Chapter 35

The silver-haired man stepped back, exclaiming in admiration, "Truly the first among the Seven Saints, I hope we meet again under better circumstances," and with that, he dashed away, attempting to escape.

Zhang Dingtian turned and swung his blade, but to his shock, the silver-haired man charged towards Bai Xue, and he forcibly stopped his strike.

Bai Xue aimed at the silver-haired man with one hand, and a cold aura enveloped the sky. Ice spread from the void, and she intended to freeze the entire area.

The silver-haired man sneered, and with his butterfly knife, he easily tore through the ice, stabbing towards Bai Xue's neck. She was unable to resist, and as the blade approached, Lu Yin suddenly appeared in front of her, using his palm to strike. The silver-haired man was surprised, and his butterfly knife turned towards Lu Yin. The white light and Tianxing Palm clashed again, causing the void to tremble and stars to shatter. The terrifying shockwave pushed Bai Xue away, and the ground instantly cracked, with countless energy blasts shooting out.

Dust enveloped the area.

Soon, when the dust settled, only Lu Yin remained, and the silver-haired man had vanished.

The assassination was swift. From Zhang Dingtian's injury to the silver-haired man's departure, it took no more than ten seconds. The surrounding troops hadn't even reacted by the time everything was over.

Bai Xue's eyes were wide with shock. In that moment, she had felt the presence of death. The beautiful butterfly knife had easily torn through her defenses, and the cold gleam was truly lethal. Since achieving the status of one of the Seven Saints, she had never experienced such a crisis.

Lu Yin stepped out of the shallow pit and looked at Bai Xue, "Are you okay?"

Bai Xue shook her head, her gaze complex, "Thank you."

Lu Yin turned to look at Zhang Dingtian, "You're injured."

Zhang Dingtian touched his neck, "It's nothing serious."

The surrounding troops finally appeared, shocked to find that Zhang Dingtian, the first among the Seven Saints, was injured. This was hard for everyone to believe.

"Why are you here?" Zhang Dingtian asked, looking at Lu Yin with confusion.

Lu Yin looked at his palm, "Curiosity, I also wanted to know who the culprit was."

Zhang Dingtian said calmly, "It was him."

"I know," Lu Yin replied, glancing at the wound on Zhang Dingtian's neck. He frowned, having witnessed the silver-haired man's assassination attempt. There was no denying that Zhang Dingtian was indeed very skilled. Without any movement techniques or combat skills, he managed to retreat from such a close-range attack. Lu Yin admitted that if it had been him, he wouldn't have done any better.

What Lu Yin most wanted to know was how the silver-haired man had hidden his presence. Ordinary students could hide their presence to avoid detection by personal terminals, but Zhang Dingtian, who was so close, hadn't noticed him. This was terrifying. In such an assassination, very few would have survived.

"Why did he try to kill you?" Bai Xue asked, puzzled.

Zhang Dingtian narrowed his eyes, "I'm not sure. I've never met him. The only possibility is that he doesn't want the zombie tide to be exterminated."

Lu Yin's heart sank. Today's assassination confirmed his previous suspicions. The silver-haired man, Yin, was connected to the Zombie King. He didn't care about the mission but was concerned about the Zombie King, which was incomprehensible. This person was unpredictable.

Although Zhang Dingtian had some suspicions, he couldn't know more. A single assassination didn't provide useful intelligence.

"Order the troops to exterminate the zombie tide around the clock, 24 hours a day," Zhang Dingtian suddenly commanded.

A person like Yin couldn't be captured. Zhang Dingtian kept the assassination a secret but intensified the extermination of the zombie tide. Many unaffiliated Evolvers were also forcibly conscripted to help.

Some time passed, and there was only one month left before the arrival of the second batch of trial participants.

During this period, the European front was intense, but the fugitive's trail was nowhere to be found. Just as the countdown to the arrival of the second batch of trial participants reached one month, Lu Yin's personal terminal beeped, receiving a forced message.

"Dear students, the safety period has ended, and the trial officially begins. From now on, the location function of personal terminals cannot be turned off and will be synchronized on the Star Network map. Please complete your tasks as soon as possible. Wishing you all good fortune in your trials." The message made the trial even more brutal.

The first batch of trial participants had landed two months ago. These two months were the so-called safety period, during which anyone could hide their strength or secretly dig for valuable minerals and herbs to earn points. However, once the safety period ended, everyone's location would be clearly marked unless they discarded their personal terminals.

Lu Yin sighed, looking up at the stars. This was the real trial. No one could hide. The two months were both a safety period for the students and an opportunity for Earthlings to seize the resources of the trial participants. This was the fairness of the universe.

At the moment of Astar's death, his personal terminal couldn't connect to the Star Network, but now, the Star Network had established a regional network for Astar's personal terminal. This regional network was a model of Earth, and the locations of all the first batch of trial participants were displayed on it.

"There are quite a few people," Lu Yin muttered. The dozens of meteors he had seen in Jinling were only a part of it. There were over a hundred trial participants in Asia alone, and there were also participants in Europe, Africa, America, and even Antarctica.

Currently, the largest group was in Europe, with over a hundred people gathered in a small area near the Mediterranean.

At this moment, a line of text appeared at the top of the regional network map: "Earth's Indian monk defeats Hedian."

Lu Yin was surprised. Even battle results were announced?

At the same time, many trial participants were shocked. Hedian was not a weakling but one of the strongest in the academy. The fact that he was defeated by an Earth native shook many students, especially those like Granie, who found it hard to imagine. For them, the strongest in the academy was almost invincible, but someone had already been defeated at the start of the trial, making them take it more seriously than ever.

The Great Yu Empire held trials periodically, but it was rare for the strongest in the academy to be defeated during a trial. If Earth had evolved normally, its strongest would not have reached the Exploration Realm, let alone defeat someone. Therefore, Hedian's defeat was hard for many to believe.

However, soon, another notification appeared: "Ode defeats Earth's Indian monk."

Lu Yin was puzzled. Why were Ode and Hedian in India?

At this moment, Granie hurriedly found Lu Yin, "The trial has officially begun. The regional network not only shows everyone's location but also allows communication. You know this, right?"

Lu Yin's heart sank, "Communication?"

Granie nodded, "The trial participants come from all over the Great Yu Empire, which is vast, and we don't know each other. So, during the first two months, few people communicated. But now that the regional network is active, we can communicate. Just now, a message was released saying that the fugitive left something important in Huaxia's capital and will definitely return to retrieve it."

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed, "Who released the message?"

Granie shook her head, "I don't know. The regional network can only detect the location of personal terminals, not who is using them."

Lu Yin quickly thought through the situation. Only the Seven Saints, the Dean, and himself knew about the fugitive's item in the capital. Even Ode didn't know. Now that the message was out, Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue would definitely suspect him.

Suddenly, a surge of energy swept across the ground, and Lu Yin immediately took to the air, seeing the sharp-eyed Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue.

"I didn't release the message," Lu Yin said.

Zhang Dingtian stared at Lu Yin, "Make me believe you."

Lu Yin's eyes narrowed, and he shouted at Granie, "Release an anonymous message saying the fugitive's item is in India, which is why Ode and Hedian are there, and why the Indian monk was able to defeat Hedian."

Granie nodded and quickly did as instructed.

Zhang Dingtian said in a deep voice, "This won't delay things for long."

Lu Yin stared at Zhang Dingtian, "I'm just showing my sincerity. Believe me or not, it's up to you."

Zhang Dingtian took a deep breath and gripped his long blade. Lu Yin was the only outsider who knew the secret, and he wanted to control this person, but Lu Yin was not weak, and Zhang Dingtian had no confidence.

Bai Xue spoke, "Lu Yin, let us check your personal terminal."

Lu Yin was furious, coldly saying, "Who do you think you are? If you have the guts, come and take it."

"You—" Bai Xue was enraged. She had only wanted to prove Lu Yin's innocence, as he had saved her life, but this guy was infuriating and didn't know how to be grateful.

"There are nine people who know this secret. I'm in the capital. To put it bluntly, even if I had ulterior motives, I would keep them hidden. Only a fool would release the message. Think about it yourselves and don't bother me with your nonsense," Lu Yin said coldly.