By the time Lu Yin arrived, several people had already arrived.
“Brother Lu,” Coco shouted excitedly. She was clearly happy to see Lu Yin again.
Lu Yin tousled her hair affectionately. “You must’ve improved a lot since the last time I saw you—you’re already a Melder! Do you want to spar with me?”
Coco stuck her tongue out before playfully replying, “Of course I don’t want to fight with you. Everyone’s heard about how you defeated the students from the various academies. You’re famous now.”
“Really?” Lu Yin blinked, slightly astonished. He hadn’t paid much attention to what other people thought of him since he already knew his reputation wasn’t good. To him, there was no reason to put himself in a bad mood.
Meanwhile, Zora was spinning her silver needles between her fingers nearby. Just the sight of the massive needles scared Lu Yin, and he suddenly remembered Coco’s innate gift. Could this be a specialty of Windrift Hall’s?
On the other side, Meng Yue stood to the side, all by himself. He had also become a Melder, and his palm now carried with it a yellow hue. It seemed that his strength had risen considerably. When Meng Yue noticed Lu Yin’s gaze, his provokingly clenched his fists.
A bit further away, Xia Luo was casually sitting beside the Trialmaster, as if the two of them were old friends.
Darkvoid sat alone in a corner, and his dark hair that seemed to absorb nearly all the light that ventured near it caught Lu Yin’s attention. Darkvoid was the most mysterious person amongst all the students, and he definitely had a powerful innate gift.
At that moment, Schutz exited the teleportation stone area as the Trialmaster announced, “Schutz: fifty two wins and two hundred and thirty seven losses.”
Lu Yin was shocked. Schutz’s win/loss ratio was nearly 1 to 4. Not bad. Schutz’s win rate was comparable to Michelle’s from a month ago.
Meanwhile, Schutz’s eyes gleamed when he noticed Lu Yin, and he nodded to Lu Yin once before walking to the side, standing by himself. They were both from the Great Yu Empire, but they weren’t very familiar with each other. Lu Yin originally thought that Schutz would be discouraged after seeing the strength of the Innerverse powerhouses, but that didn’t seem to be the case, leaving Lu Yin surprised.
Coco leaned in towards Lu Yin and whispered, “That guy is completely crazy. He comes here every day to battle. Even the Trialmaster said that he is better suited to train through battles.”
Lu Yin nodded in understanding.
A while later, Silver appeared with a beaming smile and a foxy expression. Coco instinctively took a few steps back when she saw Silver—this guy frightened her. Lu Yin, on the other hand, acknowledged Silver with a simple nod.
Silver smiled. “Congratulations! You’ve become very famous recently.”
“That’s not a good thing,” Lu Yin calmly replied.
Silver added, “Not necessarily. You can probably attract the attention of certain people if you become famous enough.”
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. Certain people? What people? The Neohuman Alliance? He couldn’t figure out Silver’s identity, but he was clearly related to the Neohuman Alliance even though he was clearly not a zombie. All Lu Yin was sure of was that he was a mysterious person. Also, Xia Luo seemed to completely despise Silver for some reason.
When Hui Daynight arrived, he glared at Lu Yin coldly before walking to his own corner.
Zhao Yilong soon appeared alongside the flash of a sword. He made a point to glare at Lu Yin before also quietly moving to the side to wait.
Lu Yin had a feeling that he might have become too famous, which was not a good thing as everyone seemed to treat him as a rival.
Everyone who had arrived at Astral-10 as a Sentinel had become a Melder, greatly increasing their strength. Lu Yin was very interested in seeing just how much they had improved.
Moments later, Michelle walked out of the teleportation device before taking a position near the rest of the students. She looked at Lu Yin with an expression as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.
When Lu Yin saw Michelle, he suddenly remembered that he had seen her when the Sandmaster had taken him along to experience Extreme Flash. Michelle must have seen his silhouette at that time.
Big Pao and Little Pao also showed up, with the same cheerful mood as always day. “Who’s still missing?” Big Pao asked.
Lu Yin replied, “Lulu.”
Big Pao looked at his gadget before saying, “No matter. We’ll wait.”
In the other academies, every New Student Competition would have a large audience watching, and there was no way that the event would be delayed for any latecomers. However, since they were all in Astral-10, things were a bit more casual.
Lulu finally appeared an hour later, and her entire forehead was covered in sweat as she panted heavily.
Now that everyone was present, Big Pao led them to a grassy area quite far away from the teleportation stone. He smiled before saying, “Alright, now that everyone’s here, I hereby announce that the New Student Competition has officially started! Come on up. Everyone has to draw lots; number one will battle with number two, number three with number four, and so on and so forth. Those who win will continue to fight until the strongest student is determined.”
“Not only does the New Student Competition determine the rankings of the new students, but it is also a chance for you to show off your abilities to the mentors. If you are lucky enough, you might even catch a mentor’s interest and become their student. So, I suggest that you all take this very seriously. If you are chosen by a mentor, it can change your destiny!” Little Pao declared temptingly.
Everyone grew excited; even the weakest mentor in Astral-10 was a Hunter. Being personally guided by a Hunter powerhouse would definitely vastly improve their strength, which was precisely why all of these students had joined Astral-10 in the first place. With this incentive in place, they would all definitely give their all in this competition.
Lu Yin drew the number nine. He looked around, and his gaze settled onto Zora, who was holding the number ten; she would be his opponent. She saw the number nine in Lu Yin’s hands at the same time, and her face immediately sank.
She was an elite from Windrift Hall, had connections to the outside world, and was clearly familiar with Lu Yin’s reputation. This was why her expression had turned downcast. Lu Yin had even defeated the number two on the Blaze Realm Rankings. He was clearly a genius who could be considered powerful even among the other academies, not to mention Astral-10. This was going to be a difficult battle.
“Senior, is there only one chance in the competition? Are you eliminated once you lose?” Silver asked smilingly.
Little Pao answered, “Of course not. Those who are defeated will have one chance to challenge the winners.”
“Alright, number one against number two. Let’s begin,” Big Pao announced as he looked through the crowd.
Xia Luo walked out from the students with the number one lot. His opponent was Meng Yue.
Lu Yin’s eyes shone when he saw Xia Luo step out. Between all Astral-10 students, Lu Yin was the most curious about Darkvoid’s innate gift, most cautious of Silver, and the most confused about Xia Luo. To Lu Yin, this person was an endless void. Regardless of whether it was on Earth or here in the academy, Xia Luo had never revealed his true powers. Thus, Lu Yin was curious to see if anything would be forced out this time. However, when he saw that Xia Luo’s opponent was Meng Yue, he assumed that Xia Luo wouldn’t be forced to reveal any of his hidden cards.
Xia Luo calmly looked at Meng Yue with a gentle gaze.
But Meng Yue was looking at Lu Yin with a frosty glare; he didn’t care about Xia Luo and only wanted to fight Lu Yin and Lulu. Those two were the only opponents that he wanted to face.
“It’s not a good habit to be distracted during a battle,” Xia Luo said with a light smile.
Meng Yue swiveled over to look at Xia Luo. He wanted to get this battle over as quickly as he could, so he lifted a hand and said, “I won’t hold back. Be careful.” He then rushed at Xia Luo, and with every step he took, the grass beneath his feet wilted. He aimed his palm at Xia Luo while using the Vastdearth Sect’s battle technique—Desolate Palm.
Meng Yue had found a ruin within Astral-10, though it would be more accurate to call it a desolate area in the shape of a palm print. He had felt a terrifying desolate energy there that seemed to be able to swallow souls. This had astonished Meng Yue, as he had not felt such terrifying desolation energy even in the Vastdearth Sect, where he had first learned the Desolate Palm. He had meditated at the site of the palm print for a month before breaking through to become a Melder. The location had helped him strengthen his Desolate Palm, which now had a faint trace of that ancient palm print’s aura.
Meng Yue’s palm intrigued the Sandmaster who was watching from the sky. “It can absorb souls and cause everything to wither away. It’s an excellent battle technique.”
Xia Luo felt the energy in his body disappear and saw the sky turn dull as the Desolate Palm drew close to him. The attack consumed everything in its path, stunning everyone present. No one had expected Meng Yue to have such a large increase in power. Even Lu Yin was surprised.
However, his growth wasn’t enough. This palm just wasn’t enough to defeat Xia Luo.
Bang.
The sound reverberated in all directions, tearing the air itself apart from just how vast the star energy contained within it was. Meng Yue’s Desolate Palm clashed with Xia Luo’s palm, but Meng Yue was the one who was blasted backwards dozens of steps. His palm shook and a thin bloodtrail could be seen on the grass; he had lost.
Everyone looked at Xia Luo, surprised that he had countered Meng Yue’s Desolate Palm that easily.
Although there was still a smile on Xia Luo’s face, the smile had turned cold. “Senior, I’ve won, right?” Xia Luo said as he looked at Big Pao.
Big Pao’s eyes gleamed as he nodded. “Xia Luo has won the first round.”
Meng Yue’s palm was still trembling as he tried to dispel the remnants of Xia Luo’s attack. He stared at Xia Luo with a shocked expression. He hadn’t expected that there would be such a terrifying person among the new students.
Lu Yin had known that Xia Luo would win, but he didn’t expect him to do so that quickly. Xia Luo’s palm hadn’t been a battle technique, but it had easily defeated the Desolate Palm. How did he do that?
Most of the onlookers didn’t understand what had happened either, but Michelle was staring at Xia Luo in disbelief. She had never expected someone like this to be among the new students.
In the distance, the Trialmaster opened his eyes, his gaze filled with surprise. “That was a powerful attack, but he used an astounding method to dissolve the opponent’s star energy. This person has the potential to become a lockbreaker.”
“The second round begins now,” Big Pao announced.
Schutz walked out; he had drawn number three while Lulu was number four.
Schutz was stunned when he saw Lulu walk out. He wasn’t particularly good at fighting girls.
“Hey, what’s with that face?” Lulu was annoyed and clenched her fists.
Schutz coldly answered, “I don’t like to fight with girls.”
Lulu’s gaze turned cold and she smiled deviously. “Really? Then don’t fight back and just let me attack you.” She suddenly charged at Schutz, the strength of her stride cracking the ground with every step.
Lu Yin and Meng Yue were both well aware of how strong Lulu was, so they winced when they saw Lulu clench her fists.
Schutz’s battle experience was extensive, and he immediately felt an incredible sense of danger overtake him as soon as Lulu raised her fists. He instinctively dodged, and Lulu’s attack left a massive pit in the ground, stunning everyone.
Schutz was astounded. The ground in this place was very sturdy and should be able to easily withstand a battle between Melders. However, Lulu had carved out a huge pit with a single punch. If Schutz had been struck by that fist, then he would have definitely been badly injured.
“Don’t hide if you’re a man,” Lulu taunted before punching at Schutz again.
Schutz’s eyes widened and he pulled out a blood red blade, blocking Lulu’s fist with the back of his blade. It wasn’t a fair matchup, fist against blade, but the results surprised everyone when Schutz was launched away along with his blade.
“Tsk, she’s a Mavis, but that guy still dared to go easy on her,” Big Pao exclaimed.
Before Schutz could even land on the ground, Lulu appeared behind him with her extreme speed movement technique and then fired off another punch. She was like a monster in human form at this moment, and her attack shattered Schultz’s blade and caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood as he was smashed into the ground.
Hui Daynight’s eyes flickered when he saw Lulu’s extreme speed. Why did that technique look so familiar? Why did it resemble a movement technique of the Daynight Clan?
Crash!
Another deafening bang rang out as Lulu’s fist shattered the ground, but Schutz had long since disappeared from there.
Lulu turned around, only to see a blood red blade slash past her face as she barely managed to dodge. She landed on the ground and knocked her fists together pugilistically as she looked at Schutz. “You’re going to fight back now?”
