Deep within the silent mountain cave, there was only the occasional drip of water from the rock walls and Lin Chen's long, steady breathing.
After the excitement of his strength soaring wildly once more, Lin Chen's heart gradually settled, like an ancient, unfathomable pool—calm and without a ripple.
He sat cross-legged, his expression focused, his gaze fixed tightly on the mysterious Beast Hide Book spread open across his knees.
The pages were yellowed, carrying the weathered air of passing years. There was not a single word on them, only crude, strange, even twisted humanoid illustrations. Their lines were simple, yet they seemed to contain an indescribably profound artistic conception. Every time he looked at them, he seemed to gain a different feeling.
Previously, with his Body Tempering Realm Sixth Layer Peak cultivation and experience, he had found these illustrations nothing but a chaotic mess, utterly incomprehensible, enough to make him dizzy.
But now, after breaking through to the Body Tempering Realm Seventh Layer Late Stage, greatly increasing his Spiritual Power, and gaining a vague understanding of concepts such as "trajectories" and "concealment" from refining the Dark Panther Core, he looked at the illustrations again and actually... faintly caught something different!
Those seemingly chaotic lines no longer looked like simple strokes in his eyes. They were flowing trajectories! Like an antelope hanging its horns, leaving no trace to follow, yet secretly matching the rhythm of heaven and earth!
Those twisted, bizarre humanoid poses were no longer mere contortions of the limbs. They were imitating the grace of wind, the agility of water, the illusion of shadows, even a rudimentary form of spatial leaps?!
"This... this is absolutely an incredibly profound movement art!" Lin Chen's heart began pounding violently once more!
Though he still could not fully understand it, merely glimpsing the tip of the iceberg had already let him feel the unimaginable profundity and power of this movement art!
If he could completely comprehend it... just how terrifying would his speed and evasive ability become?! Perhaps even against a Foundation Establishment Realm expert, he could rely on this movement art to contend for a while!
Overwhelming surprise and desire instantly filled his heart!
He immediately held his breath, focused his mind, and immersed all his attention into comprehending the Beast Hide Book!
He began trying to imitate the bizarre footwork and poses depicted in the book.
At first, it was still fraught with difficulties. Those movements completely went against the body's normal habits of exertion. Every attempt made him feel as if his muscles and bones were about to split, while the circulation of his true qi became unbearably sluggish.
But he did not give up!
He understood clearly that the more profound a movement art was, the harder it would naturally be to cultivate! If it could be mastered easily, it would not deserve to be treasured so dearly by that fellow Lin Bao!
He tried again and again, carefully experiencing the subtle differences in every movement and feeling the circulation of true qi through those strange paths within his body.
Gradually, he discovered certain patterns.
These bizarre poses and footwork did not seem to rely purely on physical strength. They required the true qi within the body to be mobilized and combined perfectly with bodily movements in an extremely special, exquisitely subtle manner! They even required... the guidance of Spiritual Power?!
This had already completely surpassed the scope of ordinary Yellow-tier or even Black-tier movement arts!
"Could this... actually be a fragment of an Earth-tier movement art, or perhaps something of even higher grade?!" A monstrous tide surged through Lin Chen's heart!
Earth-tier cultivation arts and martial skills! Those were treasures said to be possessed only by top sects or Aristocratic Clans with millennia of history! Where had that fellow Lin Bao obtained something like this?!
However, now was not the time to investigate its origin.
Since the treasure was already in his hands, there was naturally no reason to let it go!
Lin Chen threw himself into comprehension with even greater focus.
He tried guiding the vast liquid true qi within his body, which carried a trace of Dark Origin characteristics, along the strange paths faintly revealed in the illustrations.
Buzz...
When his true qi flowed through those special meridian nodes while his body made those strange twists and strides, Lin Chen suddenly felt as though his body had become lighter?!
The surrounding air no longer seemed to be resistance. Instead, it became a kind of "medium" he could borrow force from!
His footsteps also became exceptionally elusive, exceptionally difficult to grasp!
It was as if he had turned into a true shadow! A phantom that could weave freely between light and darkness!
Though the feeling was still weak and unstable, and his movements remained awkward and unpracticed, he clearly caught that trace of core essence belonging to this mysterious movement art!
"Fast! Strange! Impossible to predict!" Brilliant light burst from Lin Chen's eyes!
This movement art was practically tailored for him!
He had always excelled in speed and sneak attacks. If he paired that with this unfathomably strange movement art, it would be like adding wings to a tiger! Whether in battle or fleeing for his life, it would become his greatest trump card!
"Continue!"
Like a child who had discovered a new continent, Lin Chen became completely absorbed in comprehending this mysterious movement art.
He forgot time, forgot hunger, forgot everything around him!
Within the cramped cave, his body constantly performed all kinds of strange, twisted movements! At times, he slithered stealthily like a nimble snake; at times, he flickered like a ghostly specter; at other times, he leaped lightly like a wild goose!
Every attempt was accompanied by the subtle circulation of true qi and intense concentration of Spiritual Power!
With every failure, he immediately stopped, carefully recalled the trajectories in the illustrations, adjusted the details of his true qi circulation, and tried again!
Throughout this process, the Myriad Dao Furnace did not remain idle either!
Though it could not directly absorb information as it did when refining cultivation manuals, it released a strange fluctuation that enveloped the illustrations on the Beast Hide Book, as if carrying out some kind of "simulation" and "deduction"!
Strands of clearer, more intuitive insights flowed continuously into Lin Chen's mind like trickling streams! They helped him understand those profound illustrations faster and master the essentials of those bizarre movements more quickly!
The furnace even made extremely subtle adjustments and optimizations to this movement art according to Lin Chen's own physique and true qi characteristics?! Though the extent of this optimization was far less obvious than when it had refined the Basic Qi Refining Art and the Surging Wave Palm, Lin Chen could feel that this movement art's compatibility with him was slowly increasing! It was as though it was gradually becoming something truly his own!
"This furnace is simply a heaven-defying aid!" Lin Chen sighed inwardly once more!
With the furnace's help, his speed in comprehending this mysterious movement art was definitely more than a hundred times faster than an ordinary person's!
Time flew by amid Lin Chen's nearly crazed cultivation and comprehension.
Before he knew it, another day and night had passed.
Outside the cave, the sun rose and the moon set, while light and shadow shifted.
Inside the cave, Lin Chen's figure became increasingly elusive, increasingly... strange!
At times, he left streaks of afterimages on the ground. At times, he clung soundlessly to the rock walls like a gecko. At other times, within the cramped space, he performed all manner of inconceivable evasions, shifts, and turns!
Though his movements were still far from perfectly smooth and even somewhat unpracticed, compared to two days earlier, they were as different as heaven and earth!
He had already preliminarily grasped the mysteries contained in the first few illustrations of this mysterious movement art and integrated them into his instincts!
"Hoo..."
Lin Chen slowly withdrew his cultivation and exhaled a long breath of stale air.
His face bore a trace of fatigue, but even more than that, irrepressible excitement and satisfaction!
"Though it is still far from great mastery, and cannot even be considered an introduction, this movement art's power is already beginning to show!" A sharp gleam flickered in Lin Chen's eyes.
He had a feeling that with the little he had initially mastered, if he unleashed it with all his strength, his speed and evasive ability would improve by at least fifty percent! Moreover, because its trajectories were so strange and unpredictable, it would definitely produce unexpected results in actual combat!
"This movement art still has no name..." Lin Chen looked at the Beast Hide Book in his hand, pondered for a moment, then smiled. "Since it is so elusive and strange, like a ghostly phantom, why not... call it Phantom Step!"
Though it was merely a name he had casually chosen himself, it was quite fitting.
With Phantom Step as a trump card, his powerful Body Tempering Realm Seventh Layer Late Stage cultivation, the formidable optimized version of the Surging Wave Palm, and the heaven-defying cheat that was the Myriad Dao Furnace...
Lin Chen felt that only now did he truly possess the foundation to stand firm and even venture through the perilous Green Peak Mountain Range!
"It is time to go out and stretch my limbs!"
Lin Chen rose to his feet, blazing battle intent burning in his eyes!
Though two days of secluded cultivation had caused his strength to surge once more, they had also left him feeling somewhat stifled.
He needed battle! He needed experience! He needed life-and-death struggles against demonic beasts to test his strength, hone his combat skills, and... obtain more cultivation resources!
After all, the spirit stones and Crimson Sun Grass he had looted from Lin Bao had been nearly exhausted while charging toward the Seventh Layer Late Stage. If he wanted to continue improving rapidly, he had to find new "fuel"!
And this vast Green Peak Mountain Range was undoubtedly the best "hunting ground"!
He tucked the mysterious Beast Hide Book close to his body once more, then carefully checked his equipment and condition.
After confirming that everything was ready, he took a deep breath. A sharp light flashed in his eyes, like a keen sword about to leave its sheath!
"Green Peak Mountain Range... I, Lin Chen, have arrived!"
His figure flashed, and Lin Chen slipped silently from the hidden cave that had brought him such immense improvement, like a ghostly phantom merging into the shadows!
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