Chapter 17

"Can Xing Sheng hold on for three hours?" Qin Xuan asked the doctor with a stern look.

The doctor nodded, "He can."

Soon, the surrounding prison camp troops all retreated.

With no one around, Grannie sighed in relief. Three hours was just a safety margin; in fact, she only needed two hours to recover from her injuries. Without any other cultivators at the Exploration Realm, the others couldn't stop her.

Thinking about this, Grannie glanced at Tres, then at Alden. Huh? Wait, where's Alden? Grannie's face changed, and she tried to get up to look, but the pain swept through her body as soon as she moved. She sat back down, no need to rush, she would wait two hours. Even if Alden wasn't dead, his injuries would definitely be more severe than hers. Right, there was also that Yata, who dared to attack her; he needed to be taught a lesson.

A kilometer away from Grannie, in the ruins, Alden's body lay still. Lu Yin was panting heavily; his injuries were also severe, but the most important thing now was the Body Shaping Technique. Body Shaping could, to some extent, heal injuries.

After observing for a while, Lu Yin cut off five of Alden's fingers before finding the Body Shaping Technique chip.

"This is the moment," Lu Yin was excited as he fused the Body Shaping Technique into his body. Instantly, intense pain swept through him, and he once again felt that supreme power. All the cells in his body were reorganizing and refining, the surging power was like looking down at the starry sky, lifting him, a tiny ant, out of this world.

Panting, Lu Yin spat out a mouthful of blood. The cellular reshaping was painful, yet it was also a blessing. He could feel himself evolving, becoming more in tune with the starry sky.

An hour passed, and Grannie's complexion improved, her injuries showing signs of recovery. "Give me another hour, and I can move," Grannie was excited. She had no intention of leaving; controlling Jinling would give her leverage to negotiate with stronger beings in the future.

Although the blue zone was somewhat protected, not everyone followed the rules. The ordinary planetary evolution trials were one thing, but with the Tenth Star Academy about to appear, everyone wanted to shine in the trials. This Earth trial was destined to be brutal.

What worried Grannie the most was the arrival of the second batch of trial participants in two months.

Their batch of trial participants had been determined long ago, when the news of the Tenth Star Academy first emerged. Few had joined the trial at the last minute, but the second batch was different. The second batch of trial students were all aiming for the Tenth Star Academy. Grannie didn't know who would appear, but she had a feeling that there might be unimaginable geniuses among them.

She didn't plan to monopolize Jinling; that was unrealistic. She hoped to use Jinling to ally with certain people to gain better trial results. That was her goal, and it was likely Tres's goal as well.

Another half hour passed, and Grannie felt herself recovering more. Just as she was about to get up to look for Alden, a powerful star energy fluctuation came from not far away. Grannie looked in shock. What was this?

A kilometer away, the pain in Lu Yin's body gradually subsided. He clenched his hand, feeling his strength. Now, he had truly stepped into the cultivation world, with a bit of the power to look up at the starry sky.

Grannie tapped her personal terminal to test her combat power. Beep, beep, beep, the sound kept ringing, and the final combat power displayed was 1080. Grannie was puzzled. 1080? Just broken through to the Exploration Realm? Who? Yata?

In the ruins a kilometer away, Lu Yin pushed aside the rubble and walked out, looking at Grannie.

Grannie's eyes widened in surprise, her heart sinking. "You, you broke through to the Exploration Realm?"

Lu Yin approached Grannie step by step, smiling faintly. "Didn't you detect it?"

Grannie frowned, her tone softening. "I'm sorry, Yata. I shouldn't have pushed you out to block the enemy's attack, but you have to believe me, it was an instinctive reaction, not intentional."

Lu Yin stopped about ten meters from Grannie and smiled. "Of course I believe you. Elite of the academy, having gone through life and death, it's very normal to have such an instinctive reaction."

Grannie smiled slightly. "That's good. Yata, Tres and Alden are dead, and this native is severely injured. From now on, Jinling is ours. We cooperate, and no one can take Jinling from us."

"That's right. Before that, can I borrow something from you?" Lu Yin smiled faintly as he looked at Grannie.

Grannie's face changed, and she forced a smile. "What?"

Lu Yin said, "Nothing much, just various energy crystals."

Grannie's gaze turned sharp. "What are you saying?"

Lu Yin stared at Grannie and said calmly, "Let's put it this way, hand over your Spatial Ring."

"Are you robbing me?" Grannie shouted.

Lu Yin shrugged. "Don't make it sound so dark, just to take a look."

Grannie stood up and stared at Lu Yin fiercely. "Yata, don't think that just because you successfully Body Shaped and healed some of your injuries, you can suppress me. You haven't fully recovered, and I've also healed some of my injuries. If we fight, it's hard to say who will win. Don't forget, you just reached the Exploration Realm, with only 1080 combat power."

Lu Yin's lips curled. "Is that so? If you really believed in combat power, would you be saying so much nonsense?"

Grannie's eyes flickered, and she didn't answer.

Lu Yin continued, "Combat power is just the external impact of an individual's star energy. It's just the influence of star energy and doesn't represent true strength. Isn't that the first sentence in the academy textbook?"

"Wrong. The textbook just doesn't want to discourage civilian students. The stronger the combat power, the higher the individual's star energy intensity, and the greater the suppression effect on those with lower combat power. Otherwise, why do you think Tres was stronger than me? Our combat power differs by almost half, a gap that no ordinary combat technique can make up for," Grannie said coldly.

Lu Yin took a step forward, approaching Grannie again. "Make your move if you have the confidence."

Grannie's gaze turned fierce, and she stared at the approaching Lu Yin. She took out a fire crystal from her Spatial Ring and crushed it, flames rising into the air. "Flame Palm." Grannie was forced to act. Even if she could defeat Lu Yin with one palm, she would be injured again. But she had no choice.

Seeing Grannie's palm coming, with deep flames accumulating, Lu Yin raised his hand, the moon revolving around his palm. He struck with the Celestial Palm without hesitation. The moment they touched, the moon exploded, the terrifying force completely destroying the flames and sending Grannie flying a hundred meters away, her arm broken, landing in a heap, staring at Lu Yin in disbelief.

She couldn't believe that Lu Yin had seriously injured her with one palm. What kind of combat technique was that? It couldn't be the Wave Palm; the Wave Palm was no match for the Flame Palm. Their combat power differed by almost half, a gap that ordinary combat techniques couldn't make up for.

Lu Yin looked at his right palm with intense eyes. This was the Celestial Palm. After reaching the Exploration Realm, the power of the Celestial Palm had increased again. When the palm was struck, stars appeared, and when the stars exploded, they could crush everything. This was just one star. What if it were two? Ten? Twenty? The power would be unimaginable. Lu Yin didn't dare to think about it.

This combat technique must not be revealed.

The commotion attracted Qin Xuan and others. When the troops reappeared, they saw only Lu Yin standing on the ground.

"Brother Lu?" Feng Hong was surprised.

Qin Xuan and the others were also surprised. They had retreated far away during the battle and hadn't seen anything.

Lu Yin said, "Lock up that woman and treat Xing Sheng."

Soon, Grannie was taken away by the troops, and Zhou Shan was rushed to the treatment room by the doctors.

"Wait," Zhou Shan's weak voice sounded.

Everyone gathered around.

Zhou Shan looked at Lu Yin. "While I'm being treated, protect Jinling. I entrust it to you."

Lu Yin nodded. "Don't worry."

"Thank you," Zhou Shan said and then fainted.

Today's battle had caused significant losses to Jinling. Lu Yin ordered the troops to rebuild the destroyed Jinling settlement, comfort the survivors, and also ordered Luo Yun and others to return to Jinling.

Many things didn't need Lu Yin's attention; the prison camp had its own methods of handling them. He then went to the deepest level of the Jinling prison, where Grannie was held.

At this moment, Grannie was bound by her limbs, with many hidden technological weapons around her. Any movement would trigger a direct attack.

Lu Yin dismissed the guards, came to Grannie, took off her Spatial Ring, cut her finger, and used the genetic code in her blood to unlock the Spatial Ring, emptying all its contents.

The Spatial Ring was very precious, and few could afford it. Yasta and Alden didn't have one, only Grannie and Tres did. Lu Yin had already taken Tres's Spatial Ring and obtained many good things. Now it was Grannie's turn.

"Who are you?" Grannie asked.

Lu Yin smiled. "What do you think?"

"You must come from the universe, not an Earthling," Grannie said firmly, glaring at Lu Yin.

Lu Yin nodded, taking all the energy crystals and putting the rest, like clothes, back into the Spatial Ring, then returning it to Grannie.

Without the genetic code, the Spatial Ring was useless, and there was no need for him to take a useless Spatial Ring.