## AST 454 - Ingesting The Golden Carp Pellet, Great Perfection Stage For The Divine Feet Clearing

"This is good stuff!"

Qing Shui could not understand why the Old Ancestor said that these were nothing much. The Golden Carp Pellet was definitely something awesome. Such medicinal pills could save a cultivator's time. For example, if he were to take one Golden Carp Pellet, he would be able to hasten his progress towards the next cycle.

It was a pity that there were ten pills in the bottle. Qing Shui looked towards the rest of the items and saw that there was a bottle of Spirit Concentrating Pills with six-fold effects, filling the bottle to the brim. He was very excited. As for the others, they all seemed to be medicinal herbs of a certain age. Qing Shui took them out and placed them together with his own.

Qing Shui held onto the Interspatial Silk Sachet and thought about it for a long time, but he could not decide who to give it to and eventually decided to leave it in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal for the time being.

He then turned his gaze towards the Golden Carp Pellet and the Flame Phoenix Pellet. Qing Shui planned to do whatever he could to improve his cultivation level. At this moment, he felt that his strength, which was equivalent to just a little bit more than one country's worth, was too weak.

Gradually circulating the Ancient Strengthening Technique and bringing his condition to its best, he had gone through 143 cycles after a complete cycle.

Qing Shui took out a Golden Carp Pellet. This treasure might have excellent results on him. Even if it was just 1%, it would allow him to progress to the next cycle or even more.

Such medicinal pills could save him a lot of time on cultivation. The only downside was that his power would increase too quickly, and he would need to take more time to gradually get used to this newfound power.

He took out one Golden Carp Pellet and ate it before continuing to circulate his Ancient Strengthening Technique, one cycle at a time...

A strange energy arose from his Dan Tian and quickly merged with his Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique. Qing Shui immediately felt as though his Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique had taken an aphrodisiac, as if it a ferocious tiger had descended from the mountains.

Since that was the case, he decided to just put more effort into it!

Tiger's Mount!

Nature Energy!

Frenzied Bull's Strength!

Diamond Qi!

...

In that instant, a powerful aura surged out from Qing Shui. Faint golden light that felt soft and majestic shone out from his body, but it was coincidentally as imposing as a heavy sword without an edge.

111th cycle, 112th cycle...

143rd cycle!

Whip!

Breakthrough!

An overt torrent of pulsing energy began to flow through Qing Shui's Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique!

144th cycle!

Whip!

Amidst agitated feelings, he attained another breakthrough once again! Concurrently, that strange gush of power in his Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique also disappeared. However, Qing Shui was already overjoyed.

145th cycle!

Qing Shui's strength was already slightly over 4 million jin to begin with. Now that it was increased by 2%, his strength reached 4.1 million jin.

Qing Shui looked at the remaining 9 Golden Carp Pellets, overjoyed at how powerful they were. Without any hesitation, he swallowed another.

The familiar gush of energy appeared once again, 1st cycle, 2nd cycle...

Breakthrough!

It was a pity that he only broke through to the 146th cycle this time around! He was still slightly more than half the distance away from breaking through to the 147th cycle, but Qing Shui was already very satisfied.

When Qing Shui took the 3rd pellet, he still only broke through to the next cycle.

However, the 4th one allowed him to pass through 2 cycles. Almost all the others gave him 1 cycle, and his progress gradually decreased. Very quickly, Qing Shui had taken 6 of the pills and was hesitating on whether to continue.

Qing Shui knew that he was building up a resistance to the medicinal properties!

There were still 4 Great Revitalizing Pellets. Qing Shui's Ancient Strengthening Technique was now at the 151st cycle. He could feel that his abilities had improved by a lot.

Now, his physical strength had already reached 4.4 million jin. Qing Shui had a feeling that even if he took the remaining 4 Golden Carp Pellets, he would only be able to breakthrough 2 cycles at most, increasing his strength by about 100,000 jin.

100,000 jin was not bad. Qing Shui had initially wanted to give them to the ladies, but he thought of how their current level was not suitable to take such medicinal pills. He made the decision to increase his own abilities first and later concoct medicinal pills that were suitable for them in the future.

After taking the last 4 Golden Carp Pellets, Qing Shui gained another 100,000 jin of tremendous strength. His physical strength had now reached 4.5 million jin.

It was not just that. Medicinal pills such as these Golden Carp Pellets, which accelerate one's cultivation progress, would increase not just one’s strength but also strengthen one's defence, speed, energy level, organs, bones, and meridian channels.

In a short while, the 10% increment to his abilities had Qing Shui himself beside with joy. How could he not be? He had, after all, saved himself 5 months' time and entered the 153rd cycle.

Qing Shui looked towards the Flame Phoenix Pellet and decided to go through some cultivation first. He practiced his Back Connecting Fist, which had been at the pinnacle of the small success stage for a while.

Whip!

Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique passed through his shoulders, and the gush of energy flowed into his arms from his back. With a punch, light tremors formed in the air.

White Ape Back Connecting Fist!

Qing Shui continued to swing out his arms. Sometimes, his punches would be steady with a great damaging force. At other times, they would be like whips, flexible and unpredictable.

...

When he was tired, he would practice the Ancient Strengthening Technique to regain his physical strength. This was also the Ancient Strengthening Technique’s forte. If the energy depleted was low, the Ancient Strengthening Technique could keep circulating and replenish it until the end of his life. But if he spent an overwhelming amount of energy, his body would still go into a deficit.

In the midst of this all, he had been kicked out once by the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, and it was now in the early hours before dawn of the second day. He had spent about 20 or more days in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal!

He ate some food. During this period of time, he had basically gotten used to his newfound strength. It was not hard to adapt to it. What that was difficult was to utilize it in battle. It was just like how Qing Shui had to have good control of his strength when he engaged the Old Ancestor in battle.

Qing Shui was now practicing the <<Acupuncture Clearing of Four Limbs>> given to him by Misty Hall's Palace Mistress. Till now, Qing Shui had yet to reach the small success stage. This made him a little depressed, but at least he was still gradually progressing.

Recalling how the Misty Hall's Palace Mistress had cleared so many acupuncture points, and even almost cleared her Yong Quan Acupoint. Qing Shui did not know what level she had attained but guessed that it was at the great perfection stage.

Qing Shui circulated the Qi of Ancient Strengthening Technique according to the <<Acupuncture Clearing of Four Limbs>>. However, he kept being unable to find the point to break through the barrier, nor was he able to clear any acupoints either.

Qing Shui continued to practice, hoping that he would be able to attain a breakthrough one day!

Although his Divine Arm Clearing was at the grand perfection stage, Qing Shui continued to persist in his cultivation. It was because this would allow him to continue to nourish the acupuncture points that were already cleared, strengthening them even further. Another reason was because Qing Shui felt that there might an even higher level after the great perfection stage. He was not sure if the Divine Arm Clearing was at its limit now, so he was just trying it out.

"Mmm!"

Qing Shui noticed that the Divine Feet Clearing he was cultivating seemed to be showing signs of a breakthrough. There seemed to be signs of "fluttering" and Qing Shui immediately felt that it was related to his consumption of the Golden Carp Pellets earlier.

Qing Shui quickly calmed himself down, clearing his mind and soul, circulating all of his strength to its limits. He also controlled the movements of the energy to the highest level of "Minute Subtlety", ensuring that he had sufficient energy to carry on.

Qing Shui gradually circulated the powers in his body, each time pulling them back after clashing against the barrier once. Although much of it would be scattered in each collision, there would still be some aftershock left behind.

It was now that Qing Shui truly understood how powerful Nature Energy was. Under such a powerful collision, Qing Shui could sense that his Nature Energy was truly indestructible.

Bang bang bang...

Under the strong impact, the barrier shook gently. It was a pity that he was still just shy of a breakthrough. No matter how much force Qing Shui threw at it, it just would not break.

"Damn, this barrier is this strong?"

Qing Shui gritted his teeth and continued to charge on. At this moment, he could only hope that if this carried on, he would be able to break through the barrier eventually. However, Qing Shui knew that it was almost impossible. But he was still not willing to give up at this point.

Qing Shui went numb as he continued to clash against the barrier unceasingly. If there were no miracles, he could forget about breaking through...

15 minutes later!

The barrier still stood there firmly, making Qing Shui feel at a loss. When Qing Shui felt that he was at the cusp of a breakthrough, he had dismissed the thought of taking the Flame Phoenix Pellet. It was because his strength would be increased by at least 300,000 jin if he managed to attain a breakthrough in his Divine Feet Clearing. With that, he would get even greater benefits if he were to take the Flame Phoenix Pellet then.

But if he were to take the Flame Phoenix Pellet first, then after he attained the breakthrough, he would be short of the 50% increment received from the Flame Phoenix Pellet. But now, Qing Shui was left with no other choice than to take the Flame Phoenix Pellet first to get through the breakthrough.

Sometimes, people would be left with no other choice. They would be left with no other choice than to just look at the treasures before them while being unable to take it for themselves.

He could also save them for the future, but time waited for no one. He did not wish to keep missing out on opportunities; the stronger one was, the more the opportunities.

Just as Qing Shui was about to stop, two words suddenly materialized in his mind. It was something that he had forgotten all this time.

Shield Essence!

Qing Shui had not really used the Shield Essence much, and he had broken through to the 2nd level after taking the "Greencloud Up-step Pellet" last time.

Shield Essence! This force that was able to fight against everything and pushing through everything. It was formidable yet profound!

At this moment, Qing Shui was as if he had gotten himself a lifebuoy. After calming himself down once again, he gradually circulated this much forgotten Shield Essence.

Very quickly, the Shield Essence flowed into his meridian channels. While it was small, it was extremely powerful. The Shield Essence was not only sharp but also had a strong pushing force akin to that of a mountain's.

The strong force was once again pushed to its greatest limit, once again charging towards that thick barrier!

Boom!

Just when that barrier had a slight movement, Qing Shui grabbed the chance and threw out all of his Shield Essence, sending it forth at the point where the barrier was sunk in the deepest.

Whip!

A majestic source of energy flowed from the ground to his feet and entered his body. His body instantaneously felt like rain had fallen in times of a great drought. The entirety of his pores felt extremely comfortable.

Great perfection stage of the Divine Feet Clearing!