The most important thing to Lu Yin right now was Star Energy Crystals. Next was the fugitive. He had Teres's Body Sculpting Technique, which would let Lu Yin undergo a third round of body sculpting and reach the Integrating Realm. But advancing beyond the Integrating Realm would be troublesome.
Ordinary Body Sculpting Techniques only allowed three rounds of body sculpting. Only more powerful techniques could allow a fourth, and even Teres and Bailie were unlikely to have one. He could only seek out someone stronger. The fugitive was his only hope on Earth.
The fugitive might be powerful, but Lu Yin wasn't sure what tricks those four students had up their sleeves. So he decided to muddy the waters and draw all the students in to compete for the fugitive. The more chaotic things got, the better it was for the fugitive. Once Lu Yin got his third star moving, no one among the first batch of Trial Takers would be a match for him. For now, he needed to buy time.
In a secluded courtyard in the Capital City, Lu Yin shut the doors and windows, scattered Flame Crystals around the perimeter, then returned to his room and opened his hand. The die slowly appeared.
The light on the die's surface was dim; it hadn't recovered yet. Without Star Energy Crystals, it would take a long time to recharge enough to use. He didn't want to wait.
Lu Yin rubbed his hands together, eyes shining as he stared at the die. He crushed the hard-won cubic meter of Star Energy Crystals, and surging star energy poured into the die, making it glow brighter and brighter until it finally recovered. Nebulous stars shimmered across its surface.
Lu Yin licked his lips, feeling a little nervous. At that moment, he felt just like a gambler. "Come on, give me some good luck. Let's see what I roll." As he spoke, Lu Yin tapped the die.
The die spun rapidly, the nebulous stars on it beautiful to behold.
Lu Yin stared at it with wide eyes. At last, it stopped spinning. The numbers on five sides disappeared, leaving just one: one pip.
"One pip again!" Lu Yin was thrilled. One pip let him obtain a random item from someone's Void Ring. The first time he rolled the die, he'd gotten one pip and obtained the Heavenly Star Art and Heavenly Star Palm, the techniques that had set him on the path to power. This was his second roll.
Lu Yin watched as a beam shot out from the die and pierced through the void, as if opening a passage. Then something dropped to the ground with a slap.
Lu Yin stared at the floor, dumbfounded and disbelieving. Th-this was a snack?
A beautifully packaged snack lay on the floor. The package was covered in writing Lu Yin couldn't understand. It was probably GG script.
Lu Yin picked up the snack package blankly, feeling like he was about to spit blood.
He'd spent a whole cubic meter of Star Energy Crystals for this thing? A snack? He would've been happy with even a lousy dagger!
The light on the die dimmed, then vanished.
Everything in the room returned to normal. Lu Yin was left holding a bag of snacks, speechless, his heart bleeding. What a rip-off.
For ten days, Lu Yin stayed in the Capital City. Things had calmed down there. The zombie tide outside the city had dwindled after clashing with the beast tide, and more and more evolvers dared to venture out.
While things were peaceful around the Capital City, Europe was in chaos.
Ten days earlier, Lu Yin had told Granny to spread word that the fugitive was in the Mediterranean. At first, no one believed it, but after Ede and the others were spotted, many students were convinced and rushed to the Mediterranean.
A few days ago, a great battle had broken out in the Mediterranean. Even the surface of the sea had been evaporated away in a layer. Rumor had it that the fugitive was an Integrating Realm expert who had killed several students before escaping. Ede and the others had all been injured.
Ede and his group weren't the only team of the academy's strongest students. Three teams had come from Huaxia, two from northern Russia, and two from Europe. There were also teams from Africa and elsewhere. With so many top students gathered, all of Europe had been thrown into turmoil.
Lu Yin was quite satisfied with the news Granny reported. As long as the fugitive hadn't been caught, everything was fine. His practice at simulating the movement of the stars was also going smoothly. The third star was just about to appear, and he would succeed within half a month at most. Then it would be his turn to act.
Outside the Capital City, countless zombies wandered beside the road. From time to time, one emerged from a shop on either side, chewing on something unidentifiable.
Amid countless gunshots, a convoy came driving up. Without slowing, it plowed straight through the zombies, leaving behind blood-slicked ground and a stench that stung the nose.
Suddenly, a thunderous boom rang out. A fierce gale sprang up out of nowhere and overturned the convoy. All the evolvers leaped out of the vehicles and looked around in confusion. The gale had come from nowhere.
"What happened?" A tall, broad-shouldered man brushed the dust off himself, cigarette in his mouth, and shouted.
"Captain, some gale came out of nowhere and flipped the vehicles!" someone reported.
The man frowned and looked into the distance. Everything around them was calm. Where had that gale come from?
Just then, an unseen attack sliced through a shop in the distance. The next second, all the evolvers stood frozen in place as their upper bodies fell cleanly to the ground. They had all been killed by an invisible attack.
The deaths of these evolvers alone wouldn't have been unusual. But over the next few days, more evolvers were killed by invisible attacks, drawing Huaxia Camp's attention.
After one of Huaxia Camp's Earth-level Experts was killed, Zhang Ding Tian left the Capital City. The slain expert had been the strongest in the city after the Heaven-level Experts. Without Zhang Ding Tian and the others taking action, no one in Huaxia Camp dared to step forward.
Zombies roared and charged at Zhang Ding Tian from both sides of the road. Strange Mutant Beasts writhed beneath the ground.
Zhang Ding Tian's expression didn't change. With a casual sweep of his hand, a cutting gust of energy killed all the zombies.
Perhaps sensing Zhang Ding Tian's strength, the roadside fell silent. He walked for a long while without being attacked. After giving it some thought, he put on the Personal Terminal Bai Xue had given him. It had come from Paris. Zhang Ding Tian had originally disdained using it, but at the moment, nothing else would serve him better.
He tapped the Personal Terminal. Soon, it began beeping. Zhang Ding Tian narrowed his eyes and looked to the northeast, then swung his blade. A massive slash cleaved through the earth and swept across the area. A figure fled in a panic, its left arm wounded by the slash as it let out a low growl.
Zhang Ding Tian rushed forward and struck with the back of his blade. The figure turned, revealing a hideous, terrifying face. It was a zombie.
With a bang, the zombie was driven to the ground by a single blow. Its scarlet eyes gleamed with cruelty as it swung its hands. An invisible gale formed into blades and slashed at Zhang Ding Tian. He casually slapped the wind blades apart, then turned his blade and swept it across. The zombie's head rolled into the distance, shattered by the shock wave.
Zhang Ding Tian frowned at the zombie, his expression strange. As far as he knew, zombies were merely failed products of human evolution and shouldn't possess great strength. But this zombie had not only possessed Earth-level strength, it could even conjure gales with its hands. That was bizarre.
Zhang Ding Tian quickly returned to the Capital City and found Dean Lian. He explained what had happened, and Dean Lian was shaken. "What did you say? A zombie had Earth-level strength? It could even conjure gales? Impossible. They're merely failed products of human genetic mutation."
"That was what happened," Zhang Ding Tian said gravely.
Dean Lian fell silent, his gaze solemn. There were far more zombies than survivors on Earth. If zombies really could evolve, it would be trouble. Humanity would have to face not only powerful Mutant Beasts, but zombies as well.
More importantly, there was the power to conjure gales. Evolution alone couldn't produce that. As far as they knew, only two people could wield supernatural powers, and even Zhang Ding Tian didn't have any. How could a zombie possess such power?
"If one can appear, then a second can, too. That Lu Yin came from Jinling, didn't he? Ask him if he's encountered a zombie like this," Dean Lian said.
Zhang Ding Tian immediately sent for Lu Yin and Bai Xue.
The moment Lu Yin heard that Zhang Ding Tian had encountered a Corpse King, his expression changed.
"You know about it?" Zhang Ding Tian asked, staring at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin nodded and explained what had happened with the Long-haired Corpse King. He'd suspected that the Capital City already knew about it, but he hadn't expected them to encounter one only now.
Bai Xue was incredulous. "Consuming natural Energy Crystals can give them supernatural powers? How is that possible? Humans can't even do that."
"That's what I saw. I have no reason to lie to you," Lu Yin said gravely.
Dean Lian's expression turned serious as he looked at the three of them. "We've always believed that zombies were failed products of human evolution. And the facts show that most zombies are just that. They can only wander around, they're weak in battle, and they can only threaten ordinary people. But look at it another way: what if zombies aren't failures, but are following a different path of evolution? Wouldn't that make sense?"
Zhang Ding Tian's expression shifted. "Humans can absorb the Energy Crystals inside Mutant Beasts and grow stronger. Zombies can do the same. They might even absorb supernatural Energy Crystals and gain even greater power."
Dean Lian said gravely, "No one has ever seen a zombie consume an Energy Crystal. A Mutant Beast can often tear through many zombies with ease, and even if badly wounded, it can easily escape. So zombies can't get their hands on Energy Crystals, and no one would willingly give a zombie the Energy Crystals they worked so hard to obtain. That's why this possibility was ruled out from the start. But we can't deny that a very lucky zombie might find an Energy Crystal. If that possibility is real, Earth will change drastically."
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