80: Night stealth

The soaring bloody light and the few short, shrill screams were like stones thrown into the deep sea, failing to stir even a ripple in this enormous city.

Black Wind City had long grown accustomed to death in the darkness.

Inside the guest room of the East Wing Courtyard.

Fatty Wang was already sprawled on the ground, trembling like a sieve, his already small eyes filled with endless despair and terror, only able to emit meaningless, dreamlike whimpers.

The Demon Cultivator of the Treasure Body Realm... the sacrifices for the Blood Soul Great Sacrifice... the instant, tragic deaths of Han Meng and others... this series of terrifying facts weighed heavily on his heart, making even his breathing incredibly difficult.

It's over.

This time, it's truly... a certain death.

However, just as he was about to be completely swallowed by endless fear, a calm hand gently rested on his trembling shoulder.

"Fatty," Lin Ye's voice was so calm that it didn't stir a single ripple, yet it struck Fatty Wang's heart clearly, like the ringing of a morning bell and an evening drum, "It's not over yet."

Fatty Wang struggled to lift his head, looking at the young man before him whose face had not shown the slightest trace of fear from beginning to end.

"Bro... Brother Lin... what... what should we do?" he asked in a tearful, mosquito-like voice, "Should we... report to the Sect?"

"It's too late," Lin Ye slowly shook his head, his dark eyes chillingly calm, "It would take at least five days for a message to go back and forth from here to the Sect. And that Demon Emissary's 'Blood Soul Great Sacrifice' could begin at any moment. We can't wait that long."

"Then... then should we... escape?"

"Escape?" A cold arc formed on Lin Ye's lips, "Do you think, in this city already enveloped by the Divine Sense of that Treasure Body Realm Demon Emissary, where can we escape to?"

Fatty Wang's face, with a 'swish', turned pale again.

Yes.

Waiting means waiting for death.

Fleeing means seeking death.

This is simply... a desperate situation with no chance of survival!

Seeing Fatty Wang's eyes once again fall into despair, Lin Ye did not offer any more comforting words.

He knew that he couldn't rely on these fellow disciples who had already been scared out of their wits.

Although Su Qingyue was powerful and her mind far surpassed ordinary people, facing a Treasure Body Realm Demon Emissary and the traps of this entire city, her individual strength was ultimately limited.

Now, the only one who could break this deadlock was him!

"Fatty," Lin Ye slowly spoke, his voice not loud, yet every word was firm and full of undeniable power, "You stay here, don't go anywhere. Remember, no matter what you hear or what happens, do not leave the room. Everything will wait until I return."

With that, he no longer hesitated, turned around, and calmly walked step by step into the deepest darkness of the room.

He was going to... act alone!

...There was not a trace of fear or unease in his heart.

Only an unprecedented calmness, like ten-thousand-year-old profound ice!

"System!"

With a thought, the light-blue, technologically advanced panel appeared.

He knew that what he was about to do was a huge gamble! A gamble that would decide the life and death of everyone here, including himself!

And his only stake was this Heaven-Defying AFK System!

He unhesitatingly opened the already unlocked System Store, his gaze precisely locking onto the 'Auxiliary Secret Arts' section!

Advanced Stealth Technique, Breath Concealment Art, Mechanism Disruption... these were all 'trump cards' he had exchanged for before and had been silently AFKing in the background!

His voice was cold and resolute, "Convert all my remaining contribution points into AFK Acceleration Scrolls!"

[Command confirmed! A total of three hundred twenty contribution points consumed, thirty-two [AFK Acceleration Scrolls (One Hour)] exchanged!]

"Apply all Acceleration Scrolls to Advanced Stealth Technique, Breath Concealment Art, and Mechanism Disruption!"

He wanted to elevate his stealth and disruption abilities to an unprecedented extreme, enough to astound even ghosts and gods, before the operation began!

[Command confirmed! Thirty-two [AFK Acceleration Scrolls] have been used...]

[Advanced Stealth Technique has entered ultra-high-speed AFK mode...]

[Breath Concealment Art has entered ultra-high-speed AFK mode...]

[Mechanism Disruption has entered ultra-high-speed AFK mode...]

Buzz!!!

As the System's prompt faded, Lin Ye felt as if his Divine Soul was instantly thrown into a rapidly spinning temporal vortex!

Countless Profound Truths about "stealth," methods for "breath concealment," and techniques for "Mechanism Disruption" surged into his mind like a bursting dam!

His body became unprecedentedly light!

His aura became unprecedentedly ethereal!

His ten fingers became unprecedentedly nimble!

In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he had forcefully pushed these three Profound Rank secret arts from the "Introductory" Realm to "Minor Achievement"!

One person, an army!

Under the System's enhancement, Lin Ye had now transformed into the ultimate assassin team, combining "stealth," "concealment," and "disruption"!

When he opened his eyes again, the previous ripples in his dark eyes were gone.

Only an unfathomable darkness, capable of devouring everything, remained!

His figure flickered, and he, like an ink wash painting, slowly merged into the shadows of the room, disappearing without a trace... Inside the City Lord's Mansion, the guards were several times more stringent than before.

Teams of armored soldiers wielding long halberds patrolled back and forth like tireless Puppets. On the eaves and beneath the corners of the walls, dozens of fierce-looking hidden sentries were concealed, enveloping the entire City Lord's Mansion in a vast, inescapable net!

However, this net of death, which would give any Spirit Body Realm expert a headache, welcomed an uncatchable ghost tonight.

An extremely faint shadow, almost indistinguishable from the darkness, moved silently through this den of Dragons and tigers.

Lin Ye.

At this moment, he seemed to have become the Dominator of the night.

Every step he took landed perfectly in the gaps between the patrol guards' shifts.

Every flicker of his figure appeared with precise accuracy in the blind spots of those hidden sentries.

He was like the most skilled dancer, performing an elegant dance of death on this great net woven from flashing blades and menacing killing intent.

Soon, he silently arrived outside the study, which was filled with a cold and bloody aura.

In front of the study door, two powerful guards, whose auras were as steady as mountains and whose cultivation had evidently reached the Peak of the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, had "coincidentally" appeared!

Clearly, that Demon Emissary had not completely lowered his guard.

Lin Ye did not hesitate. His figure, like a gecko, silently climbed onto the already broken eaves again.

He no longer peered from above but went around to the back window of the study.

The window, made of thousand-year ironwood, was also inscribed with extremely subtle, faintly glowing red warning runes in cinnabar!

Once any external force touched it, it would immediately sound an alarm!

However, what seemed like a trap to others was, in Lin Ye's eyes, full of flaws, like a child's toy!

"Mechanism Disruption, activate!"

He slowly extended his right hand.

His ten fingers, at this moment, became more nimble than the most precise instrument!

He did not touch the window but gently placed his fingers on the extremely subtle gap where the window frame met the wall!

Faint but profound spiritual energy, like invisible threads, silently probed inwards along his fingertips!

He could clearly "see" the spiritual energy pathways flowing slowly within the warning runes, like human meridians!

He found the only, fatal... node!

His fingertip gently flicked.

"Pop."

An extremely subtle sound, like a bursting bubble, flashed and vanished in the silent night.

The faintly glowing red warning runes suddenly dimmed, instantly losing all their luster!

Lin Ye did not hesitate, using his fingernail to gently push open the already decayed window latch.

Pushing open the window, flashing inside, closing the window.

The entire process was smooth and flowing, without making the slightest sound.

He entered as if into an uninhabited Realm!

Inside the study, there was no one.

But the cold, bloody smell was more than ten times stronger than before!

Lin Ye's gaze, like the keenest hunting dog, rapidly scanned every corner of the room.

Finally, his gaze settled on the large desk made of thousand-year-old dark wood.

On the right side of the desk, there was an ordinary-looking... Qilin paperweight.

Lin Ye slowly walked forward, extended his hand, and gently tapped the cold Qilin paperweight three times in an extremely profound sequence.

"Left three, right seven, sink one inch."

This was a subtle, unconscious movement he had inadvertently glimpsed Qian Wanshan make when he left the eaves earlier.

"Rumble..."

A dull, teeth-grinding sound of machinery turning echoed!

The bookshelf filled with ancient texts slowly moved aside, revealing a pitch-black, bottomless, downward-spiraling stone staircase!

A even denser, chilling aura, mixed with blood, decay, and endless despair, suddenly poured out from the opening like the cold wind of Hell!

The dungeon!

Found it!