67: Chapter 67 The Mysterious Ritual Scene

Traditional Yanxia attire was an absolute luxury for the residents of the Lower City.

Generally, only the elegant upper-class individuals would wear them.

This was because the silk required for traditional clothing came from silkworms.

And in the current era...

Pollution was rampant.

Filth and miasma were spreading everywhere.

Silkworm silk...

Could be described as extremely rare.

The genes of silkworms were naturally highly unstable. At the slightest encounter with foul miasma, they would undergo alienation and mutation. The silk they produced would also become contaminated, losing its purity and even harboring eerie curses.

Therefore, the cultivation of silkworms required an "absolutely pollution-free" environment.

But in the current world, with the invasion of demons, devils, ghosts, monsters, and giant beasts, every corner contained more or less of the aura of pollution.

Filth had long since become an inseparable part of the air.

Even within the Upper City, it was the same.

Diluting the polluted miasma was simple, but achieving an "absolutely pollution-free" environment in this era was harder than ascending to the heavens.

"In a place like Raccoon Apartments, it's impossible for any tenant to afford traditional Yanxia clothing. There's a high probability that this woman is indeed a demon."

Qin Feng looked up.

Following the images from the memory fragments...

He stared in the direction the mysterious woman had come from and where she was heading. That place... was precisely the twentieth floor, where he had previously guessed the demon resided.

"Next, I will perform Anatomy on the purple light."

"Speaking of which, the 'service and transcendence' traits symbolized by the purple light... to some extent, do they specifically refer to 'rituals'? Some unusual, mysterious, and special 'rituals'?"

Qin Feng pondered carefully.

To be honest.

Performing Anatomy on "ethereal objects"...

Was not as straightforward and clear as dissecting "physical objects." As long as one's skill was profound and the anatomy knife was sharp enough, any physical thing could be dissected.

But those things of ethereal concepts...

Could not be resolved with a single stroke just because one's skill was high and the blade was sharp. One had to have a sufficient understanding of the field of occultism.

The seven traits corresponding to the seven-colored light...

Belonged to the field of occultism.

Although Qin Feng had obtained some knowledge and information in the field of occultism from his "Dissecting Reality into Void" ability...

It was...

Limited to the surface, just a mere scratching of the skin.

To understand it deeply...

He still had to analyze it step by step, summarizing and learning bit by bit through practice.

And for now...

He had roughly summarized two points:

First, the "power and will trait" corresponding to the red light; after Anatomy, with his current ability, he could obtain memory fragments of the deceased from when they were alive.

Second, the "Service and Transcendence Trait" corresponding to the purple light; after Anatomy, with his current ability, he could see a certain mysterious ritual scene.

*Swish!*

Qin Feng swung the anatomy knife with practiced ease.

Upon the blade...

Purple light lingered.

As the sharp edge flashed suddenly, the purple light was torn apart like silk.

Immediately after...

A familiar scene once again entered his mind:

It was still that towering, colossal object that resembled a giant tower.

It was still countless twisted figures praying and worshipping.

The tones of an ink wash painting saturated the entire ritual scene, filled with a sense of sinister imagery, abstract and blurry.

Every time he dissected the purple light and sensed this mysterious ritual scene, Qin Feng felt that the scene became a bit clearer than before.

This time was no exception.

However...

Besides being clearer, to the point that Qin Feng could see a bit of the silhouette of that colossal object, a special change also occurred.

He felt that he...

Seemed to have entered the ritual, suddenly experiencing a sense of being there in person.

"What's the situation?"

"Wait... it's 'Hide'!"

"That's right, my 'Hide' skill was triggered unknowingly, and it even seems to have resonated with this ritual..."

Every time he dissected the purple light...

And watched this ritual scene...

It was an accumulation of quantity.

And now...

The accumulation of quantity seemed to have reached a qualitative change and produced a special resonance with his "Hide" skill, which couldn't help but make Qin Feng find it interesting.

"My 'Hide' skill is only 1% away from reaching Perfection, but I've been unable to Breakthrough that final 1%."

"It looks like if I want to Breakthrough this last 1%, perhaps... I have to step into the field of occultism?"

Qin Feng remembered...

His "Hide" skill was useless against those mutated patients with whispering syndrome.

They didn't seem to be observing him through their eyes, perception, or psychology.

But rather through some unknown level.

Now, Qin Feng suddenly realized.

This unknown level...

Perhaps involved the field of occultism?

"I remember Lu Qingran saying that the 'martial arts chip', which contains the secret cultivation methods of martial arts, is obtained through a mysterious ritual."

"And this ritual very likely involves the existence of 'Gods'."

"In other words, in this world, martial arts is actually closely related to occultism. Understanding occultism might be of great benefit to the cultivation of martial arts."

Amidst his wandering thoughts...

Qin Feng began to move his "vision."

At this moment...

He seemed to be in a state of Soul Emergence, entering a mysterious space-time. In this mysterious space-time, everything appeared hazy gray, as if he had entered a world constructed from an ink wash painting.

At the center of the world...

Was precisely that ritual site.

"Hmm?"

Qin Feng was like a swimming fish.

Swimming with a body constructed from his thoughts and intentions.

Approaching that towering, colossal object...

He finally discovered...

That it wasn't some giant tower.

But rather...

A cocoon!

That's right.

A giant cocoon of flesh and blood!

Thick, giant tentacles extended from the body of the cocoon, spreading out in all directions. Wherever they passed, twisted figures appeared out of thin air, then began to prostrate and worship, their mouths murmuring unintelligible whispers.

"Oh? Whispers..."

"Could it be that this giant flesh-and-blood cocoon at the center of the ritual is actually the source of whispering syndrome?"

Seeing this...

Qin Feng's eyes couldn't help but light up.

But at the same time, he fell into deep thought.

A cocoon?

The things he had previously dissected from the bodies of those mutated patients with whispering syndrome, besides that egg-like object suspected to be a Demon Egg, were basically nothing else.

He had never seen anything related to a cocoon at all.

"Although I haven't found anything related to a cocoon, at least I can preliminary judge that the egg-like object I dissected, which is suspected to be a Demon Egg, should not be the root cause of the ghostly disease of whispering syndrome."

"At most, it's just a derivative related to demons."

Suddenly...

Qin Feng saw those whispering figures, which were constantly twisting and praying, suddenly collapse and go mad. In the next moment, they mutated into one terrifying monster after another.

These monsters had clearly discovered him.

One by one, they turned their heads.

All of them stared together in his direction.

Qin Feng frowned.

Wondering if he should run away.

Although this eerie and mysterious ritual site was, strictly speaking, a scene within an ethereal concept, if he were to be killed by a monster within this void, he didn't know if any strange changes would occur to his real self.

But just then...

A thought occurred to Qin Feng:

"I wonder what kind of change would occur if I fully activate my 'Hide' skill in this state of ethereal concept?"

Previously, the "Hide" skill was only passively activated.

Now...

Qin Feng intended to activate it actively.

To test the effect.

As the "Hide" skill was actively deployed, suddenly, Qin Feng's heart gave a resonant throb. He actually felt... that his resonance with that giant flesh-and-blood cocoon had deepened!

At the same time...

In reality.

In the corridor on the nineteenth floor of Raccoon Apartments.

Qin Feng, holding the anatomy knife in his hand...

Suddenly raised his eyes.

Deep within his gaze...

Five Acupoint black holes emerged, like a Demon Star descending, a field of crimson!