Ancient Strengthening Technique: Chapter 30 – Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal

In that instant as his consciousness was fading, the Yin-Yang Pendant came into contact with blood of Qing Shui, after which, the pendant actually took on a dark violet hue! The Yin-Yang Pendant begin to emit waves of soft violet light, slowly enveloping Qing Shui, as if he was an infant that was lying in his mother’s embrace. From what the naked eye could see, the pendant seemed to be incessantly drinking in Qing Shui’s blood as the waves of violet light got stronger and stronger.

That instant, felt as long as an eternity yet as short as a single second. In that same moment, instead of his fuzzy consciousness, Qing Shui actually felt extremely clear headed, little could he imagine what unbelievable sights would be waiting for him once he opened his eyes.

He clearly remembered that he was in an extremely perilous situation just moments before, he was just about to die with a heart full of grievances and unwillingness born out of the will to protect Qing Yi. But what has happened exactly? The first thing Qing Shui realized when he awoke was that this was no longer the mountainous region he had been in just moments ago, it seems that somehow… the landscape had shifted. The current landscape he was in could be considered relatively cramped. The landscape had a circumference of roughly a 100m, just with a single glance, Qing Shui had a panoramic view of the entire region.

“What am I doing here? Is this the place all humans come to after they die?” Qing Shui stood up as he surveyed his surroundings.  He did an inspection of his own body as he suddenly exclaimed in surprise!

“My injuries have actually healed!?” Qing Shui said in a daze, looking at the bloody and tattered clothes he wore, and that foot-long wound on his chest, he was certain that the fight with the White-Headed Inky Jade Condor was not a hallucination! However… the last thing he remembered was dying, and yet he was not dead!

“Hmm, where is this place, what the hell am I doing in here?” Qing Shui surveyed his surroundings again.

“Ah, there’s water!” Qing Shui’s lips were already chapped, his throat was dry as dust and swollen due to his extreme thirst.

In the middle of this otherworldly landscape was actually a small pool of water!

Oblivious to any danger, Qing Shui ran over and drank his fill. Only after he was satisfied, did he realize that the water which he just drank was unusually delicious. Not only did it sate his thirst and hunger, even his body seemed to be filled with a mysterious source of boundless energy.

It was only at this moment, after his thirst was sated that Qing Shui looked clearly for the first time at this pond of water. The pond had a circumference and depth of about 10m, the water in it seemed to sparkle with the shine of crystals and it looked so pure and pristine, devoid of any pollutants.

“Ai!” Qing Shui felt that this was a day filled with bizarre occurrences. Because now that he had come to his senses, he also discovered a weird looking tree, as well as a stone monument at the side of the pond. This stone monument had a height similar to a full grown human male and had the girth of a giant tree.

The stone monument gave off a stately aura, just as if it was the emperor that held absolute authority in this otherworldly place, dictating the rules to his subjects. As Qing Shui walked in front of it, he saw that there were actually inscriptions on the stone monument! [Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal]… So this place is the realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

At the top of the stone monument, the words [Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal] was written in bold strokes in a calligraphic style. The words were extremely eye catching and emanated a mysterious aura that attracted Qing Shui’s attention.

Directing his gaze downwards, Qing Shui discovered even more inscriptions.

[The realm of the Violet jade immortal only allows entry to the sovereign of this realm. Other than the sovereign, no other human beings are allowed in here, unless they are already dead]

As Qing Shui read the words.. “only allows entry to the sovereign… could it be that I’m the sovereign?” Qing Shui was grasping at straws in the dark, he had totally no clue what was going on. Thus, he decided to continue reading the other inscriptions on the stone monument for now.

[Time flows at a rate of 100:1 in the realm of the Violet jade immortal compared to the outside world] 

Upon reading this made Qing Shui jumped in excitement! Spending a 100 days in this realm was equivalent to a single day outside!

After which there weren’t much inscriptions left, only a few more words at the bottom of the stone monument.

[Once the first layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal had been unlocked, a vigorous looking tree would appear in it. This tree takes a 100 years to mature, and every 100 years, it will produce 10 fruits. The name of the fruits this tree produce are known as the Energy Enhancing Fruits. If ingested by normal humans, this could increase their strength level by 500 jin. Alchemist could use this fruits for pill concoction as well. Note: effect of Energy Enhancing Fruits can only stack 2 times, consuming more is pointless.]

And the rest of the inscriptions at the bottom of the monument are as follow:

Effects of:

[Unlocking the 2nd Layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal],

[Unlocking the 3rd Layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal], all the way to [Unlocking 9th Layer of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal]

After Qing Shui finished reading the stone monument, he glanced at the sturdy and vigorous looking tree beside it. Could this be the Energy Enhancing Tree that he read about in the inscription on the stone monument? The tree was roughly about 2m in height, with branches the thickness akin to a steel pillar from his previous world. Despite the branches of the Energy Enhancing Tree being extremely short in length, only about 1 foot long, they still looked strong and solid.

Qing Shui peered upwards, and saw 10 glistening blood red fruits hanging from the branches of the Energy Enhancing Tree, emitting an extremely alluring smell that made him salivate. Now, Qing Shui already had a rough idea that what the existence of this spatial realm meant to his future cultivation. A grin broke out on Qing Shui’s face as he thought of the future possibilities. “Within this realm, normal restrictions no longer apply to me! There is nothing I can’t accomplish. I don’t believe I would still be unable to breakthrough to the 4th layer of the Ancient Strengthening Technique!”

“Sigh, what a pity that this realm was only usable by the one person, if not Qing Hu and Qing Bei could enjoy the benefits here too. Well, it’s fine that way too, I can’t let anyone know about this secret. Humans would already be willing to commit murder for gains significantly less valuable than this. I must not invite a calamity upon myself.” Qing Shui decided.

Qing Shui did not know how much time elapsed, he had already thoroughly explored the landscape of the Violet Jade Immortal Realm. The spatial realm was approximately the size of 1 hectare. Looking at the loose purple soil beneath his sole, he felt that this space was excellent for crop planting.”

After exploring the spatial realm, Qing Shui realized that there was no exit! How could he return to the world outside?

Just at the precise moment he thought of exiting, he realized that he was already back in the mountainous region where he had been previously! It seems that the Violet Jade Immortal Realm was already attuned to his will.

“Enter!”

“Exit!”

“Enter!”

“Exit!”

With the slightest intent of his will, he could enter and exit the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. Qing Shui happily experimented with it, just like a small child playing with his favourite toy.

After that, Qing Shui silently mused for a long while, “How did this Violet Jade Immortal Realm suddenly appeared? And why did it choose me?” Despite his intelligence, he still had no conclusions and thus decided to temporarily ignore the mystery. Anyway, it was not something disadvantageous for him.

Following which, Qing Shui inspected his attire. Laughing bitterly as he looked at the tattered clothes on his body, Qing Shui took a fresh set of clothes from his backpack and proceeded to change. It was at this moment that he realized that the Yin-Yang Pendant which he had always wore around his neck had disappeared!

Qing Shui frantically did a search of the surroundings and even entered the spatial realm again, but he could not find any clues relating to the disappearance of the Yin-Yang Pendant! “Could the disappearance of the Yin-Yang Pendant be related to the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal?”

Currently, if only Qing Shui could view his own reflection, he would have stopped the search for the pendant. Because, situated right in the middle of Qing Shui’s eyebrow, was a speck of violet-colored pearl the size of a bean. The pearl was shaped exactly like the Yin-Yang Pendant! It had somehow unknowingly amalgamated with Qing Shui after he fainted.

The speck of violet pearl that destiny arranged, situated between his brows were akin to an artist adding the vital final touch to a masterpiece, adding on a hint of otherworldly magnetism to Qing Shui’s already charming eyes. Previously, Qing Shui could already be considered good looking, but now with that hint of magnetism, the aura he exuded could only said to be extraordinary.

Since the pendant was missing, there was no need to keep the chain of the pendant as well. Qing Shui threw the chain away as he changed into a new set of clothes, and only  after that, did the disappearance of the White-headed Inky Jade Condor occur to him. Qing Shui inclined his head, looking about. He  finally spotted the corpse of the White-Headed Inky Jade Condor somewhere far off in the distance.

“It died?” Qing Shui walked over, and after a brief inspection, realized that the cause of death was the 2 stones he flicked out earlier! The 2 stones had hit their target and were lodged in the eyes of the white-headed condor. “How terrifying, was its pride really that important? Despite being injured, it still wanted to perish with me.” “The impact from earlier when it tried to smash me to death must have caused the stones lodged in its eyes to penetrate its brain. What a tragic death!”

“In any case, it looks like I’m having barbequed White-Headed Inky Jade Condor for dinner tonight.” (TL: xD xD yummy~)