In another part of the stronghold, due to Wang Wen’s orders, Brokenblade Fort’s warehouse was opened. Everybody in the top fifty of the Ironblood Point rankings were able to obtain some free resources, and the top ten were even able to receive some power vessels.
Those of Ironblood Weave knew that, once they fell, everything was over. The commanders knew that they may as well give out some more resources to the defenders so that they could kill more beasts.
Lu Yin was also able to get his hands on some resources, which amounted to several thousand star essence. It was quite a bit for someone like him who had nearly dropped out of the top rankings.
But he did not care about any of that at the moment. Instead, he was concerned about what had happened to the sourceboxes that had been circling around Seasons Fort like satellites now that the stronghold had fallen.
“You mean those sourceboxes? Gone. The stronghold has fallen, so those sourceboxes must have been buried along with the ruins,” Liu Miaomiao replied as she passed Lu Yin his share of the resources. She was a Hunter with a power level of 110,000, and she was also someone who had survived the fall of Seasons Fort, and like Lu Yin, she had also retreated to Brokenblade Fort.
Lu Yin felt it was a pity. “But those are sourceboxes.”
Liu Miaomiao replied. “We’re well aware of that fact, and we know that they’re priceless. It’s possible that some of them hold wonderful treasures that would shock the heavens after being unlocked, but no one has the ability to do so. Only those at the level of a Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker can unlock them, and anyone else can just forget about it. It’s possible that there isn’t such a Lockbreaker left in the entire Outerverse.”
Lu Yin thought about it and agreed. Those sourceboxes had possessed a natural formless danger zone, which made it impossible to bring them away, and that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that they did not have enough Spiritual Thread to do so. Hence, they could only be left in the fortress’s ruins. Perhaps in the future, Ironblood Weave would be rebuilt, and the sourceboxes would be used again. Or perhaps the Astral Beast Domain would take them away. Since they were able to see through the holes in the danger zones, they must have Lockbreakers among their members as well.
Unfortunately, the separation of the Innerverse and Outerverse had been too sudden. Otherwise, the powerful forces of the Innerverse definitely would not have allowed those sourceboxes to be lost.
Liu Miaomiao moved away, as she still had to deliver resources to more people. Another woman showed up in front of Lu Yin, and the number of rune lines he saw from her were very close to what he saw from Aden.
“I’m Kong Shi,” the girl indifferently introduced before looking at Lu Yin strangely.
Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed. “So you are Kong Shi?”
She had a cold appearance, and although she looked young, she was actually from a generation that was senior even to the Ten Arbiters. More importantly, she had been a part of the previous Ten Arbiters Council. No—before the Ten Arbiters, it had been called the Universe Youth Council, and she had been one of their councilors.
“The universe has undergone great changes, which led to the abrupt rise of the Ten Arbiters. However, those ten freaks aren’t the only ones who appeared, as there’s also your generation,” Kong Shi said as she looked at Lu Yin with a serious expression.
Lu Yin did not know what she was trying to say to him.
“I’ve exchanged blows with Arbiter Zhenwu before,” she quietly told him.
Lu Yin’s eyes changed. “And?”
“What do you think?” Kong Shi raised a hand and tapped her forehead with her index finger. “One finger. He used just one finger to crush me. At that time, he was just an Explorer, while I was already a peak Cruiser with a power level of 90,000.”
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. Someone becoming a councilor was not just a reflection of their individual power level. Any member of the younger generation who was able to become a councilor had to be a monstrous genius as well. Since Kong Shi had become a councilor, then it meant that she was also a monster among monsters, and fighting across realms was something that was as easy for her as taking a sip of water. Despite that, she had been defeated by Arbiter Zhenwu while he was crossing realms, and even then, he had defeated her with a single finger. This was not as simple as a mere disparity between the two.
“Zhenwu of the Ten Arbiters has exchanged blows with almost all the previous councilors, though the outcomes were all generally the same. The Ten Arbiters truly have the ability to match their reputations.” Kong Shi’s tone turned gloomy, as if she was reminiscing about something.
“Why are you telling me this?” Lu Yin felt strange.
Kong Shi looked at him. “The Ten Arbiters brought despair to us, so I hope that I can see them fall into despair in turn.”
Lu Yin’s brows lifted. “You think I can do that?”
“I don’t know. If you rely on foreign objects, then you should be able to. Even the Ten Arbiters will find it very difficult to kill an Enlighter in their present state, but you have already done it. However, the Ten Arbiters will not necessarily give you an opportunity to rely on such objects, so I wish to see your own power.” Kong Shi looked at Lu Yin with a grave expression.
Lu Yin laughed. “Your generation was defeated, so now you’ve placed your hopes on my generation redeeming yours?”
“Through battling with me, you can directly observe the disparity between you and those in the top ten of the Top 100 Rankings. Cool Sis is ranked tenth, so don’t you want to know the difference?” Kong Shi commented softly.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, as this indeed interested him. He truly did want to evaluate his current personal strength, as well as see how far he could go at this time. The scene where Wendy Yushan and he had been forced to work together to deal with Nightking Gu was still fresh in his mind, but that had happened more than half a year ago. Now that he had transformed and become an Explorer, he wanted to know how great the disparity still was.
Unfortunately, there was an imminent battle with the astral beasts on the horizon, so doing such a thing now was meaningless. He turned to leave.
“Let’s go. No matter what the outcome ends up being, my Ironblood Points will belong to you,” Kong Shi loudly offered.
Lu Yin turned right back around. “Alright.”
Kong Shi looked resolute, as she did not care about the battle or even about the future. She only wanted to see Arbiter Zhenwu defeated. No—she wanted to see him crushed. She wanted to personally witness him experience for once the sorrow that he had brought to her and the other members of her generation.
In Lu Yin’s eyes, this woman was crazy. Entrusting one’s hopes to someone else was a sign of the weak. However, that didn’t matter; he just wanted her Ironblood Points.
As the human Enlighters had died one after another, Kong Shi’s ranking on the list had entered the top ten, which meant that she should have tens of thousands of points, and he did not want to let such a sum get away.
The ground dried up as cracks spread out.
Kong Shi burst forth with all of her strength as a Hunter, but she could control it to only affect an extremely small area. This created a visible, forcefield-like vortex of energy that crashed straight towards Lu Yin. Perhaps in her eyes, Lu Yin looked like Arbiter Zhenwu from the past.
With a whoosh, her overwhelming star energy coalesced before striking out at Lu Yin. His gaze trembled, and he casually waved a hand to activate the Yu Secret Art. The star energy attack instantly vanished only to suddenly crash back towards Kong Shi. She was shocked, and she quickly tore through the void to evade her own attack. A massive ditch appeared where she had just been standing.
Green stripes wrapped around Lu Yin’s body and covered him, before blue stripes appeared on top. This was seven lined battle force.
Back on Planet Pyrolyte, Lu Yin had managed to break through and comprehend six lined battle force, and about half a year had passed since then. Now that he had become an Explorer, his physical body had undergone a fundamental transformation, and so, his battle force had also broken through to the next level, reaching seven lines. He now possessed the same level of battle force as Long Yun.
Kong Shi appeared behind Lu Yin and tapped out with a finger, as she wanted to be like Arbiter Zhenwu from back then and crush Lu Yin with an overpowering strength. Thus, she made a bid to destroy him with one finger.
For a peak Hunter, they could defeat even a Cruiser, not to mention an Explorer, with one finger. Lu Yin stood firm in the same place, and he similarly raised a single finger that he wrapped his Fatesand around before colliding with Kong Shi’s finger.
The two fingers clashed in midair, causing a storm to burst out in all directions, tearing the void apart. Countless spatial cracks spread out like raindrops and shattered across the ground.
From a distance, many looked over at the commotion and were stunned. They had felt a powerful strength sweep past them and found it difficult to breathe.
There was a thump, and Kong Shi was knocked back several steps. She had been pushed back by Lu Yin, and she looked at him in disbelief. After all, she was a peak Hunter.
Lu Yin’s feet were pressed into the ground, and he pulled his finger back as his lips curled up. The seven lined battle force had supplemented the explosion of his full physical strength along with the Fatesand, and the combined force was able to even knock back a peak Hunter like Kong Shi, who was not just some average Hunter.
The two had only fought for a brief moment, but even Han Fei and the others in the command post looked over.
In particular, the collision between their fingers had shocked many people.
Some had assumed that Lu Yin could only demonstrate any form of ability by relying on external strength and that he had merely learned the Yu Secret Art to develop his methods of killing Enlighters. Now, it seemed that, even if he relied solely on his own strength, he was able to cross multiple realms and rival a Hunter. This was a battle where he was crossing two realms.
Overwhelmed, Kong Shi looked at Lu Yin and said, “Seven lined battle force, a powerful physical strength, and… is that Fatesand?”
Lu Yin was astonished. “You actually recognize Fatesand?”
A sword appeared in her hands. “I’m going to get serious now.”
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, and the soil beneath him started swirling before flying up into the sky. An invisible pressure wave rippled out around him, increasing its area until it enveloped Kong Shi. It then released an indescribable pressure. This was Lu Yin’s domain.
When she saw this, Kong Shi’s eyes trembled, and she unleashed her domain as well in an attempt to crush Lu Yin’s. However, she was soon amazed once again. Lu Yin’s domain was very sturdy and was as deep as an ocean.
After his breakthrough to the Explorer realm, although Lu Yin did not know why, his domain had become very terrifying. No matter how hard he had trained his domain in the past, it had never surpassed the realm of merely being a secondary support tool. But at present, it contained a strength that Lu Yin could not understand, and it seemed as if his domain’s potential had been fully unlocked. This was his first time truly utilizing it.
The key detail was that he felt like, at any moment, he could turn this domain into something that could crush everything: a forcefield.
This sensation was very similar to when he had broken through to the Melder realm, as after that breakthrough, his physical strength had become exceptionally strong. This time, it was his domain that had been reinforced. What exactly had happened to his body during his breakthrough?
As a former Universe Youth Councilor, as well as a current powerhouse, Kong Shi’s domain was also able to become a forcefield. It condensed into a sword tip that sliced everything apart, but it was still suppressed by Lu Yin’s domain, and its cutting edge started to fade.
“How can your domain be so powerful and solid?” Kong Shi was astonished.
Lu Yin did not know how to answer, as he truly didn’t know himself. “Practice.”
Kong Shi looked agonized, as this was the most monstrous youth of his generation. He was unequaled among his peers, and his power was a bit too exaggerated. Although his true power might not be enough to defeat her, it would not take him long before he reached the same level as the Ten Arbiters’ back then, and then, he would be able to easily crush her.
Kong Shi suddenly withdrew when she felt the power from Lu Yin’s domain, as she had no desire to continue fighting.
Lu Yin was taken aback. “No more?”
Kong Shi looked miserable, as her generation was bound to be forgotten. She was still one of the top powerhouses from her generation, but she could not defeat the top ten experts on the Top 100 Rankings, let alone the Ten Arbiters who stood above them. At this moment, she was feeling extremely stifled by the person in front of her, and she had lost her confidence in facing him.
The only thing that left her with any gratification was that this youth actually did have the potential to defeat Arbiter Zhenwu, as Lu Yin was way too freakishly strong. He even gave her the feeling that he was stronger than Arbiter Zhenwu had been as an Explorer. Back then, Arbiter Zhenwu had faced her when she had been a Cruiser, whereas this youth was facing her as a peak Hunter.
“I hope that you’ll be able to live through this war and survive to return to the Innerverse,” Kong Shi said to Lu Yin. She then transferred all of her Ironblood Points to him and left.
“Wait a second! How’s my power compared to Cool Sis?” Lu Yin was curious.
