At the same time, outside the arena plains, a number “6” appeared before Long Yi as well. The dragon licked his lips rapaciously.

When Lu Yin appeared in the arena plains, countless onlookers grew excited as two camps of opposing extreme emotions rose.

Many Astral Combat Academy students were delighted at Lu Yin’s misfortune; they believed that all of Lu Yin’s battle results were fabricated and that Astral-10 had appointed him as its student leader to distract the rest of the academies.

On the other hand, when countless people throughout the universe saw that another academy leader was stepping out to do battle, they grew excited upon the thought of seeing another high leveled battle.

At this moment, Gerbach and the rest in the Great Yu Empire were watching with grave expressions.

Undying Yushan had a calm expression.

The Auna clan, Huo family—among the three rings of territory surrounding Zenyu Star, everyone was staring intently at their screens at the thin figure who represented the Great Yu Empire as King Zishan.

On Earth, Zhou Shan and the rest were so nervous that they could hardly breathe. They had never imagined that Lu Yin would participate in a battle at this level, as this battle represented vying for the very peak of the universe’s younger generation.

On a vast continent, in a city floating in the sky, Wendy Yushan’s eyes wandered as she looked calmly at Lu Yin.

On Astral-10’s space station, Madam Nalan put down her teacup and her gaze deepened immeasurably.

…

Behind every competitor were countless people supporting them. Lu Yin was no different, and the sight of his appearance on the battlefield lifted many hearts.

Long Yi’s giant body appeared before Lu Yin, and the sylvan dragon revealed a grinning expression. “Another one from Astral-10, and the leader at that. Interesting. This time, I won’t kill you too quickly. I’ll crush your body and then crush Astral-10 beneath my feet.”

Lu Yin’s gaze turned frosty as he recalled the sight of Big Pao’s corpse being trampled. “You like to step on people?”

Long Yi released a long, maniacal laughter.

Lu Yin frowned. “Is it because you’re going to become someone’s mount?”

This sentence angered Long Yi to no end. The battle that he had lost in the past had scarred him for life as it would be an everlasting shame upon his name if he were reduced to being a mount. Although his clan had released him so as to borrow his status as a mount to approach the Ten Arbiters, it was still a humiliation for him no matter what the context was. Hence, he had developed a complex for stepping on other people, and the word “mount” had also become taboo for him.

Long Yi immediately opened his mouth and shot out a ray at Lu Yin. It was a great sylvan dragon ray, the very same attack that had severely injured Big Pao. Long Yi had used this attack to become famous in the universe as it was his powerful innate gift.

Lu Yin abruptly vanished before instantly appearing above the dragon. Long Yi’s body split in response; one became two, and then two became five. This was the sylvan dragon clan’s innate gift of extreme speed, and this was the same speed that had rendered Big Pao helpless.

Boom!

The center of the arena suddenly shattered as giant cracks spread out in all directions, stirring up a heavy cloud of dust and smoke. The audience had yet to react to the dragon’s extreme speed, but the battle had already ended.

As the smoke dispersed, countless students were stunned. Long Yi’s giant body had been ripped into multiple pieces, and each piece was embedded deeply into the ground, his blood staining the plains. A footprint could be clearly seen on its shattered head; this was where Lu Yin’s deadly stomp had landed.

In an instant, all of the student leaders sitting atop the peak overlooking the valley were moved; it had been such a quick speed, and a powerful strike as well.

Lu Yin silently floated in mid-air with a calm expression for a few seconds before slowly returning to the high peak and gently sitting down in his seat again.

No one spoke, as the battle had ended far too fast for them to even react. This was an expected outcome to the people who were watching the tournament through their screens, as Lu Yin had indeed displayed the power of a Ream Master. However, this result was too shocking for the Astral Combat Academy students. After all, wasn’t this fellow supposed to be a distraction propped up by Astral-10? But didn’t he seem a bit too powerful to just be a distraction?

Outside the plains, Liu Ji stared at Lu Yin closely. He truly was Astral-10’s leader who had actually been hit by the beam of light that was meant for Explorers at the pirate port. How had he survived? And that wasn’t even mentioning his abnormal strength; Liu Ji had not even been able to see his movements.

Countless students were shocked, and many more spectators in the rest of the universe were stunned, including the Great Yu Empire. Gerbach and the rest could not even comprehend what had just happened; the gap between them had grown much too large.

Undying Yushan smiled. Not bad, not bad at all.

In the outskirts of San Dios, a city in the sky, Wendy was amazed. This speed was rather excessive even for a Limiteer, but Lu Yin was just a Melder. She suddenly realized something; Lu Yin was currently Astral-10’s leader, but once he truly became a Realm Master, he would automatically join the Council of Astral Academy. The status of a student council member was the same as her own…

Wendy Yushan was not the only one watching the match on San Dios; Puyu was as well, though his mood was completely different. He could even be considered to be in a towering rage. “Why did that trash, Bazeer, not just slaughter him back then?!”

A figure was silently standing behind him: it was the man known as Vulture, the corpse king who had fought against Lu Yin on the Giant Planet. Vulture was also staring at the screen, at Lu Yin.

The shock that Lu Yin had created among the spectators had not yet dissipated when another two figures appeared on the plains. The first was Grandini Mavis and the other grasped a simple sword, clearly from Myriad Swords Peak. Lu Yin was interested in the capabilities of the disciples of Myriad Swords Peak, as he would one day have to interact with this monstrous organization.

Outside the arena, Lulu grit her teeth as she stared at Grandini. That damned woman just has to show me up.

This battle also ended quite quickly, creating a bit of a stir among the audience again. The Myriad Swords Peak disciple, Na Mu, had the ability to fuse 3000 blades into one, greatly surpassing Zhao Yilong. However, Grandini had still forcibly smashed his technique apart. She, like Lulu, used pure strength, but Grandini’s strength seemed limitless. Each shockwave that accompanied her punches had sent cold shivers running down the audience’s spines.

There were no highlights in the next few battles. All of them were completely one-sided, even when Area Masters were fighting. At this point, and on this stage, an Area Master was nothing much. Little Pao also had the strength of a top-notch Area Master, but he had still been killed near-instantly in his match.

Lu Yin only perked up when he saw Xia Luo appear, as he still had not seen how deep this person’s strength truly went yet.

Xia Luo’s opponent made Lu Yin feel that luck was on his side today; he was actually matched up against Jared.

The rivalry between Jared and Astral-10 had started when the Blaze Realm tried to take over Astral-10. But now, Arikar had been wiped out by Feng Shang and Long Yi had been stomped upon by Lu Yin, leaving only the Ross Empire’s Jared still in the tournament of the Blaze Realm’s three powers.

Jared was not worried about Xia Luo even if his performance during the Tribute to the Ancestors stage had been exceptional. Jared felt that, at best, Xia Luo had a firm willpower. However, his misconception was only because Jared did not clearly understand the details of that the Tribute to the Ancestors stage entailed.

The opponent who he wanted to face the most was Lu Yin, as they had a grudge between them. And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that Lu Yin was definitely the weakest out of all the student leaders. If Jared beat Lu Yin, he would become famous throughout the universe, but unfortunately, he had not been that lucky.

“Senior, you seem disappointed,” Xia Luo said with a warm smile, his expression the same as always.

Jared shot a disdainful glare at Xia Luo. “There’s no need to spout nonsense. Just die.” He then raised his right arm. This posture was very familiar to the onlookers: wasn’t this Arikar’s Karmic Flame Sword that had never been fully displayed? Did this person want to have a repeat of that?

Xia Luo’s eyes flashed, and he eagerly watched Jared.

As an Area Master, and also as the strongest Blaze Realm disciple in his generation, Jared would naturally not make the same rookie mistake that Arikar had made. Jared had not received that strand of ancient flame, but his preparation time was much faster. As soon as his arm lowered, a strand of fire shot out of his fingertip and emitted a strange sword radiance that sliced towards Xia Luo while being propelled by star energy. As it moved through the arena, it scorched everything black, tore cracks through the void, and caused the ground to burn and melt.

This was the Karmic Flame Sword. Although this attack was not catalyzed with the ancient flame, it still possessed a powerful strength.

Many students backed away from the arena as they felt a searing heat wave wash over them.

Just this strike alone demonstrated Jared’s power as an Area Master. He could easily tear through the void, which was something that only someone with the strength of an Area Master could do.

Xia Luo took a single step forward with his right leg to confront this Karmic Flame Sword as he lashed out with a palm. The sword and palm collided, and the resulting shockwave rippled through the field, overturning the ground and shattering the nearby hills. However, the Karmic Flame Sword was stopped by Xia Luo’s palm, and when his palm started to vibrate, the sword shrank at a visible rate before finally vanishing.

Jared was shocked by the sight. “How is that even possible?! You actually dissolved the Karmic Flame Sword?”

It wasn’t only Jared; all of the observing powerhouses from the Blaze Realm felt a cold sweat appear on their backs. Even Arikar was gaping with his mouth open. Someone had actually dissolved the Karmic Flame Sword with ease.

Xia Luo waved his hand and smiled calmly at Jared as he extinguished the last strand of fire. “Has no one ever told you that the Karmic Flame Sword is not really that special? If even you can do it, then it means that it’s not very complicated.”

These words were shocking to Jared, but he could only stare at Xia Luo in disbelief. “That’s the peak inherited battle technique of my Blaze Realm.”

Xia Luo shook his head, seeming disappointed. “That’s impossible. The Blaze Realm has passed that technique down for countless generations. If the Karmic Flame Sword only amounted to this, then the realm would have been exterminated long ago. I could feel the power in Arikar’s previous sword, but the most important aspect isn’t the battle technique itself, but rather something else. In other words, it’s the primer, which you lack. Such a pity.”

Jared’s heart was shaken by Xia Luo’s words as he continued to stare at Xia Luo. “Such big words. You’re just a new student of Astral-10, but you actually want to spout off nonsense about my Blaze Realm.” He barked loudly, causing the star energy in his body to started simulating flames that burst out, engulfing his body in flames. After immolating himself, Jared swatted out with a palm at Xia Luo.

Xia Luo easily dodged Jared’s continuous attacks. Jared smoothly used various battle techniques of the Blaze Realm, and even some that did not belong to the Blaze Realm, but each and every one of them was easily neutralized by Xia Luo.

Atop the peak overlooking the valley, Dao Bo sighed. “Such astonishing Lockbreaking talent.”

Lu Yin also sighed as he thought back to how Xia Luo had entered Astral-10 with him and had searched for the gift at the Rain Observatory. Later, after Lu Yin Possessed Da Lei through his die, Lu Yin had been the first to grasp the realm of infinite changes of star energy control, but he had still been quickly surpassed by Xia Luo during the new students’ competition. Now, he did not even know how far Xia Luo’s grasp of star energy had become. This was Xia Luo’s real power.

In the arena, Jared panted heavily and stared at Xia Luo as if he were looking at the devil. Where did this bastard come from? He’s a terrifying fighter, and clearly a Lockbreaker. His method of dissolving attacks is definitely something that only a Lockbreaker could do. So Astral-10 actually has a Lockbreaker among its ranks.

There were around twenty Lockbreakers in the entire Astral Combat Academy, though only a few could reach this level of control. Xia Luo’s performance even astounded Dao Bo, let alone the other Lockbreakers. Liu Ji was completely stunned, as she could sense that Xia Luo was much stronger than her. How is this possible?

Jared’s eyes flared and he charged at Xia Luo again. Strangely, Xia Luo’s eyes also flashed when he saw Jared’s hands movements this time. The scene before them collapsed and then transformed. This was a completely different battle technique, an inherited one from the Dao of Illusion. Displaying this battle technique showed that Jared had become serious.

The two figures passed by each other, though there were no injuries on either. Following that, Jared’s body collapsed to the ground, leaving Xia Luo victorious.

No one saw how Xia Luo had achieved his victory aside from Lu Yin. He was keenly aware that Xia Luo’s unexpected attack was incredibly powerful. It was actually the attack that had once defeated Lulu. Even Lu Yin had only barely managed to avoid this attack. This guy seemed pure and kind on the surface but was actually very cruel at his core.

Xia Luo had beat Jared. He then turned around and smiled at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin felt that it was quite funny, as it seemed that Xia Luo also had a driving ambition for victory. Silver must be the same; Lu Yin just could not see through these two Astral-10 students.