Trial Mission

"My name is Lu Yin, don't get it wrong," Lu Yin said.

"Is that your Earth name?" Granny asked.

Lu Yin didn't answer, but stared at Granny. "Log into the Cosmic Network and change Jinling to blue."

Granny sneered and ignored him.

Lu Yin sighed. "Actually, I don't like using punishment, but this is Xing Camp, you understand. They have plenty of ways to make you submit."

Granny was furious. "These natives will pay the price."

"Before that, you will pay a more terrifying price," Lu Yin said coldly, staring at Granny.

Granny met Lu Yin's gaze and finally submitted. In the end, she was just a student. She could be arrogant, cold, or even cruel to Earthlings, but that was due to the difference in status. Once this difference was erased, she was no different from an ordinary student.

Granny changed Jinling to blue on the Earth map in the Cosmic Network in front of Lu Yin.

Lu Yin looked. A part of Earth had already turned blue, meaning those areas were completely controlled by these students. Of course, not all of them were like that. Perhaps some students were controlled and forced to change to blue, but such cases should be few.

Parts of Huaxia turned blue, as did areas in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. What concerned Lu Yin the most was Hubei, which had also turned blue.

Lu Yin pondered, had Liu Shaoge submitted? Or was he killed?

"I ask you, which of the descending students are strong?" Lu Yin asked, staring at Granny.

Granny shook her head. "I don't know. The Planet Evolution Trial is organized by the Great Yu Empire and involves students from various academies. I only know about the situation at the First Military Academy. Teres should be considered very strong, but I really don't know about the others."

Lu Yin didn't press further. After all, the real trial was more than two months away, and he was confident in dealing with the first batch of students.

Everyone was busy now. Lu Yin personally went out of Jinling to kill Heaven Rank Mutant Beasts detected by his personal terminal. It wasn't until five days later that the busy period came to an end.

Lu Yin convened a meeting, attended by all the Commanders of Ten Thousand, including Luo Yun, who had just returned from the front-line gathering place.

After returning this time, Xu San was completely convinced by Lu Yin. He had only joined Xing Camp not long ago but had replaced the Saint of Punishment's position. He felt his future was bright.

Lu Yin also increasingly admired Xu San. With his support, Xu San had already advanced to Earth Rank, which was Gaze Realm. As long as he reached Probe Realm, he would be very valuable.

Because of Lu Yin's admiration, Xu San was full of drive and secretly vowed to become stronger as soon as possible. The more driven he was, the more Lu Yin admired him, and everything was developing towards a beautiful future.

No one in the meeting dared to defy Lu Yin. The fact that he dared to intervene in the Heaven Rank battlefield already spoke volumes. Moreover, Lu Yin had now revealed that he had reached Heaven Rank, the same strength as the Saint of Punishment, which was not something a Commander of Ten Thousand would dare to provoke.

As for the two Commanders of Ten Thousand who had sided with Granny, Lu Yin stripped them of their positions and demoted them to the army to earn merit through service.

"The most important thing now is to abandon the front lines and fully expand the Jinling Gathering Place," Lu Yin said, looking at the remaining eight Commanders of Ten Thousand.

Someone hesitated. "Opening a passage to the Capital City was the basic strategy set by the Saint of Punishment. It might not be good to abandon it."

Qin Xuan, the woman with glasses, looked at Lu Yin and said in a deep voice, "I agree. With Jinling's current strength, it's not enough to connect with other regions. We need to secure our internal affairs before dealing with external matters."

Following that, Feng Hong and others also agreed.

Lu Yin stood up. "It's decided. All soldiers in Xing Camp will be recalled. We will expand westward and recover lost territory step by step." After speaking, Lu Yin left. Before leaving, he said lightly, "Find me a star map of the solar system, the more detailed the better."

The others in the meeting looked at each other and said nothing.

Qin Xuan watched Lu Yin's retreating back, her eyes thoughtful. She felt this person was even more overbearing than the Saint of Punishment, and he seemed to have ambitions for Jinling. The Saint of Punishment had only asked him to temporarily manage it, but this person had overturned the Saint of Punishment's strategy. Although she agreed, she wondered what would happen if the Saint of Punishment woke up.

"Feng Hong, stay by the Saint of Punishment's side at all times during this period," Qin Xuan whispered to Feng Hong.

Feng Hong looked confused. "Why?"

Qin Xuan said, "It's nothing, just protecting the Saint of Punishment." She worried that Lu Yin might make a move against the Saint of Punishment, causing his death and allowing him to completely control Jinling.

Across from them, Luo Yun watched the two converse, her eyes flickering.

Zhao Yu had left days ago, heading to the northeast alone. Lu Yin admired her courage but considered it unwise.

Xing Camp once had eighty thousand Evolvers. After deducting the losses on the front lines, only fifty thousand remained. With all of them recalled to Jinling, Jinling's defensive strength greatly increased. The various Commanders of Ten Thousand guarded different directions of Jinling, making it as solid as a rock.

The afterglow of the sunset gradually faded. In the sky, beams of light flashed, eliminating flying Mutant Beasts. On the city wall, Lu Yin said in a deep voice, "Once a beast tide or zombie tide is detected, you can use thermal weapons. Don't be afraid of wasting them."

"Yes," two Commanders of Ten Thousand responded.

Suddenly, a cry sounded from afar. On the ground, patches of zombies were torn into bloody water. A giant flying Mutant Beast flew low, charging towards Jinling.

Everyone panicked. "Attack, attack quickly!"

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. He leaped up, holding Aoton's sword. With a slash, the energy of Probe Realm unleashed a downward strike, forcefully pushing the flying Mutant Beast towards the ground. Its head twisted unnaturally, and it let out a mournful cry.

Lu Yin landed and stepped on the Mutant Beast's back. He thrust his long sword into its brain. The Mutant Beast trembled twice and fell to the ground, completely dead.

Countless people watched this scene in shock, then erupted in cheers. Someone started it, shouting "Hidden Saint," and then, countless people shouted "Hidden Saint."

Lu Yin's lips twitched. He didn't want to bear the title of "Saint" and quickly stopped the crowd, but the name Hidden Saint gradually spread.

There were not many zombies and Mutant Beasts around Jinling; they had basically been cleared by Xing Camp. As Lu Yin's order was issued, Xing Camp concentrated its main forces westward, with nearly half of the Commanders of Ten Thousand heading to the western front lines to clear a path.

More and more survivors arrived in Jinling, and naturally, more Evolvers appeared.

Soon, half a month passed. There were less than seventy days until the second batch of trial students descended.

During this half-month, Lu Yin absorbed some Star Energy Crystals, increasing his combat power to 1,500, with nearly half of the Star Energy Crystals remaining.

The main use of Star Energy Crystals was not to accelerate absorption and increase combat power, but to train Battle Skills, serve as power sources for powerful technological weapons, and to supplement energy when it was scarce. Generally, cultivators using the Body Sculpting Technique rarely absorbed the energy within Star Energy Crystals. Training Battle Skills required energy, and Battle Skills were the foundation of a strong person.

Often, powerful Battle Skills could increase one's strength severalfold. The higher the displayed combat power, the more intimidating it would be.

Of course, higher combat power represented stronger internal energy. The same attack could naturally cause a stronger effect. Just like Teres, his Wave Palm could clash head-on with Granny's Battle Skill, but Teres still kept a considerable portion of Star Energy Crystals to train his Battle Skills. Unfortunately, he did not succeed, otherwise, the outcome of the battle half a month ago would have been different.

Lu Yin wanted to use the remaining Star Energy Crystals to practice Heavenly Star Palm and make an attempt.

After half a month, Granny relented and requested to see Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was not merciful to Granny. Although he didn't torture her, he locked her alone in a dark, sunless dungeon. With no one to talk to, no one for company, and poor food, consisting only of mutated rat meat, these past two weeks were the darkest days of Granny's life. She finally couldn't take it anymore.

"I... I'm willing to help you. You... you let me go," Granny said, looking at Lu Yin pleadingly. Her face was pale, her eyes were clouded, and a foul odor emanated from her.

Lu Yin said indifferently, "What can you help me with?"

Granny weakly replied, "Help you protect Jinling. I'll do anything you ask. Let me go, I can't stand it anymore."

Lu Yin stared at Granny. "I ask you, what was your final mission for this trial?"

Granny's eyes flickered. "Are you really not a student? Then how did you get onto Earth? This place has long been within the Great Yu Empire's surveillance range. It's impossible to enter freely."

Lu Yin turned to leave.

Granny quickly shouted, "Wait! I was just curious. I won't ask anymore. I'll tell you, our mission is to capture a fugitive."

Lu Yin turned back curiously. "Fugitive?"

Granny nodded. "We only received notice the day before the trial. A fugitive had passed through the surveillance network and entered Earth, bringing evolution to Earth. The Empire didn't originally plan for us to train on this planet, but Earth had evolved, so the Empire reluctantly changed the location at the last minute. That's why we were delayed by several months; otherwise, we should have arrived on Earth months ago."

"Earth's evolution wasn't brought by you?" Lu Yin asked, surprised.