Assassination Operation

Under the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's arrangements, five elite assassination deadmen were swiftly mobilized.

Upon receiving the message, they quietly headed to the outskirts of Plant Academy, where they lay in wait.

The captain leading this operation was a Five-Ring Soul King, while the remaining four members were all Four-Ring Soul Ancestors.

They were outer-line disciples with varying Martial Souls and no family insignias whatsoever.

They had only one mission—

Wait for Lin Mo to leave the academy, then seize the chance to intercept and kill him!

Meanwhile.

Over at the Martial Soul Sanctuary.

Salas had not been idle either.

After leaving Plant Academy, he had not completely set his mind at ease.

A peerless genius of Lin Mo's caliber was simply too extraordinary.

To Spirit Hall, his ability to absorb Soul Rings beyond his rank held immense research value.

In such circumstances, it would be easy for someone to secretly eliminate him.

Salas considered it briefly.

He immediately dispatched several covert Spirit Hall guards to lie in wait in the streets surrounding Plant Academy.

For no other reason than to see what Lin Mo was doing? (strikethrough)

They would not interfere with Lin Mo's daily life. They had only one order:

Ensure Lin Mo's safety.

If any force attempted murder in secret, kill them on the spot and leave no survivors!

Under such circumstances.

Plant Academy still maintained its superficial peace and calm.

Lin Mo shut himself away in Secluded Villa. He claimed to be cultivating, but he was actually studying the Martial Soul traits of the Thunder Hell Vine.

Vines, binding, restraint, divided-focus control.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect seemed to possess a divided-focus control method called the "Seven Orifice Exquisite Heart."

That thing would be helpful to a plant-type Martial Soul user like him.

However, Ning Fengzhi probably would not hand it over so easily.

There was no point dwelling on it. Back to the matter at hand.

Elsewhere.

Instructor Shen Lin had also lived up to expectations.

Ever since Lin Mo had spoken with him, Shen Lin had spent his days buried in the academy's archival records, organizing the Northern Territory's city distribution, bandit strongholds, and the spheres of influence of small and medium-sized Soul Master sects.

He had also looked into Soul Beast Forests and legendary perilous lands.

One point deserved particular attention: the Northern Territory contained the world's third-largest Soul Beast Forest, known as the Icebound Forest!

Go any farther north from there, and one would reach the Extreme North.

Regarding this, Shen Lin had investigated only the outer regions of the Icebound Forest.

As for the depths of the forest, Lin Mo presumably would have no need for them.

The intelligence he compiled was detailed and meticulous. Once it was fully organized and delivered to Lin Mo, it would pave the way for his future journey.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, gradually being set into place.

Outside Plant Academy.

Several forces had quietly set their sights on Lin Mo, secretly watching his movements.

That was right, several forces.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family also had people monitoring him in secret.

Among them, however, the ones with the strongest intentions were an assassination squad.

They came from the collateral outer branch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and were responsible for assassination missions.

Following Elder Yu Kun's strategy, they investigated Lin Mo's movements and lay in wait around the academy.

Once Lin Mo left the academy, they would find an opportunity to strike.

However.

They waited at their stakeout for four whole days.

Lin Mo simply did not come out.

After investigating, they discovered something.

Forget leaving the academy—Lin Mo had not even attended classes. He stayed in his dormitory all day long.

How the hell were they supposed to assassinate him like this?!

At a secret stronghold in Elemental City.

Yu Kun's expression was grim, the malice in his chest having built to its peak.

The longer they dragged this out, the more variables there would be.

The attention of the major forces still vaguely rested on Plant Academy. The longer they delayed, the lower their chances of success would become.

But Lin Mo had to die!

After weighing the matter again and again, Yu Kun finally relented.

"Wait another two days. If he still doesn't come out during that time, then we'll have no choice but to enter the academy and assassinate him."

Two days later.

Lin Mo was remarkably cooperative... he did not leave the academy.

According to the intelligence, he was still holed up in Secluded Villa at the academy and had not taken a single step outside.

Looking at it this way, their odds of success seemed rather high.

After discussing it, they decided to act tonight!

Night had deepened, and the stars and moon hid behind the clouds.

Plant Academy was utterly silent in the dead of night, its students all fast asleep.

Lin Mo had finished several days of research and was currently stretching his limbs.

I'm exhausted, but at least I finally got something out of it.

The Thunder Hell Vine appeared in Lin Mo's palm, trailing faint violet-gold lightning.

To be honest, he had not gone to Back Mountain to cultivate with the Weather skill in quite some time.

Tonight was the perfect time to take a walk around Back Mountain and loosen up.

Before leaving, Lin Mo's heart stirred, and he left a curled-up Thunder Hell Vine inside the room.

As long as someone came by, he would be able to sense it even from Back Mountain.

Meanwhile.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's deadmen slipped quietly into Plant Academy during a gap in the patrol guards' shift change.

They wore black clothes that concealed their presence, reined in their auras, and used the deep night as cover. In separate groups, they bypassed the patrol routes and infiltrated the academy's inner grounds like ghosts, heading straight for Secluded Villa.

Only five people were carrying out the mission, and every one of them was an elite.

The more people there were, the easier it would be for something to go wrong.

They reached the Secluded Villa complex, located Lin Mo's residence, and took the opportunity to surround it and seal off the exits.

The assassination captain quietly broke into the courtyard and efficiently slammed open the villa's front door.

The courtyard was empty, and the house was silent.

The lights inside had been extinguished, and the tables and chairs stood neatly arranged, but there was not a soul in sight.

The entire villa was empty?!

The Five-Ring Soul King at the head of the group froze, a wave of unease instantly rising in his heart.

The other four members silently followed and appeared behind their captain.

Looking at the empty house, they wondered if their movements had been exposed?!

At this moment.

Within the dense forest of Back Mountain behind Plant Academy.

The night wind suddenly intensified, and black clouds churned overhead.

Rumble—

Dull thunder rolled from the distant horizon.

The entire night sky changed in an instant as torrential rain poured down. A dense curtain of rain engulfed the forest, while lightning lay hidden deep within the dark clouds, flickering between light and shadow.

Lin Mo stood alone in the deepest part of the forest, allowing the violent wind and rain to wash over him. His robes were soaked through, yet he stood upright as a pine, his mind clearer than ever.

After several days of secluded cultivation, he had already refined the Soul Power within his body to the absolute limit of its bottleneck. He had deliberately chosen this stormy night to use the Thunder Hell Vine's unique Weather resonance, drawing upon the thunder and rain of heaven and earth to temper his body and refine his soul.

Strands of lightning essence from heaven and earth descended from the sky, frantically drawn in and absorbed by his Martial Soul. They nourished the vine's origin, cleansed impurities from his meridians, and accelerated the condensation of his Soul Power.

Thunder roared beside his ears and rain poured from the sky. This was the perfect cultivation ground for him.

It was precisely because he had left the academy late at night that he happened to avoid this long-planned assassination within the academy.

After their brief shock at finding the villa empty, the Blue Lightning deadmen immediately realized that something was wrong.

The target's absence from the courtyard could not possibly be a coincidence.

Either he had detected the warning signs in advance and fled, or he had planned this all along.

They could not stay here for long!

"Retreat! Search the surrounding area immediately! End this quickly!"

The lead deadman barked in a low voice. The group immediately abandoned the empty courtyard and rapidly scattered, intending to search the surrounding woodland under the cover of the rainy night, find Lin Mo, kill him in a single blow, and withdraw at once.

But the moment they stepped beyond the courtyard, they immediately alerted the academy guards.

They fled in panic toward the forest, only to suddenly halt.

Rustle, rustle—

Deep within the forest, Lin Mo opened his eyes.