## AST 1858 - Retreat, warm jade

Qing Shui slightly squinted his eyes. The bright light shining from him was like a cold substance as he continuously unleashed his Golden Battle Halberd. His body movements were very agile and also contained a kind of rhythm.

The Goddess Force!

The powerful Goddess Force enabled Qing Shui to carry heavy things as if they were very light. His attack might not really seem that strong, but only the old man would know the fearsome power which laid behind it. Furthermore, the old man could feel that Qing Shui seemed to be holding back. He seemed to be using this old man merely as a practice tool.

Indeed, that was precisely what Qing Shui viewed him as. He wasn’t going all out. In fact, he used even less power compared to the first time they clashed. He knew the principle of not underestimating his opponent on their first clash, that’s why Qing Shui spent a huge amount of strength on it. Though the old man might seem alright, he has already suffered internal injuries.

On the following clashes, Qing Shui held back even more. The old man knew that he was just using him as a tool to practice his skills. When Qing Shui finally decided to strike violently and unleashed his attacks continuously. He could do nothing but merely exhausted himself from blocking those attacks.

At the moment, the old man seemed like he didn’t even have a chance to speak. He could only brace himself against the situation in front of him. Only he himself would know exactly what kind of hardship he was going through.

This strength was like the strength of a giant. Each and every punch was very strong and perfect. He was suffering from it. The punches have shaken him to the core, even his organs were feeling a bit painful. It felt like they were penetrating through his body now.

Noises of weapons colliding could constantly be heard. They have all basically connected into one melody. The noises sounded so sharp as if they could penetrate through the ocean itself.

Ding!

An ear-piercing noise came through. Following on, Qing Shui’s Golden Battle Halberd could be seen to have landed on the old man’s shoulder.

Peng!

One of his arms immediately disappeared as a result of being hit by the Golden Battle Halberd. Qing Shui didn’t mean for this to happen. Qing Shui also didn’t try to hold back on purpose. The old man’s weapon was broken, this was why his Golden Battle Halberd landed on the old man’s shoulder.

Despite him holding back, it still wasn’t something which the old man could handle with his current strength. The old man’s arm got crushed thoroughly. It’s perfectly normal even if he died in this kind of battle, particularly under the situation when his weapon snapped.

The old man’s reaction was quite fast. He abruptly jumped out of the battling zone and looked at his right arm that has been blurred by his own blood. His weapon has also snapped. The excruciating pain he felt across his body and the sudden situation together caused his face to turn extremely pale.

Qing Shui stopped pursuing him. He didn’t want to exterminate them. He quietly looked at the old man. He has already gained a lot in the battle from before. After the battle, he realized that he has gotten even more adapted to his own strength. The feeling of being able to control his power at his own will felt unusually great.

“I won’t back away on my promises. May we please take our leave now?” The old man looked very pale. He asked Qing Shui formally.

Qing Shui nodded.

He didn’t say anything more. Though he has said before that he must be more ruthless, he mustn’t try to resolve everything by only killing. As the saying went “where it was possible to let people off, one should spare them”. The continents were a place filled with martial artists. It was perfectly normal for such a situation to be seen. Since he was inferior in terms of his skills, he should already be happy that his life was spared.

The old man immediately took his man along and disappeared.

Qing Shui didn’t know if the old man would come again. Today, he has found a trouble for himself. If they had known that he didn’t have any great backgrounds, there was a high chance that they wouldn’t just let things off easily.

Qing Shui wasn’t worried. It might not be hard to discover his identity, but it wasn’t as easy as one thought either. As if anyone would believe that he made it so far all by himself. But if they knew that what he said was true, they would be even more cautious of him.

In an instant, the entire place became really quiet. Sheng Jun walked to Qing Shui’s side with a happy smile on her face, “I have always thought that you aren’t that powerful. To think that you actually have a few tricks up your sleeves.”

“Actually, you are not wrong about it. I am not really that strong. In fact, I am almost the same as you. However, I am able to hit two birds with one stone, heck, I may even be able to pull off hitting three, or even ten birds with just one stone.” Qing Shui smiled and said.

Sheng Jun was deeply shaken by Qing Shui’s words. Indeed, “twice the effort for half the result” and “twice the result for half the effort” were two totally different things. At the very least, she was still able to understand what this meant. However, it was easier said than done. She looked at Qing Shui confused.

Qing Shui smiled. He knew that she wanted to know about the second part. She didn’t treat him as an outsider. He then said to her, “Do you know about the assassins? They are the simplest example of hitting two birds with one stone.”

“To kill your opponent with just one strike. Attack the fragile parts across their body.”Sheng

Jun seemed to have understood something.

“When you try to beat a snake, you will need to make sure that you are hitting it at its seven inches spot. Otherwise, it will not die even if you cut off its tail. There are many weaknesses across a human’s body. Some of them could immediately show its effect upon being hit. For example, the brains, eyes and necks. These are all obvious weaknesses. However, humans will instinctively protect these parts. Hence, they were also parts that are the most difficult to be struck at. Attacking it recklessly will give the opponents an opportunity to counter back instead.

“Are there any more weaknesses which may seem less obvious?” Sheng Jun asked curiously.

“The Acupoints, meridians and some of the more fragile joints.”

“The acupoints are located inside the body. If you don’t manage to penetrate through it, there will be no effect. Furthermore, it is also quite tough for one to accurately pinpoint the location and strike it. The meridians and joints, on the other hand, aren’t that easy to be attacked.” Sheng Jun was getting more and more curious.

“With familiarity, you will learn the trick. The meridians are capable of cutting off the source of your opponent’s power for a short period of time. The joints, on the other hand, could cause numbness in their body. In battles, it only took one successful attempt to take the life of your opponent.” Qing Shui smiled while explaining.

Sheng Jun nodded. Today, Qing Shui has helped her opened up a door. Usually, warriors wouldn’t know much about the meridians and acupoints across a person’s body. Actually, there were also warriors who focused on human’s meridians and acupoints across the World of the Nine Continents. It’s just that only a minority was able to be successful in it. It was even rarer to see warriors like that reached a great level in it. Those who managed to do so could break through thousands of techniques with one strike. No matter how great one might have researched on his technique, he still wouldn’t be able to withstand the devastating power which this one mere strike could bring forth.

This was the kind of strength which this world was asking for. Absolute strength.

Techniques were only suitable when two warriors shared equal strength, or maybe under the condition when their gap in strength wasn’t too significant. If the difference in strength was too large, taking an ant for example, no matter how formidable its technique might be, it still wouldn’t be able to kill an elephant.

“Were you using this kind of power in the battle before?” Sheng Jun lifted up her head and asked Qing Shui.

“I only got close to the opponent on my last attack. But actually, once you reach a certain height in strength, you will be able to hit the opponent’s meridians and acupoints from a distance. Through the collisions of weapons, strength can be transferred from one’s body into another. This will also require techniques up to a certain degree in order to slow down the opponents. A delay in reaction could lead to a fatal outcome.”

“Here, allow me to help you feel this energy.” Qing Shui was able to tell that Sheng Jun seemed to be very interested in it. He didn’t plan to keep it to himself either. This kind of things would require innate talents and also time. Nevertheless, if she truly wanted to learn it, he wouldn’t mind teaching her either.

Qing Shui let out his hand to grab one of her hands. After that, he told her to extend out her hand a little. An energy then entered her body and traveled its way towards her hand. As that happened, Qing Shui grabbed her hand and struck her shoulders with it.

After that, it was the collarbone. Sheng Jun’s body trembled slightly as she tried to feel the power. Qing Shui held her hand while constantly striking the meridians and acupoints across her shoulders. He did it with just the appropriate strength.

There were many acupoints across a human’s body. But when it came to their locations, they could be found only in certain spots throughout the entire body. Following on, Qing Shui did he was very nervous about. After going through the acupoints across her shoulders, Qing Shui seemed to have forgotten one thing as he held her hand and pointed it towards her Shanzhong Acupoint.

The Shanzhong Acupoint was a fatal acupoint. Certainly, Qing Shui didn’t want to kill her. He used just the right amount of force while demonstrating it to her. This acupoint was even more sensitive than the other ones. However, the Shanzhong Acupoint was located in the middle of a person’s chest, be it men or women. Women with huge breasts in particular, their acupoint was located right at their cleavage. Sheng Jun had very large breasts. Qing Shui didn’t use too much force when demonstrating it to her. The only thing he felt was both his and her hands sinking into a lump of soft substance. It was very spongy and also felt very good to touch. Qing Shui felt as if his entire hand was inside two lumps of warm jades…...