The Coarse Cloth Bundle contained only a book. Li Wei picked it up and took a look, and his face immediately lit up with delight.
"C-Rank martial art: Cloud-Piercing Palm. The Iron Palm Sect's hereditary palm technique. It combines hardness and softness, and its power is immense. Attack power: 100. Divided into four stages. Each stage gained through cultivation grants +2 Strength and +3 Agility. Beginner cultivation requires 10 Inner Power. Can be exchanged for 7,500 points!"
This was undoubtedly the greatest reward Li Wei had gained from this mission. He chose to cultivate it almost without hesitation, but the result left him deeply discouraged.
"Insufficient Inner Power to meet the requirements for cultivating this technique..."
Only after checking his Inner Power did Li Wei become completely disheartened. The Inner Power field on the Yellow Paper showed his attribute as 0. In other words, he first had to raise his Inner Power to 10 before he could cultivate Cloud-Piercing Palm.
It was like a starving person sitting in front of a table laden with delicacies, yet being unable to eat. With no other choice, he put the manual away.
Only then did Li Wei have a chance to look around the secret chamber.
It was a square space of about thirty square meters, with no furnishings at all. Smooth walls of piled stone surrounded him, and a torch hung on each of the four corners. Their dim flames cast a gloomy, terrifying light over the place.
Most unnerving of all, a huge mirror hung on the wall directly in front of him. In the dim firelight, his reflection looked especially eerie.
But Li Wei was certain he was the only one here.
He went up to the walls and ran his hand over them. They were cold and incredibly solid, with no hidden doors. The floor was the same. This was a genuine secret chamber.
Except for that rather out-of-place mirror.
Taking a closer look, Li Wei was surprised to find that it wasn't a mirror at all. It was a huge mass of something like **; it merely looked like a mirror.
He cautiously reached out and found no resistance. His fingers passed straight through the pool of what seemed like upright water. Ripples spread across the surface where they touched it. Just then, Li Wei came up with a bold hypothesis.
He didn't hesitate. He stepped right into the mirror, and once his entire body had passed through, the ripples on its surface gradually settled.
It was like walking through a doorway. The next moment, Li Wei found himself on a street.
Looking at the bustling crowds around him, Li Wei felt as if he'd passed into another world. But he soon realized that something wasn't right.
The street had an old-fashioned charm, with no vehicles, only crowds of people. Every person seemed to give off a faint air of danger, which felt very strange. None of them seemed surprised by his sudden appearance.
Li Wei looked up at the sky and froze.
It was a murky gray, with dark clouds seeming to hang right above his head. The sight was oppressive, and the entire street was shrouded in mist. He couldn't make out anything more than a dozen meters away.
At a loss, Li Wei spotted a shop nearby and hurried over.
It was a bar, though clearly unlike the bars in the real world. It looked more like a medieval tavern from a movie, with wooden tables and chairs, metal utensils, and very little glassware. At least twenty people crowded into the place, which was less than a hundred square meters.
The moment Li Wei entered, everyone's attention turned to him.
Their gazes held confusion, curiosity, and speculation, but most of all, concealed hostility. Li Wei had never realized before how unpleasant it could be to feel people staring at him.
Before long, however, the gazes gradually turned away. The people in the bar resumed their conversations, while a few loners continued drinking in silence.
Li Wei swallowed and took an empty seat.
"Hey, young man, what can I get you?" A person less than a meter and a half tall, but definitely weighing over two hundred pounds, came over.
Li Wei only needed to glance at him to see that there wasn't an ounce of fat on him. He was all solid muscle, as was obvious from his exposed arms.
"Uh... I'll have a beer!" Li Wei's nervousness drew a hearty laugh from the other man.
"Ha ha, looks like we've got another first-timer on Shadow Street. Not bad. If you made it through the 'Beginner Trial' and got here, that means 'it' chose you. This beer's on me!"
Only after Li Wei gulped down a large mouthful of cold beer did he begin to feel normal again.
Where was this place?
Li Wei desperately wanted to ask someone, but he didn't dare rush into it. Everything here seemed strange. After leaving the Sword Immortal World, he'd gone straight to that secret chamber, and the only way out—the mirror—had brought him here.
What was going on? Where had these people come from?
Could they be like him?
Suddenly, Li Wei's eyes lit up. That was right! If all these people had been forcibly brought here like him, then everything made sense. They must have entered this world before he did.
That also explained the number on the Yellow Paper. The number 1987 probably meant he was the 1,987th person to enter this world.
As for the "Shadow Street" the burly owner had mentioned, that was probably the name of this place.
After finishing his beer, Li Wei didn't linger in the bar. Apart from the owner, who looked ridiculously muscular, everyone else had made him feel somewhat unwelcome. It was better to leave as soon as possible.
Back on the street, Li Wei began to examine the place carefully. It was essentially a small town, and the street running through it was called Shadow Street. The road was paved with countless rain flower stones of different sizes, making it very comfortable to walk on. Wooden houses lined the street, but Li Wei didn't dare barge into any of them.
He didn't stop until he reached a place that looked like a square.
There were many more people here than elsewhere. Stalls of all kinds filled the little square, making it look like a market. Li Wei spotted a stall nearby and walked over.
"Hello! Looking for anything? My goods are probably the most complete on all of Shadow Street. Don't miss out!" A thin young man beside the stall hurried over when he saw Li Wei.
Li Wei nodded at him and looked down at the goods.
"Hey, friend. Is this your first time on Shadow Street?" the stall owner asked suddenly, after watching Li Wei for a while.
Li Wei frowned, instantly on his guard. Seeing his reaction, the man quickly waved his hands. "Don't get the wrong idea. I mean no harm. It's just that if you're a newcomer, you're probably not familiar with this place yet, and I bet you've got a lot of questions, right?"
Li Wei remained wary of the young man, but still nodded.
"That's right. Don't worry, I was the same when I first got here. You'll get used to it after a while. By the way, this is a guide compiled by the seniors who arrived on Shadow Street first. I'm sure you'll find it useful!"
The young stall owner held a green-skinned book, only a dozen or so pages thick.
"Want to know how you ended up in this world? Everything you want to know is in this book. Just 50 points. What do you say? Pretty good deal, right?"
Fifty points was nothing to Li Wei at the moment. He had 4,800 points. Although he knew the young man was probably making quite a profit off him, he was more eager to find out what was in the Green Skin Book.
The transaction was incredibly simple. Following the young stall owner's instructions, Li Wei wrote the other man's number, 1215, on the Yellow Paper, along with the number of points to transfer.
A flash of light passed over the Yellow Paper, and his original 4,800 points became 4,750! Of course, Li Wei didn't let the young stall owner see any of this. He still had that much sense.
After taking the Green Skin Book, Li Wei went somewhere less crowded and began to read.
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