Aster went to the nearby train station and booked a ticket.
After boarding the train, he began looking for his seat. As he walked through the carriage, he passed by several mean-looking men.
System: Lazy Inspection
Level 40
Level 34
Level 38
Level 39
Level 33
That’s a lot of Awakeners on a single train. Is it just a coincidence?
Aster glanced at them for another moment but didn’t think much of it.
He continued looking for his seat.
After finding it in the middle of the train, Aster sat down and activated his talent "Slumber Domain" Soon, his consciousness entered the Dream Realm.
Inside the white, cloudy Dream Realm, Aster used his newly acquired talent effect, Dream Archive.
And Manifested the fighting scene from the Imperial Auction house before him
The awakened man in the black suit, along with the martial artist he had fought. Appeared in front of Aster
Aster then imagined the blue mana particles he had seen before. One by one, countless blue particles appeared throughout the Dream Realm.
"Martial arts are basically the control and manipulation of mana. So, if I’m correct, I should be able to observe that martial artist’s mana movement and maybe even copy it."
Aster replayed the battle from his memory. He carefully observed the martial artist every time he used his martial art.
There!
Aster’s eyes narrowed.
He could clearly see the movement of mana inside the martial artist’s body.
He focused on it and tried to replicate the exact same mana circulation.
Nothing happened.
His first attempt failed.
Aster didn’t give up.
He replayed the scene again and again, carefully studying every movement of the mana. After observing it several more times and practicing repeatedly, he finally tried again.
This time, he closed his eyes.
He felt the mana surrounding him.
Then, he controlled it.
Just like the martial artist had done, he guided the mana through his body and directed it toward his hand.
The mana flowed into his palm. A faint green light began to glow around his hand.
Aster opened his eyes. And pushed his arm.
A green palm-shaped energy shot out from his hand.
System:
Skill
Rebirth Palm (Basic) Level 1: Manifest one Rebirth Palm per second while holding a hand Range: 1 m
"Yeah! Finally, I got the skill!"
Aster couldn’t help but grin. But before he could celebrate any longer....
BOOM!
A tremendous explosion suddenly erupted. The Dream Realm began to shake violently.
The white clouds distorted and rapidly changed shape.
"What?"
Aster barely had time to react before the entire Dream Realm collapsed. His consciousness was forcefully thrown back into reality.
Aster’s eyes snapped open. He immediately stood up. The first thing he noticed was the chaos.
People were screaming and running toward the rear of the train. Aster grabbed a worried-looking man as he passed.
"What happened? Why is everyone running?"
The man’s face was pale with panic. "The train! It’s falling!"
"What?"
The man screamed and immediately ran away. Aster became even more confused.
The train is falling?
He pushed through the fleeing passengers and rushed toward the front of the train.
After passing through two more carriages, Aster finally understood what was happening.
His eyes widened. The bridge the train was crossing had collapsed.
The first three carriages were hanging over a raging river, tilted downward at a terrifying angle.
Hundreds of passengers were trapped inside.
Some were desperately clinging to seats and handrails, while others were holding onto the edges of the carriages, desperately trying not to fall into the violent river below.
Aster’s expression became serious.
"These people will surely die if they fall into that river. I need to save them."
Without wasting another second, Aster summoned his grappling gun.
"Grapple!"
Aster swung across the gap and grabbed one passenger.
Then another.
And another.
Aster moved back and forth between the hanging carriages, rescuing as many people as he could.
Finally, only one person remained.
A child.
She was trapped at the very front of the train, clinging desperately to a piece of broken metal.
Aster immediately launched himself toward her.
"Hold on!"
Grapple!
But...
Aster missed her by an inch.
The girl’s eyes widened. Her arm suddenly gave way.
"Ah!"
Her body slipped. She began falling toward the raging river below.
Aster’s pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he summoned Aegis Fang.
"Crab Hook!"
Two enormous spectral crab claws manifested.
In an instant, Aster’s position and the girl’s position swapped.
Now Aster was at the bottom and the girl was at top.
Aster twisted his body mid air, grabbed her tightly.
"Palm Strike!" "Grapple"
Many golden palm strikes manifested Aster use them as base and grapple them to climb up holding the girl.
In a few second Aster successful reach a safe place with the little girl
All the passengers Aster had rescued gathered in the middle carriages, which were still safely on the ground.
Aster carried the child toward them, searching for her parents.
The moment he arrived...
"My child!" A woman’s voice rang out.
The woman rushed forward, tears streaming down her face.
"Mama!" The child cried out and ran into her mother’s arms.
The mother pulled her tightly against her chest. Her face crumbled with relief as tears continued streaming down her cheeks.
"You’re safe... You’re safe..."
She repeatedly whispered those words while hugging her daughter as tightly as she could. Aster watched the scene quietly.
Then...
BOOM!
Another explosion erupted from the rear of the train.
Everyone froze.
The loud blast echoed through the entire train. Some passengers covered their ears, while others dropped to the ground in fear.
Aster’s expression changed. "Another explosion?"
"Grapple!"
He rushed toward the rear of the train.
When Aster arrived, his expression became cold. The entire rear section of the train had been blown apart.
And standing among the wreckage were the same mean-looking men he had noticed earlier. "Aster immediately understood, all these explosion were done by them"
One of them had a firm grip around a green-haired girl, holding her tightly against his chest. She struggled desperately, but the man’s arm was wrapped around her neck, preventing her from escaping.
"Let me go!" the girl shouted.
"Stay still, brat!"
Aster’s eyes narrowed. Without warning, "Palm Strike!"
A powerful golden palm strike shot toward them. The men immediately noticed the incoming attack.
"Watch out!"
They all jumped backward and took a defensive stance. The palm strike passed between them and crashed into the wall behind them.
The man holding the girl quickly looked to his left and right.
Nothing.
He hadn’t seen where the attacker had gone. Then he looked down at the girl in his arms.
His eyes widened. The girl was gone. In her place stood Aster.
Their eyes met. The man’s face instantly turned pale.
"What.....?!"
Aster smiled.
The man released him and stumbled several steps backward in shock.
Aster didn’t give him a chance to recover.
"Solar Slash." He summoned his Sunbreaking Sword.
A blazing slash of solar energy shot directly toward the man’s face.
Boom!
The attack struck him head-on.
System: Killed an Awakener.
Aster froze for a moment. His eyes widened as he stared at the man’s lifeless body.
"I killed a person?"
"Not a manifestation..."
"A real person."
Aster’s expression became complicated. But he didn’t have time to dwell on it.
Another man suddenly rushed toward him with a glowing sword raised high.
"Die!"
The sword came crashing down.
At the last moment... "Crab Hook!"
Aster activated his skill. His position instantly swapped with another man standing nearby.
The swordsman’s attack continued downward. Slash! The sword struck his own companion instead.
The man’s neck was cut open, and he collapsed instantly.
At the same time "Solar Slash!" Aster’s blazing slash struck the swordsman directly.
System: Killed an Awakener.
Two of the remaining men stared at each other. They didn’t need to say a word.
They both understood.
Run.
They turned around and tried to flee.
But...
"Bind."
Aster activated his skill.
Invisible chain instantly wrapped around both men. Their bodies froze in place, unable to move even a single muscle.
They struggled desperately.
"Let me go!"
Aster raised his hand.
"Palm Strike."
BOOM!
The golden palm strikes struck both men simultaneously. Their bodies were sent flying backward.
They crashed onto the floor and lost consciousness.
Aster went to the green-haired girl, who felt senseless. She was hurt by the explosion. Her arms and half of her face were burned out.
Aster felt pitty, "Rebirth Palm" "Rebirth Palm" "Rebirth Palm"
Aster kept manifesting green Rebirth Palm at her, each helped her a little bit.
"This is only at basic Level, I don’t know if I can fully heal her"