Lin Fang landed lightly, Guardian’s Mantle flickering as he dismissed excess energy. A quiet breath left his lips.

Then he rushed forward.

Halfway toward Jin Di, his voice dropped to a whisper.

“Stealth, Activate.”

He vanished.

Jin Di blinked once, then grinned—sharply, like someone handed a puzzle worth solving. His senses spread wide like invisible tendrils, probing the space around him.

“High-grade stealth… You still have a lot of arsenal left in you…” he murmured. “You’re indeed built for black ops, Alpha.”

A pulse of energy shot from his palm toward where he felt something shift in the air.

A blur flickered; Lin Fang dodged it.

Jin Di pivoted instantly, feeling the killer intent brush against his spine. He swung—too late.

Two icy daggers carved a clean cross across his chest.

Blood sprayed in red arcs as Jin Di skidded backward, boots carving long tracks into the reinforced floor. His eyes widened, genuinely in shock for the first time.

From the observation deck, Feng Xiu jerked upright.

Jin Di was bleeding? He grabbed the railing tightly… “This…”

Lin Fang didn’t pause, though. Still cloaked in stealth, he lunged again, daggers gleaming with cold mana, ready to carve another opening—

But Jin Di roared, unleashing a burst of energy like a shockwave.

It hit Lin Fang mid-charge.

BOOM.

Lin Fang’s body twisted violently as he was flung back, smashing into the ground hard enough to leave a shallow crater.

His stealth was shattered instantly, daggers skittering across the floor from the impact. Pain burst through his body like splintering glass. *Puchi* he coughed blood, forcing him to raise the mask again slightly and wipe it off.

However, Jin Di was already charging again. His gaze sharpened with intense killing intent this time. He leaped skyward, eclipsing the arena lights, fist raised—energy spiraling around his arm like a drill.

Lin Fang saw the descending figure—a killing strike, unmistakably so.

This time, he didn’t dodge.

He didn’t roll.

He didn’t run.

“You are not the only one who can release his energy like that.”

He planted his palms on the floor and snarled: “Activate, Essence Burst!”

Mana detonated outward from his body, releasing a violent explosion of raw, compressed energy. The blast struck Jin Di midair, slamming into his already wounded chest.

Jin Di was ripped from the sky, sent hurtling across the arena.

He crashed, bounced, skidded—finally dragging to a stop with another grunt, fresh blood staining his wounded torso.

Jin Di laughed as his aura thickened even more. “Good… good… now I’m starting to have fun… Hahaha…”

However, there was madness in his laugh…

Lin Fang staggered upright, letting out a deep breath. His ribs screamed. His muscles quivered. But his eyes were sharp, steady.

He stretched out both arms toward Jin Di. “I won’t hesitate anymore… I have to win this battle…”

“Astral Chain—activate.”

Mana surged out like spectral serpents, shimmering chains shooting across the arena, aiming to lash around the sage at full speed.

Jin Di’s eyes widened again as the attack was fast for even him. It was like lightning struck him at the speed of light.

The astral chains snapped into place—each link a violet brand that wrapped around Jin Di’s torso, arms, and legs, pinning him mid-stride.

He flexed, tried to destroy the chains with his energy burst, but the chains didn’t budge. Not an inch. And Jin Di felt like he couldn’t hold control over his energy either.

“I see… These are those indestructible purple chains that Li Chengfeng used to trap the Ten-tailed wolf back in the 90s…” Jin Di looked around his body.

Lin Fang then raised his hand, “Come.”

At his whisper, his daggers rose like silver birds, snapping back into his hands with a soft hum. Cold energy rippled over the blades.

“Activate, Divine Blessing,” he whispered.

*Ding!

[Divine Blessing has been activated.]

[Twin Daggers of Xuanwu have been selected as the target. The attacks of the daggers increased by 500%.]

While his energy reserves were being consumed 10% every second, the divine light wrapped around the daggers, boosting them to a frightening edge.

He stepped in close, crossing the blades over his chest, body lowering like a coiled predator preparing for the finishing pounce.

The skill was already forming on his tongue.

“Activate, Twin Fang…”

Just then…

Something suddenly clicked in his head.

Jin Di was human.

Lin Fang’s feet dug hard into the ground.

His body skidded.

Mana carved a long scar across the floor as he halted several meters away from Jin Di, chest rising and falling from the aborted charge.

“Dismiss, everything…”

In one swift wave of his hand, the daggers dissipated.

The golden blessing faded.

The astral chains shattered into harmless motes.

Silence settled thick as fog.

Jin Di stared at him, eyes narrow, unreadable as he was freed from the chains. “Why did you stop?” His tone was low, tight, almost as if he were offended.

Lin Fang straightened and adjusted his mask and then his shirt. Even through the mask, his voice carried a firm calm as he said. “I just realized mid way that my strongest attack would’ve caused serious injury. Maybe even killed you. We don’t have personal enmity, Senior Jin. I won’t cross that line in a spar.”

In the next instant, a pulse of aura exploded from Jin Di—not wild, not uncontrolled, but sharp enough that Feng Xiu took a step forward, seriousness flickering in his eyes.

“You’re talking about mercy in the middle of a match.,” Jin Di growled as if he were enraged by Lin Fang’s words. “And that too, to your opponent’s face.”

Lin Fang didn’t back down and calmly replied. “I’m stating my boundaries. Nothing more.”

Then—sharply, abruptly—Jin Di’s aura vanished.

A large grin replaced the grim look, bright and wolfish.

“Excellent.”

He threw back his head and laughed.

“Good technique. Good instincts. And even better judgment.”

He jabbed a thumb toward Lin Fang. “Feng Xiu, I like this kid.”

Feng Xiu finally exhaled, shoulders dropping.

Lin Fang… felt his heartbeat slow again.

He didn’t regret stopping.

If anything, Jin Di’s reaction confirmed he’d made the right call.

Feng Xiu’s shoes clicked sharply against the fractured training floor as he hurried toward them. Relief washed over his face as he said. “I was really worried you’d beat him up, Master Xyl.”

Lin Fang froze mid-breath.

“Master who?”

Before he processed the name, a familiar shift happened.

Jin Di—no, Xyl—let his aura unfurl again. But this time it wasn’t sharp or crushing. It washed through the room like a deep ocean tide, gentle at the surface yet impossibly vast underneath.

Lin Fang’s skin prickled.

His lungs tightened.

Inside his mind, Alpha hissed. “Holy mother… Even my senses were fooled. This man… he has five hundred times the reserves you have, kiddo.

Five hundred times? Lin Fang couldn’t help but remember Han Sungjun, the one who is also called the Demon of Southern Wu, the one who actually defeated the Devil.

Feng Xiu then placed a steadying hand on Lin Fang’s shoulder. “Let me introduce him properly. Jin Di is just his civilian alias. The world knows him with his codename: Xyl.”

Lin Fang stared at him, the mask suddenly feeling too tight.

Xyl—the Walking Cataclysm.

One of the three SS-rank Hunters of the Continent, who actually works for the government body, and the only reason why the Hunter Association didn’t manage to topple the governments in Zhonggou continent.

He is also the very man for whom this trial is conducted…

And he’d been casually throwing punches at Lin Fang for entertainment.

Xyl crossed his arms and leaned back with an easy grin. “I didn’t lie, Lin Fang,” he said with a grin. “I’m not S-rank. I’m not even D-rank.”

Xyl then chuckled. “I’m an SS-rank.”

With his identity already known, Lin Fang put away his mask, but then couldn’t help but point at him accusingly. “That’s so cheap!”

“Hey,” Xyl shrugged, “if I told you beforehand, you’d have held back or gotten nervous. Feng Xiu mentioned you were Li Chengfeng’s inheritor—so naturally, I wanted to see how you fight without mental preparation.”

Feng Xiu cleared his throat. “I only told him after he saw the hostage footage. He asked to meet you.”

Xyl stepped closer, lowering his voice.

“And for the record,” he added, “your slash earlier wouldn’t have killed me.”

Before Lin Fang could protest, Xyl lifted a hand.

A soft pulse rippled outward.

The gashes on his chest vanished.

Like they had never existed.

Lin Fang’s eyes widened. “He also has a healing skill?”

“I have an instant restoration ability, Lin Fang,” Xyl said lightly. “Unless you could kill me completely with the strike, no amount of attack would do anything to me…”

“Ugh… that’s so much of a cheating ability.” Lin Fang groaned inwardly.

To that, Alpha chuckled, “Kiddo, you are the one with cheating ability. And also, there is no such thing as absolute skill without weakness. I bet his skill would have a long cooldown too.”

“right…” As Lin Fang calmed at Alpha’s words, he then looked at Jin Di and said, “So, how did I do?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep