Ancient Strengthening Technique Chapter: 1272

AST 1272 - The Amazing Puppet Marionettes, Is Three Years Enough
Puppet Marionette Encyclopedia!
Just from the name alone, one would be able to have a vague understanding of what it was about. However, he didn't know about it in detail and just received it. He saw that the old man looked very ordinary. His body seemed to be considered quite healthy but he wasn't a powerful cultivator. He wasn't even a Xiantian cultivator. However, Qing Shui could tell that the old man trained his physique throughout the years.
"Grandpa, grandpa!"
A pair of kids of about five to six years of age stood not far away. The boy looked healthy and good-natured while the girl looked very intelligent and had a good physique. Qing Shui recalled how the old man said that the puppet marionettes were passed down by his ancestors. This showed that their clan were also cultivating it very long ago.
Qing Shui received the things passed from the old man. It could already be considered an affinity for them to have come this far. After all, if it was someone else, no one would think much of the puppets. However, since he knew about it, he couldn't feign ignorance.
He took out two "Wondrous Fruits" and handed them to the two kids. The old man didn't stop him either. Seeing that the two kids were eating them happily, Qing Shui quietly placed a copy of the Tiger Form he had written in the old man's clothes.
Qing Shui had quite a lot of these in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. There were also some for the other forms. Therefore, he gave the old man one book. Although he wanted to spread the Tiger Form, he wasn't planning to give it to everyone he sees. He only gave them to people who required it.
The old man's eyes flickered and Qing Shui's voice rang out, "Right now, no one can hear what I'm saying. Listen to what I'm going to say. The book I've given you is a cultivation manual. Furthermore, I've helped to change the physique for your grandchildren. You can decide if you want to let them cultivate or not. We're leaving. In order not to attract other people's attention, you don't have to do anything."
Qing Shui and the group left in another direction. The old man saw that the two kids ate up the last bite of the fruits and were still looking in the direction Qing Shui and the others with a look of yearning.
Cultivaton technique... The old man felt very agitated. It was said that their ancestors were also cultivators. However, it was a pity that they had already been in decline for a long time and were considered to have become a most ordinary family. The old man had a son and usually, his son and wife would be busy earning money for a living while the old man helped to take care of the kids. After all, he had a lot of time on his hands while selling puppets.
He was no longer young and he had always been thinking of letting his son or descendants pick up cultivation techniques once again. It was because this was the only way he would be able to make a name for himself. Ordinary people like them could only cultivate simple techniques and would never be able to break through to the Houtian level in their entire lives.
Right now, he didn't know what kind of martial technique the young man had given him, nor what level one could attain with it. However, he felt that this young man was far from ordinary and thus his heart was filled with anticipation.
In order not to raise suspicions, the old man continued to manage his stall until nightfall then he left!
Qing Shui left and thus didn't know what the old man thought. He didn't want to think about them either since they had only met by chance and there were practically zero possibility of them meeting again in the future.
Earlier, Qing Shui didn't comment on the puppets and he even took them out. It was because there were people around them and when they saw that it was only some old puppets, they lost interest. The colorful puppets on display looked much better.
...
"Are those puppets nice?" Di Chen played with the colorful puppet she was holding and asked.
"This puppet is a puppet marionette and can increase the user's resistance to attacks by a certain degree, including spirit energy attacks. However, how much its resistance is another story altogether. It should be related to one's mastery." Qing Shui smiled and said.
"Oh? If it has a high resistance, then it really is something good. Does it always work as long as the person equips it?"
"It should be that there's a need to channel in Spiritual Qi each time it was used to block. The greater the Spiritual Qi required the greater the attack resisted. When one's Spiritual Qi is used up, it would have no effect temporarily."
"Oh? That isn't bad either. This is normal." Di Chen gave it some thought and said.
"Let's study it further after we head back. This place isn't suitable for this." Qing Shui tossed the puppets into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.
He was also holding onto a small green-colored puppet which was the size of one's palm. The wood used was an ordinary block of wood with about 100 years of age. In his previous life, wood with an age of 100 years was hard to find but it was very easy to find in this world.
The workmanship was exquisite and there were some areas which were rough but that didn't affect its beauty. The color was dyed from plant extracts. It was nothing much and was just a toy for kids. Of course, it could also be placed on countertops as a decorative item.
...
They then strolled around leisurely, spending half the day and walked very far away. Nothing happened on the way. They merely bought random stuff and ate random food along a food street.
Qing Shui liked the atmosphere of eating along the food street. Street food was different from normal dishes and was quite yummy, especially the spicy ones. Of course, there was also street food which tasted bad. The important parts were in the broth and condiments. The ones they had today were still considered quite good.
Right now, Qing Shui thought that he could actually make snacks himself. There was this segment in his culinary techniques. In the future, he could make them himself since he had his own spices for all different flavors.
Back when he was in Qing Clan, he had made some of the simplest ones for the kids. Those could be considered snacks as well.
If he wasn't a cultivator, he could consider opening a food stall or eatery. However, right now, it was merely just a thought. He only cooked for the people around him.
When it was about time, the group headed back to the Heaven Secrets Academy again. It was already dark and fireworks would be launched very soon. A firework rose up, followed by even more.
The area around the Heaven Secrets Academy was where the earliest fireworks were set off. Only after the Heaven Secrets Academy had launched the fireworks did the surroundings start to launch theirs. They stood in the courtyard, watching as the skies become increasingly brilliant. The world appeared to be very, very beautiful.
It was a pity that Yu Ruyan wasn't around. This made Qing Shui feel a little regretful. Right now, she should be thinking about him too. Qing Clan must also be setting off fireworks... Have they been doing well...
Qing Shui also thought of the children. He was really not a good father and had done wrong to many people. However, they held no grievances toward him. The effort he was putting in today was also in preparation for them to be able to be reunited.
"Come, let's take a look at these puppets. There'll be more fireworks later and it'll be more beautiful." Qing Shui smiled and took out the puppet marionettes, handing each of them one.
These puppets weren't dirty, just a rustic color.
Qing Shui poked himself with a gold needle and then allowed a drop of his blood to drip on the puppet marionette. In that instant, he sensed a mysterious feeling and the puppet suddenly appeared to be a lot more spirited. If it wasn't because Qing Shui had powerful senses, he would have thought that these were illusions.
Qing Shui then tried to temper and channel in spiritual Qi but there was still no mastery level. He didn't try to test out how much attack it could fend off either. The ladies did the same to let the puppets recognize them as owners before continuing to temper.
These things could only be tempered after they had recognized their owners. Even those which had reached a very high level of mastery would lose their state after they had become ownerless. They would return to their original state.
Qing Shui knew that for such things, it was already considered good to be able to fend off 10% of attacks. 10% was already considered to be very monstrous. However, it was probably hard to cultivate it to that level as well.
Even with how powerful the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant was, it was only able to weaken 10% of the opponent's' attacks. If the puppet marionette could fend off 10% of the attacking prowess received, it would be in a way, equivalent to the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant's Vajra Subdues Demons. Therefore, Qing Shui felt that it wasn't that easy to raise the level of mastery of the puppet marionettes. Right now, Qing Shui's goal was only for it to fend off 5% of the attacks.
The more powerful and the more heaven-defying an item was, the harder it would be to raise its level. That was how the world worked. Therefore, there wasn't a need to guess to know that it was impossible for it to have monstrous abilities. Even the Arhat Rosary Beads, a sacred object amongst all sacred objects, would only be able to fend off half of the spirit energy attacks and it couldn't be leveled up.
However, the Arhat Rosary Beads were already considered an absolute heaven-defying existence. It was a pity that they could only be used against spirit energy.
The puppet marionette could be applied against both spirit energy and physical attacks. Therefore, just 10% was already considered a very terrifying existence. However, the realm it was cultivated to must definitely be very high. However, compared to the Spirit Gathering Lamp and other objects, it would probably be very hard to increase its state.
He had plenty of time and it made no difference to him whether it was to cultivate one thing or 100 things. The more the merrier.
The sky had turned completely dark and the fireworks were brilliant and colorful in the sky. There were sounds of firecrackers everywhere and the sky was dyed in a myriad of colors. Qing Shui and the ladies sat around a stone table in a pavilion, enjoying tea. It was a wonderful feeling.
This was the second year since he had arrived at the Western Oxhe Continent. There were three years to go. For these three years, he felt that he could only be at the Western Oxhe Continent. He hoped that he would be able to unite the Western Oxhe Continent within these three years and thereafter, fight his way to the other three continents.
Qing Shui didn't know if he could achieve this nor did he know if three years was enough. For Qing Shui, three years was already considered very long. His abilities should be able to soar tremendously. Furthermore, he had his demonic beasts and the Heaven Secrets Academy to back him up, these should be enough.
...
Time passed by very quickly and it was already three days after the new year. For the past few days, the Puppet Marionette had reached the first grade, having magic powers. After testing it out, it was able to fend off about 1% of attacks.
1% wasn't a lot and to be honest, it was very little. However, in the future, when its grade was increased, would it be able to reach 5%? If it could reach 10%, then he would be satisfied. 10% would be quite an unneglectable existence no matter where it was at.
What made Qing Shui the happiest was that after reading the Puppet Marionette Encyclopedia, he discovered the way to create puppet marionettes. Qing Shui was astonished that the materials required to make the puppet marionettes included the 1,000-year Gloomy Wood.
Another thing was that Qing Shui realized that the puppet marionettes could be used beyond fending off attacks. These were just low quality puppet marionettes. There were higher quality ones, some of which could increase one's attacking prowess, speed or even those which could be used as a substitute in order to save one's own life.
It was a pity that Qing Shui wasn't able to create these puppet marionettes for now. He didn't have the confidence to do so. He felt very pleased. The puppet marionettes could be used together with the Heavenly Talismans. He was going to pick up everything in the Puppet Marionette Encyclopedia and bring up its grade.
There was no harm in learning more things, with the prerequisite that there was enough time. He might be able to unknowingly attain a breakthrough to the 8th Heavenly Layer. After reaching the 8th grade of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, he saw the door to reaching the 8th Heavenly Layer but it was a pity that the door was too far away. It was like the clouds in the sky which were very hard to reach.
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