Weird Painted Skin, Second Skin Tempering Realm

In the space of just a few breaths, the eerie power that had burst out of the Weird Human Skin had been devoured almost entirely by the mind fog.

"No!"

With one final roar of defiance, the eerie power was completely consumed by the mind fog.

"Heh..."

Sensing that the mind fog had expanded once again, Li Feng wore a smile he could not hide.

If that Paranormal Entity power had appeared as it had before, he might have needed to put in some effort.

Who would have thought it would appear directly inside the Weird Human Skin?

Wasn't that just like the Paranormal Entity power sliding straight into a tiger's stomach?

After completely devouring the eerie power, Li Feng swiftly withdrew the mind fog.

Looking at the figure before him, identical to himself, Li Feng felt a strange sensation rise within him.

He had already perceived the changes in the Weird Human Skin clearly through the mind fog.

Yet seeing it with his own eyes still shook Li Feng considerably.

It looked exactly like him. If not for its pitch-black, unfathomable, eerily vacant eyes, no one could have told them apart.

And furthermore...

With a thought, Li Feng sent a thread of his consciousness into the Weird Human Skin.

The Weird Human Skin blinked, instantly becoming lively and animated, now completely indistinguishable from Li Feng.

At that moment, even Li Feng himself would not have been able to tell the real one from the fake if he could not sense the differences inside their bodies.

After a moment's thought, ripples spread down the Weird Human Skin from head to toe.

Subtle adjustments to its features instantly made it look vastly different from Li Feng.

The skin below its head swelled and twisted before transforming into a brownish-yellow outfit.

It looked just like an ordinary stranger wearing brownish-yellow clothes.

However, if anyone could cut through its clothes, they would discover that it was empty inside, with no body at all.

But who would cut someone's clothes open for no reason?

And furthermore...

Li Feng clenched his fist, a smile spreading across his face.

The Weird Human Skin's latest transformation had not made it completely impervious to blades and bullets.

But an ordinary person wielding a blade could not harm it in the slightest.

Its strength was considerable as well.

By his overall estimate, the Weird Human Skin could exert roughly three hundred jin of force and withstand attacks carrying five hundred jin of force.

It also had no fear whatsoever of ordinary water or fire.

As such, spotting anything suspicious about the Weird Human Skin would be far from easy.

Beyond that, it had developed a special ability that delighted Li Feng beyond measure: death substitution!

All injuries suffered by Li Feng's actual body would be transferred to the Weird Human Skin.

Even fatal harm could be transferred, though the resulting damage would be greater.

And the Weird Human Skin could heal even when damaged.

Unless the damage was so severe that it completely destroyed the Weird Human Skin.

Otherwise, the Weird Human Skin would recover quickly, effectively granting Li Feng an undying body.

Moreover, it could recover not only by devouring World Spiritual Force, but also by attaching itself to other living beings, merging with their skin, then consuming all their flesh and blood to restore and strengthen itself.

Doing so would also give the Weird Human Skin the complete appearance of its victim, along with some of their memories.

That was entirely different from its current transformations. Although it could take other forms, it would revert to Li Feng's appearance once the power maintaining them dissipated.

Devouring another living being would permanently transform it into another appearance.

Together with the memories it consumed, it could pass perfectly for the real person. Under Li Feng's control, even those closest to the victim would struggle to tell the difference.

However, there was a limit: it could retain only nine fixed appearances.

And it could retain only one complete transformation acquired by consuming memories.

Any further living beings it devoured could only restore it and enhance its strength.

At the same time, although it would possess its victim's memories, it had no intelligence of its own.

So unless Li Feng controlled it...

The Weird Human Skin would merely act mechanically and instinctively according to those memories, making its flaws fairly easy to spot.

As he sensed the human skin's various abilities, Li Feng's expression shifted repeatedly.

It truly was eerie.

If anyone else found out about it, they would certainly regard it as some sort of monstrous, supernatural creature.

Well, in a sense, that was indeed what it was.

Hmm...

Looking at the person formed by the Weird Human Skin, Li Feng sank into thought. He could hardly keep calling it Weird Human Skin over and over, could he?

That might be exactly what it was, but the name still felt awkward.

After pondering for a while, Li Feng suddenly had an idea.

Wasn't the Weird Human Skin before him very similar to the skin worn by painted-skin ghosts in the films and novels of his previous life?

Though in some respects, the Weird Human Skin was even eerier.

After all, a painted-skin ghost's Painted Skin was merely something like a garment.

Li Feng's Weird Human Skin, on the other hand, was an eerie entity capable of acting independently, with formidable combat strength and regenerative abilities.

Still, no matter how he looked at it, the two shared considerable similarities.

In the end, Li Feng decided to name it "Painted Skin"—Weird Painted Skin.

After naming it, Li Feng gave a mental command, and Painted Skin walked over and sat on the sofa.

Then, like an inflatable doll losing air, it rapidly shriveled, finally becoming a human skin draped over the sofa.

Sensing the surging mind fog within his mind space, Li Feng grew even more delighted. He assumed his skin tempering stance, and mind fog rose around him.

The next instant, billowing mind fog and world spiritual force began pouring endlessly into his skin.

Immediately, a painful, numb itching sensation registered in his mind.

However, Li Feng could clearly sense that the pain, numbness, and itching were far less intense than before he had shed his skin.

What pleased Li Feng was that, despite the diminished discomfort, the tempering effect had not weakened in the slightest.

To distinguish this cultivation from his practice before shedding his skin, Li Feng called his current stage the Second Skin Tempering Realm.

Naturally, his cultivation before shedding his skin was the First Skin Tempering Realm.

Again and again, he performed Body Tempering and visualization simultaneously.

The strength of his skin began rising rapidly, while Room 1502 within his Mind Space swiftly grew more solid.

Even the Weird Mirror, the Delivery Ghost, and the Ghost Cat—Chief—gained considerable strength.

The Weird Mirror was already approaching the Intermediate Danger Level.

The Delivery Ghost had risen from the very bottom of the Low Danger Level to a stronger position within it.

The same was true of the Ghost Cat—Chief—who was only a notch weaker than the Delivery Ghost.

Indeed, if the Ghost Cat—Chief—encountered the Delivery Ghost as it had originally been, the cat would certainly be able to defeat it.

As for Li Feng himself, counting only his physical body, he was roughly comparable to the original Delivery Ghost, just barely entering the ordinary Low Danger Level.

Including Weird Painted Skin, the mind fog, and the eerie entities and vengeful ghosts under his control, he could probably reach the intermediate danger level.

After finishing his cultivation, Li Feng assessed himself. Judging by his progress in the First Skin Tempering Realm, he had roughly reached minor mastery of the Second Skin Tempering Realm. He possessed over three hundred jin of strength, and ordinary blades could no longer injure him.

Room 1502 in his Mind Space was nearly fully solidified. Even without any further input of external power, Li Feng would need only two or three days to finish shaping and solidifying it.

After taking stock of the changes from this latest cultivation session, Li Feng went to wash up and rest.

The night passed uneventfully. When he returned to the Investigation Department the next day, everyone around him involuntarily turned to look at him.

Some of the women, in particular, kept blushing slightly for no apparent reason.

Noticing everyone's strange behavior, Li Feng found even his movements growing awkward as thoughts churned through his mind.

What was going on?

Hadn't he already reined in all his power?

Even viewed through the Ghost Eye's power, he was merely someone at perfected skin refinement, surrounded at most by traces of eerie power and ghostly energy he had deliberately left unconcealed.

Eventually, Li Feng could stand it no longer. He grabbed Old Qin, who was eyeing him strangely.

"Old Qin, why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Uh... how should I put it? It just feels like you've suddenly become much fairer than yesterday, and much more handsome too.

"Your skin is so delicate, like a young girl's. It looks like water would come out if you pinched it.

"Don't you have a mirror? Take a look and you'll see..."

Caught in the act, Old Qin looked rather sheepish, but still explained it to Li Feng.

After hearing Old Qin's explanation, Li Feng felt thoroughly unsettled.

Fine, fairer was fairer, and more handsome was more handsome.

Yes, he admitted that much.

But what did he mean, like a young girl?

Li Feng could not help taking out the Tracking Compass and looking into the mirror on its back.

In the mirror was a handsome young man with fair, dewy skin.

His features and facial contours had not changed much.

But they had undergone some subtle adjustments. Combined with the smoothness, delicacy, and dewy suppleness of his skin, they naturally made him look much more handsome than before.

"Fuck!"

Looking at his current appearance, Li Feng could not help swearing.

His skin was even softer than a pretty boy's.

Perhaps he had been too focused on cultivation, because Li Feng really had not paid much attention to the changes in his skin and appearance.

Now that Old Qin had pointed them out, a closer look revealed a world of difference from his former self.

Previously, Li Feng had been only somewhat handsome at best.

Although cultivation had already made his skin exceptionally smooth and delicate.

Compared with how he looked now, however, the difference was anything but small.

Such an abrupt change had naturally drawn everyone's attention.

His keen hearing also allowed him to catch some of the women's whispered conversations.

"Why do you think Lord Li Feng has changed so much? Did he use some good cosmetics?"

"What are you talking about? Lord Li Feng must have made progress in his cultivation. That's why he's changed so much."

"Then what cultivation method do you think Lord Li Feng practices? How did his skin get so nice?"

"Who knows?

"But I'd love to look like that too..."

"Hey, forget about it. If your spiritual perception isn't up to standard, you can't sense world spiritual force at all. Forcing yourself to cultivate will only cause your body to mutate..."

"Ah... what a shame!"

"I want to do my part for the Federation too!"

"Tch, doing your part for the Federation? I'm almost embarrassed to call you out..."

"Hehe..."

Listening to their discussion, Li Feng could not help shaking his head.

Still, he was also considering how to lessen the impact of the changes to his appearance.

He had no desire to become the center of everyone's attention.