However, he understood everything. He knew his poison was difficult to cure, but not impossible, though the method was not easy.

He also knew that what could save him was a rare spiritual medicine, which required a primary ingredient to be compounded. This primary ingredient was in the distant Tianshan Mountains, and Zhang Yang had to go personally to retrieve it.

He could also tell that Zhang Yang held a high status in their mysterious world. At first, Zhang Yun'an was somewhat worried, but later he agreed.

Zhang Keqin understood even more clearly that Zhang Yang undertaking the search for the primary ingredient carried a certain risk. He had intended to object, but upon seeing Zhang Yang’s determined expression, the words of protest were swallowed back down.

Although he and Zhang Yang had not lived together, he had always kept track of his son’s every move and understood Zhang Yang's character very well.

Once Zhang Yang made up his mind, it was hard to change.

This was a domain he knew nothing about. Since Zhang Yang had already made his decision, opposing it would be useless; there was no point in doing something futile. Moreover, this was something his son was doing for him, to save him, which filled his heart with a unique warmth.

As for the danger, there might be a little, but it wouldn't be too great.

Zhang Keqin was perfectly clear that if it were truly perilous, Zhang Yun'an would never allow Zhang Yang to go alone. After the engagement last time, he understood Zhang Yang's significance to their Zhang family.

They, just like him, valued Zhang Yang above all else—this was the real reason he didn't object further.

Once the treatment plan was settled, they chatted briefly before retiring for the night. Zhang Yang needed to go to Tianshan, but it wasn't something that could be done with mere words; certain preparations were necessary.

Furthermore, Zhang Yun'an would not feel secure letting him go alone until Zhang Yang’s strength had fully recovered.

Relying only on Zhang Yang, recovering his strength would take at least a month. Having Zhang Yun'an there made a difference. With the help of his uncle, who also practiced the Zhang family’s cultivation methods and was at the fourth level of Inner Strength, the time could be shortened.

Three days later, Zhang Yang’s strength recovered to the late second level—much faster than he had anticipated.

On this day, Zhang Daofeng also arrived in Changjing. He was quite surprised to learn about the deep poison afflicting Zhang Keqin. After hearing everything, he remained silent and said nothing.

But this did not mean he had forgiven Zhang Keqin. Upon arriving in Changjing, he went directly to Zhang Yang’s villa and did not visit Zhang Keqin.

Zhang Yang felt helpless about this but could only accept it for the time being. It seemed it would take more time and effort to mend his grandfather's view of his father.

“This… where did you obtain this?”

In the study of Zhang Yang’s villa, Zhang Daofeng looked at Zhang Yang with a stern expression, while Zhang Yun'an sat somewhat bewilderedly to the side.

This was the day after Zhang Daofeng arrived in Changjing. Zhang Yang had directly invited the elder into the study and presented the two Huang family secret manuals he had seized from Chu Yuntian for him to examine.

Zhang Daofeng looked at the fifth-level secret knowledge first. After reading it, he immediately asked the question.

“The last time I went to Hangzhou City, I encountered a declining Inner Strength aristocratic family…”

Zhang Yang recounted everything about the Huang family and clearly explained the matter of Chu Yuntian. Only then did Zhang Yun'an understand why Zhang Yang had encountered this demon and fought him.

He did not elaborate on the battle with Chu Yuntian, but both Zhang Yun'an and Zhang Daofeng could imagine how brutal that fight must have been.

After all, Chu Yuntian was at the middle fourth level, while Zhang Yang was only at the initial stage; even with the aid of the three spirit beasts, there was still a gap in raw power.

Zhang Daofeng was also astonished that Zhang Yang managed to slay a demon at the middle fourth level, but his prevailing emotion was satisfaction. The stronger Zhang Yang became, the happier he felt internally.

“So that’s how it was. Yangyang, why didn't you tell me clearly last time?” Zhang Yun’an complained lightly. He only knew Zhang Yang had run into someone from the demonic path but was unaware of the full story in between.

“Didn't I want to wait for Grandfather to arrive so we could discuss it all together?”

Zhang Yang smiled faintly. Zhang Yun'an then picked up the yellow secret manual from the table; he was also greatly intrigued by the Huang family manual that had attracted Chu Yuntian.

“Advancing to the fifth level—are there other methods?”

After just one glance, Zhang Yun'an suddenly gasped, blurting out the words.

His voice carried a profound shock, much like Zhang Yang’s own reaction when he first learned the contents of that manual.

As for Zhang Daofeng, aside from a grave expression, he showed no other reaction, looking as if he had long been aware of such things.

“Grandfather, there is one more thing. Last time I treated a patient from Taiwan, and he told me something!”

Looking at Zhang Daofeng, Zhang Yang slowly recounted the story of the Blood Fox Pill prescription he obtained from Old Master Xie. That prescription made Zhang Yang suspect that their Zhang family had known about this for a long time, and Zhang Daofeng’s reaction amplified that suspicion.

After speaking, Zhang Yang also produced the prescription, written in the Zhang family's proprietary script.

“Uncle, didn't he sacrifice himself long ago?”

Zhang Yun'an looked at the Blood Fox Pill prescription, which was identical to the Fog Layer Secret Knowledge, and grew even more startled.

This prescription, besides being written in the Zhang family’s script, had content identical to the Huang family manual. Seeing this, he understood Zhang Yang's meaning and looked up at Zhang Daofeng.

At this moment, he too suspected that their Zhang family had long known about this, otherwise, how could they possess the Blood Fox Pill prescription?

“Yun'an, your uncle sacrificed himself, but before that, he obtained a piece of earth-shattering secret knowledge. Only your Old Ancestor and I know about this; the time was not yet right to tell you all,” Zhang Daofeng said slowly, looking at the two of them.

“Back then, I thought this secret knowledge was known only to people of the Zhang family. Now I realize other families also hold this knowledge, though I never expected it would be such a declining, minor family!”

Hearing this, Zhang Daofeng sighed with some emotion. Zhang Yang and Zhang Yun'an exchanged glances; their guesses had become reality.

The Zhang family had indeed known about this secret knowledge for a long time—this method of advancing to the fifth level using elixirs.

Zhang Daofeng sighed again, “Yangyang, you did the right thing. You absolutely cannot allow the Huang family to spread this secret knowledge. Regardless of whether other families know about this, we must strictly control the secrecy on our end!”

Zhang Yang and Zhang Yun'an nodded unnaturally.

Such a secret truly could not be shared widely. The Zhang family knew this secret knowledge long ago, yet even Zhang Yun'an was unaware of it, which spoke volumes about their security measures.

Zhang Yun'an then asked, “This was a secret your elder uncle found back then. Since he already told you, why did he use the prescription script to leave behind the Blood Fox Pill formula and hand it over to unrelated people?”

Zhang Yang also looked up; this was also a mystery to him.

Why Zhang Daoqian gave the Blood Fox Pill prescription to Old Master Xie was something he had never been able to figure out.

“Your uncle sent this secret back to the family through other means back then. I believe he feared the secret might not reach home, and sensing a great calamity approaching him, he specifically left behind another copy using the prescription script.”

Glancing at Zhang Yang and Zhang Yun'an, he continued, “What he left this time were separated prescriptions. I surmise that the formulas for the Sheep Horn Pill and the Three-Eyed Pill must have been given to others, also written in prescription script. This way, as long as a descendant of the Zhang family discovered one copy, they could follow the trail to find all three original formulas.”

Zhang Daofeng’s words stunned Zhang Yang. But upon reflection, this possibility was indeed real, and not a small one.

Zhang Daoqian’s strength was not high back then. Surrounded by so many devils while needing to cover the escape of other soldiers, he was facing a very dangerous situation.

If this was the case, to prevent his family from missing the original secret, he specifically wrote out a duplicate.

This copy was written entirely in the Zhang family’s prescription script and handed over separately to others, so he wasn't afraid of it being discovered.

If that was the scenario, then the missing characters in this Blood Fox Pill prescription must explain the other elixirs. This effectively left a clue for the Zhang family to follow to search for them.

As for whether this was true, it could only be revealed once the other two prescriptions were found.

Where the other two prescriptions were was also easy to guess: there was more than one soldier who escaped that day besides Old Master Xie; there were others. They should be in the hands of those people, and by tracking them or their descendants, the existence of those two formulas could be confirmed.

Of course, tracing them down wouldn't be easy, given the long passage of time.

Perhaps even Zhang Daoqian himself hadn't expected that it would take so long after his sacrifice for the Zhang family to discover this clue.

Zhang Daofeng suddenly sighed heavily again and spoke slowly, “Three Pills and One Water—it truly is rare. But no matter how difficult, it left people with a lingering thought. The Old Ancestor has actually been searching for the main ingredients of the three pills for years. Ten years ago, I discovered the existence of the Blood Fox, and it took me a full ten years to capture it, thus obtaining the primary ingredient for the Blood Fox Pill!”

“The Blood Fox? Father, you’ve compounded the Blood Fox Pill?” Zhang Yun'an exclaimed loudly in surprise.

Zhang Yang’s eyes widened too. Zhang Yang had speculated that the Zhang family knew this secret knowledge, but he hadn't expected they already possessed the primary ingredient for one of the three pills.

With the primary ingredient, the auxiliary herbs were no longer an issue.

“Not yet compounded, but the main ingredient is secured!”

Zhang Daofeng smiled slightly, a hint of gratification showing. His long efforts had finally paid off; with the Blood Fox’s blood, compounding the Blood Fox Pill using the Zhang family’s techniques was not a problem.

Zhang Yun'an and Zhang Yang both showed excitement, especially Zhang Yun'an, who, just after learning the secret, discovered they had already made such significant progress.

“Don't celebrate too early. As far as I know, perhaps a few more Blood Fox Pills can be made, but the Three-Eyed Pill is extremely rare. Each eye of a Three-Eyed Beast can only yield one Three-Eyed Pill, and the success rate isn't high,” Zhang Daofeng added, instantly splashing cold water on Zhang Yang and Zhang Yun'an.

The two of them had indeed been thinking that if all three pills could be mass-produced, they would essentially have the capability to create a large number of fifth-level masters.

Setting aside other families, the Zhang family would certainly be capable. The three pills were taken concurrently at the late fourth level. Both Zhang Yang and Zhang Yun'an were confident they could reach the late fourth level. Coupled with Zhang Daofeng at the middle fourth level and Zhang Pinglu who had already reached the Great Perfection realm, the Zhang family could potentially have four fifth-level powerhouses appear at once.

If that were the case, the Zhang family could absolutely dominate the entire Inner Strength cultivation world.

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