A roar echoed out in the distance as a cniu swept past Lu Yin, waking him from his contemplations.
Lu Yin turned around to face Mu En and respectfully asked, “Judicial Commissioner, may I please contact my family and friends?”
Mu En shook his head. “You will not be allowed to contact anybody before the results of your test are determined. On top of that, we are within the Honor Zone right now, so you won’t be able to contact anyone even if you were allowed to. We are too far away.”
Lu Yin sighed.
“Don’t worry, someone from Eversky Island is already on their way to the Honor Zone, and they will be personally observing your test to ensure that there aren’t any issues. No one would dare to create any problems,” Mu En explained.
Lu Yin felt grateful. “Thank you, Judicial Commissioner.”
Mu En laughed. “I will try to protect you as well. I’m on good terms with the Sea King, and you will soon be his son-in-law.”
Lu Yin smirked. Soon-to-be son in law? He had nearly forgotten about that matter.
That was right, when Lu Yin had lost his position as an Honor Chosen, one of the Sea King’s Dome’s elders had reached out to ask Mu En to intercede on Lu Yin’s behalf. If that was the case, then it seemed that Mu En could be considered as someone on Lu Yin’s side and who would help him out in the Interstellar Supreme Court.
Although the Honor Zone appeared to be barren, according to Mu En, that was simply due to its incomprehensible size. The people living here stayed in specific locations, which was something that Lu Yin could not truly understand.
There were quite a few cnius throughout the Honor Zone, and Lu Yin had already seen many more of those creatures several times along their way.
Not everybody was able to ride a cniu, and all those who could were either from a reputable family or extremely powerful. This was because all the cnius belonged to the Hall of Honor, and it was quite expensive to use one for transport.
The cnius were the most luxurious means of transportation in the Honor Zone, but there were various other options such as flying or gliding. At one point, Lu Yin noticed an enormous bird-like creature flying above them, and it nearly matched the size of the ancient centipede that he had seen in Northline Flowzone.
“That’s a country,” Mu En patiently explained.
Lu Yin was shocked. “A country?”
“That’s right. It’s a country that’s been built atop a living creature. That bird is known as Neverland since it never lands on the ground and forever flies around the Honor Zone, roaming in all directions. It’s been doing so for years, so that country is known as Neverland Country,” Mu En explained.
“Neverland Country sounds quite impressive,” Lu Yin muttered.
Mu En grinned. “It merely sounds impressive. None of the truly powerful forces would expose themselves in such an open manner where they could be easily attacked.”
Lu Yin hesitantly nodded. His use of Truesight was not very useful in the Neoverse since the people here were accustomed to the people from Gods’ Origin using the technique. That meant that the people here also know how to handle people who could see runes, so Lu Yin was unable to take advantage of his ability to see runes to accurately judge a person’s power level.
There was a battle off in the distance, and Lu Yin turned to see two Enlighters fighting. However, the cniu traveled so quickly that he lost sight of the fight instantly out of sight again.
A while later, Mu En stopped the cniu and pointed at a discarded machine. “Look, that’s a world.”
Lu Yin was intrigued, and he carefully observed the bit of machinery that appeared to have been thrown away.
The machine was massive, and just the aboveground, exposed portion was larger than the cniu. If the underground portion that was hidden from view was included, then this machine would be much larger than any spacecraft he had ever seen before. “A world?”
Mu En smiled gently. He then formed a beam of star energy that pointed out a certain piece of the machine.
Lu Yin looked at where the ray landed and saw that there was a sphere there. He would not have even noticed it without specifically paying attention to that location, as it looked as if it were just another part of the machinery.
“That is the world.” When the ray of star energy touched the sphere, ripples radiated through the area. The star energy then disappeared, and a man wearing strange clothes suddenly appeared. He turned towards Mu En and bowed. “Welcome, Judicial Commissioner.”
Mu En nodded at the man.
Lu Yin was stunned, as that sphere was actually a world. “Is- is that a pocket dimension?”
Mu En shook his head. “This entire world has been hidden.”
Lu Yin was amazed. “Even a world can be hidden?”
“That’s right. For example, the Great Yu Empire can be stored within a separate space. Just like how objects can be stored within cosmic rings, such spaces are also placed in a unique state. There are about 3,000 of these worlds scattered throughout the Honor Zone,” Mu En explained.
Lu Yin was shocked. This was the first time that he had ever heard of such a thing. How could an entire world be stored within something else in the same manner that one stored an item in a cosmic ring? Just one such world was amazing beyond belief, but apparently, there were 3,000 of these worlds!?
Mu En’s expression grew complex. “The Honor Zone is a dangerous place, and although it’s under the Hall of Honor’s control, not even the Hall of Honor can monitor every corner of the Honor Zone. Naturally, there will be battles wherever people gather, and the conflicts here are comparable to those that occur in the Innerverse and Outerverse. Also, there are many dangerous natural phenomena and unique creatures here. So, many forces would rather not expose themselves and have instead stored their entire world away as a means of protection.”
Lu Yin was unable to understand this. “Are each of these three thousand worlds as powerful as the Sword Sect or the Daynight clan?”
Mu En laughed. “That’s impossible. There are only a few of the worlds that can compare to the Sword Sect or the Daynight clan.”
“If that’s the case, then why don’t major forces like the Sword Sect and the Daynight clan enter the Neoverse? Aren’t they desperate to enter this place?” Lu Yin asked. This was something that he had been wondering about for a long time. Before, he had thought that the Innerverse powers simply lacked the ability, but when Lu Yin considered Smoke-Eater Peaks or the Azure Mansion, he felt that the Sword Sect was definitely comparable to such powers.
Mu En answered, “There are limited resources here, and do you believe that a major force like the Sword Sect would be willing to hide? They are similar to the Cosmic Sect in that they want a region of the sky to themselves. Only those who own a region of space can truly be considered a part of the Neoverse, but this is not something given by the Neoverse, and those organizations are unable to fight for such a privilege on their own.
“What’s the point of entering the Honor Zone if you just have to go into hiding? It would be hard for them to attract disciples here, and these hidden worlds also have limited resources, which means that it would be difficult for those Innerverse powers to raise a talented new generation. In the end, it would only lead to their eventual collapse.”
Lu Yin could understand such reasoning. If the Sword Sect was forced into hiding, then they would only be able to recruit disciples from within their own world, and how many people could that possibly add up to? In contrast, currently, they were recruiting from both the Innerverse and Outerverse.
Meanwhile, although it was difficult for these 3,000 worlds to recruit talented individuals, they would still find the occasional genius who would be subsequently recruited by the Hall of Honor.
As Lu Yin stared at the sphere that contained the hidden world, his emotions grew ineffably complicated. He felt that he would never be happy if he simply hid the Great Yu Empire away, but perhaps this was just how these hidden forces survived.
Mu En glanced over at Lu Yin and smiled. “That’s just one possible situation, but there’s another, more likely scenario.” He then commanded the cniu to continue on towards the Hall of Honor.
“Another possible scenario?” Lu Yin was curious.
Mu En answered, “Some worlds hide themselves completely while others simply transform the space around them into another form. That form might not be completely hidden, and some of them traverse the Honor Zone or even the entire Neoverse. Such worlds are far more powerful and are not scared of anything.”
Lu Yin felt surprised. “Are you saying that there are worlds that can travel about the Neoverse?”
Mu En nodded and looked out at the limitless space. He suddenly stopped the cniu and tapped a finger against the air. Ripples spread out through the area, and within the ripples appeared an orb of light that seemed to be locked in place. A voice rang out from the orb. “Judicial Commissioner Mu En? Why are you blocking me?”
Lu Yin stared at the ball of light in shock; the ball of light was speaking!
This time, Mu En’s tone was not as casual as when he had spoken to the man from the world hidden within the mechanical sphere. Instead, he solemnly replied, “I’m just guiding a junior about.”
“A junior? This child?”
Lu Yin felt that something was scrutinizing him, and chills ran down his spine. He squinted at the orb of light and suddenly saw a strange world within that was composed entirely of light. Nany people were living within the rays of light, and there were even cities, mountains, and planets. In reality, the rays were not made of light, as they were actually fragments of space. Finally, he saw a pair of extremely dignified eyes.
Lu Yin suddenly snapped out of his daze, sweat dripping down his forehead.
Mu En set a hand on Lu Yin’s shoulder.
“Not bad, not bad at all. The Hall of Honor is truly exceptional at finding talents. This child is definitely comparable to your Chosen, and he might actually be even stronger. I think that none of his peers can match up to him with the sole exception of Shang Qing.”
Mu En smiled. “He is one of my Hall of Honor’s Honor Chosen.”
“That’s so annoying. I thought that you guys were just being generous and that you would allow others to fight for the slots instead of making us all just watch from the sidelines. After all, you guys were willing to even host ZENITH. However, it seems that we won’t have any more chances. What a shame.”
Mu En replied, “ZENITH is open to the entire universe, and Lightson can also participate. However, you will have to obtain a slot through their capabilities. People can also keep training, as there’s still some time.”
“Hmph! That young man next to you is already so far ahead of Lightson—how is he supposed to even compete? I’m leaving.” The orb of light quickly disappeared.
Lu Yin turned to Mu En in confusion as the orb of light vanished.
Mu En explained, saying, “That was also a world, but they’re different from the spherical world in the machine from before. That person rushes around everywhere, searching for resources, and thus, they are much stronger than the world in the machine. Although they still can’t compare to the Sword Sect or the Daynight clan, they are nearly at the same level. If they were in the Innerverse, they would able to contend with the eight great flowzones.”
Lu Yin was dazzled. This was the true Neoverse. There were 3,000 worlds in just the Honor Zone, and it was truly the core of the Human Domain.
If those 3,000 worlds had all sent out people to assist in the defensive efforts against the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, the Sixth Mainland would have never been able to win, not even if they had mobilized all nine realms.
“Senior, what is ZENITH?” Lu Yin asked.
Mu En replied, “That’s a secret among the senior generation, but it’s fine for me to let you know.” He then paused for a moment before continuing on in a solemn voice, saying, “ZENITH is a competition hosted by the Hall of Honor that the Astral Beast Domain, the Technocracy, and the Sixth Mainland will participate in. The goal is to boost humanity’s morale while also uncovering talented youths from each area. Additionally, it will determine the ten most powerful youths of our era, and they will receive a truly precious opportunity as their prize.”
Lu Yin blinked. Why did this sound so familiar? Right, it was basically the competition for the Cosmic Five.
Wait a moment, the Sixth Mainland?
“The Sixth Mainland?” Lu Yin yelped in surprise.
