Even before Qing Shui had studied all the information in his sea of consciousness, he was rudely awakened by Qing Bei. “Shui gege, it’s so boring, say something.”
Qing Shui gazed at the pouting Qing Bei, “What do you want me to say? Why don’t you talk, and I listen!”
“No way, I want to hear you talking.” Qing Bei started on her random antics which caused Qing Shui to be helpless.
“Fine, what do you want me to talk about? I don’t know what to say, why don’t you say what you want to hear me talk about?” Qing Shui felt like teasing her, upon seeing the adorable face of Qing Bei.
“Shui gege, a lot of people are spreading rumors about you and the big missy from the Shi Clan, that both of you have an extremely close relationship. Is this true?” Qing Bei blinked her innocent looking eyes as she asked.
“Extremely close relationship?” Qing Shui awkwardly laughed. Qing Shui knew that before the incident with Gongyang Xuantong, people were calling them an adulterous couple. After all, for those people, grapes that couldn’t be eaten by themselves, were sour. [1]
Not only that, after all, these were rumors, but even if it was a rumour, it engendered jealousy in many people, and even hatred. However, after that incident involving Gongyang Xuantong, nobody dared to even discuss this in public.
“If you believe so then it’s true, if you don’t believe it, then it never happened!” Qing Shui extended his hand as he gently rubbed Qing Bei’s head.
“Shui gege, you are not allowed to rub my head in the future. I’m already a grown up.” Qing Bei objected.
Time passed leisurely by leisurely just like this…
After exiting the Wild Boar Mountains, the skies had already darkened. The moon today was about 70% full, and the beautiful moonlight that cascaded down on the ground had a gentle beauty and softness to it, like muslin cloth.
“It’s night time, let us set camp here and rest. We should let the metallic bull take a break as well.” Qing Yi spoke to the two drivers as well as the rest of them.
“I’m going to go hunt some wild beasts, I’m tired of only eating dried rations!” Qing Shui exclaimed while they were setting up the tents.
“Alright, be careful, and don’t go too far!” Qing Yi reminded.
“Right, I know, no problem!”
Qing Shui discovered that in the distance, there was a forested region. Beside it, there was another desolate looking mountain valley. On the path there, they were no more towering peaks and gigantic mountains – instead, there were an unending number of hills, that linked together continually.
Although it was nighttime, there should still be plenty of beasts prowling around! After he broke through to the 4th heavenly layer, he could feel a boundless amount of strength circulating around his body. Every time he took a step, he could control his momentum, landing 1m to 10m away. The energy from the Ancient Strengthening Technique infused his whole body, and the most important thing was the state of his martial heart! This was the benefit of power, as long as a cultivator grew in power, their confidence would likewise increase, tempering the state of their heart!
This valley, was extremely tiny in size, after breaking through to the 4th heavenly layer, Qing Shui was able to see at night as clearly as day. The whole valley was cloaked in silence, with only the chatter of little rodents to be heard.
Maybe because the valley was small, the creatures that came out at night, were all small-sized.
After breaking through, aside from his speed being increased by twofold, his strength, the toughness of his body, his senses, his ability to withstand pressure, recovery rate as well as vitality, had all increased by a factor of 10 times!
The 4th Heavenly Layer, the energy of Ancient Strengthening Technique, will circulate forever, and would never run dry unless the consumption rate of it was astronomically high. For example, compared to when he was concocting the Golden Sore Ointment, currently, he could sustain the primordial flame needed, throughout the whole process.
Currently, Qing Shui held two stones in his hands. Ever since the incident with the Golden Boar, Qing Shui purposely made sure that he had a ready supply of ‘willow-shaped’ stones, where both sides of the stones were jagged with sharp edges. Even if these stones weren’t able to break through the defenses of the Golden Boar, Qing Shui could still aim the stones at it’s eyes.
As he slowly ambled forwards, he was paying attention closely to his surroundings.
Abruptly, with a flick of his wrist!
“Xiu! Ci! Pu!”
Simultaneously, three sounds rang out together. From this, one could see how fast the speed was. Calmly and unhurriedly, Qing Shui slowly strolled his way for about 100m, before stopping by a hole in the trunk of a gigantic tree.