Chapter 31: Shock (1/2)
The chaotic fight showed Lu Yin that he could now defeat school leaders, but he didn’t get much time to bask in that fact before Zhang Dingtian raised his blade to kill both Parlie and Veron. He stopped the man immediately, “Wait, we can use these people as bargaining chips!”
Zhang Dingtian was confused, “Bargaining chips? With whom?”
“You should know that these students came to Earth for a trial. Although people can die in trials, the students who participate all have strong backgrounds; we can use them to negotiate with the higher-ups of the Great Yu Empire.”
Bai Xue looked at Lu Yin, “We’re going to use their lives to obtain Earth’s freedom?”
Lu Yin nodded, “Although this trial is supposed to evolve humanity, it’s actually a method for the Great Yu Empire to recruit warslaves. All earthling cultivators that aren’t chosen for other purposes are sent to battlefields, be they between the Great Yu Empire and other empires or between the galaxies controlled by different races. Those battlefields are far crueler than these trials; even Explorers won’t necessarily survive. These students can help us keep more people on Earth.
Zhang Dingtian silently sheathed his blade, while a twinge of sadness flashed across Bai Xue’s gaze. Humans had once thought they were the only intelligent beings in the universe, but all that had changed once they discovered that corpse on Neptune. Now they knew that Earth was just a primal planet under the surveillance of a large empire; so what if they could enter space, they were always caught under someone’s gaze. Moreover, they were currently facing something even scarier than mutant beasts and zombies; once the planetary trial was over, countless people would be sent to battlefields where perhaps even the Seven Sages would only be considered soldiers of decent ability.
Jeraldine stared at Lu Yin with surprise; she hadn’t known about such a plan at all. In fact, she’d never heard of a situation where natives asked the Great Yu Empire for anything, forget negotiations using high-ranking children as hostages. She was certain that he was only digging his own grave with it, but somewhere in the back of her mind she also felt like it just might work. After all, Veron’s background was quite decent; he had a relative in the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons.
“Cough, you, you’re such a simpleton. The Great Yu Empire is known for military discipline, we won’t be cowed by mere natives!” Parlie taunted from the side.
Lu Yin glanced at him, “You don’t need to worry about anything, just stay alive to be our bargaining chips.”
BANG! A loud explosion from the north sank Zhang Dingtian’s heart in an instant, and he shouted as he rushed towards the source, “NO, THE RESEARCH CENTER!”
Two figures flew away to the west, figures that Parlie recognized at first glance, “Eddy, Hayden.”
The Bladesage shot into the sky in pursuit, but two more people joined the escapees from another direction. He turned grim as the energy from his body set the air off buzzing, all energy seemingly vanishing into his raised blade. It felt like this one strike would split the Earth.
Lu Yin watched with amazement as the attack blasted the skies apart, drowning out all sound. He wondered whether it was a battle technique for a moment, but he knew that wasn’t the case; this was simply the man’s strongest attack.
Eddy and the other students in the west were stunned by the attack and how deeply Zhang Dingtian had hidden his true strength. While the slash was not a battle technique, it closely resembled one and was truly terrifying.
“Don’t wait, run!” Eddy called out in an instant, and Gerlaine and Balaror nearby were surprised as well, “This guy is nuts! Run!”