Training

Lu Yin's gaze turned sharp. The injuries he'd sustained from using Wave Palm hadn't healed, and he couldn't break free from the ice. As it spread farther, he had no choice. He gathered strength in his legs and used Roaming Step, taking the woman with him.

The woman's vision blurred, and the scene around her shifted. Caught off guard, she was instantly dizzy and instinctively retched. Lu Yin tore off her sleeve, and several frigid leaves fell to the ground, quickly freezing over.

"I was wondering how you could use a Supernatural Combat Skill. Turns out you were relying on an external object," Lu Yin sneered.

The woman gritted her teeth and glared at Lu Yin. "What did you just do? A combat skill?"

Lu Yin didn't answer. He was considering whether to silence her.

Just then, a gust swept across the sky, and Saint of Punishment Zhou Shan flew over.

Lu Yin had no choice. It was too late to silence her now.

The woman's expression darkened when she saw Zhou Shan.

Lu Yin was puzzled. Was this woman not with the Punishment Camp? She was an Earth-level Expert. Zhou Shan shouldn't let her go.

With a rush of wind, Zhou Shan landed. His stern gaze swept over Lu Yin and the woman before settling on the white spaceship, his expression uncertain.

"Someone explain what happened," Zhou Shan said gravely.

Lu Yin thought for a moment, then replied flatly, "The spaceship landed, and someone inside tried to kill me. But he must've been badly hurt by the impact, because he couldn't beat me. I killed him instead."

Zhou Shan stared at Lu Yin, then turned to the woman. He didn't rush to inspect the ship, and instead smiled faintly. "Long time no see. Only one of the Three Great Snow Women came?"

The woman bowed. "Snow Maiden Zhao Yu pays her respects to Saint of Punishment."

Lu Yin looked at the woman in surprise. Snow Maiden? He'd heard of her. She was one of the experts under Saint Luo of the Blue Camp at Changbai Mountain in the north. Why had a Snow Maiden appeared in Jinling?

"Ever since the disaster, we haven't seen each other. I never expected that when we met again, everything would have changed so much," Zhou Shan said with a sigh.

Zhao Yu said respectfully, "Saint Luo asked me to offer his congratulations. The Punishment Camp has taken control of Jiangsu Province. Congratulations, Saint of Punishment."

Zhou Shan smiled wryly. "There's nothing to congratulate me for. No matter what I do, I can't compare to Saint Luo. I know how powerful the Upper Three Saints are. You alone are stronger than all the Commanders of Ten Thousand under my command."

Zhao Yu smiled. "You flatter me, Saint of Punishment. I just lost to this Commander of Ten Thousand under your command. He's truly very strong."

Zhou Shan looked surprised and pointed at Lu Yin. "Him? I don't know him."

Zhao Yu was taken aback. "Isn't he one of your Commanders of Ten Thousand?"

Zhou Shan understood. Zhao Yu had lost to Lu Yin. He looked at Lu Yin in amazement. This man had actually beaten a Snow Maiden? You couldn't tell by looking at him.

Lu Yin lowered his head, deep in thought. From Zhou Shan's tone, they'd known each other before the apocalypse and hadn't met since. That meant he'd witnessed the Upper Three Saints' strength before the apocalypse. As expected, the Seven Saints had begun cultivating long before it. Lu Yin had once heard a rumor that the expedition to Neptune hadn't come back empty-handed. They'd obtained a War Saber and a corpse. It was said that the discovery had nearly triggered a world war, and that China had ultimately compromised, handing over some things to other countries before the dispute was settled.

So the Seven Saints could cultivate because of what they'd obtained from that corpse.

Lu Yin clenched his fist. He'd been right, and he'd been searching in the right direction all along.

The Seven Saints couldn't have known the Body Sculpting Technique. So if that corpse had belonged to a Peerless Expert, perhaps it still contained traces of a usable Body Sculpting Technique. That was what he was after.

Soon, the Punishment Camp troops arrived. Their leader was a beautiful woman wearing glasses.

Zhou Shan ordered the troops to seal off the area. He watched several researchers in white coats examine the spaceship, then turned to Lu Yin. "Young man, do you know anything else about this alien?"

Snow Maiden Zhao Yu also looked at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin thought for a moment. "I heard him say a few things: 'academy assessment,' 'Primeval Planet Evolution Trial,' and 'mission.'"

Zhou Shan's gaze flickered. "That's all?"

Lu Yin nodded. "He didn't tell me much. He just wanted me to become his slave and called us savages."

"Savages?" Zhou Shan scoffed, then looked up at the starry sky. "It seems Earth won't be peaceful for long. Dozens of spaceships just landed, which means there are dozens of aliens. I never thought the day we'd make contact with aliens would come so soon."

Lu Yin watched Zhou Shan. He didn't seem surprised.

"Reporting to Saint of Punishment: The spaceship is about to be transported back to Jinling for analysis. The alien died after someone crushed his heart. Our scans indicate he should have had a weapon, but we searched the area and found nothing," the woman with glasses reported.

Lu Yin had already destroyed the battle site while searching Asta's corpse. They wouldn't even be able to reconstruct what had happened there.

Zhou Shan looked at Lu Yin. "Young man, the things on the alien could help with our research. Could you hand them over? Don't worry, we'll return them once we're done."

Lu Yin hesitated, then drew the short knife. "This was his weapon. I didn't take anything else." As he spoke, he deliberately ripped open his shirt to show Zhou Shan and the others.

He'd stored everything he owned in the Void Ring. Zhou Shan and the others couldn't recognize the Void Ring, and couldn't imagine a ring that could store things in another space. Naturally, they wouldn't pay it any attention.

Zhou Shan took the short knife and casually swung it. A slash swept across the ground, cutting through the earth. "So sharp. This material really didn't come from Earth."

Then Zhou Shan tossed the short knife to the woman with glasses and gave Lu Yin a keen once-over. Seeing that he truly had nothing else on him, he stepped forward and patted Lu Yin on the shoulder. "You killed an alien and beat a Snow Maiden. You're impressive, young man. What's your name? Interested in joining the Punishment Camp as a Commander of Ten Thousand?"

Lu Yin agreed without hesitation. He had no choice. Zhou Shan might seem easygoing, but he was definitely still suspicious of him. Everyone would wonder whether Lu Yin had hidden something from the alien. Under the circumstances, they wouldn't let him leave. Better to agree readily and avoid trouble.

A Heaven-level Expert was more than he could handle right now. Asta wouldn't have been killed if he hadn't been so careless. Lu Yin was certain the same method wouldn't work against Zhou Shan, especially with so many other evolvers around. Zhao Yu alone was already strong.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yu furrowed her brow and said to Zhou Shan, "I can't get in touch with Saint Luo. All communication lines went down the moment the aliens arrived."

Zhou Shan nodded gravely. "The alien spaceships destroyed all the communication lines. I'll send people to repair them as soon as possible. Don't worry. Even if aliens show up at the Northeast Blue Camp, it'll be fine. Saint Luo is strong."

Zhao Yu nodded silently.

Researching the alien spaceship wouldn't be done in a day. Fortunately, the ship wasn't large, and the troops transported it back to Jinling in secret without a hitch.

As for Lu Yin, he was authorized to live on Zhong Mountain and became the Punishment Camp's fourteenth Commander of Ten Thousand.

The Punishment Camp had eighty thousand troops. His title as Commander of Ten Thousand was merely honorary; he had no troops under his command. Lu Yin didn't care. What he wanted most now was to sculpt his body and become a true cultivator.

At the summit of Zhong Mountain, Zhou Shan gazed south. The woman with glasses approached from behind. "Saint of Punishment, we've searched all around the sinkhole. Nothing is hidden there. That man wasn't lying."

Zhou Shan sighed. "Understood. You can go."

"There's something else I need to report. We found traces of a battle near the sinkhole that had been covered up. Lu Yin may not be as simple as he seems. He could be very powerful," the woman with glasses said solemnly.

Zhou Shan smiled. "I know. His right palm and legs are injured, yet he still managed to defeat the Snow Maiden in those circumstances. His true strength is the best among Earth-level Experts. Otherwise, he couldn't have killed the alien. Besides, he doesn't seem to have absorbed any Energy Crystals. This man is interesting."

"Should we keep him under full surveillance?" the woman with glasses asked.

Zhou Shan shook his head. "There's no need. At a time like this, humanity should stand together. Besides, so what if he's hiding his strength? He's only an Earth-level Expert. He can't turn the world upside down."

"Yes."

In the Punishment Camp on Zhong Mountain, Lu Yin sat cross-legged on his bed in his Commander of Ten Thousand's tent. He slowed his breathing. Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes, his gaze clear, and took the Body Sculpting Technique from his Void Ring. His eyes burned with anticipation. He bit his index finger until blood welled up, then pressed the Body Sculpting Technique against the injured finger. At once, it slowly sank into his fingertip and soon disappeared.

Lu Yin waited eagerly. In moments, a fierce pain spread from his fingertip, then across his entire body.

Lu Yin's gaze sharpened. He gritted his teeth and endured the pain.

The pain surged like a tide, as if tearing his body apart. Every cell in him was recombining and being cleansed. Beneath his skin, his blood vessels writhed. Lu Yin felt as if he were being roasted by fire and crushed by an unseen hand. This was the power of a Peerless Expert. All Body Sculpting Techniques came from Peerless Experts, and in that moment, Lu Yin truly felt the greatness of that power.

Pfft.

Lu Yin spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes, fixed on the void, grew even brighter. Countless impurities were purged from his body, then burned away by energy, distorting the air around him.