Elsewhere, the Astral Beast Domain's white skeleton had finally entered Astral-7's space station. They would enter the Lifeseek Realm from Astral-7's trial zone mountain and head to the Astral Combat Tournament. That was also where the finals of the Tournament of the Strongest had been held.
Astral Combat Academy students usually only went to the warfront after graduation or after being expelled. Many students had never interacted with the Astral Beast Domain before, so they were very curious when they heard that the Astral Beast Domain's Spiritual Academy students had appeared.
Quite a few of them were excited. They wanted to suppress these students, but they were just wild beasts from a barbaric land. How could they compete with the top four of the Astral Combat Academy?
Dream on.
Many students gathered at Astral-7's space station and looked at the skeleton strangely. Was this thing a spacecraft?
Atop the skeleton, Lilac Snow stretched lazily and stood up. Her beautiful face was exposed to the many students.
Many of them were stunned. Weren't they supposed to be wild beasts?
What was up with this beauty?
Humans?
Lilac Snow frowned at this group of lowly humans. "You can go by yourselves. If you don't know the way, just ask. Be friendly."
A green-eyed golden rat jumped out from the skeleton. It was Hua Yishou, and it was only the size of a palm. It looked rather cute, but it was terrifying to many of the girls.
Many of the students were stunned again. A rat?
What was going on?
Next to Hua Yishou was Embermane, who looked like a fiery red sable.
Many of the students were speechless. A rat and a sable? Were these the so-called wild beasts?
"Excuse me, where is the trial zone mountain?" Embermane asked. Their mouths did not move, and they relied on the vibrations of the air to produce their voices.
No one answered.
Embermane was unhappy. "Humans, answer me or I'll burn you to death."
"Embermane, be friendly and don't go too far with weak creatures." A blue-haired beauty walked out from behind. It was Feng Jiu, and she looked much more normal.
"Who are you calling weak?" a female student from Astral-7 shouted in dissatisfaction.
Feng Jiu glanced at her. "You're too weak."
The female student was furious. "Let's have a competition."
Hua Yishou spoke up. "You humans are interesting. You obviously want to test us, but you find all sorts of excuses. Fine, I'll play with you."
"Hua Yishou, you've already fought once. It's my turn," Embermane growled.
Feng Jiu frowned. "The elders are right. Humans are just asking for a beating. If they don't answer when you ask for directions, it's fine as long as you beat them into submission."
On the white skeleton, Purple Snow had already fallen asleep.
The conversation between Feng Jiu and the others had thoroughly angered the students of Astral-7. They had originally been thinking of an excuse to stop the competition, but now, there was no need for that.
"If you want to fight, then fight. It doesn't matter who goes first. You can all come at once." Feng Jiu glanced at the students.
At this moment, a figure wrapped in a black robe walked out from behind her. "Don't cause trouble. Just ask for directions."
Facing the black-robed figure, Feng Jiu was obviously afraid and didn't say anything.
Hua Yishou and Embermane did not say anything either. This was the person that Ghost Monkey had referred to as the strongest Prefecture Master.
"Yo, there's someone who's trying to be mysterious. Isn't it just a wild beast? There are so many of them with all kinds of strange appearances. Why are you trying to be mysterious?" a student mocked.
Feng Jiu, Hua Yishou, and Yan Chi all looked at the student with sympathy.
Under the black robe, Yu raised his head. No one could see his face clearly. In an instant, the pupils of the student who had mocked him shrank rapidly. His face turned pale and he slowly collapsed.
"Excuse me, how do I get to the trial zone mountain?" Hou asked indifferently.
Many of the Astral-7 students looked at him in horror. He hadn't moved at all, and there hadn't even been a single fluctuation of star energy. It was too strange for an Astral Combat Academy Limiteer to lose his ability to fight.
"I can take you there." Dai Ao walked out from behind the crowd and looked at Yu with a serious expression.
Yu nodded. "Thank you." He then followed Dai Ao out of the space station.
The appearance of the four from the Astral Beast Domain attracted even more students as they walked out of the space station. Even some of the mentors stood in the void and looked down.
The mentors of the Astral Combat Academy were only responsible for teaching and did not participate in the management of the academy. The academy was completely managed by the students themselves, and they did not appear to welcome the Astral Beast Domain's group.
Dai Ao used a transmission device to bring Yu and the others to a spacious grassland. He then turned around to face Yu. "I want to challenge you. After the challenge, I'll take you to the trial zone mountain."
Yu and the others were not surprised. "Is that a condition?" Feng Jiu asked coldly.
Dai Ao shook his head and looked serious. "If you don't accept, that's fine. I'll take you there right now."
Feng Jiu sneered and was about to walk out when Yan Lie jumped in front of Dai Ao. "Let me do it."
Feng Jiu did not argue. To them, the real battle was the Tournament of the Strongest. The people in front of them were all failures of the Astral Combat Academy and did not have the qualifications to fight with them.
"Have mercy," Yu said calmly.
Many students had gathered nearby and were looking on excitedly. They wanted to know the strength of the Spiritual Academy's Academy Master and why he dared to say that he could rival the Astral Combat Academy.
Yan Lie was petite and only slightly larger than Hua Yishou. He did not seem to be a threat, but when Dai Ao faced him directly, a chill ran through his entire body. He felt as if he could be turned into nothingness.
The air around them was scorching hot. Dai Ao's expression turned serious as he relaxed his fists and opened them up into palms. He then charged towards Yan Lie and struck out with a palm. "Starburst Palm."
Yan Lie's eyes were filled with disdain as he lashed out with his tail. The seemingly weak tail actually possessed an indescribably high temperature and a strange force. This was a battle technique that Yan Lie had used with his tail to directly clash with the Starburst Palm.
With a bang, flames shot up into the sky and burned the void, causing it to crack open. The next moment, the boundless heat almost melted the cracks in the void. Dai Ao was forced back by the heatwave and his right palm was charred black.
He looked at Yan Lie in shock; the heat had almost melted him.
Yan Lie soared into the sky and looked down at Dai Ao. "Human, you're not my match."
Outside the arena, many of the Astral-7 students were shocked. Dai Ao's strength was obvious to all, and he was comparable to an Area Master. His performance during the Astral Combat Tournament had been dazzling, and his Starburst Palm was one of Astral-7's ultimate techniques.
Dai Ao looked up and took a deep breath. "Gravity." With a whoosh, a black color spread across the ground as an enormous gravity descended without warning. Yan Lie had been flying in the air, but he was suddenly suppressed by the mysterious gravity and crashed to the ground. Dai Ao then raised both his palms. "Gravity — Starburst Palm."
Boom!
The grass cracked open as a huge crater spread out in all directions. The shockwave swept up through the cracks in the ground, causing dust to scatter everywhere. The air in the arena distorted, making it impossible to see clearly.
Many students were forced back by the aftershocks, their chests stifled.
Everyone stared at the arena. This was Dai Ao's strongest attack, so the battle should be over soon.
Feng Jiu looked at Dai Ao in astonishment. "He actually has an innate gift of gravity. Not bad."
Tian Hou stood silently to the side.
In the arena, Dai Ao stood outside the crater, panting heavily. He had unleashed all of his power with that palm strike, but he still felt uneasy.
Suddenly, Dai Ao's chest tightened, and he subconsciously retreated. The spot where he had been standing had been burned to nothingness by a flame.
His scalp went numb; he had almost died if he had been just a little bit slower.
The flame transformed into Yan Lie, and his small eyes angrily glared at Dai Ao. "Human, you've angered me. I'll burn you to death." He then raised his tail high, and countless flames swept towards Dai Ao. The high temperature formed a cage that sealed off the area. Even with Dai Ao's power level, he couldn't escape. He could only watch as the flames burned towards him.
Tian Hou looked up as if he wanted to stop Yan Lie, but then he suddenly looked to the other side. At the same time, Feng Jiu and Hua Yishou also looked to the other side. A beam of sword qi streaked across the void and slashed towards the arena. Its target was not Yan Lie, but Dai Ao.
The sword qi had appeared so suddenly that even Yan Lie couldn't react in time. Not only was the timing coincidental, but it had also cut through the high temperature cage that had sealed Dai Ao, allowing him to escape at the last moment and avoid being burned to ashes by the flames.
"Who is it? Come out!" Yan Lie was furious as he glared to the other side.
Dai Ao panted heavily as he looked at Yan Lie with lingering fear. He then looked to the other side as well. There was only one person who was qualified to intervene at a time like this, and that was Astral-7's leader, Liu Xiaoyun.
Not too far away, Liu Xiaoyun slowly walked over with a longsword in hand. Her entire body was filled with a powerful star energy sword qi that swept out through the fluctuations of her domain. Feng Jiu and the others were shocked; what a powerful woman.
Yan Lie stared at Liu Xiaoyun cautiously, as he could also sense how powerful she was. Those fluctuations were undoubtedly a domain, and this woman was much stronger than this gravity guy.
Dai Ao looked at Liu Xiaoyun. "Thank you."
Liu Xiaoyun glanced at him. "Take the students and leave. They're guests from afar, so don't be rude."
Dai Ao nodded and left.
After that, the students helplessly dispersed. Liu Xiaoyun's words were orders in Astral-7, and she was the leader.
"Woman, are you going to fight me next?" Yan Lie asked as he stared at Liu Xiaoyun.
Liu Xiaoyun frowned. "Sorry, we were rude. I'll take everyone to the trial zone mountain to enter the Lifeseek Realm."
"There's no rush. You just slashed me once, and you want to leave just like that?" Yan Lie said unhappily.
Tian Hou did not stop him, as Liu Xiaoyun had piqued his interest. This human woman was the strongest Limiteer he had ever met.
"What do you want?" Liu Xiaoyun's tone was cold.
Yan Lie raised his head. "Either we fight, or you take one of my attacks."
Liu Xiaoyun glanced at Tian Hou and the others before finally looking at Yan Lie. "Fine."
"Straightforward. Let me warn you first — you humans can't withstand my flames. Whether it's for defense or offense, you can do whatever you want," Yan Lie said arrogantly as he soared into the air.
Liu Xiaoyun had never underestimated Yan Lie and the others, as she had been to the warfront and had seen many powerful astral beasts. These astral beasts had extraordinary innate gifts that were not inferior to humans. She had also heard of the Spiritual Academy's name many times, and facing the Academy Head was equivalent to facing the Astral Combat Academy's student leaders.
The stifling atmosphere suppressed the entire grassland. Further away, many students who had yet to leave stared at the battlefield. Dai Ao was there as well, as he had never underestimated Yan Lie, but he had still been easily defeated. He wanted to know the difference between them.
It was unknown when, but sparks appeared in the air. Then, the sparks spread out, and the high temperature spread. Many people raised their heads to look at the sky, and their eyes were filled with shock. The sky was distorted.