Lu Yin shook his head vigorously while Kao Ke appeared before him and swatted at Lu Yin’s head. Lu Yin instantly vanished, stunning Kao Ke. He actually woke up! Suddenly, an intense pain erupted on his back as Lu Yin struck him heavily, forcing him into the ground. Nine Stacks exploded forth, immediately crushing Kao Ke.
Lu Yin felt that it was somewhat absurd that an Explorer had been defeated so easily. This idiot’s defensive abilities were just too pathetic.
“Monkey, what’s a succubus?” When Lu Yin reappeared beneath the teleportation stone, he immediately asked the Ghost Monkey this question in a curious tone.
“It’s an astral beast that can charm human hearts. It’s physically weak, but very effective against those with weak willpower. That person must be some kind of prodigy for him to be able to tame that beast. He’s got guts,” the Ghost Monkey marvelled.
Lu Yin felt that it was actually somewhat expected for that Explorer to be ballsy. After all, he had named himself “Grand Daddy” in the ported battles—was there anything that such a person would not dare to do? Besides his courage, he was also a talented cultivator from the Beast Tamers Flowzone.
Six consecutive victories. Lu Yin did not take a break and touched the teleportation stone once more to start the next ported battle.
The Trialmaster sighed on the outside. Compared to a year ago, this kid’s improvement was just too extreme and too fast. In perhaps just a few years’ time, he might truly become a Ten Arbiters’ candidate. But would any of the Ten Arbiters ever abdicate? Even now, none of them were over forty, but they were quickly approaching that age. Once they became older than forty and ceased to be a part of the younger generation, would they allow others to take up their old titles? This was the concern of many.
No one could stop Lu Yin in the ported battles. He was extremely powerful for a member of the younger generation, and only Explorers or experts within the Top 100 Rankings had a chance of defeating him.
With a single palm strike, another figure vanished before him. Lu Yin had now accumulated fifteen consecutive victories, and his alias in this virtual realm had changed color to a bright red, which signified his fifteen consecutive victories.
The next battle would be the bout for the teleportation stone. Victory would mean obtaining the opponent’s teleportation stone while defeat would mean that he would have to start all over again.
In the ported battles, anyone who saw a red name would naturally be troubled, as it indicated that their opponent had racked up fifteen consecutive victories. They would have to pay a price if they lost—their teleportation stone.
The scene changed before Lu Yin’s eyes, and the setting for his sixteenth ported battle was revealed. They were above an ocean. The tranquil sea breeze blew by, carrying the salty scent of the sea and fish with it.
This was not Lu Yin’s first time battling above the sea.
A figure soon appeared before him.
Ah Fan felt that his luck today was horrible. He had been inexplicably scolded by his mentor, forced to rewatch the entire Astral Combat Tournament, and even been told to memorize the battle styles of each competitor.
He was from the Shangwu Academy in the Northline Flowzone, and felt rather competitive towards Astral Combat Academy students. He did not have a problem with watching the Astral Combat Tournament, but that did not mean that he wanted to watch it everyday. He felt that his mentor was just thinking wishfully when he said that they could obtain victory just by memorizing others’ battle styles. Those other students would continue improving.
The one who had stood out the most to Ah Fan was called Lu Yin, and Ah Fan had even heard news that his duties in Council of Astral Academy were based in the Northline Flowzone. Didn’t that basically make Lu Yin his superior?
Ah Fan had studied Lu Yin’s battle the most, but the more he watched Lu Yin’s battles, the more he had felt that this person was a savage beast with a violent battle style. Lu Yin had only overlaid battle force on top of his strikes, and he hadn’t used any battle techniques. Ah Fan looked down on this sort of person.
After watching some tournament battles, Ah Fan was looking forward to the Tournament of the Strongest and had decided to enter the ported battles to kill some time and bully some weaklings.
However, as soon as he entered, he felt an urge to curse. What the [email protected]#$! It was a person with a red name! This sort of encounter would not occur even if one battled for many years, but he just had to meet one now, leaving Ah Fan nauseous to the point where he nearly vomited.
The red name meant that the opponent was very powerful, which was a given since they had racked up fifteen consecutive victories. If he lost to this person, it meant that Ah Fan would have to pay the price of his teleportation stone.
The Shangwu Academy only had a single teleportation stone, and it had been acquired by a very powerful predecessor who had shamelessly taken it. Ah Fan’s standing in the academy would be finished if he lost this one, as they were not the Astral Combat Academy that had multiple backups.
Ah Fan could already imagine his mentor’s face if he lost this match and the teleportation stone; he would become a sinner to the entire Shangwu Academy.
Ah Fan encouraged himself. Do not lose.
He was a Limiteer and ranked among the top in his academy. His status was similar to that of the ten student leaders of the Astral Combat Academy, although there were disparities between the student leaders.
The moment Lu Yin’s palm landed on Ah Fan’s shoulder, the Shangqu Academy student seemed to see his future path darken; he had already been defeated without being able to mount any resistance at all.
Lu Yin was amazed as he watched Ah Fan vanish. This person was not weak and had actually withstood Seven Stacks. He had had to go all the way to Nine Stacks to defeat him. This person was a rare expert within the same realm, and he could have easily entered the top thirty two of the Astral Combat Tournament.
Still, such strength was insufficient from Lu Yin’s perspective, and there was a vast difference in strength even among the Astral Combat Academy’s students. The students were separated into multiple groups, and it wasn’t just the student leaders who rose above the average students. For example, Starsibyl and the other final four fighters were in a different league from everyone else, even the other student leaders.
Before he grasped his domain, Lu Yin had not been able to clearly sense this distinction. He had only been able to get a grasp on Han Chong’s power at the Tower of Resonating Light and understand the chasm between the strong and the weak. However, he was on the side of the strong in this gap.
As the red name returned to normal, Lu Yin was finally able to speak. “Astral-10.”
He could not speak after uttering those words, and the scenery before him changed once more.
He opened his eyes and looked at the Trialmaster. “Mentor, I’ve won a teleportation stone.”
The mentor nodded. “Go ahead.”
Lu Yin thought for a moment and then asked, “Can sourceboxes be arranged in a complementary or even overlapping manner to form a defensive forcefield?”
The Trialmaster’s eyes gleamed. “Not bad. After achieving a certain proficiency of lockbreaking, sourceboxes can indeed be arranged complementarily. This is a technique of a Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker. It’s pretty good that you found out about this, kid. Did someone else tell you this, or did you figure it out for yourself?”
Lu Yin politely answered, “I encountered five sourceboxs in the Shenwu Continent that were overlaid to produce a sealing forcefield, so I arrived at this guess myself.”
The mentor was astounded. “The Shenwu Continent actually has Boundless Advanced Lockbreakers with such techniques? Not bad.”
Then, he gave Lu Yin a serious look and said, “Kid, your level is too low right now, so don’t consider trying to do such things or else you might walk down the wrong path of lockbreaking, or even die.”
Lu Yin acknowledged the warning and took a deep breath. He raised his hand and approached the teleportation stone to join a ported battle once again.
As for the teleportation stone that he had won, the Shangwu Academy would have to send it to Astral-10 as soon as they were able to. This was predetermined according to the rules, and they would not dare to break it.
Although the strong preyed on the weak in the universe, under the authority of the top, there was still a functional set of rules. Everyone operated by those rules, no matter if it was the Astral Combat Academy, the Shangwu Academy, or even the Ten Arbiters Council, Daynight Clan, Sword Sect, and Cosmic Sea. This was the current state of the universe, where everyone obediently followed the rules set by the top powerhouses.
Lu Yin’s grind for the first teleportation stone went smoothly, and it only took him about half a day to acquire it. However, Lu Yin’s good luck seemed to have been used up. This time, after three consecutive victories, he met an incomparably terrifying powerhouse who was able to alter the weather.
Lu Yin knew that things weren’t looking good for his chances the moment he saw the Explorer start walking towards him, as the earth shuddered with every step he took. Every breath that the Explorer exhaled felt heavy and seemed to scorch the very air. Lu Yin dared not be distracted for even a moment, for fear of being wiped out instantly if he were careless.
Bang!
The earth trembled, and the person with the alias “Alliance” formed a long spear from star energy and then smashed it against the ground. He raised his head to stare at Lu Yin, as if awaiting Lu Yin’s attack.
Lu Yin did not hesitate, and he tore through the void with Flash before appearing right behind Alliance. Lu Yin then activated the Cosmic Art and sent out a Thirteen Stacks, Twenty-Twofold Shockwave Palm as a probing attack.
Alliance’s eyes widened in shock, and visible astonishment flickered across them as he stood up with his back to Lu Yin. He casually shifted his body sideways and dodged Lu Yin’s palm strike right when it was about to make contact with him. His spear spun in a circle before stabbing out, though his movements didn’t affect the void whatsoever. This spear had reached some profound realm where it did not destroy the void as its power had transcended the level of tearing the void apart.
Within the range of his Cosmic Art, Lu Yin was able to perfectly observe the trajectory of the spear thrust. He knew that he could not dodge it and that it was locked onto him. He had a strange feeling that he would not be able to evade this spear even if he fled to the ends of the world. This spear had dazzled his spirit, and his body was pierced through before he even had a chance to react.
Lu Yin felt bitter about his defeat; this was a top-level Explorer’s power. The strength of this person’s spear had probably already surpassed a normal Cruiser’s level.
Alliance could not restrain the shock in his eyes as he stared at the slowly dissipating body of Seventh Bro. This person was only a Limiteer, but his instincts were so sharp that he had tried to dodge his spear and had even maintained his consciousness after being struck. It was unbelievable! More importantly, his spear technique had the effect of suppressing everything before it, or else he would not have been able to stab that Limiteer. This person’s body was extremely terrifying.
And he was just a Limiteer. Alliance’s true identity was that of Ke Nan, who was ranked in the top twenty of the Top 100 Rankings. His reputation was enough to shock the universe. There were many space-exploring powerhouses who had died to his hands, but none of them had shocked him as much as this Seventh Bro. This person actually reminded him of the abnormal nature of the top ten; those people had possessed similar levels of strength when they had been Limiteers.
A freakish genius: this was Ke Nan’s evaluation of Lu Yin.
Lu Yin released a pent up breath when he saw the familiar scenery. That spear’s power had caused him to die on the spot. That person was just too powerful.
“Seventh Bro, that guy’s an Explorer, and he’s definitely in the top of that realm, so don’t take the loss to heart,” the Ghost Monkey consoled Lu Yin, something he rarely did.
Lu Yin laughed wryly. “I know, but this person’s also from the younger generation. He should be on the Top 100 Rankings if he was able to instantly kill me.”
“He probably ranks pretty highly.”
Lu Yin knew that the monkey was trying to encourage him, but he also knew that this was the cold truth of reality. He had used a top tier strengthening fruit to greatly improve his body, and he had been confident that even a Top 100 Rankings expert would not have been able to instantly kill him. However, this person had killed him with a single move. He was definitely ranked highly on the ranking, but it was unknown exactly what his ranking was. Could he be ranked above even Wendy Yushan?
Lu Yin suddenly felt that the distance between him and Wendy Yushan had decreased once again. When he had first arrived at the Astral Combat Academy, he had not even been qualified to look up to the Top 100 Rankings. But with his current power, he could even guess whether an opponent was ranked higher or lower in the rankings. This was progress, and his improvement had taken place in less than two years.
Perhaps in another two years, he would be able to face off against those in the Battle Rankings and crush everyone, meet with the Ten Arbiters, and even quash Wendy Yushan’s arrogance. Perhaps even Mira would no longer dare to tease him. He might even be able to face the Ten Arbiters then!
The surname Lu on a piece of paper… Seventy two lives lost… It was time to avenge his family’s death and discover exactly which one of the Ten Arbiters had ordered the slaughter that had spilled his family’s blood across the starry sky.
“Again!” Lu Yin barked as he reentered the ported battles.
