Mysterious Space

As if recalling something, Shi Kang casually asked, "By the way, how is your father doing?"

"Thanks to the pills Young Master gave us, not only did my father's injuries fully heal, but he also turned misfortune into fortune. He successfully compressed his Dou Qi and reached the First-turn Dou Venerate." Yue Ru raised her head, her face full of gratitude.

Yue Ru's father had originally been an ordinary Nine-star Dou Venerate in the Stone Clan. He had suffered severe injuries while carrying out a mission some time ago. If not for the healing pills Shi Kang had given him, he would probably still be bedridden in critical condition.

Not only that, Yue Ru had also benefited greatly because of Shi Kang, receiving many advantages others would not even dare dream of—her father had secured a good position within the clan, and the whole family had benefited along with him.

To Shi Kang, these matters were nothing more than trivial favors he could arrange with a casual word, but to Yue Ru, they were debts of gratitude as immense as heaven.

She was sincerely grateful and had long resolved to serve Shi Kang well.

Shi Kang nodded, not particularly pleased by the clan gaining another First-turn Dou Venerate.

Although the Stone Clan was at the bottom among the Dou God Clans and had little prestige, compared to the other forces of the Central Continent, it was still an untouchable behemoth. The clan alone had nearly twenty Dou Shengs, to say nothing of its Half-Saints.

A First-turn Dou Venerate truly amounted to nothing in the Stone Clan.

Shi Kang continued narrowing his eyes as he enjoyed the Maid's service.

Well, it was just a perfectly simple and proper massage to loosen his muscles and bones...

Life really was pleasant!

If not for that crisis involving the Soul Clan, this little life of his would have been absolutely perfect.

After taking care of his needs, Shi Kang got up and headed to the Cultivation Chamber.

After the battle during the day, combined with the Medicinal Bath he had just taken, the Dou Qi in his body was stirring restlessly. It was clear that he showed signs of breaking through to Dou Zong.

"I need to break through to Dou Zong quickly so I can switch to a higher-grade Cultivation Method."

He sat down cross-legged, took out a Pill of Breaking Ancestor, and swallowed it without a second thought.

Having a powerful background really was great. The Pill of Breaking Ancestor Yun Shan had dreamed of was readily available to Shi Kang.

Shi Kang was not worried in the slightest that using pills to break through would make the Dou Qi in his body unstable.

For body cultivators like them, the strength of their bodies had long surpassed their current Dou Qi realms. The Dou Qi within them was as solid as iron, so there was no need to deliberately suppress their realms. Whenever they could break through, they simply charged ahead.

At some point two days later, a powerful aura suddenly erupted from the Cultivation Chamber.

The Dou Qi within Shi Kang's body surged like floodwaters bursting through a dam, spreading outward from within.

He abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them—he had finally broken through!

Rising to his feet, Shi Kang threw a few punches at the air. The force of his fists produced crackling sounds as they tore through the air, and their power had increased considerably.

"Breaking through to Dou Zong really did raise my physical strength by quite a bit." He weighed it inwardly. With this body alone, he was likely unmatched within the Dou Zong realm.

As for whether he could contend with a Dou Zun, he would have to find an opportunity to test it.

"Hahaha, an eighteen-year-old Dou Zong—there's probably only been one in the past thousand years, and that's me!" Shi Kang grinned smugly.

Whenever he thought of how Xiao Yan had only just reached Dou Zhe while he was already a Dou Zong, a sense of pride kept bubbling up within him.

"By this point in time, Xiao Yan should have arrived at the Monster Beast Mountain Range..." The plot was about to unfold, and Shi Kang's heart itched. He had long wanted to go out and see it for himself.

But before that, he needed to switch to a higher-grade Cultivation Method.

It was not because a Low-tier Heaven Grade Cultivation Method could no longer satisfy him, but because he had already thoroughly grasped the method's trait of "integrating Soul Power into the flesh."

Even if he switched Cultivation Methods later, he would still be able to accomplish it through experience. At most, he would not be as skilled or as powerful as he was now.

With that in mind, Shi Kang decided to ask his Father, Shi Gang, for advice.

Shi Gang had lived for over a thousand years and was a Six-star Dou Saint powerhouse. With his vast experience, he would surely be able to offer reliable advice.

Shi Kang would never think he was remarkable simply because he was a transmigrator. He still had to ask for guidance when needed, especially since this was his own father.

Shi Kang found Shi Gang in the Grand Hall, where he was handling clan affairs.

Shi Gang glanced up and immediately noticed the change in his realm. Surprise appeared on his face. "Son, you broke through to Dou Zong?"

Shi Kang nodded. Seeing the astonished look on his father's face, he inexplicably felt pleased.

"Father, I came to ask what Cultivation Method I should switch to." Shi Kang got straight to the point.

Shi Gang flashed to Shi Kang's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. The father and son did not seem like father and son when they were together, but more like brothers.

"You really came to the right person for this. Your father, I..."

As he spoke, Shi Gang brought Shi Kang to the Scripture Library.

The Scripture Library was enormous, with row after row of shelves densely packed with scrolls. They were all ancient texts, Cultivation Techniques and Combat Skills.

It was not Shi Kang's first time here. Familiar with the place, he followed his father deeper inside.

The Cultivation Techniques and Combat Skills here were arranged according to grade, with lower-grade ones placed closer to the outside.

Naturally, Shi Kang had no interest in those outer shelves and followed his father straight toward the depths.

The farther in they went, the fewer shelves and scrolls there were, and all the scrolls were stored in boxes.

At the very innermost part of the Scripture Library, Shi Gang stopped.

There were no shelves here, only a wall covered in portraits. They depicted the Stone Clan's past Clan Leaders, Old Ancestors, and certain top-tier powerhouses.

There were annotations beneath the portraits as well, recording the highlights of their lives. Every one of them had been an extraordinary genius of their era.

Needless to say, those people had long since passed away.

They represented the Stone Clan's former glory, while also subtly revealing its history of gradual decline—after all, each succeeding Clan Leader had been worse than the last. Was that not a history of decline?

Shi Gang first bowed slightly toward the portraits as a gesture of respect to his ancestors.

Although Shi Kang did not quite understand, he followed suit.

They were all his own ancestors. Bowing to them would not cost him anything, and perhaps if he bowed a few times, an ancestor might reveal himself and bestow some inheritance or something.

Shi Kang bowed toward the portrait of one Dou Di ancestor. At that very moment, something unexpected happened.

He felt a powerful suction force emanate from the portrait. Forget him—even Shi Gang, a Six-star Dou Saint, failed to react in time before Shi Kang was dragged inside.

His vision blurred, and Shi Kang found himself standing in an empty space with nothing around him.

"Where am I?" He was completely bewildered.

Shi Gang outside was equally dumbfounded. His son had just been beside him, yet he vanished in the blink of an eye?

Shi Gang: Son, where is my son? Where did my huge son go?

Inside the space, Shi Kang walked around uneasily.

He was both afraid and expectant. Naturally, he was afraid because of this unfamiliar environment. With his father no longer beside him, Shi Kang felt insecure.

But he was expectant because he might obtain a great opportunity.

Was that not how novels from his previous life always went? Someone accidentally entered a mysterious cave or space and obtained some supreme inheritance.

"This should have been left behind by the Stone Clan's ancestors. They shouldn't harm their descendants..." Shi Kang comforted himself.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, he came upon a sphere of light with an incomparably dense earth attribute.