Chapter 472: Hidden

"You... you you?"

Monachi looked at Fang Xing, his pupils shaking violently, his body trembling because of extreme fear and shock, unable to say a complete sentence.

He couldn't imagine that Fang Xing had reached the point of catching bullets with his flesh.

Even the "Blood Path" transcendentalists who specialized in strengthening the physical body would probably have to pass through several doors before they could have such an incredible performance.

And he was very sure that when Fang Xing was just recruited into the academy, he was just an ordinary person!

Then, what kind of existence's favor could make an ordinary person become so powerful in just a few years?

The favor and amount of ether required for this were simply astonishing!

'Is it the demigod "Long-Lived One" walking among humans, or the great existence in the deepest part of the forest?'

Monachi had both fear of death and craving for new knowledge in his heart.

Greed and fanaticism, like a constantly burning candle, were always burning his soul, making him crave mystery, crave everything...

"I originally thought... you would at least come up with a charm or something."

Fang Xing sighed: "The result is... so boring."

He grabbed Monachi's wrist and used

Crack!

A piercing sound of bone fracturing rang out, and a look of intense agony immediately appeared on Meng Tiandong's face.

"Now, tell me... where is Silver Ring?"

Fang Xing's words were like a heavy hammer, continuously pounding against Meng Tiandong's mental defenses.

When it came to how to inflict pain on a body, he was an expert among experts.

Unable to endure the pain that hovered on the brink of collapse and fainting, Meng Tiandong rasped, "I'll talk... he is at..."

Before he could finish, inexplicable radiance began to flow continuously from his eyes, mouth, and nostrils.

Bang!

Meng Tiandong's corpse fell to the ground.

"Was a curse seal preventing the disclosure of secrets planted in advance?"

Fang Xing nodded, then shook his head: "Pity... I still lack the means to extract your soul."

He had currently used the power and knowledge of the Mechanical Path to modify a set of "Mechanical Martial Arts," but he had not yet involved the soul.

At least, that was the case outside of the physical body; therefore, there was simply no way to extract Meng Tiandong's soul, swallow it, and burn it in the Great Sun Furnace to find more clues.

However...

"A mere Rank 1 extraordinary of the Mechanical Path... it doesn't seem worth wasting much effort on..."

Fang Xing's ears twitched. He walked to the edge of the window, lifted the curtain, and saw two patrolmen approaching, their right hands resting on their holsters.

Clearly, the sound of Meng Tiandong's firearm pen had ultimately drawn the attention of neighbors and even the police.

"Time to go."

He put away the black notebook and took the firearm pen into his pocket as well.

This little gadget was quite ingenious; he could try reloading it with ammunition later and then give it to someone...

Once ready, Fang Xing turned up his collar and pressed down his hat brim, leaving only his eyes exposed.

Crack!

The villa's front door was opened.

At the same time, a figure had already left through the back door, quickly disappearing into the darkness.

"The Way of Strange Mechanics?"

In Shi Lei's training villa, Fang Xing sat cross-legged with the black notebook—his spoils of war—placed in front of him.

This rich second-generation heir had plenty of money and only came here to practice combat, but the living facilities were very complete, making it very suitable for living.

Fang Xing even felt that the security here was much tighter than in Meng Tiandong's villa area.

With the power of Shi Lei's family, even a murder case could likely be suppressed.

Of course, this was a matter of indifference to Fang Xing.

After inventing the "Mechanical Martial Arts Flow," he had already mastered a certain amount of extraordinary power, and he wouldn't even have his defenses broken by ordinary firearms.

Even against those high-powered steam rifles, he could calmly dodge the muzzle.

After all, no matter how good a weapon is, it still needs a human to operate it.

Therefore, he didn't care at all right now.

However, it was still good to avoid some trouble. Fang Xing didn't spend any extra attention on resolving future consequences, instead focusing his mind on the pitch-black manuscript in front of him.

"Ether, Secret Transmission, Extraordinary..."

This "Way of Strange Mechanics" was much more generous than the "Beauty of Mechanics" Fang Xing had read before; it never hid anything and directly recounted the secrets of the extraordinary.

Fang Xing even felt that the previous "Beauty of Mechanics" couldn't be considered a secret transmission at all; it was just a contraband book that had been slightly tainted by mysterious influence.

"The world is divided into two layers: one is the Mortal World, the other is the Ether Plane, the Forest of Wandering, the Inner World..."

"We, with mortal bodies, enter the Ether Plane to cause 'influence'... the Ether Plane will manifest corresponding 'echoes'... the greater the influence, the higher the level of the 'echo' in reality; this is the foundation of all extraordinary power!"

After reading a few sentences, Fang Xing knew that this secret transmission was quite down-to-earth, with every sentence being substantial.

"According to it, every time an extraordinary of this world enters the Ether Plane, it is equivalent to holding a ritual, leaving behind various influences... to make the echoes of the Ether Plane continuously intensify... the real world is magic-less; the echoes of the Ether Plane are the power of mystery!"

"So-called echoes are equivalent to a kind of reactive force of the Ether?"

"Therefore, extraordinaries take increasing the echoes of the Ether Plane as their main path of cultivation... After countless generations of attempts and summaries... they discovered that passing through the various Seal Gates is the best way to increase influence. The echoes obtained from passing through each gate are vastly different... forming the gap in ranks."

"Among them, those who have not yet passed through the first 'Gate of Uncertainty' are Wanderers! They can only roam the outermost periphery of the Ether layer and are almost unable to involve themselves in mystery, belonging to the 'visible but untouchable' category; therefore, longing is a common mental state..."

"Those who pass through the 'Gate of Uncertainty' and leave influence behind the door are Rank 1 'Extraordinaries'... they can obtain Ether echoes, mobilize Ether power in the mortal world to transform themselves, or form supernatural spells..."

"Those who pass through the 'Gate of the Deep Sea' are Rank 2 'Deep Ones'; their influence continuously deepens, and they possess relatively powerful Ether power..."

"Those who pass through the 'Gate of Enlightenment' are Rank 3 'Enlightened Ones'... they are already extremely rare and uncommon in the mortal world. Each one is a true master of occultism who can establish a sect and leave behind many secret transmissions..."

"Those who pass through the 'Gate of Wu Changsheng' are Rank 4 'Wu Changsheng Ones'; they can obtain long lives, and even their life forms change. They can enter the Ether Plane with their physical bodies and are known as 'Demigods'..."

"Extraordinaries who follow different paths have their own different powers and manifestations at different ranks."

"Furthermore, passing through each gate requires different rituals, trials, and sacrifices... and it is even possible that the methods of each school are different. This kind of advancement knowledge is the true secret transmission."

"This 'Way of Strange Mechanics' is not the original, just a copy... it only records the method of passing through the first layer, the 'Gate of Uncertainty'... locating, searching, wandering... and then using the soul of a longing genius mechanic as a sacrifice..."

After reading it, Fang Xing nodded and then shook his head.

"The way I pass through the gates is a bit different."

"If the orthodox extraordinary path of this world is to forge a key according to the gate and calmly open it... then I rely on my own fists to forcibly smash the gate open!"

"Although this is difficult, the influence caused is absolutely huge, and the Ether echoes obtained after the breakthrough are the most abundant!"

"In the Martial Way, this kind of cultivation can be called 'Breaking the Limit'!"

"Smashing through the Gate of Uncertainty is a martial arts powerhouse who has broken the major limit once."

"Breaking through the Gate of the Deep Sea is breaking the second limit! The Gate of Enlightenment is breaking the third major limit... smashing through the Gate of Wu Changsheng is a martial arts demigod who has broken the fourth limit!"

Fang Xing had no interest in the so-called Wu Changsheng Ones of this world.

After all, everything these extraordinaries had came from the Ether layer; if the Ether layer collapsed, or if they went to other planes, they would be completely blind.

This was just like the Void Refinement cultivators of the Immortal Dao; they were "Wu Changsheng Ones who borrow power," not "Wu Changsheng Ones who rely on themselves"!

What he needed was to apply this mysterious knowledge to his own Martial Way, making extraordinary martial arts "legal" in this world, or rather, "compliant with the rules"!

Rustle!

Fang Xing turned to the next page of the black manuscript and finally saw a few spells, or rather, rituals similar to spells:

"Dream Entry, Fanaticism, and also Word Spirit?"

He looked and discovered that the so-called "Dream Entry Technique" was to use various drugs and rituals to make oneself fall asleep and roam the Ether Plane in the form of a dream.

And "Fanaticism" was a spell that kept oneself energetic and mentally agile, but the duration was limited, and there were certain aftereffects; using it too much could lead to abnormal mental states.

The final "Word Spirit" was the spell Fang Xing saw placed on Meng Tiandong, which prevented the subject from saying certain keywords.

"Barely acceptable..."

Fang Xing had always taken the essence and discarded the dross when learning secret transmissions.

After thoroughly understanding the spells, he would try to integrate them into his own Martial Way and cast them using extraordinary martial arts.

For example, the "Dream Entry Technique" could be completely transformed into a technique like martial arts meditation.

And Fanaticism could be integrated into some explosive techniques.

As for "Word Spirit"?

Fang Xing fell into deep thought: "The essence of the extraordinary lies in the echoes of the Ether... to leave a profound influence on the Ether Plane, one person's power is ultimately inferior to the power of many... if I teach my Martial Way and cause many martial artists to smash through the various extraordinary gates, how great would the influence be?"

In any world, the fame of a path-opener is absolutely the greatest.

As for what kind of influence this would have on the world? Fang Xing didn't care at all.

Anyway, he had only one goal, and that was to defeat the Creator!

"Taking disciples, establishing a force... these can be done together."

"And... I also need to be prepared from the beginning to prevent rebellion. Although a martial artist should not fear any challenge, being challenged by one's own disciple is ultimately a bit embarrassing..."

Fang Xing pressed his brow, having gained some ideas.

(End of chapter)