Lu Yin looked up at Mister Mu in anticipation. Since he had managed to become Mister Mu’s nominal disciple, he’d probably receive a battle technique or a skill in the future, right?
Unfortunately, Lu Yin was destined to be disappointed. Mister Mu merely took out a piece of jade and passed it to Lu Yin. “If you find yourself in an emergency, all you need to do is break this, and you’ll be able to contact me. However, you will only receive such an opportunity one time. As you are only a nominal disciple, I will only help you out once. Do what you will with this information.”
Lu Yin had a feeling that Mister Mu was about to send him out, and he hastily spoke up after putting the piece of jade away. “What might I do to become your official disciple, sir? Is destiny the only method?”
Mister Mu gazed out at the forest beneath the high mountains. “Not necessarily. There’s a war spirit here that is from a Limiteer. If you defeat that spirit, I’ll make you my official disciple.”
Lu Yin’s eyes lit up, and he looked ready for a fight. There was no one that he feared among Limiteers. “Please arrange it for me, master.”
Mister Mu waved his hand. The scenery around Lu Yin shifted, and he next found himself back within the forest.
Climbing from the golden ocean to the peak of the mountain had taken Lu Yin a whole month, but he had been teleported back to the forest in less than an instant.
Not too far away, a war spirit stood with its back to Lu Yin. After noticing the human, the war spirit slowly turned around.
Since Mister Mu had given him this test, Lu Yin knew that this Limiteer war spirit definitely would not be easy to handle. He filled his eyes with star energy and focused on the war spirit. However, his pupils quickly constricted. Where were the runes? Why were there so few?
What appeared before Lu Yin’s eyes was just a small number of runes, similar to what a regular person would possess. The runes were scattered all over the place and couldn’t even compare to a Scout’s—no, not even a Seeker’s. However, it was a fact that this war spirit was a Limiteer. How was this possible?
The war spirit turned to face Lu Yin. The spirit’s eyes were completely closed, and instead of mindlessly rushing forward to attack like most war spirits, this one quietly stood in place, almost as if it was waiting for something.
Lu Yin frowned, feeling a bit uneasy. This war spirit was acting very strangely. In addition, there was a sensation like he was being seen through. It was similar to when he was in someone else’s domain… Yes! This was a domain.
With a whoosh, Lu Yin’s clothes fluttered about even though there was no wind. He released his domain and attempted to cancel out the war spirit’s domain, but his efforts were in vain. He then used the Cosmic Art and filled his eyes with star energy. After his eyes had mutated, he was now able to use the Secret Sidestep without any lockbreaking tools. He was confident of avoiding any attack in this state.
However, before he even had the time to react, his domain collapsed. It had been completely dismantled.
He had been crushed by a Limiteer?! While it was merely his domain that had been crushed apart, the crushing force was something that Lu Yin could not even contest. It felt as if the very ground had collapsed from out under him.
Compared to the war spirit’s domain, Lu Yin’s own domain seemed to be as fragile as an eggshell. Right before his eyes, the war spirit disappeared without any warning. Lu Yin reflexively used Flash to move away, but while he was midair, his stomach was struck. Lu Yin was shocked and quickly used his battle force to counterattack against the war spirit. However, his attack was easily dodged while Lu Yin himself was smashed into the ground with a huge crash.
From the time he had first started cultivating, Lu Yin had rarely ever met such a situation. They were both Limiteers, and there didn’t seem to be much of a gap between their strengths. However, Lu Yin was completely helpless in front of this war spirit. More importantly, he had used both the Cosmic Art as well as his mutated eyes, but he still hadn’t been able to dodge the war spirit’s attack. He didn’t have a clue as to what had just happened.
Lu Yin believed that it had to be a lucky attack. He carefully eyed the war spirit before using Flash to vanish. He struck out with a Skybeast Claw while closely observing the war spirit.
The war spirit easily dodged the attack without any excessive movements. Even though Lu Yin had abruptly changed the direction of his attack midway, it had still avoided his attack. After that, the war spirit aimed both of its palms at Lu Yin, who kept a close eye on them. When the war spirit’s two palms entered the range of Lu Yin’s Cosmic Art, their speed slowed down considerably. Lu Yin was able to see through all of the possible changes of the attacks, and he immediately retreated, confident that he would be able to evade this attack.
In the end, however, he was still struck. It wasn’t because the war spirit was quick, but rather because the war spirit had attacked along the path that Lu Yin had retreated in. It was almost as if it could see the future.
This sort of attack reminded Lu Yin of Starsibyl. Could this war spirit have been birthed from one of the Starsibyls?
Thankfully, the war spirit’s attacks weren’t very strong, so it did not pose much of a threat to Lu Yin. Although being suppressed was quite annoying, Lu Yin was confident that he would not be defeated. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to win, either.
Ever since Lu Yin had reached his current strength, this was the first time a Limiteer had caused him to feel so helpless. He was certain that, even if he bumped into those who were just as famous as him, such as Ye Xingchen or Mu Rong, he would still hold an absolute advantage over them. However, this war spirit was single-handedly crushing him because he could neither land an attack nor dodge its attacks.
Lu Yin took out the Giant Emperor’s third eye and held it with his left hand, wanting to use the Secret Sidestep to avoid the war spirit’s attacks. However, nothing changed. The war spirit’s attacks were always directed exactly at where he was retreating to, and he would always be attacked before he could move out of the way. It didn’t matter how quick he was unless he could move faster than time itself. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to dodge these attacks.
The feeling of being crushed was something that Lu Yin found unbearable.
Lu Yin could do nothing more than dodge to the best of his abilities and try to discover the war spirit’s attack pattern in a desperate attempt at finding a way out of his current predicament.
Lu Yin had extensive battle experience, so even though his every movement was being seen through, he could still manage to instinctively dodge some attacks without using the Cosmic Art or his mutated vision. He was also holding the Giant Emperor’s third eye in his hand. Every time the war spirit attacked, Lu Yin would pick a random direction to dodge in, and it didn’t matter if the direction actually made sense. That had actually helped him evade a few attacks.
However, he was still unwilling to accept such a result. What Mister Mu wanted was for Lu Yin to win, not to not lose.
In the end, he chose to repeat what he had done against Tian Hou during the Tournament of the Strongest: mutual destruction. He stopped any attempts at dodging the war spirit’s attacks so that, the moment Lu Yin was struck, he grabbed a hold of the war spirits’ hands while using his Overlaying Stacks force.
The first time Lu Yin tried this, the war spirit was injured, which gave Lu Yin a glimpse of hope.
Upon seeing that the war spirit was about to attack once more, Lu Yin moved forward to forcefully take the attacks from both of its palms. After seizing them, he planned on attacking with Thirty Stacks again, but right at that moment… the war spirit opened its eyes.
He’d nearly forgotten that the war spirit had kept its eyes closed this entire time. Lu Yin had assumed that the war spirit was blind, but it was at this moment that Lu Yin realized that he had been wrong. The moment the war spirit opened its eyes, Lu Yin felt like the earth and the sky had changed. Everything before him grew fuzzy, and he could suddenly hear some kind of low, dull sound ringing in his ears. Blood started flowing out of his seven orifices, and the arms of the war spirit that he had rightly latched onto suddenly used some strange force to drive him away before starting to move forward once more.
This attack left Lu Yin instinctively quivering in fear; it had nearly cost him his life. He’d vastly underestimated this war spirit. Its attacks after it opened its eyes were completely different from its attacks from before.
The war spirit’s hands pushed through the void and destroyed a part of the forest. Right in front of the attack, Lu Yin vanished.
The war spirit’s attack did not manage to connect with Lu Yin, and it no longer felt the presence of any nearby living creatures. It closed its eyes, slowly turned away, and continued wandering.
Back atop of a high mountain, Lu Yin panted heavily, his face pale. He looked out at the forest below in shock. Had he nearly died just then? He touched his ears and nostrils and found that there was blood everywhere. It was unthinkable to him that there existed a Limiteer whose attack was so powerful that it would give him the sensation of death. What’s more, it had only been for a short instant. Who in the world had birthed this war spirit? They must be truly terrifying.
With Lu Yin’s current defenses, even Cruisers would have a difficult time killing him. However, that war spirit had nearly killed him. It was impossible to suppress one’s instincts, and Lu Yun knew that he had been at death’s door earlier.
He turned to Mister Mu and bowed respectfully. “I was defeated, Master.”
Mister Mu asked, “How did that feel?”
“I cannot quite explain it. It felt like the war spirit could predict the future,” Lu Yin guessed in a tentative tone. He considered Starsibyl, but she shouldn’t be as powerful as that war spirit.
Mister Mu clasped his hands behind his back. “There is no limit in cultivation. Some people train in various battle methods while others focus on just one. Nobody can say for sure which is stronger or weaker. However, it’s a fact that there are some people with unique innate gifts that allow them to attain feats that most people cannot even imagine. The war spirit that you just exchanged blows with is from someone who went far, far down the path of a domain.”
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. “A domain?”
“A domain can merge into the surroundings and strengthen one’s senses, power level, the area encompassed by the domain, and possibly even the universe. If you enter someone else’s domain, then everything about you becomes clear to them. Those who are extremely proficient can even be considered to have the ability to… predict the future,” Mister Mu explained.
Lu Yin felt a chill crawl down his spine. Memories of the earlier battle appeared in his mind. Everything about him had been calculated, which was why the fight had been difficult. Could people proficient in domains perform divinations?
“This isn’t divination. Through your breathing, the rhythm of your movements, battle habits, or even your thought processes, your next move can be predicted. That is the ultimate power of the domain.” Mister Mu seemed to guess at what Lu Yin was thinking and continued with his explanation.
Lu Yin could not comprehend how powerful a domain could actually become. “I could not understand that last attack, Master.”
Mister Mu spoke with praise, “To become strong, you must pay a price. This person was extremely skilled with their domain, but the price that he had to pay was to keep his eyes closed. However, the moment he opens his eyes, the light from the sun and moon will fade to nothingness, and everything will be laid bare before him. That power, coupled with his domain, is intensified by a thousandfold when his eyes open, and normal people will not be able to stop him.”
Lu Yin’s face twitched. A thousandfold? That was a terrifying concept. How extreme did a person have to be to blind themselves just to increase their domain’s abilities? He was very curious about this person.
“May I know who this war spirit was birthed from, Master?” Lu Yin asked.
Mister Mu answered. “He was a young person. When he came here, he was about your age.”
Lu Yin was shocked. He’d assumed that the person this war spirit had come from was a Limiteer who had cultivated for a very long time but been unable to become an Explorer. There were numerous similar cases of people who, despite the passage of time, would never reach the Explorer realm. However, they would become absolute monsters among Limiteers. The fact that the person who had created that battle spirit was about the same age as Lu Yin meant that the man was a true freak of a Limiteer, even more so than Lu Yin.
“When was this war spirit formed?” Lu Yin enquired.
“About a decade ago, I believe.” Mister Mu answered.
Lu Yin muttered to himself. A decade ago? That meant that it was possible that this person was still a part of the younger generation. If that person had possessed such astonishing power while still at the Limiteer realm, then what would happen once he became an Explorer or a Cruiser? If nothing went wrong, then that man was probably one of the top experts on the Top Hundred Rankings, or he might even be one of the Ten Arbiters.
“Would you happen to know his name?” Lu Yin asked.
Mister Mu eyed Lu Yin. “Are you curious about it?”
