Somewhere in the southeast of the planet, a man garbed completely in black stood silently in the center of a giant tribe. He was surrounded by more than a hundred giant corpses, and even the sky seemed to be stained with blood.
A Limiteer giant crouched nearby, looking at the black-garbed man with an expression of abject terror as it quivered with fear. The man raised his head, revealing a pair of scarlet eyes, but an instant later, they had become a normal pair of eyes.
If Lu Yin were present, he would have definitely recognized those scarlet eyes as the same ones in the skull that Silver had once had. No one from Earth would ever fail to recognize those eyes—they were a zombie’s eyes.
He walked next to the giant. “Bring. Me. To. The. Giant. Emperor.”
The giant shuddered and then obediently laid down, allowing the black-garbed man to climb onto its back. It then immediately sped off towards the northwest.
Above the planet, one of the videos from the monitoring feeds had gone blank. “What happened? Why did the video feed of the giant’s headquarters vanish?”
“I’m sorry, sir. The residual shockwaves from the battle must have smashed the monitoring devices apart.”
“That’s impossible. Even the Giant Emperor can’t break those monitoring devices. Do you really think that those trial takers could do something like that?”
“I’m sorry. We’ll investigate immediately.”
…
Another five days quickly passed. By then, Lu Yin and Amu had already spent twenty days on the giant planet. They were still riding atop the ants, and the woman from the Daynight clan was still following them for some unknown reason.
A fair distance northwest from Lu Yin’s group lay a large swamp that was home to countless poisonous creatures; just their cries would turn people’s scalps numb. There, the Giant Emperor’s large figure appeared before he leapt into the marsh and gradually sank into its depths.
The commotion startled the swamp creatures, and one after another, strange creatures hissed to express their displeasure. A multi-colored gas spread across the sky, and it took some time before the area returned to its previous state of equilibrium. By then, there were no longer any traces of the Giant Emperor’s besides the large footprints leading to the marsh that betrayed his passage.
When the ant colony arrived, the Giant Emperor’s footprints were still clearly visible. The ants approached the swamp and charged straight in without hesitation. Lu Yin, Amu, and the woman from the Daynight clan, however, did not.
Lu Yin was delighted that they had found the Giant Emperor so easily. He turned to Amu, who seemed slightly depressed.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Yin was baffled. There was a toxic gas in the air, but it shouldn’t be concentrated enough to harm Melders.
Amu forced a smile onto his face and gestured around him. “This is a swamp, and its gases are harmful to plants. Even if we Umbral Butterfly Tribe members don’t use any battle techniques, our bodies are always slowly absorbing the strength of the surrounding plants. This means that we absorb this poisonous gas ten or even a hundred times faster than a normal person.”
Lu Yin felt that this weakness was a bit too glaring. “Are you saying that, if I want to attack the Umbral Butterfly Tribe, I just have to release some poison?”
Amu shook his head. “It’s not that easy. The strongest members of my tribe have cultivated battle techniques that prevent them from being poisoned. I- I haven’t trained enough, which is why I’m so susceptible.”
Lu Yin looked at Amu as he mulled over this new information. Even if the Umbral Butterfly Tribe’s members learned battle techniques that prevented them from being poisoned or fatigued by the environment like how Amu was, they would never be able to escape from their dependence on drawing their strength from plants. If a Umbral Butterfly Tribe member was cut off from the surrounding plants, they would be no different from an average cultivator. It was no wonder that, despite their tribe’s powerful innate gift, the tribe still only operated within the Outerverse; their weakness was too glaring.
“It seems that the Giant Emperor is in that marsh. Amu, you trial takers should have a local network that you can communicate over, right?” Lu Yin asked when he recalled that the trial takers on Earth had had access to one, although there was a two month leniency period before they could look up other peoples’ locations or actually use the network.
“Yes, but I haven’t posted anything there yet,” Amu responded with a puzzled expression.
Lu Yin’s lips rose up mischievously. “Announce the location of the Giant Emperor’s tracks.”
Amu was shocked by the command. “What? Announce where the Giant Emperor’s tracks are?”
Lu Yin nodded and repeated himself. “Announce it. This marsh is dark and convoluted, so it would take us way too long to actually find the Giant Emperor. It’ll be much more efficient if everyone searches together.”
Amu could not understand Lu Yin’s line of reasoning as there was only one Giant Emperor. If everyone knew the location, then would Lu Yin even get a turn to fight it? But this was good news for Amu, as he had never intended to contribute towards the trial’s mission’s completion. If he announced their location, then he would not need to act, could obtain some benefits along the way, and would be able to find safety in numbers.
“Alright, I’ll do it.” Amu was excited to carry out this task and hurriedly activated his gadget.
Suddenly, the woman from the Daynight clan drew her sword and slashed at Amu. Lu Yin’s eyes flashed and he instantly reacted with his Skybeast Claw technique. The 96th form of the Skybeast Claw howled out in a bestial roar that tore through the void, shocking everyone’s mind. Amu was frozen in place while the red longsword and Skybeast Claw clashed in a shower of sparks. A fierce shockwave rippled out and forcefully shoved Amu aside.
Lu Yin and the woman rushed towards each other, and their palms collided. Lu Yin did not hold anything back and had used a Nine Stacks Shockwave Palm, while the Daynight girl’s palm attack was equally terrifying. It illuminated the entire marsh, a hallmark characteristic of the Daynight clan’s battle techniques.
The instant the palms met, the void distinctly shuddered. The ground and air both trembled ominously, and Amu’s heart started pounding violently as he instinctively crouched down. A moment later, the colliding energy dispersed, radiating outwards for 10,000 meters. Everything more than a meter tall was completely pulverized, and the area within that radius was purged clean.
When Amu lifted his head again, his pupils shrank as he stared at the drastically altered surroundings in shock. They had originally been standing beside a marsh with many black plants around them. But now, everything had been completely obliterated, including the hillside. Even the muddy ground had been dried out into a solid sheet of rock.
Lu Yin and the woman from the Daynight clan stood there, facing each other. They had exchanged two blows and had been evenly matched for both. Lu Yin wasn’t bothered by this as he knew that anyone from the Daynight clan should not be underestimated. And this was especially true for this woman since he knew that she had eliminated an entire interstellar pirate spacecraft by herself. Her power clearly exceeded Hui Daynight.
Rather, it was the woman who was indescribably shocked. She had completely disregarded Lu Yin initially, even after she realized that he was from Astral-10. However, those two strikes were hard for her to accept. First, her sword had been blocked by her opponent, and then her palm strike as well. This was a situation that rarely occurred even in the Innerverse; how could Astral-10 have such a person?
“Beauty, you’ve followed us for a while. Suddenly wanting to kill us isn’t very nice.”
The woman’s indifferent gaze never faltered. “I never wanted to kill him. I merely wanted to break his gadget.”
“Why?” Lu Yin asked as he squinted his eyes.
She looked towards the marsh. “The Giant Emperor is mine.”
Lu Yin laughed in response. “Based on what? I’m also here for the Giant Emperor, and every trial taker here is looking for him. It’s impossible to claim him for yourself.”
She stared at Lu Yin, tightened her grip on her red longsword, and then pointed it at Lu Yin. “I don’t need your permission. My next strike will sever your head.”
After saying that, her red blade moved slowly, but a series of afterimages emerged behind it. They followed the longsword, stabbing into the earth until there were countless red swords within a hundred meters of them, each one capable of striking fear in others by themselves.
Lu Yin was stunned when he saw the scene in front of him; this was clearly a domain! When he had Possessed Charon, he had experienced a domain through Charon’s memory. It was an ability that could only be comprehended after one attained absolute control over their star energy. Even Charon had only barely managed to touch on that realm, and he did not completely understand it yet. The ability to form a domain was considered to be on the same level as utilizing battle force, but this woman had actually achieved it.
Everywhere within a hundred meters of the woman was covered with red blades, making for a very intimidating scene. She then retrieved her sword, but this time, Lu Yin felt a sharp sense of grave danger.
Amu continued lying on the ground as he stared into the sky in horror; this woman was just too terrifying! He felt like he was just an ant who could be squashed to death at any moment.
Lu Yin’s face grew serious and he no longer held anything back. An airflow slowly started circulating around his body that caused the void to vibrate. This airflow was transparent, very small, and could hardly be seen. Amu did not pay attention to it, but the woman from the Daynight clan’s face immediately changed. She was in disbelief. “Battle force?”
Lu Yin clenched his fists and then slowly opened them, causing a chain of explosions to ring out in the air. Not many people in the same realm as him could force him to use battle force, and even a Limiteer might not be able to do so. However, this woman had succeeded. Lu Yin didn’t even know her true strength, but since she could activate a domain, she was more than qualified for him to use his battle force.
Amu began trembling even more violently and his fear for the other two cultivators peaked. He really wanted to do nothing more than bury himself underground at this moment.
The phantom swords around them suddenly disappeared and the woman sheathed her red blade.
Lu Yin was astonished and similarly canceled his battle force. “We’re not fighting?”
The woman from the Daynight clan evaluated Lu Yin as she remarked, “You hid your true power rather well.”
Lu Yin knew that she was referring to his concealing technique.
“I’m Zhuo Daynight,” she introduced.
“Lu Yin.”
“You’re from Astral-10. I’ve seen your spacecraft.”
He nodded. “We met in space earlier.”
“I must kill the Giant Emperor. You’re from Astral-10, so there’s no need for you to complete the Umbral Butterfly Weave’s trial. The Giant Emperor is worthless for you.” Surprisingly, her tone had gradually turned gentler.
Lu Yin shrugged helplessly. “I’m sorry. I have my own objectives that I must complete as well. If you prefer, we can have a match to decide things. But, forgive my candor, you are not my match.”
Zhuo Daynight did not object to Lu Yin’s words as she was not able to conjure a true domain. She had only taken the first step, which was to merge with the surroundings. Actually, she couldn’t even truly take that step either; she had merely used a battle technique—the Alabaster Apparition Blade—which could imitate a domain. If she fought against a battle force user, even one at the most rudimentary level, it would be difficult for her to defeat them.
“Amu, announce the Giant Emperor’s trail,” Lu Yin shouted.
Amu raised his head, looked at Lu Yin, and then at Zhuo Daynight. He gritted his teeth and then published the location of the Giant Emperor’s tracks.
Zhuo Daynight’s gaze turned cold as she still wanted to stop him. However, against this man in front of her, she was powerless. This was the first time she had ever felt like this against someone of the same rank in the Outerverse. It was not a pleasant feeling.
When the location of the Giant Emperor’s tracks was posted on the network, all of the trial takers on the giant planet were shocked. Many were skeptical of the information and suspected that someone was trying to intentionally lure other competitors away, but others believed it since they had nothing better. The Giant Emperor clearly wasn’t in the central zone as they had found nothing more than mounds of giant corpses.
Lu Yin also knew that there would be some time before the majority of these trial takers believed the news. He was in no hurry and brought Amu to relax somewhere beside the marsh.
Zhuo Daynight took the incentive to step into the marsh as she wanted to kill the Giant Emperor before the other trial takers arrived.
“Seventh Brother, why aren’t you stopping her?” Amu was puzzled.
Lu Yin lazily replied, “Let her go if she wants to. I’ll naturally stop her if she is really capable of killing the Giant Emperor. I cannot allow anyone to interfere in my business.”
“Business?” Amu could not understand what Lu Yin was talking about at all, and only had a vague feeling that something odd was about to happen.
