Lu Qingshan had withheld his true combat strength in the battle with the birds, in case a surprise appeared. Like this one. He noticed each bandit was well-trained, as they appeared to stand in loose stances, but in actuality were ready to support each other at a moment's notice. Some of them carried sharp iron weapons, and the two leading experts even wore armor. These were no simple bandits.
"We can give you this bird," he said. "We'll take the one down there. They're all poisoned anyway — wouldn't make good meat."
Lu Qingshan wanted them to lower their guards. But the lead bandit just smiled. Without another word, he pointed at him, and the ten men attacked.
Not a single ounce of fear was present in Lu Qingshan's movements as he alone rushed forwards to hold them back. The sect's newer Bone Tempering experts had lost their footing against the Marrow Tempering bird's frenzied escape, but quickly regained it once they realized his lack of alarm. Each of Lu Qingshan's fists carried the power to kill any one of the bandits in a single blow if they did not handle it properly.
Two bandits had their chests caved in with the power of his combined three inner force techniques before the group managed to regain ground. But Lu Qingshan's fury could not be stopped. Weapons grazed his skin and barely made a scratch. He roared; the bandits staggered.
Behind him, Miao Mei's shortsword entered the bird's eye. Liu Yingting doused his own weapon in another batch of poison and threw it into the wound. The bird quickly collapsed moments later.
One of the bandits split away from the group in a panic. Like dominoes, the others began to falter as well, and Lu Qingshan's presence struck true terror in their hearts. His claws tore through one of their Marrow Tempering experts with such ease that they weren't sure their eyes were real. Once the rest of the Elders joined in, there was no longer a contest.
Dozens of corpses lay on the ground as Lu Qingshan surveyed the scene. There was something wrong with the situation. He looked at Meng Zhang after the man had gathered a summary about the bodies. "They seem to just be bandits," the man said.
"Are you really sure these are random bandits?" he asked again.
"They had no recognizable markings on their equipment. Some of their clothes were tattered, and the money they carried was mostly silver taels. Probably robbed."
Lu Qingshan continued thinking. He was pretty certain of his senses that they were no simple force. As elites, he wagered it was likely they were supported by some sects.
His instinct told him it was the White Jade Sect, as they were the ones with the most motive to place people around this area. Considering it had been many days since he stole the Red Falcon secret medicine formula, if they knew about this resource point beforehand, they could've known his next step of where to go to get the most value.
And if this elite force died here, he knew trouble was about to arrive. "We have to hide," he said, making his thoughts known. He stared at Wu Ruoling, who nodded and began working with the others to gather what they needed.
She had proven herself in this fight. If she was a traitor, then she didn't have a better moment to strike than this. The efficacy of her medicinal formula herbs would be easily proven soon.
After extracting the organs and pieces of flesh they needed from as many birds as they could carry, Lu Qingshan and his group fled the mountain. They went in the direction of the lake clearing where he'd killed Yuan Feng. It probably wasn't the best place to hide, but he needed to buy himself some time to rapidly improve his martial arts.
They were able to reach the location during the night. Lu Qingshan hoped it would take a while for the White Jade Sect to send out the news. He really needed time. Meanwhile, Yan Xi returned back to the Seven Mysteries Gate camp to warn the other disciples trouble was coming.
Lu Qingshan began his martial arts practice almost immediately, leaving the Elders to deal with their surroundings. The restriction on the lake had luckily faded away, letting them walk in without any harm. Most of the herbs here were actually not too damaged by that last move Yuan Feng made
A few days later, Liu Yingting and Wu Ruoling gave him their secret medicines, and he entered true seclusion.
---
Lu Qingshan (21 years old)
Lifespan Remaining: 45 years
Cultivation: Mortal Shedding - Marrow Tempering
Techniques: Tiger Fist (Limit), Deer Steps (Limit), Red Falcon Breathing Method (Level 4, 2/10000), Blood Pulse Technique (Level 1, 250/10000), Layered Rain Inner Force (Level 3, 5207/10000), Stoneskin Technique (Level 3, 2142/10000), River Surge Inner Force (Level 3, 4111/10000), Great Ape Breathing Method (Level 2, 7897/10000), Crimson Claw Technique (Level 3, 1352/10000), Sea Revolution Inner Force (Level 2, 78/10000), 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... 0%
One Portion Condensed
Lu Qingshan looked over his stone slab with a grim smile. The trouble that was about to arrive lended him no time for rest. He stared at the Great Ape Breathing Method for a moment. If he used some of the Mystic Jade Essence, he could push that to level three, almost giving him peak Marrow Tempering amount of blood energy.
But he decided against it. The demonic cultivators that were coming would almost certainly be stronger than Yuan Feng, a mere Radiant Lake stage cultivator. If a Heart Clarity expert came, he still believed he could win. He'd take heavy injuries, but it was possible to kill them through their fleshly bodies.
But a Jade Cleansing stage cultivator was beyond his capabilities, even if he raised all his previous techniques to the fourth level. None of them had the strength to pierce the refined body of Jade Cleansing. Especially since Viscera Tempering was still so far away.
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Perhaps only the Blood Pulse Technique could give him a surprise. This was a palm technique, focused on exerting the softness of blood energy, usable with inner force. It wreaked havoc on an opponent's blood energy, disrupted their organs, and caused heavy internal bleeding. And that was at its current level.
Other than that, his last idea was to fuse his techniques together. His sole options were the techniques that had reached the limit — but his current ones almost certainly wouldn’t be strong enough to surpass multiple stages. Lu Qingshan almost started to panic, but he focused on the most optimal choice. The three inner force methods were most likely to create a viable fusion.
It might be a huge waste of potential, but he could do it in an emergency. Through this, he managed to calm himself down.
Lu Qingshan exited seclusion to find most of the Elders missing. He asked Li Fanghua, who had stayed behind, what was going on.
"We've kept a lookout," she said. "Nothing has happened yet. Yan Xi went over to town to see if he could spot an early warning."
Lu Qingshan frowned. This probably meant the demonic cultivators were charging straight towards him. His Elders were currently loyal, but he doubted they would fight to the death. And he was pretty sure that was also not in his best interest.
"You can all leave," he said. "I don't think you'll be able to secure an advantage over them."
She nodded, then dropped her calm facade. Li Fanghua was visibly trembling as she stepped into the forest. Lu Qingshan watched her leave with a worried look.
He decided to patrol the area himself. There was nothing in the lake clearing which he could use, his Elders having scraped the area clean. All Lu Qingshan could do was wait and practice Blood Pulse in the meantime.
It was fairly easy to grind for experience. As a soft technique, the movements weren't loud, flashy, or overly harsh. But it did take a fair bit of concentration over his blood energy and inner force to work together. He was able to increase his proficiency over four martial arts at the same time, which could be said to be a small blessing.
Then, he stopped. Someone was looking at him. He himself was hidden among the brush, but he trusted his senses. They were here and they knew he was here too.
Lu Qingshan stepped out of the brush and saw who he was facing. A short man, dressed in dark robes, with a grisly scar around his neck. He had already started to chant something when Lu Qingshan charged.
A tiger roar erupted, but the cultivator paid no heed. It was as if he was the only person in the world. Not even Lu Qingshan's attack could interrupt him.
The man easily dodged his palm, and finished the chant. A net of vines erupted from beneath the earth and from the trees all around them. Lu Qingshan was forced to tear through what he could, but another spell flew his way.
Dark flames fell downwards, narrowly missing his clothes. One of them caught his shoe and he was forced to kick it away. Fire consumed it moments later. The distraction enabled the cultivator to fire off another spell.
Lu Qingshan felt his blood freeze. It was the same restriction, but at a smaller scale. He roared, summoning the strength of his inner force to keep his blood from leaking out. Lu Qingshan's inner force was multiple times stronger than any other Marrow Tempering practitioner, but he could barely keep himself safe.
The man, seeing that his spell was ineffective, transformed the vines into a bloody hue. They tore into his skin, drawing blood, and he returned to the same blood melting spell again. But Lu Qingshan managed to cut out an opening.
He sprinted far away from the area. The smaller scale of the spell meant it had a certain range, and Lu Qingshan was safe as long as he stayed out of melee. But that also meant not being able to fight back.
He needed a way to counterattack. His eyes swept the area repeatedly, looking for anything he could use. Perhaps a few monster beasts lived nearby.
But when he entered a clearing where he remembered one was marked on the map, he realized the monster was already dead, its body completely drained of blood. Lu Qingshan ducked behind a tree — it was blown apart a moment later. The cultivator had already caught up.
Tree after tree was destroyed as Lu Qingshan struggled to find a way out. Then something caught his eye. In the distance he heard a roar, as if a monster was fighting someone else.
He dashed towards the noise. Lu Qingshan emerged in the clearing safely when he saw a group of three martial artists beating down a giant bear along with a giant boar. They turned to look at him, but he continued running.
"Stop right there!" they shouted. Then one of their heads was blown off, and the other two collapsed, gasping for air as blood clogged their throats. The bear and the boar, sensing danger, ran away, only to rapidly crumple.
Lu Qingshan gained a moment of reprieve, but it was not enough. He never managed to find an opportunity to lose the demonic cultivator. Even as the colors of the trees turned darker, he could tell the man was still behind him from the occasional spell.
This could not continue. Lu Qingshan was sure his enemy was starting to catch up as he grew more experienced with the terrain. He only had a single chance to break free.
Lu Qingshan no longer decided to preserve his potential. Any deficiencies created today could be made up in the future as long as he lived another day. He ran on instinct, summoning the stone slab in his mind, and commanding the Mystic Jade Essence to move.
The moment the Mystic Jade Essence entered the stone slab, Lu Qingshan knew what to do. There was no backing out now.
A tenth of essence could elevate a martial art by one level, on average, to his current level. It took much more for a breakthrough that would elevate his realm. The Great Ape Breathing Method was one example — raising it by two levels would take a whopping three-quarters of essence.
Red Falcon would take one quarter as well if he targeted it. The two combined would definitely propel him to the peak of Marrow Tempering, and possibly even Viscera Tempering.
But Lu Qingshan was not satisfied at just pushing his cultivation realm further. There was another way to improve his battle strength while also maintaining future potential. And that was to elevate a martial art in its entirety.
If he had stood on a higher stage from the start, everything would take less essence. But Lu Qingshan no longer had a choice. These wayward thoughts and regrets were quickly snuffed out, and his path locked in. He pushed the Mystic Jade Essence into the words denoting the Layered Rain, River Surge, and Sea Revolution inner force techniques.
Martial arts insights blossomed in his mind and his realm rapidly solidified to the peak of Marrow Tempering. Nearly half of his Mystic Jade Essence was consumed. Lu Qingshan focused on the Crimson Claw Technique as well, dragging it up to its limit.
It was finally enough. The second half of Mystic Jade Essence flowed into the four techniques. More wondrous insights flowed through his mind while he concentrated on comprehending all he could.
Blood Seas Inner Force was the name of this new technique. It combined the three features of the previous inner force techniques and added offensive inner force methods related to channeling blood energy. Martial insights related to the Blood Pulse Technique were combined with his personal understanding of the demonic cultivator’s Blood Melting restriction.
And from this higher level martial art, Lu Qingshan learned of the realm above Viscera Tempering. Aperture Tempering — open the lower, middle, and upper apertures and refine the essence, energy, and spirit. Now he knew the level of a Jade Cleansing stage cultivator’s physical body — and how to break it.
Lu Qingshan had the capital to finally fight back. It just so happened the demonic cultivator had also managed to catch up.
