Chapter 2582: Looking For You

Impossible!

Xu Yue believed that she was peerless within her generation in the Voidforce Universe, so why was she struggling to defeat this nobody?

Ling Gong was similarly startled. Because of Lu Yin’s warning, she had allowed herself to be captured, which was why the sneak attack had succeeded so easily. Even so, while she was prepared, she had still been surprised by the combined power of Xu Ji and Xu Yue. They were truly strong enough to capture her, but even more astonishing to Ling Gong was Xu Yue’s strength when she was fighting alone.

The two continued to fight for the length it took a stick of incense to burn. Even after that much time, neither was able to establish themselves as the clear victor.

Lu Yin watched with rapt attention. The true fight was about to happen.

Xu Yue summoned a series of voidforce puppets by tossing them out from her cosmic ring. Her most powerful puppets possessed twice the girl’s personal voidforce energy reserves.

This was the true battle style of the Voidforce Universe.

The puppets struck Ling Gong fiercely, which caused her to spit out blood. She was left with no choice but to resort to her Soulsplitting Technique, which caused three clones to appear, each with the same strength as her original body.

The sight of the Soulsplitting Technique startled Xu Yue. Was this even possible?

The gathered audience watching the battle was equally shocked.

Jiang Xiaodao had already arrived as well. He had come to consult Xu Yue about voidforce energy, and he had happened to stumble upon the fight.

"What an impressive battle technique!" he exclaimed, his booming voice causing several people to jump in fright.

Without a clear target, Xu Yue's voidforce puppets were confused by the Soulsplitting Technique. Xu Yue did not have enough puppets to target each clone, so Ling Gong seized the moment to thrust her spear at Xu Yue's belly.

At the last moment, blue flames burst into life above Xu Yue, setting the sky on fire.

The wave of blistering heat that shot towards Ling Gong instilled a sense of impending doom, and she quickly fled.

Xu Yue glowered. "You should feel honored that you have pushed me to summon the blue phoenix!"

Ling Gong's scalp went numb. The terrifying pressure that she felt from the flames, combined with their terrifying heat, made it almost impossible for her to even approach Xu Yue. The pressure on Ling Gong had completely spiked—was it threefold? Fivefold? More?

Lu Yin furrowed his brow. This was the trump card of the Voidforce Universe’s cultivators. They would summon voidforce puppets that possessed several times their own voidforce energy to overwhelm their opponents. Ling Gong was being forced to fight a powered-up Xu Yue, and the blue phoenix's flames were relentless. No matter how anyone looked at this fight, Ling Gong seemed to have no chance of winning.

Xu Yue waved her hand, and the blue phoenix screeched as flames swept towards Ling Gong.

Determination firmed Ling Gong's expression. She was one of the Ten Arbiters, the White Knight! She could accept that Lu Yin had surpassed her, but how could she fall to this woman? Despite being an entire cultivation realm weaker, Ling Gong refused to lose to anyone.

Her Skycastle appeared, grand and majestic. Bells rang out and echoed, shaking people’s hearts as they heard the ringing.

Xu Yue looked up. What the hell was she seeing?

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. Ling Gong's Skycastle was an innate gift formed from the combination of ten innate gifts. It was a domineering innate gift, and few within the same realm were capable of defeating Ling Gong simply because of her Skycastle. Even against Xu Yue and her powerful voidforce puppets, Skycastle was still capable of suppressing this formidable opponent.

The blue phoenix fiercely charged at the Skycastle, determined to burn the thing down.

Ling Gong's face had become deathly pale, yet she still refused to give up.

Skycastle—suppress!

Flames shot out from the castle in every direction, transforming the sky into a surreal blue.

Xu Yue staggered, surprised to realize that she was being suppressed by the Skycastle. She stared at Ling Gong. How could this woman be so powerful? Was this the strength and pride of the Origin Universe?

As the Skycastle burned, Ling Gong coughed up blood. Her unyielding will resonated with the ringing bells, granting them additional weight. Each time the bells tolled, Xu Yue's heart trembled again. Blood trickled from her ears despite covering them. As time passed, she was no longer able to endure the sound, and she threw her arms open. Lightning erupted and took on the form of a giant tree that crashed towards Ling Gong.

Ling Gong stared up at the descending lightning and lifted her spear to shield herself.

There was a deafening boom that caused the ground to shake.

Ling Gong was blasted backwards by the force of the lightning.

Lu Yin stared at Xu Yue, surprised to discover that she had successfully obtained an innate gift from the lightning tree after Luo Zang had failed. The innate gift from her arboreal transformation had to be her trump card.

Between the two women, Ling Gong had never ventured out of the Fifth Mainland, and she had been exposed to little of the wider megaverse, which placed her at a great disadvantage against Xu Yue.

Such exciting battles seldom took place in the Sixverse Academy.

Panting heavily, Xu Yue gazed at Ling Gong with open admiration. Above Ling Gong’s head, her Skycastle grew faint as the blue phoenix flew out from it and disappeared into its void nest.

Xu Yue's body swayed. She looked utterly shocked; the power of her blue phoenix had been greatly depleted.

Across from her, Ling Gong held herself upright with her spear. She stared at Xu Yue. Ling Gong was covered with burns from the lightning, and her injuries looked terrible.

"You've lost," Xu Yue declared in a low voice. She sounded weak. Her initial contempt for Ling Gong had completely vanished and been replaced with the respect for a peer. Ling Gong’s unyielding courage, determination, and awe-inspiring Skycastle had left a deep impression on Xu Yue.

Ling Gong slowly pulled her spear out from the ground, pointed it at Xu Yue, and moved forward, one step at a time.

Xu Yue frowned. "You've already lost! Stop being so stubborn."

The helmet that had covered Ling Gong's head fell to the ground to reveal a beautiful face.

The woman’s true appearance was a stark contrast to her tough demeanor. She hid her natural, unassuming beauty that fit the "girl next door" look perfectly behind a set of heavy armor.

Everyone was stunned by the sight, just like Lu Yin when he had first seen Ling Gong’s face.

Jiang Xiaodao's jaw fell open in surprise. "Unbelievable..."

Xu Yue stared blankly at Ling Gong. While Xu Yue and her brother had captured Ling Gong, she had remained in her White Knight armor the entire time, so they had never seen her face. Seeing the delicate features of the White Knight was a shock, as Ling Gong's appearance was truly deceiving.

"You’re the one who’s lost," Ling Gong retorted coldly.

Xu Yue was taken aback. "What did you just say?"

At that moment, Ling Gong disappeared from in front of Xu Yue. That figure had been nothing more than a clone from the Soulsplitting Technique.

Xu Yue spun around, only to see the cold tip of a spear. It was pointed straight at her throat. At that moment, her life was in Ling Gong's hands.

The crowd fell silent. Xu Yue had actually lost, and to a hostage from the Origin Universe at that.

"You-" Xu Yue could not believe her loss.

Ling Gong lowered the spear, and then used it to steady herself to avoid collapsing.

Xu Yue glared at Ling Gong, indignant. "You’re despicable!"

Ling Gong arched a brow.

Lu Yin spoke up, "Is that the only thing that you know how to say?"

Xu Yue glared at “Xuan Qi.” "Stay out of this, or else!"

Ling Gong looked confused.

Or else?

Even so, she also turned to face Lu Yin. "Stay out of this! That’s an order."

Xu Yue looked confused.

Whose order?

Lu Yin was speechless. This girl was still unable to change her catchphrase.

Jiang Xiaodao ran over, staring at Ling Gong with great excitement. "Little sister, your battle technique that allows you to split into multiple clones is really amazing! Can you teach me?"

Ling Gong frowned. "Beat it."

Xu Yue shot a glare at Jiang Xiaodao. "Stay out of this."

She then immediately turned back to Ling Gong. "I won’t accept this defeat. I only lost because I was caught off guard. There's no way you could have beaten me, given your current state."

Lu Yin butted in again. "She hasn't even learned anything here yet. Just wait until she picks up some of the different powers from the Sixverse Academy."

Ling Gong turned to Lu Yin. "Is that what the strange technique that she used at the end was?"

Lu Yin laughed. "That wasn’t the only one. It’s also possible that you might be able to go through an arboreal transformation and acquire an innate gift, or pick up something like an energy converter. Right, there's also monarch essence which can greatly strengthen weapons and equipment. Actually, now that I think of it, monarch essence would suit you almost perfectly. You could use it to reinforce your entire floating castle and then suppress anyone you encounter."

"Is it really that useful?" Interest lit up in Ling Gong's eyes.

Xu Yue interjected, "Don't listen to him. Monarch essence is the weakest of the powers available from the members of the Sixverse Association. I don't want you to have any excuses when you lose to me."

Of course, Ling Gong paid more attention to Lu Yin. Despite his joking tone, it was clear that he was suggesting something. Monarch essence was indeed quite well suited for Ling Gong.

Xu Ji then arrived, and he immediately checked on Xu Yue's injuries. After confirming that she had not been seriously hurt, he started showing interest in the just-finished battle.

"Choose a time to compete again," Xu Ji said to Ling Gong.

Ling Gong looked at him. "Next time, I'm fighting you."

Xu Yue rolled her eyes. "Stop bragging. My brother could beat ten of me."

Ling Gong's eyes narrowed. If that was true, then she was absolutely no match for the man.

Once the fight was over, a commotion kicked up somewhere else; someone had tried to make trouble for Wen Sansi, only to be trapped within his Literary Prison. Wen Sansi wanted to face He Shu. When Wen Sani was captured, He Shu had used a red energy converter, which had caused his power level to surpass a million, and Wen Sansi had been left utterly helpless.

Unfortunately, Wen Sansi was unable to find He Shu, and He Shu also had no intention to fight against Wen Sansi.

Zhuo Daynight did not target the person who had captured her, and instead, she immediately entered the Lost Clan School. She was very interested in the Lost Clan’s methods.

As for Wendy Yushan, she entered the Cyclic School.

The Sixverse Association's attitude towards the Origin Universe could still be seen after the hostages entered the Sixverse Academy, as the other students were less than friendly to Ling Gong and the others. However, that hostility only ended up bringing misfortune upon the students who tried to stir up trouble.

Out of all the Sixverse Academy’s students, just how many could hope to defeat Ling Gong? Almost all those who could were in the Central School.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

After a flurry of activity during which many students were taught a lesson, the dust finally started to settle.

Lu Yin was eager to see the results of the hostages’ studies and their efforts to cultivate alternate powers. He was certain that he would soon hear news of Wendy Yushan's and the others' rapid progress.

As for Lu Yin himself, he intended to enter seclusion for a period of time. He wanted to further explore the power within his chest. He had to carefully study the additions of voidforce energy, the power from the Arboreal Realm, the Cyclic Universe’s star energy, and more. While all the different energies had gathered into a single system within his chest, it felt chaotic, and he felt like he needed to sort things out.

But how should he go about it?

He stared at the river that flowed through the desert that was the continent of fatesand in his chest. There were buds sprouting along the banks of the river...

Lu Yin sank deep into contemplation.

Unbeknownst to him, his surroundings turned gray. When Lu Yin suddenly regained his senses, he looked up to find a familiar figure standing in front of him. He shot to his feet in excitement. "Master!"

Even if the twenty years that Lu Yin had missed due to traveling through time and space were not counted, it had been a decade since he had last seen Mister Mu. While a decade was not a long time for cultivators, Lu Yin's longest seclusion had only lasted for a few years. Thus, to him, ten years felt like a long time.

He had been hoping to see Mister Mu again one day, but he had never imagined that he would get the opportunity in the Sixverse Academy, let alone so abruptly.

Mister Mu remained as calm and unruffled as ever, though there was evident surprise filling his eyes. "I didn't expect to find you here."

Lu Yin stared at Mister Mu in utter shock. Ironically, that was exactly what Lu Yin was wondering as well. "Master, why are you here?"

"I was looking for you," came the reply. Mister Mu’s voice was as nonchalant as when he had encountered Lu Yin in the Perennial World. At that time, Mister Mu had simply told Lu Yin, “I came because I wanted to.” As for when they had met in the Technocracy, the answer of “I was just passing by” had completely floored Lu Yin.

The most recent answer was perfectly in line with what Lu Yin knew of his master.

Lu Yin tried to suppress his excitement. "Master, do you know about the Sixverse Association?"

Mister Mu stared into Lu Yin's eyes for a moment. "I haven't seen you for some time, but your power has changed."

The exact issue that Lu Yin had been troubled with had already been brought up. "Master, how has my power changed? It feels increasingly chaotic. You once told me that, as long as I cultivate any sort of power to the peak, I would find that they led to the same destination. However, I still find myself clueless as to how to find that path."

Mister Mu looked at Lu Yin's chest. "Hmm... it is quite chaotic."

Lu Yin's heart dropped and his face turned pale. Did even Mister Mu think that his energy was chaotic? That did not match with what Lu Yin had been told back in the Technocracy.