Northgate Kong sighed. “It really is that serious. Lu Yin alone might not matter too much, and our Northgate family could even take responsibility if he dies. The Lockbreaker Society, Astral-10, and Outerverse won’t give us trouble just because of one fatal accident. However, since he’s representing the Ten Arbiters here, anything that happens to him is a reflection on them. If he’s defeated, then it means that the Ten Arbiters have made a mistake in who they assigned, and it might even cause them to be laughed at. Have you thought of what might happen if the Ten Arbiters become angry? It won’t be a student they send next time. Instead, it’ll probably be someone at the top of the Top 100 Rankings. You two should know how many such experts the Ten Arbiters Council controls.”
The two youths’ faces changed.
“And if such a thing happens, Lie’er’s future within the Ten Arbiters Council will definitely be affected.”
Northgate Lie spoke up. “Father, Lu Yin has not become a subordinate of any one of the Arbiters.”
Northgate Kong wearily replied, “If you defeat him, then you’ll offend whoever has arranged for him to be assigned here.”
Northgate Lie’s mind immediately jumped to a specific name: The Ten Arbiters’ Scholar.
Even more concerning, the Ten Arbiters’ Scholar, Wen Sansi, was from the Erudite Flowzone’s Wen family, and the Erudite Flowzone was not that far from their own Northline Flowzone. Or, in other words, the Northline Flowzone was within the Erudite Flowzone’s realm of influence.
Northgate Lie now regretted acting too impulsively at the gathering.
“Father, what should we do now?” Northgate Lie appealed, asking for advice.
Northgate Kong frowned and was deep in thought. “Try to come up with a way for Lu Yin to cancel this battle.”
“He won’t. To do so would be too embarrassing.” Northgate Gang’s lips curled up.
Northgate Kong became infuriated and ruthlessly threw his son back a dozen meters. Northgate Gang spat out some blood, but before he could even take a breath, his father berated, “Unfilial son! This is all because of you, and yet you still dare to speak?”
Northgate Gang quickly choked back what he had been about to say and lowered his trembling head.
Northgate Lie sighed. “Father, I’ll think of a way to save Lu Yin face while also canceling the appointed battle.”
Northgate Kong rubbed his temples and waved his hand to dismiss his sons. He just hoped that things would go well.
From start to end, they had never even considered the possibility that Lu Yin might win. Although Lu Yin’s battle results were impressive, at the end of the day, he was still just a Limiteer. He might be a Realmbreaker, but that was just against ordinary Explorers. Anyone on the Top 100 Rankings was an entirely different story since each expert on the rankings was also a Realmbreaker. Fighting against one of those experts as a Limiteer was equivalent to crossing two realms and challenging a Cruiser. Thus, no one believed that Lu Yin had any hope of victory.
At the same time, completely clueless of the Northgate family’s struggles to come up with a way to cancel the scheduled battle, Lu Yin returned to his hotel room to rest. But right when he closed the door, the earth and sky seemed to shudder from an earthquake. An incomparably large astral eagle descended and let loose a keening cry, shocking everyone on the Northgate Platform.
Everyone looked up and stared up, horrified. This was the arrival of a super powerhouse.
Lu Yin also saw the giant eagle whose wings covered the skies and knew that the Ross Empire’s Duke Blackhawk must have arrived. This was a powerhouse whose power level had almost reached 200,000. He was a peak Hunter who was only lacking the final step to break through and become an Enlighter.
Lu Yin wasn’t sure if the Northgate Platform held any powerhouses who could keep Duke Blackhawk in check. If not, Duke Blackhawk would be considered the strongest person in the Northline Flowzone with his arrival.
But before the crowd could react, another powerful strength descended that caused the skies to split in two.
On Northgate Platform, everyone’s faces paled as they saw a floating mountain appear. No, it wasn’t a mountain, but rather an astral beast that had the appearance of a mountain. This was the Beast Tamers Flowzone’s famous Giant Devil Mountain. Few could tame this beast, but the witness that the Beast Tamers Flowzone had sent to attend the Northgate Platform Competition had tamed one as his beast. The appearance of this Giant Devil Mountain was indicative of Fayde’s arrival.
Duke Blackhawk from the Blazing Mist Flowzone’s Ross Empire and Fayde from the Beast Tamers Flowzone’s First Grade Hall had both appeared at around the same time, causing the situation at the Northgate Platform to become somewhat unstable.
Just based on power level alone, these two surpassed Firesmelt Planet’s master, Yan Wujiu. Even if battle techniques were taken into account, Yan Wujiu still would not be able to compare to these two at all. They were true super powerhouses. To Lu Yin, although he could see them, they were completely out of his reach.
“Fayde, it’s actually you.” The giant astral eagle stared at the top of the Giant Devil Mountain, where a man stood; it was Fayde. Just by standing there, he distorted the void.
Fayde looked at the astral eagle with a complicated expression. “I never thought that you would come here as well. It’s been a long time since we last met.”
“We haven’t met since the Chaotic Domain. You left a deep impression on me back then.”
“So did you. There are only a few from the Ross Empire who don’t use firearms, but you’re one of them.”
Duke Blackhawk sneered. “Few cultivators from the Beast Tamers Flowzone are able to train their physical body to be so tough, but you’re one of the rare ones as well.”
The two stared at each other, and although no animosity could be heard from their conversation, many of the onlookers could feel the rising tension in the air. It seemed that the last meeting between these two had not been pleasant at all.
On Northgate Platform, the Northgate family, Lily family, Barthe Jacques family, and the other seventeen ruling families of Northline Flowzone looked up. They all had powerhouses that could try to force their way into the exchange overhead, but it would take an Enlighter to actually scare the two foreign powerhouses into backing down.
The Northgate family’s head, Northgate Kong, the Lily family’s head, Lily Liana, and a few others looked towards the Barthe Jacques family.
The next moment, Northgate Platform turned a scarlet red hue as the air was visibly scorched. A deep pressure descended upon the platform, causing countless people to turn deathly pale.
Lu Yin clenched his fists, as he could feel an unimaginable pressure from above. He had felt something similar once before from the Nine-Headed Ape; it was an Enlighter’s pressure.
Duke Blackhawk and Fayde simultaneously lowered their heads, but they did not see anything. Suddenly, they felt something that caused them to turn around, only to see that a man had appeared behind them and been silently watching them. He was wearing a scarlet-red outfit, and his appearance was sinister and terrifying, as if he had walked out from a pool of blood.
“Scarlet hand Tie Sa.” Fayde solemnly greeted the newcomer.
The man looked at Fayde and then at Duke Blackhawk before slowly speaking. “Please give me some face. Don’t fight in the Northline Flowzone.”
Fayde and Duke Blackhawk exchanged looks and could see the unwillingness in each other’s eyes. However, there was no point as the person making the request was an Enlighter. Anybody who could reach such a realm was a genius and would have been a Realmbreaker in their younger years. They were considered freaks by countless people, and they became even stronger the higher they climbed. The two Hunters would not be confident in challenging such a person even if they were within the same realm, let alone when they were an entire realm below them. The difference of one realm could be as great as that of heaven and earth.
“My apologies. We don’t have any intentions of starting a fight.” As Duke Blackhawk spoke, his appearance changed as the enormous astral eagle vanished and a seasoned-looking middle-aged man appeared. He was the Ross Empire’s Duke Blackhawk.
Tie Sa then looked towards Fayde.
Fayde waved his hand, and the Giant Devil Mountain vanished, transforming into a tattoo that appeared on his arm.
Both had left their battle state.
Tie Sa nodded. “My thanks. I represent the Barthe Jacques family, and I welcome the two of you.” And with that, he vanished.
After Tie Sa disappeared, both of the two Hunters released a pent up breath. The pressure on them had been a little too great when facing an Enlighter.
The people on the Northgate Platform also relaxed since they would no longer need to worry about becoming innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.
An Enlighter was an existence of great power who could suppress everything, and an organization would not casually send one out. No one knew how much the Barthe Jacques family had spent to recruit Tie Sa, but no one dared to ask either.
Regardless, Tie Sa’s presence meant that the Enlighters of the three great families of Northline Flowzone had teamed up, which meant that outside forces could not easily provoke their Flowzone.
Lu Yin watched as the sky returned to normal and released a breath. He was still too weak and was not even fit to view such a battle. He suddenly had a question—if the Nine-Headed Ape had been stomped silly by a giant lightning rabbit, then what of this Tie Sa? If that rabbit came and stomped on this Enlighter, then would he be stunned as well? It seemed very possible.
He longed for the day when he could once again see that lightning rabbit stomp on some creature, though he was looking even more forward to borrowing the creature’s lightning again. After all, that electricity had been powerful enough to wipe out a genuine Hunter in the blink of an eye!
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the day of the Northgate Platform Contest.
The Northgate Platform had a central plaza that had a radius of a few thousand kilometers. A normal person would take days to walk across it, and even a normal cultivator would not be able to see the whole thing at once; only space-exploring powerhouses could do so.
The plaza, which was the location for every single Northgate Platform Contest, was built on a sturdy area and surrounded by statues representing the seventeen families.
Lu Yin had stopped at one of the tallest stone platforms beside the plaza. Next to him were the other witnesses for the gathering such as Duke Blackhawk and Fayde.
With the exception of Lu Yin, all of the other witnesses on the stone platform were space-exploring powerhouses.
Duke Blackhawk frowned when he saw Lu Yin, appearing to be rather unhappy. He was almost at the Enlighter realm, so he was not pleased to see a junior receiving the same treatment as he himself. However, he had already heard beforehand that Lu Yin represented the Ten Arbiters Council, and the Ten Arbiters were definitely qualified to be viewed on equal terms as someone like him.
Still, being qualified was only the first step to truly becoming considered equals. It also depended on each side’s individual abilities, just like the Ten Arbiters.
At this moment, the witnesses on the stone platform and everyone from the Northline Flowzone’s families looked at Lu Yin. They all were eager to see if he would be able to take his seat.
Lu Yin scanned the stone platform while his heart quivered and his mood plummeted. He was nothing more than a witness for this gathering, but now, he was being treated like the main character. He had no choice in the matter either, since his status and power did not match up. Currently, any discrepancy would be closely scrutinized. If someone like Northgate Lie was acting on the Ten Arbiters’ behalf instead of Lu Yin, then such a situation would not have occurred.
Those who could move freely throughout the universe were in a completely different class from those who could not. The higher one climbed, the greater the pressure.
Duke Blackhawk was not alone, as the others held similar feelings. Lu Yin was feeling a sense of rejection from the space-exploring powerhouses due to them feeling like their dignity was being stepped on if they sat with a Limiteer.
Lu Yin’s brows furrowed; it was not his first time facing such a pressure. Fortunately, possibly due to him frequently reciting the Stonewall Scriptures, or maybe for some other reason, this pressure could not cause his spirit to collapse. As long as he could maintain a sliver of his consciousness, he would be able to walk across the stone platform.
Atop the platform, infinitesimal specks of dust floated up and disintegrated. The pressure had reached the point where it had visibly materialized.
Northgate Kong walked out at this moment and stepped onto the stone platform. His step was like a stone breaking the calm surface of a lake, and all of the pressure that Lu Yin was facing immediately dispersed.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Northgate Platform Competition is about to start. May all of you bear witness,” Northgate Kong spoke courteously as he nodded amicably to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin exhaled. If the pressure had increased any further, then his body might not have been able to withstand it even if his spirit had remained intact. These old folks were just too shameless! They had ganged up on him with numbers. If not for Northgate Kong’s intervention, then Lu Yin would have had to resort to one of his hidden tricks.
