Zhou Family Fortress, huh?
After hearing that name, Li Hai's eyes immediately flashed.
What a coincidence, isn't that precisely the territory of Zhou Hu, the Second Leader of the Black Wolf Bandits?
Hmm… to be precise, it's the territory of the Zhou Family, the lineage Zhou Hu came from.
From the Black Wolf Bandit fatty's mouth, Li Hai had learned quite a bit about the Zhou Family's wicked deeds, such as how they bullied the common people and exploited the villagers.
The reason he knew so clearly was precisely because the fatty himself had participated in those evil deeds multiple times.
So, similar to Guo Huaijin, this Zhou Family also belonged to that kind of rotten scoundrel who oppressed the common people under their rule internally, and colluded with mountain bandits and brigands externally.
In short, they deserved to be killed!
"Brother," Zhang Miaoji cupped his hands and said, "After this farewell, I wonder when we will meet again."
"What brother?"
Li Hai waved his hand and said, "I'm only eighteen, just call me Brother Li."
"Eighteen?" Zhang Miaoji said with a face full of astonishment, "You look... not like eighteen at all. People would believe you if you said you were thirty-six."
"What can I do if I look mature?" Li Hai pouted and said, "Besides, you're already thirty or forty yourself, yet you're calling me old."
"You're mistaken there," Zhang Miaoji pointed at his old face and laughed, "Don't look at me as old, I'm actually only twenty-three this year."
"I think you look forty-six," Li Hai sized him up, "Could it be that you've practiced some technique that damages your Lifespan?"
"Huh?" Zhang Miaoji was stunned and said, "You could even guess that? That's amazing!" He even gave a thumbs up.
In fact, the reason Li Hai was so clear was precisely because he had learned all of Zhang Miaoji's skills, and combining that with the other party's words, he guessed it perfectly.
As for that skill, it was a Qimen Art—the Lifespan Reduction Technique—which was neither a martial art, a ghost Dao, nor a Divine Ability.
The efficacy of this technique was just like its name; it could temporarily boost magical power by reducing one's own Lifespan, lasting for a quarter of an hour, with the increase and Lifespan consumption ratio being a twofold increase for every three years of Lifespan cut.
Li Hai guessed that the reason Zhang Miaoji looked so old was perhaps because he had felt a lack of magical power when slaying ghosts or enemies in the past, and thus had no choice but to consume Lifespan to use this technique.
Wait... magical power?
That's right, it was magical power.
From Zhang Miaoji, Li Hai had surprisingly learned the fourth Cultivation system in this world—the Dao of Spells.
This system was completely opposite to Martial Arts and Divine Ability; it focused more on the Cultivation of a person's soul.
This point was quite similar to the Dao of Ghosts.
However, the difference was that the Dao of Ghosts Cultivated Yin energy, while Qimen Arts Cultivated Zheng Yang Qi, or simply Yang Qi.
The main content for Spell Cultivators was to gather the Yang Qi absorbed from the outside world into their form and spirit through various methods of collecting Yang Qi, and then refine the Yang Qi into magical power through corresponding methods, making it abundant between the soul and body, thereby continuously optimizing its quality and ultimately transforming it to become more powerful.
As for the Daoist Zhang Miaoji, who claimed to be an unregistered talent recruiter for the Demon Slayer Division, his personal interface was as follows:
Character Name: Zhang Miaoji
Rank Realm: Qimen Arts → Soul Gathering and Spirit Condensing, Zhengchuan Martial Arts → Qi Circulation
Skills Owned: "Bone Contraction and Disguise," "Seeking Ghosts and Tracking Monsters," "Yin Yang Eyes," "Qi Observation Art," "Surging Wave Palm," "Yuan Breath Refining Yang Method," "Lifespan Reduction Technique," "Heavenly Blaze Drawing Yang Technique," "Shangyuan Spirit Suppression Talisman (Incomplete)"
Attribute Traits: 【Inspiration Level 1】 【Yang Absorption Level 1】 【Spiritual Focus Level 1】 【Magical Power Level 1】
Strongest Fragment: None
It could be said that the number of skills Zhang Miaoji possessed was the most Li Hai had seen so far, with a total of nine.
Moreover, the number of his attribute traits was also very high, with four.
However, such a character was only an unregistered member of the Demon Slayer Division.
This made Li Hai even more eager for the mysterious Demon Slayer Division.
He believed that there were countless masters there, which also meant that there would be many never-before-seen skills.
After a simple farewell with Zhang Miaoji, Li Hai aimed for the southwest direction and galloped across mountains and valleys at a speed of tens of meters per second.
While running, he also unhesitatingly pushed all the skills he had learned from Zhang Miaoji to the Perfection level.
Thus, Li Hai's personal interface information changed to:
Master Name: Li Hai
Rank Realm: Zhengchuan Martial Arts → Steel Tendons Iron Bones, Bloodline Divine Power → Medium Grade, Ghost Dao → Fierce Spirit, Qimen Arts → Soul Gathering and Spirit Condensing
Skills Owned: "Five Animal Qi Gong," "Beast Intent Demon Claw," "Blood Soaked Submerged Heart," "Ghost Body Soul Remains," "Evil Spirit Earth Drawing Yin Method (Incomplete)," "Evil Star Descending Yin," "Resentful Spirit Extinguishes Yang," "Wild Bull Fist," "Iron Fan Palm," "Iron Bucket Clockwork Manual," "Moon Marrow Chain Technique," "Bone Contraction and Disguise," "Seeking Ghosts and Tracking Monsters," "Yin Yang Eyes," "Qi Observation Art," "Surging Wave Palm," "Yuan Breath Refining Yang Method," "Lifespan Reduction Technique," "Heavenly Blaze Drawing Yang Technique," "Shangyuan Spirit Suppression Talisman (Incomplete)"
Attribute Traits: 【Strong Soul Level 2】 【Claw Level 2】 【Berserk Level 2】 【Wildness Level 2】 【Ethereal Body Level 2】 【Eerie Phenomenon Level 2】 【Dual Fiend Level 2】 【Iron Body Level 2】 【Stone Heart Level 2】 【Inspiration Level 1】 【Yang Absorption Level 1】 【Spiritual Focus Level 1】 【Magical Power Level 1】
Strongest Fragment: None
Perhaps this so-called Qimen Arts primarily focused on the Cultivation of the soul and consciousness.
Therefore, even though Li Hai had Cultivated so many skills to Perfection, there wasn't much change in his external appearance.
Only his eyes and temperament became sharper and more powerful.
But from Li Hai's perception, after mastering these Qimen Arts skills, he became much more sensitive to the subtle, formless, and intangible mysterious Qi between the Mortal World.
At the same time, his soul, which he had previously sensed vaguely, suddenly became extremely clear.
And a gentle and ethereal power surged and filled the space between his soul and spirit.
This power was magical power.
And with the support and blessing of this magical power, Li Hai even felt that his soul was so lively and agile that it seemed capable of leaving his body at any time, roaming freely in the world in a formless and shadowless state.
However, Li Hai knew that this was actually a dangerous illusion.
Before reaching the next Spell Realm, Spiritual Focus and Astral Travel, he absolutely could not let his soul leave his body, as that would lead to extremely terrifying consequences.
At best, he would suffer a serious illness from exhaustion after barely returning to his body; at worst, he would be unable to return and become a lonely ghost.
"Let's try the Talisman Art."
In the desolate wilderness, Li Hai slowly descended to a normal walking speed, then raised his hand and took out a narrow, long yellow talisman from his pocket, faintly bearing calligraphic strokes of a flying Dragon and Phoenix.