“It works out perfectly since there are still a few juniors in front of us who want to enter. By the time you finish cultivating the first layer, it’ll be about time for you to head in,” Mu Ziying said. He then pointed to a few well-used caves some distance away from the large valley. “Brother Lu, you can go over there and cultivate in private.”

Lu Yin’s figure flashed as he reappeared outside a cavern. There was a symbol above each cavern, showing that some were occupied and that others were vacant.

After Lu Yin entered a cave, a female disciple curiously asked Mu Ziying, “Senior Mu, is he the newly promoted fifth true disciple, Lu Yin?”

Mu Ziying nodded. “So you’ve all already heard?”

The group nodded, and the female disciple looked over at the cavern, clearly curious. “It’s practically unheard of for someone to successfully be promoted through the third evaluation method even in ancient times. It’s amazing, but unfortunately, he’s not a disciple of our Cosmic Sect.”

“Eversky Island and my Cosmic Sect fundamentally have a good relationship, and we’re lucky that they’re not an enemy of ours.”

“So what if they are? It’s just that Grand Senior never took action. Otherwise, just one Teleportation Formation would have been enough to finish off this Lu Yin.” One disciple refused to accept Lu Yin’s success.

Mu Ziying barked, “Alright, there’s no need to talk so much. Just focus on cultivating while you wait to enter the Skystar Jade Wall.”

“Yes, Senior Mu.” The crowd quickly bowed and no longer dared to talk any more.

Mu Ziying did not reveal anything openly, but in truth, he was also frustrated about losing to Lu Yin. However, Mu Ziying simply had not been as capable as Lu Yin, and there was nothing more to it.

He glanced over at the cave. One had to learn the first layer of the Cosmic Art before they could move on to the introduction, and even at the fastest speed, it would take Lu Yin at least a month to comprehend eight stars. Mu Ziying wondered how long Lu Yin would actually take.

In the past, when Lu Yin had first cultivated the Cosmic Art to eight stars, it had taken him far longer than one month to do so, but that was also because he had never cultivated before that. At this moment, Lu Yin could cause ninety nine stars to appear, but he needed to put on an act and look like he was cultivating the art from the very beginning. Thus, he was terribly bored as he waited in the cave.

He was within the Cosmic Sect, so he could not be certain whether or not he was being monitored, which prevented him from rolling his die. In the end, it was better to pretend.

After thinking about it, Lu Yin pulled out the chip that he had been given and inserted it into his gadget as if to study the first layer of the Cosmic Art.

On the surface, it looked as though he was studying the movement of the Cosmic Art, but in reality, he had long since started reciting the Stonewall Scriptures.

Soon, the chip automatically self-destructed, and Lu Yin’s eyes went wide as he pretended to get excited. “So it’s like this? So this is the Cosmic Art? It’s really very mysterious.”

He then put on a show of trying to cultivate it.

Putting on an act was exhausting.

While Lu Yin was pretending to cultivate the Cosmic Art, the warship that had gone to pick up the Ten Arbiters had finally arrived in the Neoverse.

They were welcomed by an eonlight-grade Aurora, and a very large one at that. Even Aurora Enterprises did not have many of these vessels, and this one specifically belonged to the Hall of Honor. In front of the spacecraft, the passengers saw the Hall of Honor’s Interstellar Supreme Court’s Judicial Commissioner, the Virtue of Righteousness, Mu En.

Everyone had heard of the powerful Interstellar Supreme Court before, and everyone in the Innerverse and Outerverse knew that the Hall of Honor was the ruling power of the Human Domain. However, very few powerhouses from the Hall of Honor had ever shown themselves in those places. But when the young elites of the Innerverse and Outerverse arrived in the Neoverse, they finally understood what it meant for the Hall of Honor to rule the Human Domain.

The Virtue of Righteousness, Mu En, was a super powerhouse whose power level had far surpassed 600,000 and was approaching 700,000. He gave off the feeling that he ruled over heaven and earth despite merely standing there. Although he was significantly weaker than the Shadow of Death, Lord Shadow was someone from the same generation as the Chief Justice whereas Mu En was even younger than the Sea King. His age was actually similar to the Calm of Despair’s.

It was impossible to find a powerhouse on this level throughout the entire Outerverse, aside from the Hall of Honor’s Yuan Shi, though he greatly surpassed this power level.

There were not many powerhouses of such strength even in the Innerverse. If all of the Hall of Honor’s resources were taken into account, then not even the Daynight clan’s patriarch, Nightking Dijiang, could guarantee that he could overpower the Virtue of Righteousness.

This was the power of the Human Domain’s ruler, and although there were only three such powerhouses within the Interstellar Supreme Court, above them was the Chief Justice.

“Greetings, Judicial Commissioner, Virtue of Righteousness.” Wen Sansi and the other Ten Arbiters bowed as one. Before this, they had acted indifferently, but at this moment, even Little Leaf King bowed despite having never spoken to anyone aboard the warship. There was no one who dared to act arrogantly in front of a Judicial Commissioner.

Mu En looked like a benevolent elder, and he smiled gently at the crowd. “Not bad, not bad. Eras have passed by yet there has never been a generation with so many elite geniuses.” His gaze swept over War King Xing Kai and Serati Phoenix. “The two of you are not fated with this contest at the Astral Tower and may only watch.”

Xing Kai and Serati Phoenix had no choice, as they were both over forty years old, which meant that they were no longer a part of the younger generation. Technically, they truly did not qualify.

During the battles in the Cosmic Sea, their participation had already been essentially cheating. However, since they had still been considered a part of the Ten Arbiters, the Sixth Mainland had not really cared, and thus, the two had been allowed to act.

“Yes, Lord Commissioner.” Xing Kai and Serati Phoenix bowed.

“Move out. We’ll head to the Mountain and Seas Zone. There are less than two months before the contest at the Astral Tower begins.” Mu En smiled before his figure vanished.

The youths all boarded the spacecraft, and a moment later, the vessel had vanished, headed towards the center of the Neoverse.

This was the first time the stutterer from the Longevity Brigade had been to the Neoverse, and his reaction was the same as Lu Yin’s: complete curiosity towards this place. This was particularly so when he saw the landmass that made up the Honor Zone, as the sight of it shocked him so much that his stuttering worsened even further.

“This- this- this-” The stutterer pointed at the distant landmass that was so massive that he could not even see its peak. His face showed his disbelief.

Next to him, Tai Yuanjun was getting irritated. “This? What this? You’ve never seen it before? Countryside hick.”

The stutterer’s mouth opened wide. “Hi- hi- hi.”

“Wine? Where’s the wine?” Liquor Hero appeared with an expectant look on her face.1

Tai Yuanjun felt grossed out, so he snorted as he turned to leave.

The stutterer turned to face Liquor Hero. “Wi- Wine?”

Liquor Hero nodded and looked at him excitedly. “Right! Where’s the wine?”

The stutterer swallowed his saliva and was rather confused. To him, Liquor Hero looked like she was about to eat him alive.

“There’s no wine. Where would wine come from? You should drink less,” Unseen Light said.

Liquor Hero rolled her eyes. “Men who don’t understand pleasure are fated to be abandoned by women.”

Unseen Light stopped speaking.

Some distance away, Xing Kai’s expression dimmed as he stared at the Honor Zone. Since ancient times, the contest at the Astral Tower had always been something exclusive to the Neoverse. However, their generation had finally obtained this opportunity only for him to be unable to compete. Truthfully, he hated this development, but he had no choice.

Lan Si spoke in a low voice, “It’s not just you. Lu Yin defeated Nightking Zhenwu, but he also doesn’t qualify to participate. He personally strangled his only hope.”

Xing Kai smiled bitterly. “This trip is a waste.”

Lan Si shook his head as his eyes grew bright. “Not a waste. At the very least, you’ll be able to witness the rise of the next Cosmic Five, and you’ll be able to see who the true top powerhouses will be in the future. In fact, you might even have a chance to trade blows with them in the future.”

Xing Kai nodded and then grinned. “Even if I go up against the Cosmic Five, I still won’t admit defeat. Instead, I’ll overthrow them.”

Starsibyl calmly stared off into outer space. Was Lu Yin here? According to her knowledge of him, he should not be this quiet. Nightking Zhenwu had previously been near the peak, and Lu Yin had defeated him. According to her divinations, Lu Yin should have replaced Zhenwu to climb up to the pinnacle, and the pinnacle of the Innerverse was fated to clash with the top of the Neoverse. This clash would create the most vibrant sparks in the entire Fifth Mainland, and in the future, they would still have to face the Sixth Mainland—and even further beyond that.

Little Leaf King remained indifferent, and he did not seem to be concerned about anyone. He only calmly looked at the Honor Zone.

The Ten Arbiters approached the Mountain and Seas Zone from outer space.

Within the Honor Zone, Shu Jing faced an approaching man and slowly bowed.

The man’s face was as white as jade, and his facial features were as exquisite as a statue’s. He seemed to be around the same age as Shu Jing. His eyes were calm, and there was a flow of white air that constantly circled around his body, giving him an extraordinary sensation, almost like he was a deity. This young man was Shang Qing, the Hall of Honor’s First Chosen.

To others, the Astral Tower was a place for them to compete, but for the Hall of Honor’s First Chosen, becoming one of the Cosmic Five was something easily obtained.

All of the previous generations of the Cosmic Five had always had at least one member who was an Honor Chosen, and sometimes, even the Second Chosen would also be one of the Cosmic Five. This was the Hall of Honor’s strength.

It was extremely powerful.

In the northern region of the Neoverse, at Gods’ Origin’s headquarters:

If Lu Yin were present, he would have seen lingering rune lines hovering about here. This place was filled with historic relics from the ancient Rune Civilization, and at times, someone would create something from nothing.

God Taiyi opened his eyes, his pupils shaped like runes. They then effortlessly transformed into an even more complex shape. “Finally, I’ve entered the Perception Realm. There will definitely be a spot for myself, God Taiyi, among the Cosmic Five.”

In the eastern region of the Honor Zone, at the top of the giant landmass, a truly enormous tortoise was slowly climbing up. Each step it took caused the entire mountain range to tremble, and these cracks extended endless into the infinite space above as well as the infinite space below the landmass.

There was a massive, ancient tree on the tortoise’s back, and it was flourishing with many leaves and branches.

This was the Mavis family’s home, as the Mavis family lived on this tortoise’s back.

The base of the tree was shrouded in shadows, as each ancient leaf was as large as an entire city. They trembled as the tortoise moved.

The roots of this ancient tree looked like a mountain range, each root like a giant dragon.

Lulu and Grandini Mavis were sitting atop one of the ancient roots, and Lulu suddenly looked up. “Do you think Sister Yuhua can become one of the Cosmic Five?”

Grandini Mavis gently responded, “As long as Sister Yuhua is smarter than you, it’s a strong possibility.”

Lulu got upset at this, and she clenched her fists as she glared at Grandini. “Do you get uncomfortable if you don’t make fun of me every day? Do you want to be beaten up?”

Grandini was unperturbed as always. “I’m not mocking you but rather stating facts. I’m just too honest.”

“You’re too irritating! Let’s fight.”

“Act more ladylike.”

The next moment, the two girls attacked each other with their full strength. They were clearly both girls, but they were stronger than monsters.

Right when the two girls’ fists collided, a pure-white hand extended from the void and lightly tapped out. The monstrous strength of the two girls was instantly suppressed, and they both took several steps back. A woman who looked like a fairy in a green dress stepped out of the void with long, golden hair and bare feet. She was enchantingly beautiful, and she smiled at the two girls. “Fighting again? You two are very noisy.”

Lulu and Grandini were both thrilled to see this woman. “Sister Yuhua.”

This woman seemed to have a gentle temperament, and she was stunning and seemed the quiet sort. She had crescent-shaped eyes and a delicate fragrance. There even seemed to be a faint halo around her. Fresh flowers bloomed beneath her bare feet, and even the ancient tree seemed to awaken, as its branches swayed.

Lulu and Grandini felt their worries disappear as they smiled at the woman. “Sister Yuhua, we’ve missed you!”

“Sister Yuhua, Grandini is bigger than me, and she keeps on bullying me,” Lulu immediately complained.

Grandini was upset. “You’re the one who always picked fights against me at the academy.”

“You’re setting me up!” Lulu was angry.

Grandini rolled her eyes. “You tattled first.”

[1] Wine = xiang = village, which is art of the word "hick." We couldn't find any way to get "bumpkin," "hick," or similar words to rhyme with any sort of alcohol. Happy to take suggestions to help this flow better.