…..
“There’s still plenty of time,” Lin Yuan said.
He stopped on the twentieth step.
By now, he had completed nearly one-tenth of his journey to the peak.
Lin Yuan looked up towards the summit and noticed that the silver-haired woman had reached the very top few steps.
However, it was clear that her complexion had turned somewhat pale.
The final few steps seemed to cause her considerable discomfort.
“It’s a pity I didn’t go all out to exert my strength, and just resisting spiritual attacks doesn’t really reveal much…”
Lin Yuan felt a slight regret; he had hoped to continue gleaning insights from her, as realizations about space are quite rare.
But to achieve any understanding, she would need to make a move.
Like when the silver-haired woman employed the spatial step, Lin Yuan saw it and started to gain insights into that aspect.
If it were just about watching the person,
then Lin Yuan’s gains could be in other areas.
Like how to turn his hair silver, or how to transform into the opposite sex—utterly meaningless epiphanies.
“Friend, what are you looking at?”
Just as Lin Yuan was contemplating, a voice came from beside him.
She was also a Golden Pattern Challenger, a prodigy born from a thousand life planets.
But at the moment, this Golden Pattern Challenger was somewhat out of breath. Climbing twenty consecutive steps in a short time was equivalent to withstanding twenty spiritual attacks, each stronger than the last.
The experience was quite unpleasant.
“Nothing much.”
“I’m watching that red pattern, looks like she’s about to pass the Seven Star Cave challenge.”
Lin Yuan found a casual excuse.
“Yin Ling, huh… I know her. Her mentor is the renowned Sixth Rank Fallen Star Warrior. This time, she’s participating in the Seven Star Cave challenge, hoping to become a disciple of those three,” said the Golden Pattern Evolver with a grin.
If you stay on a particular step, you will continue to face the soul attacks of that step.
But the time interval is at least one to two minutes, and the intensity is consistent, so as long as you survive the first wave, there isn’t much problem afterward.
“Those three?”
Lin Yuan knew of whom she spoke.
They were the three strongest disciples of the Chikun Star Lord.
Each was a being exceeding Sixth Rank.
“It seems that the Chikun Star Lord is quite adept at teaching disciples…” Lin Yuan remarked.
Each being that surpassed Sixth Rank needed to carve out their own path.
External help wasn’t much use; the Chikun Star Lord being able to mentor three disciples of such caliber showed he was quite skilled in this area.
“That’s indeed true.”
“Not just that.”
“The Star Lord’s strength is commanding.”
“In the war against the Insect Race, the Star Lord manifested his True Body and downed an Insect Race Hive in one gulp,” the Golden Pattern Evolver spoke with obvious admiration for the Chikun Star Lord.
He knew very well of the Chikun Star Lord’s many feats of valor.
“An Insect Race Hive?”
Lin Yuan’s expression grew slightly solemn.
Each Insect Race Hive was under the watch of an Insect Queen.
And a queen capable of forging her own hive would surpass the Sixth Rank according to the strength classification of the Human Race.
An Insect Race Hive could continuously spawn Insect Race Warriors.
First Rank, Second Layer, Third Rank, Fourth Rank, Fifth Rank, and even Sixth Rank could be produced in large quantities.
For other races, reaching Fifth or Sixth Rank was a matter of countless years, with perhaps one emerging from millions.
But for the Insect Race… as long as there was sufficient energy, the queens could create without limit.
A Sixth Rank Insect Race Warrior might not match a Human Race Sixth Rank Evolver in direct combat power,
But the sheer numbers are overwhelming: ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand Sixth Rank Insect Race Warriors—can they not defeat a single Sixth Rank Evolver?
This is the terror of the Insect Race, with their Sea of Insects Tactics, they stand nearly at the peak of the Cosmic Starry Sky.
The humans’ war with the Insect Race didn’t start off very smoothly, but luckily, humanity had an edge in peak combat power over the Insect Race.
That’s how the current situation was formed.
The Chikun Star Lord swallowing an Insect Race Hive on the battlefield was a tremendous achievement—indirectly saving the lives of countless Human Race Evolvers.
Of course, as the source of the Insect Race, the Hives would be protected to the highest degree and were not an easy target.
Many Evolvers exceeding Sixth Rank often disappeared under the overwhelming tide of Insect Race Warriors before even finding the Hive.
And the Hives weren’t defenseless; they had their own means of survival.
The Golden Pattern Evolver chatted with Lin Yuan for a while.
Then she went offline to rest.
Lin Yuan continued to stay on this step for a little while.
After a while, he climbed a few more steps.
Then he also disconnected from the Virtual World and returned to reality.
“Somewhat tired…” Lin Yuan rubbed his brow.
In fact, once reaching the level of a Fourth Rank Evolver, the physical body hardly felt any fatigue.
With the circulation of qi and blood, inhaling the pervasive Power of Taiyin and Taiyang between heaven and earth, they resembled a weakened version of a ‘Perpetual Motion Machine.’
But while the body wasn’t tired, the mind certainly was.
Especially when subject to spiritual attacks, even with Against-Heaven’s Understanding slowly bolstering the soul’s defenses, prolonged strain still led to exhaustion.
“Time to sleep.”
Lin Yuan closed his eyes.
He had not slept for a long time.
Now was the perfect time to have a good sleep.
One day later.
Lin Yuan opened his eyes.
He felt completely refreshed, with all fatigue swept away.
[Because of your Against-Heaven’s Understanding, having suffered a great amount of soul attacks, you have comprehended the soul defense secret technique ‘Mind Palace’…]
Hum.
Within the Niwan Palace in the center of his forehead,
a great amount of soul power began to surge, and the black and white Yin-Yang Taiji ‘star system’ also started to vibrate.
Ultimately, a translucent five-colored pagoda took shape, enveloping the entire Niwan Palace within.
“Soul defense secret technique…”
Lin Yuan’s heart was filled with joy.
He could feel that, outside the Niwan Palace, the invisible pagoda constructed from his own soul power had defensive capabilities that even surpassed the ‘Soul Suppressing Bell’.
What was this concept?
The Soul Suppressing Bell is a weapon for soul defense, capable of guarding the soul. And now Lin Yuan, without relying on the Soul Suppressing Bell, could achieve the same thing? Or even surpass it?
“From now on, even if I shuttle through worlds, I probably don’t have to worry about soul defense.”
Lin Yuan was in a good mood.
When shuttling through the Door to the Myriad Realms, unless his physical body passed through, Lin Yuan couldn’t bring the Soul Suppressing Bell with him when only his consciousness descended.
But now, with the soul defense secret technique, even without the aid of the Soul Suppressing Bell, Lin Yuan had enough confidence in his soul defense.
“Keep going, keep going.”
Lin Yuan was full of motivation and reconnected to the Virtual World, entering the Seven Star Cave World again.
Whoosh.
Fifth Star Cave.
Midway up the mountain.
Lin Yuan’s figure suddenly appeared.
“Hm?”
Lin Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly.
The moment he appeared, the soul attack belonging to this level of the stairways descended upon him.
However, this soul attack hadn’t even reached the Niwan Palace before it was blocked by the invisible pagoda.
“Mind Palace…”
Lin Yuan couldn’t help but marvel.
The soul attack from this level of stairways was capable of shaking the outer defenses of Lin Yuan’s soul.
But now, faced with this soul defense secret technique, it couldn’t shake him, let alone affect him.
“Disperse.”
With just a thought from Lin Yuan,
the invisible Mind Palace began to dissipate.
Since it was a soul defense secret technique, it was naturally controllable.
To continue benefiting from the soul attacks of the star cave, Lin Yuan would certainly not allow the Mind Palace to block his path.
Boom, boom, boom.
As time passed.
Lin Yuan increasingly felt the enhancement from the soul attacks slowing down.
Until eventually, they had no effect at all.
Because even if Lin Yuan stood motionless,
the descending soul attacks could no longer threaten him.
“It’s about time.”
Lin Yuan thought to himself.
At this moment, he had reached the last step.
“On to the next star cave.”
Unknowingly, Lin Yuan had spent more than half a month in this star cave already.
Although he had quite a bit of time left in the month he could stay, since he couldn’t glean any more benefits, there wasn’t any reason to continue lingering.
“There are still quite a few Evolvers…”
Lin Yuan glanced downward.
At the foot and mid-levels of the mountain, numerous Evolvers were scattered about.
These Evolvers, mostly with silver patterns, passed the Fourth Star Cave’s challenges and arrived at the Fifth Star Cave, where they were struggling hard against the soul attacks.
“Let’s go.”
Lin Yuan’s figure flashed,
and he directly reached the mountain’s summit.
Hum.
A slight spatial fluctuation was transmitted.
The next moment,
Lin Yuan had already disappeared from the mountaintop.
Heading towards the Sixth Star Cave.
…
Mysterious Space.
Upon seeing Lin Yuan pass through the Fifth Star Cave, the twelve silhouettes breathed a sigh of relief.
“He finally made it past.”
“The difficulty of the Sixth Star Cave isn’t great. Having passed the Fifth Star Cave, it’s just a matter of time for the Sixth.”
Among the three figures at the top, ‘Gu Ze’ looked towards Lin Yuan, his face expressing anticipation.
He was very curious to see how Lin Yuan would perform in the Seventh Star Cave.