Stellar Magic Manifests from My Palm

That night, at Mount Zhong, Xu San was sent away, and Lu Yin once again came to the big tree outside the military tent, looking up at the sky.

The apocalypse had purified the Earth's air, allowing him to see more stars.

For several days, he had been practicing the Celestial Star Technique. Mimicking the movements of celestial bodies was not easy. Lu Yin originally had no clue, but today, after touching the slash marks left by Zhou Shan, he vaguely sensed the power from his battle with Auden. Feeling inspired, he focused his gaze on the night sky.

As time passed, the noise around him gradually disappeared, and the other stars he could see also slowly faded away, leaving only the moon shining brightly.

This beam of light illuminated the night sky and Lu Yin, making everything else disappear from his sight.

Unconsciously, Lu Yin raised his hand, and ripples formed in the air. Energy seemed to be visibly absorbed into his body. In his palm, a star dimly shone, resembling the moon, rotating around his hand. When his palm moved, the star appeared—this was the Celestial Palm.

Lu Yin's body shook as he snapped out of it, staring in shock at the star in his palm. He could feel the terrifying power of this star. Although he had no way to compare it, Lu Yin believed that this palm strike might even astonish Zhou Shan.

He casually dispersed the star, feeling the surging star energy within his body. This was the energy he had absorbed, not limited by energy crystals, absorbed anytime, anywhere, and twice as fast as Astar and the others. This was the Celestial Star Technique—he had finally grasped it.

When Lu Yin dispersed the star in his palm, Zhou Shan suddenly opened his eyes. For a moment, he felt a twinge of apprehension, but it quickly disappeared. "Was it an illusion? It seems today's battle was too exhausting."

The next day, Lu Yin received a notification: the Punishment Saint Zhou Shan personally ordered him to support the northern front.

The northern front was the battlefield connecting Jinling to the northern capital. Zhou Shan had always wanted to link Jinling with the capital and then connect with the other six saints to jointly reclaim China. While the idea was sound, it was extremely difficult. Just opening a small path had taken months, and not even a tenth of the distance had been cleared, with communication lines long severed.

The front was crucial to Zhou Shan. Despite the difficulties, he focused his efforts there. Half of the fourteen battalion commanders of the penal battalion were at the front, showing Zhou Shan's determination to connect with the capital.

This time, Lu Yin, Kang Dafeng, and Luo Yun were sent to the front. Luo Yun, a very seductive-looking battalion commander, had always been curious about Lu Yin.

Leading an army of ten thousand, Lu Yin and the others set out from Jinling, heading north.

"Rather than supporting the front, it's more accurate to say we're repairing the roads," Luo Yun said wearily.

The army had been marching for a day with little rest, so it was no wonder Luo Yun was complaining.

The journey was bumpy, often requiring vehicle repairs and road leveling, slowing their progress.

Inside another armored vehicle, Lu Yin rested with his eyes closed, occasionally looking up at the sky. He wondered if he could simulate the sun's trajectory. If successful, his star energy absorption rate would double. He felt he was not far from the Exploration Realm.

However, simulating the sun was not easy. Perhaps he should start with the Earth, using peaceful era star maps and videos.

The goal was to capture the feeling of the universe's movement, so Lu Yin continuously tried.

Passing through a city, flames burned on both sides, zombies roamed, occasionally attacking the convoy, only to be mowed down by gunfire.

"Hold your fire. We have limited ammo," Kang Dafeng scolded, and the gunfire frequency significantly decreased.

Inside the armored vehicle, Xu San sneered, "The longer the apocalypse lasts, the less useful hot weapons become. If we don't use them now, when will we? Soon these guns will be worthless scrap."

Lu Yin looked out the window at the gathering zombies, frowning. "Tell them to speed up. We can't get surrounded by a zombie horde in the city. It'll waste too much time."

"Got it, boss," Xu San responded, stepping out of the armored vehicle.

Soon, the convoy picked up speed.

After defeating Zhao Yu, Lu Yin had a high status among the battalion commanders. Kang Dafeng and Luo Yun didn't dare oppose him.

Speaking of Zhao Yu, Lu Yin truly admired her courage. She had traversed dangerous territories alone and safely reached Jinling—an uncommon bravery.

Not long after, the convoy stopped. The road ahead was destroyed and under repair.

Lu Yin closed his eyes, tapping his fingers in the air, occasionally rotating them, mimicking the trajectory of celestial bodies.

Suddenly, a shout rang out as Kang Dafeng attacked zombies, cursing loudly.

Lu Yin glanced over, uninterested.

Xu San praised, "As expected of a battalion commander. The zombies are fleeing in terror."

"Tell Kang Dafeng to return and keep moving. There are too many zombies to kill them all," Lu Yin said coldly.

Xu San nodded, about to step out of the vehicle, but hesitated and turned back. "Boss, Kang Dafeng chased the zombies into that abandoned building."

Lu Yin looked over, his face growing serious.

"Boss, what's wrong?" Xu San asked.

Lu Yin squinted his eyes. "No sound."

Xu San thought for a moment. "You're right. There's no fighting sound from that building."

"Lu Brother, where did Kang Dafeng go?" Luo Yun asked, approaching.

Lu Yin replied sternly, "Stay here. I'll check it out." He then grabbed an iron rod and headed toward the abandoned building.

Astar's dagger was still in Jinling. Lu Yin never expected the penal battalion to return it, and he refused Zhou Shan's offer of a steel knife, continuing to use the iron rod.

The building's exterior was burning, appearing exceptionally eerie even in sunlight.

Lu Yin slowly entered the building, spotting Kang Dafeng's knife, but not the man himself.

Step by step, Lu Yin walked inside, retrieving Astar's personal terminal from his spatial ring. He tapped a few times, calculating combat strength. The terminal's arrow pointed to the right rear, displaying a number—nine hundred.

Lu Yin suddenly dodged as a white thread shot through the air, smashing into the wall, leaving a massive crack.

He looked up, seeing a gigantic mutated spider with six pairs of blood-red eyes, holding a blood-stained piece of fabric from the penal battalion in its mouth.

Sighing, Lu Yin realized Kang Dafeng was dead, devoured by this mutated spider. He had arrived too late.

The spider had a combat power of nine hundred, equivalent to the peak of the Earth-level. Kang Dafeng had only recently reached the Earth-level, making him no match.

Gripping the iron rod tightly, Lu Yin charged forward. The spider tried to evade, but Lu Yin's speed surpassed it. In an instant, he appeared behind the spider, slashing down with the rod, slicing through its body and spilling out Kang Dafeng's partially digested remains.

Disgusted by the scene, Lu Yin frowned and left.

Returning to the convoy, Lu Yin ordered Xu San to announce that no one was allowed to leave the convoy. Violators would be expelled from the penal battalion.

"Kang Dafeng is really dead?" Luo Yun asked, shocked.

"You can check the building yourself. His body is still recognizable," Lu Yin replied coldly.

Luo Yun turned pale. A battalion commander died just like that, without a sound. If not for Lu Yin, Kang Dafeng would have been fully digested by the spider. This was the harsh reality of the apocalypse, where even battalion commanders couldn't protect themselves.

Xu San, equally pale, climbed back into the armored vehicle, deciding never to leave Lu Yin's side.

Luo Yun also joined Lu Yin's vehicle, unwilling to leave.

"It's fine as long as you don't leave the convoy," Lu Yin said.

Luo Yun rolled her eyes. "That's easy to say. Who knows what other mutated creatures are out there? It's safer with you."

Lu Yin ignored her, ordering the convoy to move on.

"Boss, should we report this to Jinling? A battalion commander's death is a big deal," Xu San asked.

"There's no rush. We'll report it when we reach the front line. We might not even make it there alive," Lu Yin said.

Xu San paled further at this.

Luo Yun nervously licked her lips, instinctively moving closer to Lu Yin.

"It won't be that bad. We'll make it to the front line safely," Xu San tried to reassure himself.

Lu Yin looked out the window as the convoy moved slowly.

"Still, Kang Dafeng was unlucky to chase the zombies into that building. Otherwise, he wouldn't have died," Xu San muttered, feeling safer when talking.

Unintentionally, Xu San's words made Lu Yin snap his head up. "What did you say? Repeat that."

Xu San was confused. "I said Kang Dafeng was unlucky to chase the zombies into that building. Otherwise, he wouldn't have died."

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. Chase, zombies, building—something didn't add up. Zombies had no consciousness but acted on instinct, avoiding danger. That mutated spider was clearly very dangerous. Zombies shouldn't approach it, yet they fled into that building. Why? After experiencing many dangers in the apocalypse, Lu Yin understood zombies well. Even fearing Kang Dafeng, they wouldn't flee toward a more dangerous creature.