AST 1158 – Joyous Sage, Strength Infusion, The Wis.h.i.+ng G.o.ddess Statue

The old man spoke suddenly. Qing Shui was taken aback, especially at his words. He looked at the old man in amazement. Regardless if the old man was an expert or if he was a diviner, it didn’t matter anymore because he felt that these words were very useful to him.

He had already thought about what to do in the future back then but now, he felt as if his opinion on this matter had been approved by someone else. He smiled at the old man, “Old Man, how should I address you?”

“I call myself the Joyous Sage but everyone else calls me a lunatic. Little Brother, do you think I am a lunatic?” the old man answered, he seemed to be particularly happy.

“It is said that geniuses are all lunatics and experts are all lunatics too. Experts are people whom ordinary people will never understand. Otherwise, anyone can be an expert. Old Man, I think you are definitely a sage.” Qing Shui didn’t know what he felt either when he said this. He was very serious but was also casually saying it at the same time.

“Hmm, young man, it seems like we will get along well. Alright then, we shall be friends, if you are willing to, Little Brother,” the old man laughed heartily.

“I couldn’t ask for more, Old Man……”

“Why don’t you call me Brother from now on? Calling me that feels too strange. We are friends in spite of the difference in our ages.” The old man looked at Qing Shui with a smile.

“Then I shall stop being courteous, Brother.” This was a little beyond Qing Shui’s belief. After all, they were going to address one another in great familiarity despite having just met. On top of that, there was also a huge age gap between them. Even so, he seemed to be thinking that this would be interesting but also seemed to be serious.

“Hahaha, that’s more like it. This old man is very happy today. Brother has nothing good to give you, so I’ll grant you a little fortune!” The old man casually reached out and placed his forefinger on the top of Qing Shui’s head.

It was only now Qing Shui realized the terrifying strength of the old man because for that instant, his body couldn’t budge even an inch. However, he had a feeling that the old man wouldn’t harm him. Very soon enough, a wave of miraculous energy was channeled into his body and the next thing he knew, his entire body felt as if it was being filled with Qi.

Strength Infusion!

To his surprise, it turned out to be Strength Infusion. In legend, only powerful cultivators could use their life essence to perform Strength Infusion for someone else. This could directly enhance one’s cultivation. However, this kind of Strength Infusion was particularly expensive to one’s true origin energy and could even lower the user’s cultivation. Other than people who were about to die, the ones that had this ability would only perform Strength Infusion on their juniors. However, the amount of strength that could be absorbed would all depend on each individual’s apt.i.tude and fortune.

This old man actually performed Strength Infusion on him? Qing Shui felt like everything was too good to be true. He was also mostly puzzled.

BAM!

It was as if a furnace had exploded within his body. The miraculous energy of the old man gushed forth directly from Tianling acupoint into the dantian of his body. However, it was obstructed by the Nine Continents Mountain of his dantian instead.

But it was able to only withstand a few impacts before there was an explosion within his dantian. A wave of intense warm current circulated within his body. This was the divine force within his own body. Qing Shui was. .h.i.t by a surprise next. There were some changes in the Nine Continents Mountain once again.

Although it didn’t have any changes in its appearance, the Nine Continent Mountain in his dantian appeared to be heavier and more majestic. The domineering aura that it exuded had become even more powerful than before. It made one feel like the Sky Penetrating Mountains were towering before them.

It felt just like how the Nine Continents Mountain acknowledged him as its owner back then.

Qing Shui sensed it, a look of extreme surprise then appeared on his face. The Nine Continents Mountain had leveled up.

Sacred Object of Heaven and Earth, the Nine Continents Mountain, treasure type. The condensation of pure stones between Heaven and Earth that formed after absorbing the power essence of the sun and moon over countless years. Treasure of Sacred Spirit Grade. Successfully refined.

An increase of two nimbus (one nimbus is equivalent to 10,000 stars of strength) of physical strength and 10,000 stars of spirit energy. With its current twofold of strength and twofold of speed to knockback and attack, its attack carried the s.h.i.+eld Attack energy. It could move with spirit energy, controlled by his will! It could level up!

In terms of the original foundation, this is equivalent to increasing one nimbus of physical strength. However, Qing Shui was a little disappointed that the Nine Continents Mountain was still attacking with twofold strength and twofold speed. He wondered if it would continue in upgrading to threefold or fourfold.

Not only that, there were also some changes in the nebula in his sea of consciousness. It had doubled in size. The spirit energy it held also became thicker. This was only a change in his reserves, it didn’t increase the strength again.

The old man had already retracted his hand and was looking at Qing Shui. “Not bad, Brother. The destiny of these two girls will intertwine with yours in the future,” he chuckled.

As soon as the old man finished speaking, he ignored the strange looks that the two ladies were giving him and reached out with both of his hands to point on the top of the ladies’ heads without direct contact. This time, Qing Shui saw that pure living aura. The Origin Qi, Divine Energy, True Origin Qi and others within the body were like oil but what the Old Man channeled in was like fiery stars. It ignited the functions of the body and unlocked the potentials within that body.

After about only seven minutes, the two ladies immediately bowed towards the old man. “Thank you, Old Master!”

The old man didn’t say anything further. He looked at Qing Shui. “You still have a very long journey ahead of you. We will meet again in the future.”

“Brother, you are leaving?” Qing Shui stared at the old man in surprise. To be honest, he was a little reluctant to part with such a powerful figure. Furthermore, he was clueless about everything here and didn’t know anything. He only knew this old man who called himself the Joyous Sage.

“That’s right. I have already made plans to settle some things long ago, so I am leaving tomorrow. I didn’t expect to meet you here today, Brother. This is probably the work of fate. Rest a.s.sured, we will meet again in the future.” The extremely positive old man laughed happily.

“Well then, let me treat you to some wine, Brother!”

“Brother, you are being too courteous. The bond between brothers comes from the heart!” The joyous old man shook his head.

“Fine then, I shall stop being courteous with you, Brother. At least it’s not too much to be giving Brother some gifts, right?” Qing Shui shoved an Interspatial Silk Sachet into the old man’s arms.

The old man looked at the Interspatial Silk Sachet and then nodded with a smile!

Qing Shui had stashed quite a lot of wine in the Interspatial Silk Sachet. He felt that these were the only things that were most suitable and were at least decent enough to be gifts.

The old man sent Qing Shui and the two ladies off. When Qing Shui and the two ladies were quite some distance away, the old man watched after Qing Shui’s disappearing silhouette. The smile on his face remained.

Qing Shui and the two ladies still felt slightly muddle-headed. Everything seemed like a dream. However, the tremendous strengths currently in their bodies told them otherwise.

The apt.i.tudes of the two ladies were extraordinary. Compared to them, Qing Shui had gotten greater benefits from the Strength Infusion this time. The current strength of Tantai Xuan was approximately 400 nimbus, while Yu Ruyan had actually attained 100 nimbus. It was evident that the power of Strength Infusion was indeed formidable.

For the old man to perform Strength Infusion, his cultivation would be lowered. This was also the fact that Qing Shui and the two ladies couldn’t wrap their heads around. Why would he make such sacrifice for people whom he had met for the first time? Everything that had happened was simply too unimaginable.

The two ladies were portrayed on the Portraits of Beauty. For Yu Ruyan in particular, her increase in strength was the most terrifying among all of them. She had asked Qing Shui a few times if all this was true and if her strength would vanish when she woke up the next day. Qing Shui could understand her uncertainties too well.

Even Qing Shui felt as if this was all a dream himself, let alone the two ladies. This Strength Infusion had immediately leveled up his Nine Continents Mountain. A seeming increase of one nimbus of physical strengths turned out to be eight nimbus in actuality. Overall, that was about 100 nimbus of increase in total. For Nine Continents Mountain, that was an increase of more than 200 nimbus.

But these were not all the benefits because there were also some changes in that nebula in his sea of consciousness. Qing Shui believed that it would allow his strength to be increased once again very soon.

Compared to Qing Shui, the increment in the two ladies’ strengths could be described as terrifying. This made Qing Shui have a feeling that this had some relation to one’s apt.i.tude and const.i.tution. The Strength Infusion this time had increased Tantai Xuan’s strength a few times. How terrifying. The most terrifying one was Yu Ruyan. It could be said that she had soared up into the sky with one step. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be repeatedly asking Qing Shui if everything had been real.

Regardless, this was pure fortune. The three of them continued walking in the direction of the Wis.h.i.+ng Stone. Qing Shui was actually pondering about one question on the entire journey. The two ladies’ strengths were all increased a few times or even tens of times while the increase in his strength seemed to be a little too pitiful. Did this mean that his apt.i.tude, skeleton, const.i.tution and perception were inferior to the two ladies?

But he was able to deny it very quickly. He felt that his perception wasn’t any weaker than them. As for const.i.tution, he possessed the Nine Yang Golden Body. Then why was his increment in strength that little?

Yu Ruyan’s strength was the weakest among them, yet she received the most increment in strength out of them all. Although Tantai Xuan’s strength had been increased by quite a lot, it was still a lot less than Yu Ruyan. In addition, his strength was also increased by a lot less than Tantai Xuan.

“Hmm, Strength Infusion is the direct channeling of strength. After comparing the amount that we have absorbed, the Old Man probably channeled more than 100 nimbus of energy,” Qing Shui conjectured.

Strength Infusion could unlock potentials. Yu Ruyan was weak in strength, but she possessed the Divine Body and had great potential within her. Hence, her strength was suddenly increased tremendously. Even so, there was still a limiting factor. That would be how much potential in strength the old man’s Strength Infusion could unlock.

Following that line of logic, Qing Shui knew that this had nothing to do with his apt.i.tude or innate talents but his strength instead. After all, the feelings of 10 nimbus being increased to 100 nimbus, about more than 200 nimbus to 400 nimbus and 1,200 nimbus to more than 1,400 nimbus were different.

In comparison, it was still Qing Shui who had gotten the greatest increase in strength. However, Yu Ruyan, who got the least increase, looked like she had the most increment among them instead.

Qing Shui felt more a.s.sured after he figured all this out. Soon enough, the Wis.h.i.+ng Stone appeared up ahead within their sight. Most people were gathered here. There was an enormous pond in this area and artificial mountains in the pond. There were also stone steps and stone bridges that extended towards the center of the pond. A gigantic stone statue stood in the midst of the pond.

“Qing Shui, look, that’s the Wis.h.i.+ng G.o.ddess Statue!” Yu Ruyan pointed at the stone statue in the center and exclaimed.

There were many people standing around the stone statue with their eyes closed in the surroundings. Their lips were slightly moving, as if mumbling something. But of course, there were also some who only had their eyes shut with their palms put together, as if in prayer.

“Qing Shui, let’s go over there and make a wish too! It’s very effective!” Yu Ruyan pulled Qing Shui with one hand and Tantai Xuan with her other hand as they made their way to the front of the G.o.ddess statue.

Qing Shui watched the woman who was pulling him. There was another hint of a delicate girl within her maturity. Her kingdom-toppling beauty appeared even more beautiful and alluring right now. Watching her gave him a sense of contentment in his heart.

Since they were here, they might as well make a wish. It was a blessing for one to have wishes. As long as one had wishes, they would feel extremely blessed when they came true. Just like him, if he could find Di Chen or unite the entire clan together or find that man or find that woman who was in the crystal coffin……

These were all his wishes. He looked towards Yu Ruyan. “Ruyan, can I make multiple wishes?”

AST 1159 – There’s a Portrait of Beauty Within the Wis.h.i.+ng G.o.ddess Statue? Soul Capture

Tantai Xuan and Yu Ruyan were startled when they saw Qing Shui’s serious expression. They were quite amused. There wasn’t any rule on this but people would normally make one wish, which was their most important wish. Making ‘many wishes’ would just be making more than one wish.

“A sincere heart is vital for wishes. Do you think you have a sincere heart?” Tantai Xuan smiled and looked at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui was taken aback. That was right. He actually didn’t take wis.h.i.+ng seriously. That would mean he wasn’t really that sincere about it. If there was no sincerity, what was the point in making any wishes?

“Forget it, I think I’m going to pa.s.s on wis.h.i.+ng,” Qing Shui said after reconsidering.

“Come on, Qing Shui. Just make one wish then, alright? Don’t you wish to be able to meet Sister Di Chen soon?” Yu Ruyan pulled Qing Shui.

“Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you!” Qing Shui tried his best to be sincere. He looked at that G.o.ddess Statue and made his wish.

After making his wish, Qing Shui opened his eyes and they happened to meet the statue’s eyes. A wave of strange sensation rose up all of a sudden and the next thing he knew, his spiritual sense became a blur.

He appeared in the midst of a boundless gra.s.sy plain. There were powerful flying demonic beasts flying in the skies here and also powerful demonic beasts on land. Each and every one of them were about the size of a mountain.

“Oh, Alpha Dragon species!”

Qing Shui saw that there were some Alpha Dragon species among them, Diamond Berserk Dragon Beast and Golden Eyed Tiger King Dragon. Alpha Dragon species contained more than 30% Dragon Bloodline within their body. Historical books had recorded that dragons were also categorized into many species and even specific categories. For instance, dragons without claws, two-clawed, four-clawed, five-clawed…… and also the legendary nine-clawed.

Dragons were usually different in color for each species. There were white, black, green, blue, gold and red dragons……

As for which was the most powerful, it all depended on its bloodline. Every species had their own emperors that possessed the most n.o.ble bloodline. Although Qing Shui stood here and didn’t see any dragons, it was still extremely amazing for him to see a few Alpha Dragon species.

Most of them here were Ancient Gigantic Beasts and Ancient Desolate Beasts. Some of them were fighting each other, some were fleeing…….

Just then, many cultivators appeared in midair. These cultivators were at least of the State Master level. They were fighting against the demonic beasts. Sword Qi was going back and forth in the air and they were endlessly unleas.h.i.+ng all kinds of trump cards. Beastly roars and the sharp swoos.h.i.+ng noises in the air were constantly heard.

ROAR!

All of a sudden, a gigantic roar rang out or perhaps he should say a dragon’s cry. This could be considered the most realistic dragon’s cry Qing Shui had ever heard. He lifted his head to look and witnessed a stunning scene.

There was a gigantic demonic beast. From its head to its tail, it was no less than 1,000 meters long. It had two horns on its head that resembled the head of a jiao but Qing Shui was sure that this was definitely a dragon. It was a pure gigantic green colored dragon. It had four claws on its feet and it exuded an earth-shattering pressure. It moved and the way it moved amazed Qing Shui……

Qing Shui realized that he actually couldn’t move even an inch under this wave of pressure. As expected of a dragon. Its impressiveness was enough to make one prostrate themselves in wors.h.i.+p. Perhaps this was because he had finally seen the mythical beast that he had only seen in paintings before. In here, it was only a demonic beast. The king among the demonic beasts….

Roar!

The gigantic green colored dragon had a pair of eyes, that were no smaller than the size of a pavilion, which exuded supreme pressure. With a thundering roar, it breathed out something akin to ‘water vapor’ that hid the sky and covered the earth like clouds in the skies. The entire sky turned hazy, despite its height in here….

The powerful demonic beasts that pa.s.sed by below couldn’t even put up any resistance in time as they all instantly turned into ashes……

It was a stunning scene. In his consciousness, green dragon was a water species. He wasn’t sure how much killing power it possessed. However, it was only now that he realized that water vapor, cold ice and low temperature icy mist were all water related. Just like the water vapor earlier, that was of the most terrifyingly low temperature. When it hit a certain coldness in temperature, it would be the same as fire and able to ‘destroy’ everything like it could.

Qing Shui suddenly saw something astounding. There was actually a silhouette on top of the gigantic green colored dragon. This dragon was too enormous. A person would be extremely tiny standing on top of a 1,000 meter long dragon. Besides, he didn’t even think about who could tame such a formidable demonic beast earlier….

Qing Shui had very good vision, yet he couldn’t get a clear look. Even so, he could identify that it was a woman due to that exquisite and delicate physique. Her face was hidden as if she was wearing a conical bamboo hat.

Qing Shui’s silhouette shook all of a sudden as he disappeared from there. He then heard the two ladies shouting at him. He shook his head, feeling as though there were some changes in his body. But he couldn’t be bothered to sense it right now. He glanced towards the two ladies and saw Yu Ruyan’s worried expression.

“What happened to you? You didn’t respond at all to us calling out to you. You have been wis.h.i.+ng for 15 minutes already….”

“Errm, I suddenly thought of something……”

The two ladies were speechless.

How could he s.p.a.ce out when he was making his wish….

Qing Shui had a realization again within his heart right now. That was a realization that awakened after seeing the figure of that gigantic green colored dragon and its attack. Qing Shui stared at the G.o.ddess statue in the middle. Right now, he felt that this G.o.ddess statue really seemed to be alive.

But he didn’t understand why something like this would happen. Then, he was. .h.i.t by a sudden realization. “There’s a Portrait of Beauty within the statue……”

This was only a feeling. The eyes he saw earlier were probably the eyes on the Portrait of Beauty. Qing Shui was startled by his own conjecture. He had probably communicated with the consciousness of the lady in the Portrait of Beauty and saw those scenes. This was the most logical explanation.

Qing Shui had never thought of having all the twelve Portraits of Beauty in his possession because he felt that it was a difficult task to achieve. It required too much fortune. But now, he had a feeling that perhaps he could really find all the twelve Portraits of Beauty. It was as if everything had been planned in the dark.

“Don’t tell me I have to smash this G.o.ddess Statue?” Qing Shui wasn’t entirely sure that there was indeed a Portrait of Beauty within this statue. This was merely his conjecture.

It would have been fine if he had to smash an ordinary statue but this one was the Wis.h.i.+ng G.o.ddess Statue. If he really smashed it, he wondered how many people would come after him for his life. He reckoned that some powerful cultivators of the Four Kings Street wouldn’t let him get away with that!

“Then should I get it out?” Qing Shui was in a great dilemma right now. Now that he had found it, he really didn’t want to give up just like that. Now that he had also discovered the secret behind the Portraits of Beauty, he didn’t want to give up on it even more.

Telepathic communication. He had already received benefits from the earlier experience. This even further solidified his intention.

He thought about the quality of the Portraits of Beauty. He wondered if it was exceptionally durable because it was made of beast leather. Although he had never tried to intentionally ‘destroy’ the Portraits of Beauty, he knew that these Portraits of Beauty were fireproof and waterproof. They probably wouldn’t be scratched by ordinary knives or swords either.

“I want to retrieve something. Both of you leave first and wait for me at the other side!” Qing Shui told the two ladies.

“I don’t know what you want to retrieve but I’m guessing that it has something to do with this Wis.h.i.+ng G.o.ddess Statue. I hope you won’t destroy the things here. Otherwise, you will definitely be chased for your life, probably by many people.” Tantai Xuan frowned at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui looked at this intelligent woman and shook his head. “Don’t worry. No one will know it was me.”

“You are really going to destroy the Wis.h.i.+ng G.o.ddess Statue!?” Tantai Xuan stared at Qing Shui strangely.

“Maybe not. If I can retrieve it without breaking it, then I won’t destroy it. But if I can’t retrieve it, then destroying it is the only way,” Qing Shui laughed.

“Qing Shui, what is it? Is it very important?” Yu Ruyan asked with a frown.

“Probably very important. Rest a.s.sured, I won’t be reckless. Listen to me and wait for me there. Maybe nothing will happen.” Qing Shui urged the two ladies.

“Sigh, I’m still hoping that you won’t destroy it. Otherwise, you can only flee to the other end of the world,” Tantai Xuan reminded him once again.

This also made Qing Shui think twice as he grew reluctant. In any case, he knew that there might be one portrait here and there was no hurry for him to retrieve it. Maybe he’d just give it a try. If he could get it out then it’d be fine. If he was left with no other choice but to destroy the G.o.ddess statue, then he could wait and come back to get it again in the future!

This time, Qing Shui looked upon the G.o.ddess statue once again. He let his heart immerse into his sea of consciousness as he had the two ladies s.h.i.+elding him, preventing others from distracting him.

When his heart was immersed into his sea of consciousness, his body jolted. The nebula within his sea of consciousness immediately dispersed. A wave of boundless energy exploded within his body.

It had already reached its boundary when the old man helped him by performing the Strength Infusion earlier. The ‘telepathic communication’ earlier had a direct impact on his sea of consciousness and this instantly caused a tremendous change within it.

The nebula suddenly dispersed as its numbers also increased by tens of times. That burst of boundless spirit energy stirred Qing Shui. He couldn’t be bothered by the amount of his current strength right now. Instead, he instantly used his Qi to bind the statue.

Soul Capture!

This was a type of spiritual secret technique. It was a rare record in the introduction to spirit energy, however there were very few people who cultivated this. Putting aside the fact that it had a very slim success rate, it was ineffective against cultivators of the same level or more powerful cultivators.

Soul Capture wasn’t as powerful as its name suggested. This kind of Soul Capture only had weakening effects towards human cultivators. What was the point in weakening someone with lower strength than yourself? It could also be used to weaken demonic beasts, as if absorbing their souls. This could be used against demonic beasts of any level, though the success rate was lower than 1%.

This was the reason why not many cultivators would cultivate this spiritual secret technique that had such an awesome name. Qing Shui had always believed that there were no useless battle techniques, only unsuitable ones. He had abundance of time, so he cultivated it when he had nothing better to do. It was a pity that he had basically never used it.

The reason why he had persisted in the cultivation was because cultivating Soul Capture could slowly raise one’s spirit energy. This was probably the motivation behind Qing Shui’s persistence.

He had a feeling that this statue probably enshrined the Portrait of Beauty as G.o.ddess or a soul within it. He wanted to try to see if he could use Soul Capture to get the Portrait of Beauty out. That way, he wouldn’t need to destroy this divine statue.

Soul Capture!

Qing Shui squinted his eyes. Green colored aura that only Qing Shui himself could see shot out and it directly entered the G.o.ddess statue through her eyes.

Serenity!

There was no reaction. It failed!

Qing Shui wasn’t surprised. It was within his expectations. Even though there was some success rate, the failure rate was still very high. Besides, the possibility of getting the Portrait of Beauty from the stone statue through Soul Capture was still unknown.

Soul Capture….

A failure……

Qing Shui kept trying again and again but was met with failures. He understood that the hope of this succeeding was extremely slim from the start, so he was treating this as a practice for Soul Capture. It would be most ideal if he could retrieve it. If he couldn’t, then he’d have to think of other ways.

Soul Capture….

His failures continued on. Qing Shui was already growing numb while he kept using Soul Capture over and over again like a machine. Many people had already noticed them. After all, with two women that were as beautiful as immortals standing there, it was hard to not draw any attention.

Pu!

A sound rang out faintly. There was a wonderful feeling in his sea of consciousness. He glanced towards the stone statue again and realized that the sensation he felt earlier was actually gone.

It succeeded?