Ambush

The three of them passed. The others had encountered the attack at the same time. The short-legged man was directly hunted down and killed. The Astral Combat Academy showed no mercy. Around them, more than ten invisible attacks descended.

Lu Yin opened his personal communicator and saw the combat indices disappearing one by one.

The first attack made all those who wanted to continue the assessment feel the terror of the Astral Combat Academy. These were attacks that disregarded life and death; an ordinary person simply couldn't withstand them.

It was the same on the Melting Realm path. On the Great Yu Empire's side, apart from Shuz and Xia Luo, all the others had failed.

"I give up! I give up! I give up!" someone shouted. The first attack was already like this; the next two would only get stronger. Many people opened their mouths to give up.

The Reaching Realm path was long, but it had an end. Among the first group of cultivators to participate in the assessment, some had already reached the end. They could even see the pillar of light connecting heaven and earth in the distance. As long as they stepped into that pillar of light, they would pass the assessment.

And in this place, the high temperature had almost melted the ground.

Several Reaching Realm cultivators with parched mouths and dry tongues hid in the shadow of a cliff, occasionally taking out water to gulp down, but they were thirsty again in a moment.

"I won't give up. I won't give up! I want to enter the Astral Combat Academy, I must get in!" a female cultivator muttered to herself, staring firmly at the pillar of light in the distance, hope gradually appearing in her eyes.

Having come this far, no one wanted to give up. They were the closest to the end. Even if the next two attacks would cost them their lives, they didn't want to give up.

But at this moment, another attack descended from the void. The female cultivator hurriedly dodged. Although her speed was not as fast as Lu Yin's and Lulu's, it was not slow, far surpassing the Roaming Step Lu Yin had used before. She had dodged the first attack. However, she couldn't dodge this second attack. She let out a tragic scream and took it head-on, her body slammed deep into the ground.

In the distance, more than ten other cultivators suffered the same fate, and not a single one could dodge it.

The female cultivator coughed and slowly flew into the air. There was one attack left. She looked towards the end of the path, and her pupils suddenly shrank. A figure had appeared at the end at some unknown time. It was a man, looking ordinary, but his body was faintly glowing, generating extreme heat, like a sun descending on the earth, looking down on all living beings with arrogance.

The man's outer robe was completely undamaged. He stood with his hands behind his back, quietly scanning the area, his gaze sweeping past the female cultivator and many others.

The female cultivator only felt her body heat up, her eyes filled with fear. That person was far stronger than her. Who was he? Someone from the Astral Combat Academy? It must be; otherwise, he wouldn't have been spared from the attack. She didn't believe anyone could dodge the second attack.

Far away on the Reaching Realm path, Lu Yin and Lulu once again dodged the second attack. But this time, it was not as easy as the first. The third attack would be absolutely unavoidable.

On the other side, Ke Ke was still holding the syringe above her head. With that posture, she probably intended to hold it up and endure all three attacks head-on.

Speaking of which, that syringe was unexpectedly hard. Two attacks had not damaged it in the slightest. If the syringe was that hard, the needle must be too. A ghost would be willing to touch such a hard needle. This girl would probably never find anyone willing to accept her treatment in her life.

Just as Lu Yin was curiously looking at the needle, the third attack descended. In an instant, Lu Yin knew he couldn't dodge it. The third attack was untraceable. If it couldn't be found, it couldn't be dodged. He circulated the Heavenly Star Art but still couldn't see the attack's trajectory. He only felt his body being hit by a terrifying force, slamming heavily into the cliff.

Lulu was the same, slammed deep into the ground.

Ke Ke hugged the large syringe tightly, as if she wouldn't let go even in death, her body driven deep into the mountain.

At this moment, who knew how many people were killed, how many were eliminated.

At the end of the path, the female cultivator screamed, her face as pale as paper, a sharp pain sweeping through her nerves. The third attack was extremely powerful, but she had barely endured it. And right in front, the man who was like a sun was also enduring the attack. The scorching high temperature turned into a raging sea of fire that expanded and then vanished in an instant.

The female cultivator gritted her teeth and knelt on one knee, hurriedly taking out medicine to treat her injuries, while looking in shock at the man in the distance. That person had also taken the attack, which meant he was also a cultivator participating in the assessment? Why was he staying there and not moving? Why hadn't he passed through this path?

The man waved his hand, and the scorching high temperature swept into the distance. He looked up. "So this is the third attack. Truly powerful. Those who can withstand it are indeed capable. A pity, not a single one of you will be allowed to join. The Tenth Academy must disappear." He then looked at his personal communicator, and the corner of his mouth lifted. "There are seven left? Not bad. In that case, I'll give you your final despair." With that, the man flew into the sky.

At the end of the path, including the female cultivator, a total of seven people had passed the three attacks. At this moment, all seven of them were looking at the man.

The corner of the man's mouth lifted, his head held high. "My name is Aquino, from the Innerverse's Fire Domain. This path, no one can pass. You will all fail."

The seven were shocked. "The Innerverse's Fire Domain? That colossal Fire Domain? Why would a disciple from there appear here?"

The female cultivator was horrified. He was from the Fire Domain. No wonder he was as scorching as the sun. The Fire Domain was a great power in the Innerverse, its heritage incredibly ancient. Why would a disciple appear here? And block them from entering?

But no matter what they thought, Aquino didn't care. He had only one mission: to stop anyone from passing through this path. Not just him; all ten paths had a final guardian. This was done to ensure that the Tenth Academy would not be able to recruit a single disciple.

In the starry sky, Dolan Yushan's expression changed drastically. "What? A great power from the Innerverse is ambushing this assessment? Why are we only hearing about this now?"

Rock Ona said bitterly, "His Majesty also just received the news. It was sent back by the Fifth Princess. The Fifth Princess learned through Myriad Swords Mountain that three major powers in the Innerverse want to replace the Tenth Academy and obtain the right to enter the Trial World, so they sent disciples to participate in the assessment and guard the end. This is to ensure that no one passes this assessment."

"Which powers are they?" Huo Qingshan asked in a low voice.

Rock Ona's tone was heavy. "The Fire Domain, the Ross Empire, and... the Great Wu Wyrm Dragon Clan."

Dolan Yushan's face turned pale in an instant. These three powers were all colossal monsters in the Innerverse. The Great Yu Empire compared to them was like Earth compared to the Great Yu Empire; there was no comparison at all.

Huo Qingshan's eyes showed shock. The Fire Domain. He had been to the Innerverse and experienced the terror of the Fire Domain, and had a deep impression of this power. If it was really people from the Fire Domain, who in the Outerverse could pass?

Jue Lang's tone was low. "The Ross Empire is the one rumored to have obtained the heritage of an ancient technological civilization?"

"The most terrifying is the Great Wu Wyrm Dragon Clan. That is a terrifying great clan that betrayed the Starry Sky Giant Beast domain and fled to the human domain. Any adult Great Wu Wyrm Dragon is invincible," Dolan Yushan said in a low voice.

The three great powers were like three great mountains pressing down on everyone's hearts. At this moment, not only the Great Yu Empire, but many powers in the Outerverse had received the news, and the atmosphere instantly fell silent.

The Astral-10 Academy was the hope of the Outerverse's rise, but it was being ambushed by three great powers. Their target was not the Outerverse, but the Tenth Academy itself. To them, there was no need to ambush the Outerverse. But it was precisely because of this that all the major powers were even more resentful. This was cutting off their ladder to climb up.

At the end of the ten paths was a pillar of light connecting heaven and earth. Passing through the pillar of light would allow one to enter the Astral-10 Academy.

When the people from the three great powers appeared, someone in the Tenth Academy spoke. "So eager to make us disappear?"

"They appeared as assessees. We cannot expel them."

"They didn't cheat either, they meet all the requirements."

"Then let's treat them as the most difficult assessment. Originally, the difficulty of the assessment for the Outerverse was relatively low. With them added, the difficulty this time is comparable to the first nine combat academies."

"I'm afraid not many in the Outerverse can pass. It's even possible that... there won't be a single one."

"Everything is preordained. If it is truly time for the Tenth Academy to leave the stage, then so be it. After all, this place is also a cage for us."

On the Reaching Realm path, Lu Yin walked out of the rubble of the cliff and looked up. The last attack was very powerful, but it was still within his range of endurance. He turned his head and looked to the side. Lulu had also emerged from the ground. At the very bottom of the mountain, Ke Ke was grimacing in pain but still flew out carrying her syringe. Seeing that Lu Yin and Lulu were fine, she was first disappointed, then happy. "It's great that you're okay."

Lulu pouted. "You were just hoping something would happen to us."

"No," Ke Ke immediately shook her head, carefully putting away her syringe. She really did hope the two of them were injured so she could give them a shot. What a pity.

Lu Yin looked around. After the beast tide, many of the strange beasts had gone to the other side of the path. The difficulty of them reaching the end had been reduced considerably. And after the three attacks, there probably weren't many cultivators left to participate in the subsequent assessment. "Let's go. We shouldn't be far from the end."