"I should remind Young Master, these three internal skills only focus on nourishing vital energy. After cultivating them, there is not much fighting power for contention with others. They are suitable for family inheritance and cultivation, not for fighting. Even cultivated to the highest level, there are only two layers."

Duan Mu Wan reminded.

"Life nourishing skills with only two layers...Are there no true martial world internal skills?"

Lu Sheng frowned a little.

"There are...but those kinds of internal skills mostly belong to various sects and schools...Even if I gave them to Young Master, would you dare cultivate them?"

Duan Mu Wan raised her beautiful eyes, looking at Lu Sheng with a hint of laughter.

Lu Sheng was silent for a moment, then smiled. "Indeed, I wouldn't dare cultivate those kinds of internal skills from sects. If their internal methods leaked out, it would lead to endless feuds and revenge."

"It's good Young Master understands. Of course there are also some inferior internal skill manuals, but compared to these three, those manuals take an extremely long time and the power isn't significant. These three are more cost-effective."

Duan Mu Wan looked at Lu Sheng with some approval when he immediately conceded. In front of a beauty like her, almost every man would subconsciously feel competitive and want to appear strong and heroic. But Lu Sheng could calmly say "I don't dare", which wasn't something ordinary people could do.

"These three internal skills don't really meet my requirements."

Lu Sheng said heavily.

"Young Master Lu, don't reject them so quickly. You should know, these internal skill manuals aren't cabbage. When they'll appear depends on when they appear."

Duan Mu Wan smiled gently and continued,

"I happen to have these now, but later it's hard to say if there will still be opportunities... "

Lu Sheng didn't understand her meaning. "Can't the manuals just be copied over and over to resell?"

"That's right in theory, but mine here are sold as lone copies of the originals." Duan Mu Wan said confidently.

"Is that true?" Lu Sheng's heart moved.

"Of course it's true. As for that Dark Destruction Skill, it's best Young Master doesn't cultivate it. Not only is it incomplete, it's also a remnant from over 100 years ago. Wanting to find the full subsequent parts is almost impossible."

Duan Mu Wan persuaded.

Lu Sheng pondered for a moment. "I wonder if Miss Wan has other manuals? I don't need originals, just copies. How about 100 taels per manual?"

Duan Mu Wan's expression remained unchanged with a faint smile. "Is Young Master really that obsessed with martial arts?"

"Yes, I'm actually a martial arts fanatic." Lu Sheng answered seriously.

Duan Mu Wan looked at him with interest. The two looked at each other quietly for a while before she suddenly laughed softly.

"Since that's the case, cash upfront..."

"Goods when cash is handed over. I want Jade Crane Skill."

Lu Sheng randomly pointed at one.

She took out a money order from her bosom without even glancing at it and stuffed it into her sleeve, placing down the Jade Crane manual.

"Then I wish Young Master swift success in martial arts."

"Thank you for your blessings."

Lu Sheng got up to send her off.

After sending Duan Mu Wan to the main entrance and watching her get into her carriage and slowly leave, Lu Sheng finally felt a little relieved inside.

He didn't know why, but every time he faced Duan Mu Wan, he would feel a faint sense of vigilance.

She was clearly just a weak woman who didn't seem to know any martial arts, but something just felt off to him.

He watched as the carriage slowly moved away until it disappeared from sight at the end of the street. Only then did Lu Sheng turn back.

Holding the Jade Crane Skill manual, Lu Sheng hesitated for a moment before deciding to take a look at this internal method first.

Yamen of the Jiu Lian Cheng Prefect:

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Inside the square yamen courtyard, the main hall faced the yard with white stone bricks reflecting slightly glaring brightness under the sunlight.

Over ten vermillion columns supported a red roof over the main hall.

Halberds painted red were placed in two rows on both sides of the main hall.

Prefect Lord Song Duan Chi sat atop the main hall with knitted brows. Behind him was an enormous depiction of the sun and sky. A crane spread its wings flying in the air.

Below on both sides stood four people, the heads of the Zhao, Li, Lu, and Zheng families.

These four families represented most of the power across various industries in Jiu Lian Cheng.

Lu Quan An was one of them.

Wearing an ingot-patterned gown and red jade hat, he kept squeezing his well-groomed beard, eyes fixed intently on the Prefect sitting in the hall.

Including the Prefect, the five people remained silent.

Zhao Shi De, head of the Zhao family, was a fierce-looking bald old man. His family controlled all of Jiu Lian Cheng's restaurants, brothels, pleasure grounds, and gambling dens. He was the most powerful of the four.

Seeing no one speaking, the skin on his face twitched as he took the lead to talk first.

"Lord Song, you told us to find people and things. We sent people to search too. Thought it was a minor matter at first.

But over ten of our men have gone missing in succession now. This concerns lives now.

If you still won't tell the full truth under these circumstances, then don't blame us for no longer playing along."

Lu Quan An remained determined not to speak.

The other two seemed to have the same idea.

Prefect Song Duan Chi's brow remained deeply furrowed. He let out a long sigh.

"People and things were orders from above that I have no control over.

And recently there have been continuous strange occurrences both in and outside the city walls. I have had the abbot of Red Lotus Monastery conduct rituals but to no effect.

The wandering warriors I summoned have also disappeared without a trace. I don't know if they ran or.... The case at the Wang Manor outside the city still hasn't been solved.

This official has gathered all of you because I wanted to see if you have any good solutions. After all, this Jiu Lian Cheng is all of our Jiu Lian Cheng."

Lu Quan An and the other two still didn't speak.

But Zhao Shi De let out a cold laugh. "Let's set aside the matter of finding people for now and stop it first.

As for the other matters, since My Lord has no solution, I have invited an extraordinarily skilled expert to come investigate. But to pay his salary alone would be unreasonable for my family alone right?"

"Since he's a master, if he can truly resolve the cases, this official will give him the entirety of the posted bounty rewards." The Prefect readily confirmed.

"My family will sponsor 1,000 taels."

"Mine as well."

Lu Quan An hurriedly spoke up.

"Me too." The last family head followed suit and put out 1,000 taels.

"Alright, this Xu case has someone working on it now at least temporarily. But the case at the Wang Manor..." The Prefect became troubled again.

"The Wang Manor case...isn't that the case where the concubine jumped into the well? Can it not just be closed simply according to Great Song laws?"

The Li family head said indifferently.

"If only it were that simple. The problem is now even the concubine's corpse can't be found. There wasn't even a drop of blood at the bottom of the well.

But many people at the manor firmly assert they saw the concubine jump into the well with their own eyes. We also found footprints by the well..."

The Prefect shook his head.

"An autumn of many affairs..." Watching this scene, Lu Quan An felt a little emotional inside.

Recalling his old friend Xu's terrified expression before death, his heart suddenly clenched.

Lu Manor:

Within the bedchamber.

Lu Sheng sat cross-legged on the bed, concentrating his spirit. Following Jade Crane Skill's method, he started imagining a crane about to take flight fluttering its wings in his chest. It continuously flapped its wings, gathering strength, but just wouldn't take off with one flap.

After concentrating qi for a while with closed eyes, Lu Sheng slowly opened his eyes and took out the Jade Crane manual from his bosom, flipping it open for a look.

On the first open page was a clear hand-drawn image of a crane about to take flight fluttering its wings. That feeling of being on the verge of soaring into the sky gave a sense of slight repression.

Lu Sheng gazed at this picture for a few seconds before immediately closing his eyes again to continue imagining the crane in his chest.

He repeated this three times.

The light outside the window gradually dimmed.

His maid Xiao Qiao had come calling him for dinner several times. Lu Sheng declined each time, keeping his room shut as he continued sitting on the bed.

The imagined crane became more and more realistic and vivid.

When dusk arrived and it had just gotten dark, Lu Sheng who was sitting on the bed suddenly opened his eyes wide.

Phew!

He heavily exhaled a mouthful of turbid qi.

Taking a deep breath, he clearly felt an extra strand of ants crawling about in his chest, slowly moving in a simple ellipse.

The ellipse spun clockwise very slowly, so faint it would be imperceptible without careful feeling.

Lu Sheng relaxed, exhausted. He quickly recited in his mind:

"Navy blue."

His mind suddenly presented the modification interface.

Under Black Tiger Saber Technique in the navy box, another line of small words appeared.

"Jade Crane Skill: Uninitiated"

"Have to hurry."

Lu Sheng quickly concentrated, pressing the modify button lest this strand of qi dissipate.

As the button pressed down, the entire navy modification box flashed once.

Lu Sheng hurriedly focused his attention on Jade Crane Skill.

"Raise one level!" he recited inwardly.

Jade Crane Skill's status suddenly jumped.

From Uninitiated, it changed to Initiated in one go.

Lu Sheng stopped and felt an extra faint cool stream emerge inside his body. It started trickling down slowly from his chest to his lower abdomen.

Between his chest and lower abdomen an ellipse loop formed. That strand of cool qi kept circulating between them.

"Initiated...doesn't seem to burden the body too heavily."

Lu Sheng pondered and continued concentrating, imagining raising Jade Crane Skill by another level.

Cough cough!!

Suddenly he felt an itchy irritation in his throat and started coughing loudly.

An irritable stifled heat rose from his lower abdomen to his chest. Lu Sheng instantly felt parched and dry.

"No good. Body yin deficiency! Raising it too quickly damages the body. Just not as overbearing as Black Tiger Saber Technique."

Lu Sheng relaxed his concentration, letting the modification interface fade away slowly.

"So this is internal energy?"

He stretched out both legs and slowly got off the bed.

Carefully sensing the cycling Jade Crane internal qi between his chest and abdomen, it felt extremely novel.

"It feels like an extra line inside the body."

Lu Sheng tried controlling this line but found that it didn't seem able to shoot elsewhere. It could only spin fixedly between his chest and abdomen.

In the process of the inner qi spinning about, his breathing clearly became much smoother and spirit more abundant.

"For initiated internal skill..." Lu Sheng picked up the manual for a look at its record.