Within the Human Domain, it was a common belief that there had never been a generation with as many gifted youths as the current one. Both the Ten Arbiters and the Neoverse’s top elites were a point of pride for the entire Human Domain, and each one of them could be considered invincible among their peers. Throughout all of recorded history, it was exceptionally rare for so many talents to appear in the same generation.
Over time, this led to many people believing that the current generation’s youths were the strongest in all of history and that they had the greatest chances of reaching the Progenitor realm.
However, those people simply did not know that, throughout the endless marching of time, there had never been a shortage of exceptional talents in each generation.
Progenitor Chen, the Rune Progenitor, Progenitor Wushang, and all of the other Progenitors had been young at some point in time. Without exception, all of them had been invincible within their generation, and none of them were inferior to the most gifted youths of the current generation in any way.
Lu Yin would never forget about the person at the top of Astral-10’s Rain List, the one who was named Shao Chen. At the same age, Shao Chen had vastly surpassed Lu Yin’s star energy control, and there was no shortage of similar experts throughout the endless years.
Time flowed on, and several more days passed as Lu Yin observed many of Progenitor Chen’s clone past experiences. Most of the scenes involved battles, but there were occasional breaks from the violence.
As Lu Yin placed a foot within another bubble, Lei Nü stood guard in the outside world.
This time, Lu Yin saw a strange scene, as in front of him was himself. No, it was not Lu Yin, but rather a person who looked exactly the same as Progenitor Chen’s clone. This person should be one of the other nine clones.
It was very strange when two identical people looked at each other; and it was like looking into a mirror, but one where the reflection moved independently.
The other body of Progenitor Chen had stars orbiting it, and Lu Yin’s eyes went wide when he noticed this detail. Was that the Cosmic Art?
He did not have time to see anything else, as the bubble popped immediately afterwards, and he fell to the ground.
To Lu Yin’s chagrin, he had personally witnessed one of Progenitor Chen’s clones using the Cosmic Art, but he had not been able to see the actual fight. It was a pity, especially since it had been a fight between two of Progenitor Chen’s clones.
However, despite not being able to see the entire scene, Lu Yin had seen no fewer than thousands of stars in that instant. Even a conservative estimate would place it at no less than five thousand stars, which shocked Lu Yin to the core. He knew that, at the moment of that memory, Progenitor Chen had only been an Enlighter. His power level had been around Qiu Shi’s current level, who had only recently broken through to become an Enlighter.
At best, Qiu Shi was capable of simulating a thousand stars, but the number of stars that Progenitor Chen’s clone had been capable of simulating was more than five times greater than her’s. And yet, the two had a similar age and power level. What sort of concept was this? This meant that his battle strength was essentially five times stronger than Qiu Shi’s when they were at the same level, and that was even when disregarding the Progenitor’s other clones!
Nine clones, nine supreme cultivators. Just how strong would the nine people be combined as one? Lu Yin did not dare to even imagine.
If Progenitor Chen had participated in the last contest of the Mountain and Seas Realm, just one of his clones would have been enough to sweep everyone else aside, even Shang Qing.
This gap was not something that could be surpassed by techniques.
This was the terrifying power of the ancient expert that the Sixth Mainland had not dared to record down in history.
If that was the case for Progenitor Chen, then what about the Rune Progenitor? He had been a powerhouse that no place had recorded down, and his civilization had even been erased!
Looking at both the past and present, just how many brilliant stars had been buried by the passing years?
Lu Yin felt excited, and he suddenly wished that he could have been born during the same era as these truly exceptional elites. If he could have competed with them, that would truly be amazing.
Perhaps, one day, he would be able to step across the river of time and battle against the powerhouses of the past! This was something that Lu Yin longed for.
After the bubble popped, it was Lu Yin’s turn to stand guard.
Hui Santong continued entering bubbles.
Shortly after, Xia Jiuyou arrived in the Realm of Memories, and his turn to stand guard would be after Ku Lei’s.
The Xia family possessed an advantage when entering Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum because Progenitor Chen was the Xia family’s ancestor.
Lu Yin was curious as to what Xia Jiuyou had gained within the tomb.
Everyone had their own opportunities, and Lu Yin remembered Ku Wei saying that there were some places within Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum where one needed to comprehend something in order to proceed. However, Lu Yin had not come across any of those places.
Lu Yin did not know much about Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum, and he had already received an exceptional encounter in reaching the Hunter realm. At this moment, he was viewing Progenitor Chen’s memories, and Lu Yin would not try to force anything else.
However, based on Xia Jiuyou’s expression, there was a high probability that he had gained great rewards during his time in the tomb, and Lu Yin felt quite curious about what those rewards were exactly.
Half a day quickly passed by, and after Lu Yin, it was Ku Lei’s turn.
Currently, Ku Lei glared at Lu Yin with eyes that were full of anger and contempt, though he did not dare to make any moves.
As Lu Yin placed a foot in a bubble, Ku Lei let out a cold snort.
They each needed to stand guard for half a day. Meanwhile, Hui Santong fell down before quickly entering another bubble.
Ku Lei calculated the time, and it was nearly Xia Jiuyou’s turn, but suddenly, Ku Lei was surrounded by darkness. He could not see anything, and when he opened his mouth, he could not make any sound. Despite that, his hands were able to feel a revolting smell.
His senses had been confused. This was bad; the Neohuman Alliance had struck.
Although Ku Lei hated Lu Yin and wanted to kill him personally, when faced with the Neohman Alliance, Ku Lei instinctively channeled lightning through his body.
His scrambled senses prevented him from instantly alerting the others, so all Ku Lei could do was randomly shoot out lightning in hopes of alerting someone.
Unfortunately, Ku Lei was unlucky, and his lightning did not warn anyone. Actually, Corpse Beast had already appeared next to him and blocked all of the lightning. As for Silver, he had appeared next to the bubble that held Lu Yin.
However, Silver was also unlucky, as Xia Jiuyou suddenly exited a bubble at that moment.
The moment he emerged and saw Silver and Beast, Xia Jiuyou raised a hand and struck out with a Yōu Reinforced Palm. There was a flicker of a ghostly light over his hand, and the slap was aimed at Beast. With the help of Xia Jiuyou’s innate gift, Echo, a second attack shot towards Lu Yin.
Xia Jiuyou’s Yōu Reinforced Palm was not able to do anything to Beast, and Ku Lei was kicked into the ground by the corpse king.
Lu Yin’s bubble was popped by the Yōu Reinforced Palm, and his eyes immediately snapped open. Beneath his feet, an astral chessboard appeared, and he shifted away.
The next instance, a butterfly knife sliced through the void, carrying a silver gleam as it slashed through the sky. Lu Yin evaded the knife and moved about a hundred meters away. “You really came.”
Silver smiled as he looked at Lu Yin and then helplessly responded, “What bad luck. I was just a little bit off.”
After he spoke, Shaman God’s doll appeared, and Lu Yin’s pupils shrank. This was not good! Lu Yin waved a hand and tried to divert Shaman God’s doll.
The doll was successfully diverted, but Lu Yin’s senses were still confused.
His nose saw nothing but darkness while scents entered his eyes.
Beast dashed through the void and smashed its fist at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin instinctively started using the Cosmic Art, and 720 stars instantly exploded. Not only did this stall Beast for a moment, but it also woke up everyone else from the memories they were immersed in.
With a loud bang, Beast smashed Lu Yin to the ground with a fist. To the side, Hui Santong swept out a hand, causing a golden meteor to smash into Beast and force the corpse king back.
Beast had already undergone its third corpse king transformation, so it did not even notice Hui Santong’s attack. The corpse king raised an arm and pressed down with its hand down. Space itself was compressed before exploding.
The three young men, Hui Santong, Ku Wei, and Xia Jiuyou, as well as Lei Nü, were all forced back.
Silver tore through the void, and his butterfly knife flipped in the air as he ruthlessly tried to cut through Lu Yin’s neck. Lu Yin’s eyes opened up a sliver, radiating a cold light. At the same time, death energy took the shape of a scythe and slashed down at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s five senses had only been confused for a moment, and right when Silver attacked, Lu Yin recovered. He raised his hand—Vacuum Palm.
Silver watched as the incoming Vacuum Palm split the void, sending both the death energy and Silver flying back. While still in mid air, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Beast roared and fiercely pressed its attack.
Lu Yin clenched a fist, and nine lined battle force shot into the sky. He then unleashed his strongest Vacuum Palm.
Bang!
Space split apart horizontally, and the spatial crack reached far into the distance. The power of the attack sent Lu Yin flying down into the ground, though Beast was also forced back.
So far, the only person who had managed to fight Beast head on was Lu Yin.
The shockwaves from the impact rippled out, and not even Hui Santong or Ku Lei were able to withstand the blast. They all flew back while spitting out blood due to their internal injuries.
Ku Wei was sent flying without being able to mount any form of defense.
Xia Jiuyou was the only one able to remain steady, and he raised his hand and followed up with the first blade of the Triple Blade Will.
Beast’s head was cut, but it was unharmed.
Xia Jiuyou’s second blade descended.
Beast still did not avoid the attack.
As for the third blade, at the same time that Xia Jiuyoui released the attack, Lei Nü also raised a hand towards Silver, ready to release her own attack.
Silver suddenly looked over at Xia Jiuyou and took out Shaman God’s doll.
Lu Yin casually waved a hand, once again diverting Shaman God’s doll with the Yu secret technique. But Silver seemed to have expected this, and he turned to direct a smile towards Lu Yin. “Captain, I’ll see you later.”
After saying that, he shot off into the distance.
Simultaneously, Beast left.
Xia Jiuyou’s third will blade was released, and although the attack was supposed to be unavoidable, both Silver and Beast evaded it.
Xia Jiuyou’s expression grew heavy. Compared to Beast, Silver was far more important to stop. His strength was terrifying, and Xia Jiuyou had been suppressed and unable to attack throughout the fight. It was as though Silver had been waiting for something.
Lu Yin let out a breath. He felt that, despite becoming a Hunter and being confident that he could defeat anyone in his generation, he still had no confidence against Silver. Lu Yin had never been able to see through Silver, and the man was like a fox; no one ever knew what he was thinking. Xia Luo was possibly the one person able to compare to Silver in that regard.
Upon thinking of Xia Luo, Lu Yin remembered Progenitor Chen’s clones. Progenitor Chen’s clones had all looked the same, but Xia Luo, Xia Jiuyou, and Xia Jiuyou’s other clones all looked different from each other, though there were definitely strong similarities between them.
This was where Xia Jiuyou differed from Progenitor Chen.
It was impossible for Lu Yin to know if there was a problem with the Nine Clones Technique or if it was a matter of individual will. However, it was clear that Xia Jiuyou’s spirit was greatly lacking when compared to Progenitor Chen. The ancient Progenitor had been fearless of everyone, and he had deliberately taken a different path and gone against the Daosource Sect, which had been the universal supreme power during his era. This was not something that Xia Jiuyou could do.
Lu Yin suddenly felt that Xia Luo’s spirit and determination far exceeded that of Xia Jiuyou.
Silver left, though Shaman God’s doll fell down not too far away from the youths.
Lu Yin walked over and picked it up. He looked at the doll’s bizarre face and felt a chill inside. Before long, Shaman God’s doll disintegrated.
Shaman God was one of the Seven Skygods, all of whom were among the most powerful experts in the entire universe at the moment. Although Shaman God had not entered the Progenitor realm, he had to be a Semi-Progenitor at the very least, as he was one of seven apex powerhouses that belonged to the Neohuman Alliance. Just thinking of their number of top experts gave Lu Yin a stifled feeling.
“The Neohuman Alliance really thinks highly of you. Don’t pretend otherwise.” Ku Lei forced himself to endure the pain so that he could sneer at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked over. “Believe it or not, I can knock all your teeth out right now.”
“Brother Lu, why did that person call you captain just now? Do you know each other?” Hui Santong brought up this crucial question, and everyone focused on Lu Yin.
Lu Yin nodded. “His name is Silver, and he was admitted to Astral-10 in the Outerverse at the same time as me. We also went to Erudite Flowzone’s border warfront together for training. At that time, he called me captain.”
“And at that time, none of you realized that he was from the Specter Clan?” Lei Nü asked.
Lu Yin shook his head. “Don’t even mention us students—not even Astral-10’s mentors noticed anything wrong.”
“That’s impossible! The Astral Combat Academy’s mentors are not weak, especially not Astral-10’s mentors,” Hui Santong blurted out as he stared at Lu Yin in disbelief.
