Chapter 18

"I'm called Lu Yin, don't get it wrong," Lu Yin said.

"Is this your name on Earth?" Granie asked.

Lu Yin did not answer but stared at Granie, "Log into the cosmic network and change Jinling to blue."

Granie sneered and ignored him.

Lu Yin sighed, "Actually, I don't like to use torture, but this is a penal camp, you understand, they have ways to make you submit."

Granie was furious, "These natives will pay the price."

"Before that, you will pay a more terrifying price," Lu Yin said coldly, staring at Granie.

Granie met Lu Yin's gaze, but ultimately submitted. After all, she was just a student. She could be proud, cold, and even cruel when facing Earthlings, but that was due to the difference in status. Once this difference was erased, she was no different from an ordinary student.

Granie changed Jinling to blue on the Earth map in the cosmic network in front of Lu Yin.

Lu Yin looked over and saw that part of Earth had already turned blue, meaning those areas were completely under the control of these students. Of course, not all of them were, and some students might have been forced to change the color to blue, but such cases should be rare.

Parts of China, Europe, America, and Africa had turned blue. What Lu Yin was most concerned about was Hubei, which had also turned blue.

Lu Yin pondered, had Liu Shaoge submitted? Or was he killed?

"I ask you, which of the students who descended are strong?" Lu Yin stared at Granie and asked.

Granie shook her head, "I don't know. The planetary evolution trial is conducted by the Grand Universe Empire, and the students come from various institutions. I only know about the Imperial First Military Academy. Tres is quite strong, but I don't know about the others."

Lu Yin did not press further. After all, the real test was more than two months away, and he was confident in dealing with the first batch of students.

Everyone was busy now. Lu Yin personally left Jinling to slay the Heaven-level mutated beasts detected by his personal terminal. It wasn't until five days later that the busy period came to an end.

Lu Yin convened a meeting, and all the battalion commanders attended, including Luo Yun, who had just returned from the front line.

This time, Xu San was thoroughly convinced of Lu Yin's abilities. He had only joined the penal camp for a short time but had already replaced the position of the Execution Saint. He felt his future was bright.

Lu Yin looked at Xu San with increasing approval. With his support, Xu San had already reached the Earth level, or the Prospect Realm. Once he reached the Exploration Realm, he would be very valuable.

Encouraged by Lu Yin's approval, Xu San was full of enthusiasm and secretly resolved to become stronger as soon as possible. The more enthusiastic he was, the more Lu Yin approved, and everything was moving toward a bright future.

No one at the meeting dared to challenge Lu Yin. The fact that he dared to intervene in a Heaven-level battlefield spoke volumes, and now that Lu Yin had openly admitted to reaching the Heaven level, which was the strength of the Execution Saint, no battalion commander dared to challenge him.

As for the two battalion commanders who had defected to Granie, Lu Yin stripped them of their positions and demoted them to the army to atone for their sins.

"The most important thing now is to abandon the front line and focus on expanding Jinling," Lu Yin said, looking at the remaining eight battalion commanders.

Someone hesitated, "Establishing a passage to the capital was the basic strategy set by the Execution Saint. If we abandon it, it might not be good."

Qin Xuan, the bespectacled woman, looked at Lu Yin and said solemnly, "I agree. With Jinling's current strength, it's not enough to connect with other regions. We need to stabilize internally before we can expand externally."

Following this, Feng Hong and others also agreed.

Lu Yin stood up, "It's decided. All soldiers of the penal camp will be recalled to expand westward, step by step, reclaiming lost territory." He then left, saying casually, "Get me a detailed map of the Solar System."

The others at the meeting looked at each other but said nothing.

Qin Xuan watched Lu Yin's departing back, her gaze deep in thought. She felt this person was even more domineering than the Execution Saint and seemed to have designs on Jinling. The Execution Saint had only let him manage temporarily, but this person had overturned the Execution Saint's strategy. Although she agreed, what would happen if the Execution Saint woke up?

"Feng Hong, you stay by the Execution Saint's side at all times," Qin Xuan whispered to Feng Hong.

Feng Hong was puzzled, "Why?"

Qin Xuan said, "Nothing, just protect the Execution Saint." She was worried that Lu Yin might harm the Execution Saint, leading to his death and allowing Lu Yin to fully control Jinling.

Across the room, Luo Yun watched the two of them talking, her eyes flickering.

Zhao Yu had left days ago, heading to the northeast alone. This woman's courage earned Lu Yin's admiration, but it was unwise.

The penal camp, which once had 80,000 evolved beings, had lost many to the front line and now had only 50,000 left. After all of them were recalled to Jinling, the city's defenses were greatly strengthened. The battalion commanders guarded Jinling from all directions, making it impregnable.

The sunset's afterglow gradually faded, and beams of light flashed in the sky, destroying flying mutated beasts. On the city walls, Lu Yin said sternly, "If you detect a beast tide or a zombie tide, use thermal weapons without fear of waste."

"Yes," two battalion commanders responded.

Suddenly, a cry echoed from the distance. On the ground, zombies were torn into bloody pieces. A huge flying mutated beast swooped low, heading toward Jinling.

Everyone panicked, "Attack, attack quickly."

Lu Yin narrowed his eyes, leaped up, and wielded the sword he had taken from Auton. With a single strike, the Exploration Realm energy unleashed a powerful slash, pressing the flying mutated beast to the ground, its head twisted grotesquely, emitting a mournful cry.

Lu Yin landed, stepped on the mutated beast's back, and thrust his sword into its brain. The mutated beast twitched twice and fell dead.

Countless people watched in shock, then erupted in cheers. Someone started shouting "Yin Saint," and soon, everyone was shouting "Yin Saint."

Lu Yin's lips twitched. He didn't want to bear the title of "saint" and hurriedly tried to stop the crowd, but the name "Yin Saint" gradually spread.

There were not many zombies or mutated beasts around Jinling, as most had been cleared by the penal camp. Following Lu Yin's orders, the penal camp concentrated its main forces to the west, with nearly half of the battalion commanders heading to the western front to clear the way.

More and more survivors came to Jinling, and the number of evolved beings increased as well.

Soon, half a month passed, and there were less than seventy days until the arrival of the second batch of trial students.

During this half month, Lu Yin absorbed some star energy crystals, increasing his combat power to 1,500, with nearly half of the star energy crystals remaining.

The primary use of star energy crystals was not to accelerate the absorption and increase combat power but to train combat techniques and serve as a power source for powerful technological weapons, as well as to quickly replenish energy in times of scarcity. Generally, cultivators using the Body Shaping Decision rarely absorbed the energy within star energy crystals. Training combat techniques required energy, and combat techniques were the foundation of a strong person.

Often, powerful combat techniques could multiply one's strength, and the higher the measured combat power, the more it would make others wary.

Of course, the higher the combat power, the stronger the energy within the body, and the same attack would naturally cause a more powerful effect. For example, Tres could use the Fluctuation Palm to clash with Granie's combat technique, but Tres still retained a significant portion of the star energy crystals to train his combat techniques. Unfortunately, he did not succeed; otherwise, the outcome of the battle half a month ago would have been different.

Lu Yin wanted to use the remaining star energy crystals to train the Heavenly Star Palm and to make an attempt.

After half a month, Granie submitted and requested to see Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was not kind to Granie. Although he did not torture her, he kept her in a dark, windowless dungeon, isolated and alone, with only poor food, which was mutated rat meat. The past half month was the darkest period of Granie's life, and she finally could not bear it.

"I, I am willing to help you, you, you let me go," Granie said, her face pale, her eyes dull, and her body emitting an unpleasant odor, looking at Lu Yin with a pleading gaze.

Lu Yin said coldly, "What can you help me with?"

Granie weakly said, "Help you protect Jinling. I'll do whatever you ask, just let me go, I can't take it anymore."

Lu Yin stared at Granie, "I ask you, what is the final task of your trial?"

Granie's eyes flickered, "You're really not a student? Then how did you enter Earth? This place has been under the surveillance of the Grand Universe Empire, and it's impossible to enter at will."

Lu Yin turned and walked away.

Granie quickly shouted, "Wait, I was just curious, I won't ask anymore. I'll tell you, our task is to capture fugitives."

Lu Yin turned curiously, "Fugitives?"

Granie nodded, "The day before the trial, we received notification that a fugitive had breached the surveillance network and entered Earth, bringing evolution to the planet. The empire did not originally plan to have us conduct the trial on this planet, but since Earth had already evolved, the empire had to change the location at the last minute, which delayed us for several months. Otherwise, we would have come to Earth months ago."

"Earth's evolution wasn't brought by you?" Lu Yin was surprised.