which was covering something. From the point the brocade cloth was bulged up, the thing below wasn"t too big or small.
"Mister Qing, this was one of the two buddha stones." Fa Ying stood up, took away the tray and placed it on the birch table n front of Qing Shui. After that, he removed the brocade cloth on top of it.
Almost in an instant, a faint white light appeared in front of Qing Shui.
This was a white stone shaped like the Lotus Platform. It was around a foot long and wide. There was an obscure spiritual energy fluctuation on top of it. Qing Shui immediately looked towards it with his Heavenly Vision Technique, as he had a feeling that this thing might be a treasure.
Sacred Object, Great Sacred Buddha Stone!
Qing Shui was already stunned from merely seeing these few words. This was a sacred object. Both Qing Shui"s Arhat Rosary Beads and Nine Continent Mountains were also sacred objects. The Holy Bracelet which Mu Qing and Huoyun Liu-Li had in their hands, was also a sacred object. Even the lowest grade of sacred object was already incomparably valuable. It"s enough for any warrior to crush the scalps of others to possess it.
Grade: No grade. Can be refined with pure energy. The amount of times it can withstand refinement everyday is limited.
Effect: infinitesimal. It can be immersed in water. The longer it is in water, the more powerful the spiritual energy contained within the water. Furthermore, the energy will not disperse. At each grade, it can only affect a certain amount of water. Water which has been affected by Great Sacred Buddha Stone can be used in all ways: to drink, to water plants or to use to breed other animals.
It cannot recognize an owner!
It can be upgraded!
It was a magic weapon which could be upgraded. Qing Shui was so shocked to the point he had no words. The function of Heavenly Vision Technique was truly a very effective one, helping identify many valuable items. Fa Ying on the other hand, didn"t know how to properly use such thing, or else, it"s likely that he would be a lot more powerful than he was now.
While talking, Qing Shui only found out that the buddha stone had been there for a long time. This was something which he had happened to come across by chance within the treasure room of Buddha Sect.
"Are you really giving me this thing?" Qing Shui smiled and said as he took it up.
"Of course, the Buddha Sect is also hoping to make friends. Since mister shares quite a decent relations.h.i.+p with the Patriarch from Buddha Sect in the five continents, that will also mean that you share a destiny with us. We monks take the word destiny really seriously." Fa Ying explained slowly. He sounded really gentle, leaving a good impression on Qing Shui.
"Alright then, I will politely take it." Qing Shui retrieved the Great Sacred Buddha Stone. They didn"t tell him what kind of sacred object it was. Qing Shui planned to let Little Fatty explain more to him about it once he was here.
After talking for a little bit longer, Fa Ying let Qing Shui take a break. Judging from normal situations, it"s likely that the Beitang Clan and the Silver Lion Dynasty would come down to retrieve the Great Buddha Sacred Stone tomorrow.
Seeing that it was still early, Qing Shui conveniently took out the Great Sacred Buddha Stone and started refining it. After refining it about ten times, he could no longer continue to refine it. Now, it could only withstand ten refinements each day at its first grade.
For magic weapons which recognized owners, only its owner could refine it. As for magic weapons which didn"t identify an owner like these, everyone could refine it. However, the amount of times it could withstand refinement was quite limited. Hence, one couldn"t try to quickly increase the grade of the magic weapons through increasing the number of people.
Of course, there was also a kind which was an exception. It"s when refining magic weapons required an enormous amount of spiritual energy and that the amount couldn"t be fulfilled with just one person. Then, it would be better to have more people. Qing Shui was aware that some of the large magic weapons in certain sects normally required people to refine in groups.
He slowly inserted his Divine Force into the Great Sacred Buddha Stone. As that happened, the white light around it grew even brighter. Similarly, the spiritual energy fluctuation on top of it also got a lot stronger. The Great Sacred Buddha Stone was just like a bottomless pit as it slowly absorbed Qing Shui"s Divine Force.
Normally, refining would require one to converge the spiritual energy, vital energy, and Divine Force within a person"s body. But Qing Shui was really powerful, and could store many more times of energy within his body compared to people at the same level of strength. Hence, he didn"t worry too much about it. Besides, he also had medicinal pills which could help him quickly recover his body"s strength. He also had the self-recovery ability and Yin-yang Image within his body. He was just equivalent to a machine which never knew how being tired felt.
The pond within the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal had evolved into something which seemed like a small lake. It"d be futile even if he put the Great Sacred Buddha Stone within it. Hence, he purposely made a small well which was around a meter deep. It was located next to the Spring of Life, about three meters away from here. After that. He inserted the Great Sacred Buddha Stone in it.
It could be seen that the water within the small well was giving out traces of hardly noticeable small bubbles. This was from the water absorbing the spiritual energy from the Great Sacred Buddha Stone. The spiritual energy from the Great Sacred Buddha Stone was no ordinary spiritual energy. Even though Qing Shui did his refinement with his own spiritual energy and divine force, once they reached the Great Sacred Buddha Stone, they would be turned into mysterious spiritual energy.
On the second day, Qing Shui woke up really early, but he didn"t do his morning practice. After eating the food given by Buddha Sect, he started chatting with Fa Ying and the others. The atmosphere around them was a bit heavy.
Qing Shui asked some questions regarding the royal clan of the Great Qi Dynasty Maybe the Great Qi Dynasty still needed to depend on the buddha sect, hence, the buddha sect was the one who made most of the decisions.
At early morning, he could see a lot of gathered up black dots far off in the distance. They"re still far away from him, but Qing Shui could determine the strength of the demonic beasts through their speed and their body size. Basically, he could already confirm that they were Beitang Clan and Silver Lion Dynasty.
There were more than a hundred people on the Buddha Sect"s side but other than Fa Ying and the two others, there were also five more who had the same level of strength. One among them was even older than Fa Ying, and the strength of Fa Ying and his companions wasn"t weak, already closing on that of a grade three dynasty. Even for fourth-grade dynasty, there weren"t many who can surpa.s.s them.
This also reminded of what the woman from Putuo Mountain and Headmaster Sui had said. There were some things which couldn"t be decided on merely by looking at their strength from the surface. Unusual warriors who lived in seclusion often had a lot of methods to kill enemies tens of times stronger than themselves.
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AST 1309 – Qing Shui"s Killing Intent, Open War, Here I come to Fight
The opponent"s speed was really fast. They came in overwhelming numbers. There were as much as three hundred huge demonic beasts. Basically, the mounts were all either Gold or Silver Lion King Eagles. Their bodies were the bodies of huge golden and silver eagle bodies whereas their heads were composed of gold and silver lion"s heads.
Without much thought, Qing Shui was already able to figure out that the Gold Lion King Eagles were unique mounts owned by Beitang Clan. Beitang Clan was also a powerful beast taming clan. Naturally, the Silver Lion King Eagles were the mounts owned by the royal clan of Silver Lion King Dynasty.
Suddenly, Qing Shui started to wonder if Beitang Clan had any blood relations with the royal clan in Silver Lion Dynasty. Qing Shui was also very curious why he would have such a weird thought.
"Beitang Clan has once been connected by marriage with Silver Lion Dynasty. Hence now, within the body of the royal clan in Silver Lion Dynasty also flowed the blood of Beitang Clan.
Qing Shui didn"t know if he had figure things out through his own thought or it just so happened that he happened to just say it while he was thinking about it.
There were around three hundred of them. Those large demonic beasts were enough to cover the earth and sky. That enormous pressure was directly approaching Qing Shui. The four demonic beasts taking the lead were two Gold Lion King Eagles and two Silver Lion KIng Eagles. They were almost twice the size of those normal ones.
Qing Shui found the dressing of these people really interesting. The old man above the Gold Lion King Eagle was wearing a gold lion gown whereas similarly, the Silver Lion King Eagle wore a silver gown.
"It has been three days. I wonder if you have gotten the things which I want ready?"
The old man on one of the Gold Lion King Eagle said with a smile.
The old man had a tall and straight figure. Even though his hair and beard was white, he didn"t give the others the slightest idea that he was a doddering old man. His skin was as smooth as babies. He had a healthy and hearty look. The forehead of his also looked plumped. With just one look, people could already deduce that he does not lack for riches.
The only thing which made people felt awkward was that the eye lines of the old man were too long. Everytime when he opened or closed his eyes, the eye line which was revealed was like a sharp sword. Even if he was just smiling, he still carried along a cold killing intention.
"Beitang Yigong, seeing that so many of you came, could it be that you guys are planning to take it by force?" Fa Ying looked at the old man who was on the lead and said calmly. He sounded really calm. The Buddha Sect cultivated one"s minds. Even when facing against powerful foes, they would still remain the same expression on their face.
Qing Shui on the other hand, a.n.a.lyzed each and every one of his opponents. After a thorough a.n.a.lysis only did he find out that he has underestimated Western Oxhe Continent. The reason being that two of the people from each of Beitang Clan and Silver King Dynasty actually had strength worth around eight thousand sun. Furthermore, it would be even stronger when they partic.i.p.ated in actual battles with the possibility of reaching a strength which surpa.s.sed ten thousand sun.
It seemed like they might have truly hidden their strength really well. With strength like this, it might have been able to squeeze into the list of fourth grade dynasties. The Heaven Secrets Academy was also holding back at least eight thousand sun worth of strength
Actually, ever since Beitang Clan attained this level of strength, they had long since not see the Beitang Clan in the five continents as a thing. Even blood-related brothers would end up as strangers after generations. This was how aristocratic clans worked. When someone was capable, it wouldn"t matter no matter how many generations got pa.s.sed on. They would still be a family. But if a clan had no strength, even blood-related brothers would lose contact over time.
"s.n.a.t.c.h it? As if Great Northern Dynasty will do something like this! We are exchanging. We have said before that we won"t lay hand on Great Qi Dynasty for three years. If we"re to conquer that dynasty, tell me, will that thing, in a way, belong to us too? This way, we are taking our own stuff back in exchange for three years for you guys to live. Is this term not good enough for you?" The old man looked at Fa Ying with a calm expression.
"I have said before. I would rather destroy it than letting you have it." Fa Ying said coldly.
"A group of brain-dead people. Do you not care about the nations of Great Qi Dynasty? Do you really want to see them dying in front of you? By that time, they will all die because of you. How are you going to meet the buddha once you died?" The old man looked at Fa Ying with a faint smile. At this moment, his smile looked real like the edge of a sword.
"The buddha has said before that killing is not the way to solving problems. We can"t kill out of fear of others. But even G.o.ds themselves also have their own knives. When necessary, they wouldn"t hesitate to wield their knives and slaughter the mortals. If needed, I won"t mind becoming such kind of G.o.d." At this moment, the killing intentions around Fa Ying"s body has reached its peak.
"Haha, Slaughter G.o.d? Unfortunately, you don"t have the strength to do that. I, Beitang Yizong, guarantee on behalf of the entire Beitang Clan that so long as you hand over the Buddha Stone, we will retreat right away. We also guarantee to not lay a hand on Great Qi Dynasty within these three years. After three years, if Great Qi Dynasty can dedicate their loyalty to the Great Northern Dynasty, I guarantee that I won"t touch even a single hair of Great Qi Dynasty." Beitang Yizong let out a loud laugh.
"I would rather die standing than live kneeling down to you.." Like usual, Fa Ying retained the same expression.
"Since you want to die so badly, let me fulfill your wish. I am sure there will be people who don"t want to die in Great Golden Buddha Temple. I will only think about the rest after killing you." Beitang Yigong was about to act as soon as he finished speaking.
"Slow down, we are already here. What are you rus.h.i.+ng for? It won"t be late for you to act a bit later. For certain things, it is better if we talk about it instead." At this moment, Qing Shui stood out.
"Young man, this isn"t the place for you to voice your opinion. Don"t try to interrupt us. If you insist on doing that, I will kill you."An old man in silver lion gown from the other side said.
Qing Shui moved his sight towards the old man who was speaking. He looked rough, violent and even though he had white hair and beard, the skin across his face was like tree bark. He had a pair of huge round eyes and also hair which looked thick like iron needles. He looked just like a violent male lion.
"If you keep on talking, do you believe that I will make you vanish totally along with Beitang Clan?" Qing Shui said with a faint smile.
The old man kept on blinking his eyes. Right at the moment when he was about to talk, he got stopped by the old men nearby bim. At this moment. Beitong Ying settled down his sight at Qing Shu, "And here I am thinking who could be so arrogant. So it is you. My Beitang Clan was trying to look for you. Surprisingly, you turned up on you own. Today, I am killing you first before going to the five continents to eliminate your clan members.
Originally, Qing Shui was still considering on how he should solve the problem with Beitang Clan. But now, everything has turned out well as he already had in mind what he should do. When a man kill, he should show no mercy.
"For this sentence, this sentence of yours is going to cost you a price which will cause you to die with grievance." Qing Shui looked at Beitang Yigong calmly.
"Despite your young age, you are already so arrogant. Since that"s the case, let"s test out whose fists are hader. Indeed, I don"t have a choice if you are the one choosing to not walk the heaven"s path when it is open available for you. Who is planning to fight me now?"
As Beitang Yigong was speaking, he took a step forward.
"Brother, why don"t you let me fight first!" The old man beside Beitang Yigong took a step forward and said.
Beitang Yigong responded after thinking for a while, "Well then, Yizong, I will let you take the lead. Today, let them know that it only takes one man from my Beitang Clan to eliminate all of them."
Beitang Yizong quickly stood in the middle of both parties. At the moment, he was currently standing above the air staring at the Great Golden Buddha Temple as well as Qing Shui. Even though he wasn"t speaking, things had already been made really obvious. Who was going to take the fight?
Fa Ying was about to make his way forward when he was stopped by Qing Shui, "Master, are you confident you will win? Why don"t you let me fight this one."
"No I am not. But this is the first fight, I have to be the one to fight it even if it means myself dying." Fa Ying said in a firm tone.
Looking at Fa Ying"s att.i.tude, Qing Shui was already knew that he could no longer stop him. He let out a sigh and said slowly, "Well then, stay cautious. As long as you are still breathing, I will have my own ways to save you."
Though saying this might sound a bit unpleasant, Qing Shui still felt the need to say it. He was scared that Fa Ying would fight with the mindset of thinking that his death was certain. That way, it would be hard for him to save him. Hence, he said it as a reminder to Fa Ying. He was sure that death was definitely something which Fa Ying was reluctant to face. But if it meant dying together with the old man opposite him, he wouldn"t hesitate to go for that option.
Qing Shui really admired the people who weren"t afraid of dying. The reason being that they took their belief which they had in their heart more important than their own life. It was for their inheritance, it was to fight for righteousness of their own.
Fa Ying nodded, "I will. I still want to see if Great Golden Buddha Temple can make it through this crisis." Fa Ying smiled at Qing Shui. He put his palms together and bowed down. As that happened, Qing Shui quickly stepped aside.
"Master, rest a.s.sured, the Buddha Sect will only become more and more prosperous. You must stay alive and see for yourself." Qing Shui sounded confident.
Fa Ying"s weapon was a huge staff. It was gold in color and was three meters long. It was as thick as an adult"s arm. As soon as he moved his body, he was already in the middle, about thirty meters away from Beitang Yizong.
For warriors like them, it would only take them an instant to travel this kind of distance.
"Let"s get this over with. Don"t say that I am bullying you. I have already given you a choice to make. You are the one who is seeking death yourself. You can"t put the blame on others." Beitang Yizong said very arrogantly. But in front of Fa Ying, he did have the capability to be arrogant.
"Stop trying to find anymore excuses for yourself. Could it be that deep down, even you yourself also feel that the things you do are inappropriate and that you are just trying to find a way to forgive yourself?" Fa Ying said slowly. After that, he slowly swayed the staff in his hand with a strange energy. After that, he abruptly hopped up and swiftly made his way towards Beitang Yizong.
A sweep crossing river, Vajra Buddha Devil Rod!
Qing Shui never expected for Fa Ying to actually use the Vajra Buddha Devil Rod. Furthermore, it was the Fourth Staff, Five Soaring Waves.
The attack prowess of that rod was still considerably strong. It also possessed decent speed. With Fa Ying"s current strength, he has already drew out the maximum potential of the technique.
Beitang Yizong maintained the same facial expression seeing the enormous staff dropping down. He swung his right hand and as he did that, a ray of enormous Origin Qi condensed into an enormous lion"s claws clashed against the rod.
Burst!
Beng!
Beitang Yizong shouted out loudly. He continued to unleash his attacks with his lion"s claw. As he once again took a step forward and thrusted out his palm. Two even larger lion claws leaped out towards Fa Ying.
In everywhere which it pa.s.sed by, it would start two hurricanes in the air.
Diamond Body!
A golden light shone across Fa Ying"s body. He was holding the staff in his hands right in front of him. The lion"s claws from before had already pushed him back. This time, there were even two of them. Not only so, they seemed even stronger than the previous one.
Their gap in strength was too large. There was no longer any suspense in the battle. Even if he has had the Diamond Body, such defensive martial technique was insufficient to help keep him from being perfectly undamaged.
Beng-beng!
Fa Ying held the staff in his hand tightly. Despite this, he still spurted out fresh blood from his mouth and got blown backwards. The two old monks quickly went ahead to catch him. They took out some recovery medicinal pills and let him took them. Qing Shui also took out the Gold Needles and quickly inserted thirty-six needles on Fa Ying"s chest.
The part which Fa Ying was injured at was his organs. Even after his Diamond Body managed to block off a lot of attacks, he still got critically injured. But as long as he didn"t die, Qing Shui would have his ways to save him.
"Great master, let me handle the rest of the battle. There has to be a day when Beitang Clan and I will have to settle things once and for all. Since I have already made it here in time, I might just do things more thoroughly." Qing Shui said while trying to stabilize Fa Ying"s injuries.
"Well then Mister Qing, sorry for the trouble."
Qing Shui moved swiftly with his body and blocked Beitang Yizong who has already arrived at the Great Golden Buddha Temple.
"Let me handle the rest of the matches. I will let you have the initiative to start first. Don"t tell me that I am bullying you. Or else, I am afraid you might not even have the chance to unleash a single attack." Qing Shui was considered to have returned the words which Beitang Yizong said to Fa Ying back to Beitang Yizong himself.
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