Lu Yin's eyes were sharp. Due to his injuries from using Wave Palm, he couldn't break free from the freezing ice. As the ice spread further, Lu Yin, exasperated, exerted force in his legs, pulling the woman along as he used Drifting Step.
The woman's vision blurred, and the scenery shifted. She was caught off guard and instantly dizzied, unconsciously retching. Lu Yin tore open the woman's sleeve with one hand, and several pieces of Extreme Cold leaves fell to the ground, quickly freezing.
"I knew you couldn't use supernatural combat techniques, it was relying on external objects," Lu Yin sneered.
The woman gritted her teeth and glared at Lu Yin. "What did you just do? Combat technique?"
Lu Yin didn't answer. He was contemplating whether to silence her.
At this moment, a stream of qi swept across the sky, and Figure Saint Zhou Shan flew over.
Lu Yin was helpless; even if he wanted to silence her, it was too late.
The woman's expression wasn't good when she saw Zhou Shan.
Lu Yin was puzzled. Could this woman not be from Figure's Vanguard? An Earth-level powerhouse, Zhou Shan shouldn't let her go.
With a whoosh, the qi currents surged, and Zhou Shan landed. His stern eyes swept over Lu Yin and the woman, finally looking towards the white spaceship, his gaze filled with surprise and uncertainty.
"Someone explain this to me," Zhou Shan said in a deep voice.
Lu Yin thought for a moment and said indifferently, "A spaceship landed. A person inside tried to kill me, but he was probably too severely impacted from the crash and wasn't my opponent, so I killed him."
Zhou Shan's eyes were fixed on Lu Yin, then he looked at the woman, not in a hurry to examine the spaceship. He showed a slight smile. "Long time no see, are you the only one of the three Snow Maidens?"
The woman turned and bowed. "Snow Maiden Zhao Yu, greetings to Figure Saint."
Lu Yin looked at the woman in surprise. Snow Maiden? He had heard of her. A powerhouse under Saint Luo of Blue Vanguard from Changbai Mountain in the north. Why would Snow Maiden appear in Jinling?
"Since the catastrophe, we haven't met. I didn't expect to meet again with so many changes," Zhou Shan said with emotion.
Zhao Yu respectfully said, "Saint Luo asked me to convey her congratulations. Figure's Vanguard has dominated Suzhou Province. Congratulations, Figure Saint."
Zhou Shan smiled bitterly. "What's there to congratulate? I'm still nowhere near Saint Luo. I know how much stronger the Upper Three Saints are. Not to mention anyone else, you alone are stronger than all my Vanguard Commanders."
Zhao Yu smiled. "Figure Saint is overpraising. I just lost to this Vanguard Commander under your command. But he is truly very strong."
Zhou Shan was surprised, pointing at Lu Yin. "Him? I don't know him."
Zhao Yu was surprised. "He's not a Vanguard Commander under you?"
Zhou Shan understood. Zhao Yu had been defeated by Lu Yin. He looked at Lu Yin in surprise; this person had actually defeated Snow Maiden, he couldn't tell.
Lu Yin lowered his head, his eyes in thought. Listening to Zhou Shan's tone, they knew each other before the apocalypse, and hadn't met since. So, the so-called strength of the Upper Three Saints he had witnessed before the apocalypse. Sure enough, the Seven Saints had already been cultivating before the apocalypse. He had heard rumors that the previous exploration of Neptune was not without收获 (gain), but they had obtained a combat blade and a corpse. It was said that this incident almost triggered a world war, and ultimately China compromised, giving other countries something to settle it.
So, the Seven Saints could cultivate because of something obtained from that corpse.
Lu Yin clenched his fist. He hadn't guessed wrong; the direction he had been searching for all along was correct.
The Seven Saints couldn't possibly know about the Body Tempering Art. So, if that corpse belonged to an ultimate powerhouse, there might still be usable Body Tempering Arts remaining within it. That was his goal.
Soon, Figure's Vanguard army arrived, led by a beautiful woman wearing glasses.
Zhou Shan had the army blockade the area, watching several white-coated researchers examine the spaceship. Then he looked at Lu Yin. "Little brother, do you know anything else about this alien?"
Snow Maiden Zhao Yu also looked at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin thought for a moment and said, "I heard him say a few words: Academy assessment, primitive planet evolution trial, mission."
Zhou Shan's eyes flashed. "That's all?"
Lu Yin nodded. "He didn't say much to me; he just wanted me to be his slave and called us savages."
"Savages?" Zhou Shan scoffed, looking up at the starry sky. "It seems Earth will soon be restless. Dozens of alien spacecraft just landed, meaning dozens of aliens. I didn't expect the day of contact with aliens to come so quickly."
Lu Yin looked at Zhou Shan; he didn't seem surprised either.
"Reporting, Figure Saint. The spaceship will be transported back to Jinling for analysis. The alien died from a shattered heart. According to our investigation, he should have had a weapon, but we searched all around and found nothing," the woman with glasses reported to Zhou Shan.
Lu Yin had already destroyed the battle scene after searching Yasta's body. They couldn't even restore the battle scene.
Zhou Shan looked at Lu Yin. "Little brother, anything on the alien's person would help with research. Could you please hand it over? Don't worry, we'll return it to you after the research is complete."
Lu Yin pondered for a moment, drew a short blade, and said, "This was his weapon. I didn't take anything else." With that, Lu Yin deliberately tore open his upper clothing, letting Zhou Shan and the others see.
All his belongings were stored in his Null Ring. The Null Ring was something Zhou Shan and the others couldn't possibly distinguish or recognize. They also couldn't imagine such a spatial storage ring, so they naturally wouldn't pay attention.
Zhou Shan accepted the short blade. With a casual flick of his wrist, a slash swept through, cutting into the ground. "It's truly sharp. This material indeed isn't from Earth."
With that, Zhou Shan threw the short blade to the woman with glasses. His sharp gaze swept over Lu Yin. Seeing that he truly had nothing on him, he stepped forward and patted Lu Yin's shoulder, praising him. "To be able to kill an alien and defeat Snow Maiden, little brother, you're very good. What's your name? Are you interested in joining Figure's Vanguard? Becoming a Vanguard Commander?"
Lu Yin didn't hesitate and immediately agreed. He truly had no choice but to agree. Zhou Shan seemed calm, but his suspicion of Lu Yin had definitely not diminished. Not just him, everyone would suspect whether he was hiding something from the alien. In this situation, they wouldn't let him leave, so it was better to agree readily to avoid conflict.
A Sky-level powerhouse was not someone he could deal with today. If Yasta hadn't been too careless, he wouldn't have been killed. Lu Yin was sure that the same method wouldn't work against Zhou Shan, let alone with so many evolved humans around, and Zhao Yu alone was very strong.
On the other side, Zhao Yu frowned tightly and said to Zhou Shan, "I can't contact Saint Luo. All communication lines were cut the moment the aliens landed."
Zhou Shan nodded, saying gravely, "The alien spacecraft's landing destroyed all communication lines. I will send people to repair them as quickly as possible. Don't worry, even if aliens appear at the Northeast Blue Vanguard, it'll be fine. Saint Luo is very strong."
Zhao Yu silently nodded.
Researching the alien spacecraft was not something that could be done overnight. Fortunately, the spaceship wasn't large, and the army easily transported it secretly back to Jinling.
And Lu Yin was granted permission to stay in Zhongshan, becoming the fourteenth Vanguard Commander of Figure's Vanguard.
Figure's Vanguard had eighty thousand troops. His position as Vanguard Commander was merely a title; he had no troops under him. Lu Yin didn't care. What he wanted to do most today was temper his body and become a true cultivator.
At the peak of Zhongshan, Zhou Shan looked towards the south. Behind him, the woman with glasses arrived. "Figure Saint, the entire area around the crater has been searched. Nothing hidden was found. That person wasn't lying."
Zhou Shan sighed. "I know. You may go down."
"I have something to report. We found signs of battle hidden around the crater. This Lu Yin might not be as simple as he seems. His strength is likely very great," the woman with glasses said solemnly.
Zhou Shan smiled. "I know. His right hand and leg are both injured. In that situation, he could still defeat Snow Maiden. His true strength is unparalleled among Earth-level. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to kill the alien. Furthermore, he doesn't seem to have absorbed any energy crystals. This person is very interesting."
"Do you need comprehensive surveillance and control over him?" the woman with glasses asked.
Zhou Shan shook his head. "No need. Humans should try to unite at this time. Besides, even if he's hiding his strength, what then? He's just Earth-level; he can't overturn the heavens."
"Yes."
In Figure's Vanguard at Zhongshan, in the Vanguard Commander's tent, Lu Yin sat cross-legged on the bed, slowly regulating his breathing. Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes, his gaze clear. He took out the Body Tempering Art from his Null Ring, his eyes burning with eagerness. He bit his index finger, and blood seeped out. Lu Yin placed the Body Tempering Art on his injured index finger. Immediately, the Body Tempering Art slowly merged into his fingertip, quickly disappearing.
Lu Yin waited and waited. After a short while, intense pain spread from his fingertip, then throughout his entire body.
Lu Yin's eyes sharpened. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain.
The pain surged like a tide, as if tearing his body apart. All the cells in his body were reassembling. His meridians, skin, and blood vessels pulsed. Lu Yin felt as if his entire body was being burned, crushed by an invisible giant hand. This was the power of an ultimate powerhouse. All Body Tempering Arts originated from the hands of ultimate powerhouses. At this moment, Lu Yin clearly felt the grandeur of this power.
Pfft!
Lu Yin spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes, looking at the void, grew even brighter. Countless impurities were purged from his body, then incinerated by energy, causing the air around him to warp.