## AST 495 - Arriving At Flowerfruit Mountain, The Crimson Dragon Bow’s Might

According to what Lin Zhanhan said, then it should be progressing in the sequence of: Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3 …… However, Qing Shui found that his first successful talisman’s effect was 20 percent.

And very soon, because of the Golden Calligraphy Brush, it was increased to 30 percent and now, after using some matching attributed materials, he raised it to 40 percent.

Qing Shui could understand the increase in effects as a result of special materials and the Golden Calligraphy Brush. These things had been either described by Lin Zhanhan before, or he had read about it in the Heavenly Talisman book.

What led Qing Shui to be confused was that the initial talisman he drew already had 20 percent of its effects. Given that he could not explain it, Qing Shui stopped thinking about it, after all, it was not a bad thing, thus he just happily accepted it.

Only, Qing Shui was amazed at his speed of improvement at drawing talismans!

One must know that the Peak Martial King Lin Zhanhan only managed to be able to draw 1 type of talisman to Grade 5, but the rest only to Grade 3, could it be that drawing talismans was that difficult?

Qing Shui thought about how he could draw out Grade 4 talismans within two or three years. When he thought about it, he laughed, there were too many coincidences, but it can be said that luck is a type of skill.

Perception was the most important, next was the Golden Calligraphy Brush and the Moonstone Ink Slab, in addition, the tiger skin that was suitable for the Gale Talisman.

Following that, Qing Shui used the skin of the Golden Eyed Hurricane Tiger to draw many Gale Talisman, then he tried to draw a Godly Force Talisman.

Qing Shui found out that the effects were ordinary!

Looks like the elemental attribute of the beast has a relation with the drawing of talismans!

Wind attribute correlates to speed.

After Qing Shui stopped, he started to refine the skin and blood of the Silver Horn Tyrant Bull King. This Silver Horn Tyrant Bull King’s elemental attribute was fire and the fire attribute correlates to strength, thus Qing Shui first used the Silver Horn Tyrant Bull King’s skin to draw a Godly Force Talisman!

However, the effects were not as good as the Gale Talisman drawn using the Golden Eyed Hurricane Tiger’s skin!

Looks like it was a quality issue, the effects raised a little more than 30 percent of his strength, but it was better than nothing, thus Qing Shui continued to use the Silver Horn Tyrant Bull King’s skin to draw some Godly Force Talismans and Divine Shield Talismans.

…...

Following that, Qing Shui practiced the Ancient Strengthening Technique, the Thousand Buddha Palm Imprint, and the Sword of Fifth Wave!

He would occasionally ride the Diamond Gigantic Elephant to practice the ‘Man Elephant Unison.’ Qing Shui was hoping to be able to merge his strength completely together with the Diamond Gigantic Elephant, with that kind of attacking strength and defense, within the Greencloud Continent, there would be no one who could contend with him.

Furthermore, Qing Shui had high expectations of the Diamond Gigantic Elephant, he was waiting for its next breakthrough, by then when he displayed the ‘Man Elephant Unison,’ it would be even stronger.

The Thousand Buddha Palm Imprint continued to advance by two more palms, but that mysterious divine buddha figure did not appear again. This was within Qing Shui’s expectation. It was impossible for it to appear so soon, or else his strength would advance by leaps and bounds again.

It was always good to have more skills, amongst the skills he knows, the skills with the lowest realm were Heavenly Palace Sword Art and the mutated Blue Lotus Art

The Heavenly Palace Sword Art was still at the Ancestor Realm, he was still a great distance away from being able to shoot lightning, thus Qing Shui only cultivated it as a relaxing leisure activity.

As for the Blue Lotus Art, Qing Shui did not realize that when that Buddha image appeared, it mysteriously brokethrough.

Qing Shui was stunned when he was able to execute five huge lotus flowers that floated by his side, a pity that Qing Shui had no way to control them at all.

He could only proficiently control two lotus flowers and with some difficulty he could control three lotus flowers. The breakthrough of the Blue Lotus Art still caused Qing Shui to be happy because he did not have to control the lotus flower by his side, he just needed to circulate the Blue Lotus Art, furthermore, it had an effect.

An increase of the body’s defense by a bit more than 20 percent.

Qing Shui thoughtfully dissipated two lotus flowers, leaving only the three that had a strong connection to him, Qing Shui discovered that it still increased the body’s defense by a bit more than 20 percent.

Qing Shui tried dissipating another Golden Lotus flower!

“En!”

20 percent increase in defense!

When there was only one lotus flower left, the increase was only 10 percent!

“So the current Lotus flowers can increase my defense, Each lotus flower I can proficiently control can increase my defense by 10 percent!” Qing Shui excitedly looked at the one remaining lotus flower beside him.

Now he could just summon out two lotus flowers, without doing anything, he could raise his defense by 20 percent. Although it consumed some of the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique from his dantian, the amount consumed was insignificant. Qing Shui was satisfied, but it was a pity he could not proficiently control five lotus flowers, or else he could raise his defense by 50 percent.

This was one of the effects of the 5th level of the Blue Lotus Art, as for the others, Qing Shui had not discovered them yet, but now, Qing Shui has a new task to complete every day.

To practice till he was proficient with five golden lotus flowers!

Qing Shui summoned another two lotus flowers, in addition to the one he had, there were three lotus flowers. Qing Shui could currently proficiently control two lotus flowers, the third could be controlled with some difficulty.

Perhaps it was due to the huge increase in strength, when Qing Shui controlled the lotus flowers, they felt more powerful. The lotus flowers were about the same size as the bottom of a flower pot, they were a dazzling gold color and seemed very solid, giving off a gentle glow.

After practicing for almost two hours, Qing Shui was still not able to control the 3rd lotus flower proficiently, he did not even make much progress, but he also gained a finer control over the first two lotus flowers.

Currently, without the aid of external objects or his techniques, Qing Shu’s body’s defense had the strength of two and a half countries and his attacking strength was about 15 million Jin.

His Ancient Strengthening Technique was at the 181st cycle!

Qing Shui thought about what the Old Ancestor said about the Martial Saint Realm. He said as long as you had the strength of 10 countries, you will automatically breakthrough to the Martial Saint Realm, however, Qing Shui felt that the Old Ancestor’s words were not accurate.

Because the Old Ancestor said that he could be aided by external objects unless he understood it wrongly?

For example, if he was holding a Divine Weapon, he would have reached the strength of 10 countries!

Abilities?

Not just strength?

Qing Shui seemed to have found the crux of the problem, the abilities of 10 countries was just the simplest indication, the strength of 10 countries, the defense of 10 countries, the speed of10 countries? The intensity of 10 countries …...

Furthermore, if he became a Martial Saint when holding a Divine Weapon, what happens if he removed it?

Qing Shui felt that there was a lot of doubt, Qing Shui felt that external objects cannot be relied on. After all, it affects the inner parts of the body, once the body reached that level, the requirement of the body’s strength would be met, thus causing the breakthrough to a Martial Saint.

However, Qing Shui was not sure, Qing Shui clearly remembered that the Old Ancestor said that you can rely on external objects, unless you relied on those external object to reach that realm?

Qing Shui massaged his head and stopped thinking further, after all, when the time comes, he would know it. There are thousands of ways on the path of cultivation, there was no need to harp on the Old Ancestor’s words and chain himself to that line of thought.

With that thought, his body relaxed in a flash, it felt like his frame of mind had calmed down. That was the feeling of a type of broadening one’s horizons.

One month later, Flowerfruit Mountain could be seen in the distance, it looked very similar to the drawing on the map, but it was just the exterior borders.

At the moment, Qing Shui was already more than 500,000 km away from the Heavenly Palace, Without the Fire Bird, Qing Shui would not know how long it would take before he could arrive at his destination.

He saw a big mountain in the distance that was covered by dense fog, its peaks seemingly touching the skies and the moon. Flowerfruit Mountain was a large mountainous area, because there were many fruit trees there, it was named Flowerfruit Mountain.

There were many dangerous cliffs and oddly shaped rocks. Even from a distance, Qing Shui felt especially excited. Since the ancient times, famous landmarks mostly consisted of mountains and river, a good place would not lack mountains and rivers.

Even the Qing Shui from his previously life paid particular attention to the fact that good Feng Shui required mountains and water. Slowly, this because the mark of a good location, if there were no mountains, then they would place a fake mountain, if there is no water, they would dig out a pond, as long as you had money it will be fine.

Although he had seen it, Qing Shui felt anxious. It was so big, it will be very difficult the find the Goddess Peak, furthermore, Flowerfruit Mountain was full of dangers.

Qing Shui could not help but let out a bitter laugh, he could only go in and try his luck!

Even though he could already see a vague mountain shadow, he would still need to fly for about a day before he could arrive at Flowerfruit Mountain.

Within this month, Qing Shui’s Ancient Strengthening Technique had reached the 183rd cycle and his body’s strength had been raised by 1 million Jin to a frightening 17 million Jins.

This boosted Qing Shui’s confidence. The Soulshake bell was still at the 5th level, although this caused Qing Shui to feel unhappy, it should be more or less about time to level up again. Playing with the small violet bell, Qing Shui felt a peace of mind.

“Gu!”

Suddenly, there was a piercing screech and Qing Shui could feel the Fire Bird obviously trembling.

To be able to cause the Fire Bird to tremble, it had to be at least a Peak Martial King Demonic Beast, not only that, it had to be a flying Demonic beast, of a very pure bloodline.

Amongst the Demonic Beasts, bloodline was the most important. Take for instance the Fire Bird, it had the phoenix crown, in addition, it had the bloodline of the Phoenix, thus when many demonic beast saw the Fire Bird, they would more or less feel suppressed.

But now, what could cause a Level 5 Martial King Fire Bird to feel afraid?

Qing Shui felt worried, yet he looked forward to it.

Divine Black Crow!

Qing Shui stared blankly at the distant flying beast, it’s wingspan was one times larger than the Fire Bird, it’s whole body was black, including the claws and the eyes.

The Divine Black Crow, Qing Shui had seen it in the Archives of Demonic Beasts. Compared to a mutated beast, it was much stronger and within the Greencloud Continent, it was probably the peak existence amongst the demonic beasts.

It was famous because it was tyrannical, cruel, fierce and bloodthirsty…...

When it saw the Fire Bird, it immediately flew towards it without even thinking. Qing Shui was alarmed, in a mid-air battle, his battle strength would be decreased by half.

Qing Shui got the Fire Bird to flee without hesitation and while flying towards the ground, he quickly took out the Soulshake bell!

Rushing at the gigantic crow, he quickly shook the Soulshake bell.

A piercing sound that seemed to have spiritual energy traveled through the air as a violet colored fog flew towards the Divine Black Crow!

“Pu!”

“Gu!”

What caused Qing Shui to be surprised was that the Divine Black Crow did not fall down as he had expected it to, instead, it flew towards the Fire Bird even more viciously.

“Damn it, I forgot, this Divine Black Crow has an incomparably strong spirit energy, the level 5 Soulshake bell is useless, it will only cause it to be more vicious.

“Damn it, I have not even gone into Flowerfruit Mountain and I already encountered something like this?” Qing Shui depressedly kept the Soulshake bell and quickly took out the Crimson Dragon Bow and a straight bone arrow.

“Ge Zhi Zhi!”

Don’t look down on this bow for its size, for not many people could draw it, it required great body strength!

Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique!

Qing Shui infused the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique onto the bow, causing the bow and bowstring to be even more rigid! At the same time, he slowly infused Nature Energy into the bone arrow!

Diamond Qi!

Shield Attack!

This was the most important!

The huge body of the Divine Black Crow, seem to cover the sky as it landed near Qing Shui and charged at him. Its huge claw was very similar to an eagle’s.

The air was filled with the odor of demonic beasts, the imposing air pressured Qing Shui.

“Xiu!”

Qing Shui did not aim for the brain of the Divine Black Crow, he was afraid that he would miss if the opponent tried to avoid it, thus Qing Shui aims at the chest of the demonic beast!

The wind attributed bone arrows was tougher that those metallic ones, it had a green glow as it shot towards the Divine Black Crow!

“Gua gua!”

Suddenly, there was a dense black fog covering the Divine Black Crow!

“Bang!”

“Gua!”

Qing Shui had already held the Violet Gold Divine Shield and Big Dipper Sword in his hands and he had summoned out the Diamond Gigantic Elephant as well.

There was a mournful bird cry, the huge black crown was pierced by the bone arrow, it shuddered, then flapped it’s wings to fly away!

Qing Shui: “......”

Looking at the fresh blood on the floor, this Divine Black Crow was injured. Qing Shui knew given the distance, the reaction of the Divine Black Crow was very fast, that black fog probably saved its life.

Had that earlier arrow hit its inner core or heart, Qing Shui was confident of killing it. Maybe after it realized Qing Shui’s strength, that demonic beast chose to flee.

Before arriving at the Flowerfruit Mountain, he already ran into a strong Divine Black Crow, this cause Qing Shui to be worried about this journey. If it was just one Divine Black Crow, he would not be so worried, the problem was in the Flowerfruit Mountain, such beasts often travel in packs, some of them even powerful to the point where it had no enemies under the Martial Saint Level.

Qing Shui wore all his armor and accessories, giving up the Fire Bird, he rode on the Diamond Gigantic Elephant and continued to proceed to the Flowerfruit Mountain. With the current strength of the Fire Bird, flying in the air was like courting death, even if the Soulshake bell was useful, it would not stop demonic beasts that moved as a flock.

Riding on the Diamond Gigantic Elephant under the effects of ‘Man Elephant Unison’ he could at least raise his strength greatly, giving him some hope.

Although Flowerfruit Mountain was dangerous without compare, not every demonic beast was as the same level as the earlier Divine Black Crow. It was just that although demonic beasts of this level can be frequently seen, it was mostly those weaker demonic beasts that formed groups.

The entrance to the Flowerfruit Mountain was a long inclined hillside, its length greatly exceeded its width. It was so long that you cannot see the end. Sporadically, there were some giant fruit trees, each tree would require 10 people in order to hug it and they were more than 100 meters tall. Currently, it was summer, and hanging on every branch were numerous brown fruits that looked like coconuts.

Qing Shui discovered that there were many small flying beasts and small demonic beasts, furthermore, they were great in numbers.

Living in the crevice, maybe it was the rules of nature, the weakest animal in the food chain have the strongest reproductive abilities.

Walking along the inclined slope, Qing Shui slowly moved to the inner parts of Flowerfruit Mountain. Qing Shui was now able to hide his presence while holding his weapons, as there were many trees in Flowerfruit Mountain. He rode on the Diamond Gigantic Elephant, keeping the ‘Man Elephant Unison’ active, and he kept the Crimson Dragon Bow and the bone arrows at the ready.