"Boom!"
Shattered stones flew across the ground.
A terrifying tiger-shaped beast, three or four meters tall at the shoulder and seven or eight meters long, roared loud enough to shake the heavens as it fought a human youth to the death.
The youth stood only about 1.8 or 1.9 meters tall, as insignificant as an ant before this enormous Stellar Behemoth.
Yet this tiny "ant" placed the Spotted Starblade Tiger under immense pressure.
Every attack the youth unleashed seemed to carry the might of mountains and seas. As he twisted and darted about, even a casual kick could drive the massive Spotted Starblade Tiger back, sending tremors through a thousand meters of ground.
Seen from afar, the stark contrast made the scene feel almost unreal...
"This feels incredible."
The youth was, of course, Lin Yuan.
He was not using Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw. Instead, he relied solely on his physical strength to battle a true Stellar Behemoth at close quarters.
And he was not at a disadvantage in the slightest!
"Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship..."
"Fourfold power!"
A flicker of satisfaction passed through Lin Yuan's eyes.
As a genuine Stellar Behemoth, the Spotted Starblade Tiger's enormous size was no empty show. Its body had been tempered to an extraordinary degree, and its slightest movements carried a million jin of force, enough to split mountains, shatter stone, and shake the earth.
Yet Lin Yuan, with his mortal flesh and blood, could meet it head-on without losing ground. Naturally, he owed that to his newly attained Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship!
Fourfold power brought a fourfold increase in combat strength.
His physical body possessed a hundred thousand jin of strength, while the two strands of Natal Stellar Force he had refined within him supplied another two hundred thousand jin.
In other words, with his Natal Stellar Force, he could unleash three hundred thousand jin of force at full power.
Combined with the fourfold power of Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship... that amounted to a full 1.2 million jin!
Such strength could already rival an ordinary warrior in the second-tier Transcendence Realm who had refined ten strands of Natal Stellar Force. It even allowed him to fight a true Stellar Behemoth head-on.
The Spotted Starblade Tiger before him was ironclad proof!
"Boom!"
"Whoosh!"
"Clang!"
The Spotted Starblade Tiger roared again and again, launching one furious attack after another.
Its terrifying claws swept toward him like blades, carrying a million jin of force, enough to tear through metal and split mountains and stone.
Yet Lin Yuan's expression never changed. He thrust his sword, swift as racing thunder, its brilliant light knocking the claw straight back without yielding an inch!
Even as he defended, his swordplay remained elusive and unpredictable. Time and again, he found an opening in the Spotted Starblade Tiger's defenses, his blade slipping through with a venomous snake's precision to leave a deep sword wound.
Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship offered more than a technique for exerting fourfold power. It also provided a nearly flawless way of fighting.
Whether attacking or defending, it left no opening to exploit.
Without an equal level of mastery or an overwhelming advantage in strength, breaking through Lin Yuan's swordplay was impossible.
As time passed, bloody wounds multiplied across the Spotted Starblade Tiger's body, almost staining the ground crimson.
Its stamina also began to wane as it lost more and more blood.
And Lin Yuan?
He remained full of vigor. Not only had his stamina failed to diminish, he even seemed to grow stronger the longer he fought...
"Heaven-Defying Earth-Shaking"!
Limitless stamina, growing stronger with every battle.
What doesn't kill me will only make me stronger!
With this talent trait supporting him, Lin Yuan was almost impossible to kill in battle.
It was truly terrifying!
"Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship really is extraordinary..."
From their vantage point above, the Goddess Luo Squad saw everything clearly.
Lin Yuan had controlled the tempo of almost the entire battle single-handedly. The pitiful Spotted Starblade Tiger had been dancing in the palm of his hand without even realizing it.
"Whoosh!"
At last, after exhausting the last shred of his opponent's strength, Lin Yuan casually thrust his sword straight through its skull.
"Crack..."
Without Star Power sustaining it, the "Astral Realm" was no longer as indestructible as before. His sword light forcefully pierced a crack through it, and it gradually collapsed.
The One-Stripe Common-Grade Star Beast, the Spotted Starblade Tiger, was dead!
Lin Yuan smiled.
This battle had actually taken quite some time. It lacked the effortless flair of his earlier one-strike kills.
But it also proved his current strength—even without his trump card, Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw, he could easily slay Star Beasts and stand equal to anyone!
And although fighting this way took a little longer, its advantage was clear: it consumed relatively little Star Power, allowing him to maintain his full combat strength for a long time.
He would no longer drain himself dry with a single strike and be unable to fight again...
Both approaches had their advantages and drawbacks.
Even so, Lin Yuan's ability in actual combat still left the women of the Goddess Luo Squad marveling.
Gu Yiyi in particular watched with stars in her eyes, her little mouth shouting about how badass Lin Yuan was...
She had actually refined her second strand of Natal Stellar Force too. After all, she had broken through slightly earlier than Lin Yuan.
But with the same two strands of Natal Stellar Force, she could unleash only six hundred thousand jin of force at most. Against Stellar Behemoths whose slightest movements carried a million jin of strength, she could only engage them in a drawn-out fight and win through skill.
How could she possibly fight like Lin Yuan, fierce and domineering, combining power and technique so fluidly that the battle looked like a work of art...?
She was truly convinced.
Everything Lin Yuan had shown lately had completely overturned her former understanding.
His cultivation aptitude was top-tier. In less than half a month, he had refined his second strand of Natal Stellar Force...
His talent and comprehension were top-tier. Immediately after breaking through, he had mastered a Sky-Grade Stellar Force Secret Art said to rank second in overall difficulty...
Even his accomplishments in the Sword Dao left her gazing across an ocean she could never hope to cross. How little time had passed, and he had already mastered Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship!
And then there were those peerlessly handsome looks that had made her fall at first sight...
Ah, why did someone so perfect exist in this world?
The girl's cheeks were flushed, her beautiful eyes shining, her gaze practically glued to Lin Yuan.
The other members of the Goddess Luo Squad felt much the same. Though they were not quite as over-the-top as Gu Yiyi, they too had developed a great fondness for Lin Yuan.
A young man like him was simply too hard not to like, all right?
"Uh... why does this feel like a sheep walking into a pack of wolves?"
Returning victorious, Lin Yuan found himself surrounded by a flock of chattering beauties. Everywhere he looked, sparkling eyes met his gaze, and he could not help shivering.
Mm, being too outstanding is a sin too...
The youth fretted inwardly.
After confirming the enormous boost Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship gave his strength, Lin Yuan went all out and stopped testing the waters.
He began actively seeking battles, fighting Star Beasts again and again. With his internal Star Power and physical strength working in perfect harmony, combined with the fourfold power of Perfect-Grade Swordsmanship, every strike carried over a million jin of force—enough to threaten most one-stripe common-grade Star Beasts.
With the Goddess Luo Squad standing guard, he did not need to worry about attracting stronger Star Beasts. He could simply fight to his heart's content.
Whenever he encountered a powerful Star Beast he could not defeat at close quarters, he did not hesitate. He drew his sword and sundered the heavens!
Fueled by two strands of Star Power, Heaven-Sundering Sword Draw was even more powerful than before. The vast majority of Common-Rank Star Beasts below Lord Grade could not withstand such terrifying swordsmanship.
One after another, they were slain, cleaved in half!
And what happened when his Natal Stellar Force ran dry?
Ordinary Starry-Sky Warriors used Breathing Techniques to replenish their Natal Stellar Force, but the process was slow. Recovering could take most of a day.
Only special potions or treasures that rapidly restored Star Power could speed up the process.
But Lin Yuan?
He only needed to keep eating, eating, and eating!
With the help of "Devouring Vitality," he could replenish his stamina and Natal Stellar Force at the fastest possible speed.
He could generally recover completely in just an hour.
Then he would return to perfect peak condition once more.
Such formidable recovery also left the other members of the Goddess Luo Squad deeply envious.
Yet inwardly, they no longer seemed quite so surprised.
After all, see enough strange things, and they stop seeming strange...
In just one month, the youth before them had already displayed far too many unbelievable abilities. By comparison, this extraordinary recovery no longer seemed remarkable.
And with Lin Yuan working so hard, his battle record soared, his progress advancing by leaps and bounds—
Thirty...
Fifty...
Seventy...
Soon, a month had passed.
Lin Yuan finally achieved a hundred consecutive Star Beast kills!
"You have slain a One-Stripe Rank Common-Rank Star Beast. Experience +20..." "Your lifespan has increased..." "Your experience is full. Your game level has increased..." "You have received one chance to draw a talent trait..."
Before you continue