Palm Emerges, Stars Appear

That evening, Zhong Shan and Xu San were sent away. Lu Yin once again climbed the large tree outside the military tent and looked up at the sky.

The apocalypse had purified Earth's air, allowing him to see more stars.

For several days, he had been cultivating the Heavenly Star Art. Mimicking the rotation of the stars was not easy. Lu Yin had no clue at first, but today, after touching Zhou Shan's sword marks and vaguely sensing the power from his battle with Aoton, he felt inspired and stared intently at the night sky.

As time passed, the surrounding noise gradually faded, and the other stars in his pupils also disappeared, leaving only the moon emitting a bright radiance.

This beam of light illuminated the night sky and Lu Yin, leaving nothing else in his eyes.

Lu Yin unconsciously raised his hand, and ripples appeared in the air. Energy seemed to be visibly absorbed into his body. In his palm, a star shone dimly – it was the moon, revolving around his hand. A star appears with a palm strike; this was the Heavenly Star Palm.

Lu Yin's body flickered as he regained consciousness, looking at the star in his palm with shock. At this moment, he could feel the terrifying power of this star. Although he had no comparison, Lu Yin felt that this palm strike might even startle Zhou Shan.

Lu Yin casually dissipated the star and felt the surging Star Energy within him. This was the energy he had absorbed, unrestricted by energy crystals, and he could absorb it anytime, anywhere. Moreover, his absorption speed was twice as fast as those from Biasta. This was the Heavenly Star Art; he had finally begun to grasp it.

The moment Lu Yin dispelled the star in his palm, Zhou Shan suddenly opened his eyes. For an instant, he felt a flicker of unease, but it was immediately gone. "A hallucination? I must be too tired from today's battle."

The next day, Lu Yin received a notification: Saint of Punishment Zhou Shan had personally ordered him to reinforce the Northern Frontline.

The Northern Frontline was the battlefield Jinling had opened to reach the Capital City in the north. Zhou Shan had always wanted to connect Jinling and the Capital City, and then connect with the other six Saints to jointly retake Huaxia. His idea was sound, but it was too difficult. Just a small path had taken months to establish, and less than a tenth of the route was cleared, with communication lines long severed.

The frontline was very important to Zhou Shan. No matter how difficult it was, his focus remained on the frontline. Nearly half of Xing Camp's fourteen Commanders of Ten Thousand were at the frontline, which showed Zhou Shan's determination to connect to the Capital City.

The ones going to the frontline this time were Lu Yin, Kang Dafeng, and Luo Yun. Luo Yun was the Commander of Ten Thousand with a very charming appearance, and she had always been curious about Lu Yin.

Leading ten thousand troops, Lu Yin and the others left Jinling and headed north.

"Rather than reinforcing the frontline, it's more accurate to say we're repairing the lines," Luo Yun said tiredly.

The tens of thousands of troops had marched for a day with little rest, no wonder Luo Yun complained.

The journey was bumpy, requiring constant repairs to vehicles and leveling the road surface, so their progress was not fast.

Inside another armored vehicle, Lu Yin closed his eyes to rest, occasionally looking up at the sky. Gazing at the dazzling sunlight, he wondered if he could simulate the sun's orbital path. If successful, his Star Energy absorption rate would double. He felt he was not far from the Probe Realm.

However, simulating the sun would not be easy. Perhaps he should start with Earth. He didn't necessarily need to look at the stars; watching videos of galaxy maps from peacetime could also work.

Mimicking the rotation of stars was about finding a sense of harmony with the universe's movements. Lu Yin intended to try continuously.

Passing through a city, flames burned on both sides, and zombies roamed, occasionally charging the convoy, only to be mowed down by the army's firearms.

"Conserve your ammunition, you have so little," Kang Dafeng cursed. The frequency of gunfire immediately decreased significantly.

Inside the armored vehicle, Xu San sneered, "The longer the apocalypse lasts, the less effective firearms become. If not now, when? In a while, these guns will be worth less than scrap metal."

Lu Yin looked out the window and saw more and more zombies gathering. He frowned, "Order them to speed up. Let's not get surrounded by a zombie horde in the city and waste time."

"Okay, boss," Xu San replied and got out of the armored vehicle.

Soon, the convoy's speed increased.

Lu Yin had defeated Zhao Yu, giving him a high status among the Commanders of Ten Thousand. Kang Dafeng and Luo Yun didn't dare to contradict him.

Speaking of Zhao Yu, Lu Yin genuinely admired her. To dare to cross the region alone and arrive safely in Jinling – that kind of courage was rare.

Before long, the convoy stopped. The road ahead was destroyed and under repair.

Lu Yin closed his eyes, tapping his fingers in the air, occasionally rotating them, mimicking the trajectory of celestial bodies.

Suddenly, a shout rang out. Kang Dafeng attacked, killing zombies and cursing.

Lu Yin glanced at him impatiently and paid no mind.

Xu San marveled, "As expected of a Commander of Ten Thousand, those zombies were scared away directly."

"Tell Kang Dafeng to come back and continue moving. There are too many zombies to kill them all," Lu Yin's tone grew colder.

Xu San nodded and was about to get out of the car again when he turned back helplessly, "Boss, Kang Dafeng chased the zombies into that abandoned building."

Lu Yin looked up, watched for a moment, and then got out of the armored vehicle, his expression grave.

"Boss, what's wrong?" Xu San asked.

Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. "There's no sound."

Xu San thought for a moment. "Right, there's no sound of fighting from that building."

"Brother Lu, where did Kang Dafeng go?" Luo Yun asked as she approached.

Lu Yin said sternly, "You all stay here. I'll go take a look." With that, he drew his iron rod and walked towards the abandoned building.

Biasta's short knife was still in Jinling. Lu Yin didn't expect Xing Camp to return it to him, and he refused the steel knife offered by Zhou Shan, continuing to use an iron rod.

Flames burned around the exterior of the abandoned building, making it look exceptionally sinister even in the sunlight.

Lu Yin slowly entered the building and saw Kang Dafeng's saber, but the man himself was nowhere to be found.

Lu Yin stepped further into the building and took out Biasta's personal terminal from his Void Ring. He tapped it a few times to measure combat power. A pointer appeared on the terminal, pointing to the rear right, along with a set of numbers – nine hundred.

Lu Yin suddenly dodged sideways as a white thread pierced the air and slammed into the wall, creating a huge crack.

Lu Yin looked closely and saw a giant mutated spider with six pairs of blood-red eyes that were quite terrifying. There was a blood-stained piece of cloth at its mouth, which came from Xing Camp.

Lu Yin sighed. Kang Dafeng was dead, eaten by this mutated spider. He had arrived too late.

The mutated spider had nine hundred combat power, equivalent to the peak of Earth Rank. Kang Dafeng had only just entered Earth Rank and was naturally no match for it.

Lu Yin gripped his iron rod and charged forward fiercely. He swept the rod horizontally, and the mutated spider's eight legs sprang up, attempting to evade. But in the next instant, Lu Yin disappeared and reappeared behind the spider. He brought the iron rod down, directly severing the mutated spider's body. Kang Dafeng, not yet digested, fell from its abdomen.

This scene was disgusting. Lu Yin frowned and turned to leave.

Back at the convoy, Lu Yin instructed Xu San to announce that no one was allowed to leave the convoy without authorization, or they would be expelled from Xing Camp.

"Kang Dafeng is really dead?" Luo Yun was shocked.

Lu Yin said lightly, "You can go to the building to see. His body hasn't been digested yet, and you can still vaguely recognize him."

Luo Yun's face turned pale. A dignified Commander of Ten Thousand died just like that, without even a sound. If Lu Yin hadn't acted, Kang Dafeng would have been digested by the spider. This was the cruel apocalypse; even a Commander of Ten Thousand couldn't protect himself.

Xu San's face also turned pale. He immediately got into the armored vehicle, deciding he wouldn't leave Lu Yin's side, even if it meant death.

Luo Yun also boarded Lu Yin's armored vehicle, not intending to leave.

Lu Yin was speechless. "As long as you don't leave the convoy, it's fine."

Luo Yun shot Lu Yin a look. "Easy for you to say. Who knows what other mutated creatures are out there? It's safer by your side."

Lu Yin ignored Luo Yun and ordered the convoy to continue moving.

"Boss, should we report to Jinling? After all, the death of a Commander of Ten Thousand is no small matter," Xu San asked.

Lu Yin said lightly, "No rush. We'll talk about it when we reach the front lines. We might not even make it there alive."

Hearing this, Xu San's face turned even paler.

Luo Yun licked her lips and subconsciously moved closer to Lu Yin.

"It's not that bad, we should be able to reach the front lines safely," Xu San comforted himself.

Lu Yin looked out the window as the convoy slowly advanced.

"But speaking of which, Kang Dafeng was too unlucky to chase into that building. Otherwise, he wouldn't have died," Xu San muttered to himself, feeling that talking more gave him a sense of security.

What was said carelessly, was heard with intent. His words made Lu Yin suddenly look up. "What did you say? Say that again?"

Xu San stared blankly. "I said Kang Dafeng was too unlucky to chase into that building. Otherwise, he wouldn't have died."

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. Chase, zombies, building. No, although zombies were mindless, they had instincts and could avoid danger. That mutated spider was clearly very dangerous, and zombies shouldn't have approached it, yet one still fled into that building. Why? It had been more than half a year since the apocalypse, and Lu Yin had experienced many dangers. He understood zombies well. Even if they feared Kang Dafeng, they wouldn't flee toward a more dangerous creature.