Lu Qingshan shook himself awake. Scattered across the table in front of him was a series of scrolls he had been studying the night before. Even after the impromptu rest, no insights had come to him yet.

  Ten years he had stayed in this world, awakening as a child on his deathbed surrounded by vicious neighbors. They'd been rifling through his belongings while he'd struggled to digest the child's memories. His dire state made it easy for him to play dead, but the situation still wasn't good after they left.

  Orphaned, poor, and surrounded by gangs, Lu Qingshan relied on one thing to prop him up: a mysterious stone slab that he could summon to the forefront of his mind anytime. He still remembered the initial words written on it.

  Lu Qingshan (11 years old)

  Lifespan Remaining: 55 years

  Cultivation: None

  Techniques: None

  Mystic Jade Essence - Dao Fruit of Sublime Miracles - Condensing... 0%

  It didn't take long for him to figure out its workings. Lifespan determined how many years he had to live. Cultivation hinted at a mysterious power. Mystic Jade Essence would take time to bear fruit. Techniques were more difficult to understand, but he managed to make something work by simply waving his fists around. A new line appeared in the stone soon afterwards.

  Techniques: Basic Hand-to-hand (Level 1, 1/10000)

  At first, Lu Qingshan fought like a complete amateur. But each training session further steadied his stance and solidified his blows. As he continued practicing, he found more and more knowledge about melee combat creeping into his mind — knowledge that wouldn't disappear.

  Seeing himself grow steadily in strength gave Lu Qingshan all the motivation he needed to become a training maniac. He was able to quickly bring himself into a focused state no matter where or when he practiced. With a present and future goal of watching these numbers tick upwards, he'd secured his sole anchor to life.

  That led him to where he was now: elder of the Seven Mysteries Gate, a local sect he'd joined at fourteen years old. He'd honed his hand-to-hand skill the best he could beforehand. Each increment in points grew his strength and combat ability until he finally felt himself qualified to attend one of their recruiting sessions.

  At level three of the Basic Hand-to-hand technique, his martial arts ability had reached a level far beyond his peers. It had been a breeze for him to enter the Outer Sect of the Seven Mysteries Gate, and he had chosen it for one specific reason: history.

  Rumor was that the Seven Mysteries Gate contained legacies dating back hundreds of years. If he was to search for the truths about this world, and his current situation, this would be the best place to start.

  Once inside, he continued toiling away as an outer disciple, working odd jobs and grinding experience. Access to iron weapons only made his Basic Hand-to-hand skill develop faster as he occasionally incorporated them into his training sessions. As it rapidly approached the next level, Lu Qingshan expected to see it reach level four, but was surprised to witness his first maxed-out skill instead.

  Techniques: Basic Hand-to-hand (Limit)

  What he gained was another amplifier to how quickly he could accumulate proficiency.

  At the limit of Basic Hand-to-hand, when Lu Qingshan practiced, he sparred with imaginary enemies — increasing his techniques' proficiency as if he was actually in battle. Though direct sparring was still faster overall, this method was much more convenient. After all, facing a fellow disciple with his equivalent level of strength wasn't exactly easy.

  The ability had come in handy when Lu Qingshan had then switched to practicing a true martial art: Tiger Fist. With such a solid foundation, learning Tiger Fist brought twice the results with half the effort. As a basic set of stances and forms given to each Outer Disciple, mastery of it could allow a normal person to finally enter the first stage of martial arts: Flesh Tempering.

  It only took two years for him to become an Inner Disciple. Though only one year faster than his peers, his combat ability soared beyond theirs. Winning an outer sect competition gave him the opportunity to learn a new technique, Deer Steps. Entering the inner sect as a favored seed gave him a free Inner Force technique, Layered Rain.

  From that point on, he practiced his techniques in unison, continuing to learn as much as possible within his means. There was more to the world than what he saw on the surface. He had to focus on himself, hiding as deeply as he could. Lu Qingshan pursued whatever skills he could gather and stacked as many as six legitimate martial arts from the sect. None of them directly enabled him to break through to the higher realms, but he thought he might as well use the opportunity to continue building his strength in secret.

  Heads of martial sects like his usually stopped at the level of Marrow Tempering, where blood energy coursed like rivers and energy surged boundlessly. Top sects went one step further, containing Grand Elders at Viscera Tempering, with a vitality unmatched by any other. However, lesser techniques given to Outer Disciples would never reach that level.

  That didn't matter much to Lu Qingshan though. Even when slowed down by his host of techniques, he still reached Bone Tempering in two years. Decades beyond his peers, enough to qualify as an Elder. Of course, such a promotion process should've taken a few more years at least, but the sudden deaths of two Elders and six promising disciples had pushed it forwards.

  Such an emergency had alarmed many in the sect. Lu Qingshan made a good showing of an emergency breakthrough, finally revealing some of his cultivation after another half year of raising a few more of his other martial arts to the same level. Even without displaying his other techniques, he could defeat other Elder candidates at Bone Tempering. Anyone unconvinced could talk to his fists.

  But as a new Elder of the Seven Mysteries Gate, Lu Qingshan was busy day and night. Plumbing the historical records of the sect's scripture pavilion was more difficult than he thought. Perhaps the sect had made an attempt to hide their past, and many of the records had no manner of verification, remaining here as stories he needed time to verify.

  At other times, he'd have to fend off probes from other martial sects looking for signs of weakness. Though he faced no problems in battle, the same could not be said for other Elders. Running around to help them keep order inevitably slowed down his search, though his martial arts continued to progress nicely.

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  Lu Qingshan sighed. There was so much he hadn't yet had the chance to look through.

  The scrolls on his desk were his best sources he'd uncovered over the years. He would normally have more time, but their sect master had been confirmed missing at least a week ago. This would usually be normal, were it not for the fact he had missed an important sect meeting without notifying anyone else. And the one after that, as well.

  Anyone could tell something was wrong, and panic quickly rose within the sect. Even Lu Qingshan was double-checking the stone stele more often than usual. The only thing keeping him from running away was that he'd already broken through in an Elder-level martial technique: the Red Falcon Breathing Method. This one had the potential to take him to Marrow Tempering.

  Lu Qingshan (21 years old)

  Lifespan Remaining: 45 years

  Cultivation: Mortal Shedding - Bone Tempering

  Techniques: Red Falcon Breathing Method (Level 3, 47/10000), Tiger Fist (Level 3, 9955/10000), Deer Steps (Level 3, 5190/10000), Layered Rain Inner Force (Level 3, 2217/10000), Stoneskin Technique (Level 3, 422/10000), River Surge Inner Force (Level 3, 190/10000), Crimson Claw Technique (Level 2, 9231/10000), Basic Hand-to-hand (Limit)

  Mystic Jade Essence - Dao Fruit of Sublime Miracles - Condensing... 97%

  A knock on the door shook him out of his stupor. But Lu Qingshan hesitated to open it. As a known martial arts fanatic always deep in training, no one should have been visiting him at this hour.

  He refused to answer, holding his breath. Two knocks rang again. After a while, footsteps faded away into the distance, and silence returned. Lu Qingshan tiptoed to the window and took a peek.

  A dagger flew towards his face, bouncing off his skin. Lu Qingshan clawed at the air, and tore open the throat of a man standing outside, whose eyes were wide open in shock.

  "A Bone Tempering expert," he muttered as he crushed their skull. The situation had already gone well out of hand. He swept his hands over the man's body, taking great care to check hidden pockets. Indeed, there was something hidden inside the folds of his inner clothing.

  Lu Qingshan hoped for a new martial art, but what he received was instead a folded-up note. It described some important secrets about the sect that no outsider should've had. Clearly there was a traitor at the Elder level.

  His current cultivation hadn't yet reached the peak of Bone Tempering, but his combat ability was well over that level. There was a chance to fish in troubled waters as long as he pushed Tiger Fist a little bit more.

  When Lu Qingshan first visited the sect's Scripture Pavilion, he had been warned there were Marrow Tempering experts guarding the place in case he ever wanted to cause trouble. If even they couldn't hold the fort, he'd stand no chance himself. The safest option at the moment was to undergo a final training session of Tiger Fist.

  Lu Qingshan took a deep breath. His right leg swept out towards an unseen enemy. A series of fists, palms, and kicks were moving around constantly, beating the air back. The growls of a tiger and loud breathing reminiscent of a bird's cry filled the room.

  Wooden splinters fell from the wall as he slammed two palms into it, pushing himself off with the force. Lu Qingshan was fighting three imaginary enemies now, and then four. He dodged the ambush and lunged past their dagger to bury his fist deep within the space where an enemy should've been.

  The Red Falcon Breathing Technique, focused on speed, had the potential to push someone to Marrow Tempering. But the best thing about it was that he didn't need to actively focus to raise its proficiency, making it the easiest to incorporate into his routine. He could feel his blood energy swelling with each passing cycle.

  Lu Qingshan became faster and faster, finishing off imaginary enemies and welcoming wave after wave of more. A rush of energy surged through his limbs — and his blood roared. Power shot through every inch of his body as his fist tore through a piece of furniture.

  Tiger Fist (Limit)

  Breathing heavily, he stepped back. But his blood was still restless. Crimson Claw was also nearing a breakthrough, and the only thing slowing him down before was his relative lack of blood energy. Which he now had in spades after his breakthrough.

  Lu Qingshan did not rest for even a moment before he began another round of combat. His hand swelled. blood energy pooled in his fingers and imbued them with an additional layer of strength. He took to targeting walls this time, dancing around the room and tearing away at them.

  Flecks of red sprang from his hand and his next strike pulverized a segment of the wall. The ground was littered with chunks of wood by the time he stopped. Lu Qingshan then took a glance at the stone slab.

  Crimson Claw Technique (Level 3, 1/10000)

  He grinned.

  Tiger Fist at its limit did not allow him to reach Marrow Tempering, but it did give him a secret technique: Tiger Stalks Prey. It suppressed his blood energy and made it harder for others to detect him.

  Lu Qingshan immediately activated the technique and his blood energy automatically settled down. He was surprised to find he exuded the energy of someone who had only recently reached the Bone Tempering stage, and definitely not someone at its peak. It looked like the secret technique helped hide his true cultivation level as well.

  At this point, he was ready to leave. But without anything secure to carry these scrolls away, he had to leave them here. Lu Qingshan delivered a few more blows to his residence to make it seem like the place had already been looted. Then, he hid the scrolls in a secret compartment before stepping into the nearby forest.

  The dirt path leading towards the Scripture Pavilion was quiet, but he soon came across two trails of blood. Following them led to two corpses of fellow sect members. These blood trails didn't travel very far, meaning they stood no fighting chance and died relatively quickly.

  Lu Qingshan made his way to one of the sect’s housing sections. He grimaced. What was usually a prime location arranged close to the Scripture Pavilion, meant for those with power and their followers, was now in ruins. Those same beautiful houses all lay empty, with blood, rubble, and shattered pieces of metal laying on the ground.

  As Lu Qingshan slowly approached the Scripture Pavilion, he furrowed his brows. He heard nothing. The pavilion was eerily empty.

  He did not continue forwards. This should've been a heavily contested area. It had become much too quiet for his liking. It gave him a sense of wrongness.

  But the possibility of recovering his sect's martial arts repository was too good an opportunity to pass on. He decided to wait, lurking in a shaded corner on top of a destroyed building. Hidden behind the wall, Lu Qingshan sat still and snuck a look at the pavilion from time to time.

  Finally, after the sky had long turned dark, he heard footsteps. Four of them, and they were steadily making their way across the rubble. As they were about to pass his building, the footsteps stopped.

  Lu Qingshan held his breath. The group of four began to move after what was presumably a short conversation. Were they also put off by the quietness?

  He peered out his vantage point once the footsteps faded away. He watched the four of them climb up the rubble, carefully scout out the area, and search a few of the nearby houses for valuables. He saw them converge near the pavilion's entrance, take tentative steps onto the pavilion, and finally, head on inside.

  And then, they froze. And collapsed. Four bodies dropped to the floor and melted away into a puddle of blood. Lu Qingshan couldn't tear his eyes away.

  A man walked out of the pavilion. No. Not walked. Glided. Like a ghost, he disappeared into the distance.