Star Odyssey

Chapter 248: The Divine Fist

Nearby, within the falling rain, Old Cai and the Rainmaster appeared simultaneously. Following them, the Sandmaster, Trialmaster, and Starmaster also appeared together.

“Strange, why has it not appeared?” the Rainmaster mumbled in a puzzled voice.

Old Cai glanced over. “Are you sure that the seal on his body will impede him?”

Rainmaster shook his head. “I’m actually not sure. I’ve not seen a seal quite like it before. Even the headmaster was not familiar with it, and he was only able to break it open by force.”

“Although his breakthrough to the Melder realm was impeded, it may not necessarily be the same when he breaks through to the Limiteer realm, as it’s not a critical breakthrough. In general, as long as one has enough star energy, they will naturally succeed. Breaking through to the Explorer realm is much more important, and if that seal still exists then, this child will find it extremely difficult to succeed in breaking through to become an Explorer,” the Starmaster commented.

“Even the headmaster had to squander his energy to break the seal, so it goes without saying that the person with the seal would find it impossible by himself,” the Trialmaster added on. 

The Sandmaster frowned. “Who would be so harsh to a mere child?”

“This child does not have an average background. He has a terrifying innate gift that bolsters his physical body to the point where he can rival even an Explorer as a Melder. At the warfront, he used the strength of his physical body to exchange a strike with an Explorer level astral beast. That’s a feat that only the Ten Arbiters can match. This child is definitely not simple and may have even come from the Neoverse,” the Rainmaster said.

…

Boom!

A giant shockwave rippled out across the sky and tore the rain curtain apart. Lu Yin let out a shout filled with exhilaration as fresh blood dripped down his body before instantly vaporizing into mist. His body was changing, and he felt as if he could touch the heavens. This was the Limiteer realm; someone who had stepped closer to the starry sky than a Melder ever could.

Lu Yin suddenly opened his eyes, and with a whoosh, a gale swept out in all directions. The limestone platform that he was sitting on shattered and even the tree branch supporting the platform bent. 

Schutz wasn’t far away from Lu Yin, and the gale that was released nearly blew him away. He started to breathe raggedly as well, as the pressure that Lu Yin was exerting was too much.

Breaking into the Limiteer realm from the Melder realm did not involve any specific great transformations, but the degree of transformation also depended on the individual. For Lu Yin, he underwent some significant changes. In particular, his physical body had taken another leap forward. There was a special brilliance that emanated from his body that shocked the mentors who were secretly observing. This was a phenomenon that only occurred once a physical body reached a certain realm of strength, and generally only appeared on the bodies of Explorers.

The brilliance vanished in a flash and soon disappeared.

Lu Yin slowly raised both hands and clenched his fists; it felt like he had become physically stronger once again. Right now, he deeply desired to battle against that Zi Tie who had attacked Planet Conan. He wanted to know if he could defeat the Explorer realm astral beast with his current strength.

There were very few Realmbreakers amongst Limiteers, as the gap between a Limiteer and an Explorer was enormous. Even the student leaders of the Astral Combat Academy would find it hard to contend against Explorers, but Lu Yin really wanted to give it a try right after becoming a Limiteer. However, there were no Explorers in Astral-10 for him to test his strength against.

Although, he was in the Rain Observatory, so perhaps he could try to challenge the Rain Observatory again.

Lu Yin closed his eyes and quite a long time passed before he reopened them. The star energy within his body was changing, shifting between simulating wind, fire, water, and lightning. This was the realm of infinite changes, but Lu Yin had not reached his limit yet. He had grasped an even deeper level of understanding of star energy. When the star essence had released its energy and condensed liquid star energy, it had given Lu Yin an altogether different sensation.

He raised his hand and wrote his name in the void with star energy before pushing it out. The two words “Lu Yin” rushed out into the rain curtain and firmly pushed through the falling raindrops. Then, without any obstruction, the words vanished into the distance, flying past the Rain Observatory.

The Rainmaster, who was hidden within the rain curtain, shook his head. This was still not enough for Lu Yin to leave his name on the Rain List. Ever since the ancient times, only individuals who had attained an extremely deep understanding of star energy had managed to force their ways onto the Rain List. The Rainmaster was unclear about the other academies’ requirements, but only powerhouses who had comprehended a domain could appear on Astral-10’s Rain List. This was proof of Astral-10’s former standards.

When Lu Yin and the rest had first arrived at Astral-10, they thought that it would be a simple matter to leave their names on the Rain List. In reality, it was far more difficult for Astral-10’s students to leave their names on Astral-10’s Rain List than a similar list of another academy. Astral-10 possessed a glory that other academies could only hope for, and they had birthed numerous unsurpassed powerhouses who had each left their names on the Rain List.

Lu Yin watched as his own name vanished and was astonished. This still isn’t enough? He felt that he was only a single step away from comprehending a domain, so did that mean that all hundred names on the Rain List belonged to cultivators who had comprehended a domain? What did a hundred domain users represent? There were less than twenty of them during this season’s Astral Combat Tournament, and this season actually had vastly stronger participants compared to all the previous ones.

As Lu Yin was reflecting over this, the Rainmaster walked out from the curtain of rain. “You need to at least comprehend a domain to leave your name on the Rain List. You are still lacking.”

Lu Yin respectfully replied, “Yes, your student knows.”

The mentor looked at Lu Yin and marveled, “It’s not bad for you to reach such a stage during the Astral Combat Tournament. I helped you derive Nine Stacks before. We can continue deriving it today if you wish.”

Lu Yin was delighted, as he had wanted to leave his name on the Rain List precisely so that he could continue further deriving the Nine Stacks technique . He had not expected the Rainmaster to still be willing to help him even though he had failed to get onto the Rain List. He knew that this was how Astral-10 was rewarding him for his results, and he did not reject it out of courtesy. “Thank you, mentor.”

“Raise your arm.”

Lu Yin lifted his left arm, and the Rainmaster did not suspect anything when Lu Yin used a different arm. He began tapping Lu Yin’s left arm. The taps conveniently made nine soft echoes within Lu Yin’s arm; this was Nine Stacks. However, closely following the ninth echo was a soft, tenth sound.

With Lu Yin’s experience, he could not directly comprehend how the Rainmaster had derived the tenth stack and could only directly experience the technique of the tenth stack.

However, an eleventh soft echo quickly exploded forth and shook the void. Although this vibration was gentle, it was strong enough to distort the void. When the twelfth soft sound rang out, the void began to crack. But this was not the end yet as the mentor’s finger had reached Lu Yin’s wrist, still moving. The thirteenth stack’s explosion seemed to have an understated power that caused no fluctuations, but Lu Yin also had a feeling that this final stack was actually the strongest. Lu Yin felt as though he could destroy anything with that power.

During the Astral Combat Tournament, Grandini Mavis had displayed the Thirteen Stacks technique against Liu Yin. At that time, Lu Yin had longed to master such a technique, and now, that dream had finally been fulfilled.

“Thirteen Stacks. That should be enough for you to use for now.”

Lu Yin was very grateful. “Thank you, mentor, for taking the effort of deriving it for me.”

“You should know this already, but Thirteen Stacks is not the limit. Someone once used a Hundred Stacks to shatter a planet, and they are even in the same generation as you. He’s one of the Ten Arbiters and is referred to as the Divine Fist. So in some sense, he’s your role model.”

Lu Yin was shocked—a Hundred Stacks? That level of physique could be simply described with the word “terrifying,” as the further one progressed in the Overlaying Stacks Path, the greater the physical requirements. Divine Fist, huh?

“Humans are creatures that can create endless miracles. There is no such concept as ‘final limit’ in some peoples’ minds. The path that you’ve yet to walk is still very long,” the Rainmaster said before leaving.

Lu Yin remained standing in the same spot. He flipped his palm over and then struck out. Ten soft echoes tore through the rain curtain, but the eleventh did not appear. He needed to ponder and refine this technique more before he could use it in battle, but he did not have much time.

His strongest attack right now was his Shockwave Palm when it was superimposed with multiple stacks and boosted by his battle force. With his current power, he would not even need to reveal his five-lined battle force to defeat Nightqueen Yanqing.

In the end, he was the one who was benefiting the most from the battle of the final four being delayed. The other three semi-finalists were already peak Limiteers while he had been the only Melder. Previously, he had not been fully confident of emerging victorious even with his five-lined battle force, but now, Lu Yin was now confident that he could beat the other three: Starsibyl, Han Chong, and Grandini Mavis.

Lu Yin did not stay at the Rain Observatory any longer as he dearly wanted to visit the trial zones’ Dao of Immortality’ Tilting Tower and finally join the Council of Astral Academy.

The Tilting Tower was the Dao of God’s unique training ground. The tower was slanted at a 45° angle, as if it had been pushed aside, and yet, it towered over the ground. It was not tall since it only had six levels, but countless students nonetheless fought over it. This was because one could frequently hear singing voices within the Tilting Tower. These voices were not inheritances, but they could open one’s mind.

The Tilting Tower had helped Liu Xiaoyun create a technique that imitated the power of the First Sword of the Thirteen Swords. Without the tower’s aid, the Thirteen Swords that dominated the universe would not have been so easily imitated by a Limiteer student.

Whoever controlled the Tilting Tower was the Dao of Immortality’ Realm Master.

When Lu Yin reached the Tilting Tower, it was full of people. Every day was the same, and the closer one got to the Tilting Tower, the clearer the sound of the singing voices. Everyone was separated by a certain distance, and all of them practised their own battle techniques alone.

Lu Yin’s appearance drew a great deal of attention. Ever since he revealed his power during the Astral Combat Tournament, the rankings of the strongest Astral Combat Academy students seemed obvious to many students. Starsibyl was undoubtedly the first, followed by Han Chong and Lu Yin. The two were given equal status as one was mysterious while the other had five-lined battle force, but both were undeniably terrifyingly powerful. In comparison to those two, although Grandini Mavis was strong, her strength was not as well-defined.

Lu Yin was ranked in the top three in terms of combat power in the entire Astral Combat Academy.

Power commanded respect, and Lu Yin no longer required Charon’s protection. On the contrary, he could now protect Charon.

The two life and death calamities that he had experienced had dramatically shortened the time that he needed to become stronger. If not for activating the Technique of Life and Death twice, Lu Yin had no idea how long it would have taken him to reach his current state.

Not far away, Frankfurt noticed Lu Yin’s arrival, and his face changed before he left without saying a word. However, no one’s movement here could be hidden from Lu Yin.

Lu Yin saw Frankfurt, and his eyes turned cold. Back then, this person had used a single spear to kill him so as to gain some face for the Blaze Realm. However, his action had also caused Lu Yin himself to become a laughingstock for countless others.

“Frankfurt,” Lu Yin spoke out.

The other students gazed at Lu Yin as Frankfurt’s face turned purple-green. He froze in place and then asked Lu Yin, “Brother Lu, is there anything that you need?”

Lu Yin looked at Frankfurt. “Call the other student leaders to the Tilting Tower.”

Frankfurt clenched his fists. He was an Area Master, not some mere messenger, and there were also so many other students around! Yet at this moment, the choice was not his to make. Lu Yin exerted an overwhelming pressure, and his terrifying aura had suppressed everyone in the area.

The students suddenly realized that Lu Yin had changed; he had broken through and become a Limiteer!

Frankfurt was stunned. As a Melder, Lu Yin had already been one of the most powerful fighters within the Astral Combat Academy, so how much more powerful was he now that he had ascended to the Limiteer realm? Frankfurt didn’t dare to imagine and was left helpless. “Astral-6’s leader, Dao Bo, has not returned from the warfront. Actually, no other student leader has returned the trial zones yet.”

“Fine, you can go.” Lu Yin then looked past Frankfurt and towards the Tilting Tower. 

Frankfurt nodded and left. He had not objected to Lu Yin’s order out of fear that Lu Yin would snatch Spear Mountain away from him.

Under many watchful gazes, Lu Yin continued walking towards the Tilting Tower.

No one dared to stop him, not even the Astral-7 students who were close to Liu Xiaoyun; they simply allowed Lu Yin to freely enter the Tilting Tower. This was a place that only the Realm Master of the Dao of Immortality could enter, but that did not matter to Lu Yin.