Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram Shows Its Might During a Midnight Assassination

Night fell, and the lights of Heaven Dou City began to shine.

Lin Chen and the other three had spent the entire day out. After dinner, they strolled along the river to aid digestion, only reluctantly heading back toward the academy once the sky had gone completely dark.

Xiao Wu walked at the front, carrying several bags of various sizes while still savoring the sweet-and-sour fish they had just eaten.

Dugu Yan followed behind her, holding an additional small box in her hand.

Lin Chen had secretly bought the pair of silver earrings while she was not paying attention and given them to her during dinner.

She had frozen for a moment, then lowered her head and softly said, "Thank you." For the rest of the evening, a faint, almost imperceptible smile lingered at the corners of her lips.

Zhu Zhuqing walked beside Lin Chen, holding the book about Nether Shadow Cats in her hands. She was already halfway through it.

She read very quickly, but her memory was equally impressive. She was practically able to remember everything at a glance.

Walking beside her, Lin Chen occasionally glanced at the contents of the pages and casually offered a few observations about Soul Beast habits. Zhu Zhuqing would look up at him, then lower her head and continue reading, though she noticeably turned the pages more slowly. She was listening to him.

When the four returned to the academy gate, the elderly guard recognized them and greeted them with a cheerful smile.

Xiao Wu waved at the old man, then pulled Lin Chen toward the dormitory area.

"Today was so much fun!" Xiao Wu stretched lazily. "Let's go again next week! I know there's a shop in the east market that sells roast duck. It's especially delicious!"

"We'll talk about next week when it comes," Lin Chen said with a smile. "First, put all that stuff in your hands away. Don't spend class tomorrow thinking about your new hairpin."

"I won't!" Xiao Wu huffed, but her pace clearly quickened. She was obviously eager to get back and try out everything she had bought.

When the four reached the dormitory building, they said goodnight to one another.

Dugu Yan lived in another dormitory building. Before leaving, she glanced at Lin Chen, her lips moving as though she wanted to say something. In the end, however, she only said, "Goodnight," before turning and leaving.

Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing each returned to their own rooms. Lin Chen pushed open the door to his room as well, closed it, took off his outer robe and hung it on the rack, then went to the bathroom to wash his face.

He raised his head and looked at himself in the mirror. The smile on his face slowly faded.

He sensed that something was wrong.

He could not say exactly what it was. It was just an instinct. He had spent the entire day outside with a subtle feeling that someone had been watching him.

The sensation came and went, as if a pair of eyes were observing him from the shadows. Yet whenever he turned around to look, he could find nothing.

He wiped the water droplets from his face, walked out of the bathroom, and sat down beside the bed.

He lowered his head to look at the Ice Dragon Ring and Fire Dragon Ring on his fingers. The Fire Dragon King's consciousness did not emerge to tease him, and the Ice Dragon King remained silent.

Yet Lin Chen could sense that both dragon souls were on alert. They had noticed something too.

"Someone is nearby." The Ice Dragon King's voice sounded in his mind, cold and concise.

"Mm." Lin Chen responded inwardly.

He did not turn on the light. He simply sat quietly in the darkness, sensing everything around him.

Outside the window, insects chirped one after another, and occasional barks came from afar. Everything appeared normal, but he did not lower his guard.

Then he felt it.

An extremely faint killing intent pierced in through the window like the tip of a needle.

The killing intent was hidden exceptionally well. If not for the Creation Mark and his perception far surpassing that of ordinary people, he could never have detected it. Its source was within the canopy of the old parasol tree outside the window.

Lin Chen did not move.

He pretended to yawn, then lay down on the bed and turned over, leaving his back toward the window. He closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became even, as though he had fallen asleep.

But the Soul Power within his body had already begun circulating silently at full force.

Outside the window, within the canopy of the old parasol tree, a figure dressed entirely in black crouched silently atop a thick branch.

His body blended into the night, his aura perfectly concealed. He seemed like a part of the tree's shadow itself, without the slightest sense of presence.

His face was covered with black cloth, revealing only a pair of cold, indifferent eyes. At this moment, he stared through the gap in the window at the figure lying on the bed inside.

His name was Shadow Seven, a level 76 agility-attack Battle Soul Sage. He was one of Shadow Pavilion's top assassins, specializing in assassination with a one-hundred-percent mission success rate.

The task he had received was simple: kill a student of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, twelve years old, a level 56 Soul King.

The employer had paid three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins and specifically demanded his death.

Shadow Seven had been crouching in the tree for two hours.

He was patient, like a venomous snake lying in wait for the best moment to strike.

He had observed Lin Chen for the entire afternoon, learning his route, daily habits, and the situation regarding his companions.

He had originally intended to strike while Lin Chen was returning to the academy, but the three girls had stayed by his side the entire time. He was not completely certain he could finish the mission without alerting anyone, so he had waited until now.

It was late at night. The lights in the dormitory building went out one by one. The light in Lin Chen's room had gone out as well. He lay on the bed, breathing steadily, seemingly fast asleep.

The moment Shadow Seven had been waiting for had arrived.

He silently slid down from the canopy, landing as lightly as a falling leaf without making the slightest sound.

He pressed himself against the wall and moved to the window. Extending one finger, he lightly drew it across the window gap. An extremely thin wind blade severed the window latch without making a sound.

He pushed open the window and flipped inside. At the instant he landed, his contact with the floor was as light as a cat's.

He stood in the room and looked at the figure on the bed with its back to him, his eyes utterly calm.

He raised his right hand, and a pitch-black short blade appeared in his palm.

That was his Martial Soul, Shadow Blade, in the Martial Soul Avatar form of a level 76 agility-attack Soul Sage. He needed no unnecessary moves. One precise strike to a vital point, then he would leave.

He took a deep breath. His sixth soul ring lit up: Shadow Kill.

This was his strongest single-target assassination soul skill, condensing all his Soul Power into one strike. It was as fast as a ghost, concentrated and deadly in power, and made almost no noise. The sound of the blade cutting flesh would not even be louder than tearing a sheet of paper.

His body moved.

In that instant, his entire body turned into a black afterimage, the Shadow Blade in his hand stabbing straight toward Lin Chen's heart from behind. The blade sliced through the air without stirring the slightest breeze—precise, lethal, and soundless.

The blade struck.

But Shadow Seven's expression changed instantly.

The sensation of the blade striking was wrong. It was not the feeling of piercing flesh and blood. It was like stabbing into a mass of cotton, the force dispersed by some invisible power, unable to penetrate at all.

Then he saw it.

A grayish-white radiance lit up from Lin Chen's body.

The light was gentle yet swift, spreading across Lin Chen's body and forming a slowly rotating Taiji Diagram.

The black and white Yin-Yang fish chased one another head to tail, slowly revolving around Lin Chen and enveloping his entire body.

The edges of the Taiji Diagram emitted faint black-and-white halos. Ancient, solemn, and sacred, it carried an aura that seemed to come from the dawn of chaos itself.

Shadow Seven's Shadow Blade struck the Taiji Diagram as if it had hit an indestructible wall, unable to advance even half an inch further.

He pushed his Soul Power to its limit, black light blazing from the blade, yet the Taiji Diagram did not move in the slightest. Not even a ripple appeared.

Lin Chen sat up from the bed.

He turned around and looked at Shadow Seven, his gaze as calm as though he were looking at an unexpected visitor who had arrived in the middle of the night.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time," he said.

Shadow Seven's pupils suddenly contracted. Without hesitation, he immediately pulled back.

His speed reached its peak. His whole body became a black shadow as he shot toward the window.

But Lin Chen was faster.

Lin Chen raised his right hand and loosely curled his fingers. The Taiji Diagram instantly expanded, enveloping the entire room.

Shadow Seven slammed into the edge of the Taiji Diagram as if he had struck an invisible wall. He was flung back and crashed heavily onto the floor.

He flipped himself upright and dropped to one knee, holding the Shadow Blade across his body as he stared fixedly at Lin Chen. For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

It was an emotion he had never felt throughout the countless missions he had carried out.

"Y-you... what exactly are you?"

Lin Chen jumped down from the bed and stood barefoot on the floor. The Taiji Diagram continued rotating slowly around him, making him appear like a deity descending into the mortal world.

He looked at Shadow Seven and spoke evenly. "You accepted this mission, yet you dared to act without even investigating your target properly?"

He took a step forward.

The Taiji Diagram slowly revolved with his step, releasing an invisible pressure that made Shadow Seven feel as though he was facing not a twelve-year-old boy, but a towering mountain and a vast ocean.

Cold sweat beaded on Shadow Seven's forehead. He knew that tonight's mission had failed.

And whether he could even leave this place alive was now unknown.