Lu Yin's heart thumped loudly, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body was in intense pain, as if he was being sliced apart by a thousand blades. It wasn't just his body that was burning, but his meridians as well. This was the same feeling as breaking through a realm, but it was even more painful.
His meridians bulged like dragons as his body underwent tempering, and his meridians seemed to be reorganizing.
Lu Yin panted heavily as he gritted his teeth and silently recited the Stonewall Scriptures.
After an unknown amount of time, the pain subsided, and he opened his eyes. His entire body was dripping wet, as if he had just been fished out of water. He lowered his head and looked at his hands, but nothing had changed. He clenched his fists and used Overlaying Stacks, causing the void to explode.
After a while, Lu Yin exhaled; the pain had not been in vain. His previous limit had been Fifteen Stacks, but now, he had used Seventeen Stacks without any problems. He hadn't reached his limit yet, but his limit had increased, and his speed should be much faster as well.
He looked at the remaining four strengthening fruits and solemnly put them away. Until he obtained better natural treasures, these strengthening fruits would be enough to make him stronger.
He raised his hand, and the die slowly appeared. Every time he looked at the die, he felt a sense of amazement. Others had to go through untold hardships to obtain natural treasures, but all he needed to do was have money. Although it consumed a lot of resources, there was still some hope.
According to the Sandmaster, it would take at least fifty thousand years for the strengthening fruits to be effective for Limiteers. Even the great powers could not afford to wait that long, but Lu Yin could do it with just 400,000 star crystals. His starting point was much higher than theirs.
His physical body had been strengthened once again, and this filled him with anticipation for the Tournament of the Strongest. He wondered what Nightqueen Yanqing and the others would think when they saw him display a strength that surpassed Fifteen Stacks. Back when he had defeated her, he hadn't even used Thirteen Stacks and had only used a Nine Stacks, Seventeenfold Shockwave Palm.
After resting for a few days, Lu Yin left the Time Stop Space and breathed in the fresh air outside.
To others, only a second had passed, but to him, it felt like a long time had passed. Almost two months had passed, and these two months just happened to be the duration of the Tournament of the Strongest.
The monkey deactivated the barrier and weakly said, "Seventh Bro, we're one. Don't go too far."
Lu Yin was in a good mood. "According to what do you know, what's the strongest Limiteer?"
The monkey was puzzled. "Strongest?
What do you mean? "
"The strongest Limiteer since ancient times," Lu Yin replied.
. "I don't know, but those freaks on the Skymenof the Skymender List were unimaginable when they were Limiteers....................................
...............
.. That......... of............ of..... of.................. of it...............
..............................................
......................................................
. But now........................................... Let's go to the Sand Ocean and see if he can raise his battle force.
.... Once he reached the Sand Ocean, Lu Yin realized that there were only seven levels here. The seventh level corresponded to five-lined battle force, which meant that this place would not be of much help to him.
To a student, five-lined battle force was the limit. Even the Ten Arbiters in the Astral Combat Academy had only been able to raise their battle force to five-lined battle force.
"Battle force is a warrior's integrity. It can be raised in battle, and it can also be raised by using the environment to cultivate. But even without these, a person's spirit can still raise their battle force," the Sandmaster explained solemnly.
Lu Yin was confused. "A person's spirit?"
The Sandmaster grinned. "Among the younger generation, the Ten Arbiters have the greatest boldness, and they're vainly trying to control the next generation of the universe with just the power of ten people. What kind of boldness is that? Even I am ashamed of my own inferiority. This is boldness, and boldness can raise one's moral integrity. Back then, the Ten Arbiters were only at the Five-Vein Realm, but now, no one knows just how high they've risen to.
That's right. Ten Arbiters wanted to control a generation and even influence the situation of the universe. What kind of spirit was that? Even Lu Yin was excited. With such spirit, how could one's battle force not be raised?
The phrase "swallowing the universe" referred to these ten people.
The higher the position of the Ten Arbiters, the more powerful they were. Their strength was indescribable, and this was a spirit that only humans possessed.
Although the Astral Beast Domain had Skymender's List that was rumored to be comparable to the Ten Arbiters, Lu Yin did not believe that this was true. The Ten Arbiters were products of the universe, and no one knew where their bottom line was.
Just by looking at their battle force, Lu Yin could feel how powerful the Ten Arbiters were.
The Sandmaster sighed. "Since ancient times, the Ten Arbiters have been called monsters. No one in the younger generation can surpass them." He then looked at Lu Yin. "Kid, you're called Ten Arbiters' candidates, but you're still too far away from their level. Their achievements cannot be replicated."
"But I can surpass them," Lu Yin subconsciously said, but he was stunned. He did not know why, but he felt that he could really surpass them.
The Sandmaster looked at Lu Yin strangely, but then he laughed. "Young people need to be full of vigor. Try to surpass them and cultivate your battle force with the spirit that surpasses the Ten Arbiters. Perhaps you can really do it." He then left.
Lu Yin could tell that the Sandmaster was just joking. The Sandmaster did not really believe that Lu Yin could surpass the Ten Arbiters. Who in the universe could actually surpass them?
Lu Yin was about ten years older than the Ten Arbiters. It was not that there had never been a Ten Arbiters' candidate in this age group, but they had all disappeared. The Ten Arbiters had been at the top for too long.
After leaving the Sand Ocean, Lu Yin headed for Stargazing Deck. He had been here once before, but this was his second time.
There had to be a reason why the Astral Combat Academy had become one of the top academies in the universe, and Stargazing Deck was present in all ten academies. Perhaps there was something to it.
Lu Yin still remembered the Starmaster's words when he had first come to Stargazing Deck. "Stargazing Deck picks the stars. Pick the right and wrong, pick the past and present, pick the cycle of karma, and pick the part of the universe that belongs to you." Lu Yin still remembered, but he did not understand.
What did those ancient warships and the bleak and solemn battle hymns have to do with him?
And what did the word "Boundless" represent?
What did that have to do with the jade finger piercing through the universe and crushing everything in its path?
Or was what Lu Yin had seen not necessarily related to him?
"Mentor, Student Lu Yin requests to ascend Stargazing Deck," Lu Yin respectfully requested.
"Every person can only ascend Stargazing Deck once. More than that is useless. You will either see nothing or the same scene from back then," the Starmaster said.
Lu Yin looked up. "It's fine if it's the same scene from back then. I couldn't see it back then, but I want to see it now."
The Starmaster opened his eyes and looked at Lu Yin seriously. He nodded. "You can try."
Lu Yin bowed and slowly ascended Stargazing Deck.
Lu Yin sat down cross-legged and focused his mind. He closed his eyes and breathed evenly as nine stars revolved around his body. He held the Giant Emperor's third eye in his hand, and a domain undulated around him.
This scene shocked the Starmaster; it hadn't been that long, but Lu Yin had improved again.
Just like last time, Lu Yin didn't know if he was asleep or awake, but he saw an unfamiliar region of space with a solemn and ancient desolate aura. He listened to the battle hymns and saw an incomparably large warship with the same Boundless at the front.
Warship after warship headed off into the distance. Where were they going, and who were they fighting against?
His gaze traversed the void, and this time, Lu Yin was able to see even deeper. It was the same scene, but this time, he saw a few figures on a warship that were covered in blood. Suddenly, a jade finger tore through space and crushed towards him. Lu Yin was filled with indescribable grief and indignation, and he subconsciously shouted, "How dare you!" Suddenly, he seemed to recall something. He ignored the jade finger and stared intently at the deck of the warship, where he saw a familiar claw imprint. It was the Skybeast Claw.
The claw imprint was deeply carved into the deck, and blood flowed along the imprint, spreading in all directions.
However, Lu Yin woke up in an instant. "How dare you!" He suddenly stood up, the fury in his heart almost igniting the heavens.
"Silence!" A deafening sound rang out, and Lu Yin was jolted awake by the Starmaster. Panting heavily, he bowed to the Starmaster and slowly walked down Stargazing Deck. Before he left, he asked, "Mentor, do all ten Astral Academies' Stargazing Decks see the same thing?"
The Starmaster opened his eyes. "Maybe. Maybe not."
Lu Yin nodded and left.
During this trip to Stargazing Deck, he had seen the deck of the warship and the Skybeast Claw imprint. It was definitely the Skybeast Claw imprint, and there was no mistaking it. He was very familiar with that feeling.
Lu Yin raised his hand and transformed it into a claw. He had long since memorized the 96 forms of the Skybeast Claw, but this time, his Skybeast Claw had a few more variations. This was the 108 forms, the complete Skybeast Claw of the Great Yu Empire. However, it was still far from being enough to compare to the claw imprint on the warship. That was the true Skybeast Claw that could be carved into the warship and even into the river of time.
Why did the Great Yu Empire have the Skybeast Claw?
No, it should be Undying Yushan. How could he have the Skybeast Claw?
No, he wasn't Undying Yushan, but Undying Yu. His surname was Yu, and he was one of the Seven Courts. He was also the successor of one of the Three Dark Hands, so it shouldn't be strange for him to have the Skybeast Claw.
Lu Yin fell into deep thought. The Skybeast Claw clearly had more than 108 forms, and he shouldn't think about Astral-10's Stargazing Deck anymore. The chances of the Starmaster approving it were very low, but what about the other academies?
He had a premonition that comprehending the complete Skybeast Claw would be very powerful, and he would also be able to uncover some of the past.
There was only a month and a half left until the Tournament of the Strongest. In the Human Domain, at the border of the Erudite Flowzone, a giant skeleton shuttled through space and crossed the border, heading towards the Erudite Flowzone.