There were two terrifying battles taking place in outer space; one was between Yao Gu and Wen Sansi, and the other was between Soaring Firebeast and Shui Chuanxiao. These two battles were so intense that they even impacted the nearby defensive planets’ climates. Only the steady beats from the war drums were able to stabilize the defensive line and allow the human army to take the upper hand.
Currently, the ones in the most danger weren’t the soldiers but rather the drummers. Every drummer became the beasts’ foremost target.
Usually, the war drummers were Explorers who had astounding auras and robust physical bodies. However, the drummer for Planet Conan was a Melder. He was merely at the Melder realm, which in turn had made him the target of quite a few powerful beasts. Killing a war drummer was a huge achievement for any beast.
Lu Yin grabbed the black warhammer and slowly lifted it, his grimace deepening as it grew heavier and heavier. He steadily raised his battle force, and after all five lines were activated, he slammed down on the drum.
Boom!
An earth-shattering reverberation emanated throughout the battlefield and even reached into space, where the vibrations harmonized with the reverberations from the drums on the other planets. At this moment, numerous soldiers on Planet Conan felt their morale soar and strength strangely rise.
On the other hand, countless beasts howled in misery.
On Lu Yin’s right arm, the Ghost Monkey was speechless. He had become Lu Yin’s tamed beast and was thus unaffected by the drums. “I can’t believe that you’re a drummer! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you know how many drummers die at the warfront every year? Let me tell you: at least twenty. Twenty physically powerful drummers, each of whom have terrifying auras. You’re just a tiny weakling that any powerful beast can kill instantly!”
“Shut up!” Lu Yin exclaimed. The weight of the warhammer and the fiendish rebounding force coursing through his body required all of his focus. Boom! The drum was struck again, and the resulting soundwaves reached into the sky.
Outside Planet Conan, the Tan Gang fire beast that was fighting with Qu Ao was enraged. “Kill that thing!”
Lu Yin gritted his teeth as he felt another bout of dizziness hit him. However, compared to the dizziness that he had endured while memorizing the Stonewall Scriptures, this was not even close to making him collapse.
The drumbeats on Planet Conan grew louder, and the beating of the drums on nearby planets joined in as well. Soon, all of these drums had joined together into a single rhythm that surged, amplifying their effect on the beasts.
All of a sudden, a wave of bloodlust descended upon the war drum, and a sharp claw flew right at Lu Yin. The bloodlust was unavoidable, for it came from a powerful beast that was able to travel through space on its own. Lu Yin was also unable to dodge it even with Flash as the void around him had solidified. Lu Yin’s eyes widened as he valiantly ignored the attack while the Ghost Monkey yelped in fear. At that moment, a Red Lotus Arrow appeared out of nowhere and collided with the claw. Remnant shockwaves struck Lu Yin, forcing him to spit out a mouthful of blood that landed on the war drum. However, he ignored it and continued steadfastly beating the drum. Mira emerged from the void and stood next to him with a serious face, ready to protect him from any would-be threats.
Lu Yin glanced at her, and she smiled back. “You’re doing well. Continue beating the drum, and don’t worry. Even if you die, it will be after me.”
Lu Yin grew solemn and his battle force intensified even further as he mercilessly beat the drum without pause.
As the reverberations of the drumbeats continued spreading through the battlefield, the humans grew stronger and started suppressing the beasts bit by bit.
While there were some drums that suddenly stopped beating, those localized disturbances did not have a huge effect on the overall situation.
Up in space, Yao Gu attacked wantonly in all directions. There were a total of sixty four ancient characters around him, and together, they formed the Wen clan’s powerful battle technique, the Literary Prison, and had imprisoned Yao Gu.
Yao Gu was shocked. “You’ve managed to cultivate the Literary Prison to the 8×8 level. Even within your family, there are very few who have reached similar heights.”
“My ancestors are not people who you beasts have the right to judge!” Wen Sansi exclaimed. The Literary Prison in space shimmered as the light from the surroundings reflected off of it.
Each one of the sixty four characters were linked together to form the Literary Prison that had imprisoned Yao Gu and locked down this section of space. This was a huge surprise to many powerhouses, including Soaring Firebeast.
Yao Gu bellowed in rage and shot out a beam of electricity that pierced the void and destroyd the Literary Prison. Its huge body then rushed straight for Planet Conan.
Wen Sansi was shocked. “It’s actually this powerful? No wonder it was able to fight against Serati.” As he spoke, his Literary Prison that had just been destroyed reformed. This time, it was even stronger than before, as it could now illuminate ten planets.
Even Lu Yin, who was down on Planet Conan, looked up in shock. Who could do something this amazing?
With a shriek, the void fluctuated like a rolling wave and formed a gigantic black hole that devoured everything in its path. Yao Gu instantly fled without looking back, though right before he left, he fearfully glanced at Wen Sansi one last time. This man who was known as the Scholar of the Ten Arbiters and his mysterious methods scared it to the core.
After even Yao Gu left, Soaring Firebeast felt that there was no longer any need for him to stay, so the battle ended quickly. Just like that, all the beasts fled in various directions, leaving behind a huge number of corpses.
The soldiers then started cleaning the battlefield, numbly burning the bodies as everything went back to normal.
Lu Yin set the black warhammer down with a trembling arm. He had overexerted himself. It had been difficult for him to beat the war drum, and it was no wonder that only Explorers with physically powerful bodies could beat the drums. Perhaps even Mira would find such a task difficult.
“I didn’t expect that you would actually be able to make a sound,” Mira remarked as she looked at Lu Yin in surprise.
Lu Yin smiled wryly. “It took everything that I had to do it.”
Mira sized him up and down as she replied, “It hasn’t been long, but you’re already able to do so much. To be honest, even the Ten Arbiters couldn’t have done much more than what you’ve done when they were still at the Melder realm. Treat what I said before as empty air; you have already attained the right to speak to the members of the Outerverse Youth Council as an equal.”
Lu Yin was surprised and looked straight at Mira. “Are you talking about the Council of Astral Academy?”
Mira nodded. “The Council of Astral Academy has a similar status as the Outerverse Youth Council. As one of the final four combatants in the Astral Combat Tournament and the leader of Astral-10, you’ll definitely be able to join the student council.”
“No, I need to join the Outerverse Youth Council as well,” Lu Yin suddenly said.
Mira was confused. “Why?” But right after asking that, she let out a charming laugh. “Oh, it’s because of your fiancée?”
Lu Yin burst into laughter as well and nodded. “Kind of.”
“What a petty man.” Mira rolled her eyes.
Lu Yin did not explain the situation any further to Mira. His family must have had good reasons for them to require that he join the Great Yu Empire Youth Council. Now that he had gone beyond that and could stand on equal ground with the Outerverse Youth Council members, he wondered if it would affect anything. Whatever it was, joining the Council of Astral Academy meant that he would also be able to join the Outerverse Youth Council as there was no conflict of interest. One was the Astral Combat Academy while the other belonged to the Outerverse; he could join both.
Lu Yin still remembered how Bazeer had humiliated him in the past. When he went back to the Outerverse’s floating city of San Dios, he would settle the score then.
“You won’t go back on your word, right?” Lu Yin asked while looking at Mira.
She smiled, and her eyes curved into crescents as she clearly answered, “What do you think?”
Lu Yin blinked but did not answer.
Mira tilted her head. “I have a question for you. If I like your answer, then I’ll submit a recommendation for you to enter the Outerverse Youth Council.”
“Go on,” Lu Yin said.
Mira drew closer to him with an impish grin. “Who’s prettier: me or Michelle?”
Lu Yin was startled. He never thought that Mira would ask such a question; they were still on the battlefield! However, he reacted quickly and immediately answered, “You’re obviously prettier.”
“Hehe, really?” Mira giggled happily.
“Yes,” Lu Yin said as he nodded seriously.
Mira came even closer to Lu Yin and whispered, “How about I marry you then?”
Lu Yin’s heart stopped beating for a moment. It was a very tempting proposal. He gazed at her figure, and her pale neck and beautiful curves entered his eyes while her enchanting fragrance tantalized his senses.
However, he froze for just a brief moment. After only a second, he hastily pulled himself away. Mira wasn’t quite as attractive as Madam Nalan, so in a way, Lu Yin already had acquired some experience and was able to somewhat restrain himself.
As he saw a cunning glint flash through Mira’s eyes, Lu Yin suddenly grew furious as he realized that he was being teased. He’d gone through multiple near-death experiences before, and he was not one to let himself be affected by a woman. With this thought, he immediately moved forward and lifted her chin with a single finger. Under her startled eyes, he seriously stated, “If you have the courage to marry me, then I will accept.”
Mira froze. She had always liked teasing others, but this was the first time she had even been on the receiving end. She was Mira, the Red Lotus Witchbow and someone who ranked in the Top 100 Rankings. More importantly, she was supported by the Ten Arbiters. It was precisely because she held such an exalted status that numerous disciples from large organizations did not dare to treat her disrespectfully, but right now, she was being teased by a mere youth. Mira couldn’t help but be shocked by this experience.
Lu Yin enjoyed the sensation when the tip of his index finger rubbed over her smooth skin as he slowly retracted his hand. He could not overdo things, or else the joke would become a prank. Above all else, he was still not a match for Mira.
“Enough with the jokes. Will you keep your word and submit a recommendation for me to enter the Outerverse Youth Council?” Lu Yin asked.
Mira was still frozen in shock at what had just happened, but then she glared at him. “You’re very daring. Aren’t you worried that the person behind me will settle this score with you?”
“The person backing you?” Lu Yin’s eyes flashed curiously.
Mira’s lips curved up. “He’s one of the Ten Arbiters. Scared yet?”
“Who is it?” Lu Yin asked.
Mira pointed at the sky. “The Scholar of the Ten Arbiters, Wen Sansi.”
“The Scholar of the Ten Arbiters?” Lu Yin was confused.
“That’s what everyone calls Wen Sansi. I’ll only warn you once—don’t be rude to me, or you’ll be in trouble when he finds out. All men are petty,” Mira threateningly said to Lu Yin, but then she smiled. “By the way, I recorded your answer just now. I’ll send it to Michelle, so be careful.” After that, she stepped back into the void and disappeared.
Lu Yin froze in place. That woman had tricked him, and she wanted to send his answer to Michelle? Lu Yin could already feel a headache developing just from thinking about it. He could already imagine Michelle’s fury when seeing the video. He hadn’t even helped her comprehend battle force yet, which was something that he had promised. With this matter piled on top, he would have to carefully choose his future words with Michelle.
“That woman is pretty interesting,” the Ghost Monkey said as his voice drifted into Lu Yin’s ear.
Lu Yin had completely forgotten about the tamed beast. “So you’ll be staying with me from now on?”
“I don’t have a choice. You were about to kill me, so I had to save myself somehow,” the Ghost Monkey answered sadly. Currently, it was impossible for him to die while he was someone’s tamed beast.
“Can I summon you to fight for me?” Lu Yin asked.
“Of course not,” the beast answered matter-of-factly.
Lu Yin contemptuously said, “Then why should I keep you around? I should just kill you as soon as possible.”
“Hey! Think this over. I might not be able to fight for you, but I do know a lot of ancient secrets, like about Progenitor Wushang. Don’t you want his inheritance? Once you get it, you’ll be invincible throughout the universe!” the monkey said temptingly.
Lu Yin didn’t really care. “The inheritance that you’re talking about is in the Astral Beast Domain. Do you think that I can go there with my strength? Besides, that thing holds no interest for me.”
