"This is only the Force Application Technique from the entry-level stage of the first layer of the Calamity Killing Art."
"If I can cultivate it to perfection, or even master the second layer..."
The destructive power would be unimaginable.
At that moment, he had a powerful intuition: if he faced the Black Rock Giant Ape that had given him so much trouble earlier, he wouldn't need to use Sky Splitter at all.
One punch would be enough.
He could smash its head like a watermelon.
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That was the confidence absolute power brought.
"But that's not even the most terrifying part."
Lin Fan's lips curled into a faint smile.
His body was only the foundation. The methods of a spirit reader were his real trump card.
Lin Fan's thoughts stirred.
Sky Splitter, which had been hovering quietly before him, instantly broke apart, transforming into hundreds of streaks of Flowing Light that began circling him.
At Lin Fan's mental command, all 324 feather blades vanished from where they were.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sharp whistles of rushing air rang out in a continuous stream.
In the cramped space of the Martial Arts Hall, the blades were too fast for the naked eye to follow. All that could be seen were intricate, dazzling silver afterimages.
The feather blades were like a beautiful yet deadly silver storm, sweeping through every corner of the Martial Arts Hall.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several discarded sheets of special steel, hung on the walls for hardness testing, couldn't hold the blades back for even an instant.
The blades sliced them into countless pieces with ease, leaving cuts as smooth as mirrors, without a single burr.
"Tsk, tsk. So this is what a 200% Spiritual Force compatibility rate looks like..."
Lin Fan closed his eyes, sensing the paths of the hundreds of feather blades through the air.
He didn't even need to look. With his Spiritual Force spread over the area, every blade felt like an extension of his own fingers.
Agile, precise, vicious, and deadly.
If he wished, the blades could slip through the gaps in an enemy's armor in an instant, pierce their body, and shred their heart.
"Right now, I'm invincible among Earth's War Gods."
Lin Fan's voice was calm, yet it carried an air of absolute confidence.
"Even a Peak War God wearing a Black God Suit probably wouldn't last a single exchange against me."
This wasn't arrogance, but a cool assessment based on his strength.
Still, since he had never fought a War God wearing a Black God Suit, his estimate was probably on the conservative side.
The Black God Suit's defense was astonishing, but it shouldn't be enough against Sky Splitter, which could unleash tens of millions of kilograms of force in an instant and had extreme penetrating power.
Lin Fan clenched both fists, feeling the surging, ocean-like power within him, as if it were about to overflow. Yet he didn't let it go to his head.
He lifted his head, his gaze seeming to pierce the Martial Arts Hall's thick ceiling and reach toward the distant, boundless starry sky.
He knew full well that although he had reached the peak of the Apprentice Level, this was only the beginning.
He was still one final step away from the Planetary Level, the point at which he could truly begin exploring the universe.
"Planetary Level..."
Lin Fan sat cross-legged on the cold alloy floor of the training hall, his gaze profound.
"I need to condense my genetic Origin Energy into a miniature planet in my dantian, or transform my Spiritual Force into a planet in my mindscape."
It sounded simple, but in truth, this was a chasm that countless Peak War Gods on Earth couldn't cross in their entire lives.
Lin Fan regulated his breathing, closed his eyes, and quickly sank his mind into his body.
In his perception, the genetic Origin Energy that had once filled his body like mist had now reached its utmost density.
This wasn't merely a quantitative accumulation; it was a qualitative transformation.
The once ethereal, intangible mist had become as heavy as mercury on the verge of liquefying, slowly flowing through his body.
Deep in his dantian, faint signs of liquefaction had even begun to appear.
When he turned his attention to his mindscape, the sight was even more spectacular—almost terrifying.
His once intangible Spiritual Force had become a vast ocean of viscous silver.
Its waves surged without end!
Silver tides churned through his mindscape, and every crash sent out an astonishing pressure of Spiritual Force.
It seemed ready to collapse inward and coalesce at any moment, giving birth to the "natal star" belonging to a spirit reader.
But Lin Fan could clearly feel that the door to a higher level of life was right before him, within reach, and yet separated from him by an invisible, heavy curtain.
"Insight..."
Lin Fan furrowed his brow.
Crossing this final threshold couldn't be achieved through the mere accumulation of energy.
It also required absolute unity of will, and some profound, mysterious insight to serve as the gravitational core of that miniature planet.
Without that core, even the greatest amount of energy would be nothing but loose sand.
And if he tried to force it together, he would only blow himself up and die.
Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes. The light in them gradually faded, and his usual solemn expression returned.
"Now that my physical abilities have reached their limit, all I need to do next is cultivate that so-called insight."
His fingers tapped lightly against his knees, producing a rhythmic "tap, tap" as his thoughts began to wander.
"Or..."
A place suddenly appeared in Lin Fan's mind.
It was a mysterious land shrouded in dense fog all year round—Mist Island.
That was where Yunmo Planet selected its inheritors, yet it was also a treasure trove that nurtured countless Spirits of Vegetation and even plant life from the universe, like the Cloud-Touching Vine.
If he could obtain the help of those Spirits of Vegetation and Wood Bud Crystals, he might be able to force his way through this bottleneck and ascend in a single leap.
"Wood Bud Crystals..."
Lin Fan's eyes flickered slightly as ambition and reason clashed fiercely within him.
Although his strength had increased dramatically, he was riding high on the surge of power.
But the dangers there—and especially the Planetary Level Cloud-Touching Vine—made his chances impossible to predict.
And besides, the Wood Bud Crystals were bait deliberately set out by Babata, that Intelligent Life. Trying to snatch them right under its nose...
Would be harder than reaching the heavens.
"Greed is a great taboo for warriors. It's also the quickest way to die."
A clear light flashed in Lin Fan's eyes. He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his restless thoughts.
"I'd better play it safe."
A meal had to be eaten one bite at a time, and the road had to be traveled one step at a time.
For now, he wouldn't worry about the Spirits of Vegetation on Mist Island. He could go there after fully digesting what he'd gained and polishing his strength to perfection.
Once he had made up his mind, Lin Fan looked at the two weapons before him.
"Let's take a look at the two newly acquired layers of secret techniques first."
At his mental command, detailed data for both weapons appeared across his retinas, displayed on a clear, deep-blue interface.
[Calamity (Tier 2)] [Load Compatibility: 200%] [Traits Changed:] [Devouring Range: 10->100] [Devouring Speed: 10->100] [Base Attributes: Sharpness +100, Weight +100 (50 tons), Hardness +100] [Secret Technique Inheritance: Acquired the second layer of the Calamity Killing Art.] ... [Sky Splitter (Tier 2)] [Spiritual Force Compatibility: 200%] [Traits Changed:] [Devouring Range: 10->100] [Devouring Speed: 10->100] [Base Attributes: Sharpness +100, Weight +100, Hardness +100] [New Function Unlocked: Can inscribe law runes.] [Structural Evolution: Feather count increased by 120 (now 336).] [Secret Technique Inheritance: Acquired the second layer of the Sky-Splitting Escape Method.]
"Ten times as much..."
Looking at the two weapons' dazzling, almost exaggerated stat panels, Lin Fan nodded, unable to hide his smile.
The feeling of nurturing them, of watching himself grow stronger step by step, captivated him. He was even a little addicted to it.
He took a deep breath, steadied it, and focused his attention.
"System."
"Extract the second layer of the Calamity Killing Art!"
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