At the same time, on the Rain Observatory Platform, from within the rain screen, Mentor Guan Yu opened his eyes, sighed, and stepped into the void.
In the Treasure Pavilion, Yin was boredly flipping through the mission list. Elder Cai waved his hand, and his body vanished, leaving only Yin staring blankly ahead. Where did he go?
At the entrance of the Trial World, Ke Ke decided to challenge again. Gritting her teeth, she was about to step into the range of the Realm Spirit Stone but was inexplicably blocked by an invisible force. In the distance, the mentor of the world was gone.
In a place endlessly far in the sky of the Tenth Academy, there was a sunken land covered in black petrified rocks. The Mad Headmaster stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the distant starry sky, his expression complex.
Beside him, the Mentor of the Sea of Sands and the others appeared one after another, a total of five people, just enough to surround the Mad Headmaster.
The Mad Headmaster withdrew his gaze from the starry sky, swept it over the few people, and slowly turned around, his expression solemn. "For so many years, you have all worked hard."
The five of them stepped back at the same time.
"Headmaster, there is no need for this. We cannot bear it," Mentor Guan Yu said in a low voice.
The Mad Headmaster sighed, his eyes dim. "To think of my combat academy, which has experienced endless glory, yet nearly collapsed because of me. I am ashamed before my ancestors, and I am also ashamed of your care for me over the past thousand years."
The Mentor of the Sea of Sands' eyes were heavy. "A prison is a prison. We few old undying ones are just prison guards. This is our mission. If you have something to say, say it clearly while you're not mad."
The Mad Headmaster's eyes had lost their previous cloudiness and were exceptionally bright. "I want to, in the name of the headmaster, request that you all fulfill your duties as mentors and help my combat academy rebuild its glory."
Elder Cai rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. We're not real mentors. We don't have time to help you."
The mentor of the world's eyes opened a crack. "Powerless."
The Mentor of the Sea of Sands snorted and said nothing.
The Mentor of Star-Picking remained good-natured.
Mentor Guan Yu shook his head.
The Mad Headmaster turned around again. "A thousand years ago, because of my own mistakes, the combat academy's library was burned down, more than half of the Academy collapsed, mentors left or died, and more than half of the students were lost. This is my mistake, and I will make up for it. But I ask you all, for the sake of Wu Jiang, help me once, help Wu Jiang once."
The bodies of the five of them trembled. The two words 'Wu Jiang' made them cautious, and also—respectful.
The Mad Headmaster bowed, his tone low. "The five of you have been here for a thousand years. What you have seen, felt, and heard is no less than me. You should know that the hot blood of our predecessors forged heroic souls, passed down through the ages. This debt of gratitude, I ask you all to accept. Even if it's just one chance, we cannot let Wu Jiang be shamed. Wu Jiang was once the flagship. This pride is enough to transcend history and be passed down to these children."
The mentor of the world sighed, looked up, his eyes fully open, no longer as old as before. "For the sake of Wu Jiang, I can fulfill the duty of a mentor once."
Mentor Guan Yu nodded. "I can."
The Mentor of the Sea of Sands looked at the Mad Headmaster. After a long while, "I can."
Elder Cai rolled his eyes. "A losing business. Alright, I'll treat it as playing around. Let's make it clear, only once."
The Mentor of Star-Picking also nodded. "Wu Jiang, huh... I can."
The Mad Headmaster was grateful. "Thank you, the five of you. There is still more than half a month until the new student competition. After the competition, the five of you can choose good talents to train and prepare for the upcoming ten-academy competition. I, this old man, thank you."
The five of them disappeared one after another.
The Mad Headmaster let out a breath and looked down, seeing the entire Tenth Academy, seeing the students one by one, his eyes full of pain. For him, being sober was far more painful than being mad. The entire Tenth Academy was destroyed by him, fallen to the point of being oppressed by thieves. But it would not be like this forever. He would recover one day. That day would be the moment Wu Jiang shone with glory.
Before long, the Mad Headmaster's eyes became cloudy again, his hair standing on end. He was mad again. He looked up and shouted, "You started the war, so you will suffer the consequences, hahaha, you started the war..."
On the Sea of Forgotten Sands, the Mentor of the Sea of Sands watched the Mad Headmaster flee into the sky and shook his head. "He touched what he shouldn't have. What a pity." He then glanced across the desert and saw Lu Yin in comprehension, his eyes lighting up. "This little fellow, on the other hand, has talent. Although he's not the most talented among the young people I've seen, he's much better than the others. He might not be unable to compete with the prodigies on the Top 100 Battle Rankings. Wu Jiang can be considered to have some hope."
A day later, Lu Yin opened his eyes, stood up, and moved. With a Void Flash, his body directly fell into the desert. He had used too much force. But his speed was a little faster than before. "As long as my body can withstand it, I can be even faster," Lu Yin muttered to himself and tried a few more times. He thought of the die. It was time to roll once, and then leave the Sea of Forgotten Sands.
Walking inside the teleportation device, Lu Yin suddenly remembered that he hadn't been to the other parts of the Tenth Academy yet. He had only been to the Rain Observatory Platform, the Sea of Forgotten Sands, the Treasure Pavilion, the world entrance, the Star-Picking Tower, and the space station. The Tenth Academy was far more than just these few places.
He now wanted to go to the desolate area outside the Treasure Pavilion. Rolling the die should be done in such a desolate place. As for the other desolate places, they were too far away. Like the Rain Observatory Platform, it would take at least nearly a day to cross it. He didn't have that much time to waste. Only the Treasure Pavilion was the closest.
Before long, Lu Yin passed the Treasure Pavilion and came to a desolate grassland. Around him were many ruins of buildings, stretching far into the distance. There were also cracks on the ground, emitting hot air.
Although he didn't know what this place was used for before, it must have been glorious, as the range of the building ruins was too large.
He casually found a deserted pavilion, spread out his Star Energy—no one was around—raised his hand, and the die appeared.
It had been some time since his last roll. Last time, he had rolled a six and experienced Da Lei's life. This time, he still hoped to roll a six.
He tapped his finger, his eyes fixed on the die.
Soon, the die stopped spinning. One pip.
As expected, one pip was the easiest to roll. This number, with good luck, could change one's destiny. With bad luck... Lu Yin paused, like now. He picked up a bottle of medicine with very ancient packaging. The one-pip die had brought him this.
Looking at the medicine bottle, Lu Yin sighed. Although the packaging was ancient, it didn't mean the contents were ancient. There were many civilizations in the universe. Some didn't interact with technology and had always maintained their ancient customs. This bottle of medicine obviously came from such a civilization, one that was willing to interact with other cosmic civilizations but didn't want to change its style.
He opened the bottle and sniffed. It was just ordinary medicine.
Casually putting it away, he crushed a cubic meter of Star Crystals and went again.
The second time, he rolled five pips. Lu Yin stood up, thought for a moment, and sat down again. To find a talented cultivator in 10 seconds was impossible. Where would he find one when the time was up? Another wasted opportunity. Again.
The third time, the die slowly stopped spinning and finally landed on four pips. The time-stopped space.
The scene before Lu Yin's eyes changed, and he appeared in the gray-white space. A three-day countdown began.
This number wasn't bad; it gave him three days for free. After some thought, Lu Yin decided to look at the star chart. He wanted to circulate the seventh star, and preferably the eighth as well. With eight times the cultivation speed to absorb Star Energy, he would quickly reach the peak of the Melting Realm.
The gap between the peak of the Melting Realm and just entering was still very large, the biggest difference being Star Energy, which could be described as a sea.
Ranuk, as the second on the Fire Domain's ranking list and an elite student of the Eighth Academy, was at the peak of the Melting Realm. When Lu Yin fought him, he had felt the suppression of his Star Energy, but it had been offset by his powerful physical strength. If their strengths were not much different, that kind of suppression would be the key to deciding the final victory or defeat. He did not want to lose on this point.
With this thought, Lu Yin took out 600 cubic meters of Star Crystals and scattered them. Instantly, the time increased. But it didn't increase by thirty-three days as he had imagined, but only by 16 days. The time had been reduced by nearly half. In other words, the later it got, the more Star Crystals were needed, and it wasn't always eighteen cubic meters a day.
Lu Yin exhaled. He knew it wouldn't be that easy. If it was always eighteen cubic meters of Star Crystals a day, the amount he had on him would be enough to last for nearly three years.
Well, no matter how it changed, he couldn't change it. With this thought, he took out another 50 cubic meters of crystals, increased the gravity to 50 times, and at the same time, took out the star chart to observe.
19 days did not pass quickly. Lu Yin was not in a hurry in the time-stopped space. He looked at the star chart and occasionally practiced his combat techniques. He rested every so often. When ten days had passed, his seventh star was perfectly circulating.
The power of the seven-star Heavenly Star Palm far surpassed the six-star. If he could have circulated it like this when he was in the Reaching Realm, it would have been enough to fight Shuz. With Void Flash and other combat techniques, he might not have lost. And executing it in the Melting Realm, just with the Heavenly Star Palm, he could defeat elite students like Ranuk, without needing to use the Ninefold Impact Three-Wave Palm.
His strongest attack now was the Ninefold Impact combined with a multiple of the Three-Wave Palm. The power of the Ninefold Nine-Wave Palm was even greater than the seven-star Heavenly Star Palm. Seven stars were not enough to be his killing move; he had to increase it further.
For the next nine days, Lu Yin was immersed in the star chart. As the countdown neared its end, he scattered another 100-plus cubic meters of Star Crystals, this time increasing the time by eight days.
Seventeen days passed, and the eighth star was nowhere in sight. Lu Yin frowned, looked around. He had been here long enough; he was about to vomit. Staying in one place for nearly a month, no one could stand it.
He rested for a few hours. Until the time completely disappeared, Lu Yin did not increase it again. He had to get out.
The scene before his eyes changed. A month had passed, but in reality, only a second had passed.
Raising his hand, seven stars revolved around his palm. If not for the Ninefold Nine-Wave Palm, the Heavenly Star Palm would be his greatest offensive means.
Dispelling the stars, the die in his palm appeared again. He continued to shake it. He had shaken it three times; there was still one chance left.
When the die stopped spinning, it landed on one pip again.
Lu Yin was speechless. He actually wanted to see three pips the most, but he just couldn't roll it. It was fate, luck. There was nothing he could do.
This time, the one-pip die brought him something different: a tough and flexible piece of animal hide. He couldn't tell what creature's hide it was. On it were carved strange characters, very long. The moment Lu Yin saw the characters, his brain was hit hard, and streaks of blood flowed from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. He quickly put it away, his pupils dilating and contracting.