I'll Be Back in a Moment

Standing on the edge of the Rooftop, overlooking the silent city, Lin Yi took a deep breath.

He did not start practicing immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes, pretending to be immersed in digesting the information from those new techniques, his face showing a well-timed mix of contemplation, confusion, and occasional flashes of realization.

"For the first time practicing, there's no need to be too outrageous... It won't be too late to improve after a real battle."

Having set the scale for his performance in his mind, Lin Yi suddenly opened his eyes.

"The Flowing Star Step is a movement technique focused on evasion, emphasizing agility within a small space. It lacks a bit of explosive speed, but it excels in sustainability and consumes very little source energy. It was clearly chosen by the General Staff for a reason... Hmm... showing the agility of a beginner should suffice."

Thinking this, Lin Yi moved his body. As his feet stepped out, they no longer followed simple running or jumping patterns, but instead carried a strange rhythm.

At first, his movements were a bit stiff, and he even occasionally stumbled, but they quickly became fluid at a speed visible to the naked eye, even allowing him to complete a few incredible changes in direction.

This was exactly the level of a beginner in the Flowing Star Step.

After practicing the movement technique, Lin Yi drew the Abyss Breaking Long Spear and injected source energy into it to restore its true form.

"As for the Star Splitting Spear Art... this is a spear technique that pursues extreme penetration and destruction. The moves are sharp and excel at breaking through defenses at a single point... Tsk... interesting. From the weapon to the basic moves and even the ultimate techniques, they all follow the path of piercing through a single point... I'll just start by being able to use the first few moves fluidly; adding a bit of source energy radiance should count as success."

Having set his goal, Lin Yi held the long spear, his gaze suddenly sharpening as he slowly thrust out the first strike.

At the beginning, his movements were slow and deliberate, as if he were carefully experiencing every detail of the force exertion and the path of the source energy flow. The sound of the long spear breaking through the air was relatively dull, with only the occasional imperceptible glimmer of source energy flashing at the tip.

But as time passed, his movements became faster and more fluid.

Thrust, pierce, lift, hack, sweep... the basic spear moves gradually became coherent in his hands, beginning to carry a hint of sharp killing intent.

The wind whistled as the spear moved, and the light of the source energy began to flow steadily along the blade; although faint, it had already begun to take shape.

Occasionally, a strike would even produce a clear, sharp whistle!

After practicing the first few moves of the Star Splitting Spear Art repeatedly for nearly an hour, until his movements were proficient and the source energy circulation was unimpeded, Lin Yi slowly retracted the spear and stood still.

Afterward, he took a short rest, and after ten minutes, he sat cross-legged to begin practicing the Mote Secret Art.

This manual did not increase the total amount of source energy but focused on tempering the control over it, emphasizing the precise manipulation of every wisp of source energy within the body, allowing it to be commanded like an extension of his own arm to perform various complex microscopic operations.

This was more difficult than the broad, sweeping movements of combat.

Lin Yi raised his Right Hand and extended an index finger. A wisp of pure source energy slowly emerged from his fingertip, forming a faint yet stable Azure Blue halo.

At first, this ball of light only trembled slightly, its form unstable like a candle flame in the wind.

As time passed, beads of sweat began to form on Lin Yi's forehead, and the ball of light at his fingertip began to change.

The amplitude of the trembling grew smaller, and the light gradually became more restrained.

Then, the base of the light ball began to elongate and thin out, while the top slowly differentiated, outlining a leaping form...

A moment later, a lifelike, stationary flame shape hovered steadily above his fingertip!

This was the hallmark of a beginner in the Mote Secret Art.

Being able to mold formless source energy into a stable, simple object shape and maintain it required strong control over energy output and form retention.

Lin Yi looked at the stable source energy flame at his fingertip, the corners of his mouth curling into a satisfied arc.

After admiring his "masterpiece" for a while, he dissipated the source energy at his fingertip.

Then, Lin Yi stood up. What he needed to do next was to "attempt" to practice the Meteor Strike!

After a series of successes, as a "genius" and a young man, it would be natural to want to try practicing a higher-end ultimate technique. It would be strange if he didn't even try.

Therefore, Lin Yi took out the long spear again and, following the information about that ultimate move in his mind, began to clumsily mimic the motions.

He deliberately slowed his movements to an extreme, and the circulation of his source energy appeared obscure and blocked, even causing the energy to dissipate several times due to poor control, making it look very difficult.

"Hmm... the threshold for this ultimate move is indeed a bit high, but... could it be... can I try to simplify it?"

After failing a few times, Lin Yi muttered to himself while clumsily practicing.

He pretended to be deep in thought, pausing occasionally and attempting to change certain source energy nodes.

To an outsider, this was a genius struggling and exploring before the threshold of an ultimate technique.

Finally, Lin Yi sighed, shook his head, and muttered, "Forget it, it seems I'll need to spend more time pondering this. Better to focus on practicing to increase my strength first."

But in reality, during that clumsy practice and deduction, he had already successfully simplified the Meteor Strike into a "weakened version" that he could barely execute now.

Although its power was far inferior to the original, its instantaneous explosive force had already reached the Stardust level, enough to serve as a trump card.

"I'll call this simplified version 'Star Shatter'... If I encounter a critical moment before reaching the Stardust level, I can just pretend it's a breakthrough in the heat of the moment, an explosion of power realized in a desperate situation. If not, that's fine too; I'll just learn the complete version after reaching the Stardust level and hand this simplified one over to the General Staff," Lin Yi pondered in his heart.

With the technique practice finished, Lin Yi took out three gray Source Energy Crystals from his waist.

Without hesitation, he crushed and absorbed them one by one.

The reason he didn't practice the Nine Heavens Primordial Method was mainly because it was a cultivation technique belonging to the Stardust level; he couldn't practice it at all until he had condensed Source Energy Stardust within his body.

Therefore, at this stage, he still had to honestly use the Source Energy Guidance Technique to cultivate.

This time, Lin Yi didn't use the Source Energy Crystals one by one, but instead held all three in his hand, using the source energy control techniques he had just learned to guide the energy.

Part of it was used to temper his physique more deeply, widen his meridians, and increase the upper limit of his total source energy.

The other part was converted into pure source energy to fill his Dantian, which had become empty due to the increased capacity.

When the energy from the three crystals was completely absorbed and turned into dust, the source energy within his body had grown significantly, and his physical strength had reached a new level.

Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes, feeling the surging power within him. His gaze swept over the pulsing nest in the distance, filled with anticipation for the coming battle.

At this moment, the eastern horizon was already tinged with a pale white, and dawn was approaching.

However, just as this moment of pre-dawn arrived...

"Awoo!!!"

A dull, thunderous roar exploded from the direction of the Purple-Black nest in the distance, instantly reaching Lin Yi's ears on the Rooftop.

This roar was far more robust and violent than the howling of an Abyssal Wolf, filled with a heart-stopping sense of power and oppression.

Listening to the thunderous roar, Lin Yi walked quickly to the edge of the Rooftop, his gaze piercing through the dim streets to lock precisely onto the direction of the nest.

Tsk tsk... quite the spectacle... I don't know why, but I actually feel a little excited... he muttered to himself, They say if you play the pig to eat the tiger for too long, you'll actually become a pig, but why does playing the youth make me feel so fired up...

Of course, despite his words, Lin Yi knew the main reason was that after so many years, he had long grown accustomed to a life of slaughter and adventure.

The forced suppression and disguise since his rebirth had always made him feel somewhat stifled.

Now that he could finally lift some of those restrictions after a few battles, he naturally felt an itch for action.

"The others should be here soon."

Lin Yi activated his Flowing Cloud Light Armor and drew Abyss Breaking, restoring it to its combat state while estimating the time.

Soon, as hurried footsteps rang out, Zhou Jianjun, Chen Yu, and the others rushed onto the Rooftop, panting. They gripped makeshift short spears and shields, their faces pale.

"Xiao Yi!" Zhou Jianjun said with unprecedented gravity, "Chen Yu saw it through a crack in the window... A Big Guy crawled out of the nest! It's at least four meters tall, its whole body looks like it's built from blocks of rock, and the wolf pack is surrounding it, heading our way. This building... how are we supposed to defend it?"

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Lin Yi. Although they saw him fully armed, they couldn't help but feel panicked.

After all, such a massive Giant Bear was, for ordinary people, a guaranteed injury if grazed and certain death if struck.

However, Lin Yi slowly turned around, his face showing not a hint of tension.

He even chuckled.

"Defend?"

Lin Yi shook his head, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather.

"No need to defend."

The group was stunned.

Lin Yi said nonchalantly, "I just felt a bit hungry and was planning to go down for breakfast, then I heard that racket over there..."

As he spoke, he didn't give anyone a chance to react, his figure leaping forward from the edge of the Rooftop.

He left the group with only a trailing sentence.

"I'll be right back."