“So what?” Schutz asked coldly. The youth immediately crashed forward with his left shoulder, but he simply clenched his fists and stood his ground. A low rumble rang out as the two collided, with Schutz taking two steps back while the young man went one forward. Smiling disdainfully, he walked out.
Schutz stepped out of the teleporter as well, placing his hand on the youth’s shoulder. Star energy suddenly erupted into flames, searing the very air around, but his sword gleamed its bloody red as he prepared to attack. It was Little Pao who had to come over and pushed his palm away, placing another hand on the youth and suppressing his star energy, “Sorry, you can’t fight here. We’ll have to fly you out if you damage anything.”
The young man glared at him and his star energy surged, trying to erupt again. However, he couldn’t overcome Little Pao’s suppression no matter how hard he tried. He was stunned; didn’t people say that the two students left in Astral-10 were useless? This person was a Limiteer!
Suddenly, everyone felt a stir in their heart. They looked over and saw Xi Yue singing, her dark blue hair blowing in the wind as a melody reverberated in the skies. The hot air transformed into gorgeous dancers, her gentle voice cleansing everyone’s soul.
This was a beautiful sight to behold, but Big Pao and Little Pao strangely turned solemn. This was Xi Yue’s battle technique, the battle technique of Astral-8—Psychedelic Song. Astral-8 was the only Astral Combat Academy with significant musical battle techniques, which was why everyone from the Souldream Tribe studied there. This was a natural pairing that could unleash unimaginable power.
“Xi Yue is a powerhouse who’s won thirty consecutive victories in the ported battles, Michelle can’t compete with her. Let’s stop them, Brother,” Little Pao said gravely.
Big Pao shook his head, quite different from his usual joking self, “Let them continue. The Sandmaster will intervene if things get out of hand.”
Xi Yue’s followers looked around smugly. She wasn’t just a singer, but also the Young Mistress of a powerful tribe in the Innerverse. That couldn’t be accomplished without some ability; she was considered one of the strongest Melders in Astral-8.
Schutz was astounded at the sight of the Sand Ocean’s weather changing to follow Xi Yue’s tune. He could feel a huge threat from the voice; that girl was far stronger than him, and so were her followers. The person he’d had an altercation with could already materialize his star energy, something that he was still unable to accomplish. Such was the capability of the Astral Combat Academy’s students; any of them could stun the Outerverse.
Michelle frowned; the music was causing her organs to shake and she felt so dizzy that she couldn’t even stand properly. She wasn’t looking at the Sand Ocean anymore, and various memories started flashing before her eyes. Unable to stand it, she gritted her teeth and her eyes flashed red, forming crimson lotuses at her feet. The sea of red was shocking, adorning the endless Sand Ocean and shattering the Psychedelic Song.
This was Michelle’s innate gift? Everyone was stunned. Even Xi Yue’s eyes gleamed. This innate gift, the same as Mira’s, was the reason that Michelle had been allowed to join the Ten Arbiters’ Council as a Melder. She was going to defeat that gift today. The song suddenly changed as three loud booms rang through the sky. This was the Three-Note Eruption, a technique that she’d learned just for this purpose.
Michelle opened her alluring red eyes. No one could stop her once her lotuses bloomed; not this woman, nor any Melder from the other academies. She was invincible.
“It’s so noisy, who’s disturbing my rest?” a loud roar suddenly rang out, and both the battle technique and the innate gift were shattered by a gust of wind. Xi Yue and Michelle retreated simultaneously with pale faces, bowing in the direction of the Sand Ocean, ““Sorry, Tutor.””
Big Pao walked out in a hurry, “Junior Michelle, Junior Xi Yue, the Sandmaster has a bad temper. You should stop.”
“You truly are Senior Mira’s sister, your innate gift is really powerful,” Xi Yue said with a smile as the two stepped back, but Michelle leveled a cold glance at her and walked towards the eastern section of the Sand Ocean. However, Xi Yue was unfazed and smiled at Big Pao and the others, “I want to train here for a few days, I’ll let you know once I’m done.”
“Isn’t that too dangerous, Young Mistress?” the youth from the Blaze Realm asked.
Xi Yue frowned, “This is the Sand Ocean, and there’s a tutor here. Don’t worry, no one can hurt me. Leave for now.”
“We’ll wait at the entrance,” someone suggested, but she didn’t respond. Smiling at the Pao brothers once more, she headed towards the western section of the Sand Ocean.
Schutz slowly suppressed his awe; this was a battle between the elite students of the Astral Combat Academies, and he was still far from their level. Little Pao patted him on the shoulder, “Let’s go, don’t overthink it. You’re much stronger than you were when you first joined, you’ll be even stronger in the future.”
Schutz nodded and stepped into the teleporter. Big Pao ran over as well, and all three left the Sand Ocean together. In the end, only Xi Yue’s followers were left standing at the entrance.
The Sand Ocean was an enormous place, but Xi Yue chose to run instead of flying toward its depths. She covered quite the distance within the first hour, and she could already feel the coarse toughness of the sand. “I hope this works, battle force will bring me to the peak of Astral-8, and I’ll be able to become an Area Master.
“Okay, this looks like a good spot. The deeper, the better,” she recalled some advice from a student who had transferred out of Astral-10 and smashed her palm into the desert. Unfortunately, the ground here was difficult to pierce through, and she only managed a meter-deep hole with her full strength. She could only stand atop the small hole reluctantly and start digging her way with force.
The friction only increased as she sank in, causing immense pain to her body. This was a rather crude way of training the body, but the degree of agony was also proportional to the benefits she would gain. Already prepared for this, she gritted her teeth and endured.
Enormous pressure covered both Xi Yue’s body and soul once she was completely buried, as if a mountain was crushing down on her mind. However, this still wasn’t enough; there were places with similar pressure in Astral-8, and they hadn’t gotten her all the way there. The pressure needed to learn battle force was excruciating. There were places that helped in all ten Astral Combat Academies, but they had too many people and weren’t as good as the Sand Ocean. To accomplish her goals, she needed to go even deeper.
Five meters, ten meters, fifteen meters… She started to grow dizzy when she was twenty meters beneath the surface, and traces of blood started to appear on her supple skin. Her body and soul were already at their limit, but it still wasn’t enough. Xi Yue gritted her teeth and continued her descent, but suddenly felt the pressure under her feet give way to something soft. She looked down and a pair of eyes staring at her chest.
Lu Yin had been sleeping. Ever since he’d entered the Sand Ocean, he’d realized that the surface of the desert was useless to him. The introduction from Big Pao showed him that he had to bury himself for better results, so he’d burrowed into the sand. The pressure had grown better and better as he went in, but he’d actually fallen asleep at this point. His body was tough enough not to sustain injuries at this depth, but there was still a mild pain. As he was sleeping, he’d suddenly felt something stepping on his calf. Opening his eyes, he was dazed by the sight in front of him. It was a girl’s breasts, and they were even radiating an intoxicating fragrance. Subconsciously taking a deep breath, Lu Yin looked up and met a stunned pair of eyes.
“PERVERT!” Xi Yue shouted angrily, smashing down with the palm.
“What? Don’t slander me!” Lu Yin dodged the attack. She tried to knee him in her fury, but he stopped that by grabbing her thigh, “I was here first!”
Xi Yue felt the heat from the hand on her thigh and screamed, “Let go of me, pervert!”
Lu Yin let go immediately and took a step back, “Stop calling me a pervert, I was here first and you stepped on me!”
Xi Yue was shaking from anger. She was the Young Mistress of the Souldream Tribe and had never been so close to a guy. She also remembered that her chest had been so close to him. And, and… Her fury erupted once more, “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” She opened her mouth and a booming melody rang out, the Three-Note Eruption. She hadn’t managed to use it against Michelle, but its full power was directed towards Lu YIn now.
Lu Yin’s expression changed when he realized how powerful this woman was. He used the Cosmic Art immediately to weaken the attack, but when he looked up, he saw her using the technique repeatedly and grabbed at her in annoyance.
Xi Yue was already incensed and just wanted to kill the man in front of her. “You’re looking to die!” she bellowed when she saw the hand coming at her, huffing out a delicate melody from her lips. Lu Yin’s palm stopped ten meters away from her and he almost suffocated, falling prey to the most powerful technique in her arsenal. This was the Dark Universe Song, something she had never used on someone before.
In the depths of the desert, the Sandmaster was surprised, “Such a strong battle technique, she truly is an outstanding heir of the Souldream Tribe. Already one of the strongest in her generation, she might just be able to challenge the Top 100 at some point.”
