Immediately after, Lu Yuan could clearly feel his Spiritual Power continuously strengthening, extending farther and farther...

Soon, it exceeded fifteen meters, then twenty meters.

His Spiritual Power extended out of the massive room, allowing him to "clearly" see the scene at the door.

A girl dressed in Linghe Pavilion servant's clothes stood at the door, secretly taking a selfie with an ancient-style, hollowed-out wooden window behind her.

Lu Yuan could even clearly see the caption she secretly posted to her Moments after taking the photo: "Hang in there, wage earner! (with two sun emojis)..."

My Spiritual Power's detection range has doubled, and the detected scenes are also more detailed and clearer...

If the "720-degree holographic image" Lu Yuan possessed when he first awakened his Spiritual Power was two million pixels, then after upgrading step by step—three million, five million, eight million—it had now become a high-definition image of ten million pixels.

This is far more powerful than any night vision device, infrared camera, or radar. It's incredibly useful against opponents hiding behind obstacles with firearms... I can avoid most surprise attacks.

Lu Yuan was experiencing the various enhancements brought by 16 points of Intelligence.

Suddenly, various images began to flash in his mind: a crow, a full moon, the Netherworld River, the Other Shore Flower, a white crane, a sea of clouds...

"Again?!"

This time, even without concurrently using [Circulation of Death Qi] and [Crane Shadow Floating in the Air], the juxtaposition of the two images grew more intense.

It steadily developed in a dark and gloomy direction—that is, towards the Crow Dreamscape.

Is the Crow Dreamscape going to devour my [Crane Shadow Floating in the Air]?!

Lu Yuan frowned, unsure if this evolution was good or bad for him.

The main point was, he couldn't do anything; he could only let this change happen.

Whenever he closed his eyes, various images automatically flooded his mind, impossible to stop even if he wanted to.

He didn't know how long it had been before the flashing images in his mind finally stopped.

"PHEW—"

Lu Yuan exhaled softly and checked his Profession Panel.

The [Fighter] panel showed no reaction.

But when he saw the [Death Teller (Extraordinary)] panel, he couldn't help but feel a slight jolt.

A new skill...

Lu Yuan blinked.

To be precise, it was a new skill waiting to be unlocked. A gray spot had appeared on the [Death Teller (Extraordinary)] panel, just like when he had first comprehended [Crane Shadow Floating in the Air]. The skill was awaiting unlock but couldn't be directly activated with Skill Points due to a lack of prerequisites.

Its position is so high up...

What truly amazed Lu Yuan was the position of this gray spot on the [Death Teller (Extraordinary)] panel. It was almost at the very top.

Benchmarking against the [Fighter] panel, it was even a tier higher than [Crane Shadow Floating in the Air], which was a class Sure-kill skill.

What kind of skill is higher than a class Sure-kill skill?

Lu Yuan didn't know.

But he was sure of one thing. This skill awaiting unlock is absolutely powerful! Extremely powerful! Once unlocked, it might directly surpass all his current trump cards, becoming his ultimate ace!

[Crane Shadow Floating in the Air] and [Circulation of Death Qi] have already collided to produce some kind of wondrous chemical reaction... Intelligence, to some extent, represents inspiration and comprehension. My increased Intelligence seems to have catalyzed and accelerated this reaction's development. It looks like I'll have to focus on increasing my Intelligence for a while...

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up slightly, as if he had discovered a new continent full of treasures.

Because of the unusual change on the [Death Teller (Extraordinary)] panel, Lu Yuan had almost caved to the urge to assign his one Skill Point to [Flash of Insight].

But after thinking it over carefully... Although [Flash of Insight] had helped him out significantly on several occasions, no matter how amazing it was, it's ultimately just a support-type skill. Using one Skill Point to slightly enhance its unpredictable trigger probability by a tiny, unquantifiable amount really isn't wise. Skill Points are too precious. Too many important skills on my various Profession Panels are metaphorically wide-mouthed, crying out to be fed. At times like this, I can't help but remember my ignorant past when, to save a little time and effort, I hastily spent that one Skill Point on Basic Capture. It's like a dagger to my heart every time. Countless times I've woken up in the middle of the night needing to pee, only for this regret to suddenly surface. I just want to give myself two hard slaps and then pray to Heaven for a chance to respec my points.

From now on, I'll rely on my own comprehension for skills; I absolutely won't use Skill Points. If my comprehension is inadequate, it's better to add a few more Attribute Points to Intelligence than to waste precious Skill Points!

Lu Yuan silently made this firm resolution.

Then, he added this newly gained Skill Point to [Special Burst].

His [Special Burst], originally Level 2, was upgraded to Level 3.

Lu Yuan gently closed his eyes. His muscles began to ripple and swell, gradually tensing to a bluish-black color. Thick blue veins bulged, and his striated, blocky muscles seemed to shift and flow like a dark tide in the night.

New insights and techniques integrated into his body.

A deeper realm of understanding was unlocked.

Lu Yuan's increasingly deep voice echoed softly in the vast room.

"Palace of Flesh... what a fitting and beautiful name..."

「The late afternoon sun slanted low.」

The afterglow of the sunset spilled over the blue-green eaves, casting a golden patch across the courtyard.

In the small courtyard paved with bluestone bricks, two figures were colliding rapidly and repeatedly.

BANG!

A leg as thick as a twenty-year-old tree stump lashed out ruthlessly.

The terrifying force carried by the leg tore visible white trails in the air, and the sound of it cleaving the air was like high-grade silk being violently ripped.

BOOM!

The kick directly shattered the small stone table in the middle of the courtyard. Amidst the shower of flying stone fragments and debris, its momentum undiminished, it struck the crossed forearms of the short-haired woman.

BANG!

The short-haired woman was sent staggering back several steps by this kick.

With each retreating step, a clear footprint several centimeters deep appeared beneath her feet.

After retreating a few steps, the short-haired woman's expression seemed to calm.

Just as she was about to lower her arms, her expression suddenly changed.

An inexplicable, terrifyingly immense force abruptly erupted within her body.

She let out a muffled grunt and was forced back again.

This time, however, she couldn't maintain control as she had before.

The bluestone bricks beneath her feet shattered, large patches of cracks spiderwebbing out from her steps.

"HUFF—"

Only after retreating five or six more steps did the short-haired woman manage to completely stabilize herself.

A look of genuine respect and seriousness appeared on her smooth, fair face. She looked at the handsome young man before her, whose physique was visibly reverting to its normal state, and said earnestly, "Little Senior Brother, if your Vigor were just a bit stronger, I estimate I would no longer be your match."

Lu Yuan, who had just exited the [Special Burst] state, heard this, shook his head, and said, "Mrs. Zhuang, you're joking. You haven't even used your True Skill, and you probably used less than half your Vigor, right? I can feel that you were deliberately going easy on me..."

Lu Yuan had become Master Liudao Yuan's sole true successor, and his seniority instantly became the highest in the entire Crane Sect, second only to Master Liudao Yuan himself.

All the direct disciples became his junior martial brothers and sisters and had to address him as "Little Senior Brother."

Lu Yuan felt awkward calling them "junior martial brother" or "junior martial sister," so he opted for "Aunt" or "Uncle" as appropriate, and they generally went along with these informal addresses.

For instance, the fourth direct disciple before him, Zhuang Xiujie, had been assigned by Master Liudao Yuan specifically to teach him Leg Skill.

Lu Yuan simply called her Mrs. Zhuang.

"Still, it's impressive enough..."

Mrs. Zhuang's expression was complex as she sighed softly, "This isn't a life-or-death battle, after all. One wouldn't use all their techniques."

After speaking, she called for servants to come in and clean up and repair the devastated courtyard.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.