Chapter 179: Conflict
After watching Gu Er’s body gradually fade away, Lu Yin looked up. He gazed at the dark skies with a ferocious glint in his eye. If Elder Gu De hadn’t intentionally stalled for time back then, he wouldn’t be in this state right now. Lu Yin would take revenge sooner or later.
This interaction with Gu Er put Lu Yin in a bad mood. He looked around for another student and asked some questions before finally finding out that he was about two days away from Whitebones Gorge.
The trial zones were very interesting. Whenever someone reentered after dying, the location that they appeared at would be random. However, if someone left the trial zones willingly rather than dying, they would reappear exactly where they had left the trial zones.
Lu Yin did not waste any more time dawdling around and headed straight to Whitebones Gorge after hearing that it was two days away. The Dao of Purgatory was pitch black for as far as the eye could see, and its scenery quickly became boring.
The Dao of Purgatory was a good fit for Lu Yin since nobody would want to go against him once they found out that he was a Lockbreaker. The Dao of Purgatory’s Realm Master was Dao Bo, a talented Lockbreaker who was even better than Charon. Hence, in the Dao of Purgatory, Lockbreakers had a higher status than in any other trial zone.
However, Lu Yin did not want to reveal too many of his cards. The Astral Combat Tournament was quickly approaching, and he was certain that the tournament would not be set up in an impartial manner. Many of the stronger contenders would be analyzed and targeted before the tournament, just like Liu Shaoqiu whom Madam Nalan had informed Lu Yin of. The moment he revealed too much of his strength, others would take notice of him and start devising effective strategies against him.
A Lockbreaker did enjoy a very high status, but it was far too easy to hatch clandestine schemes against someone. Lu Yin was of the opinion that keeping a low profile before the tournament and avoiding gathering unnecessary attention from other people was his best course of action.
Unfortunately for him, Old Cai had given him a mission to steal a training ground, which was considerably difficult and eye catching. Every Area Master was strong enough to be in the top ten or even top five of their academy. These top students were certainly being observed day and night before the tournament, and if he defeated one of them, then trouble would definitely come for him. What should he do? Lu Yin had a headache just from thinking about it.
Half a day later, Lu Yin saw at least thirty students fly past him, all of them headed in the same direction. It was slightly off from the direction that Lu Yin was traveling in, but he was unable to restrain his curiosity and followed them
Before long, a vast, dark lake filled with oddly lucid black water appeared before him. There were dozens of students hiding around the lake and staring intently at the lake’s center, where five individuals were fighting and splashing water everywhere. Their stray attacks that landed on the shore created small tears in space.
Lu Yin was shocked. This was a battle at the level of Area Masters, or perhaps even Realm Masters.
The only Area Master that he had faced before was Frankfurt. Even now, he could still recall the power of that lance as if it had happened yesterday. That person also had two lines of battle force. Although Lu Yin was confident that, with the strength of his physical body and his Flash technique, Frankfurt wouldn’t be able to beat him, he knew that it was also impossible for him to defeat Frankfurt. The people who were currently fighting above the lake seemed to be slightly weaker than Frankfurt.
Lu Yin looked around, found a student, and asked him some questions. Of course, the process didn’t go that smoothly, but when threatened by Lu Yin’s iron fist, the student ended up telling Lu Yin what he wanted to know.
This training ground was known as Blackwater Lake. The previous Area Master had ascended to become an Explorer and left the academy, which meant that this area no longer had a master. The people fighting above the lake were battling for the position of Area Master.
This information caused Lu Yin’s eyes to light up. Old Cai had ordered him to get a training ground, but he had never specified that Lu Yin had to defeat an Area Master to get it. And now, there was now a masterless training ground before him, ripe for the taking.
The problem was that too many people were vying for the training ground. While Lu Yin wasn’t afraid of a one-on-one battle against any of the battling students, even he would find it troublesome to fight against all of them at once. After all, each of them were nearly as powerful as an Area Master, and they were all peak Limiteers.
While Lu Yin was still thinking about how he should proceed, a strange ripple spread out from the bottom of Blackwater Lake. At that same moment, chanting could be heard. Lu Yin’s expression quickly changed, and he looked closely at the lake’s depths.
Everyone around the lake heard the chanting, and they all directed their focus towards the bottom of the lake. This was a phenomenon. Within the trial zones, there were often ancient phenomena, and they often represented an inheritance from the primordial era. Many students had obtained powerful battle techniques or deep insights from these phenomena, and they were the most valuable experience one could find in the trial zones. Right now, one such phenomenon was happening right before their eyes.
Everyone rushed in without a second thought, and Lu Yin did not hold himself back either.
The five who were battling at the middle of the lake also charged in. However, now, they started working together to delay the other students as much as they could. Their coordination was so impeccable that it felt like they’d planned this out beforehand.
Within the Blackwater Lake training ground, the number of people in the region rapidly decreased as the phenomenon became increasingly clear. Lu Yin could hear and feel things more clearly. The reason why he had been first attacked in the Dao of Purgatory was because of this clarity that always accompanied phenomena. Now, for the same reason, everybody was being driven away by these five.
All the spectators were either killed or tossed to the bottom of the lake. The five whose strength approached an Area Master’s were not people that the other students could handle.
One of them targeted Lu Yin, moving behind him and launching an attack by jabbing his spear at him through the water. Lu Yin frowned and dodged with Flash. He then grabbed the spear, causing the attacker to snicker insidiously. The spear became scorching hot to the point of boiling the surrounding lake water. A thin thread of gas twined around it and tried, though in vain, to wrench the spear away from Lu Yin.
Lu Yin was shocked. Battle force! This person could use battle force and, like him, was at the elementary grade. It made sense that this spear-wielder had the guts to fight for the position of Area Master.
Boom!
The lake waters were forced away, creating a vacuum as Lu Yin and the spear user both retreated.
The attacker was a male in grey clothing. He looked at Lu Yin in shock, most likely because he could not imagine that a Melder could match him.
Lu Yin shook his numb hands to restore some feeling. Using just his physical body and not his own battle force to contest against his opponent’s battle force filled move meant that he had been at the disadvantage. However, he had managed to hold his own.
The man stared at Lu Yin before attacking once again. The spear still had battle force coiling around it, and its tip jabbed forward with a startling speed, even tearing space apart. Lu Yin flexed his calf muscles and dodged by a hair’s breadth, the tip almost touching him. His body and the spear brushed past each other as he then aimed a palm strike at the man. The man quickly retrieved his spear back and held it horizontally to defend himself. Lu Yin lifted his palm as stars appeared around it. Nine stars began revolving; it was the perfected Cosmic Palm.
With a boom, huge waves broke the lake’s previous calm. The sheer air pressure differential pushed everyone away, including the four vying for the position of Area Master. They retreated with shocked looks in their eyes.
The man’s spear had been bent in half by Lu Yin’s Cosmic Palm, and his entire body was smashed into the lake.
Only after a long while did the lake returned to its original, calm state.
The other four stared at Lu Yin in shock. A Melder who could defeat one of them was surely a monster.
At that moment, a chilling sensation surged from above. They looked up and saw a “sky” filled with white ice crystals.
“Crap, that’s Mystifying Ice. The twins are here!” someone shouted before launching an attack at the ice that had sealed off the lake’s surface as the rest quickly followed suit.
At the bottom of the lake, the spear-wielder in grey was enraged as he charged out. Lu Yin’s Cosmic Palm was powerful, but it was not able to seriously injure someone who had almost reached the level of an Area Master.
“Stop fighting. Everything can wait until after we get out!” someone else yelled. The man in grey glanced at Lu Yin, unresigned to his defeat, but then aimed his spear at the ice barrier.
Lu Yin attacked as well. He had a bad feeling about this because, while he was battling with the man in grey, the phenomenon at the bottom of the lake had vanished.
A deafening sound echoed across the surface of the lake. However, the attacks of these six who were nearly at the level of an Area Master were unable to destroy the layer of ice on the surface, which meant they were all trapped inside of the lake.
After attacking for a while, they stopped. At that point, two beautiful girls appeared atop the lake. One wore a white dress while the other wore a light pink one. What made Lu Yin surprised was the fact that they were identical in appearance. Twins?
“Hehe, you all fought so hard in there. How is it? Is the water cold?” The girl in a white dress asked with a smile.
Not too far away from Lu Yin, a man with a crew cut was furious. “Can Xue, was that phenomenon at the bottom of the lake caused by the two of you?”
They weren’t stupid. The phenomenon had vanished right before the Mystifying Ice appeared. They could all guess that the phenomenon had been nothing more than bait to lure them to the bottom of the lake and that this pair was the mastermind behind the scheme.
Can Xue burst into laughter. “Please don’t malign me, Gus. I just saw you fighting and causing such a ruckus that I was afraid that you’d destroy the tranquility of Blackwater Lake. So, I sealed off all the stray attacks.”
“If that’s the case, then let us out now,” the man in grey said in a low voice.
Can Xue smiled but did not reply. Instead, the girl dressed in pink next to her spoke out. Her name was Can Mei and her tone was much colder. “We can let you out. You just have to leave Blackwater Lake and leave this place to our young mistress.”
“Your young mistress? Yue Xianzi? I don’t think she entered any branch of the Astral Combat Academy,” a man not too far from Lu Yin said.
“She just entered one. This is our gift to her,” Can Mei stated matter-of-factly.
Lu Yin frowned unhappily. The tournament had enticed a large number of powerhouses. Liu Shaoqiu from the Sword Sect and these girls’ young mistress, Yue Xianzi, were likely only a few of the hidden powerhouses that had emerged to participate. These twins were able to create a mystifying ice barrier that even all of the students gathered together could not destroy.
Another man with a pale face and a cold look in his eyes said, “Your young mistress needs you to gift her something? She just needs to seduce a Realm Master, and she’ll get a training ground. Isn’t that what your Frostmoon Sect is the best at?”
Can Mei disdainfully glanced at him. “Pfft, you’re just a loser who got chased out of the Daynight Flowzone. You’re too weak to get revenge so all you can do is talk.”
“You shouldn’t say that. If you have the strength, then let him out and you can fight him as many times as you want,” Gus said, fanning the flames.
Can Xue grinned as she replied, “Don’t waste your breath, Gus. You can leave Blackwater Lake or be sealed within ice. Though there’s another way out—kill yourself.”
“Kill myself? Why would I do that? The next time I come to Blackwater Lake, the Area Master will be someone else.” Gus rolled his eyes.
The man in grey suddenly said, “Your Frostmoon Sect is pretty bold to mess with a Lockbreaker here in the Dao of Purgatory.”
Everyone was shocked. A Lockbreaker? There was a Lockbreaker here?
Lu Yin saw the man shift his gaze to him and froze; this person shouldn’t have known that Lu Yin was a Lockbreaker.
“You’re Lu Yin from Astral-10, right? I saw you at Spear Mountain,” he said icily.
Everyone else looked at him.
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed.
“Lu Yin? That name sounds a little familiar. I might’ve heard of it before.” Gus was doubtful.
Above the ice, Can Xue and Can Mei’s expressions changed and they exchanged a pensive look. They recognized his name. Isn’t Lu Yin the person that Charon announced was under his protection? Crap, this means that Charon is going to get involved.
This situation normally wouldn’t be a concern, but Charon was a Lockbreaker, and Lockbreakers were not to be trifled with in this realm. If they messed with one, a second or third one might come. More importantly, the Dao of Purgatory’s Realm Master was Dao Bo, a Lockbreaker. He was also someone who took care of his own.
“I remember now. He’s Charon’s lover!” Gus shouted. Everyone shot strange looks towards Lu Yin.
Lu Yin immediately glared at Gus. “Charon is my friend. Don’t spout nonsense.”
Gus was embarrassed. “Sorry, the words just slipped out of my mouth. That’s wrong, I meant to say soon-to-be lover. Wait, no, that’s not right either. Sorry, haha...”
Lu Yin clenched his fists. This guy was looking for a fight.