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The silver-haired man retreated, exclaiming, "As expected of the Seven Saints' number one, we'll meet again if fate allows." With that, he suddenly charged into the distance, attempting to escape.

Zhang Ding Tian turned and swung his blade, but was shocked to see the silver-haired man charging towards Bai Xue. He abruptly halted his attack.

Bai Xue pointed a hand at the silver-haired man, cold air enveloping the sky as solid ice spread from the void. She intended to freeze this entire area.

The silver-haired man sneered, easily tearing through the solid ice with the butterfly knife in his hand and thrusting it towards Bai Xue's neck. Bai Xue was unable to resist, watching the blade strike her. At the critical moment, Lu Yin used Roaming Step to appear before Bai Xue, raising his palm and unleashing a strike. The silver-haired man was surprised, redirecting the butterfly knife towards Lu Yin. White light and Heavenly Star Palm clashed once more, the void shaking, stars shattering, and a terrifying wave of energy sending Bai Xue flying. The ground instantly cracked, and countless energy forces shot out in all directions.

Dust and smoke covered a large area of the ground.

Soon, as the dust settled, only Lu Yin remained at the scene. The silver-haired man had vanished.

The assassination attempt was swift, lasting no more than ten seconds from Zhang Ding Tian's injury to the silver-haired man's departure. The surrounding army hadn't even reacted before it was all over.

Bai Xue's gaze was filled with shock. In that instant, she had experienced the feeling of death. That beautiful butterfly knife had effortlessly torn through her defenses, and that cold glint was truly capable of killing her. Since achieving the rank of Seven Saints, she hadn't experienced such a crisis.

Lu Yin stepped out of a shallow pit and looked at Bai Xue, "Are you alright?"

Bai Xue shook her head, her gaze complex, "Thank you."

Lu Yin turned to look at Zhang Ding Tian, "You're injured."

Zhang Ding Tian touched his neck, "It's nothing."

The surrounding army finally appeared, shocked to discover that Zhang Ding Tian was actually injured. He was Zhang Ding Tian, the Seven Saints' number one, and he was injured? This was unbelievable to everyone.

"Why are you here?" Zhang Ding Tian asked, looking at Lu Yin with confusion.

Lu Yin looked at his own palm, "Curiosity. I also want to know who the culprit is."

Zhang Ding Tian said calmly, "It was that person."

"I know," Lu Yin replied, glancing at the wound on Zhang Ding Tian's neck, his brow furrowing. He had witnessed the process of Silver's assassination attempt on Zhang Ding Tian. He had to admit that Zhang Ding Tian was indeed formidable. Without any footwork Battle Skill, he managed to evade such a close-range assassination attempt. Lu Yin believed that if it were him, he wouldn't have done any better than Zhang Ding Tian.

What Lu Yin wanted to know most now was how Silver managed to conceal his aura. Ordinary students could hide their aura and block personal terminal detection, but Zhang Ding Tian, being so close, hadn't detected him. This was terrifying. It could be said that few could have survived such an assassination.

"Why did that person assassinate you?" Bai Xue asked, puzzled.

Zhang Ding Tian narrowed his eyes, "I'm not sure. I've never met him. I can only think of one possibility: he doesn't want the zombie horde to be slaughtered."

Lu Yin's heart sank. Today's assassination confirmed his previous suspicions. Silver was connected to the Zombie King. He didn't care about the mission but cared about the Zombie King. It was incomprehensible; this person was unfathomable.

Although Zhang Ding Tian had guessed some things, he couldn't get more information. A single assassination attempt yielded no useful intelligence.

"Issue an order: annihilate the zombie horde day and night for twenty-four hours," Zhang Ding Tian suddenly commanded.

Someone like Silver couldn't be apprehended. Zhang Ding Tian suppressed the news of the assassination attempt, instead intensifying the encirclement and suppression of the zombie horde. Even many Evolvers who hadn't joined the Huaxia camp were forcibly conscripted to go out of the city to eliminate zombies.

Soon, some more time passed, with only a month left until the arrival of the second batch of trialists.

During this period, Europe was in heated conflict, but the fugitive's whereabouts were unknown. Exactly one month before the arrival of the second batch of trialists, Lu Yin's left-hand personal terminal beeped, and an email was forcibly received.

"Dear students, the safety period has passed, and the trial officially begins. From now on, personal terminal locations cannot be turned off and will be synchronized and displayed on the Starry Sky Network map. Please complete your tasks as soon as possible. Wishing you all good luck in your martial endeavors." This email made the trial even more brutal.

The first batch of trialists had descended two months ago. These two months were the so-called safety period. As long as they wished, everyone could conceal their combat power and hide, or secretly mine precious ores and herbs for points. But once the safety period ended, everyone's location would be clearly marked, unless they discarded their personal terminals.

Lu Yin let out a breath, looking up at the starry sky. This was the real trial. No one could hide. Two months was not only a safety period for the students but also an opportunity for Earthlings to seize resources from the trial students. This was the so-called fairness of the universe.

The moment Asta died, his personal terminal could not connect to the Starry Sky Network. However, at this moment, the Starry Sky Network established a regional network for Asta's personal terminal. This regional network was the Earth model, and the locations of all the first batch of trialists were displayed on Earth.

"Quite a few people," Lu Yin muttered to himself. The dozens of meteors he had seen in Jinling were only a portion. The total number of trial students in Asia alone reached over a hundred, not to mention Europe, Africa, and the Americas. There were even students in places like Antarctica.

Currently, the largest number of people were in Europe, with over a hundred gathered in a very small area, near the Mediterranean Sea.

At this moment, a line of text appeared at the top of the regional network map: "Earth's Tian Zhu's Ku Seng defeated Heidian."

Lu Yin was surprised. Were even battle records being announced?

At the same time, many trial students were shocked. Heidian was not weak; he was the strongest in the academy. He was actually defeated by an Earth native. This shook many students, especially those of Granny's caliber, who found it unimaginable. To them, the strongest in the academy was almost invincible. Yet, someone had already been defeated at the very beginning of the real trial, making them take the trial with unprecedented seriousness.

The Great Yu Empire held trials periodically, but it was rare for the strongest in the academy to be defeated during a trial. If Earth were undergoing normal planetary evolution, its strongest individuals would not have reached the Probe Realm, let alone be defeated. Therefore, Heidian's defeat was hard for many to believe.

However, soon, another notification appeared: "Ede defeated Earth's Tian Zhu's Ku Seng."

Lu Yin found it strange. Why were Ede and Heidian in Tian Zhu?

At this moment, Granny hurried to find Lu Yin, "The trial has officially begun. The regional network not only allows us to see each other's locations but also to communicate. Did you know that?"

Lu Yin's heart sank, "We can communicate?"

Granny nodded, "The trial students come from all over the Great Yu Empire. The Great Yu Empire is too vast, and we don't know each other, so few people contacted each other in the first two months. But now that the regional network is open, we can communicate. Just now, a message was released saying that the fugitive has important items in Huaxia's Capital City and will definitely return to retrieve them."

Lu Yin's eyes sharpened, "Who released the message?"

Granny shook her head, "I don't know. The regional network can only detect personal terminal locations; it cannot detect who is using the personal terminal."

Lu Yin's mind raced. He knew that only the Seven Saints, the Dean, and himself knew that the fugitive had items in the Capital City. Ede didn't even know. Now that the message was out, Zhang Ding Tian and Bai Xue would definitely suspect him.

Suddenly, a surge of energy swept across the land. Lu Yin immediately took to the air and saw Zhang Ding Tian and Bai Xue with sharp gazes.

"I didn't release the message," Lu Yin said.

Zhang Ding Tian stared intently at Lu Yin, "Make me believe you."

Lu Yin narrowed his eyes and ordered Granny in a low voice, "Anonymously release a message saying that the fugitive's items are hidden in Tian Zhu, which is why Ede and Heidian appeared in Tian Zhu, and why Ku Seng of Tian Zhu was able to defeat Heidian."

Granny responded and quickly did as she was told.

Zhang Ding Tian said grimly, "This method won't hold for long."

Lu Yin stared at Zhang Ding Tian, "I'm just showing sincerity; believe it or not."

Zhang Ding Tian took a deep breath and gripped his long saber. Lu Yin was the only outsider who knew the secret. He wanted to control this person, but Lu Yin was not weak, and Zhang Ding Tian wasn't confident he could.

Bai Xue spoke, "Lu Yin, let us check your personal terminal."

Lu Yin was furious and said haughtily, "Who do you think you are? Come and take it if you have the guts."

"You!" Bai Xue was enraged. She had only wanted to help prove Lu Yin's innocence, especially since he had saved her life. But this guy was so infuriating, completely unappreciative.

"There are nine people who know this secret. I am in the Capital City. To put it bluntly, even if I had ill intentions, I would keep them hidden. Only an idiot would leak the information. Think about it yourselves; don't be brainless and bother me," Lu Yin said coldly.