Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty)

Chapter 926

Prev List Next

AST 1148 – The Fearsome Strength of the Young Mistress of the Yan Clan

For a State Master level martial artist to be a chauffeur would be an incredible loss of face. Even members of the royal family would not demean a State Master by forcing him to be their chauffeur.

There was only one reason for this. This elder who was at the State Master level had willingly chosen to be the chauffeur of the Yan Clan"s young mistress. Otherwise, with the dignity of his martial prowess, it was impossible to force him to be a chauffeur for anyone.

Soon after, the White Draconic Horse came closer. One of the injured men from the Lei Clan was being carried to the side by his clan"s members to make way. The horse carriage stopped.

"Uncle Zong, why is there such a huge commotion outside?"

An indescribably elegant voice was heard. At this moment, everyone was silenced. This woman"s voice made everyone quiet down immediately. The people that were present clearly heard her voice.

Her voice wasn"t considered melodious and it had a tinge of roughness within it. It was dignified and powerful, giving off an elegant impression.

"Young Mistress, we have arrived at the Divine Weapon Street. This place has just engaged in a battle and some of the people are injured. People will leave soon." The elder replied respectfully.

Then, the curtain on the car lifted. This carriage was like a small house, with doors in the front and back, and windows on both sides. These type of carriages were suitable for long term rides, but were more of a token of status. In Yan City, it was unlikely for anyone to not recognize the White Draconic Horse Carriage.

A pair of delicate hands lifted the curtains of the carriage and a tall figure walked out. In an instant, the surrounding people were stunned. Qing Shui was also caught up in the moment.

The woman wasn"t wearing any veil. Though it was difficult to tell how tall she was, she had a lean figure. Her green elegant dress wasn"t that eye catching but her peaceful expression, flawless fair skin and perfect pair of beautiful eyes were just like tranquil autumn waters. Her dazzling eyes sparkled as they blinked. Together with her hair that was tied up high in a ponytail and her exquisite sharp nose, she looked like a master artist"s finest work.

Qing Shui shook his head. He wasn"t amazed by the woman"s beauty, and was more mesmerized by her aura of elegance. It was an aura that was alluring to anyone. She was attractive, elegant, precious, quiet yet imposing.

What was most astonis.h.i.+ng was that not that this woman"s beauty was comparable to Yu Ruyan and Tantai Xuan. It was that even Qing Shui was amazed by the lady"s strength.

He was unable to feel how formidable the Yan Clan"s Young Mistress strength was, but he could feel that it was way higher than the strengths of the Formation Immortal Sect"s black and white elders.

"How old is she to have such a level of cultivation?" Qing Shui was dumbfounded.

"She calls the elder Uncle Zong… for someone who she greets as Uncle to willingly be her chauffeur. This woman must be strong. Moreover, Uncle Zong should be a subordinate of her elders."

This point further ill.u.s.trated the formidability of the Yan Clan"s Young Mistress. If she wasn"t strong herself, it was impossible for someone of the State Master level to willingly serve her.

As the commotion continued, the Young Mistress of the Yan Clan walked down with a graceful posture and approached the man from the Lei Clan.

"Young Mistress Yan, you"re here, cough cough……" The man from the Lei Clan forced a smile and said respectfully.

"You"re from the Lei Clan? What"s going on here?"

The Young Mistress of the Yan Clan said calmly and took a final glance at Qing Shui. Her eye contact stunned him.

She was impressively beautiful and dazzlingly stunning, her spring-like clear eyes adding to her sereneness and elegance. It was as if she could see through a person"s soul. It was at this moment that Qing Shui felt that she had seen right through him.

It was the first time Qing Shui had ever felt this way and this implied either the formidable strength this woman possessed or the profoundness of her mystical skills.

The woman looked at Qing Shui and the expression in her eyes changed slightly before she averted her gaze. Qing Shui immediately turned his back and walked towards the blacksmith store. He didn"t like the way this woman was looking at him.

""Oh, it"s not a big deal, we"re just learning from each other. Young Mistress, you must be here to collect the weapons. Let"s go, I"ll lead the way." The man from the Lei Clan did not dare to say much. He hadn"t expected the Yan Clan"s young mistress to be mad at him.

"It would be better you recuperate first, I am aware of where to go." The Young Mistress of the Yan Clan said as she lifted her head to look at the signboard. In a split second, her eyes gave off a bizarre expression once again.

Anyone who saw this signboard would definitely compliment its craftsmans.h.i.+p. The drawing skills, the penmans.h.i.+p, the forging ability and materials were all top notch. All of this could easily be understood by experts of these fields.

"Did this Firecloud Blacksmith Store just open? This shop wasn"t open the last time I was here. The signboard also looks very new." The Young Mistress of the Yan Clan said softly.

As she murmured to herself, she then smiled at the elder: "Uncle Zong, you can help me take the weapons and I"ll browse around. You can find me here later!"

The young mistress of the Yan Clan pointed to the Firecloud Blacksmith store. She wanted to ask who made this signboard. Another issue was that man who gave her a very bizarre feeling. She couldn"t exactly point out what was weird.

The people that were present left and about ten people came from afar. These people looked like martial artists. Attending to the White Draconic Horse, they seemed like followers from the Yan Clan.

The young mistress of the Yan Clan took another glance at the signboard and walked towards the shop that was considered the smallest blacksmith store. She could already hear sounds of forging coming from the store.

As she stepped into the place, everything seemed new open, without any customers. Afar was one person forging ironware and what astonished her was the man forging was the man she had seen previously.

Previously, she had already sensed the man"s formidability. He could defeat the Lei Clan"s people and leave with no injuries. This showed that the man had great power, but never had she thought that he would actually be a blacksmith master.

The reason she could confirm that this man was a blacksmith master was because she saw the charm in Qing Shui as he was forging. She had seen many blacksmith grandmasters but at this moment, she could see the astonis.h.i.+ng aura from this man once again.

The Great Yu Dynasty had never heard of such a young blacksmith grandmaster. The woman watched Qing Shui forge and hammer from nearby.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Qing Shui did not stop his work or turn his head as he asked as he could feel the aura that could only come from this woman.

"This Firecloud Blacksmith store belongs to you?" The woman asked lightly.

"Yes!"

"May I look around the store?" The woman smiled as she glanced around.

Qing Shui could feel that she was laughing, but he was unsure if she was laughing at him.

"Of course, Miss, feel free to look around. You may call me if you have any issues." Qing Shui replied calmly.

The woman gave Qing Shui a weird look. From the moment she had entered and talked, she realized that his aura and his heartbeat rate had not fluctuated. This shocked her.

She looked at the weapons on the shelves. There were over ten different types, some of which were types used by only a few. She reached out to the Greenedge Sword and her face glowed as she held the weapon. However, soon after, she shook head.

Next were the armors, but she also shook her head and went off to the accessories section. There were many accessories here and most were catered for women. The moment she held up one of them, her eyes glimmered and she smiled.

Hairpins, bracelets, jade pendants, necklaces, earrings…….

In the main continent, forging was a difficult task, and what was most challenging was making accessories. If they were only for decorative purposes, such as handmade crafts or simple accessories, there were ample numbers. However, accessories made by forging grandmasters were rare, and those with formidable power were even harder to find. It was so rare that even the young mistress of the Yan Clan only had a few of them.

She never imagined this place would have what she wanted, those earrings and hairpins. These items were so rare and much better than nothing. How could she miss this chance to own them when she finally found such rare items?

Five hundred taels for one wasn"t cheap, but to the young mistress of the Yan Clan, this amount was nothing. Since there were not many of them here, she intended to buy all of them.

"Mister, the accessories you have are all here? I want all of them, but are there even more of?" The woman turned and asked Qing Shui.

Qing Shui"s forging hand quivered from the way she spoke. It was just like a rich person speaking with an imposing manner. He did not know why the young mistress of the Yan Clan wanted so many of them, but he was more than happy to sell them.

"Leave a few of them for me to keep up the appearance of my store!" Qing Shui thought and replied.

"I want these but I wonder if it"s possible to give me a discount?"

The woman"s statement stunned Qing Shui. He had thought that this woman was super rich and based on her character, he also had thought that she would not bargain.

"I"ll give you one for free then." Qing Shui knew she was a young mistress from the Yan"s clan and this amount of money was not a big deal. Although he did not bother about this amount of money as well, he felt a sense of satisfaction from being able to sell these items.

"Sure, do you have even better ones?" The young mistress of the Yan Clan looked at Qing Shui and asked.

"Yes!" Qing Shui replied without hesitation.

"Really? Why didn"t you display them?" The young mistress of the Yan Clan seemed really happy to hear that and this was the first time her tone had changed from the moment she had stepped in.

"That is because I don"t intend to sell them!" Qing Shui replied as he shook his head.

The young mistress of the Yan Clan was stunned by his reply and did not know how to reply in that moment. It"s impossible to insist on buying them or beg him to sell them. She had never begged anyone before and even if someone wanted to give her a present, they even had to queue to do that. Besides, if she did not have an item, it was likely because it was very rare.

The forging grandmasters she knew in Yan City did not make accessories, and even in the whole Great Yu dynasty, those accessories with special powers were so rare there were barely any.

She loved them, especially those that were here. Not only were they beautiful, they had useful powers. Hearing there were better ones, she wanted to buy those but unfortunately, he did not want to sell them.

She felt there were room for negotiation, If he didn"t intend to sell them, he could have just said he did not have any better ones. Why did he choose to say he still had more?

"Young man, let"s negotiate. Sell them to our young mistress and you can ask for any price."

At this moment, the elder walked in and overheard their conversation.

Qing Shui lifted his head, looked at the elder and smiled as he shook his head, "I am definitely not selling them. There aren"t many and I still have use for them."

"What if I forcefully s.n.a.t.c.h them from you, what will you do?" The elder frowned and looked at Qing Shui, as he sent a formidable spiritual pressure towards him.

Qing Shui shook his head and did not seem to be affected by the elder"s formidable spiritual pressure. He smiled and replied, "n.o.body can s.n.a.t.c.h my items because I do not have an Interspatial Silk Sachet."

If you would like to unlock some [Portraits of Beauties] for the flavor as well as wish to support us, please consider pledging ->

AST 1149 – Craving for Power, Arrogant Bai Rilong

“Do you have interspatial silk sachets? Do you think that I won’t be able to get my hands on what I want if I don’t have one?” The old man looked at Qing Shui and asked, relaxed. However, he found it slightly weird too.

“Then why don’t you try?” Qing Shui had the Arhat and his spirit energy techniques could fend off about 70% of spirit energy attacks. He shouldn’t be forced into too bad a state.

“Do you know that there is a battle technique called Soul Search? After a person dies, within the time for one incense stick to burn, you can search through a bit of his memories.” The old man continued to speak calmly.

Qing Shui was stunned. He knew of such spirit energy techniques as well and there were also many which were very vicious and would deplete a lot of spirit energy. There were even possibilities of backlash effects. Most of these techniques were often used to search through a person’s memories and the success rate was very low since it couldn’t search through a lot of one’s memories. It would only be able to bring out the memories which the deceased person held the most attachment to.

“If you insist on doing that, then I’m left with no choice. I can only tell you that after I’m dead, even if you can find that information through the search, you won’t be able to get your hands on it,” Qing Shui said very calmly. He didn’t think that the old man would be able to kill him.

Although Qing Shui wasn’t very strong now, he had trump cards up his sleeves. Moreover, if Qing Shui was bent on escaping, even a State Master level expert wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“Uncle Zong, it’s fine. Stop joking with Mister. Since Mister doesn’t wish to sell, he would have his own reasons for that.” Miss Yan stopped the old man who was about to say something.

The lady should be a very a.s.sertive person but it seemed like she wouldn’t pressure others. Qing Shui was able to sense that. It wasn’t that he didn’t wish to sell the item to this lady but more of that he felt that he couldn’t do that so quickly.

“Mister, then are these things something I can buy?” The lady pointed to the accessories mentioned earlier and said, smiling.

This time around, Qing Shui saw her smile. It was one which he had never seen before, one that was confident, graceful and was like the spring’s breeze. It was beautiful that it had a charm that could make one fully accept her views.

“Of course you can!” Qing Shui smiled and walked over.

“Uncle Zong, help me buy these. Oh, right, have you taken back the weapon?” The lady’s actions were very graceful, as if each of her expressions and smiles, each word and each movement, would attract one. She wasn’t doing this intentionally. It was her most natural state.

“I’ve brought it. Miss, take a look to see if you’re satisfied!” The old man handed the lady a white sword that was three feet long. It was like the autumn water, glittery. It was clear with one look that it was made from quite a good quality material. It should be some high grade materials.

The lady picked it up and took at it for a while but there were no changes to her expression. She was neither shocked nor disappointed.

“Miss, Yan Clan has many weapons which are much better than this. Why do you insist on forging one here? Is it just because of this Greencloud Stone?” The old man shook his head.

“Greencloud Stone?” Qing Shui spoke in a soft voice out of slight astonishment. However, the lady looked toward Qing Shui.

“You know of the Greencloud Stone as well?”

“I don’t. I only know of Greencloud Continent and my daughter is called Qing Yun [1]…” Qing Shui shook his head and said.

Actually, when Qing Shui saw this piece of stone, he recalled a sword from his memories, Four Elements Greencloud Sword. It was as powerful as Mu Qing’s Mystical Connection Divine Sword. However, it was as if Mu Qing’s Mystical Connection Divine Sword was sealed up and the unleashed prowess was only 1-2% of the original prowess.

The Four Elements Greencloud Sword Qing Shui recalled had 符印s which were split into earth, fire, wind and water.

When it was swung around, the world would be encompa.s.sed by darkness, fire snakes would dance around, sand would be blown everywhere and tsunamis would be brought forth.

However, it would be hard to say if the prowess was so great. Moreover, Qing Shui felt that even if he were to try, he wouldn’t be able to forge a weapon with that prowess. Therefore, he tried to act ignorant.

“Mister, have you ever thought of changing the place where you work? You have great talent in forging and if you were to wish to change locations, I’ll satisfy any conditions you may have and let you strive to become a higher grade master blacksmith.” The lady seemed to be bringing this up casually.

“Miss, thank you for your kind offer. Right now, I like this place a lot. If I were to wish to work in a new place in the future, I’ll go look for you. When the time comes, don’t say that you don’t recognize me.” Qing Shui replied casually as well.

“That’s a promise then. I can be sure that you’ll definitely not stay long here. I’m very happy to have met you. I am Yan Jinyu. How do I address you?” The lady took the opportunity to follow-up.

Qing Shui hadn’t expected the lady to do this. The old man was even more astonished. Since when had their young miss taken so much initiative to get to know a guy? Many young masters from great clans weren’t even able to have a chance to talk to her. This lad was really able to keep his cool.

“I’m called Qing Shui. Nice to meet you, Miss Yan. You’re as your name suggests, a beautiful jade on earth,” Qing Shui sincerely praised her.

Yan Jinyu looked at Qing Shui, saw his clear eyes and smiled, “Mister Qing shouldn’t be that old but it seems that you have experienced quite a lot of things in life. It’s no longer early, how about I treat Mister to a meal?”

“I had wanted to be the one to treat you to a meal but was afraid that you might think that I’m just trying to get into your good books and be seen as a bad person. Let’s have a meal next time. Next time, I’ll be the one to treat you,” Qing Shui smiled and said.

Yan Jinyu scolded Qing Shui to be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d in her heart. This guy was beating about the bush while scolding her. However, she found it funny as well. She really had an objection. Humans were all like that. Today, in front of him, she really had appeared to have acted in bad taste.

“That’s good too. Then we shan’t disturb you any further.”

Yan Jinyu and the old man left after paying and bidding Qing Shui farewell. Qing Shui sent them off to the entrance and then went back.

He didn’t wish to expose his abilities too soon, otherwise he would find himself in the similar situation as an innocent who finds himself in trouble because of his wealth. Even if this Yan Jinyu might not do anything to him, it didn’t mean that the others won’t.

Right now, what he needed to do was to get stronger and then be able to unleash his influence. Qing Shui returned to his forging while Yan Jinyu stood outside the shop, listening to the hammering sounds which remained as calm and stable as ever. After seven and a half minutes, she let out a sigh and left with the old man.

Many people in Divine Weapon Street had seen Yan Jinyu heading to Firecloud Blacksmith Store and then left. Qing Shui knew that after this event, there shouldn’t be many people who would come and look for trouble. Of course, there might be exceptions as well.

Old man w.a.n.g and his grandson came out again very soon. More people came to the store. Blacksmith stores didn’t just sell weapons. Many people chose to specially make items. They would list out their required designs and other requirements to the shops. They could prepare their own materials or choose from those available in the stores.

Cultivators tended to have extremely high requirements for their weapons, armor and other items. Regardless if it was a powerful cultivator or a low grade one, everyone would try to find the best within their grade. These were things which concerned their lives and they mustn’t be careless about it.

Within just a few days, Qing Shui’s reputation of being a young and handsome master blacksmith spread out in the area. It wasn’t easy to for one to gain a reputation as a master blacksmith.

Right now, news of Qing Shui’s Firecloud Blacksmith Store had also started to spread out far and wide. Of course, there were people who said that these were just rumors but such claims were soon drowned by others.

The weapons, armor and limited numbers of accessories which were forged by Firecloud Blacksmith Store started to spread out. Although they weren’t of the highest quality, they were the most practical and were well suited for many people. After all, the number of ordinary people was quite large.

It had already been ten days since Qing Shui came. Today, he continued to be casually forging weapons in the shop. There were already over ten people in the shop. Suddenly, there was a loud commotion and another ten over people entered.

“Irrelevant people please leave!”

A clear and abrupt voice rang out. When some of the customers in the shop saw the people who came, they didn’t say anything and just left. Qing Shui, who was still forging something, didn’t stop what he was doing.

“Young Master Bai is here? Please come in, please come in!”

Old man w.a.n.g came up and welcomed him warmly.

“Old man w.a.n.g, you really have good judgement!”

The person who spoke was the one in the lead and seemed to have just turned middle-age. His figure was upright, his eyes like bright stars and his nose slightly hooked, making him appear to be very capable and decisive. Right now, he was looking at Old man w.a.n.g and spoke, smiling.

Qing Shui stopped what he was doing and came over. Since these people had chased away all his other customers, he naturally had to come out to take a look. Moreover, this person went with the surname, Bai. In this area, how many other Bai Clans were there who could be so arrogant?

Qing Shui looked at his guy who seemed to look a little similar to Bai Riyi and recalled the scene when Bai Riyi had come the other time. Qing Shui could sense Bai Riyi’s strong desire for material gain, he could also sense that Bai Riyi shouldn’t have too high a status in his clan.

The person who came today seemed to be very strong as well. However, he shouldn’t be capable of being so arrogant yet. Could it be that there were other reasons? Qing Shui wondered as he walked over.

“This shop is yours, right? This place has been quite well-known recently. The reason I’ve come to look for you today is because I have something to discuss with you,” When the man saw Qing Shui, he said directly.

“Previously, a Young Master Bai had came by. I hadn’t expected another one again. Go on, what matters do you have?” Qing Shui spoke casually. As for the things that had occurred between them, he decided to leave it to their imagination.

“I’m Bai Rilong and am considered to have some status in Bai Clan. The reason I’m here to look for you is to ask you to come under our Bai Clan. Your future will be guaranteed,” the man looked at Qing Clan and said, smiling.

“I wonder how Bai Clan compares to Yan City’s Yan Clan?” Qing Shui smiled and asked.

“You’re not going to say that Yan Clan had invited you but you didn’t accept, right?” Bai Rilong’s smile was even wider now.

When Qing Shui saw that there was hints of contempt in Bai Rilong’s smile, he knew what he was thinking about. However, he still smiled and answered, “Why, is that impossible?”

“Haha, have you overestimated yourself? Do you think that anyone will believe that? What kind of clan is Yan Clan? It is one of the top few clans in Great Yu Dynasty. While your talent in forging might not be bad, it’s just not bad. There are too many people in Yan City whose blacksmith skills are superior to yours. Young man, say things which are tenable. Don’t be too arrogant.” Bai Rilong looked at Qing Clan and said with a tone of a senior speaking down to a junior.

Qing Shui felt like laughing. Often, people who called others arrogant tended to be the ones who were arrogant. He didn’t wish to waste too much time bickering with people like this one on such a topic. He shook his head, “Alright, I don’t have the intention of going under anyone. I just want to make a living.”

“Hmmm? Our Bai Clan is inviting you but you’re rejecting us?” Bai Rilong’s tone clearly went up.

What kind of power did Bai Rilong, Young Master Bai, hold in this area? To think that an insignificant blacksmith would dare to go against his words. This caused him to be infuriated. It was as if a servant at home had answered back to him defiantly.

“I’ve said it earlier, I only want to be able to stay here and forge freely.”

“I can make it clear to you. In this place, you’ll live if our Bai Clan lets you live and you’ll die if our Bai Clan wants you to die. Let me ask you one more time. Are you going to come under our Bai Clan or are you going to choose death?”[1] Qing Yun has the same characters as Greencloud.

If you would like to unlock some [Portraits of Beauties] for the flavor as well as wish to support us, please consider pledging ->

Prev List Next