Chapter 240: Chapter 228: Instant Kill, Star Vein Crystal
In the next moment, his figure vanished, leaving only a blurry afterimage in the dim light.
At almost the same instant, Li Yao also moved.
The youth didn’t charge toward the Awakening Tier Fallen. Instead, he made a beeline for the closest one at the Initial Stage of Condensation.
The target was a tall, lanky fellow whose eyes shone with a dark, green fluorescence.
"Enemy attack!"
A shrill cry of alarm echoed through the cavern.
But it was too late.
Ian cut into the densest group of Awakening Tier Fallen like a phantom. Spreading the fingers of his right hand, palm facing down, he pressed lightly into the air.
Gravity Manipulation—a localized burst of six-fold gravity.
VMM!
The air within a thirty-meter radius of him instantly seemed to solidify.
Thirteen of the Awakening Tier Fallen maintaining the Array were slammed into the ground as if by a great, invisible hand, their bones letting out a series of overburdened CREAKS.
"Aargh!"
Before the screams could fully escape their lips, silver light pulsed from Ian’s fingertips, forming thirteen Starlight Needles as thin as hairs. They precisely pierced the foreheads of all thirteen.
PFFT...!
With a faint piercing sound, thirteen bodies stiffened in unison. Their pupils dilated, and they collapsed limply to the ground.
The remaining five scrambled out of the high-gravity zone, fleeing for their lives.
"You’re courting death!"
The Peak Condensation Leader finally reacted, his furious roar causing the stalactites to tremble and shed dust.
He whirled around, his cloak flying open to reveal a face covered in a web of dark red veins. His eyes were entirely black, with no trace of white.
He slammed the Bone Staff in his hand heavily onto the ground!
The black, fleshy growth on the head of the staff pulsed violently, spewing out a thick, viscous black smoke.
In mid-air, it coalesced into three phantom tentacles, each as thick as a bowl, which whipped viciously toward Ian!
Meanwhile, the other two Condensation Middle Stage Fallen also sprang into action.
One, as short and stout as a ball, clapped his hands together. A foul-smelling green pus erupted from his body, forming dozens of poisonous spikes in mid-air that sealed off all of Ian’s escape routes.
The other, whose movements were erratic, circled behind Ian like a specter. Its fingernails shot out, transforming into ten sharp, jet-black blades that clawed straight for his heart!
An attack from three sides.
Yet, Ian’s eyes betrayed no emotion.
He didn’t even bother to sheathe his sword. He simply took half a step forward with his left foot and twisted lightly on his right heel.
His body contorted at an impossible angle, allowing him to slip through the narrowest of gaps between the three tentacles and the poisonous spikes.
At the same time, he flicked his right wrist. The Iron Sword traced a cunning arc, striking precisely against the ghostly Fallen’s claws.
TING!
With the crisp ring of metal on metal, the ghostly Fallen grunted in pain. An intense agony shot through its fingers; the sword strike had shattered most of its claws.
"How is that possible?!" His pupils constricted as he retreated abruptly.
But Ian gave him no chance to recover.
He moved again, pushing his Star Step to its limit, and stuck to his opponent like a persistent shadow.
His blade flashed once more!
This time, the faint silver glow on the blade flared, transforming into a crescent-shaped Light Blade that tore through the air, aimed straight at his opponent’s neck!
"Save me!" the ghostly Fallen shrieked in terror.
The stout Fallen frantically spewed a torrent of pus in an attempt to intercept the attack.
But the Light Blade was too fast and too sharp.
SLASH!
Like a hot knife through butter, the pus barrier was easily torn open.
The blade flashed across the Fallen’s neck. A head soared into the air, its face frozen in a mask of incredulous terror.
The headless body collapsed, splattering black blood.
From the moment Ian attacked to the fall of the first Condensation Middle Stage enemy, a mere five breaths had passed.
"Bastard!"
The Peak Condensation Leader flew into a rage. He swung his Bone Staff wildly, the three phantom tentacles lashing about in a frenzy, shaking the entire cavern.
The stout Fallen’s eyes turned crimson. The pus covering its body began to boil, coalescing into a venomous, three-meter-wide sphere that hurtled toward Ian!
Ian finally sheathed his sword.
He took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly.
Then, he slowly brought his hands together in front of his chest.
As he did, a single point of silver light flared into existence in the Void behind him.
The point of light rapidly expanded, rotated, and stretched...
...finally coalescing into an illusory wheel of light about a meter in diameter.
Motes of light, like crushed stardust, flowed along the wheel’s edge. At its center, three miniature planets orbited along a profound trajectory.
It was the phantom of the Star Track Light Wheel!
It was illusory and could only be maintained for a few breaths.
But the instant the wheel appeared, the very air in the cavern seemed to freeze.
The Peak Condensation Leader’s roars died in his throat. For the first time, a look of horror appeared in his murky black eyes.
"Th-this is... the aura of Star Blood?! Just who are you?!"
Ian did not answer.
He simply raised his right hand, fingers splayed, and aimed at the incoming ball of venom. Then...
...he clenched his fist.
Gravity Manipulation—a full-power burst of seven-fold gravity across a three-hundred-meter radius.
VWOOM!
An invisible Gravity Field swept through the entire cavern like a tsunami.
The ground shattered, the cavern walls caved in, and entire sections of stalactites snapped and plummeted down.
The moment the three-meter-wide ball of venom entered the Gravity Field, it was as if it had slammed into an invisible iron wall. It burst with a loud SPLAT, splattering foul-smelling pus in every direction.
The stout Fallen shrieked as its corpulent body was pinned to the ground by the terrifying Gravity.
Its bones shattered, and its flesh burst apart, like a crushed Insect.
As for the Peak Condensation Leader, although he barely managed to withstand the oppressive gravity, his three phantom tentacles were warped and distorted, their movements more than ten times slower.
He stared, transfixed, at the Star Track Light Wheel behind Ian. A sudden realization dawned on him, and he shrieked hoarsely.
"You’re one of the Star Blooded..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
Ian raised his left hand. A point of pure, concentrated silver light gathered at the tip of his index finger.
The light wasn’t blinding, yet it possessed a purity and ancient quality that sent a shiver through one’s very Soul.
Then, he aimed at the Peak Condensation Leader and flicked his finger.
His Bloodline Technique, refined by Condensation: Starlight Piercing.
PFFT.
A faint sound.
The Peak Condensation Leader’s roar was cut short.
He looked down at his chest. There was no wound, no blood, not even his clothes were torn.
But the space where his heart should have been was empty. It was an Annihilation on an Energy level.
The Starlight Power had surged up through his energy pathways, completely purifying and erasing every corrupted Energy Node in his body, along with his heart itself.
"This... can’t... be..."
He murmured his last three words, swayed, and then crashed to the ground.
The black, fleshy growth on the Bone Staff rapidly shriveled and weathered, turning into a pile of Ashes.
A deathly silence fell over the cavern.
Only the silver light on the surface of the Star Pool continued to ripple gently.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cavern.
Li Yao’s sword clashed wildly with the Fallen at the Initial Stage of Condensation.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The clang of metal on metal was as dense as a downpour.
His opponent wielded a pair of dark red Bone Blades. His moves were cunning and vicious, each slash trailing a corrosive black smoke.
Li Yao had already sustained three wounds.
One on his left shoulder was deep enough to expose bone. Two more gashed his right side, the flesh torn open, the edges of the wounds tinged with an unnatural, dark green color.
But the fighting spirit in his eyes only burned hotter.
"Kid, you can’t last much longer!"
The Fallen sneered, his Bone Blades striking for Li Yao’s throat like vipers.
"The poison is already causing the Erosion of your blood. In another ten breaths, your body will be stiff, and I’ll carve you up as I please!"
Li Yao didn’t reply.
He just gritted his teeth, his footwork suddenly shifting.
Instead of meeting the blow head-on, he slid back half a step with the grace of flowing water, narrowly avoiding the sharp edge of the Bone Blade.
Simultaneously, he flicked his sword-wielding wrist. The blade flipped at an impossible angle, sliding up along the inner edge of the Bone Blade in a rising slash!
The strike was fast, precise, and cunning.
It was the Reverse Flow Slash Ian had taught him—a counter-attack that borrowed the enemy’s own momentum!
The Fallen’s pupils constricted, and he scrambled to defend.
But it was too late.
SLASH!
The edge of the sword sliced across his right arm, opening a wound so deep that bone was visible. Black blood gushed forth.
"Aargh!"
The intense pain made the Fallen falter.
A cold glint flashed in Li Yao’s eyes. He exploded forward, launching himself like an arrow loosed from a bow.
His Iron Sword became a silver streak of lightning, piercing straight toward his opponent’s heart.
"Die!"
The young man roared, pouring all the killing intent, battle spirit, and resolve he had accumulated over half a year of bitter training and countless life-or-death struggles into this single strike!
SQUELCH!
The blade ran through his chest, its tip emerging from his back.
The Fallen’s eyes went wide. He stared down at the bloodstained tip of the sword protruding from his chest. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Gasping for breath, Li Yao wrenched his sword free.
The body collapsed.
Leaning on his sword, the young man dropped to one knee. His chest heaved violently, and a mixture of cold sweat and blood streamed down his forehead.
But a fierce grin spread across his lips.
’His first time facing a Condensation Tier enemy alone.’
’He’d won.’
"Brother Yao!"
"Li Yao!"
The sound of urgent footsteps echoed from the mine tunnel.
Ah Ku, Ah Shu, Stone, Xiaozhou... all thirteen youths, covered in blood, rushed into the cavern.
They were all wounded—one’s arm was a corroded, bloody mess, another still had half a broken sword embedded in his leg—but their eyes were terrifyingly bright.
"The trash outside... all cleared out."
Ah Ku said, panting but with an excited look on his face, "Fifteen Awakening Tier. Not a single one escaped!"
Ian turned from the edge of the Star Pool. In his hand, he held a fist-sized Crystal. It was perfectly transparent, and inside, a silver, galaxy-like luminescence swirled.
The Star Vein Crystal.
It was pure and whole, radiating a heart-stopping fluctuation of Star Energy.
He walked over to Li Yao and knelt, placing his fingers on the edge of the young man’s wound.
A silver light flowed from his fingertips, and the dark green toxins were rapidly subjected to Purification and dispelled.
Li Yao grunted as the feeling of stiff coldness rapidly faded.
"Brother... I won." The young man looked up, his eyes shining.
"Mm." Ian nodded, a rare smile gracing his lips. "You did well."
He stood up and looked at the thirteen youths gathered around him.
Every one of them was injured, but they all stood ramrod straight. The fear they’d had half a year ago was gone, replaced by a resilience forged in iron and blood.
"Clean up the battlefield. Take anything of value."
Ian carefully tucked the Star Vein Crystal away. The Starfall Core in his chest grew faintly warm.
"This node is unusable for now. The Dark Star Association won’t let this go easily, but... we got what we needed most."
He gazed toward the faint sliver of daylight at the cavern’s exit. Deep within his pupils, a speck of golden light slowly swirled.
As dusk fell, fifteen figures quietly returned to the Li Xing Institute.
「Late that night.」
Ian took out the Star Vein Crystal, and for a moment, the entire room fell silent.
He sat cross-legged on the roof. The Star Vein Crystal hovered three feet in front of his chest, rotating slowly.
With each rotation, it shed a shower of motes like a river of stars, which flowed into the pores of his skin.
The Starfall Core in his chest grew as hot as a branding iron, resonating in harmony with the Star Energy within the crystal.
His consciousness sank deep into his bloodline.
The miniature Star System sigil there began to spin at an unprecedented speed. Pulled by Gravity, the orbits of the three planets traced increasingly profound arcs.
Condensation Stage (38%) → (39%) → (40%)...
’His Realm was skyrocketing. The hard-fought battle had been worth it.’
As his Realm advanced, the ancient Inheritance concerning Gravity, hidden deep within his bloodline, was being unveiled layer by layer.
It was still hazy, but the path forward was becoming clear.
’When I break through to the Manifestation Tier...’
He opened his eyes. The depths of his pupils reflected the stars of the night sky, and also the phantom of an altar from another world.
’My original body’s Gravity Witchcraft... it’s about time for it to transform, too.’
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