The long corridor was the only thing within that dark, limitless space; Lu Yin felt like he would merge into the darkness with a single step backwards. He frowned and stepped forward, coming across a stone slab at the entrance that was integrated into the surroundings. Rows of names were engraved on the block, most of them ending with Daynight.
Daynight was a family name, but recalling Xia Luo's words about it coming from a strong family, he realized that this was supposed to be its inheritance. Seeing the words Nightking Lord at the top, he felt his gaze transcend space to look at a man towering over the heavens with an incomparably dominant aura. It took him only an instant to recover from that daze, but it left him shocked. The Nightking Lord, Daynight, just what is all this?
He put his shock aside and shifted his gaze towards the corridor, stepping forward.
...
At the center of an ancient land in the depths of the universe was a towering stone tablet that extended into the clouds, its terrifying aura causing the stars around to buzz. Two shining stones were slowly revolving around the middle, and several figures were standing upright at the base. Dust was caked all over their bodies; one could mistake them for statues at first glance. Lu Yin's image appeared at the bottom of the tablet as he stepped into the portal, but the depiction was too fuzzy to make out any details.
"Another member has entered the clan; it is unknown how high he can go."
"The clansmen are growing worse by the generation, their gifts are increasingly mundane."
"Ignore such matters; no matter how poor their gifts are, they are still members of the Daynight Clan. Any one of us can crush countless geniuses."
"Speaking of, why has the stone not been retrieved yet? This is a little too inefficient."
"No hurry, there isn't anyone in the universe who dares plot over the Daynight inheritance stone. It will return soon, but the one that stole it must be punished severely."
"His innate gift is special; killing him would be a pity."
"No matter, this generation has the clan's future hope elsewhere."
Several people involuntarily raised their heads as they spoke, their gazes transcending vast distance to look at the topmost section of the stone plaque. A bright silhouette flickered upon it, almost like a real person who overlooked all life.
Suddenly, the image of Lu Yin at the base of the stone tablet vanished. Several of the watchers in disappointment, "Even his appearance can't be shown. Pathetic; has that child received all of this generation's luck? It's too cruel to the others."
"No, there are two others who managed the climb; that isn't too bad."
...
Within the corridor, Lu Yin felt endless suppression from the very first step. This wasn't physical pressure but a spiritual one, a dark loneliness that almost swallowed him at the start and only grew more intense the further he walked. A fist appeared in the darkness after about three meters, flashing with a bright light before knocking him out and into the darkness. He woke up to the stupefied faces of Zhang Dingtian and the others in the underground room.
"What are you all looking at me like that for?" he asked.
"You succeeded?" Jenny stared at him like he was a freak.
"Nope," he shook his head.
"Liar! I felt that ancient aura going into your body, you must have succeeded!" she acted like she'd caught onto something.
"I don't need to explain anything to you," he dismissed, leaving her furious. She had happened to discover from her father that the escaped criminal was a member of a terrifying ancient clan who was carrying its inheritance stone; this was the entire reason she'd decided to participate in Earth's trial. No one was supposed to be able to receive this inheritance without the clan's bloodline, so what just happened? Not only was there one success, but three! She felt like her understanding of the world had been challenged.
Qingyu's identity was only known to a few students of very high status, so virtually everyone was ignorant of his roots. Even learning his full name, most didn't understand what it meant. This was the restriction of limited experience and a life in the Outerverse; this lack of information also decided one's future. In a more informed region, Jenny wouldn't have been one of only three who'd tried their luck; in the current circumstance, even a Melder like Munoor wouldn't be able to recognize this stone if it was placed in front of him.
Lu Yin looked around at the people in front of him and noticed that Zhou Shan and Wu Sheng had already left. Of the people from the capital, only Zhang Dingtian and Bai Xue stayed behind, though their faces made it clear that they had not succeeded. Of the students, Xia Luo and the girl in green still had their eyes closed.
Very soon, the girl opened her eyes and released a breath. She looked around with a very pleased expression, but when she saw that Xia Luo was still seated with his eyes closed, her expression quickly contorted as though she'd lost. Seeing the look of displeasure on her face, Jenny told her, "Don't think you two were the only ones who succeeded. This guy did, too."
The girl was shocked and followed Jenny's gaze to look at Lu Yin, "You succeeded?"
Lu Yin had no answer; he was unsure what entering that corridor actually meant, so he wanted to say as little as possible.
"You can't be from their clan," the girl said as she measured him up, but he continued to ignore her. She was annoyed and wanted to speak again, but Xia Luo finally opened his eyes and the stone fell, clattering to the ground.
"Hey, what did you learn?" she asked him curiously.
Xia Luo smiled, "Nothing."
"No way, you took longer than me," she did not believe him.
Xia Luo smiled and turned to Lu Yin, "How about you?"
Lu Yin shook his head, "I did not succeed."
"Liar!" the girl in green shouted, staring at Lu Yin, "You succeeded and must have learnt something."
Lu Yin looked at her, then at Xia Luo, and finally at Jenny who felt something was off, "You, what do you want?"
A smile crept across Lu Yin's face, "I'd forgotten about you. You can surrender; you're now a member of my glorious army of negotiators."
"What army of negotiators?" she asked naively, unable to react before Lu Yin caught her and tied her up. Only about as strong as Raas, she could only scream and glare at him, "You bastard, let me go! Do you know who I am, you savage? I'm Jenny Auna, heir to the Auna Family. No one can save you if you dare touch me!"
Lu Yin sneered, "I don't care who you are, only whether you'll be of help during negotiations. First Raas and now you, I should have a higher chance of success."
Jenny screamed, but it was useless and Lu Yin just threw her to Bai Xue, "Take good care of her, this is an important bargaining chip."
Bai Xue's pretty eyebrows scrunched up, but after some consideration she nodded and pulled Jenny out. Neither Xia Luo nor the girl in green interfered; they were only here for the stone. Lu Yin wanted to capture both of them as well, but simply had no confidence in success. He couldn't measure either of them, and despite Xia Luo's mundane aura was much more cautious of him. He would never forget the immense sense of danger he'd felt the first time he saw this handsome youth.
"Brother Lu, a piece of advice for you. It's best to get rid of this stone as soon as possible, or it will bring you unimaginable disaster," Xia Luo said to Lu Yin, walking off before Lu Yin could reply. Really wanting to know what he'd obtained from the inheritance stone, the girl in green chased after him.
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed in agreement; this was something he had considered as well. This stone was precious, but that value would make it a source of unimaginable terrors that he couldn't handle with his current strength. Perhaps even the Great Yu Empire itself wouldn't dare hold onto it; he still remembered the skin-crawling list of names on that stone slab. This was definitely a terrifying clan. He knew that he was neither a genius nor someone with incredible luck, and he simply had no way to keep this stone in the face of such a power. It was only a question of who he'd pass it on to.