Southern district, an underground parking garage.
Under the dim lights, an enormous anomaly crouched on top of a car.
Its body resembled a giant ball of flesh, but human arms covered its surface. Every arm flailed wildly, grabbing at everything nearby.
B-rank anomaly: Hundred-Armed Ghost.
Lin Jin appeared at the garage entrance.
Hundred-Armed Ghost sensed the presence of a living person, and all those arms turned toward him at once, like countless snakes eyeing their prey.
"Human... tasty." It made a muffled sound, and a dozen arms stretched out simultaneously, reaching for him.
Lin Jin pressed two fingers together, held them upright before him, and opened his mouth to exhale.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song Technique."
Four dragon-headed fireballs flew from his mouth, tracing four arcs through the air as they blasted toward Hundred-Armed Ghost from different directions.
The arms tried to intercept the fireballs, but the heat was too intense. The instant they made contact, they burned to charcoal.
Boom!
All four fireballs struck at once, and the blaze of the explosion lit up the entire garage.
Hundred-Armed Ghost's screams lasted only a second before vanishing completely.
[System: Killed B-rank anomaly Hundred-Armed Ghost. Gained 50 points of world power. Current total: 260.]
Lin Jin lowered his hand, glanced around at the cars belonging to the terrified ordinary people, then turned and left.
The fifth through ninth locations
Over the next three minutes, Lin Jin's shadow clones struck simultaneously across Jiangcheng.
At a school in the eastern district, a B-rank Shadow Ghost was pierced by Lightning Blade.
At a market in the western district, a B-rank Man-Eating Ghost was burned to ashes by a Great Fireball.
At a park in the northern district, a B-rank Mist Ghost was erased outright by Kamui.
At a hospital in the southern district, a B-rank Parasitic Ghost was controlled by Tsukuyomi and made to kill its own kind.
At an office building in the city center, a B-rank Cursed Ghost was torn to pieces by Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere.
Not a single battle lasted more than a minute.
Every anomaly was killed in an instant.
Not a single B-rank anomaly could withstand even one move from him.
[Current world power: 460 points.]
At the former site of the northern district hospital, in front of the abandoned outpatient building.
Fang Rou knelt on one knee, gasping for breath.
A wound on her left arm ran deep enough to expose bone. Blood trickled down her arm and dripped onto the ground.
Before her, an enormous anomaly advanced step by step.
It was an A-rank anomaly, over five meters tall, covered in deathly white bones like a giant skeleton.
Eerie green flames flickered in its eye sockets, and every step it took left a thin layer of ice on the ground.
Peak A-rank anomaly: Bone Ghost.
Fang Rou was at the peak of the Source Energy Stage. In principle, she should not have lost so quickly against an opponent of the same level.
But Bone Ghost's ability was too bizarre. Those bone spikes could suddenly stab out from any angle, making them almost impossible to guard against.
She had dodged dozens of attacks, but in the end, one had still struck her.
"Team leader!" The squad members behind her tried to rush forward, but she sharply stopped them.
"Stay back! Retreat now!"
Bone Ghost let out a piercing laugh and swept its hands outward. Countless bone spikes erupted from the ground, cutting off everyone's retreat.
"Humans, be good and become my nourishment." It opened its mouth, the flames in its eye sockets flickering even more violently.
Just then,
A bolt of purple lightning descended from the sky and pierced Bone Ghost's chest.
Bone Ghost froze.
It lowered its head and stared at the charred hole in its chest, the flames in its eye sockets flickering violently.
"Who..."
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique."
An enormous dragon's head descended from the sky, engulfing its entire body.
Bone Ghost let out an agonized scream, thrashing wildly in the flames as its bones began to melt and crumble.
But it was an A-rank anomaly, after all, with an extraordinarily tenacious life force.
Even amid the flames, it still struggled to form bone spikes, trying to fight back.
"Watch out!" Fang Rou shouted.
Lin Jin ignored her.
He turned his head, increasing the ocular power of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in his left eye.
"Kamui."
Space warped and tore around Bone Ghost.
The newly formed bone spikes were ground to powder by spatial power. Then half of Bone Ghost's body was sucked into another dimension.
Before it could even scream, its remaining half was burned to ashes.
[System: Killed A-rank anomaly Bone Ghost. Gained 100 points of world power. Current total: 560 points.]
Lin Jin landed and glanced at Fang Rou.
"Can you still walk?"
Fang Rou stared at him blankly, taking a long moment to react.
"Yes..."
Lin Jin nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Fang Rou called after him. "You... who are you? Why did you help us?"
Lin Jin did not look back.
"Lin Jin."
"I was just passing by."
As his words fell, his figure vanished into the night.
"Lin Jin..." Fang Rou stood where she was, not moving for a long time.
The squad members behind her rushed up, all asking about her injuries at once.
But she only stared in the direction where Lin Jin had vanished, her gaze complicated.
That man... just how strong was he?
An A-rank anomaly had not lasted even a minute against him.
Once this was over, she had to return to the Paranormal Bureau and check whether they had a file on him.
Southern district school, the sports field.
Su Qianxue held the Spatial Blade in both hands, watching the anomaly before her warily.
It was an A-rank anomaly, shaped like an enormous spider, but its upper half was a woman's body.
Its eight spider legs were as sharp as blades, each sweep capable of slicing through reinforced concrete.
A-rank anomaly: Spider Woman.
She had been fighting it for three minutes. The Spatial Blade had left over a dozen wounds on its body, but those wounds quickly healed.
Meanwhile, Spider Woman's attacks grew increasingly frenzied, nearly piercing her body several times.
"Team Leader Su!" the squad members behind her shouted. "We'll help you!"
"Stay back!" Su Qianxue snapped. "Its venom can corrode an awakened's energy! You can't withstand it!"
Spider Woman let out a shrill laugh. "Little girl, you're quite loyal. But it's useless. Every one of you will die here tonight."
All eight of its legs pushed off at once. Moving at astonishing speed, it appeared before Su Qianxue in an instant.
Its two front legs stabbed out in a crossing strike, cutting off every possible direction she could dodge.
Su Qianxue gritted her teeth, forming a spatial barrier before her.
But Spider Woman's attack was too powerful. The barrier lasted only a second before cracks appeared.
Just then, a figure appeared out of thin air between her and Spider Woman.
Short black hair, dark casual clothes, a familiar back.
Lin Jin.
He raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and grabbed the two stabbing spider legs directly.
Spider Woman froze.
It knew better than anyone how powerful its attacks were.
Even a Domain Realm expert would not dare catch its attacks barehanded.
But this man had caught them.
And he seemed to have done it effortlessly.
"Who are you?" Spider Woman demanded harshly.
Lin Jin did not answer.
He simply applied a little force.
Crack!!
Both spider legs snapped.
Spider Woman let out an agonized scream, its remaining six legs scrambling backward as it tried to put some distance between them.
But Lin Jin would not give it the chance.
His figure flashed, and he was already in front of Spider Woman.
Lightning coiled around his right hand, the radiance of Lightning Blade too dazzling to look at.
"Lightning Blade."
Blue lightning pierced Spider Woman's body, entering through its forehead and blasting out of its back.
Spider Woman stared at him in disbelief, its eyes wide.
"You... you..."
Before it could finish, its body crashed to the ground.
[System: Killed A-rank anomaly Spider Woman. Gained 100 points of world power. Current total: 660 points.]
Before you continue