Adam Brooks had just cultivated true qi. After only a brief trial of the Five Yin Pouch, he already felt his true qi running low, so he quickly withdrew it and used the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique to cultivate once more, gradually nurturing that stream of true qi within his body. Yet this time, the cultivation seemed much smoother than before, equivalent to three or five days’ worth of effort in the past. Adam Brooks didn’t think much of it, simply attributing it to the fact that now he had achieved true qi, everything was different from before.

Although he had “lost” those three pages of the golden book, since he couldn’t find them, Adam Brooks didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he pondered how much benefit this newly cultivated true qi could bring him.

After Adam Brooks had refined his true qi, his body felt lighter and stronger. Having suffered a minor setback and fainted once, he dared not try the methods of the “Heshan Scripture” again, so he practiced the Iron Bone Technique taught by the chief of the stronghold. This attempt greatly surprised Adam Brooks.

When the seventh chief of Tianma Mountain’s stronghold performed the Iron Bone Technique, his entire skeleton emitted faint crackling sounds. On his originally thin frame, muscles bulged and strength surged. With a casual punch, even a light blow produced a booming sound. The level in the Iron Bone Technique that was supposed to be extremely difficult to achieve was now reached with ease. This indicated that Adam Brooks’s strength had increased by at least thirty percent, and the Iron Bone Technique had unknowingly reached the third level, making Adam Brooks so delighted he scratched his head, not knowing how to celebrate.

Adam Brooks thought to himself, “The chief once said: Only upon reaching the third level of the Iron Bone Technique does one truly enter the door, with the effect of rebirth; from then on, one’s strength will grow day by day, constantly increasing. It seems the formulas on those three pages of the golden book are indeed peerless methods. It’s a pity I lost them, but fortunately, I memorized them all. I can ponder them in detail in the future.”

As it happened, for several days in a row, there was no business in the stronghold, so Adam Brooks devoted himself to martial arts, honing the Iron Bone Technique that had suddenly broken through. The third level is the watershed of the Iron Bone Technique; once breaking through this realm, Adam Brooks became thinner by the day, and his movements grew more agile. Although most of the chiefs of Tianma Mountain were rough fellows, there were still some who were more meticulous.

There were a total of seven chiefs on Tianma Mountain. According to the custom of the stronghold, whenever one died, another would be promoted to fill the ranks. Thus, the number of chiefs in the stronghold always remained the same, but in reality, only the top three held real power; the rest were only slightly higher in status than ordinary captains and could not truly rule the stronghold.

The chief, Black Whirlwind, had mastered the Iron Bone Technique, making him impervious to blades and spears, possessing immense strength, and his martial arts were the best in the stronghold. The second chief, Double Yin Scholar Henry Clark, came from the Yin Mountain Sect and was known for his Seven-Step Yin Wind Palm, sinister and vicious. If struck from beyond seven steps, the yin force would enter the enemy’s body, and without profound internal strength to resist, death was certain within days. The third chief, Ethan Brooks, was a disgraced disciple from a prestigious sect, but he never spoke of his past. His Four-Edged Bronze Staff technique was also formidable, making him a fierce general in the stronghold’s vanguard.

When Adam Brooks’s martial arts suddenly improved greatly, others didn’t notice anything amiss, but the second chief, Double Yin Scholar Henry Clark, was the first to sense it.

Double Yin Scholar Henry Clark was always somewhat scheming and, as the strategist of the stronghold, was more meticulous than others. When he noticed that Adam Brooks had received the true transmission of the chief’s Iron Bone Technique and, in just a few months, had caught up in martial arts with the other chiefs, he pondered countless times what the reason could be.

Even though Henry Clark prided himself on his cunning, he could never have guessed that Adam Brooks had actually encountered a legendary stroke of fortune, and so he suspected the chief, Black Whirlwind. Fortunately, Adam Brooks was cunning enough to only display his Iron Bone Technique skills and never reveal the magic of the Heshan Scripture. Thus, Henry Clark guessed, “The chief is secretly cultivating his own strength, privately training Adam Brooks as a true disciple…” and followed this line of thought.

Regardless, the chief Black Whirlwind’s martial arts were indeed the best in the stronghold. Henry Clark had once considered seizing this base for himself, but after several secret tests, he found his own skills were indeed slightly inferior to Black Whirlwind’s. Moreover, Black Whirlwind, being a seasoned bandit, was both bold and cautious, secretly guarding against rebellion. Double Yin Scholar Henry Clark understood this well and feared alerting the chief, which might force him out of the stronghold, so he suppressed his ambitions.

With Adam Brooks’s martial arts advancing so rapidly, Double Yin Scholar Henry Clark was initially alarmed and wanted to ally with Ethan Brooks to do something, lest the stronghold’s power be monopolized by the chief’s faction. If the “master and disciple” were of one mind, they would be left as mere second and third, or perhaps, in a few years, even third and fourth.

But after much consideration, Henry Clark still dared not reveal his thoughts to Ethan Brooks. He never fully trusted others and feared that Ethan Brooks might, after hearing his confidences, turn around and report him, leading to his own gruesome death at the hands of the chief.

With this concern, Henry Clark dared not act rashly and instead repeatedly tried to curry favor with Adam Brooks.