Lu Qingshan remembered what Liu Yingting was talking about. A year before, his Elders had discovered a cliff face near the edge of the woods and down the mountain range. Below it was another series of mountains that eventually trailed off into water. Lu Qingshan wasn’t sure if this was the sea or not, and never had the chance to investigate personally.

  But they had felt the same pleasant sensation of the spiritual land nearby. Two of the Elders and a few disciples continued to oversee the area, making sure nobody came close. Qin Ye and himself were too busy to head over there and make sure the area was safe. It was far from their current camp.

  That marked two places where the spiritual land phenomenon appeared, and there could be more on the other sides of the mountain range. Lu Qingshan was not wholly averse to letting the news leak out. It was only a matter of time. But he wanted to delay as much as possible to buy time for his sect’s development.

  Now that one of the Elders had returned with important news, Lu Qingshan hurried over there while continuing to chant the Insect Harmony Mantra. He brought a cluster of a hundred Bloodseeker Flies and began staking out the area with them. Eventually, he managed to lock down the range where the pleasant feeling seemed to come from.

  The flies had led him to a small crack in the cliff face. He carefully stepped over some loose rocks, wobbled through the shaky earth, and drew close to the hole. At this range, it was almost as if there was a small warm breeze flowing past his hair when he put his head close to the crack.

  He didn’t see anything inside. When he sent a group of Bloodseeker Flies to go as deep as possible, they didn’t come back out. Lu Qingshan waited there for an hour, continuously chanting the mantra and watching the numbers go up.

  He stood back up once it was clear they wouldn't be coming back. The crack should not have gone so deep that the flies would lose their way. Whatever was down there was probably the source of the spiritual land. And it was changing, too, causing the spiritual land to begin growing. Lu Qingshan decided to begin a deeper exploration into the depths of the forest once they drove back the treasure-seeking martial artists.

  When he got back to camp, he sent an additional Elder alongside the first two to oversee. Three months passed by while he continued to grind the proficiency of the Insect Harmony Mantra. His sect had successfully fought off another two exploration teams with increased numbers and Viscera Tempering experts at their head. But it was clear the White Jade Sect had lost all credibility once the third team and the largest, was wiped out.

  The Insect Harmony Mantra was rapidly approaching the fourth level. Another two months was what Lu Qingshan estimated he'd need. In the meantime, he explored the forest with his cluster of flies, delivering medicinal plants he extracted to the sect. The Seven Mysteries Gate entered a period of unprecedented development with the multitude of beneficial herbs discovered in the spiritual land.

  They even found herbs that could aid in cultivation. Li Fanghua and Qin Ye might've competed for them were it not for the fact that the beginner's cultivation booklet mentioned a profession of alchemists who maximized the medicinal effects of the herbs. For now, the sect left the herbs to grow.

  Lu Qingshan finally prepared a set of herbs that enabled him to cultivate the Golden Shell Body. This technique required the practitioner to bathe themselves in an especially medicinally-concentrated bath, and he had lacked these herbs before. With the methods described inside the Hundred Beasts Refinement technique, he believed Liu Yingting could come up with something good.

  After another month, it was ready. Liu Yingting's brows were furrowed as he wandered around the building, making sure everything was in place. He had said the process was going to be painful since both methods were violent.

  Lu Qingshan chose to trade some of his rare medicinal herbs found in the midst of the Bloodseeker Fly Swarm in return for the mother bear's blood essence. After Liu Yingting nodded his head, Lu Qingshan took off his clothes and sat into the medicinal bath. Immediately, he could feel a warm heat rush through his body towards his head.

  Lu Qingshan began letting the Great Ape Breathing Method run its course. The Blood Pulse Technique was practiced at full force, though he couldn't unleash its power fully while inside the medicinal path. Its experience ticked up quickly all the same.

  Hundred Beasts Refinement called for the blood essence of Qi Refining realm monster beasts to extract the greatest effects. For those with weaker realms, like Embryonic Breathing, it had a series of methods too, but warned that the cultivator should at least reach Jade Cleansing or the medicinal effects might prove too dangerous.

  Lu Qingshan experienced what the book warned about when the waters became blazing hot. He groaned in pain, immediately adding all the other breathing methods into the mix. His Blood Seas Inner Force worked without rest to extract the medicinal power of the baths and his Golden Drop Inner Force condensed rapidly.

  He roared. On the verge of going crazy, Lu Qingshan let the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique run past the halfway point for the first time. The pain almost knocked him unconscious, but the experience of his martial arts practice had been so deeply ingrained into his mind that he never stopped practicing.

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  Blood Seas Inner Force slowly patched him up afterwards. The searing pain had died down slightly. Lu Qingshan let the medicinal bath continue while Liu Yingting took notes in the background.

  Fifteen minutes seemed like an hour when Lu Qingshan finally stood back up. His eyes were immediately drawn to the two additions on his stone slab. The pain was well worth it.

  Lu Qingshan (24 years old)

  Lifespan Remaining: 42 years

  Cultivation: Mortal Shedding - Viscera Tempering

  Techniques: Hundred Beasts Refinement (Level 1, 1/10000), Insect Harmony Mantra (Level 3, 6325/10000), Blood Seas Inner Force (Level 4, 4101/10000), Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique (Level 1, 8317/10000), Red Falcon Breathing Method (Limit), Tiger Fist (Limit), Deer Steps (Limit), Stoneskin Technique (Limit), Blood Pulse Technique (Level 1, 9980/10000), Great Ape Breathing Method (Level 5, 109/10000), Seven Steps Technique (Level 3, 3033/10000), Golden Shell Body (Level 1, 247/10000), Roaming Tiger Breathing Method (Level 2, 9001/10000), Nimble Deer Breathing Method (Level 2, 8134/10000), Golden Drop Inner Force (Level 2, 6219/10000), 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... 26%

  All his other martial arts had improved drastically as well, condensing several months of hard work into those fifteen minutes. The next time he underwent a session of Hundred Beasts Refinement though, he'd need a different monster beast's blood essence. At the moment, the mother bear was the strongest in the area, with plenty of potential that matched the technique's needs. Not just any Viscera Tempering beast would do.

  The medicinal bath had also given him enough blood energy to finish tempering the fourth organ of Viscera Tempering, his lungs. He now matched the bear's current realm. At this level, a martial artist gained boundless stamina, seemingly able to run without stopping for vast distances.

  Lu Qingshan nodded at Liu Yingting, who was still jotting down notes when he left. He took off into a run, soaring through the trees with his speed. With the Blood Pulse Technique so close to a breakthrough he needed an outlet to confirm his battle power.

  It was finally time to rush recklessly into the depths of the spiritual land and figure out its contents. Before, he had been unsure. But now?

  Lu Qingshan knew he could defeat the Jade Cleansing stage demonic cultivator many times over. Such was the power of Hundred Beasts Refinement’s improvement on his flesh and blood body. And a third Viscera Tempering level technique in the Great Ape Breathing Method increased his might yet again.

  A cluster of Bloodseeker Flies accompanied him through the forest. He sent them ahead to scour the land of prey, and to retreat once they encountered something too powerful. They rewarded his decision to bring them along when an Aperture Tempering level monster beast responded to their aggression.

  It was a massive toad, towering over him like the trees. Lu Qingshan ducked beneath its tongue swipe. His eyes glittered.

  The Hundred Beasts Refinement was telling him that the monster’s blood essence could be used for the next round of medicinal baths. But it would be a hard fight. This toad could’ve held its own against all three of their Aperture Tempering level battle powers had it been at the scene previously, even with Yan Xi’s sacrifice.

  Lu Qingshan’s first move was to direct the flies away. Then he closed in. The toad’s tongue lashed out again, and he dodged it by a hair.

  Poisoned monster teeth flew out and buried themselves into the tongue. But it didn’t seem like the monster cared. It spat out a glob of acid, clouding up the air in front of Lu Qingshan.

  He swerved to the side and dashed nimbly up a tree. Another tongue strike severed the previous branch. Lu Qingshan was already gone, having scaled down to propel himself onto another tree.

  The tongue retracted and shot out yet again, impaling tree after tree as Lu Qingshan hurtled through the air like a monkey. He seized the opportunity once the flaws of the toad’s tongue became obvious.

  Seven steps pounded the earth and Lu Qingshan was right beside the toad. He slammed a palm into the monster. Its skin exploded.

  Blood painted the ground red. Lu Qingshan tossed a poison vial into the wound and ran off. The toad leapt away.

  It struck out with its tongue again, but Lu Qingshan had its life within his grasp. He dodged every blow until the toad visibly slowed down, but not as much as he expected. It seemed the monster was immune to poison.

  That was alright. A gaping wound was still in its side and was worsening with every minute. The toad seemed to understand what was happening, turning to hop away, only to face another palm strike from Lu Qingshan. Another patch of skin exploded.

  Lu Qingshan scaled up its back and landed a series of Blood Pulse palms while the toad was disorientated by his sudden all-out attacks. He dived to the ground soon after. Rivers of acid poured from its skin and turned the ground black.

  It was on its last legs. Feeble hops were all it could do to run away. Lu Qingshan stayed at range, hurling the monster teeth he had. It tried to lash out again, but was too slow and predictable.

  Lu Qingshan did not shy away this time. His palm struck the tongue and exploded parts of it off. His claw sliced open a long gash as the monster beast brought it back. Seven steps hit the earth once more, and the toad lost its life.

  Lu Qingshan bowed deeply to the monster. He drained the corpse of blood and stored it in a jade box. This blood essence would be very useful for another attempt at Hundred Beasts Refinement.

  He let his hundred-strong group of flies devour the rest of the body. Perhaps these insects could bring him a surprise after digesting such powerful monster beast meat.