"The Pile Skill is the foundation, while the Breathing Technique is the root. Both are indispensable. This secret manual has been altered and is untrustworthy. If you practice it wrong, you might not even know how you died."
One of the Seventh Grade masked martial artists said with a grim expression.
Everyone knows that the slightest mistake in a secret martial arts manual can lead to irreversible damage to the body.
This is also why no one paid attention to the skinny monkey selling secret manuals in the black market.
"Damn it, I’m going to kill him."
A masked man raised the knife in his hand, ready to chop down Du Chong to vent his anger.
Zhong Lin used an iron caltrop to deflect his blade and said coldly, "Foolish. How can you perfect the manual if you kill him? You two, take him with us, let’s move to another place."
The only two Eighth Rank martial artists did not dare to hesitate. They grabbed Du Chong, one on each side, and followed Zhong Lin. The others also sheathed their weapons and quickly kept up.
After a few leaps, everyone entered a hidden courtyard. The terrain was remote, and the nearby residents had long since fled.
"Haha... cough cough..."
Du Chong was roughly thrown to the ground. By now, he knew he was doomed. He also brought out the spirit that an elite member of a noble family should possess.
"Do you think you commoners can touch my Du family’s Blood Coagulation Technique? Even if you capture me, it’s useless. Do you dare to practice it? Hahaha..."
Du Chong laughed maniacally, his laughter filled with hysteria, a madness at the final moment of his life.
The masked people around him remained silent. This was also why they had no intention of interrogating Du Chong, as even if they got answers, who knows if they’re true or false?
This isn’t a math problem, where you can just correct it if it’s wrong.
The secret martial arts manual is different, especially the Blood Coagulation Technique. If practiced wrong, at best, it causes paralysis; at worst, it leads to blood frenzy and instant death.
"Do you really think I can’t deal with you? Falling into my hands, I’ll make sure you know what it means to wish you were dead."
The masked man who had wanted to slash Du Chong stood directly in front of him. He pressed various pressure points on Du Chong’s arms, shoulder blades, thighs, ankles, and even dislocated his jaw. With a series of cracking sounds, Du Chong’s limbs twisted into irregular shapes.
Du Chong, who had been laughing wildly, turned pale, his face contorted, his eyes widened and bloodshot. In just a moment, his clothes were soaked with sweat.
But with his jaw dislocated, he could only let out muffled cries.
All eyes were on Zhong Lin, waiting for his next move.
Zhong Lin slowly took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket.
"Luckily, I prepared two plans in advance. It might have been a wasted effort. Reset his bones."
The contents of the porcelain bottle were a love potion concocted by Old Man Xu, with the formula personally modified by Zhong Lin, an enhanced version.
Its effect is similar to the "obedience water" from past lives, able to put a person in a semi-conscious state to extract secrets from them.
Originally, according to Zhong Lin’s plan, if they couldn’t find the secret manual, they would kidnap a noble family member and use this to extract the Middle Third Grades’ Blood Coagulation Technique. Now, it was just timely to use it.
Du Chong, whose bones had been reset, had long become a puddle of mud, lying on the ground, unsure if he was dead or alive.
Zhong Lin moved forward, squatted down, took out a pill from the porcelain bottle, and stuffed it into his mouth. In no time, Du Chong’s eyes became dazed.
"Now, recite the Breathing Technique of ’Red Sun Stance’ from memory." Zhong Lin’s voice whispered in Du Chong’s ear.
Du Chong mumbled a couple of sentences, then his mouth moved, emitting an awkward and convoluted voice.
"Utmost stillness and motion when the single yang returns, the medicine produces divine knowledge, the wondrous art communicates with the spirit.
Pale sun just born, tender and not to be picked, medicine firm and substantial, brilliance full of fifteen.
The time is urgent to pick, do not let it pass by, looking forward for a long time, gathering with no yield.
As Du Chong began to reveal, everyone gathered around the secret manual, matching it word for word against the altered parts, with each match making their breaths quicken.
Suddenly, Zhong Lin shouted, and Du Chong’s words stopped accordingly.
The five masked individuals looked at Zhong Lin with anger or confusion, not knowing what scheme Zhong Lin had now.
Zhong Lin again spoke in an elderly tone, "There’s no need for me to emphasize the preciousness of the Blood Coagulation Technique. I’m willing to share it with you, but my share isn’t easily taken, wouldn’t you agree?"
"What do you propose?"
"I’m not taking advantage of you. How about you take out the items wrapped on you, and I take one thing of my choice?" Zhong Lin said with a smile.
Each of these masked men had a package on them, bulging, clearly having gained a fair harvest from the Du family. It would be a waste not to skim some off them; after all, it’s black-market rules, take what you can.
The atmosphere instantly became silent, with reluctance written in everyone’s eyes.
"Fine, I agree." A Seventh Grade masked person’s voice was hoarse: "I’ve pursued the Blood Coagulation Technique for twenty years; I don’t want to miss this chance."
As he spoke, he took off the package from his back and spread it on the ground.
Inside were some gold, silver, and jewels, nothing more.
Zhong Lin also took a gold ingot weighing twenty taels from it.
Seeing this, the others stopped their struggle, opened their packages one by one, and let Zhong Lin take what he wanted.
No choice; they were like fish on a chopping board, unable to resist. They still relied on Zhong Lin to obtain the complete ’Red Sun Stance’.
Of course, the main reason was Zhong Lin’s formidable strength; they couldn’t beat him.
A gold ingot, a black dagger, three martial techniques.
The dagger was entirely black, seemingly able to absorb even the light, its blade emitting a cold gleam, and it lightly cut Zhong Li’s finger as he brushed it.
You should know that Zhong Lin is a martial artist in the Seventh Grade Bone Forging Realm; even arrows can’t break his defense, yet this dagger sliced through it. It’s truly a divine weapon!
If this dagger were used with the Instant Kill Skill, its lethality would be greatly enhanced.
As Zhong Lin chose the dagger, the owner of the dagger felt his heart aching.
The other three were martial arts techniques, all seized from the Du family.
’Red Sun Palm’, ’Eight-step Chasing Cicada’, ’Furong Gold Needle’
One hand skill, one step technique, and a hidden weapon technique. The ’Red Sun Palm’ was the most surprising to Zhong Lin.
This is a hand skill that complements the ’Red Sun Stance’, a Qi and Blood martial art, incomparable to ordinary martial techniques.
Zhong Lin was pleased.
’Red Sun Stance’ was quickly completed. The five masked individuals diligently copied it using their methods, showing not the slightest hint of neglect.