“Go.” Lu Yin and Lulu exerted force simultaneously, and cracks rippled across the earth without either using a trace of star energy.

Lu Yin was surprised by Lulu’s strength. Her hand was soft to the touch, but her grip was firm as steel as it pulled on him with immense strength. However, the girl herself was by far the most amazed of the two. She was a Mavis, someone blessed with natural strength; this was the first person she’d ever met who matched her. She could even feel that he was actually stronger; he wasn’t using his full strength yet. Since when was he so strong? No normal person could reach this level with just training, it felt more like an innate gift from an ancient civilization.

A strong gust of wind separated the two of them, and the old man frowned in the distance, “I said not to destroy the plants!”

Lu Yin and Lulu looked down and saw the cracks on the ground getting deeper, uprooting the cracks. He quickly apologized and backed off, but she simply continued to stare and made him uncomfortable. He eventually asked, “Why are you staring? We haven't come to a conclusion yet, we can finish at some other place if you want.”

Lulu shook her head and pouted, “You’re crazy. We don’t have to continue, you can go and do what you want.”

What was wrong with her? Lu Yin grew confused as she simply turned and left. However, that meant there was no one else fighting for control of the teleportation stone, so he decided to continue testing the limits of his own strength.

It was only once he’d entered his next battle that the old man allowed his eyes to go a tiny bit wider, “A Mavis blessed with immense strength is inferior to him? I can’t tell what clan he hails from. Strange, really strange… He’s just a normal person, but why can he surpass a Mavis? And his surname…”

Elsewhere, Michelle was walking across a stretch of ruined ground, a common sight outside of the major surviving sections of Astral-10. She looked up with gleaming eyes, contemplating something for a moment before making up her mind, “Sorry Sis, I’ll have to use my innate gift.”

Xia Luo was seated calmly outside the Stargazing Deck, but his meditation was interrupted by a sudden message from Lulu. His expression filled with surprise, “Such great changes, that’s unexpected. I’ll have to work harder, or I won’t be able to catch up anymore.”

Beyond the endless rainfall in the Rain Observatory was a broken wall. It was clear that this had originally been a majestic place that had turned into ruins overnight, and there were still flames burning at certain spots. Silver was observing the ruins from a mound, “Everything is really gone… They say the headmaster went crazy and destroyed all of Astral-10; this was why they were always at the bottom. Countless battle techniques from ancient times, all destroyed… Such a shame.”

No one would believe that there were only around ten people in the enormous Astral-10, but that was the truth. Everyone here was like a drop of water in the sea, so tiny that they would never bump into each other.

……

Lu Yin spent half a day at the trial zone entrance before getting a night’s rest and heading to the Sand Ocean. The Rainmaster had told him that the Rain Observatory wouldn’t be too helpful to him right now, so the Sand Ocean was his best shot at getting stronger. His record when he left was 31 victories to 46 defeats; the best result among the new students by far. Unfortunately, no one was around to hear at the time.

There was a solemn glint in Lu Yin’s eyes as he chose the Sand Ocean on the teleporter. He had originally planned to keep going a bit longer, but his final battle had astonished him. His opponent had been a Melder as well, but had managed to defeat him by relying on a power that he’d heard of but never experienced before—battle force. It was supposedly the manifestation of one’s will, a power that could attack, defend, and push one past their limits. It could crush the skies and tear the galaxy apart, and came from the heart which was the foundation of the human body.

Some people said that this description was the exact method to train battle force, but Lu Yin couldn’t really understand what that meant. He’d heard about it during the brief time he’d spent in the Innerverse between Home rescuing him and sending him to Earth. People had described it as something with great potential and he’d looked forward to learning it, but then he’d ended up on Earth due to various reasons and stayed there ever since. He had recognized battle force the moment he saw it in that last battle, and also knew just as quickly that it was something very suited to him. He wanted to learn more about it immediately, but didn’t know whether Astral-10 had any methods to cultivate it and could only try his luck at the Sand Ocean. That place was clearly related to the body, so it could be possible for him to learn there.

This was the second time that Lu Yin had visited the Sand Ocean. He’d only glanced over it before returning to the Rain Observatory before, but now he planned to stay. He stepped out of the teleporter into the world of yellow, the hot sand heating up his feet. He tore apart his outer shirt as he felt the dry heat, bending down and pinching a handful of the desert between his fingers. Every grain was extremely tough; this certainly wasn’t normal sand. He even felt a hint of pain when he used a bit too much force.

“It really is a great place to train the body,” he explained, walking into the depths of the sands. His distorted silhouette slowly disappeared among the dunes.

……

With a little over twenty days left until the New Student Competition, everyone was busy with preparations. An enormous spaceship jumped out of a wormhole to appear at the Frostwave Weave, heading towards its depths. There was a dark blue quaver carved into the hull, the symbol of the Souldream Tribe from the Innerverse.

The Souldream Tribe was a famous tribe of women in the Innerverse, each one with stunning looks and a melodious voice. They were said to add a trace of gentility to the lonely universe, and every person there was a superstar.

“How much longer?” a striking girl with waist-length blue hair asked within the spaceship.

Someone next to her answered immediately, “Another hour at most, Young Mistress.”

The girl flashed a smile that could illuminate the night sky, “I hope they won’t disappoint; I need to awaken my battle force quickly.”

“Young Mistress, your trip to Astral-10 has attracted a lot of attention. The media has been contacting the tribe to find out why you’re going.”

The girl scrunched up her tidy brows, “They’re always so bothersome.”

“You are the most exemplary heir of the Souldream Tribe, the brightest star of the Innerverse. It is inevitable for everyone to pay attention to you.”

The girl suddenly thought of something and smiled mischievously, “Tell them that I’m going to Astral-10 to look for my boyfriend.”

Everyone was stunned when she said that, be it the spaceship’s captain or the navigator. They all looked at her in a daze, and someone yelped, “You can’t do that, Young Mistress, it will bring trouble to Astral-10. All the powerhouses interested in you will tear them apart.”

The girl blinked and thought about it, “Ugh, you’re right. Fine, I won’t cause trouble; my suitors are really irritating, but some of them are truly powerful. Just release a statement that I’m heading there to train at the Sand Ocean, that place was once a famous training ground."

The people around her breathed a sigh of relief, “Yes, Young Mistress.”

Nobody would dare to underestimate the influence of the people from the Souldream Tribe. They were the real stars of the universe and had countless admirers, ranging from normal people to cultivators to elites from major forces. Moreover, this was the young mistress of the Souldream Tribe; even her worst admirer would still be the strongest in the young generation of a major power. If those people really went to Astral-10 to create trouble, the academy would definitely be crushed if the tutors didn’t interfere. However, no matter where someone was, the power of the media was everywhere. As long as she said something, then it would definitely spread. The girl didn’t know yet the trouble she had brought upon Astral-10 with her joke.