"The third round of the drawing of lots will begin in one day," a loud voice said.
Countless students were startled awake and looked at Lu Yin sympathetically before leaving one after another.
Han Chong looked at Lu Yin. "Brother Lu, don't overthink it. Prepare well."
To the side, Grandini Mavis shook her head helplessly. "I feel very lucky. At least I'm not being compared so obviously."
Lu Yin was speechless.
"Seventh Bro, are you confident?
Actually, by relying on the Secret Sidestep technique, you'll be able to face anyone with ease. However, it'll be too difficult for you to win. No one knows the upper limit of Tian Hou's damage tolerance, and that woman called Yun is too strange. Your human Starsibyl seems to be very disgusting. "The monkey was gloating at Lu Yin's misfortune.
Lu Yin exhaled, blocked the monkey, and left the Lifeseek Realm.
Within the trial zone mountain, Lu Yin opened his eyes. The surrounding Astral-10 students did not disturb him, as they wanted to give him some peace and quiet.
Lu Yin walked out of the trial zone mountain and bowed to the Trialmaster before heading to the space station, hoping that Madam Nalan had not left yet.
The Trialmaster watched Lu Yin's departing figure. This kid had done well, but it was a pity that he was still a bit too weak. If he could match the power of the Ten Arbiters back in the Astral Combat Academy, then he would be able to fight against anyone and even completely crush them. Being a Ten Arbiters' candidate was just a compliment, as only those three Limiteers were truly qualified to be Ten Arbiters' candidates.
At Astral-10's space station, the Nalan family's spacecraft had yet to leave.
Lu Yin entered the spacecraft and saw Madam Nalan.
Today, Madam Nalan was wearing an even more alluring set of clothes, which complemented her already enchanting figure. Lu Yin felt a rush of heat, and he felt rather awkward.
"The semifinals are in one day. Why have you come to my place?" She asked curiously as she poured him a drink.
Lu Yin was a bit embarrassed, but when he thought about the three monsters, he still asked, "Madam Nalan, can you lend me some money?"
She was astonished. "Lend me money?"
Lu Yin nodded. "Although I'm embarrassed, I really do need money."
She pursed her lips and smiled. "Sure, how much?"
Lu Yin calculated that he had used up 400,000 star crystals to upgrade the strengthening fruit, so that shouldn't be the limit. If he were to calculate based on a million star crystals, then he probed, "Two million star crystals."
She nodded. "Not much."
His heart skipped a beat. Not much?
His greatest wealth had only been ten star essence, which was equivalent to a million star crystals. Now that he had asked for two million, was that not a lot to Madam Nalan?
She truly deserved to be called the richest widow in the Outerverse.
Not long after, a crystal card from the Mavis Bank was delivered.
Lu Yin quickly asked, "Madam Nalan, do you have the real thing?
I need a physical object. "
Madam Nalan smacked herself on the head and smiled. "It's my fault. You're in urgent need of money, so you'll naturally need something tangible." She then had someone bring out twenty star essence and pass it to him. "I don't have two million star crystals on me, so I can only give you the essence. Will that do?"
Lu Yin nodded. "Thank you, Madam. By the way, how do you calculate the interest?"
"Hehe, Student Lu, is there a need for interest based on our relationship?" Madam Nalan beamed at him.
Feeling awkward, Lu Yin hurriedly got up to leave.
Madam Nalan's lips curled up as she watched him leave. This youth was very interesting. Although two million star crystals wasn't a lot to her, it wasn't something that could be borrowed from just anyone. But to this youth, two million star crystals really wasn't a lot.
It had been a month and a half since he had last rolled the die, which was quite a long time. Lu Yin found a secluded place in hopes of rolling Enhance, but before he started, he placed his cosmic ring aside.
The more time passed, the more likely it was for him to roll a good number. If he rolled Enhance, then his hopes of improving the strengthening fruit would be dashed, as Enhance would instantly deplete all of his star crystals.
He raised his hand and the die spun in his palm. He tapped it, causing it to spin rapidly before finally stopping. In that instant, the scene in front of him changed for a moment before returning to normal.
Lu Yin exhaled. It felt like Enhance. He had known that he would roll Enhance. Fortunately, he had placed his cosmic ring aside, or else all of his star crystals would have been depleted.
Enhance was very useful, but right now, he still wanted to use the strengthening fruit to increase his strength. Enhance was a gamble; he might be able to fuse with a powerhouse and increase his strength, or he might be able to fuse with someone like Wu Xia, but he couldn't afford to gamble.
He used a cube of star crystals to restore the die and tapped it again. At the same time, he retrieved his cosmic ring to prevent himself from rolling Time Stop.
As the die slowly stopped spinning, Lu Yin's breathing quickened as he looked at the number on the screen. He was a little excited; he had rolled Enhance so quickly. Sure enough, the more time passed, the more likely it was for him to roll a good number.
As he watched the two screens rise, Lu Yin took out a strengthening fruit and threw it onto the screen. He then took out a star essence and tossed it onto the screen.
As the strengthening fruit continued to level up, it began to change, just like the previous one.
With the consumption of four star essence, the strengthening fruit's upgrade had slowed down. Although star essence was of a much higher quality than star crystals, they were not the same. Lu Yin had no choice but to take out another star essence to upgrade this strengthening fruit to the same level as the previous one.
Five star essence was equivalent to 500,000 star crystals, which was enough to upgrade one strengthening fruit.
Lu Yin watched as the strengthening fruit distorted the void and vaguely saw the meridians circulating.
Lu Yin thought about it for a moment and then tossed the strengthening fruit back up. He tossed out two more star essence, and the strengthening fruit fell down once more. Unfortunately, only half of the fruit had fallen down. He calculated that he would need another three star essence if he wanted to level up again.
This meant that he would need double the amount of energy he had used to upgrade the fruit.
Lu Yin gritted his teeth and tossed out another three star essence. The strengthening fruit fell to the ground with a thud. This time, the sound of meridians circulating was even louder and clearer, as if it was real. At the same time, the distortion in the void became even more obvious.
Lu Yin had wanted to upgrade it again, but when he saw that he only had ten star essence left in his cosmic ring, he decided against it. It probably wasn't enough, and he would only have more as time passed. This strengthening fruit was even more effective than the previous one, so it should be enough to deal with this tournament.
Lu Yin didn't hesitate and swallowed it.
One day later, in the Lifeseek Realm, all of the students arrived and looked into the distance with excitement. The semifinals were about to begin.
All the contestants from the four corners of the screen had arrived, except for Lu Yin.
"What's going on? Why isn't Lu Yin coming?" Many students were discussing amongst themselves.
"Is he scared?
He's going to face those three freaks. "
"Shh, don't talk nonsense. Those people from Astral-10 are watching you."
…
In the distance, Xia Luo remained calm while Michelle frowned. Lu Yin still hadn't arrived.
"Senior, should we go look for him?" Coco asked.
Little Pao shook his head. "No need."
On the west side of the screen, Yun sneered. Aside from Starsibyl and Tian Hou, she looked down on everyone else. Right, there was also that brat from the Sword Sect. His sword technique wasn't bad, but of course, it was only 'not bad'.
On the east side, Starsibyl remained indifferent.
Grandini Mavis frowned.
On the north side, Liu Shaoqiu's eyes narrowed. Lu Yin's strength was about the same as his, and his chances of winning against the next three were not high. This was especially true for Yun; he still couldn't understand how she had been able to destroy the Fourth Sword.
At that moment, four wooden lots flickered high up in the sky. The lot-drawing was about to begin.
Lu Yin's figure suddenly appeared beside Grandini Mavis, giving her a fright.
"What took you so long?" Grandini cried out.
Lu Yin grinned and tried to move, but his entire body was in extreme pain. He felt rather helpless, as the strengthening fruit's effects were too shocking. He had forcefully endured an entire day of pain, and it was still going on without any signs of slowing down. He couldn't simply eat such a natural treasure in the future.
"I slept late," Lu Yin casually replied.
Grandini rolled her eyes at him. It would be a miracle if she believed him.
Starsibyl sized up Lu Yin, and a strange look flashed through her eyes. This person had changed a little.
Four streams of star energy shot out, and four wooden lots were drawn. The first match was between Lu Yin and Yun.
Lu Yin remained expressionless when he saw that his opponent was Yun, but everyone else's expressions changed.
Was this a predestined showdown?
Many people immediately thought of the battle between Lu Yin and Liu Shaoqiu during the Astral Combat Tournament. That was the battle that had made Lu Yin famous, and now, his opponent was Yun, who had defeated Liu Shaoqiu.
In the north, Liu Shaoqiu's eyes flashed as he stared intently at the arena. He did not think that Lu Yin had a chance in this battle, as Yun was too strange.
Many students were thinking the same thing. Of the final four, the other three had unfathomable levels of power. Only Lu Yin was slightly weaker than them. This was because Grandini Mavis, who also possessed five-lined battle force, had been defeated. Furthermore, she had been defeated after using Seventeen Stacks. If they remembered correctly, Lu Yin had only used Nine Stacks to defeat Nightqueen Yanqing.
In the distance, Nightqueen Yanqing sneered. Lu Yin was definitely going to lose, and she hoped that Yun would be able to make him taste the taste of humiliation.
On the other side of the arena, the student leaders all had solemn expressions. At this point in the battle, a clear boundary had been drawn. The three Limiteers were the top Limiteers of the younger generation, and they could be considered absolute experts even when compared to Explorers. Lu Yin was slightly weaker.
Even further away, the veiled woman stared at Lu Yin. She was the one who had instantly defeated Silus.
"These two are fighting, which means that Tian Hou's opponent is the human Starsibyl," Feng Jiu said.
Tian Hou growled, "I've been waiting for a long time."
Feng Jiu looked at Lu Yin and then at Starsibyl. She was thinking about who would win in the end, but she could not come to a conclusion. However, Lu Yin would definitely be the first to be defeated.
In the arena, Lu Yin was still in pain when he walked, as he had not recovered from the pain from the strengthening fruit. He did not know if it would affect the competition, but he hoped that it would not.
Across from him, Yun had already appeared. She still had the same contemptuous gaze as before, and she did not put Lu Yin in her eyes at all. The entire arena was filled with ridicule.
With the appearance of these two, the battle could begin.