Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 829 – The Weird Long Lingyun, Cui Brothers

“Those two brothers seem to like the two of you.” Qing Shui smiled and said before looking at Long Lingyun.

He didn’t mean anything when he said this, he just wanted to do so. Now, Qing Shui wanted to live his life. Since he had hidden his cultivation level, he wanted to appreciate and live a different life. He didn’t wish to restrict himself so much. Although it was hard for him to change his character to allow him to live a different life, he was willing to give it a go.

“Oh? How do you know that they like me?” Long Lingyun smiled and asked, as she looked at Qing Shui teasingly.

“When you asked me to join you earlier, that pair of brother couldn’t help but want to kill me. Moreover, they’ve been secretly throwing glances at you, giving the expression that they couldn’t wait to devour you.” Qing Shui said, as he looked toward the other group and smiled.

“Why are you telling me this? You like me as well?” Long Lingyun smiled and said as she looked at this strange man that gave her a strange feeling when she first saw him.

She could not tell what his age was. He appeared to be very young but that pair of eyes seemed to be more weary of the world than Uncle Gang. He was very handsome but people would be easily drawn in by his charms instead. He gave out a deadly attraction that was indescribable.

Her intuition told her that this guy was not a weakling. Although she could sense that his cultivation was only at Xiantian level, she trusted her intuition more. This was the first time she was curious about a young man.

“I have someone I like.” To the lady’s teasing, Qing Shui smiled casually. Although she was clearly a beauty, he was not interested in a ‘narcissistic’ lady like her, who would ask if he likes her when they had only just met. To be honest, he was aware that she was just teasing him but he still felt that she was a bit narcissistic.

If Long Lingyun were to know what Qing Shui was thinking, she would definitely go crazy with anger.

“The ladies you like must be very beautiful!” Long Lingyun smiled and said.

Qian Mo smiled as she watched the conversation between Long Lingyun and Qing Shui. She didn’t join in but just watched them quietly from the side.

“Mmm, very beautiful!” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“More so than me?” Long Lingyun smiled and continued to ask.

“More so than you!” Qing Shui smiled and said.

“Hmph, women are very petty. Do you believe that I’ll toss you down from here?” Although Long Lingyun said this, she still said it in a happy manner.

“I believe!”

“You don’t know how to go along with the conversation, it’s no fun. Do you know who’s the most beautiful lady in the Heavenly Beast City?” Long Lingyun smiled and ask Qing Shui. However, he kept feeling that there was a hint of teasing behind that smile.

“I don’t know, neither do I wish to know.” Although he sounded stiff, he still said politely.

Women are very weird creatures. The more one wanted to ask something, the more she won’t say it but if one doesn’t wish to hear it, the more she would say it. If you were to ask her the reason, she probably wouldn’t be able to explain it either.

“This lady is from the Cloud Adventurer Guild, and her name is Yunduan [1]. It’s a pity that she’s a lady who had led a tough life. Her grandfather is no longer around and the Cloud Adventurer Guild is facing the peril of being taken over by other adventurer guilds. In order to protect the Cloud Adventurer Guild, she chose to yield to the Tiger’s Might Adventurer Guild.” Long Lingyun sighed and said.

Qing Shui knew about the Tiger’s Might Adventurer Guild. Although his time in the Heavenly Beast City had not been long, this city was controlled by this particular guild and in the Heavenly Beast City, even aristocrat clans were not as powerful as adventurer guilds.

The Tiger’s Might Adventurer Guild was the strongest adventurer guild in the Heavenly Beast City. It was a reasonable to choose this guild. He turned around to look at Long Lingyun, confused as why this lady said these to him.

When she saw Qing Shui’s gaze, she smiled and continue, “For such a beautiful lady to give herself to an old man. She really has a tragic life.”

“Many of such things happen everyday.” Qing Shui chuckled and said.

“You really are a person without any sympathy.” Long Lingyun chided Qing Shui.

“This is her fate, her choice. She has also gotten what she had wanted. Why do I need to sympathize with her?” Qing Shui looked at her.

“You’re a guy without any sympathy. Let’s stop talking about it. Right, why are you heading to the Tiger Gorge Mountain?” Long Lingyun didn’t bother on the topic for too long.

“I’m only going there to get some experience, as well as to get some medicinal herbs.” Qing Shui had his answer ready.

……

Very soon, they arrived at the Tiger Gorge Mountain. They flew less than 500 meters in and then landed on an empty spot.

After he had spoken with Long Lingyun, Qing Shui learnt that they were looking for a type of Landai Grass and to kill a Peak Martial King Ironback Azure Bear.

Killing the Ironback Azure Bear was the Cui Brothers’ mission but they needed Long Lingyun’s and Qi Gang’s help to kill it. The search for the Landai Grass was Long Lingyun’s, Qian Mo’s and Qi Gang’s mission but the Cui Brothers mentioned that it could be found anywhere.

The group slowly headed deeper into the Tiger Gorge Mountain, as they tried their best to be careful on the way, hoping to not come across with demonic beast groups. If they came in large numbers, it would be a pain to kill them.

The Cui Brothers carefully scouted around while they lead the way. If Long Lingyun and Qi Gang wasn’t here, they would not have accepted the mission. The Ironback Azure Bear, a Peak Martial King, was not something they could deal with now.

Another reason was that the brothers like Long Lingyun but they knew that they were not a good match for her. However, once a person was smitten, he would not care about anything and just commit the craziest act.

Wu!

Wuwuwu…

A huge roar came from the front, followed by a series of cries. Very quickly, a group of Gigantic Forest Wolves appeared, each of them were about four meters in size and had a faint blue color. They looked quite beautiful but one would rather go against a single tiger than to pit against a group of wolves.

Moreover, the level of these wolves were all at Martial King, ranging from elementary Martial King to Peak Martial King. There were at least 500 of them and the spread of blue color with shiny bright eyes bring a chill.

The group’s countenances had changed, especially the Cui Brothers. It was because many of the wolves here could kill them easily. Although there were two elementary Martial Saints in their group, if they were not able to extend their help then the Cui Brothers would be in great trouble.

Just then, a flock of Corrosion Turtledoves appeared in the air, they let out piercing cries and they circled in the air as they refused to leave. This cause the group to lose any thoughts about escaping on their flying beasts.

Wolves specialized in speed and they closed in very quickly. The Cui Brothers’ countenance also grew increasingly pale. However, Long Lingyun and Qi Gang showed no changes to their expressions.

“Go over there. Everyone lay against the cliff walls. At least we won’t be attacked from the back.”Qi Gang quickly told everyone.

No one had any objections. At that moment, no one had any better idea.

When the group arrived at the cliff walls, the group of wolves were already within a 100 meter radius. Their rampaging disposition were very powerful and a huge stench flowed toward them, which had made the group to feel dizzy. Their bright green eyes gleamed while they kept salivating with their mouths opened.

At that moment, a demonic beast appeared before Qian Mo with a wave of her hand. She then waved her hand again and called out another beast, stopping only after the third demonic beast had appeared.

One of them was a Armored Beast which was close to three meters in length and appeared to be extremely tough, as if it was wearing a silver colored armor. It was decently proportioned and should be quite agile.

Another one was a Sword Tiger which was also three meters in length but less than one meter in height. It appeared as if it was stuck to the ground, with sharp fangs and claws. It was also an agility type beast and was a Peak Martial King.

The last one was a Ice Snake which was four meters long, with a thickness that was akin to the diameter of the top of a bowl. It was dark blue in color, the lower half of its body was coiled up while the first half of the body kept stretching out and recoiling. It gave out a hissing sound and occasionally breathed out a hint of blue colored chilly air.

“Everyone, work together and don’t panic.” Long Lingyun subconsciously stood before Qing Shui and said.

Qing Shui didn’t know what to feel. He didn’t believe that this lady likes him from just their first encounter. Could it be that he looked like her younger brother?

The Cui Brothers once again threw an aggrieved glance toward Qing Shui. They had brought along this additional burden with them today. Otherwise, with Long Lingyun’s and Qi Gang’s help, all of them would be able to leave easily.

Not only did they had hatred for Qing Shui, they also threw a look at Long Lingyun. Looking at that curvy figure, they thought to themselves, “If we can get pass this trial, I’ll make sure that I’ll get to have my way with you.”

Long Lingyun took out a thin longsword. It was very thin and at first glance, it looked just like a tree branch. Qi Gang took out a pair of huge hammers, each of them weighing about 800 jin.

Wuwu…

Suddenly, one of the wolves pounced toward Qian Mo. It was very agile, bringing about a sharp and strong wind. It leaped up over five meters, as it stretched out its limbs slightly. Suddenly, with a leap, the Armored Beast stopped the Gigantic Forest Wolves which was in mid-air. Just then, the Sword Tiger pounched over like a snake. Its weirdly shaped body contained a terrifying speed and attacked the Gigantic Forest Wolves by the waist, then it quickly retreated. The Gigantic Forest Wolves’s stomach was torn open, its waist broken and its throat was torn apart. A wolf was a creature with a head as tough as bronze, a strong tail that was like a metal and a body that was weak like tofu.

It was not a battle of an equivalent level. Moreover, they had good teamwork, with the Armored Beast who had a strong resistance while the Sword Tiger had a strong attack and the Ice Snake could reduce speed.

With one wolf taken down, the bloody nature of the pack of wolves caused them to dashed forth without any care. Even the Corrosion Turtledoves in the air would occasionally come down to pick up a wolf corpse.

Long Lingyun’s thin sword was vicious, each attack fatal as she attacked only at their throats. However, her efficiency was lowered as she had to take care of Qing Shui and Qian Mo.

The area in which the group battled was very small, therefore, they were able to fend off the wolves with just Long Lingyun and Qi Gang alone. After all, the difference between elementary Martial Saint and Martial King was very big, even if the latter was a Peak Martial King. It was only that the pack of wolves were great in numbers.

What the Cui Brothers were worried about was that Long Lingyun and Qi Gang might make any mistakes.

Boom!

Another Gigantic Forest Wolves’s head was smashed. Now, the attacks from the pack of wolves was not as fierce as before. The death of just one wolf alone was able to agitate their brutality but when half of them had been killed, they would have second thoughts about attacking.

Wuwu!

Finally, a loud howl came from the back of the wolves pack and all of them turned to leave. Qing Shui could see that there was a wolf king hidden in a distance.

It was a Gargantuan Wolf that was at least twice as big than the Gigantic Forest Wolves, its blue colored fur released a pure but faint glow. The Gargantuan Wolf quickly disappeared.

A few days later, they entered 100 li into the Tiger Gorge Mountain!

Tiger Stream Valley！

“You guys take a break first, we’ll go hunt for food.” The Cui Brothers smiled and said to the others before they left.

For the past few days, they had been in charge of the food since their culinary skills were not bad. It was just that this time, Qing Shui felt that their footsteps and breathing were unstable. They were clearly slightly agitated.

[1] The chinese words that form the name ‘Yunduan’ translates to cloud. The author had used the same characters for both the guild and the mentioned lady.