I'll be right back

Standing on the edge of the rooftop, overlooking the silent city, Lin Yi took a deep breath.

He did not begin practicing immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes, feigning immersion in the process of digesting the information from his new techniques. His face wore a carefully timed expression of contemplation, confusion, and occasional flashes of realization.

Since this is my first time practicing, there is no need to be too outrageous. It won't be too late to improve after a real battle.

Having set the scale for his performance, Lin Yi snapped his eyes open.

"The Wandering Star Steps is a movement technique focused on evasion. It emphasizes shifting and maneuvering within a tight space. It lacks explosive speed, but it excels in sustainability and consumes very little source energy. It was clearly chosen by the General Staff for a reason. Hmm. Showing a level of agility that suggests I've just mastered the basics should be enough."

With that thought, Lin Yi moved. His feet began to step, no longer with the simplicity of running or jumping, but with a strange, rhythmic cadence.

At first, his movements were stiff, and he occasionally stumbled, but he soon began to flow with visible speed, even managing to execute a few incredible changes in direction.

This was the level of someone who had just entered the threshold of the Wandering Star Steps.

After finishing the movement technique, Lin Yi drew his "Abyss-Splitter" spear and injected source energy to restore it to its true form.

"As for the Star-Splitting Spear Art, this is a spear technique that pursues extreme penetration and destruction. The moves are sharp and excel at breaking through defenses at a single point. Tsk. Interesting. From the weapon to the basic moves and the ultimate techniques, everything follows the path of piercing through a single point. I'll just focus on using the first few moves smoothly for now. Adding a bit of source energy glow should count as a success."

Having set his plan, Lin Yi gripped the spear, his gaze turning sharp as he slowly thrust it forward for the first time.

Initially, his movements were slow and deliberate, as if he were carefully feeling every detail of the force exertion and the path of the source energy flow. The sound of the spear cutting through the air was dull, with only the occasional, barely perceptible glimmer of source energy flashing at the tip.

But as time passed, his movements became faster and more fluid.

Thrusting, stabbing, lifting, hacking, and sweeping—the basic spear moves gradually became coherent in his hands, beginning to carry a sharp, murderous aura.

The wind whistled around the spear, and the glow of source energy began to flow steadily along the blade; though faint, it had begun to take shape.

Occasionally, a strike would even produce a clear, piercing whistle!

After practicing the first few moves of the Star-Splitting Spear Art for nearly an hour, until his movements were proficient and the source energy flowed without obstruction, Lin Yi slowly withdrew his spear and stood still.

He rested for ten minutes before sitting cross-legged to begin practicing the Micro-Dust Art.

This secret manual did not increase the total amount of source energy; instead, it focused on tempering one's control, emphasizing the precise manipulation of every wisp of energy within the body so that it could be commanded like an extension of one's own arm, allowing for complex microscopic operations.

This was more difficult than the broad, sweeping motions of combat.

Lin Yi raised his right hand and extended his index finger. A wisp of pure source energy slowly seeped from his fingertip, forming a faint yet stable azure halo.

At first, the light cluster trembled slightly, its form unstable like a candle flame in the wind.

As time passed and beads of sweat began to form on Lin Yi's forehead, the light at his fingertip began to change.

The tremors grew smaller, and the light gradually became more contained.

Then, the base of the light cluster began to elongate and thin, while the top slowly branched out, outlining the shape of a leaping flame.

A moment later, a vivid, motionless flame shape hovered steadily above his fingertip!

This was the hallmark of having just entered the threshold of the Micro-Dust Art.

Being able to mold formless source energy into a stable, simple object and maintain it required immense control over energy output and structural integrity.

Lin Yi looked at the stable source energy flame on his fingertip, a satisfied curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

After admiring his "masterpiece" for a while, he dispersed the source energy.

Lin Yi stood up; his next task was to "attempt" to practice the Annihilation Strike!

After a series of successes, it would be natural for a "genius" and a young man to want to try practicing a higher-end ultimate technique. It would be strange if he didn't even try.

Therefore, Lin Yi took out his spear again and began to clumsily mimic the moves according to the information on that ultimate technique in his mind.

He deliberately made his movements extremely slow, and the flow of his source energy appeared obscure and blocked. Several times, he even caused the energy to dissipate due to poor control, making the process look incredibly difficult.

"Hmm... the threshold for this ultimate move is indeed quite high. But... could it be done this way? Should I try to simplify it?"

After failing several times, Lin Yi muttered to himself while struggling through the motions.

He pretended to be deep in thought, pausing occasionally or attempting to change a specific source energy node.

To an outsider, this was a genius struggling and experimenting in frustration before the threshold of an ultimate technique.

Finally, Lin Yi sighed, shook his head, and muttered, "Forget it. It looks like I'll need to spend more time pondering this. Better to focus on practicing to increase my strength first."

In reality, however, during that clumsy practice and deduction, he had already successfully simplified the Annihilation Strike into a "weakened version" he could barely execute.

Although its power was far inferior to the original, its instantaneous explosive force had already reached the Stardust Rank, enough to serve as a hidden trump card.

I'll call this simplified version 'Star Shatterer'. If I encounter a critical moment before reaching the Stardust Rank, I can disguise it as a breakthrough made in the heat of the moment, an explosion of power realized in a desperate situation. If not, that's fine too; once I reach the Stardust Rank, I'll just learn the complete version, and I can hand over this simplified one to the General Staff. Lin Yi mused to himself.

With his practice finished, Lin Yi took three gray Source Energy Crystals from his waist.

Without hesitation, he crushed and absorbed them one by one.

The reason he didn't practice the Nine-Layer Source Origin Method was primarily because it was a cultivation technique for the Stardust Rank; it was impossible to practice at all before condensing a source energy stardust within the body.

Therefore, at this stage, he still had to honestly use the Guidance Technique to cultivate.

This time, Lin Yi did not use the crystals one by one. Instead, he held all three in his hand, using the source energy manipulation techniques he had just learned to guide the energy.

Part of it was used to temper his physique at a deeper level, widening his meridians and increasing his upper limit for total source energy.

The other part was converted into pure source energy to fill his Dantian source sea, which had become empty due to the increase in his capacity.

When the energy from the three crystals was completely absorbed and reduced to dust, the source energy within his body had grown significantly, and his physical strength had reached a new level.

Lin Yi slowly opened his eyes, feeling the surging power within his body. He swept his gaze toward the pulsating nest in the distance, filled with anticipation for the battle to come.

At this moment, the eastern horizon had already begun to pale, and dawn was approaching.

However, just as the first light of dawn was about to break:

"ROAR!!!"

A dull, thunderous roar erupted from the direction of the purple-black nest in the distance, instantly reaching Lin Yi's ears on the rooftop.

This roar was far more robust and violent than the howling of an Abyss Wolf, filled with a heart-stopping sense of power and oppression.

Listening to the thunderous roar, Lin Yi walked quickly to the edge of the rooftop, his gaze piercing through the dim streets to lock precisely onto the direction of the nest.

Tsk, tsk. What a grand display. I don't know why, but I actually feel a little excited. He muttered silently to himself, They say if you play the pig to eat the tiger for too long, you'll eventually become the pig. How did I end up getting so fired up just by playing the youth?

Of course, despite his words, Lin Yi knew the real reason was that he had long been accustomed to a life of slaughter and adventure over so many years.

The forced suppression and disguise since his rebirth had always left him feeling somewhat stifled.

Now that he could finally lift some of those restrictions after a few battles, he naturally felt an itch to fight.

"The others should be arriving soon."

Lin Yi activated his Cloud-Flow Light Armor while drawing his Abyss-Splitter and restoring it to its combat state, all while estimating the time.

Soon, as hurried footsteps rang out, Zhou Jianjun, Chen Yu, and the others rushed onto the rooftop, panting. They gripped makeshift short spears and shields, their faces pale.

"Lin Yi!" Zhou Jianjun said with unprecedented gravity, "Chen Yu saw it through a crack in the window. A big guy crawled out of the nest! It's at least four meters tall, and its whole body looks like it's built from blocks of rock. The wolf pack is surrounding it, and it's heading our way. How are we supposed to defend this building?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Lin Yi. Although they saw him fully armed, they couldn't stop the panic rising in their hearts.

After all, a giant bear of that size was something that would surely cause injury or death to an ordinary person with just a graze.

However, Lin Yi slowly turned around, his face showing no sign of tension.

He even chuckled lightly.

"Defend?"

Lin Yi shook his head, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather.

"No need to defend."

The group was stunned.

Lin Yi said offhandedly, "I was just feeling a bit hungry and was about to go down for breakfast when I heard all that commotion over there."

With that, he didn't give anyone a chance to react, his figure leaping forward from the edge of the rooftop.

He left the group with only a trailing sentence.

"I'll be back in a moment."

Some friends may have noticed that I often adjust previous chapters because I have a habit of reading chapter comments. Some suggestions or minor flaws pointed out by readers are indeed quite reasonable, so I make changes, which might cause some inconvenience to your reading experience. Additionally, there are other suggestions that are also good, but I haven't adopted them because they involve future plot points or require structural changes to the outline, so please forgive me. Also, thanks to readers "20250824134251868" and "Xiaofan Zui'ai Xiaoshi Baobao" for their tips.