Big Pao and Little Pao glanced at each other before looking back at Lu Yin with odd expressions on their faces. There was still something rather familiar about Lu Yin, though his answers to their questions were different from what was on the network.
He was the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance, and also the champion of ZENITH, but despite his accolades, he did not seem arrogant at all. Lu Yin still looked like the same person that had entered Astral-10 all those years ago and become their junior. He seemed so sincere, but that was really just his shamelessness.
“Junior Lu, do you have any idea what word is used to describe you the most on the network?” Big Pao asked.
Lu Yin felt slightly curious. “What?”
“A money-grubber.” Little Pao did not hesitate at all to answer.
Lu Yin’s expression changed, but just when the two brothers expected their junior to argue, he merely smiled. “Not bad.”
The two were truly rendered speechless.
“It’s been more than twelve years since we’ve seen each other.” Lu Yin sighed.
Big Pao nodded. “Just about.”
“Seniors, you’ve had a hard time. Have you already reached out to Astral-10’s mentors?”
Big Pao instantly grew excited. “I called them, and the mentors were all happy to hear from us. Junior Lu, we’re going back!”
Lu Yin smiled. “Of course, I’ll take you there.”
Given the speed of Lu Yin’s spacecraft, it would only take them a bit more than half a month to reach Astral-10.
During this time, Big Pao and Little Pao learned more about what had happened in the Fifth Mainland during their absence. However, the more they learned, the more amazed they were by Lu Yin, especially after they saw his fights with Lan Si, Nightking Zhenwu, and Liu Tianmu.
They still had the impression that the Ten Arbiters were the peak of the younger generation, but they had just learned that several of the Ten Arbiters had already been defeated by Lu Yin. This revelation gave them an indescribable feeling, as it toppled their worldview. Still, they also felt incredibly proud, as Lu Yin was an alumnus of Astral-10.
“Seniors, I’m actually still one of the Ten Arbiters.” Lu Yin could not help but remind them of this.
It was a fact that Lu Yin was still one of the Ten Arbiters, as no one would dare to strip him of the title. However, Lu Yin only held this status in name. No one from the Universe Youth Council had once sought him out to fulfill any sort of responsibility for the council even once, as Lu Yin had long since superseded such a level.
Also, Lu Yin no longer needed the Universe Youth Council to achieve any of his goals. He had already cemented his relationships with the various Innerverse powers, and the influence of the Universe Youth Council was unable to affect such matters.
“By the way, Junior Brother Lu, I just remembered that while we were working for the Autumnfrost family on their odd tool, I once accidentally saw something that was being protected by Ancestor Autumnfrost himself,” Big Pao suddenly mentioned.
Lu Yin immediately asked the man to draw what he had seen.
Lu Yin frowned when he saw the picture of an irregularly shaped black crystal. “You saw that?”
“Isn’t it just an ordinary energy crystal? A flame one? Maybe lightning? Or something else? A lot of mediocre cultivators use crystals like these when cultivating or to execute certain battle techniques. They’re super common,” Little Pao commented.
Lu Yin remembered that Gerlaine’s older brother, Gerbach, who had once been a Hall Master of Yu Academy, had used thunder energy crystals to use a lightning battle technique. That incident had left a profound impression on Lu Yin back then.
Big Pao replied, “You’re correct, and energy crystals usually aren’t very important, but this thing has to be due to its size.”
“How big was it?”
“As big as a planet.”
Lu Yin was startled. “As big as a planet?”
Big Pao nodded and hesitantly continued, saying, “Because of its size, and also because that was my first time seeing Ancestor Autumnfrost. I was really impressed, and I think that it was about ten years ago.”
“Why didn’t I see it?” Little Pao wondered.
Big Pao explained, “I saw it when we were taking turns resting, and I happened to see it when it was my turn to work.”
Lu Yin started thinking. Energy crystals the size of a planet were truly rare, and Ancestor Autumnfrost would not casually protect an object himself without ample cause, even if he was an imposter.
Lu Yin stared at the picture of the energy crystal and fell deep into contemplation.
It was considered normal for cultivators to leave home to train for decades, or even hundreds of years without returning. But for Big Pao and Little Pao, it was a little more complicated than that as they returned to Astral-10.
Astral-10 was not just a place where they had trained and learned, but it was also a place where they had grown up. The mentors there were like teachers and fathers to the brothers.
Even though they had already called Astral-10, the two were still unable to calm down.
The closer they drew to Astral-10, the more excited Big Pao and Little Pao became. “Sure enough, there are a lot more people here now.”
“Well, a long time ago, Lu Yin won the Astral Combat Tournament, which made Astral-10 the top-ranked branch of the Astral Combat Academy. Naturally countless youths want to come and study here now. This place hasn’t changed one bit, though—it’s like I was just here yesterday.”
Lu Yin also let out a sigh. When the three of them had all been students, Astral-10 had been horribly suppressed, and the academy’s mentors had all been unwilling to teach the students much. Enlighters were rarely seen powerhouses to them, and Envoys had been so distant that Lu Yin had not even heard of that realm.
Everything had changed since then.
Climbing high allowed a person to see further, but there were times when people did not want to see so far. After all, the further one saw, the more trouble they would see.
They docked the ship at the academy’s space station. Emperor Luo stayed with the vessel while Lu Yin, Big Pao, and Little Pao all continued on to enter Astral-10.
When they saw the familiar teleportation device, the brothers became more uneasy than ever.
“Which of the mentors are you going to go see first?” Lu Yin asked with a smile.
Neither of the two hesitated to reply, “Rainmaster.”
Lu Yin realized that, of Astral-10’s mentors, the Trialmaster constantly played deaf, either ignoring people or being rude to them whenever they visited. The Sandmaster was very strict, the Starmaster was silent, Old Cai was almost always rude, and the headmaster was insane! The Rainmaster was the only normal one among the entire teaching staff.
The Rainmaster had also been the first of the mentors whom Lu Yin had met after joining Astral-10.
Rain sprinkled down on the Rain Observatory, wetting the moss on the stone platform. In front of Lu Yin, Big Pao and Little Pao both bowed to the pouring rain. “Mentor, us two disciples are back.”
The Rainmaster calmly emerged from the rain, though Lu Yin could see how happy the older man was. “You just came back.”
…
Lu Yin’s luck was quite good, as his return to Astral-10 with the brothers coincided with the Astral Combat Tournament, though Astral-10 should really be called Astral-9 after Astral-3 had been completely destroyed.