Shock waves pulsed through the sky and reached deep underground, where a deep pit had already formed. All of a sudden, a black figure rushed out from the hole in the ground and attacked two people.
Nobody could have foreseen this. There had been a war spirit hidden deep underground. During the previous battles, it had not been affected at all, but during Lu Yin and Nightqueen Yanqing’s, the ground had been damaged too much, freeing it.
The black war spirit used its star energy to materialize a long staff that it grasped in its hands. As it swept out, the staff thrust the entire area into shadow even as more black shadows emanated out from the staff. This move was both a domain and a battle technique.
Up in the sky, one of the academy mentors was shocked. “That’s the battle technique of Astral-2’s leader from centuries ago.”
With the shrill sound of howling wind, Lu Yin and Nightqueen Yanqing’s figures flitted past the war spirit, which froze before crumbling apart. Even the shadows from its staff had vanished.
Quite a few of the spectators felt their scalps go numb. The war spirit of the former Astral-2 leader couldn’t even last for a second! The disparity between it and Lu Yin and Nightqueen Yanqing was just too large.
Thud thud!
Two dull sounds rang out in the arena as Lu Yin blocked Nightqueen Yanqing’s punch with his left arm while grabbing her elbow with his right hand. “So is this the Nightking’s Body that’s supposed to be comparable to five-lined battle force?”
Nightqueen Yanqing’s breathing was labored, and a line of blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth as she glared at Lu Yin. He ruthlessly mocked, “So, is this all the Nightking clan amounts to?”
Nightqueen Yanqing bellowed in rage and tried to kick him, but Lu Yin didn’t even bother dodging. With a flick of his wrist, he slammed her into the ground and stared into her eyes. “Nightking Zhenwu.”
Nightqueen Yanqing’s pupils shrank to the size of pinholes. “You’ve heard of the Ten Arbiters’ names?”
Lu Yin was startled by this unexpected response. “He’s one of the Ten Arbiters?”
Nightqueen Yanqing looked at Lu Yin in confusion before snickering. “So you didn’t know? Nightking Zhenwu is a genius beyond any we’ve ever seen. He’s one of the Ten Arbiters and my older brother as well.”
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. It did make sense that the strongest family in the universe, the Nightking clan, would produce a member of the Ten Arbiters. He had only asked about this person out of curiosity, but he had unexpectedly managed to find out that he was one of the Ten Arbiters.
“Do you have the guts to kill me? Can you even win? I’m the princess of the Nightking clan and Nightking Zhenwu’s younger sister—the younger sister of one of the Ten Arbiters,” Nightqueen Yanqing provokingly said.
Lu Yin shot her a look of contempt. “And here I thought that you were strong. I never expected that you would have such a pathetic side. Regardless, it’s over.”
After saying that, he used Nine Stacks, Seventeen-Fold Shockwave Palm with a single hand to crush both the ground and the girl into dust.
Everyone went silent as they watched Lu Yin slowly rise into the air. He had won the match.
Then, everyone from Astral-10 started cheering.
Wu Da was so excited that he nearly started jumping out of joy. There was now hope for his academy newspaper to reach an unprecedented level of sales! He watched Lu Yin with passionate eyes. This was a person who he needed to keep following, as Lu Yin would definitely be the subject of more shocking news in the future.
Starsibyl and a few others gave Lu Yin meaningful looks. Only now did they truly acknowledge and treat him as an equal with the same level of strength as them.
Up in the sky, a dozen mentors exchanged glances, the shock in their gazes still present. This Astral Combat Tournament had completely exceeded all of their expectations. Thankfully, a decision had already been made that the tournament would end before the semifinals. It wouldn’t be good for the Human Domain if the final four’s true abilities were exposed.
In front of their screens, numerous people stared at Lu Yin’s figure in shock. He was a Melder from Astral-10 who had cultivated five lines of battle force. He was incredibly powerful, but at the same time, he was merely a nobody from the Outerverse who had managed to achieve something that even people from the Innerverse’s most powerful organizations were incapable of accomplishing. Who ever said that miracles don’t exist in space?
The entire population of Earth was cheering ecstatically. The people might not understand the full implications of what had happened, but even they could tell that this last battle had been on a whole other level. After all, it had been a fierce battle between two people who were both qualified to enter the final four.
On Saint Dios, Wendy Yushan was just as shocked as everyone else. Lu Yin was merely a Melder, but once he became a Limiteer, or better yet, an Explorer, he would definitely rise into the heavens and be qualified to challenge the Top 100 Rankings.
In the Innerverse, within a dark room, a wine glass shattered into tiny shards. “What a piece of trash.”
Behind the young man, Liu Shaoge kept his eyes trained on Lu Yin’s figure on the screen as a dark glint flickered across them.
In the Lifeseek Realm, outside the arena plains, all of the students looked into the sky. This was the first time that an Astral Combat Academy mentor had come out and made an appearance.
Studying in the Astral Combat Academy came with a lot of freedom. For example, the battles in the teleportation arena and the trial zones took place without any guidance or supervision. The mentors would generally only give a small bit of guidance to the students, and many students might not even have the chance to ever interact with any of the mentors. Rather than calling them mentors, they were more like the Astral Combat Academy’s guardians.
“All students, listen up! This is a joint decision that was made by the Mentor Association of the Astral Combat Academy and the Ten Arbiter’s Council. The tournament will go on a hiatus until further notice. Additionally, the Astral Combat Academy’s students must respond to a summons and go to the Human Domain’s warfront. The final four will be the leaders of this team, and they will also oversee these teams at the Human Domain’s border while accumulating contributions for humanity. The dates of the final matches will be announced later.” The mentor then repeated himself. “ The tournament will go on a hiatus until further notice. Additionally, the Astral Combat Academy’s students must respond to a summons and go to the Human Domain’s warfront. The final four will be the leaders of this team, and they will also oversee these teams at the Human Domain’s border while accumulating contributions for humanity. The dates of the final matches will be announced later.”
The students were astonished by what they had just heard; the tournament was going to end just like that?!
In front of their screens, countless people were swearing and cursing. They had just found out who the final four were before the tournament was indefinitely postponed! This was terrible news.
Lu Yin sighed. It was over. The Trialmaster had already hinted to him that this would be the last round of the tournament. As for when the tournament’s semifinals and finals would really be held, it depended on what the higher-ups decided. However, what would happen to the rewards from the sponsors? He remembered that the Nalan family had donated a harmless sourcebox that was suitable for a medium-ranked Lockbreaker to unlock. It was also rumored that there were also many powerful battle techniques available. Many people had joined the tournament and even the academies just for these rewards.
Starsibyl, Han Chong, and Grandini appeared on the arena plains and approached Lu Yin.
“The date for the final battle hasn’t been decided yet, so let’s get as strong as we can in the meantime,” Starsibyl said with a slight smile. She was very gentle and her voice caused people to unconsciously relax when they heard it.
Lu Yin swung his arms around. “I’m pretty beat from fighting so much over the past few days. I’ll probably use this time to relax a bit.”
Grandini snickered. “Relax? It seems that you’ve never been to the Human Domain’s warfront before. People at the Explorer realm and above die there everyday, and you want to relax there?”
Lu Yin was shocked. “We’re actually going to the warfront?”
“Who knows? With our strength, it’s very possible. At the very least, we won’t lose easily, even to Explorers,” Han Chong added on.
Starsibyl looked at Lu Yin and smiled. “Here’s a word of advice. Nightqueen Yanqing is a very petty woman. You beat her, so you should be careful of her from now on.” After that, she waved her hand and exited the Lifeseek Realm.
Han Chong nodded in agreement. “Yeah, she’s very petty.” He also left after saying those words.
Grandini Mavis stared at Lu Yin with a serious expression. Lu Yin was a bit puzzled and asked, “Are you going to warn me as well?”
Grandini shook her head. “No, I want to ask you something.”
“Ok.”
“What’s your relationship like with Lulu?”
Lu Yin was confused. “What do you mean? Are you asking whether we’re classmates or friends?”
Grandini was rather disappointed by Lu Yin’s answer. “I thought that you two were a couple. What a pity—I don’t get to rip you apart.”
Lu Yin was rendered speechless by her shocking words. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Grandini snorted. “It’s hard for a Mavis family member to marry outside the family, so what do you think I meant?”
Lu Yin rolled his eyes before leaving the Liveseek Realm as well. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Xia Luo and the rest had already left the trial zone mountain. Hui Daynight was the only one who had stayed behind, and he was looking at Lu Yin with a complicated expression on his face.
Lu Yin returned the look and asked rather detachedly, “What’s up?”
Hui Daynight shook his head before leaving the mountain as well.
Lu Yin suddenly remembered something, quickly left the mountain, and headed straight for Astral-10’s space station. Unfortunately, the Nalan spacecraft had already left, and he wasn’t able to bid farewell to Madam Nalan.
Then, he received a message from his gadget telling him to go to the treasury to meet Old Cai.
“Old Cai.” Lu Yin respectfully bowed to the mentor when he reached the treasury.
Old Cai looked Lu Yin up and down with evident surprise. “You’re quite something, kiddo.”
Lu Yin smiled. “I just got lucky.”
Old Cai nodded and did not prod any further. “There’s been a summoning from the warfront. The final four of the tournament are to lead the rest. Get some rest and head out tomorrow.”
Lu Yin was surprised. “This soon?”
Old Cai rolled his eyes in annoyance. “It’s a summoning from the warfront, so it’s obviously going to happen soon. Did you think that this was just another mission?”
“So where am I going?” Lu Yin asked.
Old Cai answered, “To the battlefront at the border of the Erudite Flowzone, Planet Conan.” Then, he seemed to remember something and tossed a cosmic ring to Lu Yin. “This is your reward for reaching the final four. You’re quite lucky.”
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. He was actually just about to ask about the reward.
“Don’t bother checking it. There’s five hundred thousand star crystals and a harmless sourcebox inside,” Old Cai said with a slightly envious and annoyed tone.
Five hundred thousand star crystals wasn’t much, but Lu Yin was quite surprised by the sourcebox.
“Old Cai, who provided this sourcebox?” Lu Yin asked even though he had his guesses.
Old Cai snickered. “It’s from the Nalan family. By the way, kid, since when did you become friends with that rich Nalan widow? This reward is meant for the winner, but she gave it to you now.”
Madam Nalan’s face appeared in Lu Yin’s mind and his heartbeat sped up. But after seeing Old Cai’s thick beard, he replied, “She’s my benefactor. It’s all thanks to her that I managed to return here.”
“Is that so? Well, whatever, your personal issues have nothing to do with the academy. Though I do need to remind you that she has connections with the Sword Sect, so don’t overdo it,” Old Cai said.
Lu Yin didn’t really care since he had known about this since a long time ago. That was the only way Madam Nalan would have known about Liu Shaoqiu, and she most likely wouldn’t have given Liu Xiaoyun a ride if she didn’t have a good relationship with the Sword Sect. However, this had nothing to do with Lu Yin.
“By the way, speaking of the Sword Sect, a letter arrived yesterday from them. Apparently, the sect leader is willing to take you in as a personal disciple. What do you think? Do you want to go there?” Old Cai asked.
Lu Yin was startled. “The Sword Sect’s leader? Become his personal disciple?”
Old Cai nodded and grinned as he stroked his beard. “Yes, you’d be a personal disciple of the sect leader. That would mean that you’d have the same status as Liu Shaoqiu.”
Lu Yin was shocked. The Sword Sect was a very powerful organization in the Innerverse that controlled the First Flowzone and was far more powerful than Myriad Swords Peak. The moment he became a personal disciple of the Sword Sect, his status would surpass even Wendy Yushan’s, who was from the Myriad Swords Peak. This was an extremely tempting offer.
Old Cai continued stroking his beard as he observed Lu Yin’s reaction.
Lu Yin pondered over it for quite a while, but then, he sighed. “Forget it. The Sword Sect isn’t for me.”
Old Cai was surprised to hear this response. “Think it through, kiddo. That’s the Sword Sect you’re talking about! The Sword Sect from the First Flowzone. If you agree, you’d instantly become a part of the rich and powerful in the Innerverse. With one word, you’d be able to make the master of any Outerverse territory bow down to you, and your status would vastly eclipse what you currently have as King Zishan. Are you sure that you don’t want this?”
Lu Yin laughed wryly before responding, “Please stop tempting me, Old Cai. It’s not that easy to say ‘no.’”
Old Cai sized him up before seriously asking, “Tell me why.”
“It’s very simple. The Sword Sect just isn’t suitable for me. The reason why they value me is probably because they saw that I was immune to Liu Shaoqiu’s Third Sword. In reality, other than that, I’m worth nothing to the Sword Sect even though I have five-lined battle force. They’re an organization that has even raised a disciple who became one of the Ten Arbiters. If I go, I’ll just be someone for them to study. Besides, their training environment doesn’t fit me,” Lu Yin honestly answered.
