Chapter 2196: See Clearly Before Returning

After the lake water fell back down, Xia Shenguang was still standing in the air above the middle of the lake, shock and disbelief covering his face. Some distance away, Qing Feng stood, completely unharmed.

Qing Feng was also dumbfounded, and he quickly checked himself. Was he really all right?

He glanced over at Lu Yin on the shore of the lake. This sourcebox array was incredibly useful, as it had completely blocked Xia Shenguang's attack.

A smile spread across Lu Yin’s face, as the entire situation was more of a farce than anything. How could the Channeling Diagram be useless, especially one set up by him with his current strength? The sourcebox array might look weak, but forget Xia Shenguang—even if Xia Shenfei were to become an Envoy and attack, he might not be able to cause Qing Feng any harm.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

There was not a single student in Virtue Archives who could overcome Lu Yin’s sourcebox array.

"Prof. Hao Yu, di- did that sourcebox array just block Xia Shenguang's slash?" Nong Siniang asked.

Many of the students turned to blankly stare at "Hao Yu." He just smiled at them. "His attacks aren’t powerful enough. It is a sourcebox array."

Nong Siniang immediately started to get excited. "I knew that an instructor wouldn’t really try to avoid a fight! Xia Shenguang can’t break through Prof. Hao Yu’s sourcebox array."

There were many other female students nearby, and not only had their previously failing opinion of "Hao Yu" been restored, but it had also grown more than ever before.

The stuttering little fatty also grew excited. "T- too- too powerful! Too powerful!"

Xia Shenguang stared at Lu Yin for a long moment. He was fully aware of the power of his last attack, and it was highly unusual for a sourcebox array to be able to block such power.

With this sourcebox array, Xia Shenguang would need to get completely serious about this spar if he wanted to defeat Qing Feng within ten moves.

Lu Yin was eager to see Xia Shenguang use Shenwu’s Transformation. Lu Yin had previously seen Xia Shenfei use the technique, and it was quite impressive. However, Lu Yin had always been more wary of Xia Shenfei’s innate gift, as the ability to force someone to relive a moment from their past was a powerful innate gift that had caught Lu Yin off guard. In comparison to that, Xia Shenguang's strength was far below Xia Shenfei's.

Xia Shenguang raised his knife and charged Qing Feng. He had already attacked three times, which meant that he still had seven moves remaining.

Qing Feng was instantly wary, and water rose from the lake as he used his Water Image battle technique, but it was completely useless against Xia Shenguang.

Xia Shenguang’s eyes never left Qing Feng as he used a secret technique: Reversal. This secret technique was able to cause an opponent’s previous injuries to manifest once again, and even if a person’s strength improved, their previous injuries could still be brought back. It was a truly terrifying secret technique.

Sure enough, Qing Feng's strength was greatly reduced. He wanted to avoid the attack after slowing it with his Water Image, but it proved impossible.

On the other hand, Xia Shenguang was unable to break past the sourcebox array with a single attack, so Qing Feng was simply knocked back.

Xia Shenguang charged forward again, his knife rising to continue his assault. As this blade rose, the image of a massive blade appeared behind the young man. It was a visualization method.

Nong Siniang's eyes went wide. She was aware that visualization methods had originally been an exclusive technique of the Lu family, but after their exile, the four ruling powers had stolen the method.

As soon as Xia Shenguang’s visualization method appeared, Qing Feng's instincts screamed danger. This attack was so terrifying that he did not dare to try blocking it at all.

Lu Yin remained completely unfazed. So what if Xia Shenguang used a visualization method? It might improve the young man’s attack power, but it was still not nearly enough for him to break past the Channeling Diagram.

There was a massive explosion, and the lake erupted again. Blade qi swept out in every direction, shooting towards the shores of the lake.

Prof. Zheng suddenly appeared, and he blocked the blade qi before waving a hand and calming the lake waters. He turned to face the center of the lake.

Once again, shock and disbelief covered Xia Shenguang's face as he stared at the sourcebox array that protected Qing Feng. It looked so weak, but it had just blocked Xia Shenguang’s knife once again, this time after his attack had been boosted by his visualization method.

"It looks like you can't break through it." Qing Feng was similarly shocked. He had not expected Xia Shenguang's attack to be completely useless. Rather, he had expected to perhaps be able to evade the attack after the sourcebox array weakened it a bit. Instead, the sourcebox array had shown that there was no need for Qing Feng to dodge anything at all. He could just stand in place and allow Xia Shenguang to attack freely. No matter what, Qing Feng would be perfectly fine.

Xia Shenguang turned to stare at Lu Yin, shock still filling the young man’s eyes. "What do you call that sourcebox array?"

Lu Yin smiled and answered in a very humble tone, "I forgot."

Xia Shenguang’s eyes flared.

Prof. Zheng frowned and stepped forward. "Prof. Hao Yu, what's going on here?"

Lu Yin smiled at his fellow instructor. "It’s just a minor matter for students to exchange pointers. What brought Prof. Zheng here?"

Prof. Zheng quietly answered, "That last attack was far too much to be used in a spar."

Lu Yin laughed. "Do you see any injuries, Prof. Zheng?"

Prof. Zheng hesitated, and he stared at "Hao Yu" for a moment before turning to Xia Shenguang. "You aren’t able to break through that sourcebox array. There’s no need to continue this fight."

Xia Shenguang clenched his knife even tighter. "Impossible! There has to be a way to break it!"

Wu Taibai appeared from another direction. "Shenguang, Prof. Zheng is absolutely right. There’s no way for you to overcome that sourcebox array, so continuing this fight is pointless."

Xia Shenguang and Wu Taibai stared at each other for a moment before the student turned back to stare at Lu Yin again. "I admit defeat."

Lu Yin smiled again. "This was merely a discussion between classmates, so there’s no need to worry about it, Xia Shenguang. Students, this lesson should have given you a good understanding of how sourcebox arrays can be used in battle. Those of you who wish to continue my class should write a report giving your insights into this matter and turn it in at our next class. We’ll do our best to guide you in exploring sourcebox arrays, and within the next year, we’ll uncover the secret of the Undying Bird and the Dark Undying Bird’s flames."

"Yes, Prof. Hao Yu!" Nong Siniang was thrilled. Not only was this instructor so pretty to look at, but he was also so powerful! It was thrilling.

"Yes, Prof. Hao Yu."

"Yes, Prof. Hao Yu."

...

The female students responded with excitement, happy smiles decorating their faces.

The lecture time had finished, but Lu Yin was unable to leave. Students surrounded him so completely that it was impossible for Lu Yin to get away, and Prof. Zheng was not even able to approach.

Wu Taibai offered an apology to Lu Yin, but Lu Yin smiled, clearly unbothered.

Xia Shenguang left, still completely preoccupied with the sourcebox array that had protected Qing Feng.

Previously, he had seen all different kinds of sourcebox arrays, and he had even fought on the rear battlefield, but the sourcebox array that Lu Yin had used to protect Qing Feng was something that Xia Shenguang had never encountered before. He had to find out what it was, as it would be extremely difficult to overcome the array without that knowledge.

Xia Shenguang believed himself to be a Realmbreaker who could fight against Envoys. Just like when Xia Shenfei had been an Enlighter, Xia Shenguang was capable of entering the true universe. He was exceptionally gifted, which was why he was confident that he could fight against an Envoy like Lu Yin. However, the instructor’s sourcebox array proved to be an unpredictable factor.

As Xia Shenguang was thinking about these things, a man with a long sword approached and casually blocked his path.

Xia Shenguang stared at the man, surprised that anyone would stop him, and he carefully observed the swordsman. "Liu Que?"

Sure enough, Liu Que had blocked Xia Shenguang’s path. "Are you Xia Shenguang?"

"I heard that you intend to challenge all of the students here in Virtue Archives. What changed your mind and caused you to join the academy yourself?" Xia Shenguang was surprised to see Liu Que in Virtue Archives.

Liu Que just stared ahead, his eyes cold. "Let's have a spar."

Xia Shenguang’s eyes narrowed. He had heard many rumors about Liu Que, and he was actually quite wary of the swordsman. To make things worse, right after Liu Que joined Virtue Archives just a few days ago, he had already challenged one of Xia Shenguang’s fellow student leaders and crushed him. Even though Xia Shenguang was arrogant and fully believed himself to be a match for any of the Junior Progenitors, Liu Que was one of the few people who was just as monstrously powerful.

"This isn’t the time." Xia Shenguang refused.

Liu Que looked down at Xia Shenguang's left arm where he had been cut by Qing Feng's lightning blade, noticing the blood stains for the first time. "You’re injured? By who?"

Initially, Xia Shenguang did not want to say anything, but he suddenly changed his mind. "You should have already heard of Prof. Hao Yu."

…

Back on the lake shore, Lu Yin had finally managed to free himself from the crowd of students. He had been surrounded by students who wanted to learn the sourcebox array that he had used to protect Qing Feng. It was a true sourcebox array, and not just a mere sourcebox. The two were entirely different concepts.

There were many times where Lu Yin felt extremely grateful to Astral-10’s Trialmaster. The man had created the Channeling Diagram, and the sourcebox array was comparable to some of the ones listed in True Insight.

After the students finally dispersed, Qing Feng was able to approach, and he offered Lu Yin a deep bow. "Thank you, Prof. Hao Yu."

Lu Yin moved a hand to raise the student back up. "You treat me as your instructor, so there’s no need for you to be so polite. You did well in that match."

Qing Feng was still excited. "Without you, I would not have had the opportunity to experience a void god level domain again, and you also granted me the ability to face Xia Shenguang just now."

Lu Yin smiled. "You’re quite talented. Senior Qing Chen found a good disciple."

"Do you know my master, Professor?" Qing Feng was surprised.

"I've heard of the supervisor of Humility’s Gate’s nine gates in the Middle Realm, and I understand him to be a very respectable senior."

Qing Feng happily replied, "When I see my master again, I’ll make sure to mention Prof. Hao Yu’s incredible lockbreaking skills. I don’t believe that even the Senior Array Masters’ stationed on the rear battlefield can achieve the same results that you have shown."

Lu Yin responded in a very humble manner, despite completely agreeing with Qing Feng’s evaluation.

Lu Yin’s lockbreaking skills meant that his actual abilities were on par with that of a Realm Array Master, though he still had a long way to go before he could compare to an Array Grandmaster.

While a Realm Array Master and an Array Grandmaster were only a single level apart, the two were completely incomparable to each other. Lu Yin might have never seen Grandmaster Xiu Ming in a fight, but the man’s attainments with sourcebox arrays meant that it was not necessarily impossible for him to cross realms and challenge a Semi-Progenitor.

Lockbreakers were mysterious opponents to fight.

At this moment, Lu Yin looked past Qing Feng to see Liu Que approaching him.

Liu Que’s eyes lit up as he stared at Lu Yin. "I found you. So you really are one of Virtue Archives’ instructors."

Lu Yin smiled at the young man. "Congratulations on being admitted to the academy."

"I want to challenge you," Liu Que stated bluntly.

Lu Yin was speechless. A second challenge in one day?

Qing Feng frowned. "Do you have some sort of grudge against Prof. Hao Yu?"

Liu Que glanced over at Qing Feng with a bit of surprise. "An Enlighter? Who are you?"

"Qing Feng."

Liu Que lost interest. "So you’re Supervisor Qing Chen’s disciple. Move. You aren’t my opponent."

Qing Feng stepped forward. "Who are you?"

Liu Que's expression instantly changed, and he took a step forward to move past Qing Feng. Qing Feng stared blankly ahead; where had the swordsman gone?

Liu Que’s movement startled Qing Feng, and he spun around to look at the swordsman again. How did he get past me so easily? Did he just move too quickly for me to see? Wait, where’s Prof. Hao Yu?

A smile appeared on Liu Que's face. "Interesting. Is that a sourcebox array?"

He then simply turned around and left.

Only Qing Feng and the short fatty remained by the lake. The fatty had a thirst for knowledge, and he had wanted to ask Prof. Hao Yu about lockbreaking for quite some time, but Qing Feng had approached the instructor after all the other students had left. Then, Liu Que had arrived, and Prof. Hao Yu had quickly left. The fatty stood by the lake in a daze, completely alone. Everyone else had already left.

Lu Yin hurried back to his pillar to rest. Dealing with students was exhausting.

A short while later, Liu Que also arrived at Lu Yin's stone pillar, and the swordsman immediately started climbing the pillar. However, after ascending just halfway up the pillar, Liu Que vanished and reappeared at the base of the pillar. He instantly shot upwards once again, this time entering the true universe and moving twice as quickly to ascend the pillar.

At the top of the pillar, Lu Yin stood in the residence’s garden, and his eyes flashed when he saw Liu Que arrive.

"Prof. Hao Yu, please-"

Before the swordsman could even finish speaking, Lu Yin was already right in front of him. Liu Que could only watch in disbelief as a finger flicked his forehead. There was a bang, and the young man shot away without even being able to react. Right before he was struck, he heard a few words: “Come back when you can see clearly.”