Lu Yin's eyes blazed as he looked down at the terrifying number of rune lines hidden beneath the ground. Eh?
What's that?
Suddenly, a pair of eyes opened and looked at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin retreated a few steps, his scalp turning numb. He had just been seen, and the gaze had come from a super powerhouse underground. Could that person be Tian Yanzi?
There was a whoosh as the ground in the distance churned and a fire dragon soared into the sky, roaring as it spat out flames that shook the void.
The two hundred thousand cultivators who had migrated over stared at the fire dragon in shock. Was it a real dragon or a fake?
The heat waves emitted by the Fire Dragon's roar turned into visible red ripples that swept across many cultivators. Then, many of the cultivators' clothes were burned, and among them, most of them were women.
Screams rang out one after another, followed by curses.
Hai Qiqi was protected by Hai Dashao, and she stared at the fire dragon warily.
Lan Baobao was not surprised.
Lu Yin had a strange expression. What was the meaning of this?
The fire dragon raised its head and spat out flames once more, causing the temperature to rise sharply.
"Evil creature, why haven't you retreated yet?!" A stern voice resounded through the skies, dispersing the high temperature.
Many cultivators looked at the fire dragon strangely.
The fire dragon let out a roar. It was clearly mighty, but it also felt wronged.
"Retreat!" Another stern voice rang out.
The fire dragon reluctantly circled around in the sky and then charged back underground.
A middle-aged man in fiery-red robes had appeared in the sky at some point. Even his hair was fiery-red and seemed to be on fire. This person was Tian Yanzi.
"This evil creature is naughty and has frightened everyone," Tian Yanzi said apologetically.
The women whose clothes had been burned were furious, but they did not dare to say anything. This was the Heavenly Fire Dojo, and they were facing the Heavenly Fire Dao Master, who was second only to Dao Master Lan in the Grayweed Continent. No matter how dissatisfied they were, they had to suppress their dissatisfaction.
Dao Master Lan, Dao Master Cang, and the rest flew out and conversed with the Heavenly Fire Dao Master.
The rest of the cultivators were led into the Heavenly Fire Dojo one by one.
Lu Yin frowned and looked at the sky. That gaze had not been from the Heavenly Fire Dao Master, and he felt that something was wrong. There was still a terrifying powerhouse in this dojo.
"Qiqi, where are you going?" Lan Baobao shouted.
In the distance, Hai Dashao, Hai Qiqi, and Elder Tong were all heading in the same direction.
Lu Yin looked over, and a thought flashed through his mind. He knew who that gaze belonged to: the Sea King. There was no mistaking it, as Hai Dashao and the others were heading in the direction that the gaze had come from. Such a terrifying gaze could only belong to the number one expert of the Starfall Sea, the Sea King.
He really couldn't figure out why the Sea King was hiding in the Heavenly Flame Dojo.
"Brother Zhang, do you know where the Sea King is?"
Zhang Dingtian shook his head. "Everyone is looking for the Sea King, but no one has been able to find him. No one knows where he is."
Lu Yin's eyes flashed. Even Zhang Dingtian and the others had been kept in the dark, so only Hai Dashao, Elder Tong, the Sky Fire Dao Master, and the Blue Dao Master knew about this. The Sea King was plotting something, and this ploy was aimed at the Sixth Mainland.
Hope suddenly rose in his heart. Perhaps he was not facing a completely hopeless situation.
"That perverted dragon is really annoying. I remember coming to the Heavenly Flame Dojo with Master more than ten years ago and experiencing the same thing," a woman angrily whispered into his ear.
Beside her, a cultivator smiled bitterly. "That perverted dragon is considered a specialty of the Heavenly Flame Dojo. It was born from underground fire, and the Heavenly Flame Dao Master relied on its strength to protect the dojo."
"That doesn't mean that it can insult us."
"It really isn't. I don't know where that perverted dragon learned it from, but it likes to burn clothes, especially women's clothes. Everyone, please don't take offense. After all, it's a spirit of the Earthly Fire, not a human. It's not, um, perverted," a disciple awkwardly explained.
A sneer sounded from an older cultivator. "Don't bother explaining. That fire dragon isn't the culprit. It's another perverted dragon. Forget it, you won't know even if I told you."
Quite a few people pestered him.
The older cultivator hesitated for a moment before continuing, "A few decades ago, the Heavenly Flames Daoist Master saved a Sylvan Dragon during his travels in the Starfall Sea. He brought it back and allowed the Sylvan Dragon to settle down here. From then on, the Fire Dragon changed. The Fire Dragon used to be very pure, but it became like this because of that scum Sylvan Dragon."
Many of the Heavenly Flame Dojo's disciples were embarrassed, but they could not quibble.
More and more cultivators learned the reason, and they all asked where the sylvan dragon was, wanting to teach it a lesson.
However, when they learned that the dragon had the strength of an Enlighter, they all cowered.
Lu Yin was astonished, as he had not expected that there would be a sylvan dragon here. He had been friends with the dragons for a long time, but they had always been enemies. From Astral-10's entrance exam to the Astral Combat Tournament, he had beaten up quite a few sylvan dragons, so most of them had probably heard of him.
Just as Lu Yin was about to search for the dragon's rune lines, he heard a familiar voice. "Lu Yin, come here."
Lu Yin was startled, as he could tell that it was the Sea King's voice. He had indeed met the Sea King's gaze.
The Sea King was located at the entrance to the Heavenly Flame Dojo's training ground. When Lu Yin arrived, he could vaguely see a fire dragon swimming through the magma in a carefree manner.
Not far from the magma, there were quite a few rune lines in a red tunnel, including Hai Dashao, Hai Qiqi, and Elder Tong's rune lines. There were also Dao Master Lan, Dao Master Cang, the Heavenly Flame Dao Master, and a few others, as well as the Sea King's rune lines.
Lu Yin's figure flashed, and he entered the tunnel under the fire dragon's ferocious gaze. The surrounding temperature was so high that even the void distorted. Even a typical Hunter would not be able to withstand this heat, and Hai Qiqi had probably relied on the Sea King's protection to enter this place.
Lu Yin followed the flow of magma and arrived at a spacious hall. It was empty, and only the Sea King and the others were standing there quietly, as if they were waiting for him.
This was the first time that Lu Yin had seen the Sea King's rune lines. Back at the Sea King's Dome, he had almost been blinded by the rune lines, and he had not dared to look at them.
"Junior Lu Yin greets Senior Sea King," Lu Yin said respectfully.
The Sea King looked at Lu Yin solemnly. "You should not have let Qiqi come to the Starfall Sea."
Lu Yin was unhappy. Why was everyone saying that? Elder Tong, Hai Dashao, Lan Baobao, and now, the Sea King.
However, even though he was unhappy, he did not dare to lose his temper. This was the Sea King, not Hai Dashao.
He had originally thought that the Sea King was at most an Emissary on the same level as the Arrow Mountain Ancestor, but that exchange of glances had made him feel that the Sea King's strength might even surpass Mister Yi's.
This was the true strength of the Starfall Sea's number one person. He was indeed an Emissary, but there was a huge difference in their power levels. 500,000 Emissaries were Emissaries, while 790,000 were Emissaries.
"Father, how can you say that? I already told you that I don't blame him," Hai Qiqi said unhappily as she pestered the Sea King.
The Sea King had not seen his beloved daughter for a long time, and his heart ached. His expression softened. "Alright, I don't blame him."
Hai Qiqi was satisfied, and she glanced at Lu Yin proudly.
Lu Yin was speechless, but he decided that if something like this happened again in the future, he would not be a good person.
"Seventh Bro, your father-in-law's family is bullying you, and even I can't stand it anymore. Don't worry, I'll help you scold them to death!" The monkey laughed.
Lu Yin was helpless, as he had the urge to take out something stinky and smash the Sea King's face.
He looked around, and suddenly, his gaze landed on a youth.
Aside from Hai Dashao and Hai Qiqi, there was only one other youth in the entire cavern. He was standing in a corner with his back against a boiling hot wall, looking at Lu Yin with interest.
This person was handsome and had a smile on his face. He was dressed in the uniform of the Chongshan Training Hall, and there was nothing else about him other than his handsomeness. However, Lu Yin was attracted by his gaze, which was filled with a condescending gaze and boundless self-confidence. There was also an indescribable feeling, like … anticipation?
Or perhaps provocation?
For some reason, Lu Yin immediately knew who this person was. He was one of the Ten Arbiters, the Divine Fist — Lan Si.
In the entire Grayweed Continent, he was the only person in the younger generation who could exchange blows with an Imprinter and escape unscathed.
In the current Innerverse, the highest title was bestowed upon an Arbiter. Someone must have wanted to use the Ten Arbiters' name to attract the younger generation to compete for it. After all, the Ten Arbiters were too famous. However, the Ten Arbiters had not retreated, and even in terms of battle achievements, they were still the Ten Arbiters. Only they could do what others could not.
Lan Si was one of them, and he was the first Arbiter that Lu Yin had come into contact with.
Of the Ten Arbiters, Lan Si was the first to contact Lu Yin, and he had the deepest impression of Lan Si. Their cultivations were also very similar.
Lu Yin's gaze made him forget everything else around him. The Ten Arbiters' influence on the younger generation was too great. If Progenitors were the gods of all cultivation systems, then the Ten Arbiters were the gods of the Innerverse and Outerverse's younger generation. They were legends that could not be surpassed.
Lu Yin had shaken the Innerverse because he had tied Lan Si's record in the Astral Combat Academy. He had also caused a stir in the Level Mountain Dojo because he had surpassed Lan Si's record.
The Ten Arbiters were a benchmark that differentiated innate talent and also differentiated the past from the present. Before the Ten Arbiters, no one had ever reached their level at their age, at least not in historical records.
Lan Si was very interested in Lu Yin, as this person seemed to have come specifically to challenge his record. This was the case in both the Astral Combat Academy and the Level Mountain Dojo. How interesting.
Magma dripped down from above, but Lan Si caught it and waved his hand, causing it to shoot towards Lu Yin.
Everyone saw this, but they did not stop him. Lan Si's influence was not limited to the younger generation; even a powerhouse like the Sea King had to respect him.
The drop of magma seemed ordinary, but the closer it got to Lu Yin, the more oppressive the void became. This feeling shocked many of the Daolords.
Hai Dashao's pupils shrank as he stared at the drop of magma.
Lu Yin's eyes were filled with star energy, and he could see that the drop of magma contained very few rune lines. However, it contained a power that could explode at any moment. This was the path of Overlaying Stacks.
He did not know how many stacks this drop of magma contained, so he could only raise a hand and grab it.
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Fourth Update: Suifeng has done his best. I wish all my brothers a happy new year. Well, to be more specific, make a lot of money. If you're still single, you'll be able to marry the goddess of your heart!
Suifeng would like to thank everyone for their support over the past year. Thank you!
The path of Star Treading is still very long!
Suifeng wants to walk down this path with all my brothers. I won't abandon you, I won't give up!