Just as Li Feng headed to the Investigation Department, a group at the Night Patrol Bureau was discussing Tian Yue's battle the night before—or rather, the Eerie Mist and the Eerie Butcher.
"You all saw how young Tian's battle went yesterday. Let's hear your thoughts..."
"Director, comparing the two encounters, the Eerie Mist was clearly much stronger yesterday..."
"Yes, that's plain to see."
"There are only two possible explanations.
"One is that the Eerie Mist grew much stronger over the past few days.
"The other is that it was because of the Eerie Butcher..."
"It's unlikely that the Eerie Mist could have grown that much stronger in so little time...
"The power these eerie entities can project into reality can't fluctuate that drastically over a short period.
"Unless they fully stabilize, becoming a fixed scene and forming an eerie forbidden ground..."
"There's another possibility..."
A young man of twenty-five or twenty-six suddenly spoke.
"Oh? Ding Yu, let's hear your thoughts..."
Cao Jian, the director of the Night Patrol Bureau, looked at Ding Yu with interest.
"The Eerie Mist Yue encountered before might not have been complete. It hadn't fully manifested yet.
"That's why Yue was able to destroy it so easily...
"But yesterday, the Eerie Mist had fully manifested. That's why it covered such a large area and was so much stronger than before.
"The Eerie Mist might even have been a precursor to the Eerie Butcher's arrival.
"That's why the Eerie Mist quickly dispersed after the Eerie Butcher was killed..."
After hearing Ding Yu's explanation, everyone fell into thought. They couldn't help feeling that it was a very reasonable theory.
Another possibility was that the Eerie Mist and the Eerie Butcher came from the same dimensional space.
When they existed together, they might have reinforced each other somehow, making the Eerie Mist far stronger than before.
This theory actually had a great deal in common with Ding Yu's.
After all, if the Eerie Mist really was a precursor to the Eerie Butcher's arrival, they would have to occupy the same dimensional space.
"All right, combine those two theories for now and issue a notice.
"Also, the Eerie Mist has manifested repeatedly, and the Eerie Butcher accompanied it this time. Tell everyone to stay alert.
"I don't want another eerie forbidden ground appearing in our Yuanyang City..."
"Yes!"
Everyone naturally understood the gravity of the situation and immediately nodded in unison.
A lone Paranormal Entity was generally just a wandering projection that manifested occasionally, causing very limited harm.
But once multiple eerie entities appeared together, especially alongside eerie buildings or other eerie scenes, they might stabilize completely and form an eerie forbidden zone.
In such places, the eerie entities could even wield their full power.
Most eerie entities were at least horror level.
Moreover, within these eerie forbidden zones, even entities that were killed would be reborn the next day.
This virtually undying, indestructible nature was the main reason such places were called eerie forbidden zones or eerie forbidden grounds.
Once they appeared, they were almost impossible to eradicate. Not only ordinary people, but even Horror Level supernatural practitioners could die inside.
The only option was to seal off these places and prohibit ordinary people from entering, hence the name eerie forbidden grounds.
And weren't the Eerie Mist and the Eerie Butcher two different eerie entities?
Besides, didn't the Eerie Mist bear a strong resemblance to those eerie buildings and eerie scenes?
That was why Cao Jian, the director of the Night Patrol Bureau, had gathered everyone for a discussion. He feared that the Eerie Mist and the Eerie Butcher might combine to form an eerie forbidden ground.
Unfortunately, both the Eerie Mist and the Eerie Butcher had already been destroyed by Tian Yue. They couldn't obtain any concrete details and could only speculate based on the earlier information.
When the Night Patrol Bureau issued its notice, Li Feng, who was at the Investigation Department, saw its contents as well.
Reading it, Li Feng sank into a long silence.
You people really know how to fill in the blanks. You've completely lumped me in with the eerie entities.
But...
As another thought crossed his mind, a strange smile appeared on Li Feng's face.
They're talking about the Eerie Mist. What does that have to do with me, Li Feng, a trainee Investigator in the Investigation Department?
With that thought, Li Feng immediately put away his phone and dismissed the notice from his mind.
From now on, he would simply be Li Feng, a trainee Investigator in the Investigation Department who practiced the Myriad Ghosts Body-Merging Art.
His worries set aside, Li Feng signed in and clocked in as usual, then left the Investigation Department to go home.
Once home, Li Feng glanced at the piece of human skin. It still lay quietly on the sofa, looking like nothing more than a smooth, soft piece of parchment.
Now, Li Feng could clearly sense that the power in that piece of human skin had weakened somewhat. He could also faintly feel a longing coming from it.
It longed to return to his body and merge with him again.
An instinctive feeling told Li Feng that once the piece of skin merged with him, its power would recover.
Hmm...
Has it gone from single-use to rechargeable and reusable?
Li Feng stroked his chin and pondered for a while, ultimately deciding to leave it as it was for now.
He wanted to see how long the piece of skin could last.
Having made his decision, Li Feng paid it no further attention and began preparing to cultivate instead.
Before beginning Flesh Tempering, however, Li Feng made one more attempt at Skin Tempering, unwilling to give up.
Then...
After finishing his cultivation, Li Feng stared at his left arm in bewilderment, delight gradually spreading across his face.
During this round of Skin Tempering, the skin elsewhere on his body had behaved as before. Although it absorbed some World Spiritual Force, the improvement was negligible.
But to Li Feng's delight, the newly grown patch of skin behaved differently. It showed a clear response, growing stronger, though perhaps not as much as during his original Skin Tempering.
That was only because this patch of skin was stronger, while the power of his mind fog remained at its previous level.
In fact, its rate of strengthening through tempering far exceeded that of the rest of his skin, matching the rate of improvement during his earlier, normal Skin Tempering.
In other words, the new skin that had grown after he shed the old layer could be cultivated and strengthened again.
Li Feng couldn't help pondering to himself.
Then what if...
If I replaced all the skin on my body and let it regrow, could I continue Skin Tempering again?
That would surely bring the strength of all his skin to an entirely new level.
Becoming impervious to modern firearms and artillery might not be beyond his reach.
Li Feng couldn't help looking at the skin beside the newly grown patch, his teeth clenching tight.
The next moment, his skin writhed and abruptly peeled upward.
Rip!
He tore off another palm-sized piece of skin.
"Hiss—oh!"
Despite being prepared, despite having endured the pain of Skin Tempering, Li Feng's eyes still flew wide open. His body went rigid as he sucked in a breath from the pain, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
"Hah... hah..."
Only after a long while, when the area where he had torn off the skin began to scab over and heal and the pain greatly subsided, did Li Feng's body slowly relax.
For the time that followed, aside from actively controlling the freshly removed piece of skin to devour the flesh and blood clinging to it, he did not tear off any more skin.
It was better not to rush something like this.
Likewise, he did not continue body tempering. He planned to wait until all the skin on his body had been replaced and regrown before continuing to temper it.
Still, Li Feng had other things he could do.
For instance, visualization, and forming and shaping the room next door within his Mind Space.
Besides, even the room he had already visualized had not truly reached the point where no further progress was possible.
In his earlier visualization, Li Feng's shaping of the objects inside the room had largely been limited to their surfaces.
He could neither see nor sense the insides of those objects, so naturally, he could not form and shape them.
But now that his mental power could extend into the outside world and affect reality, he had the means to observe their interiors.
The first thing to change, however, was neither the room nor the Bed, but Li Feng's own living body.
His mental power spread throughout his body, reflecting his skin, flesh, Tendon and Bone Tempering, blood, internal organs, and everything else, then forming and shaping them one by one within his soul.
Of course, these were essentially all illusory images. They had no substance or actual function.
The only exception was probably his skin.
As Skin Tempering progressed, the connection between Li Feng's mind and his skin had steadily strengthened.
By now, his skin almost seemed like an extension of Li Feng's mind.
Li Feng's perception and understanding of it naturally far surpassed those of anything else.
Thus, almost the instant he began visualizing it, the skin rapidly took shape.
It even possessed a real sense of touch and the defensive capabilities of skin.
However, the skin of his physical body primarily defended against physical attacks;
Soul Skin primarily defended against mental attacks.
The two had completely different focuses.
Moreover, forming Soul Skin had not merely given it some of the capabilities of his physical skin.
It had also raised his control over his physical skin to another level.
Faintly, Soul Skin and his physical skin seemed to develop a mysterious resonance, vibrating at the same frequency.
Gradually, the two even showed faint signs of becoming indistinguishable and merging into one.
However, this resonance progressed extremely slowly. There was no telling how long it would take for them to truly merge.
But regardless, this meant that the skin formed within his soul truly possessed the various capabilities of skin. It was no longer merely an accumulation of mental power.
It might even undergo further, more mysterious changes together with his physical skin, far beyond what any other visualized organ could achieve.
After a moment's thought, Li Feng immediately decided that from now on, he would cultivate his soul in tandem with Body Tempering.
That way, his soul cultivation would advance progressively deeper, just like Body Tempering, until it eventually possessed all the tissues, organs, functions, and capabilities of his physical body.
Perhaps, in the end, it could even grant his soul the ability to leave his physical body and exist independently in the world, just like other Visualization Methods.
This made Li Feng look forward to his upcoming Body Tempering cultivation even more.
After all, from now on, it would not only strengthen his body but also spur his soul's transformation.
"Phew!"
Slowly opening his eyes, Li Feng gently exhaled a stale breath.
Next, he would use his mental perception to sense everything in the room, examine the insides of these objects one by one, and shape the room's internal structure within his Mind Space.
Before you continue