Chapter 234: Spiritual Academy
Many looked on with stunned expressions. A Melder had actually repelled an Explorer! This was something that only the Ten Arbiters had ever accomplished throughout the course of human history.
At that moment, even Liu Shaoqiu and the other Astral Combat Academy students were astounded. Although Liu Shaoqiu had also heavily injured an Explorer once, that was only with the Third Sword’s special characteristics. On the other hand, Lu Yin had directly clashed against the Explorer level astral beast with his physical body, and one look was enough to see that the beast had a tough body.
Lu Yin picked himself off of the ground and shook his right arm. Blocking that attack had been very painful but also very satisfying. He now had a clearer understanding of his own defensive capabilities, and it turned out that his body could even rival an Explorer’s. This was his current peak power.
All of the student leaders of Astral Combat Academy’s ten branches could challenge an Explorer with their peak Limiteer power, but the opponent mattered as well. None of them could defeat this Zi Tie, and Lu Yin had a feeling that this astral beast’s defenses could even shake off Liu Shaoqiu’s Thirteen Swords, unless it was something as strong as the Third Sword’s attack.
In the sky, Zi Tie was shocked by what had just happened, as it was not any average Explorer realm astral beast. Regardless, a Melder realm human had actually blocked its attack, causing its giant eyes to widen with excitement. “A top-notch human freak! My luck is too good today! Now, stand still and die!” Its entire body then pressed downwards as it tried to forcefully crush everyone who was still in the base.
Lu Yin clenched both fists, ready to attack again. Suddenly, a fluctuation came out from the void. “Zi Tie, so it’s you again.”
Zi Tie did not even turn its head to acknowledge the Explorer realm human who had just arrived and continued trying to crush the base. As long as it could kill Lu Yin and the other geniuses, its death would be worthwhile. He had never heard of a Melder who could defend against an Explorer; this sort of freak absolutely had to die.
Below, in the base, Liu Shaoqiu and the rest finally reacted. Liu Yin, Xue Liuyun, Chao Zhi, and the others all simultaneously attacked upwards, and Liu Shaoqiu’s Third Sword was especially effective as it caused Zi Tie to become dizzy and involuntarily slow down. The Explorer realm human also interfered with the astral beast’s descent, and the two powerhouses were soon entangled in battle in the sky.
At the same time, above Planet Conan, a giant, flaming astral beast emerged from the void while a human figure also appeared to confront the beast.
“Soaring Firebeast, are you trying to start a war?” the human figure demanded. He was the guardian of the thirty seven planets on the right side of the border: Hunter Qu Ao.
Opposite the human, star energy vibrated from the Tan Gang Fire Beast’s body as a gruff voice responded, “Human, pull back to the Astral River. With the river as a boundary, we won’t have to violate one another. Otherwise, this war will never end.”
Qu Ao frowned. “The allied human troops have existed on this side of the Astral River for many years. If your people have the strength to chase us away, then please feel free to try.”
Once he spoke those words, a fiery blaze filled the area above Planet Conan. A battle between Hunters had started.
A Hunter had a power level of at least 100,000. Their every action caused the void to quake, and since the battle between the two powerhouses was taking place so close to Planet Conan, their fight also affected the planet.
Within the base, Lu Yin and the rest soon received new orders to retreat north towards another base that was located 5,000 kilometers away. They did not hesitate and immediately headed out.
Loud explosions rang out in the skies above as a scorching heat wave oppressed Planet Conan and increased the temperature.
Tasha raised her head with a horrified expression. “There’s actually an extremely high-leveled battle taking place up there! The combatants are so powerful that it’s actually affecting Planet Conan! It should be a fight between Cruisers or even Hunters.”
Lu Yin frowned. Just why did it have to be Planet Conan? He was growing uneasy, as it hadn’t even been a day since this base had been exposed, but it had already suffered two large-scale surprise attacks. Even Zi Tie had chosen to attack this base out of all the others, and now, why were the extreme powerhouses battling right outside of Planet Conan? There were so many planets in the human’s line of defense, but the astral beasts had specifically chosen Planet Conan. There seemed to be an invisible hand manipulating all of these events.
There had initially been over 50,000 soldiers at the base, but only around 30,000 of them had managed to escape together with Lu Yin. The rest were either scattered to the winds or dead.
Although Liu Shaoqiu and the rest of the students had stopped the large-scale attack from destroying the base, a considerable number of mutant beasts still continued to emerge from the void.
In the distance, there were still more Void Wanderers appearing. This did not seem like a surprise attack, but rather more like a decisive battle that had been planned for a while.
Up in the sky, Zi Tie was still battling it out with the Explorer when a fleet of warships appeared off in the distance. Reinforcements had arrived.
Both heaven and earth had turned into a bloody battlefield as powerhouses battled both on and above the planet. Lu Yin and the rest felt like they were trapped within a furnace and that death could take them at any time.
Dozens of spatial cracks appeared to the north of Lu Yin and the rest of the soldiers. They instantly reacted and managed to kill off more than half of the Void Wanderers, but even more spatial rifts opened up in front of them as more astral beasts spilled out to block their path.
A flying bird cloaked in flames exited the void and hungrily stared at Lu Yin and his group. It then ferociously charged towards them with an excited look, as killing these people would be a huge contribution that it could then exchange to receive resources to strengthen itself. The bird was a student of the Astral Beast Domain’s Spiritual Academy. As long as it could obtain the resources that it needed to ascend, it would be able to rival the top-tier powerhouses in the academy. It desperately wanted these contributions.
The Spiritual Academy was the Astral Beast Domain’s best academy, and it was basically their version of the Astral Combat Academy. The biggest difference between them was that the Spiritual Academy was a single, unified academy, as opposed to the Astral Combat Academy’s ten branches.
All of the Spiritual Academy’s students were astral beasts with innate gifts, and they all looked down upon Astral Combat Academy students, as the beast thought that their human counterparts were weak compared to them. This was because the Astral Combat Academy’s students would either graduate or be forced onto the battlefield while the Spiritual Academy’s students frequently entered the battlefield of their own volition. This was what led to an overall sense of superiority.
“Die, Astral Combat Academy students!” The flaming bird caused the air to shake as it emitted a flurry of star energy and screeched excitedly. It then fiercely flew towards Lu Yin, not caring at all if its fellow astral beasts were caught in the crossfire.
Lu Yin didn’t even need to act as Liu Shaoqiu instantly replied by slashing out with the First Sword of the Thirteen Swords. This was the same strike that had instantly wiped out Kuang Wang, who was the current student leader of Astral-5 and Realm Master of the Dao of Heaven. In terms of status, Kuang Wang was comparable to the Spiritual Academy’s Academy Lords while this flaming bird was just one of the experts under an Academy Master, Hua Yishou. It was much weaker than an Academy Master itself and couldn’t even react before being exterminated by the first sword.
It wasn’t just the flaming bird; many of the stronger mutant beasts immediately targeted Lu Yin and the others, but they were all easily eliminated.
The battle lasted for three whole hours, and at the end, there was a row of corpses that extended towards the north. Tens of thousands of soldiers had died, and numerous astral beast corpses littered the ground while a thick stench of blood pervaded the air. Even the skies seemed to have reddened a bit from all the bloodshed. All the spilled blood flowed in rivulets into the yellowed ground as it seeped deep underground through the cracks in the earth.
The scattered astral beast army had fled in all directions.
There were endless wails filling the air.
Lu Yin was forced to kill a suffering soldier. The man only had one side of his body remaining, and he had been pleading with Lu Yin to kill him.
Lu Yin had killed quite a few people during Earth’s evolutionary trial, but they had all been people who he felt deserved to die. This soldier was the first respectable person that he had killed as an act of mercy.
The Explorer obstructing Zi Tie was Planet Conan’s guardian, Nappa. He had been heavily injured during this battle, but fortunately, he had managed to endure his injuries and repel Zi Tie.
After the bloody battle, Lu Yin and the rest of the soldiers took a warship to the base 5,000 kilometers north of where they were previously stationed.
5,000 kilometers was not very far, and they easily reached it with their current speed. This base was the closest to where their destroyed base had been, and it was also where the reinforcements had come from.
Lu Yin and the rest settled into the camp and waited, as the other arrangements had not been made yet. A base being destroyed was no small matter, and all the soldiers had to report everything that they had seen or heard to their superiors.
In Lu Yin’s report, he included his suspicions that the surprise attack this time was actually a targeted attack against Astral Combat Academy students, as that flaming bird had said, “Die, Astral Combat Academy students!” How had it known that they were from the Astral Combat Academy? Why had it specially targeted them? It wasn’t just the flaming bird either; the other powerful astral beasts had also targeted the students. This was no simple matter, and Lu Yin even wrote down, ‘It is likely that there is a traitor within our midst who is divulging information about the human race’s happenings.’ But then he thought about it twice and crossed it out; he was not qualified to make such conjectures. If someone wanted to cause problems for Lu Yin, then a single contentious word could cause him to be damned.
He breathed out and rubbed his forehead. He had only been at the frontier battlefield for a few days, but he had already been involved in two large-scale surprise attacks that had prevented him from ever catching his breath.
Gildor, the strict veteran instructor, had also died in this surprise attack. Even though they had not spent that much time together, Lu Yin still respected him. It was rare to find a seasoned soldier who had survived at the warfront for that many years, and each one was a treasure trove of experience for the Human Domain. And yet, Gildor had tragically died without even the time to react.
Lu Yin now understood what the pilot on the warship that had delivered him to the warfront had been talking about; countless elite geniuses died at the warfront, and not just from a lack of strength, but sometimes from simply lacking luck.
In this battle, many of the corpses also belonged to new soldiers. Both Ke Yao and Maggie, who had arrived with Trifa, had died. Maggie had not been able to escape from her fate in the end, as Silver had not been able to save her for a second time.
Lu Yin had only learned about their deaths after the battle. Just one conflict had snuffed out so many lives.
On the other side of the battlefield, the flames on the Tan Gang Fire Beast surged. “Why did so many students from the Spiritual Academy die? How will I explain this?!”
“Are those students from the Astral Combat Academy really that strong? Have the Ghost Monkey come out. I really want to know how an Academy Master will fare against those students.”
…
After a short span of just three days, spatial cracks flooded the sky once more as another large-scale battle commenced.
Lu Yin and the rest walked out and stared at the sky in shock. There was definitely something suspicious going on, and they were now certain that this series of attacks was targeting them. Their identities had somehow been revealed. The Astral Combat Academy was a top-notch institution in the Human Domain, and they were the top thirty two fighters in the Astral Combat Tournament. When these students matured in the future, they would overshadow even Explorers like Nappa. These students could already be considered as great enemies to the Astral Beast Domain. Thus, the astral beasts would naturally rather make some sacrifices and vanquish these youths now, especially Lu Yin, who had ended in the top four, comprehended five-lined battle force as a Melder, and was publicly recognized as a Ten Arbiters candidate.
The alarm rang out, and Nappa immediately appeared to wipe out the Void Wanderers, but he was blocked by Zi Tie yet again. This giant astral beast appeared from the void and blocked Nappa while trying to crush this base as well.
From underground, a giant light beam shot up towards Zi Tie, causing it to retreat slightly. Even though this was a weapon designed to be used against Explorers, Zi Tie’s defense was too strong. Nappa couldn’t do much against the astral beast either. The weapon could only push it aside, but that was enough to give Lu Yin and the rest the space to avoid Zi Tie’s sudden attack, leave the base, and attack the void together.
Crack after crack appeared in the void, but even with so many hands working together to destroy the Void Wanderers, there were just too many of them. They numbered no less than the previous surprise attack, but this time, an even larger Void Wanderer had appeared. It tore through the void and released countless astral beasts into the base.