After hearing Li Feng's account, everyone immediately began condemning the grandmother and grandson.
"How can people like that exist?"
"Kittens are so adorable. How could anyone bear to hurt them?"
"If I ever caught that little brat, I'd teach him a lesson..."
"If someone like that is allowed to grow up unchecked, he'll become a cancer on society..."
"Heh, having Ghostly Energy pass through his body won't kill him, but he probably won't be physically capable of doing much evil anymore..."
"True..."
"This should teach him a lesson.
If he still refuses to change, negative emotions will build up, and resentment and Ghostly Energy will cling to him. I doubt he'll end well..."
"Heh, serves him right!"
No one present felt any sympathy for someone like that.
Instead, their gazes toward the Ghost Cat filled with sympathy.
Of course, that was also because Li Feng had already brought the Ghost Cat under his control.
Otherwise, their attitude would have been very different. Calling the police or killing the ghost outright would have been the proper response.
No matter how grievously a Vengeful Ghost had been wronged in life, the moment they became a Vengeful Ghost, they stood against humanity.
Some Vengeful Ghosts would indeed dissipate into the world once their obsessions were resolved.
But the vast majority became bloodthirsty and violent after killing and taking human lives, treating humans as food.
Looking at the Black Cat in Li Feng's arms, someone couldn't help asking a question.
"Li, does the cat have a name?"
"A name?"
Li Feng was slightly taken aback.
He really hadn't thought about that.
Just as with the Delivery Ghost, whom he had always simply called the Delivery Ghost.
As for the Ghost Cat, Li Feng had only ever called the cat the Ghost Cat or the Black Cat.
He lowered his head and pondered briefly as the Ghost Cat looked up at him.
"Hmm... since he's small and black, how about Little Black..."
"Pfft!"
"L-Little Black..."
Everyone stared at Li Feng, dumbfounded. Even Yuan Chengfang couldn't help giving him a surprised look.
Little Black? Didn't that sound awfully like a dog's name?
Facing their stares, Li Feng felt helpless. What could he do? He was terrible at naming things.
"Then... Charcoal? Or Coal Ball?..."
"Those names, pfft, hahaha! You might as well just call him Black Cat..."
Someone burst out laughing at the names Li Feng came up with.
But those words gave Li Feng an idea.
His eyes lit up. He clapped his hands and said excitedly:
"Black Cat? I've got it! From now on, his name is Chief..."
"Chief?"
Everyone exchanged puzzled looks, unsure why Li Feng had chosen that name.
Was there some necessary connection between a chief and a cat?
The cartoon Black Cat Chief didn't exist in this world.
But Li Feng had made up his mind. The Black Cat Vengeful Ghost he had turned into a Ghost Servant would be called Chief from now on. It would serve as a tribute to his lost former life.
"That's right, Chief! From now on, his name is Chief!
Come on, Chief, say hello to everyone..."
Li Feng lifted the Ghost Cat's paw—Chief's paw—and waved it at everyone.
"Meow!"
Chief obligingly meowed.
"All right, Chief it is..."
Seeing that Li Feng had decided, everyone accepted the name despite their confusion.
It was only a name, after all. Besides, this was Li Feng's ghost pet, so naturally he had the final say.
After the Ghost Cat incident, Li Feng's life returned to normal.
About another week passed.
That day, Li Feng continued his Skin Tempering training.
Again and again.
Finally, after completing another round of Skin Tempering, Li Feng suddenly felt the surrounding world spiritual force and the mind fog enveloping him rush rapidly toward his skin.
Sensing this, Li Feng felt a surge of joy. He was about to break through.
But a moment later, he couldn't help grimacing.
The sudden influx of world spiritual force and mind fog nearly split his skin open. Agonizing pain flooded him, and he couldn't help swearing inwardly.
Fuck!
Despite his silent curse, Li Feng endured the pain wracking his body, assumed one stance after another, and began another round of Skin Tempering.
As Li Feng trembled through each movement, more world spiritual force and mind fog entered his skin, eventually merging with the skin across his entire body.
He didn't know how much time passed. When he completed the final Skin Tempering movement, the world spiritual force went wild, pouring into his skin at an unimaginable speed.
At that instant, the skin all over his body showed signs of tearing. Pain like being sliced apart nearly made Li Feng pass out.
Fortunately, that excruciating pain lasted only an instant.
A moment later, the pain throughout Li Feng's body began rapidly fading. In its place, cool, waterlike currents flowed through his skin, soothing the previous agony.
The abrupt reversal nearly made Li Feng moan with pleasure.
Only after quite some time did everything gradually settle. The cool currents flowing through his skin merged completely into it, to emerge again only when Li Feng needed them.
"Phew!"
Exhaling a long breath, Li Feng couldn't help shaking himself before dropping to the floor, rubbing his arms with lingering fear.
Body Tempering was painful enough during ordinary training, and breaking through was even worse.
Still, the outcome was always good.
"Hahaha..."
A smile gradually spread across Li Feng's face until he grinned in silent laughter.
He had finally reached major skin refinement in the Skin Tempering Realm!
Then Li Feng reined in his smile and began sensing the changes in his skin.
His skin had become more sensitive. Even inside a sealed room, he could clearly feel the movement of air.
He could even faintly sense dust landing on his skin.
For a moment, Li Feng felt uncomfortable all over, as though he were standing in a room filled with dust.
Fortunately, his skin seemed to have developed an awareness of its own. The instant dust landed, it twitched slightly and pushed the particles away.
Then there were the cool currents that had merged into his skin.
With a thought, Li Feng instantly activated them, forming a faint energy barrier that repelled everything from outside.
Even the sweat he had just produced was completely removed with a thought.
Hmm, I can save time on baths now.
As for the most important aspect—defense—Li Feng's tests confirmed that his skin had definitely become comparable to thick cowhide, exceptionally tough.
An ordinary person wielding an ordinary blade might genuinely be unable to break through his defenses.
Besides that, Li Feng's strength had increased considerably. He could now lift two hundred kilograms, putting him firmly among the strongest ordinary people.
Aside from improved defense and strength, Li Feng also unexpectedly discovered another ability of his skin during testing: rapid healing.
During one test, Li Feng accidentally cut his skin after applying too much force.
But before he could even react, the cut had instinctively closed, without spilling a single drop of blood.
And just three to five minutes later, when Li Feng checked again, it had already healed completely.
Li Feng stood before the bathroom mirror, the skin all over his body rippling like water.
His face continually shifted according to his thoughts.
Unfortunately, although his skin had grown even stranger after reaching major skin refinement, allowing him to twist and reshape it at will,
his control over it was still somewhat lacking.
As a result, every appearance he created had all sorts of inconsistencies.
A crooked mouth, squinting eyes, twisted brows, and bared teeth could already be considered handsome by comparison.
The other faces were simply unbearable to look at.
Moreover, these changes could only last for a very short time. The moment Li Feng's attention slipped, his original appearance returned.
"Tsk!"
Looking at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, which was barely presentable but still had a flattened nose and crooked mouth, Li Feng's mouth twitched.
"Looks like I'll need plenty of practice before I can transform into any appearance I want!"
Unable to bear looking any longer, Li Feng released his control and let his original appearance return.
"Sure enough, this is much easier on the eyes!"
His skin had become even finer and fairer. He could definitely be called handsome now.
Well, just a little too pale.
Still, although his hopes of transforming into countless appearances hadn't been realized,
these changes in his skin had produced an unexpected and even more useful ability.
Li Feng grabbed his toothbrush and suddenly jabbed it hard at his arm.
A knife was still too sharp, after all. Cutting himself again wouldn't be good.
The instant the toothbrush struck his arm, that patch of skin bulged slightly, then rippled like water.
Most of the force behind the sharp thrust was immediately dissipated by his skin.
The force that actually reached his body felt to Li Feng like a firm poke with a finger.
It wasn't entirely imperceptible, but it couldn't cause any harm.
Compared to reshaping his appearance, his skin reacted extremely quickly to external blows. It was almost instinctive, dissipating the vast majority of the force.
Combined with his skin's inherent defense, Li Feng felt he could shrug off attacks delivering over a hundred kilograms of force.
Of course, that excluded weapons such as blades and spears.
If someone slashed or thrust hard with such a weapon, he would still be injured.
But with his skin's ability to close on its own, combined with its rapid healing, ordinary injuries could be ignored.
Even if he stood there and let ordinary people attack him now, they would struggle to cause any real harm.
This had already surpassed the strongest state described in the Human Body Tempering Art.
And right now, Li Feng had only reached major skin refinement.
Above that lay perfection.
Li Feng couldn't help imagining the possibilities.
He really wanted to see how strong his defenses would become after reaching perfected skin refinement, and whether he could ignore attacks from blades.
Would his control over his skin improve further, allowing him to truly transform into countless appearances?
"Hehehe..."
After spending some more time familiarizing himself with the changes brought by major skin refinement, Li Feng went to wash up.
As the water struck his skin, Li Feng could sense every path it followed. With a single thought, he could even make his skin twitch and keep every drop off his body.
As for why he was still bathing when he no longer needed to...
Long-established habits still made him want to rinse himself off. Otherwise, he always felt a little uncomfortable.
Once he finished washing, Li Feng needed only a thought to set his skin vibrating rapidly. Every trace of water was instantly flung away, leaving his body completely dry.
Putting on loose pajamas, Li Feng returned to bed to practice visualization.
As the saying went, good things came in pairs. His visualization went especially smoothly that day, and the Bedroom finally became completely solid.
Boom!
Li Feng felt his mind shudder violently. His soul rapidly transformed, becoming more stable and substantial.
Within the Mind Space, Li Feng now felt as though his real body were standing in reality. Everything felt so real.
If everything inside the Bedroom hadn't been intimately connected to him, allowing him to command all its powers and abilities, he would almost have been unable to distinguish reality from the Mind Space.
Sensing the Bedroom's space, he discovered two abilities. One was defense, which could resist attacks on the mind and spirit;
the other was confinement, which could trap someone's mind and spirit, cutting off their perception of the outside world.
However...
Li Feng's eyes flickered.
Since it could trap someone's mind and spirit,
Could it also trap beings like Vengeful Ghosts?
With a thought, the Delivery Ghost and Chief appeared before him.
"Go. Leave the Bedroom!"
Li Feng pointed at the Bedroom wall and issued his command.
Upon receiving the order, the Delivery Ghost and Chief charged toward the Bedroom wall without hesitation.
Thud! Thud!
A moment later, two dull impacts rang out, and the Delivery Ghost and Chief were bounced back.
"Leave..."
"Meow!"
After the Delivery Ghost and Chief came to a stop, they mechanically charged forward again.
"Bang, bang! Bang, bang..."
Again and again, they tried the walls, the windows, the floor, the ceiling, the Bedroom door...
They tried every surface, but neither the Delivery Ghost nor Chief managed to leave the Bedroom.
Only when the Delivery Ghost accidentally pressed the Bedroom door handle and opened the door did they finally get out.
With that, Li Feng confirmed that this new Bedroom, formed through visualization, could indeed imprison Vengeful Ghosts.
But by the same token, these Vengeful Ghosts could leave if they managed to open the door.
Still, if Li Feng wanted it, the Bedroom door could be locked.
As for eerie beings that were equally intangible, Li Feng could not guarantee that he could trap them, but he felt it could at least keep them out.
And after this session of visualization practice, not only had the Bedroom itself become fully solid,
the Mind Fog had also reached a radius of ten meters, with a range of over a thousand meters away from his body.
Its shielding ability had become stronger and even more uncanny.
The fog ropes could now lift objects weighing twenty to thirty jin.
Feeling happy and satisfied, Li Feng drifted into a blissful sleep.
When he arrived at the Investigation Department the next day, Li Feng was surprised to find that Yuan Chengfang was already there.
"Captain?!"
"Ah, you're here, Li!"
Yuan Chengfang looked at Li Feng and nodded with a smile.
But a moment later, Yuan Chengfang raised an eyebrow and stepped right up to Li Feng.
She grabbed Li Feng's exposed arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Hiss!"
Though Yuan Chengfang might not have used much force, Li Feng felt a sharp pain and could not help sucking in a breath.
The gap in their strength was too great. Even Yuan Chengfang's gentle squeeze pushed Li Feng to his limit.
That brought Li Feng crashing back down to earth, dispelling the slight swell of pride from his latest breakthrough.
He still had a long way to go.
Before you continue