Lu Yin’s trio successfully endured the attack, but not everyone was as lucky. The broken-legged guy was killed immediately; the Astral Combat Academy had unleashed a ruthless strike on each of them at once. He switched on his gadget and watched as the readings on his scanner disappeared one by one; the first attack alone had shown those who planned to continue just how terrifying the Astral Combat Academy was. This was an attack that would kill the mediocre among them.
The same thing happened on the Melders’ path, and everyone from the Great Yu Empire outside of Schutz and Xia Luo failed.
“I give up, I give up, I give up!” someone shouted immediately, quickly followed by many others. This was just the first attack, and the next two would only grow stronger.
Although the path for the Sentinel assessment was quite long, it still had an end. Some people from the leading batch quickly reached the end, even seeing the distant beam of light that connected the sky to the ground. They would pass the moment they stepped into that light, but the temperature around was so high that it almost melted the ground.
A few Sentinels were hidden in the shadow of the cliff, but despite constantly drinking water they felt parched in the blistering heat.
“I won’t give up, I won’t give up. I want to enter the Astral Combat Academy, I have to!” a girl muttered to herself as she watched the distant light with hope in her eyes. No one wanted to give up at this stage; with the end in sight, many would rather die to the next two attacks than admit failure. At this time, another attack came from the sky. The girl dodged it anxiously; although she wasnt as fast as Lu Yin and Lulu, she still surpassed Lu Yin’s Roving Step from when he was back on Earth. She’d managed to dodge the first attack, but the second attack slammed her body into the ground. Dozens of cultivators near her faced the same situation, none of them had managed to dodge.
Now, there was only one attack left. The girl coughed and rose into the sky, but she froze as she looked at the end of the path. A new silhouette had appeared there, a man who looked normal but whose body was faintly glowing with heat. He resembled a descended sun that looked upon them with arrogance.
The clothes on the man were perfectly intact and he stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over everyone there including the girl. She was stunned. This man was far more powerful than her, who was he? Someone from the Astral Combat Academy? If not, he would have been attacked as well. No one could dodge the second attack.
At a spot further away from the end of the Sentinel path, Lu Yin and Lulu dodged the second attack. However, it was much harder to dodge compared to the first attack, and they knew that the third attack was definitely unavoidable. On the other hand, Coco still had the syringe on top of her head, she seemed like she was planning to endure all three strikes. Now that he thought about it, the syringe was unimaginably sturdy; it wasn’t damaged at all even after two attacks. Since the body was so strong, the needle had to be so as well. No one would dare touch that needle; this girl definitely wouldn’t find anyone willing to endure her treatment.
The third attack descended as Lu Yin was looking at the syringe. He knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid it when the Cosmic Art couldn’t pinpoint the direction, and only felt an alarming strength strike him right into the mountain. Lulu was the same, and Coco held onto her syringe for dear life and crashed into the foot of the mountain as well. Countless people were killed or maimed by that attack.
At the end of the path, the girl screamed in pain, her face as pale as paper. The third attack was too powerful, and she could barely endure it. Meanwhile, the man right in front of her also endured the attack, the heat turning into a surging sea of fire that disappeared instantly. She gritted her teeth while kneeling on the ground, taking out some pills to treat her injuries as she looked at the distant man in awe. He had endured that attack too, did that mean he was also participating in the assessment? Why was he just standing there instead of going ahead?
The man waved his hand and scorching heat surged towards the distance as he raised his head, “So this is the third attack. It’s really powerful, those who can endure it are quite capable. It’s a shame that none of you can join Astral-10, since it’s fated to disappear.” He looked at his gadget and smirked, “There’s seven people left? That’s not bad. Well, let me show you the final despair.”
He leapt up into the sky under the gazes of the seven people who had endured all three attacks, smiling and lifting his head up high, “I am Archino of the Blaze Realm; no one is allowed to pass through, you are all destined to fail.”
The seven of them were astonished, and the girl was stunned. The mighty Blaze Realm of the Innerverse? No wonder he was like a burning sun. The Blaze Realm was one of the greatest forces of the Innerverse with an ancient inheritance. But why would one of them appear here, and why was he stopping them from entering?
Archino didn’t care about their concerns. He only had one mission, which was to stop anyone from going through this path. He was not alone, either; each of the ten paths had their own final guardian, and their goal was to ensure that Astral-10 would take in no students.
In the sky, Dorren Yushan’s expression changed, “What? Forces from the Innerverse are attacking the assessment? Why are you only telling me now?”
Rocky Auna said bitterly, “His Imperial Majesty has just received the news from the Fifth Princess, she heard from the Myriad Swords Peak that three forces from the Innerverse are trying to replace Astral-10 and obtain access to the trial zones. They have sent disciples to guard the final section of the path to ensure that no one will pass this assessment.”
“Which forces are involved?” Huo Qingshan asked.
Rocky answered in a low voice, “The Blaze Realm, the Ross Empire, and the sylvan dragons.”
Dorren’s face turned pale; these were powerful forces in the Innerverse, and they were to the Great Yu Empire what the Great Yu Empire was to Earth. There was no comparison. Huo Qingshan was astounded, he had been to the Innerverse before and had experienced how scary the Blaze Realm was. Who could pass someone from the Blaze Realm?
Jue Lang said slowly, “Is the Ross Empire the one that’s rumored to have obtained an ancient inheritance?”
Dorren nodded, “Mm, but the most powerful are the sylvan dragons that betrayed the Astral Beast Domain. Any grown dragon is near-invincible.”
These three forces cast a gloom over everyone. The Great Yu Empire weren’t the only ones to hear this news, but every power that got hold of it went silent. Astral-10 was the only hope for the Outerverse to catch up with the Innerverse, but the assessment was now under siege. The three forces from the Innerverse completely disregarded them as they stole their chance at improvement, which was a bitter pill to swallow.
There was a beam of light connecting the sky to the ground at the end of the path, and one could enter Astral-10 through it. When the people from the three forces appeared, someone within the academy asked, “Are they so anxious to make us disappear?”
“We can’t chase them away since they are here as assessees.”
“They aren’t cheating, either; they fall in line with all requirements.”
“Then let’s just treat this as the hardest challenge. The initial assessment for the Outerverse was made easier, but this can be considered bringing it up to the other nine academies..”
“Not many will pass; I’m afraid there’s a chance that none will succeed, even.”
“It is all destiny. If Astral-10 really has to exit the stage, then we will leave. This place is just a prison to us, anyway.”
On the Sentinel Path, Lu Yin walked out of the ruins of the mountain and looked up. The final attack was extremely powerful, but it was still bearable. Lulu walked out from underground as well, and Coco flew out from the foot of the mountain while wincing in pain. A pang of disappointment flashed past her eyes as she saw that the other two were completely alright, but she quickly grew happy, “You’re fine, that’s great!”
Lulu pouted, “You were hoping that something was going to happen to us, weren’t you.”
“Err… Nooo….” Coco shook her head promptly, stowing her syringe away as she tutted in secret. She’d really hoped they would sustain slight injuries for her to treat.
“Let’s go, we should be near the end,” Lu Yin said as he looked at their surroundings. The beast wave had already charged towards the beginning of the path, making it much easier to move ahead now. There likely weren’t many cultivators left, either.
Lulu nodded, and the trio flew into the distance.