Testing the Mask, Detoxifying Dugu Bo

The moment the Ninja Mask touched his face, a frigid, sinister power surged into his limbs and bones.

Jiang Lin felt his bones clicking and his muscles contracting and reshaping; his entire body felt as if it were being gripped and molded by an invisible hand.

A moment later, the transformation ceased. Jiang Lin looked down at his hands—his skin had turned ashen, his fingernails were stained a pitch-black, and his entire being radiated a bizarre, eerie aura.

What surprised him even more was that his vision had changed.

The shadows around him became incredibly clear in his eyes; he could perceive every detail in the dark corners, as if the shadows themselves had become an extension of his senses.

He tried taking a step toward a corner, and his body naturally merged into the darkness. His presence vanished completely, to the point where even he could not sense his own existence.

He stood in the shadows, silent for a moment, then raised his right hand.

He felt a power deep within the mask responding to his call—a strange connection, as if countless dormant consciousnesses were awakening in the darkness, waiting for his command.

He did not speak, merely issuing a simple instruction in his mind: Appear.

The shadows in a corner of the valley began to writhe.

The shadows on the cliff wall, as if imbued with life, flowed silently from all directions, converging in the center of the ground into a churning black vortex.

From within the vortex, pitch-black figures slowly rose.

They were five warriors clad in black ninja garb.

Their frames were tall, wrapped entirely in tight-fitting black combat suits, appearing like physical manifestations of the night.

Their faces were tightly covered by black masks, revealing only eyes as scarlet as blood.

The five ninjas knelt on one knee, heads bowed, their posture submissive and silent.

They made no sound, yet Jiang Lin could clearly perceive the absolute, unreserved obedience radiating from them.

No words were needed, no gestures required; with just a single thought, these ninjas would execute any command without hesitation.

Jiang Lin stepped out from the shadows, stood before the lead ninja, and looked down at him.

The ninja remained motionless, the red light in his eyes burning steadily as he awaited instructions.

"Stand up."

Jiang Lin spoke, his voice sounding somewhat deep beneath the mask.

The five ninjas rose in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized, without making a single sound.

Jiang Lin pointed to a rock the size of a human head in a nearby corner. "Destroy it."

Before the words had even faded, the figure of the lead ninja vanished from where he stood.

There was no sound of breaking air, no footsteps, not even a lingering afterimage.

Jiang Lin only saw a streak of black light flash by, and the rock split silently into two. The cross-section was smooth and flat, as if sliced by an extremely sharp blade at immense speed.

The ninja had already returned to his position before him, kneeling on one knee.

Jiang Lin's eyes narrowed slightly.

Fast.

Too fast.

This speed was nearly equivalent to a Soul Elder of the agility-attack type at the same level.

And the most terrifying part was their complete lack of presence; when moving in the darkness, they were like water droplets merging into the sea, nearly impossible for the naked eye to track.

Jiang Lin pondered for a moment and decided to test their direct combat capability: "Attack me."

The five ninjas did not hesitate.

They scattered at the same moment, transforming into five streaks of black light as they assaulted Jiang Lin from five different angles.

Two throwing stars crossed from the front, a shuriken spun in from the left, a chain whipped toward his ankle from the right, and the final ninja vanished from his field of vision—submerging into the shadows, waiting for the moment to strike a fatal blow.

Jiang Lin sidestepped the front-facing throwing stars, raised his hand to swat away the shuriken, and stepped on the incoming chain. Simultaneously, he swept his Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd behind him, forcing back the ninja who had just leaped from the shadows.

The entire sequence was fluid, but he had already reached a conclusion: the combat power of a single ninja was roughly equivalent to that of a second or third-ring Soul Elder. Their attack style focused on assassination and sneak attacks; head-on confrontation was not their forte.

However, if coordinated properly and using the shadows for surprise attacks, the threat posed by five ninjas would be enough to give a Soul Ancestor a headache.

Furthermore, the power within the mask told him that this was far from the limit of how many he could summon.

As long as he wished, he could summon even more ninjas.

For every additional ninja summoned, the mask would drain a portion of the soul power within him, but this consumption was well within his tolerance.

"Enough."

Jiang Lin waved his hand.

The five ninjas immediately ceased their attack and knelt before him once more, their movements uniform and silent.

Jiang Lin looked at these five shadow warriors, a satisfied curve slowly forming on his lips.

He removed the Ninja Mask, and the frigid power receded like a tide, his body returning to its original state.

But before the ninjas could vanish on their own, a pillar of fire instantly pierced through their bodies.

Accompanying the pillar of fire was Elder Chen's worried inquiry:

"Xiao Lin, are you alright? What kind of background do these assassins have?"

Before the words had even faded, Elder Chen descended directly in front of Jiang Lin.

Before Jiang Lin could even open his mouth to explain, two other figures dropped from the sky.

Jiang Lin was stunned for a moment before he realized what had happened; the fluctuations of spirit power from the recent battle must have alerted the three of them, and they had assumed he was under assassination.

"Hey, Lay-Flat Leopard, why didn't you leave one alive? I was confident I could pry out who sent them from their own mouths."

Dugu Bo looked at the charred marks nearby, assuming the five men had already been reduced to ashes by Elder Chen.

Tang Yuan said nothing, though a flicker of doubt shimmered in his eyes.

His cultivation was much higher than the other two, so he kept feeling that something was off.

Those things... didn't really look like people...

Watching the three men's vastly different reactions, Jiang Lin shook his head helplessly. After demonstrating the item before them, the three immediately developed a keen interest in the Ninja Mask.

After these small interludes, Dugu Bo finally discovered that his former herb garden... was actually empty!

"This... the poisonous herbs I cultivated..."

While Dugu Bo felt a pang of distress, he was also somewhat worried.

"Young Master, you... didn't eat them, did you?"

"That, I did not."

Jiang Lin shook his head. "But don't worry, I still kept the seeds."

As he spoke, Jiang Lin seemed to recall something. "Right, regarding the detoxification from before, I have two plans."

Hearing Jiang Lin's words, Dugu Bo's eyes instantly lit up.

"Is that true! What should be done?"

"The first method is very simple."

Jiang Lin sat down across from Dugu Bo and held up a finger. "Your Jade Phosphor Snake Poison has already merged with your martial soul; trying to force a detox is equivalent to crippling your cultivation, so that path is a dead end.

Therefore, we change the line of thought—don't detoxify, relocate."