The human race’s loss in the war at the Human Domain’s frontier was unrelated to the Astral Combat Tournament, but their tournament was nonetheless still being used to recruit new troops for the war effort. This method had results, as many people who could not enter the Astral Combat Academy would choose to become soldiers. This was good enough, as the greater goal was for this tournament to inspire humankind and mollify the negative effects from their recent defeat.

From Lu Yin’s perspective, this tournament was more of a cover up than a response to the defeat, but it was all the same to him. He knew that, at times, the higher echelons’ decisions were forced. Besides, the students were still able to enjoy this incredible stage because of the situation.

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered as he watched all the proud geniuses battling it out from his position on the highest peak. He thought back to his experiences on the pirate port planet and his desperate straits on Driftcharge Planet. Despite the large jump upwards, he still was not satisfied with his current position.

He glanced over at the other nine student leaders besides him, who were also watching the battles from above. In truth, they were just pawns of certain parties who had been placed here to receive adoration from the crowds. The backers of these student leaders could actually strip them of everything they had at the snap of a finger....