Chapter 146: Who’s the Top Student?
The Lockbreaker Society had divided lockbreakers into several different levels, which were broad yet clearly defined. In ascending order, these levels were: Junior, Intermediate, Senior, and any higher levels were classified. The Junior level corresponded to Melders and Limiteers, the Intermediate level to Explorers and Cruisers, and the Senior level to Hunters. There were very few people who could surpass these classifications and become a high leveled lockbreaker at a low realm.
Wusheng was an Intermediate lockbreaker, but his knowledge of lockbreaking was actually at the Senior level. Once he became a Hunter, he would immediately be promoted to Senior Lockbreaker. There weren’t many Senior Lockbreakers in the entire universe, and they were people who most major forces sought after.
Furthermore, as a general rule, Lockbreakers were strong for their level and extremely powerful. Every lockbreaker had terrifying control over their star energy and could easily battle against people above their realms. Wusheng’s Lockbreaker level combined with his terrifying battle power meant that his status was exceeded even that of a Hunter realm cultivator. This was also why Liu Ji was so surprised by Wusheng’s respectful attitude towards this academy mentor. Astral-10 was just a driven out academy, and apart from the Headmaster who had gone crazy, there shouldn’t be anyone here that merited Master Wusheng’s deferential attitude.
The Trialmaster slowly opened his eyes. “Oh, it’s Wusheng. You’ve grown older.”
This sentence almost caused Liu Ji to faint.
Wusheng, however, still remained respectful. “It’s been too long. It’s wonderful that Elder Tan is still as healthy as ever.”
The Trialmaster laughed in response. “You still speak as glibly as ever. Take a look, that’s the young man I was telling you about. Give him a test and see if he’ll be able to join the society.”
Wusheng solemnly said, “There’s no need to test him. Since you have officially requested the society to assess him, there’s no way that you would be wrong about his abilities. I trust your judgement.” He then turned to Xia Luo and seriously said, “Xia Luo, let me ask you this. Are you willing to join the Lockbreaker Society and formally become a Junior Lockbreaker?”
Xia Luo took a deep breath, walked towards Wusheng, and respectfully answered, “I’m willing to dedicate the rest of my life to the Lockbreaker Society.”
Wusheng nodded and passed a badge to Xia Luo. “I have added your name into the society’s member list. From now onwards, you are a member of the Lockbreaker Society.”
“Thank you, Master Wusheng,” Xia Luo answered respectfully.
Wusheng nodded in a satisfied manner. He looked at the Realm Tutor and asked, “Elder Tan, are you satisfied?”
The realm tutor casually replied, “None of this is related to me. If this young guy embarrasses the Lockbreaker Society, then that’s all your fault. Who asked you to waive his assessment.”
Wusheng continued, saying, “Actually, I was planning on asking Elder Tan some questions on this trip here. May I?”
The Trialmaster nodded and sighed. “I’ve enjoyed the benefits given by the society for so many years, but I’ve never contributed anything. That’s my fault. Since you’ve come to visit me, then stay a while before you leave.”
Wusheng was elated. “Thank you Elder Tan.” He then turned around and told Liu Ji , “Go and take a look around Astral-10.”
“Master Wusheng, I’ll show her around,” Xia Luo offered.
Wusheng nodded. “Sure.” He then sat next to the Realm Tutor and immediately started quietly discussing with him.
Xia Luo politely gestured at Liu Ji . “Please.”
Liu Ji nodded, but she felt slightly uncomfortable. She had been born into the Lockbreaker Society, but even then, she had to spend a great deal of time studying and preparing herself before she had qualified to join the society. However, this person had joined without even taking an assessment. If not for the fact that she didn’t dare to refute Master Wusheng, then she would have definitely objected. Nevertheless, although there was nothing she could officially do now since Master Wusheng had already agreed, she had still resolved herself to not be nice to Xia Luo. Despite her attitude, Xia Luo was very gentle and hadn’t minded the fact that Liu Ji didn’t bother introducing herself.
He brought her to the Rain Observatory.
The rain in the Rain Observatory never ceased pouring, and the entire area was covered with a dull green sky filled with green branches. Most people couldn’t tell that these branches all came from the same gigantic tree unless someone told them.
Liu Ji wasn’t very interested in the Rain Observatory since Lockbreakers already had a very high level of control over their star energy. Their standard of control over star energy was different from the standards that Lu Yin and the others followed. They had a unique understanding and knowledge of star energy that only Lockbreakers possessed; if not for this heightened sensibility, then any cultivator who had a slightly above average control over their star energy could become a Lockbreaker.
Liu Ji wanted to increase her battle experience and lockbreaking skills, which were things that couldn’t be obtained from looking at rain. So, she prepared to leave as soon as she entered.
At this moment, a black dot rapidly flew over, his dark black hair absorbing all of the light around him. He leapt past Liu Ji and stepped into the teleportation device. It was Darkvoid.
Liu Ji became furious at Darkvoid’s actions. “Stop, what’s wrong with you? Didn’t you see that I was about to leave? You’re so rude!”
Darkvoid glanced at Liu Ji, but he merely ignored her and continued to leave.
Liu Ji snorted. She then lifted her hand and disturbed the surrounding star energy with her palm in an attempt to suppress Darkvoid. She was a Lockbreaker and had a high battle power even if she didn’t use battle techniques. None of that mattered; Lockbreakers represented power.
Darkvoid lifted his hand up as well, and his fingers twitched slightly, causing the space in front of Liu Ji to erupt. Her face paled and she immediately retreated. The air distorted and a wave of energy washed over her, pushing the rain apart and causing the star energy that had been dispersed by Liu Ji to recover. By the time Liu Ji recovered from her shock, Darkvoid was already gone.
Liu Ji was stunned. “Did he just shatter space?! How is that possible? He’s just a Melder! How is he so strong?”
“It’s his innate gift,” Xia Luo said with a smile.
Liu Ji was astonished. “Innate gift? So he has a space-related innate gift. Was that guy just now the top student of Astral-10?” In her mind, someone with this unique of an ability would naturally be the top student.
Xia Luo shrugged as he replied, “No.”
Liu Ji was surprised. “He’s not the top student?”
Xia Luo smiled but didn’t bother explaining any further. The outside world looked down upon Astral-10, but they didn’t know that this academy was actually very powerful. The battle power that the new students had shown during the New Student Competition was already enough to astonish the other academies. And now, after they had received personal guidance from the mentors, no one really knew how far their fellow students had progressed.
Liu Ji was astounded and looked at Xia Luo. “Take me to meet your top student. Rumor has it that most of the old students from Astral-10 have left, so there should only be Melders here. I want to see the innate gift of the top student that can defeat a Melder who can shatter space.”
Xia Luo helplessly answered, “I’m sorry, but I don’t know where he currently is. Do you mind if we search for him?”
Liu Ji nodded. “I have lots of time. Let’s go.”
Xia Luo smiled and brought her to the Sand Ocean next.
Liu Ji saw something surprising as soon as she reached the Sand Ocean; there was a girl who was practicing, her every punch shaking the desert. The vibrations surprised Liu Ji as she could feel the terrifying strength of the girl through the reverberations of the earth underneath them. How powerful was that punch just now?
“Who is she?” Liu Ji was shocked.
Xia Luo replied, “A new student. She’s quite nice.”
“Not the top student?”
“No.”
“Next place.”
They went to the Stargazing Deck next, where Zora and Coco were. Both of them were struck speechless by the sight of Coco embracing her enormous syringe for no apparent reason. The sight disturbed Liu Ji so much that she instinctively took a few steps back upon seeing the syringe. Most girls were scared of that ominous looking thing.
Coco’s eyes sparkled when she saw Xia Luo. “Brother Xia, why did you come here? Are you injured? You’ll be fine once you get an injection.”
Xia Luo retreated with a smile. “No, I’m not injured.” He quickly brought Liu Ji away as well; he was also quite frightened of that syringe. No one had allowed Coco to give them an injection yet, and Xia Luo was also curious about what the effects would be.
“The girl just now was quite strong. Would you like to take her offer?” Xia Luo tried to tempt Liu Ji.
Liu Ji immediately shook her head. “No, thanks.”
Xia Luo was slightly regretful at the lost opportunity.
After a while, the two of them reached the Treasury, where they bumped into Silver, who was wearing his perpetual, superficial smile on his face.
As soon as she saw Silver, Liu Ji's gaze changed. If Xia Luo gave her a familiar feeling, then this person gave her the chills. Both men were all smiles, but they gave her two entirely different feelings. When her eyes met Silver’s, Liu Ji felt a piercing pain in her eyes and a great threat in her heart; this person was able to threaten her life.
“Brother Xia, what a coincidence,” Silver said with a smile.
Xia Luo’s face sank when he saw Silver and he just nodded in greetings.
Silver then turned to Liu Ji and exclaimed, “What a beautiful girl! Is she a new junior? I heard that many new students will be joining us to participate in the Astral Combat Tournament.”
Xia Luo replied with a simple, “No.”
“What a shame. I wanted to spend time with this junior,” Silver then shrugged and left after waving at Liu Ji.
Liu Ji's expression was grim. What a scary man! She wasn’t thinking about his abilities, but rather about his aura. This was the first time that she had ever felt such terror from just seeing someone.
“How powerful is he?” Liu Ji was curious.
Xia Luo shook his head. “Not sure.”
“Since your academy has a top student, then there was definitely a competition. How can you not know?” Liu Ji thought Xia Luo was lying to her.
Xia Luo calmly answered, “He admitted defeat in the middle, so nobody knows the depths of his strength.”
Liu Ji narrowed her eyes. Her only thought was that Astral-10 definitely wasn’t simple. Everyone she had met so far were either weird or geniuses, but they were all very strong. If Xia Luo truly had the right to be a Lockbreaker, then there was no way that he would be weak either. Liu Ji was confident that she was one of the stronger Melders in the Astral Combat Academy, but the few people that she had met today were all comparable to her. Astral-10 had truly hidden itself well.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Liu Ji and she gave Xia Luo an odd look. “Are you the top student?”
Xia Luo laughed before replying, “Of course not. By the way, I still don’t know your name yet.”
“Liu Ji .”
“Liu Ji? What a nice name,” Xia Luo complimented.
Liu Ji frowned. “Are there only these few places in Astral-10?”
“I’m sorry. Most of the locations in Astral-10 were destroyed and there are only these few places left,” Xia Luo answered with a helpless shrug.
Liu Ji had heard about that as well. According to the rumors, the Headmaster of Astral-10 had gone crazy and destroyed the entirety of Astral-10, including its collection of battle techniques, skills, and weapons, all of which had been gathered over countless years. This had caused Astral-10 to deteriorate rapidly until it reached its current state of near collapse.
After Xia Luo was done taking Liu Ji around, Lu Yin had already left the Time Stop Space. After spending a full month in there, he had finally finished cultivating the eighth star of his Cosmic Art. As expected, the power of his Cosmic Palm now surpassed his Nine Stacks Shockwave Palm. Despite this improvement, it also signified that Lu Yin had reached the end of his path with this Cosmic Art.
Lu Yin sighed as he realized that this art that had accompanied him and helped him through several challenges had reached the end of its road. The Cosmic Art manual that he had initially obtained had only ever talked about cultivating up to eight stars, and although Lu Yin had tried to theorize the next star, he had been unsuccessful in his attempt. This was an ancient art and not something that he could extrapolate on his own.