Liu Yingting was the first one to break free of his stupor. He fell onto the severed corpse of Liu Wanli and began tearing it apart. Chunks of flesh were scattered all over the Blade Shadow Valley's sect grounds.

  “He’s already dead,” Lu Qingshan said once the man had vented his emotions on the final lump of meat. His Marrow Tempering flies descended, devouring every corpse in the vicinity. All that remained were bags containing plenty of silver taels.

  It was a good thing that whatever Liu Wanli had done to these Green Heart Worms helped preserve their lives. They could take all the time they needed to search the temple grounds. In the meantime, Lu Qingshan let Liu Yingting continue his vengeance against every scrap of flesh.

  The Blade Shadow Valley, as a local sect born in the city, stored everything there. Each and every one of their martial arts manuals were present inside their pavilion. They hadn’t bothered taking anything away, believing they would be safe in the chaos. The Seven Mysteries Gate was able to collect a lot of treasures as well.

  Lu Qingshan found two objects that immediately pulled his attention away. One was a painting he found quite familiar: that of a raging bear instead of a soaring crane. It was facing a pack of wolves one moment, a colorful tiger the next, then a flock of large, land-locked birds…

  Lu Qingshan tore himself away. Now was not the time. The other item was a book detailing exotic insects. It was sitting on a desk where many insects were contained. He guessed this was where Liu Wanli stayed, as the concentration of Green Heart Worm larvae was very high.

  After reciting the Insect Harmony Mantra again, Lu Qingshan took the insects back with him. He didn’t have the time to individually inspect each one of their properties. That had to wait until later. They needed to leave soon, or he feared an immortal cultivator might arrive.

  There was a jade slip present near the man’s bed. Lu Qingshan grabbed anything resembling gemstones or rocks, then left the room.

  “How are you feeling?” Lu Qingshan asked Liu Yingting. The others were still scrounging through the Blade Shadow Valley elders’ personal quarters.

  “Much better,” Liu Yingting said, breathing heavily but with satisfaction clearly visible on his face. In his hands were two jade slips. “I found these on his clothes. They might be useful.”

  Lu Qingshan gave a slow nod. “I hope so,” he said. “We need to leave soon before someone sees us. Now that you’re fine, go help the others with anything they need to carry.”

  In the meantime, Lu Qingshan kept his senses on his flies throughout the city. It took the time for two incense sticks to burn until the others were able to finish collecting what they needed. He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming everything was fine.

  The Lower Mountain School remained intact. Lu Qingshan didn’t believe attacking them was a wise decision though.

  To be honest, encountering Liu Wanli here was too early for his liking. If his master somehow detected his death and came rushing back, Lu Qingshan really didn’t know how he’d handle it. He managed to calm himself down after realizing the body didn’t seem to contain one of those worms he had observed in other demonic cultivators he’d killed.

  The only thing he could try now was to exploit his current martial arts to their fullest. The sheer amount of resources acquired after the Blade Shadow Valley's fall could fuel them for a long time.

  Before Liu Yingting could drop the surviving Marrow Tempering parasite Green Heart Worms into the boiling cauldrons, Lu Qingshan stopped him. "I don't think we should engage in this practice anymore," he said.

  Liu Yingting stopped. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you said that. After seeing Liu Wanli manipulate those worms for himself, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. Do we throw the worms away then?"

  Lu Qingshan stared at the wriggling things. He knew from the Insect Harmony Mantra that the majority of these Green Heart Worms could still continue to produce poison. "No," he said. "Since these are still alive and under my control, they can stay that way. Raise them to produce poison as reagents for your Hundred Poisons Elixir. Do not consume them directly."

  Liu Yingting nodded, looking more excited than before. But there was one more problem. The Green Heart Worms who had parasitized Innate realm experts no longer had the power to produce poison. The man inspected them closely, only to gasp in shock.

  “Are they that different?” Lu Qingshan asked.

  “Yes,” Liu Yingting replied. “They’re no longer poisonous at all, but a great tonic.”

  “What does that mean? Are they supposed to be consumed directly?”

  “I think so. But I want to do some more experiments on animals. It might fail or ruin the ingredient, not that we planned on consuming them anyway.”

  “Try it,” Lu Qingshan said, trusting the Elder. “If you succeed, my insects can test the results. Wu Ruoling, do you want to help?”

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  The woman turned from her position standing near one of the cauldrons. In her mad rush to breakthrough to the Viscera Tempering stage, she had neglected some of her medicinal-making skills. Liu Yingting was currently far ahead of her with the inheritance of his family secured.

  "I can help," Wu Ruoling said.

  "Good," Liu Yingting said with a smile. "I had fun working with you. Let's cooperate well."

  The Green Heart Worms became docile in their hands. Seeing this, Lu Qingshan knew it was time to retreat. He spoke with each of the other sect Elders and asked them about their future plans.

  Meng Zhang wanted to return to managing the Azure Wind and Stone Axe Gang territories. So did Li Fanghua, who would assist him after breaking through to the Marrow Tempering stage herself. She wanted to wait for a batch of secret medicine.

  Jin Teng and Feng Ranran aimed to enter a period of retreat to learn the Seven Mysteries Gate's sect techniques. They were assigned to manage the vast stock of Blade Shadow Valley martial arts manuals acquired from the battle. In addition, Miao Mei was there to oversee them, so he wasn't worried.

  Qin Ye wanted to continue practicing swordsmanship. After taking his share of martial arts manuals, he would enter seclusion as well. Lu Qingshan agreed with his decision, seeing the power of that flying sword, but it was a shame he couldn't provide his sect's cultivators with spiritual tonics yet. If Qin Ye had a higher cultivation stage, even more things could be done.

  Lu Qingshan himself entered a period of retreat. He guided all the insects collected from Liu Wanli into a secluded room and arranged them around the place. It turned out the book he found was an immortal cultivator's guide on spiritual insects of all kinds. But before he could pore over it in detail, he needed to heal himself first.

  Dozens of medicines appeared in front of him. Lu Qingshan grabbed a handful and stuffed them into his mouth. The Giant Whale Breathing Method whirled into motion, vastly increasing his digestion rate. On the stone slab, the proficiency points increased rapidly, and his wounds began to heal.

  His internal injuries from the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique were surprisingly the first to heal, aided by the powerful Blood Seas Inner Force. They weren't fully restored but wouldn't hamper his future martial arts practice either. Even better was that his lifespan hadn't decreased, or at least it still read thirty-eight years on the stone slab. It was the surface wounds caused by the sword that gave him a major problem.

  Even with all this medicine, he was still bleeding. Lu Qingshan wasn't too worried though. The points on the Giant Whale Breathing Method rose faster the more he ate, and it fueled the growth of all his other martial arts. It had an especially profound effect on the Dragon Spine Manual, whose growth speed was much faster than what Jin Teng had told him.

  This was a great boon. The higher the level of the Dragon Spine Manual, the better he healed from his wounds. The Dragon Spine Manual was his best source of improvement for his physical body. Only the Hundred Beasts Refinement was better, but the bestial blood essence was unavailable.

  Three months went by without another immortal cultivator entering the city. The Song family's death zone remained stationary. Lu Qingshan's progress was great, a smile on his face as he gazed at the stone slab.

  Lu Qingshan (27 years old)

  Lifespan Remaining: 37 years

  Cultivation: Mortal Shedding - Aperture Tempering

  Techniques: Hundred Beasts Refinement (Level 1, 11/10000), Insect Harmony Mantra (Level 6, 598/10000), Blood Seas Inner Force (Level 5, 4125/10000), Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique (Level 2, 1137/10000), Giant Whale Breathing Method (Level 2, 8001/10000), Blood Pulse Technique (Level 2, 1580/10000), Dragon Spine Manual (Level 2, 3460/10000), Red Falcon Breathing Method (Limit), Tiger Fist (Limit), Deer Steps (Limit), Stoneskin Technique (Limit), Great Ape Breathing Method (Level 6, 9344/10000), Seven Steps Technique (Level 4, 581/10000), Verdant Summer Inner Force (Level 2, 400/10000), Black Fury Inner Force (Level 3, 3000/10000), Raging Bear Breathing Method (Level 2, 1000/10000), Soaring Crane Breathing Method (Level 3, 2799/10000), Flowing Cloud Inner Force (Level 3, 2499/10000), Golden Shell Body (Level 2, 555/10000), Roaming Tiger Breathing Method (Level 4, 6999/10000), Nimble Deer Breathing Method (Level 4, 4999/10000), Golden Drop Inner Force (Level 3, 6999/10000), Earthen Crust Inner Force (Level 2, 999/10000), Hidden Veil Technique (Level 4, 3299/10000), Turtle Breath Inner Force (Level 3, 999/10000), Wave Motions Fist (Level 3, 199/10000), Tiger Roar Technique (Limit), Crane Wings Technique (Limit), Iron Bear Technique (Limit), Viper Strike Technique (Limit), Silent Step Technique (Limit), Basic Hand-to-hand (Limit)

  Mystic Jade Essence - Dao Fruit of Sublime Miracles - Condensing... 57%

  The Giant Whale Breathing Method was on the cusp of achieving the third level. The Dragon Spine Manual was rising rapidly, and he had learned the Raging Bear Breathing Method from the painting as well. Many martial arts had drastically shot up in strength as the Giant Whale’s rapid digestion fueled their growth to another level.

  The Raging Bear Breathing Method allowed him to enter a berserk state, a lesser version of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique. He'd also learned the Earthen Crust Inner Force, an earth-element inner force technique with the ability to coat his internal organs with a defensive layer of energy.

  Lu Qingshan had collected five Inner Force techniques of the five elements. The addition of a fifth didn’t provide too much of a qualitative change, but it did slightly increase the overall power of each individual inner force. It also made it more seamless to utilize all five at once, which had the effect of increasing his speed of cultivating inner force as well, though this only applied to the five specific techniques and not the Blood Seas Inner Force.

  Even so, raising all five to their peak levels would take a long time. Decades or more was likely. Thus Lu Qingshan only spent spare time grinding their proficiency, focusing on the Giant Whale Breathing Method. His promotion to the Innate realm was his greatest priority as it would allow him to roam unhindered in the martial world. Then, only immortal cultivators would remain a problem.

  Now that he had recovered further from the aftereffects of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique, Lu Qingshan could begin using powerful medicinal tonics and secret medicines. It just so happened the ghost market white masks had returned recently. They were willing to continue their past trades.

  Lu Qingshan did doubt their motives in coming back. But he had to dismiss some of his concerns. The ghost market might’ve had some power to be able to escape early like the Jade Skies Sect, but they were still the best trading option by far. They shouldn't be able to detect that it was him who slew Liu Wanli.

  He aimed to secure powerful secret medicines on this trip. But first, he had to consult Qin Ye and Li Fanghua on their discoveries about the techniques inside the jade slips and the exotic insects.