Chapter 147: The Ninth Star (2/2)

Old Cai grunted in annoyance. “It’s not like I wanted any from you. There’s no need to be scared.”

Lu Yin laughed, embarrassed. He just felt that he couldn’t trust the moustached man in front of him. The “Cai” in Old Cai’s name already showed how greedy the old man was for riches, so it was best to not appear too wealthy in front of him.

“Old Cai, I am looking to take on some missions. The most ideal ones would be situated near the Zenyu Star of the Great Yu Empire,” Lu Yin said.

Old Cai grunted in acknowledgment. “With your current ability, you’re really stuck in the middle. There’s indeed not much you can do besides take on missions.” As he spoke, he opened up his mission file, picked out a few of them, and then handed them over. “Choose one. It’d be best if you picked a harder one than an easier one. You don’t have much time.”

“I don’t have much time? What time are you referring to?” Lu Yin asked, puzzled.

Old Cai was taken aback by his question. “Haven’t you heard about the Astral Combat Tournament?”

Lu Yin was startled. “The Astral Combat Tournament? When is that?”

Old Cai was flabbergasted for a while before he finally remembered that Lu Yin had been in the Nine Trial Zones when this news was released. No wonder he didn’t know about it. “Kid, do you know about how this universe is divided up?”

Lu Yin nodded his head. “Are you referring to the four Domains?”

Old Cai couldn’t stop himself from bursting out in laughter. “No, to be exact, there are only three Domains. The Human Domain, the Astral Beast Domain, and the Technocracy. The Astral Wilderness can’t truly be counted as a Domain as no one knows how big it is. For many years, the battle between the Domains has been escalating, and a while ago, the Human Domain was defeated…”

A while later, Lu Yin was finally informed of the recent events; it was rather shocking information. The Astral Combat Tournament had been announced after the defeat of the Human Domain not just to boost morale, but also to recruit more troops. Of course, there was also another reason, which was to draw out all of the hidden monstrous talents from the various powerhouse organizations. Whatever the reasons were, this Astral Combat Tournament would be of an unprecedented scale.

“What is it’s actual start date?” Lu Yin asked hurriedly.

Old Cai shook his head. “It hasn’t been decided yet. They’ll only be able to decide and announce it after all the civilizations get their networks back online and connected.”

Lu Yin pondered his words. Connecting all of the networks? After mulling it over some more, he realized that this was yet another goal of the event organizers. This network would span the entire universe, making their information relay system even more interconnected. Their current technology could definitely accomplish this, but it had not been implemented yet. Someone somewhere must have had some misgivings about joining a universal network, but the powers at be were now using the Human Domain’s recent defeat to hurry things along. Despite the pending implementation of the network, there were bound to be various limitations to the network until after the Astral Combat Tournament.

Old Cai looked through the list of available missions, assuming that Lu Yin was still preoccupied with the news about the Astral Combat Tournament. He was completely unaware that Lu Yin’s mind had already drifted to a faraway place. Lu Yin wasn’t too concerned by Old Cai’s assumptions. This was just how his thoughts naturally flowed.

“There are no missions near the Zenyu Star of the Great Yu Empire,” Old Cai casually remarked after looking through the list.

Lu Yin grunted in acknowledgment before looking through the list himself. Since there wasn’t a mission in his preferred location, then he would just pick one at random.

At this time, a new mission popped up: “Protect the Irven Merchants by providing them with safe passage through the war-zones all the way to the first region of the Great Yu Empire in the Frostwave Weave.”

Lu Yin tapped on it for further information. The first region of the Great Yu Empire was where the Zenyu Star was located. This mission couldn’t have appeared at a better time. “Old Cai, are these Irven Merchants also a sponsor of our Astral-10?”

“Of course not. These are missions that are passed on to us by the Mercenary Association. The Association is one of the sponsors of our Astral Combat Academy, so they often send us missions at certain times,” Old Cai replied.

Lu Yin understood and realized that this was why there were so many weird missions. “I’ll be off then, Old Cai. Do you have anything else to tell me?” Lu Yin asked.

Old Cai waved him off. “Try to refill your star energy as quickly as you can. That is your sole mission.”

Lu Yin nodded and left.

At the same time, at a space station in Astral-10, Master Wusheng walked out from the teleportation device. Xia Luo followed behind and respectfully said, “Take care, Master.”

Master Wusheng nodded and looked towards Liu Ji. When he saw that she seemed a little preoccupied, he asked, “Liu Ji, what is the matter?”

Liu Ji shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

Master Wusheng didn’t press her further. He looked back to Xia Luo. He trusted Elder Tan’s recommendation, and Elder Tan definitely had a good understanding of this student’s abilities if he had recommended that he join the Lockbreaker research group. After Wusheng finished thinking about all this, he took out an orb covered in a thin metal film from his cosmic ring. When the film was removed, Xia Luo saw that the orb was transparent. Dazzling star energy was radiant outwards from it, causing fluctuations in the very air.

“This is a starburst orb, and the Lockbreaker Society uses these to test its potential candidates. See how long you need to neutralize the star energy inside,” Master Wusheng explained as he passed the orb to Xia Luo.

Xia Luo asked out of curiosity, “How long do most people take to neutralize the energy on their first try?”

Master Wusheng casually replied, “Ten seconds for most. Those who solve it within five are considered good, and those who solve it within three are the elite.”

Xia Luo’s eyes twinkled. Elite? He then looked towards Liu Ji.