Lu Yin looked at the base of the mountain that they were standing on and saw that Goldric Phoenix had appeared.
“Eh? What’s he here for?” Ku Wei was puzzled.
Soon, Goldric Phoenix arrived at the top of the mountain, and he looked at Ku Wei. “So you’re from the Neoverse’s Seven Courts’ Ku family. I was disrespectful earlier.”
Ku Wei shook his head. “There’s no need for such courtesy. What are you here for? Do you want another match?”
Goldric Phoenix nodded. “Yes, but not with you.”
He then looked at Lu Yin. “Alliance Leader Lu, could I experience the disparity between myself and the Ten Arbiters?”
Ku Wei was surprised. “Do you need a spanking? Why would you challenge him?”
Goldric Phoenix shook his head. “It’s not a challenge. I honestly want to see how far my strength is from the Ten Arbiters’. In future, I will definitely challenge them.”
Ku Wei rolled his eyes. Challenging the Ten Arbiters was something that was easy to say, but not even he dared to attempt standing up to those ten. Even the top heirs from the Neoverse would not underestimate the Arbiters, as those ten were all monsters.
Lu Yin understood Goldric Phoenix’s thoughts; in the past, he had also asked Wendy Yushan to allow him to experience the strength of an expert on the Top 100 Rankings. To someone who had set the Ten Arbiters as their goal, wanting to know the difference in their strength was quite normal.
“Have you thought this through? Learning the difference might further motivate your desire to cultivate, but it might also cause you to feel despair,” Lu Yin commented.
Goldric Phoenix had a peaceful expression. “Yes.”
Lu Yin nodded. “Alright then, I’ll help you.”
Goldric Phoenix clenched his fists. “Alliance Leader Lu, forgive me.”
With that, his dark flames enveloped the sky as it wildly surged towards Lu Yin.
Ku Wei did not move from next to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s gaze trembled: Night Advent.
Goldric Phoenix’s expression trembled. All he saw was an expanse of darkness. Not only did the boundless spiritual force dispel his dark flames, but it also suppressed him, and he felt as if the heavens themselves were collapsing upon him.
He had never experienced such a terrifying spiritual force before, not even from his family’s elders. This spiritual force was on the level of the Ten Arbiters’.
Ku Wei gazed at Goldric Phoenix with a pitying look. He had been asking to be thrashed by requesting to fight against someone at Lu Yin’s level.
Ku Wei had already known that Goldric Phoenix would lose. After all, not just anyone could stand their ground against a spiritual force attack that was at the level of the Ten Arbiters’. Moreover, Lu Yin had used a battle technique, Night Advent, which perfectly utilized his spiritual force.
The next moment, blood trickled down the corner of Goldric Phoenix’s mouth as he suddenly looked up. The darkness brought about by Lu Yin’s Night Advent suddenly changed—a small, green radiance had appeared within it, and the green light gradually grew brighter until it finally illuminated the entire darkness.
The green radiance was actually a fire, and it lit up the darkness as the flames formed wind, sea, and eventually, a green sea that illuminated the darkness. This was Goldric Phoenix’s innate gift: Greensky Blaze. These flames’ temperature was so extreme that they could even burn spiritual force.
This innate gift could incinerate both the enemy and their spiritual force due to its high temperature.
This was Goldric Phoenix’s innate gift that had shocked the Dark Phoenix family: Greensky Blaze.
Lu Yin was surprised that his spiritual force had dissipated, and he looked at Goldric Phoenix with renewed interest. This person’s flames had actually stopped his Night Advent from filling the entire area. What a mysterious innate gift.
Goldric Phoenix was panting heavily as he stared intently at Lu Yin. Logically, his innate gift allowed him to counter his opponent’s spiritual force, but Lu Yin’s spiritual force was just too ridiculous, and he had also used a powerful battle technique: Night Advent. To Goldric Phoenix’s shock, his innate gift had not been able to fully restrict it. Fortunately, he had still managed to break free of Night Advent’s suppression.
Lu Yin was amazed. “It’s no wonder why Patriarch Tanno and the others are so certain that you’ll be able to challenge the Ten Arbiters in the future. Your innate gift is truly powerful.”
Goldric Phoenix felt like he had just been slapped. Powerful? He had indeed believed that to be the case, but that “powerful” innate gift only allowed him to remain standing after being attacked by Lu Yin. That was all that he was capable of.
Ku Wei was surprised. “That’s not a bad innate gift, and it really is quite decent. However, if the Daynight clan discovers it, you’ll become their mortal enemy.”
The Daynight clan was adept at spiritual force attacks, but Goldric Phoenix’s Greensky Blaze could burn spiritual force away. Since he countered their strongest ability, he would naturally be treated as an enemy. Even Lu Yin’s Night Advent had been burned away, which amply demonstrated that, out of the Daynight clan’s entire younger generation, only Nightking Zhenwu and Zhuo Daynight’s unrivaled battle techniques could deal with this Greensky Blaze.
“Spiritual force is just one method of attack, and although it can be powerful, it’s not the only means of attack. Otherwise, the Daynight clan would have become unrivaled long ago. Here, try this.” Lu Yin then raised a finger, reinforced it with his nine lined battle force, and then lightly tapped out. There was a bang, and a sharp gale tore through the void before striking Goldric Phoenix’s body.
His Greensky Blaze was completely overpowered, and the gale sent him flying as he spat out a mouthful of blood while still in midair. He was eventually caught by an elder from the Dark Phoenix family. This elder was an Enlighter, and the moment he grabbed a hold of Goldric Phoenix, he was also sent flying by the enormous momentum. The powerhouse only managed to regain control of himself after great difficulty, and he stared into the distance at Lu Yin in shock.
Just a casual attack possessed such terrifying power, and that attack was in no way inferior to an Enlighter’s attack.
Goldric Phoenix had already passed out, as his body was simply unable to withstand this attack.
This was the strength of someone on the same level as the Ten Arbiters, and Goldric Phoenix was far too lacking in comparison.
Ku Wei swallowed his saliva. “Your Highness is indeed formidable.”
Lu Yin looked at him. “Do you want to give it a try?”
Ku Wei’s face went pale. “There’s no need, Your Highness. I’m on your side.”
Lu Yin turned to look into the distance. It was possible that, one day, Goldric Phoenix would use his Greensky Blaze to challenge the top three of the Top 100 Rankings. However, he definitely would not be able to challenge the Ten Arbiters at this rate, as the difference in levels was just far too drastic.
Lu Yin had not fully understood their strength before. Only after participating in the battle for control of the Champions’ Stage in the Innerverse had he come to understand their power. He had only survived due to his Arcane Art, Fatal Revival, and the Arbiters’ undeniable strength was precisely the reason why they were known as the Ten Arbiters.
Since Lu Yin had defeated Lan Si and stepped onto the same level, those like Goldric Phoenix saw him as an unstoppable force.
Just one finger was enough to crush an opponent whom Lu Yin would have previously been forced to treat seriously.
Had Lu Yin been serious just now? He did not believe so, as he had neither unsealed the Fatesand in his body nor used his full physical strength. Otherwise, that single strike would have killed Goldric Phoenix, and the Enlighter from the Dark Phoenix family would not have been able to catch him either.
Lu Yin did not remain on Darkflame Continent for long, and he left with Ku Wei soon after. His next stop was Enron Planet, as he wanted to ask the Sea King’s Dome’s people to support Lan Si so that he could retain his seat as one of the Ten Arbiters. That way, even if Lu Yin did not become an Arbiter himself right now, he would still be able to influence them.
***
In another place, on a planet that lay not too far from Shenwu Continent, the void distorted as a figure stumbled out, and their eyes darted all about. “Is this the space where Brother Lu is? I’m not an Explorer yet, but I can still travel through outer space. Is this the direction that Master was pointing?”
Before long, the figure flew off in a certain direction.
***
Within a collapsible spacecraft, Lu Yin’s gadget let out a notification beep. It was a message from the Hall of Honor: Lu Yin’s status as an Honor Chosen is temporarily withdrawn until suspicions of his betrayal are allayed.
Lu Yin was surprised, and he immediately tried to call Yuan Shi. However, he was unable to reach him.
This was normal, as Yuan Shi was usually in places that did not receive any signals.
Helpless, Lu Yin could only change his course to Southside Weave, intending to look for Yuan Shi.
Ku Wei was puzzled. “Your Highness, weren’t we headed to Planet Enron?”
Lu Yin remained silent, but his face was incredibly glum.
Ku Wei was tactful enough to stop speaking.
With his status as an Honor Chosen stripped away, it meant that Lu Yin was no longer qualified to go to the Neoverse and participate in the Astral Tower’s competition. This was a harsh blow.
To take part in the Astral Tower’s contest, Lu Yin either had to be an Honor Chosen, a member of one of the Neoverse’s great powers, or have been titled a King or Queen during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion. The only criterion that Lu Yin had fulfilled was being an Honor Chosen. Now that that had been taken away, he had lost his qualifications to participate in the Astral Tower’s contest.
Lu Yin could not accept this outcome.
Before long, Lu Yin arrived at Yuan Shi’s location, and he had Ku Wei wait for him nearby as he continued forward, looking for Yuan Shi.
Yuan Shi was puzzled. “Your Honor Chosen status was stripped away?”
Lu Yin replied, “For the moment. At least until all suspicions of my betrayal are removed.”
Yuan Shi nodded. “I understand. I’ll try to contact some people.”
Lu Yin could only wait, and he felt uneasy.
His status as an Honor Chosen had been given to him by Yuan Shi, but at this moment, not even Yuan Shi was not clear on what had happened. Lu Yin’s status had been revoked, which meant that someone with an even higher position had intervened. Could it be?
Lu Yin went pale. Could they have been discovered that he had stolen the blood-red bell?
However, he felt that this was not very likely. If he had actually been exposed, then the Hall of Honor would have sent down an order to eliminate him as soon as possible.
That blood-red bell represented the Interstellar Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, who was one of the absolute top figures in the entire Human Domain. Nobody dared to ask much about such a person’s matters, and not even Yuan Shi would ask the Chief Justice why Lu Yin had possessed his blood-red bell.
For the moment, as long as the Chief Justice himself did not get directly involved, there was no chance of Lu Yin being exposed.
In that case, it meant that Nightking Zhenwu was the one behind this. However, how could his influence possibly surpass Yuan Shi’s? Lu Yin did not believe that such a thing was possible.
After a long time, Yuan Shi opened his eyes and stared at Lu Yin. “Nightking Zhenwu paid a price of twenty Honor Points to back up his accusation that you are a traitor to the Fifth Mainland and that you colluded with the Sixth Mainland to steal the Champions’ Stage. He paid a great number of Honor Points to make this accusation, and not even I can change this.”
Lu Yin’s eyes grew cold. Twenty Honor Points. Nightking Zhenwu was truly willing to stake everything for this. Lu Yin had worked so hard to reach this level, and he had helped the Outerverse survive multiple crises and fought at the borders several times. He had even participated in the Tournament of the Strongest, but even with all of that, Lu Yin only had twenty Honor Points to his name.
Where had Nightking Zhenwu’s twenty Honor Points come from?
Lu Yin asked this question next.
Yuan Shi said, “When he exposed someone called Grand Marshal Shui Chuanxiao for betraying the Human Domain, he was given ten Honor Points all at once.”
Lu Yin instantly understood, realizing that Nightking Zhenwu had been the one to expose Grand Marshal Shui Chuanxiao. It was no wonder how he had accumulated twenty Honor Points.
“Seventh Bro, this Nightking Zhenwu kid is too slimy. Think about it—he was given the unique qualification to directly receive an inheritance from the Astral Tower, and once he succeeds, he’ll become one of the Cosmic Five. At that time, Honor Points won’t be of much more use to him. That’s why he’s willing to pay so many Honor Points to prove his claims. Even if he can’t confirm that you’re a traitor, he can still make you lose your qualifications to compete for the Cosmic Five’s positions. That’s just too despicable,” the Ghost Monkey howled.
Lu Yin frowned. “Yuan Shi, with his testimony, could the Hall of Honor-”
Before he could even finish, Yuan Shi interrupted him. “Don’t worry, it won’t. Everything requires proof, and besides, you’re my Honor Chosen. Even if the Hall of Honor is biased, they would be biased towards you. However, this time, there are quite a few people within the Hall of Honor who are helping Nightking Zhenwu, and even I cannot immediately restore your status as my Honor Chosen.”
“Then doesn’t this mean that Junior won’t be able to compete for the Cosmic Five?” Lu Yin asked.
Yuan Shi sighed. “Not unless you can immediately prove your innocence, or if Nightking Zhenwu withdraws his allegations.”
Lu Yin exhaled. “I understand.”
Yuan Shi nodded, and then seriously said, “As long as you never did it, no one can frame you for it. Also, not even the Cosmic Five are invincible.”
Lu Yin respectfully responded. “Yes. Thank you, Yuan Shi.”
