## AST 1120 – Looking Back, It Has Been A Very Long Journey…

Late in the afternoon of that day, Qing Shui and the others returned to the Beitang Residence in Lion King’s Ridge and looked around. Qing Shui finally found some low grade Sacred Beast Pills. There were over a hundred bottles of them…

He only had a few bottles earlier and felt that they weren’t evenly distributed but it was all fine now. It was enough. Other than low grade Sacred Beast Pills, he also found quite a number of medicinal herbs, medicinal pills, martial techniques, and refining materials. Gold and silver suddenly became the most worthless thing.

Qing Shui had no need for the other stuff. After storing away some of the low grade Sacred Beast Pills, medicinal herbs and such, he gave the rest to the ladies. However, Beitang Clan’s battle technique was something that they could pick up.

It was getting late and since Qing Shui was still injured, he decided to bring the few ladies along, including Luan Luan. He did this to let them use the low grade Sacred Beast Pills to tame some powerful demonic beast. Moreover, after things were done here, they could head for the Peng Meng Immortal Mountains or make a quick trip back. Otherwise, there won’t be enough time since he needed to make the next transportation to the other Four Continents.

Entering the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui didn’t do anything but lie down. His body needed some time to recuperate and the realm would allow him to do so in a short amount of time.

The matters with the Lion King’s Ridge was settled and Qing Shui heaved a sigh of relief. If it was in the past, he felt that he would have already been able to sit down and rest. Or rather, he could already stop where he was. With his current abilities, he was already at the very peak of the Five Continents.

Thinking of this, Qing Shui went into a daze. Unknowingly, he had already gone very far in his life, having reached a height which he could only think of or maybe a height which he might not even have dared to dream of in the past.

He had thought of eradicating Lion King’s Ridge. In the past, he had thought that a hundred thousand stars would be enough to allow him to destroy it. However, he only barely managed to accomplish this act with his current level at over two million stars. He almost had to give up his life for this too.

In the past, he hadn’t expected to be able to become this strong so quickly. The Nine Continents Mountain and the Dragon Qi had allowed his abilities in the Five Continents to soar. However, he knew that the most important thing was the Arhat Rosary Beads. Without it, Qing Shui felt that he probably would still have no hopes to deal with Beitang Clan.

Laying here made him feel extremely relaxed but upon thinking about Di Chen, he felt a little worried. The growth in his strength also made him craved for more power. Only with power would he be able to protect his family and the friends around him.

Right now, he still didn’t feel that he had great ambitions. He only wanted the people around him to live a happy and blissful life. Nothing else was important. He would live together with his women and kids. It was just so simple.

However, because of his family background and the fact that some of his women came from exceptional backgrounds, he had to take this route. He didn’t regret this. There were two sides to everything. Sometimes, trouble might not be a bad thing. When the trouble was resolved, one would be able to feel that life was more wonderful than before.

Now that the trouble here had been settled, it was time for them to head back. He would go back, stay for a while, go through some preparations, and then head off to the other Four Continents.

Peng Meng Immortal Mountains, was also on the north side of the Northern Sacred Lu Continent, it was not too far away from where they were. Qing Shui decided to bring the few ladies with him tomorrow and help them tame their demonic beast while taking a look at the area as well.

He looked at the Demonic Beast Token which had sealed the Golden Ni Lion. The good thing about the Demonic Beast Token was that after a demonic beast was sealed inside, time would stop for it. Although this Golden Ni Lion was on its final breath, after being sealed in, it was frozen in that state.

The Five-colored Art of Forging could already be considered quite stable. However, with his current abilities, the things which he forged would no longer provide great improvements like before. At this level, one would still need to rely on their own abilities. Clothes were just for appearances only.

Of course, there were still some legendary weapons, armors, and even some divine artifacts which were very powerful. However, even some slightly useful things would have some effects, albeit their effects were lesser.

Thankfully, there were quite a lot of precious forging materials in the World of the Nine Continents. In addition to the fact that quite a lot had been left behind since the ancient times, as long as one was strong, there would be quite a lot of benefits to be gained by joining a major influence.

Qing Shui had killed quite a number of powerful demonic beasts. Moreover, a sizeable amount of Beitang Clan’s collection was suitable for forging armors and weapons. Qing Shui planned to leave the items he forged for his family and women. Most importantly, these armors and weapons had all been engraved with a Seal Formation.

For clothes, they tended to be defense Seal Formations; for clothes, they would be Seal Formations which would increase one’s damage; for shoes, there would be Galewind Seal Formations. They were all at the lowest level but it took Qing Shui a lot of effort before he could engrave them successfully. Ever since he engraved the Seal Formations, he hadn’t stop and would engrave some daily.

As he engraved them, he realized that he was not limited to Seal Formations and he could engrave ‘Heavenly Talisman’ as well. However, this made sense. Since talismans were drawn on, they would have a similar effect if engraved using the same methods as Seal Formations. However, it was a pity that they couldn’t be used together with another Heavenly Talisman. For Qing Shui, this was the same as saving the effort of putting talismans on himself. Of course, this would be even more suitable for the other few ladies.

This wouldn’t work for attack-based Heavenly Talismans such as the Descending Heavens Talismans and Heart Toxin Talismans. For these talismans, they could only be drawn!

After getting stronger, Qing Shui decided to use even stronger beast hides to forge armors, battle skirts, and other stuff for them, he also engraved the Seal Formation on these items. He was also planning to leave several sets for them, including those for battle wear, fur robes, and those which were of a softer quality…

The Five-Colored Art of Forging had also reached a later phase and this made Qing Shui very happy. Although he hadn’t been using the hammer as a weapon, he had been practicing the Thousand Hammer Technique and could even hammer out over ten thousand times.

This was progress. From the first hammer, he continued to engrave items to be left behind for Qing Clan. These items would be useful for strengthening one’s body and tempering the bones.

Qing Shui didn’t neglect the Combination Sword Technique either. However, it seemed to be increasingly hard to train it. Right now, he barely managed to grasp the Five Moves Combination Sword Technique. Out of every ten attempts, he would fail eight times.

The Four Moves Combination Sword Technique could increase one’s physical strength by 40%, and when the Five Moves Combination Sword Technique was successful, it could increase one’s physical strength by 80%. This made Qing Shui very agitated. In the future, each additional increment in sword moves would increase the prowess by one fold. Two Moves Combination Sword Technique increases physical strength by 10%, Three Moves Combination Sword Technique increases by 20%, Four Moves Combination Sword Technique increases by 40%, and now, the Five Moves Combination Sword Technique increases by 80%…

Qing Shui’s current physical strength had reached about 25,000 stars and a 40% increase in strength would be quite a significant amount when put together with the weapons and the increment from the Demonic Beast Armor Manifestation.

If he could include one more move, then the prowess…

Qing Shui had expected that this would be the case earlier but he wasn’t very sure. With each additional move incorporated, the difficulty would be more than one fold. Moreover, the most important factor in cultivating the Combination Sword Technique was one’s level of comprehension.

Even ordinary people would be able to pick it up as long as they had some basic knowledge of martial techniques. After all, some stances required highly difficulty movements. Other than that, it also required familiarity and comprehension of the Basic Sword Techniques.

An increase in physical strength by 40% would increase his overall abilities by about 150,000 stars. This also caused Qing Shui to feel that the further he advanced in the Basic Sword Techniques, the more powerful he would become. It was just that the latter parts would be even more difficult but the greater the increase in his physical strength would allow the Combination Sword Technique to unleash an even greater prowess. Moreover, the Combination Sword Technique used the most direct moves and was especially troublesome to deal with.

There was also progress in his level of drawings but he didn’t manage to attain a breakthrough. However, he had recently picked up two Heavenly Talismans that were related to spirit energy. One of it increases the target’s spiritual energy, the Cloud Spirit Talisman. The other one reduces the target’s spirit energy, Spirit Absorbing Talisman.

These two Heavenly Talismans were similar to the Descending Heavens Talisman, the increment of weakening effect was at 5%.

It was better than nothing. Moreover, Qing Shui could engrave the Cloud Spirit Talisman onto helmets or phoenix crowns with the method of engraving Seal Formations. In battles, martial artists would also put on helmets or phoenix crowns since they could save lives in times of emergencies. However, good helmets and phoenix crowns were hard to come by and if one was unlucky enough to be struck on the head, it would be useless even if the person was wearing a helmet unless they were wearing a legendary or divine artifact.

Qing Shui only started cultivating his skills after resting for over ten days in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. After three months, he had already fully recuperated. He practiced for half a day before taking a break. He saw those Portraits of Beauty hung behind those magnificent mountains and rivers screen. He now knew of a secret behind these portraits. If one were to have sex with a lady from the portraits, one of his heavenly meridians would be cleared. A person has twelve heavenly meridians and he didn’t know what benefits he would obtain if he were to clear all of them. However, he knew that it should be a very difficult feat. It was because he didn’t even know if he could encounter all twelve women from the Portraits of Beauty. Thinking of this, he shook his head. S what if he knew who they were? Was he really going to marry all of them?

Di Chen was in the other Four Continents and Tantai Xuan also wanted to head for the other Four Continents. Suddenly, Qing Shui thought of the lady in the crystal coffin. After he had ‘eaten’ her, he had never seen her again. He didn’t know how she was now. He looked towards that Portrait of Beauty which she was drawn on.

The lady’s hair was done up high, she had soft brows and her beautiful face that lacked makeup was like the morning sun reflected on snow. She had the beauty of a goddess but her eyes were as cold as winter.

She seemed divine. Her snow-white plain clothes couldn’t hide her curves. Her shoulders were sharp, her chest was in the shape of a beautiful arch and the curves at her waist flowed beautifully. Her slender figure made her appear like a jade carving created by the gods, her bare feet exuded a crystal-like glow…

She exuded a disposition that made her seem like an existence which couldn’t be tainted. Out of all the ladies that Qing Shui had encountered before, this one seemed to be the most difficult to get close to. She wasn’t cold but she had an arrogance that flowed right from her soul.

As Qing Shui looked at the portrait, he went into a daze. Although he had saved her, he always felt as if he owed her one. Suddenly, a familiar feeling surged.

Sensing and communicating through consciousness!

He found himself in a place facing mountains and the lady from the crystal coffin stood atop one of the mountain peaks. Qing Shui wasn’t far away from her. The dream among the sea of flowers?

Qing Shui recalled the dream among the sea of flowers from a very long ago. It had been a place that he had not been to before. He later met Di Qing in Southern City Furniture Store and this lady in the crystal palace.

He hadn’t expected that he would meet her in his consciousness a second time at this moment. This place was one he had never been to before, just like the situation in the other dream among the sea of flowers.

When Qing Shui lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes met her ice cold beautiful gaze. Her eyes were very beautiful, touching even one’s soul. However, it gave one a chill which seemed to run through one’s body from the bottom of their feet to the top of their head.

Qing Shui felt a little uneasy to be standing before her. The other time, she hadn’t killed him but now he wasn’t sure if he could win against her. He had once thought of fighting her when he could win but as time passed, he felt that he was a little despicable if he did that and felt that he owed her one…