## AST 463 - Strength, Gongsun Jianwu

Qing Shui got up early in the morning and did not see anyone around!

He went to the place he usually frequented and began to circulate his Qi. He found out that the ball of Qi in his Dantian had yet to be absorbed. This was the blob of Qi that grew as a result of the Diamond Demonic Boar undergoing the Blood Awakening after eating the Beast Pills.

Feeling that the Qi Ball was larger by at least three times, Qing Shui slowly used the Qi of the Ancient Strengthening Technique to surround it and circulate his Qi through it.

“Snap!”

Although it took longer than the previous time, he managed to break apart the Qi ball faster, immediately feeling a flood of huge energy pouring into his Dantian and meridians.

Adding the strength gained from the Diamond Demonic Boar eating the Beast Pills, he had about 11.5 million Jin of strength and 30 million Jin of defense at his disposal.

Qing Shui had found that his defense had risen by more than 1 country, which made him burst with excitement!

This way of measuring defence was not a limit to his resilience. It was more-so a concept. For example, if Qing Shui had the defense of 1 country, then the incurrence of 1 country or less total force would not be able to break past his defense at all.

That was why Qing Shui laughed earlier. Within the Greencloud Continent, the Diamond Gigantic Elephant had the ability to keep pressing forward through any obstacle. Even the Old Ancestor of the Heavenly Palace would not be able to break past its defense.

However, even with a higher defense, there would be some weak points, such as the eyes, brain, abdomen or even weakness to poison. Ergo, it did not mean that cultivators with inferior strength were helpless against the Diamond Gigantic Elephant.

There were many ways to kill. In the World of the Nine Continents, experts die in droves; some in a ridiculous manner and many in the hands of women.

Qing Shui thought about his current strength. His body’s strength had already reached 11.5 million Jin of strength, so he could not help but look back and feel slightly emotional.

Qing Shui knew it was very difficult to experience this kind of explosive growth again. The boons that the Diamond Demonic Boar brought to him were huge, and just considering the increase in defense alone had almost resulted in effects equal to those of the Pure Gold Mystic Turtle Pellet.

In the near foreseeable future, Qing Shui felt that he had to spend a long to familiarize himself with his current level of power. It was a good thing he had the Realm of Minute Subtlety, which made him feel that it would not be too hard to delicately utilize his strength.

Facing the east, Qing Shui began his morning training!

Taichi Fist! Qing Shui felt that this Taichi Fist would greatly assist him in familiarizing with his newfound strength.

Nature Energy!

When Qing Shui slowly practiced the Taichi Fist, save for Nature Energy, he would deliberately avoid circulate any other kind of Qi. But the Ancient Strengthening Technique automatically circulated itself. Although it was slow, it was very powerful, especially since it inhabited the Frenzied Bull's Strength and many other kinds of Qi.

"Bang!"

There was the continuous sound of explosions in the air. The slow movements could actually have an explosive effect. However, what Qing Shui was practicing was his state of mind, a kind of mental state.

The 24 styles of Taichi. Qing Shui had lost count of the number of times he had practiced to reach his current One with Heaven stage.

Practice makes perfect; when familiar to a certain extent, it could be like a divine technique. Currently, the Taichi Fist had become formless, but the basics still conformed to the 24 styles of Taichi.

Sticky Hands!

Within a single breath, he practiced a few rounds of the Taichi fist. Whenever he expelled a long breath, he would feel invigorated, and a cooling Qi poured into his acupoints.

He felt the Nature Energy grow stronger by a bit!

Qing Shui was giddy with excitement, the joy in his heart indescribable.

At this moment, the square started filling up with people. All of them got up early to practice, some alone, some in small groups, and even some in large groups.

It wasn’t long before there were faint piercing sounds, reminiscent of a cross between metallic screeching and a bird’s song, clear and pleasing to the ear. In the midst of the noise, there was a semblance of harmony with nature.

Qing Shui closed his eyes. But through his Spiritual Sense, he imprinted the images of the surround people into his mind. When he came across a certain graceful woman, he opened his eyes.

Gongsun Jianwu!

She was clad in black, with an exaggerated chest and butt; a pair of attractive, flirtatious eyes; long and dense black eyebrows; and a petite nose that was slightly tilted, all of which coalesced into a sexy whole.

When Qing Shui saw her, lustful thoughts surface in his mind!

Qinghan Ye had a charm that exuded from her blood, a typical type of charm, whereas Huoyun Liu-Li had an attractiveness that oozed from her very bones. But this woman in front of him was like a fox. There was an undisguised attraction of the flesh.

Qing Shui admitted that she was capable of rapidly setting a man’s blood aboil. As she took light steps towards him, a magnetic sway suffused her every motion, the figure outline by her slender waist tempting any man into wanting to grab ahold of her.

Qing Shui preferred women with this kind of look, but he would subconsciously still reject such a woman. He knew she was the personification of a femme fatale, one that men would wage wars for.

Because anyone who could obtain such a woman would think of sleeping with her repeatedly.

Qing Shui felt that such a woman was not reliable. The image Qing Shui had of fickle women as mentioned in books were precisely such a woman. Although there was no basis to such a conclusion, there was still some some rationale to it.

A woman like Gongsun Jianwu, not considering if she was pure or coquettish, nor her inner beauty, just based on her external appearance, she would not have a lack of handsome, capable and especially conniving men vying for her attention.

If one frequents the river, how can your shoes not get wet? A beautiful woman was the most dangerous, one could not let their guard down.

Qing Shui regarded Gongsun Jianwu as she halted two meters away from him while smiling, her foxy eyes inadvertently trying to pull him in with their beautiful, alluring glance at him.

Qing Shui had seen peach blossom eyes and foxy eyes before in a book, but he had never seen it in person before. He was always of the opinion that they were used to describe women bereft of virtue. Furthermore, he did not feel that they sounded particularly pleasant to be around. However, now that he had seen Qinghan Ye and Gongsun Jianwu, he realized that they were very attractive, to a soul-shaking degree.

Bright and intelligent eyes with distinctly black pupils and pitch-black eyebrows glittered before him, a trace of gentleness flickering within the morass of sexiness.

“Thank you!”

This was the first thing Gongsun Jianwu said!

“What for?” Qing Shui was a little confused!

"Because you made Jianyun grow up!"

Qing Shui recalled that slightly conceited Shi Clan young master, back when he approached Qing Shui to learn the Taichi fist. It was the start of him maturing, changing for the better.

“There is no need to thank me. He behaved in that manner because of the environment he grew up in. Even if he did not follow me, he would change as well. It was just a matter of time.” Qing Shui laughed, but his words could not be truer.

“Right, I have already found someone whom I like. I am very happy now,” Gongsun Jianwu looked on at Qing Shui and said, smiling.

"Congratulations!"

Qing Shui was not surprised. The interaction between the two of them was very minimal. Were one to consider the time Qing Shui had been absent, the good feelings from then would surely have passed.

Qing Shui did not exude sexiness, neither did he have a flirtatious aura around him, nor would there be beauties from everywhere trying to marry him.

When Qing Shui thought of how he could not even woo any of the women around him, he felt depressed. He did not feel like giving up, but perhaps he would end up not succeeding to the very last moment.

Moreover, everything was fragile in the face of time! For this to happen to Gongsun Jianwu, it could be considered to be a very normal outcome. Qing Shui truly blessed her from his heart.

“Thank you, I also wished to say that getting to know you made me very happy. You have allowed me to learn many things!”

Qing Shui was a little confused. He couldn’t figure out what he had let her learn, but he had always contradicted her, so could that be it?

Gongsun Jianwu left. Qing Shui watched as her figure gradually disappeared and realized that she did not have much of an emotional impact on him.

In one’s life, one would meet many people. When old friends leave, new friends will come. As for people who always stick by your side, regardless of the situation, they were your family.

In his past life, from his companions when young to his classmates in school, to his colleagues at work and friends from the otherwise, there were many of them, but the ones that stayed in contact were few. It felt like he was going through the same stages of life.

It does not matter how close they were in the past, even an ex-girlfriend, whom he shared a bed with, after they broke up as a results of many reasons, would be forgotten. Although he would occasionally miss her from the bottom of his soul, it was in the past. People change, leaving behind only a trace of memory. When there is nothing else to do, one can calm down and think about it!

Life has a lot of joys and sorrows. We must learn to adapt and get used to it, but that is easier said than done!

To leave a person is easy, but to forget a person required a lifetime!

Gongsun Jianwu’s departure did not cause Qing Shui to feel anything, because she had never existed in his heart, only serving the purpose of making him realize something.

If Canghai Mingyou and Huoyun Liu-Li were to leave him, would he be this calm?

From Mingyue Gelou’s departure alone, he knew the answer!

Shi Qingzhuang was Qing Shui’s fiance. She would definitely not tolerate sharing her man, and there was also the Wenren Wu-shuang and Zhuqing pair. Qing Shui tried to think of who he could give up…...

But if he wanted to obtain all of them, it would not be easy!

“They started fighting……”

…….

Traces of chaotic voices were heard. Qing Shui realized the sky was already bright, and it was not known when, but the Square was already filled with people. The voices came from in front of him, about 100 meters away.

“Yan Ling`er, within the Starmoon Hall, there is no one who has dared to slap me until now. It is your fortune that this young master, I, took an interest in you, yet you dared to hit me. Even if the heavenly king came, you have to compensate me.”

Qing Shui only intended to practice the Taichi Fist for one more round before taking his leave. He was usually uninterested in these kinds of conflicts, but that was up until he heard Yan Ling’er’s name, and heard the arrogant voice of the one known as Feng Yunyang.

“Who dares to be so arrogant? Is he an idiot or earthshaking expert?” Qing shui could not understand these people – were they brainless or was it to show off? Or maybe it was a form of venting one’s feelings?

Regardless, even if the Yan Clan was involved, this exquisite girl had no relations to him. Qing Shui slowly walked towards the crowd.

“What a sin! This Feng Yunyang is using the Feng Clan’s power to throw his weight around. Why is there no one stopping him!”

“Stop him? Who is going to? Don't you know that the Feng Clan is the strongest Clan of the Starmoon Hall? They have a big bunch of supreme elders, so who is going to offend them?” A middle-aged man sighed despondently.

“He can just misbehave like this in the Heavenly Palace?” A puerile youth said. He was a handsome genius, but his eyes revealed him to be in the midst of internal turmoil.

“The world is as such. There is no equality. He has a strong backing, so whatever he has done, he does not have the face the consequences. The members of his clan will naturally smooth things over, and as time goes by, no one will dare to antagonize him.” the middle-aged man said as he knitted his thick eyebrows.

……

“In your dreams!”

A familiar voice was transmitted to Qing Shui’s ear!

Concurrently, Qing Shui already arrived at the side, the discussions by the surrounding people also within earshot. Qing Shui knew about the Feng Clan – this Feng Clan had nothing to do with the Feng Clan of Starday Hall, but the Feng Clan of Starmoon Hall was the clan with the largest reputation.

It was a pity that aside from a few people, no one knew that Wuji’s grandfather was the Old Ancestor of the Heavenly Palace, or else Cang Wuya and Fei Wuji would not be in such a situation in the Starmoon Hall.

Qing Shui saw Yan Ling`er. At present, she was pale-faced while looking at the man in front of her. She bit her bottom lip, her frustration overt.

Opposite Yan Linger stood a young man in his thirties with fair skin, red phoenix eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips, but his appearance had a semblance far from natural, giving off a feeling that chilled to the bone

[TL noted: red phoenix eyes - eyes whose outer corners incline upwards]

Behind Qing Shui stood about ten people. All of them had a playful look on their face while looking at Yan Ling`er. It looked indescribably wretched, even arrogant.

“Brother Yang, let us all have fun together. What do you say?” A tall, muscular man looked at Feng Yunyang and laughed.

“It’s just a woman. When there is fortune, we should all have a part in it!” Feng Yunyang said stylishly.

“Brother Yang is very bold!”

……

Qing Shui’s face unnaturally contorted with a trace of mockery. If it was a year ago, he would take the Feng Clan into consideration. The Feng Clan of the Starmoon Hall had the ability to destroy him easily back then. But now, the situation had changed. Above all, he now had the Diamond Gigantic Elephant.

There was no need for him to fear anyone in Starmoon Hall. With the extraordinary people behind him, Qing Shui had no need to compromise with these wretches. He had the backing of the Golden Throne Palace, whom he was particularly good friends with; the Misty Hall Palace Mistress, whom had saved him twice before; and mostly importantly, the Old Ancestor of the Heavenly Palace.

Furthermore, His personal strength was not be trifled with either!

“Brother Yang, let me help you capture this young lass today. I guarantee that she will be intact and unharmed!”