Lu Qingshan handled the book with care. He passed it around the other Elders who also gave it a look.

  “Thank you Yan Xi for the trust,” he said. “My current plan is to rebuild the sect and avenge our humiliation. The crime of sect extermination without good reason — every Jade Skies Sect disciples deserves to have their tendons flayed, their bones crushed, their bodies trampled underneath our rage.”

  The Seven Mysteries Gate disciples gritted their teeth. The other Elders turned grim as well, then bowed. They would follow him.

  Lu Qingshan emerged from the Scripture Pavilion with five additional martial arts in hand. He planned to take the time to study each one and incorporate them all onto the stone slab. With the Mystic Jade Essence close to condensing, he estimated only a few more months remained. It had almost been ten years since he awoke in this world.

  After leaving the Scripture Pavilion, a final search was conducted over the sect grounds. They discovered a few more stragglers chasing Seven Mysteries Gate disciples. Rescuing whoever they could, in the end, they gathered around thirty people total, with four Elders at the Bone Tempering stage including himself.

  Lu Qingshan took the sole remaining members of the Seven Mysteries Gate deeper into the mountains. He reminded everyone to keep their guard up. There were dangerous beasts in the forest the sect hadn’t gotten to clear out yet.

  They ended their retreat near a smooth, clear stream. Lu Qingshan sent the least injured Miao Mei to scout ahead. The rest of them were assigned to chop trees, construct makeshift shelters, and gather information on food sources.

  After making sure the area was safe from threats, Lu Qingshan himself went into seclusion again inside a nearby cave.

  —

  One month later, he emerged with a savage grin.

  Red Falcon Breathing Method (Level 3, 1627/10000)

  Great Ape Breathing Method (Level 1, 1213/10000)

  Deer Steps (Level 3, 8121/10000)

  Tiger Roar Technique (Level 1, 2416/10000)

  Crane Wings Technique (Level 1, 1712/10000)

  Iron Bear Technique (Level 1, 860/10000)

  Viper Strike Technique (Level 1, 723/10000)

  Four additional beginner level martial arts had been successfully practiced to a decent degree. Each one enhanced his basic understanding of martial arts combat moves. They also gave him a few additional tricks to pull during battle.

  A throwing knife appeared in his hand and casually sank into a faraway tree. If he could just get both Viper Strike and Crane Wings to the next level, he could combine their principles and enhance his throwing attacks even further. It wouldn’t even take long — just a month ago, he didn’t have the ability to throw weapons this far and this strong. The stone slab made his training speed abnormal.

  There was something that needed his attention though, which was why he’d come out of seclusion. Lu Qingshan walked over to the sect’s makeshift meeting house. It was also Miao Mei’s residence after returning from her scouting trip.

  “I’ve found what you wanted,” she said once he walked in. A large map was placed in the middle of the room denoting collective information they gathered from the area. With Miao Mei’s contribution, marked down on the map was a waterfall, a pond spring, and several beast caves dotted around the landscape.

  But the real treasure was above the waterfall further up the mountains. The Great Ape Breathing Method had a method to amplify its growth written inside the manual: secret medicines. And to make these medicines, they needed materials, of which there was a group of ape beasts that matched the description.

  Other manuals like the Red Falcon Breathing Method did not currently have the same feature, so the Seven Mysteries Gate in its current condition had lost the ability to produce those medicines. Yet the sect had such abilities previously.

  Lu Qingshan aimed to regain the specific parts of the manuals that contained the recipes. Since the Jade Skies Sect had stolen them all, he needed to confront them.

  He knew he needed help. To restore the strength of the sect as soon as possible, he opened the Great Ape Breathing Method to the rest of the disciples, but only the beginning pages. Meanwhile, the Elders received the entire method in full. That gave everyone something to work towards.

  Still, other than himself, the Seven Mysteries Gate's population had dwindled down to twenty-three. The sect was really weak now. He was basically the only thing propping them up as a small-sized sect. And martial arts took time to learn — no one else could match his speed.

  But he could be even faster. Lu Qingshan needed to start making those secret medicines soon. He turned his attention back to the map, making a copy of the core information, and stored it in a pouch on his side.

  “Continue with your work," he said to the rest of the Seven Mysteries Gate before he followed Miao Mei up the trail.

  Lu Qingshan made sure to continue grinding experience during the trip. While Miao Mei led him around, he practiced the basic movements of Deer Steps to climb up the mountain.

  It took a full week for them to reach the point she spotted. But his Deer Steps also grew closer to the next level. Different environments sometimes provided him with better growth.

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  Deer Steps (Level 3, 8633/10000)

  Miao Mei stopped at the waterfall’s bottom. “I left a trail of markings on the way to the top,” she said. “You should be able to reach the area yourself.”

  Lu Qingshan dismissed her with a nod. She bowed, then left to explore more of the water source. In the meantime, he cast a good long look at the area.

  The recipe for the Great Ape Breathing Method’s secret medicine called for their body parts mixed with medicinal herbs. Yan Xi knew what herbs they needed, so he delegated that task to him. Lu Qingshan's goal here was to grab a few monster ape corpses.

  The heart of a monster ape made the best version of the medicine, while lesser yet still vital organs produced a standard version. Their ground-up flesh could be used for a substandard variant.

  Skin made clothes, and bones produced weapons. Dong Qianyu knew how to turn teeth into thrown weapons. A few of the other disciples also needed the food, as monster meat was great nourishment for martial artists. Each ape corpse was a veritable treasure trove.

  Lu Qingshan soon spotted the place Miao Meo mentioned and waited there into the night. There was a small group of six monster apes nearby. He studied their movements, trying to imitate their behavior and breathing to improve his own technique. Then, once they were dead asleep, he struck.

  Lu Qingshan descended down the mountain like a falcon in flight. His figure barely came up to the monster ape’s leg. But with above Marrow Tempering battle strength, he was able to hunt these beasts. He targeted the biggest one he saw.

  A stomp crushed the bones in its hand. It awoke with a furious howl, awakening its fellow apes who screamed back.

  Lu Qingshan switched targets, ducking beneath their swipes. He used the beasts’ burly bodies to block other attacks so that only one could engage him at a time in melee. They were smart enough to scatter and lob rocks at him instead, but dodging those was simple enough with the enhanced agility given to him by the Great Ape Breathing Method. In this way, Lu Qingshan cut down three of the apes before he had to retreat.

  The other three chased after him on the ground and from the trees. Lu Qingshan was repeatedly forced into combat again and again, but he applied a few evasive maneuvers and eventually managed to isolate them into a brief one-on-one. After defeating two of the monster apes, they howled in grief, hobbling away.

  Lu Qingshan waited until their mournful wails faded into the distance before he took out a long piece of rope. He tied the three corpses together and started dragging their bodies back to camp. It was a long ways back, and he constantly kept an eye out for an ambush.

  Dong Qianyu met him halfway on his trip and took over the task. It freed him up to quickly make his way back and enter a period of seclusion once more. He vowed to push as many martial arts as possible to their limit before leaving.

  ---

  One and a half months later, various sounds like the tapping of water droplets, the howls of an ape, and the cries of a bird died down in a small cave. Palm, fist, and claw marks decorated the walls. Lu Qingshan smiled to himself and summoned the stone slab.

  Lu Qingshan (21 years old)

  Lifespan Remaining: 45 years

  Cultivation: Mortal Shedding - Bone Tempering

  Techniques: Tiger Fist (Limit), Deer Steps (Limit), Red Falcon Breathing Method (Level 3, 3211/10000), Layered Rain Inner Force (Level 3, 3101/10000), Stoneskin Technique (Level 3, 1118/10000), River Surge Inner Force (Level 3, 1602/10000), Crimson Claw Technique (Level 3, 519/10000), Great Ape Breathing Method (Level 1, 5048/10000), Tiger Roar Technique (Limit), Crane Wings Technique (Limit), Iron Bear Technique (Limit), Viper Strike Technique (Limit), Basic Hand-to-hand (Limit)

  Mystic Jade Essence - Dao Fruit of Sublime Miracles - Condensing... 99%

  He'd brought five different martial arts techniques to their limit. Great Ape Breathing Method was nearing the halfway point to the next level, and his other techniques were slowly making their way upwards as well. All this was before the Mystic Jade Essence finished condensing. He had a feeling the higher his martial arts attainment, the better he'd be able to utilize it.

  Lu Qingshan exited the cave and observed how the Seven Mysteries Gate was performing. They were doing well. Yan Xi's medicine making skills were good, giving each disciple a chance to rise above their previous station. Some of them were even slated to break through to the Bone Tempering realm soon — much faster than expected had the sect not been attacked.

  A few more helpers would make his next hunt much easier. His mood dampened as he thought about the last battle. He would be lying if he said that he felt nothing with each death of a fellow disciple. Lu Qingshan didn't want to learn their names just yet until they had proven themselves. It made it easier to handle loss.

  It was time to return to the sect's grounds and see what had changed since the invasion. Did the Jade Skies Sect retreat after losing their Marrow Tempering experts? Lu Qingshan didn't know, but if he had to be honest with himself, he just wanted another fight. Practicing martial arts the way he did often gave him a sense of invincibility.

  But then he remembered the chill he felt when witnessing strong martial artists like himself die instantly and without a sound. He might’ve been able to break the blood melting phenomenon this time — but what about the next? There was no guarantee that Marrow Tempering was the limit of that person's power.

  The Lu Qingshan of today could defeat the previous him within moments. Every sky had a sky above it, and he warned himself not to get too cocky. At least he needed to know what he was facing before he mindlessly rushed to fight.

  His previous set of martial arts had been elevated by another level. Like Tiger Fist, Deer Steps at its limit gave him a new state of being. It was difficult to describe, but it was as if he instinctively knew where best to step, stop, and dodge whenever he moved. He called this state Deer Traverses the Forest.

  Meanwhile, the four auxiliary techniques at their limit had spawned dozens of variations, making them more varied and unpredictable. He also gained a sense of how to employ each one with another, starting with imbuing his thrown Crane Wings stance with the momentum from Viper Strike. Lu Qingshan was still making sense of all these variations when he encountered an unexpected sight.

  Living in the ruins of his past sect was a neighbor. And not a friendly one, but the White Jade Sect, one that had competed with them for decades over every opportunity. Lu Qingshan frowned.

  Unleashing a slaughter here would accomplish nothing but have some other sect move in. It might also invite the Jade Skies Sect to investigate. Lu Qingshan didn’t want to face the mysterious expert so soon.

  One of his goals was to come pick up the scrolls he hid in his house, having lacked the ability to store them beforehand. With the camp well established, they had a storage place now. It was a good thing his belongings were tucked away. He hadn't expected to see more enemies so soon, but he hoped nobody bothered to check yet.

  Lu Qingshan stealthily made his way to the house. He avoided patrols in his way and eventually managed to make it there without incident. But then a chill clung to his spine.

  Lu Qingshan immediately stopped breathing and hid as quickly as he could. Deer Traverses the Forest stepped over a cluster of branches without making a sound. He tried to still his trembles as a man exited the house and looked around.

  It was the last thing he wanted to see. The mysterious expert was here.