Chapter 181: Whitebones Gorge
The Blaze Realm could not even compare to the Frostmoon Sect. One general characteristic of the universe was that, the closer one was to the Innerverse’s center, the greater the likelihood that stronger powerhouses and scary geniuses would appear. The Blaze Realm was in the peripheral Blazing Mist Flowzone, and it shared the flowzone with the Ross Empire and the sylvan dragon clan. To the Innerverse, however, while the Blazing Mist Flowzone was the largest of the eight Great Flowzones, it wasn’t much better in quality than the Outerverse and it was treated as nothing more than the Innerverse’s doorman.
The Frostmoon Sect, on the other hand, was located in one of the most central flowzones, the Daynight Flowzone. Even though there were many rumors that the Frostmoon Sect relied on marital ties to survive in the Daynight Flowzone, the fact that they were able to survive nonetheless meant that they had some degree of power. No matter what, Yue Xianzi’s status was far above Jared’s, and she was comparable to a genius disciple of Ten Thousand Swords Peak or the Daynight clan.
Lu Yin had no plans to fight Yue Xianzi for the title of Blackwater Lake’s Area Master; who knew what inheritance she had received from the recent phenomenon. But what worried Lu Yin even more was that she had entered the Astral Combat Academy to participate in the Astral Combat Tournament.
Lu Yin regained his bearings and headed for Whitebones Gorge after he recovered.
One day later, Lu Yin finally arrived at Whitebones Gorge. He looked at the freezing valleys before him and the white bones that were scattered everywhere haphazardly. This place caused people to shiver involuntarily, and Charon was the Area Master of this place.
The Whitebones Gorge was littered with countless bleached bones. There were rumors that, every full moon, these white bones would start dancing of their own accord, and that they might even display battle techniques. Others said that the dance was a sacrificial offering, and many thought that it was just an ordinary song and dance routine. No one knew why this strange phenomenon occurred, but Whitebones Gorge was the only one of the Dao of Purgatory’s training grounds where a strange phenomenon regularly occurred.
From Charon’s memories, Lu Yin knew about the desperate fight to control Whitebones Gorge. To obtain the title of Area Master Frankfurt and his cohorts had acted, and other people with the strength of an Area Master from other academies had also joined in. Finally, the Dao of Purgatory’s Realm Master, Dao Bo, had intervened and chased away the rest, allowing Charon to become the Area Master of Whitebones Gorge. Without Dao Bo’s aid, it would have been extremely difficult for Charon to succeed.
A Lockbreaker did enjoy a high status, but they were not above all other living beings. Also, this was a trial zone, a place of battle and conflict.
Charon was a genius Lockbreaker and those who trained in Whitebones Gorge were mostly Lockbreakers from the Astral Combat Academy. There were only a few of them, but each one of them was an elite.
Lu Yin’s arrival quickly attracted the attention of the students training in Whitebones Gorge. When Charon first saw Lu Yin, his face visibly darkened, but he quickly forced a smile onto his face. “Brother Lu, welcome to Whitebones Gorge.”
When Lu Yin saw Charon’s insincere smile, he stepped forward and passionately replied, “Brother Charon, I thought that you’d forgotten about me!”
“How could I? Once I found out that Brother Lu entered Astral-10, I immediately ordered that no one harm you on pain of continuously being hounded to death.” Charon emphasized the last few words quite heavily. He seemed to hold a great hatred, and it was quite obvious that it was directed towards no one else besides Lu Yin.
Lu Yin smiled happily. “It’s all thanks to Brother Charon. Ah, right, my uncle sends his regards as well.”
Charon’s face twisted and he instinctively grabbed Lu Yin’s clothes out of rage before he came back to his senses. He laughed hollowly as he patted Lu Yin’s shoulder. “How is he? Not dead yet, I hope.”
Lu Yin laughed and patted Charon’s shoulder back. “Of course! He’s doing quite well. The darkness of night is his quilt, and the stars are his bed. He’s living a very carefree life now and goes for strolls in a blackhole whenever he’s free.”
Charon stared at Lu Yin’s eyes as if he was trying to interpret something, but he couldn’t make anything out.
“Please pass my wishes to your uncle that he takes care of himself and that he is not swept away by a blackhole. The universe is large, and it is not limited just to the Human Domain,” Charon spat out through ground teeth even as he beamed widely. His expression looked rather strange, and it made the surrounding people tremble and back away.
After the surrounding people left, Charon stared at Lu Yin and quietly snarled, “Brat, let me warn you to not run your mouth. Else, I’ll show you the true terror of offending a genius Lockbreaker. You won’t be able to hide, even inside Astral-10.”
Lu Yin’s brows quirked up. “Is that so? Are you saying that, after those letters become public, you’ll still be a genius Lockbreaker?”
“You!” Charon was furious.
“Alright, I have no interest in those trivial personal matters of yours,” Lu Yin said as he pushed Charon aside before glancing sideways at him. “While your love life is quite unlucky, as long as you cooperate quietly, I won’t do anything to you.”
Charon snorted and fell into a foul mood. He had been blackmailed, and he would never be freed unless he was willing to let his hidden affections be publicized. Otherwise, he would be stuck under Lu Yin’s thumb forever.
Lu Yin looked around and saw an endless trail of white bones. He didn’t know why, but these bones gave him a sense of deep sorrow, and he could vaguely hear what sounded like the wails of countless people beside his ears fading in and out. This was a strange place.
“Charon, what enlightenments have you had here?” Lu Yin was curious.
This was an extremely rude question that could easily start a fight as this was equivalent to asking someone to reveal their secrets and their strength. However, Lu Yin already knew Charon’s biggest secret, so he didn’t care. “Domain.”
Lu Yin was shocked: a domain was a strength that could rival battle force and innate gifts. Zhuo Daynight’s battle technique had imitated a domain, as had that war spirit that he encountered earlier. When he had Possessed Charon earlier, he didn’t have much time, so he had only been able to review his memories and experiences that were related to Lockbreaking. As such, Lu Yin only had a vague impression of Charon’s battle memories, so Lu Yin was unsure about what Charon’s domain actually was.
A domain was very mysterious and something that only apex elites could develop as a domain would give the wielder absolute control within their domain’s sphere of control.
A domain could not be measured and divided into levels like battle force, as every person’s domain was unique. Those who had developed one could perceive everything in their vicinity with heightened senses. They could also lower their heart rate, merge with their surroundings, or even manifest unique abilities, though that was nothing but a rumor.
The Rainmaster had given Lu Yin a chip that contained an introduction to star energy. It had listed the realms of star energy control from the first step of absorbing star energy to cleansing impurities, materializing the energy, and finally, reaching the realm of infinite changes, which was Lu Yin’s current level control. After that, one could infuse their star energy with their own willpower, altering the color of their star energy. The final step was establishing one’s domain, where only the wielder would reign supreme.
As for domains, the chip had only mentioned them briefly. Too few people had mastered one, and they perhaps numbered even fewer than the number of those who had mastered battle force. Needless to say, each and every domain user was an absolute powerhouse.
Lu Yin recalled the circumstances of when Charon had unlocked that sword-shaped Sourcebox. It was no wonder that, with his familiarity of star energy, he had succeeded in his lockbreaking. In fact, this should be the foundation of Charon’s domain.
“What’s your domain?” Lu Yin asked curiously.
“Don’t go overboard.”
Lu Yin turned away and stopped questioning Charon, as he had indeed gone too far.
Charon suddenly thought of something and beamed before asking, “Do you really want to know about my domain?”
Lu Yin turned back with an astonished gaze.
“It’s possible, but only if we have a duel. That way, you can experience it yourself.” A strange smile crept up Charon’s face, clearly not an amicable one.
Lu Yin wisely decided to reject, as he did not enjoy being beaten one-sidedly. Although he really wanted to duel against a domain wielding expert, that could wait. He had his die, and he was hoping that he would be lucky enough to Possess an expert with a domain the next time he rolled Possession.
Charon was disappointed. “You don’t have a warrior’s spirit.”
Lu Yin just ignored him. His dedication towards training was greatly lacking when compared to people like Zhang Dingtian or Schutz.
“Schutz should have arrived by now,” Lu Yin muttered to himself before asking, “Charon, am I free to wander about in Whitebones Gorge?”
“It’s up to you. Just don’t bother me.”
Lu Yin heard more screams as he walked across the dry bones. Madness, sorrow, desperation—all sorts of negative emotions permeated Whitebones Gorge. He did not know if other people could hear them as well, but he definitely could. This sort of environment was not suitable for people to live in, lest they ran the risk of going mad.
Lu Yin found a protruding valley and sat down within it. He circulated his Cosmic Art and patiently waited for Schutz.
Two days passed, during which no one sought out Lu Yin. Charon left the trial zone, and those training within Whitebones Gorge all kept their distance and did not interact with Lu Yin.
Lu Yin could not afford to continue waiting for Schutz, and he even felt that it was strange that he had waited so long. So, he left the trial zone and reappeared back at the trial zone mountain. He saw Schutz wiping his blade when he opened his eyes.
“You haven’t entered yet?” Lu Yin was flabbergasted.
“I entered. Then I died.”
“That fast?”
“I appeared in the center of a group of war spirits.”
Lu Yin blinked, speechless. Schutz’s luck was just too horrible. Even Lu Yin himself would be helpless if he was surrounded by war spirits. He watched Schutz calmly clean his blade as he muttered under his breath.
All of Astral-10’s students had obtained a hundred victories in the ported battles, but they were only stronger than the average student from the other academies. Schutz, Coco, Zora, and the rest were not much stronger than the other academies’ students at their same level. If they fought against an opponent with powerful innate gifts, then they would be defeated easily. Astral-10 only had a few students who could compete against the other academies’ elites.
It hadn’t been the best idea to ask Schutz for help to snatch a training ground. He would not be able to contribute much help, and could be easily killed after he entered the trial zones. Lu Yin could not afford to continue waiting around.
This new development gave Lu Yin a headache. There were twelve new students, and less than half of them could even stand up against the elites of the other academies. Even Hui Daynight was not strong enough to do so.
After thinking his predicament through, Lu Yin decided to not ask for Schutz’s help in his quest to snatch a training ground. However, since he had already asked Schutz for his help, rejecting him now would just humiliate him.
Coincidentally, Michelle entered the trial zone mountain right then. She was still as enchanting as ever, and her red eyes swept across Lu Yin and Schutz before she indifferently headed to another area of the mountain.
“Wait,” Lu Yin suddenly called out.
She paused and turned to look at Lu Yin. “What?”
Lu Yin stood up and walked to Michelle. He looked her straight in her red eyes and seriously said, “I want to snatch a training ground. Interested?”
“No.”
“How about battle force? Interested?”
Her eyes lit up. “Battle force?”
Lu Yin smiled, he raised his hand, and let a translucent stream of air flow around it. He saw Michelle’s passionate gaze as there was no one who did not want to learn battle force. “Xi Yue also comprehended battle force.”
This sentence immediately changed Michelle’s mind. The two of them had had a terrible fight when Michelle was chosen to enter the Ten Arbiters Council over Xi Yue. They had been equally matched, and while Michelle appeared indifferent, she actually acknowledged Xi Yue as her main rival. She had thought that, with her recent improvements, she had completely surpassed Xi Yue since their battle. But if Xi Yue had truly learned battle force, then that might not necessarily be true.