## AST: Chapter 45 – A Divine Crippling Pill

The celebration for the new year would only be finished at the end of the month. The coming of age ceremony was completed on the 10th day of the new year. The Qing Clan was currently the happiest they had ever been. Especially the incident of Qing Shui, when he had defeated the arrogant Situ Bu Fan, was deeply etched in everyone’s minds because it had raise their prestige to a whole new level.

The Solitary Rapid Fist, especially when used by both Qing Hu and Qing Bei, had power beyond that of the norm. It was an open secret that Qing Shui was the one who taught the stances to them. The other members of the Qing Clan could only stare in envy, but were too embarrassed to ask Qing Shui to teach them this technique.

Qing Luo had great foresight, he saw the benefits of the Solitary Rapid Fist, and was awed by the technique. He had already approached Qing Shui to discuss if Qing Shui was willing to allow all of the members of the Qing Clan to cultivate this particular fist technique. One of the main points was that by cultivating the Solitary Rapid Fist stances, one could hone the nimbleness and flexibility of their limbs. This would only benefit the members in the future as they started to learn the use of other weapons.

To Qing Luo, he felt that the Solitary Rapid Fist techniques were not a closely guarded secret. Since Qing Shui had already taught it to Qing Hu and Qing Bei, he hoped that Qing Shui would be willing to ask his teacher (the ancient old man) to see if it could be taught to the other clan members as well.

“No problem!” Qing Shui replied forthrightly. Firstly, the technique was unlocked when he had broken through the Ancient Strengthening Technique. He had no “ancient old man” teacher as to speak of. Secondly, when cultivating the Solitary Rapid Fist technique, talent was very important. Even if he printed out hard copies and disseminated it across the whole village, there wouldn’t be much impact. Also not to mention, the ones he would be teaching it to, would be his own clan members.

After Qing You recovered, he sunk into a deep depression. As the top disciple of the Qing Clan’s 3rd Generation, he could not even parry a single strike from Situ Bu Fan. These actions caused the whole of the Qing Clan to be disgraced by his hands.

Looking at how depressed his son was, Qing Jiang tried to uplift his spirits by relating the whole series of events that happened after he fainted. Qing You felt that the whole story was a bunch of bullshit. It was too incredulous, especially how Qing Shui defeated Situ Bu Fan with only a single strike. If not for the fact that so many people witnessed it happening, there was no one who would have believed it either. After hearing the story, Qing You gathered a few close friends and even went to verify the story with Lan Ye from the Lan Clan. Lan Ye’s reputation as a person who did not lie finally allowed him to believe that the story was true.

Only after the verification did Qing You appear to recover somewhat from his depression. After all, the shadow of Situ Bu Fan’s pretentious face kept looming in his mind, akin to a bad dream. He could not help lamenting the fact that he was not strong enough to smash his twin hammers onto Situ Bu Fan’s head. Qing You could only lament that he was not able to personally witness Qing Shui making a fool out of Situ Bu Fan.

Qing You had always been an impetuous person. Before he had even recovered from his injuries, he already leapt from his bed and rushed straight to look for Qing Shui. Qing Jiang could only look at the fast departing silhouette of Qing You as he shook his head. He knew that such was the nature of his son, and it would be useless to try to stop him.

Qing Shui was shocked out of his wits when he saw the flustered looking Qing You sprinting towards him. Wasn’t Qing You supposed to be in bed, recovering from his injuries? How could he even sprint?

“Ai, Qing You, you should rest well since you are injured!” Qing Shui stated with a smile as he looked at his younger cousin.

Qing You shook his head, as he went straight to the point of his question.

“After I heard that Qing Shui ge trounced that Situ Bu Fan like a little puppy, I immediately felt better.” Qing You glanced at Qing Shui, as his eyes glittered with delight.

Qing Shui knew that Qing You, as the epitome of strength within the 3rd generation disciples, had always looked up to and respected those stronger than him. He was someone who possessed explosive strength, as evidenced by the choice of his weapons.

“Heh heh, I had long found his pretentious mug irritating. Luckily I had enough strength to smash him down the arena. Just imagine his earlier arrogance, and then getting beat down a few minutes later.” Qing Shui roared with laughter as he chatted with Qing You.

“Hehe!” A endearing voice full of laughter drifted over.

“How could the two of you debase someone behind his back?” Qing Yi had heard their conversation regarding Situ Bu Fan, and was suppressing her urge to openly laugh as she gently berated them.

“Mum!” , “Aunty!”

“Qing Shui, I passed the six other Hundred Year Fiery Power Fruit to your Grandpa. He was very happy when he saw the fruits, and told me that he would give you anything as compensation.” Qing Yi said with a smile, with radiance suffusing her complexion.

Qing Shui was momentarily stunned. He knew that Qing Luo had access to the treasure vault, located inside a secret chamber, which kept all the treasured items passed down from the earlier generations of the Qing Clan.

After Qing Shui recovered from his surprise, Qing Yi beckoned to both of them to follow her to meet Qing Luo. “Qing You, later after you meet your grandpa, remember to ask him for two of the fruits. Don’t worry I will help you persuade your grandpa.” Qing Yi said to Qing You as she pat his shoulder. “With aunty here, there would surely be a share for you.”

“Thank you, Aunty!” Qing You was so excited that his whole face was flushed red. He had always been inclined to strength. Now that he knew the fruits would grant him an increase of 1,000 jin in strength, how could he not be passionate about it? If his strength increased by 1,000 jin, at the very least, he would not have lost so badly to Situ Bu Fan.

After they arrived at Qing Luo’s residence, they saw Qing Luo was relaxedly enjoying his day, watering the plants in his courtyard. His towering and rugged frame, seemed to give no indications on his age. He was above 100 years old! However, considering the lifespan of peak HouTian experts, he was only middle-aged. It was a pity that Qing Luo had always been cursed by loneliness. Ever since his wife had passed on, he had never remarried, and depended on himself to bring up his children. Now that all his grandchildren had grown up the 2nd generation members urged and supported him to get remarried. However, all matchmaking proposals were rejected by Qing Luo.

“Dad!”

“Grandpa!” Both Qing Shui and Qing You greeted Qing Luo

“Hahaha, excellent!” Qing Luo was in a very joyous mode, and everyone knew the reason behind it was Qing Shui. Most probably, after Situ Bu Fan’s arrogant actions, the Qing Clan would have more standing in the Hundred Miles City. In the future when the Qing Clan conducted their business in the Hundred Miles City, they wouldn’t be under such constant pressure.”

However, now it was different. Qing Shui had easily defeated one of the young masters of the four great clans of Hundred Miles City, and indirectly affected their pride. There was bound to be countless challengers waiting for him at Hundred Miles City, waiting to vent their anger.

“Qing Shui, since you have given the Hundred-Year fruits to us, I will let you choose any item you like from the Qing Clan’s treasury. After all, we can’t blindly accept your kindness without giving you something in compensation.” Qing Luo said.

It was Qing Shui’s first time coming into this chamber. The chamber was simple and unadorned, and only consisted of a bed, a bookshelf, and a table and set of chairs.

“Grandpa, what are you saying, we are all one family! Although the Hundred-Year fruits were valuable, the effects could not be stacked. It is only right for me to hand them over to you. After all, I’m a part of the Qing Clan!” Qing Shui said warmly, with hints of steadfastness in his voice. His grandpa had always doted on him. He could still remember back when he was young, and Qing Luo had went all the way to Hundred Miles City to buy the 100-year purple ginseng for his consumption.

Qing Luo was very happy, but despite this, he still wanted Qing Shui to make a request for an item saying that it was necessary, as it was a rule of the Qing Clan. Those who made contributions would be able to receive rewards.

Looking at how determined Qing Luo was, and the slight nod of Qing Yi, signaling her agreement, Qing Shui decided to try his luck…

“Hmm, if that is so, could Grandpa give me a Crippling Divine Pill?”