Chapter 72: Bai Qian
Quite a few students were creeped out by Lu Yin’s training room as they passed by, shocked that people could battle under 40 times gravity. Even the elites of many institutions couldn’t achieve such a feat.
More students left the Perseverance as time went on, including Gerlaine, Balaror, Eddy, and Hayden; at this point, Lu Yin recognized very few of the students left behind. Before Gerlaine left, she looked for him and waved her fist, “You better watch out, I haven’t repaid you for robbing me just yet.”
“Wanna try again?” Lu Yin was defiant.
The girl was frightened and quickly ran away, but she tried to intimidate him once more before she left, “Don’t belittle Yu Academy. You won’t be fighting Sentinels anymore, you’ll be facing Melders. Just wait for my brother to crush you!”
Lu Yin laughed at first, but an introduction of Gerbach sprang to mind and his expression turned heavier. The man was one of Yu Academy’s strongest students, and had even joined one of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons. Although his own status was rather high now, these kinds of people wouldn’t necessarily defer to him. He had to work hard and become a Melder to protect himself.
As he was rushing back to the training room, Lu Yin came across Bai Xue who was staring into space alone. Her beauty with the stars in the background moved him; she seemed to be a glowing fairy, attracting fervent gazes from many of the students around her. Be it on Earth or in the wider universe, such looks would never go away.
“What are you thinking about?” he walked over to her side, “Why don’t you train with us.”
“The universe is really too big, and Earth is too insignificant. No wonder the planet can’t hold on to its people,” she answered indifferently.
“Didn’t you walk out yourself? Don’t take things with Liu Shaoge too seriously.”
“Not him,” she shook her head.
“Huh? Who else?”
She turned to look at him, “Do you know who discovered Qingyu?”
“Bai Qian,” he blurted out instantly.
Bai Xue’s expression darkened, “That’s right, Bai Qian.”
That’s right, Bai Qian was the one to step onto Neptune and fetch the so-called corpse. This was the first person to come into contact with alien life, but there was no such name among the Seven Sages. How was one of Earth’s most elite astronauts simply gone? Lu Yin had always felt like there was something amiss. “Who is it? You share surnames, is he related to you?”
An expression of agony filled Bai Xue’s face, “She’s my elder sister.”
“She’s a woman?” Lu Yin was stunned.
Bai Xue nodded, unable to help a smile as she watched Lu Yin’s surprise, “Shocking, isn’t it. The media exploded with news of her reaching Neptune, but no one mentioned a hint of personal information, not even gender. You always thought she was a dominant man like Zhang Dingtian, didn’t you?”
Lu Yin smiled bitterly and nodded, “You’re right. So, what happened to her? She left Earth?”
Bai Xue looked down, her long hair covering her eyes as she explained gloomily, “Rainbows paled in comparison to my sister’s face. She was a strategist like Zhuge, had the heart of an empress, and was a genius swordswoman. But she abandoned me, abandoned Earth, and went into the heavens alone. I’ll probably never see her again.”
“Into the heavens? How?” Lu Yin felt it was strange.
“When Qingyu was first brought back, there was a message engraved on leather with him. We tried to decipher it for the longest time but could only make out three words; it was an invitation letter. It was this letter that opened her path to the heavens, she vanished soon after. She’d only just entered the Realm of Sky; a Sentinel.”
“So brave. An unknown invitation and she stepped into the greater universe, without fear of being crushed by space and time,” Lu Yin exclaimed in admiration.
Bai Xue gazed toward the dark universe and said longingly, “My sister would never do anything she wasn’t confident in. Academics, sports, swordsmanship or exploring the heavens, she was always outstanding. Even Zhang Dingtian and the rest had no choice but to accept it as well, no one could compare to her. Maybe Earth just couldn’t satisfy her.”
Lu Yin could not help a laugh; this woman worshipper her sister too much. Perhaps Bai Qian could excel on Earth, but the greater universe was boundless. Just like Balaror or Parlie, there were many different races of beings, and some were born Sentinels or stronger. Normal humans couldn’t compare to them at all.
The Daynight Clan was already very terrifying, and the Nightkings were their rulers with frightening innate gifts. Any elite would be overshadowed by such freaks. He would use the unlimited possibilities of his die to compete with them, but what about Bai Qian?
Bai Xue was right about something; she might not be able to meet Bai Qian again in this life. Normal people couldn’t even step into the boundless universe. A face that made rainbows seem pale in comparison? It was a pity that he couldn’t catch that sight.
“Oh, do you have a photo?” he asked, really wanting to take a look.
“We weren’t allowed photos,” Bai Xue shook her head, but then she glared at him like he was a thief, “What do you want?”
“Just wanted to take a look, but it’s alright. Come and train with us if you’re free. It’s easy to grow sick of things if you stay by yourself,” Lu Yin commented and turned to leave. Bai Xue recollected her thoughts and looked back at the darkness of space with a complicated expression.
Earth was mysterious indeed. One Qingyu and one trial had brought out so many monsters. Zhang Dingtian the realmbreaker, Bai Xue and Xu San with innate gifts, Seruzen with incomparable willpower, Liu Shaoge’s silent endurance, and the perfect Bai Qian. Lu Yin didn’t know what these people would experience amongst the stars, but the future would be exciting yet. Oh, he could be considered an earthling at this point. Was he a monster too?
The Perseverance grew quiet over the next few days as students left one after the other. Bai Xue joined Lu Yin’s training group, but just like Seruzen, she was unable to withstand the gravity. She helplessly followed the monk’s method, her breathtaking beauty a stark contrast with his nightmare-inducing appearance. Lu Yin was left speechless in the face of these polar opposites at the exit of the training room.
Xu San noticed something strange in Bai Xue’s gaze, and felt like the woman must have been pushed in some way. Why else would anyone follow that monk’s torturous method to adapt to the gravity?
Lu Yin completely adapted to the increased gravity during the ten days, something that shocked Xia Luo. Even a newly advanced Melder wouldn’t adapt so quickly. Lulu had gotten used to it even earlier, but no one was amazed by the Mavis Family’s freakishness. In the meanwhile, Zhang Dingtian got to a point where he could move around without issue, while Seruzen had taken this time to advance… one entire step. This was the only normal bit; it was ridiculous for Sentinels to adapt to 40x gravity in the first place. Surprisingly, Bai Xue’s progress was even faster; she had gotten to the same point herself.
This gravity training room had already become famous on Perseverance, and even Sigmund had looked over at one point. Everyone there outside of Xu San could defeat school leaders; it was hard not to attract attention.
“Careful, I’m coming,” Lulu barked, and her fist swept past Lu Yin’s ears to hit the walls. She retracted her hand and looked discontentedly at him, “Hey, show some respect, I’m hitting you!”
Lu Yin said apologetically, “My bad, I was distracted. I just received a notice that students who succeeded in trial missions are to head to the Capital Star to be examined for recommendation into Astral-10.”
“That doesn’t concern me,” Lulu rolled her eyes, and Xia Luo paid no attention either. It was only then that Lu Yin recalled that these two weren’t simple; one was from the Mavis Family that was not one whit inferior to the Daynight Clan, and the other had shown his background by knowing and succeeding with the Daynight inheritance stone. The Empire’s recommendations likely meant nothing to them.
Lu Yin nodded, “Everyone in the trial failed except me. No one can be nominated to participate in the Tenth Academy’s examination.”
“I don’t need any recommendation, I can go there myself,” Zhang Dingtian pipped.
Lulu rolled her eyes, “Go yourself? You must be joking, you don’t even know where the Astral Combat Academy’s doors will open. You think anyone can get in? When Astral-10 arrives at the Frostwave Weave, only major powers like the Great Yu Empire will know its concrete position and have means to approach it. A normal person wouldn’t see it even if they passed by.”
The Bladesage’s gaze turned heavier as he gripped his blade.