Not long after Sevrin entered the ancient mansion, fires inexplicably erupted throughout the building, encircling it.
Simultaneously, glancing out through a small window, he noticed that the sky outside had mysteriously turned to night, and the flickering village houses were also ablaze with raging flames. From within that blood-red fire, piteous and bone-chilling screams echoed continuously.
It was as if the village had instantly returned to that tragic night of the fire decades ago.
"Is this Asell's lingering obsession at work, or something else playing tricks?"
The minor heat of the flames did almost negligible damage to Sevrin. Ignoring the fire, he began a search of the ancient house that could be described as "tearing up the floorboards."
The area of the house wasn't particularly large; it wasn't even as big as a single side room in Old Dog Huin's courtyard. Consequently, it didn't take much effort for Sevrin to find something unusual, a cellar.
However, the cellar was neither deep nor large. Aside from some ancient junk and broken food jars, it was empty.
An ordinary person might have turned back in disappointment. But once Sevrin descended, he felt a certain resonance. He turned his body ethereal and phased through nearly ten meters of rock and earth beneath the cellar floor.
There, he discovered a stone coffin that had been buried for an unknown number of years. Within the pile of skeletal remains that no longer resembled a human form, lay an item that caused Sevrin's spirit to tremble, an ancient medallion.
"Could it be..."
Exiting the ghostly vision and standing atop the rocky hillside, Sevrin stared at the ancient medallion in his palm, which was engraved with the word Naeaie. He mused, "Is this the source of Asell's Ghost Path cultivation?"
He could clearly feel that the medallion contained some hidden secret or power, but he had no way to access it. Aside from the word Naeaie, there were no other inscriptions or mechanisms; he had no idea how to unlock its secrets.
"Don't tell me I have to drip blood on it to claim ownership?" Sevrin frowned and muttered, "That's far too cliché."
Despite his grumbling, a helpless Sevrin could only try using his sharp, elongated nails to laboriously cut into his overly resilient skin, squeezing out a few drops of blood to drip onto the medallion.
However, it was completely useless. The medallion didn't react in the slightest.
Next, Sevrin tried several other methods. But whether it was plucking a hair, cursing at it, shouting "Open Sesame," or trying to submerge his soul energy into it, everything failed.
"Is this thing broken? Do I have to smash it open?"
In his frustration, Sevrin utilized his savage True Force and delivered a violent claw strike to the medallion.
BANG!
The ground fractured, cracks spider-webbing outward, but the medallion lying at the center of the debris remained completely unscathed. Not only was it undamaged, it actually flashed with a faint light, wait!
"It's glowing?! A reddish light, tinged with black."
Sevrin quickly snatched the medallion from the ground and held it up to his face, inspecting it closely. "Strange. Why did nothing work before, yet now it reacts after I hit it? Are you really just a masochistic piece of junk?"
As he muttered, the medallion's light faded, returning to its dull, dark state.
Seeing this, Sevrin tossed it back onto the ground and stomped on it with all his might.
BANG!
Instantly, the spot where the medallion lay was crushed into a crater the size of a washbasin. But this time, the medallion did not react.
"Dammit!" Sevrin cursed under his breath. "Why didn't it work this time?"
He calmed his mind and began to think carefully.
"After I struck the medallion with my force earlier, the body of the plate started to glow. Then I struck it again... Wait!"
Sevrin seemed to have realized something. "Force? True Force?"
He immediately channeled his True Force, not to strike it, but to slowly permeate the interior of the medallion.
BUZZ——
Instantly, the medallion erupted with a brilliant crimson light.
"That's it!"
Seeing the reaction, a thrilled Sevrin continued to pour his True Force into it.
After this continued for half a minute, an ethereal, chilling voice, neither male nor female, appeared within his mind:
"The Naeaie Mansion's Geo lineage inheritance medallion has been successfully activated. Do you wish to enter the inheritance grotto?"
"Yes!"
Sevrin answered in his mind without a moment's hesitation.
"Request for entry received. Physical teleportation commencing now," the cool, indifferent voice rang out once more.
BUZZ——
In an instant, the ash-covered earth and the fog-filled sky within Sevrin's vision blurred and vanished rapidly.
In their place was an ancient, magnificent, and vast hall. This great hall was silent and deserted, saturated with the heavy weight of ages.
"Where exactly..."
Sevrin walked through the hall, tilting his head to look at the walls, observing the severely faded murals. He spoke with a mix of curiosity and doubt, "...is this place?"
Caressing the massive stone pillars supporting the ceiling and looking at the faint reliefs upon them, he felt that everything here was filled with an aura both sacred and sinister.
The reason for this feeling was that while the reliefs and murals were weathered and blurry, Sevrin's hawk-like vision allowed him to understand exactly what they were trying to "say."
These depictions clearly showed evil demons and ghosts running rampant through the mortal realm, leading to widespread suffering. Eventually, the countless, weary commoners rose up in resistance under the leadership of various heroes and champions.
They fought day and night, sacrificing countless lives, finally subduing the demons with blood and fire, and purging the ghosts with blade and sword, restoring peace to the world.
Beyond this main theme, Sevrin noticed that the reliefs on the pillars and the paintings on the walls also depicted how, after peace was restored, evil entities would still occasionally cause trouble, leading to the sudden and tragic deaths of innocent people. Thus, the heroes who had once led the masses reappeared, gathering various talents to form a specialized force that traveled across the mortal realm to slay demons and exorcise ghosts.
Furthermore, Sevrin discovered that some fragmented reliefs and murals depicted this demon-slaying force. Although it possessed many heroes with astounding martial prowess and various mysterious weapons and sacred treasures, they did not seize supreme power. Instead, they withdrew and hid outside the secular world, quietly traveling the four directions to protect the peace of mankind.
At the very end, Sevrin found that the murals depicted this organization remaining hidden within the vast sea of humanity and the mundane world. Even as dynasties changed and the affairs of the world shifted, they never altered their original purpose, continuing to silently exorcise demons and maintain the peace of the world.
"What a righteous organization! A group composed entirely of heroes!"
Sevrin stood with his head held high and his hands on his hips, laughing with burgeoning emotion. "To brush off one's clothes after the deed is done, hiding both person and fame... damn, that is so cool! I want to do that too!"
His thoughts jumped rapidly; seeing these murals actually got his blood pumping, making him want to find this organization and join them, to slay ghosts and kill monsters to his heart's content, and then...
"Eh, wait a second~"
Sevrin suddenly scratched his head. "I think I count as a ghost too. This is..."
BUZZ——
Just then, atop a stone altar over thirty meters away, a hazy crimson light suddenly flickered into existence.
"Oh? Light~"
In a few quick strides, Sevrin hurtled toward the altar, accompanied by a series of sharp, whistling gusts of wind.
He discovered that atop this pitch-black, square altar lay a partially unrolled, dusty, and colorless scroll. The crimson light from before was emanating from the scroll's spindle.
"What kind of thing is this?"
Sevrin stood before the altar, leaning over to inspect it closely.
With just a single glance, he noticed that this dim scroll was not entirely blank. In one corner, there was a small, somewhat blurry rectangular pattern.
Beside this pattern, the words [Side Hall] were specifically noted. Furthermore, at the center of the scroll, near the outer edge, a line of small characters was inscribed, [Naeaie Mansion's Kiyou Grotto Map].
"So it's a map," Sevrin said, somewhat confused. "But why leave a map here?"
Unable to figure it out, he shifted his steps and walked toward the edge of the great hall, wanting to see what lay outside the building.
"One hundred meters... two hundred meters... three hundred meters... three hundred thirty meters, reached!"
Crossing to the edge of the hall in just a few strides, Sevrin saw a set of high, wide-open main gates. Without much hesitation, he lifted his chin and stepped into that dark portal.
It felt like passing through a thin layer of misty veil; in an instant, Sevrin arrived inside another great hall.
Stranger still, this hall felt incredibly familiar. Whether it was the placement of the reliefs and murals or the arrangement of the furniture and artifacts, this hall was identical to the one he had just left. Specifically, the black altar at the front of the hall and the glowing scroll resting upon it were exactly the same as in the previous room.
"How bizarre."
An idea suddenly popped into Sevrin's mind. "Could it be that the halls behind this one are also like this?"
To test this theory, he strode forward with long, brisk steps toward the gate at the other end of the hall.
Then, he arrived yet again in another hall where both the layout and the furnishings were identical.
Sevrin refused to believe it. He crossed the hall once more and stepped into another portal, only to end up in the exact same palace as before.
In a flash, he realized,
"I see. This is... a hall that cycles infinitely within space. No matter which portal you enter, you will eventually just return here."
Sevrin frowned and whispered, "This kind of miraculous effect shouldn't be possible with martial arts abilities. It must have been created using magic."
Since there was no way to go anywhere beyond the great hall, Sevrin suppressed his impatience and began to pace around, hoping to see if there were any rare treasures or exotic items here.
Sure enough, after a round of searching, he actually found a few things.
Among them were ceramic medicine bottles with completely faded labels, a heavy-backed blade about sixty centimeters long engraved with strange dark patterns, a crimson crossbow with dozens of scattered bolts nearby, and three silk scrolls written in a complex ancient script.
Notably, one of those three scrolls was the fragmented volume of the "Evil Yin Arts" that Asell had practiced.
As for the other two, one was the "Moon Marrow Body-Refining Art", and the other was the "Iron Barrel Coiled-Bell Armor".
Sevrin found it quite strange himself; the writing of this world was clearly different from Earth's, yet he could read it clearly and understand it perfectly.
He could only attribute this to the inherent power of the [Study Hard] system.
However, with his straightforward personality, Sevrin wasn't about to waste effort agonizing over such a minor detail.
Being able to understand it was for the best, but even if he couldn't, it wouldn't be a problem; he could just find someone else to practice it, wait for them to master it, and then copy it while standing nearby. The result would be the same.
Back to the point, after carefully reading and grasping the contents of these two books, Sevrin fully understood their functions and effects.
First was the "Moon Marrow Body-Refining Art".
This book was similar to the "Evil Yin Arts"; it was meant for ghosts to practice. Indeed, it was another Ghost Path occult art.
However, compared to the relatively broad contents of the fragmented Yin Arts, the focus of this ghostly technique was singular.
In short... it allowed a ghostly entity to absorb the essence of moonlight at night and refine it into "Moon Marrow" stored within the soul, which could then be freely used during the day.
Whether used for slaughter, defense, or self-preservation, anything was possible.
To put it plainly, this ghost art, which relied on basking in moonlight, could effectively extend a ghostly entity's "active time" outside of a demonic land. Furthermore, it could effectively mitigate the severe power drop-off that occurred once leaving such a region.
As for the exact degree of improvement, that remained to be seen.
All in all, this ghost art was extremely useful to Sevrin. After all, this world couldn't be covered in demonic lands, yet the sheer convenience of Ghost Path abilities made them hard for Sevrin to give up.
Fortunately, the appearance of this art provided a solution to that dilemma.
Sevrin believed that as he continued to acquire Expert Shards, the "Moon Marrow Body-Refining Art" would eventually be enhanced to the point where his Ghost Path abilities would no longer suffer any weakening regardless of his location; perhaps they might even be amplified.
The second book, "Iron Barrel Coiled-Bell Armor" , was a genuine martial arts technique of a high grade. Particularly in terms of physical hardening and mental tempering, it significantly surpassed the "Beasty Intent Demonic Claw".
Setting aside the extremely complex and grueling training process and the vast array of medicinal herbs required during cultivation, its core essence could be summarized in one sentence,
Body like an iron barrel, mind like a coiled bell.
This technique was divided into seven levels from low to high. Each layer required enduring extreme physical agony through bodily tempering, combined with complicated and difficult mental refinement. The medicinal herbs needed during the process were also numerous and varied.
In short, it was time-consuming, exhausting, and expensive.
However, once cultivated to the absolute peak, the practitioner would become a standout even among those in the Steel Tendons and Iron Bones realm. Their defense would exceed that of ordinary steel-tier martial artists several times over. Furthermore, their entire being, internal organs, external muscles, and skeletal structure, would become incredibly resilient, as if cast from bronze and poured with iron.
Beyond physical strength, reaching the seventh layer of the "Iron Barrel Coiled-Bell Armor" would boost one's mental fortitude far beyond the norm; common hypnosis or illusions would become utterly meaningless against them. High mental strength brought more than just that; it also caused a leap in a martial artist's will, endurance, perseverance, and intellect, turning them into a "Steel Man" in both body and spirit.
Without much hesitation, Sevrin finished flipping through these two manuals, sat cross-legged on the floor, and began a new round of his grand upgrading project.
Within the hollow great hall, visible surges of roiling white air currents continuously billowed from Sevrin, who sat cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed. The air stirred the thick dust on the floor, sending it fluttering endlessly.
In truth, Sevrin had finished mastering the two major cultivation techniques and reached their peaks in nearly an instant. The current scene was merely a side effect of the vast True Force within his body surging violently during the process.
Beyond these external signs, Sevrin's body underwent bizarre changes upon completing the "Iron Barrel Coiled-Bell Armor".
His physique expanded once more, reaching exactly two meters in height. His skin turned a bloodless, jade-white color, completely devoid of any visible pores. Most strangely of all, Sevrin's hair, eyebrows, and even all his body hair fell out, scattering across the floor.
"What the fuck..."
Sevrin rubbed his bald head and cursed with a smirk. "I practice one technique and turn into a monk, great."
In truth, only Sevrin thought he looked like a monk. His features were naturally fierce and domineering; now, with his bloodless complexion and missing eyebrows, he didn't just look like a common villain. He looked like a titan-sized evil spirit that had just broken out of the Netherworld.
"Let's test the power of this technique."
Sevrin murmured as he extended a thick finger tipped with a long, sharp nail, thrusting it into the rocky wall of the hall.
SQUELCH~
Without exerting much strength at all, his finger sank into the wall all the way to the base, as if he were piercing tofu. Then, using that finger like a blade and accompanied by an ear-piercing grinding sound, Sevrin carved a perfect circle the size of a washbasin into the heavy stone wall.
"I felt neither pain nor heat, as if these rocks have lost their inherent hardness."
Withdrawing his finger and rubbing the stone, Sevrin mused, "No, they haven't lost it; it's because my body is simply too hard now."
With his thoughts shifting, he opened his personal interface——
[ Host: Sevrin
Level: Mainstream Martial Arts → Steel Tendons and Iron Bones, Bloodline Divinity → Mid-Grade, Ghost Path → Vengeful Spirit
Mastered Skills: "Five Animal Yale""Beastly Intent Demonic Claw""Blood-Soaked Sunken Heart""Ghostly Body, Soul Remains""Evil Yin Arts (Damaged)""Vile Slaughter Yin-Descent""Resentful Slaughter Yang-Extinguisher""Savage Bull Boxing""Iron Fan Palm""Iron Barrel Coiled-Bell Armor""Moon Marrow Body-Refining Art"
Special Traits: [Level 2 Robust Physique][Level 2 Sharp Nails][Level 2 Berserk][Level 2 Wild Nature][Level 2 Ethereal Body][Level 2 Ghostly Visage][Level 2 Twin Slaughter][Level 2 Iron Body][Level 2 Stone Heart]
Expert Shards: None ]
"Iron Body and Stone Heart must be from the "Iron Barrel Coiled-Bell Armor"," Sevrin thought thoughtfully. "Even though I'm still in the Steel Tendons and Iron Bones realm, having two more Level 2 traits makes me feel like my combat power has jumped significantly. I could probably thrash my former self. Tsk~ interesting."
From this, he realized that a realm's rank might not entirely represent one's combat power. Even if he remained in a certain realm, as long as he practiced many powerful martial arts of that same level and accumulated numerous Special Traits, his strength would continue to soar.
Sevrin looked at the wall before him, placing his hand on the large, circular section he had just carved. Suddenly, he exerted force.
THUD!
With a heavy sound, the circular block was forcibly pushed out, leaving behind a dark, round hole.
Strangely, that heavy thud had echoed from far behind Sevrin.
Following the sound, he looked back and saw that in the wall thirty meters directly opposite him, a large circular hole had also abruptly appeared, its opening equally dark. Furthermore, at the base of that broken wall lay a circular stone block with jagged edges.
Sevrin understood immediately.
"Haha, interesting."
With a grin, Sevrin thrust his arm into the dark hole in the wall before him. He then turned his head back; sure enough, he saw a thick, jade-white arm protruding from the hole in the opposite wall.
Indeed, it was his own arm.
"Miraculous," Sevrin muttered, pulling his arm back. "I wonder what kind of profound method was used to achieve this."
"So..." He rubbed his bald head. "How do I get out?"
Sevrin looked around. After a moment's thought, he strode toward the black altar and picked up the glowing scroll.
After lingering here for so long, he had generally deduced that the hall he was currently in was that small rectangular pattern on the map, the so-called Naeaie Mansion's Kiyou Grotto's Side Hall.
As for the righteous organization this Side Hall belonged to, its name was likely the Naeaie Mansion.
Looking at the lifeless, dilapidated state of the place, the other buildings outside this hall were probably destroyed due to internal strife or external invasion; in any case, it had been laid to waste.
"No matter, it doesn't have much to do with me," Sevrin muttered, looking around. "Using this place as a portable warehouse wouldn't be bad. It can hold quite a lot of things."
Immediately, he poured his True Force into the glowing scroll without hesitation.
"Since the Naeaie medallion reacted to True Force, this scroll might as well. It doesn't hurt to try."
That was Sevrin's thought. As it turned out, he was right.
When Sevrin channeled his True Force into the scroll, a massive flood of blurry, fragmented information appeared in his mind. Along with this information, a very clear, cold voice spoke:
"Do you wish to teleport outside of Naeaie Mansion?"
"Yes," Sevrin replied in his mind, his eyes flashing.
WHOOSH~
A large gray vortex expanded from the scroll, swallowing him whole in a single gulp.
...
In the outside world, on the ash-covered rocky hillside deep within the forest ruins, the Naeaie medallion lying quietly suddenly began to vibrate slightly.
BUZZ——
Abruptly, Sevrin's figure emerged from the ancient medallion, shifting from small to large and from illusion to reality, landing firmly on a rock about three meters away.
"Phew~~"
Sevrin let out a long sigh. "The hidden information within that scroll... was truly spectacular."
His earlier guess had been correct: the organization to which the hall belonged was indeed named the [Naeaie Mansion]. And the realm where that palace was located was clearly a grotto that existed outside the mundane world.