Chapter 284: Domain

“Alright, I’ll agree to your terms.” Han Chong was the first to agree.

Lu Yin found this situation strange. Why was this guy being so nice?

Yue Xianzi also found it very strange. “Are you trying to stall for time, Han Chong?”

The others all glanced at Han Chong with strange looks in their eyes. Han Chong was being way too nice and friendly to Lu Yin, and it had actually reached the point where it was too much.

Han Chong smiled. “When you meet new people, there will be some who you instantly feel like you could very well be good friends with, and then there are some who you’ll seemingly never be able to communicate with during your entire life. Lu Yin and I seem to be fated.”

“Does this guy like you or something? Gross.” The monkey’s voice rang in Lu Yin’s mind.

Lu Yin was rendered speechless by Han Chong’s explanation, and he surveyed the rest of the trialtakers. “What about the rest of you? You need to answer quickly—there’s no telling when Ming Hao and his men will show up, and when they do, not even an Explorer will be able to stop them.”

“I’ll do it,” Yue Xianzi resolutely replied.

The rest exchanged gazes and then, one by one, agreed.

Lu Yin nodded. “Good. Make an oath, though I’ll also need it to be written down.”

“Written down? What kind of people do you think we are? Since we promised, we’ll definitely follow through on our word!” Xun Jiong from the Ascension Flowzone was furious.

Lu Yin merely shrugged in response. “Sorry, but I don’t believe in verbal promises.”

“A bastard like him isn’t worth your friendship. Are you really saying that someone like him is a friend of yours, Han Chong?” Xun Jiong looked very uncomfortable.

Han Chong smiled. Without saying a word, he took out a piece of paper from his cosmic ring as if it was the most natural thing to do. The rest were left with no choice but to follow suit and write down their oath on paper.

Lu Yin was very satisfied when he saw this. The universe was a very practical place, and for the organizations behind these people, profits outweighed everything else. They wouldn’t even hesitate to give up on one of their most elite disciples if necessary. At worst, they could just nurture another. An oath would only bind the person in question and not the organization that they belonged to, and Lu Yin had no desire of being made a fool of. Of course, even if a promise was written down, it still wouldn’t transform into a binding contract for the organizations involved. However, it was still better than nothing, and he didn’t have any other choice.

With this in mind, Lu Yin’s eyes twinkled. Right, why hadn’t he thought of this before? It would be a good idea to collect some more of these written oaths. They could prove to be very useful in the future.

“Please help me collect them, Han Chong,” Lu Yin said.

The rest flung their written oaths at Han Chong in annoyance.

It actually somewhat looked like Han Chong was Lu Yin’s underling.

The five statues had sealed off the sixth level of the Lightshaking Tower just like how the five planets had sealed off the Shenwu Continent. It was Lu Yin’s first time seeing sourceboxes this unique. He wasn’t very confident that he’d be able to open the seal, but he could still give it a try.

With the Giant Emperor’s third eye in one hand and nine stars revolving around his body, Lu Yin closely observed the materialized energy seal with excited eyes. What he saw was similar to what he usually observed when looking at a sourcebox, which was a vast sea of energy. However, this time, things were different as this sea was actively moving. On the surface, it seemed that this energy seal only had a single layer, but there was actually a circuit of energy snaking between the five statues, forming a unique domain. This was Lu Yin’s first time seeing something like this.

“Usually, only high-ranked Boundless sourceboxes would exhibit a domain like that on the surface. Sourceboxes like these are practically alive and very extraordinary. There have even been cases where the high-ranked sourcebox causes unique phenomena to manifest. Seventh bro, that seal isn’t something that you can deal with,” the monkey grimly commented.

Lu Yin stared intently at the five gigantic statues. “It’s a man-made seal, so it should be possible to make a crack in it.”

On his arm, the adorable monkey tattoo shimmered. “You can’t do it! I’m sorry to say this, but you really don’t have the ability to do this.”

“I should at least give it a try,” Lu Yin firmly replied. He had a lockbreaking tool, his Cosmic Art, and Charon’s experience, so he really wanted to give this a shot. He was slowly becoming a true Lockbreaker, and he now had the urge to unlock any difficult sourceboxes that he chanced upon.

Lu Yin pressed both of his hands against the energy seal as martial power surged out in a series of continuous pulses. At that moment, ripples began to appear on the energy seal!

Everyone looked on excitedly. Their strongest attacks had been rendered useless against this formidable seal, but Lu Yin had managed to garner an immediate reaction after playing his hands upon it. That was a real Lockbreaker: someone with extraordinary methods.

Currently, in Lu Yin’s vision, the huge sea of energy had suddenly been disturbed by huge waves, and these waves were very rough. This was something that no one else besides Han Chong could see, as he was the only one who had comprehended a domain. Even ordinary Lockbreakers might not be able to see this scene. This vision was restricted to only those who had cultivated the Cosmic Art.

Cough

Lu Yin coughed up a mouthful of blood. The five statues had retaliated against his interference by aggravating the vast sea of energy that constituted the surface of this sourcebox. The monkey was right; this was not something that he could handle at his current level. He might be a Bright Eyed Junior Lockbreaker, but even an Imperial Intermediate Lockbreaker might not be able to handle a seal of this level.

“Like I said before, you should just give up. You won’t be able to crack it much less break it. It’s a self-contained system of energy that’s essentially become its own lifeform, which is the signature characteristic of a Boundless Advanced sourcebox. Even if this is a man-made seal, it’s not something that a mere Discerning Elementary Lockbreaker can successfully unlock.” the monkey said.

Lu Yin half-knelt on the ground while panting breathlessly. Blood was dripping down from the corner of his mouth. That last energy attack had been terrifying, and it was definitely no weaker than an attack from an Explorer. He had basically just withstood an attack from an Explorer. Lockbreaking was a very dangerous task, and if it weren’t for his strong defenses, then he would have likely died from just that first attack.

He had merely prodded the sea a little and hadn’t even started trying to unlock anything! But just that little nudge had already created such a powerful fluctuation that he had nearly died.

Below him, everyone wore expressions of disappointment. They weren’t idiots and could naturally tell that the layout of these five statues were very similar to the five planets’ No matter how weak they seemed to be, they had already blocked attacks from great powerhouses. Blocking attacks from Explorers or even Cruisers would be no issue for it at all, and Lu Yin was far too weak in comparison.

Han Chong’s gaze remained unchanging, and he kept looking up at Lu Yin.

All of a sudden, Lu Yin felt an intense bloodlust emanate out from behind him. A metal glint flashed as it bounced off of the seal. This meant that there was an ultra-powerhouse hiding here.

Lu Yin’s eyes widened. The moment the blade reflected that tiny glare, it had come within range of his Cosmic Art, and he could see everything within that range. The sword moved quickly, but thanks to his Cosmic Art, it appeared to be moving in slow motion.

Lu Yin twisted aside and narrowly dodged the sword as it slashed past him, though it left behind a thin laceration on Lu Yin’s face. Within the sword’s reflection, Lu Yin managed to catch a glimpse of the attacker’s face. He was a young man with a wooden expression, though his eyes seemed to tell a story.

With a whoosh, the sword once again slashed at Lu Yin, this time with an upwards trajectory. It destroyed the entire fourth level, allowing more light to shine into the tower. This allowed everyone to see the identity of the attacker.

He gaped at Lu Yin. “You dodged that?”

Lu Yin’s eyes were cold as he touched his cheek, surprised that this person had managed to wound him. Not even Zhanlong Daynight had managed to do that. “If I’m not wrong, you must be the number one fighter on the List of Tempering.”

The young man grasped his sword tightly and stared at Lu Yin. “That’s a good guess.”

“Remove your disguise,” Lu Yin said quietly.

The corner of the young man’s mouth curved upwards as his facial muscles twitched. The young man’s face then transformed into that of an old man. “After I became a Martial King, I killed 365 people over the past 137 years, and every one of them was strong enough to be on the List of Tempering. There were three who were powerful enough to reach the top five of the list, but even they could not block my attack. That attack that I just used might have killed Li Zimo if targeted at him, but you managed to dodge it.”

Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. “Your attack was quick, your blade sharp, and you hid yourself well. However, none of that works on me. If that’s the only attack that you have, then you’ll die today.” After that, he used Flash to reach the old man.

The man widened his eyes and suddenly struck one of the statues, startling Lu Yin. “Stop it!”

The old man laughed maniacally. “Since you managed to defeat Li Zimo and that foreigner, I already know that I’m no match for you. However, I can sense that there’s a very strange domain here. Once it’s triggered, it’ll tear everyone in its vicinity to shreds. Die. Let’s die together! At least that will mean that I’ve paid my dues to His Highness.”

Although his one attack didn’t damage the statues whatsoever, the previously peaceful energy sea had been thoroughly disturbed. The energy surged and roiled as it lashed out randomly. The old man himself was quickly torn to shreds by one of the energy fluctuations.

Lu Yin himself also had to endure an attack as he coughed up more blood. His five-lined battle force was nearly destroyed.

“That old guy’s committing suicide! We need to find a way out!” the monkey exclaimed.

If it were possible, Lu Yin would have fled a long time ago, but that wasn’t possible. The energy sea had gone completely rampant, and he could only avoid its attacks until it calmed down. Otherwise, he would die here.

Lu Yin was now personally experiencing what sort of dangers could accompany Lockbreaking. He recalled some of the sourcebox videos that he had watched before. Some Lockbreakers had been torn to shreds just for approaching a sourcebox. His current situation was probably very similar to what had happened in those videos; the lockbreakers had most likely unwittingly disrupted the energy domain on the surface of the sourcebox.

Lu Yin used Flash and moved several meters to the side as an invisible energy attack hurtled past him. He sighed, but there was already another surge of energy heading his way. He kept dodging, and when he was struck by the occasional stray energy surge, he would cough out some blood.

Below him, everyone was rather confused as they watched Lu Yin run around. They could not see the wild energy, so all they saw was Lu Yin dodging left and right for no apparent reason, though he did cough out some blood once in a while. It was like they were watching a performance.

Only Han Chong, Yue Xianzi, and a few others had grim expressions on their faces. They knew that Lu Yin was currently suffering from an unimaginable calamity. This was actually the most common cause of death during lockbreaking attempts.

For an entire half hour, Lu Yin kept evading the energy surges. The five statues had merged with the seal to form a continuous cycle of energy, and the resulting boundless strength of the energy sea nearly drowned Lu Yin. He was out of energy, but the surging energy attacks continued to strike at him.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Lu Yin was hit by yet another attack, and he crumpled to the floor, out of breath. He stared hard at the seal. Nobody else could see what he was seeing, which was a scene of energy dripping and splashing as it hit the floor. At that moment, Lu Yin felt as if he was back at the Rain Observatory in Astral-10. He could see a light drizzle raining outside, but every raindrop felt like its own separate world. As each drop splashed down onto the ground, the world kept expanding. The area that he was focused on kept expanding, and at the same time, so too did what he could hear, feel…

Strange undulations emanated out from Lu Yin’s body that caused his aura to suddenly change. There was no longer any need for him to look up. Lu Yin had already “seen” the energy surge coming his way even before he looked in its direction. He felt as if he was seeing the energy surge at a microscopic level, and then, he saw something else. He tilted his head slightly, and the energy passed by him, only sending a few strands of his hair flying. However, he was completely unhurt.