The Path to Star Ring Awakening

Yu Lian certainly didn't climb up stealthily; he leaped up boldly. He was an untrained sensitive, and even if he knew the principles behind the profound and powerful psionic techniques from his past life, he still couldn't unleash them. But he at least knew that by slamming a Psionic Shockwave onto the ground, he could propel his own body upward.

And so, with his broken and weak body and a belly full of nanomachines that seemed to be wailing, he jumped onto the Gravel Dragon's back, brandished his War Hammer, and swung it down fiercely, smashing it onto the monster's skull.

The Gravel Dragon's body convulsed and trembled uncontrollably once more. Its wings even seemed to quiver before it could no longer continue its ascent. Sergeant Baka on the ground watched clearly, letting out a roar that was more beastly than human. Like a hunting grizzly bear, he lunged forward, once again gripping the Gravel Dragon's trailing tentacles.

Veins bulged on his forehead, his arms and waist tensed, as if his torso had expanded by a full circle. Then, he roared, "Bien Baka!" and actually managed to drag the creature back to the ground.

...Well, the scene was indeed quite magical, but it could still be considered within the "innate divine strength" category of the Bien Bearman. Fortunately, he didn't just smash the majestic Gravel Dragon onto the ground and then swing it around like a sack. Otherwise, Yu Lian would have genuinely suspected this guy was a hidden awakened being.

Sergeant Youyou howled and charged over, his hammer striking the Gravel Dragon's belly, but unfortunately, it didn't penetrate its defenses. Instead, Lieutenant Mondsen, whose body was already burning, propped himself up with a groan, mustered his remaining strength, and viciously plunged his Chainsaw Sword into the wound, twisting it forcefully.

The Gravel Dragon's tail whipped over, sweeping away both the Lieutenant and the Big Black Guy, but it couldn't stop Yu Lian, standing on its head, from smashing his Power Hammer onto its head again.

The massive dragon's body finally couldn't hold on and collapsed. Yu Lian lost his balance and slid off its head, his entire body, from back to front, slamming onto the ground with a bia sound. For a moment, he felt as if all his bones had shattered.

However, even then, it was still not dead. The Gravel Dragon used its tattered, membrane-winged forelimbs to support its body, tilted its head back, and opened its massive maw towards Yu Lian, who was right by its feet, preparing to bite. It was fortunate that although this creature was called a "dragon," it ultimately had no neck. Otherwise, it would have snapped someone in half long ago.

At this moment, it seemed no one could come to Yu Lian's rescue, except for Miss Sergeant Major Ina Sirica, who had just jumped down from the turret after firing off her cannons.

Yes, the cannons were out of ammo again, and the loader had been blasted to the wall by the Gravel Dragon's earlier bomb breath, now barely clinging to life.

However, Miss Ina, the future legendary sniper, seemed possessed by a soul from a later era. She managed to achieve precise shots with the hand-cranked cannon. Coupled with the heavy firepower from the city walls and the autocannons of the two armored vehicles at the city gate, they had actually shot down all the insect dragons, a truly glorious achievement.

Perhaps the "Dragon Slaying Battle" in the supply depot was too attention-grabbing, and everyone had failed to notice the situation outside the city.

Ina prepared to reload the cannon herself so she could continue providing fire support to the front. After all, the enemies in the air had been shot down, but the ground battle at the front was far from over.

However, as soon as she jumped down from the tower, she saw Yu Lian sliding off the dragon's head. The Sergeant Major hesitated for almost no time, lifted the rifle that had been hanging at her waist, and fired a burst of bullets.

It had to be admitted that Ina probably had her shooting talent fully maxed out in the womb. Even though she didn't have time to assume a proper shooting stance, she instinctively landed almost all her bullets on the Gravel Dragon's head. One even hit its eye.

The heavily wounded monster could no longer activate its Positron Shield and could only let the bullets pierce its eye. Its vision in front of it turned pitch black, and it could no longer see the enemy before it. Naturally, its bite missed. Before it could feel disappointed, a piercing pain shot through its abdomen. Yu Lian, having reacted, had already rolled under its propped-up ribs, grabbed the hilt of the sword that had already penetrated the creature's torso, and yanked it outward before forcefully shoving it back in with all his might.

The Gravel Dragon stiffened and twisted its mouth open as if its nerves had been pinched. It coughed once, but instead of bloody phlegm, a final energy beam erupted. In its final moments of life, it still managed to launch an attack, spewing an energy bomb towards the heat source on the city wall.

That heat source was the muzzle of the rifle in Ina's hand.

"Boom!" Flames and arcs of electricity erupted once more on the steel city wall. The metal plate, like fragile plastic, was instantly torn open with a twisted gap. Although Ina had leaped down from the gap a moment earlier, she was still hit by the residual shockwave on her back.

She felt as if she had been hit head-on by a speeding tank, her internal organs churning. If she hadn't been wearing her Exoskeleton, that blow alone would have been fatal.

The Sergeant Major landed directly on the ground in a rather ungraceful spread-eagle position, covered in dust and dizzy. It took her several seconds to regain her normal breathing. Soldiers around her scrambled to help her up, only to find that she had been thrown outside the city wall and had landed by the edge of a trench.

Through the bonfires and smoke by the city gate, she saw Yu Lian emerging step by step from beneath the corpse of the fallen giant beast. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she was hastily pulled into the trench by a nearby soldier.

As soon as she stood firm in the trench and looked forward, the Sergeant Major could no longer relax. She suddenly discovered that the enemy had already reached this position.

Yes, after the chaos caused by the appearance of that Gravel Dragon, the monsters attacking from the ground had finally broken through the blockade of fire. Their grotesque, insect-like forms were clearly visible. Their carapaces, muscles, and claws seemed to be made of nothing but pure killing intent, sending shivers down one's spine.

Many soldiers encountering them for the first time let out uncontrolled screams.

Shooting at monsters and fighting them hand-to-hand were two completely different concepts. Most ordinary soldiers couldn't do the latter.

Miss Ina gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, and decided to fight to the death. Therefore, she naturally didn't see the crystal Yu Lian was clutching in his hand as he emerged from under the giant beast's belly.

It was the Gravel Dragon's Dragon Crystal. It was the energy convergence of a "Phantom Beast," a materialized mental construct. It sounded very valuable, easily worth eight hundred to a thousand pounds as a primary ingredient for elixirs.

In fact, it was.

Of course, due to the different worldviews, advancement in extraordinary powers here didn't rely on popping pills or acting, but on the classic, old-fashioned, and highly mystical trio of "comprehension," "Awakening," and "Cultivation."

Yu Lian had already passed the comprehension stage. He could now use basic psionic techniques freely. What he needed to consider next was the necessary stage of Awakening. Only after this step could the "Star Ring," the mental universe hidden deep within the souls of all sensitives, be opened.

Thus, one could resonate with the omnipresent yet formless cosmic psionics, forming a "heaven-man induction" between the inner and outer "universes." Only then could one officially step through the gate of psionics and embark on the extraordinary path of flying through the heavens, escaping the earth, and soaring through the galaxy.

As for the methods of Awakening, there were actually many. Some were forced out by being beaten half to death but refusing to die, some by being thrown off a cliff and scared, some by being force-fed poison, some by comprehending from extreme joy or sorrow, some by diligently cultivating according to secret texts, some by being overloaded by a master's infusion, and some by being electrocuted... In short, if you couldn't think of it, it couldn't be done.

With trillions of intelligent beings in the known universe, even if the ratio of "one sensitive per ten million people" was accurate, that was still a colossal number. With such a vast quantity, the methods of Awakening were naturally bizarre and varied.

The Gravel Dragon's Dragon Crystal could serve as the main ingredient for "electrically awakening" someone.

Specifically, a sensitive who had gained a slight psionic perception could use their subtle ability to explore the crystal and its internal energy source, find the resonance where the internal and external converged, and then inject it all into their own body.

You would feel a sense of overflowing fullness in your mind, a warped expansion of your perception, and a void-like sensation of your soul being reshaped. You must persevere, persevere until the clouds clear and the flowers bloom. When your soul is torn and reassembled by a power that exceeds your body's capacity, you will see the universe and enter another realm of life...

Of course, it was more likely that you would simply start another life.

"Awakening through 'electric shock' is a heretical path. Good children should never learn it!"

All over the universe, any slightly reputable psionic cultivation group would warn their apprentices like this.

Yu Lian certainly didn't plan to do so. It wasn't that he thought he would explode. In his past life, he had seen all sorts of situations. If he couldn't endure this little bit of pain, people in the know would laugh him to death.

However, there were plenty of steady and normal Awakening methods. Why endure such suffering? It wasn't like he was an M.

Moreover, the Gravel Dragon's Dragon Crystal could be refined into a decent extraordinary artifact, or it could be sold for money if all else failed.

More importantly, based on his birthday, the corresponding Yuan Star today was "Eternity" or "Balance." If he performed the ritual and succeeded, his star chart would most likely be a pure white nebula, commonly known as a "Cultivator."

The advancement path for this kind of Star Ring had two branches: "Energy Tuner" and "Stealth Operative." The former focused on mental cultivation, while the latter excelled at operating from the shadows. However, in terms of combat, both developed comprehensively from strength to agility to intelligence to red to blue. They were proficient in everything from martial arts to physique to psionic arts, but not particularly masterful in any one area.

Pure white, wasn't that just easy to paint on?

In his previous life, Yu Lian hadn't heard of any great figures emerging from the "Cultivator" path. Furthermore, it was said that the inheritance of both branches was completely cut off after the seventh ring, and no protagonist with plot armor had ever completed it.

To put it bluntly, it had no future.

Yu Lian was a "Free Knight" in his past life, a master of the seventh ring of the "Wanderer" Star Ring, who had advanced step by step. Although he had been forced to become an idealist fool again in this life, since he had embarked on this path, how could he not go and see the scenery beyond the eighth ring?

...Of course, according to some not-too-well-substantiated mystical theories he'd come across in his past life, the name "Star Ring" wasn't a traditional convention as the public believed, but rather represented a deeper metaphysical concept.

Since they were called "Balance" and "Eternity," they sounded quite grand.

He'd interacted with many Psionics experts in his past life. A significant number of them believed that if the subsequent paths of "Balance" and "Eternity" could be completed, they might represent a balance between science and mysticism, between the material world and the void, or perhaps eternal life between body and soul, the permanent inheritance of truth and laws, and so on...

Precisely because they sounded so grand, they didn't sound reliable at all!

Yu Lian was only one step away from the peak, and he knew too well how difficult that next step was. If it weren't for his desire to advance toward the world beyond the Eighth Ring, would he have courted death by challenging the secret behind the King of Star Dragons?

...Of course, this had nothing to do with him having too many friends and no other options! Really!

Advancement with a complete path was already so difficult, let alone an incomplete one.

Don't think you're the protagonist just because you transmigrated and were reborn. His past life experiences had realistically told him that this halo was actually metaphysical; it could disappear just like that. If there was an existing path, why would he challenge hell difficulty?

"Asura" also sounded like a protagonist, didn't it? "Rider" also sounded noble and righteous?

So, this time, he'd rather be a "Star Realm Sword Master" who pierced through nine heavens with a single sword, or a "Sky Mentor" who ignited stars and conjured black holes with his bare hands! Coincidentally, he had some clues for breaking through the peak along these two paths...

In conclusion, the Dragon Crystal could be kept for now and used when the Star Position shifted.

Yu Lian mused this as he crawled out from beneath the Gravel Dragon's corpse. Then, the first thing he saw was the scene outside the city gates: Raptor creatures were already charging up the gentle slope, their sharp talons slashing down like blades. Soldiers in the trenches were scrambling for cover, panicked and bewildered. The only one who hadn't fled was the Sergeant Major, standing tall on the parapet of the trench like an unyielding statue. With one hand, she shattered the head of a Raptor with her gun, and with the other, she swung her sword to block the giant pincer of another. Blood spray and sparks splattered on her dust-covered face, yet it was as if they struck a mountain.

But at this moment, a Zergling leaped beside Ina, extending its scythe-like claw towards her neck. The Sergeant Major was completely unaware, or perhaps even if she sensed it, it was too late to do anything.

"To hell with your Spirit of the Universe!" Yu Lian crushed the Dragon Crystal.