Just like how the humans in Aeternus Nation wore robes to hide the fact that they were nothing more than toys for the zombies, the Neohuman Alliance masked Aeternus Nation’s dark underground with a beautifully scenic surface.
Silver led Lu Yin underground.
Lu Yin was no longer being suppressed, and there was nobody watching him either. This was because there was simply no way for him to escape from Aeternus Nation.
Beneath Aeternus Nation, the underground section was shrouded in darkness. Zombies aimlessly wandered about, occasionally growling.
“Only zombies that have developed intelligence are allowed topside. Otherwise, they have to remain underground. Captain, this will be your future home.”
Lu Yin surveyed his surroundings, and something in the distance caught his eye. There were numerous rune lines there, and some of the clusters that he saw were enormous while others were minute. Also, there were some in constant flux.
The primary detail was that the entire underground was enveloped by a single rune.
Lu Yin raised his hands towards black matter that was floating in the air.This is?
Silver looked at Lu Yin. “That’s death energy. Captain, you likely haven’t seen it before. It is a unique power that my Specter Clan possesses. It has an unusually powerful effect when fused into corpse kings, and it is why our tribe was allowed to smoothly join the Neohuman Alliance without being remodeled.”
Lu Yin stared at the death energy around him.
I haven’t seen this before, huh? Heh.Not only had Lu Yin come into contact with death energy in the past, but he had also discovered that he was able to suppress it. Back in the Sea King’s Dome, Lu Yin had ordered Faceless to eliminate Feng Mo and the Bo Duo, and Faceless had obeyed because of this ability.
At that time, Lu Yin speculated that Arcane Art, Fatal Revival had something to do with death energy, but there had been no way for him to validate that hypothesis.
No matter what, the fact still remained that he was able to suppress death energy.
Lu Yin subconsciously moved away from Silver. Silver was from the Specter Clan, and if Lu Yin remained too close to Silver, then his secret might be discovered. If that happened, it would only lead to more trouble for him.
“Oh right, captain, I should tell you one more thing. Your remodeling will be different from any other.” Silver grinned slyly as he continued on, saying, “Twelve years! You’ve cultivated for just twelve years, and your accomplishments have caused us to have great expectations for you. Thus, your remodeling process will be different. The almighty Seven Skygods want to use you to create the ultimate fighting machine, so, congratulations, captain. You won’t be immediately remodeled into a corpse king.”
“So what then?” Lu Yin impassively asked.
Silver’s eyes went wide as he met Lu Yin’s gaze. “So, this is your only chance to escape.”
Lu Yin laughed hoarsely. “Run away? Are you kidding me? This is the Neohuman Alliance’s headquarters, Aeternus Nation. All of the Seven Skygods are here, and you want me to try to run away?”
Silver looked at Lu Yin and grinned as he waved a hand. “I’m just joking. Don’t take things so seriously, captain.”
Lu Yin had never been able to understand what Silver was thinking or his true intentions. When the man smiled in this fashion, it always creeped Lu Yin out.
Aeternus Nation’s underground was filled with death energy. As they continued walking along, Silver told Lu Yin many things about the Neohuman Alliance, possibly because he assumed that Lu Yin would not be able to escape, or possibly because Silver was lonely. No matter what, this gave Lu Yin a much better understanding of the Neohuman Alliance.
Corpse kings were not the only beings involved in the governing of Aeternus Nation, and some humans were also involved. In fact, there was also a Dark Interstellar Supreme Court comprised of the Specter Clan and certain powerhouses from other powerful factions who were currently undercover.
Many of these Neohuman Alliance spies had infiltrated powerful factions throughout the Human Domain.
While this might have been a shock to Lu Yin, he also found it reasonable to accept.
Humans feared death, and he was no exception. Those who would choose death when there was still an opportunity to keep living were rarer than rare. Most would choose to continue living.
“One of the Seven Skygods is the most mysterious, and even I haven’t seen them. They are known as Whiteless God, and not only are they the most mysterious of the Seven Skygods, they are also the only one who has the list of people in the Human Domain who are working for the Neohuman Alliance—Aeterna.”
Lu Yin listened in silence.
“I’ve heard that Whiteless God is a beauty, but who knows. Captain, if your remodeling goes well and you become the ultimate combat weapon, then maybe you’ll get to meet Whiteless God,” Silver commented with a smile.
Lu Yin calmly followed along.
As they continued walking, he saw hordes of corpse kings.
Back on Earth, all of those zombies had given rise to no more than five corpse kings. But in this place, there were at least fifty thousand of them.
Among the zombies, there were some whose rune lines were similar to Lu Yin’s, and there were even a handful that made Lu Yin feel chilled after taking just a glance.
“These corpse kings are here all year round, just absorbing death energy. They’re just like my favorite companion, Beast,” Silver rambled on.
A cry was heard from far away.
Lu Yin focused on that direction.
There’s someone over there.
There was a man cowering in fear, kneeling on the ground. Wounds covered his entire body, and all of his hair had fallen off. Death energy was seeping through his wounds and into his body, and he released it as he exhaled from his nose.
The man was obviously experiencing some kind of excruciating pain, and he was wailing and mumbling incessantly. At times, a sense of viciousness would surface, while at other times, it was a deep madness.
Lu Yin stood there, watching the man. This person was not a corpse king, but rather a regular human who was being remodeled by the abundance of death energy.
Silver snapped his fingers and pointed to the man.
A handful of corpse kings immediately rushed over to the man and dragged him away.
“Sorry about that, captain. You witnessed a failed experiment.” Silver smiled.
Lu Yin remained silent.
Silver smiled and continued walking.
Before much more time passed, he stopped and turned to look at Lu Yin before finally stepping away.
Lu Yin felt this was rather absurd, but then he saw a pair of eyes with white pupils that were staring at him. They looked utterly lifeless and devoid of all emotions.
The moment Lu Yin met those eyes, he felt paralyzed.
An innate gift?
These eyes belonged to a malevolent looking corpse king. When Lu Yin’s body went numb, the corpse king charged at him with a raised fist.
Lu Yin’s body trembled once before he regained his mobility. He then raised a hand and smacked the corpse king away.
The corpse king struck the ground hard, and it howled in rage. Soon, the corpse king’s eyes went grey. It had transformed. The corpse king’s aura instantly spiked, and it charged at Lu Yin once again.
Lu Yin frowned and slapped the creature back again, slamming it to the ground once more. The corpse king growled, and black death energy enveloped the corpse king before taking on the shape of a blade. The corpse king once more moved to attack Lu Yin.
Lu Yin smacked the corpse king away yet again, but this time, the corpse king was smashed to pieces and was completely destroyed.
From behind, Silver clapped. “Captain, you’re as powerful as I thought. Our Specter Clan’s eye technique isn’t able to stop you.”
“What’s this about?” Lu Yin asked blandly.
Silver smiled and answered, “That corpse king was a successful experiment. Originally, before their death, that person was an Explorer with a budding talent. After they successfully completed their first death energy remodeling process, they were able to use our eye technique. After the second remodeling, they were able to use the corpse king transformation. If the third remodeling succeeded, then they would have regained their sapience. At that time, it would have been able to work for us by going into the Human Domain.
“And this, captain, is your future. I just wanted you to know your fate.”
Lu Yin looked at the puddle of flesh on the ground. “What are the chances of success for these kinds of experiments?”
Silver frowned. “About one percent.”
Lu Yin glared at Silver. This one percent did not mean one person out of a hundred, but rather one person out of a hundred cultivators who had above average talent. The other ninety nine would be reduced to mindless zombies, corpse kings, or simply die.
Lu Yin was now more convinced than ever that the Neohuman Alliance was the number one enemy of the entire Human Domain. Even the Astral Beast Domain and the Technocracy sought to destroy the Neohuman Alliance. They were a loathsome abomination of an organization.
“What meaning would your life have if all humans were turned to zombies by the Neohuman Alliance?” Lu Yin questioned.
“We don’t have to turn everyone into zombies. We can keep some of them alive. Didn’t humans begin raising livestock the moment they gained intelligence?”
Lu Yin peered deep into Silver’s eyes. There was nothing more to say to this person.
“Captain, your mindset will change after you undergo the remodeling procedure. Let’s go. The place where you’ll be remodeled isn’t far from here.” Silver gestured.
Lu Yin followed Silver deeper underground.
The deeper they went, the denser the death energy became. This also meant that more powerful corpse kings could be seen.
Lu Yin was eventually brought to the deepest section of the underground area, before a massive pit. A thick layer of death energy emanated from the pit.
Silver looked at Lu Yin with surprise. “Apart from the Specter Clan, everyone who approaches this place should have their bodies infiltrated by the death energy. Captain, I’m really impressed that you’ve managed to endure for this long.”
Lu Yin faltered for a moment. He had forgotten that a regular cultivator would be unable to tolerate such densely concentrated death energy.
Silver merely spoke his thoughts, and he did not pry any deeper. He knew that Lu Yin was aware that, no matter what secrets he tried to keep for now, once he was remodeled by the death energy, he would have no choice but to join the Neohuman Alliance. The Hall of Honor would never allow him to live.
No matter what secrets Lu Yin had, they would only serve to benefit the Neohuman Alliance in the future.
There were no corpse kings around the pit ast he death energy in this place was not easily endured. Apart from the members of the Specter Clan, all other beings could only slowly absorb the death energy; otherwise, they would simply burst from the excess.
The place where Lu Yin was to absorb death energy was not at the huge pit, but rather ten thousand miles past it. Silver had only led Lu Yin to the pit for him to see it. It was just as Silver had said; as long as Lu Yin started to absorb death energy, he would be very close to being remodeled.
It was unclear where the death energy in the pit was coming from.
Lu Yin eventually arrived at the location where he was to absorb death energy, and there were many corpse kings sitting around them cross-legged as they absorbed the death energy.
“Captain, you may now begin. Don’t make things hard for both of us.” Silver stood next to Lu Yin and grinned at him.
Lu Yin clenched his fists. He was unwilling, but he eventually loosened his fists and chose a place to sit down. No matter whether or not he was willing, he had no choice but to eventually resign himself to his fate of absorbing death energy.
Lu Yin would always leave countermeasures in place when doing things. For instance, when participating in the border defense war, he had been holding Mister Mu’s jade talisman. When he had fought against Nightking Zhenwu, he had been supported by Leon’s Armada. Under regular circumstances, Lu Yin would never do something without confidence.
However, the fate of cultivators was never determined by themselves. Nobody could truly protect themselves from everything. Lu Yin had faced many mortal dangers in Ironblood Weave, and he had even been killed by Nightking Zhenwu once. His greatest epiphany had occurred on Driftcharge Planet, and it was when Lu Yin had realized how insignificant an individual was.
Back then, he had then sworn to himself that he would never end up in a similar predicament. However, his journey to the Mountain and Seas Zone could very well be his last.
