Strange Stone

In Capital City, Ras felt utterly hopeless. Even Mono had been defeated. No one could save him, and he was destined to come in last in the trial.

Granny stared at Lu Yin in disbelief, recalling the first time she had met him. He had been no more than a Gaze Realm cultivator, yet now he was nearly invincible among Probe Realm cultivators. What kind of background did he have? Asta, an academy on Tata Planet? His grandfather was its dean? Could his grandfather be an Absolute Expert who had kept out of sight for generations?

Mono was well-known among the students taking part in the trial. When news of his defeat and retreat from Capital City spread across the regional network, it sent shockwaves through the student body. Their first reaction was disbelief, but the regional network didn't lie.

Soon after, Gulles confirmed the news, prompting the many students to take the force defending Capital City seriously.

The only Integrating Realm experts to appear so far were Huo Xiaoling and Mono, and both had been defeated. This trial was no simple affair.

Before long, Qing Yu captured several more students.

Lu Yin did the math. "Seventeen. That fugitive has captured seventeen students."

Bai Xue looked at him in confusion. "Why are you counting that?"

Lu Yin's expression darkened. "He's stealing our catches."

Everyone fell silent.

Lu Yin took a deep breath. "He's not stupid. He had the same idea we did—using the students to force certain concessions. Unfortunately, our situations are different. He's a fugitive, while we're just natives. He's bound to be judged, so it won't matter how many students he captures."

"Then that's that. It has nothing to do with you," Gulles said, blinking.

Lu Yin looked at her. "Every student he captures is one fewer for us. That means one less bargaining chip when we negotiate later."

Gulles widened her eyes. "You really intend to use the students to negotiate with the Empire? That's impossible."

Lu Yin replied as if it were obvious, "Nothing's impossible. The students who dared to take part in the trial are all elites. They're important to the Empire."

Gulles scoffed. "Do you know how many students are taking part in the trial across the Empire? Let me tell you: this planet is only one of many trial planets. Even if every student taking part in the trials died, it wouldn't affect the Empire. You think the Empire would make concessions to natives for the sake of these students? Dream on."

After hearing Gulles's words, Bai Xue, Zhou Shan, and the others' expressions shifted. The Great Yu Empire was vast, with countless students and academies. The students on Earth were only a tiny fraction. Trying to negotiate with the Empire really was impossible.

"Not necessarily," Lu Yin said, grabbing Ras. "This man's identity is enough to get us some promises."

"Let go of me!" Ras yelled furiously.

Lu Yin tossed him aside, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "The Empire's deputy minister of finance—a very high-ranking position. I hear he's also connected to the Imperial Court Twelfth Team. That makes him an even better bargaining chip. The more powerful his background, the greater our chances of succeeding in negotiations, right?"

Gulles pondered this, then glanced at Ras. That was true. He was Sika's only son. For his sake, Sika might be willing to fight to the death.

Ras glared furiously at Lu Yin. This bastard was actually using him to threaten the Empire. Whether it worked or not, he'd become a laughingstock among the Empire's younger generation. Bastard! Bastard!

In Northern Europe, another group of students was seething with anger.

More than twenty students had gathered from all over the world and joined forces to find Qing Yu. Their leader was named Yan Gang. He wasn't from the Great Yu Empire, but was a young expert from Blazing Flame Star in the Canglan Territory.

Blazing Flame Star was a powerful force on par with the Great Yu Empire. Though it was only one planet, it was enormous, and its surface was engulfed in a sea of fire. It was said that every creature on Blazing Flame Star had tremendous resistance to flames and could wield powerful fire-based battle techniques. It was a terrifying force.

Like Huo Xiaoling, Yan Gang was an Integrating Realm expert. His cultivation was sealed, but many students believed he was even stronger than Huo Xiaoling.

"Qing Yu, release Huo Xiaoling!" Yan Gang stood high in the air, glaring coldly down at him. His skin was dark red, and even in frigid Northern Europe, heat radiated from his body, melting the snow on the ground.

Qing Yu sat casually on the ground, with the seventeen captured students behind him. Huo Xiaoling was among them.

"That's quite a crowd, kid. You think you can take her from me?" Qing Yu teased Yan Gang, looking at him with contempt. He had once traveled the stars as an Explorer. Students like these meant nothing to him.

Yan Gang said coldly, "I'm warning you: Huo Xiaoling is the fiancée of Yan Feng, the Young Clan Leader of Blazing Flame Star. If you dare touch her, you'll face Blazing Flame Star's wrath."

Qing Yu sneered. "Just some backwater border territory. Don't think you're so important. Still, I'll give you a chance to take her from me. Let's see if you can manage it."

"Name your terms," Yan Gang said sharply.

Qing Yu's mouth curled up. "Go to Capital City in Huaxia and bring me my things. Then you can exchange them for this woman."

Yan Gang's gaze flickered. "Release Huo Xiaoling first. I'll go get them for you."

Qing Yu burst out laughing. "Are you an idiot, or do you think I am? Release her first? Did the fire burn your brain away?"

Yan Gang seethed, his fists clenched. The air around him warped and burned. "Fine. I'll bring you the things, but you have to promise not to hurt Huo Xiaoling."

Qing Yu shrugged. "That depends on how long it takes you to get them. If it takes too long, I can't make any promises. She's a beautiful woman."

Yan Gang flew into a rage. "Huo Xiaoling is an Integrating Realm expert. If you dare touch her, we'll break through our seals and kill you!"

"If you do that, you won't be able to join Starry Sky Tenth Academy, will you? You can't even handle a Probe Realm trial mission. Starry Sky Academy won't accept useless trash like you. How will you explain that to your Young Clan Leader?" Qing Yu teased Yan Gang.

Yan Gang snorted and lowered his voice to the students behind him. "Keep an eye on him. I'm going to Huaxia."

"Mono just retreated from Huaxia. Can you go alone?" one student asked. He was from the Huo Family. He didn't care about Yan Gang, but he did care about Huo Xiaoling.

Yan Gang scoffed. "Don't compare me to trash like him." With that, he soared away. The air warped along his path, forming a white ribbon of compressed air.

Flying from Northern Europe to Capital City in Huaxia would take at least two days at a Probe Realm expert's speed, even without any Mutant Beasts getting in the way. If he ran into a powerful Mutant Beast, there was no telling how much time he might lose.

Only a few places in the darkened Capital City were lit, for fear of attracting Mutant Beasts.

Lu Yin went down to the underground Science and Technology Institute. With Dean Lian guiding him, he saw the object the fugitive Qing Yu had left behind: a head-sized stone.

The stone was roughly round, but had sixteen sides, each smooth and flat. There were markings in the middle that no one could understand. The whole stone radiated an ancient, timeworn aura, as if it had come from the distant past.

Bai Xue stood beside Lu Yin. It was thanks to her suggestion that he was able to see the stone. At first, she had strongly opposed letting him examine anything the fugitive had left behind, insisting that the Seven Sages had to approve it. But that was no longer necessary now. The entire Capital City was under Lu Yin's protection.

Lu Yin looked curiously at the stone, resting inside a glass case. "It's just a stone, but it feels very unusual."

Dean Lian asked, "Can you guess how old it is?"

Lu Yin shook his head.

Dean Lian exclaimed, "It can't be determined."

"It can't be determined?" Lu Yin asked in surprise. It seemed incredible that Earth's current technology couldn't tell how old a stone was.

Dean Lian said, "The stone is far too old. It has undergone changes that we can't detect. The traces of time on it keep shifting, so we can't determine its age. We've studied it many times, but haven't been able to learn anything."

Bai Xue said, "Based on the information we've gathered so far, the fugitive Qing Yu fled from the depths of the universe to this place—a very long distance. Even so, he was still being hunted, and no information about him has circulated. There's only one possibility: the things he carried were extremely valuable. This stone must be one of them."

"When you brought him back to Earth from Neptune, what else did he have besides this stone?" Lu Yin asked.

Bai Xue looked at Dean Lian, who replied, "A War Saber, dozens of crystals—actually, Star Energy Crystals—and a chip containing cultivation methods. But it was badly damaged, and most of its contents couldn't be read."

"The War Saber was just given to Zhang Ding Tian. As for the Star Energy Crystals, we absorbed them long ago to cultivate. At the beginning of the apocalypse, we were already close to the Heaven Realm—that is, the Probe Realm," Bai Xue added.

Lu Yin looked at the stone. "So the stone and the War Saber are the only two things Qing Yu left here."

"We've studied the War Saber. Its material is incredibly hard, far beyond any metal on Earth, including Mutant Beast metals. As for the stone, we have no leads. We haven't been able to learn anything from it," Dean Lian said.

Lu Yin said calmly, "May I examine it?"

Dean Lian didn't mind. "Go ahead."