Chapter 6

Not knowing how long it had been, Lu Yin spat out another mouthful of blood. The surge of energy outside his body overturned the tent, spreading for hundreds of meters, shattering the surveillance cameras outside and uprooting the trees layer by layer.

This commotion caught the attention of the penal camp, and two battalion commanders immediately rushed to Lu Yin's side.

One of them was Feng Hong, and the other was a woman with a charming appearance, her eyes filled with curiosity.

The two battalion commanders appeared outside the ruins of the tent where Lu Yin was staying and looked inside. "Are you the new battalion commander, Lu Yin?" Feng Hong asked loudly, while the evolutionary army behind him stood cautiously.

Soon, Lu Yin emerged from the ruins, his face pale and his steps unsteady. "I apologize for the disturbance. I am indeed Lu Yin."

Feng Hong and the charming woman looked at Lu Yin in surprise. "Why are you so weak?"

Lu Yin smiled bitterly. "I saw the Holy Punisher demonstrate a combat technique and felt itchy to try it out, but I failed and injured myself."

Feng Hong understood and laughed. "Brother Lu, you're too hasty. Combat techniques aren't something anyone can master, and they can't be figured out in a short time. All battalion commanders in our penal camp have the opportunity to be personally taught by the Holy Punisher, so you don't need to rush."

Lu Yin nodded in agreement. "I understand. Thank you, Brother Feng."

Feng Hong waved his hand, without any of the airs of a daytime instructor. "No need to be polite. We are all brothers in the penal camp, facing the apocalypse together and relying on each other as comrades-in-arms. Alright, I'll have someone arrange a new place for you. Rest and recover first. By the way, do you need a doctor?"

Lu Yin replied, "No, it's just a superficial injury from overexertion. There's no need to call a doctor."

Feng Hong nodded. "Alright, we'll leave then. Rest well, Brother Lu." He then gave the charming woman a nod.

The woman nodded, glanced at Lu Yin again, and then left.

Lu Yin followed the soldiers to a nearby tent. "I'll take my leave. If Commander Lu needs anything, just call me." The soldier saluted and left.

Lu Yin nodded, entered the tent, and his eyes sparkled with excitement, a mix of anticipation and nervousness. He had successfully shaped his body, not only that, but it had brought him a great surprise. Thinking about it, Lu Yin raised his hand, and a palm-sized dice slowly appeared, emitting a hazy starlight. It had six faces, just like a regular dice, each representing a number, totaling six points.

This was a talent, a rare ability that only a few cultivators could acquire after shaping their bodies.

Talents were mysterious, and no one knew where they came from. Many scholars in the universe believed that talents represented a person's ancient origins, but this was just a guess, and no one could truly study talents.

Lu Yin didn't care about the origin of talents; he cared about the talent itself.

Before coming to Earth, he had heard countless times about the power of talents. Every cultivator with a talent was a prodigy, sought after by major forces in the universe. The most famous event was that any cultivator with a talent could directly join the Galactic Youth Council.

Lu Yin looked at the dice with burning eyes. Although his talent was a bit, how to put it, peculiar, the purpose was what mattered most.

Looking at the floating dice, Lu Yin lightly tapped it. The dice spun rapidly and then slowed down, the six faces began to change. Five of the faces' numbers disappeared, leaving only one face with a number, which was—one.

Lu Yin stared at the one, and a mysterious use came to his mind: it could randomly obtain any item from anyone's spatial ring.

Before Lu Yin could react, the dice emitted a beam of light that shot into the void and disappeared instantly, as if opening a passage. Then, a chip fell to the ground, and the dice became dim and vanished.

Lu Yin stared blankly at the chip on the ground. This, was what it had stolen, no, taken for him?

Lu Yin picked up the chip, examined it, and then took out Astar's personal terminal from his spatial ring, inserting the chip. A light screen appeared, displaying three large characters—Heavenly Star Technique.

Lu Yin stared at the screen, which showed a person, the universe, nebulae, and palm prints. For half an hour, the chip inserted into the personal terminal self-destructed, finally snapping Lu Yin out of his daze.

Lu Yin was stunned. He knew he had obtained something extraordinary.

The Heavenly Star Technique was a cultivation method for absorbing star energy, mimicking the movement of stars. Theoretically, the faster the star movement was mimicked, the faster the star energy was absorbed. Although this Heavenly Star Technique was only at the初级 level, it contained the method to mimic the movement of eight stars, meaning that if Lu Yin successfully cultivated it, his absorption of star energy would increase by eight times.

Eight times, what a terrifying efficiency. Within the Heavenly Star Technique was also a combat technique called Heavenly Star Palm, which could summon stars with a palm strike, making it extremely powerful.

Lu Yin put away his personal terminal, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He had never heard of the Heavenly Star Technique, but it was undoubtedly terrifying. Such a powerful cultivation method might come from the inner universe.

Lu Yin suppressed his excitement. He hadn't expected his luck to be so incredible. Theoretically, the probability of rolling a one and randomly obtaining a cultivation method or combat technique was very low. Even if the dice had stolen him a pair of underwear, he wouldn't have been surprised. But to get the Heavenly Star Technique on the first try, this cultivation method was enough to shape his future.

Unfortunately, it was only at the初级 level.

Lu Yin shook his head and laughed at himself. He was thinking too much. This cultivation method was definitely a treasure of a powerful force, and it was impossible for the entire method to be recorded on a chip. The storage method was extremely secure, and the chip that self-destructed was clearly a recent recording, likely stolen from some unlucky person. It would be extremely difficult to obtain the complete method.

Lu Yin stopped thinking about it, walked out of the tent, found a tree to lie on, and looked up at the sky, recalling the cultivation method of the Heavenly Star Technique. Mimicking the movement of stars? He would probably have to camp under the stars forever.

At the same time, deep in the vast universe, a towering peak floated, surrounded by dozens of stars. At the top, flames burned, resembling a cigarette tip from a distance. Every few seconds, the flames would extinguish and then reignite, the smoke spreading across the sky, as if wrapping the dark universe in a white ribbon.

Inside the peak, a loud roar echoed through the universe. "What did you say? Brat, the cultivation method is gone? Did you give it to that stinky woman again? Get over here!"

In the dark universe, a young man fled, covering his buttocks, looking quite miserable. "Dad, don't wrong me. I didn't, it's really gone, it's cursed."

"Brat, do you think your old man is an idiot? Who can steal from under my nose? Get over here!"

"No, Dad, it's really cursed."

...

After a night, Lu Yin had figured out nothing and entered the Zhongshan Mountain, looking somewhat tired.

In the largest meeting room inside Zhongshan Mountain, many people were seated, with the top seat empty.

Lu Yin entered the meeting room, and everyone looked at him, their gazes curious, friendly, questioning, and mixed with various emotions.

"Brother Lu, sit here," Feng Hong said as soon as he saw Lu Yin.

Lu Yin naturally sat next to him, and on the other side was the charming woman he had met last night.

Across from Lu Yin was the glasses-wearing woman he had met once.

Most of the people seated were battalion commanders, along with some researchers.

Soon, Zhou Shan entered the meeting room, his gaze sweeping the room, pausing on Lu Yin with a hint of confusion. He then sat in the top seat and smiled. "Let me introduce you all to Lu Yin, the new battalion commander."

Lu Yin stood up, nodded to everyone, and sat down again.

Introducing Lu Yin was just a formality. The meeting then discussed various matters, and Lu Yin wasn't interested in listening. The meeting ended after half an hour.

Everyone left, and Zhou Shan kept Lu Yin behind.

"Lu Yin, I thought you hadn't absorbed energy crystals for cultivation before. I was going to discuss it with you, but it seems you were just out of energy yesterday," Zhou Shan said, looking at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin nodded and said seriously, "Holy Punisher, that alien was very strong. Despite his severe injuries, he wasn't easy to deal with. I used all my energy to kill him."

"I can see that. He was a Heaven-level powerhouse. It's impressive that you could kill him," Zhou Shan said with a smile.

Lu Yin smiled but didn't respond.

"Word is that you visited the penal camp yesterday but didn't agree to stay. Why?" Zhou Shan asked, looking at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin replied, "I like freedom and can't stand the atmosphere of the military camp."

Zhou Shan nodded and sighed. "Many people think the same way. In reality, with the apocalypse, humans should unite. What can be sacrificed should be sacrificed."

"I understand, Holy Punisher," Lu Yin responded.

Zhou Shan hummed. "How are your injuries?"

"They're fine, I'll recover soon."

"That's one of the good things about evolvers—strong recovery abilities. Compared to ordinary people, evolvers are more dangerous. Once they taste power, they never want to be weak again. The more they want to be powerful, the more they have to push themselves. Many people have fallen on this path, and even I don't know when I'll die," Zhou Shan said with a sigh.