In the dead of night, all was completely silent.
In the corridor of the Tongzi Building, a burly man whom Feng Yin vaguely recognized lay quietly on the floor. His throat had been slit, and blood pooled all around him.
He was one of the night patrollers tonight, but he would never patrol again.
Within the building, a heavy stench of blood drifted from several rooms on the bottom three floors where the doors couldn't be closed.
Two men in black, wielding katanas, converged in the first-floor corridor. Blood dripped from both of their blades.
They exchanged a glance and a hand signal, then looked around in confusion.
Another brother was responsible for the first floor; why hadn't he come out yet?
Meanwhile, in Feng Yin's room, a dark figure holding a sword prowled about, looking around in confusion.
According to their intelligence, there should have been someone in this room.
Bizarrely, right beside the man in black's feet, Feng Yin was sleeping soundly on the wooden bed, his eyes quietly shut.
On the back of his right hand, a mark glowed with a bloody light.
Yet, the man in black was completely oblivious to it.
Just as the man in black was cautiously peering around, the mark on Feng Yin's right hand slowly faded away.
His body gave a slight shudder, and he abruptly opened his eyes.
[Successfully returned. You have gained "37 Spirituality" during this journey. It can be used for the Recovery of the Armor's "Durability" and "Secret Energy," or to upgrade the performance of "Engraving," "Skills," and "Secret Technique."]
Feng Yin quickly sat up and immediately spotted the man in black beside him.
This sudden movement startled the intruder. As if noticing Feng Yin for the very first time, he let out a sharp cry of surprise on the spot.
"Huh!?"
What was going on? Why hadn't he noticed this person sleeping right beside him just a moment ago?
He quickly snapped back to his senses, his expression turning vicious as he lunged fiercely at Feng Yin.
With a swift twist, the katana was thrust straight toward Feng Yin.
Faced with this sudden attack, Feng Yin's eyes widened in shock, and he subconsciously summoned his trump card.
Armor!
HUMM!
Amidst invisible fluctuations, a pitch-black Armor materialized abruptly out of thin air, instantly enveloping Feng Yin within it.
By now, the tip of the katana had already reached Feng Yin's chest, right on the verge of piercing him!
In the next split second, a left hand covered in a terrifying Arm Armor shot out from the side with astonishing Speed, tightly gripping the blade.
Under the man in black's incredulous gaze...
CLANG!
Feng Yin gripped and twisted with his left hand, pinching the blade and forcefully wrenching the gleaming katana right out of the intruder's grasp.
The man in black was utterly dumbfounded.
In the next instant, Feng Yin sprang up to his full height and threw a punch with his right hand.
The man in black reacted quickly. He instinctively raised his arms to block, but the moment he intercepted Feng Yin's fist, his eyes bulged out of their sockets.
It felt as if he had been hit by a compact car!
It was like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot!
Feng Yin's right fist crushed the man in black's arms inward, slamming brutally into his chest with terrifying Momentum.
THUD!
CRACK!
Amidst the muffled impact, both the man in black's arms and sternum were fractured by the punch. His entire body was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
BAM!
He crashed heavily against the wall, rebounded, and sprawled onto the ground, immediately spewing a large mouthful of blood.
A second later, Feng Yin, who had already rolled to his feet, silently arrived in front of the fallen man.
He callously raised his right hand and grasped the Canfeng Sword on his back. However, after a brief thought, he gave up on using a weapon.
At this moment, the man in black had just propped himself up off the ground and raised his head.
But all he saw was the demon-like, pitch-black Armor reaching toward him with a terrifying Hand Armor.
"No... No..."
Amidst the man's frantic and desperate pleas for mercy, Feng Yin grabbed his jaw with one hand and the top of his skull with the other, giving it a swift, violent twist!
SNAP!
The man in black instantly went limp and silent.
Due to the commotion of their brief struggle and the man in black's initial scream, the entire Tongzi Building was now in an uproar.
"Enemy attack!"
"Damn it! Shijima is dead!"
"Shang Village is also dead!"
Footsteps and shouts echoed through the halls.
A flurry of opening doors and panicked screams came from outside.
The main lights of the Tongzi Building flickered on.
Feng Yin stood up and quickly dispelled the Armor covering his body.
He had now roughly figured out what was going on.
A hostile faction had launched a night raid for an assassination.
Fortunately, when he woke up just now, he hadn't truly awoken from a dream; he had returned from the "game."
His mind had been completely clear, devoid of the grogginess that typically accompanied waking up.
Otherwise, it would have been absolutely impossible to react to the intruder's ambush.
He looked at the corpse and the katana lying on the floor, pondered in silence for a moment, and quickly came up with an excuse for his counter-kill.
Then, he picked up the katana, pushed the door open, and rushed out.
"Someone come quick! I took one out!"
By now, a large crowd of burly men had poured into the courtyard of the Tongzi Building, many so rushed they hadn't even put on their shirts. Every single one of them was clutching a weapon.
Hearing Feng Yin's shout, they all turned to look at him.
Boss Hong was impressively among them. He hurried over, shouting, "Where! Let me see."
Feng Yin pointed behind him. "In my room. I snapped his neck."
Boss Hong gave him a surprised look. "Good lord, you're quite ruthless, aren't you, kid?"
Saying that, he walked straight into the room.
Feng Yin followed him inside and asked, "Where's Sister Xie? Why didn't I see her?"
Boss Hong crouched beside the man in black and pulled back his bloodstained face mask. He reached out to check the man's breathing, replying casually as he did so, "Two more got away. Old Xie went after them."
"Oh." Feng Yin nodded silently.
Xie Yanran's Martial Arts were formidable; even if she couldn't catch the night raiders, she should be fine.
He asked again, "Brother Hong, what's going on here?"
Boss Hong stood up, his face fierce and violent. "What else could it be? Assassins sent by the scum from the Ren Sheng Group. Damn it, trying to pull this kind of trick on me!"
He glanced at Feng Yin again and patted his shoulder in satisfaction. "You're not bad, kid. You actually managed to avoid being assassinated. How did you do it?"
Feng Yin replied softly, "I just got here and haven't adapted yet. I couldn't sleep tonight, so I noticed someone entering the courtyard. I hid behind the door and ambushed him to death."
With that, he looked at Boss Hong with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, Brother Hong. I should have called out a warning first."
Boss Hong patted his shoulder once more. "Being able to do this much is already pretty good. You aren't hurt, right?"
Feng Yin gave a simple explanation: "I'm strong. After I knocked his sword away, he couldn't hurt me."
"Not bad at all. As expected of someone Old Xie took a liking to; you really have some skill." Boss Hong praised him a couple more times. "Come on, let's go outside and take a look."
Feng Yin nodded silently and followed Boss Hong out of the room.
Along the way, he took the opportunity to glance at his status panel.
——Sealing Armor——
Liberation Level: 12%
Durability: 8/12 (Available for Recovery)
Secret Energy: 10/12 (Available for Recovery)
Strength: 12
Mobility: 12
Main Hand Armament: Canfeng Sword
Secondary Hand Armament: Simple Arm Crossbow
Engraving: Wolf's Badge (Unequipped)
Skills: Stealing Step (Upgradeable)
Secret Technique: None
Spirituality: 37
Items: Micro-Durability Crystal × 1
———————
Not bad at all!
A look of satisfaction flashed through Feng Yin's eyes.
He hadn't expected that this transitional "mini-stage" would yield such a bountiful harvest.
With the increase in Liberation Level, his Blood Magic Agility had also increased accordingly.
In addition, the kill had rewarded him with over thirty points of Spirituality, more than enough to upgrade Stealing Step to Level 3.
These were all secondary. The most important thing was the "Wolf's Badge" Engraving dropped by the Demon Wolf; that was the truly major gain.
With this Engraving, the combat power of his Armor would greatly increase.
***