Snow hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Without Lu Yin, the capital couldn't have been protected, let alone this stone. Besides, they don't understand this stone anyway."
Soon after, the dean and Snow left, leaving only Lu Yin behind.
Lu Yin looked at the stone, slowly took it out, felt it in his hand—ice-cold and chilling, but otherwise unremarkable. After staring at it for a while, Lu Yin couldn't discern anything special about it. He was about to put the stone back when suddenly, his gaze sharpened. He swiftly moved his body and extended his hand towards a corner, where a figure emerged from the shadows in surprise upon seeing Lu Yin. Raising her hand, a chilling aura spread out. Lu Yin narrowed his eyes, his probing hand turned into a claw, and the celestial beast claw struck out. The figure exclaimed and hurriedly dodged.
Lu Yin had only used a basic celestial beast claw technique, which wasn't very powerful. The figure easily dodged and was exposed to the light. It turned out to be a woman, beautiful in appearance but with a cold demeanor, looking at him indifferently.
"Who are you? What is your purpose?" Lu Yin asked. The woman was certainly a student, and while strong, she was not as powerful as Mo Nuo but probably on par with Las.
The woman replied coldly, "I am Jennyona from the Ona Family. You must have heard of us."
Lu Yin frowned. "I haven't. Speak your purpose."
Jennyona's eyes flashed coldly. "Bold. How dare you speak to me like this."
Lu Yin was displeased. This woman was as arrogant as Las. The Ona Family? Just hearing the name indicated it wasn't simple, but he didn't care. "Regardless of who you are, since you're here, don't leave," he said, rushing towards Jennyona. She was surprised; she knew the man in front of her had defeated Mo Nuo, and she admitted she was no match for him. "Stop, I'm from the Ona Family. My father is Snow Mountain Ona, and my uncle is the captain of the ninth team of the Imperial Court Thirteen Team. Don't misunderstand yourself."
Lu Yin grabbed Jennyona's arm. She didn't resist much, angrily glaring at Lu Yin. "I warn you again, I'm not someone Las can compare to. Our Ona Family can influence the Empire's decisions, don't misunderstand yourself."
Lu Yin's gaze changed. Suddenly releasing Jennyona, he swiftly moved towards the stone. At the same time, another figure swiftly approached the stone, attempting to snatch it away, but Lu Yin intercepted her.
Lu Yin grabbed the woman's arm, smooth to the touch. Looking up, another woman?
The second woman to appear wore green clothes, resembling an elf. Seeing her arm caught by Lu Yin, she grunted, flipping over and kicking him. Lu Yin tried to forcibly twist the woman's body to neutralize the attack, but he was shocked to find that he couldn't move her. This woman's strength was surprisingly formidable.
Helpless, Lu Yin let go of the woman and dodged her kick. He struck out with the celestial beast claw with his left hand. Three celestial beast claw techniques were enough to defeat someone like Erda, but they were useless against the woman. The woman in green lifted her fist directly, shattering the celestial beast claw. The residual force even blasted towards Lu Yin, shocking him. Such strength. He activated the Heavenly Star Art and saw the woman's fist change multiple times. This wasn't just one punch but ten in an instant.
Lu Yin's gaze became serious. Having just avoided the woman in green's fist wind, he kept his guard on her.
The woman in green looked at Lu Yin in surprise. "You dodged?"
Lu Yin frowned. This woman was strong, no less than Mo Nuo—no, even stronger. That one punch just now wasn't inferior to the seventh form of the celestial beast claw. Judging by her appearance, was her target the stone?
Just as Lu Yin was about to say something, another figure appeared in the darkness. These people could all hide their star power, avoiding personal terminal combat power detection—they were all extremely powerful experts.
The third person to appear made Lu Yin's heart sink—Charlotte, the person who had given him a strong sense of crisis before. That sense of crisis had left a deep impression on Lu Yin, like the feeling of touching silver under moonlight for the first time.
In the narrow underground space, four people faced each other—two men and two women.
Jennyona looked surprised. She hadn't noticed the other two hiding.
The woman in green also looked surprised at Charlotte. When did this person hide?
"Are your targets all this stone?" Lu Yin asked solemnly.
Jennyona and the woman in green said nothing. Charlotte smiled gently. "That's right, Lu Yin. Do you know the origin of this stone?"
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "I don't."
Charlotte smiled. "Then we can talk. This stone is a heritage of a powerful clan in the universe. It is rumored that you can obtain the martial arts of that strong clan from it. Qingyu was wanted because of this stone. Since you don't know the purpose of the stone, we can explore it together. I'll tell you the method. How about it?"
The woman in green looked at Charlotte in surprise. "You know the method?"
Charlotte smiled. "I know some. This stone is useless to anyone who takes it away, except for those of that strong clan's bloodline. That's also why the strong clan didn't personally take action. Otherwise, the entire Canglan Domain would be in trouble, so you don't need to fight over it."
The woman in green looked at Lu Yin. "What do you say?"
Lu Yin scanned the three people. Apart from Jennyona, he wasn't sure he could defeat the other two. All the experts in the capital together couldn't stop them if they fought. "Okay, let's explore together, but you can't take away this stone."
Charlotte nodded with a smile. "No problem. Not only us, but if your friends want to explore, they can too. The method is simple—blood. Blood can activate the stone. Whether we can accept the inheritance depends on ourselves. I can tell you, it's almost impossible to succeed."
Lu Yin glanced at Charlotte and quickly contacted Snow and Zhang Dingtian. Soon, both appeared, along with Zhou Shan and Wu Sheng.
Jennyona frowned, arrogantly looking at these people.
Zhang Dingtian and the others watched them vigilantly. Three experts, two of whom were no less than Mo Nuo—if they started a war, it would be a disaster for the capital.
"You don't need to be on guard. I have no hostility towards you. We're just exploring this stone together," Charlotte said, making a gesture of invitation.
Lu Yin threw out the stone, and Charlotte casually drew blood, which fell on one side of the stone. Suddenly, the stone floated in the air, absorbing the blood. Inexplicably, everyone felt pressure descending, as if they saw countless martial arts techniques flashing by and even experienced an indescribable chilling and terrifying atmosphere for an instant.
Charlotte sat cross-legged, looking up at the stone, lost in thought.
The woman in green was the second to start. After her blood was absorbed into the surface of the stone, she also sat down, gazing deeply at the stone.
With sixteen sides, the stone formed a circle around everyone, and they all began.
Before starting, Lu Yin glanced at Charlotte. He could be sure that if he made a move now, it would definitely not end well for him. These people seemed unguarded, but they must have their own defensive measures.
Without further ado, Lu Yin drew blood and dropped it onto one side of the stone. As the blood was absorbed, he suddenly saw a fist that pierced the sky, crossing ancient time and space to attack him.
Puff!
Wu Sheng spewed out a mouthful of blood, his face pale. He had failed, followed immediately by Zhou Shan's failure.
It seemed like a chain reaction. First Wu Sheng, then Zhou Shan, followed by Snow, Jennyona, and Zhang Dingtian—each one pale-faced, shocked as they looked at the stone.
The fist before Lu Yin's eyes came closer and closer. He saw the starry sky, the boundless darkness, and it seemed as if he saw the river of time. Countless people died under this fist, a fist that turned day into night.
Subconsciously activating the Heavenly Star Art, Lu Yin bit his lip until it bled. Just as the attacking fist came close, he gradually saw it clearly.
Although the fist covered the starry sky, turning day into night, it wasn't unavoidable.
Wait, why should he avoid it?
Lu Yin's eyes widened suddenly. The three stars on his body revolved, and unexpectedly, the fourth star faintly appeared. He had been observing the star chart for a while, and at the critical moment when faced with the pressure of the fist, the fourth star barely appeared as a phantom. As the stars exploded, the fist before his eyes disappeared at the moment it was about to strike, and Lu Yin himself seemed to have traversed an endless distance to arrive outside a corridor.
Endless darkness enveloped all directions, and distance could not be discerned. What could be seen was only a corridor filled with ancient aura and a pervasive bloody atmosphere.
Lu Yin couldn't describe the corridor before him. There was no light source, but the entire corridor was clearly visible. Though clearly visible, the next moment it seemed to change into a corridor that could change.
The entire corridor appeared dark red, with
inscriptions on both sides of the stone walls depicting unintelligible murals. The images of the figures emitted no sound, but gave Lu Yin the feeling as if they were screaming and shouting. The walls seemed to be able to drip blood, and the air smelled strongly of blood.