In the world of martial arts, one works tirelessly to attain enlightenment.

Chapter 27, Departure from the Ruins

in the bathroom,

Yunzhu and Lingmeng discussed in hushed tones, while Lingxi and Lingmeng grew somewhat nervous as Lin Ran did not appear for a long time.

So Yunzhu opened the bathroom door and saw Lin Ran covered in spiritual energy.

Four cat-people: ...

Yunzhu watched for a while, then patted Mengyu's tail.

"So, Brother Lin is breaking through?"

"Why did you suddenly break through at this time?" Mengyu asked, puzzled.

Yunzhu shook her head, went out of the bathroom to change her clothes, and gestured for the three of them to quietly leave the room.

Lingxi and Lingmeng exchanged a glance, feeling a sense of being targeted. They silently changed their clothes and quietly walked around to the door.

Before leaving, they glanced at Lin Ran.

Is this the embarrassment of humans being deliberately rejected? It's a bit strange, but it's certainly not good.

After the four left, Lin Ran used her spiritual energy to open a single-person energy shield and began to focus on controlling the crystal splitting.

The entire breakthrough process for lower-level awakened individuals involves increasing the number of crystals.

There is a problem here: increasing the number of crystals will disrupt the original balance system. Single, double, and triple crystals are all considered stable operating systems, and the crystals will spontaneously find an equilibrium point.

The four are the operating systems that form a regular tetrahedron.

However, for a regular tetrahedron to have a balance of spiritual energy among its four crystals, the two crystals split from one crystal, being smaller than the other two, will automatically be attracted to it.

Therefore, when controlling the new crystal, one must not touch the large crystal, otherwise both will break, leading to a failed breakthrough. This requires a high level of control over spiritual energy.

Lin Ran was confident that nothing unexpected would happen, but it would be best to be on the safe side.

The separation process went smoothly, and the two newly formed crystals began to rotate stably.

Two larger crystals were added to the binary crystal system, one above the other. After a brief period of chaotic forces, the system stabilized.

Two small crystals rotate around a specific radius at the midpoint of the line connecting two large crystals.

Soon, the new system stabilized, and Lin Ran was relieved. After that, the crystal's operation would automatically find the most suitable balance.

Lower-level Awakened One, Earth Attribute, Fourth Layer!

Lin Ran felt very relaxed and opened her eyes to find that it was already dawn.

7:50, not too early, not too late.

Today, Yunzhu and Mengyu are here in the courtyard.

"Captain, we have a new mission." Yan Lingfei waved.

"A mission within the ruins?"

"Yes, one of my uncles got into a fight with a shameless werewolf, and they discovered a ruin that we're asked to explore." Yan Lingfei projected some information.

Lin Ran picked up a glass of plain water.

"What level of historical site is it?"

"It should be the lower-level Divine Fire Realm."

"Not a superhuman?" Lin Ran asked in surprise.

"Those things are too dangerous; my uncle and the others will take them away. What we have left is enough."

"Oh, I see. When are you going? How many people are you bringing?" Lin Ran asked knowingly.

Upon hearing this, the ears of the four cat-people perked up simultaneously. Yan Lingfei had previously mentioned that there were powerful cat-people among the ruins.

"We'll depart at 11:00 AM. Participants in the elite program will volunteer, and people from other races will also be going," Yan Lingfei said.

"This is because the human race's higher-ups are very satisfied with the strength you demonstrated, and the alien races wanted to test you further, so they invested a lot of resources to get the spot."

"However, the human race's powerful warriors will suppress the area near the ruins. If an accident really occurs, they will simply destroy the ruins and bring the person out."

"Captain, who are you planning to take?"

Yan Lingfei asked the crucial question, and Feng Wuhen also looked over.

They had heard from their elders about Lin Ran's Dao Heart and were eager to know how Lin Ran would choose among the four cat-people.

Lin Ran's expression remained calm.

"Yunzhu, come with me. The rest of you are free to do as you please."

Yunzhu: Yay!

Little Loli Mengyu pouted. She had endured so much awful food and eaten so many unpalatable things, but this time the delicious food wasn't for her!

Lingxi, Lingmeng: ...

As expected, but I couldn't help feeling down, and my ears and tail drooped down.

Feng Wuhen and Yan Lingfei exchanged a glance, thinking that Lin Ran's story might be true.

Perhaps the reason I brought Yunzhu along was because she was the most obedient.

"There are still three hours left. We're not playing today. Let's study the theory. Have you finished your high school courses?"

Wind Without Trace: ...

Yan Lingfei: ...

"So, you skipped class and came here to fight?"

Lin Ran put down her book and said quietly.

Instantly, an eerie atmosphere enveloped the courtyard, and Yunzhu dared not even breathe loudly.

"Captain, have you finished learning?" Yan Lingfei asked cautiously.

"Okay, I've finished learning."

Lin Ran nodded generously. He had already finished reading the high school courses, and now he was studying the theories from various universities.

The two: ...

"Now I will ask you questions, and you will answer them. If you cannot answer, you must copy the answer ten times."

Yan Lingfei: !!!

Wind Without Trace: !!!

Why do we still have to attend classes after leaving school?

Yan Lingfei's smile was forced.

"Captain, this..."

"I've calculated the high school curriculum; it's the theoretical support for lower-level awakened individuals to break through, and there can't be any mistakes."

Lin Ran rarely showed a smile, but in everyone's eyes, that smile was terrifying.

……

11 o'clock.

The hovercar arrived on time, driven by Lin Sheng.

She was puzzled by the atmosphere among them. Lin Ran was the same as always, but why did Feng Wuhen and Yan Lingfei look like they were questioning the meaning of life?

After the four people got into the car, Lin Sheng waited a moment to make sure no one else was getting in before closing the door and setting off.

I thought Lin Ran would bring all the cat people, but she only brought one.

Lin Ran continued reading, while Yan Lingfei and Feng Wuhen copied the book with bitter faces.

They did indeed enter the first plan, but in reality, Yan Lingfei was only sixteen, and Feng Wuhen was sixteen and a half, precisely the age when they didn't want to study...

Half an hour later, the hovercar arrived at its destination.

As soon as they got out of the car, Feng Wuhen and Yan Lingfei ran away, as if some kind of monstrous flood had struck.

Lin Ran couldn't help but smile and said to Lin Sheng,

"Help me contact their elders and tell them about copying books in the car."

"Yes, sir." Lin Sheng's expression was strange; he hadn't expected Lin Ran to have such a wicked sense of humor.

Lin Ran observed her surroundings.

The destination was a mountain forest, with peaks of varying heights stretching to the horizon.

About three or four hundred meters away, a blue outer ring in the sky, with a particularly conspicuous dark vortex inside, could be vaguely seen slowly rotating darkness, and scattered starlight within it.

Near the vortex, numerous drones hovered, while below them were rings of heavy timber transport vehicles.

However, unlike the previous transport vehicles, these can fire in three seconds, including automatic target acquisition, cruise, and will not explode if no enemy is detected. Even if friendly forces knock on them for a whole day, they will not react at all.

A large number of soldiers were moving around near the transport vehicle, seemingly setting something up.

Lin Ran watched for a while, and suddenly sensed two subtle but extremely powerful auras approaching.

Immediately afterwards, two tall figures descended from the sky, each carrying a person.

"Lin Ran, well done."

(End of this chapter)