Oftentimes, being beautiful would give one an unfair advantage, and Michelle’s remarkable appearance dazzled everyone who caught sight of her. Few in the trial zone were willing to let someone stay beside them, but they would make an exception for Michelle.
Michelle looked around and saw that the surroundings were filled with darkness. This was the Dao of Purgatory that her sister, Mira, had mentioned before. It was the gathering grounds for Astral-6’s main forces . Michelle turned around and saw a range of towering black mountains off in the distance. If Lu Yin was there, then he would have instantly recognized it as Spear Mountain, where he had perished.
Michelle pondered her options for a moment before heading for Spear Mountain.
As she neared Spear Mountain, she was suddenly attacked by a black shadow. It was extremely fast, and Michelle’s expression changed as she instinctively stepped back to avoid its strike. Her eyebrows arched up. “A war spirit?”
Michelle had a much deeper understanding of the trial zones than Lu Yin. She immediately readied herself for battle when she identified the war spirit, already aware that it had no intelligence and would only battle mindlessly.
Suddenly, a sense of fatal crisis washed over her. It was not from the war spirit, and instead came from an entirely different direction. Michelle unconsciously activated her innate gift in response, causing a red lotus to blossom beneath her as she vanished from the spot.
“Eh? A red lotus?” a voice cried out as a few people walked into sight. There were two males and two females, with one of the young males leading. They stared in astonishment as Michelle reappeared in the distance.
Michelle stared at the man in the lead. She sensed an extreme level of danger from him, to the point where her intuition was screaming that the man was strong enough to kill her with a wave of his hand.
The war spirit switched targets and suddenly jumped at the man, but he merely raised his hand and flicked a finger. The space around them flashed with a radiance and the war spirit paused. The entire area then collapsed and vanished along with the war spirit.
Michelle’s eyes shrank to pinholes and she retreated a few more steps back. She stared at the man in shock. How terrifying. This man easily tore the void apart just like that. Michelle was completely outclassed.
“Red lotus, I remember that my Astral-6 had a Red Lotus Witchbow. What’s your relationship with her?” The man looked at Michelle inquiringly. Though the question was abrupt, his tone was gentle and there was no feeling of oppression. The three behind him also studied her with curious expressions.
“She’s my elder sister,” Michelle replied.
The man nodded. “No wonder. I’ve seen her. She’s very pretty.” He then smiled at Michelle and said, “My apologies if we disturbed you. I’m Liu Tang, the captain of the spirit hunters.”
Michelle was astounded. The spirit hunters were a specialized team that roamed about, killing war spirits in the trial zone. The purpose of the team was unclear, but it was rumored that they were trying to uncover the truth about the trial zone or comprehending something. No one seemed sure of their exact purpose, but one thing was clear: the spirit hunter team was very powerful.
“I’m Michelle.”
Liu Tang smiled, nodded, and then left without another word.
Michelle watched the other party leave and let out a deep breath. She had never thought that she would meet such a frightening person as soon as she entered the trial zone. Liu Tang. Liu? An ancient surname?
At that moment, another man with gleaming eyes appeared before Michelle. “You must be Michelle.”
Michelle looked warily at the newcomer. He was also very strong and didn’t conceal his might at all; his aura even carried a hint of tyranny within it.
The man smiled as he introduced himself. “I’m Frankfurt, the Area Master of Spear Mountain. I once received Senior Mira’s help in the academy.”
“Hello Senior,” Michelle politely responded.
Frankfurt waved his hand. “There’s no need to be courteous. Senior Mira helped me greatly. Michelle, since you’ve arrived at Spear Mountain, you should spend some time here. You may comprehend some things here.”
Michelle shook her head. “Thank you Senior, but Spear Mountain doesn’t suit me.”
Frankfurt felt that it was a pity. “That’s true. You’re the same as Senior Mira with the innate gift of the red lotus. In the entire Dao of Purgatory, the only area that suits the two of you would probably be the Heavenly Drum.”
Michelle agreed with a soft grunt. The Heavenly Drum was the best training ground in the Dao of Purgatory for someone looking to improve their perception ability, and it was coincidentally the place where the Realm Master of the Dao of Purgatory was based. It was also the only area that suited her.
“Oh yes. Senior, have you heard of someone called Liu Tang?” Michelle suddenly asked. She was very curious about that person; he was also a part of the younger generation, but he was way more powerful than anyone she had ever encountered before.
Upon hearing Liu Tang’s name being mentioned, Frankfurt’s face changed drastically. “How do you know that name? Did Senior Mira mention him?”
Michelle shook her head. “He was just here.”
Frankfurt’s face sank. “Those spirit hunter teams don’t follow the rules. This is Spear Mountain, my territory.” He then turned to Michelle. “Did Liu Tang do anything to you?”
Michelle shook her head again. “Who is he? An Area Master?”
Frankfurt replied, “He’s not an Area Master, but he’s no weaker than one. He’s an Astral-2 student from the Sword Sect.”
Michelle’s face changed as she blurted out, “The Sword Sect?”
Frankfurt nodded solemnly. “That’s right. The family at the head of the Sword Sect is the Liu clan. It’s a clan with a unique surname from ancient times and although they have many enemies throughout the universe, they have managed to cow them all. Liu Tang is from that clan, and as you know, one of the members of the Ten Arbiters also has that same last name. They’re both from the Sword Sect.”
Michelle did not ask any more questions. The Sword Sect represented a great power, and it was no wonder why this “Liu” surname sounded so familiar. Her sister had mentioned that great person in the Ten Arbiters as well; he had levelled an entire weave by himself with just his sword, and he had yet to meet his match amongst the younger generation. Liu Tang and that person were from the same sect, which explained why Liu Tang was so powerful.
Michelle left soon after; Spear Mountain held no attraction for her, and she wanted to head straight towards the most important training ground in the Dao of Purgatory—the Heavenly Drum. The status of the Heavenly Drum could be summarized in a single sentence: whoever occupied the Heavenly Drum was the Realm Master.
Meanwhile, Lu Yin arrived at the Umbral Butterfly Weave. His target for the mission that he had been given, the giant tribe, was on a planet about ten regions away.
A few days later, back within Astral-10’s trial zone entrance, Xia Luo achieved his hundredth victory as well, and he followed the Trialzone tutor’s instructions to enter the trial zone.
Not long after, Silver similarly achieved a hundred victories and entered the trial zone with his trademark sly smile.
Of the six Daos, Xia Luo chose to enter the Dao of Heaven, which was where the powerhouses of Astral-5 were. He was fortunate and landed not too far from his target destination. After around three hours of traveling, he saw a giant technological construction that appeared to be a spacecraft that had crashed into the ground at an angle. This was the Dao of Heaven’s Machinery Burial Mound. The Area Master was Xia Ye.
Silver, on the other hand, sat on the trial zone mountain and looked around him. He saw Michelle and Xia Luo in the distance before sitting down and leaned against the mountain wall himself. “Which one? Hmm, that’s right, Astral-4 should be the one occupying the Dao of Slaughter.” He closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he had reappeared in the Dao of Slaughter. A faint metallic scent of blood filled the air.
“A good place,” Silver sighed as he looked around. He chose a direction and advanced forward, as he had someone he needed to meet up with. “I remember that there’s a training ground in here called the Ice Domain. It should have an Area Master. Interesting, I wonder if I can snatch it up.”
If Lu Yin knew what these three had encountered after entering the trial zone, he would have been deeply depressed. When he had entered, he had immediately faced all sorts of deadly situations before finally dying under Frankfurt’s spear. These three, conversely, had each received treatment better than the last, and they all had the backing of an Area Master. This was simply a matter of fate.
Lu Yin was currently shrouded in a melancholy air. He saw a giant planet ahead of him, which was his destination, but he couldn’t approach it at all. The Umbral Butterfly Weave wanted to recruit elites to participate in the Astral Combat Tournament, but they needed to first screen them with the Astral Combat Academy’s assessment test, and this was their last desperate attempt to achieve fame through the Astral Combat Tournament. The giant planet in front of Lu Yin was one of the weave’s training grounds, and it had been sealed off, just like Earth had been previously.
Since he couldn’t directly enter the planet, Lu Yin could only find another entry method. He saw that there were some spacecraft entering the training ground from his right hand side, so he immediately maneuvered his spacecraft towards the right side and submitted a request to land as he neared.
His spacecraft was a personal spacecraft that was very small, but it could dock into a giant spacecraft and then land that way.
Typically, giant-sized spacecraft wouldn’t pay attention to a docking request from a personal spacecraft; no one would allow a stranger to enter their homes. But Lu Yin’s luck was pretty good today, and one actually accepted his docking request. He quickly flew towards the spacecraft without sparing a single thought as to the possibility of danger.
Amu’s stress grew as he watched the approaching giant planet grow larger and larger; he was about to be swallowed by his personal gloom and fears. As the only male of the Umbral Butterfly Tribe, he was deep in despair. The Umbral Butterfly Tribe had its own unique ability that was almost at the level of an innate gift, but it was not suitable for a male. Hence, he had been abandoned and there was little likelihood that he would be able to return to the tribe.
Amu hadn’t wanted to participate in the weave trial, but it was possible that some of the members within the Umbral Butterfly Tribe would want to eliminate an aberration like him. Hence, he had been essentially forced to participate. However, he had only just become a Melder and was a far cry from the elites who dared to participate in the weave’s trial. Furthermore, Amu was an intellectual who did not enjoy battle; how was someone like him supposed to complete this trial?
Just as Amu was worrying endlessly about his problems, he unexpectedly received a request to board. He didn’t think any further and immediately consented. This was the Umbral Butterfly Weave and no one would dare to act against a spacecraft from the Umbral Butterfly Tribe! But then, he regretted his decision the same moment he consented. Is my clan planning on eliminating me sooner rather than later? Amu immediately tried to cancel the docking permission, but it was already too late. That spacecraft was charging towards the larger spacecraft like it was on steroids.
Why are they in such a hurry? Amu’s face paled and resigned himself to wait for death.
Lu Yin shut his spacecraft off and walked along the passageway that led to the interior of the giant spacecraft. Strange. There aren’t that many people on this spacecraft…
He searched for a while before finally arriving at the command room. There were only a few people there, every one of them with sullen expressions, as if they had just lost their fathers.
“You must have come to kill me. Do it,” Amu spoke out.
Lu Yin looked over and saw a pale-faced, skinny young person whose face was filled with both agony and desperation.
“What? You don’t want to be seen doing it?” Amu ordered everyone to leave. They had all been sent by the Umbral Butterfly Tribe to serve him. Even though he had been discarded, the Umbral Butterfly Tribe still cared about its appearances, and it put effort so that they wouldn’t look like they were bullying the weak.
“It should be fine now. Do it! My death will let many relax,” Amu said in a hoarse voice as his eyes dimmed.
Lu Yin furrowed his brows as he approached the sad young man.
As Lu Yin drew closer, Amu’s heartbeat quickened. The fear of death overcame his pride, and his shrouded face even paled further. His lips trembled. “Wa- wait. Can you at least tell me who sent you before you kill me?”
Lu Yin sneered as he replied, “Do you really want to die?”
Amu stared at him in surprise. “I don’t, but…” He lost his strength and collapsed into his chair before saying, “I can’t resist anymore.”
“I can spare your life.”
Amu’s eyes brightened and he stared at Lu Yin. “What? You’re not going to kill me?!”
Lu Yin nodded. “Yes, but under one condition.”
