The Mad Old Man

The sweat soaked his clothes. Lu Yin stared at the ground, recalling the scene he had just witnessed: an unfamiliar starry sky, giant ancient warships, and that jade finger.

"Go down. The Star-Picking Tower picks stars. What it picks are rights and wrongs, grudges and favors. What it picks is the past and present. What it picks is the cycle of karma. What it picks is a corner of the starry sky that belongs to you," the mentor's voice came again.

Lu Yin looked up, slowly turned around, and said respectfully, "May I ask, Mentor, the Star-Picking Tower picks the past and present. Can it pick the future?"

The mentor replied faintly, "Everything has a cause and an effect. If you pick the cause, there will be an effect."

"How do you explain the last sentence? What is a corner of the starry sky that belongs to me? What this disciple saw was clearly an unfamiliar starry sky," Lu Yin asked.

"Ask yourself. What is picked is the past and present, the changing of years. Go down. I will not answer again."

Lu Yin descended the Star-Picking Tower in confusion, his eyes bewildered. What everyone saw was different. What did what he saw represent? Both the consumption of his talent and the Star-Picking Tower had shown him that jade finger. Whose finger was that? Why did it crush him? And why was he so angry?

After entering the Tenth Academy, Lu Yin now felt only one thing: insignificance. Invincible in the Reaching Realm? A joke. That was only in the Great Yu Empire. A person's strength was not only reflected in their strength at the same realm but also in their realm itself. How many people in the Innerverse were younger than him yet stronger than him?

What invincible at the same realm, what a fair fight—it was all a lie. Barzel had said it before: no one would seal their own realm to fight. Realm was also a type of strength. The Realm Spirit War was the same. He had fought five times and hadn't encountered a single Reaching Realm cultivator. The domain of the strong did not believe in so-called fairness; what they wanted was to crush their opponents.

Lu Yin would never forget the humiliation Wendy Yushan had brought him. She hadn't even shown up in person. It was a contemptuous look from on high, not even sparing him a glance.

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Yin looked up, walked to the teleportation device, and directly chose the Rain Observatory Platform. He wanted to start from there.

Passing the assessment and going directly to the Rain Observatory Platform was the arrangement of the Tenth Academy; there must be a reason for it. That place was probably the beginning of everything.

The rain on the Rain Observatory Platform made the world appear a dim cyan. Arriving at the Rain Observatory Platform again, Lu Yin suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

He looked around, then leaped into the sky. It took him several minutes to fly out of the range of one giant tree.

Looking down from above, he couldn't help but be shocked. Da Pao was right. At the top of each giant tree was a bluestone platform. Countless unbelievably large trees formed the Rain Observatory Platform of the Tenth Academy.

Lu Yin found a bluestone platform a two-hour journey from the teleportation device, sat down cross-legged, and quietly watched the rain.

In the Great Yu Empire, on the continent of the second ring, Zhang Dingtian slashed out with his saber. The slash crossed the sky and cut down a flying strange beast.

"Good! You've recovered your Reaching Realm strength," a man not far away encouraged.

Zhang Dingtian's expression was calm. He looked up at the sky and saw the continent of the first ring and Planet Zhenwu. Further away, he saw the starry sky. Lu Yin was probably at the Tenth Academy at this time.

"Brother Zhang, let's have a spar. Let's see how strong your Realm Lock combat power is," the man said excitedly, walking up to Zhang Dingtian.

Zhang Dingtian withdrew his gaze and gripped his long saber. "Alright."

Before long, Zhang Dingtian and the man separated. The man was at the Melting Realm, while Zhang Dingtian was only at the Reaching Realm. The winner was quickly decided.

"Impressive! You just recovered to the Reaching Realm and you already have the strength of a Martial Hall elite. As expected of a talent who underwent special body reconstruction. Even the captain thinks highly of you," the man praised.

Zhang Dingtian wiped his long saber. He was still far from enough.

"By the way, I heard you know the King of Zishan," the man asked.

Zhang Dingtian nodded silently.

The man was surprised. "Tell me about it. Is the King of Zishan really that talented? Our Great Yu Empire has four people who entered the Astral-10 Academy, and the King of Zishan is one of them. I heard he's invincible in the Reaching Realm and has defeated a Melting Realm expert from the Martial Hall."

Zhang Dingtian said in a low voice, "I'm not sure."

The man was regretful. "You're too foolish. If you could get on the King of Zishan's good side, you could walk sideways in the Great Yu Empire in the future. Let me tell you, before entering the Tenth Academy, the King of Zishan was just an idle king. But since he entered the Tenth Academy, his status is different. In the future, he might be able to enter the Innerverse like the Fifth Princess. At that time, he might not even care about us in the Great Yu Empire."

Zhang Dingtian's eyes sharpened, and he gripped his long saber firmly. He would also leave the Great Yu Empire and find Qing Yu and Liu Shaoge for revenge. He swore it.

Also on the continent of the second ring, Bai Xue panted, her eyes fixed ahead. Her body suddenly vanished, reappearing several meters away.

"No, no, no! Too slow! That's not Void Flash at all, it's a turtle's crawl!" Tao Xiang said, dissatisfied, sitting on a peach tree branch, swinging her calves, chewing on a snack as she spoke.

Bai Xue gritted her teeth, sweat beading on her forehead.

"Faster, faster! Void Flash is my special ultimate move. As the personal secretary of this captain, you must be fast. Faster, execute your talent while using Void Flash."

On Planet Zhenwu, outside the imperial palace, the court officials came out. It should have been a normal day, but today was not quite the same. All the court officials were avoiding the captain of the Tenth Squad, Meng Seng. Not just because of him, but also because he had Shi Wuzhang with him. That appearance really made people not dare to get close.

And in the distant starry sky, on a huge spaceship, Xu San was being escorted, looking out the window at the increasingly distant Planet Zhenwu, wanting to cry but having no tears. He was leaving, going to the seventh domain to meet Captain Batson. He didn't know when he would be able to return to Planet Zhenwu. "Boss, I miss you."

At the Tenth Academy, on the bluestone platform of the Rain Observatory Platform, Lu Yin had been sitting for five days. In five days, he hadn't moved, just watching the rain.

The rain, from the initial raindrops, was no longer water in his eyes, but a curtain connecting heaven and earth. Seeing water that was not water. Unconsciously, the Star Energy in his body began to imitate the rain, forming a substance that changed around his body, creating a rain.

In the blink of an eye, another ten days passed.

He had been meditating on the Rain Observatory Platform for fifteen days, just quietly watching. His Star Energy had indeed changed, Lu Yin could feel it, but it was too slow. He was certain that if he meditated here for a year, his control over Star Energy would absolutely far surpass his current level. But he couldn't wait that long.

Lu Yin admitted to himself that he was not a patient person; otherwise, he wouldn't have robbed those trial-takers for Star Crystals back then. He had to think of a way.

Exhaling, he moved his limbs. "It's been a long time since I rolled the die. It's time to roll a round. But I have too few Star Crystals; rolling is too much of a loss."

Just as he was thinking, the dim cyan sky suddenly boomed. The raindrops paused, and an unimaginably huge pressure swept across. Lu Yin was instantly pressed to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. A terrifying Star Energy, visible to the naked eye, swept by like a hurricane, instantly shattering the giant tree where Lu Yin was, and directly crushing down on him.

Lu Yin's pupils contracted violently. I'm going to die. I can't resist.

"Headmaster, stop!" a loud shout came. Just as Lu Yin felt he was about to be crushed into a bloody pulp, the terrifying force vanished. In the sky, a madly laughing old man in ragged clothes passed by. "You started the war, so you will suffer the consequences, hahaha, you started the war..."

Lu Yin stared blankly at the mad old man passing by in the sky. His brain exploded, and he fainted directly.

The moment he fainted, on his back, a series of mysterious runes flashed, forming a lock that emitted a halo, then disappeared.

A middle-aged man stepped out of the void and came behind Lu Yin, looking at him in surprise. "Was that just now... a seal? This child's body has been sealed by someone. What kind of seal? Why have I never seen it before? Oh, I can't even see a few of the runes, and I can't break it. Interesting."

The mad old man destroyed dozens of giant trees and disappeared without a trace.

Lu Yin was rather unlucky; he was just one of them. If not for the Mentor of the Rain Observatory making a move, he would have died.

He only woke up after a day and a night.

His head ached. Lu Yin opened his eyes, his vision blurry. On the back of his hand, raindrops fell, carrying a trace of coolness. This is... the Rain Observatory Platform? What happened to me?

"You're awake," a world-weary voice sounded from behind him.

Lu Yin turned his head and saw a middle-aged man, very ordinary, but he had heard this voice before. It was the Mentor of the Rain Observatory.

"Are you the mentor?" Lu Yin asked, his voice very hoarse.

The middle-aged man looked at Lu Yin with a strange expression. "My name is Guan Yu. You can call me Mentor Guan Yu."

"Yes, Mentor Guan Yu," Lu Yin said respectfully.

Mentor Guan Yu looked at him. "Do you remember what happened?"

Lu Yin frowned tightly, thought for a moment, and his expression changed. He looked around and saw the dozens of destroyed giant trees, stretching endlessly into the distance. "There was a mad old man."

Mentor Guan Yu sighed. "Forget it."

Lu Yin nodded and didn't ask any more. Before he fainted, he had vaguely heard the word 'Headmaster'. That old man couldn't be the headmaster of the Tenth Academy, could he?

Mentor Guan Yu raised his hand and threw a star chip to Lu Yin, saying calmly, "This is for you."