## AST 643 – A Great Improvement! One Thousand And Five Hundred Countries Worth Of Strength!

Qing Shui shook his head as he felt the changes that were taking place within his body. Originally, his Ancient Strengthening Technique had already achieved the two hundred and eighty fifth cycle. But as he attempted to continue circulating it, he noticed that it once again successfully broke through to the three hundredth cycle. The process went on until when he reached the three hundred and fifteenth cycle before coming to a stop.

After going through all of these, Qing Shui came to realize that he would have to be at least at his four hundredth cycle to break through to the Seventh Heavenly Layer, which meant that his progression in his cycle of circulated qi would most likely reach a bottleneck when he reached the three hundred and ninety-ninth cycle.

“What’s the point of thinking so far ahead for now?” Qing Shui laughed at himself.

Qing Shui’s current raw strength once again went through another significant increase. His raw defense already possessed the strength of around four hundred countries. His offensive strength was also already worth around two hundred and eighty countries.

Of course, these were also the results of his recent cultivations in his Ancient Strengthening Technique and his body. Of course, the most important factor was the benefits he obtained when he dual cultivated with Yu Ruyan. At the moment when he broke through to the three hundredth cycle, he felt that he had already increased by quite a large amount of might.

Qing Shui currently possessed Grade Four Nature Energy and Grade Three Immovable Mountain. If he was to include all of these abilities and perform an attack, he would be able to deal damage that worth as much as a thousand and five hundred countries. It’s already more than enough to draw out the strength of a Grade Six Martial Saint Warrior.

Even if he was to fight bare-handed, he would still be able to at least draw out a thousand countries worth of strength.

If he was to use the combined sword technique instead, he would become slightly more powerful.

Qing Shui was already satisfied with what he had. Originally, he thought that it would be hard for him to improve any further within this short period of time. But to his surprise, this happened. From the battle against Old Freak Ba, Qing Shui realized the advantages of supplementary techniques and how heaven-defying the Hidden Weapon Technique could be. Prior to this, he had always felt that it was useless.

This time, even though it only had a purely assistive role, it was capable of changing the tide of the battle. In the future, if a day ever come when Qing Shui’s Demon Binding Rope, Black Jade Poisonous Spider Web as well as Body Securing Talismans got strengthened even more, he felt that he might be able to face of opponents at higher cultivation level than his own if he used it properly.

Especially when he was against warriors whose strength exceeded that of five thousand countries. The Fiery Golden Eyes were undoubtedly one of the most powerful attacks. After that, Qing Shui swallowed a Pure Jade Pellet and fixed his sight on a Five-colored Daylily.

Qing Shui wasn’t going to let go of precious objects like this. He didn’t want to have too many regrets since he wasn’t able to take away the White Milky Jade Pool and Stone Beauty.

Even though Qing Shui had a poison resistant body and was under the effects of the Pure Jade Pellet, Qing Shui still operated his Nature Energy all the way to its peak and used the Hidden Weapons to contain the Five-colored Daylily before moving it to the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

It might seem like an easy task to do but if it had been someone who has no resistance to poison, they might not dare to even come near it even if they were stronger than Qing Shui.

With the combined effects of the Pure Jade Pellet and Nature Energy, Qing Shui was able to resist the poison from the Five-colored Daylily. Otherwise, it would have been hard for him to get near the Five-colored Daylily.

Just like that, he put two of the Daylilies into the realm. He felt that he would just be wasting it if he took more. If he was to move all of the Daylilies into the realm, the ecosystem of the valley would be disrupted.

Ming!

Qing Shui looked up and realized that it was the Fire Bird! There was someone else on top of it.

Di Chen!

Qing Shui stepped up into the sky and dropped down on the back of the Fire bird. After that, the Fire bird let out a high-pitched chirp before flying in the direction of the Di Clan.

“Chen`Er, why are you here?” Qing Shui smiled at Di Chen.

“I’m scared that you will be eaten.” Di Chen smiled back.

Qing Shui gave an awkward smile: “is she gone?”

“Yeah!”

“You know about her injuries. It would be hard for her to avoid awkward situations. She was aware of it herself, that’s why she’s like that.” It’s not like Qing Shui wanted to lie to Di Chen. It’s just that for the sake of Lady Duanmu, there were some things that he really shouldn’t mention.

After all, both Qing Shui and Lady Duanmu have been out for one whole night. Everyone would be worried. So much so that a lot of people couldn’t manage to sleep for the entire night.

“I know, hehe.” Di Chen looked at Qing Shui with her beautiful pupils. Those eyes of hers were very alluring.

Very quickly, both Qing Shui and Di Chen already arrived in Di Clan. As soon as the people from Di Clan heard the Fire bird’s chirp, they rushed out of the house happily. Qing Shui noticed that the people from other branches of Di Clan also seemed to be there.

Qing Shui smiled. He had long since become used to things like this. It’s not a matter of whether it’s right or wrong, they’re a blood related family. Only a minority of people would be able to hold on under those kind of circumstances. Luckily, most of the people from Di Clan were responsible and trustworthy, with only Di Jing’s side of the family being an exception.

“Qing Shui, are you ok!” Di Xuan welcomed Qing Shui’s arrival happily, his joy could be seen clearly by everyone.

“I’m fine, Senior Di, how have things been going here?”

“It’s ok! Come in! Let’s celebrate together!” Di Xuan grabbed Qing Shui’s hand and said happily.

At this moment, Old Lady Mo came out. She smiled and nodded her head when she saw Qing Shui.

“Thank you for helping us this time, granny.” Qing Shui thanked Old Lady Mo with a serious expression. Even though Qing Shui was the one controlling the pace of the battle this time, without Old Lady Mo, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

“You’re welcome, Qing Shui. Don’t be so formal, you will only make me feel sad by treating me like an outsider.” Old Lady Mo smiled and said. She looked especially happy.

“Brother Qing Shui, can you let me have a look at your skills and techniques?” Di Fenxing scrubbed her head and asked Qing Shui.

Originally, Di Xuan planned to stop him, but he didn’t say it out loud.

“Since Brother Xing has mentioned it, I won’t hold back!”

Emperor’s Qi!

Binding Talisman, Armor Break Talisman, Body Securing Talisman!

Demon Binding Rope!

Qing Shui demonstrated the skills in front of Di Fenxing all at once. After that, he smiled and continued walking forward.

He hadn’t shown him the Fiery Golden Eyes. Merely these techniques were already enough to cause Di Fenxing to freeze in shock. He was totally stunned by it.

“Second Brother, how was it?”

“Second Brother……”

“Brother Xing……”

For a moment, everyone from Di Clan fixed their sight on Di Fenxing. They were really curious to know just how powerful the techniques which killed Old Freak Ba was.

At present, Qing Shui’s abilities had once again taken another huge leap. The strength of the Heavenly Talismans were somehow related to Qing Shui’s abilities. It reduced the opponent’s abilities by using Qing Shui’s abilities as a standard.

However, all of these were already more than enough to shock Di Fenxing. Not only was the opponent’s strength reduced by a chunk, they would even be immobilized and become vulnerable, this was the most fatal aspect of this.

Di Fenxing bitterly shook his head and didn’t say anything. The others also stopped asking after seeing his depressing look. After all, someone who was able to kill Old Freak Ba definitely wouldn’t be ordinary.

Di Qing smiled as she greeted Qing Shui. After that, the group walked into the main hall. There was a feast being held in the living room. There were plenty of sumptuous foods already prepared on the tables.

Everyone had a lot of fun during the feast. They felt particularly good when they were eating the food. It felt as if the burdens that have long been on their mind had finally been released. Di Chen was sitting next to Qing Shui and wasn’t wearing her veil.

Qing Shui began to realize that recently, Di Chen hadn’t been putting on her veils as often as she used to. The feeling of sitting close with her with a calm mind made Qing Shui feel as if they have been husband and wife for many years.

Actually, there was also one more reason behind it. It was the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Because of the different ratio in time, Qing Shui would often have the feeling that he had known somebody for a long time even if he had just met that person recently.

“Why are you looking at me like that.” Di Chen turned to the side and asked Qing Shui, who was distracted.

“Because you look good!”

The feast went on all the way until high-noon. After it finished, Qing Shui looked for an excuse to rest. The others said goodbye to Qing Shui. After all, he spent one whole night treating Lady Duanmu, it was just that they were not aware of how he had treated her.

He fell into the trap of talking to himself!

He once again wasted another day. The more free time he had, the more he couldn’t afford to lose. To Qing Shui, wasting a day was equivalent to wasting fifty days.

As soon as he entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, Qing Shui immediately went to the lake where he kept the poisonous objects. The two five-colored Daylily we’re growing at the side of the lake. They gave off so much aura that it covered up the entire area. By doing so, it could help make the poisons within the poisonous objects multiply many fold.

Earlier, when he was leaving, he requested the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb to be returned. Di Xuan had also let Qing Shui see if there were any useful things which could be taken away from the Red Jiao.

Qing Shui didn’t hold back. He took away a lot of blood, flesh, bones, tendons and the beast’s core.

At present, all of these were already in the Realm. After witnessing the power of the Blackjade Poisonous Spiderweb this time, Qing Shui thought to himself that it’s time to temper the Spiderweb with some strong poison.

It’s just that he would need a bit of time for that. He would have to collect some poisons from the five-colored Daylily as well as some poisons from the Python and refine them together. The current poison that Qing Shui possessed was only considered average. But with the five-colored Daylily, Qing Shui was no longer concerned about this matter. The aura could help multiply the poisons around the surroundings by multiple times.

Qing Shui planned to use the crystals that the Crystal Lions produced to help increase the toxicity of the poisonous substances before using them to temper the Spiderweb. If the Spiderweb as well as the Demon Binding Rope could become more powerful, Qing Shui felt that he would be able to kill off his opponent’s more easily.

Sword Technique combination!

Qing Shui didn’t confront Old Freak Ba in a close range battle. It would be futile if he had done so as his attacks would show little to no effect. Despite this, Qing Shui knew that the combination sword techniques were definitely powerful. It’s just that he hadn’t reached that kind of level yet with his cultivation, which was why he was unable to show their full potential.

Qing Shui felt that the essence of sword most definitely lay within this Basic Sword Technique. No matter how gracious or godly a sword technique was, they were still made up from basic sword skills.

So much so that Qing Shui felt that if he was able to combine the sword techniques to a certain extent, he would be able to make it as effective as a paragon.

After cultivating for a while, Qing Shui started refining medicines. After that, he took in one Meridians Clearing Pellet every day to boost his strength. When he was tired, he would lay down on the ground in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal to rest.

Every time he laid down on the ground, he would feel particularly relaxed. He would often think about stuff like cultivating as he did so.

Now that he has finally witnessed the strength of a Grade Ten Martial Saint Warrior. The only thing which he was unclear about would be the strength of a Peak Martial Saint Warrior. However, by observing the pattern in Martial Saints where the difference in strength widened each time one advanced to a higher grade, he could roughly figure out that a Peak Martial Saint Warrior should have a strength worth around ten thousand countries.

Every time he compared the strength of a Peak Martial Saint with himself, he would instantly fire up and be filled with hope.

There would definitely be Peak Martial Saint Warriors among the strongest people in Central Continent. Furthermore, there should also be some in Lion King’s Ridge located in Northern Sacred Lu Continent. When Qing Shui first met Yiye Jiange, he had promised her before that he would help her topple Lion King’s Ridge. It seemed like he would have to wait for a while longer in order to do so. It seemed like it’s really going to be the way he predicted, he would really need twenty years for it to happen.