Zhou Yan went missing

Blood Momentum Headquarters.

It was a hidden underground space. This time, only two people sat at the round table.

The face of the person at the head of the table was still impossible to make out, his figure barely visible beneath a black cloak.

Blood Twelve sat opposite him, his hood already pulled back to reveal a young, handsome face.

"You're back?" Blood One's voice gave no hint of his age and was as calm as still water.

"Yes." Blood Twelve nodded. "I spent seven days in Jiangcheng."

Blood One asked, "What did you discover?"

Blood Twelve gathered his thoughts and began his report.

"Lin Jin's perception is exceptionally sharp. The first time I approached him, I was at least three hundred meters away. I concealed my presence as much as possible and even slowed my heartbeat to its lowest, but he still detected me."

"The next day, I stood even farther away and used only the most passive means of perception. I didn't even dare look directly at him, yet he appeared behind me without a sound."

Blood One nodded slightly. "And then? Did you fight?"

"We did." Blood Twelve smiled bitterly. "To be precise, he crushed me in a completely one-sided fight."

He paused, then recounted that night's battle in detail.

"I gave it everything I had, fully activated my bloodline, deployed my domain, and even used Blood Spear. But he never fought seriously from beginning to end."

Blood One's fingers paused slightly.

"What ability did he use?"

"A pair of eyes." A trace of apprehension flashed through Blood Twelve's eyes. "Scarlet eyes with black pinwheel patterns."

"Those eyes can unleash an extremely strange spatial ability. My Blood Spear, my domain's power, and even I myself were all distorted and swallowed by an invisible spatial force. That power... isn't something ordinary spatial superpowers can compare to."

Blood One fell silent for a few seconds. "What level would you estimate his strength to be?"

Blood Twelve thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "The peak of the Domain Realm, possibly even the Transcendent Stage. But he never fought seriously the whole time, so I can't judge accurately. All I know is that if he wanted to kill me, I might not last even a second."

"You might not believe this, but aside from using those eyes during our fight, he never used the Fire Release, Lightning-Type, teleportation, or various other abilities mentioned in the intelligence. But even so... I still lost."

Blood One tapped his fingers lightly against the tabletop.

"Does he have any interest in joining our organization?"

"No." Blood Twelve shook his head. "He refused very firmly, saying he didn't like being constrained. But when I mentioned Blood Momentum's purpose, he didn't seem particularly averse to it. He simply didn't want to join any organization."

Blood One remained silent for a long time.

"The peak of the Domain Realm, possibly even the Transcendent Stage..." he repeated under his breath. "For an unaffiliated Bloodline Inheritor to come this far, he's no ordinary person."

"What do you mean, boss?"

"Keep watching him, but don't disturb him." Blood One stood up. "If he needs anything, you can help him discreetly. Someone like him is better as a friend than an enemy."

Blood Twelve nodded. "There's one more thing. Dark Moon may be planning to move against Lin Jin. While I was in Jiangcheng, I noticed frequent activity among the people at Dark Moon Base. They seemed to be plotting something. Also, a Dark Moon member of Silver Moon Rank arrived."

Blood One stopped and looked back.

"Only Silver Moon Rank...? Dark Moon is underestimating him."

He turned to look at Blood Twelve.

"Go to Jiangcheng again. There's no need to show yourself. If necessary, give Lin Jin a hand when the time comes."

Blood Twelve stood and bowed.

"Understood."

He turned and left, disappearing into the darkness.

Standing alone beside the round table, Blood One murmured, "Bloodline dōjutsu... interesting."

For the next two days, Lin Jin did not go out.

He stayed in the villa, concentrating on making Flying Thunder God Kunai.

He made twelve kunai in total. Each needed only its technique formula inscribed to be complete, but this allowed no room for even the slightest error.

Lin Jin picked up a kunai, gathered chakra at his fingertips, and began inscribing the technique formula on its blade.

Chakra flowed across the blade, leaving intricate runes in its wake.

A few minutes later, the first Flying Thunder God Kunai was complete.

Lin Jin fed a thread of chakra into it. A gleam flashed across the kunai, and its spatial coordinates activated.

He nodded in satisfaction and continued inscribing the remaining eleven.

Half an hour passed, and all twelve Flying Thunder God Kunai were complete.

Lin Jin picked up a kunai and casually flicked it away.

The kunai became a streak of light and embedded itself in a tree in the yard.

With a thought, he vanished from the living room. The next second, he appeared beneath the tree, holding the kunai in his hand.

Flying Thunder God: Second Step, perfectly replicated.

A satisfied smile curled Lin Jin's lips.

With these kunai, his mobility would improve dramatically.

He put away the kunai and returned to the villa.

Just then, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

The screen displayed: Su Qianxue.

Lin Jin raised an eyebrow and answered.

"Hello?"

There was silence on the other end for two seconds. Then Su Qianxue's voice came through, carrying a trace of gravity.

"Lin Jin... something happened to Zhou Yan."

Lin Jin's gaze sharpened, and his voice turned cold.

"Tell me."

Su Qianxue took a deep breath, seemingly trying hard to calm herself.

"To be precise, we don't know for sure whether anything happened to him, but he... has gone missing."

"Missing? What do you mean?" Lin Jin's brows drew together tightly.

"A week ago, Team C, the team Zhou Yan belongs to, was attacked by the Dark Moon Organization on their way back from completing a mission in Qingjiang City." Su Qianxue's voice grew quieter. "Chen Feng, Liu Yang, Li Tong, and Sun Hao were all severely injured and fell unconscious. They only woke up today. As for Zhou Yan..."

She paused.

"Zhou Yan was probably abducted by Dark Moon."

For a moment, the silence over the phone was terrifying.

A trace of scarlet flashed through Lin Jin's eyes, but quickly faded.

"Where are they?"

"Chen Feng and the others are at the Jiangcheng Paranormal Bureau's Medical Center. They're out of danger now. But their description of the attacker is very limited. All they know is that it was a Dark Moon member of Silver Moon Rank, at least at the late Domain Realm."

Su Qianxue's voice carried guilt.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. But they were unconscious for a week and only woke up today. I only just learned about this myself."

Lin Jin fell silent for a second.

"I'm coming over now."

The call ended.

He immediately closed his eyes and sensed the Flying Thunder God Mark on Zhou Yan.

He pushed his Flying Thunder God spatial coordinate perception to its limit. His perception spread in all directions like invisible ripples, extending farther into the distance.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Lin Jin's brows knitted ever tighter.

He sensed it.

The mark did exist, but his sense of it was extremely vague, as though through a thick layer of fog, or as though something was blocking it.

Someone was using special means to block spatial coordinate perception.

Lin Jin opened his eyes, a trace of coldness flashing through them.

He stood, fastened Lightning-Cleaver at his waist, and stored the twelve Flying Thunder God Kunai in the Kamui Dimension.

Dark Moon.

A trace of icy killing intent flashed through Lin Jin's eyes.

If they dared touch his friend, they had to be prepared to die.

His figure flickered, and he vanished from the living room.