Thunder Sweeps Away Evil, Eyes in the Dark

Scotland, at the ruins of a desolate ancient battlefield. A brutal battle had once taken place here, and legend said that tourists still occasionally reported hearing inexplicable sounds of fighting and seeing vague ghostly figures. Recently, these phenomena had increased dramatically, becoming more vivid and aggressive. Several tourists had even inexplicably fallen unconscious or suffered mental breakdowns, forcing the local authorities to temporarily close off the area.

A flash of lightning appeared, and Lin Ye materialized outside the barbed-wire fence at the edge of the ruins. Though it was daytime, the sky was overcast, heavy clouds hanging low. An unsettling damp chill and oppressive atmosphere filled the air, completely at odds with the clear weather around it.

"Abnormal energy readings. Negative-energy particle concentration exceeds normal levels by three thousand percent. Local temperature is fifteen degrees below ambient, with a continuing downward trend. A large number of non-corporeal life fluctuations detected, possessing weak psychic interference properties." Remy's voice sounded in Lin Ye's mind.

Lin Ye nodded slightly as the Mind Network spread out. In his perception, the ruins ahead were no longer a patch of barren land, but shrouded in a thin yet sticky gray-black fog composed of countless fragments of pain, resentment, and chaotic consciousness! Within the fog, countless distorted, blurry humanoid outlines could vaguely be seen silently howling and struggling. They possessed no reason, only the instinct to feed on the breath of the living, and they were deeply hostile toward intruders.

"So this is what leaked through from the lower dimension? It looks more like a collection of vengeful spirits." Lin Ye stepped through the barbed-wire fence and entered the area blanketed in cold, gloomy mist.

The moment he stepped inside, the scenery around him changed at once! The weeds and gravestones seemed to be covered by a blood-red filter. Faint clashes of metal and desperate cries rang in his ears, while an icy chill pierced straight to his bones, trying to erode his mind.

Several nearby vengeful spirits seemed to notice this target radiating powerful life force. They let out silent shrieks, transformed into twisted gray shadows, and pounced, extending incorporeal claws straight for Lin Ye's soul!

"Utmost Yang, utmost strength—shatter all evil!"

Lin Ye did not even activate Thor Form. With a mere thought, a brilliant but non-glaring layer of protective lightning naturally burst forth around his body!

Crackle—!

The vengeful spirits struck the lightning as if ice and snow had met the blazing sun. Before they could even scream, they were instantly purified and vaporized, turning into wisps of green smoke that dispersed!

Their destruction seemed to enrage the other entities within the fog. More vengeful spirits surged in from every direction like a gray tide, instantly engulfing Lin Ye!

Yet Lin Ye was like a reef amid raging waves, utterly unmoved. His protective lightning burned steadily, and every vengeful spirit that approached was instantly purified without exception. He could even sense threads of extremely faint, pure energy being absorbed by the lightning, replenishing his expenditure instead.

"As expected, lightning is the natural bane of these things." Having confirmed his guess, Lin Ye was no longer content with passive defense.

He raised his right hand, spreading his fingers with his palm facing upward.

"Myriad Thunder Summon!"

Rumble—!

Centered on him, countless fine bolts of lightning carrying the will to destroy evil and slay demons erupted in all directions like a spiderweb! Wherever the lightning passed, the gray-black mist melted and retreated like ice thrown against a red-hot iron! The twisted vengeful spirits let out waves of piercing shrieks within the lightning net—on a spiritual level—before being completely annihilated!

In just a few breaths, a vast portion of the vengeful-spirit fog covering the ruins had been cleared! Sunlight once again fell upon the cold ground, and the chill and oppressive feeling in the air greatly weakened.

However, Lin Ye noticed that at several specific points on the ground—perhaps mass graves from the ancient battlefield or energy convergence points—thin black mist was still continuously seeping out, as if connected to some unclean source.

"Cleaning up the surface isn't enough. I need to plug the leaks." Lin Ye walked toward the nearest energy seepage point.

It was an inconspicuous little mound, but in his perception, it resembled a tiny vortex, constantly drawing in negative energy and lower-dimensional fragments to form new vengeful spirits.

He crouched down and pressed his lightning-covered palm directly against the earth.

"Thunder Talisman: Suppression!"

Using lightning as ink and the earth as paper, he swiftly inscribed a simple rune containing the intent of thunderous suppression! The instant the rune took shape, it sank into the ground, forming a powerful lightning seal that completely plugged the energy seepage point!

Using the same method, he quickly sealed every energy seepage point within the ruins.

Once he finished, the abnormal energy readings throughout the ruins rapidly returned to normal. The unsettling chill, auditory hallucinations, and visual hallucinations vanished completely. Though the place still retained a trace of heaviness because of its history, it no longer had the conditions to breed evil entities.

"Cleanup complete. Threat in the target area has been eliminated," Remy confirmed.

Satisfied, Lin Ye dusted off his hands. With a flash, he vanished from the spot and headed for the next target—a sacred site of a primitive tribe in the Amazon basin.

Not long after Lin Ye left.

At the edge of the ruins, space faintly distorted like rippling water, and two figures in strange hooded robes silently emerged. Incomprehensible symbols were embroidered on their robes, and they seemed to blend into their surroundings. They had somehow completely evaded both Lin Ye's Mind Network and Remy's scans!

"What pure, powerful thunderous energy." One figure murmured in a hoarse voice, his tone filled with amazement and even greed. "He purified the leak point of the Wailing Abyss so easily. He is the perfect energy source."

The other figure held a crystal ball in his hand. Within it, the scene of Lin Ye purifying the vengeful spirits and drawing the thunder talisman was clearly reflected! "The masters will definitely be very interested in him. He is far more valuable than those damaged holy artifacts."

"Track him. Record all of his energy data, especially the frequency of that lightning," the first figure said. "The restoration of the Void Hand may require such power."

The two spoke quietly, then their figures slowly blended back into the air and disappeared, as if they had never been there.

Amazon sacred site, ancient Southeast Asian temple...

With the same efficiency, Lin Ye quickly cleared the other two infiltration points. The process was largely identical: he swept away the vengeful spirits with lightning, then sealed the energy seepage points. These lower-dimensional infiltrators truly stood no chance before him.

However, while handling the infiltration point at the ancient Southeast Asian temple, the Mind Network seemed to catch an extremely faint, fleeting abnormal spatial fluctuation. Yet when he investigated carefully, he found nothing at all.

"An illusion?" Lin Ye frowned slightly, but did not pursue the matter. Once the cleanup was complete, he returned to the Thunder Temple.

Kamar-Taj.

The ripples in the basin before the Ancient One slowly calmed, revealing the image of Lin Ye purifying the final infiltration point.

She slowly opened her eyes. A trace of satisfaction flickered in them, along with an almost imperceptible concern.

"His power is indeed a sharp blade against this kind of infiltration. But will such efficient and domineering cleansing alert the deeper entities behind those infiltrations? Could it even draw the attention of dimensional lords who feed on energy?"

Her fingers lightly tapped the table as she pondered for a moment.

"It seems it is time to have a deeper conversation with him."

Thunder Temple.

Lin Ye had only just returned when Remy's report arrived.

"Master, during your cleansing of the three infiltration points, multiple extremely faint and highly concealed third-party spatial surveillance attempts were detected. Their exact source could not be locked onto. Their technological or magical pattern does not match any known system. It is speculated that they are related to the Inheritors organization or a similar entity."

"Oh? So there really were rats watching from the shadows." Lin Ye was not surprised. "Can you determine the purpose of their surveillance?"

"Their target appears to be recording your thunder-energy spectrum and methods of application. No hostile actions have been detected so far."

"Recording my energy spectrum?" A chill flashed through Lin Ye's eyes. "Do they want to imitate it? Or study countermeasures specifically aimed at me? Or do they have some other purpose?"

He did not like the feeling of being watched, especially when the other side was hiding so well.

"Stay alert. If you detect similar surveillance again, attempt a reverse energy strike. Even if it cannot harm them, give them a warning."

"Command recorded."

Lin Ye walked to the window and gazed into the distance. The crisis of dimensional infiltration had temporarily eased, but deeper undercurrents seemed to be stirring. Those people hiding in the shadows had finally begun to bare their fangs.

"Looks like the peaceful days are over. Good. Time to stretch my muscles."

A battle-hungry smile curled across his lips.