The Martial Saint begins by collecting corpses.

The apprentice said:

"First of all, its medicinal power is about five or six times that of this medicine."

"Furthermore, compared to ordinary tonics, it can penetrate deeper into the body, activate muscles and bones, and increase the chances of breaking through to the Tendon Refining Realm."

Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat. It could actually increase the chances of breaking through. No wonder it was called an internal cultivation secret medicine.

This Zhenyesi is truly a wonderful place. In martial arts schools outside, this skill would probably only be taught to the most trusted disciples among the most senior disciples.

Without ten or eight years of hard work serving your master comfortably, you probably won't get it.

However, each purchase consumes one merit point, which is far too expensive.

Although he could use the Ghost Refining Technique to create merits for himself, the thought that for every merit he gained, Lin Xiaojie would also gain one more merit made him feel as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.

After thinking for a moment, he finally spoke:

"I'll have one to try."

"Yes." The apprentice nodded, turned around to get a packet of medicine, handed it to Lu Ming, and then gave him a piece of paper to put his fingerprint on. The paper basically said that he had used his merit points to buy a secret internal cultivation medicine today.

A single dose of this secret medicine costs ten taels of silver, which is outrageously expensive even without consuming merit points.

"As expected of the saying 'the poor study literature, the rich study martial arts,'" Lu Ming sighed, pressed his handprint, and hurriedly left with the secret medicine. He wanted to test its effects.

After leaving the Zhenye Division, Lu Ming returned to the Lu residence on Qingxiu Street in the east of the city. He saw a monkey diligently practicing its stance in the courtyard and nodded in approval, saying:

"I'm going to cultivate, so don't disturb me unless it's absolutely necessary."

Upon seeing him approach, the monkey quickly stopped its practice and chased after him, saying:

"Brother, Lord Yan just came by. He said he found traces of ghosts there, which may be related to the recent missing persons cases in the city. He asked if you would be free to go ghost hunting with me later."

Yan Pengfei? This man's district borders his, and he's highly skilled in martial arts. He could cultivate a good relationship with him, and with Yan Pengfei by his side, he could also probe the truth behind the disappearance case. He pondered for a moment and said:

"Okay, if he comes again, you can arrange a time with him so that I can go with him after I finish my cultivation."

"Yes." The monkey nodded to indicate that it understood.

Lu Ming returned to his room and brewed the internal cultivation medicine. He found that the medicine had a slightly bluish tinge and a strange taste, making it look like a culinary disaster.

However, based on his mastery of the Warm Water Poisoning Technique, he could roughly determine that the bowl of medicinal soup was not poisonous.

He took a small sip. The taste was a bit strange, but it wasn't as bitter as the Qi-boosting powder. It wasn't hard to drink, so he tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

"Huh?" Lu Ming immediately noticed the difference. The medicinal power of this internal cultivation secret medicine was not as strong as the Qi-replenishing powder. Instead, it flowed into his limbs and bones slowly but continuously like a trickle.

It feels like there's a bucket of hot water inside my stomach.

Lu Ming's eyes lit up; this feeling was quite peculiar. He quickly realized that he needed to cultivate to completely absorb this bucket of "hot water."

Without hesitation, he squatted down, lifting his heels off the ground and leaving only the balls of his feet on the ground. He stretched his arms forward to maintain his balance.

In the hour before he began practicing the Canglang Stance Technique, he didn't feel much.

However, as he cultivated for longer, he felt his blood and qi gradually getting hotter. Gradually, his blood and qi surged upwards, and his blood boiled.

The hot water inside his body seemed to be inexhaustible, constantly being refined and absorbed by him.

"This internal cultivation elixir is truly extraordinary; its aftereffects are incredibly strong," Lu Ming thought with delight.

He sensed that the internal cultivation elixir was relatively mild and balanced, and that even without cultivation, there would be no major problems after drinking it.

At his current cultivation speed, one dose of internal cultivation medicine can sustain him for two days.

Lu Ming continued cultivating until evening, and felt that his qi and blood had noticeably increased and become much more stable.

The hot water in the bucket seemed to have a sticky quality, causing his blood and qi to settle down, which would be of great benefit to his future breakthroughs in tendon training.

Good medicine, good medicine!

Therefore, he must do his best to gain merits in order to exchange for the secret medicine for internal cultivation.

Thinking of this, he had an idea and called the monkey over to ask if Yan Pengfei had come again.

The monkey shook its head and said, "No."

Lu Ming looked at the deep night outside. It was already quite late, so it seemed he wouldn't arrive until tomorrow.

He ate dinner, rested for a while, and then went to bed.

After drinking the internal cultivation elixir, his body felt slightly warmer than usual when he slept, and he felt warm all over.

"Bang bang bang!"

In his sleep, Lu Ming suddenly frowned as he heard a loud knocking on the door. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was still pitch black; dawn had not yet broken.

He immediately shouted, "Who?"

"Big brother, big brother, come out and take a look." It was Ah Lang's voice.

Lu Ming frowned, got out of bed, and pushed open the door. In the dim moonlight, Ah Lang and Monkey were both there, each holding a lamp. In the flickering light, both of them looked somewhat frightened.

"What happened?" Lu Ming asked.

The monkey swallowed hard, pointing at the mansion gate with some fear.

Ah Lang quickly added, "There was a knocking sound just now, a very loud knocking sound. But when I opened the door, there was no one outside at all."

"Bang bang bang!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

The monkey immediately said, "That's the knocking sound."

Ah Lang's face was ashen, and he said with a trembling voice:

"I didn't close the door at all, why is he still knocking?"

Upon closer inspection, the gate of the mansion was indeed ajar, and a loud knocking echoed throughout the Lu residence.

Lu Ming narrowed his eyes. Logically speaking, such a loud knock should have shaken the door, and even if it was slightly ajar, he should have been able to push it open completely.

However, the door remained completely still. This scene was extremely awkward and eerie.

"Let's go take a look," Lu Ming said, and then walked forward first.

Wolf and Monkey exchanged a glance and followed stiffly behind.

"A ghost! A ghost!" As the three approached the gate, a hoarse voice came from beside them, but it was hard to make out clearly.

The group arrived at the door, where the knocking continued, growing louder and louder until Ah Lang's ears were ringing.

His face grew increasingly pale, and he said in a trembling voice:

"Brother, I can see outside. There's still no one there."

"Who's knocking on the door?" the monkey asked in alarm.

The two looked out through the half-open courtyard gate but saw nothing but an empty street.

Unless the person is hiding by the door and frantically pounding on it with a very long hand, this effect could not be achieved.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming also looked towards the door.

"A ghost! A ghost!" Suddenly, a hideous face appeared in the gap between the two half-open doors. The doors were pushed open slightly, and the burly, hideous face tried to rush into the mansion and rush towards Lu Ming.

But just then, a green light shot out from his body, and his ferocious face immediately went blank as he collapsed onto the threshold with a thud.

The door was slowly pushed open a little, the creaking sound carrying far into the quiet night.

Green light! Lu Ming's eyes lit up, but before he could rejoice, he saw a shadow behind the corpse suddenly scream and shatter into pieces as it turned into yin energy. A green light appeared on its body and flew towards Lu Ming.

Two beams of green light? Two ghosts!

Lu Ming was taken aback.

At this moment, Wolf and Monkey, frightened by the corpse, came forward and followed closely beside him.

Under the light of the lanterns they held, the corpse's face was clearly visible to the two men.

Wolf and Monkey both paled and exclaimed in alarm:

"How could it be him?!"