An unknown amount of time passed. Lu Yin heard the sound of dripping water and a strange buzzing, like the sound of insect wings rubbing together.
He slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a bizarre insect. He subconsciously wanted to swallow it, but when he licked his dry, cracked lips, he realized he was parched. He wanted water.
At that moment, the insect flapped its wings and flew away.
A dark red light pierced his vision. Lu Yin closed his eyes, then opened them again. The old, thin-as-firewood man appeared before him.
Seeing the old man, Lu Yin's expression changed. He instinctively tried to get up, but his whole body was numb... Numb? Wait, it's not gone, is it? He forced his eyes down toward his body. He looked... good, he was intact.
Plop. A large piece of roasted meat was placed in front of Lu Yin. "Eat. You haven't eaten in a month."
Lu Yin stared at the meat, swallowing. He found he had no saliva. He suppressed the urge to bite down and looked at the old man.
The old man gave a strange laugh. "Relax. It's not 'white meat'."
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed, his gaze flickering.
The old man shook his head and stepped aside. Behind him was the massive, three-meter-long carcass of an insect, its legs torn off, the minced meat vaguely visible.
Lu Yin, confirming it wasn't "white meat," immediately bit down, swallowing without even chewing. The large piece of meat was gone in an instant, followed by an unbearable thirst.
The old man raised a finger. A small drop of water on the cave wall slowly flew into Lu Yin's mouth. Like a parched desert finding rain, Lu Yin drank for a long time before recovering. He licked his lips and asked in a hoarse voice, "Why did you save me?"
The old man sat down in front of Lu Yin. "I didn't save you for free."
"Conditions," Lu Yin's voice was low.
The old man smiled. On his skull-like face, such a smile was chilling. "I want you to help me bring something to the 'New Universe'."
"New Universe?" Lu Yin was lost.
The old man said, "You don't need to know now. When you have the ability to go to the First Flow-Zone of the Innerverse, you will naturally learn all about the New Universe."
Lu Yin smiled bitterly. "You think I still have the ability to go to the Innerverse? I can't even get off this planet."
"No rush, no rush. There will be a way," the old man said slowly. As if remembering something, he added, "I almost forgot. To ensure you keep your promise, I've planted a 'dark-jìn' (hidden energy) in you. This 'dark-jìn' can only be removed by the person I'll have you meet. No one else, not even a Hunter-realm expert, can remove it. You can let them try if you don't believe me, heh heh."
Lu Yin didn't care. He was already close to death; why would he care about some "dark-jìn"?
"Where is this place?" Lu Yin asked.
"Planet Toflo. A planet at the end of its road, about to be destroyed," the old man replied. He then raised his hand and began carving something on the stone wall with Star Energy.
Lu Yin watched for a while, his expression odd. He could understand the characters the old man was carving, but only the characters themselves, not their meaning.
After a full half-hour, the old man finally stopped, let out a breath, and looked at the stone wall with a complex expression. He then turned to Lu Yin. "Memorize it."
Lu Yin was stunned. "What?"
"I said, memorize it!" the old man snapped, his tone unpleasant.
Lu Yin was speechless. "It took you half an hour to write it, and you want me to memorize it? How long is that going to take?"
The old man stared at Lu Yin. "Either memorize it, or go outside and become 'white meat'."
Lu Yin was helpless. "Fine, I'll memorize it. But don't blame me if it takes too long."
"You couldn't rush it even if you wanted to," the old man said with a sigh. He then lost interest in talking and left the cave.
Lu Yin, still lying prone on the ground, unable to move, looked up at the wall. "Goodness in all things, the Heavenly Dao's deficiency. Leap to the starry sky and rest, the Heavenly Dao's surplus. Leap to the vastness and rest, transform qi to gather, inhale and exhale the hundred rivers..."
With Lu Yin's Melt-realm strength, his body's various aspects, including memory, were greatly enhanced. Memorizing a passage wasn't hard. The hard part was that this passage was bizarre. As he memorized it, he felt a sense of pressure, as if he were being watched by something in the dark, but it was indistinct. After only twenty-odd minutes, his mind grew dizzy, and he passed out again.
The old man returned to the cave and glanced at him. "If I hadn't interrupted you, you wouldn't have even been able to memorize a single sentence." He looked at the wall. "I hope this can truly be passed down."
...
Half a day later, Lu Yin woke up, his head splitting. What's going on? I get a headache from memorizing? What is this stuff?
"Continue memorizing," the old man said flatly, sitting not far away.
Lu Yin looked at him. "Can I ask what's the use of memorizing this?"
The old man said lightly, "Go to the New Universe. Copy this down for the person I tell you to meet."
"Alright," Lu Yin replied.
The old man glanced at him. "Memorizing this is good for you. Didn't you notice? The more you memorize, the greater the pressure?"
Lu Yin frowned (though his eyebrows were burnt off). "What's the good of pressure?"
The old man looked up. "A person is divided into body and spirit. Some powers target the body, some target the spirit. This pressure is tempering your spirit, leaving you with no weaknesses."
Lu Yin thought of the White Night Clan. Their techniques were unique. For example, Ghost-Fire was immune to physical attacks but couldn't block the White Night Fist. This was because their techniques had an effect that seemed to injure the soul. That was a weakness.
"Alright, continue memorizing," the old man gave him a "sweetener" (incentive), then snapped.
Lu Yin exhaled, looked up at the wall, and began to recite.
This time, he lasted nearly half an hour before fainting, a few minutes longer than last time. But compared to the full text on the wall, he had only memorized a tiny fraction.
...
Unknowingly, half a month passed. For half a month, Lu Yin had been continuously reciting the text on the wall. From passing out after 20 minutes, he could now last for an hour. In the old man's words, if he could one day recite the entire text from start to finish, perhaps no one below the Hunter-realm could harm his spirit.
It was just encouragement, Lu Yin knew, but he accepted it because it was genuinely effective. He could feel his spirit becoming tougher. The most obvious example was... he could "carry" (endure) hunger better.
In half a month, he had memorized half of the text. Although the old man scolded him for being untalented, Lu Yin was satisfied. An outsider couldn't possibly understand the pain he was enduring. Every day, he woke up, recited, and fainted. This cycle was agonizing. The good news was that his body had also recovered a lot.
That beam of light had nearly destroyed his body. But for some reason, it had recovered a bit when he landed on this planet, and now it had recovered even more. At least his arms could move.
"Your body is strange. Very strong," the old man spoke. This was the first time he had spoken in half a month. Every day, aside from supervising Lu Yin, he would go out, and return in low spirits.
Lu Yin glanced at him. "Strange?"
The old man said flatly, "Very few people could survive your injuries. Not in the Outerverse, the Innerverse, or the New Universe. An injury like that should have been fatal. For you to survive... it's a miracle."
Lu Yin's heart stirred. He had always felt his body was strange, ever since breaking through to the Melt-realm. His physical body had become somewhat terrifying. How to put it... monstrously strong, and it was constantly getting stronger. Even Grandmaster Sa Hai had marveled at it. The first time in the Purgatory Path, Van Kleed's spear hadn't pierced his body but had shattered his organs. And in the Transmission-Field-War, aside from the Explorer-realm expert who knocked him out, no one else could even harm his body.
Breaking through to the Melt-realm shouldn't have caused such a massive change. He didn't know what he had gone through.
"Can you see what's strange about my body?" Lu Yin asked expectantly.
The old man shook his head. "Continue memorizing."
Lu Yin sighed and looked back at the wall.
The old man lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over Lu Yin again. This 'trial-subject's' (person's) body is even stranger than he says. Either he has consumed some incredible heavenly treasure, or... it's the talent of some powerful clan. To survive that... such a clan shouldn't exist.
The old man thought for a moment, then looked away, smiling bitterly. What ability do I have now to pry into others' secrets? As long as I can preserve that one sliver of hope, it's enough.
...
In the blink of an eye, another half a month passed. Lu Yin had memorized all the text on the wall. However, he could only recite it in sections; memorizing it all at once was impossible.
Seeing the old man go out, Lu Yin's expression flickered. He slowly sat up. He... could move. He casually rubbed his skin, and a piece flaked off. This was his old skin shedding. The severe injury had forced his body to regenerate, and all the dead skin was peeling away.
He touched his head. Still bald, but a new layer of barely visible, dense hair roots was there. His hair would probably grow back soon.
He lowered his hand, his eyes cold. The attack at Pirate Harbor was unforgettable. This experience had been crueler than the Earth trial; he had nearly become "white meat."
Looking outside the cave, Lu Yin walked out and looked up at the sky.
Dark red, thick clouds piled up, streaked by lightning. It was an apocalyptic scene. Thick smoke rose from the ground, and intense tremors shook the land.
Lu Yin looked at the ground, following the footprints until he found the old man.
At this moment, the old man was sitting in front of a raised mound, weeping and muttering something.
Lu Yin listened for a while. It turned out his grandson was buried there.
The old man went out every day. First, to hunt. Second, to come here and mourn.
"Grandpa knows it's cold down there. Don't worry, Grandpa will be with you soon. I won't let you be lonely," the old man said his last words, then slowly stood up.
Lu Yin immediately left.
When he returned to the cave, the old man wasn't back yet. He must have gone hunting. Lu Yin began to absorb the scattered Star Energy. It was too thin. He unconsciously activated the Heavenly Star Art, and nine stars began to circle.
Nine stars meant nine times the speed. Even if the Star Energy here was sparse, it was still drawn in like a vortex, though the vortex itself still looked very faint.
The old man, dragging a huge insect carcass, walked toward the cave. He sensed something unusual, dropped the carcass, and entered. The moment he saw Lu Yin, his expression changed. "Is this... the Heavenly Star Art?"
Lu Yin, still focused on absorbing Star Energy, had no idea he'd been discovered.