Lu Qingshan looked around the Nine Wines Restaurant. All the other patrons were happily eating and engaging in conversation. The servers were wandering around, busily helping others eat. But he didn't feel safe continuing the conversation here.

  "Let's go somewhere else," he suggested, taking over the lead role from Li Fanghua. He stood up, and the six travelers followed them outside.

  Lu Qingshan led them all the way to Liu Yingting's house. If it came down to it, there was no way these six would be able to flee.

  "We're here," he said, having scanned the area with his flies to know it was safe. "I know who might've attacked your city. I've dealt with a few of them myself."

  "You're sure about this?" Jin Teng asked. "An attacker...what level of strength would they have to destroy an entire city?"

  "Someone above the level of common martial arts," Lu Qingshan replied. "Can you think of any examples? I haven't learned much information about the highest level yet."

  Jin Teng hesitated. "We know about Innate realm experts," he confessed. "The Dragon Spine Sect once boasted of their brilliant history long ago in the past. I heard it from my grandfather. But they don't speak about that anymore."

  Lu Qingshan narrowed his eyes. Again, this level of martial arts had become hidden. It appeared to start from long ago. Though curious about the circumstances leading to such a change, Lu Qingshan refocused on the topic.

  "There are powers beyond us martial artists in this world," he said. "I've met many of them."

  "And? What was the result?"

  Lu Qingshan simply smiled. "Are you all willing to work together with me?"

  "If you can tell us what is wrong with this world," Jin Teng said passionately, "I will serve you for the rest of my life."

  "Me too," Feng Ranran pledged. "I must avenge my family."

  "As will I," echoed the other four.

  "Very well," Lu Qingshan said. "I killed them. Immortal cultivators, they call themselves. Very high and mighty. But they are human. They make mistakes. And now? Those that became my enemies are all dead."

  His smile turned manic. "I swear to you, we will tear those monsters in human skin from their thrones. We will shatter their skulls, break their bones, flay their tendons, and rip their bodies into pieces."

  Lu Qingshan stopped holding back. The Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique flashed into motion for a brief moment. A monstrous presence flared to life in that instant, only to disappear the next.

  “Innate realm expert!” Jin Teng cried. His legs buckled and he was kneeling, along with all his companions.

  Lu Qingshan raised his brow. He was not at that level, and yet this man believed he was. “Oh? Have you encountered one before?”

  “My grandfather was once the sect master of the Dragon Spine Sect,” the man confessed. “We…used to have someone at that level.”

  Now it was Lu Qingshan’s turn to seek information. “Tell me more,” he said. Liu Yingting exited the door to listen as well.

  “I was raised to be the next sect master of the Dragon Spine Sect,” Jin Teng said. “That all changed when my father, the current sect master, vanished from the lands.”

  “At first, I tried to find him. But I was never successful, even after a year. I had always hoped in my heart he’d still be alive. He was a genius Viscera Tempering expert almost at great completion.”

  “I was never successful. Then when everything happened, I knew it was over. Below the Dragon Spine Mountain where our sect is located is a place where it just feels better to stay. Anyone who practices martial arts in those caves can achieve twice the results with half the effort. That’s how my father grew so much in comparison with the rest of the city.”

  “I’ve never told anyone about it, but that’s the only thing important about our sect for such a powerful being to attack it.”

  Lu Qingshan nodded once Jin Teng finished his story. “You’d be right. We experienced the same thing at the mountains of our previous sect grounds.”

  “How did you survive?”

  Lu Qingshan thought about it. “With knowledge about their capabilities,” he said. “I trust you, but some secrets need to remain that way until my plans in this city are fulfilled. Everything will be revealed once we have the power to take back our homes.”

  Jin Teng slowly nodded. “What do you need us to do?”

  “For now, speak with Li Fanghua. There’s a lot to discuss about the affairs in the city.” Lu Qingshan paused. “Would you like to contribute some of your martial arts in return for sect benefits?”

  ——

  Lu Qingshan walked into a nearby house. He sat down and peered at the new martial arts given by the group. The batch of Black Blood Pills wouldn’t finish until the morning, so he had plenty of time to practice.

  The first martial art was aptly named the Dragon Spine Manual. It was complicated, more so than multiple his other martial arts put together. One had to combine breathing, movements, stances, and mindset all in a single breadth of motion to complete just one part of the exercises. And if anything went wrong, recovery times were slow, as the technique was incredibly taxing to perform.

  A normal martial arts practitioner would struggle to make headway in this technique unless they had a way to make it easier. Such as living in the spiritual land located at Dragon Spine Mountain, for instance.

  Lu Qingshan had no issues with learning it though. As long as he knew the general rhythm of the first attempt, it would record itself onto the stone slab, reducing his chances of failure drastically. He spent the entire night repeating the motions Jin Teng told him, successfully bringing the technique to fruition.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Dragon Spine Manual (Level 1, 1/10000)

  Lu Qingshan struck out with his palm. The force of his blow shook the cloth in the room. Aperture Tempering level martial arts truly were exemplary. Even at the first level, it granted him visible benefits, and his body grew even stronger.

  According to Jin Teng, the Dragon Spine Manual contained five levels. Each one corresponded to a different stage, with the fourth and fifth levels giving a much greater benefit than the early levels. Lu Qingshan was sincerely looking forward to it.

  There were three other martial arts manuals carried by the foreign travelers. Two of them, the Burning Flame Inner Force and the Metallic Essence Inner Force, shared overlapping functions with the Black Fury Inner Force and the Golden Drop Inner Force. He’d rather focus on something else that gave less diminishing returns.

  But the fourth martial arts manual was a welcome surprise. It was called the Verdant Summer Inner Force, a rare wood-based inner force technique. With it, he was close to completing a full five elements cycle with the Golden Drop, Black Fury, and Flowing Cloud inner forces. Lu Qingshan resolved to find an earth-based inner force manual in the future that could compete with the above four Viscera Tempering level manuals.

  He memorized the technique and left to go see Liu Yingting. The man had barely slept, continuing to monitor the progress of the Black Blood Pills overnight. At this moment, the six travelers led by Jin Teng had all woken up and were standing there with Li Fanghua. Meanwhile, Qin Ye stood in the background of the window, practicing with a training sword.

  “Did it work?” Lu Qingshan asked. “Are you sure it’s safe? The source of the mutation is not known to us.”

  “It’s worth the risk.” Liu Yingting uncovered the first of the cauldrons that had long cooled and took out the objects inside. There were four Black Blood Pills in his hand. Each was a small, round ball, colored dark black like their namesake. To test its properties, Liu Yingting simply tossed it into his mouth.

  Lu Qingshan almost said something but chose not to.

  The Elder's expression contorted into a grimace. His palms clenched the table. Beads of sweat ran down his face. “I’m fine,” Liu Yingting said, putting out an arm to stop them from coming to help. He continued to bear the effects of the poison for an incense stick’s worth of time.

  “My Hundred Poisons Body was made to test such things,” Liu Yingting said once his expression returned under his control, though there was still a stiffness in his movements. “I won’t lie. These Black Blood Pills are more potent than I expected. They’ll work for those with a resistance to poison — I couldn’t get rid of all the toxins — and pain will be the primary hurdle to overcome. I will need more samples to practice lowering the medicinal effects with these mutated Green Heart Worms.”

  Lu Qingshan nodded. “I can arrange for more subjects. But we’ll run out eventually once they catch wind of our actions.”

  “That’s fine. It shouldn’t take more than a few tries for me to get it right,” Liu Yingting said, looking at the second cauldron. “I think I did better on this batch.” He plucked a Black Blood Pill out. After a long look, he thought for a moment before nodding. “This one should be safe for a Marrow Tempering expert to ingest. I’m unsure about using it for Bone Tempering experts though.”

  "I will remind you all that the pills' main ingredient comes from parasites dwelling in the human body. Taking these pills is optional," Lu Qingshan said, turning his gaze onto each candidate. "I personally won't consume any."

  Jin Teng looked at Feng Ranran. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the Dragon Spine Sect young master or any of his companions who chose to take it, but Feng Ranran instead. She did so decisively, too.

  “Are you sure about this?” Liu Yingting asked. “It’s still toxic. You can just give us some time and we’ll have a new batch ready.”

  “I am,” she said. “I’ve practiced using poison before and built up some resistance. It’s better for me to make a faster improvement so we can start contributing to the sect.”

  “Thank you,” Lu Qingshan said. “For your contributions, a successful breakthrough means you can choose one of our martial arts. Those are stored outside the city though, so you’ll have to wait.”

  Feng Ranran grabbed the pill into her hand. Then she swallowed it without hesitation. Her expression contorted as well, and she collapsed. Her companions nervously took a few steps forward to help.

  Liu Yingting measured her condition. “She’s stable, for now,” he muttered. “Bring me some of the medicine over there just in case.”

  “How good do you think these new Black Blood Pills are?” Lu Qingshan asked Liu Yingting.

  “They’ll be almost as good as Blood Vines once I get the toxicity down to a stable level. If someone can handle the poison and a way to produce more without implanting them into humans, then using Green Heart Worms further developed might surpass their effects.”

  “I should prioritize seizing Viscera Tempering experts then,” Lu Qingshan said to himself. He was still a little peeved at the process behind the Green Heart Worms. But he had to admit they were effective. Perhaps if no one else was willing, his Bloodseeker Flies could have a chance.

  Liu Yingting took out the third batch of Black Blood Pills. Instead of the four pills per batch, there was only a single, large round ball. The man took one sniff and shook his head.

  “This one’s too toxic for anyone other than me,” he warned. “Even I might struggle to refine its medicinal properties. It’s a waste without the Hundred Poisons Body.”

  “Save it for yourself. How far are you on gathering the ingredients for another Hundred Poisons Elixir?”

  “It still needs a long time. Even with the ghost market’s help, I’ve only gathered a third of the ingredients we need.”

  “Keep it up,” Lu Qingshan said. He was happy the sect had acquired a decent replacement for the Blood Vines. Now the sect just needed a source of high-end combat power, which he believed was close. “How is your progress with the Hundred Poisons Body?”

  “Close to the third level of Viscera Tempering. If I had a lot more of those Black Blood Pills, I could try to work my way up to directly using the Green Heart Worms’ toxins myself.”

  “I’m worried about whatever methods were placed on those worms.” Lu Qingshan was highly wary of the source of the mutation. Could an immortal cultivator hide a deadly threat inside the worms, that would then transition? He didn’t know, as the Insect Harmony Mantra revealed nothing.

  “It can’t be helped,” Liu Yingting said, hatred flashing in his eyes. “I must gain strength as quickly as possible.” His fist clenched.

  “We will avenge your family,” Lu Qingshan reassured. "It's only a matter of time."

  Other than Liu Yingting, he had high hopes for Wu Ruoling, Jin Teng, and Miao Mei as well. Miao Mei’s progress had slowed down due to her duties, but her reunion with the bulk of the Seven Mysteries Gate had accelerated her speed again. One of them was bound for a breakthrough soon.

  Speaking of breakthroughs, Feng Ranran had stopped shivering, and her face appeared more peaceful. “She’ll be fine,” Liu Yingting said after a detailed check. “Give her a day to recover.” It was good to have a new Marrow Tempering expert to watch over the Stone Axe Gang.

  Lu Qingshan left the group to their own devices. It was time to undergo another period of development. Marquis Zhou was ready to strike again, and the sect needed to be ready to face another round of chaos in the city. It would be a great boon if someone else could reach Viscera Tempering quickly.

  He sought to secure additional Green Heart Worms. That meant running around and capturing important members of the two sects. He also wanted to find the chance to learn the Verdant Summer Inner Force.

  Finally, there was one more thing. “We have to get rid of the Divine Crossbow,” Lu Qingshan muttered. These new recruits would help control the Azure Wind Gang’s territory better than having that crossbow. It was thus better to get rid of the weapon, since revealing it might enrage the Marquis.

  He disappeared from the Stone Axe Gang’s territory to head towards the Azure Wind Gang.