Lin Jin stopped and closed his eyes again, extending the perception of the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to its fullest.
His perception instantly covered the entire chemical plant, and he clearly sensed four energy fluctuations.
Two were at the early Domain Realm, and one was at the late Domain Realm. Deeper inside lay an even more profound presence, at the peak of the Domain Realm, even faintly touching the threshold of the Transcendent Stage.
And among them was another energy fluctuation, faint but familiar.
It was Zhou Yan.
Lin Jin opened his eyes and instantly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. Scarlet light shone in the darkness as three tomoe spun and merged into a Straight-Bar Tomoe Pinwheel.
The next second, his body began to warp.
Kamui.
His figure vanished from the spot and entered the Kamui Dimension.
Deep inside the chemical plant's workshop, Zhou Yan was tied to an iron chair with a strip of cloth stuffed in his mouth. His consciousness was somewhat hazy, but his eyes remained fixed on the black-clad figures ahead.
Ghost Fox stood by the window with his back to the others, while Ghost Hand sat on a nearby crate, toying with a dagger.
Old Seven and Old Nine guarded either side of the entrance, watching warily for movement outside.
"Sir, I sensed him coming in," Old Seven suddenly said, his voice tense.
Ghost Fox did not turn around, merely asking casually, "How many?"
"Just one."
Ghost Fox smiled.
"He has some nerve."
"Come on. Let's go welcome our guest."
Before he finished speaking, a voice rang out behind them.
"No need. I'm already inside."
As the voice fell, the space beside Zhou Yan suddenly began to distort, forming a spatial vortex.
Ghost Hand's pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly leaped off the crate. Old Seven and Old Nine turned at the same time, energy gathering in their palms. Ghost Fox whipped around, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
At the center of the spatial distortion, a figure appeared out of thin air.
Short black hair, dark casual clothes, and a deep-blue Tang sword at his waist. His scarlet eyes shone like two blood-red lanterns in the darkness.
Lin Jin.
He had appeared right beside Zhou Yan, less than five meters from Ghost Hand and less than ten from Ghost Fox.
Not a single person present had expected him to appear this way.
"Little Lin..." The cloth in Zhou Yan's mouth reduced his words to muffled syllables, but his eyes instantly lit up, their rims reddening.
Lin Jin did not look at him, placing his palm directly on his shoulder.
"Don't move."
The next second, Zhou Yan's body began to warp as an invisible force drew him into a spatial vortex that had suddenly appeared.
Kamui!
In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yan was sucked entirely into the Kamui Dimension.
A brief, deathly silence fell over the room.
Ghost Hand stared wide-eyed at the spot where Zhou Yan had vanished, nearly dropping the dagger in his hand.
Old Seven and Old Nine exchanged looks, their eyes filled with disbelief.
They had used the Void Lock Talisman Seal, specifically designed to counter spatial abilities, to seal off spatial fluctuations within a five-hundred-meter radius of the entire chemical plant.
Any Space-Type teleportation superpower should have been completely restricted here.
Yet this man had not only appeared out of thin air, but also rescued the hostage in a way they had never seen before.
The smile finally disappeared from Ghost Fox's face.
He stared at Lin Jin, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.
"Interesting." His voice remained calm, but a trace of gravity appeared deep in his eyes. "The intel never mentioned you had this ability."
Lin Jin turned to face the four of them.
His expression did not change at all, as though he had merely done something insignificant.
"I've rescued him," he said evenly. "Now we can properly settle the score between us."
Ghost Fox stared at him for three seconds, then suddenly smiled.
It was a cold smile, devoid of warmth.
"You think you can rescue that piece of trash and walk away unscathed?" He raised his hand and flicked a finger. "The spatial lock is still in place. You can't leave now either. Besides..."
He paused, his lips curling into a cruel arc.
"You were our target from the beginning. That brat was nothing more than bait to lure you out. Now that you're here, whether he lives or dies no longer matters."
He swung his hand down.
"Activate the Magic-Sealing Formation!"
Old Seven and Old Nine each pulled a black rune from inside their clothes and slammed it onto the floor.
Boom!
Three dark-red pillars of light shot skyward from three corners of the workshop, intertwining overhead into a massive formation. It rotated, radiating a heart-quivering sense of pressure.
Lin Jin felt the flow of chakra inside him abruptly stagnate, as though bound by countless invisible chains.
The chakra that had been circulating smoothly became sluggish and heavy.
The Triple Magic-Sealing Formation.
It specifically countered energy-based attacks. The more powerful the energy output, the stronger the backlash.
The four opposite him were unaffected by the formation, however. Clearly, they had come prepared.
Ghost Fox stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Lin Jin with condescending composure in his voice.
"Lin Jin, I admit you're strong. To rescue someone so easily right in front of the four of us, under the dual suppression of a spatial lock and the Magic-Sealing Formation-that strength puts you among the best in the country."
He took a step forward, and the pressure of his peak Domain Realm presence bore down like a mountain.
"But in the end, you're still too young and hotheaded."
"You shouldn't have come alone."
With that, he raised his right hand. A dark-red rune appeared in his palm, resonating with the Magic-Sealing Formation.
Identical runes appeared in the palms of Ghost Hand, Old Seven, and Old Nine.
They were formation talismans.
With them, the Magic-Sealing Formation would suppress only Lin Jin without affecting the others.
"Now, I'll give you a chance." His voice grew gentle, yet carried a viper's chill. "Surrender and reveal the secret of your bloodline, and I can ask headquarters to spare your life. I can even recommend you join Dark Moon. With your strength, your position would be no lower than mine."
"Otherwise..."
He did not continue, but his meaning was already clear.
Lin Jin watched him without a word.
His scarlet eyes were as calm as still water, without anger or fear, without even a ripple.
As though he were looking at a dead man.
Ghost Fox waited a moment but received no reply. The smile gradually faded from his face, replaced by cold killing intent.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll oblige."
He abruptly raised his hand.
"Attack!"
Before his voice faded, four figures moved at once.
Old Seven and Old Nine flanked him from either side, Ghost Hand charged straight ahead, while Ghost Fox remained where he was, forming hand seals and beginning to summon the power of his domain.
Lin Jin stood in place, watching the four attack, and slowly closed his right hand around Lightning-Cleaver at his waist.
Shing!
The instant the blade left its sheath, a low rumble of thunder echoed through the workshop.
The deep-blue blade gleamed coldly in the moonlight, its lightning patterns flowing as though alive.
Old Seven reached him first.
He was an earth-type awakened at the early Domain Realm.
The instant his palms struck the floor, the ground abruptly split open. Countless sharp earthen spikes thrust up from below, cutting off every avenue of escape for Lin Jin.
Lin Jin did not dodge.
He stepped forward with his left foot and swung the sword in his right hand.
One horizontal slash.
The blade flashed, without any astonishing display of power.
It was nothing more than a simple slash, taken to the utmost speed.
Before that flash of steel, the incoming earthen spikes were like tofu. They were instantly sliced in two, their cut surfaces as smooth as mirrors.
Old Seven's pupils contracted.
He had seen many experts wield blades, but never swordsmanship like this.
With just one simple slash, Lin Jin had broken all his attacks.
This man's mastery of technique had already reached the realm of returning to simplicity!
But he was a Domain Realm expert, after all. How could a single slash scare him off?
Before you continue