Previously, Lu Sheng had not noticed anyone, partly because the door had blocked his view. But as the carriage rolled forward, the angle shifted, revealing another corner of the courtyard.
In that corner stood the stone bridge—and the scholar.
The scholar remained there, rigid as a carved idol, his gaze locked on the passing carriage.
Lu Sheng studied him more carefully. The man’s robes were ragged and dirt-stained, torn open in several places as if left unwashed for days. His long, matted hair hung freely over his shoulders. He simply stood upon the stone bridge like a pillar driven into the ground, unmoving and silent.
“No one has entered or left the manor for many days. I doubt anyone lives there anymore. Without people coming and going, what would they even eat?” Duan Meng’an remarked, unaware of the scholar from his angle inside the carriage.
“But there is someone,” Lu Sheng replied, nodding toward the manor. “Isn’t he one?”
Duan Meng’an quickly craned his neck to look.
Yet, strangely, in the brief instant his eyes reached the spot, the scholar was gone—vanished as though swept away by the wind.
Lu Sheng’s eyes narrowed. He had only looked away long enough to answer Duan Meng’an, and even so, he had missed the moment the scholar disappeared.
“Where? Young Master, please don’t frighten me,” Duan Meng’an stammered, shivering as he peered through the gap in the doors. He saw nothing.
Lu Sheng’s gaze tightened.
“It’s nothing. Perhaps it was my imagination.”
The carriage slowly moved away from the manor. Throughout the journey, Lu Sheng could not shake the image of the scholar. A faint, uneasy intuition gnawed at him—something about that man was not right.
Before long, the group arrived at Iron Mine Village.
The village was silent—deathly still, like a forgotten graveyard. Wooden houses lined the path, some with doors left ajar, others tightly shut. Their doors shifted and creaked in the wind.
Even the strongest among the men felt a chill coil through their chests as they walked between those hollow dwellings.
Dusk settled over the village. Lu Sheng and Duan Meng’an stepped down from the carriage and entered one of the sturdier houses.
Some of the huts had leaking roofs and were unfit for shelter in the rain, but the men each found a place to spend the night. They made do with their water skins and dry rations.
Lu Sheng chose a slightly larger wooden house. His men unloaded his tent and blankets from the carriage. After kindling a fire, they boiled a pot of water drawn from a nearby brook. Dried meat and mushrooms were tossed in, and soon, the rich aroma of mushroom and sliced meat soup filled the cramped space.
The men squeezed together, eating from their bowls alongside dry rations. For them, it was a satisfying meal.
Lu Sheng, however, had no mind for food or company. He stepped outside, facing the distant direction of the manor they had passed earlier.
Moonlight draped the land in a pale sheen. Beneath it, the manor was a dim, gray lump on the horizon—just a short distance from the cluster of wooden houses.
He pulled his cloak tighter around himself. His brows drew together as he stared toward the manor, silent and thoughtful.
Duan Meng’an staggered out, the faint smell of alcohol clinging to him.
“Young Master, why aren’t you coming to join the brothers for a drink?”
Lu Sheng shook his head lightly. “Have the sentries been arranged?”
“Don’t worry, Young Master. Everything’s set. Three men are keeping watch in separate directions. After we finish eating, we’ll rotate with them,” Duan Meng’an replied. As one of Wu San’s former key men, he handled such matters with seasoned ease.
“Tomorrow, we’ll check the mine first. After that, we head to the manor.” Lu Sheng drew back his gaze, his voice calm.
“Yes, sir. The mine is nearby. If only we had managed to hire miners, we’d be producing quite a lot of iron ore already,” Duan Meng’an said with a hint of regret.
Lu Sheng asked casually, “Oh, right—what skill do you practice in the sect?”
“The Bear-Wrestling Arm from the Martial Proclamation Library, a third-level manual…” Duan Meng’an responded with a chuckle.
“Bear-Wrestling Arm? Sounds like a strength-based skill?” Lu Sheng’s interest sharpened at the mention of martial arts.
“Exactly. I, Old Duan, don’t have many strengths, but I was born with decent power. That’s why I chose it.”
With nothing else pressing at the moment, Lu Sheng continued questioning Duan Meng’an about the martial arts practiced within the sect.
Duan Meng’an, being well-versed in sect affairs, offered more information than Lu Sheng expected. From him, Lu Sheng gained a general impression of the abilities of the sect’s top leaders—skills that few had truly witnessed, for those leaders rarely needed to exert their full strength. When they acted, problems were resolved swiftly.
As for the skills of other members, they were roughly what Lu Sheng anticipated—most fell short when compared to the overwhelming might of his own Blood Fury Skill.
“Young Master is now qualified to enter the Martial Proclamation Library and browse the free manuals too! My Bear-Wrestling Arm isn’t impressive among the Strength Proficiency tier; it just suits me well,” Duan Meng’an said with a grin.
Lu Sheng returned the smile. “That makes you smart. The best skill is always the one that suits you. Bear-Wrestling Arm is one of the free manuals, I know… but I’ve never seen it. Is it a hard body skill?”
“That’s right. A hard body skill focused on training raw strength. No medicinal potions required. Very straightforward,” Duan Meng’an answered, scratching his head.
“Oh? Would you mind giving me a demonstration?” Lu Sheng’s eyes brightened. He had long wanted to practice a hard body skill, but most required medicinal potions—rendering them unsuitable for him. He hadn’t expected Duan Meng’an’s technique to need none at all.
Duan Meng’an showed no hesitation. The manual was, after all, available to all sect disciples, and the request came from his superior whose strength far eclipsed his own. Finding a withered tree nearby, he braced himself and began performing the Bear-Wrestling Arm technique upon it.
Lu Sheng questioned him in detail and, before long, had completely grasped the Bear-Wrestling Arm.
The skill had only a single level and was remarkably easy to cultivate. One simply aligned breath and posture with the mantra, imagined oneself as a bear, and struck a tree with a fixed rhythm and sequence.
That was all it required. Lu Sheng stepped forward to test it himself. No inner Qi, no explosive force—just continuous, steady impacts until the skin tingled with pain.
After practicing for a while according to the mantra, a faint itch and ache spread across his skin.
“Young Master is truly incredible. It took me many days to get the hang of it, but Young Master mastered it in a single try,” Duan Meng’an said with a pleased smile.
“It’s simple enough, and the results are decent. The only real difficulty lies in persistence. To fully master it, you’d need at least twenty years,” Lu Sheng replied. He suspected this hard body method was only part of a larger technique—too one-sided, training only raw strength and the toughness of the skin.
“However… if you follow the mantra properly, it should be done like this.”
With several martial arts cultivated to full mastery, Lu Sheng’s insight far outstripped Duan Meng’an’s. After comprehending the technique, he quickly discerned its core and even pointed out the mistakes in Duan Meng’an’s form. A few corrections from him were enough to make Duan Meng’an feel as though a veil had been lifted.
Duan Meng’an immediately tried the adjustments, and the improvement was obvious. His respect for Lu Sheng deepened even further.
Their exchange soon drew the attention of the men resting in the wooden house. One by one, they wandered over. Every man here had learned the Crimson Whale Saber Technique—the foundational saber manual of the sect. Beyond basic saber skills, it incorporated techniques designed specifically for real combat, making it surprisingly formidable.
Lu Sheng, having learned it once, turned back and began teaching them the true essence of the Crimson Whale Saber Technique.
The whole night was spent practicing and refining their skills. Only when fatigue set in did the men finally retreat to sleep.
Lu Sheng, however, remained outside the wooden house. He stood quietly as the sentries changed shifts, watching lantern lights flicker and dance in the darkness.
He steadied his breathing and slowly regulated the inner Qi flowing through his body.
Deep Blue.
The Modifier screen unfolded before him. Rows of small boxes displayed every technique he had cultivated so far.
Black Tiger Saber Technique: Level Four.
Blood Fury Skill: Level Four. Special Effect(s): Fire Poison, Incendiary.
Black Tiger Jade Crane Skill: Level Three. Special Effect(s): Rapid Homeostasis.
Physical Restoration. Tiger’s Roar and Crane’s Call.
Yin Yang Attraction: Level Three.
Ninety-Nine Strokes Eighty-Four Swallows Pursuing the Wind Blade: Level Three.
Eight Precious Steps: Level Three.
Double-Horned Blade: Level Three.
Heart-Shattering Palm: Level Three.
A complete column of martial arts detailed Lu Sheng’s repertoire. Every skill had been cultivated to its maximum.
Now, two new entries appeared at the bottom:
Bear-Wrestling Arm: Initiated.
Crimson Whale Saber Technique: Initiated.
Lu Sheng selected Begin Modification, then focused on Bear-Wrestling Arm.
Upgrade Bear-Wrestling Arm to full-mastery.
The entry blurred for a heartbeat, then sharpened once more.
It now read Full-Mastery.
Instantly, Lu Sheng felt the Black Tiger Jade Crane inner Qi drain from him at an alarming rate. The speed of depletion startled him.
This is a low-grade hard body skill—on par with Pursuing the Wind Blade. Why is it consuming so much?167Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWAjMpGe7g
His inner Qi poured into his body like water through a breached dam. In a matter of breaths, it dropped from full to half; then thirty percent… twenty… ten.
Meanwhile, his skin toughened, growing firmer and denser. The muscles on his arms and waist bulged subtly, tightening with newfound strength.
He could feel his physical power surging.
Just from a hard body skill… He remained still until the transformation completed.
After about the time it took a joss stick to burn, he finally exhaled.
It seems the physical transformation from hard body techniques far exceeds that of other skills. That must be why the cost is so high.
Lu Sheng raised his hand and curled his fingers into a fist. A swelling force rose within him, like air pumping into a taut balloon. Even his organs felt warm.
With his eyes closed, he sensed the Yin Yang Attraction inner Qi being rapidly consumed, while the just-depleted Black Tiger Jade Crane inner Qi began recovering at astonishing speed.
From ten percent, it surged back to full within a few breaths—yet Yin Yang Attraction had only expended half of its reservoir.
So that’s the true purpose of Yin Yang Attraction, he realized, first startled, then delighted. My strength increased by about twenty percent. My skin has also grown tougher.
He drew his saber and lightly slashed across the back of his own hand—with about the force an ordinary man would use to cut meat.
“Cha.”
A thin red mark appeared. But the skin did not break.
One hard body skill alone gave me such results. And this is a newly purchased saber.167Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4RYjooqko
Lu Sheng nodded in satisfaction. Once this matter is settled, I need to search the Martial Proclamation Library carefully… there may be many free techniques that can benefit me.
Lifting his head, Lu Sheng gazed once more toward the distant manor. He could faintly sense something concealed within its walls.
He resolved that he would remain here for several days and investigate it thoroughly.
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