After returning to his small courtyard, Lin Yuan took out a scroll, a satisfied expression appearing on his face.
"The Hidden Abyss Technique, isn't it better to hide in the depths than to stand atop the peak? I like this concept."
Three days later, in Lin Yuan's courtyard.
As Lin Yuan completed the hand seals, his aura began to drop from a two-star Great Fighter until it stabilized at the two-star Fighter level.
Feeling his current cultivation and aura, Lin Yuan revealed a slight smile of satisfaction. "It's done. The Hidden Abyss Technique is simpler than I thought. For now, I'll just show the strength of a two-star Fighter to the outside world."
"Next," Lin Yuan glanced at his storage ring, turned, and walked towards the Law Enforcement Office. After selecting a task outside the academy, he left the Canaan Academy.
Half a day later, Lin Yuan arrived at a remote valley in the Black Corner Region. This was a secluded, uninhabited valley he had discovered while training with the Law Enforcement Team in the Black Corner Region. There were no rare materials or treasures here; it was a very isolated place.
After thoroughly using his soul power to scan the surroundings, Lin Yuan felt relieved. He found a quiet spot, sat cross-legged, and after a moment of adjusting his breath, he took out a Life-Devouring Pill.
"Ah, Life-Devouring Pill, you will become the wings on my path to rise." Lin Yuan stared at the high-quality Life-Devouring Pill in his hand for a moment, his eyes sharpening as he swallowed it in one gulp.
Once the pill entered his mouth, it transformed into a blood-colored light mass, pulsating with a rhythm akin to life, as if resonating with his heart, drawing from Lin Yuan's life force while releasing unimaginable energy. This energy surged wildly into the azure Fighting Crystal within Lin Yuan's body, quickly filling it to capacity, forcing the Fighting Crystal to undergo a transformation step by step, soon reaching the limit of a Great Fighter.
At the same time, a powerful energy flowed from the pill, continuously bursting and repairing Lin Yuan's physical body, making it even more solid and formidable.
After a while, the azure diamond-shaped Fighting Crystal emitted a burst of light. The originally somewhat irregular crystal gradually became smooth and round under the infusion of energy.
As the crystal's body became round, the sharp edges surrounding it protruded, making the crystal resemble a sea urchin covered in spikes, which was the Fighting Spirit's sea urchin Fighting Crystal.
As if sensing the sea urchin Fighting Crystal, even more powerful energy continuously released from the Life-Devouring Pill, flooding towards the sea urchin Fighting Crystal. As the energy surged in, the nine "energy spikes" of the sea urchin Fighting Crystal retracted one by one. After a while, all nine energy spikes had completely retracted, and Lin Yuan reached the peak of the Fighting Spirit.
As the sea urchin Fighting Crystal transformed into a sphere, it emitted a rhythm. The energy that had previously entered Lin Yuan's body, constantly damaging and repairing it, seemed to resonate with this rhythm. At a certain moment, the Fighting Crystal suddenly transformed into a pool of viscous liquid, which quickly flowed throughout Lin Yuan's body. Whenever this liquid energy touched his meridians, bones, and flesh, it merged and slowly integrated into his body!
As the liquid energy integrated, Lin Yuan's body underwent continuous transformation, gradually filling with increasingly powerful strength.
At a certain moment, a fierce aura erupted from Lin Yuan, surpassing that of a Fighting Spirit, startling many birds in the vicinity.
As Lin Yuan broke through to the Fighting King level, the energy from the Life-Devouring Pill was consumed at an even faster rate. Meanwhile, Lin Yuan's aura grew increasingly powerful. After a quarter of an hour, the energy from the Life-Devouring Pill was completely exhausted, and Lin Yuan's cultivation stabilized at the two-star Fighting King level.
At this moment, Lin Yuan, who had been keeping his eyes closed in introspection, finally opened them, wiped the crimson at the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face as he exclaimed, "So this is what it feels like to break through to the Fighting King with the Life-Devouring Pill. What a remarkable pill, truly worthy of being a peak-grade seventh-tier pill."
Then, Lin Yuan stood up, preparing to leave quickly to avoid anyone sensing his breakthrough and coming to investigate. As he got up, he felt a moment of dizziness and noticed a few strands of gray hair among the long hair hanging by his ear.
"Did the Life-Devouring Pill take away my vitality? Heh."
Not paying much attention to the lost vitality, Lin Yuan activated the fighting energy within him, feeling an unprecedented sense of power fill his body.
"The power of a Fighting King is indeed worlds apart from that of a Great Fighter."
As he activated his soul power, Lin Yuan discovered that his soul power had also made significant progress with his breakthrough in cultivation. This realization caused the usually composed Lin Yuan to reveal a genuine smile.
"My soul power has also made such a great breakthrough; this was worth it!"
Using the Hidden Abyss Technique, Lin Yuan quickly concealed his aura and swiftly left the ground.
At this time, far away in the city of Wutan in the Gama Empire, a shout filled with youthful anger and determination erupted from the mouth of a young man who had been rejected in marriage.
"Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the poor youth!"
Half a month later, in a remote valley of the Black Corner Region, a streak of azure light swiftly danced in the sky, like a blue ribbon flowing through the air. It was Lin Yuan, who was consolidating his cultivation and practicing fighting techniques.
After a while, the light descended to the ground, and as the azure fire wings retracted, Lin Yuan, dressed in a blue robe, revealed a satisfied smile.
"It's been half a month; I can finally skillfully use the power of a two-star Fighting King. The Dragon Step has also been perfected, and I've completed the task. I should catch a few fish before heading back."
After thinking for a moment, Lin Yuan used the Hidden Abyss Technique to conceal his cultivation to that of a three-star Great Fighter. He skillfully took out a thin, human-skin-like mask and changed his handsome youthful face to that of a twenty-year-old young man. He donned a luxurious robe, took out three storage rings to wear on his hands, and wore a proud smile, displaying an arrogant expression that suggested he was unaware of the vastness of the world.
He presented himself as someone with high cultivation, a good background, and no shortage of money, resembling the kind of young genius favored by various talents in the Black Corner Region, who was oblivious to the dangers of the world.
This was one of the new identities Lin Yuan had created, a wealthy young master from the Golden Goose Empire, named Jin Shaoyu.
After donning the disguise, Lin Yuan left the valley and headed towards some auction houses in the Black Corner Region, preparing to cast his bait.
"I hope I can catch a few fat fish this time."
Wearing the identity of a wealthy young master from the Golden Goose Empire, Lin Yuan first attended a mid-to-low-end auction in the Black Corner Region. After confirming with his powerful soul power that no experts above the Fighting King level were present, he boldly bid on several items that Fighting Spirit experts were interested in, deliberately provoking others' greed and murderous intent.
He even loudly proclaimed his identity as a wealthy young master from the Golden Goose Empire at the auction, deepening the impression of a young man who was unaware of the world's dangers due to his recent success.
As Lin Yuan left the auction house, he noticed the mocking and pitying expressions in the eyes of the auction staff, which did not escape his notice.
"Very good, it seems this act went well. Fishing should be successful!"
After the auction ended, Lin Yuan quickly set off towards Peace Town, not giving others much time to think or plot, igniting the greed of those who might consider blackmailing him.
Finally, someone unable to control their greed stopped Lin Yuan, preparing to rob him.
"Kid, hand over your storage rings, and I'll spare your life." A male six-star Fighting Spirit erupted with fierce fighting energy, coldly addressing Lin Yuan.
At that moment, another six-star Fighting Spirit joined in, grinning, "This prey is also mine." Looking at Lin Yuan, he mockingly said, "Kid, this is the Black Corner Region. The young master of the Golden Goose Empire, your family has no power here. Having money to buy things doesn't guarantee you can use them. Killing arrogant geniuses like you brings me great pleasure, haha."
Soon, two more groups joined in: one was a five-star Fighting Spirit, and the other was a three-star and a four-star Fighting Spirit, the very two groups whose items Lin Yuan had snatched at the auction. Both groups expressed that they only wanted to take back the items Lin Yuan had bid on.
After waiting a moment and seeing the few people in front of him begin to argue about how to divide the spoils, Lin Yuan thought to himself, "There shouldn't be more than this. It seems this is the harvest for this time, so it's time to net them!"
The moment Lin Yuan decided to act, his fighting energy erupted violently. In the instant his Fighting King aura burst forth, the few people were caught off guard by the unexpected pressure. Lin Yuan, with excellent control over his fighting energy, simultaneously used the advanced Dragon Step and the low-level Instant Step, while his right hand quickly condensed a spiral energy blast, instantly launching a surprise attack on a six-star Fighting Spirit, killing him on the spot.
In the moment of completing the ambush, Lin Yuan shot several fireballs from his left hand towards the remaining four, forcing them to hurriedly activate their fighting energy for defense.
At the same time, as Lin Yuan launched the fireballs, he swiftly charged towards another six-star Fighting Spirit. The hurriedly condensed defensive energy of the other six-star Fighting Spirit collapsed instantly under Lin Yuan's premeditated fireball and spiral energy blast, and he was killed in an instant by the spiral energy blast from Lin Yuan's hand.
Using the Dragon Step to dissipate the force, Lin Yuan spun around and condensed more fireballs, releasing them towards the remaining three, forcing them to maintain their fragile defenses.
However, the chasm between Fighting Spirits and Fighting Kings was insurmountable for most, especially when facing Lin Yuan, who was exceptionally skilled in combat.
While maintaining their weak defenses, the three were swiftly killed by Lin Yuan using the penetrating power of the spiral energy blast and the speed of the Dragon Step.
The battle lasted no more than twenty breaths from Lin Yuan's first strike to the death of the five.
After killing the five, Lin Yuan condensed five fire cones, controlling them to pierce through the brains and hearts of the five, then skillfully began collecting the spoils.
After collecting the spoils, Lin Yuan quickly burned the five corpses with fighting energy flames, then swiftly left the scene, flying towards Canaan Academy.
Upon returning to Canaan Academy, Lin Yuan once again concealed his fighting energy to that of a three-star Great Fighter, reported his task to the Law Enforcement Team, and returned the "Spirit Flame Technique" and "Dragon Step" to the Technique Pavilion. By the time he returned to his small courtyard, it was already night.
In his bedroom, Lin Yuan took out the spoils from this trip, a total of seven storage rings. After emptying and counting the contents of the seven rings, Lin Yuan couldn't help but feel satisfied with this harvest.
After counting, he found that he had obtained approximately two million gold coins, over ten advanced techniques and fighting skills, seven fourth-tier magic cores, and fifteen third-tier magic cores, along with a considerable amount of medicinal materials. The most valuable among them was a spirit fruit needed for refining a Fighting Spirit Pill.
"The main goal of this outing has been achieved. I managed to fish for the wealth of seven Fighting Spirits. Once I digest these spoils and exchange them for the necessary cultivation resources, I will have enough resources for my recent training."
"Indeed, blackmailing others is the fastest way to accumulate resources."
After calming his emotions, Lin Yuan walked into the small courtyard. At that moment, a gentle breeze brushed against his face. Lin Yuan looked up at the vast starry sky, and the various thoughts and calculations in his heart seemed to empty in an instant, the depth in his gaze appearing to clear.
Lin Yuan spread his arms and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment of the breeze and the vast starry sky. His mind gradually emptied, and the maturity that did not match his age seemed to dissipate. He gently lay down on the grass in the courtyard, quietly savoring the leisure and beauty of this moment.
A quarter of an hour later, Lin Yuan's eyes opened again, his clear gaze once more deep and distant, and the maturity in his expression returned.
He sat cross-legged in place, repeating his daily training while contemplating his next steps.
"It's time to go to the inner courtyard! But before that..."
**(End of Chapter)**