The white-haired man retreated, admiringly saying, "Worthy of being the first of the Seven Saints, may we meet again." With that, he dashed far away, attempting to escape.
Zhang Ding Tian returned a slash, but was surprised to find the white-haired man rushing towards Bai Xue. His blade abruptly halted.
Bai Xue aimed a single hand at the white-haired man, freezing air enveloped the sky, and ice spread from the void. She wanted to freeze this entire area.
The white-haired man sneered, and the butterfly knife in his hand easily tore open the ice. He stabbed towards Bai Xue's neck. Bai Xue couldn't react in time, watching helplessly as the blade approached. At the crucial moment, Lu Yin used his Soaring Step and appeared in front of Bai Xue, raising his palm. With a palm strike, the white-haired man was shocked, and the butterfly knife turned towards Lu Yin. The white light and Heavenly Star Palm clashed again. The void shook, stars shattered, and a terrifying shockwave threw Bai Xue away. The ground instantly cracked, and countless air currents shot out in all directions.
Dust covered a large area.
Soon, as the dust settled, only Lu Yin remained. The white-haired man had disappeared without a trace.
The assassination was swift. From Zhang Ding Tian's injury to the white-haired man's departure, it didn't take more than ten seconds. The surrounding troops hadn't even reacted before it was all over.
Bai Xue's eyes trembled. In that instant, she had felt the sensation of death. The beautiful butterfly knife had easily pierced through her defenses, and that cold glint would have truly killed her. Since achieving the position of a Seven Saint, she had never experienced such a crisis.
Lu Yin walked out of the shallow pit and looked at Bai Xue. "Are you alright?"
Bai Xue shook her head, her eyes complex. "Thank you."
Lu Yin turned to look at Zhang Ding Tian. "You're injured."
Zhang Ding Tian touched his neck. "It's nothing serious."
The surrounding troops finally appeared, shocked to find that Zhang Ding Tian was actually injured. This was Zhang Ding Tian, the first of the Seven Saints! It was unbelievable to everyone.
"How did you get here?" Zhang Ding Tian asked, looking at Lu Yin with suspicion.
Lu Yin looked at his palm. "Curiosity. I also wanted to know who the culprit was."
Zhang Ding Tian said indifferently, "Just an individual."
"I know," Lu Yin replied, glancing at the wound on Zhang Ding Tian's neck and raising his eyebrows. He had seen the process of the silver spike injuring Zhang Ding Tian. He couldn't deny that Zhang Ding Tian was indeed very powerful. Without footwork skills or battle techniques, he was able to retreat from such a close-range assassination by Silver. Lu Yin reckoned that even if it were him, he wouldn't have done better than Zhang Ding Tian.
What Lu Yin wanted to know most right now was how Silver concealed his aura. Ordinary disciples could hide their aura to conceal their personal connection device's detection, but Zhang Ding Tian was so close and still didn't notice him. This was terrifying. It could be said that few people could survive that kind of assassination.
"Why did that person assassinate you?" Bai Xue asked suspiciously.
Zhang Ding Tian narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure. I haven't met him before. I think there's only one possibility – he doesn't want the tide of corpses to be slaughtered."
Lu Yin's heart sank. Today's assassination confirmed his previous guess. Silver was related to the Corpse King. He didn't care about the mission and also cared about the Corpse King. It was incomprehensible; this person was truly unpredictable.
Although Zhang Ding Tian guessed some things, he couldn't know more. Relying on a single assassination wouldn't yield useful information.
"Issue an order to eliminate the tide of corpses around the clock for 24 hours," Zhang Ding Tian suddenly commanded.
People like Silver couldn't be easily caught. Zhang Ding Tian concealed the news of the assassination and only intensified the siege against the tide of corpses. Even many evolved people who hadn't joined the Hua Camp were forcibly gathered from the city to eliminate zombies.
Soon, more time passed. There was only one month left until the arrival of the second batch of trial participants.
During this time, Europe was in turmoil, but the fugitive's whereabouts remained unknown. Exactly one month before the arrival of the second batch of trial participants, Lu Yin's left wrist's personal connection device emitted a "beep-beep" sound, forcibly receiving a message.
"Dear students, the safe period is over. The trial officially begins. From now on, the location function of your personal connection device cannot be turned off and will be synchronized and displayed on the Star Network map. Please complete your missions as soon as possible. Wishing you all the best in your martial endeavors!" A message made the trial even more cruel.
The first batch of trial participants had landed two months ago. These two months were the so-called safe period. As long as they wished, everyone could conceal their strength and hide, or secretly mine precious mineral resources and herbs to exchange for achievements. But the safe period passed in a flash. Everyone's location would be clearly marked unless they discarded their personal connection device.
Lu Yin exhaled and looked up at the starry sky. This was the true trial. No one could hide. The two months given to the disciples for the safe period were also an opportunity for the people of Earth, allowing them to seize resources from the trial participants. This was fairness, the so-called fairness of the universe.
The moment Yasta died, his personal connection device couldn't connect to the Star Network. But at this moment, the Star Network established a Local Area Network for Yasta's personal connection device. This Local Area Network was the Earth model. The locations of all the trial participants in the first batch were displayed on Earth.
"There are still quite a few people," Lu Yin murmured to himself. The dozens of shooting stars he had seen in Jinling were just a part of it. There were as many as a hundred trial participants in the entire Asia, not to mention the vast continents of Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Even a place like Antarctica had surviving disciples.
Currently, the largest number of people were in Europe, with over a hundred gathered in a very small area near the Mediterranean Sea.
At this moment, a line of text appeared in one area of the Local Area Network map: 'Earth's Indian Monk defeats Haidi An.'
Lu Yin was surprised. Were even battle records being announced?
At the same time, many trial participants were shocked. Haidi An was not weak; he was one of the strongest in the Academy. He was actually defeated by an Earth native. This shocked many disciples. For individuals like Granny, this level was unimaginable. For them, the strongest person in the Academy was almost invincible. But the real trial had just begun, and someone had already failed. This made them take the trial more seriously than ever before.
The Great Yu Empire held trials regularly, but very few of the strongest in the Academy were defeated during the trials. If Earth was a normal evolved planet, the strongest person today would definitely not reach the Tham Realm, let alone be defeated. Therefore, Haidi An's defeat was hard for many to believe.
However, very quickly, another notification appeared: 'Erde defeats Earth's Indian Monk.'
Lu Yin was curious. Why did Erde and Haidi An appear in India?
At this moment, Granny hurriedly found Lu Yin. "The trial has officially begun. The Local Area Network can not only see individual locations but also allow for mutual communication. You know this, right?"
Lu Yin's heart sank. "Can communicate?"
Granny nodded. "The trial participants come from all over the Great Yu Empire. The Great Yu Empire is too large, and we don't recognize each other, so very few people contacted each other in the past two months. But the opening of the Local Area Network allows for mutual communication. Just now, a message was released saying that the fugitive lost something important in the capital of China and will definitely return to search for it."
Lu Yin's eyes sharpened. "Who released the information?"
Granny shook her head. "I don't know. The Local Area Network can only detect the location of personal connection devices. Who is using the personal connection device cannot be detected."
Lu Yin mentally reviewed the situation. Only the Seven Saints and the Academy Dean knew that the fugitive had lost something in the capital, not even Erde. Now that the information was released, Zhang Ding Tian and Bai Xue would definitely suspect him.
Suddenly, a surging energy swept across the land. Lu Yin immediately soared into the air, instantly meeting the sharp gazes of Zhang Ding Tian and Bai Xue.
"I didn't release the information," Lu Yin said.
Zhang Ding Tian stared at Lu Yin. "Give me a reason to believe you."
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes and whispered urgently to Granny, "Anonymously release information saying that the fugitive's belongings are hidden in India. That's why Erde and Haidi An appeared in India, and why the Indian Monk had the ability to defeat Haidi An."
Granny nodded and hurriedly complied.
Zhang Ding Tian said in a deep voice, "This method won't last long."
Lu Yin stared at Zhang Ding Tian. "I'm just showing my sincerity. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."
Zhang Ding Tian took a deep breath, gripping his long blade tightly. Lu Yin was the only outsider who knew the secret, and he wanted to control this person. However, Lu Yin's strength was not weak, and Zhang Ding Tian was not confident.
Bai Xue spoke, "Lu Yin, let us check your personal connection device."
Lu Yin was furious and said coldly, "Who do you think you are? If you have the guts, come and take it yourself!"
"You!" Bai Xue was angry. She had only intended to prove Lu Yin's innocence, after all, he had saved her life. But this guy was too infuriating, completely ungrateful.
"Nine people know this secret. My body is in the capital. To put it bluntly, even if I had ulterior motives, I would keep them to myself. Only a fool would release this information. Think carefully yourselves, and don't bother me for no reason," Lu Yin said coldly.