Dozens of explosions rung out from deep underground, causing many faces to change. Lu Yin’s right hand used the Cosmic Art to forcibly stop Tian Hou’s vortex from spinning as his own body endured the backlash from the extreme attack. He was sent hurtling underground along with Tian Hou even as an enormous spatial crack descended upon both of them.

The battlefield returned to calmness as smoke pervaded the air.

Everyone was stunned; who had won?

Regardless of whether it was the Astral Combat Tournament or this Tournament of the Strongest, this was a top-notch battle. Even Explorers might not have been able to receive Lu Yin’s double-handed strike.

High above the battlefield in the sky, Lilac Snow casually waved a hand to disperse the dust; she wanted to know the results as well.

When the air was cleared, a figure gripping his knees with both hands and wheezing desperately was revealed. He then raised his head; it was Lu Yin.

Everyone looked around, but Tian Hou had vanished.

“The Tournament of the Strongest’s final round. Victor: Lu Yin.”

The Astral Combat Academy mentor announced the results, and they astounded everyone.

Everyone was momentarily dazed, and then many students started to cheer. Lu Yin had won, which represented victory for the Human Domain.

Wu Da hollered excitedly.

All of the students from Astral-10 were moved. Big Pao, Little Pao, Coco, and the rest were all cheering wildly.

Starsibyl gazed at Lu Yin with gleaming eyes; her divination had been correct. No one had even considered the fact that Lu Yin might win before the start of the Tournament of the Strongest. Even right before the final match was held, his given chances of winning were worse than one in a hundred. However, Lu Yin had won, which meant that Starsibyl’s divination had been successful. Now, she knew which path to take in the future.

Everyone on Zenyu Star was cheering as well, and even those regular citizens who could not understand the battle could tell how challenging it had been. Even Huo Qingshan and the other Hunters had been stirred by this match.

Xueshan Auna also looked at the youth on his screen who was having trouble standing up. He then looked at his gadget and his gaze gradually grew firm. It seemed as though he had resolved himself to a decision.

In the Cosmic Sea, on a warship that released such a tremendous aura that even the great sea was forced to acknowledge its allegiance, a thunderous laugh was heard. It made the Cosmic Sea flare up, and multiple powerhouses flew away in their individual spacecraft to rise high into the sky. “Captain’s lost control! Hurry and run!”

“The kid won and captain’s too happy. Let him laugh for a while.”

“Captain hasn’t laughed in a long time, not since she left.”

“Shh, don’t mention that! Let captain be happy for a bit.”

…

Within the warship, there were a pair of giant eyes that were filled with delight and excitement. The laughter continued on for quite a while. Then, a giant blade slammed heavily against the hull, causing formless ripples to spread out and the sea to become peaceful again. “All of you, get back here now.”

“Yes, captain!” they all replied.

…

Atop Astral-10’s trial zone mountain, Lu Yin opened his eyes and let out a relaxed breath as he unwound; he had finally won. This battle had been no walk in the park.

“Seventh Bro, you deserve my worship! You’re too powerful! You actually beat a Cosmic Hou by yourself!” The Ghost Monkey was exuberant.

Lu Yin grimaced. Actually, the top four finalists in the Tournament of the Strongest were all of roughly equal strength. He had to rely on the Cosmic Art to triumph over Tian Hou, or else he would have stood no chance at all. If his opponent had been Starsibyl, he might not have won either. It could only be said that Tian Hou had helped Lu Yin by removing his worst match-up, though he had coincidentally ended up becoming Lu Yin’s opponent.

Even so, the degree of difficulty of the last battle had exceeded Lu Yin’s imagination. He had thought that the strengthening fruit would allow his physique to become unparalleled, but that line of thinking had been too simplistic.

However, there was still some lingering pain from the fruit. Fortunately, he had strengthened his body again, or else he really would not have been able to endure Tian Hou’s attacks. As it was, he had only barely outlasted Tian Hou.

“Seventh Bro, how did you manage to attack Tian Hou’s body? His vortex should push his endurance to terrifying levels, and logically, you shouldn’t be able to overcome it,” the monkey asked curiously.

Lu Yin did not bother responding since the other Astral-10 students around him had all opened their eyes.

“Brother Lu, you’re too awesome!” Coco was the first to run over and congratulate him.

“Junior, congratulations. You’ve become really famous throughout the universe, and not just within the Human Domain,” Little Pao said with a smile.

The others congratulated him in turns.

Lu Yin smiled. “Luck, it was just luck.”

“Luck can’t beat Tian Hou,” Xia Luo gently refuted.

Lulu grimaced. “Our disparity is growing bigger. It’s annoying. No, I have to return home. I have to train.”

Meng Yue nodded approvingly. He was also going to return to Vastdearth Sect to see if there was some way for him to improve his strength.

Michelle gazed at Lu Yin with a complicated expression. When she had first arrived at Astral-10, she had planned on nitpicking at things until she was able to crack down on the academy with the regulations on her side. Yet, as time passed, she had begun to acknowledge Astral-10 in her heart, especially since someone so powerful had emerged right besides her. This person was truly a Ten Arbiters’ candidate at this moment.

The others offered their congratulations and left, as they could tell that Lu Yin was exhausted.

Schutz walked up to Lu Yin. “How’s the Great Yu Empire doing?”

“It’s alright, but you should return to take a look and help me reorganize the Yu Academy.”

Schutz considered the idea and then nodded. “Alright.”

Schutz was a top expert of the Great Yu Empire’s current younger generation. After spending this period of time in the Astral Combat Academy, his power could no longer be measured by the Outerverse’s standards. Even in the Astral Combat Academy, he was above average and could be considered to be at the standard of the Innerverse’s younger generation’s elite. He was much stronger than those from the same generation in the Great Yu Empire. With his current power, he could defeat Gerbach in just two strikes.

As he watched Schutz leave, Lu Yin suddenly wondered if he should bring the Great Yu Empire’s young elites to Astral-10. He should think of a way to do so.

There were two other figures on the trial zone mountain who had not left yet. One was Darkvoid, and the other was Hui Daynight.

Of Astral-10’s students, Darkvoid was reclusive, Michelle proud, Zhao Yilong apathetic, and then there was Hui Daynight. Lu Yin did not know how to deal with this person; although he had been arrogant from the very beginning, he had never shown Lu Yin any ill will. Hui Daynight tended to be provocative, but he had also been smashed rather miserably by Lu Yin.

When Nightqueen Yanqing had appealed for the Daynight clan experts to deal with Lu Yin, Hui Daynight had not made an appearance. Now, Hui Daynight had no support from either side; the Daynight clan did not accept him, and neither could he get along with those from Astral-10. Hence, he could not mingle with either group.

Lu Yin was looking at Hui Daynight when he suddenly opened his eyes and looked back at Lu Yin. He stood up to leave the trial zone mountain, not saying a word at all.

Lu Yin suddenly said, “Could you tell me something about the Daynight clan?”

Hui Daynight did not even turn around. “What do you want to know?”

“The Sealed Cage Technique,” Lu Yin said. This term made Hui Daynight’s face change dramatically, and he whirled around to face Lu Yin with a stunned expression. “How do you know about that?”

Lu Yin squinted. How did he know? He had heard a dazed Zhuo Daynight mention the term a few times, but he could tell that it was nothing good. “Could you tell me more about it?”

Hui Daynight’s eyes flickered, and he stared at Lu Yin’s eyes as if trying to discern something. After a brief moment, he shifted his gaze away, and his face regained its indifference. “It’s top secret clan information. It can’t be shared with outsiders.” And with that, he left.

Lu Yin fell deep into thought.

“Seventh Bro, do you want to know about the Sealed Cage Technique?” the monkey tentatively offered.

Lu Yin’s brows jumped up. “You know about it?”

The Ghost Monkey was pleased with itself. “Of course! Many of the ancestors have records about it. After all, the Daynight clan is not a small family, so there are many records related to them.”

“Tell me more.”

The monkey laughed mischievously, “Sure, but you must promise to never screen me off again.”

“I promise,” Lu Yin immediately agreed.

The Ghost Monkey was stumped, and his reply was a bit slow. “What was that? Come again, Seventh Bro?”

“I said that I promise,” Lu Yin said quietly.

The monkey fell silent for a moment before saying, “Seventh Bro, that’s not very sincere. You’ve got to be lying.”

“You don’t trust me?” Lu Yin’s tone took a downturn.

The monkey felt helpless; the script had deviated from its expectations, and Lu Yin’s agreement had been too straightforward. It was something that he simply couldn’t believe. However, since Lu Yin had already agreed, the monkey could only continue, so he dejectedly said, “Alright, I’ll believe you for now.”

He then coughed twice and explained, “The so-called ‘Sealed Cage Technique’ is the method that the Nightking bloodline of the Daynight clan uses to restrain the Dayking bloodline. In ancient times, there were two ‘king’ tribes that ruled over the Daynight clan: the Dayking bloodline and the Nightking bloodline. But for some reason, the Dayking bloodline experts suffered a disaster, and the Nightking bloodline reacted ruthlessly. They created this Sealed Cage Technique to control all of the Dayking bloodline descendants. It’s a malevolent form of control, and it’s said that this technique can even control one’s life and death.

“Every Nightking clan descendant will be given control over a considerable number of Daynight disciples. A more accurate term would be ‘slaves,’ and this is the reason why the Nightking bloodline has always been elevated so highly, because of this Sealed Cage Technique. This is also why the Daynight clan holds itself separate and acts decisively to intimidate the entire universe.”

“Can the Sealed Cage Technique ever be removed?” Lu Yin asked, as he thought of Zhuo Daynight’s pale, helpless face.

“Of course, as there are many benevolent people who have emerged among the Nightking Clan throughout the years who have taken the initiative to remove the Sealed Cage Technique from their slaves, but many people are still controlled. From my perspective, that Hui Daynight is probably a descendant of the Dayking bloodline, and he is most likely being controlled by the Sealed Cage Technique. Otherwise, he definitely would not have rejected that battle between you and Nightqueen Yanqing.”

Lu Yin never expected that the Daynight clan would have such a ruthless method of manipulation. “Is this Sealed Cage Technique a type of battle technique?”

“Don’t worry about that. The Sealed Cage Technique can only affect those with the Dayking bloodline, which is why many people avoid even mentioning the Nightking Clan. In order to gain control of their own clan, they created a special bloodline enslavement technique. It’s rather sinister, but it’s useless against anyone else.”

Lu Yin felt like he had gained a deeper understanding of the Daynight clan, or rather, of the Nightking clan. He truly detested the core nature of this clan.

“Right, what of the Daynight clan itself?” Lu Yin asked curiously.

“I don’t know about that. According to some records, the Daynight clan had two extreme powerhouses: the Dayking and the Nightking. The two of them gave birth to the Dayking bloodline and the Nightking body while the rest should be considered in-between.”

At that moment, Little Pao entered the trial zone mountain again. “Junior, Old Cai is calling for you.”

Lu Yin nodded and immediately left the trial zone mountain.

Not long later, Lu Yin met with Old Cai in the treasury. The treasurer sized him up and down and marvelled, “Kid, you’re not too bad to have reached this step.”

“It’s all thanks to Mentor’s teachings,” Lu Yin flattered.

Old Cai rolled his eyes. “Brown-noser.”

Lu Yin gave a wry smile.

“Alright, there’s a few matters that I want to discuss. First, someone wants to ask about Tian Hou’s abilities. Secondly, it’s about the reward. You’ll receive the rewards of being the champion of both the Astral Combat Tournament and the Tournament of the Strongest.”

Lu Yin’s eyes gleamed. “Rewards? How much money?”

Old Cai was speechless. “Kid, you’re too much of a money-grubber.”

Lu Yin grew embarrassed, but he could not be blamed. His power was directly linked to his wealth. The richer he was, the faster he could improve his strength.

“Let’s talk about that Tian Hou’s abilities first,” Old Cai said solemnly.