AST 1992 - A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Transforming from a chick into an eagle
The young man seemed to be hesitating. When Qing Shui saw his eyes, he simply waited it out. This went on for quite a while before the young man decided, “Though we may be beggars, we have never done anything which may harm other people. If the reason you’re looking for us today is for us to do something ethically wrong, we would rather be beggars for our entire lives.”
The young man’s answer was completely out of Qing Shui’s expectations. He then laughed and responded, “Don’t worry. I can assure you that it won’t be something like that.”
“Alright, we will believe you.” The young man looked around and made up his mind.
The Barbarian Emperor and the others were all shocked to see Qing Shui bringing back so many beggars after only going out once. After coming back, Qing Shui sent people to help them buy some clothes. Following on, he told the beggars to go and take a shower.
By the time they all finished changed into new clothes, more than 10 good-looking young men appeared before Qing Shui. Qing Shui didn’t say anything much. Instead, he made a lot of food and added in a bit of flavoring in it. To these children, these dishes were the most delicious food they had ever tasted.
When they finished their meals, Qing Shui told them to gather in the backyard. By now, among these people in their minds, quite a lot of them had actually let out a sigh of relief when they found out that it was the Imperial Cuisine Hall. What did the Imperial Cuisine Hall do? They treat others. In fact, quite a lot of them had once accepted free treatments from the Imperial Cuisine Hall.
“I didn’t know what you guys were called before but now, I am going to give you new names. If one day, you guys manage to achieve a certain level in strength and if you want to, you can recover back your original name. You, come out.” Qing Shui pointed at the young man from before who supposedly led the group as soon as he finished speaking.
The young man went forward and stood up straight.
“In the future, you will be called Qing Er. There will be no Qing Yi. Slowly moving on, they will be called Qing San and so forth. It doesn’t matter how you arrange them. In the future, that will be their code name. I will give you 15 minutes to rearrange them and remember their names.” Qing Shui told the young man.
“Got it!”
The young man very quickly started arranging the people starting from Qing San all the way until Qing Forty-Five. The remaining children who were aged between three to four were left out. They could have fun with Qing Ci’s child. Those brats were just like children of a normal family. In fact, they might be even more independent than those geniuses.
“In the future, the both of us will be training you guys. You guys can call me your master. On results day, those who catch our eyes will have a chance to be under me or become his disciple.” Qing Shui pointed at the Barbarian Emperor and said.
By now, the Barbarian Emperor could already figure out what Qing Shui wanted to do. However, because the people whom he chose were all beggars, the effect might not seem to be too ideal. These people were all past the age of cultivation. Even if they were to start cultivating now, it would be very hard for them to make a reputation for themselves unless some sort of miracles happened.
“Big brother, go easy on them for the first three days when you start training them. After that, feel free to practice their willpower and nature by using some sort of cruel methods. If a person only has mediocre strength, he can nurture it slowly. But if he is not persistent enough, things wouldn’t work out well for him even if he was born a genius.”
“That, you don’t have to worry. I can help you deal with it.” The Barbarian Emperor smiled and nodded. He would support whatever decision Qing Shui made.
Qing Shui told these people that the training wouldn’t be easy and if they couldn’t handle it, it would be best if they leave now. However, in their eyes, Qing Shui could see a kind of persistence. They had always lived their lives at the bottom of society. Their normal lives were already tough enough. Children born in this background tend to get mature faster than the normal ones. They wouldn’t be afraid of suffering in a bit of hardship.
For the following few days, the Barbarian Emperor took the group of people to go swimming, mountain-climbing and did some marathon-runs as well as squats, push-ups, and so on. So long as they were things which required effort to do, he would include it in his training regime. It was of utmost importance for him to improve their persistence first. This way, they wouldn’t have to work as hard cultivating in the future but still receive twice the result.
During the training, from time to time, there would be people who fainted but no one had yet complained that it was too much for them. Knowing that, Qing Shui was very satisfied. This was the result which he wanted. He was quite happy with their perseverance.
Qing Shui planted a lot of wooden boards and a few wooden puppets in the backyard. These wooden puppets were made of iron curtains. Though they might be called wooden puppets, it was actually just adding a few more hardwood onto the already made wooden board, making it looked like the arms of an actual man. Qing Shui started off by first teaching them the Solitary Rapid Fist and Stump Step.
Qing Shui wasn’t sure what the Barbarian Emperor had taught them himself, but Qing Shui had already gone through with the Barbarian Emperor about the directions which these children would take.
Indeed, it was a bit late for them to start cultivating now. Hence, it would naturally be impossible for them to be top existences. In fact, even they themselves wouldn’t dream of becoming peak existences.
Qing Shui let them walked the path of assassins. Having unusual movements, sharp Divine Weapons and also being capable of scouting out information, they wouldn’t really be that weak.
For the time being, these children were very determined in refining their bodies every day. Furthermore, Qing Shui had also mixed some medicinal herbs together to make a medicine which could specifically help them in further improving their physique. He had even used the Bone Cleansing Pills and Impurities Cleansing Pill to speed up the process.
Qing Shui was still living his life as it was before. These children hadn’t stopped their training. Other than the time that was needed for them to rest, they would spend the rest of their day eating and training. They were improving at a very fast pace.
There were some things which unless had been done, one could never figure out how to do it. A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. The step which Qing Shui had taken was also a key step. Maybe there were some things which could already be of help to him even if it didn’t end up as a peak existence. After all, only a minority of people would end up as the best of the best in this world. Whether or not he could become one himself even remained a question.
Qing Shui felt that in the past, he used to be a perfectionist. Though it was not entirely a bad thing to be picky, this still depended on the situation he was facing.
At the moment, Qing Shui already had enough money and medicinal herbs. He was also able to refine powerful medicinal pills himself and possessed miraculous medical expertise. With all of these, if he was still unable to build up his own forces, he would have truly been a failure.
“Big brother, if you happen to come across any suitable candidates, you must attempt to convince him to be a part of us. As of now, we are in need of more people.” Qing Shui went to the Barbarian Emperor and said.
“Yes, I understand. Oh, I’ve just remembered. The Thirteenth Prince has mentioned before that he also wanted to come here.” The Barbarian Emperor replied.
Qing Shui was surprised, “What about the Great Confucian Empire? Doesn’t it need someone to look after it?”
“Actually, the Great Confucian Empire doesn’t even need someone to look after it. It has its own regulations. Besides, the Patriarch and the others are all around. As long as the Thirteenth Prince had his cultivations with him, no one would dare act against him.” The Barbarian Emperor explained to Qing Shui.
“Since he is coming, it will be better if he brings even more people here.” Qing Shui thought about Lan Lingfeng, Yin Tong and the others.
Muyun Qingge was the Sun Shooting Battle God Inheritor, but she was currently in the Sunset Seaking Palace. Hence, Qing Shui didn’t plan to have her over. It would be better if she stayed in Sunset Seaking Palace.
……
Qing Shui would spend most of his time in the realm cultivating and practice his Taichi Fist. Again and again, he never got sick of practicing it. All along, Qing Shui had always believed that practices would make perfect. When he reached a certain level, he would be able to change something rotten into something magical.
The Nine Animals Mimicry Technique, Back Connecting Fist, and then his Taichi. Qing Shui practiced them over and over. He had enough time, in fact, a lot more time when compared to others. The Five Elements Divine Refining Technique, Seal of Xuantian, formations, Mighty Elephant Stomp, and also the Phoenix Cry Eruption.
Qing Shui had vast knowledge in a lot of things. Moving on, it was his Demonic Beasts. Even until now, he hadn’t given up on raising their strengths. For the time being, the one which could provide the most help to Qing Shui was his Dragon Slaying Beast.
The Dragon Slaying Beast hadn’t undergone many changes in its size but it was already bigger than an elephant from his previous incarnation. Its entire body was like it was made of metal. It was shining and giving out cold lights. It wouldn’t shiver even a little when it ran or sprinted.
The linings which ran across its body looked unusually shiny. That was a kind of sharpness, a sharpness which could pierce through anything. Its teeth were capable of destroying even Divine Artifacts. Furthermore, a two-feet long horn which was in the shape of a spiral had also grown out of its head. The top part of the horn was very sharp and it only became thicker moving downwards. Qing Shui had tested it before. This horn could be used as an attack which could completely neglect the opponent’s defensive capability. At least for now, the Dragon Slaying Beast was greatly inferior to Qing Shui in terms of strength and yet, Qing Shui was still unable to stop its attack. Its horn could wound Qing Shui’s body with ease, despite Qing Shui’s powerful physical body.