Ancient Strengthening Technique (Portraits of Beauty) Ancient Strengthening Technique Chapter 1146-1147

AST 1146 – Being Jealous of, Lei Clan, Weapons Drawn And Ready to Fight

“I’m sorry, Mister Qing, I have been impudent,” Bai Riyi said seriously.

“Alright, you should go back. Before you leave, let me gift you a line. The outside world is luxurious but I stand firm.” With that, Qing Shui returned back toward the forging platform. He had yet to complete the forging of that piece of metal.

Qing Shui’s words basically meant that everything in the surroundings continued to change at all times. For example, people or their strength. There would also be people who suddenly appeared or people who were born, grew old, got sick or even died. Changes were continuous and endless.

The world was very luxurious but it was also constantly changing. What we need to do is to hang onto our true intentions and not let ourselves drown in the waves of changes. Once a person loses their true heart, they will have lost themselves

Bai Riyi walked out of the blacksmith store, as if he had just woken up from a dream. He once again looked toward the signboard which was hung up with a strange expression. Firecloud Blacksmith Store… He called his people and everyone left. However, when he left, there was still a strange gleam in Bai Riyi’s eyes.

…

Qing Shui went about with his forging leisurely in the blacksmith store. Unbeknownst to him, the reputation of his Firecloud Blacksmith Store had already started to slowly spread. The news of a “young and handsome master blacksmith” was also spreading as well.

As his reputation spread, that afternoon, another batch of people came. When Qing Shui saw this batch of people, he shook his head helplessly and smiled. They came too fast.

These people were all tall and valiant looking, giving off a fearless aura. Their clothes were all different as well. Upon entering, the middle-aged uncle who was in the lead said directly, “Old man w.a.n.g, why didn’t you inform us that you sold the place?”

The man was tanned and spoke in a low, m.u.f.fled voice that gave off a powerful feeling. Right now, he was glaring at old man w.a.n.g and shouting at him.

“Are the words ‘for sale’ which had been hung at the door previously invisible?”

Qing Shui walked out and said, smiling. His voice wasn’t loud nor was he angry. There was just an indescribable sarcasm in his soft and gentle voice.

“You’re the one who bought this shop? We had actually reserved this shop very long ago. You can ask old man w.a.n.g. Old man w.a.n.g, quickly return him his money and let him leave,” the man in the lead glared at Qing Shui and said.

When the man was saying this, he did so without even the blink of an eye. The others looked at Qing Shui from the side. Actually, this wasn’t the first time these people had came here.

The reason they had came previously was to watch a good show. However, after looking at the weapons and armor here, they knew that they were wrong. They quickly got together the many blacksmith clans from the Divine Weapon Street, wanting to force this young and powerful blacksmith out of this shop before they tried to recruit him.

There were many people with this plan. After all, this was a good seed and they couldn’t allow him to set up his own place. They wanted to recruit him and then force him to reveal his forging techniques.

Qing Shui hadn’t expected that these people would come knocking on his door on the first day. He had thought that it would take a few days or even longer and not be this early. Since they’d come, he’d just deal with them accordingly.

Old man w.a.n.g looked at Qing Shui, perspiration breaking out on his forehead. He really wanted to return Qing Shui the money as he was afraid that they would harm him. He looked toward Qing Shui, wanting to see what his plans were.

“I’ve already got a contract over this place and we’ve even traded the t.i.tle deed to the land. Are you guys going to just ignore that?” Qing Shui looked at these people calmly.

In this world, trading of contracts were like life and death challenges and could not be violated. Qing Shui didn’t want to have a clash with these people at this point of time since a lot of them came from big clans and they had relied on their forging skills to make names for themselves in Yan City.

In fact, they were actually scared that Qing Shui’s presence would affect their livelihoods. In order to protect their own interests, they decided to come together and a.s.sess the situation. If things didn’t go well, they’d let him disappear from this world forever.

“Young man, we’ve had an agreement with old man w.a.n.g from very long ago. In principle, the deal has already been made. Your sudden appearance has caused us quite a big loss.” The man seemed to be very agitated. He was very tanned but his heart was even darker.

Qing Shui looked at this man. In his previous life, he had also seen people who were shameless, so he wasn’t shocked to see such a shameless guy. He smiled and continued, “I don’t know why you guys are joining forces to create trouble here. But I only want to say one thing. I don’t like to be bullied and no one can bully me.”

“Hahaha, young man, you need to be clear who is the one bullying the other. You’re too young and not suitable to open such a blacksmith store,” the man laughed and said.

“Alright, our small shop needs to regain its operations. If you’re not here to buy something, please leave!”

Qing Shui made the call for the guests to leave!

When the man saw Qing Shui being so direct, he was stunned as well. He looked around him, clearly seeking for others’ opinions. They were all clearly unhappy. Weren’t Qing Shui’s words saying that he was chasing them away?

They were all master blacksmiths. Who wouldn’t treat them with respect when they saw them?

“I’m saying it one more time. We’ve bought this shop earlier!”

Qing Shui understood that the other party didn’t want him to have his own blacksmith store in this area. And even if he didn’t buy this shop, they probably wouldn’t let him off either. Since that was the case, there wasn’t a need to go easy on him.

“You guys are all from the major blacksmith clans in the area, right? Are you afraid that my small shop will steal your business?” Qing Shui turned and asked with disdain.

“What a joke? What worth do you have? How could you possibly be qualified to steal our business?” a similarly tanned faced man at the back said.

Qing Shui waved his hand and a steel bead shot out!

Pa!

The man who had spoken insolently earlier was left with not a single tooth in his mouth.

“You’re no longer a kid. Didn’t your seniors teach you to mind what you say when you go out?” Qing Shui remained calm, as if he wasn’t the least bit angry.

“Lad, you’re courting death! Everyone, smash this place! Kill him!”

One of the people supporting the tanned faced man whose teeth had been smashed shouted.

“Lad, you’ve got nerve. Which clan are you from? To think that you’d dare to be so arrogant in the Divine Weapon Street.” The leading man frowned as he looked at Qing Shui.

“Stop the thrash talk with him! Do it!”

The man from earlier dashed out toward Qing Shui. Qing Shui took a step forward and casually flicked out his hand, tossing the man aside and flying out of the door.

“You guys are not my match. If you want a fight, go back and call out the experts from your clan. Don’t make me toss all of you out. If you guys were to break your arms, you wouldn’t be able to pick up a hammer in the future. It wouldn’t reflect well on anyone that way.” Qing Shui dusted his hands and turned back.

He didn’t want to kill these people. It was common for cultivators to turn their blades on each other and spill blood if they couldn’t come to terms. In a world of cultivators, everyday was like walking on a tightrope with the end attached to one's waistband. However, he didn’t want to become sworn enemies with these people. A lot of them were blacksmiths, were the ones taking care of matters for the clan and weren’t very strong. They had probably not expected him to have a higher level of cultivation than them.

The man looked furious with his eyes agape. He hadn’t expected this young man to have such a high level of cultivation. The person who was sent flying was the strongest one amongst them. He had initially expected that this was just a small case. However, it seemed that there was a need for him to go back and report to their clan’s head. If he had known this would happen, he would have reported to their clan’s head earlier. He probably would have to get a scolding now.

The group of people left and Qing Shui looked at old man w.a.n.g whose expression was very unnatural. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry. There’re no problems here. Right, old man w.a.n.g, do you know them?”

Qing Shui realized that he still didn’t know who these people were, but he could have guessed that they were from the blacksmith stores in the area.

“The person in the lead is from Lei Clan, a blacksmith clan. Lei Clan is a reputable blacksmith clan in this area and the weapons they forged are very well-known. Very long ago, the royalty of Great Yu Dynasty had even purchased a batch of weapons in this area and it was said that there were also some which were forged by Lei Clan. However, they are now on the decline. Despite that, they still have a good reputation in Yan City,” Old man w.a.n.g said, feeling uneasy.

“Old w.a.n.g, there’s no need for you to worry. You’re not involved in this matter,” Qing Shui said nonchalantly. When he saw that Old w.a.n.g was about to say something, he put out his hand, “You still have your grandson. Moreover, I’ll be fine. Remember, if they ask you anything, just tell the truth. Remember, I’m not afraid of them and they can’t do anything to me. You’ll just need to protect yourself and your grandson.”

“What about the others?” Qing Shui saw that the others seemed to hold the man in the lead in high regard.

“The others are also from the blacksmith clans in the area, but they are a far cry from Lei Clan. You were able to chase all these people away today… As long as you can deal with Lei Clan, the others won’t be a problem.”

Qing Shui then asked about Lei Clan. Old man w.a.n.g didn’t know about it either. He only knew that they were one of the stronger clans in the area. The Divine Weapon Street was too long and only those who were close by had come to look for trouble. Those who were further away hadn’t heard of this matter yet.

People like blacksmiths and alchemists have great connections. Regardless if they were strong or not, most people wouldn’t offend them.

Although Qing Shui wasn’t very worried, he knew that this wasn’t the end of it. He shook his head. He was still a little weak. Who knew if there would be anyone at the State Master level here.

About slightly over an hour later, another commotion broke out outside. Then, a series of shouts rang out.

“The guy by the surname of Qing! To think that you dare to hurt people here! Scram out here!”

…

“Old w.a.n.g, go with your grandson to the south courtyard. Just stay home and rest for these few days and come out again after the matter is over,” Qing Shui looked at Old man w.a.n.g and said, smiling.

“Mister…”

“Alright, listen to me, just go!”

Old man w.a.n.g and his son left the place, returning to the south courtyard. Qing Shui headed out. Right now, the shouting was still so loud, causing Qing Shui to frown. These people were really unreasonable.

When he walked up to the entrance, he saw that there were actually a lot of people outside, many times more than before. There were also people who seemed to be like ordinary commoners. Right now, the one in the front was the man whose teeth were destroyed. He was covered in blood and was supported by a few other people. He was howling out in agony.

These people were shouting out for Qing Shui to come out and to scram out of Divine Weapon Street!

Qing Shui frowned as he looked at the man in the lead. This man seemed to be middle-aged. What that astonished him that this person’s eyes were filled with pernicious aura, something which one would usually only get after having killed a lot of the people.

Qing Shui looked calmly into his eyes and noticed that the hint of world weary in it. He knew that this man shouldn’t be as young as he looked.

The man looked at Qing Shui as well.

“If you pledge your alliance to Lei Clan, I’ll spare you your life!”

The man’s words were very straightforward, his voice low yet piercing, like that of an owl!

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

AST 1147 – Complete Victory, White Draconic Horse, Miss Yan? State Master Driving the Carriage?

“If you were to pledge your alliance to Lei Clan, I’ll spare you your life!”

Qing Shui was now sure that many of the people in the crowd were just pa.s.sersby or could be the helpers Lei Clan and the other blacksmith clans had called to boost their numbers. Their purpose was to make it such that Qing Shui didn’t have a foothold here and cause him to not be able to stand his ground even if it wasn't based on “reason”.

Right now, Qing Shui looked at the man whose age was hard to tell. He was very strong and had quite an aura that stood out. He should be considered someone of status in Lei Clan!

“Has Lei Clan always been so overbearing and imperious around here?” Qing Shui looked at the man and didn’t smile. There was only calm, calmness that was like water.

“Young man, since you don’t know any better, then don’t blame me for not going easy on you.”

After saying that, the man punched toward Qing Shui from afar. Together with his punch, his silhouette flashed and dashed toward Qing Shui and was fast like a disappearing wisp of smoke.

Qing Shui frowned. This was the first powerful expert he was up against in the other four continents. Although this person wasn’t as powerful as Elder White and Elder Black from Great Yu Dynasty and could be said to be much weaker than them in comparison, in appearance, he definitely seemed stronger than Qing Shui.

However, Qing Shui felt that there was a limit to this great power. This was why he wasn’t anxious at all. Seeing that the other party had not dealt a killing move, he merely moved casually.

Fish in Water!

Taichi Cloud Hands!

Qing Shui swung casually, hitting on that guy’s wrist, pus.h.i.+ng him back with a soft yet domineering power. Although it seemed as if Qing Shui had gotten the upper hand, he knew that it was only due to the superiority of Taichi.

Right now, Qing Shui’s Taichi had reached a formidable stage. The Fish in Water movement technique was something he had comprehended on the basis of the Cloudmist Steps or rather, it could be said that he had incorporated it into Cloudmist Steps. His plan was to fully merge Fish in Water together with the Cloudmist Steps before incorporating it into the Nine Palace Steps.

The power wasn’t strong but the stance was extremely profound. The man from Lei Clan felt a tingly pain in his hand which was. .h.i.t by Qing Shui but it wasn’t a big deal. However, he no longer dared to underestimate Qing Shui and his eyes became very serious. With a push of his feet, he rose into mid-air.

Qing Shui followed after him. After all, if they were to stay on land, they could easily bring down the buildings in the surroundings. Neither of them spoke. Qing Shui was now using the Duality Steps together with Fish in Water.

The Duality Steps was also known as the Taichi Steps and its prowess was further accentuated when used together with Taichi. A faint golden color appeared around Qing Shui. It was so faint that he was the only person who could see it.

Lightning Eruption Fist!

A faint violet light flashed on the man’s fist, like violet electricity. It even brought along crackling sounds. With a strong stomp, a huge explosion rang out and the man shot toward Qing Shui like a cannonball.

Taichi Single Whip!

Pa!

Qing Shui moved up and used another tricky move, once again striking on the man's hand. However, the opponent’s fist surprisingly turned back with a weird movement like a “Spirited Snake coming out from the cave”, hitting Qing Shui’s hand.

In that instant, Qing Shui felt a numbing feeling through his body. At that moment, the man leaned back and his right leg kicked toward Qing Shui’s head without any notice.

Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring!

Qing Shui’s senses were very clear and he knew that this numbing feeling was just momentary. However, to people of their cultivation level, just one instant was sufficient. Moving as his mind willed, he appeared not far away in a blind spot behind the man.

Qing Shui knew that martial techniques with lightning attributes were very powerful and numbing effects might also appear because of them. However, the terrifying part was that in that moment, even the person’s senses would be numbed. Of course, this was something that was related to one’s spirit energy. If one’s spirit energy was very powerful, the numbing effect would only be a very short time and one’s consciousness would not be paralyzed.

Earlier, he hadn’t expected the man’s fist techniques to be so agile.

That change in the final moment was really a great piece of work and even Qing Shui wasn’t expecting it.

The man’s battle technique was very powerful. After all, it could cause Qing Shui to be numbed for a moment.

This time around, the Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring had saved him once. In that moment, even if he were to release the Marrow Nibbling Golden Dragon Silkworm, he might not have made it in time.

Qing Shui’s figure disappeared as elusively as a ghost, appearing not far away from the guy from Lei Clan where his blind spot was. Suddenly, he struck out his palm toward the man’s left ribs!

Roar!

At almost the same time, the man swung his hand in an attempt to save himself and concurrently activated his Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation. Even the activation of the Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation was something that happened in an instant and very quickly, a huge “stone statue” appeared, encompa.s.sing the man within it.

It was as if Qing Shui slapped his palm against a hard rock. Earlier, the spot the Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring had sent him wasn’t the man’s blind spot directly. He had to use Duality Steps once to reach there.

The Sacred Jade Divine Stone Ring couldn’t reach a ten-meter distance from a person.

“Lad, I’ve underestimated you.”

The man was first forced to use his Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation and then with a shake of his hand, a dragon spear that was close to two Zhang long appeared in his hand. The huge dragon spear was a violet color and it held a violent power. The dragon spear didn’t have a spear head or rather, it could be said that the spearhead was an extremely twisted looking dragon head. The entire dragon spear was as if there was a dragon tangling itself around the spear.

“I’m going to use my weapon. Bring out your strongest powers. If you were to lose your life because of your arrogance, you won’t even have a chance to cry in regret.” The guy frowned but didn’t attack immediately.

Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation, Big Dipper Sword!

Taichi Sword!

Qing Shui didn’t dare to be too careless. The pernicious aura the dragon spear was emitting was too strong. It should have been stained by much blood. Qing Shui didn’t move. The essence of Taichi was to attack after the opponent does.

Dragon Emerging From the Seas!

The guy from Lei Clan shook his huge dragon spear and swung it toward Qing Shui from a distance. It was as if the guy had merged with the spear, tearing through s.p.a.ce and charging toward Qing Clan.

When the world was first created, it was split into Yin and Yang; Yin and Yang encompa.s.s everything in the world!

Qing Shui used the Duality Steps to move while he drew a circle with the Big Dipper Sword he was holding. The circle he drew was very interesting, with one side being black, the other being white and the middle was separated by a curvy line.

After he drew the circle, it didn’t disappear but stopped in mid-air!

Qing Shui then continued to draw a second one. There was an indescribable profoundness to his slow movements and they exuded a majestic feeling, one that was very old.

The huge dragon spear flashed with a brilliant violet light, as if a violet dragon was das.h.i.+ng toward Qing Shui.

Break!

The dragon spear penetrated the light circle that was left in the air but half its impact was reduced and when it went through another one, which was the last circle, its speed had completely reduced.

It only took Qing Shui two Taichi circles.

The Big Dipper Sword trembled.

Taichi Golden Chi!

A golden colored sword Qi appeared from the Big Dipper Sword and slashed out toward the dragon spear whose impact had been reduced greatly.

At a spot below the spearhead, there was a white-colored scale that was the size of a palm under the dragon’s neck, forming a crescent shape. It was commonly referred to as the reverse scale, the gathering point of the dragon’s blood. The dragon’s blood would be gathered at this point and then sent throughout its body. Therefore, that spot was a dragon’s weakness, a spot which couldn’t be touched. It was said that the method with the highest possibility of killing a dragon was to attack its reverse scale.

Dragons have reverse scale; those who touch it must die!

Qing Shui knew that touching the reverse scale of this dragon spear wouldn’t spell death but that spot should be the weakest spot on it. The weapon was too long and its strength would be spread out. This spot must should be the most fragile one.

For weapons, an inch shorter would spell an increase of an inch of danger. Barefisted martial arts were the most agile and it was dangerous to let masters of barefisted martial arts as well as a.s.sa.s.sins get near since they had endless killing moves they could use which were extremely dangerous, treacherous and vicious. In close range combat, the one important thing which couldn’t be ignored was one’s footwork.

Qing Shui wasn’t afraid of people with long weapons. When his abilities were close to his opponent’s it would be too easy for him to get close. When his opponent is using such a long weapon, once Qing Shui got close, that weapon wouldn’t be of much use.

Close combat fight!

Qing Shui pushed the dragon spear away slightly and attacked from the top with an indescribable speed. Most importantly, he was like a slippery fish in the water.

Fish in Water!

Qing Shui’s footwork caused his opponent to feel a deep sense of helplessness!

The expression of the guy from Lei Clan finally changed and his dragon spear disappeared. Two violet colored metallic claws appeared on his hands. The materials they were made from seemed to be very similar to the dragon spear from earlier.

They hadn’t fought for long and it was clear that Qing Shui was having the upper hand. The guy from Lei Clan now seemed to be in a somewhat sorry state. Qing Shui even put away his weapon now and was only using his Taichi Fist and his profoundness of his movements for his attacks.

Pa…

A continuous stream of Pa! Pa! sounds rang out. Earlier, Qing Shui was only able to hit once after a very long time but eventually, the gap between each sound got increasingly closer. Although it seemed as if the prowess of the attacks weren’t sufficient, his movements and the profoundness of his techniques were unrivaled.

Qing Shui smiled. One would gain the fastest progress in actual battle. This was an all-rounded training. The Fish in Water movements were already considered to have entered the initial phase of merging. Even Qing Shui himself felt exhilarated and had a great sense of achievement.

Pa!

Pfft!

When it was about time, Qing Shui attacked directly onto the opponent’s chest, sending him flying backward. Earlier, the strength which Qing Shui had exerted wasn’t sufficient but he hadn’t been attacking with his full strength. It was more for training his martial techniques and movements.

The man from Lei Clan spewed out fresh blood and fell down from mid-air. He’d be seriously injured even if he wasn’t dead. Since that the situation was already in a deadlock, there was no need for him to hold back.

Many people had already gathered around by now and were watching. There were also some who were powerful cultivators. Qing Shui could sense them when he came down.

Qing Shui stood before them while they appeared to be terrified and uneasy. Just then, before anyone said anything, a loud voice rang out.

“Make way, make way, Miss Yan is here to get her weapon…”

“Ah, Miss Yan is here. Quick, make way…”

…

From a distance, a beast carriage was driven over. When Qing Shui saw this beast carriage, he was also stunned. The beast pulling it was completely snow-white all over and wasn’t very big. It was five meters long and three meters tall, just like a horse. However, its horse head was slightly savage looking. It still looked very nice though. It also had two deer antler-like horns on its head, making it appear very handsome.

White Draconic Horse！

Qing Shui looked at this big white horse, a legendary horse with dragon’s blood. These types of horses weren’t considered powerful demonic beasts but what Qing Shui was astonished at was how valuable they were.

The White Draconic Horse was only at elementary Xiantian. However, it was worth a lot. White Draconic Horses were very rare and compared to being in a carriage pulled by a Martial Emperor level demonic beast, a person who had a carriage pulled by a White Draconic Horse would command a higher authority.

Although Qing Shui hadn’t been here for long, he had come to understand quite a lot of stuff. For example, only the female members of the royal family or clans in powerful cities would possibly have a White Draconic Horse but their numbers were very small.

Miss Yan, Yan City, Yan Clan!

Qing Shui hadn’t expected the young miss from Yan Clan would come to the Divine Weapon Street. She was here to collect a weapon. From which blacksmith store?

The carriage pulled by the White Draconic Horse was very big and the one driving it was an ordinary looking old man. However, the closer they came, Qing Shui felt that the old man was unfathomable.

State Master level expert!

He was a State Master level expert who seemed to be more powerful than Elder Black and Elder White. This was an old man who was driving the carriage. Who was Miss Yan to be able to let a State Master drive her carriage?

Qing Shui was very astonished!

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