To the people of Earth, the news of the Great Yu Empire's trial was distant and unreachable. They only knew that the apocalypse had begun, and then experts had appeared to protect their bases for them. As for what had actually happened, no one knew except for a select few.
One by one, the students were brought aboard the spaceship. This trial had started with two hundred and thirty-seven students, but in the end, only 150 returned to the ship alive. In other words, a single trial had claimed the lives of eighty-seven students. When this data was reported to Siken Maldo, his expression remained calm. This death rate was not considered high.
Any trial had a 50% death rate; as long as it was controlled within 50%, it was acceptable. Of course, even if it slightly exceeded that, no one would question it, unless a student from a powerful and noble family died.
Many students at Granny's level were overjoyed. They had only planned to occupy a spot on the ground and muddle through to return alive. But the strongest students from the academies, especially the second batch of trial students, were in a terrible mood. Their faces were all grim, looking as ugly as could be.
Among the Earthlings, Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue were specially recruited into the Great Yu Empire. One had the battle power of a Limiteer, and the other possessed a special talent; both could directly join the Thirteen Imperial Squads. Zhou Shan and Wu Sheng were also permitted to join the Great Yu Empire, but both refused, wanting to continue guarding Earth.
Siken Maldo paid them no mind. These two were far inferior to Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue; even if they joined the empire, they would only be ordinary soldiers.
Besides them, another Earthling who joined the Great Yu Empire was the Ascetic Monk from Tianzhu, Shi Wuzhang. He was the only one, aside from Zhang Dingtian's group, to be specially recruited.
Lu Yin was treated for two hours before the wound on his chest was brought under control.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue.
"How are things?" Lu Yin asked weakly.
Zhang Dingtian's tone was deep. "It's over. Earth remains unchanged. The Great Yu Empire will dispatch people to continue monitoring, and they will also send soldiers to clean up the zombies on Earth. Lu Yin, thank you."
"Thank you," Bai Xue also said gratefully.
Lu Yin coughed, got off the bed, and looked at the white clouds drifting past outside. "Are we about to leave?"
Zhang Dingtian nodded. "Zhou Shan and Wu Sheng have decided to stay on Earth. Besides the three of us, the other Earthling who joined the Great Yu Empire is the Ascetic Monk from Tianzhu, Shi Wuzhang."
Lu Yin was surprised. "The Ascetic Monk from Tianzhu? Is he very powerful?"
Zhang Dingtian said with admiration, "He is a remarkable person. You should see for yourself; he's right outside. The Great Yu Empire will arrange for us to join the Martial Hall."
Lu Yin walked out of the treatment room and immediately saw the Ascetic Monk from Tianzhu. He was truly too distinctive: barefoot, wearing only half a set of clothes, his entire body a bronze color, so thin he was just skin and bones. At a glance, one might mistake him for an exquisite bronze statue. More importantly, his right hand was held high in the air. Who knew how long it had been held up, but it had long since withered and deformed, looking less like a hand and more like a tree branch. His beard was wrapped, coil after coil, around that withered right arm.
People passing by all looked over in astonishment.
Lu Yin was stunned for a moment. "This... is the Ascetic Monk from Tianzhu, Shi Wuzhang?"
Even a man with a will as firm as Zhang Dingtian looked at Shi Wuzhang with a strange expression, and as for Bai Xue, Lu Yin even felt that she was frightened.
"He is Shi Wuzhang, the only person on Earth who broke through to the Seeker realm without receiving anything from Qing Yu. He defeated Hai Di'an and possesses the battle power of an academy's strongest," Zhang Dingtian said gravely.
Lu Yin found it strange. "How... did he become a cultivator?" In Shi Wuzhang's condition, it would be difficult to even fight a mutated beast, let alone have any advantage against an ordinary person.
"I don't know. He hasn't spoken yet," Zhang Dingtian said.
"This question, I can answer for you," Siken Maldo said as he approached. The people around him immediately saluted.
Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue remained indifferent. They had joined the Great Yu Empire to become stronger. They held no goodwill towards the Great Yu Empire, but of course, no hatred either. After all, the planet's evolution had been brought by Qing Yu and had nothing to do with the Great Yu Empire.
Lu Yin looked at Siken Maldo and asked, feigning ignorance, "Your attitude towards me seems different. Why?"
Siken Maldo smiled. "I will explain later. The spaceship is about to leave Earth. Is there anything you wish to say?"
Lu Yin pondered for a moment, then said, "Go to Jinling and pick up a person named Xu San. He is my little brother."
Siken Maldo nodded without asking further questions, gave a command into his personal terminal, and then said, "Regarding your earlier question, I can answer it." With that, Siken Maldo glanced at Shi Wuzhang and said to Lu Yin, "That is a man of great willpower. He sat alone amidst two warring packs of mutated beasts, covered in blood, his expression unchanging. After the beasts finished their slaughter, he picked up the energy crystals, swallowed them, and reached the Seeker realm. This man's willpower is rarely seen; his heart holds an unimaginable perseverance."
Lu Yin and the others looked over in shock. To sit alone on a battlefield of slaughtering beasts while still an ordinary person? Was this guy insane? How did he not get eaten?
"I specially allowed this person to join the Great Yu Empire. His willpower has attracted the interest of others; perhaps he will have a great future," Siken Maldo said to Lu Yin.
At this moment, Shi Wuzhang lifted his head, his turbid eyes looking towards Lu Yin. He stood up, his bare feet stepping onto the cold metal floor, and walked in front of Lu Yin, slowly bowing.
Lu Yin was confused.
"Tha--nk you," Shi Wuzhang's voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a very long time. If one didn't listen carefully, it was truly hard to understand him.
Lu Yin said, "You're welcome. Your appearance doesn't seem like that of someone from Tianzhu."
Shi Wuzhang straightened up. "I was born in Zangfeng, Huaxia. I cultivate in Tianzhu." After speaking, he bowed in salute once more and turned to leave.
Siken Maldo also left. He had to take responsibility for the aftermath, and there were many things to do.
"Let's go, let's take a look around. This is a super-large spaceship of the Great Yu Empire. The value of one ship can be compared to an entire ecological planet," Lu Yin said.
"I'm not going. There's a gravity room here, and a small library. I need to go have a look," Zhang Dingtian said bluntly, and left after speaking.
Lu Yin looked towards Bai Xue. This woman's beauty was breathtaking; she was truly a pleasure to look at.
Bai Xue still hadn't recovered from the matter with Liu Shao Ge. She apologized to Lu Yin and also left.
Lu Yin was helpless. Those two were annoyingly mysterious. He might as well have kept Shi Wuzhang around. That guy's appearance was especially intimidating; ordinary people wouldn't dare to mess with him. It would be impressive to bring him along.
This super-large spaceship was named the Willpower. It was a ship specialized in transporting trial students. Its scale surpassed the Beijing base, and it was equipped with every facility imaginable. There were over 100 gravity rooms alone, and it could carry over 300 personal spaceships. All the trial students' personal spaceships had been collected and placed aboard the Willpower.
The Willpower was divided into a training area, a mechanical area, a living area, an observation area, a control area, and more. Lu Yin was currently in the living area, and on the highest floor at that, in a private courtyard for himself, even equipped with a swimming pool and a medical unit. There were only three residences of this scale on the entire Willpower, and he occupied one of them, living even better than Sha Luo Shu.
The other students all lived on the floor below, in several hundred rooms. Each room was very large, but compared to Lu Yin's residence, it was like night and day.
Lu Yin went down to the next floor. This area was basically all students. The staff lived in another section, while the soldiers were on the lowest level.
The living area was surrounded by layers of transparent metal. Lu Yin tested it; it was incredibly hard.
"This type of metal can only be shattered by a Star-Wanderer expert. With your strength, it's impossible to even leave a scratch," not far away, Xia Luo approached slowly with a gentle smile, looking at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin turned his head and asked strangely, "Why didn't I see you in the battle at Tianzhu?"
Xia Luo smiled. "Not interested."
Lu Yin's eyebrows twitched. "As a trial student, with your strength, you could actually be uninterested in the trial mission. I'm truly curious."
Xia Luo walked to Lu Yin's side, looking through the metal at the cloud layer outside, vaguely seeing the tail of the giant turtle sweeping back and forth. "A trial is fine as long as the goal is achieved. There's no need to get hung up on the mission." At this point, Xia Luo turned to look at Lu Yin. "Congratulations on defeating Qing Yu. This achievement is enough to make the Great Yu Empire look at you in a new light."
Lu Yin shrugged. "It was just a fluke. I could never have defeated him on my own."
"In this universe, flukes don't exist. A win is a win. Lu Yin, no, Brother Lu, do you know what it means to defeat a member of the Night King Clan?" Xia Luo said with a faint smile.
Lu Yin shook his head.
Xia Luo's gaze was deep as he looked outside. "It means that you have entered the sights of the White Night Clan. Unless you don't go to the inner universe, the moment you do, the White Night Clan will have their eyes on you."
Lu Yin shrugged his shoulders. "In other words, I'm in trouble."