Mirror-Like Still Water

Inside the safehouse, the heavy alloy door shut out the clamor outside.

Fang Gang sat cross-legged on the floor, the Bronze Battle Halberd resting against the wall, its blade flowing with a dim, icy gleam.

Under the ceiling light, his bald head reflected a hard, metallic sheen.

The 150 Evolution Points gained from killing the Blood Butcher.

Mental power! He needed a stronger mental barrier!

The Faceless Cult Master's cold data scan, the mental shock transmitted by the Blood Butcher at the very end, and the restless Resentful Eye Brand on his left arm all reminded him that the battlefield of the mind was equally perilous!

"System, add points! True · Mirror-Like Still Water Heart Sutra! All of them!" Fang Gang's will was iron.

Ding! 150 Evolution Points consumed!

"True · Mirror-Like Still Water Heart Sutra" (Basic Chapter): Minor Mastery (495/500) → Complete Mastery (0/1000)!

Mental Power: 30 (Perceiving the Finest Details) → 300 (Heart Like Glazed Glass)!!!

Boom—!!!

An unprecedented, vast, and boundless cool torrent, like the Milky Way pouring down from the heavens, flooded into Fang Gang's sea of consciousness in an instant!

This power was no longer a trickling stream, but a roaring, surging river!

Within his sea of consciousness, the Mind Mirror that had once been clear and resilient suddenly erupted with dazzling brilliance!

The mirror's surface was repeatedly scoured and polished by the torrent, becoming as smooth as the finest crystal—flawless, translucent, and bright enough to reflect a face!

At the edge of the frame, mysterious silver runes even faintly emerged, flowing without end!

The Mind Mirror had reached completion! Heart Like Glazed Glass!

At that moment, Fang Gang felt as though his mental will had been completely cleansed and elevated!

His thoughts had never been so clear, swift, and lucid!

Within several hundred meters, every rustle of wind and grass, every chirp of insects and scurry of rats—even the vibration frequency of the air-conditioning unit on the neighboring building—was reflected upon the Mind Mirror with perfect clarity, as though he were studying the lines on his palm!

His control over every thread of blood and vitality, every fraction of his strength, had reached the microscopic level!

The cold malice and greedy fluctuations emitted by the Resentful Eye Brand on his left arm were, under the radiance of the completed Mind Mirror, like shadows exposed to blazing sunlight—firmly suppressed and imprisoned! They could no longer stir even the slightest ripple!

The dark-golden vertical pupil at the end of the brand even conveyed a trace of alarm and retreat, as though it had been purified!

"Good!" Fang Gang opened his eyes. A glazed, clear light flashed through the depths of his pupils, so sharp it seemed capable of piercing hearts and seeing through all falsehood. The surge in mental power had brought an all-around improvement in perception and control!

The power of dragons and elephants surged through his body, yet now it moved as naturally as his own limbs, perfectly rounded and obedient!

Just then!

Buzz—!

A familiar scan, cold to the extreme, like an invisible torrent of data, passed through the heavy alloy walls without warning and descended instantly!

It was more solid and precise than during the battle with the Blood Butcher, carrying an even stronger desire to analyze and pry!

The Faceless Cult Master! A second data scan!

A cold, emotionless synthesized electronic voice seemed to ring directly inside Fang Gang's mind:

"Target... Fang Gang... coordinates... locked..."

"Strength data... updating..."

"Mental fluctuations... remodeling... analysis commencing..."

The invisible data stream was like hundreds of millions of cold venomous snakes, trying to coil around, seep into, and analyze Fang Gang's mental core, prying into the secret behind his explosive growth in strength!

If it had been the Mirror-Like Still Water Heart Sutra at Minor Mastery before, the Mind Mirror might have been stable, but this powerful scan from an SS-Class existence would still have stirred violent ripples and exposed some fluctuations.

But now!

Within his sea of consciousness, the glazed Mind Mirror at Complete Mastery shone brilliantly!

Cool, clear, and incomparably resilient glazed radiance, like the purest crystal barrier, firmly protected his entire sea of consciousness!

The cold data stream crashed against the glazed Mind Mirror!

"Zzt... zzt..."

There was no violent collision, no annihilation of energy!

There was only an ear-grating sound of dissolution, like a red-hot branding iron pressed against ten-thousand-year-old black ice!

The data stream, capable of uncovering the secrets of even Grade B and Grade A experts' souls, struck this layer of complete glazed radiance and vanished like a clay ox entering the sea!

Every attempt at analysis, infiltration, and prying was completely blocked, dissolved, and refracted away by that clear, flawless, indestructible mental barrier, which stood in a posture of near absolute defense!

The data stream washed over it futilely, unable to stir even a ripple across the glazed mirror's surface! It could not seep through in the slightest, much less glimpse any useful information behind it!

Fang Gang remained seated, his dark-golden bald head reflecting an unusual, clear halo beneath the safehouse lights, as though it could cleanse away all filth.

He clearly "saw" the invisible data scan wandering and crashing futilely before the glazed Mind Mirror. At last... the cold synthesized electronic voice showed obvious fluctuations for the first time, like a signal malfunction:

"Error! Error!!"

"Target mental barrier... structure unknown... strength... impossible to analyze!!"

"Data... lost... logic... conflict..."

"Bald head... reflection... source of interference... unable to lock onto core..."

The cold data scan retreated like a receding tide, carrying an indescribable trace of... alarm and frustration? It vanished without a trace in an instant.

The safehouse returned to silence.

A cold curve appeared at the corner of Fang Gang's mouth. Heart Like Glazed Glass, Mirror-Like Still Water! This completed mental barrier had indeed made that data-driven rat suffer!

"Unable to analyze?" he muttered, battle intent burning even hotter in his eyes. "Then come and try it yourself!"

He rose to his feet and stretched his muscles, producing a low rumble like thunder.

The explosive increase in mental power had expanded the range of his perception severalfold.

At that moment, he clearly "heard" that in some dark corner of the city, an aura carrying intense resentment and twisted mental fluctuations was radiating ominous waves like a beacon in the night.

"B+-Class... Nightmare Weaver?" Fang Gang instantly identified the target.

It was a spiritual ghost adept at invading dreams and creating deep terror, an excellent tool for spreading seeds of fear!

It seemed the Faceless Cult Master's livestream had suffered a setback, so it had begun employing the power of other priests.

Perfect! His newly enhanced mental power needed a whetstone!

He hoisted the Bronze Battle Halberd onto his shoulder and pulled open the alloy door. Under the corridor lights, his dark-golden bald head flowed with a glazed sheen that was clear yet hard and cold.

"Time to stretch my legs."