Chapter 177: The Tournament Approaches
Lu Yin applied more pressure, smashing Hui Baiye's entire body face-down onto the ground. His voice was cold, "Remember, don't provoke me again, or I'll cripple you." With that, he flung Hui Baiye away, slamming him hard against the wall.
Hui Baiye clutched his finger in agony, staring at Lu Yin in shock. Why was it that every time he faced him, he was completely powerless? This shouldn't be! He was a member of the White Night clan!
Lu Yin walked to the teleportation device, then remembered something and looked back at Hui Baiye. "In your White Night clan, is there a woman named Zhuo Baiye?"
Hui Baiye, in pain, said, "I don't know."
Lu Yin's gaze turned icy. "I don't like people lying to me."
Hui Baiye snorted. "I disdain lying."
Lu Yin stared at him for a moment, said nothing more, and stepped into the teleportation device.
He went straight to the Treasury Pavilion to see Elder Cai.
Stroking the Giant Emperor's third eye, Elder Cai was beaming. "Not bad, not bad. This is the one. The Giant Emperor's third eye, a Lockbreaking weapon." He then tossed it to Lu Yin. "Take it and use it. It's very suitable for you."
Lu Yin caught it, casually storing it in his Cosmos Ring, and asked, "Mentor, how did you know this was a Lockbreaking weapon? Also, the White Night clan, Buyou, and those others knew, but the people of the Dieying territory didn't. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made hunting the Giant Emperor a territorial trial mission."
Elder Cai's catfish-like whiskers twitched. "There are many useful things in the universe, but they aren't necessarily 'mature' when we discover them. Like this Giant Emperor's third eye—do you think it's easy to come by? This is an inheritance. Each Giant Emperor passes it to the next. When we first discovered it, it wasn't mature. Even if it was useful, it hadn't reached the level of a Lockbreaking weapon. Now, it just happens to be mature. Lucky you."
"There was once a Giant Emperor who reached the Spacewalking realm, attempting to break the Dieying territory's blockade, but he was killed. How could this be passed down?" Lu Yin asked, puzzled.
At this, Elder Cai's expression turned solemn. "Kid, remember this: never underestimate any life form. That Spacewalking Giant Emperor was just cannon fodder. He had long anticipated his own death, so he passed this thing to the next Giant Emperor early. He did it to let his successor see their plight clearly. In the end, he was probing. Those fools in the Dieying territory had no idea. They stupidly thought that as long as they prevented a Giant Emperor from reaching the Explorer realm, they were fine. In reality, ever since then, no Giant Emperor has reached the Explorer realm. Not because they can't, but because they dare not."
"No wonder the Giant Emperor was the first to run when the trial-takers arrived." Lu Yin had a sudden realization, a chill rising in his heart. The Giant race might lack intelligence, but the Giant Emperor's wisdom was not to be underestimated.
Elder Cai said slowly, "The meaning of life is simple: 'existence is reasonable.' The Giant race has only one Giant Emperor. The third eye... is the key to the Giant Emperor breaking its life's shackles. It's magical, isn't it? Creatures have counters; a deadly poison is always found near its antidote. The Giant race has no wisdom, yet it produced the supremely wise third eye. Take good care of it. It wasn't easy for you to snatch it from the White Night clan and the Outerverse Council."
Lu Yin nodded. "Elder Cai, what's my next step?"
Elder Cai looked at Lu Yin and suddenly gave a strange laugh, making Lu Yin's hair stand on end. "The Tenth Academy has been quiet for too long. The mentors are giving you a mission: go to the Trial Zone and seize a Trial Site."
Lu Yin's expression changed. "Seize a Trial Site?"
Elder Cai's lips curled. "That's right. Go, seize a Trial Site."
Lu Yin was speechless. "Elder Cai, are you sure I can contend with those Domain Masters?"
Elder Cai looked Lu Yin up and down, his gaze profound. "I don't know. Give it a try. You won't die, anyway."
"Those people all have help," Lu Yin said helplessly.
Elder Cai rolled his eyes. "And you don't? Kid, do you know what 'top student' means? You are the leader of all students. You are qualified to summon them."
"They might not listen to me," Lu Yin said, resigned.
"Whether they listen or not is your business. However, because of your status as top student, the Academy will 'turn a blind eye' to what you do, hehehe..." Elder Cai cackled.
Lu Yin's eyes flashed. Turn a blind eye. Those words were very appealing. The first person he thought of was Hui Baiye. Won't listen? Then he'd beat him. Beat him until he submitted. As long as the mentors didn't interfere, everything was manageable.
"Oh, right. A reminder for you: complete the mission as soon as possible. The Ten Academies Tournament has been moved up. Those old geezers managed to get the Decablan to show up and find a bunch of sponsors. The time to link the cosmic network has been significantly shortened," Elder Cai said.
Lu Yin frowned. He was already feeling the pressure from Liu Shaqiu, and now the timeline was even shorter. Troublesome. But to go to such lengths—mobilizing so many people and spending endless resources to link the cosmic network just for a tournament—it seemed excessive. He had suspected this before; perhaps it was more complicated than he thought.
Just as he was about to leave the Treasury Pavilion, Lu Yin suddenly remembered something and looked at Elder Cai. "I remember there were quite a few Lockbreaking missions on the task list. Are those Origin treasures in our Academy?"
Elder Cai's eyebrows twitched. "Don't worry about that for now. Go seize a Trial Site."
Lu Yin found this odd, but he left.
Elder Cai rolled his eyes again. What a joke. If those Origin treasures were in our Academy, that old man from the Zone would have lockbroken them long ago. Would it still be your turn?
Leaving the Treasury Pavilion, Lu Yin went straight to the Zone entrance. There was no one under the Transmission Stone, only Xiao Pao sitting in the distance, bored, chewing on a blade of grass.
"Senior Xiao Pao, long time no see," Lu Yin greeted him.
Seeing Lu Yin, Xiao Pao's eyes lit up. "Lu Yin, you're back! Haven't seen you in months. You've gotten stronger again."
Lu Yin smiled. "What's Senior Xiao Pao doing here?"
"Bored," Xiao Pao grinned. "Right, are you here to enter the Trial Zone?"
Lu Yin nodded. "Senior, did Xia Luo and the others get in?"
"Not just Xia Luo. The others got in too," Xiao Pao said.
Lu Yin was surprised. "That fast?"
"Fast? Not really. It's just a hundred wins, not even a hundred-win streak. You all have been in the Academy for over half a year. Even if you only ran into one Limiteer a day, you'd have a hundred wins in just over three months. Not to mention they've been training under the mentors' personal guidance for months. If they still couldn't get a hundred wins, they'd be too pathetic. Their win-rates were a bit low, but it was enough to get in," Xiao Pao said.
Lu Yin thought about it and agreed. Although Limiteers were rare in the Transmission-Field-War, you could still find one a day if you were persistent. Then again, having to rely on luck to get a hundred wins was pretty pathetic.
"How are they doing?" Lu Yin asked. He himself had been killed off quickly last time. He was the top student; the others were probably doing even worse.
Xiao Pao said, "Not bad, actually. They're all living quite comfortably."
Lu Yin stared. "Living comfortably? How? Weren't they ganged up on?"
"They were, but only Shuz and Meng Yue. The others... they all have backing. Sword Mountain, the Mebis clan, the (Outerverse) Council, Xuanfeng Hall, the White Night clan... they've all got Domain Masters behind them," Xiao Pao said enviously.
Lu Yin quickly asked, "What about Xia Luo? And Yin?"
"Xia Luo? He's got a brother named Xia Ye, a real badass, the Domain Master of the Heavenly-Path-Tomb. As for Yin, he's got a sworn brother named Sha, also a badass, the Domain Master of the Slaughter-Path-Ice-Domain." At this point, Xiao Pao patted Lu Yin's shoulder sympathetically. "Of the twelve students, only you three had no backing, so you were ganged up on as soon as you went in. But you have backing now, too. Karon, the Domain Master of the Purgatory-Path-White-Bone-Tomb, has declared that he'll hunt down anyone who touches you. Impressive."
Lu Yin felt a bit depressed. Everyone else was doing so well. As the top student, he had it the worst. If it weren't for the fortunate coincidence of blackmailing Karon, he'd still be ganged up on. What kind of logic was that?
"Senior, I'm heading in," Lu Yin said heavily.
Xiao Pao nodded. "Go on."
Lu Yin turned, took the Giant Emperor's third eye from his Cosmos Ring, and poured Star Energy into it. Then he looked back at Xiao Pao. But Xiao Pao was gone. Lu Yin was startled. "He runs fast." He had a feeling that Da Pao and Xiao Pao were not simple; they were probably very strong. He had wanted to use the third eye to check, but it was too late. Just as he was about to put the eye away, an old man appeared right in front of him, making Lu Yin jump.
"Zonal Mentor, sir!" Lu Yin recognized the old man and quickly bowed.
The Zonal Mentor stared at the white, crescent-shaped crystal in Lu Yin's hand and praised, "Nice item. You got this, little guy?"
Lu Yin nodded.
The Zonal Mentor grunted. "Make good use of it. It can do many things." With that, he returned to his original spot.
Lu Yin bowed again, walked past the Zonal Mentor, and entered the Zone Mountain.
This was his second time on the Zone Mountain. The first time he came, there was no one here. This time, the first person he saw was Shuz. He looked like he was about to leave, his expression pained.
"Got killed?" Lu Yin asked.
Shuz nodded and looked at Lu Yin. "How is the empire?"
"Stable. Everything's fine," Lu Yin replied.
Shuz said in a low voice, "A lot of people from the War Hall have left. The Second Highness found quite a few elites for the War Hall back then. Those people have probably all left."
"Now that you're here, do you still think those in the War Hall are 'elites'?" Lu Yin retorted.
Shuz fell silent. Even he, the strongest of the War Hall, was at the bottom here. The others were even worse. Almost none of the Five Hall Masters had even tested in. Compared to this place, the War Hall was nothing. Any random Limiteer from the Transmission-Field-War could sweep the entire War Hall.
"The gap between the Innerverse and Outerverse is just too big..." Shuz sighed, preparing to leave.
Lu Yin said coolly, "No need to rush off. The mentor gave me a mission: to seize a Trial Site. How about we team up?"
Shuz chuckled. "Lu Yin, I thought you were a smart man. You left the Trial Zone, you were even 'killed' by Domain Master Shang Mai... Have you still not realized the gap? Or do you think you can act recklessly just because you have Karon's backing?"
Lu Yin stared at Shuz. "It's you who hasn't realized the gap."
Shuz was stunned. What did that mean? This person... could already challenge a Domain Master? How was that possible? It had only been about four months.
"You really want to seize a Trial Site? Those Domain Masters are all top-ranked experts from the major academies. You've personally experienced how terrifying Domain Master Shang Mai is. Besides, they aren't alone. They have a lot of helpers. Any student cultivating in their Trial Site counts as a helper," Shuz probed.