Chapter 299: 280. The Continuing Nightmare

280. Chapter 280: The Continuing Nightmare

"Is this the gangqi mastered by a Qi-Refining cultivator?"

On the top floor of Heping Financial Tower, Li Yi gazed calmly at the invisible aura coiling in his hand—this aura surged from within his body, nurtured by his blood and qi; though it appeared frail and easily extinguished, it was in truth endless and unceasing, a gangqi tough and resilient, and if further refined through a specific method, it would become tempered steel, unbreakable.

Li Yi clenched one hand, as if catching a breeze, then raised and slashed outward.

An invisible aura shot forth like a blade, severing a decorative item ten meters away—the cut was smooth, its sharpness unmistakable.

"But my blood and qi are far too abundant; transforming them into gangqi will require a long period of refinement. Moreover, the four great families' methods of cultivating gangqi each have strengths and weaknesses: the Fan family's Zhou Tian gangqi emphasizes defense, suffocating enemies at close range; the Zhao family's Hundred-Forged gangqi focuses on offense, condensing gangqi into blade and sword beams to kill instantly; the Qi family's Primordial Fist gangqi demands pure offense, breaking enemies with fists alone; the Meng family's Ten Directions gangqi takes a different path, projecting gangqi to kill at a hundred paces—the longest range of all."

Li Yi recalled the four methods of cultivating gangqi in his mind.

In essence, they were nearly identical—only their cultivation directions differed.

This was because gangqi cultivators had limited blood and qi, and thus could only condense a finite amount of gangqi; under such constraints, one had to make choices—emphasizing one aspect meant inevitably sacrificing others.

If your gangqi excelled in offense, your defense would be weak; if your defense was strong, your ranged killing power would inevitably lag behind others.

"People of the Four Seas and Eight Provinces haven't evolved physically—their blood and qi are insufficient, hence the flaws in their gangqi methods. But I'm different. My blood and qi far surpass those of ordinary Qi-Refining cultivators. While others cultivate one gangqi method, I can cultivate four, combining their strengths and compensating for their weaknesses—my gangqi will be stronger than anyone else's."

Li Yi lowered his head slightly in thought: "But this will take a great deal of time."

If time were abundant, he could certainly do this—but besides refining gangqi, he also needed to evolve his body, and time was running short.

So he too must make a choice.

In the end, Li Yi decided to cultivate only two gangqi methods: Zhou Tian gangqi and Hundred-Forged gangqi.

The former's protective gangqi offered astonishing defense, safeguarding his life—after all, survival came first; the latter's sword beams and blade gangqi could kill at a distance, granting him a ranged attack. He would master the remaining two methods later, if time permitted.

"Li Yi, are you in your room?"

Suddenly, Zheng Lan's voice came from outside the door; she knocked: "Lin Yue is here. She says she has something to discuss with you."

Li Yi snapped back to attention at the sound, abandoning his cultivation thoughts and immediately opened the door: "Lin Lin Jie is looking for me? Where is she?"

"Downstairs," Zheng Lan said.

"Perfect. I have something to ask her too."

Li Yi said, while recalling his experiences in World 36 and the inscription on his arm. Now that he had returned from the Four Seas and Eight Provinces with the methods of cultivating gangqi and Shen, he needed to deal with these hidden threats.

Zheng Lan suddenly added: "By the way, Li Yi, when you were away, Lin Yue earned some money and gave it to me. Now that you're back, I'll return it to you."

"Not now—I still need your help, Zheng Lan. In my room, there's a letter left by a cultivator named Qin Bing during my last cross-world journey. Qin Bing is an external operations officer from another city's Investigation Bureau. Please ask Zheng Gong for his family address and deliver the letter. I hate delivering letters—it gives me a headache just seeing them."

Li Yi suddenly remembered and added quickly.

"Alright, I understand. Don't worry—I'll ask Zheng Gong right away," Zheng Lan smiled.

"Then I'll go see Lin Lin Jie first," Li Yi said, then took the elevator down to the first floor.

On the sofa in the first-floor lobby, Lin Yue sat sipping tea, but her gaze kept flickering toward a nearby room, tinged with wariness.

"Lin Lin Jie," Li Yi greeted immediately.

Lin Yue set down her teacup and smiled: "How was your trip to Ghost Street?"

"Very smooth. Before, I tiptoed through Ghost Street; now, I strike hard. I've reached Spiritual Awareness Realm—I can handle many dangers now. After my visit, I obtained the complete continuation of the fist technique—not just a technique anymore, but an entire cultivation system."

"I was planning to share it with you, Lin Lin Jie—see if you're interested."

He had acquired the martial arts legacies of the four great families; keeping them to himself would be wasteful. He should slowly share them, cultivating trustworthy allies around him. Besides, after the Yang Yi Long incident, his fist technique had already spread—now, revealing these full martial legacies could erase the lingering effects.

After all, who would want to practice a fragmented technique when a complete one exists?

"A cultivation method from another world?" Lin Yue was stunned. "You obtained this on Ghost Street? Then Ghost Street must be a boundary point."

"Boundary point?" Li Yi showed slight confusion.

Lin Yue explained immediately: "You've been a cross-world traveler—you understand the principle of crossing worlds. But worlds are strange; sometimes, no gate needs to be opened. Two worlds can collide and connect by chance, like two cities linked by highways. A boundary point is a path between two worlds."

"But boundary points are dangerous. They're not just visible from our side—opposite worlds can detect them too. If both sides' experts discover it, they may clash. I've heard the Golden Academy has already seen combat—some otherworldly experts have invaded. So you should avoid Ghost Street. The risks there are beyond our control."

She worried that Li Yi's frequent visits to Ghost Street might draw the hostility of otherworldly experts.

"Now that the world has become like this, Lin Lin Jie, are you still worried about this? I think the existence of boundary points is a good thing. If the Heaven's Collapse comes and we can't find a suitable world to escape to, we might as well use this boundary point to flee—better than dying here," Li Yi said.

"You're right—it does make sense," Lin Yue mused, her perspective suddenly opening.

A boundary point was both danger and opportunity.

Li Yi continued: "Starting today, I'll guide you in new cultivation. No matter how things change, only by strengthening ourselves can we face all crises. By the way, I have another question for you, Lin Lin Jie—have you heard of this?"

He casually rolled up his sleeve, revealing his arm.

On it were several faint scars—so shallow now they would soon vanish, yet still visible: four characters formed: Beware My Mother.

Lin Yue's pupils shrank sharply. She instantly realized Li Yi now knew of his mother's existence—but she couldn't speak of it, for doing so would draw his mother's attention, and she might be killed by him. Besides, she wasn't the only one who knew.

Zhao Zhao Lingfu, Zhang Lei, Li Li Shaoqing, Master Pi, Gu Gu Mengping—all renowned experts in Tianchang City knew. But they all remained silent, refusing to discuss it.

Of course, part of the reason was that Li Yi's mother had no direct connection to them—they could simply keep their distance, since most rarely interacted anyway.

But Lin Yue couldn't. She couldn't stand by and watch Li Yi entangled by that unknown force.

Yet she couldn't reveal it outright—she had to wait until Li Yi sensed something himself.

And now, the timing seemed right.

Lin Yue glanced again at the nearby room, then took a deep breath: "Li Yi, there are things I can't say—speaking them would bring great danger. But I believe you've already sensed it. Your intuition is correct. And this issue didn't start now—it began the first time I visited your home."

"Li Yi, sometimes I even suspect your memory is flawed—you've simply ignored certain things."

Li Yi's expression changed instantly.

His memory was flawed?

At this reminder, he realized—it was true. If his memory weren't faulty, how could he not remember when the scars on his arm appeared?

What exactly happened in World 36?

If his mother was problematic, what was the problem?

Or perhaps the mother in his memory never existed—perhaps the real mother was…

As Li Yi pondered deeply,

Suddenly—

The lights in the first-floor lobby began flickering erratically, as if disturbed by some unknown force. At that moment, a chilling sensation surged simultaneously through Lin Yue and Li Yi—both sensed overwhelming danger.

Even though both were Spiritual Awareness cultivators, among the top fighters in Tianchang City, under this threat, they felt they could be killed at any moment.

And as time passed, the lobby was no longer just flickering lights.

Drip. Drip.

Blood now dripped from the ceiling.

This was no illusion.

A pungent stench of blood filled the air, relentlessly assaulting their senses.

"Li Yi," Lin Yue cried urgently—she understood. His mother had appeared again.

Last time, his mother had helped them kill the strange woman Liu Yan. But this time—was she here to kill them?

If so, it was terrifying.

Even Li Yi couldn't control his mother—if he violated some taboo, he too would become her enemy.

"This feeling… it's like the ghosts in World 36," Li Yi's face darkened as he recalled the terror of the Ghost Post Office.

He had thought the nightmare had ended after crossing worlds—but now he realized, the nightmare was still continuing.