The pavilion’s ninety-ninth level and roof were only separated by a thin screen. Although this screen seemed fragile, no one else aside from the First Nightking had ever managed to move past the screen in all of history. This screen had stopped any and all attempts to reach the summit.

Nightking Zhenwu made no move to stop Lu Yin as he approached the screen.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, and he raised a hand to touch the screen.

RIght when he made contact with the screen, Nightking Zhenwu arrived next to him, and the Nightking also tried to pass through the screen.

Thus, the two youths touched the screen at the same moment.

This single layer of screen felt like an endless amount of spiritual force had been compressed into a storm of sharp knives that whirled about, attempting to slice Lu Yin’s body apart. The sheer power of this spiritual force could fry his brain like lightning.

Lu Yin groaned, and blood leaked from his ears as his eyes went slack. He was unable to endure this spiritual force. This was the power that had stopped countless geniuses from the Daynight clan, and it had also stopped Nightking Zhenwu during his last attempt to pass through the screen.

Although Lu Yin’s spiritual force was incredible, he was only able to rival the Ten Arbiters’ spiritual force, and he was significantly lacking when compared to Nightking Zhenwu in this area, as the Nightking’s spiritual force was exceptionally gifted. There was no need to even mention the past First Nightking, as that man had beaten an entire generation into submission.

Under normal circumstances, there was no way Lu Yin would be able to pass through this screen and climb atop the Night Watch Pagoda.

However, he had his ultimate move for anything related to spiritual force. The first thing that Lu Yin would consider in these situations was the Stonewall Scriptures. No matter what, reciting them would usually resolve the issue.

Half of Nightking Zhenwu’s body had already passed through the screen, though he was similarly bleeding from his ears. However, he remained very steady as he slowly advanced forward.

He knew that the First Nightking had been extremely powerful and that he had raised the entire Daynight clan up to become a powerful organization. Still, Nightking Zhenwu was not weak himself either. Each and every one of the Ten Arbiters was a monster, and young powerhouses like them had not appeared in any other era. Thus, Nightking Zhenwu did not believe that the young First Nightking had surpassed him in the present time.

If the current generation did not have the other nine Arbiters, then he, Nightking Zhenwu, would have completely recreated the First Nightking’s glory and single handedly suppressed this generation.

If the First Nightking had been able to ascend to the top, then he, Nightking Zhenwu, could do so as well. As for Lu Yin, when Zhenwu glanced at him, he felt a bit uneasy in his heart. There was an outsider who actually wanted to ascend to the top of the Night Watch Pagoda. What a joke.

Nightking Zhenwu acknowledged Lu Yin’s strength, but within the Daynight clan, everything was centered around spiritual force. Even when the Ten Arbiters were mentioned, not one person could compare to Nightking Zhenwu in terms of spiritual force—not a single one.

The people who had originally been inside the Night Watch Pagoda had already all moved out, and a group had formed around a hundred meters away to look up at the top of the tower. They all wanted to see the two youths’ attempt to reach the summit.

When they saw that Nightking Zhenwu was steadily climbing to the roof while Lu Yin had paused with blood streaming out of his ears, quite a few began to mock him. “Does he really think that he’s unrivaled just because he defeated the Divine Fist? The Ten Arbiters all have their own specialties, and the Daynight clan is particularly adept at spiritual force. Additionally, ascending the Night Watch Pagoda clearly is related to spiritual force. This Lu Yin actually thinks himself invincible. Today, his failure will teach him a good lesson.”

“He really thinks he can ascend the Night Watch Pagoda, huh? He’s simply asking for death.”

“He’s unlucky this time around. Not only will he fail to ascend the Night Watch Pagoda and become a laughingstock, but he’s even completely offended the Daynight clan by trying. In the future, He’ll only be able to stay in the Outerverse.”

“Even the Outerverse isn’t safe. He seems to think that, by unifying the Outerverse, he’s gained some high and mighty status. However, from the Innerverse’s perspective, the Outerverse is just a pile of resources.”

…

At this moment, not only were those near the Night Watch Pagoda watching the two competing youths, but everyone in Everbright City was also looking. Even the people who the Daynight clan had hired to work at the event, such as the middle-aged cultivator chef or the crowd of women at the city’s entrance.

The Daynight clan had brought the best actress in the Daynight Flowzone over to Everbright City, and she looked towards the Night Watch Pagoda from a flowery field. There was an enchanting smile on her face. “Is that Lu Yin? So that’s what he’s like.”

If Lu Yin was truly unable to proceed any further, then he would become the biggest joke at this Daynight Feast.

However, Lu Yin had made a move, which naturally indicated that he was confident. With the Stonewall Scriptures, he was the Daynight clan’s greatest nemesis.

Nightking Zhenwu continued to move up, and although his actions were slow, his progress was very steady. He was already almost half a body’s height above Lu Yin, and when he looked down, his eyes radiated an arrogance, a calmness, confidence, and also contempt.

At that moment, Lu Yin suddenly looked up at the Nightking. A gentle smile appeared on Lu Yin’s face as he stepped forward and rose to the Nightking’s level.

Nightking Zhenwu was not even able to react, and he simply stared blankly at Lu Yin. Only a moment had passed, but in that short amount of time, Zhenwu had gone from looking down at Lu Yin to looking him in the eye.

No one else had any chance to react either, as Lu Yin had caught up to Nightking Zhenwu in a single instant.

Before anyone could even process what had just happened, Lu Yin took another step, rising half a body height higher than the Nightking. At that moment, everyone was stunned, and they all stared on in stupefaction.

Nightking Zhenwu was similarly stunned. Throughout all of the decades that he had cultivated for, he had never encountered a situation like the current one.

At his level, it should be impossible for a powerhouse at the same realm as him to easily surpass him in one move, but that was precisely what had just happened. This turn of events had caught him unprepared, and the Nightking did not even know how to react.

Lu Yin’s lips carried a faint smile, and he looked down at Nightking Zhenwu with evident disdain, arrogance, and contempt.

Nightking Zhenwu’s pupils shrank, and an indescribable rage flared within his heart.

On the ground below, quite a few people from the Daynight clan snarled, “Lu Yin, get down!”

“Lu Yin, how bold! Beat it!”

“Lu Yin, my Daynight clan will definitely kill everyone related to you!”

“You cannot ascend! Lu Yin, get down now!”

…

No matter how people raged and shouted at him, no matter what threats he heard, Lu Yin had already surpassed Nightking Zhenwu. Right now, he was only a single step away from reaching the top of the Night Watch Pagoda.

At another place on Nightking Planet, someone opened their eyes, and a dignified gaze transcended the planet as they focused on the top of the Night Watch Pagoda and upon Lu Yin.

A formless oppression passed through the void to fall upon the tower, causing the void to destabilize.

Lu Yin looked up to the east. “The Daynight Feast is about to start. Does Senior want to play with us?”

Below the tower, the crowd turned to face east. Senior?

The crowd was not made up of fools, and Lu Yin’s words contained a very clear meaning: some senior from the Nightking clan had interfered and was trying to stop Lu Yin from ascending the Night Watch Pagoda.

In the eastern part of Nightking Planet, a certain elder’s expression grew cold, but he obediently removed his oppressive force.

The Daynight Feast had been organized purely for the younger generation, and it was for the Daynight clan members to build up relationships with other experts. If the elder intervened and word of it spread, then the Daynight Feast’s reputation would be ruined to the equivalent level of Lu Yin ascending the Night Watch Pagoda.

At this moment, the old man could only hope for Nightking Zhenwu to muster up some unknown strength and surpass Lu Yin to ascend the Night Watch Pagoda first. That way, even if Lu Yin ultimately stepped on top of the Night Watch Pagoda, the Daynight clan would still be able to retain some face.

As for Lu Yin, he could not be allowed to leave the planet alive.

Nightking Zhenwu’s face flushed red, and he surged forward to the same height as Lu Yin. The gaze that he shot at Lu Yin belied his malevolence and bloodlust.

Lu Yin took a deep breath and then leaped up. Under everyone’s shocked stares, he had suddenly reached the top of the Night Watch Pagoda. One person towered above everyone at the peak of the Night Watch Pagoda. As Lu Yin looked down, he was overlooking Everbright City, Evernight City, and even overlooking Nightking Planet itself. He was looking down upon Nightking Zhenwu and every other member of the Nightking bloodline who was on Nightking Planet.

At that moment, everyone felt their minds go fuzzy; they had just witnessed history.

In the past, the First Nightking had similarly stood atop the Night Watch Pagoda, superior to every other young elite of his generation, looking down upon everything as though it was all beneath him. That story was humiliating for the various great powers of the Innerverse, as their elders who had been in the same generation as the First Nightking had merely been stepping stones. Now that Lu Yin had ascended the Night Watch Pagoda, all of the youths currently present had similarly become his stepping stones, and this would be recorded down in history.

The most shameful detail of this feat was actually Nightking Zhenwu. He had been surpassed by Lu Yin, who was an outsider, when it came to climbing the Night Watch Pagoda. He was being looked down upon, and Lu Yin had placed himself above the entire Nightking bloodline.

Nightking Planet rumbled, as if the planet itself felt ashamed.

A powerhouse from the older generation who was hidden on Nightking Planet grew furious.

The members of the Daynight clan who had been standing beneath the Night Watch Pagoda trembled with rage, and some of them even spat out blood.

Nightking Zhenwu’s lips were bleeding, as he had bitten them open. His fresh blood dripped down onto the Night Watch Pagoda’s ninety ninth level, leaving behind a record of his humiliation.

“So this is what that First Nightking once saw,” Lu Yin mumbled to himself. He had actually completely forgotten about Nightking Zhenwu, and he had pushed everything else to the back of mind so that he could fully focus on the view. The only thing currently on his mind was Nightking Planet’s landscape. Lu Yin could truly be described as standing on top of Nightking Planet at this moment; Evernight City looked no bigger than his palm whereas Everbright City was merely a fingernail.

Lu Yin’s heart grew lighter, and he experienced an unprecedented sense of freedom. This feeling of standing above everything else had lightened his heart, and subconsciously, his battle force appeared around him. His nine lined battle force had originally looked like purple-red lines streaked through with red veins, however, this current rush of emotions had actually caused the red lines to take on a golden hue.

It was a rather unremarkable gold, and not even Lu Yin had sensed these changes.

This slight gold color started to gradually spread out, and it seemed as though it would soon overtake the red lines. However, at that exact moment, Nightking Zhenwu leaped up and also stepped atop the Night Watch Pagoda.

Lu Yin’s originally soaring emotions and thoughts were disrupted, and the bit of gold suddenly disappeared as if it had never even existed.

Nightking Zhenwu silently stood next to Lu Yin. The Nightking’s expression was already completely calm in contrast to his former rage, and he behaved as if Lu Yin did not even exist.

Lu Yin was astonished by Nightking Zhenwu's accomplishment. “Congratulations, you’ve become the second person from the Daynight clan to reach the top of the Night Watch Pagoda.”

Nightking Zhenwu looked over at Lu Yin, his expression still calm. Suddenly, he revealed a slight smile, though it was piercingly cold. “I must congratulate you as well. You’ve become the first outsider to ever reach the peak of the Night Watch Pagoda.”

Lu Yin and Nightking Zhenwu exchanged glances.

Down below, quite a few people from the Daynight clan started shouting, begging Nightking Zhenwu to kill Lu Yin.

The Daynight clan had always been tyrannical. They had not scrambled to look for their missing stone of inheritance, as they were fully confident that no one in the universe would dare to covet their possessions. Such an overbearing clan had been humiliated by Lu Yin on this day; how could they possibly accept such an outcome?

Nightking Zhenwu calmly looked down. “Everyone, the goal of this Daynight Feast is to allow the universe’s youths to interact with each other and make friends. My Daynight clan has organized the Daynight Feast, and whoever has the ability can show it off. Brother Lu has become the first person outside of our Daynight clan to ascend the Night Watch Pagoda, so I must congratulate him.”

The people of the Daynight clan all glared at Lu Yin with naked bloodlust in their eyes.

No matter how everyone else saw Lu Yin, at this moment, there was only respect to be seen when the other cultivators looked at him.

Qing Longlong and the others also looked at Lu Yin with renewed respect. The closer they had gotten to the top, the better they could understand how difficult it was to take that last step. Lu Yin had actually reached the top of the Night Watch Pagoda one step ahead of Nightking Zhenwu. Not only had this humiliated the Daynight clan, but Lu Yin had also amply demonstrated his own power.

Ling Que laughed. Although he did not like seeing Lu Yin hog the limelight, it felt very good to see Nightking Zhenwu’s expression at this moment. He clearly could have ascended to the top of the tower earlier, but he had actually decided to wait for the Daynight Feast so that he could step over everyone. Despite the Nightking’s plans, Lu Yin had been one step faster. How tragic.

Ling Que suddenly remembered that Ling Gong had not come; could she have stayed behind because of this? After all, appearing here meant being stepped on by Nightking Zhenwu. Instead, by not appearing, Nightking Zhenwu’s ascension of the Night Watch Pagoda would have nothing to do with her.

Sure enough, each of the Ten Arbiters was a true prodigy.