Ancient Strengthening Technique (Web Novel)

AST 817 – Improvements on the Heavenly Talismans, Success of The Heart Toxin Talisman

Qing Shui only now took a look at the Tiger Form he had painted.

This was a tiger form that depicted a vividly realistic crouching tiger. Not only did it look like the real thing, its flesh, blood and bones were so evocative they could almost be felt. Relative to the past level, this kind strength was better by ten or even a hundred times.

So this was the level of drawing bones.

No matter what, it was impossible for a tiger without bones to become bold and powerful.

Now that his ‘Realm of Drawing’ had increased, he could try painting the Heavenly Talismans. Qing Shui had been hoping for the Heavenly Talismans to level up. Cultivating only one type of Heavenly Talismans didn’t really matter because after all, it was very difficult to cultivate it to the realm of great heights. On the other hand, even ants could kill an elephant if there were a great number of them. Perhaps other people couldn’t learn many Heavenly Talismans because of their limited spirit energy, but Qing Shui was different. He didn’t have to study too deeply into this either. As long as he learned a little bit more, he would be able to get a decent result.

Godly Force Talisman!

Qing Shui felt very comfortable drawing the ‘Godly Force Talisman’ now. His brush flowed smoothly, and he felt like he was able to draw it casually. Not only that, he even felt an additional powerful wave of force.

Talisman drawing was all about flow. Talismans didn’t have to be drawn in a single breath, but the feeling was essential. If the feeling was there, it wouldn’t matter even if the talisman was drawn with a hundred breaths.

He was able to complete the talisman in one breath. Qing Shui felt that he was able to draw the talisman even more naturally this time and he had become even more confident. This kind of feeling was indescribable with words. It just felt very great.

He took a look at the ‘Godly Force Talisman’ that was obviously different than the ones from before. He was very happy about it because he knew that the Heavenly Talismans had already broken through to Grade Five. He immediately slapped the Godly Force Talisman against his body.

50% increase in physical strength!

Qing Shui smiled happily at this result. In addition to his Nature Energy and the State of Immovable as Mountains that had broken through not too long ago, his strength could be said to have significantly increased again.

The Divine Shield Talisman’s effects had also been increased by 10%. Qing Shui wasn’t too sure about the Body Securing Talisman, but he could feel that the talisman’s power had increased by a similar amount. The rank of opponents the talisman could secure had increased, along with the probability of securing the target.

The Binding Talisman had also been enhanced.

Qing Shui was especially happy about the Descending Heavens Talisman. After he was done drawing one, he slapped it against his body without waiting any moment longer. He was happy to discover that the talisman could decrease his opponent’s strength by an additional 5 percent.

Due to the level up of the ‘Realm of Drawing’, Qing Shui’s Heavenly Talismans that were previously at Grade Four had now risen to Grade Five. Seeing that he had learned a few types of Heavenly Talismans, he decided to learn another one again.

Qing Shui could finally draw the Heavenly Talisman that he had always wanted to draw – the Poison Talisman.

He had been eyeing this type of Heaven Talisman for a long time. He had attempted to draw it a few times before, but he had stopped after failing every time. This time, he had the feeling that he would be able to draw it.

This Poison Talisman’s actual name was the Heart Toxin Talisman. As its name suggested, the Heart Toxin Talisman could poison the target’s heart, but it wasn’t actually fatal. Instead, this type of poison mainly confused the heart and thoughts of the target. It would lower the target’s killing intentions and make him felt unsettled, thus losing the desire to continue fighting.

The Heart Toxin Talisman wasn’t poisonous, but it was a type of attack on the mind. A person with lower mental abilities could immediately turn insane.

The powerful thing about the Heart Toxin Talisman was that the effects were cumulative. Just one talisman wouldn’t have too large an effect, but the effect lasted two hours and could be accumulated. There was about a seven minute waiting time between each talisman usage.

This cumulative effect that could immediately attack the heart of an opponent was what Qing Shui was after. Since Qing Shui had powerful spirit energy, this Heart Toxin Talisman would definitely play a significant role against future powerful opponents.

He stared at the Heart Toxin Talisman in the [Poison Scriptures] and earnestly studied the diagram that was depicted on it. His blood raced every time he looked at it.

That was because there was an image of a beautiful lady. The lady on the Heart Toxin Talisman was dressed in a thin dress of black gauze. Her hands, delicate neck, and exposed face exposed were translucent and jade-like.

The way her plump and soft breasts lifted her gauze dress was tantalizing. In addition to her devastatingly beautiful face, the lady in the painting also had a pair of beautiful and onyx-like eyes that could drive men crazy. Her straight and delicate nose was irresistibly elegant and she had a pair of thin pink lips. The expression on her face was a little shy, but also had a trace of subtle invitation. Her reluctant yet bare temptation was deadly and could challenge the limit of any man.

This was a lady that could bring calamity to the kingdom. She had a devastatingly beautiful face which exuded an aura that could trigger one’s explosive impulse.

The Heart Toxin Talisman’s best tactics lay in its psychological offense. Its effect was doubled on anyone without a stone-like heart and its effect would multiply by many-fold on a lecherous person. It created a hallucination in the opponent’s brain and its impact was directly related to the spirit energy and the drawing techniques of the person who drew the talisman.

This was also the reason Qing Shui had chosen to draw the Heart Toxin Talisman. He admitted that his heart still wasn’t completely stone-like, although he wasn’t too far from that level. Even so, this Heart Toxin Talisman had still managed to make him absent minded and there were definitely not many who were stone-hearted.

Lecherous men could be found anywhere. The more powerful a person was, the lonelier and more affected by female charm he tended to be. Appetite and lust were only natural. It was really rare to find someone who could truly live without any lust or desire.

He also wondered if this type of Heavenly Talisman would have any effects on women, or how a person would be after being hit by this Heavenly Talisman. After thinking for a moment, Qing Shui decided to draw one so that he could try it on himself. That way, he’d be able to clear all his doubts.

Since he was learning a new Heavenly Talisman, there was no way he’d be able to instantly draw a Grade Five talisman. Then again, his realm of drawing had already reached the level of drawing bones. This meant that if he drew again now, he’d be able to get double the results with half the effort.

Perhaps because it was his first time drawing a woman, Qing Shui felt that the lady on this Heart Toxin Talisman was not at all inferior to the ladies on the Portraits of Beauty.

………

The origin of the [Poison Scriptures] was unknown, but the drawing skills in it were equal to those of the Art Maestro, judging solely from the lady on the Heart Toxin Talisman.

He calmed himself and exhaled before he started to draw the Heart Toxin Talisman.

Qing Shui was stunned after he started painting this time. Perhaps it was because he had always been sighing at the impressive sight of the Portraits of Beauty that beautiful painting had become something divine in his heart. He had also never tried to paint before but now he discovered that he was actually able to paint the talisman with ease. Not only that, he was able to imitate it perfectly. Although he still couldn’t compare the lady on the Heart Toxin Talisman to the ladies on the Portraits of Beauty, he would have been deemed way superior to those so-called famous painters in his previous world.

What made Qing Shui happy was that he actually succeeded in his third attempt. He didn’t expect himself to be able to draw this well. This must be the result of the ‘level of drawing bones’. He would be able to earn a lot of money if he were to paint portraits for others now…

Qing Shui had reached the level of drawing bones. This definitely made him the finest painter in the World of the Nine Continents because he had never heard of anyone attaining the ‘level of drawing souls’.

A painter that reached that realm would be able to draw out souls. Legend said that the things painted by someone at that level would be alive for a short period of time and only vanish when its divine energy had been depleted.

However, this was only a legend. No one was able to find out more about it.

Qing Shui was also only at the beginning of the level of drawing bones right now. He still had a very long way to go before even thinking about reaching such a level of drawing. He had come all the way from the level of introduction to his present level. In painting, this could very well be considered as reaching the pinnacle of drawing, as the higher level of drawing souls was merely a legend.

He had succeeded. Qing Shui happily put down his Golden Calligraphy Brush and felt a little reluctant to use the Heart Toxin Talisman that he was holding. After scrutinizing it for a moment again, he stretched his hands out and activated his divine energy before slapping the talisman against his chest.

He felt a slight pain in his heart!

Although everything before his eyes still remained very clear, a person had emerged in his mind. It was a woman and Qing Shui was shocked to recognize her as that Elder Yun from the Feng Clan. The beautiful eyes on that face that could be considered remarkably beautiful were wise and farsighted. She had a slender but shapely figure that exuded a graceful bearing.

“Qing Shui, long time no see. Do you still remember me?” said a voice that sounded as if it had been through the vicissitudes of life yet had remained extremely elegant.

Qing Shui was flabbergasted for a moment before remembering that this was a hallucination. But he felt slightly uncomfortable when he was reminded of this woman. His state of mind had been influenced earlier.

He knew that if he had been in a battle, even such a tiny influence could have perhaps been fatal.

This was the effect of the Heart Toxin Talisman… it psychologically attacked a person, and shocked the opponent by causing him to see some unsettling and shocking scenes……

Qing Shui continued drawing the talisman. The Heart Toxin Talisman was formed in Qing Shui’s hands in just a very short amount of time. He didn’t stop though and decided to continue drawing.

He only stopped after he felt tired. After resting for a moment, he took out another Heart Toxin Talisman. This thing’s effect could be accumulated and could be used twice on a target within fifteen minutes.

This time Qing Shui saw a woman once again. He unconsciously felt extremely uncomfortable. Regardless of everything, he was once again perturbed. Perhaps it was because he wasn’t confronting any actual enemies that his subconsciousness was a little weak.

Qing Hanye!

That lady who possessed a Nine Yin Body. The most beautiful lady from the Joyous Sect…….

Qing Shui didn’t continue his experiments. There were seven damages in life – food damage, anxiety damage, drink damage, sexual intemperance damage, hunger damage, taxation damage as well as channel-network and construction-defense damage*.

[TL Note: ‘channel-network’ refers to acupuncture channels while ‘construction-defense’ refers to the mechanisms that build and repair the body and immune system.)

What Qing Shui was feeling right now was anxiety damage. He didn’t really know what exactly he was feeling anxious about. Perhaps he felt like he owed her something. For him, anxiety damage was the hardest damage to heal among the seven damages because he knew how to heal the other six damages.

The seven damages were still alright, but Qing Shui felt that this talisman had already exceeded the seven damages, reaching the seven sufferings level. The seven forms of sufferings were birth, aging, sickness, death, the suffering of having to meet with hated enemies, the suffering of having to part from loved ones and the suffering of being unable to obtain what one desires.

The seven sufferings in life were the most cruel. Qing Shui had a hunch that the Heart Toxin Talisman would definitely make the target feel the seven sufferings in the future!

Before Qing Shui realized it, it was already about time to exit from the Realm of Violet Jade Immortal. But he was very happy. He had gotten a big harvest from returning to the Qing Village. He was happy as long as there were steady improvements. He was no longer obsessed with breakthroughs, knowing that some things couldn’t be forced.

It was already after midnight when he came out. He found himself in the wilderness. Although the sky above him was filled with stars, it was dark around him. It was already spring right now, yet it was still a little cold, especially at night.

Even though cultivators had a robust body, it didn’t mean that they had no feelings. They could withstand high or low temperatures, but they were still sensitive towards extreme temperatures.

He looked at the sky. The sun was about to break soon, so he decided to forget about resting. He then slowly walked towards the place which was a little further up ahead.