A World Beyond

Inside the vast, empty hall, waves of pure white, boiling energy visible to the naked eye continuously rolled off Li Hai, who sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, stirring up the dust on the floor for several feet around him in a ceaseless frenzy.

As for the cultivation of those two great techniques, Li Hai had actually completed them in the blink of an eye, reaching the absolute peak.

The current spectacle was merely a minor manifestation caused by the surging flow of the overly immense true power within his body.

The so-called power, while unable to strike objects from a distance like the innate true energy found in martial arts novels—requiring a solid, physical connection to take effect—could, once cultivated to an extremely high level as Li Hai had done, utilize the circulation of internal true intent to drive high-frequency vibrations throughout the body. These vibrations would then ripple through the surrounding air, ultimately creating the boiling, turbulent effect seen moments ago.

This was something only a top-tier Steel Sinew Iron Bone Realm martial artist could achieve.

Beyond these external phenomena, Li Hai's body underwent an incredibly bizarre transformation after completing the cultivation of the Iron Barrel Bell-Coiling Manual.

His physique had bulked up once more, reaching a full two meters in height, while his skin had abruptly turned a bloodless, jade-white, completely devoid of any visible pores.

Most strangely, Li Hai's hair, eyebrows, and even all his body hair had fallen out, scattering across the surrounding area.

"What the hell..."

Li Hai rubbed his bald head and grinned, muttering, "I didn't realize practicing this technique would turn me into a monk."

In truth, only Li Hai felt he looked like a monk.

His features were naturally fierce and overbearing; now, with his bloodless complexion and lack of eyebrows, he didn't just look like a simple villain, but rather like a massive, oversized evil ghost that had just broken out of the netherworld.

"Let's test the quality of this technique."

Li Hai muttered as he extended a thick finger tipped with a long, sharp nail and thrust it into the rocky wall of the hall beside him.

Sshhh~

Without using much effort, the finger sank into the wall up to the base as if it were piercing tofu.

Li Hai then used his finger as a blade, and with a series of harsh, grating sounds, he forcibly cut a basin-sized perfect circle into the thick wall before him.

"Neither pain nor heat; it's as if this rock has lost its inherent hardness."

Withdrawing his finger to stroke the surface, Li Hai mused, "No, it hasn't lost its hardness. It is simply because my current body is far too tough."

As his thoughts turned, he opened his personal interface—

Master Name: Li Hai
Level/Rank: Orthodox Martial Arts → Steel Sinew Iron Bone, Bloodline Divine Ability → Mid-Grade, Ghost Path → Fierce Soul
Skills: Five Animals Qigong, Beast Intent Demon Claw, Blood Soaked Sinking Heart, Ghost Body Soul Remains, Evil Spirit Earth Yin Absorption Method (Damaged), Evil Sha Yin Descent, Resentful Sha Yang Extinguishing, Savage Bull Fist, Iron Fan Palm, Iron Barrel Bell-Coiling Manual, Moon Marrow Refining Technique
Entry Traits: [Soul Strengthening Level 2], [Finger Claw Level 2], [Berserk Level 2], [Wildness Level 2], [Ghost Body Level 2], [Ghostly Image Level 2], [Twin Sha Level 2], [Iron Body Level 2], [Stone Heart Level 2]
Stronger Fragment: None

"Iron Body and Stone Heart must be the traits brought by the Iron Barrel Bell-Coiling Manual."

Li Hai thought thoughtfully, "Although I am still in the Steel Sinew Iron Bone Realm, with two additional Level 2 traits, I can clearly feel my combat power has leaped forward. I could even beat my former self to a pulp. Tsk, interesting."

From this, he understood that the level of one's realm might not fully represent the extent of one's combat power.

Even while remaining in a certain realm, as long as he cultivated enough powerful martial arts of the same level and accumulated enough entry traits, he could still continuously improve his strength.

Immediately, Li Hai looked up at the wall, touched the large circular section with the clear cutting marks, and pushed with sudden force.

Thud!

With a muffled sound, the circular wall block was forcibly pushed out by Li Hai, leaving behind a pitch-black, circular hole.

Strangely, that heavy thud came from far behind Li Hai.

He followed the sound and saw that the opposite hall wall, dozens of feet away, also featured a circular hole, equally pitch-black.

At the base of the wall where the hole had been punched, a circular stone block with jagged edges lay quietly.

Li Hai understood the moment he saw it.

"Haha, interesting."

Grinning, Li Hai raised his arm and reached into the dark, eerie hole in the wall before him.

He then turned his head to look behind him, and sure enough, he saw a jade-white, thick arm extending from the hole in the opposite wall.

Indeed, it was his own hand.

"Truly magical."

Li Hai smacked his lips and withdrew his arm, "I wonder what kind of mysterious method was used to achieve this."

"So..." He rubbed his bald head, "How am I supposed to get out?"

Li Hai scanned his surroundings, pondered for a moment, and then strode toward the black desk to pick up the Red Light Scroll.

After lingering here for so long, he had roughly guessed that the hall he was currently in was likely the small rectangular pattern within the scroll—the so-called Naihe Mansion Guiyou Grotto-Heaven Side Hall.

As for the righteous organization to which this side hall belonged, its name should be Naihe Mansion.

As for the other buildings outside this hall, given the lifeless and dilapidated state of the place, it was likely that they had been destroyed due to internal strife or an external invasion.

"Doesn't matter. It has little to do with me."

Li Hai looked around and muttered, "This place wouldn't be bad as a mobile warehouse; it could hold quite a lot of things."

Immediately, he poured his True Energy into the Red Light Scroll without a moment's hesitation.

Since the Naihe Token reacts to True Energy, this scroll might react as well. Trying it out won't hurt.

That was exactly what Li Hai was thinking.

As it turned out, his intuition was correct.

When Li Hai channeled his True Energy into the scroll, a massive surge of fragmented, blurry information suddenly flooded his mind. Along with these messages came a familiar, cold, and detached voice:

"Do you wish to teleport to the exterior of the Naihe Mansion?"

"Yes."

Li Hai's eyes gleamed as he answered in his mind.

Whoosh!

Instantly, a massive gray vortex unfurled from the scroll, swallowing him whole.

Outside, on the soot-covered rocky slope deep within the ruins of the Ghost Forest, the Naihe Token that had been lying there quietly suddenly began to vibrate.

Hum—

Suddenly, Li Hai's figure grew from small to large, shifting from ethereal to solid as he flew out from the ancient token, landing steadily on the rocky ground ten feet away.

"Phew..."

Li Hai let out a long breath. "The information hidden within that painting... it was truly spectacular."

The guess he had made earlier was correct; the organization that the grand hall belonged to was indeed called the Naihe Mansion.

And the realm where that grand hall was located was, in fact, a hidden paradise existing beyond the mortal world.