Three days later, and then another three days.
After marking his "healing spring," Lu Xing began to wander over a wider area within the city ruins. The relatively dense Honkai energy near the spring had been mostly absorbed by him, and he needed more places to supplement his "food."
Secondly, it was to gather intelligence.
With the Honkai energy fissure as the center, Lu Xing's "footprints" had covered almost every location within a three-kilometer radius.
Yet, apart from that Ranger-class, Lu Xing still hadn't seen any other signs of life.
He did occasionally find severed limbs and withered leaves, but they were completely eroded by Honkai energy. Forget gently touching them; even if Lu Xing flew past them a little too quickly, they would shatter into particles of light and disperse.
The plant species were indistinguishable.
As for those fragments of flesh, whether human or some other creature, they were even more unidentifiable.
"Bang!"
The sound of another house collapsing.
Lu Xing had seen similar situations many times during this period.
Given the inherent strength of the building materials, they certainly wouldn't be toppled by such a light wind; the erosion by Honkai energy and the impact on the building structures from some major battle that might have occurred were the key factors.
Despite this.
Lu Xing still cautiously approached the direction from which the sound came.
And this time, he actually discovered something different:
A somewhat still-legible advertising billboard.
————
"Moths chase the flame, fighting unto death."
"The grand song of life echoes through millennia, unceasing—"
The declaration of the "Fire Moth" automatically surfaced in Lu Xing's mind.
Why would he suddenly think of this line... Of course, it was because of the billboard that had just fallen from a height, shattered into several pieces, kicked up all the dust, and of which only a tiny fraction of its original appearance was visible.
Red hair, golden eyes, an idol, a wealthy woman.
Dual-wielding old biddy (crossed out), bearing the Insignia of [Gold], the fourth of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers:
Eden.
Previous Honkai Era, the last generation's civilization.
Lu Xing no longer needed to doubt which timeline he was in.
There was corroborating evidence too—around the giant billboard featuring Eden's image, the areas previously covered by grayish-white dust revealed their original appearance.
A few simple English words, much like a "recruitment poster," accompanied by a logo of a completely black figure with flame-like patterns on its insectoid wings: "Join the moth."
It was all self-evident.
Grayish-white ruins, a dilapidated sign, an unmoving Honkai Beast.
"Huu."
He took a deep breath in his mind.
Lu Xing slowly flew past from above without lingering.
He still had to continue searching for more absorbable Honkai energy, and still had to continue honing his yet-to-be-mastered "jet propulsion."
There was no time to stop here.
————
"Here I come!"
Familiar place, familiar smell (of dust).
After another full day of special training, Lu Xing returned to the edge of the central park.
His level was stuck at Lv.6 without improvement, but his "jet propulsion" training had achieved phased results.
The time to accumulate Honkai energy and complete the burst had been reduced from the initial 15 seconds to 9 seconds—at full power, of course. If it was purely for acceleration, this time could be further compressed to within 2 seconds.
Combat usable.
Secondly, his sensory perception had slightly enhanced; well, to be precise, his anti-dizziness ability had significantly improved.
When Lu Xing used "jet propulsion," he basically kept his eyes closed.
There was no other reason; if he maintained his perception of the surroundings during high-speed flight, he would crash before the acceleration process even ended.
Motion sickness, nothing to be ashamed of.
And in this constantly repeated process, Lu Xing's adaptability to "dizziness," just like with "pain," had also significantly improved.
The benefit brought by this was.
Lu Xing could now, during "jet propulsion," change his flight trajectory by tilting his wings to alter the angle, no longer just ramming straight ahead.
The spiritual encouragement this change brought to Lu Xing was... he once again had the courage to seek revenge on the Ranger-class!
Gather energy, aim, Photon Surge!
The entire process was completed in one go. The precisely calculated 61-meter distance didn't alert the opponent (perhaps due to his level increase, this Ranger-class's alert range had increased from 50 meters to 60 meters). Once the Honkai energy concentration gathered at the rear of his wings reached its limit—
"Swoosh!"
Lu Xing charged forward like a sharp arrow!
It still wasn't [Dash], but in terms of visual effects and impact, Lu Xing's jet propulsion was far more flamboyant than the unadorned [Dash].
Of course, this wasn't necessarily a good thing.
[Dash] was a "standard" skill released after Honkai energy circulated within the body.
Regardless of its power, its consumption was at least far less than "jet propulsion."
A full-power jet propulsion, even when Lu Xing was in his most abundant, complete Honkai energy state, could only be used twice.
Arriving in an instant!
The Ranger-class turned around during Lu Xing's charge (Lu Xing had originally launched the attack to catch it during its turning animation), still executing a familiar "step-back" to dodge...
"Eh~!"
"Can't dodge this!"
It was hard to evaluate the intelligence of Honkai Beasts, but on a combat level, they were definitely constantly absorbing experience—all that which failed to kill them would only make them stronger.
This wasn't the first time the Ranger-class had faced "jet propulsion."
Its response was entirely a subconscious action—but unfortunately for it, what Lu Xing wanted was precisely that so-called "subconscious" reaction.
0.47 seconds before the "step-back" of the [Dash]'s pre-cast animation dodged the attack, Lu Xing's wings, tucked behind him, tilted slightly, and his entire body slammed into it!
"CLANG!!"
————
In nearly a week.
Across countless engagements, Lu Xing, for the first time, successfully hit the Ranger-class with "jet propulsion."
The shockwave from the impact spread out, like the dull thud of a wooden mallet striking heavy brass in a bell tower.
Dust, like cremated ashes, scattered beneath him.
The turbulence stirred up by the impact cleared the ground within a two-meter radius—below was cracked marble, and caught in the crevices, untouched by the wind, were traces of human life: tattered shreds of fabric.
This place too was once bustling with voices; this place too once echoed with songs and laughter.
Yet, ultimately.
Dust to dust.
These things should be remembered, but not now, and certainly not by Lu Xing.
The "jet propulsion" had achieved a fairly reliable result.
The Ranger-class's previously undamaged shell, for the first time, showed faint spiderweb-like cracks—not-so-deep wounds spread across the front of its body. If one looked closely, one could even see one or two "granules" of its shell flaking off with the wind.
And such a result also appeared on Lu Xing.
He had initiated the attack, yes, but... "force" was truly interacting in earnest. Considering that this world would indeed have a blonde, beautiful girl named "Newton" appearing in the future, there was no need for any coffin-lid-prying incidents.