The Bountiful Old Farmer

Lin Yi, facing the encirclement of five Abyss Wolves, deliberately put on a show of being carried away by the bloodlust of the fight.

"Come!"

He let out a low shout, his figure advancing instead of retreating as he met the three wolves directly in front of him.

At this moment, the leading trio of Abyss Wolves displayed the tactical coordination of an Abyss Wolf squad:

The most robust wolf in the center roared aggressively, lunging straight for Lin Yi's face, while the wolf on the left crouched low, its sharp claws raking viciously toward the junction of Lin Yi's outer thigh and knee.

The angle was so devious that it was clearly intended to cripple the target's mobility.

The wolf on the far right did not pounce immediately; instead, it screeched to a halt not far from Lin Yi, its thick, bony tail raised high like a scorpion's stinger.

Here it comes, the real killing blow.

Lin Yi sneered inwardly. He had lost count of how many Abyss Wolves he had killed in his past life, and he was intimately familiar with the tricks of a standard squad.

They used frontal lunges and side harassment to seal off his room for evasion, all to cover the sneak attack of corrosive acid.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Lin Yi's eyes. As a "genius" who had already witnessed a strong acid attack once, he naturally had a way to deal with it.

He would exploit the timing gap: while the other two were lagging behind from their flanking maneuver, he would tank the claw strike, dodge the acid, and kill the frontal attacker outright!

Therefore, instead of retreating, he took a half-step forward toward the lunging wolf, simultaneously twisting his waist and hips to meet the low-slung claws with the outer side of his right leg, which was covered in the thickest leg armor and partial tassets.

"Skree!"

Accompanied by the harsh sound of metal tearing, several claw marks were gouged into the armor on Lin Yi's outer right leg.

But he also used the force of the claw strike to perform a side roll, narrowly dodging the glob of corrosive acid and shifting to the flank of the frontal wolf.

Then, his entire body sprang upward like a carp leaping from the water. Mimicking the explosive "Rising Dragon Break" from the Dark Great Sage, he delivered a fierce upward strike with his staff into the soft underbelly of the wolf in front of him.

"Open up!"

The staff, carrying the explosive power of Lin Yi's entire body, slammed into the wolf's abdomen, the tip of the staff even driving deep into its gut before launching it into the air.

Lin Yi then lunged straight for the wolf on the left!

Seeing Lin Yi charge, the wolf on the left howled and tried to bite, but Lin Yi delivered a swift, piercing thrust with his staff. The tip punched through the wolf's mouth and pierced its upper palate, followed by a violent twist.

Without even looking at the result, he stepped to the right. With an explosion of core strength from his waist and abdomen, his body twisted sharply. He withdrew the staff from the wolf's mouth and followed through with a backhanded horizontal sweep, smashing it viciously toward the wolf on the right, which had already adjusted its angle and was attempting to spray acid again.

"Bang!" The butt of the staff struck the wolf's fragile bridge of the nose with a solid thud.

Accompanied by a shrill, miserable howl, the wolf was sent reeling, stars dancing in its vision as its impending acid attack was cut short.

Lin Yi, naturally, did not let up. He followed with a forward leap, gripping the staff with both hands, and delivered a powerful vertical strike to the back of the wolf's head as it crouched in pain.

"Mountain Cleaving Style!"

Crack!

The crisp, melodic sound of a skull shattering signaled the death of the third wolf.

In a mere six or seven breaths, the three wolves that had launched the frontal assault were all dead!

By now, the two wolves that had attempted to flank him had only just rounded the overturned tables and chairs.

They did not see a prey being besieged, but rather their kin turning into ash and a fierce figure already turning toward them.

Fear instantly drowned out their ferocity.

The two Abyss Wolves let out a short, terrified wail and, without hesitation, turned and fled toward the main entrance!

"Running?"

Lin Yi's eyes sharpened, and the remaining Source Energy surged through his body! His waist pulled back like a fully drawn bow, his right arm muscles bulging as he hurled the blood-stained Black Iron Staff with all his might!

Immediately after, without a second's pause, Lin Yi raised his left index finger like a viper striking. Accompanied by a brilliant azure glow, he pointed it at the fleeing figure!

Only after doing all this did he suppress the roiling blood in his chest and the bone-deep exhaustion, dragging his leaden legs step by step toward the nearest glimmer of gray light.

It was time to harvest.

Bending down, picking up, standing straight—his movements were steady, without a single wasted motion.

Lin Yi was like a farmer gleaning a field after the harvest, silent and focused, as he gathered the five Spirit Radiance Crystals scattered across the hall into his palm.

Only after finishing did he slowly cast his gaze toward the shattered main gate.

Beside the threshold inside the gate, a Spirit Radiance Crystal lay quietly.

That Abyss Wolf had been the fastest runner, but unfortunately, the blue beam had arrived before it could escape, sniping it with precision.

Lin Yi stepped over the overturned debris and walked to the crystal. He bent down again, his movements still steady as if he were merely picking up a pebble, and retrieved the sixth Spirit Radiance Crystal.

Then, he straightened up and looked past the threshold to the carpet outside the Hongfu Restaurant, where the final Abyss Wolf corpse lay frozen in a lunging posture.

It had been impaled through the waist by Lin Yi's full-force throw of the Black Iron Staff and pinned firmly to the ground, its body already beginning to slowly turn to ash.

In the distance, on the streets, other small groups of Abyss Wolves that had been prowling near their nest seemed to have been startled by the intense battle that had erupted and abruptly ended at the Hongfu Restaurant, as well as the half-strangled, shrill howl of their companion before it died.

They all stopped moving, peering vigilantly toward the restaurant, low, uneasy growls rumbling in their throats.

However, the sounds of the fierce fight had vanished just as quickly, and the entire area around the Hongfu Restaurant fell into an eerie, deathly silence.

They pawed the ground anxiously, growling, and slowly retreated a few steps, yet not one of them dared to approach the Hongfu Restaurant by even an inch, their eyes fixed firmly on the building that now seemed to have transformed into the gaping maw of an abyss.

Lin Yi watched the reactions of the Abyss Wolves in the distance, and his heart was clear.

The effect he desired had been achieved; at this moment, the area around Hongfu Restaurant had been designated as a high-level threat.

For a short time, this place would become a vacuum zone.

It would not be until the nest birthed more powerful Abyss Beasts and the remaining low-level threats were cleared that they would concentrate their forces for a full-scale assault.

Just like that, under the gaze of dozens of fearful and wary dark-red wolf eyes in the distance, Lin Yi lifted his foot with an expressionless face and stepped over the blood-stained threshold of Hongfu Restaurant.

He stepped onto the street outside.

The summer evening sun was still scorching, and the stench of blood on the street was steamed into the air, making it quite uncomfortable.

Ignoring the prying gazes from the shadows not far away, Lin Yi walked straight to the corpse of the Abyss Wolf that had been pinned to the red carpet outside the door.

He lowered his head, looking down at the corpse that had been pierced by the staff and nailed in front of Hongfu Restaurant like a sacrificial offering, patiently waiting for the Spirit Radiance Crystal to form.

Then, he bent down again, as if picking up fallen fruit in his own backyard, and retrieved the seventh and final Spirit Radiance Crystal, which shimmered with a gray light.

After finishing all this, Lin Yi straightened up and cast his gaze upon the Black Iron Staff deeply embedded in the ground.

The body of the staff was now more than half-soaked in dark red blood, reflecting an eerie luster under the sunlight.

Lin Yi slowly extended his right hand, splayed his fingers, and gripped the staff firmly; the sensation of cold metal mixed with sticky blood greeted his palm.

He paused deliberately for a moment before tensing the muscles in his arm and pulling upward with force.

"Squelch."

Accompanied by a muffled sound of friction, this blood-stained weapon returned to Lin Yi's hand.

Viscous drops of blood dripped from the heavy tip of the staff, striking the bright red carpet and creating dark, circular spots.

Then, dragging this heavy, lethal weapon, Lin Yi turned around step by step with steady composure, stepped over the pool of dark red blood from the sixth Abyss Wolf on the threshold, and stepped back into the shattered foyer of Hongfu Restaurant.

From beginning to end, he never once looked up at the pack of Abyss Wolves in the distance that were emitting uneasy low growls.

His figure gradually merged into the dim light deep within the hall, eventually disappearing from sight.