After who knew how long, Lu Yin spat out another mouthful of blood. Shock waves burst from his body, sending the tent flying and spreading hundreds of meters in every direction. The surveillance cameras outside the tent shattered, and trees were toppled one after another.
The commotion drew the attention of the Punishment Camp. Two Commanders of Ten Thousand immediately rushed toward Lu Yin.
One of them was Feng Hong. The other was a woman with alluring features and curiosity written all over her face.
The two Commanders of Ten Thousand arrived outside the ruins of the tent where Lu Yin had been staying and looked inside. "Are you the newly appointed Commander of Ten Thousand, Lu Yin?" Feng Hong called out. Behind him, the evolved soldiers waited warily.
Before long, Lu Yin emerged from the tent's ruins. His face was pale, and even his steps were unsteady. "Sorry for the trouble. I am Lu Yin."
Feng Hong and the alluring woman looked at Lu Yin in surprise. "Why are you so weak?"
Lu Yin gave a bitter smile. "I saw Saint of Punishment use a battle skill earlier, and I got an itch to try it myself. But I failed, and ended up injuring myself."
Feng Hong understood and laughed. "You're too impatient, Brother Lu. Battle skills aren't something just anyone can master, and you can't figure them out in a short time, either. All the Commanders of Ten Thousand in the Punishment Camp have a chance to receive personal instruction from Saint of Punishment. There's no need to rush."
Lu Yin nodded in earnest. "I understand. Thank you for the advice, Brother Feng."
Feng Hong waved a hand, showing none of the sternness he'd displayed as an instructor earlier that day. "No need to thank me. We're all brothers in the Punishment Camp, comrades who'll face the apocalypse together and depend on each other. All right, I'll have someone arrange a new place for you. Get some rest and recover. By the way, do you need me to send for a doctor?"
"No need," Lu Yin said. "It's just a superficial injury. I'm simply exhausted. There's no need to call a doctor."
Feng Hong nodded. "All right, we'll be going, then. Get some rest, Brother Lu." As he spoke, he gave the alluring woman a look.
She nodded, glanced at Lu Yin once more, then left.
Lu Yin followed a soldier to a nearby tent. "I'll take my leave, Commander Lu. Just call for me if you need anything," the soldier said, saluting Lu Yin before departing.
Lu Yin nodded and stepped inside the tent. His expression grew intensely excited, with a hint of nervousness and anticipation. His body tempering had succeeded—not only had it worked, it had brought him a huge surprise. As he thought this, Lu Yin raised his hand. A palm-sized die slowly appeared, glowing with hazy starlight. It had six sides, just like an ordinary die, and each side bore a different number of pips, from one to six.
This was a talent, an ability that only a tiny fraction of cultivators developed after tempering their bodies.
Talents were mysterious. No one knew where they came from. Many scholars in the universe believed that talents were humanity's deepest secret, representing a person's ancient origins. But this was only speculation; no one had ever truly managed to study talents.
Lu Yin didn't care where talents came from. He cared about the talents themselves.
Before coming to Earth, he had heard countless times how powerful talents were. Every cultivator with a talent was a prodigy, sought after by the great powers of the universe. The most famous example was that any cultivator with a talent could join the Cosmic Youth Council directly.
Lu Yin stared at the die, his gaze burning. His talent was a little... well, strange, but what mattered most was what it could do.
Looking at the die floating in the air, Lu Yin gave it a light tap. It spun rapidly, then slowly came to a stop. The pips on five sides vanished, leaving only the pips on one side—exactly one.
Lu Yin stared at the single pip. A function inexplicably appeared in his mind: it could randomly obtain any item from anyone's Void Ring.
Before Lu Yin could react, the die shot a beam of light into the air and vanished in an instant, as if it had opened a passageway. Then a data chip fell to the ground. The die dimmed and disappeared.
Lu Yin stared blankly at the chip on the ground. Was this what it had stolen for me—or, no, brought back?
He picked up the chip and examined it, then took Asta's Personal terminal from his Void Ring and inserted the chip. A light screen appeared in front of him, displaying three large characters: Heavenly Star Art.
Lu Yin stared blankly at the screen as images flashed across it: a human figure, the universe, nebulae, and palm prints. Half an hour passed before the chip in the Personal terminal automatically self-destructed, finally bringing Lu Yin back to his senses.
Lu Yin was stunned. He knew he'd obtained something extraordinary.
The Heavenly Star Art was a cultivation method for absorbing star energy. It imitated the movements of stars, and in theory, each star's movement that one managed to imitate would increase the rate of star energy absorption. Though this copy of the Heavenly Star Art was only an elementary version, it contained instructions for imitating the movements of eight stars. In other words, if Lu Yin mastered it, he would absorb star energy eight times faster.
Eight times faster—what a terrifying rate. The Heavenly Star Art also contained a battle skill called the Heavenly Star Palm. With each palm strike, stars appeared; it was unimaginably powerful.
Lu Yin put away the Personal terminal, excitement in his eyes. He had never even heard of the Heavenly Star Art, but it was clearly an incredibly powerful technique. Perhaps it came from the Inner Universe.
Lu Yin forced down his excitement. He hadn't expected to be so unbelievably lucky. By all rights, the chances of obtaining a Battle Skill Cultivation Method when the die landed on one were extremely slim. He wouldn't have been surprised if the thing had stolen a pair of underwear for him. Yet on its very first try, it had obtained an astonishing cultivation method like the Heavenly Star Art—one powerful enough to shape his future.
Unfortunately, it was only the elementary version.
Lu Yin shook his head with a laugh. He was getting ahead of himself. A technique like this was surely the treasured secret of some powerful organization; the entire thing couldn't possibly have been recorded on a chip. Its storage method had clearly been extremely secure, and the chip that had been destroyed must have been a fresh copy, probably stolen from some unlucky person. Getting the complete technique would be incredibly difficult.
Lu Yin put the matter aside, left the tent, and lay back against a tree. He looked up at the sky, recalling the Heavenly Star Art's method of cultivation. The movements of stars, huh? Looks like I'll be sleeping under the stars forever from now on.
Meanwhile, deep in the vast universe, an enormous peak floated through space, towering into the heavens and surrounded by dozens of stars. Flames blazed at its summit, making it look like a cigarette butt from a distance. Every few seconds, the fire went out, only to flare up again. Smoke billowed into the heavens, stretching across the starry sky like a white ribbon wrapped around the dark universe.
Inside the peak, a furious roar echoed throughout the universe. "What did you say? You little brat, the cultivation method is missing? Did you give it to that stinking woman again? Get over here!"
In the dark universe, a young man fled in a panic, clutching his rear. "Dad, don't accuse me! I didn't! It really is gone! This is crazy!"
"You little brat, do you think your old man is an idiot? Who could steal anything right under my nose? Get over here!"
"No, Dad! I swear, it really is a ghost!"
Lu Yin spent the entire night figuring out nothing. Looking slightly weary, he entered Zhong Mountain.
The top level of the spacious interior of Zhong Mountain housed a huge conference room, where quite a few people had gathered. The seat at the head of the table was empty.
Lu Yin stepped into the conference room, and everyone looked at him. Their gazes ranged from curious and friendly to doubtful—in short, they looked at him in all kinds of ways.
"Brother Lu, sit here," Feng Hong said as soon as he saw Lu Yin.
Lu Yin naturally took the seat beside him. The alluring woman he'd met the night before sat on his other side.
Across from Lu Yin sat the bespectacled woman he had met once before.
Most of those gathered here were Commanders of Ten Thousand, along with a few researchers.
Before long, Zhou Shan entered the conference room and swept his gaze across the room. His eyes paused briefly on Lu Yin, a trace of puzzlement flashing across his face, before he took the seat at the head of the table. "Let me introduce everyone. This is Lu Yin, the newly appointed Commander of Ten Thousand."
Lu Yin stood and nodded to the people around him, then sat down again.
Introducing Lu Yin was just a formality. The meeting went on to discuss all sorts of matters, none of which Lu Yin wanted to hear about. It wasn't until half an hour later that it finally ended.
After everyone left, Zhou Shan asked Lu Yin to stay behind.
"Lu Yin, yesterday I thought you hadn't absorbed Energy Crystals to cultivate before. I was going to discuss it with you, but it seems you'd simply run out of energy yesterday," Zhou Shan said, testing the waters.
Lu Yin nodded and replied seriously, "Saint of Punishment, that alien was very strong. Even though he was badly injured, he was not easy to deal with. I used up all my energy before I managed to kill him."
"I could tell. He was a Heaven Rank Expert. It's impressive that you managed to kill him," Zhou Shan said with a smile.
Lu Yin smiled but didn't reply.
"I heard you visited the Punishment Camp yesterday but didn't agree to stay. Why?" Zhou Shan asked, watching Lu Yin.
"I like being free. I can't stand the atmosphere in a military camp," Lu Yin replied.
Zhou Shan nodded and sighed. "A lot of people feel the same way. But now that the apocalypse is upon us, humanity should stand united. We still have to give up some things."
"I understand, Saint of Punishment," Lu Yin replied.
Zhou Shan acknowledged him with a nod. "How are your injuries?"
"They're nothing. I'll recover soon."
"That's one good thing about evolved humans: they recover quickly. In truth, evolved humans are in greater danger than ordinary people. Once you've experienced power, you never want to be weak again. The more you want to grow stronger, the harder you have to fight. Countless people have fallen along this path. Even I don't know when I'll die," Zhou Shan said wistfully.
Before you continue