ReadNovel Chapter 231: What are You
Chapter 231: What are You
"Level 242,"
Lin Yi confirmed it with a simple, unadorned "Yes," his tone even, offering no further elaboration or defensive posture, only a quiet affirmation of the truth. He understood the unspoken questions that hung heavy in the silence that followed, recognizing the careful analytical mind working behind Zhao Yuexin’s composed facade.
A stretch of quiet settled between them, not the usual pause one might expect when confronted with something surprising or novel. This was a deeper stillness, the kind that indicated a sophisticated mind grappling with a profound systemic anomaly. Zhao Yuexin had already, he knew, run her mental calculations, refined her assessments not once, but twice, since observing his progress.
Now, she wasn’t just processing an event; she was confronting the unsettling possibility that the very framework of her understanding, the predictive models she relied upon, might be fundamentally flawed in the face of his inexplicable advancement. She considered the numbers again, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly as she tried to reconcile what she was seeing with everything she knew.
"Twelve levels in two days," she finally articulated, the phrase an observation more than a question, a statement of fact she was still trying to internalize. The sheer speed of his progression, compressed into such a brief span, was unprecedented in her experience, pushing against the very limits of what she believed possible for even the most gifted cultivators.
"The per-kill EXP in this zone is higher than what I was working with before," Lin Yi explained, offering a factual, unembellished reason. He shifted his stance slightly, his gaze sweeping over the familiar, monster-ridden landscape of the middle zone. "The rate reflects that increase, making for a much quicker ascent." He didn’t elaborate further, letting the simple logic of the system speak for itself.
Her eyes, sharp and intelligent, narrowed slightly. "Where were you working before that yielded such a comparatively slow return, then?" she pressed, her curiosity now fully engaged, pushing past the initial surprise to seek out the underlying mechanics of his past endeavors. She was trying to piece together a complete picture, a full narrative that accounted for his unusual power curve.
"A different environment," he replied, his voice maintaining its steady, neutral cadence. He offered just enough information to satisfy the literal meaning of her question without revealing anything truly specific or sensitive. "Similar concept, fundamentally," he added, a subtle hint that the nature of his previous challenges, while different in detail, prepared him for the kind of work he was now undertaking with such remarkable efficiency.
She looked at him then, her gaze settling on his face with the same unyielding directness she had applied to every observation and tactical decision since their unexpected meeting on that winding path. There was no judgment in her eyes, only a clinical appraisal. "You deflect without lying, Lin Yi. That’s a specific skill, one that requires a precise command of language and an even more precise control over what you choose to reveal." She recognized the subtle art of his responses, the way he navigated conversations without compromising his own boundaries.
"I answer what I can answer," Lin Yi stated, his eyes meeting hers, a silent acknowledgment of her insight. It was a simple truth, a personal code that governed his interactions, a boundary he had clearly established long ago.
"And the rest, the things you cannot or will not share?" she probed gently, not pushing aggressively but merely seeking to define the parameters of their communication, to understand the rules of engagement with a man who kept his past so closely guarded.
"Not ready to be answered yet," he replied, his voice calm and unwavering, drawing a clear line in the sand. There was no apology in his tone, only a firm declaration of his position.
She accepted this without pressing further, a sign that told him something significant about her character. Many people, driven by an immediate need for information or a desire for control, would have pushed harder, demanding more, convinced that persistence would yield results. But Zhao Yuexin was different. She operated from a clear calculation, weighing whether continued pressure would genuinely produce useful information or merely strengthen resistance. Her quiet acceptance indicated she had already determined that, at this moment, further probing would be unproductive. She was clearly the second type: strategic and pragmatic, preferring efficiency over immediate gratification.
They began walking again, their steps carrying them back toward the more frequented middle zone’s productive range. The terrain gradually softened beneath their feet, moving away from the harsh, almost palpable pressure differential of the deep zone boundary, back towards the more accessible and less formidable interior, where the air felt lighter, the energies less oppressive.
"You mentioned ’less than a year’ yesterday," she said, breaking the silence, her thoughts clearly still lingering on their previous conversation and the implications of his current progression rate. "When I specifically asked you how long you intended to stay, how long your objectives would take."
"Yes," Lin Yi affirmed, his pace steady alongside hers.
"That," she stated, her voice flat with a renewed sense of disbelief, "was not a serious answer then, was it? It felt like an almost dismissive estimation at the time, given the typical progression curves."
"It was the accurate one," Lin Yi corrected her gently, his gaze fixed on the path ahead. He elaborated on the cold, hard facts of his situation, the raw numbers that underpinned his startling assertion. "I am level 242. I need to reach level 250 for my next threshold. The middle zone’s monster tier goes up to level 225, which I am now significantly past. The deep zone, by all accounts and logical inference, presumably goes significantly higher, offering even greater returns for the risk. At the current, accelerated rate I’m experiencing, less than a year is, if anything, a conservative estimate of the time required." He laid out the simple, undeniable arithmetic.
She stopped walking abruptly, her boots digging slightly into the loosened earth. The implications of his calm calculation had finally fully registered, striking her with the force of a physical blow.
He stopped with her, waiting patiently, his expression unreadable. He knew the weight of his words.
"You understand what you just said, Lin Yi," she stated, her voice low, no longer a question but a stark declaration, a challenge to his very perception of reality. She wanted to ensure he grasped the magnitude of his own pronouncement, the audacity it implied.
"Eight levels," Lin Yi reiterated, calmly breaking down the remaining task into its constituent parts. He offered a more precise projection based on his recent experiences. "At the current rate I’m maintaining in the middle zone, even accounting for the anticipated threshold cost increases that invariably accompany the upper brackets of cultivation, I estimate it will take several weeks at a sustained pace. It could be even less if the deep zone offers the kind of significantly amplified experience rewards that I believe it will, based on the patterns of other cultivation environments."
Zhao Yuexin looked at him, her expression hardening, morphing into the one that had been subtly developing over two days of watching him effortlessly clear entire populations of monsters, creatures that people at level 240 would typically find to be serious, challenging work. She had seen him handle situations with a casual competence that bordered on terrifying. "The deep zone, Lin Yi, is restricted," she stated, emphasizing the word with a cold, almost unyielding finality.
"You mentioned that yesterday," Lin Yi acknowledged, his voice still level, showing no signs of backing down or altering his intent. He had filed away that piece of information, but it hadn’t changed his fundamental objective.
"Restricted means restricted," she insisted, her tone now carrying a sharper edge, leaving no room for misinterpretation. "It’s not merely a suggestion, Lin Yi, nor is it a flexible guideline. It’s a hard rule. Our own family members, anyone below level 240, are absolutely forbidden from entering it. And you, importantly, are not a family member. You are a temporary guest, here under a specific agreement, evidenced by a one-year jade token, nothing more." She spelled out the rules with a clarity that left no room for ambiguity.
"I am level 242," Lin Yi simply stated, a direct counter to her argument, implying that his current power level superseded the generic restriction. He pointed to his own capability as the mitigating factor.
"That is not the point, Lin Yi," she countered, her patience beginning to thin, a subtle tremor of frustration entering her voice. She understood his logic, but she also knew its limitations in this particular context.
"What, then, is the point?" he asked, his gaze unwavering, inviting her to articulate the deeper, more nuanced truth she was trying to convey. He sought to understand the specific nature of the danger.
She looked at him, her eyes holding a deep, ancient warning. "The point is that the deep zone’s monsters are categorically different from anything you’ve encountered in the middle zone, Lin Yi. They are not merely stronger in the linear way that each successive zone is typically stronger than the last. They are fundamentally, intrinsically different.
The classifications and behaviors that exist within the deep zone are not found in any standard hunting database or cultivation guide that the outside world uses. They are creatures native to Tianyuan Star specifically, unique to this place, and they have existed here, within that boundary, for as long as the Zhao and Xiao families have maintained stewardship over this land, for centuries."
She had painted a picture of an alien ecology, a threat beyond conventional understanding.