The Aurora spaceship’s hull felt cold and sturdy to the touch; it was definitely made of a tough alloy. These things retailed for at least 50 billion credits; anyone who possessed it was considered rich! Unfortunately, he had nowhere to take it right now and wanted to become a Melder before he did. He headed for the Rain Observatory and settled on a treetop that was quite the distance away from the teleporter, taking out the formcast model that he’d taken from Terence’s corpse in Jinlin. He’d been holding onto it all this while so he could hit the Melder realm; the original plan was to get the formcast model from the corpse on Neptune, but that had turned out to be a still-alive Qingyu who he didn’t manage to kill. Seated on the limestone platform, he watched the dark green rain fall to the ground and inhaled deeply. Pricking his finger, he then pressed the formcast model into his fingertips and initiated his breakthrough.
Moments later, searing pain shot through Lu Yin’s entire body. His eyes were lit ablaze from the familiar sensation, his entire body writhing as his cells were burnt away and recreated. It felt like an invincible enemy was crushing him from the stars, and he felt the universe with each breath he took. His body was slowly starting to get used to the greater world, and it realized how meager the amount of star energy it held was. It longed for more to quench its thirst. His eyes glowed with determination as he felt his body growing stronger; this was the power of the Melder realm. He was about to break through.
His coat suddenly burst open and several runes started sparkling on his back. They formed the shape of a lock that pierced his shoulder blade, seemingly locking down his entire body. This was a seal that had appeared before, and it shattered the formcast model immediately. Lu Yin’s eyes shot open in bewilderment; the mental impact had almost forced a blackout, but he was more agitated by the failure.
The Rainmaster walked out from the continuing downpour, frowning as he looked at Lu Yin, “Who would be cruel enough to seal a child from breaking through?”
The old man in tattered clothes appeared out of thin air on the other side, pressing a hand onto Lu Yin’s back. Terrifying energy filled all of Astral-10, pervading the skies and shaking the surrounding planets as he tried to suppress the seal. He also stretched a hand into the void as this happened, slowly forming a brand new formcast model and merging it into Lu Yin’s body.
Lu Yin was on the verge of fainting from the unexpected failure. He had been on the verge of breaking through and simply did not understand how failure was even possible at that point. Just as he felt that all was lost, however, a powerful force suddenly supported his body and allowed the formcasting to continue. As his cells burned and the blood began to reform, he gritted his teeth. Even though he didn’t know where this new force came from, he would rely on it to continue the formcasting.
Behind Lu Yin, the old man had a distant look in his eyes as though the heavens were spinning around him. A small part of the lock shimmered into existence before exploding, causing the heavens to quake. A middle-aged man in the Sand Ocean looked up in alarm, while Old Cai jumped in shock in the treasury. The Trialmaster’s eyes shot open in contemplation, while someone stuck his head out of the Stargazing Deck. The Rainmaster himself watched the entire process in shock.
In the process of entering the Melder realm, Lu Yin saw that jade finger once more as the seal was smashed. However, the sight was different this time; there was a boundless stretch behind the finger that glowed with gem-like stars. It was a magnificent sight to behold. The old man watched thoughtfully as Lu Yin’s body was reforged.
“This… this is an ancient seal,” the Rainmaster stuttered.
“Very ancient, one that can only be broken with force. Ah, such a shame that I only managed to break one,” the old man said dejectedly.
The Rainmaster had a puzzled look on his face, “Do you mean there is more than one?”
The old man nodded and looked up, collecting his thoughts, “I think I encountered such seals before, but I have forgotten where. Ancient and terrifying indeed; someone could actually bear to lock a kid with them.”
“What are the effects?” the Rainmaster asked curiously.
“His physical body and his innate gift. This kid’s talent was squeezed down to an ordinary commoner; I broke the seal on his body. He will finally be able to showcase his physical ability, but I’m afraid that will be the extent of it for now,” the old man explained. Looking at Lu Yin, he sighed, “The next seals will be very difficult to break. I hurt this child when I lost control; this new formcast model should make it up to him. It should keep him going unless another of the seals is activated.”
……
It took more than a day for Lu Yin to complete his breakthrough, and when he opened his eyes, the downpour looked entirely different. His breakthrough to the Melder realm had enhanced his senses greatly; he didn’t know himself how much stronger he was now. Balling his fists, he felt like something was wrong. It felt like his body had changed, growing much more durable and robust than he’d expected. His strength also seemed to have grown significantly. Waving it off as the effects of the breakthrough, he got to his feet.
It was at this point that Lu Yin felt the additional formcast model in his body. Stunned, he quickly looked towards the curtain of rain, “Rainmaster, are you there?”
The Rainmaster responded without showing himself, “The formcast in your model will allow you to sculpt your body again. Go to the Sand Ocean and cultivate yourself; the Observatory will not be of much help at the moment.”
Lu Yin bowed to show his thanks, thinking back to when Terence’s formcast model had shattered. The Rainmaster had helped him salvage the situation. He truly felt fortunate that he’d managed to join Astral-10; this help would have been impossible to acquire otherwise.
To get a feel for how much stronger he was, Lu Yin immediately headed to the Trial Zone entrance to join in on the ported battles. As always, he heard the old Trialmaster announcing someone’s results, “Hui Daynight, six victories to 92 defeats.”
A dejected Hui Daynight walked away from the teleportation stone, but Lu Yin shot an impressed glance his way. Going from 3-72 to 6-92 was a significant improvement.
Michelle had walked into battle the moment Hui stepped out, and it took some time for her to come back out, “Michelle, 13 victories to 56 defeats.”
Lu Yin was taken aback; she had improved as well. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who was getting better; even though they didn’t get personal tutelage in Astral-10 from the get-go, both the Rain Observatory and Sand Ocean were amazing places to cultivate. There was also the mysterious Stargazing Deck.
He passed by Michelle and made his way to the teleportation stone, hoping that he didn’t get an Explorer at least. The scenery changed to a vast grassland with a gentle wind, an intoxicatingly fresh smell filling the surroundings until his opponent ported in.
The other individual immediately attacked him with a sticky purplish substance that was like a web. Lu Yin was shocked; this was a strange innate gift. It sealed off the surrounding space and fell towards him, but his figure blinked away. He was right in front of the Melder the next moment, his hand shooting out the Six Stacks Shockwave Palm. A loud thud shattered the opponent immediately, and the sticky substance vanished; it was a one-hit kill.
Lu Yin looked at his palms, bewildered. His palms had felt like they would break when he used the Six Stacks Shockwave Palm before, but now it seemed as easy as breathing and caused no strain at all. Why was this? Did the Melder breakthrough really make his body that much stronger? Even the Flash had doubled in speed!
Lu Yin opened his eyes wide underneath the teleportation stone, a bewildered expression on his face. He knew that the biggest change during the Melder advancement was the increase in star energy; Melders absolutely dwarfed Sentinels in terms of their energy pool. Other attributes were improved as well, but he felt like the strengthening of his body was abnormal. Continuing to think about it, he entered another ported battle.