Chapter 142: Dao of Purgatory (1/2)

Three days passed. Then four days. Finally, on the fifth day, Lu Yin got his hundredth victory.

“Lu Yin, one hundred wins and seventy three losses.”

Lu Yin walked away from the teleportation stone and let out a heavy sigh of relief; he had finally achieved a record of a hundred wins. It hadn’t been easy; over the past five days, he had been defeated twenty seven times. With his current abilities, he wouldn’t have lost that often if it weren’t for the fact that Explorers and even stronger individuals could participate in the teleportation battles. Lu Yin could jump levels to challenge people above his realm, and even normal Limiteers were no match for him; only Limiteer geniuses with innate gifts could defeat him. Melders didn’t even need to be mentioned. It was a pity that the arena placed no limit on cultivation, so anyone in the younger generation could participate by touching a teleportation stone.

Where did all of these young Explorers come from? Lu Yin was speechless.

Over these five days, his best win streak had been twelve consecutive wins, which was a pretty good record. He remembered that Big Pao had once mentioned that winning thirty rounds in a row would give one the right to challenge someone from the top hundred powerful experts of the younger generation. With a bit of luck, Lu Yin felt like he could meet that criterion.

While thinking this, Lu Yin walked towards the Trialmaster and politely asked, “May I enter the trial region?”

The old man cracked his sleepy eyes open a sliver. “Sure, go on in.”

Lu Yin was confused. “Go in? Where?”

The old man pointed behind him without saying a word. Lu Yin walked past the old man and stretched out a hand. The space rippled like water, though the ripples spread much slower and much further. The tip of his finger had seemingly vanished, which actually meant that it had entered another space.

Lu Yin had heard rumors of how ultra-Hunters could open their own spaces; it seemed that the rumors were true.

He took a deep breath. It felt like he had just been connected through to another part of the universe, and he immediately retracted his hand due to the strange sensation. Nothing seemed to be off, so he no longer hesitated and entered the invisible space behind the old man.

After Lu Yin left, the old man opened his eyes, appearing to be deep in thought.

After travelling through the rippling space, the scenery before Lu Yin changed. There was no longer an endless plain before him, but rather a massive, towering mountain blocking his path that was incredibly wide. He couldn’t even see the peak when he looked up; all he could see were thick clouds that obscured the top of the mountain. Additionally, the entire mountain was surrounded by distorted rays of light, which made it impossible to determine its height.

Lu Yin peered at the lofty and impressive mountain, astonished that this was a key and the main point of entry into the Nine Trial Zones. This was also the most awe-inspiring piece of wealth that Astral-10 possessed.

Without wasting any time at all, Lu Yin walked into the light and then headed to a random, hollowed out area at the bottom of the mountain. He sat down cross-legged, thought it over, and then silently thought, “Dao of Purgatory.” A moment later, it felt like his entire being had travelled back thousands of years, leaving him completely bewildered. When he opened his eyes, all that he could see was black. Regardless of whether it was the mountains, ground, vegetation, or water, everything was black. He had entered the Dao of Purgatory within the Nine Trial Zones.

Lu Yin took measure of himself and found that his body appeared to be exactly the same as his true body, unlike when he entered the teleportation battles. Here in the trial zone, his appearance matched his looks in real life. Compared to the teleportation battles, this place was clearly much more complex.

Lu Yin went to inspect one of the nearby black streams. In the reflection of the dark water, he saw that the number ten written on the back of his hand was giving off a faint glow. This was the symbol of Astral-10.

He strode forward, but then he suddenly felt his mind turn dull as countless strange noises drilled into his ears. They sounded like battle drums but also like the lamentations of numerous people. He had heard this before when his mind was being pressured while his body was dealing with fifty times gravity.

Lu Yin shook his head and sighed with a rueful smile on his face. So this was the trial zone. It was quite interesting and he was curious to find out how large it actually was.

Not too long after Lu Yin entered the Dao of Purgatory, a piece of news was transmitted to the human regions that shocked the universe.

They… had been defeated.

The universe was currently divided into four main regions. The human region, the astral monster region, the forgotten technology region, and the unknown region. These four regions had been locked in brutal wars against each other for countless years that had claimed the lives of countless beings. Everything had been going the same as normal, but recently, the astral monster region and the forgotten technology region had allied together to attack the human region. A huge battle had then led to the defeat of the human region. Numerous experts had been killed, and a portion of the human region’s territory had been lost. The Endless Weave had lost a third of its territory, which had become the astral beasts’ playground. Astral-9 had managed to flee in time and had not been affected.

Their defeat caused a huge commotion throughout the entire human region. Many were furious, as numerous powerhouses had died and the region had very nearly broken down into chaos.

The astral war had affected all humans, no matter if they were in the Outerverse or in Innerverse, whether they were from the Daynight Family, Mavis Family, or Astral Combat Academies. Every conceivable group had sent out powerhouses to represent the humans in the border battlefields. Their defeat meant that a great deal of battle power had been lost, so much so that the starry sky seemed to dim in response.

Even though there were still people who said that they wanted to fight back, the human region couldn’t stand up to the other two regions on its own. This negative atmosphere was spreading far and wide throughout the human region. With this current mood, the director of Astral-1 had taken a stand, proposing to the Ten Arbiters that the academies should host an Astral Combat Tournament to raise the region’s morale and strike fear into their enemies.