Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer Zhang Yiyi

After Yan Dao's introduction, Lin Ran had gained a basic understanding of the place.

All kinds of organizations existed across the world. The Night Owl Organization was considered a decent force within Huaxia, but with limited manpower, its influence in Japan was much weaker.

Compared to some of the local agencies and organizations, Night Owl could only be considered second- or third-rate.

But the organization should not be underestimated. According to Yan Dao, the jujutsu sorcerer named Zhang Yiyi possessed the strength of a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. At that level, exorcising ordinary cursed spirits was no problem at all.

Meanwhile, Xie Zhiyong was only at the level of a Grade 3 Jujutsu Sorcerer. Even Yan Dao, the person in charge here, was merely a Semi-Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer.

This piqued Lin Ran's interest in the tattooed girl. So she was not as lazy and unkempt as she appeared—she actually had real strength.

The Night Owl Organization branch here was currently in a somewhat dire situation. After one of their comrades had died earlier, they had fallen into a deadlock.

They had already been short on manpower, while their usual missions were far from few. Now that another person had died, they were even more stretched thin. As a result, everyone had recently begun to slack off at work—or rather, they had all fallen into silent resignation toward the current situation.

The more they lacked manpower, the more manpower they needed. But not just anyone was qualified to join Night Owl; they had to pass an assessment first.

The assessment here was simple. All it took was for Zhang Yiyi, the strongest person here, to test them.

Lin Ran had no objections to this. The four of them then weaved around boxes and documents of every size before arriving at an iron door.

Beyond it was a relatively open area, at least two hundred square meters in size. There were quite a few cameras around it, and the walls and floor had been reinforced as well.

"Kid, I don't hold back when I attack. If you think you can't handle it, you can quit now. I won't laugh at you." Zhang Yiyi lazily stretched. She stood nearly one meter eighty, with a well-proportioned, slender figure that naturally drew a few extra glances.

But at that moment, her eyes clearly showed that she looked down on Lin Ran.

How strong could a student possibly be? At most, he would be around Xie Zhiyong's level. So what if he was from Jujutsu High?

"Heh, come at me. I don't brag, but I can definitely withstand you."

Lin Ran's words stunned both Xie Zhiyong and Yan Dao. The hell was that if not bragging?

"Interesting. Don't cry later!" Zhang Yiyi suddenly grew serious. If he dared claim he could withstand her, then she would see whether he truly had the ability.

"Cursed Technique—Skin Painting Initial Release."

"Cursed Technique—Binding Lock."

After Zhang Yiyi formed a series of complicated hand signs, the tattoos on her arms suddenly began to glow red and heat up. Two medium-short blades emerged from the tattoos and were caught in her hands.

A wave of purple ripples surged from the ground. When Lin Ran looked down, he discovered that his feet had been bound by a layer of chain-shaped cursed energy, leaving him unable to move.

"So those tattoos weren't just for decoration." Lin Ran was genuinely surprised. He had never seen such a strange cursed technique before.

"Yiyi's taking this way too seriously, isn't she? Going this hard right from the start?" Xie Zhiyong was sweating for Lin Ran. He himself did not even have the courage to fight Zhang Yiyi, yet Lin Ran had dared provoke her. All he could say was that the kid was too young.

"Don't you know her personality? If someone provokes her, she will definitely teach them a proper lesson. Don't worry. If things get out of hand, I'll stop her." Yan Dao smiled instead. It had been a while since Zhang Yiyi had been this serious.

With both blades in hand, Zhang Yiyi leaped up and charged straight at Lin Ran. Powerful cursed energy radiated from her twin blades as she brought them down directly at his face.

If he could not even block this strike, then he was not qualified to join Night Owl.

Just as Zhang Yiyi's twin blades were about to strike Lin Ran, he quickly raised a hand and pulled back. Black Steel instantly blocked in front of him.

Clang!

Zhang Yiyi's twin blades were stopped cold. Her brows furrowed. "Where did you pull that Cursed Tool from?"

Yan Dao could not make sense of it either. Where could Lin Ran have hidden such a long black blade? How had he suddenly taken it out?

Only Xie Zhiyong knew that Lin Ran had always carried that black-bladed Cursed Tool on his back.

Lin Ran pushed forward with Black Steel in his grip, forcing Zhang Yiyi to land in the distance. She still could not figure out where Lin Ran's blade had come from.

Moreover, she could not tell what grade this Cursed Tool was.

"I told you, I can withstand you." Lin Ran did not explain where he had gotten his blade. Instead, he lightly mocked Zhang Yiyi.

"Kid, you've got some nerve." Zhang Yiyi sneered, suddenly retracting her twin blades into her tattoos before forming hand signs again.

This time, a patch of red light lit up from the tattoo on her chest. A long red blade emerged directly from it. Grasping the red blade, Zhang Yiyi rushed forward at tremendous speed. "Can you block this one too?"

"You even brought out Crimson Cherry?" Xie Zhiyong's mouth fell open. Crimson Cherry was Zhang Yiyi's strongest Cursed Tool. It had already reached the standard of a Grade 1 Cursed Tool, and Cursed Tools of that level were exceedingly rare even outside.

If it ended up in the open, it would certainly become something people fought over.

Even if Lin Ran could not determine the grade of the blade, he knew it was anything but ordinary. With his legs still bound, he swiftly slashed through the restraint. By then, Zhang Yiyi's strike had already reached him.

Clang!

Their blades collided, producing a fierce metallic screech. Lin Ran's feet began sliding rapidly backward. He had not expected a woman to possess such great strength that she could force him back.

Zhang Yiyi gripped her blade in both hands and continued to slash relentlessly, while Lin Ran kept blocking. He had never systematically learned how to use a blade, so he appeared to be completely suppressed.

Lin Ran did not want to use Black Flash. If he landed a Black Flash on Zhang Yiyi, even a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer would be badly hurt.

Fortunately, with Cursed Energy Output, Zhang Yiyi's attacks were not impossible to track. Lin Ran could still block them, though it was somewhat difficult.

"If all you do is defend against my attacks, then you're going to lose." Zhang Yiyi's movements grew faster and faster as she attacked from above and below.

"Not necessarily!" Cursed Energy Armor instantly surged forth, enveloping Lin Ran's entire body. Zhang Yiyi lost focus for a moment. After using the armor to block a strike, Lin Ran swept the back of Black Steel across Zhang Yiyi's stomach.

Zhang Yiyi flew backward in pain, but landed steadily. Her beautiful eyes merely stared in disbelief at the pale-blue Cursed Energy Armor covering Lin Ran.

Yan Dao and Xie Zhiyong cried out in unison, "Bloodline Inheritance!"

That was right. In the eyes of the three of them, Lin Ran's Cursed Energy Armor was a unique Bloodline Inheritance cursed technique. Only that could explain it. Such inherited techniques differed greatly from ordinary ones; at the very least, they had never seen anything like it.