Shockwaves broke through the tower walls and dispersed the clouds, lightning dissipating in all directions. At the top, Lu Yin managed to block Gerbach’s full-power attack with his Cosmic Palm, but that wasn’t all. The fifth star’s explosion even suppressed the lightning arrow and dispersed it, scattering the battle technique entirely. The man himself was fine, but this was an automatic defeat.
Lu Yin put his own hand back down, watching the black on his palm. This was the power of the lightning; while it wasn’t all that serious, his entire palm had been charred.
“You won,” Gerbach stated.
Lu Yin took a deep breath and lifted his palm, “It’s a tie. I’m injured.”
Gerbach burst into laughter, “I needed a lightning fruit to power my technique; that was cheating. I don’t believe you went all-out, either. I’m not someone who can’t take a loss.”
Lu Yin didn’t argue. He truly hadn’t gone all-out here; at the very least, using Bai Xue’s innate gift alongside the Cosmic Palm would have led to a stronger strike.
Gerbach sighed happily. “It doesn’t feel good to fight while suppressed, but this isn’t half bad. You should be top ten in Yu Academy.”
“What? Doesn’t the Academy have more than ten Melders?” Lu Yin was shocked.
Gerbach chuckled, “Melders? You know that means nothing, right? No more than ten people in the Academy could have blocked that arrow; you’re definitely up there.”
Lu Yin recalled Tyson who had challenged him at the formcast pool. That was a Melder as well, but the Cosmic Palm had beaten him easily. Then there was Munoor, whose result would likely be the same. This made sense; he was a realmbreaker, after all. Were Melders weak? No, they were quite strong, but not in the Great Yu Empire. Even Gerbach wasn’t all that much when compared to the average Melder in the Innerverse; that was just the extent of the disparity. This thought suddenly dissipated all anticipation of becoming a Melder. He realized that he needed to understand more about what becoming a Melder meant, not just rush into the stage and become a weakling like Munoor.
Lu Yin was snapped out of his thoughts when Gerbach agreed to his request for the Skybeast Claw. He nodded, “Thanks a ton.”
“Mm. Schutz is the only one left. How will you get him to agree?”
Lu Yin shrugged; he hadn’t planned this out yet. Schutz was indisputably the strongest youth in the Great Yu Empire, the top fighter in Yu Academy who was much stronger than Tianming and Gerbach. He was a member of the former Great Yu Empire Youth Council, possessing so many dazzling titles that even an ordinary person would be pushed to the top, but Lu Yin had no idea what kind of person he was.
Gerbach chuckled, “Since I’m already at it, might as well go all the way. You’ve already gotten to fifteen forms of the Skybeast Claw, it isn’t all that different to go to twenty but the price is huge. Have you thought this through?”
Lu Yin was curious, “It’ll depend on what I have to pay.”
Gerbach was astounded, “I thought you’d do it regardless of the consequences.”
Lu Yin shrugged, “Like you said, there isn’t a large difference whether I have the next five variations or not. There’s no point in losing more than I gain.”
Gerbach sized Lu Yin up, “Honestly speaking, I’ve met a lot of people who aren’t afraid of death to obtain a powerful technique, especially in this academy. Your practicality is a rare trait.”
Lu Yin chuckled. He was willing to give up a great many things for the entirety of the Skybeast Claw, but not for a mere twenty forms. It wasn’t even like that was his biggest hope; his focus was the Cosmic Palm. What he actually wanted was for Gerbach to show him the twenty forms, but that request was unreasonable. Nobody liked their battle techniques being stolen, even if it was one that everyone had access to. It was an invasion of privacy. Now that Gerbach knew he could learn the Skybeast Claw in battle, he would never use it again.
Gerbach switched on his gadget and a hologram appeared, depicting a youth with a cold glare and red sword on his back, bare upper body filled with scars. Schutz looked quite ordinary, but was a step beyond numerous youths across the Great Yu Empire.
“What’s up?” Schutz’s hoarse voice rang out, boredom filling his tone.
“I was beaten.”
“By whom?” Schutz’s eyes glinted.
“Lu Yin, King Zishan.”
Schutz sighed, “He’s a Sentinel.”
“I suppressed my combat level, but I still lost. He also managed to learn the fifteenth form of the Skybeast Claw during combat, and recreated it perfectly.”
Schutz went quiet.
“By the looks of it, he’s invincible amongst Sentinels; at the very least, there’s no match in Yu Academy. Even overall, he’s top ten; he might be a threat to become a hall master the moment he becomes a Melder. What do you think?”
Schutz watched Gerbach, “Where is he?”
“He just left. Why? Do you want to meet him?”
“I want to fight with him, as a Sentinel.”
Gerbach said, “He might not have the time. You know he’s King Zishan, not just any ordinary student in the academy. He isn’t a part of any of the halls, either.”
Schutz turned serious, “Tell him that I’ll agree to him learning the first twenty forms of the Skybeast Claw as long as he has the guts to fight me.”
Gerbach thought it over, “Okay, I’ll ask him.”
Schutz didn’t say another word, simply switching off the hologram.
Gerbach turned towards Lu Yin and grinned, “It’s done. What do you think? Do you have the guts to do it?”
The corner of Lu Yin’s lips turned up as a hint of excitement shone in his eyes, “It’d be my honor to fight the strongest in the Empire. When will it be?”
Just as Gerbach was about to speak, both of their gadgets dinged in a tone that could only be a major announcement. This sort of notification couldn’t be muted; they had to read it. It was just like the news regarding Astral-10. The two looked down simultaneously, exchanging shocked glances with each other. Fifth Princess Wendy Yushan of the Great Yu Empire had joined the Outerverse Youth Council as a formal member. She would also hold a position as a member of the Great Yu Empire Youth Council, and had complete authority over selections.
“There’s going to be chaos,” Gerbach said gravely.
Meanwhile, countless people in the empire got the same news. After finding out that Wendy Yushan would join the Outerverse Youth Council and take charge of the Empire’s Youth Council, most people cheered in joy. Finally, there’d be somebody from the Empire with a say over the Outerverse. However, there was a fair number of people that sighed. These people were ones who knew her well, and included The Undying Yushan.
Within the imperial palace, The Undying Yushan sighed and smiled wryly, “There’s going to be trouble.”
Within his residence, Crown Prince Dorren stared at the hologram in shock, and then sighed ruefully just like his father had, “Is there anyone in the Empire that can handle her?”
Duke chuckled, “This is fun. The Empire’s going to be lively very soon.”
Many people had similar remarks.
On the top floor of a building in the first ring, Lu Yin was confused, “Why do you look like that? Isn’t Wendy joining the Outerverse Youth Council a good thing? She’ll even be in charge of the Empire’s Youth Council.”
Gerbach smiled wryly, “Do you know the Fifth Princess well?”
Lu Yin shook his head. He didn’t know anything about her at all, and what he’d heard was that she was doing very well in the Innerverse. Her nose was always in the air and she didn’t think much of anyone in the Great Yu Empire, and nobody could control her.
“Princess Wendy is…” Before he could finish speaking, there came another notification, “The Great Yu Empire is in need of talents. The council will temporarily stop all recruitment and let the members of the Outerverse Youth Council take control. These members will soon reach the Zenyu Star.”
Lu Yin looked at the notification blankly. What did this mean?
“Do you see now? This is Princess Wendy. Nobody amongst the younger generation in the Empire are good enough for her. This includes us five hall masters. In her eyes, we don’t even have the right to enter the council, which is why the Empire just doesn’t have a Youth Council at all and has someone else in charge.” Gerbach said wryly.
For the first time, Lu Yin could sense how tyrannical Wendy Yushan was. One woman could decide everything, and it was a decision that nobody could disobey; not even The Undying Yushan.
Was this the person he might be arranged to marry? He felt a chill going down his spine at the thought. The woman wouldn’t send him a notification like this to end the arrangement, right? While he was a fake, that would be humiliating.
“How strong is this woman? How can she ignore you?” Lu Yin asked.
Gerbach looked troubled and said in a hushed voice, “I’m sure you’re aware that she’s the second captain of the Thirteen Squadrons.”
Lu Yin nodded. He’d heard this from Bronsen before.
“She won that spot in combat,” Gerbach stated in admiration.
Lu Yin’s expression changed. “What? She won it?!”