Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty)

Chapter 944

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AST 1189 – Difficult to Join Heaven Secrets Academy, The Mysterious Eldest Princess of the Royal Family

Tian Jiange left without a word. This outcome was particularly shocking to everyone because by now many had known that Tian Jiange was an elite disciple of the Heaven Secrets Academy.

An elite disciple of such a powerful academy was actually defeated by an unknown person just like that. Before Tian Jiange left, he didn"t even glance in the direction of the Third Prince.

In his eyes, the Third Prince had never put him in his eyes. He had no choice but to make a deal with him once in the past for to special reason. He had agreed to help him this once and would try his best despite the outcome. This time, he had indeed tried his best but even so, he had lost.

It was just as what the young man by the name of Qing Shui had said; failure wasn"t scary. Every powerful cultivator had gotten back up on their feet from countless failures before they ascended to their position of a powerful cultivator.

This round of match had allowed him to truly understand that there were mountains beyond mountains and heavens beyond heavens. There were indeed too many reclusive experts. The small recluse hid among the fields, while the medium recluse hid among the forests and the great recluse hid among the cities. All of these meant one thing – those recluses who were disillusioned with human society and chose to hide themselves in the forests were only "recluses" on the surface. Those who could truly achieve the state of being unconscious of the boundary between oneself and the external world were the ones who could find enjoyment quietly by themselves in the midst of the noises and disturbances in the most secular cities and empires. This was because they could only truly spiritually live on the other level by living in seclusion in the cities and empires.

The capable ones wished to rely on their environment to forget about the affairs of the world and hence distance themselves from the world; such is a small recluse. The truly capable ones would choose to hide among the haunts of the common people because this is the place where talented individuals hide themselves; such is a medium recluse. Only the best of the best would choose to hide in all levels of society. Although they surround themselves with the clamoring politics, they are able to conceal their wisdom with folly and treat everything with indifference; such is a true recluse.

Perhaps this time he had to thank this young man. If his achievement in martial arts ever became a focus of attention in the future, today"s had battle played a very big role in that. It had changed his entire mentality. Perhaps this was the turning point in his life.

Now that Tian Jiange had left, Qing Shui also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He wasn"t afraid, he merely didn"t wish to be forced to leave. As for the Yan Clan, they would be fine as long as they won. The Yan Clan were powerful enough and the royalty would have to keep their promise too. Besides, Yan Jinyu was also from the Heaven Secrets Academy.

When the old man declared Qing Shui and Yan Clan"s victory, happy smiles were seen on the faces of the Yan Clan people while the faces of the Yu Clan people turned paled along with the Third Prince.

The Third Prince was glaring at Qing Shui, wis.h.i.+ng that he could directly kill him a hundred times with his deadly gaze. It was a pity that he couldn"t. Soon enough, the expression on his face returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

But he looked towards the Fourth Prince. Seeing that man who currently only had a small smile on his face, intense hatred once again welled up in his heart as he gritted his teeth. Among the royal family, the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess were the most mysterious, followed by even this Fourth Prince, who was seemingly a level more superior than him. This made him feel extremely unpleasant in his heart, so he was thinking of being in control of the Yan City through this, as a foundation for his future development.

When the old man declared the victor, Qing Shui went off the arena. Upon seeing many stupefied expressions among the Yan Clan, he laughed, "I told you already that my chance of winning was higher than that person!"

"You are really secretive!" Yan Yueyin gave Qing Shui strange look and said.

Yan Jinyu looked at Qing Shui with a small smile. The smile on her face was very warm. It seemed like going to the Divine Weapon Street that day was the best move on her part.

The Yan Clan was very happy. The people in the surroundings were getting rowdy, undoubtedly talking about how impressive Qing Shui was.

"To be able to defeat the elite disciple of the Heaven Secrets Academy, who do you all think he is?"

"To be able to exert himself for the Yan Clan, he must at least be a friend of the Yan Clan!"

"I don"t think he"s merely just a friend of theirs. I heard that he had proposed marriage to the two misses from the Yan Clan."

"What nonsense is that? I know this young man have a very deep relations.h.i.+p with the Seventh Princess while the Fifth Princess is the fiancee of the eldest son of the Yan Clan. It was for this reason the young man helped the Yan Clan, for the Seventh Princess."

"How do you know that?"

"The younger brother of my seventh aunt"s eighth sister"s husband"s brother"s wife is a normal friend of this young man. They drink together from time to time. I"m pretty close to him, so he told me that."

"……."

Yan Dinglang and the rest were ghastly pale. What awaited them was the devastating punishment of their clan"s law. Due to the victory of the Yan Clan, it was impossible for the Third Prince to step in their defense.

Qing Shui and Yan Yangchi had already left along with everyone else. As for the matter between Yan Clan and Yu Clan, it would naturally be settled by Yan Dingtian and the people of the Yan Clan Supreme Elder a.s.sociation.

At the same time, the Fifth Princess and Seventh Princess left too. However, the Fourth Prince didn"t leave!

"Did you guys see that? The Seventh Princess and the Fifth Princess left together."

The person from earlier pointed out, a little smugly!

They returned to the Firecloud Blacksmith Store but it was closed!

"I was also worried that the Yan Clan would lose earlier but I didn"t know you were actually that impressive!" the Fifth Princess said embarra.s.sedly to Qing Shui after the few of them arrived at the Blacksmith Store.

"Nothing to worry about. This just shows that you and Brother Yan are very deeply in love," Qing Shui said with a smile.

The Fifth Princess found it odd that this man seemed to be able to speak very naturally to her. Words like these were rarely heard by her. There weren"t many people who could talk to her this way, let alone being this natural about it. This had just further proven that this man had a lot of experience.

"I promised you that if you won, I would agree to one condition from you, as long as it is within my capability." When the Seventh Princess said this, she suddenly realized that it might have sounded a little too ambiguous, so she couldn"t react to it in time.

She was a little worried now and slightly speechless as her lovely face slightly reddened all of a sudden. This made Qing Shui gloomy instead. What was this supposed to be? A seduction?

The Seventh Princess always had a serene and elegant demeanor. She was fully dressed in a phoenix dress and was extremely gorgeous, youthful and had an air of n.o.bility around her. Qing Shui slightly averted his gaze and then smiled. "You"ll really agree to one condition from me?"

"Of course. I"ll naturally keep my words."

"Any conditions, as long as it is within your capability?" Qing Shui smiled teasingly at her.

The Seventh Princess hesitated, she didn"t even dare to meet Qing Shui"s eyes. Anyone could tell that she was feeling conflicted right now.

"Yes, as long as it is something I can do, I agree to it."

When the Seventh Princess said this, she breathed a sigh of relief. Yan Jinyu seemed to have a different feeling instead and she didn"t know why. She was certain that she had merely been treating him as a younger brother and didn"t have any other feelings for him. But somehow, something felt a little weird right now.

This was a mentality such that if Qing Shui was her younger brother, he was hers. If she were to give him to someone else, naturally she"d feel uncomfortable. This was also like how a mother watched her son getting married. Although she would be happy, she"d sometimes still feel a little weird when she saw her son pouring all his attention onto his wife. All this was normal.

"I would like you to help me find someone. Sister Yueyin knows the details. I wish to find her as soon as possible. So since you offered to help me, please help me find her," Qing Shui said with a smile.

The Seventh Princess felt very strange right now in her heart. She didn"t know if she was disappointed or happy. Although she feared that he would make an inappropriate request, she kind of wished that he did.

Such is human nature. Qing Shui"s action had already caused her to be certain of her positive feelings for him, that was why she had thoughts like these.

She rolled her eyes at Qing Shui speechlessly. "Who is it that you want to find? I will try my best to a.s.sist you?" She asked happily.

"My wife. I have a portrait of her with me." Qing Shui had quite a number of Di Chen"s portraits in his hands as he took one out and handed it over to the Seventh Princess.

The Seventh Princess was also taken aback when she heard that he was searching for his wife. As soon as she saw that peerless beauty on the portrait, she couldn"t help but to sing praises for her beauty. The lady on the portrait even made her feel a little inferior. No wonder this man wasn"t attracted to her.

To be honest, both Yan Jinyu and Yan Yueyin had the same feelings. Both of them felt a little inferior to her, despite the fact that they were also the most gorgeous beauties in their region.

After Qing Shui briefly explained the situation, the Seventh Princess thought for awhile before she spoke. "I will use my greatest effort to help you find her and inform you immediately as soon as I receive any information."

Qing Shui smiled and didn"t seem to mind. He didn"t take her seriously anyway and had waved it off casually. But it was seen through by the Seventh Princess. Although she felt a little bad in her heart, she still a.s.sured him with a smile. "Rest a.s.sured. I will definitely find her for you. I will seek help from the Eldest Princess."

Qing Shui didn"t feel anything when he heard at the mention of the Eldest Princess but everyone else seemed to be looking at the Seventh Princess in shock.

"The Eldest Princess is really busy. I think it is better that we try our best to help Qing Shui find her!" The Fifth Princess said after giving it some thought.

"I know my limits!" The Seventh Princess shook her head.

"It sounds like the Eldest Princess is able to really help me find her?" Qing Shui asked everyone with an amazed look on his face.

"The Eldest Princess is known as the number one genius among the Great Yu Dynasty. She is one of the youngest teachers in the Heaven Secrets Academy and is rumored to possess great power and abilities within her. Even the current Great Yu Dynasty sometimes has to rely on her existence," Yan Yangchi explained softly.

Another mention of the Heaven Secrets Academy. By now Qing Shui had already realized the Heaven Secrets Academy was indeed powerful. He was even considering enrolling himself in there. By the time he had made a name for himself, he could go and find Di Chen himself.

"I wonder what the are requirements for joining the Heaven Secrets Academy?" Qing Shui asked after pondering for a moment.

"The Heaven Secrets Academy doesn"t accept outsiders. Normally, the elite disciples of the Heaven Secrets Academy will be granted a quota after they make an enormous contribution. Apart from that, the teachers of the Heaven Secrets Academy are allowed to bring in one person every year. But of course, these people will have to go through a test. They will only be officially accepted by the Heaven Secrets Academy if they pa.s.s the test. I am not too sure if there are any other methods to join them," Yan Jinyu spoke up at this time.

Qing Shui didn"t expect the procedure for joining the Heaven Secrets Academy to actually be like this. It seemed like it wasn"t that easy to join. For now, he still had to open the blacksmith store first. If that didn"t work out, he"d have to get some apprentices and then let them open their own blacksmith stores everywhere, with the condition that the name had to be the "Firecloud Blacksmith Store".

A chain store. Qing Shui shook his head. After letting his mind run wild for a little while, everyone went in for some wine while they chatted. A more relaxing conversation naturally followed. The victory of Yan Clan this time was an event worth celebrating.

"Come, come. This time we are lucky to have Qing Shui around. Let me express our grat.i.tude on behalf of the Yan Clan."

The moment Yan Yangchi spoke, the rest raised their cups for a toast. It was difficult for Qing Shui to decline. "It"s fine for a toast but my words still stand. If we are brothers, then there"s no need for such courtesy. I don"t have many friends, even less here, so I treasure them very much."

"We treasure you as a brother very much too!"

"Oh that"s right. Suya and I have decided to get married next month!" Yan Yangchi announced with a smile when they were enjoying the wine.

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AST 1190 – The Yang Stone, Lured into a Trap, Drawing the Sword

Yan Yangchi"s words shocked everyone, but they were mostly pleasantly surprised by the news. The Fifth Princess was exuding a charming aura right now with her slightly flushed but blissful face.

It went without saying that Yan Yangchi was also very happy. Their relations.h.i.+p had gone on for a very long time, but they had never held their wedding ceremony. Cultivators didn"t want to be chained down by commitments. But now that they felt that their relations.h.i.+p was stable, they decided to get married.

"Congratulations, Big Brother, Sister-in-law!" Yan Yangzhao congratulated them with a smile!

Due to the status of the Fifth Princess getting in the way back then, they couldn"t get married. So everyone still called her the Fifth Princess. Furthermore, the Fifth Princess didn"t really get to mingle with the Yan Clan much, aside from Yan Yangchi obviously.

"Congratulations, Brother," Qing Shui said with a smile.

Everyone else congratulated them happily.

The wine party went on until very late as everyone drank to their heart"s content. In the end, everyone stayed the night, including the Fifth and Seventh Princesses. However, Qing Shui still spent his night in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

On the very next day, Qing Shui"s Firecloud Blacksmith Store was opened for business. He was even planning to take some requests. Since he had been forging for Yan Yangchi and the rest before, he hadn"t manage to do any other requests. But he could finally do so from now on, probably one request a day or perhaps a few requests in a day. Anyway, this was for the sake of earning a reputation.

"Why don"t you take on my request as the first for today?" The Seventh Princess glanced at Qing Shui.

"Sure but you"ll have to prepare the materials yourself and offer me something that interests me as a reward." Qing Shui smiled at the woman who actually gave others a very favorable impression.

"We"re so well acquainted each other, do we still have to talk about that?" The Seventh Princess was speechless.

"Alright, tell me what you want. If you aren"t impressed by what Sister Yan is wearing right now, then you"ll have to prepare your own materials." Qing Shui was only joking just now.

"Of course they are to my taste. But I have my own materials for a weapon. Is it alright for you to use this when forging my weapon?" The Seventh Princess asked happily and then showed him the scarlet stone she had in her hands.

"A Sunstone!" Qing Shui exclaimed in shock after seeing it.

"That"s right. It was a birthday present from the Eldest Princess. I haven"t been able to find someone who can temper it," the Seventh Princess explained to Qing Shui with a smile.

Once again, the Eldest Princess was mentioned. Qing Shui was getting curious about this woman. It was said that sometimes even the formidable Great Yu Dynasty had to rely on this woman for their reputation. A peak Grade Two Dynasty, the strongest existence within it was a Grade Three State Master. The bare minimum strength of a Grade Three State Master was 10,000 nebula. But how much was the maximum strength of a peak Grade Three State Master? What strength was required to be a Grade Four State Master?

Qing Shui was still clueless about everything. Should Tian Jiange"s strength be considered a borderline Grade Three State Master or only a Peak Grade Two State Master? Based on his own strength, he was probably a Grade Three State Master now. Even so, it was still incomparable to the enormous amount of strength that those State Masters from the Dynasty Sect held.

Apart from that, it would be his own strength. The Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation had barely made it into the Grade Two State Master state. Qing Shui was only worried about his own strength right now. Based on his strength, he could probably be considered a Grade Three State Master.

There were only two Grade Four Dynasties in the Wester Oxhe Continent and the mysterious Heaven Secrets Academy. There were definitely Grade Four State Masters in the Grade Four Dynasty, let alone the Heaven Secrets Academy. The only thing that made Qing Shui wonder was if any Grade Four State Masters also existed among the Grade Two and Grade Three Dynasties.

Qing Shui felt that along the path of a State Master, the higher you went, the greater the gaps were between the levels. Even a Grade Three State Master was a divider, that is to say that there was a wide gap in between a Grade Three State Master and Grade Four State Master.

"What"s with you? If you can"t do it then we"ll use something else," the Seventh Princess hurriedly said when she saw Qing Shui in a daze.

Qing Shui was baffled. This Yang Stone was something that had fallen off when the outer layer of the sun had burnt out and could only be found in some unusual locations. It was just like a meteorite from the sky, except that this Yang Stone was more precious. However, the biggest problem with this kind of material was the fact that it was very difficult to melt.

These were waste rocks that were once overflowing with the energy in the core of the sun and had fallen off after the energy had been completely been burned out. However, these waste rocks were some of the most powerful materials used for forging and they were priceless.

Since it had been burned out, it would of course no longer have to be melted with the same temperature as a sun. In fact, it only required a hundred millionth of that temperature. Even so, there were still very few blacksmiths who could melt it.

The Seventh Princess had only taken it out because she wanted to have a weapon forged with a Yang Stone so badly since the Eldest Princess was using a Yang Stone Sword.

When she saw the expression on Qing Shui"s face, a wave of embarra.s.sment washed over her because she realized that she had made things difficult for Qing Shui, so she had hurriedly said that.

"I am not sure if I am able to but I will give it a try. However, the success rate isn"t going to be high, so don"t get your hopes up. Take out the weapon that you have used before and let me see it. If by chance I am able to forge it, I"ll forge one for you." Qing Shui didn"t really mind. He wanted a challenge too. Now that his strength had been increased tremendously, he wasn"t certain if he was able to melt it now. After all, he was cultivating the Primordial Flame.

"Sure!" The Seventh Princess took out a red longsword that she had used before, it was a fire type too. Although she had taken out her weapon and handed it over to Qing Shui, she didn"t put too much hope in it. She was aware of the difficulty and even regretted that she had taken the Sunstone out earlier.

The rest went on with their lives while Qing Shui forged in the Blacksmith Store at his own pace, since he was already accepting orders. He"d accept and forge one weapon for State Masters every few days. They were a minority and there were very few of them among the population of over a hundred million. Hence, he forged those weapons that could amplify power by one or two times to sell. However, they were not to be bought with money but instead traded for herbs, materials or any bizarre items that Qing Shui fancied.

There were also weapons that amplified power threefold among them but not any higher than that. However, since these weren"t observable with eyes and couldn"t be sensed by average people, Qing Shui could only wait until someone who needed them walked in.

Threefold was already the limit. There weren"t many weapons or armor in the store, this sometimes happened because this store emphasized quality over quant.i.ty.

Apart from that, Qing Shui wasn"t sure how long he could keep this store open. He realized that it seemed like the Heaven Secrets Academy was an important step if he wanted to ascend to new heights. Either that or he could go through the other two Grade Four Dynasties. But of course, it would be better if the Great Yu Dynasty could upgrade to a Grade Four Dynasty.

Qing Shui was going to think about it after opening the Blacksmith Store!

The people of the Yan Clan left in the evening. They had to make preparations for the wedding of Yan Yangchi and the Fifth Princess. The Fifth Princess and the Seventh Princess had also followed Yan Yueyin and Yan Jinyu back to the Yan Residence so things grew quiet here again.

He had used up his time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal today, so he could only wait until the next day if he wanted to enter. After the sky turned darker, Qing Shui sat alone in the pavilion while thinking about his future plans.

He wondered if the so-called Eldest Princess and Crown Prince would attend the wedding of Yan Yangchi and the Fifth Princess that was going to happen in a month"s time. Normally in this kind of situation, they would come but it was difficult to say since they had a special status.

Qing Shui suddenly recalled that the Seventh Princess was going to ask for the Eldest Princess" a.s.sistance in searching for Di Chen"s whereabouts, so he had a feeling that perhaps the Eldest Princess might show up for Yan Yangchi"s wedding.

The Eldest Princess might not come back when Yan Yangchi and the Fifth Princess got married, but they could arrange for the wedding to take place around the time when the Eldest Princess" usually returned. Perhaps next month would be the time the Eldest Princess would usually return.

Qing Shui had a feeling that it was a very plausible case. To Qing Shui, it seemed like this mysterious Eldest Princess was a very important figure and he could probably understand more about external affairs through her and she might even able to find Di Chen.

At a sudden wave of intense undulations, Qing Shui raised his hand just when a wave of faint golden gas was unleashed!

Pa!

A wave of energy exploded loudly. Qing Shui"s figure flashed as he charged towards the source of the unleashed energy!

He had already expected someone to find trouble with him because his partic.i.p.ation in the battle would definitely offend other parties such as the Yu Clan or the people with the Third Prince.

During the daytime, he had already learned some of the Yan Clan"s matters. Such as how the Yan Dinglang"s branch was punished by his clan. Even some Supreme Elders that supported Yan Dinglang were punished by the clan. It was pretty much considered to be over for them.

The Yu Clan had retreated into seclusion. Even so, that wouldn"t stop them from using dirty tricks, such as ambus.h.i.+ng Qing Shui or plotting an a.s.sa.s.sination against him, just like what was happening right now.

Qing Shui had already expected this day to come, but he didn"t think that it would be so soon.

He expanded his spiritual sense and it spread out in all directions like tentacles. The speed of the other party was very fast, as if they were getting Qing Shui to follow them.

"Hmm, not human?"

Qing Shui saw that the thing that had ambushed him then fled, while tempting him to follow it somewhere, turned out to be a shadow beast that was about the size of a fully grown bison. The shadow beast was very weak in strength, yet it had extremely formidable speed. Similar to the Treasure Hunting Pig, which was superior in defense and its survival capabilities while the shadow beast was superior in speed and survival capabilities.

At first, Qing Shui was puzzled at how it could be this fast despite how very weak it was when it ambushed him. It turned out that its objective was to lure him here.

Qing Shui could pretty much be considered a courageous and highly skillful person, so he was interested to know just who it was that wanted to kill him.

He was originally planning to stop this shadow beast and this was doable with the current speed he possessed. Besides, he also had the Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring. Even without it, he could catch up to it with only the Nine Palace positioning.

The shadow beast had a very formidable speed. It brought Qing Shui over a thousand li in a flash and even soared high into the sky.

Although Qing Shui was confident, he still expanded his spiritual sense. But due to its high speed and the limitation of spiritual sense, by the time he discovered the target, he was already surrounded.

"I didn"t expect you to be brave enough to come out here all by yourself." A chilling voice traveled to Qing Shui"s ears.

Qing Shui stopped to look at the four old men who surrounded him from all directions, trapping him in the middle.

If Qing Shui wanted to escape right now it would be as easy as flipping over his palm. He could flee immediately by putting the capabilities of Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring to use. However, he was more interested in knowing who these people were.

"Who are you all? Why have you led me here?" Qing Shui asked while looking at the four unknown old men.

The four of them were fully dressed in gray robes and had quite robust figures. Their eyes were deep and they were s.h.i.+ning with incisiveness that didn"t give in to their age. The auras around them were very deeply icy and dark, so deep that it shocked even Qing Shui.

"Who are we? The only thing you need to know is it isn"t a good thing for a young man to be too much in the limelight."

Actually Qing Shui was already sure that these people were definitely related to the Yu Clan by now. But they weren"t necessarily from the Yu Clan because if this matter were to fall through and be exposed, it would be devastating to the Yu Clan.

"Are you all sure that you can kill me?" Qing Shui laughed all of a sudden while looking at them.

"Hahaha, only one of us will be enough to kill you. The four of us are only for insurance." The man seemed to be very amused.

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