When he heard the monkey's words, Lu Yin was curious. "What accident?"
The monkey sighed. "There are many things that I can't remember clearly. I only vaguely remember that I was very powerful at my peak, but when I regained consciousness, countless years had passed. I can remember bits and pieces of events from long ago, but I've forgotten most of them."
"Then where did you learn about the various strange things in the universe during this time?" Lu Yin asked.
The monkey replied, "Seventh Bro, I'm not lying to you about this. I'm a shadow, and I was created from Progenitor Wushang's blood. I'm practically immortal, so I often search for hidden tombs. I know many things that ordinary people don't know about. Searching for tombs isn't just a hobby, but also because I want to find the truth."
"The truth?" Lu Yin was puzzled.
The monkey answered, "I want to find Progenitor Wushang's tomb. I want to know why Progenitor Wushang disappeared in ancient times. Is he dead or alive?
Or is he sealed in ice? I want to know what happened long ago. "Lu Yin remained silent.
He could not believe the monkey's words, but he could not deny them either.
Based on his personality, he should have erased the monkey since he was a potential threat. However, after interacting with the monkey for so long, Lu Yin was not a heartless person. He could not erase the monkey based on groundless guesses.
Lu Yin's thoughts were complicated, and he did not know what to do.
At that moment, Hidden Weep charged out of the ocean, panting heavily as his warhorse galloped over from the distance.
Hidden Weep stared at Lu Yin, and the book appeared above his head once more.
The monkey transformed into a shadow and charged towards Hidden Weep.
Hidden Weep saw the black flames burning, but they could not damage the shadow at all. He could not believe that the shadow could withstand his attack.
As the monkey merged back into his shadow, the black flames around Hidden Weep's body disappeared, and he calmly looked at Lu Yin. "You win."
Lu Yin relaxed his clenched fists. He had won, but it still felt a little unreal.
Before the monkey had become a Hunter, Lu Yin had not been able to find any way to deal with Hidden Weep. Even though he knew that the monkey had obvious weaknesses, he could not break through them.
Back in the Astral Beast Domain, Tian Hou, had an unbreakable strength, and even Starsibyl had been defeated.
Hidden Weep was even more so. Burial Garden's battle techniques and secret techniques were very mysterious, and Lu Yin had already admitted defeat.
However, the monkey had broken through to the Hunter realm and transformed into a shadow to withstand Hidden Weep's attacks. He had even broken through Hidden Weep's unbreakable translucency and reversed the battle, allowing Lu Yin to win.
Although Lu Yin had been the leader of this battle, Ghost Monkey had helped out at the most critical moment.
"Battle force, domain, spiritual force, physical body, battle techniques, secret techniques, and even beast taming. Congratulations, Lu Yin. You've won. You're one of the Five Astral Children." Hidden Weep's tone was low, but there was no unwillingness or resentment in her voice.
Lu Yin clasped his hands behind his back and looked at Quiet Weep with admiration. "You're really strong."
Quiet Weep mounted her horse. "Of course. It's a pity that I ran into you. To be honest, your tamed beast is very powerful. Without it, you wouldn't have been able to beat me."
The monkey fused into Lu Yin's arm. "Seventh Bro, we won."
Lu Yin's heart skipped a beat. Us, us, is it us?
He sighed. That's right, we're one. No matter how much fear or speculation there was, it was impossible to erase the feelings we had for each other over so many years.
Regardless of whether or not he believed the monkey's words, Lu Yin could not erase it. The monkey had long since become a part of Lu Yin's body. Perhaps one day, he would be able to separate the monkey and allow it to regain its freedom.
Lu Yin looked at Quiet Weep. "Even if I beat you, it doesn't mean that I'm one of the Five Astral Children."
Quiet Weep turned around on her horse and rode off in another direction. "Since you've defeated me, you should be one of the Five Astral Children unless there's someone who's unwilling to accept it." Her body then gradually disappeared, transforming into an illusory black flame that dissipated.
In the distance, Xiao Bai and Little Black arrived, supporting Lan Si.
"Lu Yin, you won! Amazing!" Xiao Bai exclaimed.
Lan Si was shocked, as he had not expected Lu Yin to win. His opponent was an Enlighter's successor from the Burial Garden, and his secret techniques and battle techniques were not weak. His innate gift was even more abnormal, and he had even fused with Liu Tianmu. If someone like that could be defeated, then Lu Yin had improved yet again.
Lu Yin smiled bitterly and looked up. Had he won?
There were more than just five Astral Children. What about the other four?
What about the Crying Lady?
During his battle with Quiet Weep, Shangqing, the Crying Lady, Qiu Shi, and Yu Hua Mavis had all ascended the golden stage and stood on the stage that represented the Five Astral Children. At that moment, Lu Yin had guessed that the fifth golden stage was waiting for Quiet Weep.
All five of them were Enlighters, and he did not believe that it was a coincidence. Lu Yin could only think of one possibility, which was that the Five Astral Children had already been determined.
Quiet Weep's words had further confirmed this. Defeating Quiet Weep was equivalent to replacing her.
At that moment, even though Lu Yin felt uncomfortable, he knew that the outcome had already been decided. He, the Ten Arbiters, and even the others from the Neoverse were just foils for the other five.
Since the Five Astral Children had already been determined, then if he replaced Quiet Weep, then the other four might retaliate.
The moment he looked up, he was already prepared to face the other four's attacks.
Defeating Quiet Weep could only be attributed to Quiet Weep's obvious weakness, which had been exposed by Ghost Monkey. However, the other four were not so easy to deal with. Shangqing had three ancestral qi, the Crying Lady had her innate gift and Heartless Sorrow, and Qiu Shi had her Sirius Technique and secret technique. Although Yu Hua Mavis had not encountered them before, she was definitely not weak. None of the four were easy to deal with.
Lu Yin did not have much hope of becoming one of the Five Astral Children unless he was given star essence and allowed to enter the Time Stop Space to cultivate until he became a Hunter.
However, at this moment, the Crying Lady was not on the golden stage.
It was not just Lu Yin; Shangqing, Qiu Shi, and Yu Hua Mavis all looked in her direction. She had left the stage.
…
A man appeared at the foot of Huigen Mountain and looked up to meet the Crying Lady.
The Crying Lady had left the mountain because of this man. "I thought that you had been kicked out of the Mountain and Sea Realm by Shangqing, Xia Jiuyou."
The man who had appeared at the foot of the mountain was Xia Jiuyou. Ever since he had entered the Mountain and Sea Realm, he had been repeatedly defeated by powerful enemies. He had been ridiculed as the weakest descendant of the Xia family since ancient times, and he had been seen as a symbol of the Xia family's decline.
However, such a person had caused the Crying Lady to become solemn and even fearful.
The current Xia Jiuyou was completely different from when he had encountered the Shangqing, and the biggest difference was his realm. He had also broken through to the Enlighter realm.
"The Hall of Honor wants two of the Five Astral Children. Isn't that a bit too much?" Xia Jiuyou's tone was relaxed, as if he had not been the one who had been defeated so many times before.
The Crying Lady's tone was icy. "Try and stop them if you can."
Xia Jiuyou shrugged, and with a light tap of his feet, his body vanished. The Crying Lady's body also vanished.
There was a loud boom as star energy collided, causing the void to distort and crack open. Terrifying star energy shockwaves whizzed out and swept out in all directions. Even the surface of the sea was overturned.
The two walked past each other, and Xia Jiuyou suddenly clutched his heart as a trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth. He turned around and heard four words: "Heartless Sorrow for Autumn."
The Crying Lady turned around and stared at Xia Jiuyou. Ripples appeared in the air and spread out, enveloping Xia Jiuyou within. This was her innate gift of hypnosis.
Xia Jiuyou's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly clapped his hands together. The Crying Lady appeared in front of him, and he struck out with a cold palm. "Netherforge Palm," which pierced through the Crying Lady. He had been hypnotized, and the Crying Lady in front of him was a fake.
Behind him, he heard four more words: "Heartless Sorrow for Autumn." Xia Jiuyou coughed up blood, unable to understand where this attack had come from.
Xia Jiuyou had been struck, and the Crying Lady had wanted to continue attacking. However, her pupils suddenly shrank, and her back turned cold. At some point in time, another palm had appeared behind her. It was Xia Jiuyou's Netherforge Palm, and Xia Jiuyou was clearly in front of her.
The Crying Lady's back gradually froze, and even with her star energy, it was difficult to dissolve. She looked in front of her in confusion and then at Xia Jiuyou. "When did this happen?"
Xia Jiuyou wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "It's an innate gift. You can't figure it out." He then charged at the Crying Lady and struck out with another Netherforge Palm.
The Crying Lady was extremely wary of the Netherforge Palm. The palm imprint on her back could not be dissolved, and it even gradually froze over. This greatly affected her ability to attack, and when she saw Xia Jiuyou's next attack, the ripples on her body continued to spread.
Xia Jiuyou shook his head. "Hypnosis is indeed a powerful innate gift, but it depends on who you're using it on." He then struck out with his Netherforge Palm, not just once, but dozens of times, breaking through the void.
"Heartless Sorrow for Autumn." The Crying Lady's voice rang out, and Xia Jiuyou's expression changed as his heart throbbed with pain. He had been hit again. What was this?
The Crying Lady's Heartless Sorrow for Autumn was just as unbreakable as Hidden Weep's Transparency. Unfortunately, Xia Jiuyou wasn't as lucky as Lu Yin and was able to break through it. However, he didn't need to, as the Crying Lady was also affected by the Netherforge Palm.
Even though the Crying Lady immediately retreated after the attack, she was still struck in the shoulder by the Netherforge Palm. Just like her back, her shoulder gradually froze over.
Her face paled as she stared at Xia Jiuyou in fear. Xia Jiuyou could withstand her attacks multiple times, but the Netherforge Palm would not allow her to do so. She couldn't break through the ice.
Xia Jiuyou raised a hand, and it was still the Netherforge Palm. However, he didn't use it this time. Instead, a dark light condensed in his palm and transformed into a long blade. He looked at the Crying Lady. "Three Forms — Blade Intent."
The Crying Lady's eyes narrowed. The Xia family's Three Forms?
The Seven Courts' Xia family had inherited the Three Forms since ancient times. Each strike would be stacked on top of the previous, and each strike would be twice as powerful as the previous strike. The third strike was practically invincible within the same realm, and it was one of the strongest battle techniques in the Neoverse. Although it wasn't as powerful as the Three Suns Ancestral Qi, it was still one of the top battle techniques.
The more invincible a technique was, the harder it was to learn. No one had been able to learn the Three Suns Ancestral Qi for a hundred thousand years, and the Xia family's Three Forms hadn't been learned for tens of thousands of years. Many people had even forgotten about them, but now, Xia Jiuyou was using them.
The Crying Lady didn't even think about it as she pointed a hand at Xia Jiuyou. "Exile."
This was one of the Hall of Honor's secret techniques, Exile. It could banish the target to an extremely far distance. It was an attack that couldn't be countered.
The Xia family's Three Forms made the Crying Lady wary. She wanted to use a secret technique to exile Xia Jiuyou to interrupt the condensation of the Three Forms.
Exile was a secret technique that couldn't be seen or touched, but it truly existed. However, Xia Jiuyou didn't move at all.
The Crying Lady's eyes narrowed. "Xia Secret Technique — Empty Space."