## AST: Chapter 13 – Break Through to the 3rd layered Heavens!

At this moment, Qing Shui regained his composure, looking at the Golden Direwolf that was rapidly approaching him. His body that was brimming with energy, slightly shuddered as his right arm exploded forward with a burst of speed.

“Xiu!”

That pebble was targeted at the direwolf’s jaw region, created an extremely discordant sound as it soared through the air.

At the exact moment the pebble flew out, Qing Shui opt not to retreat but to advance instead, akin to a earthworm diving into the soil, Qing Shui crisscrossed both his hands and forcefully penetrated into the back of the direwolf.

“Kacha!”

“Aooooo!” the wolf howled in pain (what does the wolf says?)

The sound of bone breaking accompanied by a howl filled with excruciating pain rang out.

Using his elbows, Qing Shui pushed against the direwolf, borrowing the strength of that push to retreat a distance away. The heavily injured direwolf was crouching on its hind legs, having the appearance of begging for mercy, staring fearfully at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui was not as calm as he appeared to be, that strike just now, was too dangerous! If it was not him exploiting an opportunity, shooting out that pebble at the exact moment where the direwolf was fully concentrating on its attack, Qing Shui would not have had the opportunity to injure one of the direwolf’s hind legs.

A wolf was cunning by nature, and as such, Qing Shui did not dare to be careless and underestimate his opponent. He was cautiously staring at the golden direwolf,while rivulets of sweat drenched his whole body, as he entered into a state of extremely intense focus.

At this moment, while staring at the golden direwolf that was injured heavily by him, Qing Shui could not help but to relax slightly. The slight lapse of concentration on his part gave rise a sense of stupefaction, causing his brain to enter into a state of daze. While in that state of daze, Qing Shui could not even stand straight on his feet.

Just as the waves of dizziness appeared, the worn and tattered jade pendant in front of his chest emitted waves of cooling energy, that quickly circulated in his whole body, sustaining Qing Shui. This feeling was analogous to when the parched ground of a sunbaked desert suddenly experienced a draught of rain.

The waves of cooling energy were unendingly circulating inside him, Qing Shui felt that his limbs were incapable of mustering any might, even his body felt extremely relaxed, comfortable to the point of extreme laziness. Just when Qing Shui almost fell asleep, an exceedingly bizarre thing happened!

Qing Shui’s cultivation in the Ancient Strengthening Technique was currently at the peak of the 2nd-layered Heavens. At this moment, in the calm and placid state of Qing Shui, the Ancient Strengthening unexpectedly broke through to the 3rd layer! Qing Shui could feel a threads of a warm and gentle Qi flow circulating his entire body, swiftly refining the toughness of his bones and energy channels. That strand of Qi after he broke through to the 3rd layer, had grown even thicker. Undergoing the refinement process, Qing Shui could feel that his energy channels had expanded and grown thicker as a result.

As his body gradually recovered his strength, Qing Shui realised that his strength had exceeded his previous limit by a huge margin. The difference in strength was incomprehensible! Qing Shui knew that the Ancient Strengthening Technique had a total of 9 layers. Every 3 layers represented a tier. 1-3 equates to low tier, 4-6 equates to mid tier, 7-9 equates to top tier. Now that he had cultivated to the 3rd layer, as long as he could break through to the 4th layer, Qing Shui didn’t even dare to imagine the benefits. As long as he could step passed the doorway, there would be an entirely new realm in front of him. Even though he had barely broken through to the 3rd layer, Qing Shui was already anticipating breaking through to the 4th layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique.

As the Ancient Strengthening Technique deactivated, Qing Shui felt elation in his heart. No wonder cultivators fought for real, it was only through the battle experiences gained from life and death battles that will result in the benefits one received was far greater than merely training alone.

Looking at the meekly cowering golden direwolf, its eyes darting around. Qing Shui could sense that the golden direwolf wanted to escape.

Qing Shui decided not to pursue, after all he, felt gratitude in his heart. If it was not for the golden direwolf today, he would not have broken through to the 3rd layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique so easily. Just when Qing Shui examined his energy channels and the ball of Qi inside his Dan Tian, he realised that the Blue Lotus Art had also reached the 3rd level! Qing Shui could vaguely feel that, after the integration of both the Blue Lotus Art and the Ancient Strengthening Technique, resulting in the convergence of blue and yellow Qi, there was a slight difference in the Blue Lotus Art that he was practicing as compared to the Qing Clan members. But it was difficult to pinpoint where exactly the difference lies.

He frowned “Then, won’t I become trash again?” Qing Shui didn’t even realise when the golden direwolf escaped as he was pondering over this question.

“The Ancient Strengthening Technique gets harder and harder to cultivate in as one progresses along, I don’t even know how long will it take for me to break through to the 4th layer, this also means that the progress of cultivation for Blue Lotus Art will stagnate too?” as Qing Shui was using one to complement the other.

“Forget it, anyway, I still have the Solitary Rapid Fist from breaking through the 2nd layered heavens of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. Oh ya! I wonder what new skill appeared in my mind after breaking through to the 3rd layered heavens! Qing Shui excitedly thought to himself.

—

“Escaping techniques. This was the new skill he gained from breaking through to the 3rd layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique. As the information of the escaping techniques flowed into his brains, Qing Shui was frustrated to the point of gnashing his teeth.

“Arghhh, what do i want escaping techniques at this moment for? Even if the reward is not more information about pill concoction, it should at least be another strengthening technique, he murmured listlessly. I don’t even know how long would it take for me to break into the 4th layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique, when can I learn more about alchemy? His heart bled while thinking of the information about the various miraculous pills that existed in his brain. The Small Revitalizing Pellets, Glowing Buddha Seed, Dragon Martial Pill, and even the 9 Souls Reincarnation Pellet, ARGHHHHH”

What a pity, Qing Shui wanted to learn pill concoction techniques fast because there were a plethora of medicinal herbs in the Qing Clan, not to mention that Qing Yi was a medicinal herb merchant, the Qing Clan should also possess some of the more expensive and valuable herbs in their holdings. That is why Qing Shui couldn’t wait to be familiarised with the art of alchemy. If he could concoct some medicinal pills, it would greatly boost his speed of cultivation, if there were no sources of external aid, based on his own calculations, it would take a long long time for him to break through into the 4th layered heavens. After all the Ancient Strengthening Technique is unfathomably powerful, almost to the point of defying the heavens but at the same time, there are a lot of restrictions. If he could concoct some of the miraculous pills existing in his memories, he could reap twice the benefits with only half the effort!

“So be it, escaping techniques are not too bad either, at least it is still better than nothing, after all it’s just that escaping techniques are not too suitable for me now, as I rather learn pill concoction. I should not complain so much, after all, the top-tiered escaping techniques are also extremely valuable, able to save one’s life in moments of danger.” Qing Shui knew that the escape techniques that had appeared in his mind could be considered one of the peak-tiered escaping techniques. Even among the top-tiered techniques, it could be ranked as among one of the first few.

Qing Shui closed his eyes as he begin to analyse the information about this escaping technique, he realised that this technique was more suitable for being a thief. The techniques recorded were complicated beyond belief, there were all sorts of complicated methods, designed for hiding in various terrains, all kinds of secret arts, design to blend in one’s body with the surroundings. All this resulted in Qing Shui gasping in amazement!

“hmmm, could this be used for escaping? Are they not used for hiding instead, what should I do if I was discovered?: Qing Shui mumbled to himself, he felt that there should be more to this technique.

Indeed, after Qing Shui read speedily read on, the technique could be segregated into 2 parts. The first part was about hiding techniques, while the 2nd part was about the escaping arts. The escaping arts recorded would also need the activation of the Ancient Strengthening Technique before it could be utilised.

The name of this technique was very duhhhh, it was simply called… Ghostly Step.

Qing Shui could care less regarding the name of the escaping art that appeared in his mind, because he had already managed to master a great deal of insights from the hidden weapons technique and the Solitary Rapid First. It could be said that Qing Shui was also eagerly anticipating the insights he would gain from the Ghostly Step.

However, merely trying to comprehend the basics of it, left Qing Shui with a headache. He knew that this technique was not so easily comprended. If it was not due to that bout of enlightenment, he could not have mastered the hidden weapons technique so easily as well, achieving expertise akin to 10 years of practice within only a single day.

The escaping technique, Ghostly Step, was actually derived from the 9 Directional, 8 Trigram Calculations, a segment from the “Mystical Gates, Hidden Jia” Divination Art. Qing Shui would need to learn the 9 Directional, 8 Trigram Calculations prior to even learning the basics of the Ghostly Step. All the information was already imprinted in his mind, but to fully digest and absorb it, he would still require a longer period of time.

Shaking his head to clear the waves of dizziness, Qing Shui departed from the Greenwood forest, he did not want to meet another demonic beast. Although he had obtained tremendous benefits from this encounter, if there were 2 golden direwolves, or even a group of them instead, the Greenwood forest would have been Qing Shui’s burial ground.

“Ai, if that was the case, I couldn’t even escape if I wanted to, It would be much safer after I mastered the Ghostly Step.

Another reason that induced Qing Shui to master the Ghostly Step was because it could be alternatively used for attacking purposes, when complemented with the Solitary Rapid Fist, it was possible to double or even triple the might unleashed!

When Qing Shui finally climbed back up to the summit of the mountain near the Qing Clan, the sun had already set. Leaving only twilight, the western skies radiated a red glow, beautifully painting over the skies.

Striking while the iron is hot, Qing Shui begin to cultivate the initial basics of the Ghostly Step this very minute. Although mastering the Ghostly Step would require the 9 Directional, 8 Trigram Calculations to fully comprehend the whole set of this technique, at the beginning, there was no need for it.