Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)

AST 503 - Tricolor Scorpion King, Breaking the Seal of the Violet Gold Divine Shield Again

“Call me ‘Husband’ as loud as you can!”

Qing Shui stared at the woman as she pursed her lips tightly. Although her complexion was still pale, her condition had improved slightly. Initially, Qing Shui had wanted to tease her because of her cold attitude. He figured he should quickly stop before he went overboard.

“Hus...band...”

Her voice sounded cold, yet there was a hint of shakiness in her tone. It was meant to be playful teasing, but Qing Shui was pleasantly surprised when he had heard that word from her. He listened attentively and took it all into his heart.

Qing Shui wasn’t serious about what he had said since it was just teasing. Besides, he would rather tease Liu-Li and Canghai Mingyue than provoke the cold woman in front of him.

The woman evaded Qing Shui’s gaze after she had shouted that word in embarrassment. He thought she looked beautiful when her expression turned shy and bashful. He didn’t know she could make him feel this way.

“Umm…”

“Cough cough…”

Qing Shui felt extremely awkward as he tried to cough his way out of the situation. He would have definitely considered her as a potential wife if he didn’t have other women in his life. Because of that, he wasn’t interested in making her his wife anymore.

“That... Where did the Tricolor Scorpion King go?” Qing Shui quickly changed the topic when he saw a faint blush on her cheeks. Her expression was surprisingly breathtaking.

“I think it should be in that hole right there!”

The woman pointed at the middle of the ravine as she spoke to Qing Shui!

“Oh!” Qing Shui swiftly gave a soft reply. They were about 500 meters away from the huge ravine. The ravine seemed deep since Qing Shui wasn’t able to see the bottom of the pit. Moreover, he was too far away from the ravine to actually gauge how deep it was.

“How did you lure it out last time?” Qing Shui asked the woman with his back facing her.

“I just threw a rock into the hole…”

Qing Shui rubbed his forehead while thinking about his next move. He picked up a rock as big as a human head and effortlessly threw it into the hole from the 500 meters distance.

Clack!

The echo wasn’t loud, but it was audible from where he was standing!

However, there was no sign of the Tricolor Scorpion King crawling out from the ravine. Qing Shui turned and looked at the woman suspiciously.

“The hole is too big, so maybe it didn’t scare him…” the woman said in a soft voice, clearly uncertain of her answer.

This time, Qing Shui picked up a rock measuring about a cubic meter in size and threw it into the big hole once more!

Bang!

There was a loud noise from the hole. He could also hear a splashing noise at the end, which meant the rock had somehow rolled into waters below!

Bzzt bzzt!

A sharp cry akin to the buzzing of a bug filled the air!

Qing Shui looked over to the woman beside him as if he was asking her to confirm whether the cry was indeed from the Tricolor Scorpion King! At the same time, he realized they had never had a proper conversation with each other like normal people would.

However, he wasn't disappointed with her reactions. Even though she didn't say a word, she still gave an affirmative nod to Qing Shui.

Qing Shui was astounded by the absurdity of their exchange. A show of expression, a nod at the head... was this a mime show or a telepathic communication? It was quite funny when he thought about it.

Suddenly, a large figure crawled out from the ravine. The body of this figure was gleaming splendidly in three different colors. Qing Shui would never have thought that this figure would be this enormous. It wasn’t surprising, however, after comparing it with the ordinary scorpions around the area.

The Tricolor Scorpion King was three meters in length and was as tall as an average human’s chest. The scorpion had a physique as bulky as a large bison. Moreover, the scorpion’s head and body consisted of six joints, with a layer of shining tricolor “shell” covering its entire body. There was also an eye in the middle section of its back area, totaling three eyes altogether with two eyes in the front part. The scorpion had six thickly-built legs and a high curled tail. The three meters long tail emitted a magnificent sheen, which seemed fitting because of its lethal tendency as a weapon.

There was also a pair of sickle-like legs on the front side, which was basically the scorpion’s pincers. These pincers would not touch the ground, much like the arms of human beings.

It was hard to believe that such a big scorpion would exist in this world, especially a Scorpion King with a splendid multicolored body.

The Poison Scriptures had mentioned that the most venomous part of a scorpion was its tail. Furthermore, the components needed for refining poisonous items and Talisman Drawing were all sourced from the scorpion’s long tail.

The Tricolor Scorpion King was also a Peak Martial King demonic beast. The overall strength of the Scorpion King was unknown to Qing Shui, but he understood one thing clearly: the scorpion’s venom was extremely lethal. If that woman had not consumed medicinal pills that could suppress any poisonous effects beforehand, or equipped herself with a piece of high-grade snow jade, she would have died on the spot after being stung by the scorpion.

Qing Shui flung a piece of rock at the Tricolor Scorpion King!

“Don’t…”

Crack!

The rock exploded on impact!

“Run quickly!”

The woman grabbed Qing Shui by his arm and started running away. It was at this moment that Qing Shui realized how fast she was. He wouldn't be able to catch up with her pace if his Cloudmist Steps technique hadn't had a breakthrough. Even with the upgraded technique, Qing Shui was only a bit faster than she was.

He couldn't fathom why this woman was running away in the first place, but as he turned his head behind him, he finally understood her reason. The Tricolor Scorpion King was relentlessly chasing them and was catching up at an alarming speed. All of its six legs scuttered about very quickly, making it seem like the scorpion was moving like a strong gust of wind.

The Tricolor Scorpion King was getting faster! As the Scorpion King was inching closer, Qing Shui was instead focused on the cold hand on his arms. He felt comfortable being dragged by such a small hand, especially the soft chilling sensation that was pressed against his skin.

Just as the Scorpion King was about to grab them, Qing Shui quickly held the woman in his arms and activated his technique!

“Core Qi Method!”

Suddenly, they were propelled forward a distance about 300 meters away from the Tricolor Scorpion King. This technique would be useless against the “Black Armored Jumping King”, yet it was effective as a way to escape from the pincers of the Tricolor Scorpion King.

They were able to escape from the Tricolor Scorpion King’s poison attack by fleeing 300 meters away to the opposite direction!

The only drawback of using this technique was the high energy consumption during its activation. Thankfully, Qing Shui would still be able to activate the Core Qi Method for an extended period of time due to the abundance of energy reserves from the cultivation of his Ancient Strengthening Technique. One of the advantages, however, was that Qing Shui would still be able to travel at a speed as fast as Firebirds.

The woman wanted to scream when she was abruptly taken into his arms, but she’d had to hold it in because of the sudden acceleration of their bodies.

Qing Shui was once again distracted by the soft sensation pressing against his body. Her body was soft and a bit cold, which felt quite comfortable on his arms.

Based on his assessment of her constitutional type, the woman was more likely a water element type. Even so, she felt a bit too cold to his liking; she may be a water element cultivator born in the coldness of winter.

She placed her hands on Qing Shui’s chest and laid her forehead below his chin. Qing Shui was able to smell a faint fragrance from her tied-up hair.

Qing Shui lowered his head and glanced over to see the dewy skin on her face. She had an aloof expression as usual; her expression had not changed much for the past few days since she had met Qing Shui. The only other expression he had seen was when she had turned pale upon his ridiculous request of calling him her ‘husband’.

Qing Shui glanced back at the Tricolor Scorpion King as it gave chase relentlessly. The distance between them was about a thousand meters, yet it would only take a couple of breaths for the Scorpion King to catch up to them.

Qing Shui stopped and gently put the woman down on the ground!

“Go there and wait for me!”

With a gentle force, Qing Shui pushed the woman to the other side and quickly took out the Crimson Dragon Bow. He didn’t take out the Poison Dragon arrow because he had a hunch the Tricolor Scorpion King had a high resistance to any kind of poisons.

Instead, he took out an arrow made from the bones of the Silver Horned Tyrant Bull King!

First Quarter of the Moon!

Full Moon!

Qing Shui aimed the arrow at the fast approaching Tricolor Scorpion King. Normal scorpions would have been knocked out immediately after being shot to the other end of the Earth!

Qing Shui increased his Qi to the maximum level!

Emperor’s Qi!

Qing Shui began activating the violet aura inside his body, which slowly extended further and enveloped his body. The Tricolor Scorpion King was approaching Qing Shui almost at a seemingly slower pace.

Shield Attack!

……..

An arrow shrouded in a layer of chilling light was rapidly shot toward the Tricolor Scorpion King like a raging thunder!

Qing Shui had initially wanted to shoot the eyes located at the abdomen area, but he hadn’t been able to get a clear view. So he’d aimed at one of the eyes in the front instead!

Bang!

A loud bursting noise rang out!

Squeak squeak!

The Scorpion King let out a piercing cry even though Qing Shui had completely missed his aim on the eye. However, he still managed to send the Scorpion King flying forward by hitting it on the back, which had caused the Tricolor Scorpion King to shriek in pain and anger.

“What a hard shell!”

The arrow had pierced into the back of the Tricolor Scorpion King only about an inch deep. But the shell was still intact and did not show any sign of cracking.

Fortunately, the Shield Attack was able to knock out the Tricolor Scorpion King about 30 meters to the other side.

Meanwhile, Qing Shui prepared another bone arrow and steadied it on the bow!

The Tricolor Scorpion King recovered its stance and rushed back toward Qing Shui. In a split second, Qing Shui used the stomping technique on the Scorpion King!

Mighty Elephant Stomp!

Qing Shui swiftly stomped on Tricolor Scorpion King with a tremendous tearing force that shook the ground. His overall energy was about the capacity of two countries combined, yet the Mighty Elephant Stomp was able to strike with a force of about the strength of ten countries combined.

The cracks on the ground soon became a massive hole big enough to create a chasm. The Tricolor Scorpion King regained its composure quickly and rushed back toward Qing Shui like a bolt of lightning!

At the same time, Qing Shui aimed at the middle eye on the Scorpion King’s abdomen area and shot the arrow without hesitation!

Because they were very close to each other, the Tricolor Scorpion King wasn’t able to close the “middle eye” in time and was shot on the mark. The arrow was also too fast because it was made with the bones of the Golden-Eyed Hurricane Tiger.

Thump!

A sharp cry and a loud crack rang out from the Tricolor Scorpion King. Without realizing the exact spot to hit, the bone arrow had directly pieced into the inner parts of its body, which had essentially revealed its weak point to Qing Shui.

Even though the Tricolor Scorpion King was severely wounded by that one arrow, it wasn’t fatal enough to die from the wound. The pain, however, only provoked the Scorpion King further, making it extremely hostile. Suddenly, the tail pointed at Qing Shui and spewed some tricolor fluid at his direction.

Qing Shui did not wish to take the risk of testing how poisonous the fluid was, so he swiftly took out his “Violet Gold Divine Shield” and blocked the attack. At the same time, Qing Shui glanced toward where the woman was. She wasn’t at risk of being splattered with the venom, but Qing Shui called out to her and warned her to back away further as a precaution.

The woman stayed motionless while glancing at Qing Shui with a startled expression.

Pthu pthu!

Qing Shui could feel the venom splattered against the Violet Gold Divine Shield!

Chi Chi!

It was an uncomfortable sound. Qing Shui looked over his Violet Gold Divine Shield to see a purple light emitting from the surface of the shield. It was at this moment that Qing Shui knew his shield had begun to experience a change!

Qing Shui quickly used the Heavenly Vision Technique to analyze his Violet Gold Divine Shield!

Violet Gold Divine Shield: A lost artifact with peculiar effects from the ancient time in the World of Nine Continents!

Effects of usage: User would be able to gain 70% of the body strength!

Additional ability - Godly Armor Shield: Able to decrease 50% of the damage received for one hour!

Passive ability - Divine Attack: When using the Violet Gold Divine Shield, the user would be able to gain an additional 20% of body strength!

Condition of usage: The user must be able to reach the strength of one country!

Moreover, the opponent’s speed would also decrease by 30%!

Status: Currently sealed!

Qing Shui didn’t have time to be surprised because the Tricolor Scorpion King was coming for him very quickly. The Scorpion King’s tail kept whipping the Violet Gold Divine Shield repeatedly.

Godly Armor Shield!

Qing Shui used the newly acquired ability of the Violet Gold Divine Shield to reinforce his defense that could last about an hour. During this period of time, the damages he received would be reduced greatly!

Qing Shui also counteracted the thrashing tail with the Big Dipper Sword in his right hand while backing away as fast as he possibly could!

“Core Qi Method!”

Meanwhile, he placed the Violet Gold Divine Shield in front of him with his left hand to block himself from the incoming attacks!

As expected, after a short thrashing assault, the tail of the Tricolor Scorpion King spewed out a cloud of tricolor miasma!

Qing Shui would not risk himself from breathing in the toxic gas even if he had the Nature Energy activated. The vibrant tricolor miasma was undoubtedly poisonous as well.

Qing Shui took a glance over the Violet Gold Divine Shield and noticed that it was still pristine even after the venom had splattered against its surface. He was also surprised that the venom had unexpectedly broken part of the seal as well.

However, he was more concerned on how to defeat the Tricolor Scorpion King as quickly as possible without being too near!

Qing Shui had evaded the miasma attack successfully!

…...

Eventually, Qing Shui noticed that everytime the Scorpion King had finished spewing the venom, it would rest for a time of two breaths!

After this discovery, Qing Shui thought of a plan to defeat the Tricolor Scorpion King!

Perhaps the Scorpion King had seen what the Mighty Elephant Stomp could do, so whenever Qing Shui tried to use that technique against it, the Scorpion King would move sideways to evade the stomp. The stomp was one of the ranged attacks that could take out an enemy easily, aside from the bow attack and hidden weapons attack.

Of course, the eyes!

Qing Shui felt that the eyes would be the Scorpion King’s biggest weakness. After all, most of its body was covered in a thick layer of shell except the eyes. This was evident when the Crimson Dragon Bow was only able to pierce the arrow about an inch into the shell without wounding its flesh.

Perhaps Nature Energy could work on the Tricolor Scorpion King!

Qing Shui did not retreat as he continued to shield himself from the venom. He was afraid that the Scorpion King would spew miasma for the second time or hurt him with its poison tail, but after a period of observation, Qing Shui knew the exact downtime to release a full-on assault. With part of the seal broken, his speed was also increased by 10%.

Shield Attack!

Qing Shui activated his Shield Attack and increased 10% of his energy, which accumulated to a total of 2 million jin of the overall energy. Without any hesitation, he bashed the Violet Gold Divine Shield directly on the Tricolor Scorpion King!

Bang!

Tricolor Scorpion King was sent flying after being bashed by the Shield Attack. It let out a painful cry as it fell!

Qing Shui knew the Tricolor Scorpion King had been internally wounded by the Nature Energy infused in the Shield Attack. He also knew it had been severely wounded as well.

Qing Shui took the chance and continued his assault!

Core Qi Method!

Qing Shui increased his energy capacity and slapped a few talismans on Tricolor Scorpion King’s body. He also slapped a Binding Talisman and Armor Break Talisman on its body as well.

Everything had happened so fast!

Initially, Qing Shui was forced into the corner without any opportunity to strike back. After all, the venom could kill him easily if he wasn’t careful enough. He was most afraid of the things he was unfamiliar with.

Qing Shui had also kept the Five Dragon Pellet inside his mouth!

The Tricolor Scorpion King had been pinned down easily after Qing Shui managed to decrease its strength using both the “Emperor’s Qi” and Heavenly Talisman.

The combination of both Emperor’s Qi and Heavenly Talisman was extraordinary.

Bang!

Qing Shui sliced the front legs of the Tricolor Scorpion King with one strike!

Art of Pursuing!

Tricolor Scorpion King was completely crippled in terms of its speed. Qing Shui was nimble enough to go around Tricolor Scorpion King using the Violet Gold Divine Shield while seeking for an opening.

Shield Attack!

The Shield Attack bashed the Scorpion King to the other side once more!

As it fell, the Scorpion King lost its balance and completely exposed its abdomen area!

Qing Shui lit up as he saw an opening!

In an instant, he rushed toward the Scorpion King using the swift “Core Qi Method”. Qing Shui steadied his Big Dipper Sword and stabbed into the last eye located at the abdomen area.

Primordial Flames!

As he was stabbing the eye, Qing Shui quickly infused his sword with the menacing Primordial Flames!

The Primordial Flames that was more formidable than the Xiantian Sword’s Aura!