Although Lu Yin didn’t realize it himself, his Cosmic Art allowed him to sense the danger at the very possible last moment and dodge by sheer instinct. Star energy shot past him, creating numerous ripples in the air behind him.
Xia Luo found it a pity that his attack had missed. Lulu had been defeated by this very same attack, and he had thought that he Lu Yin would be preoccupied by his attack enough to be struck. However, Lu Yin had successfully dodged at the last moment.
Lu Yin took a step backwards and stared hard at Xia Luo. He was shocked to discover that Xia Luo was able to attack him without letting him notice anything. If he hadn’t been constantly using his Cosmic Art to defend himself, then he would have lost just now. Lulu’s loss now made sense; this guy had a gentle appearance, but he was actually very cunning. His control of star energy was in a class of its own. Lu Yin was certain that Xia Luo’s control exceeded his own and probably everyone else present.
What exactly had Xia Luo seen at the Stargazing Deck?
“You’re very sneaky,” Lu Yin sighed in awe.
Xia Luo raised an eyebrow as he replied, “Don’t say that! My attack was still a bit off.”
Lu Yin was speechless. That was considered “a bit off?” Most people wouldn’t have even seen the attack.
Lu Yin had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to do much to Xia Luo. He knew that it would be difficult to find any success with any star energy based attack. In the end, it seemed that battle force and his body’s physical toughness were his best advantages over Xia Luo. Lu Yin was pretty sure that Xia Luo’s physical body wasn’t as freakish as his star energy control. With this in mind, Lu Yin stimulated his battle force, causing clear streams of air that were nearly transparent to seep out of his body as his expression became determined.
Xia Luo suddenly lifted a hand. “I admit defeat.”
Lu Yin froze along with everyone else. The two of them seemed to be pretty evenly matched and Xia Luo even seemed to hold the upper hand. Why would he suddenly admit defeat?
Xia Luo looked at Lu Yin and bitterly explained, “If you use battle force, what can I do? For now, I still can’t do much against battle force.”
Lu Yin retracted his battle force and stared straight into Xia Luo’s eyes for a while until he was sure that the latter was not lying. Xia Luo really did not have a way to counter battle force, which meant that his weakness was now his body.
Of course, Xia Luo’s body wasn’t actually weak; this was just speaking relatively. If he was compared to an average Melder, Xia Luo’s body was anything but weak. However, when compared to Lu Yin, there was a massive disparity. And on top of that, Lu Yin could also use battle force.
“The winner of the final round is Lu Yin,” Big Pao announced loudly. With this, the new students’ competition had concluded unless someone decided to challenge the results.
“Is there anyone who wants to challenge someone else because they’re dissatisfied with the results?” Little Pao asked.
Zhao Yilong got up with some difficulty and scanned Lu Yin, Xia Luo, and then Silver. After thinking it through, he decided not to challenge them. He knew his place, and, amongst the new students in Astral-10, he was in the weakest tier.
Hui Daynight was just as frustrated. He had lost in the very first round, but after watching Lu Yin and Xia Luo fight, as well as Michelle, Darkvoid, and some of the others, he wisely decided not to challenge anyone. The fame and glory of the Daynight clan seemed worthless here. After witnessing the full competition, he had realized that he might not even be one of the top five new students.
Lulu, on the other hand, seemed eager for another battle. She kept staring at Lu Yin in excitement, but he just ignored her.
“Alright, since nobody wants to challenge anyone, Astral-10’s competition for new students has officially ended. I hereby announce the winner as Lu Yin. From here on out, Lu Yin will be the leader of the new students in Astral-10 and has the responsibility of supervising his peers. The academy also gives him the right to punish other students, within reason of course. Does anybody have any objections?” Little Pao said in a loud voice.
Everyone was startled. Supervise? Punish? That seemed like too much power for one person to hold.
Michelle was the first to raise an objection. “That’s not fair. We came to Astral-10 to learn, and it doesn’t make sense to be supervised by someone who entered at the same time as us.”
Hui Daynight followed up her complaint in a loud voice. “We members of the Daynight clan do not have a habit of following others.”
Meng Yue snorted, but didn’t say a word. However, his opinion was obvious.
No one else spoke, but their faces clearly showed traces of annoyance. Nobody was willing to have a peer stand above them.
Lu Yin himself was astonished. He had never expected something like this to be a part of the competition rewards. If this rule was confirmed to be real, then he’d have the right to judge the other students.
Little Pao swept his gaze over everyone present and said, “The supervision and punishment that I speak of must all be done within reason. Nobody has the right to restrict your freedom. Additionally, the moment he does anything unreasonable, you may voice your disapproval to your mentors. This is a rule that exists not only in Astral-10, but in all of the Astral Combat Academies. The other nine academies have their own leaders, though they have another title—Realm Master.”
Meng Yue and the others were confused by Little Pao’s last words, as they had never heard of the term before. Michelle and Hui Daynight, however, were familiar with the title, and their eyes twinkled. Realm Masters held great authority in the other academies. They hadn’t initially thought much about the title, but now that they did, it made sense that the Realm Masters were also the leaders of their respective academies. Following that reasoning, the amount of power that Lu Yin held was justifiable.
“The Astral Academy Council has the right to decide the general direction that all the combat academies will develop in. The Ten Arbiters even have the ability to change the structure of the universe. The power that each academy’s leader has over their academy peers isn’t much, and if you have objections, then you can simply leave the academy. Our Astral-10 won’t force you to stay,” Big Pao said in a low voice.
Everyone remained silent, and no one spoke up.
Lu Yin’s eyes shone. Leader, Realm Master? No, a Realm Master was a leader, but being a leader did not necessarily mean that one was also a Realm Master. He wasn’t even at the level of an Area Master right now, but who knew what heights he would reach in the future. His next target was the Nine Trial Zones, as he really wanted to know what an Area Master and even the full power of a Realm Master was like. They were all part of the younger generation and he was curious about just how big the gap between them was.
“By the way, there’s a second reward that’s for all of you,” Little Pao said before looking up at the sky, “Have you made your choices yet, sirs?”
All of the students were confused.
A gruff voice replied. It was the Sandmaster. “Lulu Mavis, Meng Yue, and Schutz, come to the Sand Ocean.”
“Silver, Darkvoid, and Zhao Yilong, come to the Rain Observatory.”
“Zora and Coco, come to the Stargazing Deck.”
“Xia Luo and Hui Daynight, come to the Arena.”
“Lu Yin and Michelle, come to the Treasury.”
Everyone was bewildered. Little Pao smiled at everyone before saying, “Congratulations! The mentors have decided to officially start teaching you. Work hard! An opportunity like this only comes about once a lifetime.”
Everyone grew excited and Lu Yin’s eyes also lit up. The fact that the mentors had decided to teach them was amazing news. He had previously received some pointers from the Rainmaster and Sandmaster; the Rainmaster had helped him breakthrough to the Melder Realm and had even simulated Nine Stacks from Three Stacks. The Sandmaster had shown him the limitless possibilities of Flash, including its ability to tear through the void. Had the mentors finally decided to teach them?
“Hurry up and head to the places that the mentors have mentioned,” Big Pao said enviously. The brothers had attended Astral-10 for many years, but they had never received such treatment.
Xia Luo’s eyes twinkled and he left with a gentle smile.
Silver slowly left with the rest.
Before leaving, Lulu waved her fists at Lu Yin.
Zhao Yilong left with bright eyes. The day would definitely come when he challenged these people again.
This competition had revealed everyone’s abilities to each other. Some were left in awe while others were excited.
Michelle was still overwhelmed by what she had seen. The power of Astral-10’s new students had far exceeded her expectations. Despite her formidable strength, she had still been eliminated in the first round. This would have been impossible in any of the other academies.
Lu Yin remembered that he and Michelle had been named by Old Cai. He glanced at Michelle. Why was she in a daze?
“Hey, we need to go to the Treasury,” Lu Yin shouted at Michelle.
Michelle glanced at him indifferently and then left without a word. Lu Yin was at a loss; this girl was the complete opposite of her sister. One was beautiful and alluring while the other was lovely and as cold as an iceberg. Such a waste of a beautiful face.
After everyone else left, Big Pao sighed ruefully. “I didn’t think that our Astral-10 would suddenly gather so many geniuses when it’s right on the edge of collapsing. The fact that our director managed to get the mentors to teach them means that he’s trying to revive the academy.”
Little Pao’s eyes shone brightly. “I think that we should also do something so that we won’t be looked down upon by our young friends.”
Big Pao found this difficult to bear. “It’s not a problem for us to become an Area Master, but a Realm Master is in a whole other league. The nine Realm Masters aren’t to be trifled with, we might not be able to hold our own against one even if we team up.”
“Let’s give it a shot. We can’t give up as long as there’s still hope. Not yet, though. We want to pave their way, but not with our lives,” Little Pao muttered.
Big Pao started stretching. “We haven’t done much lately, so I wouldn’t be surprised if those people have forgotten about us. Back then, we were pretty well-known in Astral-10 arena battles. I hope that there are still some people who remember us.”
Things were the same as ever in the Treasury. Old Cai was fiddling with his infinity-shaped beard as he looked at the two who had arrived before him. He lazily said, “Honestly, I don’t know how to teach you. All I can do is give you some missions, so do what you can to complete them.”
“There isn’t any mission that’s suitable for me,” Michelle said coldly.
Old Cai rolled his eyes. “These won’t be missions from the academy, but rather personal ones from me. It’s up to you if you want to do them. In the end, I was asked by the director to teach you even though I didn’t want to. It’s totally fine with me if you don’t want to.”
Michelle’s eyes twinkled as she thought it over. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
“What about you?” Old Cai glanced at Lu Yin.
He nodded as well. “Fine by me.”
“Since you’re fine with it, first go and win one hundred battles at the arena. Then you can go to the Six Daos.”
Lu Yin was confused. “The Six Daos? I can go there?”
“What a joke. You’ll be allowed in after you win a hundred battles. Now disappear so that I can start thinking about what’s good for this girl,” Old Cai said with an annoyed tone.
Lu Yin glanced at Michelle before leaving.
Old Cai thought it over a bit before his eyes lit up. “I remember now. Back when I was travelling through the Frostwave Weave, I actually found a good place that’s pretty suitable for you.” After saying that, he smirked.
Michelle frowned. How disgusting.
Everyone was busy taking advantage of the opportunity they had just received, and Lu Yin didn’t see Xia Luo or Hui Daynight at the arena; apparently they had been sent elsewhere by the Trialmaster. Lu Yin didn’t speak to the mentor and stepped up to the teleportation stone to start working towards the required one hundred victories.
With Lu Yin’s current strength, there were very few Melders who could defeat him. He could crush almost every Melder; only Limiteers and existences above them could defeat him.
He ended his first day with nineteen victories and five losses. During those battles, he once managed to reach a streak of eight consecutive wins, but then, he had lost to a Limiteer. That Limiteer had used battle force to crush Lu Yin and pulverize his organs. He only had one line of battle force, and while that was just the first stage, it was still much further than Lu Yin’s progression.
On the second day, Lu Yin achieved thirteen wins. His luck was worse than the first day as he even ended up matching against quite a few Explorers and above. One opponent didn’t even give Lu Yin any time to counterattack; he had been suppressed by some unseen force and then defeated in a mere instant. The power of his opponent had left Lu Yin quite shocked, and after that battle, he had to take a full two hours to recover before reentering the teleportation stone.
