Chapter 1737: That Strange Place, Earth

Big Pao and Little Pao glanced at each other before looking back at Lu Yin with odd expressions on their faces. There was still something rather familiar about Lu Yin, though his answers to their questions were different from what was on the network.

He was the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance, and also the champion of ZENITH, but despite his accolades, he did not seem arrogant at all. Lu Yin still looked like the same person that had entered Astral-10 all those years ago and become their junior. He seemed so sincere, but that was really just his shamelessness.

"Junior Lu, do you have any idea what word is used to describe you the most on the network?" Big Pao asked.

Lu Yin felt slightly curious. "What?"

"A money-grubber." Little Pao did not hesitate at all to answer.

Lu Yin's expression changed, but just when the two brothers expected their junior to argue, he merely smiled. "Not bad."

The two were truly rendered speechless.

"It’s been more than twelve years since we’ve seen each other." Lu Yin sighed.

Big Pao nodded. "Just about."

"Seniors, you’ve had a hard time. Have you already reached out to Astral-10’s mentors?"

Big Pao instantly grew excited. "I called them, and the mentors were all happy to hear from us. Junior Lu, we’re going back!"

Lu Yin smiled. "Of course, I’ll take you there."

Given the speed of Lu Yin's spacecraft, it would only take them a bit more than half a month to reach Astral-10.

During this time, Big Pao and Little Pao learned more about what had happened in the Fifth Mainland during their absence. However, the more they learned, the more amazed they were by Lu Yin, especially after they saw his fights with Lan Si, Nightking Zhenwu, and Liu Tianmu.

They still had the impression that the Ten Arbiters were the peak of the younger generation, but they had just learned that several of the Ten Arbiters had already been defeated by Lu Yin. This revelation gave them an indescribable feeling, as it toppled their worldview. Still, they also felt incredibly proud, as Lu Yin was an alumnus of Astral-10.

"Seniors, I'm actually still one of the Ten Arbiters." Lu Yin could not help but remind them of this.

It was a fact that Lu Yin was still one of the Ten Arbiters, as no one would dare to strip him of the title. However, Lu Yin only held this status in name. No one from the Universe Youth Council had once sought him out to fulfill any sort of responsibility for the council even once, as Lu Yin had long since superseded such a level.

Also, Lu Yin no longer needed the Universe Youth Council to achieve any of his goals. He had already cemented his relationships with the various Innerverse powers, and the influence of the Universe Youth Council was unable to affect such matters.

"By the way, Junior Brother Lu, I just remembered that while we were working for the Autumnfrost family on their odd tool, I once accidentally saw something that was being protected by Ancestor Autumnfrost himself," Big Pao suddenly mentioned.

Lu Yin immediately asked the man to draw what he had seen.

Lu Yin frowned when he saw the picture of an irregularly shaped black crystal. "You saw that?"

"Isn't it just an ordinary energy crystal? A flame one? Maybe lightning? Or something else? A lot of mediocre cultivators use crystals like these when cultivating or to execute certain battle techniques. They’re super common," Little Pao commented.

Lu Yin remembered that Gerlaine’s older brother, Gerbach, who had once been a Hall Master of Yu Academy, had used thunder energy crystals to use a lightning battle technique. That incident had left a profound impression on Lu Yin back then.

Big Pao replied, "You’re correct, and energy crystals usually aren’t very important, but this thing has to be due to its size."

"How big was it?"

"As big as a planet."

Lu Yin was startled. "As big as a planet?"

Big Pao nodded and hesitantly continued, saying, "Because of its size, and also because that was my first time seeing Ancestor Autumnfrost. I was really impressed, and I think that it was about ten years ago."

"Why didn’t I see it?" Little Pao wondered.

Big Pao explained, "I saw it when we were taking turns resting, and I happened to see it when it was my turn to work."

Lu Yin started thinking. Energy crystals the size of a planet were truly rare, and Ancestor Autumnfrost would not casually protect an object himself without ample cause, even if he was an imposter.

Lu Yin stared at the picture of the energy crystal and fell deep into contemplation.

It was considered normal for cultivators to leave home to train for decades, or even hundreds of years without returning. But for Big Pao and Little Pao, it was a little more complicated than that as they returned to Astral-10.

Astral-10 was not just a place where they had trained and learned, but it was also a place where they had grown up. The mentors there were like teachers and fathers to the brothers.

Even though they had already called Astral-10, the two were still unable to calm down.

The closer they drew to Astral-10, the more excited Big Pao and Little Pao became. "Sure enough, there are a lot more people here now."

"Well, a long time ago, Lu Yin won the Astral Combat Tournament, which made Astral-10 the top-ranked branch of the Astral Combat Academy. Naturally countless youths want to come and study here now. This place hasn’t changed one bit, though—it’s like I was just here yesterday."

Lu Yin also let out a sigh. When the three of them had all been students, Astral-10 had been horribly suppressed, and the academy’s mentors had all been unwilling to teach the students much. Enlighters were rarely seen powerhouses to them, and Envoys had been so distant that Lu Yin had not even heard of that realm.

Everything had changed since then.

Climbing high allowed a person to see further, but there were times when people did not want to see so far. After all, the further one saw, the more trouble they would see.

They docked the ship at the academy’s space station. Emperor Luo stayed with the vessel while Lu Yin, Big Pao, and Little Pao all continued on to enter Astral-10.

When they saw the familiar teleportation device, the brothers became more uneasy than ever.

"Which of the mentors are you going to go see first?" Lu Yin asked with a smile.

Neither of the two hesitated to reply, "Rainmaster."

Lu Yin realized that, of Astral-10’s mentors, the Trialmaster constantly played deaf, either ignoring people or being rude to them whenever they visited. The Sandmaster was very strict, the Starmaster was silent, Old Cai was almost always rude, and the headmaster was insane! The Rainmaster was the only normal one among the entire teaching staff.

The Rainmaster had also been the first of the mentors whom Lu Yin had met after joining Astral-10.

Rain sprinkled down on the Rain Observatory, wetting the moss on the stone platform. In front of Lu Yin, Big Pao and Little Pao both bowed to the pouring rain. "Mentor, us two disciples are back."

The Rainmaster calmly emerged from the rain, though Lu Yin could see how happy the older man was. "You just came back."

…

Lu Yin’s luck was quite good, as his return to Astral-10 with the brothers coincided with the Astral Combat Tournament, though Astral-10 should really be called Astral-9 after Astral-3 had been completely destroyed.

While Big Pao and Little Pao met with the Rainmaster, Lu Yin went to visit the Trialmaster, and he bowed to the old man.

The Trialmaster opened his murky eyes to look at Lu Yin. "It's you."

"Mentor, this disciple would like to observe the Astral Combat Competition," Lu Yin respectfully requested.

The Trialmaster nodded. "Go ahead. Astral-10 has produced some impressive talents these last few years."

Lu Yin bowed again, and he passed behind the Trialmaster to enter the Three Realms Six Daos, which was where the Astral Combat Tournament was always held.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Upon seeing the towering cliffs once again, complicated emotions surged within his chest. More than ten years had passed since he had last visited this place!

There were many students from Astral-10 who were sitting along the cliffs, as well as the Sandmaster and Old Cai. Unlike when Lu Yin had attended Astral-10, there were quite a number of mentors keeping watch over the students.

Lu Yin found an empty place and sat down in a cross-legged position to enter the Three Realms Six Daos.

This time, the Astral Combat Competition was being held in the Dao of Heaven, which made the location incredibly lively. Inside a giant technological construct, two figures were engaged in a fierce fight. Each would occasionally gain some ground, only to pull back before closing back in once more.

This was the scene that greeted Lu Yin’s arrival.

He actually had not wanted to attend the tournament, but the Rainmaster had specifically requested it. After all, Lu Yin was one of Astral-10’s guest instructors. Even if he still had not officially graduated yet, he was obligated to see the students.

There were many large bits and pieces around the mechanical ruins, including spacecraft, battleships, and even skyscrapers. The entire region looked like a technological advanced world that had gone through an apocalypse.

The students watched the match from up close while the mentors maintained a farther distance. Still, they were not too far, and they remained in sight of all the students.

Lu Yin arrived at an iron cube that was 100 meters tall. Many of the mentors were standing atop the cube, and Old Cai and the Sandmaster represented Astral-9.

Lu Yin’s arrival startled many of the mentors, as no one had expected him to suddenly appear.

Even Old Cai was surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Lu Yin smiled. "I brought my two seniors back, and I wanted to take a look at the Astral Combat Tournament."

"Thank you for bringing those two boys back alive." Old Cai seemed to struggle to offer thanks.

The Sandmaster also spoke up. "Thank you."

Lu Yin casually replied, "There’s no need for any thanks."

There was another mentor from Astral-9 atop the iron block, though Lu Yin did not know it. Still, there was someone else whose presence surprised him: Liu Xiaoyun.

Liu Xiaoyun and Lu Yin both looked at each other and nodded before greeting each other.

Lu Yin then asked, "Why are you here?"

Liu Xiaoyun simply said, "I’m an acting mentor for Astral-7."

Acting mentors were different from guest instructors, as they were people who had been brought in to handle minor miscellaneous tasks. Liu Xiaoyun was not strong enough to qualify as a guest instructor.

"Will you stay at Astral-7 in the future?" Lu Yin asked.

Liu Xiaoyun nodded.

Lu Yin did not say anything, as he wanted to avoid conflict with her if possible. Everyone knew that Lu Yin was looking to dominate the Sword Sect, so if Liu Xiaoyun remained at the Sword Sect, the two were guaranteed to become enemies. This was Liu Xiaoyun’s way of compromising, as it was better for her to stay in Astral-7.

The Astral Combat Academy had a rather special status within the Fifth Mainland. Lu Yin would never forget what he had heard the insane headmaster say all those years ago. The Astral Combat Academy carried the seed of inheritance, and all of the ten headmasters were Envoys, which was an impressive lineup for any power. In fact, it was possible that not even the Hall of Honor could mobilize ten Envoys at once.

This demonstrated the uniqueness of the Astral Combat Academy.

Lu Yin still had no idea how the Astral Combat Academy’s headmasters were chosen, but the insane one was certainly the most special. Despite his strength, he was rather clueless.

"Watch the match. You’ll be pleasantly surprised," Old Cai said.

Lu Yin became curious. "Surprised?"

Old Cai just smiled. "There’s a new faction in the current batch of students, and this particular faction is made entirely of students from Earth. They’ve been doing very well."

Lu Yin was surprised; something like this had happened?

Lu Yin looked at where Old Cai had indicated, and he saw a group of students filling up a whole section as they watched the match. Several of the students were standing atop a massive broken screw, and at the front was a woman with her back to the rest of the students. Lu Yin could not see her face clearly from where he was standing, so he turned back to watch the match instead of waiting for her to turn around.

"Earth is truly a bizarre place. We’ve taken in many students from there over the last few years, and almost all of them possess innate gifts," the Sandmaster said.

"Yes. Several years ago, the Rainmaster actually went to visit Earth, but he found nothing special aside from many cultivators with innate gifts," Old Cai added.

Lu Yin already knew that Earth was special, though he had no idea why.

After Lu Yin left Earth, the next group of Earthlings to leave the planet had gone to study at the Yu Academy. There had been several incredibly talented cultivators in that group, and Lu Yin had later heard that many had been accepted as students of Astral-10. It seemed that some of them had even entered the Top 100 Rankings, which was truly shocking.

At the moment, the group of Astral-9’s students from Earth were all quite young. Most were only sixteen or seventeen years old, and even the oldest was no more than twenty.

Inside the mechanical ruins of the arena, the match between the two students ended, and Astral-5’s students started cheering. Clearly, the winner had been one of their own.

The next match was between students from Astral-9 and Astral-2.