AST 1260 – I said I came, Imperial City

Qing Shui rejoiced when he heard what Diwu Zhisha said. After all, he predicted before that he would only be able to meet Hu Yiya’s sister by new year. Only by then would he be able to think of a way to pass his message.

He took out the letter which Di Chen left for him. After much thought and careful consideration, he passed it to Diwu Zhisha. “Please hand this over to her when you see her. Just tell her that I’m here.”

Upon saying out these words, he felt very emotional.

Diwu Zhisha took over the letter handed out by Qing Shui and put it away carefully. She didn’t look into the letter.

“I will definitely hand over this letter to her and try my best to convince her to come out. I have only known her for a short period of time. So we are barely considered friends and she have very few friends. Basically, she doesn’t interact much with others.” Diwu Zhisha explained while she looked at him.

“Thank you, I am aware of that.” Qing Shui shook his head with a smile. Di Chen’s cultivation realm had gone up by too much all of a sudden. Even he himself didn’t know what cultivation Di Chen possessed now. It might have been because her cultivation went up too fast within a short period of time which caused her personality to change. It could also be that she couldn’t make it back for the time being, which made her to only keep the people and things she misses in her heart.

Even when he experienced a tremendous amount of increase in his strength back then, things like that didn’t happen to him. Hence, he had a feeling that Di Chen must have increased her strength by a ridiculous amount. His perception also told him that she must be a lot stronger than the current Eldest Princess. In fact, she would definitely be stronger than the Saint Child. After all, the Holy Woman of the Lotus Sect was equivalent to being a Chief Disciple.

Of course, it was likely that she had been absorbing the energy of the Lotus Platform throughout these few years. Maybe the strength which she achieved at that time wasn’t this terrifying. This was also Qing Shui’s guess. He felt that despite how powerful Di Chen had been, she still shouldn’t be stronger than himself.

“I should be the one to thank you. Come back to the Diwu Clan with me today and let me introduce you to my family. I will be heading back to the Lotus Sect tomorrow.” Diwu Zhisha smiled and said.

“Wait until I meet Di Chen. By then, I will definitely go visit you and your family.” Qing Shui responded after careful thoughts. If he was to go now, it would appear like he was trying to take credit for other people’s achievements. It would be better for him to stop for a period of time.

“I’m fine with that too. But I need to rush back by today since I will be setting off for the Lotus Sect tomorrow.” Diwu Zhisha once again emphasized on her point. As she looked around the area, she felt really reluctant to leave. She had already been staying here for quite a while. In the future, the time she spent living here would greatly reduce. Despite so, she still planned to stay here in the future whenever she had time as this place was like a paradise to her.

Qing Shui too got up and bid his farewell. She wanted to see him off but he refused. With that being the case, Diwu Zhisha also didn’t insist on doing so. She looked on as Qing Shui rode the Golden Scaled Dragon Elephant and left, deeply aware that this man wasn’t only a powerful doctor, but a powerful warrior as well.

Qing Shui returned to the Hu Clan. Upon learning that he treated Diwu Zhisha, they were all in awe. Their first reaction was they all found it really hard to believe. No matter what, they couldn’t convince themselves to believe that he treated her because they all knew more than anyone about Diwu Zhisha’s condition. Even medicinal pills which consisted of Bones of the Living Dead and a few old doctors were unable to cure her illness. Deep down, they had actually came to conclude it to be a fatal illness.

“I believe you. Diwu Zhisha has recovered. It seems like the situation of the Diwu Clan is about to take yet another turn.” Hu Yezhong smiled and said.

“Me too. Qing Shui, your medical skill is indeed exceptional and unique. Merely your medical skill alone is enough to make you stand at the top of the Western Oxhe Continent”

Both Hu Yezhong and Hu Yimin knew more than anyone else about what he was capable of. Actually, the siblings from the Hu Clan were also able to feel that Qing Shui was really formidable. Hence, it could be said that now that they were also convinced with it. The reason why they were all so shocked was because the Diwu Clan was really powerful. However, none of the formidable alchemists and doctors they hired were able to cure her illness.

Hu Yiya’s father, along with some other people, once again thanked Qing Shui. After all, someone who was both a powerful alchemist as well as a doctor was something which they could never ask for. Never would he have thought for his little daughter’s friend to be this powerful.

No one could compare to Hu Yiya in terms of how happy she felt. The reason was a lot of the people in her clan were now praising her for having good eyes to had found a martial brother who was both a formidable doctor and alchemist. Something worth noting was, since Qing Shui cured Diwu Zhisha, the Diwu Clan would owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. Hence, considering that Qing Shui was really close with the Hu Clan, the person who would be able to benefit the most by then would very likely be the Hu Clan.

Actually, the Hu Clan shared quite a decent relation with the Diwu Clan.The reason was, that both Hu Yimin and Hu Yiqian were really close with Diwu Zhisha. Hu Yiqian was Hu Yiya’s sister in the Lotus Sect. Even though the two clans didn’t stand at the same level, the interactions between the young juniors from each clan could help make the clans closer. Furthermore, the juniors from Hu Clan also had decent potential, especially in Hu Yiqian’s generation. If things continued on like this, the Hu Clan would continue to strengthen.

Hu Yizhong and Hu Yimin, Hu Yiqian and Hu Yiya. Merely these Hu Clan’s descendants were enough to significantly increase the overall strength of the Hu Clan. Let alone that the Hu Clan still had other branches.

The fresh troops of a particular clan could be said to be extremely important. Hence explained the reason why aristocratic clan wouldn’t spare any effort to nurture the juniors from their clan. There must be a powerful person from each of their generation to lift the pot. They might even go as far as nurturing a few of them at once.

For the following time, Qing Shui noticed that the Chen Clan had actually begun to know their place. Chen Fuding no longer showed up. He didn’t know if it had something to do with the Diwu Clan but now, the upper class people had all been made aware of one thing. That was, Diwu Zhisha had recovered.

It was also only now that Qing Shui found out that Diwu Zhisha was the Deputy Holy Maiden. Meaning, she was an existence that would take over as the Holy Maiden at any time. Even if she failed to do so, she would still end up at least as an elder or even higher position in the future.

There was no such thing as an absolute secret in this world. For some reason, the people from the Diwu Clan came looking for him. Furthermore, it was Diwu Zhisha’s father. Qing Shui didn’t know if it was because Diwu Zhisha told her clan that he treated her.

He was a man who looked very handsome and seemed like he was at his middle-age. However, he seemed like someone who wouldn’t let others pay attention to his look. This was a very attractive man. Furthermore, he was also really strong but upon meeting Qing Shui, he got even more surprised.

“If I’m not mistaken, you should be Mr. Qing. I am Diwu Huangyu. Thank you for saving my daughter. I wonder if you are free to come and pay a visit to my house so as to let us express our gratitude for you.” The man said very seriously. He sounded very sincere. He realized that he was actually unable to see through the depth of this man.

“Mister Diwu. You don’t have to be so formal. The reason why I cured your daughter is just to help her. Actually, you don’t have to feel in debt for anything.” Qing Shui cupped his hand and responded quickly.

“It might have meant nothing for you, but to us, it is an enormous favor which we will never be able to pay you. However, I still really want to thank you with all my heart.” Diwu Huangyu revealed a faint smile on his face. He sounded especially serious when he said these words. When it was time to be serious, he would definitely act serious. This was an attitude. Sometimes, a person’s attitude would decide the outcome of something.

His words made Qing Shui had an even a better impression of him. The reason was that Qing Shui was also someone like this.

“How about this, when Miss Diwu returned, I will pay you guys a visit. How do you feel about that?”

Diwu Huangyu thought about it for a while. “Alright then, the door to the Diwu Clan is open for you at anytime. The Diwu Clan will forever remember the favor you have done for us.”

Diwu Huangyu left. Qing Shui didn’t say anything to stop him. He is a simple man, he only helped because he wanted to see Di Chen. Helping others without asking for something in return might very well be the greatest returns of all.

A person’s attitude was very important. Or rather, it was the most important.

For the remaining days, Qing Shui spent his time strolling nearby the Imperial City. In any case, he really didn’t have anything to do. At night, he would enter the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal to cultivate, whereas during daytime, he would continue to look around. He didn’t plan to stay in the Hu Clan for a long period of time.

Without noticing, almost one month had passed. Qing Shui didn’t go too far away. The Imperial City was really huge and it was enough for him to have fun.

Imperial City Blacksmith Store!

Qing Shui spotted a splendorous and majestic building. After he saw the four words on it, driven by curiosity, he walked into the store.

There were a lot of people here. Many warriors would go in and out of the store. Through their aura, Qing Shui could already feel that they were all warriors at State Master grade. There were even a few that was almost as strong as Hu Yiya’s father.

The exterior part of the building looked really splendorous and majestic. Its internal design however, looked a bit simple. It made people felt that the place looked simple and unadorned. As soon as Qing Shui stepped in, his eyes turned bright. This was how true forging should look like. It was no use even if it looked really gorgeous.

Imperial City Blacksmith Store. Qing Shui wasn’t sure if it was someone from the Royal Family, but considering that people who dared to use the words Imperial City in the said city were very rare. Logically speaking, it was likely that only the people from the Royal Family was permitted to use it.

As soon as he went in, he realized that the internal part of the store was really big. It was more than 300 meters long and wide. There were rows after rows of shelves with goods on it. On top of them were weapons, armors, shields and so on. This place could be said to have a lot of stuffs.

Qing Shui observed the blacksmiths here. There were quite a few of them. Even though they were quite decent, the majority of them were unable to attract his attention. There were also a minority that was quite good. Those who could get a quite good compliment from him must really have been pretty good. After all, this was the Imperial City. Most importantly, it was also because QIng Shui already stood at a higher leve, this couldn’t be helped.

“Mister, do you need any help?” A young male servant approached Qing Shui and asked him politely.

“I’ll look around first. If there is anything I need help with, I’ll look for you.” QIng Shui responded with a smile.

……

“Materials?”

Qing Shui stood in front of a long shelf and looked at the different kinds of ore displayed on it.There were also things like beast leather as a lot of stuffs were being displayed here. Furthermore, they were of high quality. Merely these were already something which ordinary blacksmith store couldn’t compare.

In comparison to the finished products displayed there, Qing Shui was more appealed to the materials. The products here were indeed quite good. Unfortunately, he already had Yang Stone, Violet Jade, Meteorite, Moonstone and other precious materials in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal. He was only looking through the shop. At least for now, there had yet to be anything which managed to catch his eyes.

Qing Shui followed along the long shelf and walked forward. The people here often would leave this place and then return back here again to look for stuffs. The majority of the people here could only find things which they liked. Actually, once a person achieved above 1000 sun of strength, he or she would no longer come here to look for stuffs.

The real blacksmith from the Royal Family wasn’t actually here. It was impossible for them to forge things here. The reason being that, none of the things here would satisfy the needs of their internal parts. A lot of the aristocratic clans attracted strong warriors by relying precisely on battle technique, armor, weapons and medicinal pills.

At the moment, Qing Shui had a feeling like there was nothing here which he would need. It was impossible for his strength to experience yet another huge leap during this time. As for weapons, armors and medicinal pills, he already had all of them. Hence, his intention here was more towards just to look around rather than to find something which he needed.

There were a lot of people who strolled around the material sections. It was very likely that they were looking for materials to forge their weapons. Normally, Qing Shui’s Spiritual Sense would be left activated as he also hoped that he would run into things which picked his interest.

Suddenly, Qing Shui sensed a well conceived energy. It wasn’t really strong, but it was unusually tranquil. he followed along with his eyesight and spotted a black yet bright stone that was almost the size of a fist. It could be said to be unusually eye-catching.