“Who is it?!” Ayker was furious, and he glanced at his gadget to see a combat level of 3,000. This opponent was a peak Sentinel, but that meant nothing; nearly everyone capable of participating in the Astral Combat Academy assessment was at this point; the numbers weren’t all that important. Not too far away, he saw a male with reddish skin charging over, arms sparking to form a flaming spear as they brushed against each other.

“Fireforge scum!” Ayker screamed and engaged in battle, but it took less than half a minute for him to be struck by the spear. His abdomen was charred by the flames.

“This is the price that the Great Yu Empire has to pay for humiliating Young Master Feng,” the man snickered, pulling the spear out and dropping a lifeless body to the ground.

This scene repeated in quite a few places. The people from the Fireforge Planet seemed to know exactly when the Great Yu Empire landed, and anyone that descended during this period of time was considered an enemy. The young person who’d been leading the group looked at the body that was gradually getting colder and spat at him, “Yan Zheng will exact vengeance for his older brother.”

Another crash rang out and sent heat waves his way. Yan Zheng glanced westward and smirked cruelly, flying off in that direction. A pod had formed a conical pit in the ground only moments earlier, and a youth opened the hatch and disembarked. Yan Zheng saw this new target and rubbed his hands together without second thought, thrusting a flaming spear at the young man.

The person in question looked up, his eyes glinting. “Desolate Palm!” His palm turned an earthen color and smashed into the spear, sending shockwaves in all directions as the spear cracked inch by inch. Yan Zheng was shocked and his pupils shrank as he felt a sharp pain in his chest; the youth had sent him flying with one move.

The opponent didn’t even look at the result as he flew off, leaving Yan Zheng to spit out a second mouthful of blood as he crashed into a cliff. He nearly died from that one attack, barely able to speak amid all the coughing, “Who are you?”

“You’re not dead yet?” The youth was surprised, but didn’t stop his departure. “My name is Meng Yue. If you’ve got the skills, you can come look for your vengeance.”

Yan Zheng knelt down in pain. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before two of his subordinates came over. They were astounded, “Young Master, who managed to wound you?”

He did not answer, simply drinking a healing potion. Soon enough, two more arrived and surrounded him. Some time later, he opened his eyes and panted. That attack hadn’t just destroyed his battle technique, but also left him seriously injured. It felt like his life had been sucked out of him. Desolate Palm? Why did that sound familiar?

“Check that pod and see if there’s anything special on it,” he said frailly.

One of his subordinates flew over and returned in an instant, “The word Vastdearth was on its back, Young Master.”

Yan Zheng’s expression quickly changed. The Vastdearth Sect was an immense organization that possessed land quite the distance from the Frostwave Weave. This Desolate Palm that had been able to injure him in one blow, a youth named Men Yue… Right, that was the young lord of the Vastdearth Sect!

It was only now that Yan Zheng knew who he’d been dealing with—the genius of the Vastdearth Sect, a lunatic who had remained a Sentinel for a long time for the sake of fully exploring the realm’s capabilities. That man had once been invited to join the Outerverse Youth Council, but had rejected the position. He was a Sentinel capable of defeating Melders with innate gifts; a pure monster. No wonder he was so powerful.

Yan Zheng sighed. Revenge was impossible when it came to people like this. If he saw Meng Yue again, he was better off avoiding him. He turned to his subordinates, “Where are the other two?”

One of them hesitated and looked grim, “They’re dead.”

“How?!” Yan Zheng was furious.

“One of them was killed by a mutant beast here, and the other died at the hands of a cultivator from the Empire.”

Yan Zheng clenched his fists, “Who was it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before.”

There was nothing Yan Zheng could do in this situation. He’d been too narrow-minded. This was the trial for Astral-10 that had gathered countless geniuses. The Fireforge Planet could do as it liked on the Frostwave Weave, but that did not extend to their neighbors. “Let’s rest a little; we’ll avenge them after we enter the Academy.”

These people heaved a sigh of relief and could not help but celebrate inside. They were afraid of the young master’s quick temper and the trouble that would bring. There were far too many monsters here.

……

Elsewhere, Lu Yin met up with Lulu who’d landed nearby.

“Let’s compete to see who’ll get there first!” Lulu was eager to give this a go.

Lu Yin glanced at his gadget. “Sure. I’m waiting for someone though, so give me a moment.”

She was confused, “Is there someone else coming with us?”

“I’m planning on sending him away,” he said with an icy look in his eyes. Lulu didn’t understand at all, but instead of explaining, he just grinned, “He’s here.”

Not too far away, Ghostfire flew along leisurely. His innate gift was very suited to this environment. All of a sudden, he paused and looked ahead. “It’s you?”

Lu Yin moved forward, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Ghostfire snickered, “Sorry, I just killed a piece of trash that said he was from the Fireforge Planet and was agonizing over where I could find you. I can’t believe you have the guts to appear before me. Are you trying to die?”

Lu Yin clenched his fists, “I’ll settle the score with Bazeer later, but I’ll be collecting some interest from you first.” His figure blinked towards his target in the next moment.

“There’s nothing here that can stop me, you ant! I’ll show you how powerful my flames are!” Ghostfire scorned, black flames burning his body into void. This innate gift shocked Lulu; It was something that could help avoid all physical attacks.

Lu Yin snorted and punched out, day and night intersecting with his blow. The Daynight Clan was one of the most powerful existences in the universe and had passed down powerful battle techniques over generations. Those techniques could crush countless unique innate gifts, and these flames were no different. The Daynight Punch contained both a physical and spiritual component, and it was only facing Ghostfire that Lu Yin understood why. These techniques were conceited beyond belief, with no weaknesses at all. They could be weak, but they would at least be effective.

Ghostfire’s disdain was quickly followed by confusion. He felt his body being torn apart, darkness and light flickering before his eyes like time was passing in an instant. He knew that this was a deception, but was unable to do anything about it. Extreme fatigue ended his flames in a moment, and his body became opaque once more. Lu Yin pressed his palm into the deathly-pale youth’s abdomen, “This is exactly what will happen to Bazeer in the future. Three Stacks Threefold Shockwave Palm.”

Shockwaves rippled through the air as Ghostfire crashed into the ground, forming a huge pit. He coughed out blood, but things weren’t over just yet. A second and third explosion rang out as the pit grew larger, knocking him out instantly. Floating in the skies, Lu Yin gradually reined in the chill in his eyes as he looked down upon the pitiful youth. This really was just interest; Bazeer would end up a hundred times worse.

Meanwhile, Lulu had seen everything from start to finish. It had begun and ended very quickly. She’d first been astonished by Ghostfire’s innate gift, and then shocked by Lu Yin’s Three Stacks Threefold Shockwave Palm, “You’ve improved again. That’s an amazing attack!”

Lu Yin chuckled, “Let’s go. We’ll see who reaches first.”

“Sure,” she sped up.

Meng Yue appeared in the vicinity after the two of them had left, landing to check Ghostfire’s pitiful state. He was astounded, “Three Stacks and the Shockwave Palm? Interesting.”

Meanwhile, on a spacecraft belonging to the Great Yu Empire, Dorren Yushan and the others on board received news about the status of the students taking part in the exam. The Melders’ exam had only just begun, while that for the Sentinels had basically ended, because only a small number of people were left.

“A student has sent word that they’re being pursued by people from the Fireforge Planet,” somebody reported.

Dorren looked grim, “The Fireforge Planet? Seems like they’re planning on waging war on our Great Yu Empire.”

Rocky Auna said, “It shouldn’t come to that. Yan Gang paved the way so that Yan Feng could pursue Princess Wendy; it wouldn’t make sense for them to attack us at such a time. There’s only one possibility, which is that the person attacking doesn’t know the situation and thinks we’ve humiliated Yan Feng by ending the arrangement.”

“Yan Feng has a younger brother called Yan Zheng, who’s a Sentinel. He’s probably the one responsible for this,” the Crown Prince said.

“Shall we talk to the people of the Fireforge Planet?” someone asked.

Dorren answered, “It’s fine, the Fireforge Planet isn’t that powerful. If we can’t get past them, it’ll be impossible for us to enter the Astral Combat Academy.”