Lu Yin smiled. "I never said I'd do it alone. Our Tenth Academy may have few people, but they are all hundred-win experts from the Transmission-Field-War. They aren't any weaker than the others."
Shuz shook his head. "They won't listen to you. They all have their own backing. Aside from me and Meng Yue, the others have their own cultivation spots. They have no reason to get involved."
"I am the top student of the Tenth Academy. I naturally have my ways of making them help me," Lu Yin said confidently.
Shuz stared into Lu Yin's eyes for a long moment, then exhaled. "Fine. Since you want to do this, I'll follow you. It doesn't matter to me anyway. It's not like I'll actually die."
"Now this is the Shuz I remember—the number one expert of the Great Yu Empire's younger generation. Fearless and undaunted. I still remember the scene of you arrogantly provoking the Outerverse Youth Council," Lu Yin praised.
Shuz gave a bitter laugh. He had been so ignorant back then. Just as Lu Yin said, he had no idea what the gap was. Thinking back, that Gui Huo was just a failure who couldn't even get into the Academy, yet he had the War Hall Master at a loss. The Barzel behind him was an Explorer. Even if not as strong as a Starry Sky Academy Explorer, he couldn't have been far off. After all, he was qualified to join the Outerverse Youth Council. His horizons had been too narrow back then.
"Alright, which path? Where do we meet?" Shuz asked.
Lu Yin didn't hesitate. "Purgatory Path. White Bone Valley."
"The Domain Master of White Bone Valley is Karon. He's your backer?" Shuz asked. Karon's announcement a while back that he would protect Lu Yin had surprised many. Lu Yin was not some unknown. He had a notorious reputation: flirting with Xi Yue, brawling with students from other academies, extorting, blackmailing, and even completing the highest Limiteer mission... And he was the top student of the Tenth Academy.
At the mention of Karon, Lu Yin smiled. "He's my brother. A very good brother." In this universe, no one understood Karon better than he did.
Shuz nodded. "I just got killed in there. You go in first. I'll find you when my cooldown is over."
Lu Yin entered the Zone Mountain and glanced into the distance, vaguely spotting Xia Luo's figure. He seemed very casual. Other people, despite their bodies being protected, still looked for a place to hide when entering the Zone. He didn't seem to care at all.
Lu Yin didn't pay it any mind either. He closed his eyes and selected "Purgatory Path." His vision blurred, and when it cleared, he saw blackness everywhere and... a pair of pitch-black eyes. Lu Yin was startled and immediately retreated. When he got a clear look, he realized it was a war soul.
War souls were formless, just a mass of darkness, including their eyes. Very easy to distinguish.
Lu Yin cursed his bad luck. He had run straight into a war soul just after arriving. War souls were highly aggressive and usually very powerful.
Sensing Lu Yin, the war soul attacked without hesitation, materializing a black longsword. The blade vibrated, and the sword multiplied into countless phantoms, sweeping a hundred-meter radius.
Lu Yin was surprised. He knew war souls were strong—they were, after all, phantoms of experts who had fought in this Trial Zone. But he hadn't expected a random one to be this powerful. This sword strike was on par with Zhuo Baiye's White Void Sword, carrying the shadow of a Domain. He believed that if the expert who had formed this war soul were still alive, they would have definitely grasped a Domain.
Just as Lu Yin was about to act, his expression flickered. He used Flash-Step to dodge, reappearing a hundred meters away. Over there, three students had appeared. They were overjoyed to see the war soul. "Get it! Leave the last hit for me!" one of them shouted, and the other two charged the war soul.
Lu Yin's eyes flashed. A Beast Soul Team. His fusion with Karon hadn't let him see all of Karon's memories, but he had seen some. He was no stranger to Beast Soul Teams. What puzzled him was why they existed. Generally, the person who formed a Beast Soul Team might not be a top-tier expert, but they definitely had backing. Some experts would rather form a Beast Soul Team than compete for a Domain Master position, and they always insisted on landing the finishing blow themselves. It was very strange, and the reasons varied.
This Beast Soul Team was far inferior to the ones in Karon's memory. In Karon's memory, the few Beast Soul Teams he knew were exceptionally strong. The captains were almost all on par with Domain Masters; otherwise, they wouldn't dare hunt war souls. But these three... not one of them was impressive. In the Tenth Academy, they'd be at the bottom.
With a loud bang, the black earth shattered. The two students attacking the war soul were both heavily injured, their faces pale. "Gul! This war soul is too strong! It has a Domain! We can't handle it!"
The leader, Gul, looked anxious. He dodged a strike from the war soul, saw Lu Yin not far away, and immediately shouted, "You! Get over here and help kill this war soul. Remember, leave the last hit for me!"
Lu Yin raised an eyebrow. "Why should I listen to you?"
Gul sneered. "Either we kill it together, or we stop fighting it and take care of you first. Your choice."
Lu Yin laughed out of anger. What a threat. This guy wasn't strong, but he was good at "burning the boats" (forcing a desperate situation). He decided to act. Not because of Gul's threat, but because he wanted to kill the war soul. Those Beast Soul Team captains all wanted the last hit; he, too, wanted to see what he would get.
Gul thought his threat had worked. He secretly signaled the other two to fall back, intending to use Lu Yin as a meat shield while they waited for an opportunity.
Lu Yin had fought Zhuo Baiye and had a good grasp of the strength of that kind of "superficial" Domain. He attacked with a Nine-Layer, Nine-Echo Wave Palm. The palm strike created nine shockwaves. The first few shattered the black longsword, and the final shockwave directly blasted the war soul apart. The black war soul dissipated into fragments.
This scene stunned Gul and his two companions. The three of them combined couldn't beat the war soul, yet this person had one-shot it.
The moment the war soul died, the black fragments vanished before Lu Yin's eyes. Nothing unusual. Lu Yin suddenly remembered something and quickly circulated the Heavenly Star Art. Nine stars revolved around his body, forming a perfect galaxy. Through the Heavenly Star Art, he saw something different in the last of the disappearing black fragments. They were strange symbols, or rather, patterns made of curved lines. An entire black fragment was composed of these symbols, which then quickly faded.
Lu Yin frowned. What is this? War souls are made of this stuff? War souls come from the battle phantoms of experts. Why can these strange symbols be reflected from experts to create war souls? Strange. Very strange.
No matter how Lu Yin speculated, he was too far from the truth. This was not something he could understand. Right now, he had to face the wrath of the three behind him.
Gul clenched his fists, glaring at Lu Yin. "You dared to take the last hit? I told you to leave the last hit for me!"
Lu Yin turned, looking at Gul with amusement. "Student, is your brain fried? Why should I listen to you? Or do you think the three of you can actually deal with me?"
Lu Yin's words brought the other two to their senses. A trace of fear flashed in their eyes. This person had just one-shot a war soul. He was probably extremely close to a Domain Master's level. This was not someone they could afford to provoke.
Gul also came to his senses, forcing down his anger. He was used to being arrogant and had forgotten the strength of the person before him. His gaze idly swept over the back of Lu Yin's hand, and a "Ten" entered his sight.
Gul was startled. He looked again. It really was a Ten. He laughed, his gaze once again becoming arrogant. "You're from the Tenth Academy?"
Lu Yin didn't deny it. With his strength, as long as he didn't run into a Domain Master or a Zone Master, it was almost impossible for anyone to kill him.
Gul's lip curled up, and he looked at Lu Yin haughtily. "Do you know who I am?"
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. This person's attitude had changed several times. Especially after learning he was from the Tenth Academy, he had become even more arrogant than before. It seemed he had some backing, and that backing was related to the Tenth Academy.
"I'm all ears," Lu Yin said lightly.
Gul snorted, tilting his head back. "My father is Old Gourde, the current Star-River Flow-Zone Envoy. Listen closely, I said... Star - River - Flow - Zone - Envoy."
Lu Yin's eyes widened in shock. This... what a coincidence. His gaze grew colder and colder.
The Human Domain was divided into the Innerverse and the Outerverse. The Outerverse had seventy-two territories and was boundlessly vast. The Innerverse was also massive. The two 'verses were separated by an enormous Star River, like a silk belt. The Star River was composed of various energies in liquid form, not actual water. It was liquid energy, visible to the naked eye, flowing through space.
This very Star River divided the Innerverse and Outerverse.
The Star River was violent. Spacecraft could not cross it. Only a special type of "giant boat" could traverse it, connecting the Inner and Outer verses.
The Outerverse had no Star River, but the Innerverse was full of the Star River's tributaries. These tributaries divided the Innerverse into countless regions. These regions were called "Flow-Zones." Flow-Zones were separated from each other by the Star River's tributaries. To cross, one had to use the "giant boats" that connected the two banks. The person who controlled a giant boat was called a "Flow-Zone Envoy." Those who controlled the tributary boats in the Innerverse were called "Tributary Flow-Zone Envoys."
And the person who held the right to operate the "giant boat" on the great Star River separating the Innerverse and Outerverse... was the "Star-River Flow-Zone Envoy." Old Gourde was the current Star-River Flow-Zone Envoy. He held the special privilege of controlling the gateway between the Inner and Outer verses. Unless one had a special status, anyone wishing to enter or leave had to get his permission. This person was just a "gatekeeper," but his power was immense. Realistically, to guard this position, one's strength had to be at least at the Cruiser realm, or even... the Hunter Realm.
No wonder this guy was so arrogant. His father controlled the opportunity that countless people in the Outerverse dreamed of: entering the Innerverse.
Gul looked at Lu Yin smugly. He was waiting for Lu Yin to submit. The feeling of a strong expert submitting to him was incredibly satisfying. This wasn't the first time he'd done this. Back on the Star River "giant boat," an Outerverse Explorer had even kneeled on one knee to him, just to enter the Innerverse. He didn't care about experts. As long as they didn't have a special status, his father could suppress them.
Lu Yin looked deeply at Gul. "How much longer will your father be the Star-River Flow-Zone Envoy?"
Gul sneered. "My father took the position less than ten years ago. He'll be there for at least fifty years before stepping down. And who knows, he might even get to keep controlling the Star River 'giant boat' after."
Lu Yin nodded. "That's good. I was afraid I wouldn't get the chance to cut him down on that Star River boat in my lifetime."
Gul was furious. "What did you say?"
Lu Yin's eyes were ice-cold. "Remember this. From now on, every time I see you, I will kill you." With that, he placed a hand on Gul's head. His palm tensed. Gul's skull exploded. Death was instantaneous.
The other two felt their scalps tingle. This person has a grudge against Old Gourde! The two of them scrambled to escape, but Lu Yin still caught up. One palm strike for each, an easy kill.