Tower of Hidden Martial Arts

Within his consciousness, the space before, behind, left, and right was pitch-black. Duàn Yì felt only a foggy oppression filling his entire mind, along with an urge that had to be vented.

When that stifling feeling built to its limit, Duàn Yì threw back his head and roared. In an instant, heaven and earth became clear, and the feeling of restraint vanished.

"Where is this? I had just pieced the Longevity Lock back together, then fainted? This isn't my room?

Duàn Yì gradually recalled what had happened before. A thought stirred in his heart. Could it be that the golden finger every transmigrator was supposed to have had finally arrived?

With a thought, he began observing his surroundings.

The environment he was in was quite peculiar. Three sides were shrouded in mist, an endless expanse of white. Only at the end of the bluestone road beneath his feet stood a magnificent, imposing building, as though it had existed for thousands upon thousands of years, steeped in the vicissitudes and weight of history.

Most crucially, there was no sun and no light, yet he could see everything with perfect clarity. This defied common sense. Could it be that he had awakened heavenly eyes? Ahem, ahem, just kidding.

Obviously, the building at the end of the bluestone road was the only thing that could answer his questions. Thus, Duàn Yì felt the urge to approach it.

Yet before he could even take a step, he realized that he had somehow arrived before the towering building, as if he had teleported. It was utterly miraculous, but before Duàn Yì could investigate its workings, the building before him seized all his attention.

"Is this the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts?"

Before him stood a seven-story classical building. Its flying eaves curved upward, its jade-green tiles and vermilion ridges gleamed brightly. Four round pillars, each thick enough for an adult to wrap both arms around, ran from the ground floor straight to the roof. It was both grand and resplendent, solemn and awe-inspiring.

On the plaque above the first floor, three large characters had been written in shimmering gold powder: Tower of Hidden Martial Arts. The calligraphy was upright and forthright, its momentum vast and majestic, like dragons soaring and phoenixes dancing. It was truly superb handwriting.

"Hey, is anyone there?"

When faced with a mysterious environment and such a mysterious Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, different people would react differently. The timid would turn around and leave at once, while the brash would shove open the door and enter.

Duàn Yì chose to ask whether anyone was there first. After waiting for quite a while, until his throat had nearly gone hoarse from shouting, he received no response from within. His courage rose a little, and he approached the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts and pushed the door open.

With a creak, the main doors opened. Duàn Yì first poked his head inside for a look, taking in the entire first floor at a glance. There were no other furnishings or arrangements, only rows of empty bookshelves. Still, the place was spotless and looked clean and orderly.

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

Approaching one of the bookshelves, he saw that one of its cubbies held nothing. Beneath it were several words. The writing was so small that Duàn Yì had to squint at it several times before making them out: "Great Strength Eagle Claw Skill, missing."

He looked at several more cubbies beside it. They read, "Eagle Claw Iron Shirt, missing." "Shaolin Dragon Claw Hand, missing." "Wudang Tiger Claw Desperate Hand, missing." "Beggar's Sect Silk Entanglement Grappling Hand, missing"...

Taking a step back, Duàn Yì found another bookshelf. It too bore the names of many martial arts, such as Hundred Flowers Mistake Fist, Wudang Heaven Shaking Iron Palm, Huashan Jade Breaking Fist, Cape Staff Technique, and so on. Yet without exception, every one of them bore the word "missing."

With his sharp eyes, Duàn Yì also spotted several extremely famous and formidable martial arts: Heaven and Earth Mutual Conquest Yin-Yang Great Sorrow Ode, Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens, Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill, Longevity Art, Heavenly Dipper Boy Skill, and more. Yet like the martial arts before them, they too all bore the word "missing."

There was even a Sacred Heart Art among them. The sight made Duàn Yì drool, and he almost lunged forward to give it a fierce kiss. Compared to the Sacred Heart Art, Divine Light Skill was nothing at all. But, naturally, it was still missing.

"What does this mean? Langhuan Jade Cave? Returning Favor Water Pavilion?

At least those places had a great many complete manuals besides some famous supreme arts and unique secret techniques. But you? Other than 'missing,' it's still 'missing.' Are you missing a few screws? There's nothing here at all, just a lousy building."

Duàn Yì immediately erupted into curses, his heart aching in spasms. He had thought this was his golden finger, but it now seemed that was completely wrong.

Judging by its seven stories, the martial arts contained within should have been as vast as the sea. If he could truly make good use of it, his future would be limitless. It would not even matter whether arts like Divine Light Skill were present.

But reality was the exact opposite. This was nothing but an empty shell. All those martial arts looked wonderful, yet were useless. There was not even a shadow of them, only titles—flowers in the water, moons in the well.

Still unwilling to give up, Duàn Yì figured that perhaps the first floor had nothing, but the second might contain complete copies. So he huffed and puffed his way upstairs, only to suffer another crushing blow. After finishing the second floor, he ran up to the third...

After a long while, Duàn Yì dropped to the floor with a thud. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he finally gave up completely. He had gone through all seven floors from top to bottom, and his eyes were nearly dazzled. There truly was not a single martial arts manual.

Only countless "missing" characters danced before his eyes, as if mischievously greeting him. "Come catch me, come catch me. Catch me, and I'll let you hehehe."

"No. If this really is my golden finger, it can't be this simple. Otherwise, what meaning is there in giving me nothing but an empty Tower of Hidden Martial Arts?"

Duàn Yì still refused to give up. Such a tremendous opportunity lay before him. If he still failed to seize it, would he not be a complete fool?

Thus, he racked his brains and began analyzing.

The Tower of Hidden Martial Arts was completely empty. There was no intelligent little loli to guide transmigrators as in the legends, no simple and easy-to-understand attribute panel, only countless martial arts marked with the word "missing." Could this be where he needed to start?

If he completed these originally incomplete martial arts, would he be able to gain some benefit from them?

Duàn Yì felt that this idea was excellent and perfectly logical, though he could not verify it for now.

Besides that, he discovered that everything he felt within the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts was very real. For instance, after running up and down seven floors, he had actually sweated just as he would in reality. Could it be that his physical body had entered this place?

But that did not seem right either. When he had been trapped in that stifling state before, he had felt no such solid sensation of standing on the ground.

If it was not his physical body but his spirit, then what use was this discovery to him?

The more he thought, the more thoughts arose; the deeper he thought, the deeper he went. Duàn Yì simply began exploring, trying to see whether he could leave...

Two hours later, after entering and leaving the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts several times, Duàn Yì had finally figured out some of the basic information.

This Tower of Hidden Martial Arts was likely connected to the Longevity Lock that had been restored in Duàn Yì's hands. So long as he focused his mind and attached his intent to the Longevity Lock, he could enter the tower. To leave, he only needed to focus his mind and call for it.

The operation was simple and easy to grasp.

During the time he was inside the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, Duàn Yì's body in reality would enter a deep sleep. This was merely his guess, though he was quite certain of it.

Because every time he woke up, he felt invigorated, as though he had just slept his fill. Meanwhile, everything he thought and experienced in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts could be promptly carried back to reality.

This feedback was purely mental.

For example, Duàn Yì tested doing push-ups in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts until he was drenched in sweat. Yet after returning to reality, his body felt no soreness at all, and his mind remained refreshed. He merely remembered the sensation of fatigue from the time.

Furthermore, time flowed at the same rate in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts and the real world. There was no acceleration. This disappointed Duàn Yì somewhat and shattered certain unrealistic fantasies.

Most importantly, whenever Duàn Yì entered the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, some mysterious force seemed to create a body synchronized with reality for him. Its sensations were real; it could grow tired and possessed strength.

Even leaving aside his unverified guess that completing martial arts manuals might help him, Duàn Yì was already immensely satisfied with these additional benefits alone.

Expanding his thinking, unleashing the imagination of a transmigrator, and combining it with the information he had already verified, if he had the chance to learn martial arts in the future, his starting point would be far higher than that of others.

A real body and real senses would allow him to practice martial arts within the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, rather than merely imagining it.

For some particularly difficult martial arts, he could test them out in the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts beforehand without affecting his real body.

He could familiarize himself with stances and the circulation of internal energy, while still gaining benefits for his cultivation in reality.

As for time, everyone had twelve two-hour periods in a day. While others rested, Duàn Yì could use his sleeping hours to enter the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts and continue cultivating. If such bitter practice and effort brought him no reward, there would truly be no justice in heaven.

Of course, that was provided he could endure such endless monotony.

Mental relaxation and laziness of will had always been great enemies of success.

That was everything he had learned about this Tower of Hidden Martial Arts.

As for where this thing had come from, what secrets it contained, or whether anyone before him had also entered the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts, Duàn Yì knew nothing—and had no intention of investigating.

To put it bluntly, all he needed now was to use the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts to grow stronger. Everything else had to step aside.

And why did he need to grow stronger? Did that even need to be said?

Leaving aside money, women, and power, he had not forgotten that his current circumstances were hardly safe.

Since Yuè Bì Nǔ of the Moon Worship Palace and Qū Dōng Liú of the Golden Cauldron Sect had rebelled, how could they spare the remaining loyalists of Yán Susu? Much less a blood relative like him.

"For now, this Longevity Lock is my most precious possession. I must keep it close at all times and never lose it. Nor can I show it to others lightly.

For tonight, this will do. Tomorrow, I can try asking Sister Yue to teach me one or two martial arts, and verify the wondrous effects of the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts."