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Within the Cosmic Sect, Hua Xiao and Mu Ziying were facing each other with dejected faces. Their arrogance had entirely disappeared after they had joined to help fight against the Sixth Mainland’s invasion. However, this was not because of the cultivators from the Sixth Mainland, but rather because of the Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters.
They had long seen the Innerverse as a wasteland, but those ten geniuses had been born in that place.
“Even Senior didn’t manage to surpass them! The rise of the Ten Arbiters is a rare opportunity that has never occurred before and will probably never happen again. We were just unlucky to be born in the same generation as those freaks,” Hua Xiao said helplessly.
Mu Ziying looked at his fellow disciple. “You’ve really underestimate Senior. She’s the All Rounder Fairy, and she hasn’t even fought anyone with her full strength yet.”
Hua Xiao frowned. “Actually, I’m curious, who gave Senior the nickname of ‘All Rounder Fairy?’ Even we’ve never seen her actual skills.”
Mu Ziying shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
At that moment, their gadgets rang with a beep, and they looked down. When they looked back up, both of them had shocked expressions. “The competition for the Astral Tower is going to start soon, and this time, they’re allowing the Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters as well as anyone who received a title of King or Queen to take part. On top of that, Nightking Zhenwu will receive one inheritance by himself. Thus, we can only fight for the other four.”
Hua Xiao laughed bitterly. “I can’t believe that this day has finally arrived. Nightking Zhenwu hid his power too well. It’s such a shame about what happened to Lu Yin. He was a genius, and he even injured one of the Daosource Three Skies while being a mere Cruiser. He was the only one who was able to do that during the entire war.”
“Who cares about him? He’s dead. We’re going to have to work together this time.”
“Of course. Oh, do you want to talk to Senior about it?”
“Forget it. Senior will never join up with us.”
***
In one region of the Innerverse, an ancient battleship floated in space, completely stationary. It was Astral-10.
During the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, each branch of the Astral Combat Academy had displayed their impressive war strength. Although Astral-10 had the fewest students, their crazy headmaster had shocked everyone.
On one particular day, a girl arrived at Astral-10, looking for Xia Luo.
In Astral-10’s space station, Xia Luo looked at the girl in front of him. “I thought that you would come looking for me.”
The one standing in front of Xia Luo was Starsibyl , though she was not the Starsibyl from the Ten Arbiter's generation. Rather, she was the top student from Astral-1. This was the Starsibyl who had participated in the Astral Combat Tournament.
“The competition for the Astral Tower is about to begin. You should head back,” she said gently.
Xia Luo smiled. “Of course I’ll return. I’ve waited for so long, but it’s finally about to start.”
“Your friend, Lu Yin, became famous after the Sixth Mainland’s invasion,” Starsibyl commented.
Xia Luo sighed. “He’s too high profile. Arbiter Zhenwu is a meticulous and vicious person, and he would never allow Lu Yin to live. However, I didn’t expect that Nightking Zhenwu would go so far as to even ruin his reputation. I think that he wants to use Lu Yin as an example and to demonstrate that he should lead the Ten Arbiters. Is that what you hoped for?”
Starsibyl’s eyes flashed. “It’s not what I had hoped for, as I’m just allowing things to proceed. We’ll still need someone to lead the Innerverse in the end.”
Xia Luo smirked. “If you say so.”
Starsibyl glanced over at Xia Luo, her eyes bright. “I can sense your ambition. The Sixth Mainland’s invasion brought a lot of talents to light. Lu Yin made his name known throughout the universe by fighting against the Daosource Three Skies, and now it seems that you want to follow his example.”
Xia Luo lazily stretched out. “You’re right, it’s time for me to make a move. You, me, the Three Dark Hands, the Hall of Honor, the Mavis family… It’s time for all of us to move. Although this war was just a fluke, the Sea King did do the right thing by returning our sky to us. Otherwise, we would have just continued to wait for the right time.”
Starsibyl gave him a strange look. “You’ve already waited so long, so a little longer wouldn’t matter. Still, this is the right time.”
She suddenly asked a question before leaving, “If possible, will you try to get revenge for Lu Yin?”
Xia Luo’s eyes flashed. “I’ll try.”
Starsibyl’s eyes flickered, and she left Astral-10 soon after.
Xia Luo fell deep into thought. The birth of the Ten Arbiters had given the Innerverse the ability to compete with the Neoverse. Even though he was not able to overcome the Ten Arbiters himself, both the Innerverse and the Neoverse had their own plans for the future. If not, then the Ten Arbiters would have never appeared.
He gazed at the sky, feeling like his future had changed. Although Xia Luo was not very clear on the details of what had happened, he felt that the Innerverse had stepped out of the Neoverse’s control. The appearance of the Ten Arbiters was the clearest example of that, and it was definitely related to the Starsibyl Sect.
Xia Luo sighed and glanced back at Astral-10. He left with the understanding that he would probably never return to this place again.
Meanwhile, back in the Technocracy, Lu Yin reluctantly put his die away. He had used all of his attempts up, but he had not been able to roll Possession a second time, and thus, he had not found a way back to the Outerverse.
The Technocracy’s border was under strict surveillance, and nobody was able to secretly cross it. Although the planet that Lu Yin had settled down on was close enough to Star Duolun that he could return to that planet whenever he wanted, there was still a chance that he might be detected by the Technocracy’s powerhouses.
It seemed like his only option was to wait until he could roll his die again. Or, he could try to force his way out.
However, he still needed to know which direction to travel in for the latter method. Otherwise, he might just get even more lost.
The Technocracy had its own Envoys, and if a powerhouse of that level attacked him, then he would die without any doubt.
Lu Yin put on his universal armor, just to be safe.
His injuries had mostly healed after the Arcane Art, Fatal Revival had activated. Lu Yin decided to wait a month. If he didn’t manage to find a star chart by rolling Possession after that month, then he would travel north, as he felt that the Human Domain was most likely in that correct direction.
A few days later, while Lu Yin was resting and reciting the Stonewall Scriptures, a huge wave of star energy swept past him, nearly tearing through space. The planet that Lu Yin was on trembled a few times, and the clouds of poisonous gas were dispersed from the surface, which allowed him to clearly see the sky for the first time. There was a silhouette in the sky rushing to the east.
There were no rune lines within the Technocracy, so Lu Yin was unable to determine just how strong this person was. However, he was confident that this person was much stronger than him, as the pressure of this figure’s speed was something that not even Lu Yin could withstand.
Lu Yin did not dare to reveal himself. Instead, he remained hiding on the surface of the planet. The person passing by was most likely a powerhouse from the Technocracy, and they were at the Envoy realm at the very least.
The planet’s atmosphere soon recovered, and everything returned to its original state.
Lu Yin sat back on the ground with his legs crossed and was about to continue reciting the Stonewall Scriptures when chills suddenly ran down his spine. He turned around and saw that someone was staring at him, their eyes filled with happiness and surprise.
It was a bald old man dressed in rags that had clearly been worn for years, and there was a foul stench about him.
Lu Yin went pale. He took a few steps back while keeping a wary eye trained on the old man. He was suddenly reminded of the cannibalistic slaves that he had seen on Driftcharge Planet.
The elder grinned, revealing yellow teeth. “Hey kid, don’t be scared. Come on over to Grandpa Hui.”
Lu Yin was on high alert as he held the beaded bracelet in his hand. This power vessel from Yuan Shi allowed him to unequivocally boost one of his attacks’ power level by 300,000. However, he felt that this still would not be enough, so he immediately took out the Arrow of Valiance, the Battle Arrow, and his futon, so that he would be able to escape at any time.
Since the people from the Sixth Mainland were able to enter the ruins of the Daosource Sect with their futons, then it meant that one could enter the Daosource Sect’s ruins from anywhere. Besides, after the Bloodburn Realm’s failed invasion of the Outerverse, Huang San and Yan Xiaojing had returned to the Daosource Sect’s ruins, and they had already been in the Technocracy at that time.
That means that one could enter the Daosource Sect’s ruins from the Technocracy.
The bald elder grinned when he saw Lu Yin taking out so many different items. “What are you scared of, little boy? I’m not going to eat you.”
This reaction made Lu Yin even more terrified, and he retreated a few more steps back.
“Hahahaha, kid, you’re really interesting! Come here! Come to Grandpa Hui. Grandpa Hui won’t hurt you. I just haven’t been able to talk to anyone for all these years. I'm always surrounded by machines or crazy people who are obsessed with technology. Grandpa Hui won’t be lonely anymore now that you’re here.” The bald old man happily waved a hand.
Goosebumps appeared on Lu Yin’s skin, and he heard the monkey say, “Seventh Bro, we’re dead! He’s nuts!”
“Senior, I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I’ll leave now, and I won’t disturb you anymore!” Lu Yin leaped up and tried to leave by tearing through space.
However, he found that he was unable to do so even though his strength was comparable to an Enlighter’s. The bald old man had reinforced the surrounding space with his star energy or whatever power he possessed. In other words, Lu Yin was trapped.
Lu Yin went pale, and sweat dripped from his forehead as he warily turned around to stare at the old man.
The bald elder touched his head and spoke in a reluctant tone. “Little boy, you’re too timid. What are you scared of? I’m not going to hurt you, so come over here, and we’ll have a chat.” He waved for Lu Yin to move closer to him, and Lu Yin was dragged towards the old man without any resistance.
The bald old man was shocked. “Kid, you’re pretty strong. It’s pretty rare for a fifth cycle Cruiser to be this strong. Tskk, and you have a great deal of star energy too. Who’s your mentor?”
Lu Yin was dragged over to the bald man, but he did not dare to move away. He instantly responded to the man’s question. “Yuan Shi. He’s a powerhouse from the Hall of Honor with a power level of 1,000,000.”
Lu Yin did not want to mention Mister Mu, as he was not certain if the elder would recognize the name or not. However, Yuan Shi was different, as most elders had heard of that ancient powerhouse before. Furthermore, Yuan Shi had an excellent reputation, and he might have even taught this old fellow in the past.
The bald elder was stunned. “Yuan Shi? Your mentor is Yuan Shi from the Hall of Honor?”
Lu Yin stared at the elder and saw that there was no hatred in his eyes, just surprise. “Yes, Yuan Shi is my mentor.”
The bald elder nodded. “Well, he’s my friend. Don’t worry, kid, I don’t have any intention of hurting you. If I really wanted to hurt you, then not even your mentor would be able to help you.”
Lu Yin’s heart dropped, as this meant that this old man was another powerhouse whose power level was more than 1,000,000.
How had he managed to run into someone like this?
“Hey kid, are you from the Hall of Honor?” the bald man asked.
Lu Yin answered, “I’m one of the Hall of Honor’s Honor Chosen.”
The bald man said, “Although the Hall of Honor’s a hypocritical organization, they still rule over the Human Domain, and their Honor Chosen have always been the strongest within their generation. Kid, you’re quite impressive to have won such a position while in the Cruiser realm. I have to compliment you for that.”