Heaven-Splitting Draw, Finding Life in the Face of Death!

"..."

Stellar Force Secret Arts were arrayed before his eyes, one after another.

Each embodied the crystallized wisdom of those who had come before, possessing unimaginable power.

Even common-grade Stellar Force Secret Arts represented a profound understanding and application of star power, with destructive force far beyond its most primitive uses.

The higher-grade Stellar Force Secret Arts in particular seemed boundlessly powerful from their descriptions alone, making his heart race with longing.

"No wonder people say you only count as a true Starry-Sky Warrior once you've mastered a Stellar Force Secret Art."

Lin Yuan murmured to himself, a trace of burning eagerness deep within his clear eyes.

Unleash energy and tear heaven and earth apart.

Split the heavens with a sword, pierce the void with a finger!

Now those were the methods of a Starry-Sky Warrior.

"Stellar Force Secret Arts are special resources. You can't buy them with Azure Coins, only exchange Contribution Points for them."

Lin Yuan glanced at the Contribution Points required for the various Stellar Force Secret Arts, then looked at the unmistakable balance displayed in his personal account at the upper right—0!

He couldn't help laughing.

"Fortunately, newly promoted warriors get a one-time privilege: they can redeem one Stellar Force Secret Art for free, and..."

"There's no grade restriction!"

This was another part of the Star-Martial incentive program, and the most precious opportunity of all.

After all, Stellar Force Secret Arts were hard to come by and difficult to learn. Redeeming them wasn't easy either, requiring large amounts of Contribution Points.

Even among common-grade arts, cheaper ones might only require ten or twenty Contribution Points, but expensive ones cost a full hundred!

Earth-Grade Stellar Force Secret Arts started in the triple digits, and plenty cost four-digit sums.

An ordinary Starry-Sky Warrior might save for years and still be unable to afford a single Earth-Grade Stellar Force Secret Art...

That made this first free redemption opportunity for newly promoted warriors especially precious.

For most Starry-Sky Warriors, this was practically their only chance to obtain a high-grade Stellar Force Secret Art of earth grade or above!

They therefore had to choose with the utmost care.

They had to select a Stellar Force Secret Art that genuinely suited them and that they had some hope of mastering.

The guides in various posts also repeatedly warned newly promoted warriors not to blindly choose expensive, powerful Sky-Grade Stellar Force Secret Arts.

After all, even if you chose one, you still had to be able to master it...

Sky-Grade Stellar Force Secret Arts were indeed tremendously powerful, but their difficulty was equally notorious.

Failing to master one meant wasting this precious, practically one-time opportunity. The loss outweighed the gain.

Thus, most newly promoted warriors chose Earth-Grade Stellar Force Secret Arts!

After all, Earth-Grade Stellar Force Secret Arts were already far more powerful than common-grade ones, sufficient for the early stages when their strength was still limited. Their difficulty wasn't so outrageous either. If an art suited them, they still had a chance of mastering it with enough time.

And what did Lin Yuan choose?

"This one..."

"Sky grade—Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw!"

Without hesitation, he selected a sky-grade swordsmanship Stellar Force Secret Art worth ten thousand Contribution Points.

What a joke.

How could ordinary newly promoted warriors compare to him?

Even setting aside his prodigy-level martial aptitude, possessing the swordsmanship-related divine-grade talent trait "Swordsmanship Mastery" alone meant he could never settle for some lower-grade Stellar Force Secret Art.

"Swordsmanship Mastery—you possess near-godlike comprehension of the Sword Dao and swordsmanship skills!"

That single sentence said it all.

Lin Yuan had great confidence in his talent traits. Since it explicitly said "near-godlike comprehension," surely a mere Sky-Grade Stellar Force Secret Art wouldn't stump him?

Not to mention the added boost from "Transcendent Comprehension." He wouldn't make claims about anything else, but when it came to cultivating Stellar Force Secret Arts, Lin Yuan was utterly confident.

"It's just that the free redemption list for newly promoted warriors only goes up to sky grade. There aren't any stronger Star-Shattering Tier arts..."

"Otherwise, I'd definitely see whether that claim about 'the power to shatter stars upon reaching full mastery' was true!"

Lin Yuan murmured with some regret, his expression brimming with youthful spirit and powerful confidence.

He truly had the qualifications to be confident.

"Martial prodigy" + "Swordsmanship Mastery" + "Transcendent Comprehension"...

With those three talents empowering him, he would dare try any swordsmanship Stellar Force Secret Art—even one of the highest, Star-Shattering Tier!

"Sky grade..."

"That's pretty good too. Even Starry-Sky Warriors as powerful as those in the Third Realm, the Skyflight Realm, only use Stellar Force Secret Arts of this grade."

Lin Yuan was quite satisfied.

Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw was the swordsmanship Stellar Force Secret Art he had selected as the best fit for himself.

Its description was imposing too—

Condense star power and transform it into Sword Qi.

One sword to split the heavens, one sword to quell the soul.

Heaven-Splitting Draw, finding life in the face of death!

This was a purely offensive Stellar Force Secret Art, with only one move: draw the sword and sunder the heavens.

Its power depended on how much natal stellar force the user condensed. A single wisp was enough to use it; a hundred wisps were better and more powerful. There was no upper limit!

"No upper limit?"

"Doesn't that mean if my realm is high enough and I refine enough natal stellar force, I could even shatter a star with one strike?"

Lin Yuan grinned.

Wasn't that essentially a Star-Shattering Tier Stellar Force Secret Art?

Although that was only theoretical, there was still hope.

As a method for the early stages, it was more than enough.

"With that, my preparations for the early stages are pretty much complete..."

Lin Yuan exited the Star-Martial Marketplace and let out a small sigh of relief.

The Star-Iron Battle Weapon and other equipment he had purchased would probably arrive tomorrow. After that, he only needed to learn "Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw," and he should have enough confidence to explore the legendary Astral Realm.

After all, the very foundation of his survival—his level on the Game Panel—had stagnated for quite some time.

He urgently needed new experience monsters and leveling grounds to raise his level and obtain new talent traits!

"When it comes to talent traits, the more the better."

"I wonder how much experience Star Beasts can give me..."

Moving into a new home should have called for a small celebration.

But Lin Yuan was all alone and had no close friends, so he naturally didn't mind.

However, Zhonghai Sky City was, after all, an upscale residential community for Starry-Sky Warriors. Almost everyone who moved in was a newly promoted Starry-Sky Warrior, and they naturally had their own social circles.

That very day, Lin Yuan was added to a chat group. Its owner was a veteran Starry-Sky Warrior from Zhonghai Sky City who was exceptionally welcoming, not only visiting in person to congratulate him but also introducing him to quite a few nearby neighbors and friends.

Lin Yuan didn't object. After all, they belonged to the same circle and lived close by. There was no harm in building more connections.

At the very least, he could learn more about the Astral Realm from these old hands. Many details were never discussed on the forums and could only be learned through experience.

Sure enough, not long after getting acquainted, Lin Yuan received a piece of information that surprised him a little—

"Have you heard?"

"Quite a few new faces have moved into our community lately, and there are some impressive geniuses among them."

"Apparently, there's even a young girl who awakened a special constitution..."

A special constitution?