“Hmm? It’s that mysterious precognitive power, prompting me… to pay attention to the inside of that stone tablet.”

Li Hai stopped, turning to look at the stone tablet.

“Could it be… that something is hidden within?”

As he muttered to himself, the massive stone tablet, which he was gazing at with his deep eyes, was tightly wrapped by hundreds of dense, broken fingers that abruptly grew out of the crevice below.

Bang!

After a muffled thud, the stone tablet was crushed into powder by these fingers.

And within this pile of stone powder, a beast hide book was clearly visible.

Swish—

A chilling gust of wind blew, and the beast hide book appeared in Li Hai’s palm.

He immediately glanced at it and saw that the title on the cover of the book was clearly written: “Northern Du Reversal of Fate Profound Skill.”

Without hesitation, Li Hai immediately opened this Cultivation Technique, which sounded formidable just from its name.

He then discovered that the opening content of the book was a self-narration by a person named Lie Xinghuo.

“Lie Xinghuo…”

Li Hai raised his head and murmured to himself, “I remember that name appeared on that stone tablet. He is… the Ancestral Master who founded the Hunting Deer Pavilion, an ancient person who existed before the Da Xuan (Great Xuan) Dynasty.”

Immediately, he lowered his head to read again.

Perhaps the era of this Ancestral Master of Hunting Deer Pavilion was too long ago, so even his self-narration used extremely convoluted and difficult-to-understand phrasing, making it quite strenuous for Li Hai to read.

In short, if Lie Xinghuo’s self-narration were to be told in plain language, its content would be as follows—

…My name is Lie Xinghuo. I was originally from the Ancient Continent. Due to being hunted by enemies, I had no choice but to leave my homeland, cross the vast ocean, and arrive at this land of Yu Continent…

…This place is not like the Ancient Continent, where the Human Race has long unified the world. Instead, warlords are carving up territories, and wars are constant. Moreover, there are many experts and numerous sects, making it very dangerous…

…It’s incredible that there are no Yao Beasts causing chaos in Yu Continent. The people of the world are fortunate…

…Wonderful, wonderful. The so-called Zhengchuan Martial Arts here are completely different from my Ancient Continent’s Yao-Nature Martial Arts. I need to study them thoroughly…

…I gathered over a hundred displaced people and founded a sect called Hunting Deer Pavilion…

…The sea is full of dangers. I am too old and frail to return home. How sorrowful…

…If a descendant learns this Yao-Nature Martial Arts and receives my favor, I hope you will go to the Ancient Continent and, within the Hunting Deer Imperial Dynasty, write down the three characters ‘Lie Xinghuo’ on paper, then burn it…

…Since my soul, spirit, and Physical Body are buried in Yu Continent, let my name return to my homeland…

…Read my letter, I hope you will act upon it. I am deeply grateful…

…A lonely stranger, Lie Xinghuo, respectfully yours…

…

“So that’s how it is~”

Li Hai slowly put down the book, sighing in sudden realization, “This Ancestral Master of Hunting Deer Pavilion, who might have lived over two thousand years ago, actually came from outside Yu Continent; he was a so-called Ancient Continent person.

And that unified Dynasty of the Ancient Continent was actually called the Hunting Deer Imperial Dynasty. So the name of the Hunting Deer Pavilion sect was, in fact, chosen by Ancestral Master Lie to commemorate his homeland.

Furthermore, from his self-narration, that Ancient Continent, whose location is unknown, is likely teeming with various Yao Beasts; otherwise, Lie Xinghuo wouldn’t have been so surprised by the absence of Yao Beasts in Yu Continent.

Hmm… how should I put it, unable to return home, this Lie Xinghuo can be considered a pitiful person.”

Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling of melancholy arose within Li Hai.

He didn’t know what exactly he was feeling melancholy about.

He just felt that a person’s long life could be summarized almost completely in just a few short paragraphs, which was truly… somewhat sorrowful.

It would be even more sorrowful if his own life, which could be summarized in just a few paragraphs, were to be read by later generations.

Li Hai didn’t want that.

“How odd, I’m not a philosopher, why think so much?”

After shaking his head and muttering a few words, Li Hai picked up the book again, eager to read on.

To be honest, after reading the self-narration of Lie Xinghuo, the Ancestral Master of Hunting Deer Pavilion, Li Hai had developed a great interest in the so-called Yao-Nature Martial Arts of the Ancient Continent, which was this book, “Northern Du Reversal of Fate Profound Skill.”

Therefore, he had to pore over it thoroughly and understand it completely.

“Yao-Nature Martial Arts… Tsk tsk, what a cool name. Let me see if you can live up to such an enigmatic name.”

After muttering this, Li Hai’s mind was completely immersed in the beast hide book, and he read for a full half an hour.

Qiu Fangzheng stood quietly to the side, also waiting silently for half an hour.

After half an hour of careful reading, Li Hai successfully mastered this Yao-Nature Martial Arts, making its name, “Northern Du Reversal of Fate Profound Skill,” appear in the skill bar of his personal interface.

At the same time, he completely understood the essence of this Cultivation Technique and even the entire Yao-Nature Martial Arts System.

Unlike Zhengchuan Martial Arts, where effort yields results, Yao-Nature Martial Arts can never be truly entered by relying solely on personal effort and so-called talent.

It requires… external assistance.

And this so-called external assistance is Yao Beast blood.

For example, this “Northern Du” Cultivation Technique has only three layers in total, but to truly Cultivate it, a Cultivator needs to immerse his entire body in a blood pool formed from a hundred catties of Yao Beast blood from the Northern Du Great Kun, which resides deep in the northern ocean of the Ancient Continent. Then, combined with various secret medicines, he can begin to Cultivate, and must remain in the pool until the Cultivation is complete and reaches Perfection.

If one leaves the pool before the Cultivation Technique is complete, they will instantly dissolve into pus and blood within the blood pool, leaving no bones behind.

At the same time, before entering this blood pool, the Cultivator must thoroughly cleanse his body, and throughout the entire Cultivation process after entering the blood pool, the Cultivator must not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate. Otherwise, if the blood pool is contaminated, it will spoil and become inactive, ultimately leading to Cultivation failure and the Cultivator’s death in the pool.

Such an extraordinarily bizarre Cultivation method made even a rough man like Li Hai unable to help but grin and exclaim:

“No wonder it has the word ‘Yao’ in it. This Ancient Continent Martial Arts… is indeed strange enough.”

Although the Cultivation method of “Northern Du Reversal of Fate Profound Skill” is extremely bizarre, its effects after being Cultivated are truly Heaven-Defying.

According to its records, once this Cultivation Technique reaches Perfection, one can permanently live in lakes and seas, and possess a physique far surpassing ordinary people, along with powerful self-healing abilities.

Relying on this self-healing ability, even if a Cultivator’s limbs are completely severed and their chest and abdomen are pierced, as long as their head and brain are undamaged, they can rapidly recover by drinking water, soaking in water, or even just touching water.

As long as there is water—whether river water, well water, seawater, boiled water, or even blood—it can enable a Cultivator who has perfected the Northern Du Cultivation Technique to quickly recover from any type of Physical Body injury.

Yes, it’s that preposterous.

So preposterous that even after reading the Cultivation Technique through, Li Hai still didn’t understand why it could be this way.

Therefore, he could only attribute it to the effects of that damned Northern Du Great Kun’s blood.

“Speaking of which, I don’t have any Northern Du Great Kun blood here, nor do I have those corresponding secret medicines.”

Li Hai, who had come back to his senses, wondered, “So… can I Cultivate this Cultivation Technique?”

Between doubt and belief, he activated the System function.