Tower of Hidden Martial Arts

In his consciousness, all directions were pitch black. Duàn Yì felt a sense of fog and oppression engulfing his mind, a feeling of being unable to breathe.

When this stifling sensation reached its limit, Duàn Yì let out a mighty roar. Instantly, the world became clear, and the feeling of restraint vanished.

"What is this? Where am I? I just put the Longevity Lock together, and then I fainted? This isn't my room?"

Duàn Yì gradually recalled what had happened before. A thought crossed his mind: could this be the indispensable golden finger that all transmigrators receive?

With a flicker of thought, he began to observe his surroundings.

The environment he was currently in was also very peculiar. Three sides were shrouded in white mist, a vast expanse of white. Only at the end of the bluestone path beneath his feet stood a magnificent and grand building, as if it had existed for thousands of years, exuding a sense of historical vicissitudes and profound depth.

Most crucially, there was no sun, no light, yet he could see everything clearly. This defied common sense. Could he have awakened a heavenly eye? Cough cough, just a joke.

It was evident that the building at the end of the bluestone path was the only place that could resolve his doubts. Therefore, Duàn Yì felt the urge to approach it.

However, before he could even take a step, he felt as if he had teleported and was already standing before the entrance of the tall building. It was incredibly miraculous. But before Duàn Yì could delve into the principles behind it, his attention was completely captivated by the building before him.

"Is this the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts?"

Before his eyes stood a seven-story classical building with slightly upturned eaves and emerald tiles. Four colossal pillars, as thick as an adult's embrace, stretched from the ground floor to the rooftop, giving it a majestic and grand appearance, solemn and dignified.

On the plaque of the first-floor pavilion, three large characters were brightly inscribed in gold powder: "Tower of Hidden Martial Arts." The calligraphy was upright and imposing, like dragons and phoenixes dancing, truly exquisite.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

When in a mysterious environment with such a mysterious Tower of Hidden Martial Arts before him, different people would react differently. The timid would turn and flee, while the bold would push the door open and enter.

Duàn Yì's choice was to first ask if anyone was present. After waiting for a long time, his throat felt hoarse, but there was no response from inside. Thus, his courage grew a little, and he approached the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, pushing the door open.

Creak. The main door was pushed open. Duàn Yì first poked his head inside and took in all the sights of the first floor. There were no other facilities or furnishings, only empty bookshelves, but they were spotless, looking very clean and tidy.

Duàn Yì relaxed and stepped over the high threshold, entering the mysterious Tower of Hidden Martial Arts.

He walked up to one of the bookshelves. An empty slot on it had some words written below it. Due to the small font, Duàn Yì had to look closely several times before he could make out the words: "Great Strength Eagle Claw Skill, Missing."

Looking at the adjacent slots, he saw "Eagle Claw Iron Shirt, Missing," "Shaolin Dragon Claw Hand, Missing," "Wudang Tiger Claw Desperate Hand, Missing," "Beggar's Sect Silk Entanglement Grappling Hand, Missing," and so on.

Taking a step back, Duàn Yì found another bookshelf. It also had many martial arts names written on it, such as Hundred Flowers Mistake Fist, Wudang Heaven Shaking Iron Palm, Huashan Jade Breaking Fist, Cape Staff Technique, and others, but without exception, they all had the word "Missing."

Duàn Yì's eyes were sharp, and he even spotted several very famous and powerful martial arts: Heaven and Earth Intercourse Yin Yang Great Sorrow Rhapsody, Flying Immortal, Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill, Longevity Art, Heavenly Dipper Boy Skill, and more. However, like the previous martial arts, they all had the word "Missing."

There was also the Sacred Heart Art, which made Duàn Yì's mouth water, wishing he could pounce on it and give it a good kiss. The Divine Light Skill was nothing compared to the Sacred Heart Art. But similarly, it was also missing.

"What does this mean? A library of jade slips? A pavilion of returning water?

At least those places have a large portion of their collections complete, in addition to some famous ultimate skills and unique techniques. Here, it's just missing, missing, missing! Are they missing a screw? There's nothing here, just a broken building."

Duàn Yì immediately cursed in anger, his heart aching. He had thought this was his golden finger, but now it seemed completely wrong.

Judging by the seven-story structure, the martial arts contained within should have been as vast as a sea of knowledge. If he could truly utilize it well, his future would be limitless, and whether he had the Divine Light Skill or not would be irrelevant.

But the reality was the opposite. This was just an empty shell. All the martial arts seemed beautiful but were useless, not even a shadow of them existed, just book titles, completely illusory.

Duàn Yì was unwilling to give up, thinking that if there was nothing on the first floor, perhaps the second floor would have complete versions. So, he trudged upstairs and was hit with another blow. After finishing the second floor, he went up to the third...

After a long while, with a thump, he sat on the ground. Duàn Yì wiped the sweat from his forehead, finally giving up completely. He had scanned all seven floors, his eyes almost blurring. There wasn't a single complete martial art.

Thousands of "Missing" words danced before his eyes, as if playfully greeting him, "Come chase me, come chase me, and if you catch me, I'll let you hehehe."

"No, if this is truly my golden finger, it wouldn't be this simple. Giving me an empty Tower of Hidden Martial Arts alone would be meaningless."

Duàn Yì was still unwilling to give up. Such a great opportunity was right before him; if he couldn't seize it, wouldn't he be a fool?

So, he put his mind to work and started analyzing.

The Tower of Hidden Martial Arts was empty. There was no intelligent little loli to guide transmigrators as in legends, no seemingly simple and easy-to-understand attribute panel. It only had thousands of martial arts with the word "Missing" written on them. Could this be the starting point?

If he were to complete these missing martial arts, would he be able to gain benefits from it?

Duàn Yì thought his idea was very good and made a lot of sense, but he couldn't verify it for the time being.

Besides that, he also discovered that his feelings within the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts were very real. For example, running up and down the seven floors actually made him sweat as if in reality. Could it be that his physical body had transmigrated?

But that didn't seem right either. When he was feeling stifled before, he didn't have this grounded feeling at all.

If it wasn't his physical body but his spirit, then what help would this discovery bring him?

The more he thought, the deeper he went. Duàn Yì simply began to explore, trying to see if he could get out...

Two hours later, after entering and exiting the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts several times, Duàn Yì finally understood some information.

The Tower of Hidden Martial Arts should be related to the completed Longevity Lock in Duàn Yì's hand. Duàn Yì only needed to concentrate his mental energy on the Longevity Lock to enter the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts. To exit, he could also concentrate his mind and call out.

The operation was simple and easy to learn.

During the time spent in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, Duàn Yì's body in reality would enter a deep sleep state. This was Duàn Yì's guess, but he was quite confident.

Because every time he woke up, he felt full of energy, as if he had just had a good night's sleep. And his thoughts and reflections in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts could be fed back to reality in real-time.

This feedback was purely mental.

For example, Duàn Yì experimented by doing push-ups in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts until he was drenched in sweat. However, upon returning to reality, his body felt no soreness, and his mind was full of energy. He simply remembered the feeling of fatigue from that time.

Furthermore, the time flow in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts and the real world was consistent; there was no acceleration. This point slightly disappointed Duàn Yì, dispelling some unrealistic fantasies.

And the most crucial point was that when Duàn Yì entered the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, a mysterious force seemed to have shaped a body for him that was synchronized with reality, with realistic tactile sensations, fatigue, and strength.

Aside from the unverified guess that completing martial arts might benefit him, Duàn Yì was already extremely satisfied with these additional benefits alone.

Expanding his thinking and leveraging his transmigration knowledge, combined with the information Duàn Yì had already verified, gave him a significant head start should he ever have the opportunity to learn martial arts.

His real body and senses allowed him to practice within the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, rather than just relying on imagination.

He could test out some high-difficulty martial arts in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts first, without any impact on his actual body.

Familiarizing himself with the stances and the circulation of internal energy could provide a significant boost to his real-world cultivation.

In terms of time, everyone had twelve hours a day. While others rested, Duàn Yì could use his sleep time to continue cultivating in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts. If such diligent effort and hard work yielded no results, it would truly be unjust.

Of course, the prerequisite was that he could endure the endless monotony.

Mental fatigue and a lazy will were always the greatest enemies of success.

This was his understanding of the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts.

As for where it came from, what secrets it held, or whether anyone else had entered the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts before him, Duàn Yì knew nothing and had no intention of investigating.

Simply put, he only needed to rely on the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts to become stronger; everything else was secondary.

As for why he needed to become stronger, did he even need to ask?

Setting aside money, women, and power, he hadn't forgotten that his current situation was far from safe.

Since Yuè Bì Nǔ of the Moon Worship Palace and Qū Dōng Liú of the Golden Cauldron Sect had rebelled, how could they let go of the remnants loyal to Yán Sù Sù? Not to mention his own blood relatives.

"Right now, this Longevity Lock is my most precious possession. I must keep it on me at all times, never lose it, and never show it to others easily.

I'll leave it at that for tonight. Tomorrow, I can try asking Sister Yuè to teach me a martial art or two to verify the miraculous nature of the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts."