Asta's personal terminal's detection range was unknown to Lu Yin, but it should be able to cover at least ten li (about five kilometers).
Lu Yin followed the direction indicated by the battle power signal, gradually moving away from the toll station.
With the departure of the long-haired zombie, the previously agitated zombie horde gradually calmed down, once again returning to their aimless wandering state. This allowed Xu San and the others to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
A foul-smelling ditch wound its way into the distance, and from the dark grass, pairs of glowing green eyes occasionally emerged, only to vanish again.
Lu Yin walked through the underbrush, frequently checking his personal terminal, which indicated that the target location was right here.
If this long-haired zombie wasn't dealt with, the Jinling military would face great danger when passing this route in the future. An intelligent zombie king could even bring disaster to Jinling.
Crunch… crunch… crunch…
Chewing sounds reached Lu Yin's ears. He looked toward the ditch below, where a faint dark-red glow flickered. The clouds above dispersed, and moonlight shone down, revealing a flash of red and a pair of crimson eyes.
Lu Yin's pupils contracted—Flame Crystals? That zombie king was consuming Flame Crystals?
ROAR—!
With a fierce roar, the long-haired zombie king leapt high into the air, slashing a claw toward Lu Yin. Its arm glowed dark red, radiating intense heat.
Lu Yin dodged in shock. The grass was torn apart by the zombie king's strike, leaving behind a scorched smell.
In the next moment, several Flame Crystals fell from the zombie king's body, landing in the grass. Flames instantly ignited, lighting up the area.
Lu Yin used Flowing Movement Steps to swiftly circle behind the zombie king, yanked out the iron rod still lodged in its back, and stabbed it fiercely into the back of its skull.
The zombie king froze. Then its body began to tremble and slowly collapsed. Dark red energy surged from within, and flames engulfed it from the inside out.
Lu Yin hadn't expected that a zombie king could gain special abilities just by consuming different types of energy crystals. For humans, awakening a talent was a one-in-a-million chance, yet this zombie king had simply eaten its way to one. It made Lu Yin question—which species was truly the higher form of evolution? He felt a little lost.
The zombie king was quickly burned to ash, and the surrounding flames slowly died down.
Lu Yin walked to the ditch where the zombie king had been eating Flame Crystals and saw a hole there. He turned on his light and illuminated the space within—it was glowing dark red.
"A Flame Crystal mine?" Lu Yin was shocked, then overjoyed.
Energy crystals were highly sought after across the universe. Whether it was pure Star Energy crystals or elemental ones like fire or water, they were all extremely valuable. He hadn't expected to find a Flame Crystal mine here. He didn't know how large it was, but it was certainly a treasure trove.
Lu Yin was thrilled—he hadn't expected such a reward while hunting down the zombie king.
He collected a few crystals, then carefully resealed the entrance, camouflaging it thoroughly to prevent discovery. This place, like Xu San, was now one of his hidden assets for the future.
Just as Lu Yin was about to leave, a dark red object appeared at his feet. He bent down and brushed away the soil, revealing a crimson vertical eye. It wasn't a real eye, but a man-made object crafted from a strange material.
Lu Yin picked it up and felt a chill on his back. He turned it over and saw a grinning skull engraved on the back, staring directly at him.
The moment he saw the skull, Lu Yin felt his scalp go numb. His instinct was to throw the thing away—but he didn't. Instead, he put it directly into his spatial ring.
Only after storing it did Lu Yin snap out of his daze, his eyes filled with disbelief. What the hell was that thing? Why was it here? It was obviously man-made—someone had been here before. And for a single item to make him, in his current strength, feel fear—Lu Yin felt like he had picked up something truly extraordinary.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Yin quickly left.
When he returned to the toll station, he found that the zombie horde had mostly retreated, with the rest slowly dispersing.
An hour later, the entire horde was gone.
Outside the toll station, the ground was piled with corpses, releasing a horrible stench and attracting many mutant rats to gnaw on them, sending chills down people's spines.
"Lu Bro, where did you go?" Luo Yun immediately asked in reproach when she saw him.
Lu Yin calmly replied, "I found an intelligent zombie king—it was the one leading the horde."
"What? Are you serious?" Luo Yun was stunned.
Lu Yin said to her, "Report this to Xingsheng immediately. The appearance of a zombie king like this means zombies are no longer just about numbers—they can give birth to strong individuals. Tonight, we lost at least fifty soldiers to that zombie king."
Luo Yun knew the situation was serious and immediately reported it to her superiors.
"Boss, how are you?" Xu San asked. He wasn't really concerned about Lu Yin's well-being—without Lu Yin, he held no position in the Execution Camp.
Lu Yin said indifferently, "Handle the rest. I'm going to rest."
"Got it, boss," Xu San responded.
A wave of corpses had caused nearly a hundred casualties. It seemed brutal, but everyone had grown numb. Since the day the apocalypse began, no one knew how many had died. Comrades were replaced one after another, and the soldiers had grown used to it.
Lying on the roof of the toll station, Lu Yin couldn't help but touch the Void Ring. Inside it, the skeletal vertical eye made him uneasy. The material, the aura—it definitely wasn't from Earth. Had those students brought it down? But what kind of student would carry such a thing?
Luo Yun leapt onto the roof, her charming face visibly exhausted. She sat beside Lu Yin. "The Saint of Justice wants us to contact the front lines as soon as possible. It's best if we can connect to the capital and report this incident."
Lu Yin chuckled. "The capital? They probably already know."
"Why do you say that?" Luo Yun asked in surprise.
Lu Yin shook his head. "Just a guess. If a Corpse King could appear in Jinling, it could appear elsewhere too."
Luo Yun hugged her knees, staring blankly into the distance. The dark night sky seemed bottomless. Looking up, the moonlight barely lit the sky, but was quickly covered by clouds again.
"When do you think Earth will return to peace?" Luo Yun murmured.
Lu Yin didn't respond. The night made people feel lonely. At times like this, Luo Yun was completely different from her daytime self. But so what? The apocalypse wouldn't end just because someone was afraid or lonely. The planet's evolution had a long way to go. The trial—had only just begun. Only he knew that. Perhaps the Seven Saints knew as well. Those students were the ones who would ultimately determine Earth's fate.
Asta and Oden were just students from an ordinary academy within the Great Yu Empire. They might be considered elites there, but compared to those from truly top-tier academies, they weren't even close. Elites from top academies each possessed powerful combat techniques, far beyond the likes of Asta and his peers. In this so-called trial, those were the real protagonists.
Thinking of this, Lu Yin touched the Void Ring and looked at Luo Yun. "Go rest. I'll take the watch tonight."
Luo Yun nodded and smiled at him. "If you had comforted me just now, maybe something would have happened between us."
Lu Yin smiled nonchalantly. She wasn't the type of woman he liked.
Luo Yun left the rooftop. Around them, soldiers numbly continued cleaning up. Xu San shouted orders in the distance.
Lu Yin took out Asta's personal terminal and turned it on.
Even though he had removed the locator device from Asta's terminal, he still felt uneasy. Until now, he hadn't dared to access the universal network. But now that they had left Jinling, he could give it a try.
A personal terminal represented a person's identity. For example, Asta's terminal contained all his personal information, including his family and friends.
Lu Yin attempted to connect the terminal to the network but saw the message: "Network unavailable."
He had expected this, but was still somewhat disappointed.
Every student participating in the planetary evolution trial had been registered. Once they died, their terminals would be removed from the network. It also meant that Asta's death had already been noticed.
Lu Yin exhaled deeply and looked up at the starry sky. He wasn't worried about the consequences of killing Asta. The planetary evolution trial was a major event, overseen by the Great Yu Empire's Youth Council. No one was allowed to interfere. To the Empire, even though Earth was a primitive planet yet to reach space, it was still part of the Empire. This trial wasn't just for the students—it was also a test for Earth's people.
This was a fair trial. Lu Yin killing Asta wouldn't surprise the Youth Council. On the contrary, it might even earn him praise. That was one of the reasons he didn't hesitate to do it. He wanted to get noticed by certain people.
Any student who entered Earth could only communicate with fellow students. They were unable to contact the outside world. They could observe, but not report. That was the rule of the trial—a ruthless trial where death was expected.
Lu Yin scanned the terminal's screen. There wasn't much useful information, but in one corner, he discovered a few saved messages from Asta.
"Student Asta, if you fail to complete your mission within three months, the Council will dispatch the second batch of trial participants. Please do your best."
"The Universal Youth Council has decreed the dissolution of the Great Yu Empire Youth Council. Reorganization date to be determined."
"The Universal Youth Council has decreed that the Tenth Academy of the Starry Sky shall enter the Outersky Canglan Region. Wishing all warriors good fortune."
Only three messages were saved, two of which involved the Universal Youth Council.
Lu Yin stared at the screen in astonishment. He hadn't expected the Great Yu Empire Youth Council to be disbanded, and even more surprising was that the Tenth Academy of the Starry Sky was entering the Canglan Region of the Outerverse.