I have a dog now

"My spirit shall be the hook, piercing the dark and boundless;

My Qi shall be the bait, spread throughout the ten directions.

I bestow upon you form, neither yin nor yang;

I kindle your spirit, knowing softness and strength.

Descend!"

Forming dozens of profound Law Seals with both hands, Qi Yun recited the incantation, and the mark formed from the lingering resonance in his palm burst into dazzling rays.

The next instant!

The void seethed and shuddered.

Amid a humming sound, a calf-sized figure slowly squeezed out from the depths of the distorted void with extremely heavy, stiff steps.

Every step came with the grating scrape of metal.

"Is this... a dog?"

Only then did Qi Yun see clearly that what he had summoned with Profound Communion and Life Seizure was actually a calf-sized wolfdog.

And it was a wolfdog cast entirely from bronze.

The bronze wolfdog's four enormous paws landed heavily on the floor of the meditation chamber, producing an utterly solid metallic clang that made the ground tremble slightly, as though what had come crashing down was not a living creature, but two heavy, solid bronze ingots.

"Sit. Shake."

Looking at the bronze wolfdog before him, Qi Yun instinctively issued two commands.

The moment the commands fell, the bronze wolfdog obeyed without the slightest hesitation. Its massive body immediately sank backward, sitting down with a boom that stirred up a fine layer of dust.

At the same time, it raised a broad forepaw, cold and hard and covered in ancient patterns and riveting marks, and steadily extended it beside Qi Yun's hand.

"Hahaha, good dog, good dog."

Qi Yun could not help laughing. He reached out and stroked its smooth, cold bronze forehead, devoid of any warmth, and felt a penetrating coolness against his hand.

"Smash it to pieces."

Pointing at the newly repaired rockery in the courtyard, Qi Yun continued issuing commands.

And before he had even finished speaking-

The bronze wolfdog beside him abruptly became a blur and hurled itself at the rockery, tearing with its fangs and smashing with its sharp claws.

Dust billowed into the sky, and shattered stones flew in all directions!

In less than a few breaths, the rockery, which had originally stood some three meters tall, was reduced to a heap of rubble beneath the bronze wolfdog's lunging bites.

Ever since he had gotten into the habit of testing Law Techniques on this rockery,

Qi Yun had replaced its original ordinary stone with the much harder jade steel rock. Even his [Basic Sword Qi] could only pierce holes half a finger wide in it.

Yet now, this bronze wolfdog had torn it into construction waste.

"Very strong. Leaving aside the subtleties of Law Techniques, in close combat alone, martial cultivators below the Qi Refining Third Layer probably couldn't beat it.

But at the fourth layer, with protective True Qi, this bronze wolfdog would have a hard time accomplishing much."

The Law Technique he had comprehended after spending a fortune renting the [Great Wisdom Dharma Lamp] and more than a month of effort did indeed leave Qi Yun very satisfied.

After all, this was only version 1.0. Once the Law Technique was updated, whether with new mechanics or improved stats, either would be enough to make it even more terrifying.

"I can't test its limits in my own courtyard alone. I need somewhere more suitable."

His mind made up, Qi Yun swept his sleeve and dispelled the Law Technique.

The bronze wolfdog standing silently there immediately gave a faint hum. Its enormous body then turned into a wisp of thin, pale smoke, swiftly dissipating and vanishing back into the formless Great Void.

Turning back into the house, Qi Yun took out a human-skin mask as thin as a cicada's wing and carefully put it on.

With a slight push of the True Qi in his body, the mask quickly adhered to his skin, transforming in the blink of an eye into an utterly ordinary, featureless stranger's face.

He pushed open the door. Outside lay the Seventh Outer Prefecture, composed of countless floating immortal mountains, covered bridges, and palaces.

Straight, broad streets appeared and disappeared amid billowing clouds and mists of Spiritual Qi.

Do not leave your courtyard unless necessary.

That was the warning Senior Brother Cao Song had given Qi Yun when he first arrived at the Seventh Outer Prefecture.

The reason for this warning was that, although the Holy Sect's rules were strict, that was only on the surface.

As long as the Holy Sect did not catch you in the act,

You could do whatever you wanted in private.

That was also why Yang Cuan, the master of Jiali Hall, had to obtain evidence if he wanted to bring down the master of Flower Moon Hall.

The nine Outer Mansions occupied the lowest level of [Great Void Mirror Heaven].

Although law enforcement teams routinely patrolled them, there were always places they could not cover.

According to the Holy Sect's incomplete statistics, no fewer than a hundred Outer Mansion disciples mysteriously disappeared every year.

These people were never seen alive again, nor were their corpses found.

They were called missing, but in truth, all had been abducted and turned into human materials for cultivating Devil Cultivation Methods and Evil Methods.

Thus, only Outer Mansion disciples with sufficiently formidable strength dared leave their private residences and courtyards to venture outside.

The moment he left his courtyard, Qi Yun keenly sensed several gazes settling on him.

But as time passed, those gazes all unconsciously slid away from him.

Version 6.0 of the [Clear Breeze Technique] could passively reduce his presence. Unless someone possessed powerful intuition, a moment's distraction would be enough for them to forget him.

He gathered his sleeves and slipped unobtrusively into the sparse stream of people, walking along the Outer Mansion's broad yet oppressive passageways.

Beside him stood majestic halls, each with a different function.

Each of these halls served its own purpose.

Aside from [Jade Blood Hall], where assessments were held, there was [Adding Fragrance Hall], which taught pill-refining skills, [True Net Hall], which taught Talisman Art skills, [Ten Thousand Treasures Hall], which taught human-material refinement... and so on.

Comprehending all manner of wondrous arts on one's own took time and effort, with no guarantee of success.

For Outer Mansion disciples who had to undergo assessments every year, time was the scarcest commodity.

And these treasure halls were staffed by Outer Mansion disciples specializing in their respective fields, and even true cultivators from the inner prefectures, specifically to teach the relevant Law Techniques or skills.

But the fees they charged were truly steep.

Some charged more than Sacred Yuan, requiring additional prices to be paid.

Even so, some treasure halls were still packed to overflowing.

Glancing at [Ten Thousand Treasures Hall], which sent Blood Qi surging skyward and black fumes billowing even from hundreds of meters away, Qi Yun clicked his tongue slightly.

Of those hundred-odd people who disappeared from the Outer Mansion, probably ninety-nine percent ended up there.

Protected by the [Clear Breeze Technique], Qi Yun encountered neither wind nor waves along the way, arriving smoothly before a treasure hall shaped like an ancient temple.

[Ninefold Hall]

This treasure hall had been prepared specifically for Outer Mansion disciples to test Law Techniques and engage in magical combat.

It was said that this treasure hall had been built from a shattered [Remnant Realm]. It contained nine floors, each housing vast numbers of resentful baleful entities and uncanny beings.

The floors corresponded to the layers of the Qi Refining Realm.

The resentful baleful entities and uncanny beings on the first floor were at the level of the Qi Refining First Layer, and so forth.

After mastering new Law Techniques, Outer Mansion disciples could come here to test them on these resentful baleful entities and uncanny beings.

Moreover, killing these resentful baleful entities and uncanny beings yielded some turbid baleful intent, which could be sold to [Adding Fragrance Hall] or Ten Thousand Treasures Hall.

As a result, this place had also become a regular haunt for many Outer Mansion disciples who enjoyed combat or urgently needed Sacred Yuan.

"The entry fee is one piece of Sacred Yuan."

At the entrance to [Ninefold Hall], an Outer Mansion disciple stationed there yawned and pointed at a bronze basin beside him, indicating that Qi Yun had to pay the Sacred Yuan before entering.

Taking out a piece of Sacred Yuan and tossing it into the bronze basin, Qi Yun stepped into the treasure hall.