The Red Lotus Demon Bow

Mila smiled. "That's good. Actually, I shouldn't have had to appear for your Great Yu Empire's trial, but unfortunately, the Great Yu Empire Youth Council was disbanded. I was the one tasked with announcing it, so I had to take responsibility. After all, the trial can't go ahead without someone from the Youth Council present. Wouldn't you agree, General Maldo?"

Xiken Maldo nodded and replied calmly, "Thank you for your efforts, Miss Mila."

Mila smiled faintly and looked toward the screen. "He seems like a good person. I hope he does well." With that, she turned and left the monitoring room, leaving behind a faint fragrance.

Only after Mila had left did everyone dare to breathe again. A pressure as heavy as a mountain had just descended. That woman was terrifying. Her strength was definitely greater than anyone else present. She was only a student—even if she came from the Inner Universe, she was still just a student. Why was she so powerful?

Toleona said gravely, "Mila is a member of the Cosmic Youth Council and a student at Starry Sky Sixth Academy. They call her the Red Lotus Demon Bow. I never expected her to be so powerful."

Xiken Maldo let out a breath. He didn't discuss Mila with Toleona, instead turning his gaze back to the screen. Mila had protected that young man. If he could perform even better, perhaps he might earn her help and rise to success. What a lucky young man.

Shaluo Shu's expression was gloomy. He had actually been intimidated by a woman, and a raging fury surged within him.

Toleona glanced at him and sneered. So what if he was angry? Would he dare attack Mila? Her strength aside, Mila had the Cosmic Youth Council behind her. There were ten monsters there.

On Earth, outside the Capital City, Xia Luo left without saying much to Lu Yin and the others. He simply walked away on his own, not even taking to the air, heading across the land toward the wandering tide of corpses.

With Lu Yin's help, Ras and another man had been thoroughly looted. Ras really was the son of the Deputy Minister of Finance—he was loaded. Lu Yin had found nearly twelve cubic meters of Star Energy Crystals, along with many other natural crystals, in his Void Ring, leaving Granny and the others astonished.

Ras glared furiously at Lu Yin, sprawled limply on the ground. "You're dead! The Empire's monitoring station has been watching everything I do. You're dead! My father must already know. After the trial ends, you'll be judged. I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Lu Yin smiled faintly. "I look forward to it."

Ras's gaze flickered. A primitive was still a primitive. When the judgment finally came down, he'd learn what despair meant.

"Tell me, what was the battle technique you used at the beginning?" Lu Yin stared at Ras.

Ras sneered. "A mere primitive wants to get his hands on the Heavenly Beast Claw? Fine, I'll tell you. The Great Yu Empire's Yu Tang has passed down one hundred and eight forms of the Heavenly Beast Claw. I've only mastered five. If you're capable, go to Yu Tang and master all one hundred and eight. You'd shake the entire starry sky! Think you can do that?"

Lu Yin exclaimed, "One hundred and eight forms, and you've only mastered five? You must have pretty poor talent."

Ras snarled, "I'm Sika's son! I'm a genius. Even people like Gulbah haven't mastered half of them. What would a primitive like you know? That peerless battle technique isn't something ordinary people can master."

"You mean this?" Lu Yin raised his hand and turned his palm into a claw. A beastly roar seemed to echo through the air as immense pressure burst forth, shattering the rubble around him.

At that moment, Zhang Ding Tian and the others all felt wary.

Ras gritted his teeth. That bastard had actually mastered the third form of the Heavenly Beast Claw. If he'd used the fifth form against Lu Yin just now, would he have been able to master that one too? The thought chilled Ras. Someone like this had to be eliminated.

With Lu Yin's help, the Capital City had already captured twenty-five students, including Ras, a scion of the powerful. The regional network was abuzz.

Granny looked at the regional network and counted. "There are sixty-two Trial Takers in the second group, and fifteen of them landed in China."

There were sixty-two of them. That was far fewer than in the first group, but their overall quality was completely different. Any one of them could fight at the peak of the Probe Realm. Of the Seven Saints, only the Upper Three Saints could match them, and even then, they might not win. If they ran into an expert like Ras, even Zhang Ding Tian couldn't be sure he could defeat him easily. Battle techniques could make up for a great many differences.

The power of many battle techniques couldn't be reflected in combat strength values.

In northern Europe, snow and wind swept across the land. Once a picturesque region in peaceful times, it was now buried beneath ice and snow. Countless zombies had frozen solid, and all of northern Europe was blanketed in white. There was no bloodshed, and it looked like a paradise beyond the mortal world.

Several spaceships crashed into northern Europe. One landed on Otto Island, an island in the Nia Bay of northern Europe. The bay was frozen, and there was no one within a hundred miles of the island.

The spaceship slammed into Otto Island, punching a conical crater into the ground. As the hatch opened, a young man stepped out and exhaled. His breath froze in midair and fell to the ground.

The man cursed. "Damn random landing! What kind of godforsaken place did they dump me in? It's freezing. Could this be the coldest place on the planet?" As he spoke, he walked out and looked around, cursing nonstop.

He tapped open his Personal terminal, and his expression suddenly changed. A combat strength reading appeared several kilometers away. The man immediately took off and flew toward it. Soon, he spotted someone in the distance, sitting atop a snowy peak and staring blankly at the sky like an idiot.

The man hovered in the air and looked down. "Hey! Where is this?"

The person below looked up at him. "I don't know."

The man's gaze turned cold. "What did you say? You don't know? What are you doing here?"

"Hiding from someone," the figure replied coolly.

The man landed and walked up behind the figure. "Your combat strength isn't bad—two thousand three hundred. But you don't have a Personal terminal. A native?"

The figure turned to look at him. "Could you do me a favor? Post a message on the regional network."

The man was puzzled. "What message?"

The figure's lips curled. "Say you saw the fugitive."

"What?" The man was startled and immediately attacked. The next moment, his strength drained away. The figure, whose combat strength had seemed to be only two thousand three hundred, suddenly unleashed an overwhelming power and crushed him. This was Integrating Realm strength! The man's Personal terminal began blaring nonstop.

"Thanks," the figure said calmly, turning to look into the distance.

Several minutes later, the Earth regional network exploded with activity. Everyone received the same message: The fugitive is hiding in northern Europe and has Integrating Realm strength. Help requested.

At first, no one believed it. Who would reveal a fugitive's location? This was a trial mission. But when the message described the fugitive's appearance in detail, it was confirmed. Ede and the others had fought the fugitive in the Mediterranean, after all. The report was quickly verified as genuine, and many students hurried toward northern Europe.

In the Capital City, Lu Yin and the others were surprised. "The fugitive is hiding in northern Europe, and someone publicly revealed his location? The more I think about it, the stranger it sounds."

Granny said, "Not every student cares about the trial mission. Anything that happens during the trial could affect their final score. For example, winning or losing a fight can both affect the results. It's possible this student thought he couldn't defeat the fugitive, so he revealed his location to earn points."

Lu Yin looked at Ede. "You fought the fugitive. How strong was he?"

Ever since Lu Yin had captured Ras, Ede had become much more cooperative. He replied, "Very strong. Even if a powerhouse who can walk through the stars has weakened combat strength, his understanding of battle techniques and control of star energy won't be weak. More than ten of us surrounded him. He killed five of us in an instant, then escaped."

"That student said the fugitive had Integrating Realm strength. Is that true?" Granny asked.

Ede replied, "He didn't when we fought him. Otherwise, we wouldn't have dared get close."

Lu Yin pondered the matter. Something felt off. How could someone who'd escaped from the Inner Universe to the Outer Universe be so easily spotted by students—and not even realize his location had been exposed?

"Look! Some students are nearing northern Europe!" Granny cried. Everyone looked at the regional network.

In northern Europe, three students flew in. Two were from the first group, and one was from the second. They had arrived at the same time.

The second-group Trial Taker was clearly far stronger than the two from the first group, who didn't dare approach.

"Where's the fugitive?" the student shouted.

The other two students searched as well. Suddenly, they lost their strength and dropped to the ground, crashing into the snow. The second-group student fell too. A man slowly approached from a short distance away. His steps were light, but each one released an indescribable pressure that made all three students tremble.

The three looked up. The man wore Ring Armor and stared down at them, his contempt impossible to hide. White strands ran through the middle of his short black hair, giving him a strange appearance and a sinister air.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Qing Yu. I'm the fugitive you've been looking for." The man smiled faintly. Then, as the three students watched in terror, he unleashed his star energy and knocked them all unconscious.

"Four. Still far from enough," Qing Yu murmured, gazing expectantly into the distance.

Over the next two days, the regional network was shaken by the news that the fugitive had captured no fewer than twelve students. His name was revealed for the first time: Qing Yu.