"Only, I must remind Young Master that these three inner force skills are all life-force skills that focus on health. Once cultivated, they won't have much power in a fight. They're suitable for family cultivation, not for fighting. Even at the highest level, they're only at Level Two. "
Duanmu Wan reminded.
"Life-Force skills, and only Level Two … there aren't any true inner force skills of the pugilistic world?"
Lu Sheng frowned slightly.
"There are … but those inner force skills are mostly owned by sects … even if I gave them to Young Master, would you dare cultivate them?"
Duanmu Wan's pretty eyes twitched as she looked at Lu Sheng with a slight smile.
Lu Sheng was silent for a moment, then smiled as well.
"Indeed, I wouldn't dare cultivate those inner force skills. Once the sect's inner force skills are leaked, it'll be an unending feud."
"It's good that Young Master understands. Of course, there are still some low-grade inner force skills, but compared to these three, those skills take a long time and are not as powerful. They're not as good as these three."
With regards to Lu Sheng's immediate cowardice, Duanmu Wan had a higher opinion of him. In front of a beauty like her, almost all men would unconsciously develop a competitive spirit and want to be strong. No matter what, they had to display their strong and valiant side.
But Lu Sheng could say 'I wouldn't dare' without a change in his expression. This was not something an ordinary person could do.
"These three inner force skills of yours don't really meet my requirements."
Lu Sheng said in a low voice.
"Young Master Lu, don't be in a hurry to reject me. You should know that inner force skills aren't cabbages that can be found anytime you want."
Duanmu Wan said with a smile.
"It's a coincidence that I have a few here now. In the future, I might not have any more …"
Lu Sheng didn't understand what she meant.
"Aren't secret skills that can be sold repeatedly just by making a few copies?"
"That's true, but I only sell the original copies here," Duanmu Wan said confidently.
"Really?" Lu Sheng's heart skipped a beat.
"Of course. It's better if Young Master Lu doesn't cultivate that Black Fury Skill. It's fine if it's incomplete, but it's an incomplete copy passed down from hundreds of years ago. It's almost impossible to find a complete copy. "
Duanmu Wan advised.
Lu Sheng pondered for a while.
"I wonder if Miss Wan 'er has any other secret manuals? I don't want the original copy, I just want a copy. How about a hundred taels per copy? "
Duanmu Wan's expression remained unchanged as she smiled faintly.
"Is Young Master Lu so obsessed with martial arts?"
"Yeah, I'm actually a martial arts fanatic," Lu Sheng answered seriously.
Duanmu Wan looked at him with interest, and just like that, the two of them stared at each other for a moment. Suddenly, she burst out laughing.
"If that's the case, then hand over the money."
"The goods will be delivered in one go. I want Jade Crane Skill. "
Lu Sheng picked one at random. She took out the banknotes from her bosom. These were the last of his savings, and they would be gone once they were used up.
Duanmu Wan took the banknotes and stuffed them into her sleeves without even looking at them. She then put down Jade Crane Skill.
"Then, I wish Young Master great success in martial arts soon."
"Thank you for your kind words."
Lu Sheng got up to send her off.
After sending Duanmu Wan to the main door, he watched her board the horse carriage and leave slowly. Only then did Lu Sheng heave a sigh of relief.
For some reason, every time he faced Duanmu Wan, he would feel a faint sense of caution.
She was clearly just a weak girl who didn't seem to know any martial arts, but he just felt that something was wrong.
He watched as the horse carriage drove slowly until it reached the end of the street and could no longer be seen.
Only then did Lu Sheng turn around.
Holding Jade Crane Skill in his hand, Lu Sheng hesitated for a moment before deciding to take a look at this inner force skill first.
…
Nine Links City, Prefectural Yamen.
In the square-shaped yamen courtyard, the courtyard faced the court. The floor was paved with white stone bricks, which reflected a faint, piercing light from the sunlight.
More than ten vermilion pillars supported the red roof of the court hall.
On both sides of the court hall were two rows of killing rods, all painted red.
The Old Prefectural Master Song Duanchi sat in the court hall, his brows furrowed. Behind him was a huge painting of a blue sky and a white sun, with an Immortal Crane flapping its wings and soaring.
Two people stood on each side of the painting, making a total of four people.
They were the heads of the Zhao, Li, Lu and Zheng families.
These four families represented more than half of Nine Links City's various industries.
Lu Quanan was one of them.
He wore a mandarin jacket with gold ingots and a red jade official's hat. His hand constantly pinched the beautiful beard on his chin, his eyes fixed on the Old Prefectural Master sitting in the court hall.
Including the Prefectural Master, none of them made a sound.
The head of the Zhao Family, Zhao Shi De, was a muscular, bald old man. His Zhao Family controlled all the restaurants, brothels, entertainment houses and gambling dens in Nine Links City. He was the most powerful of the four.
Seeing that no one was speaking, his face twitched, and he spoke first.
"Old Master Song, you asked us to look for people and things, and we've sent people to look for them. We thought it was just a small matter. But now, more than ten of our people have gone missing. This is a matter of life and death. If you still refuse to speak the truth under such circumstances, then don't blame us for not keeping you company. "
Lu Quanan made up his mind to keep his mouth shut.
The other two looked like they had the same idea.
The Prefectural Master Song Duanchi's brows were tightly furrowed, and he let out a long sigh.
"Things and people are orders from above. I can't do anything about it either.
Moreover, strange things have been happening consecutively these few days, both inside and outside the city. I've also invited the abbot of Red Lotus Temple to perform some rites, but to no avail.
The Jianghu wanderer I invited has also gone missing. I don't know if he ran away, or … the Wang Jia Manor case outside the city is still unresolved.
This official called the four of you together to see if the four of you have any good ideas.
After all, this Nine Links City belongs to all of us. "
Lu Quanan and the other two remained silent.
Zhao Shi De, however, laughed coldly.
"Let's not talk about finding people for now. Let's stop here for now. As for the other matter, since Old Master can't do anything about it, I've invited an expert with extraordinary skills to come and investigate. But don't you think it's unreasonable for my family to pay the reward alone? "
"Since he's an expert, if he can really solve the case, I'll give him the entire reward," the Prefectural Master was the first to confirm.
"My family will sponsor a thousand taels."
"Me too."
Lu Quanan hurriedly spoke up.
"Me too." The last family member followed the crowd and offered a thousand taels.
"Alright, the Xu Family case has been accepted for now. But the Wang Jia Manor case …" The Prefectural Master began to feel troubled again.
"Wang Jia Manor … is it the case of that concubine jumping into the well? Wouldn't it be better to just settle the case according to Great Song law? "
The Li Family Head said calmly.
"If only it were that simple. But the problem is that the concubine's corpse can't even be found. There's not even a drop of blood at the bottom of the well. But there are many people in the manor who swear that they saw the concubine jump into the well with their own eyes. We've also found footprints by the well … "
The Prefectural Master shook his head.
"What troubled times …" Lu Quanan looked at the scene, feeling slightly emotional.
Thinking of the terrified look on his old friend's face before he died, his heart wrenched.
…
Lu Manor.
In the bedroom.
Lu Sheng sat cross-legged on his bed, focusing his mind and soul. Following the method of Jade Crane Skill, he began to imagine an Immortal Crane flapping its wings in preparation for flight on his chest. It flapped its wings incessantly, gathering strength without stopping, but not taking flight.
Lu Sheng closed his eyes and circulated his Qi for a while. Then, he slowly opened his eyes again and took out the Jade Crane Skill manual from his bosom. He flipped through it.
On the first page, there was a clear hand-drawn image of an Immortal Crane flapping its wings in preparation for flight. That posture of soaring into the sky gave off a slightly stifling feeling.
Lu Sheng stared at the image for a moment, then immediately closed his eyes again and continued imagining the Immortal Crane on his chest.
He repeated this thrice.
The light outside the window gradually dimmed.
Little Qiao also came over to call him for dinner a few times. Lu Sheng rejected each and every one of them. The door to his room remained tightly shut, and he continued sitting on his bed.
The crane in his imagination became more and more lifelike, more and more real.
In the evening, just as the sky darkened, Lu Sheng, who was sitting on his bed, opened his eyes abruptly.
"Huff …"
He spat out a mouthful of turbid Qi.
Taking a deep breath, he could clearly feel a thin line on his chest, the size of an ant. It rotated slowly on his chest, forming a simple oval.
This oval rotated clockwise at a very, very slow speed. If one did not sense it carefully, one would not be able to tell it apart.
Exhausted, Lu Sheng relaxed, and hurriedly called out in his mind.
'Deep Blue.'
Immediately, the Modifier page appeared before his eyes.
In the Deep Blue Modifier frame, beneath the words' Black Tiger Saber Technique ', another row of small words had appeared.
'Jade Crane Skill: Uninitiated.'
'I have to hurry.'
Lu Sheng hurriedly focused his mind and clicked on the Modify button, lest this trace of Qi disappear.
As the button was pressed, the entire Deep Blue Modifier flashed once.
Lu Sheng hurriedly focused his attention on Jade Crane Skill.
'Upgrade by one level!' he said in his mind.
Jade Crane Skill's status suddenly jumped.
Uninitiated became Initiated in an instant.
Lu Sheng paused for a moment. He could feel a faint stream of thread flowing slowly from his chest to his abdomen.
Between his chest and abdomen, it formed an oval ring. The threads of cool air flowed continuously between the two of them.
'Initiated … it doesn't seem like the burden on my body is too heavy.'
Lu Sheng thought for a moment, then continued to focus his mind, imagining Jade Crane Skill upgrading by another level.
"Cough cough!!"
Suddenly, he felt a dry itch in his throat, and he coughed loudly.
A wave of irritation and heat rose from his abdomen, surging up to his heart. Lu Sheng's mouth and tongue instantly became dry.
'This won't do, my body is too weak! If I upgrade Jade Crane Skill too quickly, it's also damaging to my body. It's just that it's not as domineering as Black Tiger Saber Technique. '
Lu Sheng relaxed his mind, allowing the Modifier to slowly fade away.
'This is inner force?'
He stretched out his legs and slowly got off the bed.
He carefully felt the Jade Crane Skill inner Qi circulating continuously between his chest and abdomen, feeling a sense of novelty.
'It feels like there's an additional thread in my body.'
Lu Sheng tried to control this thread, but found that it did not seem to be able to go anywhere else. It could only be fixed in a circle between his chest and abdomen.
In the process of this thread of inner Qi circulating, he could clearly feel that his breathing had become much easier, and his mind had become more energetic.
"A Rudimentary inner force skill. Let me see …" Lu Sheng flipped open the manual and read the records on it.
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