With a thump, Yao Ji heavily slammed into the earth, but he did not stop there. Instead, he sank dozens of meters into the ground, and from there, he spat out another mouthful of blood. His vision grew hazy, and he could only vaguely hear a few shouts from some nearby disciples.

In front of the promotion drum, Lu Yin patted the dust off of his body. That last Vacuum Palm had been on the same level as Lan Si’s. If Lu Yin took such an attack head on, even he would still have to spit out blood. Yao Ji’s innate gift was likely related to healing, as he seemed to be able to slowly heal his injuries. Since Yao Ji had been able to receive the first Vacuum Palm, Lu yin definitely would not give his opponent any more chances.

Besides, this person clearly had a big ego.

The surrounding Cosmic Sect disciples had all fallen silent as their dumbfounded gaze wavered between the few miserable challengers and Lu Yin. If he had not chosen to be evaluated through the third method, then he definitely would have become a true disciple because he had defeated the fourth true disciple, Yao Ji.

However, there was no limit to the number of true disciples who could challenge the examinee during the third evaluation.

Many of the Cosmic Sect disciples looked at Mu Ziying next, as he was the only one they could rely on here.

These disciples were not the only ones looking at him, as quite a few of the powerhouses from the Cosmic Sect’s older generation were also looking at Mu Ziying.

Lu Yin similarly looked at the second true disciple.

At this moment, Mu Ziying was the only person who could go up against Lu Yin, and regardless if it was from the perspective of the entire sect, or if it was Mu Ziying’s personal opinion, he had to take action. This was also something that Lu Yin had predicted when he had first agreed to the third method of promotion evaluation.

Mu Ziying took a deep breath. His expression was solemn, and he remembered when he had returned to the Cosmic Sect and spoken to Hua Xiao. “Each of the Ten Arbiters are monsters. Who knows how the Innerverse gave birth such monsters?”

“The only one who can go up against the Ten Arbiters is Grand Senior."

"Senior Mu, are you confident in being able to deal with the Ten Arbiters?"

"Honestly, in solo combat, I would either have to break through to the third layer of the Cosmic Art or become a five star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker and comprehend a sourcebox array. Otherwise, any one of them would be incredibly truly difficult to deal with. White Knight Ling Gong and Unseen Light are both extremely terrifying, and the other Ten Arbiters aren’t weak either..."

This person standing before Mu Ziying had defeated both the Ten Arbiters’ Divine Fist and Nightking Zhenwu. The Nightking had been considered incredibly powerful even among the Ten Arbiters, which was something that Mu Ziying was aware of.

He did not know how Lu Yin compared to Ling Gong or Unseen Light, but he was definitely on the same level at the very least.

Mu Ziying raised a foot and advanced step by step. Stars revolved around his body, and there were more than 400 of them, twice that of what Yao Ji had displayed. At the same time, Mu Ziying’s strength erupted, revealing that he was a Hunter, as visible ripples spread out from him. With each step that he took, the dust on the ground billowed out in all directions. His might seemed incomparable at this moment.

Lu Yin’s expression grew much more serious. Although they were both true disciples, Yao Ji and Mu Ziying were in two entirely different classes, and this person was able to challenge the Ten Arbiters.

“Brother Lu, please excuse me,” Mu Ziying spoke solemnly.

Lu Yin replied, “Please.”

Mu Ziying yelled, “All disciples, retreat from Skystar!”

As he shouted those words, his star energy whistled out and swept over the entirety of Skystar. His star energy took on a bizarre form, and his body instantly vanished only to suddenly reappear next to Lu Yin. Mu Ziying’s stars revolved around him, and he unleashed a Cosmic Palm with over 400 stars exploding at once.

Lu Yin had never expected Mu Ziying to be this fast. Actually, that was not right. Mu Ziying was not moving with incredible speed, but rather, he was using a battle technique that had integrated star energy into it. His control over his star energy had definitely reached the Divine Gaze realm.

Lu Yin had not forgotten that everyone in the Cosmic Sect was a Lockbreaker, and he had also not forgotten that the Cosmic Art was an unparalleled technique that all Lockbreakers dreamed of learning. However, at this moment, Lu Yin was finally experiencing for himself just how terrifying it was when the Cosmic Art was used as a lockbreaking technique. In the Cosmic Sea, Hua Xiao had used a similar lockbreaking method to dissolve Realmling Nan Yanfei’s attacks.

Nine lined battle force shrouded Lu Yin’s body as he kicked off of the ground with his right foot and shot into the sky. Lu Yin released One Hundred Stacks, and its fluctuating strength distorted the void as he tried to isolate Mu Ziying’s Cosmic Palm. However, Mu Ziying had predicted this, and he paused for a moment. To his eyes, although Lu Yin’s One Hundred Stacks had erupted quickly, Mu Ziying was still able to see it perfectly clear, and the trembling void caused by One Hundred Stacks was not a perfect defense.

There was a loud explosion, and both youths were flung backwards.

Mu Ziying panted heavily as he stared at his opponent.

Across from him, Lu Yin glanced down at his shoulder, where his clothes had been ripped apart. He had just endured the force of dozens of stars exploding from the second true disciple’s Cosmic Palm, and Lu Yin’s body even felt a bit sore.

“It’s no wonder why you’re the Cosmic Sect’s second true disciple,” Lu Yin marveled.

Mu Ziying smiled bitterly. “Brother Lu, please don’t mock me. My full powered Cosmic Palm was only able to tear off a bit of your clothes. Honestly, I didn’t expect that.”

Lu Yin’s face grew serious. At this moment, Mu Ziying was in the same position that Lu Yin had been in against Lan Si. Lan Si had never thought that he would be defeated, and he had completely suppressed Lu Yin when he had revealed his Vacuum Palm. But in the end, Lan Si was the one who ultimately lost. Lu Yin did not want to go down the same path as Lan Si.

Lu Yin would not underestimate anyone, especially not the Cosmic Sect’s second true disciple.

“Brother Mu, I’m going to attack, so please take care,” Lu Yin respectfully warned as he focused entirely on Mu Ziying.

Mu Ziying’s expression changed, and a layer of tree-like material suddenly gathered over his skin. It gradually spread out until it covered his entire body.

Lu Yin was stumped; was this an innate gift?

One of the Cosmic Sect disciples cried out, “This is Senior Mu’s innate gift! I heard that, in the past, Senior Mu was given his name by the Sect Leader because of this innate gift.”1

“An innate gift to form wood. Even Senior Hua Xiao isn’t able to cause any harm to Senior Mu when he covers himself with wood, and even Grand Senior has praised his defense as almost impenetrable.”

“Several years ago, when Senior Mu encountered a Neohuman Alliance corpse king capable of a green eyes transformation, he was still able to face it head on. This is the power of my Cosmic Sect’s second true disciple. Lu Yin will definitely lose.”

…

Yun Feifei stared at the wooden Mu Ziying in shock, as she had seen Senior Mu fight before. She knew that it was normal for her senior to fight against Enlighters after covering himself with wood, and that had been when Senior Mu had merely been a Cruiser.

After Mu Ziying’s body was covered with wood, he had not slowed down at all, and he instantly vanished once again. His star energy control was incredibly precise, and he appeared right behind Lu Yin as Mu Ziying used his movement technique and attacked with another Cosmic Palm.

Lu Yin’s gaze trembled. Although there did not seem to be any movement, Mu Ziying’s Cosmic Palm was pierced through, and his body was blasted away just like Yun Feifei, Yao Ji, and the others before.

Many of the Cosmic Sect disciples were stunned, as they were all watching on carefully.

Mu Ziying was forced a thousand meters back before he could stabilize himself. He then vanished again, moving to attack Lu Yin.

Many Cosmic Sect disciples cheered.

Yun Feifei heaved a sigh of relief. Sure enough, Senior Mu could defend himself against Lu Yin’s invisible palm imprint.

Lu Yin was shocked, as the strength of that Vacuum Palm had been the same as the one that Lan Si had used against him. Mu Ziying’s innate gift was actually incredibly powerful, and it could even block this powerful palm attack.

There was a thump, and Lu Yin dodged. Where he had just been standing, Mu Ziying’s Cosmic Palm had struck. “Brother Lu, if that is the full strength of your attack, then you can stop now, as I can last for a very long time with my innate gift.”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly evaded another attack. Mu Ziying was very fast, and he intended to use his innate gift to completely stonewall Lu Yin’s offense while using the Cosmic Palm to attack Lu Yin at every opportunity. Although the Cosmic Palm was not very effective against Lu Yin, as long as Mu Ziying could last for long enough, someone else might find an opportunity to make a move.

Mu Ziying had already realized that he could not defeat Lu Yin, but Mu Ziying also believed that Lu Yin could not defeat him either.

Mu Ziying’s only response was his innate gift.

When the stars exploded, the dust on the ground flew into the air, and the void tore open. Mu Ziying’s attack far surpassed the power of an early Enlighter. And in theory, being able to unleash an attack that surpassed an Enlighter’s while still in the Hunter realm indicated that one was able to fight against the Ten Arbiters, even if that was just barely enough to qualify.

Mu Ziying’s palm landed once again, but he suddenly froze as his expression changed drastically; his palm had been seized by Lu Yin’s tight grip, and the nine lined battle force combined with Lu Yin’s enormous strength made it impossible for Mu Ziying to break away.

“Brother Mu, forgive me.” Lu Yin then struck out with a Vacuum Palm.

There was a thump as Mu Ziying shot backwards; his entire body had been struck by a Vacuum Palm. The strength of this palm could not compare to those from before, as this was Lu Yin’s full force powerful Vacuum Palm, which matched up to the power that he had used against Nightking Zhenwu.

Mu Ziying had an incredible defense, but there would always be a limit. This palm from Lu Yin had almost forced him to cough up blood, and if not for his innate gift of forming wood, his entire body would have been shattered apart.

Even when Nightking Zhenwu had used his nine lined battle force and all sorts of other methods to increase his defense, he had not been able to take much more than a few of these strikes. If not for the Arbiter’s innate gift that allowed him to transfer his injuries to others, he would have been defeated far sooner.

Mu Ziying had not yet reached Nightking Zhenwu’s level.

Skystar trembled, and shockwaves shot out in all directions as the void split open, and spatial cracks spread out like a spiderweb.

Many Cosmic Sect disciples raced away from Skystar and watched the battle from outer space.

Mu Ziying flew a great distance before he was finally able to stabilize himself. He panted heavily and looked down to see that his wooden skin had actually slightly caved in. If the strength of that attack had been any higher, the wood would have shattered.

He stared into the distance in utter disbelief; the strength of Lu Yin’s palm attack was truly terrifying.

Suddenly, another Vacuum Palm was sent out, and this time, Mu Ziying saw it through his Cosmic Art. The Vacuum Palm moved at speeds that could not be seen by the naked eye, but Mu Ziying still managed to track its path. However, seeing was one thing while being able to dodge it was another matter entirely.

During his battle against Lan Si, Lu Yin had used Truesight in order to track the trajectory of Lan Si’s Vacuum Palms, and he had also used Truesight to erase some of the attacks’ runes so that he could use the Yu Secret Art to defend himself.

Mu Ziying did not have Truesight, let alone a secret technique. Thus, he had no choice but to directly receive Lu Yin’s Vacuum Palm.

With a thump, he was struck again, and the palm struck the same location as before. This time, the wood sank in a bit further. Suddenly, Lu Yin appeared. “Brother Mu, how many more strikes can you take?”

His Vacuum Palm landed again.

Thump thump thump!

Truthfully, Lu Yin had never expected Mu Ziying’s innate gift to have such an impressive defense, and the man actually managed to endure seven Vacuum Palms. However, that was his limit. When the eighth Vacuum Palm landed, the wooden skin covering Mu Ziying’s body was no longer able to hold on, and it broke apart.

Mu Ziying even spat out a mouthful of blood as his face turned a deathly shade of white. “Brother Lu, I admit defeat.”

Lu Yin’s raised hand lowered, and a hint of a smile twitched at the corner of his lips. “Forgive me.”

Ever since he had been struck by the first full strength Vacuum Palm, Mu Ziying had been unable to retaliate, and he had been passively beaten into submission from then on.

This was the hidden technique that Lan Si of the Ten Arbiters had cultivated, and unless one could reach One Hundred Fifty Stacks in the Overlaying Stacks Path, they would not be able to learn this technique. Within the same generation, how many youths were capable of cultivating the Overlaying Stacks Path to One Hundred Fifty Stacks?

Nightking Zhenwu had been unable to endure this attack, and Mu Ziying had struggled against it even more, and others were similarly unable to endure it.

Above Skystar, many Cosmic Sect disciples fell silent.

Yun Feifei was overwhelmed when even Senior Mu was defeated. Just where had this Lu Yin come from? How had they never heard of him? Lu Yin? A primeval surname? From Eversky Island?

Yao Ji was helped up by a female disciple as he rose up into outer space. He had finally regained consciousness and had seen Mu Ziying admit defeat. Yao Ji heaved a sigh of relief; fortunately, even the second true disciple, Mu Ziying, had lost to Lu Yin. Thus, it was not too embarrassing that he had been defeated.

The rest of the disciples all had complex expressions, as the only person who could possibly stop Lu Yin from being promoted to a true disciple now was their Grand Senior, the All Rounder Fairy Qiu Shi.

[1] In this context, Mu means wood.