Venture Alone into the Wilderness

The fluctuations in his dantian suddenly accelerated severalfold. Yin Congyang felt his entire body vibrating, evolving from the most minute cells—organs, bones, marrow, blood, muscles, fascia, skin—all continuously transforming within this tremor. Cosmic Origin Energy surged into him like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, no longer following the five-hearts-facing-heaven cultivation method but pouring directly through every pore.

"Boom~~"

A faint, multicolored mist suddenly emerged within his sea of consciousness.

"This, this is... Spiritual Force?"

The sudden change brought Yin Congyang an inexplicable joy. Becoming a Spiritual Master, able to fly before breaking through to Planetary Level—this was something he had yearned for since reading novels.

After a long while, the fluctuations in his dantian slowed. Threads of subtle waves still persistently refined and evolved Yin Congyang's body and soul, extremely faint, requiring full concentration to barely sense.

Calming down, Yin Congyang assessed his body and sea of consciousness. His physical fitness had risen to roughly Advanced Warrior level, close to Primary Warlord. The Spiritual Force in his sea of consciousness was about Intermediate Warrior level, nearing Advanced Warrior.

Recalling the sparring sessions with his teammates over the past few days, he was certain his stamina and endurance had been absurdly enhanced. He felt like a perpetual motion machine, almost never exhausted—this was his greatest trump card against a swarm of enemies.

Yin Congyang stood up, looked at the waning moon about to set in the west, and a smile slowly spread across his face.

The next evening, Li Hesong gathered the entire team in a private room at the martial arts hall's restaurant. They ate and held a meeting together.

When the meal was nearly finished, Li Hesong put down his chopsticks and looked at his teammates. "Today I got a notice from the martial arts hall. The situation has stabilized, and we can stand down. It's been almost a month since we left home. After we split the spoils from this trip, everyone should go home and reunite with their families for a few days..."

"Of the previous haul, I sold half to HR Mall and the other half to the martial arts hall to boost our contribution points. The total is around 80 million. Divided by contribution, I take half—40 million. The rest of you get anywhere from 5 million to 10 million..."

"Captain, just wire the money to my card. You've done this so many times, and you still explain it so clearly. As if we wouldn't trust you by now?" Another team member, Zhang Tie, said to Li Hesong with a casual air.

Li Hesong shook his head with a smile and turned to Yin Congyang. "Congyang, why don't you come with me? I'll have your sister-in-law cook you something good at my place..."

"Captain, let Congyang come to my place instead," Yu Xiaopeng cut in, then turned to Yin Congyang. "I already told my mom I'd definitely invite you over for a few days. Let her make you some proper meals. She's been setting up blind dates for me anyway—you can be my wingman..."

Yin Congyang poured himself a glass of fruit wine, raised it to Li Hesong and the others. "Thanks, Captain and Brother Peng, but I want to keep training at the martial arts hall for a while longer."

He turned to Yu Xiaopeng with a mock scold. "I'm still single myself. You want me to be your wingman? Better ask the captain and the others."

He downed the glass of fruit wine in one gulp. "Wishing all you brothers a smooth journey..."

Seeing his firm resolve, and knowing that Yin Congyang had indeed been improving rapidly lately, wanting to train more at the martial arts hall to strengthen himself was only expected. So no one pressed further.

Li Hesong concluded, "Don't slack off on training just because you're home. Don't let Congyang reach Advanced Warrior while you're still stuck at Beginner Warrior..."

This half-joking, half-warning remark sent a chill through the other team members. They all promised to keep training even at home and catch up to the captain and Yin Congyang as soon as possible.

Yin Congyang watched with a smile, genuinely happy that his teammates could return home safely to their families.

After a night's rest, Li Hesong and the team members left the martial arts hall, each heading home.

Early the next morning, Yin Congyang trained in a private practice room on the third floor of the martial arts hall, continuously executing the Thirty-Six Heaven-Opening Axes. The more he practiced, the more he appreciated their profound intricacies. Thanks to the endless support from the fluctuations in his dantian, he could rehearse without pause—ten times, a hundred times...

Insights and techniques he had only known as moves in his past life, without truly understanding them, now became clear one by one. Over twenty years of daily practice in his previous life, combined with the genetic origin energy in his current body, finally pushed his axe technique to the next level during one swing—surpassing Specialized and entering Perfect.

Axe technique realms, like saber and sword techniques, were divided into Basic, Specialized, Perfect, and Conception. Previously, thanks to his past life's practice, Yin Congyang had reached the peak of Specialized. Now, he had entered Perfect.

Once his axe technique entered Perfect, his body's force output method changed accordingly. Each swing's power increased significantly, and the footwork accompanying the axe technique also crossed into Perfect.

Yin Congyang knew that Thunder God's Nine-Layer Thunder Blade, when mastered, could achieve seven times the force output. So, following this mysterious sensation, he continuously executed the axe technique, digging deep into his potential, striving to raise his force output level.

In this regard, the subtle fluctuations in his dantian were a great help. That fluctuation spread to every corner of his body, every muscle and bone, optimizing his body's rhythm, continuously strengthening his force output, explosive power, and endurance.

After training all day and eating dinner, Yin Congyang began practicing the techniques of a Spiritual Master Controller in his room.

After his physical fitness reached Advanced Warrior level, the Spiritual Force in his sea of consciousness also advanced to Advanced Warrior level. But Yin Congyang always felt that his Spiritual Force's control over objects wasn't as strong as Luo Feng's at the same level. The weight and speed of objects he manipulated weren't as impressive as described in the books. In short, his control wasn't enough to fully utilize all the Spiritual Force in his sea of consciousness.

"There are two paths for Spiritual Masters: Controller and Illusionist. Could my Spiritual Force be better suited for Illusionist?" Yin Congyang wasn't sure, and there were no suitable test subjects in the martial arts hall.

"It looks like I need to get to the wilderness area soon. First, I can hone my axe technique, improve its realm and my body's force output. Second, I can test the potential of my Spiritual Force in the Illusionist direction." But then he thought with some frustration, "I don't even have a Controller's training method, let alone an Illusionist's."

"Well, forget it. I'll just have to try first. Even Controllers can naturally control objects after awakening, right? If I find a suitable monster, I can experiment..."

With his mind made up, after cultivating Origin Energy a bit more, Yin Congyang went to bed.

Over the next few days, Yin Congyang trained relentlessly every day. Only when he felt his progress had slowed, with no improvement like the previous days, did he finally decide to venture into the wilderness alone.

He stocked up on many daily necessities and bought an A6-Grade Axe from Limit Home, sturdy enough to fight high-level Beast General monsters without damage.

He specifically chose this axe to resemble the felling axe he used in his past life, making it more comfortable to wield. Yin Congyang named it the Heaven-Opening Axe.

Estimating his remaining funds, he gritted his teeth and ordered one 9-Series Flying Dagger and two 7-Series Flying Daggers, basically spending all the money he had just split and his previous savings.

Southwest Base City, 150 kilometers east of the main urban area, Supply Base.

Yin Congyang stepped off the train carriage, looked up at the blazing sun in the sky, took a deep breath, and walked toward the Supply Base.

After eating lunch at the Supply Base, Yin Congyang walked out fully armed.

"The wilderness area, here I come."