In the Great Yu Empire, Huo Qingshan and Jue Lang exchanged glances at each other. This Xia Luo was also from the Yu Empire, and he had a similar background to Silver’s. When had the empire become so powerful? Astral-10’s representatives so far, for Three Academies Guarding the Gate, Knocking on the Dragon’s Door, and now Tribute to the Ancestors, had all come from the Great Yu Empire. Even Astral-10’s seeded student was Lu Yin. This was just too strange.
Neither of them could stop themselves from gazing towards the palace when they thought about this. The crown prince, Dorren Yushan, had tried to investigate Xia Luo’s background when he first passed Astral-10’s entrance exam, but he had been informed that he did not have the authority to do so. Perhaps His Majesty was the only one who could look into Xia Luo’s history.
Meanwhile, Undying Yushan was looking up Xia Luo’s background on his gadget, but the display only showed two words: “top secret.” He also had no authority to probe, because Xia Luo’s identity was kept confidential from the entire Outerverse. Undying Yushan sighed as he rubbed his temples. “It looks like quite a few outstanding people came out of the empire over these last few years.”
In the Lifeseek Realm, while the various academy leaders sat up atop the tallest peak, the next stage, Tribute to the Ancestors, officially began.
The ten selected students each raised a foot and started approaching the ancient incense sticks.
The power and effects of these ancient incense sticks was no secret. Descriptions of the incense sticks’ suppressive field that was scarily similar to a domain were widely spread, but even so, it was still shocking for the audience and the students who were experiencing it for the first time.
Liu Tang’s gaze grew cold when he stepped within the incense sticks’ range. He saw an endless amount of sword qi that tore through the heavens. This was the remnant aura of the ancient elders’ bloodlust. Each sliver of sword qi sliced through the void as they headed towards Liu Tang. Despite this infernal world before him, he steadily moved forward step by step, unwavering and majestic in his bearing as he seemingly walked towards his death.
As the Astral Combat Academy students approached the ancient incense sticks, each of them felt the pressure on them mounting with every step. By this point, the differences between the students were clear for the audience to see. Of the ten students, the girl from Astral-1, Liu Tang from Astral-2, the Daynight clan members from Astral-3 and Astral-4, Xia Ye from Astral-5, and Xia Luo from Astral-10 were the only ones who were able to steadily take multiple steps forward while everyone else had paused in their march.
Xia Luo’s performance astounded many, as moving forward this smoothly without any breaks as a Melder was really not easy.
Silver leisurely stepped out from the valley and stared at the screen in the air. The smile of his lip curved up even wider. “So you cannot resist it either. Some people are born to be powerless while others are destined to be outstanding. Are you the same as me? Let me see it clearly.”
The ancient incense sticks were only a thousand meters away from the students, but they felt as distant as the sky. When Xia Luo and the rest reached the hundred meter mark, they all stopped.
The bloodlust emanating from the incense sticks was like a raging torrent, and the remnant auras from the ancient elders meant that the students saw something different from the spectators. At this moment, even the girl from Astral-1 had paused to look at the sky in shock, awed by the scene before her.
At the same time, the Nalan family spacecraft finally docked at Astral-10’s space station. Lu Yin took the lead to exit as soon as the cabin door opened, followed right behind by Liu Xiaoyun. Only they two were allowed to enter the academy.
“Auntie, I’ll be leaving first,” Liu Xiaoyun said as she waved goodbye to Madam Nalan.
Lu Yin also thanked Madam Nalan again.
She smiled, looked at Lu Yin, and said, “I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that you’ll surprise me.”
“I hope so,” Lu Yin replied with a smile of his own. He saw Liu Xiaoyun look back at him, clearly anxious to leave. He immediately walked out towards the teleportation device.
Soon, the two arrived at the trial zone entrance, where they saw the Trialmaster. He didn’t say much and quickly allowed them to quickly enter the trial zone mountain.
Liu Xiaoyun did not say another word as she directly flew to the highest point on the trial zone mountain. She was Astral-7’s Realm Master, and as such, deserved to sit at the highest point.
Lu Yin laughed. Are all powerhouses this proud? His gaze burned as he wondered what expression she would have if he stomped that pride to bits. He was anticipating seeing this Realm Master’s strength for himself.
Meanwhile, in the Lifeseek Realm, the girl from Astral-1 took the lead and continued approaching her ancient incense stick. Liu Tang was close behind her while the rest successively reached the hundred meters point. None of them stopped for long before steadily continuing on towards the sticks.
The bloodlust did not cause substantial harm to their body as it only affected the students’ state of mind; however, it tested both their strength of body and of mind.
There was a disparity between the personal combat strength of the students that the ten academies had sent out for this stage, but the difference was not huge. The one who had lagged behind the most was Xia Luo, who had stayed outside the hundred meters mark for the longest, but he had still caught up to the other students and was now advancing step by step with them.
At that moment, Lu Yin appeared in a forest within the Lifeseek Realm and looked at his surroundings. He saw some figures streaking towards the east, so he instantly moved in front of one of them, startling him badly. “Student, may I ask where the location for the Astral Combat Tournament is?”
This was a student who had been eliminated during the Knocking on the Dragon’s Door stage and had forcefully endured the mental fatigue from dying to reenter the Lifeseek Realm. He was in a very bad mood and instinctively wanted to scold this person for blocking his path, but then he thought of how this person had strangely appeared before him and realized that the person in front of him might be a powerhouse. “It’s straight east.”
“Thanks,” Lu Yin said with a curt nod before immediately vanishing, leaving behind a thin crack that extended deep into the void.
That student was dumbfounded. What kind of freak is this person? He was so fast that just his speed tore the void apart! He can’t be an Area Master since he’s just a Melder. When did the ten academies have such a freak? Or is he one of the ancient powerhouses who emerged from a frozen slumber? The student was glad that he had held back and not offended Lu Yin, as he would not be able to return to the Lifeseek Realm if he died a second time.
Liu Xiaoyun’s luck was much better than Lu Yin’s, and when she appeared in the Lifeseek Realm, she was not far from the tournament. When she appeared at the highest peak where the other academy seeds were sitting and walked to the seventh seat, the first incense stick had already been lit, and it was emitting a green smoke that rose to the sky. “Astral-1’s entire student body pays their eternal tribute to the forebearers.”
When the girl from Astral-1 paid tribute, everyone in the entire Astral Combat Academy remained solemn and bowed together, even the leaders of the academies and the observing mentors.
“Astral-2’s entire student body pays their eternal tribute to the forebearers.”
“Astral-5’s entire student body pays their eternal tribute to the forebearers.”
…
Xia Luo was the last of the ten to reach the ancient incense stick. He had originally planned to light it as soon as he arrived, but then he paused and looked into the distance. At the same time, many spectators saw a black dot appear in the distance, moving towards the tournament site at a normal speed. It was Lu Yin, who had intentionally slowed down when he neared the tournament site. He directly walked onto the highest peak.
Astral-5’s Realm Master Kuang Wang frowned and waved a hand. “Scram. Do you think that just anyone can come up here?”
Kuang Wang caused a gale to sweep up that then rushed at Lu Yin with an unstoppable force.
Lu Yin waved his hand in a similar manner, effortlessly neutralizing the attack. “I’m Astral-10’s leader. Lu Yin pays his respects to my seniors.”
Kuang Wang was stunned. “You are Astral-10’s leader?”
The others also looked at Lu Yin with renewed interest.
Coincidentally, at that moment, Xia Luo’s voice rang out. “Astral-10’s entire student body pays their eternal tribute to the forebearers.”
When all ten lines of green smoke billowed into the air, the crowd seemed to hear a bloodlust-filled snarl echo out, as if countless ancient elders were expressing their intent.
This was an extraordinary phenomena that was unique to the Lifeseek Realm, and it could not be transmitted through the video feed to the screens of the viewers throughout the universe.
At that moment, countless eyes in the universe could only watch the ten lines of green smoke rising into the sky and the nine shadows sitting atop the highest peak.
Wu Da looked excitedly at Xia Luo. He succeeded! This Melder actually managed to successfully light up the incense stick! In the future, Xia Luo will undoubtedly be one of my greatest stories. Well, along with Silver, that is. Astral-10 definitely has more gems to uncover. What a great place!
The Astral Combat Academy students watching the tournament bowed once more towards the incense sticks and then went back to staring at the highest peak. Many focused their gaze on Lu Yin, who had sat down in the tenth seat, as they mocked him. “Astral-10 is really treating everyone as a fool with their play of exhorting a weakling as their leader. The truly strong ones from Astral-10 are Big Pao, Little Pao, Silver, Lulu Mavis, and Xia Luo. Though it must be said, Astral-10 truly isn’t weak.”
“Don’t underestimate him. He defeated Craynor, who’s the number two on the Blaze Realm Rankings. He even took advantage of Xi Yue once and extorted many people afterwards.”
“Obviously, one of the other students must have helped him out since he’s a fellow Astral-10 student. It’s even possible that a mentor might have stepped in.”
…
Behind Astral-5’s battle drums, Hart Phoenix stared at the screen. “He’s finally here. Just wait for me to tear you to shreds.”
Not far from Hart Phoenix, there stood a man with a simple sword on his back, also staring at the screen. “So that’s senior’s fiancé? He shouldn’t be too weak since he’s also a seeded competitor.”
Behind Astral-6’s battle drums, Charon clenched his teeth in fury. That bastard didn’t die?!
Frankfurt’s face sank. The person who had been instantly killed by one of his spears was now standing at the highest spot with the other Realm Masters. It was humiliating to him.
Uro was about to vomit blood, as this was the brat who had been the first to sneak attack him.
Behind Astral-8’s battle drums, Jared’s had a forlorn look in his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly.
Xi Yue’s eyes widened when she saw Lu Yin. Pervert, just wait for me to make you pay the price! Then, subconsciously, she looked at her chest. Hmph, it’s obviously not a washboard.
…
In the Great Yu Empire, Undying Yushan was pleased to see Lu Yin on the screen. This child had actually risen to the point where he could now stand face to face with the other academy leaders. Undying Yushan hoped that Lu Yin would be able to handle the pressure, but it was simply too difficult. It was an impossible dream for Lu Yin to compare to the other academies’ leaders after just a year of cultivation at the academy.
In the Auna clan, Xueshan Auna and the rest watched the screen with bated breath as they glanced at Jenny Auna. Their brat was truly shocked, as this level of glory was completely unattainable to her. Lu Yin had actually become his academy’s leader.
Peach clenched her fist tightly. “All the best, friend.”
On Earth, Zhou Shan and the rest were basically panting with excitement. Without a doubt, that was Lu Yin who was sitting in the tenth seat. This was the difference of just a single year, but he had actually climbed to the peak of the universe’s greatest institution and was representing Earth.
Not many on Earth personally knew Lu Yin, but almost everyone had heard of him. Because of him, the countless cultivators of Earth had been spared from the bleak fate of being sent to a frontier battlefield and were able to continue living on Earth. Lu Yin’s reputation had long since surpassed the Seven Sages, but today, many of Earth’s cultivators finally realized the terror of the universe’s powerhouses for the first time. And on top of that, Yin was now one of those same powerhouses!
On a vast mainland, at the border of a city floating in the skies, Wendy Yushan looked at her screen, pondering something.
Three Academies Guarding the Gate had eliminated half of the competing students, leaving 362 of them. After the participating students from Astral-3, Astral-7, and Astral-10 joined, that number had grown to a total of 598. After Knocking on the Dragon’s Door eliminated another hundred-some people, there were 434 left. The Astral Combat Tournament’s final stage of drawing lots would take place with these 434 people.
The giant incense sticks had burned away as green smoke and vanished, leaving everyone’s gazes to turn to the south, which was right below the high peak where the ten academy leaders were seated. There was a giant field there, and a gale suddenly swept across it, carving the plain into 217 arenas without countless air blades. Each arena was surrounded by an invisible barrier of wind that prevented any attacks from spilling out. The stage of drawing lots would be held here, not far from the highest peak. That peak represented the students’ goal: the ten academy leaders.
The ten of them represented the Realm Masters of the trial zones, and they also represented the Council of Astral Academy. Even more importantly, they represented the Ten Arbiters Council, as they were the only students who were qualified to directly discuss issues with the Ten Arbiters Council.
