Chapter 195: Chapter 130: Unselectable, Phasing Through Walls

It really could leave his body and injure enemies from a distance!

Furthermore, amplified by the unique structure of the Star-Piercing and the Crystalization, the destructive force of this power was pushed to a terrifying new level!

Lin Ye didn’t pause. The afterimage of his spear flickered like a phantom.

With every flicker, a crimson spear gleam shot through the air.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

The other mutated stone toads hiding in the shadows were picked off from a distance, one after another. Without exception, they all exploded upon death.

These mutated stone toads could survive on land, away from water sources.

Over a long period of evolution, their bodies had formed an incredibly hard, keratinous stone shell, granting them astonishing Defense Power.

An ordinary Martial Artist, even one at the Middle Stage of Meridian Opening, would find it quite difficult to break through their defenses.

But in the face of Lin Ye’s unconventional, defense-bypassing attack, their shells were as fragile as paper.

After killing all the ambushers, Lin Ye put away his Star-Piercing Spear.

He thought for a moment.

’These mutated stone toads aren’t good targets for grinding levels.’

’They’re mainly just too timid, only ever launching sneak attacks.’

’Plus, their entire survival strategy is to flee a thousand miles if their first attack misses.’

’Even without the pressure from his [Overwhelm] passive, they would immediately flee and burrow underground after a failed ambush, making them extremely difficult to kill.’

’Lin Ye preferred monsters with a strong desire to fight—the kind that were fearless and would battle him to the death.’

’At least that way, he wouldn’t have to waste time hunting them down.’

He turned and continued north.

But as he traveled, a question about his phase-shifting ability kept nagging at him.

’What exactly is that one-second untargetable state?’

’What would happen if I didn’t move after the untargetable state ended?’

His thirst for knowledge and his desire to master his own abilities compelled Lin Ye to find the answer.

Once he was out of combat, he could switch between his P1 and P2 phases at will.

Lin Ye stopped behind a rock that blocked the wind and switched back to P1 from the P2 phase he had used while fighting the mutated stone toads.

He scanned his surroundings, confirming there were no onlookers or potential ambushers.

He picked up a dead branch as thick as his arm and used the Gun Blade of his Star-Piercing Spear to sharpen it to a point.

Then, he did something that would have seemed utterly baffling to an outsider.

Lin Ye held the sharpened branch in his left hand and aimed it at the tip of his right index finger.

He took a deep breath.

And stabbed down hard!

At the same instant, his mind raced as he triggered the phase shift!

The sharp branch pierced his finger without any resistance!

Lin Ye’s body once again entered that brief, incorporeal state.

He could clearly feel a cold, foreign object lodged inside his now-incorporeal finger.

There was no pain.

No sensation of touch.

It was as if the branch didn’t exist at all, or as if the finger wasn’t his own.

He fought the instinct to pull his finger away, forcing himself to remain perfectly still.

One second passed in a flash.

The moment his incorporeal state ended and his body solidified,

SNAP!

a sharp crack echoed out.

The hard branch had been forcibly snapped in two by his rematerializing flesh and blood!

A sharp pain shot through his fingertip!

Lin Ye looked down.

His index finger was completely unscathed.

However, a piece of the broken branch remained inside his finger, embedded so seamlessly and bizarrely it looked like it belonged.

The wood passed through flesh and bone as if it had grown there naturally.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Lin Ye’s forehead.

The pain was secondary; what truly unnerved him was the grotesque feeling of a foreign object invading his body.

He tried to circulate his Qi and Blood to force the branch out, but he discovered it was bound so tightly to his flesh that they were essentially one. It was impossible to expel.

A ruthless glint appeared in Lin Ye’s eyes.

Without hesitation, he raised his Star-Piercing Spear, fully intending to sever the finger.

After all, with his [Healing out of combat] ability, he could regenerate a severed finger in the blink of an eye.

But in the next moment, Lin Ye had a realization. ’I’m out of combat right now, which means I can switch phases as many times as I want!’

He switched phases again, and the piece of branch simply fell out of his finger.

’So, things that aren’t part of my body are automatically ejected.’

Lin Ye wiggled his finger. It moved as freely as before, with no difference whatsoever.

He was completely relieved.

The test had been painful, but its significance was extraordinary.

He now completely understood the correct way to use his "phase shift".

That one second of incorporeality was a bit like a "dodge roll" in most video games.

It was his "invincibility frame," meant to create opportunities.

It allowed him to ignore an attack, but only on the condition that he moved his body out of the attack’s hitbox within that one second.

Otherwise, once the incorporeal state ended, the enemy’s weapon or attack would be left inside his body for real.

Lin Ye didn’t dare to imagine the consequences of that.

Lin Ye stood up. Looking at a nearby boulder, he was once again seized by the curiosity to test his ability.

’If a branch can pass right through my finger... then, in theory, can I also pass through other solid objects at the instant I activate the phase shift?’

Lin Ye walked over to the boulder and visually estimated its thickness.

It was a little over a meter thick.

Then, Lin Ye infused his right hand with Qi and Blood and thrust his Star-Piercing Spear into the edge of the boulder!

THUNK!

The spear tip sank in. The Star-Piercing Spear was unharmed, but countless cracks spiderwebbed across the rock’s surface.

He had now confirmed that if he messed up and got stuck in the rock, he could use the Star-Piercing Spear to shatter it and escape.

With that assurance, Lin Ye began his next test.

He switched his phase from P1 to P2 once more.

The instant his form blurred, Lin Ye dashed forward, plunging his left hand into the boulder.

Lin Ye felt no resistance or pressure at all.

At the same time, his left hand felt nothing, as if it weren’t passing through any substance at all.

Lin Ye’s eyes lit up. ’It’s working!’

Following that, Lin Ye stepped his entire body into the boulder. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

’It’s just like a character clipping through the environment in some crappy game!’

Lin Ye could see that the boulder was still solid, yet here he was, fused with it, feeling no discomfort whatsoever.

One second went by fast.

Not daring to push his luck, Lin Ye put on a burst of speed just before time was up and shot out the other side of the boulder.

The moment he emerged, the untargetable state ended.

Lin Ye returned to his solid form.

Lin Ye silently summarized his findings in his mind.

’In combat, this ability allows for a last-second dodge.’

’Hmm, I could also use the incorporeal state to tank an enemy’s attack head-on.’

’Then I could counter-attack in the instant they’re caught off guard.’

’The effect would be absolutely incredible!’

’Besides combat, this ability can also be used for passing through walls and for infiltration.’

’I can pass through any wall, no matter what it’s made of.’

’I could get in and out of any prison or cell as if it were an open field!’

’Just as I thought. There are no useless abilities, only useless people who don’t know how to use them!’

Having finished testing the ability, Lin Ye wasted no more time and immediately sped off toward the rift valley region to the north.