Lu Qingshan beheld the opened boxes piled up in front of him and frowned. The situation was worse than he thought. He was reminded of the Song family’s schemes, building their own armory, but that paled in comparison to the Furious Whale Gang’s smuggled arsenal.
Most of these boxes did contain normal goods. But many more held weapons, armors, even more crossbows, and this was just a single warehouse. He didn’t know the status of the gang, but surely they’d have more than one place to store all these compared to the Song family manor.
He was glad to only see a single Divine Crossbow emerge from the warehouse. Each one was a marvel in craftsmanship constructed solely by the kingdom’s armies. Its perfectly intact structure signified a peaceful transfer from the army to the gang. That meant it was most likely sold to the Furious Whale Gang.
Qin Ye arrived not long after he finished, with two rowboats. Meng Zhang and Liu Yingting hurried to pack what they could into the rowboats. They prioritized the Divine Crossbow first, and then a set of regular crossbows, along with multiple boxes of bolts. Afterwards, there wasn’t room left for more than a single other crate.
Compared to weapons, Lu Qingshan preferred armor. He picked up a heavier box and placed it onto the rowboat. Relying on Qin Ye’s powers, a fire sparked in the warehouse, roaring rapidly to swallow everything inside. Wood became crisp and crumbled. The noise drew a few onlookers, but by the time they saw what was going on, Lu Qingshan's group had long crossed the river.
Smoke covered the skies. His Bloodseeker Flies remained in the area, watching the warehouse's ashes and the martial artists at the bridge. The Barbarian Bull Gang and the royal guards hadn’t entered open conflict yet. With such a large commotion at a place so close to them, the royal guards couldn't just ignore it. Both forces found an opportunity to withdraw.
While they handled the spread of the fire, Lu Qingshan fled into the alleyways, dragging the two boats behind them. They unloaded the crates, then set fire to the rowboats to wipe out the evidence.
“Who are we giving these to?” Meng Zhang finally spoke after confirming nobody was around.
Lu Qingshan had no groups in mind, but he knew the three brothers were not as trustworthy as the Azure Wind Gang. To make their banditry more authentic after killing the storekeeper, they had smashed into multiple other stores on the street, grabbing anything appearing valuable. Now they were temporarily in hiding. Lu Qingshan knew where they were, and saw that they had hidden some of the goods they stole.
Such sneaky, nearsighted actions were not what he liked in the forces he cultivated. The Azure Wind Gang's low-profile methods of retaining control were much more favorable. They were also facing off against the Barbarian Bull Gang, a more powerful opponent than air.
"The Azure Wind Gang," he replied without hesitation. Hopefully, they'd know to be careful when using the Divine Crossbow.
Meng Zhang and Liu Yingting nodded, taking a box with them. Meanwhile, Qin Ye disappeared to go back and 'observe,' but Lu Qingshan knew the boy was slacking off. He sighed. If only he had more trustworthy people around. Though Qin Ye had acquired the sword, pushing him too hard would probably backfire onto him.
He didn't know when Wu Ruoling was expected to arrive. The Bloodsense Bug could tell she was traveling somewhere, but couldn't pinpoint exactly where. All he knew was that her sensory connection was moving. Once she entered the city, some more of his plans could be activated.
For now, Lu Qingshan ordered his Elders to continue staying low-profile. There would be a time when they'd rise up in full force. Currently, they needed to prioritize not attracting too much aggression from local forces, consolidate their power, and observe the events happening in the city.
The tension between the Barbarian Bull Gang and the royal guards broke two days later when a group of negotiators from both sides managed to come to an agreement. Like nothing had happened, the martial artists scattered. Meanwhile, Lu Qingshan's flies continued to proliferate, some going over to the Song family manor to wither away. Their immortal cultivator was still there, unmoving.
Miao Mei's store produced more batches of medicine needed for their local recruited forces. With a new set of armor and crossbows, the Azure Wind Gang thrived. Their core members became even stronger, both the leader and vice-leader finally attaining the Bone Tempering stage. The rest had all reached Flesh Tempering at the minimum.
The store two shops down was taken over by someone else. It took a few days for the city to send someone to investigate, and a few weeks until someone bought the place again. This man was completely undeterred by the robbery. His joyous face often passed by the neighborhood, greeting other store owners including Miao Mei with a happy smile. He even donated his money to the beggars standing around on some occasions.
Lu Qingshan thought him suspicious. He kept a few flies lingering in the store, then returned to his martial arts practice.
It took two weeks for Wu Ruoling to finally arrive in the city and make contact with Meng Zhang. She had smuggled in a large portion of secret medicines refined from the batch of medicinal herbs retrieved from the bandit camps. She also brought good news about the Seven Mysteries Gate.
Chen Niu was the most recent Marrow Tempering expert to replace her. Three other promising seeds had appeared as peak Bone Tempering martial artists: one Seven Mysteries Gate disciple, and both the leader and vice-leader of the Iron Pine Sect. With the high amounts of secret medicine and ample food supplies, they expected many more experts to rise.
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Lu Qingshan was happy to hear all these things, and another lingering thought disappeared from his mind. Wu Ruoling's batch of secret medicine was a timely windfall. Now he had another powerful expert he could employ, and his first mission was to bring Li Fanghua's family to safety.
---
Five months later. Lu Qingshan's eyes snapped open. A pool of blood-red light greeted Qin Ye, who had just returned to tell him about the recent news.
The combination of secret medicines from both Miao Mei and Wu Ruoling propelled him much further than he thought possible. Multiple martial arts had made a breakthrough.
"What is it?" he asked Qin Ye, who looked a little frightened. The gaze cast by Lu Qingshan almost felt like a ravenous beast ready to devour whatever was standing in its way.
"The soldiers still haven't left the Liu family manor," the boy said.
The kingdom was indeed waiting for Liu Yingting to appear. Or someone else from the Liu family, perhaps. The Elder didn't know if anyone else from his family survived. But, this was still good.
After dismissing Qin Ye, Lu Qingshan took a look at the stone slab.
Lu Qingshan (24 years old)
Lifespan Remaining: 40 years
Cultivation: Mortal Shedding - Viscera Tempering
Techniques: Hundred Beasts Refinement (Level 1, 11/10000), Insect Harmony Mantra (Level 5, 1137/10000), Blood Seas Inner Force (Level 5, 24/10000), Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique (Level 2, 179/10000), Blood Pulse Technique (Level 2, 234/10000), Red Falcon Breathing Method (Limit), Tiger Fist (Limit), Deer Steps (Limit), Stoneskin Technique (Limit), Great Ape Breathing Method (Level 6, 18/10000), Seven Steps Technique (Level 3, 4138/10000), Black Fury Inner Force (Level 1, 5/10000), Soaring Crane Breathing Method (Level 1, 8720/10000), Golden Shell Body (Level 1, 2563/10000), Roaming Tiger Breathing Method (Level 4, 408/10000), Nimble Deer Breathing Method (Level 4, 33/10000), Golden Drop Inner Force (Level 3, 512/10000), Hidden Veil Technique (Level 4, 410/10000), Turtle Breath Inner Force (Level 2, 803/10000), Wave Motions Fist (Level 2, 671/10000), 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... 35%
In the past half-year, Lu Qingshan had gained an all-around improvement in a multitude of martial arts. The most important breakthrough was in the Blood Seas Inner Force. Now, killing a martial artist wouldn't just grant him a portion of their blood essence to restore his wounds. It would also steal a portion of their inner force, along with a greatly increased amount of their blood essence.
That opened the way to a breakthrough through slaughter. And it just so happened a batch of soldiers had appeared to give him a target. Bloodlust shimmered in Lu Qingshan's eyes as he stood up.
The Aperture Tempering stage was made of three small levels. The first opened the lower aperture. With a suitable manual, martial artists could eventually achieve this with enough opportunity, training, and practice, some taking more time than others. Reaching this level granted a multitude of comprehensive benefits to the martial artist, including faster digestion, an enhanced physique, and enough blood energy to battle for days.
Though many martial arts could reach the first step of Aperture Tempering, it required much more effort to reach the second step. An ample strength of inner force was required to open the middle aperture. This prevented many external methods from achieving the same, as they couldn't generate any inner force. Furthermore, inner force methods were much harder to cultivate than external methods.
At this level, a martial artist gained supernatural powers compared to their more common brethren. Running across water, onto walls and ceilings, was the bare minimum of what they could do. The sheer power of inner force they wielded gave them the ability to attack at range, and many times it had been recorded they could take the heads of generals from many meters away. Not only that, they could reduce their aging, thus extending their lifespan. Most martial artists thus made this their life's goal.
Historical records coined this level as the Innate realm, granting them the title of Grandmaster. For most, it was considered the end of the martial path. But Lu Qingshan wasn't so sure.
The third, and upper aperture, was much more elusive than the others. Even the Blood Seas Inner Force didn't give much information about this level, only that it existed. Perhaps the sixth level of the Blood Seas martial art would enhance his understanding.
He was surprised to see the Great Ape Breathing Method had a seventh level of practice. At the sixth level, the peak of Viscera Tempering was easily within the practitioner's grasp. A seventh level likely granted knowledge about the Aperture Tempering stage's opening of the lower aperture. Such a powerful martial art made sense, considering the Seven Mysteries Gate's heritage, but Lu Qingshan wondered why the sect had never pushed anyone towards that level.
The Nimble Deer Breathing Method, Turtle Breath Inner Force, and Wave Motions Fist had also achieved the next level. At his current level of power, none of these methods gave him too much of an improvement. The fourth level of Nimble Deer did help him incorporate Deer Steps' Deer Traverses the Forest into Silent Steps and Seven Steps, though.
He'd also learned the Black Fury Inner Force and Soaring Crane Breathing Method, almost pushing the latter to the second level. Both martial techniques were fairly high level as depicted by the stone slab. They would eventually surpass the Roaming Tiger and Nimble Deer.
With his martial arts improvement made visible, Lu Qingshan's bloodlust only surged. He suppressed the feeling for now and went to consult his Elders about the city's recent news. Over the past half-year, tensions had risen overall across the city's main forces.
Having the warehouse destroyed had sent the Furious Whale Gang into a rage. Both the Barbarian Bull Gang and the royal guards were attacked a few times each month, with both of them none the wiser about who was doing the raiding. In response, the Barbarian Bull Gang was whipped into a frenzy. They started conflicts with many different gangs, including the Azure Wind Gang.
The royal guards were affected as well. Not knowing the enemy's movements made them highly wary of sudden attacks. They diverted some of their people's attention to defending key locations across the city, and the Liu family manor was not one of them. It was an unexpected boon for Lu Qingshan, although he had to admit he'd prefer more people, not less.
Lu Qingshan stepped out of the Little Treasure Store, a glint in his eyes. He vanished in an instant.
