Chapter 2144: The Mad Headmaster
Chapter 2144: The Mad Headmaster
Leaving a name behind on the ship was leaving a record of oneself behind. As the years passed, these wooden boards could provide future generations with the names of former powerhouses and even the era during which they had lived.
There had been many Progenitors in the Daosource Sect era, but only Semi-Progenitors existed in the current era. This was because the Lu family had taken the most powerful families and organizations away from the Fifth Mainland, and after that, the Sixth Mainland had replaced the Fifth Mainland’s sky. It was not that the cultivators of the current era were not good enough, but rather that their path had been blocked.
As Lu Yin worked his way through the pile of wooden boards, they became increasingly fragile.
"The wood these boards are made from isn’t common. It’s able to bear the name of powerful Progenitors and carry on their names on for hundreds of millions of years. Still, the last boards are on the verge of disintegrating, so don’t touch any of them. A single touch will reduce them to dust," the Rainmaster cautioned.
Lu Yin looked at the next board in the pile. He did not recognize the writing, but it should belong to another person from the Daosource Sect era. Many great powerhouses had risen to strength before Progenitor Smoke and her generation, and there were other Progenitors as well. However, all those people had been overshadowed by the overwhelming might of those who had controlled the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. This was not to say that the previous Progenitors had not been impressive and powerful. They had also represented their own era, but they had not been as numerous or as impressive as the generation that had risen up during Progenitor Smoke’s time.
Lu Yin did not find Progenitor Smoke's name.
"After the war, many of the boards were lost," the Rainmaster stated solemnly.
The light faded from Progenitor Smoke's eyes. It was incredibly difficult for humans to pass down an inheritance, and even a Progenitor’s legacy would eventually disappear. In that case, just who could endure forever in the endless universe? It was beyond the abilities of even Progenitors. Was it possible to achieve eternal life if one arrived beyond the Progenitor realm? Progenitor Smoke did not hope for any single person to live forever, but rather for human civilization to endure throughout time.
Lu Yin stopped dwelling on the matter. The universe was vast and unfathomable to the point where no one knew just how far it stretched. It was possible that a civilization that surpassed both humanity and Aeternus would one day arise and erase all traces of both of them.
Progenitor Smoke returned to her mirror without another word.
Lu Yin and the Rainmaster left the sea of fire, and Lu Yin went to visit the Stargazing Deck on his own.
When he had last visited this place, he had seen a vision of Lu Zhen kneeling on the ground. During this visit, Lu Yin hoped to see the Lu family traitor that Lu Zhen had kneeled to, the owner of the bloodstained Champions’ Stage that Lu Yin had seen.
Lu Yin’s only reservation was that attempting to use the Stargazing Deck might once again trigger Destiny.
Suddenly, a cold glint flickered across Lu Yin's eyes. So what if he did trigger Destiny? She was supposed to be able to see through the past and the future, and Lu Yin had touched upon those concepts numerous times. The more he did so, the more terrifying he found Destiny, and the more he realized how difficult it would be to escape her influence.
However, Lu Yin also wanted to find out whether Destiny still lived and if Xuan Jiu's fears would manifest in reality.
Of course, there was also the power that Lu Yin was developing in the center of his chest; the stars that appeared next to the rotating black and white commas were actually specks of fatesand. Lu Yin had no idea if they would try to fly away again when he touched the Stargazing Deck, but regardless, he needed to try.
Lu Yin arrived at the Stargazing Deck almost instantly, and when the Starmaster saw Lu Yin, the younger man immediately called out, "Please excuse me, Mentor."
Lu Yin then took another step and instantly appeared on the Stargazing Deck. At that exact moment, a heat rose up within his heart. When he had touched the Stargazing Deck last time, doing so had caused his fatesand to fly away from him, and while Lu Yin felt the same heat as before, his fatesand did not appear. Instead, it looked like stars had appeared around him.
These star-like dots were supposed to be contained within the rotation of the commas inside Lu Yin’s chest, simulating the stars of the true universe within his chest. However, at this moment, they appeared around Lu Yin, and they gave him a majestic and almost divine appearance.
At this moment, Lu Yin was no longer seeing Astral-10’s Stargazing Deck, but instead seeing countless scenes playing out before his eyes, as though he were seeing snapshots taken through time.
At this same moment, in a certain corner of the Neoverse, Xuan Jiu suddenly spat out blood while attempting to tell a person’s fortune. The woman sitting in front of him was so startled that she nearly fainted.
In the Outerverse, Destina’s eyes snapped open. If someone looked at the white cloud surrounding her, they would see that it had become dyed scarlet.
In the Astral Beast Domain, Skymender was staring at the Extreme Path, and the two human Semi-Progenitors there were staring back at him. Skymender felt a tremendous amount of pressure, but fortunately, Yao Di had gone to the Extreme Path’s exit as well, and he was enough for the Astral Beast Domain to maintain the situation. While thinking about various things, Skymender’s expression suddenly changed. What is this feeling? Again?
Puff!
Blood shot out, and the astral beast collapsed. He was practically dead at this moment.
In the Perennial World, a pair of cold eyes glinted, and blood could be seen at the person’s mouth. "Destiny’s been triggered again? Damn it!"
In Astral-10, Lu Yin retreated a few steps from the Stargazing Deck. He managed to move with his own power this time.
Progenitor Smoke suddenly appeared, and she stared at the Stargazing Deck in amazement. She had also visited this place in the past, and she had even seen some visions after becoming an Envoy more than once. However, just what had Lu Yin done? Progenitor Smoke had felt a mysterious and unknown force pass by. It left her feeling inexplicably nervous.
The Starmaster had an ugly expression on his face as he stared at Lu Yin. "What did you just do?"
Lu Yin woke up. The star-like dots that had appeared around his body vanished the moment he had retreated, though he had not noticed it himself. As soon as he regained consciousness, he checked the state of things within his chest, and he was relieved to see that his false stars were back inside the orbit of the rotating black and white commas.
Lu Yin grew a bit embarrassed after hearing the Starmaster’s angry shout. "Well, I was trying to send something to you, Mentor, but I forgot where I was. I’m sorry."
The Starmaster was upset. The man had always remained calm in the past, no matter what had happened. Even when Lu Yin had triggered Destiny during his last visit to the Stargazing Deck, the Starmaster had remained calm and had simply helped Lu Yin gather his scattered fatesand. However, this time the man was rather angry. "The rules of the Astral Combat Academy are unbreakable. Do you understand?"
Lu Yin quickly apologized, "I know. I'm truly sorry, Mentor."
The Starmaster stared intently at Lu Yin for a moment. "The Stargazing Deck has existed since the creation of Boundless. No matter how many years have passed, the Stargazing Deck has always remained here. Nothing can be allowed to happen to it, and even if I die, the Stargazing Deck must remain. Breaking the academy’s rules like you just did could very possibly cause irreparable losses. Do you understand?"
Lu Yin apologized again. "I'm really sorry, Mentor."
Seeing Lu Yin's sincerity, the mentor's expression finally softened a bit. "Are you trying to draw Destiny’s attention?"
"I wanted to see the scenes that I wasn’t able to clearly see last time."
The Starmaster’s expression grew conflicted. "Do you know the headmaster’s name?"
Lu Yin could not understand why the Starmaster would suddenly change topics. "I don't. No one’s ever mentioned it to me."
"The headmaster’s name is Shao Chen," the Starmaster stated.
Shao Chen? Lu Yin was caught off guard. Why did that name sound so familiar. Suddenly, he remembered, and his shock grew. "The same Shao Chen who’s ranked at the top of the Rain List?"
The Starmaster looked away. When he finally opened his mouth again, he slowly recounted an unknown story. "Astral-10 was once a warship, Boundless, and it was the flagship. I don't know when the ten changed their names to the Astral Combat Academy and started recruiting students from all parts of human civilization, but Shao Chen was the most talented student that the Astral Combat Academy has ever seen. He is also the first headmaster. There were none before him.”
"He quickly rose to fame. He became an Enlighter by the age of twenty, and an Envoy by forty. Even if all of human history is considered, he remains one of the most talented cultivators ever."
Lu Yin was quite surprised. An Enlighter by the age of twenty and an Envoy by the age of forty? That was no different from the Ten Arbiters. No, that was on par with the Perennial World’s four Junior Progenitors! The man really was an absolute genius.
"Back then, before him, there was no rule restricting a person’s visits to the Stargazing Deck. Every student was allowed access based on their contributions while studying within the Astral Combat Academy, and there were no further restrictions." The Starmaster suddenly let out a sight. "However, when Shao Chen became an Envoy, he instantly became the headmaster. He continued visiting the Stargazing Deck, and he even publicly announced that he had obtained an ancient inheritance. After that, his visits increased in frequency. Eventually, he overcame his sixth stellular tribulation, reaching a power level of over a million. Such an achievement has always been rare, and back then, everyone was anticipating his breakthrough. Even the Hall of Honor and Arch-Elder Zen were looking forward to it. Everyone believed that Shao Chen would eventually become a Semi-Progenitor, or even a Progenitor. However, it was because of this that he went insane later on, though I don’t know how much time passed."
Lu Yin's expression changed. He remembered hearing a mentor previously mention that the headmaster had gone crazy because of his cultivation art.
"I don't know when, but one time after he entered the Stargazing Deck, he went crazy. He burned Astral-10 down, and his madness continued. Before his madness, Astral-10 had always been the strongest and most influential of the Astral Combat Academy’s ten branches, but everything changed after that.”
The Starmaster turned to look at Lu Yin. "This is a story that the previous Starmaster passed on to me. The rules for the Stargazing Deck were also changed because of what happened to the headmaster. Now, you should understand why you aren’t allowed to freely enter the Stargazing Deck. This place allows one to glimpse into the past and future, but it is also capable of inducing a tragic history like Shao Chen."
The longer the Starmaster spoke, the more fearful he became. He quickly considered the fact that, if Lu Yin went mad from the Stargazing Deck, tragedy would not merely befall Astral-10, but also the entire Human Domain. The more the man’s thoughts considered the possibilities, the more guarded he became towards Lu Yin. The Starmaster even contacted the other mentors, in preparation of the possibility of Lu Yin attempting to force his way onto the Stargazing Deck once more.
Progenitor Smoke was amazed. "Something like that actually happened because of the Stargazing Deck? I’ve used it countless times and never had any problem."
The Starmaster turned to stare at Progenitor Smoke. Countless times? What did that mean?
The other mentors quickly appeared. They had already been updated on the situation by the Starmaster, and all of the mentors immediately moved to block Lu Yin’s path to the Stargazing Deck.
"Kid, do you think that you’re all grown up now and that you don’t have to worry about us old guys anymore? Look at you! Do you really want to force your way into the Stargazing Deck?" Old Cai ground out through clenched teeth. He glared at Lu Yin as though he were looking at a pirate, when suddenly, the old man remembered this kid was part of Leon’s Armada. Highsage Leon was the Pirate King…
The Rainmaster somberly stated, "Lu Yin, if you still want to be considered a student of Astral-10, do not enter the Stargazing Deck ever again."
The Sandmaster’s fists were clenched, and his muscles tensed as his battle force erupted. "Kid, if you want to get past, you’ll do so over my dead body!"
The Trialmaster sighed. "Once again, our school faces trouble. This time, someone is trying to blatantly barge into the Stargazing Deck."
Lu Yin was left speechless at the confrontation, and he responded with a wry smile, "Mentors, are you misunderstanding something?"
Old Cai and the others looked over at the Starmaster, who said, "You’re here as a precaution, but don’t let him near the Stargazing Deck."
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "Don’t worry. I won’t touch it."
It was only then that the mentors let out sighs of relief.
"Well, you’re certainly becoming more and more mischievous! You used to just go out and make trouble for the rest of the Fifth Mainland, but now you aren’t even leaving your alma mater alone!" Old Cai spat out as he glared at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I remember hearing Starmaster tell me that I could visit the Stargazing Decks in the other Astral Combat Academy branches, but I never got to all of them. If I can’t use this one, I’ll just go to the others."
The Starmaster’s expression instantly changed. He had seen Lu Yin enter the Stargazing Deck and trigger Destiny, and he had also watched the headmaster’s insanity for many years. The Starmaster had no assurances that Lu Yin would not similarly go mad, and if the kid managed to trigger Destiny again, who knew if he would be able to maintain his sanity.
"No! You cannot be allowed to trigger anything to do with Destiny again! There’s no telling what might happen if you do so!" the Starmaster instantly shot down Lu Yin’s alternate plan.