It was unclear how much time had passed, but Lu Yin suddenly spat out another mouthful of blood, and a shockwave exploded around him, flipping over the tents and spreading out hundreds of meters in every direction. The surveillance cameras outside the tents shattered, and trees were uprooted in layers.
The commotion drew the attention of the Execution Camp, and immediately two sergeants rushed toward Lu Yin's location.
One of them was Feng Hong, and the other was a woman with a seductive appearance, her eyes filled with curiosity.
The two sergeants appeared outside the ruins of Lu Yin's tent and looked inside. "Is this the newly appointed sergeant Lu Yin?" Feng Hong called out loudly, while the evolutionist troops behind them waited cautiously.
Soon, Lu Yin walked out from the tent's ruins, his face pale, his steps unsteady. "Sorry to trouble both of you. I am Lu Yin."
Feng Hong and the seductive woman looked at Lu Yin in surprise. "Why do you look so weak?"
Lu Yin forced a bitter smile. "I watched the Execution Saint perform a battle technique earlier. I was a bit eager to try it myself, but I failed and ended up getting hurt."
Feng Hong understood, laughing. "Brother Lu, you're too impatient. Battle techniques aren't something just anyone can master, and they can't be learned in a short time. All the sergeants in the Execution Camp had the opportunity to be personally taught by the Execution Saint. There's no need to rush."
Lu Yin nodded in agreement. "I understand. Thank you for your guidance, Brother Feng."
Feng Hong waved his hand, not carrying the slightest airs of being a senior instructor. "No need to thank me. We're all brothers in the Execution Camp. In the future, we'll face the apocalypse together, relying on each other as comrades. Now, I'll have someone arrange a place for you to rest. You should take care of your injuries. By the way, do you need a doctor to come over?"
Lu Yin said, "It's fine, just some superficial wounds, and I'm simply exhausted. There's no need to call for a doctor."
Feng Hong nodded. "Alright, then. We'll leave now. Brother Lu, you should rest," he said, then gave the seductive woman a signal.
The woman nodded, gave Lu Yin one last glance, and then left.
Lu Yin followed the soldiers to a nearby tent. "I'll take my leave now. If Colonel Lu needs anything, just call for me," the soldier saluted Lu Yin and withdrew.
Lu Yin nodded and entered the military tent, his gaze growing increasingly excited, mixed with a hint of unease and anticipation. The body refinement was a success. Not only was it successful, but it also brought him an enormous surprise. With that thought, Lu Yin raised his hand, and a dice, about the size of his palm, slowly materialized in front of him. It emitted a faint starlight, with six sides, just like an ordinary die, each side representing a point, for a total of six.
This was a talent, a rare gift that only a few cultivators could gain after body refinement.
The talent was mysterious, and no one knew where it came from. Many scholars in the universe believed that the talent represented humanity's deepest secret, symbolizing a person's ancient origins. However, this theory was just speculation, and no one had truly been able to research or understand the nature of this talent.
Lu Yin wasn't concerned with the origin of the talent; what mattered to him was the talent itself.
Before arriving on Earth, he had heard countless stories about the power of talents. Every cultivator with a talent was considered a genius and was recruited by major forces in the universe. The most famous event was that any cultivator with a talent could directly join the Universe Youth Council.
Lu Yin stared at the dice with a burning gaze. Although his talent was somewhat... unusual, the purpose was what mattered the most.
Watching the dice float in the air, Lu Yin gently tapped it. The dice began to spin rapidly before slowing down, and the six faces began to change. Five of the faces lost their point values, leaving only one face with a value—one point.
Lu Yin focused on the one point, and a strange idea appeared in his mind: it could randomly retrieve any item from someone's Congealed Space Ring.
Before Lu Yin could process the thought, the dice emitted a beam of light that shot into the air, disappearing in an instant as if it had opened a portal. Then, a chip fell to the ground. The dice lost its glow and then vanished.
Lu Yin stared blankly at the chip that had fallen. This... this is what it helped me steal back? No, it's what it retrieved?
He picked up the chip, examined it for a moment, and then took out Asta's personal terminal from his Congealed Space Ring. He inserted the chip into the terminal, and a light screen appeared, displaying three large words—Heaven Star Technique.
Lu Yin stared blankly at the flashing screen—images of figures, the universe, galaxies, and palm prints—appearing for a full half hour. Eventually, the chip inserted into the personal terminal self-destructed, bringing Lu Yin back to his senses.
Lu Yin was stunned. He knew he had obtained something incredible.
The Heaven Star Technique was a cultivation method that absorbed star energy. It mimicked the movement of stars, and theoretically, for each star it imitated, the speed of absorbing star energy would increase. Although this Heaven Star Technique was only at the beginner level, it contained the method to imitate the movement of eight stars. This meant that as long as Lu Yin successfully cultivated it, his star energy absorption speed would increase eightfold.
Eight times—what a terrifying efficiency! Moreover, the Heaven Star Technique also contained a set of combat skills called the Heaven Star Palm. With a palm strike, stars would appear—immensely powerful.
Lu Yin put away the personal terminal, his eyes filled with excitement. He had never heard of the Heaven Star Technique, but it was undoubtedly incredibly terrifying. With such a powerful cultivation technique, it might have come from the Inner Universe.
He forced himself to calm down. He hadn't expected his luck to be so incredible. Statistically speaking, the chances of rolling a one on the dice and randomly receiving a combat skill or cultivation method were extremely low. Even if it had just given him a pair of underwear, he wouldn't have been surprised. Yet, the first time it had given him something as incredible as the Heaven Star Technique, a method that could shape his future.
Unfortunately, it was only at the beginner level.
Lu Yin shook his head and chuckled. He had been overthinking. Such a technique was undoubtedly the treasure of a powerful faction, and it was impossible for the full set to be recorded on a chip. The storage method must have been extremely secure. The destroyed chip was clearly just a recently recorded copy, most likely stolen from some unlucky soul. Getting the full set of the technique would be incredibly difficult.
Lu Yin stopped dwelling on it, left the tent, and found a tree to lie under. He gazed up at the sky, recalling the cultivation method of the Heaven Star Technique. Mimicking the movement of stars? He'd probably have to sleep under the stars for the rest of his life.
Meanwhile, deep within the vast universe, a colossal mountain slowly drifted, surrounded by dozens of stars. Flames burned at the peak, and from a distance, it resembled a cigarette ember. Every few seconds, the flame would extinguish, only to reignite again. The sky was filled with billowing smoke, spreading across the starry expanse, as if a white ribbon wrapped around the dark universe.
Inside the giant mountain, a roar echoed across the universe, "What did you say? You little brat, the cultivation method is gone? Did you give it to that d*mn woman again? Get over here right now!"
In the dark universe, a young man awkwardly fled, covering his backside, looking extremely disheveled. "Dad, don't frame me! I didn't, it's really gone, d*mn it!"
"You little brat, do you think I'm an idiot? Who could steal something right under my nose? Get over here!"
"Please, Dad, it's really gone, I swear it's like a ghost took it!"
...
After a whole night, Lu Yin had not figured anything out. He stepped tiredly into the interior of Zhongshan.
At the top level of Zhongshan's interior, in a vast conference room, many people were seated, with the seat at the head of the table left empty.
Lu Yin entered the conference room, and all eyes turned toward him—some curious, some friendly, some skeptical—basically every kind of gaze was directed at him.
"Brother Lu, please sit here," Feng Hong spoke up as soon as he saw Lu Yin.
Lu Yin naturally sat beside him, with the alluring woman he had met the night before sitting on the other side.
Across from Lu Yin was the woman in glasses he had met before.
Most of the people seated here were Wanfu generals, along with some researchers.
Before long, Zhou Shan entered the conference room. His gaze swept around the room and lingered on Lu Yin for a moment, a trace of confusion flashing across his face, before he sat at the head of the table and smiled. "Let me introduce to everyone, Lu Yin, the new Wanfu General."
Lu Yin stood up, nodded to those around him, and sat back down.
The introduction of Lu Yin was just a formality. After that, the meeting began to discuss various matters. Lu Yin had no interest in listening, and it wasn't until half an hour later that the meeting ended.
As everyone else left, Zhou Shan stayed behind and kept Lu Yin back.
"Lu Yin, yesterday I thought you hadn't absorbed any energy crystals for cultivation. I was planning to discuss it with you, but it seems you had run out of energy yesterday," Zhou Shan looked at Lu Yin, probing.
Lu Yin nodded and said seriously, "Saint of Punishment, that alien was very strong. Even though it was heavily injured, it wasn't easy to deal with. I used up all my energy to kill it."
"I can tell. He's a Heavenly-tier expert. It's impressive that you were able to kill him," Zhou Shan said with a smile.
Lu Yin smiled but did not reply.
"I heard that you visited the Execution Camp yesterday but didn't agree to stay. Why?" Zhou Shan asked, looking at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin replied, "I value my freedom and can't stand the atmosphere of a military camp."
Zhou Shan nodded and sighed, "Many people think this way. In fact, with the apocalypse having arrived, humanity should unite. We should let go of what we can."
"I understand, Saint of Punishment," Lu Yin replied.
Zhou Shan made a sound of acknowledgment, "How are your injuries?"
"It's nothing. I'll recover soon."
"That's the good thing about evolvers, their healing ability is strong. In fact, compared to ordinary people, evolvers are more dangerous. Once you've tasted power, you never want to be weak again. The more you want to grow stronger, the harder you push yourself. Countless people have fallen on this path, and even I don't know when my time will come," Zhou Shan said with a sense of melancholy.