A sharp light flickered in Lin Yuan's eyes. He tightened his grip on the spear shaft, and the lightning ability he had been suppressing within his body poured into the spear without reservation.
The spearhead lit up with a blinding flash of lightning—though weak, it was enough for this moment.
At the same time, he lightly clenched his left hand at his side.
The surrounding air distorted silently.
The Ironclad Bull's roar suddenly slowed down. Its upward head-toss seemed to be pressed down by an invisible hand, falling behind by an entire beat.
Lin Yuan's speed, however, did not change at all—no, with the enhancement of his lightning ability, he was even faster than usual.
Between the fast and the slow, the spearhead pierced the Ironclad Bull's throat.
Lightning exploded.
The Ironclad Bull's massive body crashed to the ground.
【Killed Tier 1, Level 5 monster Ironclad Bull. Ability Points +35.】
Lin Yuan pulled out the long spear, flicked the blood off the tip, and turned to look at Zhao Tianyu and his two companions.
Zhao Tianyu's expression was beyond unsightly. He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
An F-rank lightning "trash" had solo-killed a Tier 1, Level 5 Ironclad Bull. Meanwhile, he, a B-rank fire "genius," along with two helpers, hadn't even managed to break through the monster's defense.
“The goods.” Lin Yuan reached out his hand.
Zhao Tianyu's face was ashen, but under the watchful eyes of others—even if it was just his two lackeys—he didn't have the face to go back on his word.
He gritted his teeth, took off the storage bag, pulled a faintly glowing card from his chest, and threw them to Lin Yuan.
“Let's go!”
Zhao Tianyu turned and left with a grim face.
The two lackeys hurried to follow, not even daring to look back.
Lin Yuan opened the storage bag and took a look—inside were a few monster cores and several low-level spirit herbs, which could be sold for two or three thousand Huaxia coins. Combined with that B-rank ability card, he had earned at least fifty thousand from this trip.
More importantly, the balance of Ability Points on the system panel had changed to 153.
“That's enough.”
Lin Yuan found a secluded rock crevice and sat down cross-legged.
【Consumed 100 Ability Points. Realm increased to Tier 1, Level 2.】
A warm power surged from his dantian and flowed through his limbs.
Lin Yuan could clearly feel his physical fitness improving—strength, speed, and reaction time had all increased by at least thirty percent from their original levels.
With 53 Ability Points remaining, he was in no rush to use them.
Night fell, and the howls of various monsters echoed across the wilderness.
Lin Yuan leaned against the rock, his right hand gripping the spear and his left palm turned upward.
With a slight thought...
The space above his palm rippled, and a small pebble vanished into thin air, reappearing on the ground three meters away a second later.
S-rank Space-Time Ruler.
Although it was only at the Tier 1, Level 1 stage, the range and duration it could affect were extremely limited.
But when combined with the spear techniques of 《Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens》, it was already enough to give him an absolute advantage in combat.
With a few brief time-stops and his lightning spear, he could kill a Tier 1, Level 5 Ironclad Bull. Monsters below Tier 1, Level 5 should be no problem at all.
Lin Yuan looked toward Donghai City, a faint smile touching his lips.
There were six days left until the ten-day promise.
The Su family wanted to use an S-rank ability user to suppress him?
Then he would show them what a real S-rank looked like.
It was already late at night when he returned to the city.
Lin Yuan signed the exit record at the wilderness entrance registration desk. When the registration uncle saw the word "solo" and looked at the Ironclad Bull materials on his shoulder, he remained silent for a long time.
“Are you really F-rank?”
“Yes.”
The uncle closed the registration book and said with a complex expression, “Young man, come back often.”
Lin Yuan smiled and carried the materials toward the trading market.
The Ironclad Bull's bony plates and horns sold for a decent amount of Huaxia coins. Along with the items from Zhao Tianyu's storage bag, he finally had some breathing room financially.
On the way back to the Old City District, he took a detour to a bookstore on East Street and bought a copy of 《Monster Encyclopedia: Donghai Wilderness Edition》 and a detailed map of the wilderness.
Knowing one's enemy as well as oneself was never a mistake.
It was past midnight by the time he reached home.
Lin Yuan took a shower, sat cross-legged on the bed, and opened the system panel.
【Host: Lin Yuan】
【Ability 1: Weak Spark (F-rank, Tier 1, Level 2)】
【Ability 2: Space-Time Ruler (S-rank, Tier 1, Level 1)】
【Ability Points: 53】
【Combat Skill: 《Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens》 (Mastery: Novice, 0/200 to upgrade)】
“There's still a long way to go.”
But that was fine.
He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his body as he began to stabilize the realm he had just broken into.
...
Over the next few days, Lin Yuan's life became as regular as a precision machine.
He woke up before dawn and left the city with his spear.
He hunted in the wilderness from morning until night. After dark, he returned to his small house in the Old City District, washed off the scent of blood, and sat cross-legged on his bed to cultivate.
However, his method of cultivation was different from everyone else's.
After an ordinary ability user awakened, their ability rank and realm were tied together—whatever rank the ability was, the realm followed suit.
Lin Yuan's situation was more unique.
The realms of his F-rank lightning ability and S-rank space-time ability were calculated separately.
Lightning was at Tier 1, Level 3, while space-time was at Tier 1, Level 1.
This meant he had to spend double the time and double the resources to advance both paths simultaneously.
Normally, this would be an absolutely insane choice.
Ignoring an S-rank ability to train an F-rank "mobile lightbulb"?
But Lin Yuan had discovered a secret that no one else knew.
Last night, when he broke through to Tier 1, Level 3 in his lightning ability, he felt the space-time ability tremble slightly as well.
Although its realm hadn't changed, his sense of control over space-time power was a fraction clearer than before.
He verified this three times and finally confirmed one thing—
The lightning ability was his "anchor."
Space-time power was too elusive.
It didn't belong to the physical world and existed outside the rules. To master it, one needed extremely strong mental power and a stable "coordinate system."
And the lightning ability provided exactly that. Lightning was one of the most violent and direct forms of energy in the universe; its very existence was a form of spatial positioning.
The stronger the lightning, the steadier the anchor, and the higher the potential of the space-time ability.
In other words, his two abilities were not parallel lines, but an intertwined spiral.
The deeper he cultivated the F-rank lightning, the greater the power his S-rank space-time ability could exert.
“So that's how it is.”
Lin Yuan sat on a rock in the wilderness, a few sparks of electricity dancing between his fingers, lost in thought.
No wonder the system had given him a lightning spear technique.
No wonder 《Thunder Walk Through Nine Heavens》, which clearly required lightning to drive it, allowed him to faintly touch the tracks of space-time.
The spear strikes like thunder, and the lightning anchors space-time.
Rate on N.U.
