Perfect Swordsmanship, Fourfold Force!

Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw!

The enormous ape-like Star Beast let out a thunderous roar, pounding its chest with both palms as terrifying waves of power spread outward, sending chills down the spine.

But what greeted it was an invincible sword light, brilliant as a galaxy and stretching from heaven to earth.

"Pff..."

The sword light flashed past, splitting heaven and earth apart.

The Gray Ironhide Ape, which had been roaring in fury moments ago, fell silent at once.

A thin line of blood slowly split open from the center of its forehead. Its entire body was cleaved in two, the cut incomparably smooth.

"You have slain an ordinary One-Stripe Rank Star Beast. Experience +20..."

"Your lifespan has increased..."

Only then did Lin Yuan breathe a sigh of relief. He quickly stepped forward and collected the Astral Realm Shards that had likewise been split in half.

At the same time, he could not help muttering to himself.

"What a waste..."

"Every time, I have to shatter the Boundary inside them, causing more than half their stellar force to leak away."

He was helpless as well.

Star Beasts were extraordinary lifeforms of a most mysterious kind. They had only one core weak point—the Boundary within their bodies!

Without shattering the Boundary, it was impossible to kill a Star Beast.

But once the Boundary was shattered, all he could obtain were Astral Realm Shards that had lost more than half their stellar force, their value greatly diminished.

"Legend says that once one reaches the Third Realm of the Stellar Martial Path, one can open up a Divine Palace within the body and awaken Divine Sense..."

"Divine Sense is incredibly wondrous, capable of shifting between the tangible and intangible."

"When intangible, it becomes spiritual mind force and can directly attack the soul within a living being!"

"Only then can one use powerful Divine Sense to penetrate the Boundary within a Star Beast, directly slay its soul, and kill it without damaging the Boundary, thereby obtaining a complete Astral Realm."

A complete Astral Realm contained the pure stellar force that a Star Beast had tempered throughout its life. It was far more valuable than Astral Realm Shards and was an exceedingly rare treasure.

Unfortunately, he had to break through to the Third Realm before he could wield Divine Sense...

Lin Yuan shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.

"Lin Yuan is so amazing..."

Gu Yiyi could not help feeling envious.

Her Innate Secret Art—Thunder-Origin Dragon Spear—was also extremely powerful, enough to instantly kill these ordinary One-Stripe Rank Star Beasts.

But its consumption was too great. It drained not only stellar force, but all of her physical strength as well.

After one strike, she would basically have no combat power left.

That was why she had begun restraining herself from using the Thunder-Origin Dragon Spear so frequently. Instead, she used conventional methods to fight Star Beasts in prolonged battles, seeking their weaknesses and slowly wearing them down.

This was also an excellent way to build real combat experience.

Most Star-Martial Prodigies had made their way forward step by step like this.

That was why Captain Gu had once advised Lin Yuan to hone his skills and experience in this manner, lest he encounter an enemy the Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw could not handle and be left at a disadvantage.

In the end, Lin Yuan tactfully declined.

She had initially been disappointed, believing that Lin Yuan had ultimately become arrogant and overly confident.

But before long, Lin Yuan suggested that Sister Ru, the member of the Goddess Luo Squad with the highest swordsmanship realm, give him some pointers and spar with him.

The outcome of that sparring match left her utterly dumbfounded—

"You..."

"Did you start practicing swordsmanship in the womb?"

After a single battle, Sister Ru could no longer smile.

Looking at the innocent young man before her, smiling somewhat bashfully, she finally understood that there were people in this world whom ordinary people could never comprehend.

When they abandoned Natal Stellar Force and relied purely on physical strength to compete in swordsmanship, the youth before her displayed an unbelievable level of skill.

She had practiced swordsmanship for more than a decade. After becoming a Starry-Sky Warrior, her progress had become even more rapid. With her battle sword, she had slain countless Star Beasts, and her swordsmanship had reached the Subtlety Stage, earning her the title of "Blood Moon Sword."

Among the First-Realm Warriors of Azure River Satellite City, who had not heard of Wu Junru, the "Blood Moon Sword" of the Goddess Luo Squad?

That was a reputation earned through real slaughter.

Yet now, the mighty Blood Moon Sword, facing a newcomer who had only just broken through, had actually...

Been suppressed without using stellar force?

The result did not merely shock her.

Everyone in the Goddess Luo Squad found it hard to believe.

"I have just a tiny bit of talent in swordsmanship..."

Lin Yuan smiled bashfully and cautiously raised his right hand, pinching his fingers together to indicate a tiny amount.

A tiny bit of talent?

The women all fell silent.

More like an enormous bit!

The Subtlety Stage of swordsmanship was a realm that even many high-stage Starry-Sky Warriors in the Mortal Transcendence Realm could only dream of attaining.

Although every member of the Goddess Luo Squad was Silver-White Three-Star, only Wu Junru and another young woman named Su Ningxue had reached the Subtlety Stage.

The rest were still painstakingly honing themselves at the Mastery Stage...

"Your swordsmanship... has already reached the Perfect Grade?"

Captain Gu could not help asking directly.

Perfect Grade?

The moment those words left her mouth, the women's expressions changed drastically.

They looked at Lin Yuan as though he were a monster.

What kind of peerless swordsmanship prodigy was this...

They had trained bitterly for more than ten years without even touching the threshold of the Subtlety Stage, yet he had broken through only a few days ago and his swordsmanship was already perfect?

"Just luck, just luck."

Lin Yuan's scalp tingled beneath their burning gazes. He forced a smile, lacking confidence.

It seemed he had revealed a little too much. He should restrain himself more next time.

Still, he had not lied. His swordsmanship reaching Perfection Stage... had indeed happened only recently.

"..."

After receiving Lin Yuan's confirmation, Captain Gu was speechless.

She could tell because her saber technique had also reached the Perfect Grade.

But was there even room for comparison between the two?

She, Gu Shuangshuang, a dignified Second-Realm Starry-Sky Warrior who had ventured through the Astral Realm for decades, endured countless bloody battles, and consumed who knew how many resources, had only barely broken through to the Perfect Grade in saber technique.

And Lin Yuan?

What resources did he have? How long had he even trained?

Was it really all just talent?

"Perhaps his Special Constitution is inclined toward swordsmanship..."

Gu Shuangshuang could only console herself this way.

And in truth, she was not wrong.

The reason Lin Yuan's swordsmanship had advanced by leaps and bounds was because of the Talent Trait, Swordsmanship Mastery, was it not?

Otherwise, with his original aptitude, the Mastery Stage would have been his limit...

After that brief episode, Gu Shuangshuang never again mentioned having Lin Yuan hone his skills.

What was there left to hone?

His swordsmanship was already perfect. Could further honing possibly take it another step forward?

Perfect, perfect—what was perfection?

This realm was already the limit for the vast majority of people, a kind of consummate pinnacle beyond which there was no further progress.

To break through that limit and advance further, one had to achieve Unity of Heaven and Humanity, where skill approached the Dao!

That was another domain altogether...

After casually revealing his Perfect Grade swordsmanship, Lin Yuan's image in the hearts of the women of the Goddess Luo Squad grew even loftier.

His cultivation talent was outstanding enough, but even his skill realm—the most difficult thing to improve—far surpassed theirs.

That said everything.

He was a truly invincible Star-Martial Prodigy, not even on the same level as them!

Lin Yuan was more than happy with this, because after his swordsmanship broke through to the Perfect Grade, his hunting speed increased once again—

"The Subtlety Stage in swordsmanship brings a twofold increase in force."

"But Perfect Grade swordsmanship..."

"Brings a full fourfold increase!"

Fourfold force.

His original strength of one hundred thousand jin could now erupt with four hundred thousand jin!

His original power of two hundred thousand jin had now become eight hundred thousand jin!

Such divine strength was already enough for him to clash head-on with Star Beasts without falling behind.

"No wonder Starry-Sky Warriors generally place such importance on their skill realms..."

"Such an enormous increase is truly unbelievable."