Countless people watched on in a daze. Only the Ten Arbiters had ever defeated an Explorer with the strength of a Melder.
At this moment, even Liu Shaoqiu and the others were shocked. Although Liu Shaoqiu had heavily injured an Explorer before, that had been with the special power of the Third Sword. Lu Yin, on the other hand, had fought a space-exploring astral beast with his bare hands.
Underground, Lu Yin stood up and shook his right arm. It hurt, but it also felt great. He now had a clear understanding of his own defense, and it was now comparable to an Explorer's with a powerful physical body. This was the peak of his strength.
The student leaders of the Astral Combat Academy could challenge Explorers with their peak Limiteer power levels, but that also depended on their opponents. Zi Tie was not something that they could defeat. Lu Yin was deeply moved, as this beast's defenses were enough to render Liu Shaoqiu's Thirteen Swords useless, with the exception of attacks like the Third Sword.
High up in the sky, Zi Tie was shocked. It was no ordinary Explorer realm astral beast, but there was actually a Melder who was able to block it. At this moment, its giant magnet eyes revealed an extremely excited expression. "You're the top freak of the human race! You're too lucky! Die!" It then pressed down with its entire body, intending to crush everyone in the base.
Lu Yin clenched his fists, and just as he was about to attack again, the void rippled. "Zi Tie, it's you again!"
Zi Tie didn't even look back, and he ignored the Explorer as he ruthlessly charged towards the base. As long as he could kill Lu Yin's group, even if he died, it would be worth it. He had never heard of a Melder fighting against an Explorer, and such a freak had to be eliminated.
Below them, Liu Shaoqiu and the rest attacked. Liu Yin, Xue Liuyun, Chao Zhi, and the rest all attacked at the same time, especially Liu Shaoqiu. His third slash caused Zi Tie to feel dizzy, and it unconsciously slowed down for a moment. Coincidentally, it was blocked by the Explorer, and the two Explorers once again clashed in midair.
At the same time, outside of Planet Conan, a gigantic flaming beast walked out of the void. Across from it, a figure walked out as well.
"Tan Gang Fire Beast, are you trying to start a war?" the figure asked. He was the protector of the right thirty-seven stars, Hunter Qu Ao.
On the other side, the star energy around the Tan Gang Fire Beast's body trembled as it spoke, "Human, retreat outside the Astral River. With the Astral River as our boundary, we will not offend each other. Otherwise, this war will never end."
Qu Ao frowned. "The Allied Forces have crossed the Astral River for so many years. What ability do you have to drive us away? If you want to fight, then fight."
As soon as he finished speaking, flames engulfed Planet Conan as the Hunters began their battle.
A Hunter had a power level of over 100,000, and their every action was enough to cause the heavens to tremble. This was especially true since the battlefield was so close to Planet Conan, which had a significant impact on the planet.
Within the base, Lu Yin and the rest received orders to retreat five thousand kilometers to the north. They left without hesitation.
A series of explosions rang out in the sky as scorching heat waves pressed down on Planet Conan, causing the temperature to rise.
Tasha looked up with a shocked expression. "There's an extremely strong battle that's affecting Planet Conan. It should be a Cruiser or even a Hunter."
Lu Yin frowned. Why did it have to be Planet Conan? He had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. This was not the first day that this base had been exposed, but it had already suffered two large-scale attacks in the past few days. There was also that Zi Tie. Why had it chosen to attack this base, and why had the extreme powerhouses chosen to fight outside of Planet Conan?
There were so many planets out there, but Planet Conan had been chosen. It was as if an invisible hand had been manipulating everything.
There were nearly 50,000 soldiers in the base, and about 30,000 of them had fled with Lu Yin's group. The rest had either been scattered or killed.
Although the initial large-scale attacks had been destroyed by Liu Shaoqiu and the rest, a considerable number of astral beasts had still emerged.
In the distance, more Void Wanderers had appeared. This did not seem like a surprise attack, but rather a decisive battle that had been planned for a long time.
High up in the sky, Zi Tie and the Explorers were battling. In the distance, warships appeared one after another; reinforcements had arrived.
Everything in the sky and on the ground had been turned into a battlefield, and there were even powerhouses fighting outside the planet. Lu Yin and the rest felt like they were trapped in a furnace and could die at any moment.
In the north, dozens of spatial tears appeared.
Lu Yin and the rest reacted quickly and immediately attacked. Most of the Void Wanderers were instantly killed, but several spatial tears still opened up, and all sorts of strange astral beasts rushed out to intercept them.
A flaming bird flew out of the void and stared at Lu Yin and the rest. It charged over with excitement, as it would gain a great merit if it could kill these people. It would be able to obtain a large amount of resources to upgrade itself. It was a student of the Astral Beast Domain's Spiritual Academy, and as long as it could obtain enough resources to upgrade itself, it might even be able to rival the strongest powerhouses in the academy.
The Spiritual Academy was the Astral Beast Domain's top academy, and it was modeled after the Astral Combat Academy. However, unlike the Astral Combat Academy, it was not split into ten academies, but rather integrated all of them together.
The Spiritual Academy's students were all very gifted astral beasts, and they looked down on the Astral Combat Academy, believing that its students were too weak. This was because the Astral Combat Academy's students had either graduated or been expelled from the Astral Beast Domain. The Spiritual Academy's students, on the other hand, were often on the battlefield, and they subconsciously felt superior.
"Die, you Astral Combat Academy students!" The flaming bird's star energy shook the air as it cried out excitedly. It swept towards Lu Yin and the rest, and even some astral beasts were unaffected.
Before Lu Yin could even react, Liu Shaoqiu raised his sword and slashed out. This was the First Sword of the Thirteen Swords, and it had the power to kill Kuang Wang. Kuang Wang was the current leader of Astral-5 and the Dao of Heaven's Realm Master. In terms of status, he was equivalent to the Spiritual Academy's Academy Master. The flaming bird was just one of the experts under Academy Master Hua Yishou, and it was far weaker than the Academy Master. It was killed before it could even react.
It wasn't just the flaming bird; many of the more powerful astral beasts targeted Lu Yin and the rest, but they were all easily slaughtered.
This battle lasted for three hours, and corpses stretched from the base to the north. Tens of thousands of soldiers had died, and the number of astral beast corpses was uncountable. The stench of blood permeated the land, and even the air turned slightly redder.
Blood flowed down the yellowed ground and seeped into the cracks in the ground.
The scattered astral beasts fled in all directions.
Howls of anguish filled the air.
Lu Yin was forced to kill a pained soldier. The soldier only had half of his body left, and he was begging Lu Yin to kill him.
During the planet's evolutionary trial, Lu Yin had killed quite a few people, but they were all people that he felt deserved to be killed. This soldier was the first person he had killed that he respected, and he had killed him in order to free him.
The Explorer who had blocked Zi Tie was the planet's guardian, Napa. He had been severely injured during the battle, but fortunately, he had endured the pain and forced Zi Tie to retreat.
Lu Yin and the rest boarded a warship and arrived at the base five thousand kilometers to the north.
Five thousand kilometers wasn't too far, and with their speed, they could reach it in no time. This base was also the closest to the previous one, and the reinforcements had come from this base.
Lu Yin and the rest were arranged to stay in the barracks, but other arrangements had not yet been confirmed. The destruction of a base was no small matter, and they had to record everything that they had seen and heard and hand it over to their superiors.
Lu Yin had recorded a theory in his notes, which was that the astral beasts had attacked them because the flaming bird had said, "Go to hell, you students of the Astral Combat Academy." How did it know that they were from the Astral Combat Academy, and why was it targeting them? It wasn't just the flaming bird; other astral beasts that were far more powerful than their peers were also targeting them. This matter was not simple, and Lu Yin had even written down that there was a spy who was providing information to the humans. However, after thinking about it, he crossed it out. He wasn't qualified to make such a guess, and if someone wanted to mess with him, a single word of division and unity would be enough to consign him to eternal damnation.
Lu Yin exhaled and rubbed his forehead. It had only been a few days since they had arrived at the warfront, but they had already encountered two large-scale attacks that hadn't even given them a chance to breathe.
Gildor, the strict instructor, had also died. Even though they hadn't known each other for long, Lu Yin still respected him greatly. It was rare for a veteran to be able to survive for several years at the warfront, and this was a treasure to the humans. However, he had died so miserably that he hadn't even had time to react.
Lu Yin was beginning to understand what the captain had told him. Countless geniuses and elites had died at the warfront not only because of strength, but also because of luck.
In this battle, many of the recruits had died. Among them, Ke Yao, who had come with Trifa, had died. Maggie had also died. She had not been able to escape her fate of death. This time, Silver had not been able to save her.
Lu Yin had only learned of their deaths after the battle; this battle had taken so many lives.
On the other side of the humans' defensive line, the Tan Gang Fire Beast's body surged with flames. "Why did so many of the Spiritual Academy's students die? How am I going to explain this to them?"
"Are those Astral Combat Academy students really that strong?
Let's invite Ghost Monkey to battle. I want to know who's stronger between the Academy Master and those students. "
…
In a short three days, the sky was once again filled with cracks. Another large-scale attack had begun.
Lu Yin and the others walked out of the barracks and looked up at the sky in shock. Something was wrong, and there was definitely something wrong. This was a massacre targeted at them, and their identities had been exposed. The Astral Combat Academy was one of the top academies in the Human Domain, and they were the ones who had made it into the top thirty-two of the Astral Combat Tournament. These people would not be something that an Explorer like Nappa could compare to in the future. To the Astral Beast Domain, these people were a great enemy, and they would rather sacrifice some to eliminate them. Lu Yin, in particular, had also made it into the top four and had grasped five-lined battle force as a Melder. He was publicly recognized as one of the Ten Arbiters' candidates.
An alarm rang through the sky, and Nappa immediately appeared in an attempt to exterminate the Void Wanderers. However, he was stopped by Zi Tie. This giant astral beast tore through the void and forced Nappa back while also pressing down on the base.
Underground, a giant beam of light shot towards Zi Tie and forced it back slightly. This was a weapon that could threaten an Explorer, but Zi Tie's defenses were too strong, and Nappa could not do anything to it. The weapon could only push the beast away, but this gave Lu Yin and the others a chance to catch their breaths. They all distanced themselves from the barracks and avoided Zi Tie's attack while simultaneously attacking the void.
Spatial cracks spread out, and even though many people had taken action to exterminate some of the Void Wanderers, there were simply too many of them, and they were definitely not any less than the previous large-scale attack. There were even larger Void Wanderers that tore through the void and released countless astral beasts.