The gravity training room adjacent to Lu Yin’s opened to reveal Jenny Auna, who grew curious at the commotion and opened his door. However, her expression warped the moment she saw him, and after leveling an angry glare, she firmly slammed the door closed and left, leaving the surrounding students stunned.
What happened? This was a question Lu Yin shared with the crowd. This woman had to be crazy to give him that sort of threatening expression; didn’t she know the Aunas had a marriage agreement with the Zishan Family?
His guess wasn’t wrong; Jenny was indeed aware. Torry had revealed it by accident, and while the agreement didn’t mention any names, even a fool would know that the Zishan heir would only be married to the Auna heir. The Zishan Family’s prime was far more splendid than the Aunas’, so as long as the marriage was forced, Jenny herself would be the one wedded to Lu Yin. She didn’t have a good impression of him to begin with, and when she contacted her family about it, their answer had frozen her heart— they would most likely go through with the agreement. The girl had felt like her entire life had dimmed down and come to the training room to vent her anger, but she’d bumped into that scoundrel once more. It felt like she’d stepped into dog poo.
Jenny wasn’t gone long before a joyous Lulu Mavis ran over, identifying Lu Yin’s training room and jumping in without hesitation.
“Lulu?” Lu Yin was astonished.
“Eh, you’re perfect. My hands are itchy, let’s practice!” she challenged.
Curious about the Mavis Family’s battle techniques, he didn’t reject her. Lulu had showcased terrifying strength and extreme speed in Beijing, and he wanted to know if it was innate or a battle technique he could copy in secret.
The girl licked her lips in excitement; she had observed Lu Yin for a long time, and the defeat of even a freshly awakened Nightking was no mean feat, “Don’t hold back, I want to experience what you learnt from that inheritance stone firsthand. Here I come!”
Lulu’s body vanished as she finished talking; even under 30 times normal gravity, her speed was still so terrifying that she left behind phantoms that merged with the daylight. Fortunately, she wasn’t beyond the grasp of the Cosmic Art, which revealed her snaking palm to Lu Yin immediately. When he stepped aside and allowed her hand to crash into the wall, the entire training room rumbled.
“Good. Again!” Lulu beamed with delight, rushing towards him once more. The increased gravity didn’t seem to affect her at all. Lu Yin stared at her fist and raised his own, white and black alternating in the formation of the Daynight Punch.
BANG! A shockwave rumbled out as both combatants took several steps back, the sheer volume of the impact shocking the students outside. Lulu herself was surprised, “This is the technique you learnt from the inheritance stone? It’s not much.”
Lu Yin clenched his own fist and stared at her in amazement. While the speed was a battle technique, her punch itself was not. She had relied on brute force to stop the Daynight Punch; could that strength be the Mavis Family’s innate gift?
“Continue,” Lulu barked, sweeping her legs towards Lu Yin who stared at them while dodging. She disappeared the very next moment, starting to attack from all directions.
Lu Yin couldn’t learn Qingyu’s speed technique at all, but Lulu’s display gave him some clues. His legs subconsciously started imitating her movements as he integrated things with the Roving Step, slightly improving his own speed. However, the Daynight Clan’s battle techniques always had this unique rhythm that he simply couldn’t learn outside of that inheritance stone; imitation had its limits.
Lulu backflipped and landed before staring at him in shock, “That… You were copying my White Flash, weren’t you?”
Lu Yin nodded, “But it can’t be emulated.”
She burst out in laughter, “You’re really imitating the White Flash, and even managed to copy it a little. Interesting, you’re too interesting!”
Lu Yin was lost, “Is that strange?”
She smiled, “Of course it’s strange. It’s common knowledge that battle techniques cannot be imitated, and many different races’ battle techniques require specific conditions to receive their inheritance that even powerful copying techniques cannot break. This is the fundamental reason why the great clans dominate the universe, but you actually managed to copy this a little. You’re a strange fellow; not only did you inherit one technique, but you copied the White Flash, too. So mysterious, haha!”
Lu Yin could not figure out why it was so amusing, “Are you still fighting?”
“Yes, continue. But thirty times gravity is too low, can we raise it a little?” she suggested cunningly.
Lu Yin’s brows raised, “Sure, how much?”
Lulu thought about it before sticking out four fingers, prompting him to squint. Forty times? This was vicious, even a Sentinel from Yu Academy like Raas wouldn’t be able to withstand that. Was this woman testing him?
The gravity room was quickly adjusted to forty times gravity, and Lu Yin immediately felt his body sink further. His legs felt like lead, while the terrifying pressure left him barely able to speak. This sort of gravity was meant only for Melder bodies; he could barely hold on.
Lulu’s expression turned uglier as well, but she stubbornly stared at Lu Yin and beckoned him over. He felt strange, “Hey, aren’t you having trouble with this too?”
She gritted her teeth, “Of course not.”
Lu Yin was speechless. He could tell that this brat was holding on through will alone, but she acted as if she was all fine.
At this point, the door to the gravity training room opened and Xia Luo walked in. He smiled, “Can I join too?”
Lulu’s lips curled, “Don’t throw away your reputation, Melder.”
Xia Luo laughed, “I won’t use battle techniques, nor will I initiate the attack.”
“Whatever, it’s just training anyway. Begin,” Lu Yin shrugged. He and Lulu attacked the youth simultaneously, but Xia Luo dodged with zero effort. Forty times gravity was nothing much to a Melder like him, and avoiding the duo’s attacks was like a walk in the park.
When their combined attacks hadn’t even touched Xia Luo’s clothes after trying for a while, Lulu grew worried, “Hey, did you come here to mock us?”
Xia Luo raised one leg to block Lu Yin’s Skybeast Claw, while he whipped the other out towards Lulu, “I’ll show mercy.”
Lulu snorted, then clenched her right fist so hard the air trembled. Lu Yin subconsciously stepped back just as a dull echo resounded on the spot, knocking Xia Luo back one step. The youth exclaimed, “Such strength!”
Lulu was pleased and she blew her fist. Then she leaned towards Xia Luo provocatively, “If you want to fight, seal yourself and come back.”
“Alright, be right back,” Xia Luo smiled and left the training room.
……
The Perseverance passed through another wormhole to enter the second filament of the Great Yu Empire, now less than ten days away from the Capital Star. Within the gravity training room, Lu Yin, Lulu, and Xia Luo sparred frequently, going through a hundred bouts in five days. Lulu was a fighting maniac, sharing the violent tendencies of others with great strength. That was within Lu Yin’s expectations, but he hadn’t expected that Xia Luo would even be willing to seal himself in order to spar with them. The man was strange—this sort of battle should have been useless to him— but Lu Yin felt quite comfortable in his presence.
On the sixth day, another person joined them, Zhang Dingtian. He had been training in a distant gravity training room himself, but had come here after bumping into Lu Yin. Lu Yin had always known him to be a freak, but he still hadn’t expected the man to be able to withstand forty times gravity. He did not shrink back even if his skin was about to split or his vessels about to burst. This earthling without battle techniques could suppress school leaders like Parlie, and was a realmbreaker who could even match someone like Raas. Even Sigmund stated that this man was an exception that could join the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons right away. Xia Luo admired Zhang Dingtian, and sometimes even shook off Lu Yin and Lulu to train the man. He slowly guided the Bladesage in developing a battle technique that truly fit him.
Two days later, another participant arrived: Seruzen. The monk scared Lulu into hiding behind Lu Yin when he first appeared; a frightening exterior was a threat unto itself, and he had an aura of incongruity that ensured normal people wouldn’t dare act against him. Seruzen could not withstand the high gravity, so he simply opened the door and took one step in. He placed his other foot in once he’d adapted, leaving everyone speechless. Lu Yin and the rest ended up fighting with the door half-open, and combined with Seruzen’s appearance, they attracted many onlookers everyday. Xu San had also come around, but Lu Yin forced him to fetch them water and refreshments. The man was alright with such a job; he was at least of some use this way.