## AST 252 – Everyone Is A Family… Temptation? Collar

“Isn’t it because I’m worried about you? You’re not giving others a peace of mind despite your age. While the water in the lake is very clear, to choose this kind of method, it’s really torturous… ”

“Pffttt!”

Looking at the goddess’s smile which was like a blooming flower in front of before Qing Shui made him fall into a daze. Qing Shui had never expected to still be able to see such a dazzling smile from her. It was even more attractive than any beautiful items.

Her laughter was unique and attractive, unlike Huoyun Liu-Li’s seductive and hoarse voice and Yiye Jiange’s transcendence. Her voice was something in between Yiye Jiange’s and Huoyun Liu-Li’s, with a tinge of unique magnetism!

It might be because that she had seen Qing Shui’s expression that Canghai Mingyue turned her head unnaturally. However, she said in a seemingly coquettish voice, “You only know how to speak rubbish.”

Hearing Canghai Mingyue’s voice and the unique feeling it brought, Qing Shui was very happy. At least for now, her emotions were less uptight. After all, worrying persistently was not only just useless, it was also bad for the body. The reason she came here to be in a daze was likely because she did not wish to worry the Canghai couple.

“Let’s go, it’s time to have our meal. If not, they’ll come looking for us.” Canghai Mingyue said softly as she looked at Qing Shui who was looking at her and smiling warmly. She liked that smile of Qing Shui. It was slightly similar to her father’s, and she liked this feeling.

The Canghai couple saw the rare sight of Qing Shui returning with Canghai Mingyue, and they were especially happy to see that they were on harmonious terms. Huoyun Liu-Li was naturally happy to see Qing Shui.

After seeing Qing Shui, Canghai’s smile had not dropped at all. He saw a shadow of himself in Qing Shui, or rather, Qing Shui was even more outstanding than he was when he was younger. Most importantly, he was quick witted and brainy, and he could see through things and problems unlike people of his own age. When tackling problems, he was able to remain calm, keeping his actions in moderation. Most importantly, he was very mysterious. Canghai would very much like to see how far this young man could climb up in the future.

“Senior, I’d like to move back in the future.” After the meal, Qing Shui said. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“This is your home, you can come back whenever you wish to. We very much hope that you can stay here.” Canghai Mingyue grinned and said. Her benevolent tone and heartwarming words made Qing Shui felt very happy.

After being stunned for a moment!

“No one has touched your room. Let us go and help you air your blankets!” Canghai Mingyue tugged Huoyun Liu-Li as she looked at Qing Shui and said.

Qing Shui rubbed his nose as he smiled and looked at the smiling Canghai couple. After that, he left with the two ladies who knew that they had said something wrong. Qing Shui could not understand why Canghai Mingyue was behaving so abnormally today.

As they walked, Qing Shui looked at Canghai Mingyue, puzzled. In the end, Canghai Mingyue could not put up with Qing Shui’s gaze any further and she turned her head towards Qing Shui and said coquettishly, “Don’t let your imagination run wild. I’m only expressing my thanks for your words earlier.”

Qing Shui continued to remain silent and he smiled in amusement. His clear eyes stared unblinking at Canghai Mingyue’s slightly embarrassed expression.

After saying her piece, Canghai Mingyue quickly turned her head after seeing Qing Shui’s gaze. She felt even more embarrassed, feeling that his innocent and pretty eyes were her nemesis. Her words earlier also gave the feeling of self-deception and of a clumsy denial which resulted in her giving herself away…

Qing Shui could not help but break out laughing when he saw Canghai Mingyue’s expression, causing her to feel dissatisfied!

The room that Qing Shui had once stayed in for a period of time was still very clean without a speck of dust. When he walked in and saw traces of cleaning having been done, he did not say anything.

In the end, the two ladies went ahead to change the beddings.

Looking at their beautiful figures bending, Qing Shui felt a sense of achievement, or rather, his lewd mind felt a sense of achievement.

When would he be able to settle down, and have a heartwarming place with the woman he liked? In the future, when they have children of their own, it would be very blissiful as they pamper and play with their children.

Qing Shui thought of how he was engaged with Shi Qingzhuang. If they were to get married, and have a heartwarming place of their own and then have a child, it would be a blissful family of three, or they could also have a few more children together.

However, very soon, Qing Shui recalled his mother’s conflicted expression. That feeling of helplessness was very torturous. Being forced to be separated from one’s flesh and blood, that agony was the most excruciating.

Following on, Qing Shui recalled that stubborn beautiful figure on Yan City’s streets. That lady who was so alike to his mother. He had seen it for himself, heard it for himself, and he had even affirmed it, but yet, there was nothing he could do…

Qing Shui shook his head. Before he increased his powers, he wanted to stop himself from thinking about these matters which would make him go crazy. When he lifted his head again, he noticed that the two ladies were standing in front of him, their warming gazes were even more heartwarming than the summer sun.

“Qing Shui, don’t think about it. Everything will be fine.” Huoyun Liu-Li knew that Qing Shui had thought of unhappy things, and it could be related to the Yan Clan’s Young Miss. But she was not sure and did not know what Qing Shui was thinking.

“I’m fine, just letting my imagination run wild!” Qing Shui said calmly, and then handed the two pieces of paper he had specially prepared to the two ladies.

The cultivation methods from the Deer Cantering to the Crane Form were all written there. Most importantly, Qing Shui had also written down his experiences and thoughts as well. This would allow them to get on the right path of these few forms very quickly. Qing Shui wanted them to be able to raise their level of cultivation as much as it was possible, since it would only be beneficial for them in the events that were soon going to occur.

Canghai Mingyue received it, feeling puzzled. After receiving it and taking a look, Huoyun Liu-Li looked at Qing Shui happily and said, “Thank you Qing Shui!”

She could tell that the Deer Cantering mothod was on it, and with just one look, she could already learn a lot and she knew that her level of cultivation for Deer Cantering would rise to higher levels. Moreover, after seeing that there were other techniques similar to the Deer Cantering, she knew these techniques could be stronger than the Deer Cantering.

Seeing that Huoyun Liu-Li was behaving as such, while she herself was attracted after a few looks, Canghai Mingyue realized that the reason Huoyun Liu-Li had improved so much was because of this. She threw Qing Shui a complicated look before smiling and nodding her head.

“Oh, right, thank you for the boots!” Canghai Mingyue said happily.

Qing Shui was stunned, before he grinned and said, “No need to stand on ceremony. Aren’t we all family?”

Canghai Mingyue, “… ”

Huoyun Liu-Li on the other hand, smiled. Hersexy eyes, with her long eyelashes blinked as she looked at Qing Shui. The seductive charm that she exuded was very pure, penetrating one’s bones. It caused Qing Shui to have the urge to pounce on her, hug and squeeze on the soft peaks and beautiful figure before that itch he was feeling could be erased.

Qing Shui stared hard at Huoyun Liu-Li soft peaks, licking his lips deliberately. Well, this was the only brazen move he knew.

This action would always have a good effect when used on Canghai Mingyue. However, this time when Qing Shui used it on Huoyun Liu-Li the demoness, before he could complete the action, Qing Shui almost spewed blood.

Not only did Huoyun Liu-Li not avoid Qing Shui’s blazing gaze, she stuck out the soft peaks, which were originally perked in the first place. Her beautiful eyes were filled with a layer of mist, and she looked at Qing Shui before she suddenly stuck out her pink and tender tongue, licking her lips like how Qing Shui did…

Qing Shui did not know what to do. If Canghai Mingyue wasn’t around, he would definitely have his way with this lady who was playing with fire. However, he could only bear with it now. There was nothing else he could do…

“I’ll be heading to the blacksmith store in the afternoon. You two can practice them first. For now, you only need to familiarize yourself with their application.” After falling into a daze for a short moment, Qing Shui decided to go to the blacksmith store.

After getting his hands on the Soulshake Bell, Qing Shui had some expectations. Therefore, he did not wish to waste any time at all in the day. It was just like how he had unexpectedly gotten his hands on the Soulshake Bell, Qing Shui was still hoping that one day, a Time travelling box or Teleportation Device would suddenly appear as well. If that happened, there would be no need for them to waste their time here, not even being able to make their escape.

Back in the blacksmith store, Qing Shui took a look at Hu You’s Tiger Form. Qing Shui wanted Hu You to leave as he did not wish for him to get himself involved in this problem. However, he eventually dismissed this thought, fearing that something might happen to him.

Finding himself a piece of Bluebronze forging material, Qing Shui started hammering and smelting. Thinking of the fire bird’s neck, Qing Shui added more Bluebronze forging material while he made use of a Silver Clay Sculpture to form a very big yet thin collar.

“Darn. This is really reality, still having to take into consideration the size of the demonic beast’s neck… Thank goodness that bird-typed beasts have thin necks, if not, I wouldn’t know how to forge it.”

Qing Shui placed the gigantic Silver Clay Sculpture carefully before he started to smelt a few more pieces of Bluebronze forging material. Before he started the smelting process, Qing Shui had no choice but to lock the door to the store so he couldn’t be disturbed. Using the primordial flames, Qing Shui spent a long time smelting the Bluebronze forging materials, leaving only their essence.

When Qing Shui carefully poured them into the Silver Clay Mold, he started to moisturize the unformed collar with the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique as he slowly waited for the Bluebronze collar to cool down and solidify.

After it had cooled down, Qing Shui disregarded the fact that the Bluebronze collar was still scorching hot as he picked it up and started to forge it. The width of the collar was only 4 fingers wide. Qing Shui placed it on the forging platform before he started to hammer it with proficiency.

Having gone through multiple attempts at forging, Qing Shui had grasped a lot of important key points. Most importantly, Qing Shui was very familiar and had placed much trust in his Thousand Hammer Technique.

It was the first time he had attempted to forge such a big item, so the process was not that smooth. What he had forged earlier were all smaller items, with the longswords being the biggest of them all. There were even some small items which could not be forged with a hammer, so he had to use the Thousand Hammer Technique with his hands on them.

One hammer after another, Qing Shui looked at the big item. He would probably only be able to hammer a few sets of 1000 hammerings on it, unlike the longsword and the sole of the boots which could allow over a hundred sets of 1000 hammerings, which could then really be said to have gone through thousands of hammerings and hundreds of tempering [1].

[1] has a literal meaning of thoroughly tempered to be well polished.

Dismissing all these redundant thoughts, Qing Shui started the meticulous forging process, hoping to get into the same enchanted state as he had done previously!

However, the more he thought of it, the more things did not go the way he wished. Qing Shui did not manage to get into the same state, and he was even clear on how many times he had hammered during the forging process. But it was good that there was a total of a 1050 hammers, applying the forging process on the collar four times altogether.

The Bluebronze collar was considerably beautiful with its green glow. However, the collar, which was 4 fingers wide was very bare, didn’t even have a single print or design.

He wondered if there was a sculpting technique which could increase powers!