CHAPTER 55: 53, CUT WITH ONE KNIFE INTO TWO PIECES

After having a lovely meal at noon with his mom and dad, Lu Lin returned to his room.

Knowing that Lu Lin would be back today, his parents had specially taken a half-day off; they had now returned to work.

Lu Lin didn’t tell his parents about his gains on Blue Star or his plans for their future. This was a matter involving the whole family, so it would be better to wait until they returned home in the evening to discuss it.

After tidying up the bowls and chopsticks, Lu Lin went back to his room and closed the door. He wanted to thoroughly study the items he had bought on Wealth Street that morning.

After setting aside a pile of items, most of which were between six months and a year old, Lu Lin was left with only three things: a comb, a broken knife, and a Cultivation Method secret book titled Ten Steps Kill.

He first examined the comb. Lu Lin carefully felt it. It didn’t have any special patterns. Although he couldn’t determine its material, it seemed to be made of ordinary wood. However, for some reason, holding the comb gave him a sense of great age and history.

After cleaning it, Lu Lin ran the comb through his hair and immediately felt his scalp tingle. Not only that, but Lu Lin vaguely felt the Star Core within his body tremble continuously the moment he combed his hair.

What’s going on? Combing my hair can actually cause the Star Core to tremble?

Lu Lin sent a strand of Star Power to attach to the comb. Suddenly... nothing changed with the comb. However, that strand of Star Power disappeared within it.

This comb is indeed strange.

Lu Lin entered his Consciousness Universe, enveloped the comb with his Star Power Domain, and closed his eyes.

Soon, a faint smile appeared on Lu Lin’s face.

So that’s how it is.

This comb wasn’t an incredibly magical item, but it was an antique with a thousand-year history. Although it was an antique, it wouldn’t sell for much if he tried to sell it. The human world’s history had never been interrupted, and no great calamities had occurred. Consequently, there were many items from a thousand years ago. One could find plenty of them by casually searching through a discarded garbage dump.

The magic of this comb, however, lay in the fact that despite its ordinary material, it had gained a unique ability over the long passage of time: absorbing Star Power.

The Star Power absorbed into the comb was stored. When someone combed their hair, this stored Star Power could be slowly released to stimulate and massage the scalp, relieving fatigue and relaxing the mind.

Lu Lin filled the comb with Star Power. After testing it, he found that with normal use, the Star Power in the comb could last for about two to three years.

I should leave this for Mom and Dad so they can use it to comb their hair and relax after work, he decided.

Putting the comb aside, Lu Lin picked up the broken knife.

This broken knife hadn’t been made long ago. In Lu Lin’s Perception, it was at most fifty years old. However, Lu Lin could perceive it because the broken knife was soaked in countless bloodstains—bloodstains imbued with Star Power.

As soon as Lu Lin gripped the knife’s handle, he could feel the immense murderous intent covering the broken knife. If this knife were used against an enemy, they would likely cower in fear even before the knife was drawn. However, the blade had a slight nick. If Lu Lin wanted to use it later, he would have to take it to a specialized hand-forged iron shop for sharpening. He wondered if his parents’ company’s Agricultural Tools Grinding Department could handle it.

After swinging the knife around, Lu Lin put it aside.

Actually, he hoped his future weapon would be a sword. He had practiced swordsmanship for three years in High School. Using a sword would not only be easier for him to handle but also... more handsome.

Imagine it: casually slaying countless exotic beasts while chatting and laughing, enacting a scene of an elegant, jade-like figure on the roadside—a Young Master with a chilling sword aura. Countless innocent girls would undoubtedly fall into Lu Lin’s embrace.

He chuckled slyly for a moment, then, realizing this was somewhat vulgar, straightened his expression and picked up the last secret book.

Actually, Lu Lin didn’t hold out much hope of finding any valuable secret books among the items from the street stall. Such things were just plot devices used to deceive people in novels. In reality, in his eighteen years of life, he had never heard of a similar incident. Lu Lin had bought this secret book hoping to find a bargain. Perhaps it was an ancient text lost to the world; selling it could help alleviate his family’s financial burden.

The first page read: "Ten Steps Kill, inspired by the verse ’Ten steps to kill a man, a thousand miles without a trace,’ has evolved from my hundred years of experience in Martial Arts."

"When Ten Steps Kill reaches grand completion, slaying Golden Body Alien Beasts will be as easy as slaughtering dogs. The different regions will be vast, yet there will be no place you cannot venture."

"However, my forced deduction at the age of three hundred damaged my internal Star Veins, leaving Ten Steps Kill with only its first six levels."

"If future generations can cultivate this to the peak, I hope they can deduce and complete the subsequent parts of this technique, leaving it for the Human Race to eradicate all exotic beasts from the different regions."

"Chen Buming, Year, Month, Day."

Lu Lin was shocked as he read the first page. This was actually a Cultivation Method secret book!

Ten Steps Kill.

Lu Lin opened his Personal Terminal to search for information about Ten Steps Kill. There were no relevant entries online, but similar titles like ’One Hundred Steps Kill,’ ’Thousand Steps Kill,’ ’Ten People Kill,’ and ’Ten Directions Kill’ did pop up, along with related information.

Lu Lin frowned and searched again for the name ’Chen Buming.’ After browsing for a while, he found thousands of people named Chen Buming. Among them, the search results included entries for five or six famous individuals with that name. However, none of them seemed to be the Chen Buming who authored this book.

Could this be a fake secret book, just meant to fool people?

Lu Lin turned to the second page. It contained a diagram of human meridians, with small characters providing explanations.

Ten Steps Kill involved using the body’s Star Power, channeling it to a weapon through a unique operational method. Different channeling pathways could release Knife Aura and Sword Qi of varying power to attack enemies. Chen Buming had spent decades researching this, eventually organizing six relatively complete pathways, which constituted the six levels of Ten Steps Kill.

In Lu Lin’s view, these six levels weren’t strictly hierarchical; they could be considered six distinct moves within a set of martial arts techniques.

Lu Lin channeled a very weak strand of Star Power, guiding it along the first pathway. As expected, he felt Star Power flowing through his right shoulder, arm, elbow, and wrist. Crucially, there were no obstacles. It felt as if a natural Star Vein already existed there, allowing the Star Power to flow freely.

Excited, Lu Lin grabbed the broken knife from the table.

He channeled 1% of his Star Power. Ten Steps Kill, first form!

The Star Power quickly traveled from Lu Lin’s arm to the broken knife, and he swung it forward. This time, Lu Lin clearly saw a line of earthy yellow light appear on the broken knife.

Is this Knife Aura?

He was overjoyed. He had cultivated it so easily!

He channeled 5% of his Star Power into the broken knife once more.

He swung forward.

"HA!"

The imbued Knife Aura effortlessly sliced through the wall in front of Lu Lin, like a hot knife through butter. Along with the wall, his desk—which he had used for six years in elementary school—and everything on it were sliced in two by Lu Lin’s single strike.

The cut was smooth, complete, and without any rough edges.

The only problem is, it might be difficult to explain this to Mom and Dad when they get back, he thought.

Just as he was thinking this, an eye appeared in the gash on the wall. After spotting Lu Lin in the opposite room, a sharp voice came through.

"Lu Lin, are you f*cking trying to get yourself killed?!"

"You just got back and you’re already causing destruction!"

"Open this door right now! If I don’t skin you alive today, my son can take your surname!"