Suddenly, a beam of light shot into the sky from the western part of Jinling City. Orton swung his sword, and the slash collided with the beam mid-air, resulting in a massive explosion.
"Technological weapons?" Orton sneered. The reason they avoided fighting outside the city was due to their wariness of such weapons. Even this primitive planet possessed technology capable of reaching the stars, enough to produce weapons that could threaten them.
Outside the city, Grannie and Lu Yin landed on the ground.
"It's actually Thress? This is troublesome," Grannie said in surprise.
Lu Yin was puzzled. "Thress?"
"One of the top three experts from the First Military Academy, with a combat power of 2,500," Grannie said gravely.
Lu Yin's heart sank. "As long as you can hold him off, I'll deal with Orton as quickly as possible."
Grannie thought for a moment. "Alright, but I can't hold him for long."
Lu Yin nodded and dashed along the ground toward Zhou Shan's location.
In the sky, beams of light continued to shoot toward Orton. Growing impatient, Orton said, "Let me finish off this native first, then I'll deal with you." With that, he charged toward the ground, thrusting his sword at Zhou Shan.
Zhou Shan gritted his teeth, swung his massive axe upward, and clashed with Orton. In terms of strength, he believed he could contend with Thress, but with Orton added to the mix, the outcome was immediately uncertain.
Thress also descended to the ground. Although confident in his ability to evade technological weapon attacks, he remained cautious.
As Lu Yin approached the battlefield between Zhou Shan and Orton, he took out a flame crystal and tossed it into the sky.
The red crystal was quite conspicuous. Orton and Zhou Shan, engrossed in their battle, paid it no mind. However, Thress noticed it immediately, his eyes burning with intensity. Before he could react to the presence of the flame crystal in the sky, a sharp pain struck his back. Thress quickly twisted his body, moving like a leaf in the wind, narrowly avoiding Grannie's second strike. "It's you?" he exclaimed.
Grannie remained silent. She retrieved another flame crystal from her storage ring and crushed it in her hand. Intense flames scorched the earth. "Flame Palm," she murmured, extending her palm. Flames gathered in her hand, deepening in color as they surged toward Thress.
Thress, enraged, coughed up blood. "You're courting death," he growled. His right palm trembled rapidly, grasping at the air—this was the Wave Palm technique.
Boom!
The two palms collided, and flames and air currents swept across the land, destroying all structures within a hundred-meter radius.
Massive flames were carried upward by the air currents, dancing like fiery serpents.
Grannie staggered back several steps, her face pale. Thress's Wave Palm was far stronger than Lu Yin's. Even with her combat techniques, she struggled to withstand it.
Thress wasn't unscathed either. Flame-based techniques were inherently powerful and destructive. Moreover, Grannie had utilized a flame crystal, making this strike no less potent than his own.
"Grannie, this is my territory!" Thress roared.
Grannie said nothing. The ring-shaped battle armor on her body reflected a red glow under the flames.
Thress gritted his teeth, and the ring-shaped battle armor spread across his body. He hadn't worn armor from the start, but now he felt the pressure—and more importantly, he was injured.
In the distance, Orton turned his head, shocked. "Grannie? Why are you here?"
Zhou Shan roared, swinging his massive axe fiercely at Orton. Orton didn't dare be careless. He raised his sword to block Zhou Shan's attack. The sharp energy swept around, slicing through the ground.
Suddenly, Lu Yin made his move. Using his agile footwork, he swiftly approached Orton and struck with his palm. As the palm was unleashed, stars appeared—this was the Celestial Star Palm.
Neither Orton nor Zhou Shan had anticipated someone hiding nearby. Upon seeing Lu Yin, Orton was momentarily stunned, and Zhou Shan was puzzled. However, in the next instant, as Lu Yin's Celestial Star Palm struck Orton's chest, Orton didn't even have time to scream before his heart was shattered. The immense energy even pierced through his chest, blasting into a nearby residence and reducing it to rubble.
The ground couldn't withstand the pressure and shattered immediately.
Zhou Shan stared at Lu Yin in shock. "You..."
Lu Yin turned and swept his leg toward Zhou Shan. With his back to Grannie and Thress, he whispered, "Attack me."
Zhou Shan's eyes flickered, but he still attacked Lu Yin, holding nothing back with a direct Storm Slash.
Lu Yin used his agile footwork to evade the Storm Slash. Although uninjured, his clothes were torn. "Push me over there," Lu Yin said in a low voice.
Zhou Shan let out a loud roar and swung his massive axe horizontally. Lu Yin leveraged the force of the axe to be flung violently toward the battlefield between Thress and Grannie.
The violent tremor spread into the distance, and Grannie's face turned pale as her right palm trembled. She had been severely injured by Tress.
Tress was also in bad condition, his battle armor cracked and scorched by the flames.
At that moment, Lu Yin was slammed into a wall not far from Tress, slowly falling to the ground.
Tress glanced at Lu Yin and then looked into the distance, noticing the already-dead Orton. His gaze changed, and just as he was about to speak, Zhou Shan suddenly flew up and started fleeing.
"You can't escape!" Tress leaped into the air and chased after Zhou Shan, his back turned to Lu Yin. Taking advantage of the abandoned buildings, Lu Yin leaped into the air and struck Tress with a palm. The unmasked Tianxing Palm, resembling rotating stars, slammed into Tress's back. Originally, Tress hadn't been concerned about Lu Yin, but this palm made him feel a strong sense of danger. He instinctively tried to avoid it, but it was already too late.
The stars exploded, and Tress was knocked to the ground, creating a massive crater in the earth. Lu Yin, however, was struck by Tress's counterattack and was severely injured, spitting blood as he was sent flying and slammed into another wall. His ring battle armor shattered completely.
Grannie covered her arm and walked to the crater, looking down at the bottom.
Tress lay on his back, his face pale, coughing up blood.
Grannie looked at Lu Yin in surprise, unable to imagine how Lu Yin managed to heavily injure Tress with one palm.
Before she could think further, Tress, who had been on the brink of death, suddenly opened his eyes, pulled out a bizarre-looking gun, and fired a shot at Grannie. A beam of energy pierced Grannie's shoulder. Grannie retaliated with a fiery palm, striking the spot on Tress's back where Lu Yin's Tianxing Palm had hit him. This palm completely shattered Tress's internal organs, killing him instantly.
Grannie slumped to the ground, staring at Tress's corpse, her back cold with fear.
Although the planetary evolution trial didn't restrict the number of deaths, too many casualties could cause dissatisfaction among certain people. In this battle, both Orton and Tress died. Especially Tress, a top-three student of the Military Academy with immense potential, who had been highly regarded. Now that he was dead, Grannie felt uneasy.
Lu Yin, dragging his severely injured body, walked to Grannie's side and weakly said, "Don't worry, at worst, I'll have Grandpa transfer you to our Tata Star Academy."
Grannie glared coldly at Lu Yin, "How did you injure Tress with that palm? Even a double Wave Palm shouldn't be able to seriously injure him."
"You're overthinking it. He was already heavily injured by you, I just happened to strike the same spot," Lu Yin replied.
Grannie clearly didn't believe him. How could Tress, with his 2500 combat power, be severely injured by a Realm Seeker, even if it were just a coincidence? It wasn't that easy.
Suddenly, a loud shout came from behind. Zhou Shan, who they thought had escaped, appeared again and swung his axe at Grannie and Lu Yin.
Grannie instinctively grabbed Lu Yin and shielded him. Zhou Shan saw that Lu Yin was pushed forward and quickly adjusted his aim. His axe didn't hit Lu Yin, instead, it sliced through the ground beside his ear. Lu Yin, with his back to Grannie and Tress, turned and struck her with a palm. He was severely injured, so this strike wasn't as powerful as the one he delivered to Orton, but it was still enough to heavily wound Grannie.
Grannie's face turned white from the pain, and she instinctively kicked Lu Yin, sending him flying. She fell next to Tress's body, and Zhou Shan roared again, swinging his axe at her. Grannie grabbed Tress's gun and fired a shot, the beam cutting through Zhou Shan's giant axe and piercing his shoulder. It sent him flying over ten meters, crashing to the ground, his fate unknown.
The scene fell silent, with only the fire burning on the earth.
Four Realm Seekers and a Realm Seeker combatant had shattered half of Jinling, submerging the city in flames.
Grannie took a healing potion from her Void Ring and swallowed it, beginning to heal her injuries.
A few minutes later, sounds started to emerge from all around. Grannie's face changed as she crawled out of the crater. Her body was severely injured, her shoulder had been pierced by the energy beam, and it was difficult for her to move. She finally reached Zhou Shan's side, who was unconscious, his life uncertain.
Soon, Feng Hong, the glasses-wearing woman Qin Xuan, and others surrounded them, staring at Grannie. "Surrender immediately, and we'll spare your life."
Grannie sneered, "You natives think you can spare my life? What, you don't want this native's life anymore?" She said, pointing the gun at Zhou Shan's head.
Feng Hong shouted, "Release Xingsheng!"
"Step back ten miles, or I'll kill him immediately," Grannie said coldly.
Feng Hong and the others exchanged glances but didn't move.
Grannie's gaze turned cold, and she casually picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at Zhou Shan's head. Blood gushed out immediately.
Feng Hong yelled, "Stop! We'll back off, but you must treat Xingsheng, or he will die."
Grannie agreed.
Soon, a doctor approached Grannie and Zhou Shan, examining Zhou Shan's body and then providing emergency treatment.
It took nearly twenty minutes to stop the bleeding. "Xingsheng's injuries are too severe, he can't be delayed. He needs immediate comprehensive treatment," the doctor said.
Grannie didn't respond to them. "Step back ten miles immediately. In three hours, I will leave. Otherwise, I'll kill this native."