Star Odyssey

“Wait, what’s a Realm Master and Area Master? What do you mean?” Lu Yin frowned.

Craynor was baffled by his response. “You don’t know what Realm Master and Area Master mean?”

Lu Yin snorted. “Cut the nonsense and just tell me.”

Craynor coughed and awkwardly wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth before resuming his slight pant. “The Astral Combat Academies hold the key to the Three Realms Six Daos, where there are various magical realms. Powerful students can take control of these training grounds and obtain huge benefits from them. Those who control an entire realm are called Realm Masters, and those who control a known training ground are called Area Masters. Have you not been to the Three Realms Six Daos before?”

Lu Yin contemplated Craynor’s words for a while as he thought to himself. So that’s how the Three Realms Six Daos are. Then, he asked, “Are the Area Masters very powerful?”

Craynor sneered at his ignorance. “Powerful? That word is not enough to describe them. There are only a few training grounds in a realm and only the powerhouses who control these training grounds are qualified to be called Area Masters. Every realm can easily support more than a thousand elite students, and not all of them are Melders as some might be Limiteers. So, for someone who is able to attain the position of Area Master and lord over all these competitors, do you think that they are powerful?”

“You’re second on the Blaze Realm Rankings but first is actually able to become an Area Master. Is he that much stronger than you?” Lu Yin asked curiously.

Craynor was speechless—this was something that he had always been frustrated about. Jared was much stronger than him. Not only was he a Limiteer, but he had also managed to become an Area Master. Craynor didn’t even know what Jared’s limits were.

“What about the Realm Master? Who’s that?” Lu Yin asked, wondering how scary a person who controlled an entire realm would be. He didn’t even have the right to enter a training realm yet.

Fear flashed across Craynor’s face when Lu Yin mentioned the Realm Master. “The Realm Master is called Feng Shang. He is the most powerful person in the Eighth Academy and is also a member of the Astral Student Council. He founded Wind Door on his own and specializes in the Dao of Illusion.”

“The Astral Student Council?” Lu Yin asked.

Craynor had a longing look in his eyes as he explained, “The Astral Combat Academy is split into ten academies, but there is a single student council that manages the entire academy. Only Realm Masters can join the council, and the Astral Student Council is one of the subsidiaries of the Council of the Ten Arbiters. They have the right to ask the Ten Arbiters to make a ruling for them.”

“Can they meet the Ten Arbiters?” Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed.

Craynor nodded. “Theoretically yes.”

“How can I join?” Lu Yin immediately asked.

Craynor explained, “I already told you—only Realm Masters can join. There should be a member from every academy, but the council has only had nine people for hundreds of years. Astral-10 has not had a representative on the council for a long time now.”

Lu Yin fell silent.

“Although the Council of the Ten Arbiters ultimately made the decision to send Astral-10 to the Outerverse, there are rumors that this issue was initially submitted by the Student Council, which eventually led to Astral-10 being driven out. Actually, you should thank the Student Council. If not for them, you wouldn’t have even had a chance to join Astral-10,” Craynor said with a sneer.

Lu Yin hit Craynor’s head, “Just answer my questions. Drop the sarcasm.”

Craynor was incensed, but since he had lost to Lu Yin, he could only bear it with gritted teeth.

“Tell me about Jared. How powerful is he?” Lu Yin queried, as he had a feeling that he would definitely encounter this person some time in the future.

Craynor shook his head. “I don’t know. Jared is the strongest heir in the entire Blaze Realm. The Blaze Realm has invested all their resources into him. I know that he has definitely learnt the ancient battle technique of the Blaze Realm—Fiery Sword, but I'm not sure what he’s gained from attending the Eighth Academy. Furthermore, he’s an Area Master and nobody knows just how his attainments in the Dao of Illusion go, since nobody has ever forced him to use his full power before.

Lu Yin had a grim expression on his face. This person was way more troublesome than he had initially expected. Fiery Sword sounded like an impressive battle technique, and it was probably one of the main reasons why the Blaze Realm had survived in the Innerverse for so many years. In addition, there was still his Dao of Illusion, and he also had no idea what Jared might have obtained from his training grounds. 

“And Feng Shang, from the Eighth Academy, is the Realm Master of the Dao of Illusion, right? So does that mean that everyone who specializes in the Dao of Illusion is from the Eighth Academy?”

Craynor shook his head. “Apart from the Three Realms, there are also people from various academies in the Six Daos. However, the Eighth Academy has focused their efforts on the Dao of Illusion, and there is an understanding between the six academies that each will focus on one Dao. If any academy tried to take over another one’s Dao, it would definitely cause an outrage.”

Lu Yin felt annoyed by this new information. The Three Realms had already been split among the first three academies while the remaining Six Daos had been split across the other six academies, leaving Astral-10 with nothing. No wonder there was a rule in Astral-10 that said that one could only enter the training realms after obtaining a hundred victories in the ported battles. This was because the training realms had already been divvied up by the remaining nine academies. Thus, a student from Astral-10 would definitely be looked down on or even driven out once they entered. Therefore, that rule had been made to prevent students without sufficient ability from entering; otherwise, they would definitely embarrass Astral-10.

“I’ve already told you so much. You’ll return my item to me, right?” Craynor asked, slightly pleadingly.

Lu Yin casually tossed the red card to Craynor. He truly didn’t care about the Blaze Realm’s battle technique, as he hadn’t even finished learning his own battle techniques. Thus, unless a truly elite battle technique appeared before him, he wouldn’t pay attention to any new ones. However, if it were Fiery Sword, then he definitely wouldn’t return it to Craynor that easily.

“How much money is in these bank cards?” Lu Yin asked.

Craynor gritted his teeth as he painfully replied, “Seventy thousand star crystals.”

Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed and he couldn't stop himself from bursting out in another round of laughter. He was rich again! Combined with what Xi Yue had given him, he had amassed almost 150,000 star crystals. What a large sum!

Robbery was still the fastest way to earn money, especially from the elite students of the Innerverse. They were all extremely wealthy, unlike those students from The Great Yu Empire who only had a few crystals combined. The difference was just too vast. “Not bad. Feel free to challenge me at any time,” Lu Yin said encouragingly.

Lu Yin then took out a sign and wrote down his rules, which were the same ones that he had told Craynor. Challengers could either pay twenty thousand or bet their cosmic ring. He knew that there would definitely be throngs of students looking to cause trouble for him, and he was too lazy to explain the rules to everyone. Thus, he had written it all down on a sign.

Craynor was so incensed when he saw Lu Yin’s actions he coughed out some blood, angrily glared at Lu Yin, and then immediately left.

“Feel free to come again,” Lu Yin said as he beamed at Craynor.

Craynor coughed again and left promptly. The entire day had been a nightmare for him. He didn’t expect that Astral-10 would actually raise such a terrifying Melder. Besides that person, there weren’t many other Melders who could defeat Lu Yin.

Lu Yin’s smile faded and his face turned serious once Craynor left.

He had initially thought that, once he became a Melder, his overwhelming physical strength and battle force would make him invincible within his tier. However, after listening to Craynor’s descriptions, he was still lacking when compared to the other academies’ elites, and he might not even be able to defeat an Area Master, let alone a Realm Master. Moreover, the first three academies who controlled the Three Realms would definitely have even stronger powerhouses.

He was still too slow. He had to get stronger even more quickly, Lu Yin decided.

A huge silhouette suddenly appeared behind him. It was a half naked man with huge muscles that bulged like little hills on a scar-covered landscape. After appearing, he just stood there and watched Lu Yin silently.

Lu Yin turned around and was shocked when he saw the silhouette. He then seemed to remember something and bowed slightly. “Good day, Sandmaster.”

The huge silhouette was the Sandmaster. “Young fellow, you have successfully learnt battle force and hence have managed to obtain the approval of the Sand Ocean. You can choose one battle technique and I will develop it for you.”

Lu Yin had forgotten about this reward; since he had obtained the approval of the Rain Observatory, it was normal that he could do the same in the Sand Ocean as well. One needed battle Battle force to obtain the Sand Ocean’s approval, which made it a far more difficult requirement than the Rain Observatory’s. “Thank you, Mentor.”

“Alright, so what battle technique have you chosen?” The Sandmasterlooked at Lu Yin with a stern expression.

Lu Yin paused for quite some time before lifting his head and earnestly replying, “Flash.”

The Sandmaster’s eyes narrowed. “Show me.”

Lu Yin exerted some force through his calves, and his body disappeared. That was Flash.

At this moment, his Flash was slightly different from what Peach had originally taught him, as he had incorporated some concepts from White Flash into it as well, which helped to further increase his speed. This technique was currently strong enough to overcome common Melders and maybe even some Limiteers. Nevertheless, Lu Yin would never forget that time he had been trapped by someone else’s star energy during a ported battle. He didn’t want that to ever happen again, so he had to improve his Flash battle technique.

The Sandmaster was surprised, as he could see the influences of the Daynight Clan’s battle techniques in Lu Yin’s Flash. This young fellow was truly an enigma. On top of his terrifying physical strength, sealed body, and the art that Guanyu had mentioned, he now even had battle techniques from the Daynight Clan. It was good that he was talented, but his training was too messy.

“Young fellow, do you know what happens once your body breaks through a certain limit?” the Sandmaster asked casually. He placed his hand on Lu Yin’s shoulder as he continued, saying, “Let me see your limit.” Then, he exerted a startling force through his hand, causing Lu Yin to feel a sharp pain on his shoulder. The scene in front of him started changing, and the desert disappeared as if it had instantly moved away—no, it wasn’t the desert moving—it was him. His eyes couldn’t even keep up with how fast the surroundings were changing as the speed was simply too fast. A remnant line of the desert’s silhouette slowly disappeared behind him as a crack in space appeared beside him.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. A crack in space? This wasn’t something that a Melder could accomplish. How quickly were they moving to cause even space to crack apart?

The Sandmaster was stunned as well. He didn’t expect that this young fellow’s body still hadn’t reached its limits yet. This was great! He liked Lu Yin’s perseverance, so he continued to increase his speed.

A sharp pain started spreading across the surface of Lu Yin’s body as his skin started to crack. The crack in space flowed past him like a stream and he vaguely saw an image of Michelle for a moment before she disappeared in the next instant.

Suddenly, everything in front of him came to a stop. Lu Yin vomited and immediately fainted afterward—the speed had finally become too fast for his body to bear.

The Sandmaster was astonished. Lu Yin’s body had become this terrifying once the seal was removed. Not many Melders could even touch his level, which meant this person clearly came from an extremely powerful clan. But from where? He couldn’t tell as Lu Yin didn’t have any distinguishing characteristics; usually, the few clans who specialized in powerful physical bodies all had very obvious characteristics.

After vomiting for a while, Lu Yin finally felt better and laughed bitterly. “Sandmaster, that was too fast.”

The Sandmaster calmly replied, “That was the limit that your brain could undergo, and you can re-experience it by yourself. By the way, you still haven’t reached your body’s limits yet.”

Lu Yin was shocked. “I can achieve that speed on my own?”

The Sandmaster gazed into the depths of the desert as he replied, “Movement battle techniques require one’s body to be strong. Your body is very powerful, and you should be able to achieve that speed if you use it properly. Think about it on your own.” And with that, he disappeared.

Lu Yin thought about the Sandmaster’s words and then decided to sit down, slowly digesting the feeling of moving at extreme speed and the reaction of his body.

The Sandmaster had just left when he looked into the distance. He paused for a moment, and then stepped through the skies.