I didn't know how far Asta's Personal terminal could reach, but it should have covered an area within a ten-mile radius.
Following the direction indicated by his combat power detector, Lu Yin pursued the target, gradually moving farther from the toll station.
With the long-haired zombie gone, the previously riled-up horde slowly settled down and returned to wandering aimlessly. Xu San and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
A foul-smelling ditch wound into the distance. From time to time, green eyes appeared among the grass in the darkness, then vanished again.
Lu Yin walked through the grass, glancing at his Personal terminal now and then. The location displayed on it was right here.
If they didn't deal with this long-haired zombie, it would be extremely dangerous for the Jinling army to travel this road in the future. A Corpse King with intelligence could even bring disaster to Jinling.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
The sound of chewing reached Lu Yin's ears. Following it, he looked down into the ditch. A dark red glow flickered there. The clouds drifted apart, moonlight spilled down, and a flash of red gleamed, accompanied by a pair of scarlet eyes.
Lu Yin's gaze sharpened. Flame Crystals? Was this Corpse King eating Flame Crystals?
Roar!
With a roar, the Long-haired Corpse King leaped high and swiped at Lu Yin. Its arm was dark red and gave off waves of heat.
Lu Yin dodged in surprise. The Corpse King's attack tore through the grass, leaving behind the smell of something scorched.
The next moment, several Flame Crystals fell from the Corpse King and landed in the grass. Flames immediately ignited, lighting up the ground.
Lu Yin used Roaming Step to circle behind the Corpse King. He pulled the iron rod still embedded in its back and drove it viciously into the back of its head.
The Corpse King froze. Then its body trembled and slowly fell. Dark red light poured from within as flames consumed it from the inside out.
Lu Yin had never imagined that a Corpse King could gain innate abilities by consuming various Energy Crystals. The odds of a human gaining an innate ability were one in ten thousand, yet a Corpse King could acquire them simply by eating crystals. Which of them, then, was the more advanced product of evolution? Lu Yin felt bewildered.
The Corpse King was soon reduced to ashes, and the flames around it gradually died out.
Lu Yin walked to the spot where the Corpse King had been eating the Flame Crystals. There was a hole there. He switched on his light and shone it inside. A dark red mass came into view. "Is this a Flame Crystal mine?" Lu Yin exclaimed in shock, then felt a surge of excitement.
Energy Crystals were in great demand throughout the universe. Pure Star Energy Crystals and natural energy crystals such as Flame and Water Crystals were all valuable. He had never expected to find a Flame Crystal mine here. He didn't know how large it was, but it was undoubtedly a treasure trove.
Lu Yin was thrilled. He hadn't expected to gain something like this while hunting the Corpse King.
He took some crystals, then covered the hole again and made sure no one would discover it. This place, like Xu San, was a treasure—a resource Lu Yin was setting aside for the future.
Just as Lu Yin was about to leave, he noticed something dark red at his feet. He crouched and brushed away the dirt, revealing a Scarlet Vertical Eye. It wasn't a real eye, but one crafted from some unusual material.
Lu Yin picked it up, feeling a chill creep up his back. He turned it over. On the reverse was a grinning skull, staring straight at him.
The moment he saw the skull, Lu Yin's scalp prickled. He instinctively wanted to throw the thing away, but held on to it and put it straight into his Void Ring.
Only after stowing it away did Lu Yin come back to his senses. He stared in disbelief. What was this thing? Why was it here? It was clearly man-made. Had someone been here? This object alone was enough to make him feel a chill despite his current strength. Lu Yin had a feeling he'd stumbled upon something extraordinary.
Letting out a breath, Lu Yin hurried away.
When he returned to the toll station, he saw that much of the horde had retreated, with more zombies still leaving.
It took another hour for the horde to withdraw completely.
Corpses covered the area outside the toll station, filling the air with a foul stench. Numerous Mutant Rats were drawn to the bodies and gnawed at them, making the sight horrifying.
"Brother Lu, where did you go?" Luo Yun asked, immediately reproaching him.
"I found an intelligent Corpse King," Lu Yin said calmly. "It was the one that drew the horde here."
"What? Are you serious?" Luo Yun exclaimed.
"Report this to Saint of Punishment immediately," Lu Yin told her. "The appearance of a Corpse King like this means zombies aren't relying on numbers alone anymore. They can produce powerful individuals too. At least fifty of our soldiers died at its hands tonight."
Luo Yun understood how serious this was and immediately reported it.
"Boss, are you all right?" Xu San asked. He wasn't really worried about Lu Yin; without him, Xu San had no standing in the Punishment Corps.
"Take care of what's left. I'm going to rest," Lu Yin said indifferently.
"Got it, Boss," Xu San replied.
The horde had left nearly a hundred people dead or wounded. It seemed brutal, but everyone had grown numb. No one knew how many people had died since the apocalypse began. Their comrades kept being replaced, one after another, and the soldiers had grown used to it.
Lying on the roof of the toll station, Lu Yin couldn't help touching his Void Ring. The skull-marked eye inside kept him uneasy. That material, that feeling—it definitely wasn't from Earth. Had those students brought it down with them? What kind of student carried something like that?
Luo Yun leaped onto the roof. Her alluring face was weary as she sat beside Lu Yin. "Saint of Punishment wants us to contact the front lines as soon as possible, ideally to connect with the Capital City network and report this to the Capital City."
Lu Yin laughed. "The Capital City? Maybe they already know."
"Why do you say that?" Luo Yun asked in surprise.
Lu Yin shook his head. "I don't know. It's just a guess. If a Corpse King can appear in Jinling, they can appear elsewhere too."
Luo Yun hugged her knees and stared blankly into the distance. The dark night sky stretched endlessly above them. When she looked up, only the moonlight illuminated the heavens, but clouds soon covered it again.
"When do you think Earth will be peaceful again?" Luo Yun murmured.
Lu Yin didn't answer. The night made people feel lonely, and Luo Yun now was completely different from the woman she was during the day. But what did that matter? The apocalypse wouldn't end just because one person was lonely and afraid. The planet's evolution had a long way to go, and the trial had only just begun. Only Lu Yin knew all this. Perhaps the Seven Saints knew too. Those students were the ones who would decide Earth's future.
Asta and Aoton were only students at an ordinary Great Yu Empire academy. They might have been elites, but they couldn't be called elites at a truly top-tier school. Every elite at one of those schools possessed formidable battle techniques, far beyond what these students could match. In this so-called trial, they were the real protagonists.
Thinking this, Lu Yin touched his Void Ring and looked at Luo Yun. "Go get some rest. I'll take the watch tonight."
Luo Yun nodded and smiled at him. "If you'd comforted me just now, maybe something could've happened between us."
Lu Yin smiled, unconcerned. She wasn't the kind of woman he liked.
Luo Yun left the rooftop. The soldiers around them mechanically cleaned up, while Xu San shouted orders in the distance.
Lu Yin took out Asta's Personal terminal and tapped it open.
Although he had removed the location tracker from Asta's Personal terminal, he still wasn't at ease. He hadn't dared connect to the Cosmic network until now. With Jinling behind him, he could finally take a look.
A Personal terminal was a person's proof of identity. Asta's, for example, contained all his information, including details about his family and friends.
Lu Yin opened the Personal terminal and connected to the network, only to see a message that the connection was unavailable.
He had suspected as much, but he was still disappointed.
All students taking part in the Planetary Evolution Trial had been registered. When they died, their Personal terminals were disconnected from the network. That also meant Asta's death had already been discovered.
Lu Yin let out a breath and looked up at the starry sky. He wasn't worried that his killing of Asta would be exposed. The Planetary Evolution Trial was extremely important, and the Great Yu Empire Youth Council was overseeing it. No one was allowed to interfere. To the Great Yu Empire, Earth was an undeveloped world whose people hadn't reached space, but it was still part of the empire. The trial targeted not only the students but also the people of Earth.
This was a fair trial. The Great Yu Empire Youth Council wouldn't find it strange that Lu Yin had killed Asta. On the contrary, he might even earn their praise. That was one reason Lu Yin had killed Asta without hesitation: he wanted to draw the attention of certain people.
Aside from communicating with one another, the students who entered Earth couldn't contact anyone beyond the planet. They could only watch, not speak. That was the trial: a merciless trial where death was commonplace.
Lu Yin looked at the screen of the Personal terminal. There was no useful information, but eventually he found several notifications Asta had saved in a corner.
"Student Asta, if you fail to complete your mission within three months, the Council will send in a second batch of trial participants. Please do your best."
"The Cosmic Youth Council has ruled to abolish the Great Yu Empire Youth Council. The date of its reorganization has yet to be determined."
"The Cosmic Youth Council has ruled that the Starry Sky Tenth Academy will enter the Canglan Territory of the Outer Universe. We wish you all success in battle."
There were three saved notifications in total, two of which concerned the Cosmic Youth Council.
Lu Yin stared at the screen in surprise. He hadn't expected the Great Yu Empire Youth Council to be abolished, much less that the Starry Sky Tenth Academy would appear in the Canglan Territory.
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