Worldwide Class Change: Minimal Effort, Maximum Reward!

Luo Cheng moved first.

"Then don’t blame us for this!" he snapped, his anger no longer restrained as his blade came out fully, spiritual energy surging along its edge in a bright, unstable glow. He pushed forward in a straight line, his movement fast, driven more by emotion than calculation, aiming to close the distance before Lin Yi could react again.

Beside him, Luo Mei did not rush.

Her stance shifted instead, her blade lowering slightly as her aura condensed inward, tightening, sharpening. Her eyes never left Lin Yi, tracking even the smallest change in his posture.

"Don’t overcommit," she said quickly, her voice low but firm. "He’s not normal."

Luo Cheng didn’t respond.

He was already within striking range.

His blade cut forward in a diagonal arc, energy flaring outward as he committed fully to the strike.

Lin Yi did not step back.

He stepped in.

The movement was minimal, almost casual, yet it erased the distance between them entirely. Luo Cheng’s strike passed just to the side of Lin Yi’s shoulder, the force dispersing into the air behind him with a sharp crack.

"What—"

The word didn’t finish.

Lin Yi’s hand moved.

Not for the Celestial Lord Blade.

Not yet.

Instead—

His fingers brushed the space in front of him.

A token appeared.

The same one.

Simple. Unadorned. Silent.

But the moment it entered the space between them, something shifted. Luo Cheng felt it instantly—a distortion, subtle but absolute.

The space around him seemed to tighten, as though the air itself had gained weight.

"Something’s wrong—!" Luo Mei’s voice cut in sharply.

Too late.

Lin Yi’s hand turned slightly.

The token activated.

There was no flash and no violent surge; there was just—collapse.

The space around Luo Cheng folded inward, not physically, but functionally. His forward momentum stopped as though he had run into an invisible wall. His limbs felt heavy, unresponsive, his connection to the surrounding energy severed in an instant.

"Wha—what is this—?!"

His voice broke.

Before he could react further—

He disappeared.

Not moved. Not thrown.

Removed.

One moment he was there—

The next, he wasn’t.

Silence hit the cavern again, as Luo Mei’s pupils contracted.

"...Spatial containment," she said slowly, her grip tightening on her blade. "You... trapped him."

Lin Yi did not deny it.

He simply looked at her.

Calm.

Uninterested.

Luo Mei exhaled once, steadying herself, forcing her emotions back under control.

"...Release him," she said.

"No."

The answer came immediately—flat and final. The air grew colder as, for a brief moment, neither of them moved.

Then, Luo Mei stepped forward. It was not done recklessly or impulsively, but with precision.

"If you think removing one of us changes anything..." she said quietly, her voice carrying a sharp edge now, "then you’ve miscalculated."

Her aura expanded.

Not explosively, but deliberately, forming a thin, controlled layer around her body.

Her blade lifted.

The edge hummed faintly.

"Whatever that token is... it needs activation," she continued, her eyes narrowing slightly. "And activation takes time."

A step.

Measured.

"You won’t get a second chance."

She moved.

Not straight.

Not direct.

Her figure blurred, shifting laterally, using the uneven terrain of the cavern to break line of sight, her presence flickering between positions as she closed in from an angle rather than head-on.

Fast.

Precise.

Controlled.

This was not Luo Cheng’s impulsive attack; this was calculated. Lin Yi watched her approach, his gaze following her movement without strain.

Then—he moved. Not to intercept or to block, but to reposition. With a single step, her angle collapsed. Luo Mei’s eyes sharpened. "...You—"

She adjusted instantly, her blade cutting forward in a tight, controlled strike aimed at his midsection.

Lin Yi’s hand moved again.

The token—

He was already there with no delay and no visible activation time; it had never left his control. The moment her strike entered range, the space around her shifted.

Luo Mei felt it—the same distortion and the same pressure. Her movement faltered just slightly, but it was enough. "...Impossible—"

Lin Yi’s fingers closed, and the token pulsed once. And then, she vanished. The cavern fell silent completely—no movement, no sound. Only Lin Yi remained.

He stood there for a moment, unmoving, as though confirming the absence of resistance.

Then, slowly, the token lowered.

Both Luo Cheng and Luo Mei—

Contained.

Not dead.

Not injured beyond what they had brought into the fight.

Just... removed.

Stored.

Like the celestial jades before them.

Lin Yi turned.

Without a word, without a second glance at the now-empty cavern, he walked toward the exit.

The qilin waited outside.

The moment he stepped back into the open air of the Allheaven Expanse, it shifted slightly, acknowledging his return.

He approached.

Then stopped.

Because something had changed.

The qilin’s body... flickered.

Not visibly, not in a way that distorted its form, but in presence. The light along its scales pulsed faintly, the multicolored radiance deepening, as though responding to something unseen.

Lin Yi’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"...Hm."

He raised his hand.

The storage token appeared again.

Within it—

Celestial jades.

A large quantity.

The moment the token manifested, the qilin reacted.

Its head lifted.

Its gaze fixed—not on Lin Yi, but on the token itself.

A low sound escaped it.

Not a roar.

Not a growl.

Something... instinctive.

Resonant.

The air around it shifted subtly, faint currents gathering, drawn toward its body.

Lin Yi observed silently.

Then—a prompt appeared. It was not in the usual format, nor was it a standard system notification; it was something else, something... deeper. A fragment of information, incomplete yet clear enough, revealed that the qilin could evolve. This was not a process of levels or combat, but of absorption—specifically, celestial jades.

A pathway formed in his mind, the pieces aligning quickly.

"...Greater Qilin," he said quietly.

The term settled with weight, not as a speculation, but as a direction. The qilin stepped forward slightly, its presence growing just a fraction more pronounced, its gaze still fixed on the token in Lin Yi’s hand. The implication was clear: it wanted them.

No—it needed them.

Lin Yi looked at the token, then at the qilin, then back again. The Allheaven Expanse stretched endlessly around him, filled with unknowns, resources, and possibilities. And now, there was a new variable—a new path.

His grip on the token tightened slightly. "...So that’s how it works."

The qilin’s aura pulsed once more, stronger this time, and somewhere, deep within it’s layered structure, something responded.