When faced with two difficult choices, it was absolutely necessary to make a decision. For certain groups, between the Lockbreaker Society, the Ten Arbiters Council, and the Great Yu Empire, the empire posed a more immediate threat to them. They might be condemned to death the moment Lu Yin died, but they would at least be able to enjoy themselves for a period of time.

When it came down to it, an ignorant person was not afraid of a tyrant because the concept was too far removed from their understanding of the world. Simply put, they would not be able to understand the significance of the threat.

In the distant Astral Beast Domain, there was a huge place called the Celestial Beast Empire, within which was an academy called the Spiritual Academy that had been formed in imitation of the Astral Combat Academy. The strongest members of the Astral Beast Domain’s younger generation were all gathered in this academy, where they learned and imitated the behavior of humans.

The Spiritual Academy ranked their students from weakest to strongest by the number of territories that the students controlled, which had led to the rise of the five lords of the academy.

Deep underground, quite a few pieces of polarium fell to the ground. This was a material that was often used to create cosmic armor that could resist corrosion from the various energies of the universe. It was incredibly durable, and some high-grade polarium armors could even block attacks from Explorers. However, the polarium that had been scattered to the ground had numerous small, teeth-like incisions in it, as if it had been bitten by something.

“Make preparations to leave, Hua Yi. We are heading to the Human Domain,” a deep voice sounded out within the underground space.

A pair of small, green eyes revealed themselves, releasing rays of demonic green light. From the meager light, one could see that the creature had an appearance similar to a mouse’s. “The Human Domain? What for? An invasion?”

“You don’t need to know the reason. You only have one mission; to defeat the most powerful students in the human’s Astral Combat Academy and spread your name through the Human Domain.”

The green eyes of the mouse lit up in interest, and it grabbed a piece of polarium with its teeth before casually gobbling it up like it was enjoying a fine dessert. “Hehe, how interesting! I’ll eat all of those powerhouses from the Astral Combat Academy. Hehehe.”

Elsewhere, far away from the dark underground cave, there was a group of volcanoes where countless flame beasts gathered. Hot lava would spew forth every once in a while, distorting the very air.

In the very middle of the volcanic region, under a massive, dark red volcano, a gigantic fiery, weasel-like creature was deep in sleep, evenly breathing in and out even as it occasionally swallowed or spat out bits of magma. Each time he exhaled, he would let out a cloud of burning hot air.

Additionally, every time the fire cat spewed out magma, the surrounding temperatures would increase. Quite a few fire beasts were not able to tolerate the intense heat and were thus forced to move further and further away from the central volcano. It was only when the fire weasel awakened that the temperature would decrease once again.

“Ember! Mane!” A deep voice rang out from above the volcanoes. The void suddenly distorted, shattering the heat bubble and instantly lowering the temperature.

At the base of the volcano, the fire weasel sleepily blinked as it woke up, revealing dark red eyes. They contained a strange flame within them that could somehow burn the magma into nothingness. “What is it?”

“Make preparations. We’re departing for the Human Domain.”

The fire weasel stood up and looked at the sky. Its name was Embermane, and it was a Karmic Flame Sable as well as one of the five lords of the Spiritual Academy. “Can you guarantee my safety?”

“Don’t worry—although the humans aren’t trustworthy, they won’t dare to attack you out in the open. Your safety is guaranteed.”

Embermane thought it over. “I would like to meet the disciples of the human’s Blaze Realm and discover the true might of their Karmic Flame Sword.”

“No, we won’t have time for that. However, I can gift you the Blaze Realm once we conquer the Human Domain.”

Embermane nodded. “Fine then, it’s a deal.”

Fire and ice were naturally extreme opposites. If there was light, then there was darkness, and if there was fire, then there was ice. A long distance from the chain of volcanoes, there was an icy region where everything froze over from the violent chilling winds. Even the wind turned to ice and fell to the ground at a rate visible to the naked eye. No living beings could survive here. At the very least, no creatures from the Spiritual Academy dared to live here.

But in this extremely icy region, there was a beautiful ice phoenix that was seemingly frozen, almost as if it were a statue. Strangely enough, the phoenix had sparkling antlers that emanated three different-colored rays of light, giving it a very mysterious look.

“Wake up, Feng Jiu!” The deep voice resounded throughout the icy continent, but compared to the tone used in the other areas, it sounded a bit gentler.

Beneath the ice, the ice phoenix opened its beautiful eyes, and with a flash, its body transformed into a beautiful girl with long, blue hair. She still had a pair of sparkling antlers atop her head that emanated tri-colored rays that enveloped her body, giving her a sacred aura. “Did something happen?”

“Make preparations. We’re going to the Human Domain. I’ve already informed your family.”

The blue-haired girl was surprised, and her eyes revealed her delight. “We’re going to the Human Domain? Really? Why?”

“Our Astral Beast Domain and the Technocracy are banding together to hold a competition with the Human Domain to assess them. We’re focusing on the younger generation. Four lords of the Spiritual Academy will gather at the human’s Astral Combat Academy and fight the final four members of their Astral Combat Tournament. The Technocracy will also send four individuals to participate in this event.”

“That’s great! I’ve been very curious about how powerful the Astral Combat Academy truly is! There’s that mysterious Starsibyl, who seems weak but is actually a cultured, arrogant person, the powerful Mavis family, and also that person with battle force who managed to defeat the inheritor of the Thirteen Swords. I really want to fight them all, so this is great!” The blue-haired girl was elated.

“Don’t underestimate the humans. You have to be careful of everyone, especially that Starsibyl. Even the humans don’t know much about her due to her being shrouded in mystery.”

The blue-haired girl nodded politely. “I got it, thank you for the reminder. By the way, there’s five lords of the academy, no? So who’s not going?”

“The Ghost Monkey has gone missing, but that’s not a problem. He was the weakest of the five of us anyways, so it doesn’t matter if he’s here or not.”

The girl was shocked. “He’s missing? When did that happen?”

“It took place some time ago at the border warfront. He’s probably dead since he ran into Lu Yin, who also defeated the inheritor of the Thirteen Swords. That monkey’s definitely not a match for that human, and it would make sense if he died.”

The blue-haired girl pursed her lips as her eyes glinted coldly. Lu Yin. She would remember this name.

“Were you close to the Ghost Monkey, Feng Jiu? You seem upset.”

She hesitated. “If it’s possible, it’d be for the best if we found him. He’s very well educated and has acquired a lot of arcane knowledge that most have no idea even exist. He’s also not that weak and has a unique innate gift.”

“Haha, you’re still as kind as ever. I understand.”

“Thank you.”

A great distance away from the Spiritual Academy was a territory called the Heavenly Fiend Empire. There was a place there known as the Skymender Gates where a tutor by the name of Skymender taught his disciples. One of those disciples was called Tian Hou. It had been birthed in a strange manner and a wondrous innate gift. It also studied at the Spiritual Academy and was also one of the five academy lords; the strongest one to be exact.

“Make preparations to enter the Human Domain and challenge the top four from the Astral Combat Tournament, Sky.”

“Yes, Master.”

“While some of the strongest young humans are gathered at the Astral Combat Academy, not all of them are there. Aside from Starsibyl, nobody should be able to force you to go all out. However, I have calculated your chances and found that there might be variables in your battles. I hereby give you permission to go all out as you deem necessary.”

“Yes, Master.” It seemed much more excited than before, for it had been restraining itself for a long time. There was nobody in the Spiritual Academy who was strong enough to handle its full strength. It hoped that the humans would not be too disappointing, and it was rather excited to discover the “variables” that its master had spoken of.

While the giant Astral Beast Domain was making preparations to send out the four strongest members of their younger generation, similar events were taking place in the Technocracy. Both sides were sending out four members of their younger generation to participate in the assessment battle of the Human Domain.

At this time, Lu Yin still had not received word about the upcoming battle yet. He had no idea it was nearly time for the final four to fight. The Daynight clan had exerted their influence on the Astral Combat Academy after the last round of elimination matches in the tournament to forcefully send the final four competitors to the Outerverse to participate in a trial. This had been done in hopes that Zhanlong Daynight would be able to reverse the humiliation that Nightqueen Yanqing had brought to the clan. Unfortunately, Zhanlong Daynight had also been defeated by Lu Yin, and their efforts had been rendered for naught. The final four’s true opponents were young experts from the other two domains.

It had been two days since Lu Yin had left the Great Yu Empire. By now, he was far, far away from the Frostwave Weave.

Lu Yin was quietly reciting the Stonewall Scriptures and studying an astral chart at the same time. His gadget quietly beeped, and he looked down to check the notification. His eyes lit up in excitement when he saw that it was an unfamiliar number—it must be someone from home!

Without a second thought, he answered right away and was greeted simply. “Seven.”

Lu Yin was delighted. “Uncle Reuben!”

“Congratulations on joining the Outerverse Youth Council and also becoming the Royal Regent of the Great Yu Empire,” a hoarse voice replied. There seemed to be background sounds of energy waves coming and going on the other side of the call.

Lu Yin was very excited. “Do all of you already know about this?”

“Of course, everyone at home knows about every single thing that you do. Did you think that we had forgotten about you?”

Lu Yin felt a warmth blossom in his heart. After losing his memories, he had awoken to the sight of these people. While he called them his family, he knew that there was no blood connection between them. The time that he spent with them was not as long as the time that he had spent on Earth, but they were still the most important people to him.

“Are things going well at home, Uncle? And is Big Sis… is she still smoking?” Lu Yin asked apprehensively.

There was a moment of silence from the other end. “She heard you, Seven.”

Lu Yin was speechless. “You didn’t even tell me she’s next to you, Uncle! I want to talk to her!”

“She can’t talk to you. You know why.”

Lu Yin could only respond, “Fine. In that case, I’ll just say more terrible things about her. It’s not like she can do anything about it anyways.”

“Hehe, I dare you to keep talking.”

Lu Yin’s heart jolted as the image of a cool girl casually holding a cigarette in her mouth appeared in his mind. He trembled inside. “Uh, um, uncle, I never said anything about her! You’ve got to defend me!”

“Okay, enough of that. It’s already difficult enough for us to contact you. Listen up: there are some things that we need to warn you about.”

Lu Yin froze, knowing they were moving on to serious matters. “Is this about the Great Yu Empire?”

Uncle Reuben replied, “Before we talk about the Great Yu Empire, I need to tell you about something. Have you heard of the Three Dark Hands before?”

Lu Yin raised his eyebrows, and the Ghost Monkey’s adorable little face on his right arm jerked. “The Three Dark Hands? We’ve talked about them before. Seventh Bro, I didn’t know that you had connections like this! If they know about the Three Dark Hands, then this group has to be quite something. Why didn’t you tell me? They-” Before the monkey could finish talking, Lu Yin screened his senses off. He didn’t want the monkey to discover too much about his background.

“What’re the Three Dark Hands?” Lu Yin innocently asked. The Ghost Monkey had only mentioned the Neohuman Alliance before, and he still did not know what the other two were.

“It’s normal for you not to have heard of them before now. There are few even in the Innerverse who’ve heard of them. One is the Neohuman Alliance, which you should already know about. They’re basically enemies of the entire universe. There’s also one called the Court of Seven Names, which is made up of the seven unique surnames. Each surname represents an unimaginably terrifying organisation, and one of them is called ‘Yu.’”