Charlotte chuckled. "Not entirely. They might try to recruit you, who knows? But there's one thing you did right—never revealing the White Night Clan's battle techniques. Otherwise, you'd already be dead."
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. During the fight with Qing Yu, no matter how difficult it got, he never revealed the White Night Fist, precisely because of this. The White Night Clan's inherited battle technique must never be exposed. If it were, not just the White Night Clan but other powers across the universe would come after him, trying to extract the secret of obtaining it. That would be serious trouble.
Lulu Mebius had the Mebius family behind her, so even the White Night Clan couldn't do anything. But what about this Charlotte?
Thinking of this, Lu Yin looked at Charlotte seriously. "I'm curious—what did you get?"
Charlotte smiled. "Something not worth much."
At that moment, someone slowly approached from around the corner. Lu Yin and Charlotte both turned to look and saw a figure with short silver hair.
"What a coincidence, you two," Silver said with a cheerful smile, acting as if they were old friends.
Lu Yin's heart skipped a beat. That strange sense of danger again—he didn't know why, but he always felt it whenever facing Silver, even now when his strength far exceeded what it had been during the Moonlit Night in Jinling.
Charlotte's expression grew unusually serious. Then he turned and left without saying a word to Silver.
Lu Yin was surprised.
Silver walked up to Lu Yin, stopping about three meters away. "Heard you almost killed Qing Yu during the trial. Congrats."
Lu Yin smirked. "Qing Yu was decent. He barely forced me to use fifty percent of my strength."
Silver's grin widened. "I actually fought Qing Yu too. He could barely push me to use thirty percent."
Lu Yin rolled his eyes. This guy was as shameless as ever.
"See you around. If fate allows, we'll meet again," Silver said as he passed behind Lu Yin. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped. "Actually, we might see each other again soon."
"Starry Sky Academy?" Lu Yin asked flatly.
Silver smiled, waved, and walked away.
Lu Yin exhaled deeply. One weirder than the next. Of all the trial participants from Earth, Charlotte, Silver, and Lulu Mebius were the ones he was most wary of—because he had no idea where their limits lay. People like Yan Gang and Mono were sealed Melded Realm cultivators. But those three? Lu Yin really didn't know, nor could he tell.
Thinking of Mono, Lu Yin felt a bit guilty. He had force-fed Mono medicine and had him deliver a critical blow to Qing Yu. That blow was the turning point that led to Qing Yu's defeat. Without it, Lu Yin would never have won. Mono had done him a big favor—but probably didn't have a good impression of him.
After a while, Lu Yin got up and left. He wanted to explore.
A super-large cosmic spaceship wasn't something one saw every day. Even in the Great Yu Empire, such ships were rare. Most cultivators were lucky to have personal spacecraft for traveling the stars.
This level wasn't as well-equipped as the top floor, but it still had many interesting facilities—including a bar.
Students were under a lot of pressure. They needed to relax before trials and celebrate afterward. Naturally, the bar was the liveliest place.
Lu Yin stepped into the bar and bumped into someone.
"Watch it, you—" the student who had been bumped took two steps back, about to curse. But when he met Lu Yin's gaze, he immediately shut up and forced a smile more painful than crying. "Ah, isn't this Brother Lu? Please, come in! There's more space inside."
Lu Yin looked at the student in confusion. "Sorry… do we know each other?"
The student's mouth twitched. He forced a smile. "Well, I'm one of the forty-two students you captured."
"Oh." Lu Yin replied indifferently and walked into the bar without a trace of guilt.
The student let out a sigh of relief and hurried away. He didn't want to stick around this jinx. Lu Yin was public enemy number one among the students.
The bar on the spaceship was just as noisy as those on Earth, filled with music and dancing. The only difference was the absence of drugs or prostitutes—just students having a good time.
Lu Yin picked a corner and ordered a drink, sipping while observing his surroundings.
The bar was huge. It wasn't just students here; there were also off-duty staff and military officers of all ages.
Around the room, holograms displayed various battle scenes, news from the Great Yu Empire, and music videos.
Lu Yin started getting a headache from the chaos.
Not far away, over a dozen students raised their glasses. "Congrats, Senior, on finding a rare mutated metal. You ranked first in the trial!"
"Congrats, Senior!"
"Congrats, Senior!"
"Thanks, juniors. I told you the trial wasn't easy. That idiot Heidi'an charged ahead and couldn't even touch Qing Yu's hair. Ended up captured by natives. Haha!"
"Not only that, Senior. He was defeated by some bald monk from India. It was Erde who helped him save face. Haha!"
"An idiot born in the ocean like him can't compare to us. Brain's no good. This trial was the end of him."
Elsewhere, other groups were celebrating too—students not in the academy's top tier. For them, this trial was a major success. These people weren't aiming for the Tenth Academy; completing their missions was already a win.
Small-time folks comforting themselves. Lu Yin chuckled and sipped his drink.
Bang! The bar doors burst open. Everyone turned.
At the entrance, Erde and Heidi'an slowly walked in.
Instantly, the noise stopped. Everyone knew their place. They'd only dared to talk big because the top students weren't around. Now that they'd appeared, no one dared say a word.
Following behind Erde and Heidi'an was Janine Orna, looking thoroughly annoyed.
Many students quickly left, afraid of getting targeted.
"You lot, get lost!" Heidi'an strode over to the group that had been celebrating earlier and shouted.
Those students looked angry but still stood up and gave up their seats.
Erde and Heidi'an took over the area meant for a dozen people, faces dark.
Janine went upstairs to a private booth.
"Hey, move it," someone said to Lu Yin as he was drinking. He turned to see it was the same group Heidi'an had kicked out.
"You talking to me?" Lu Yin asked, pointing at himself.
A tall student said impatiently, "Cut the crap. Beat it."
Lu Yin grinned and looked past them to Heidi'an and Erde. "Hey, you two over there. You took their seats, now they're giving me trouble. Help me out, would you?"
The group froze. This guy knew Heidi'an?
Not far off, Erde and Heidi'an stared at Lu Yin like they'd seen a ghost. After a pause—seeing Lu Yin's expression darken—they immediately shouted at the students, "You lot—get lost! Don't disturb others. Got no manners?"
Lu Yin laughed.
The "senior" among the students scowled at Heidi'an. "Heidi'an, don't go too far. We're just having a drink—none of your business."
Heidi'an stood up, eyes cold.
The students, despite being scared, didn't back down. Too many people were watching. They'd rather take a beating than lose face.
"Who's making all that noise? Wanna fight? Take it outside," came a shout from the second floor.
It was Lass, stepping out of a private room and looking down with disdain.
Seeing Lass, many students fell silent. Even the music stopped.
Behind Lass stood Mono, now fully restored to his Melded Realm power, exuding heavy pressure.
More people emerged from the private room—students from the second batch of trials, including Yan Gang, who looked proud as ever.
"Oh, it's Senior Lass. Sorry, Senior—we didn't mean to disturb you," the tall student quickly apologized.
Lass sneered and looked over everyone, enjoying the feeling of superiority. None of these people were worthy of even speaking to him. The silence when he appeared—that was the presence he deserved.
Wait—his gaze locked on someone below. One person was still drinking.
Lass frowned. Someone dared ignore him?
Unforgivable.
"You! Stand up!" Lass barked at the figure below.
Everyone turned to look—it was Lu Yin.
Erde and Heidi'an looked odd.
The tall student brightened and shouted, "Hey punk, didn't you hear? Senior Lass told you to stand up!"
Lu Yin set down his drink. "Can't even have a peaceful drink," he muttered, then slowly looked up and smiled at Lass.
Immediately, Lass's face turned dark. Not just his—Mono's, Yan Gang's, and the other students behind them all looked grim.
This bastard—why was he here?