## AST 590 – Amnesty, Upgrade, Defying Dragon Tendon, Venture Forth Into The Flowerfruit Mountain Once More

Qing Shui breathed a sigh of relief when Ba Donghe fell to the ground. At first, it was quite easy to kill the first few ones but it took a while for Qing Shui to kill Ba Donghe. The Diamond Gigantic Elephant had also killed one of them very quickly.

The Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb had also unexpectedly killed two of the Martial Saints while Qing Shui fought against Ba Donghe. After that Qing Shui worked together with his Diamond Gigantic Elephant to separate them and killed another two Martial Saints. With another downed by his sneak attack, only two Martial Saints were left standing on the battlefield.

At that moment, the last two old men became perplexed at the bloody scene. Qing Shui walked towards them while thinking a lot about the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb, and the Demon Binding Ropes.

Qing Shui was thinking that if he didn’t have the Hidden Weapon Technique, the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb and the Demon Binding Ropes, he would have had zero chances of winning this fight. Of course, the effects that Critical Damage had could not be underestimated.

Luckily, the ‘Lunar Silk Garment’ had proven to be quite valuable and effective. It was no surprise that it was known as one of the Gifted Earth Treasures of the world. Moreover, after it had been refined using Qing Shui’s Ancient Strengthening Technique, the Lunar Silk Garment became even stronger than before.

Moreover, the ‘Critical Damage’ was the strongest skill from the Lunar Silk Garment. It was a skill that could overkill any opponents unless they possess an abnormal defense that could withstand the menace of the ‘Critical Damage’, even when their defenses were halved.

“How many people like you are in the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord?” Qing Shui said calmly as he stepped closer to the two Martial Saints.

They were shocked for a moment. The elderly man on the left lifted up his head and forced a smile “There are no more like us. We are the only Martial Saints left in the residence. The whole Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord has been cremated by your hands. Haha.”

The elderly man laughed desolately with a hint of ultimate despair. He looked at Qing Shui with a lonely expression. There wasn’t even a shred of hatred visible in his eyes.

The other elderly man had the same expression. He gazed at Qing Shui and said “Just do it. We are not your opponents. We can’t resist anymore. It’s funny that we came thousands of miles just for it to end like this.”

“I can tell you two are not from the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord. Why don’t you come and stay in my Qing Residence? If you two are willing, I will welcome you.” Qing Shui looked at the two elderly men as he said in a serious tone.

When they heard Qing Shui’s words, the two elderly men were visibly stunned. They would never have imagined that Qing Shui would say something like that. One of the elderly men with longer sideburns looked Qing Shui in the eyes and said “Aren’t you afraid that we will endanger your family?”

“Yes, of course I am afraid!” Qing Shui answered without hesitation.

“Then why did you say that? Do you think that you can afford to gamble on us?” The elderly man seemed to have relaxed a little as he kept his eyes on Qing Shui.

“I can’t afford to gamble on you two. So I will leave you two to make me believe your words. Moreover, I can feel that the anxiousness in your spirits, but I don’t feel any murderous intention or hatred residing inside you two.” said Qing Shui after pondering for a while.

“We are already two really old men who are getting older and weaker as the days go by. Even though we still have some strength left, we thought we could remain peacefully in the Central Continent and live on. We didn’t think that something like this would happen. We are the Elders of the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord and we should have died fighting here.”

The elderly man stopped talking. His long white eyebrows fluttered as he gazed at Qing Shui with a complicated expression.

Qing Shui knew there was still hope to recruit them because they were still considered as great figures wherever they went. He only needed to state his position clearly to them. However, it was a shame that both of them were tied to the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord….

“I sincerely want you two to stay with us. Honestly, I have business I must attend to, so I need to go over to the other continents for that. I have faith that I will stand on top one day. However, I have been entangled in this problem temporarily, so I sincerely need both of your assistance to help me through it. I am not a man who forgets those who have helped me in any way, and I am certainly not a man of injustice and wickedness.” Qing Shui said in an affirmative tone as he locked his eyes with the elderly man on the left.

The elderly man on the right had a faint smile on his face and started talking “We are already at this point, let us stop being sentimental for a moment. We will stay because we can see that you still have some things you can’t let go of. How about this, if you trust us, then let us go back and bring our families with us. Us old men do not have any other wishes except to see our descendants live on. At the same time we could take care of your residence, how does that sound?”

Qing Shui naturally agreed. He was happy with their decision. Ultimately, he was pleased that he still had the capability of judging people by their hearts. At first, he thought of finishing them off, but after sensing the loneliness and desolation in their hearts, he knew they had something they couldn’t let go of – their family. Qing Shui would be relieved if they really brought their own families to the Qing Residence.

The two elderly men took off with the corpses of Ba Donghe and the other Martial Saints. They wished that Qing Shui would forgive the other members of the Residence of Sky Tyrant Lord. After they went back, they planned to disband the current Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord once and for all.

Qing Shui had made an agreement with them after all. He was overcome with emotions when he realized that he had already forced one of the Seven Stars of the Seven Stars Country in the Central Continent – the Residence of Sky Tyrant Lord, to disband completely. Unfortunately, the Residence of the Sky Tyrant Lord was in the last position among the Seven Stars, meaning that it was the weakest among them all.

After the two elderly men left, Qing Shui had a feeling that he would remain at home for about a year just to wait for their return. Moreover, he still needed to improve the strength of the members of the Qing Clan, especially Luan Luan. She would be sixteen years old in a year, so Qing Shui decided that he would hold a ‘Coming Of Age’ ceremony for her before he left again.

One month had passed!

Qing Shui was preparing to venture forth into the Flowerfruit Mountain once more. He hoped that this time, he would be able to find the location of the treasure in the first Treasure Map he had obtained. After he had returned from the Central Continent, he was determined to venture into the Flowerfruit Mountain once again.

This time, Qing Shui did not plan to bring anyone else with him because the Flowerfruit Mountain would reduce his powers from the Martial Saint level back to the Peak Martial King level. If he brought anyone else, he feared that he could not afford to look after them by himself.

“Qing Shui, bring me along!”

Qing Shui gazed at Huoyun Liu-Li helplessly, shook his head and said “Just continue your cultivation properly. If you manage to become a Peak Martial King, I will bring you everywhere I go next time.”

Qing Shui also tried every possible way to persuade his two children, Luan Luan, and Yuchang to stay at home and appeased their behavior. He also planned to leave the Diamond Gigantic Elephant home as well.

He turned towards Qing Luo, Lin Zhanhan, Qing Yi, Yiye Jiange…. And waved goodbye as he hopped onto the Fire Bird’s back to begin his adventure into the Flowerfruit Mountain once again.

Without his family as a strong support behind his back, everything would be a hindrance and he would have his hands full just trying to protect them. This was why Qing Shui had been thinking of ways to improve the cultivation of the members of the Qing Clan in the past few years so that they could at least protect themselves from dangers.

The annihilation of the Residence of Sky Tyrant Lord had completely cleared Qing Shui’s anxieties. He wasn’t particularly worried about the opposing forces in the Greencloud Continent and so far the opposing forces outside of Greencloud Continent hadn’t been giving him troubles either.

As for the two Martial Saints, Qing Shui planned to observe their movements in secret for a while. After all, the safety of the members of the Qing Clan was his priority!

………

It was a peaceful sunny day with no clouds in sight. The scenery of the sunny day and the cloudless sky was boundless. The Fire Bird soared through the sky leaving a trail of fiery red apparitions.

Qing Shui would cultivate his Taichi Fist in the morning, then spend six hours in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. For the rest of the time, he was free and had nothing to do. Normally back in the Qing Residence, he would play with his kids, have a walk with Shi Qingzhuang and Wenren Wushuang or do something else.

Wenren Wushuang still hasn’t recovered her memories completely but she had clear memories of Qing Shui and Qing Yi. She was able to get along with the others very well, but she had very little contact with Qing Shui, much less trying to be intimate with him.

Qing Shui was not worried. He knew that her mind would become stronger as she cultivation grew. The lost memories would come back to her in time.

After nearly two months of flight, he was able to catch a glimpse of the Flowerfruit Mountain in the far horizon. Two months of time in the reality would be around eight years time in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. In other news, Qing Shui’s Ancient Strengthening Technique had already surpassed the 228th Cycle of Circulate Qi in the past few days.

His overall strength had increased by the strength of half a country. However, under the effects of the Diamond Qi and Diamond Protection and other supplementary techniques, he was able to gain an additional strength of a dozen countries.

When he looked at the sky, it was already late. He entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal directly while riding on the Fire Bird. Qing Shui decided to enter the Flowerfruit Mountain the next day. In the meantime, he made preparations to tune his techniques and skills for optimum performance.

Diamond Crossing Rivers, Vajra’s Glare….

During the two months of cultivation, the Diamond Crossing Rivers had finally reached the small success stage. It has the ability to increase the user’s speed by 20%. After he was satisfied with the cultivation of the Diamond Crossing Rivers, Qing Shui shifted his focus on the cultivation of the Vajra’s Glare instead.

Qing Shui could tell that the Vajra’s Glare was seemingly undergoing a change, possibly in the small success stage of its development. He bore some hopes that the Vajra’s Glare would come in useful. Someday when he stumbled on a dire situation, he would be able to use it to save his life.

The Vajra’s Glare has a certain chance of turning his opponent into a coward while reducing their imposing aura. There was also a certain chance that his opponent would be thrown in a frightened state, thus becoming idle during a battle.

Qing Shui continued the drawing the [Hundred Forms of the Tiger]……..

Then he drew some talismans……

………

Knowledge was never a burden, especially with an ungodly treasure such as the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal. It would be a waste if he stopped learning additional skills and techniques. This was because by learning new things, he would be able to attain the peak of perfection in order to conquer anything.

Although this was true, at the same time, one would eventually reach the limit of their potential and innate skills. Once this level was reached, it would be extremely difficult to climb to the next one. But with the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui did not need to waste his energy thinking of other ways to level up his techniques. He could use the time inside the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal to continue cultivating his techniques until they have leveled up. This way, he could acquire various experiences and widen his knowledge. He could find the turning point of the breakthrough for specific technique based on the breakthrough of other techniques as well.

Just like drawing talismans and drawing the Hundred Forms of the Tiger. The drawing of the Hundred Forms of the Tiger could enhance the capability of the Talisman Drawing as well as strengthen its effectiveness. Qing Shui was more concerned about the power of the drawings over the importance of their grades.

In terms of his cultivation in drawing, Qing Shui had finally managed to stabilize his drawing in the level of drawing flesh and blood. The Talisman Drawing had also managed to hold its position in the fourth level because the chances of its evolution were very small. This was the reason why Lin Zhanhan only had a low-leveled Heavenly Talisman skill despite being adept in Talisman Drawing. It would be increasingly difficult for the Heavenly Talisman to advance the further down its evolution it was.

The Demon Binding Ropes seemed to have advanced by one level. Qing Shui could feel the change in the power that was previously infused into the ropes. In other words, the binding ability of the rope seemed to have become stronger. Unfortunately, Qing Shui could still only see the words ‘Defying Dragon Tendon’ on the ropes through his Heavenly Vision Technique.

These three words confused Qing Shui for quite a while because of the word ‘dragon’. Dragons were rumored to exist in the World of the Nine Continents, much like the rumored existence of the legendary Phoenix.

Dragons were said to be the evolution of snakes or pythons. Hornless dragons were said to be the evolution of alligators. It would also take countless years for a hornless dragon to evolve into a legitimate horned dragon.

Dragons could soar through the limitless sky and dive into the deep sea. They could hover over the nine heavens and plunge through the nine levels of the sea. Dragons were mysterious beings that had appeared in various records in the historical books.

“Did these three words mean that the Demon Binding Ropes were some kind of dragon tendons?”

Qing Shui trusted that his Heavenly Vision Technique would never lie to him. Moreover, most of his techniques were of the ancient times. During those times, dragons were real and they existed in the ancient world. Because there was a ‘dragon’ in the word ‘Defying Dragon Tendon’, Qing Shui felt that none of the tendons from Martial Saint leveled demonic beasts could ever match up to this Defying Dragon Tendon.

Through this battle with the Martial Saint, Qing Shui was able to realize the crazy strength of the Demon Binding Ropes. If the Demon Binding Ropes could bind Ba Donghe for a good three breaths of time and the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb was toxic enough, then the combination of their powers would be the ideal technique for the deadliest kills. Unfortunately, the Demon Binding Ropes currently lacked the power to do so, and the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb was not toxic enough to kill within three breaths time.

The major problem with this combination was the time. It wouldn’t be a problem to kill a high-leveled Martial Saint with ease if Qing Shui was able to temper the ropes and enhance the toxicity of the spider web.

Qing Shui was working hard on cultivating his techniques in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. The days were uninteresting but calm. During his breaks, he consumed an Aroma Concentration Pill so that his cultivation would not be interfered with during his rest. Although the days were slow, it wasn’t as long as he thought it would be.

………

Zhongyuan Country in the Central Continent!

In the city of Zhongyuan Country, Duanmu Residence!

“My dear daughter, I have completely recovered already. Isn’t it the time to pay a visit to that gentleman of yours?” A graceful woman in an azure blue dress asked a young lady beside her.

It was difficult to tell how old the woman was, but judging from her appearance, one could say that she looked like a 30 year old woman. Her skin was as smooth as jade and her mannerism was decidedly mature. She was as graceful as a poised noble, and she was certainly beautiful. She also had an aura that could attract men and women alike to do her biddings.

The woman’s voice sounded attractively mature. It was undeniably calming and pleasing to the ears.

“Mother, do you really need to go?” The young lady also wore a full dress in azure blue. If she didn’t call out to the woman using the word ‘mother’, strangers would mistakenly recognize them as a pair of sisters, not a mother and a daughter.

The young lady seemed to be around the age of 25 or 26. She had a pair of alluring bright eyes, much like the moon in the darkest night sky. Her sooty brows were straight and defined. However, she had an aura that could freeze the world. The cold air around her made her seemed unapproachable. Despite that, she had a pleasing voice angelic, but her tone was a bit cold.

She gave a subtle smile at her mother. Even when she smiled, it was still a bit cold and unsympathetic!

If Qing Shui were to see this young lady again, he would recognize her immediately as the cold woman he met at the Flowerfruit Mountain. Even so, Qing Shui may or may not remember her if they should ever meet in the future.

“I am curious about the man that my daughter idolizes. Well, he is my savior as well. The Duanmu Clan will definitely repay the debt of gratitude we owed him.” said the woman as she smiled at the young lady.

“I don’t ‘idolize’ him. If it wasn’t for his medicinal pills that cured you, I wouldn’t have to mention him at all. Also, you were the one who asked first. It wasn’t me who mentioned it.” The cold young lady would only behave coyly in front of her own mother.

“Lingshuang, let’s pack up and prepare for our trip. Shall we go in a few days?” The woman grabbed the young lady’s hands gently and asked with a voice full of undisguised sympathy.

“Mmm, okay!”

…….

“This is really twisted….”

As soon as Qing Shui entered the Flowerfruit Mountain, he could feel a suppressing force of Heaven and Earth pressing down on him. He quickly realized that his overall power had been reduced to the strength of ten countries….

Luckily, Qing Shui still had other techniques up his sleeves, so he quickly used them to test his powers. When he was able to use his other techniques, he breathed a sigh of relief. Qing Shui could still protect himself even with his powers reduced, at least from the demonic beasts of the Chieftain Level he met last time.

When he thought about the Raging Flame Cloud Leopard and the Purple-Eyed Golden Spirit Monkey from last time, he wasn’t even inside that deep mountains yet then. The Chieftain Level demonic beasts around the ‘outskirts’ of the Flowerfruit Mountain were already quite powerful – their power was equivalent to the strength of fifteen countries.