“How do you know this?” Michelle’s voice was cold and a little anxious.
Lu Yin dissipated his own battle force. “I helped her comprehend it at the second level of the Sand Ocean.”
Michelle stared at Lu Yin before asking, “What are your conditions?”
He smiled. “Help me snatch a training ground.”
Michelle frowned as she replied, “You should know how scary an Area Master is since you’ve experienced Frankfurt’s power for yourself.”
A cold glint flashed through Lu Yin’s eyes; everyone knew that he had been killed by Frankfurt. He needed to repay this debt one day. It was a pity that Spear Mountain was not suitable for him. Otherwise, that training ground would have been his first choice. “Are you afraid?”
Michelle indifferently replied, “At worst, I’ll die. I’m alright.” Her tone then turned serious as she continued, “But I’ll only help you once. I can’t help you forever.”
He smiled at her agreement. “Sure, just once will do.”
“Where are we headed?”
Schutz also looked over.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed before he said, “The Dao of Purgatory, the Fathomless Pool.”
The Fathomless Pool was the worst training ground of the Dao of Purgatory, though “worst” merely referred to its scope. In reality, the Fathomless Pool was very useful as it helped cultivators develop and refine their battle force; the deeper they went into the pool, the greater the pressure they would face. However, its small size could only accommodate two people at a time. Thus, not many students practiced there. Also, there were other trial zones that were also suitable for training one’s battle force. Thus, the Fathomless Pool garnered relatively little interest, as almost no one trained there besides its Area Master, Uro.
However, Lu Yin had another motive for choosing the Fathomless Pool; Uro was a good friend of Jared.
“The Fathomless Pool might only have the Area Master Uro, but he is very strong and has a biological innate gift—huan qi. He also has one line of battle force and he won’t be easy to deal with. Who else have you found to help you?”
Lu Yin looked at Schutz. Michelle frowned as she thought to herself, This person is useless.
“The Sand Ocean’s second layer can help one comprehend battle force?” Schutz suddenly asked.
Lu Yin nodded. “That’s where I picked it up.”
“Then I won’t help you snatch a training ground this time.”
Lu Yin sighed. Schutz had the heart, but not the strength. “You’re going to head to the second layer of the Sand Ocean?”
“I’ll help you after I learn battle force,” Schutz said with a nod before he left.
Lu Yin frowned, as the second layer of the Sand Ocean was no trivial place. Even Xi Yue had to rely on his help before she was able to withstand the ravaging winds that eroded at one’s body. Schutz definitely wasn’t strong enough to endure those winds, but Lu Yin knew that anything he said would be useless as Schutz had a fighter’s heart, just like Zhang Dingtian.
“You should just forget it if the helpers you’ll have are all like that. Uro has truly reached the level of an Area Master, and his innate gift is also very powerful. He’s not much easier to deal with than Frankfurt, and just the two of us won’t be his match.”
“Don’t look down on other people. He may be able to master battle force before he returns.”
Michelle’s gaze shifted; she obviously did not take Schutz seriously. Although her words were harsh, they coldly reflected reality. Only the top few elites in Astral-10 could face an Area Master, and Lu Yin needed to find people like Xia Luo, Yin, Darkvoid, or Lulu to help him.
“First, go in and head twenty kilometers north of the Dao of Purgatory’s Fathomless Pool. I’ll gather the rest before we start.”
Michelle was puzzled. “Twenty kilometers north? What’s there?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you’re making me go there regardless?”
“Why don’t you choose somewhere else nearby the Fathomless Pool that you’re familiar with then?”
Michelle was struck speechless by Lu Yin’s casualness, and she directly stepped towards the trial zone mountain. “I’ll wait there for five days at most. The deal is off if you don’t appear within five days, but you’ll still have to help me comprehend battle force.”
Lu Yin was helpless; this girl was difficult to deal with.
After Michelle entered the trial zone, Lu Yin walked around the trial zone mountain and found the areas where Xia Luo, Yin, Lulu and Darkvoid had accessed the trial zones. Now that he had located them all, he would not need to search around aimlessly. He sat down at the entrance of the trial zone mountain and waited for them to awaken.
Half a day later, someone woke up, but it wasn’t who Lu Yin was waiting for. Rather, Coco and Zora, the two disciples of Windrift Hall, walked out. There were other experts of Windrift Hall in the trial zone, and even though none of them were an Area Master, Coco and Zora experienced no issued under Windrift Hall’s protection. The Hall had an excellent reputation within the Innerverse. That, combined with Coco’s cute appearance and eager kindness, meant that the two were not bullied inside the trial zones.
Coco was glad to see Lu Yin. “Brother Lu, you’ve been gone for a long time. Where have you been?”
Lu Yin smiled as he answered, “Out for missions. Coco, congratulations on obtaining a hundred victories in the ported battles.”
Coco stuck out her tongue. “Don’t make fun of me, Brother Lu. My record is bad.”
“To attain a hundred victories is already an improvement.
“Coco, which Dao did you guys go to?”
“The Dao of Heaven, but we’re headed to the Dao of Slaughter next, or perhaps the Dao of Purgatory.”
Lu Yin was envious. Having a backer was completely different from not having one. If Lu Yin hadn’t managed to find a backer in the form of Charon, he would have been murdered regardless of where he went.
“Let’s go, Coco. The mentor’s waiting for us,” Zora said as she nodded at Lu Yin in greetings.
Lu Yin watched them leave as he had no plans of recruiting them for his mission. Although a healer was important, they lost their value in the trial zones. As long as one didn’t die, they would quickly recover to their peak state without any external aid. With Coco and Zora’s strength, they might be even less useful than Schutz against an Area Master.
Not long after, Darkvoid woke up and glanced at Lu Yin before indifferently walking out of the mountain.
Lu Yin asked, “Darkvoid, are you interested in snatching a training ground with me?”
“No,” Darkvoid replied simply. He was a man of few words.
“I can help you comprehend battle force and allow you to train at Whitebones Gorge.” Lu Yin offered up many incentives in his attempt to tempt Darkvoid, but he remained unfazed and walked towards the exit of the mountain without a word before vanishing before Lu Yin’s eyes.
Lu Yin felt helpless. If it had been Hui Daynight, then Lu Yin would have simply beaten him into submission, but with Darkvoid, Lu Yin felt like he held absolutely no authority over this fellow student. This person was like a steadfast rock; no one knew what he was thinking.
A student leader could supervise and even discipline the other students within reasonable limits, but Lu Yin did not feel that forcibly conscripting them for his personal mission would fall within those limits.
However, Lu Yin was not disturbed by his failure to recruit Darkvoid. He never expected to actually succeed, and his hopes were much more focused on the rest. He had to succeed with them.
Another day passed, and Lu Yin finally managed to encounter Silver.