Lu Qingshan opened the Red Falcon Breathing Method manual. There was no top-notch secret medicine recipe contained inside like the Great Ape Breathing Method inheritance, just a series of substandard variations along with a singular standard recipe. He didn't expect more than this, but it was still a little disappointing.

  Lu Qingshan decided to call his Elders over to see how to handle the influx of martial arts manuals. They could build a small sect with these. Managing distribution rights was something perfectly suited for these sociable Elders.

  Meanwhile, he consulted the materials needed for the Red Falcon secret medicine. Most of these could be collected by his disciples, helping them earn their keep, but some of the materials required more knowledgeable experts like Dong Qianyu to handle. The kidneys, gallbladders, and droves of monster bird flesh were all needed to make a batch of secret medicine.

  Lu Qingshan knew his faults. Catching birds was definitely not his area of expertise. He was more of a head-to-head fighter using sheer brute force. His Elders were better suited for the task of creating secret medicines.

  There were few decent martial arts in the pile he had randomly snatched from the third floor. One of them was something he dearly needed — Sea Revolution Inner Force — the third complementary inner force technique with Layered Rain and River Surge. The other one was called Blood Pulse Technique, a generalist Marrow Tempering technique built to manipulate blood energy in combat.

  The primary difference between the Marrow Tempering stage and Bone Tempering stage was the drastically increased quantity of blood energy. Naturally, martial artists had come up with stronger techniques that could make use of such abundance. The Blood Pulse Technique worked by pushing one's blood energy into the opponent's body, disrupting their use of the energy.

  Its drawback was that it was quite costly to use blood energy this way. He couldn't actually perform this technique unless he stacked a few peak Bone Tempering methods together. Still, this wouldn't be a problem in the future once he accumulated even more martial arts techniques.

  There were three other martial arts from the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion. All of them overlapped with his current techniques. Lively Boar was similar to Iron Bear, Iron Cloth was a match for Stoneskin, and Furious Blow was a level below Crimson Claw. But they would help give his disciples more variety. He put these aside.

  Yan Xi soon appeared together with Li Fanghua and Liu Yingting. After hearing what Lu Qingshan had to say about the situation, they all had their own ideas.

  "We could attack one of the more guarded resource points," Liu Yingting said with a voice full of confidence. He pointed at the point. "Up above the stream and the waterfall is a small mountain with monster bird nests. With two at Marrow Tempering and a dozen at Bone Tempering, they should be well enough for our needs."

  Li Fanghua disagreed. "That's not doable. It's a lot harder to finish off flying birds, and if they get away, we'll have a real problem in the future. Better to just pick off the smaller enemies."

  "Have more trust in our sect master," Liu Yingting said. "I think he can pull this off. We need to take risks."

  "I'm not the best at capturing flying monsters. Unless you have more of a guarantee, I'm not willing to confront multiple Marrow Tempering birds at the same time."

  "I do have something that could help." Liu Yingting took a few colorful, pale, and black vials from his pocket. "Poisons. If you can hit the birds with monster teeth throwing knives, they will weaken their bodies to prevent them from fleeing."

  Lu Qingshan carefully studied the vials. It was a feasible idea. He didn't expect the well-dressed boy to be a ruthless and cruel poisoner. That flock of monster birds was indeed the fastest way to improve his Red Falcon Breathing Method that they knew of.

  "We'll do it then," he declared after a moment of thought. "I'll take it as a great contribution. Feel free to pick one of these manuals for your own use."

  Liu Yingting grinned and chose the Red Falcon technique. But instead of reading the technique itself, his eyes looked through the secret medicine recipe over and over, and he began speaking softly to himself.

  It was good that the Elder was willing to learn the secret medicine recipe. Lu Qingshan then ordered Yan Xi and Li Fanghua to gather a group of Elders for the mission, except Dong Qianyu. The burly man was more suited to stay behind and continue forging weapons.

  After the Elders had left, Lu Qingshan's exit out of the pavilion was met with a hesitant stare from the other wealthy scion in this batch of disciples. Her name was Wu Ruoling. She looked like she had something to say.

  "Need something?" he asked as he came up to her.

  "I have something to trade," she said. "For top-notch secret medicine."

  Lu Qingshan nodded. It was common for disciples to be stuck in bottlenecks from time to time. What made top-notch secret medicines more special was their enhanced ability to break through such bottlenecks. "What do you have to offer?"

  She pulled out a small scroll and unrolled it. "It's a secret medicine recipe," Wu Ruoling said. "It's not very good, but it should help every disciple here," she said, giving the scroll to him.

  "Is this a universal secret medicine?" he asked as he skimmed the scroll. He was impressed with the notations. It was clearly detailed.

  "I also might want some of the techniques you acquired," she said. "If there's nothing in there I like, I want another chance later on."

  "Bold." Lu Qingshan was very interested in seeing what she had. "Get Liu Yingting here," he told her. "The two of us will judge your recipe's overall usefulness and give you your just rewards."

  While she left, Lu Qingshan read through the notes in detail. This was a secret medicine formula, but instead of matching to a specific martial art, it was more generalist. Any martial arts practitioner could use this secret medicine to empower their training. They tended to stack with specific formulas too, making the speed even faster as long as one could afford the cost.

  And the herbs and materials contained inside just so happened to have appeared near the lake clearing where he slew the demonic cultivator.

  Lu Qingshan's first thought was that it was a trap. It looked very coincidental, but since he managed to come back with a good haul, it was possible that the woman believed her secret medicine recipe was going to become less and less valuable as time went on. That lake clearing should've been special, so the appearance of valuable herbs there was natural and not a well-laid scheme. He decided to give this secret medicine a try after he grew stronger first.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  When Liu Yingting saw the formula, he exclaimed in joy. The man immediately lost interest in the Red Falcon's formula and started a new obsession over this one. Lu Qingshan decided to leave him to his own devices. He nodded at the woman in approval.

  "Take a look," he said as he guided her inside the makeshift Elders' Pavilion. "Red Falcon Breathing Method, Blood Pulse Technique, and Sea Revolution Inner Force. Choose two.”

  Surprisingly, this Flesh Tempering expert immediately chose the Blood Pulse Technique. He didn't know where she had the courage to start learning this so early. Perhaps there was something suspicious about her, but she shouldn't be so overt about it.

  After Wu Ruoling finished reading, she bowed and left to return to her martial arts practice. She still had one more manual to choose from later.

  Lu Qingshan's Elders would take some time to gather what they needed for the mission. He went over to Dong Qianyu to pick up another round of processed monster ape teeth.

  Coating his weapons in an unknown poison was risky, so Lu Qingshan also went to test each of Liu Yingting's formulas. There were three in total: one withered flesh on contact, another inflicted weakness leading up to paralysis, and the third caused a silent death in weaker monster beasts.

  With that, Lu Qingshan rehearsed his plans for the fight. Then he returned to seclusion and waited for the Elders to gather.

  ---

  Lu Qingshan breathed deeply, channeling his inner force through his body. A small wisp of Sea Returning Inner Force had successfully formed during the past week.

  Sea Revolution Inner Force (Level 1, 3/10000)

  Even at Level 1, it provided tangible benefits to the other two inner force techniques. He could unleash a series of all-out blows with even greater ease now that the cycle had been completed. Layered Rain gave him sustainability in a fight. River Surge provided him with bursts of power. Sea Revolution empowered the other two inner force methods and reduced the strain while using them.

  Lu Qingshan exited the cave to find the other Elders. Surprisingly, Wu Ruoling had managed to break through to Bone Tempering during this time, stepping past two other potentials.

  Whether or not to take her on this trip needed some thought though. If she was a spy, danger would follow her. If she wasn't, then this could be a good training opportunity for her.

  Lu Qingshan decided to weigh on the side of caution and take her with them. He didn't know if Dong Qianyu was prepared to go against a traitor, even if she had just recently broken through. It was better for him to handle it.

  "You can come with us," he said.

  As they journeyed up the stream, Lu Qingshan learned the capabilities of his Elders.

  Miao Mei was a fast duelist, having learnt a swift sword martial art — her sword had been lost in the chaos of the last escape, but she still had a shortsword as a backup. Yan Xi was well-versed in the Great Ape Breathing Method, giving him a flexible offense. He could fulfill many roles.

  Liu Yingting, Meng Zhang, and Li Fanghua were also Great Ape Breathing Method practitioners, but Liu Yingting had additional sharp weapon techniques to deliver fatal strikes. The latter two were thus assigned to the front lines, while Wu Ruoling stood in the middle with Liu Yingting.

  Lu Qingshan saw the monster birds perched up on their mountain nests from a great distance away. He knew the climb would be difficult, but even Miao Mei's warnings were an understatement.

  Some of the birds flew in circles around the cloud layer, often for a few minutes at a time before descending back down to their nest. They were doing something up there. But only the largest of birds were willing to fly up so high — judging from their sizes, they appeared to be the equivalents to Bone and Marrow Tempering.

  Meanwhile, the rest of the birds flew around the mountain, seemingly busy with constructing larger and larger nests. They weren't a problem individually, but Lu Qingshan knew it would get hard to handle if they all swarmed the group.

  It took some time to travel upwards. Miao Mei and Meng Zhang retrieved some herbs they found on the path upwards. They even managed to pick up a hundred-year ginseng hidden inside a small cave that could be used for Wu Ruoling's new formula.

  When they were halfway up, they took a break, and continued traveling until the three-quarters mark where the amount of hostile monster birds increased. Many flocks had discovered them by now, and swooped by to attack on occasion. At first, they served as a warning, but continuing to travel upwards made them much more aggressive and the flocks turned into swarms.

  Lu Qingshan's group was forced to defend themselves. In the chaos, one bird died, and then the chaos began.

  A loud, ferocious screech rang out, and Lu Qingshan was forced into motion. His claw tore through a trio of monster birds as he rushed through the assault and met with four of the Bone Tempering stage birds that had recently flown back down.

  His inner force whirled, and Lu Qingshan's Crimson Claw immediately ripped a gaping wound into the first that tried to block his way. His second attack crushed a bird's head against the mountain wall, and his third tore open another's wing. The bird spiraled off into the distance.

  Lu Qingshan roared like a tiger, the sound of it disorienting all the weaker birds around him. He grabbed and tore in half another uppity Bone Tempering stage bird. With four deaths in rapid succession, when the rest of the birds recovered, they fled in fear. But many new flocks had arrived, and those flew right by him and started attacking his companions instead.

  Lu Qingshan could no longer help them, because the two Marrow Tempering birds had flown down to confront him face to face. They were a bonded pair — one had colorful feathers, the other dull — and a gleam shone on their sharp beaks. They were taller than him, and he heard the crackle of static when they moved.

  He dodged a peck and a claw, then swung around in a feint. The colorful bird easily dodged, but he pivoted around to attack its mate, ripping a few feathers from its wing. A jolt ran through his arm. Electricity.

  Lu Qingshan sidestepped another attack and watched as the two of them flew upwards. He waited for them to swoop back down with their claws. A quick dodge gave him the advantage, and he lashed out.

  But the birds knew better this time. They evaded his claw with only a few feathers lost and charged towards his allies. Yet Lu Qingshan was waiting for this.

  Monster teeth flew out right as the birds were closing in on Yan Xi. They buried themselves into both the birds' behinds and their wings. As they screeched in pain, Yan Xi leaped past his own enemies, smashing his fist into the injured male leader.

  Lu Qingshan was next to him in a single breath, a claw descending onto the same target. They tore open the bird together while it tried to hobble away. Its partner attempted to intervene, but a few rounds of thrown monster teeth exacerbated its wounds enough that Lu Qingshan was able to push it back.

  The male bird flapped its wings drunkenly and tumbled through the air. It fell down the mountain and collapsed, unmoving. That set of toxins had been stronger than he expected.

  A mournful screech rang out as the female bird tried to flee. But with the poison running through its body and enemies at the side, its only direction of escape was right where Miao Mei and Wu Ruoling were fighting a group of larger birds.

  Lu Qingshan lobbed monster teeth at the birds surrounding them. They sank deep into his targets. Two slashes erupted, and the two were free to rejoin with the other Elders

  Lu Qingshan then roared, and the birds started to panic. Yan Xi butchered his way through the mass and continued to chase down the fallen birds. While the remaining Marrow Tempering bird fought with all its might, the Elder prevented as many birds from fleeing as possible. Each catch could provide a few more days of secret medicine.

  He was just about to join them when the sound of laughter emerged from the mountain path. Out stepped a pair of people, flanked by a team of eight. Ten experts in total.

  His eyes narrowed. They hadn't managed to find even a trace of these experts while climbing the mountain. That meant they came here early, lying in wait. Lu Qingshan didn't know where this group was from, other than that they looked like bandits.

  A cruel grin was on the lead bandit's face. "Didn't expect to find thieves trying to steal our treasures. Start running, and maybe you get to live."