What Lu Yin lacked the most right now was time, but Elder Chan's Ancestral Breaker had given him some hope. So what if the Four Scales didn't agree? The Fifth Mainland was not their place to decide.
Lu Yin picked up the call, "Dao Disciple, this is Astral-1."
Lu Yin asked, "Was Stargazing Deck destroyed?"
"The Four Scales did it. The Emissary who destroyed Stargazing Deck self-immolated and left no evidence behind."
"It doesn't matter, don't worry about it," Lu Yin said.
He didn't really care, but Stargazing Deck's destruction was a fact that he couldn't change. All he could do now was protect Astral-10's Stargazing Deck.
"A bead has appeared beneath Stargazing Deck's ruins."
Lu Yin was confused, "Bead?
What bead? "
"It's just a bead. It looks very ordinary, just like a normal bead. The only difference is that it's the only thing left behind from Stargazing Deck's destruction. I've already contacted the other academies, and they've all left behind a bead."
"Wait for me," Lu Yin said to the crazy headmaster and then headed towards the other academies.
He now understood why Stargazing Deck could trigger fate and see the River of Time. He had found a bead that was definitely related to fate, but he had never heard of fate having a bead.
Hold on, Lu Yin's pupils shrank. The Starsibyl Sect's Master, Mister Zhu.
Lu Yin moved quickly and quickly arrived at Astral-2, the closest academy to Astral-10. However, he saw a sea of blood that was scarlet and steaming. A group of pale-faced students and mentors surrounded it.
Lu Yin tore through the void and walked out, "What's going on?"
He had been to Astral-2 before, and he was now standing in the direction of Stargazing Deck. He had expected Stargazing Deck to be destroyed, but that was only the destruction of the building and the death of the Starmaster. However, this sea of blood had clearly killed countless people.
When Lu Yin appeared, a mentor from Astral-2 walked out and respectfully reported, "Dao Disciple, President, the President is dead. Even the mentors and students who came to rescue us are dead, including Han Chong from the Han family."
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed, "How did they die?"
"I don't know. Everyone in this area is dead. All that's left is a sea of blood. There aren't even corpses."
Lu Yin's expression changed, and he stepped into the void once again, heading towards the other academies. Astral-1, Astral-4, Astral-6, and so on. Aside from Astral-10, the other academies were all the same, and there was a certain area that had become a death zone. It wasn't necessarily the Blood Sea or the Stargazing Deck, but there was one thing they all had in common: the bead's location.
"The headmaster left with the bead he obtained from Stargazing Tower. I saw it with my own eyes, but- but-" Astral-1's mentor was grief-stricken. "By the time I turned around, the headmaster's body had already been smashed to smithereens. There wasn't even a corpse left. I didn't see who did it.
There were a total of ten Astral Combat Academies. Astral-3 had been destroyed during the Sixth Mainland's invasion, and the Stargazing Deck had fallen into the hands of the Sixth Mainland. The other nine academies had not suffered too many losses, but just now, all nine of their deans had died. Even though no one had seen it, the sea of blood that had been left behind at the scene was proof enough. Not only the deans themselves, but everyone who had been around them or had been looking at them had all died.
Throughout the entire Nine Academies, no one knew how they died or who killed them.
The Four Way Scales?
Impossible. Their goal had only been to destroy Stargazing Tower, not to start a war. This kind of thing was too vile, and once it was proven that the Four Way Scales had killed them, a war would definitely break out.
Lu Yin believed in the Four Way Scales.
The Scales weren't that stupid. Besides, they had already destroyed Stargazing Tower, so there was no need to kill the deans. It was meaningless.
The Everlasting Race?
That was possible, but Lu Yin took a step forward and headed to Astral-10. He was afraid that something would happen to Astral-10, but he also hoped that Astral-10 would suffer an unknown attack that would negate his terrifying guess.
When he returned to Astral-10, he saw that the crazy headmaster had changed completely. He was no longer in his sloppy clothes, and he looked refined with a ruddy complexion. His gaze was gentle, but beneath that gentleness was a fierce killing intent that could strike lightning bolts. "Who did it?"
"You already know?"
"The deans of the Astral Combat Academies have all died. How could this be hidden? Have you found out who did it?"
The Rainmaster asked.
Old Cai and the rest were solemn, which was a rare sight.
Lu Yin did not answer and instead asked, "Is everything alright here?"
"What could happen with the headmaster here?" the Sandmaster asked.
Everyone looked at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin's heart sank. Was it really as he had guessed?
The ones who had killed the deans might not have been humans or the Eternals, but rather fate.
Their deaths all had one thing in common: they had encountered the bead that had been left behind at Stargazing Tower.
Bead, Mr. Bead, the Starsibyl Sect, and fate. What was the connection between all of these?
Lu Yin went to Stargazing Tower and contacted the Lady of Fate and Skymender, asking them to come over.
"Bead?" the Lady of Fate cried out in astonishment.
Lu Yin stared at her. "You know about it?"
The Lady of Fate replied, "Master does have a string of beads, but they're just decorations and can't even be considered a power vessel. What kind of beads are they?"
"One bead at a time," Lu Yin answered.
The Lady of Fate almost blurted out nonsense, but she held herself back. "What do I mean?"
Lu Yin frowned. He didn't know either. He had set off immediately after receiving the headmaster's call. Everything had happened in an instant, and even he hadn't been able to react in time. "Tell me what you know about the beads."
The Lady of Fate recalled, "Master wore a string of beads on his wrist for many years. I saw it when I followed him. From the time I followed him until I was sealed in ice, the string went from thirteen to eleven beads. Master gave away two of them to others."
"One was given to a child, and the other was given to the Lu family as a congratulatory gift for Lu Tianyi becoming a Dao Disciple."
Lu Yin raised his brows. "Given to the Lu family?
To whom?
Ancestor Tianyi? "
The Lady of Fate shook her head. "I don't know who he gave it to. Master only said that it was given to the Lu family, and I personally delivered it to the direct descendants of the Lu family. It either ended up in the hands of the Lu family's ancestor or Lu Tianyi. That's all I know about that string of beads. There's nothing special about it."
"What about the other child?"
Skymender suddenly asked.
The Lady of Fate replied, "I don't know why that child was favored by Master. I've asked, but Master didn't tell me."
"What kind of child?"
Skymender was curious.
The Lady of Fate glanced at him, and the white clouds around her intentionally blocked his line of sight. Skymender felt uncomfortable. "I've never seen him before, and Master didn't tell me either. He only said that it was a child."
Lu Yin felt a headache coming on. He wasn't afraid of the Four Cardinal Scales using force or using underhanded methods, but he was afraid that fate would be involved. Fate was too strange, and he had just seen the future. That scene had been too shocking, and now, a murder had occurred because of a Fate item. This was a serious case that had to be investigated.
Once it was investigated, it would definitely involve fate.
What was even more vexing was that fate had given the beads to the Lu family. He didn't know how the Lu family had viewed fate back then, but if it had been him, he would have definitely tossed the beads far away.
This matter concerned fate, and he couldn't even ask Little Shi for help. He was afraid that fate would implicate Little Shi.
"Skymender, check the beads." Lu Yin casually tossed the Book of Destiny to Skymender Daoist.
Skymender caught it and began flipping through it.
The Lady of Fate stared at it, but it was difficult for her to see anything. She could only read the words after being nourished by the Xuantian Mirror for a long time.
In the Astral Tree Realm, news of the crazy headmaster's breakthrough had already spread. At the same time, news of Lu Yin's appearance and the deaths of the academy heads had also spread.
The Four Cardinal Scales' attack on Stargazing Tower was not something that could be done in a single day. They had set up a backup plan to prevent themselves from being destroyed in the future.
In the end, it could be considered a success. Stargazing Tower was almost completely destroyed, but it could also be considered a failure. Astral-10 could not be destroyed, and even the hidden backup plan could not bypass the crazy headmaster and destroy Stargazing Tower. Even the old half-ancestor could not do anything, and the Four Cardinal Scales could not arrange for two half-ancestors to act.
In reality, only the Envoys had acted against Stargazing Tower. Only Astral-10 was special because Astral-10 had defeated Xia Meng. This matter had been investigated by the Four Cardinal Scales, so they had sent a half-ancestor just to be on the safe side. Who would have thought that even a half-ancestor would be useless?
Now, Bai Wangyuan and the others were not only concerned about Stargazing Tower, but also the crazy headmaster.
"Is this for real?
You can't be seeing things, right? Something happened to the Astral Source Universe, but he still managed to break through two Origin Tribulations?
That's impossible. "The Dragon Ancestor was shocked.
Wang Fan added, "That's right. It takes a very long time to go from an eighth stage Tribulation Origin to a half-ancestor. This person hasn't even absorbed an eighth stage Tribulation Origin Astral Root, so how could he have succeeded?"
Bai Wangyuan's eyes flickered. "A heavenly phenomenon is already unusual. Who in our era could cause a heavenly phenomenon to descend?"
"Xia Shang and Ku Jie." The Mist Ancestor's voice rang out.
The three looked over and saw the Mist Ancestor descend. "I knew that nothing good would come out of the three of you gathering together."
"You know about it too?"
Wang Fan was astonished.
The Mist Ancestor sneered. "Are you the only ones who have the ability to gather information about the Fifth Mainland?"
"You should know about that madman breaking through to the half-ancestor level, right?"
The Mist Ancestor's expression was solemn. "Crossing the Existent Realm to the Incorporeal Realm and then using the Incorporeal Realm to break through to the Existent Realm. This is a person who has achieved great enlightenment. The Fifth Mainland is very fortunate to have such a person."
"Back then, only Xia Shang and Ku Jie saw a heavenly phenomenon. That Lu Xiaoxuan fellow should have experienced one as well. This person is definitely not ordinary."
Wang Fan continued, "It's a pity that he didn't pass the three stages, so he'll never reach the Ancestor realm."
The Mist Ancestor rolled his eyes. "Who said that? Giving him the tribulation crystal pillar might not be impossible. Give the three of you your contribution points. Having one more Ancestor is good for us. That idiot Xia Shenji was dumped, and you guys tricked Liu Yue to death. We don't have enough manpower."
"Lu Xiaoxuan also forced Madman Lu to leave. Why didn't you say that?"
"Madman Lu might very well be Red Back. Even if he isn't, given his personality, who knows if he won't attack his own people?
He's someone who dares to attract an Origin Tribulation. If he succeeded, he would have dragged the entire Top Realm down with him. Are you not worried about someone like that? "
"That's not a reason for Lu Xiaoxuan to force him to leave."
"Nonsense, I don't care about you guys anymore. I'll go take a look at this strange person." The Mist Ancestor headed towards the Fifth Mainland.