Chapter 53: Preparations Complete!

Li Hongzhuang agreed to Lu Changsheng's request almost immediately. "Sure. I have both a martial art of the Divine Strength Realm martial art and the secret technique for marrow transformation memorized. Give me a bit of time, and I'll write them out for you."

"There's no need to write. Just recite them to me," Lu Changsheng replied calmly.

"You sure you'll remember them like that?" Li Hongzhuang asked skeptically.

The instructions for marrow transformation and the Divine Strength Realm martial art were long and complex. The Divine Strength Realm martial art alone had five full layers and countless details, but since Lu Changsheng insisted, Li Hongzhuang began to recite them out loud.

She started with marrow transformation. This particular secret technique was known as the Bone-Permeation Technique. It was short, with only two to three hundred characters, but it was difficult to understand. Most people wouldn't be able to remember it.

For Lu Changsheng, however, it was effortless. With his incredibly sharp memory and Perception over 500, he fully understood the technique after listening once.

Next, Li Hongzhuang continued with the Divine Strength Realm. This specific martial art was called the Layered Peaks Divine Strength Art. Just as its name suggested, it was a martial art that built strength as solid and unyielding as layers of towering mountains.[1]

This martial art had five layers, so Li Hongzhuang explained it slowly, although most people would never manage to retain this much information.

When she finished, she looked at Lu Changsheng, but he didn't say anything.

"Brother Shisan, do you need me to repeat any parts?" she asked, worried that he hadn't understood her explanation.

Lu Changsheng looked up at her and shook his head. "No, it's fine. I've already memorized everything. But your instructions for both the secret technique and the martial art seem incomplete. Aren't there any missing parts?"

Li Hongzhuang's eyes widened. She had assumed that Lu Changsheng was just going along with her explanations, pretending to understand. However, if he could tell that something was missing, it meant he hadn't just memorized everything but had also understood it all in a short time.

His memory and comprehension are incredible...

Li Hongzhuang nodded. "You're right, Brother Shisan. Both are incomplete. I left out the final sections on purpose. I'll tell you the rest after I've retrieved the Marrow Transformation Pills from the Cui Clan."

Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied her. She carried a deep grudge for her family's slaughter and had roamed the jianghu alone for many years. It was only natural that she had learned how to protect herself.

However, Lu Changsheng knew that Li Hongzhuang wasn't withholding parts of the instructions just to make sure he would keep his side of the bargain; she was also trying to ensure her safety. As long as he didn't have the complete secret technique for marrow transformation and the Divine Strength Realm martial art, he would have to keep her alive. Without her, the pills would be useless.

Lu Changsheng wasn't bothered by this. One could never let their guard down in the jianghu, and trust was a luxury few could afford, so it was natural for Li Hongzhuang to be cautious. Besides, nothing in the instructions she had shared so far struck him as odd, so he had no reason to think she was trying to deceive him.

"What if there's only one Marrow Transformation Pill?"

Li Hongzhuang had deliberately avoided talking about that possibility, but Lu Changsheng wasn't going to let it slide. It was better to make things clear now than risk becoming enemies later.

Li Hongzhuang gritted her teeth. "If there’s only one Marrow Transformation Pill, then whoever gets it keeps it."

Lu Changsheng nodded. Truth be told, it was unlikely there was only one pill. A single furnace could produce thirteen pills, and the Cui Clan couldn't have used more than one or two in this short time.

"Alright. I'll go with you. When do we leave?" Lu Changsheng asked.

A faint spark of relief flickered in Li Hongzhuang's eyes, but it quickly faded as she fell into thought.

"My injuries haven’t healed yet," she said after a pause. "Once I've recovered, I'll let you know. Besides, the Cui Clan's defense will be tighter now since they caught me breaking in last time, so I need to keep an eye on them a little longer to make sure there won't be any surprises.

"Please be patient. Come to this courtyard in a month, and we’ll decide then whether to move."

Lu Changsheng nodded. "Very well. I'll return in a month."

With that, he turned and vanished into the darkness of the night.

After parting ways with Li Hongzhuang, Lu Changsheng began looking into the Cui Clan of Jubei City and Xuanjian Manor. Before making a move against the clan, he wanted to confirm that the information Li Hongzhuang had given him was genuine.

Jubei City wasn't far from Nanyang City, and merchants that traveled between the two often picked up bits of gossip and news, so it didn't take long for Lu Changsheng to gather some general information.

Xuanjian Manor, in particular, was a name known by many. It was overseen by a Divine Strength martial artist, which made it a major power in the region. Anyone who had spent time wandering the jianghu would have heard of them.

Still, everything Lu Changsheng found was surface-level. The information about the Cui Clan refining a batch of Marrow Transformation Pill was much harder to verify. Secrets like that rarely spread beyond a few trusted circles in the jianghu.

Lu Changsheng also tried verifying information about the Li family of Jubei City, and he actually found something. Ten years back, the Li family had been wiped out overnight, which was a major incident at the time since the Lis were one of the city's most influential households.

The details matched almost exactly with what Li Hongzhuang had told him. The entire Li family had been slaughtered, and only the youngest daughter had gone missing. No one knew her name except Li Hongzhuang. Naturally, the sole survivor of the Li family had likely taken on a new identity; otherwise, the Cui Clan would have tracked her down long ago.

As he kept digging, Lu Changsheng also learned more about the Cui Clan's strength.

The Cui Clan has thirteen Organ Refinement martial artists. Nine belong to the Cui Clan, while the other four are martial artists they retained from the jianghu to work for them. Among them, three from the family and two of the retainers are peak Organ Refinement martial artists who have each defeated powerful Organ Refinement martial artists of the same level.

[2]

"No wonder Li Hongzhuang insists on reaching the Divine Strength Realm before taking revenge. With a force like that, even the strongest Organ Refinement martial artist would find it hard to bring them down."

By now, Lu Changsheng had a clear picture of what he was up against. The Cui Clan was powerful indeed. Within the entire Nanyang Prefecture, few forces could rival them except those backed by Divine Strength martial artists.

Regardless, Lu Changsheng wasn't worried. As long as his opponent was an Organ Refinement martial artist, he had no reason to fear them.

***

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. Lu Changsheng brought up his status panel.

[Status Panel]

Host: Lu Changsheng

Perception: 558 (Hidden Dragon in the Abyss)

[Skills]

Silken Thread Sword: Perfection

Spring Wind Rain Transformation: Third Layer

Nine-Character Thunder Chant: Perfection (Incomplete)

Lu Changsheng had pushed the Silken Thread Sword to Perfection, and to his surprise, it turned out to be a seventh-tier martial technique. What he had assumed to be a sixth-tier technique at best was now two tiers above Deathflash.

After some thoughts, Lu Changsheng assumed this was because the Silken Thread Sword allowed him to project his blood qi outward. After all, who could withstand a strike from a sword formed from blood qi? In terms of raw strength, it was far more powerful than Deathflash.

With Silken Thread Sword at Perfection, Lu Changsheng felt much more confident about confronting the Cui Clan.

As for the Spring Wind Rain Transformation, it was already the third Organ Refinement martial art he had cultivated. It consisted of six layers, and once he elevated it to Perfection, his organs would become exceptionally strong. After all, the Nine-Character Thunder Chant had been tempering his organs all along, continuously refining them and greatly accelerating the progress of strengthening them.

By now, he had nearly everything prepared. The only thing he still lacked was the Marrow Transformation Pill.

"The month's up. I wonder how Li Hongzhuang’s preparations are going..." he murmured to himself. They were supposed to complete their agreement that day.

When night fell, Lu Changsheng dressed in black, pushed the door open, and disappeared into the darkness.

1. The part of the name "Layered Peaks" is actually a Chinese idiom chóng luán dié zhàng (重峦叠嶂). It is often used in Chinese writing as metaphorical expressions of vast power, strength, stability, and pressure. ☜

2. In the Chinese raw text, the term used to describe these outside hires (retainers) is Gòngfèng (供奉). They are direct subordinates, and they usually do not hold a regular, day-to-day administrative rank within the family. Instead, they are considered respected guests or contractors. They are hired specifically for their exceptional martial arts skill (or cultivation level), strategic knowledge, or specialized abilities (like poisons, formations, or medicine). Their primary role is often to serve as a high-level protector, advisor, and ultimate fighting force when the organization faces its most severe threats (e.g., protecting the Patriarch or defending the family's core territory). They receive extremely high pay, valuable resources (elixirs, rare materials, cultivation spots), and luxury treatment, and they are treated with utmost respect by the entire organization. They usually enjoy considerable freedom and often only intervene when directly called upon by the top leader. ☜