Breaking In

Over the next few days, Lin Yun explored and fought in the outer reaches of the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

The Magic Beast Mountain Range stretched for over ten thousand miles and was generally seven or eight hundred miles wide. In the outermost hundred miles, low-level magical beasts were the most common. A little farther in, at around a hundred miles deep, Fifth- and Sixth-Level Magical Beasts predominated. Deeper still, Seventh-, Eighth-, and Level Nine Magical Beasts became common, and there was even a chance of encountering Saint Realm magical beasts.

Most of the beasts he encountered were Third- or Fourth-Level: Wind Wolves, Flame Lizards, Rock Giants... He deliberately used every battle to hone his combat skills.

His first battle against a Wind Wolf was a painful lesson.

It was a lone Fourth-Level Wind Wolf, incredibly fast, and its Wind Blades were more deadly than its claws. Lin Yun had thought that, with his strength at the peak of Level Six, dealing with a Fourth-Level magical beast would be a piece of cake.

He was wrong.

The Wind Wolf was so fast that he couldn't finish chanting a spell in time. He had barely raised his hand when it darted to his side and opened its mouth, firing a Wind Blade at him.

Lin Yun scrambled to roll out of the way, slamming his back into a tree and gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Damn it!"

He had no time to think. The Wind Wolf lunged again. This time, rather than trying to cast an offensive spell, he first wrapped himself in a layer of Saint Armor of Earth Protection.

Thump!

The Wind Wolf's claws slammed into his arm, sending stone fragments flying. The Saint Armor of Earth Protection blocked most of the damage, but the impact still sent him staggering back several steps.

Grimacing, Lin Yun gathered a Thunder Arrow in his right hand—

The Wind Wolf seemed to sense the danger and leaped sharply to the side. The Thunder Arrow struck where it had stood, blasting a fist-sized hole in the ground.

It missed.

Lin Yun took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He quickly analyzed the Wind Wolf's patterns: its attack rhythm, its movements, the intervals between its Wind Blades...

Then he adjusted his strategy.

He stopped rushing to cast offensive spells. Instead, he used Wind Element magic to increase his speed and the Saint Armor of Earth Protection to strengthen his defense. Then he harried the Wind Wolf with small Fireballs and Ice Spikes, forcing it to keep moving and wear itself out.

The Wind Wolf was certainly fast, but it had less stamina than Lin Yun. After a few exchanges, its movements had noticeably slowed.

Now!

Lin Yun seized the moment the Wind Wolf landed and sent an Earth Spike bursting up from beneath its feet with his left hand. The Wind Wolf yelped and leaped away, but Lin Yun's right hand was already ready—

"Thunder Chain."

A purple Thunder Chain shot from his hand and wrapped around the Wind Wolf. Electricity coursed through its body. The Gale Wolf let out a piercing scream, struggled a few times, and finally collapsed.

Lin Yun sank to the ground and gasped for breath.

He had needed to combine Wind, Earth, and Thunder magic just to barely defeat a Fourth-Level magical beast. If he had gone all out from the start, one Level Six Thunder spell could have ended the fight. But he knew that would have been pointless.

He was here to improve, not to crush his opponent.

Bebe leaped down from a tree and crouched beside the Wind Wolf's corpse. It tilted its head, took a look, then chirped twice, as if to say, "Not bad."

Lin Yun smiled wryly. "Not bad? I almost got beaten flat."

Over the next few days, he fought magical beasts of all kinds. After each battle, he found a safe place to review the entire fight: what he had done well, what he had done poorly, and what he should change next time.

His progress was plain to see.

By the third day, he no longer needed to combine three elements to deal with Fourth-Level magical beasts. One was enough.

By the fifth day, he could take on two Fourth-Level magical beasts at once with ease.

By the seventh day, he had begun challenging Fifth-Level magical beasts.

The gap between Fourth- and Fifth-Level magical beasts was much greater than Lin Yun had imagined.

The first Fifth-Level beast he encountered was a Bloodthirsty War Boar. It was over two meters long, covered in dark red scales, and could spit flames hot enough to sear anything in its path.

In their first fight, Lin Yun nearly got burned.

The Bloodthirsty War Boar's flames were not only extremely hot, but also spread over a wide area. His Saint Armor of Earth Protection couldn't withstand the heat for long. Wind Element magic could increase his speed, but in the narrow forest, he had nowhere near enough room to dodge.

"I can't use the same tactics as before." Lin Yun retreated, thinking quickly.

He needed magic that could counter fire—Water Element magic.

Lin Yun took a deep breath, set aside Wind and Earth magic, and focused on Water Element magic. A Heavenly Water Curtain unfurled before him, blocking another blast from the Bloodthirsty War Boar. Steam billowed through the air, obscuring his vision, but his Spiritual Energy let him sense the beast's position clearly.

"Ice Spike Technique."

Dozens of Ice Spikes shot out through the mist and struck the Bloodthirsty War Boar's scales with a series of sharp clinks. Most bounced off, but several slipped into the gaps between its scales. The chill slowed its movements noticeably.

The Bloodthirsty War Boar roared furiously, spewing flames wildly. But Water Element magic naturally countered Fire Element magic, and the Heavenly Water Curtain blocked its attacks again and again.

Lin Yun steadied himself, maintaining the curtain as he gathered a more powerful Water Element spell—

"Water Dragon Bullet."

A water dragon surged from his hands and slammed into the Bloodthirsty War Boar. The beast was knocked onto its side, and most of the flames covering its body went out at once. Lin Yun seized the opportunity and fired a Thunder Arrow at its head with pinpoint accuracy.

The Bloodthirsty War Boar spasmed a few times, then lay still.

Lin Yun let out a long breath and sat down.

He had combined Water and Thunder magic to win. The fight had taken a lot out of him. Unlike Linley, he didn't have a Coiling Dragon Ring to conserve his magic power. He had magic power in all seven elements, but constantly using Level Five spells still took a heavy toll.

"Fifth-Level magical beasts really aren't easy to deal with," he murmured.

But he wasn't discouraged. He knew that every battle added to his experience, and every victory pushed him beyond his limits.

In the days that followed, he continued challenging all sorts of Fifth-Level magical beasts. Rock Giants, Shadow Cats, Thunder Eagles... Each beast had its own traits and attacks, and every fight required him to adjust his tactics and use different combinations of spells.

His combat skills improved rapidly.

By the tenth day, he could deal with most Fifth-Level magical beasts using just one element.

On the thirteenth day, Lin Yun began challenging Sixth-Level magical beasts.

The gap between Sixth- and Fifth-Level magical beasts was on an entirely different scale.

The first Sixth-Level beast he encountered was an Iron-Back Wolf. It was twice the size of an ordinary wolf, and a layer of hard bone armor covered its back. Ordinary spells could hardly penetrate it.

Lin Yun was badly outmatched in their first fight.

His Thunder Arrow struck the Iron-Back Wolf's bone armor, leaving only a charred mark and doing no real damage. The wolf's speed and strength far exceeded those of a Fifth-Level beast. One charge sent him flying and snapped a small tree as thick as a bowl.

Lin Yun got up from the ground, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.

"Strong," he said, wiping the blood away. There was no fear in his eyes; instead, an even fiercer fighting spirit blazed in them.

He took a deep breath and began to adjust his tactics.

Petrified Skin, Wind Guardian, Saint Armor of Earth Protection—he layered three defenses over himself, raising his defense to the limit. Then he abandoned Thunder magic. It was ineffective against a beast with such thick hide and armor. He needed a more penetrating attack.

Light Element magic.

Light Element magic countered dark creatures, but it also had excellent penetrating power against ordinary magical beasts. Lin Yun gathered a Light Spear and aimed for the Iron-Back Wolf's abdomen—the one place its bone armor didn't cover.

"Spear of Light!"

The Light Spear shot forward so fast that the Iron-Back Wolf couldn't dodge in time. It instinctively twisted aside, and the spear struck its flank. It missed a vital spot, but still punched a bloody hole in its side.

The Iron-Back Wolf gave a pained roar and charged at Lin Yun in a frenzy.

Lin Yun didn't retreat. He charged straight at it. Just as the Iron-Back Wolf leaped at him, he suddenly sidestepped and gathered a Wind Blade in his right hand—

"Wind Blade Slash!"

The Wind Blade cut precisely into the wound on the Iron-Back Wolf's flank, and blood gushed out. The wolf howled and crashed to the ground. After struggling a few times, it stopped moving.

Lin Yun stood beside the Iron-Back Wolf's corpse, gasping for breath.

He had combined Light, Wind, and Earth magic, and had still been injured. Sixth-Level magical beasts were far stronger than he had expected.

But he had won.

Bebe leaped down from a tree and crouched on his shoulder. It chirped twice and rubbed its little head against his cheek. There was less mischief in its eyes than usual, and more seriousness.

It knew Lin Yun was undergoing a transformation.

In the days that followed, Lin Yun continued to challenge Sixth-Level magical beasts.

Flame Bulls, Frost Pythons, Thunder Eagles... Each beast presented a new challenge, and every fight made him more seasoned.

He learned when to switch spells in the middle of a fight, how to use the terrain and his surroundings, how to predict a magical beast's movements, and how to deliver a deadly strike at just the right moment.

His fighting style gradually took shape: flexible and varied, balanced in offense and defense, with Seven Element Rotation that left no opening.

By the twentieth day, he could deal with Sixth-Level magical beasts with relative ease.

"That should be enough," Lin Yun said to Bebe one night as he sat by the campfire. "It's time to try taking on a Seventh-Level magical beast."

Bebe chirped and patted his shoulder with a tiny paw, as if to say, "I'll go with you."

Lin Yun smiled and looked toward the deeper reaches of the mountain range.

Stronger opponents were waiting for him there.

Swallowed Star World

Twelve-year-old Lin Yun was already in junior high school, still in the same class as Luo Feng. Though only twelve, Lin Yun was exceptionally tall and well-built, with the physique of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old. If not for his somewhat youthful face, people would have mistaken him for a young man of that age.

By now, Lin Yun had also gained a rough understanding of his current strength. As a fighter, he was already at the level of a Junior War General. Because his body limited him, his Spiritual Force could only exert power two levels above his physical strength—that is, at the Advanced General Level.

The reason Lin Yun knew his strength so clearly was Luo Feng. As soon as Luo Feng started junior high, he joined a dojo and naturally brought along his childhood friend.

Lin Yun didn't reveal too much of his strength. He showed only enough to reach roughly the level of an Advanced Trainee. Even so, the people at the dojo were stunned, and the head instructor, Jiang Nian, placed great hopes in him.

After all, in the world today, young people in nearly every country and region joined dojos to develop their physical potential alongside their regular studies. That included high school students as well as younger students.

For example, Yi'an District No. 3 High School had nearly five thousand students across its three grades. The vast majority were only beginner trainees at a dojo. Only a handful were intermediate trainees, and those who qualified as Advanced Trainees were rarer still.

Lin Yun was only twelve, and his body hadn't even finished growing, yet he had already reached the level of an Advanced Trainee. By the time he started high school, becoming a Warrior was a foregone conclusion. The head instructor of the Limit Dojo's Yi'an branch, Jiang Nian, had urged Lin Yun several times to stop wasting time at school and focus on training so he could become a Warrior as soon as possible. The Limit Dojo was even willing to recruit him early. After all, every major organization wanted a peerless genius like him.

Lin Yun was certainly tempted, but twelve was an astonishingly young age. On the one hand, he didn't know how to explain it to his grandfather. On the other, he worried that such extraordinary talent might draw the attention of powerful organizations.

Luo Feng was also much stronger than an ordinary person physically. Though still in his first year of junior high, he was already a beginner trainee at the dojo and could hold his own against some ordinary students in their first or second year of high school. He couldn't compare to Lin Yun, but the dojo still valued him highly.