153: Chapter 154 The Girl from the Cherry Blossom Country

Shi Yongxin has escaped.

This brief yet surprising news from the scene caused Sword Saint Liu Qingtian, who had just finished the Provincial Tournament and was planning to personally communicate with Lin Muyang, to knit his brows instantly and his expression to darken.

The team he dispatched for the arrest mission was led by an experienced veteran approaching level 200, with the other four members around level 180, all elites from the Security Bureau's Special Investigation Division. Such a lineup, sent to capture a Summoner whose summon had just been severely damaged on the arena and whose own level was only over 180, should have been a guaranteed success.

As a result, not only was the person not captured, but they had vanished into thin air from within a closed underground parking lot, right under the encirclement of five elites? Furthermore, the dispatched team seemed to have encountered some kind of "accident"?

Liu Qingtian did not immediately reprimand his subordinates. He understood the capabilities and loyalty of his men; had they not encountered an unimaginable, completely irresistible situation, they would rather die in battle than let the target escape. There must be something suspicious behind this.

"What... exactly happened?" Doubts clouded Liu Qingtian's mind. Although Shi Yongxin's hostility and threats toward Lin Muyang after the match were despicable, based on his past style of conduct, it shouldn't have been enough to make him dare to "escape" so decisively right under the noses of five experts, knowing that the authorities had already intervened, and to do so so cleanly without leaving a single trace.

He had originally planned to go with Zhou Wenyuan and Xu Ruohan to talk to Lin Muyang, first to congratulate him on winning the championship, and second to probe for more information about him. But now, the lead on Shi Yongxin had suddenly broken, and so bizarrely at that, so he had to prioritize handling this matter.

Half an hour later, the underground parking lot of the Tianhai City Martial Arts Hall had been completely sealed off.

Liu Qingtian arrived personally, accompanied by the "Iron-Blooded Judge," Fierce Wolf. In addition, there were several high-ranking officials responsible for on-site investigation and intelligence analysis.

The middle-aged investigator who had led the arrest team and had now removed his sunglasses was reporting the situation to Liu Qingtian and Fierce Wolf with a solemn expression and meticulous detail, leaving nothing out.

"...The above is the entire process of what we experienced at the time. The target, Shi Yongxin, suddenly disappeared completely from our sight and perception, while the five of us lost all perception of the outside world at the same time; we couldn't see, hear, smell, touch, or even think, as if we were frozen in time. When we recovered, the target was nowhere to be seen. There were no traces of fighting at the scene, no residual violent energy fluctuations, and no signs of high-level spatial teleportation detected. It was as if he had simply evaporated."

The investigator's voice was steady, but a lingering sense of fear remained in his eyes. That feeling of powerlessness, of losing all perception in an instant and being at the mercy of others, was an extremely terrifying experience for any experienced warrior.

"Time Reversal." After hearing the report, Fierce Wolf did not ask any more questions, but simply uttered these four words indifferently. He looked at Liu Qingtian, who nodded slightly.

As Fierce Wolf closed his eyes and formed an ancient and complex seal with his hands in front of his chest, a strange, intangible, yet ripple-causing fluctuation in the surrounding space spread out from him, enveloping the entire incident area of the parking lot.

Hum...

In the air, transparent ripples seemed to oscillate. Immediately after, a blurry image, like old film footage, began to slowly condense and appear before everyone. The angle of the image was not fixed, but presented a 360-degree panoramic view centered on Fierce Wolf's position, though the clarity was limited and the details were somewhat hazy.

In the image, time seemed to be accelerated. One could see the five investigators quickly approaching the target, Shi Yongxin, surrounding him, and the two sides seemed to have a brief standoff. Then, just as the investigators were about to make their move—

A sudden change occurred!

The images of the five investigators suddenly stiffened in unison, as if a pause button had been pressed. Immediately after, a hazy shell, seemingly made of flowing golden liquid light, poured down from above their heads without warning, rapidly covering their entire bodies! Under the cover of this golden shell, their bodies lost color and detail at a speed visible to the naked eye, solidifying and hardening, until they finally turned into five well-defined, motionless golden statues!

"This is...!" Everyone on the scene, including Liu Qingtian and Fierce Wolf, felt their pupils constrict slightly. This scene was so similar to the one described in the intelligence report that had occurred at the National Magic Crystal Bank in Old Delhi City, India! The "golden sculptures" that had caused hundreds of guards, including a Nation-Guarding Level Expert, to lose consciousness collectively!

It really was that person who had made a move!

The image continued. At the same time the five investigators turned into golden statues, the image of Shi Yongxin in the center of the encirclement showed a clearly shocked expression on his face, his mouth slightly open and eyes wide, as if he hadn't expected this situation at all. Then, his figure... began to fade.

It wasn't fast movement, nor was it stealthy infiltration into shadows, but like a TV screen with a bad signal, his entire outline quickly became blurry and transparent, and finally, in less than a second, he completely "disappeared" from the image! There were no afterimages, light spots, or spatial ripples left on the spot; he just vanished completely.

The image ended here regarding Shi Yongxin. For the next few minutes, the image showed the five golden statues remaining motionless until a certain moment, when the golden shell quickly faded away like melting ice and snow. The five investigators regained their mobility, looked around in confusion with shock on their faces, and quickly searched the scene, but found nothing...

The playback image ended and slowly dissipated into the air.

The parking lot fell into a brief silence. The five who had experienced it firsthand looked at each other; even seeing it again, they still felt it was incredible and felt a lingering fear. The others who had arrived later were deeply shocked by the eerie "golden sculptures" and the sight of Shi Yongxin "evaporating" into thin air in the image.

"It seems that the friend behind Lin Muyang has intervened." Fierce Wolf broke the silence first. He rubbed his chin, his eyes sharp, and analyzed, "Old Liu, look, the expression on Shi Yongxin's face before he disappeared was one of shock, not of a plan succeeding or being prepared. This indicates that his disappearance was likely not voluntary, or at least not entirely within his expectations."

Liu Qingtian nodded slowly, his expression solemn: "Correct. If someone were assisting his escape, or if he himself possessed such advanced means of escape, he should have used them the moment he was surrounded, or at least would have shown an expression of preparation or determination, rather than pure shock."

"Then, the greatest possibility is..." A flash of light appeared in Fierce Wolf's eyes, "That 'big shot' made a move, not to rescue Shi Yongxin, but to personally eliminate this hidden danger that posed a clear threat to Lin Muyang. Taking him away while 'cloaked' was likely just to change locations and 'dispose' of him cleanly, avoiding complications and also avoiding unnecessary trouble and speculation by taking action directly in front of official personnel."

This speculation was reasonable. Given Shi Yongxin's public threat to Lin Muyang after the match, and the degree of importance that "mysterious big shot" showed toward Lin Muyang, personally taking action to erase this potential threat was the most normal choice.

However...

Liu Qingtian sighed softly, a complex look flashing between his brows: "It seems that the other party doesn't completely trust our official efficiency and handling results." He was naturally referring to the official dispatching of people to arrest Shi Yongxin. The other party chose to "intercept," and in such a near "show-off" manner, which to some extent, also indicated an attitude—when it comes to Lin Muyang's safety, they prefer to use their own methods to ensure there are no mishaps.

Fierce Wolf was unfazed by this, saying calmly: "Understandable. Standing from the other party's perspective, an entity that can come and go freely in India and Kimchi Country, treating the experts of other nations as nothing, their style of conduct must be decisive and independent. Controlling the potential threat directly in their own hands to dispose of it is the simplest and most efficient way. It's just... with this, our attempt to follow the vine and dig out other forces or clues that might exist behind him through the line of Shi Yongxin is broken."

Sword Saint pondered for a moment and shook his head: "Regarding this person Shi Yongxin, according to intelligence just supplemented by Tianhai City, he is inherently unruly and ruthless, with unclear connections to some local gray forces and even overseas powers. He dared to openly threaten Lin Muyang after the competition; it is hard to guarantee he won't take even crazier actions in secret. The other party dealing with him, although the methods put us in a somewhat passive position, from the results, it has indeed eliminated a clear threat."

He paused, his tone becoming serious, and ordered the investigators and officials beside him: "However, until concrete evidence of Shi Yongxin's death is found, the investigation cannot stop. Pass down the order to raise the wanted level for Shi Yongxin and strengthen related intelligence gathering and deployment nationwide. Especially pay attention to whether there are signs of Shi Yongxin or his remnants attempting to approach or retaliate against Lin Muyang. At the same time, conduct a thorough investigation into Shi Yongxin's past social connections, financial transactions, and activity tracks to see if other clues can be found."

"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.

As for everything that happened in the underground parking lot and the subsequent official reaction, Lin Muyang was naturally completely unaware at this moment.

About half an hour after the Provincial Tournament ended, he quietly left the still bustling and seething Tianhai City Martial Arts Hall with the young ladies. Using the cover of the Divine Concealment Aura, he did not alert anyone and successfully returned to Ziyun Mountain Villa in Zhongnan City.

Shortly after returning to the villa, the new batch of high-quality secret realm scrolls that had been requested from the National Treasury arrived. Lin Muyang had no intention of resting; he took several young ladies—Lilia, Seraphina, and Su Daji—and quietly left the villa again, sneaking into the deep and dangerous sea area outside Tianhai City.

He had never been the least bit lax about improving his strength.

One after another, Emperor Level and epic-grade secret realm scrolls were opened, turning into independent small spaces. Lin Muyang led the young ladies like the most efficient killing machines, sweeping through every secret realm with a crushing momentum. Experience points poured into his body like a bursting river. the young ladies further honed their newly acquired powers and cooperation with each other in actual combat, and the experience of their Origin Skill also grew rapidly under the Super Speed Comprehension Aura.

When the first hint of white appeared on the eastern horizon, the energy of the last secret realm scroll was exhausted. Lin Muyang's level had soared from level 73 all the way to level 75! The total amount of experience gained in this half-night was enough to equal the hard work of an ordinary Summoner for more than half a year. However, looking at the jumping numbers on his attribute panel, Lin Muyang felt no great joy, but instead frowned slightly.

"Still too slow..." he muttered to himself. At this rate, even if he maintained high-intensity Dungeon grinding, by the time the national finals started, he would probably only just barely break through level 80. Although with his and the young ladies' current combat power, dealing with the national competition shouldn't be a problem, he pursued absolute control and faster growth. Level 80 was not enough.

"High-quality secret realm and Dungeon scrolls are still too scarce..." Lin Muyang understood where the crux of the problem lay. Even with his access to National Treasury resources, he could not obtain such strategic resources without limit. The production and distribution of every high-level secret realm scroll were strictly controlled. This was also one of the reasons why he had previously agreed to Gu Shuanglin's friend request—as a local powerhouse, the Gu Group might have unexpected surprises in terms of resource channels.

Of course, it was the early hours of the morning, so he naturally wouldn't disturb her. He just didn't expect that for many people, this night was destined to be sleepless.

Gu Shuanglin was wrapped in a soft silk quilt, lying on the large bed in her spacious bedroom, tossing and turning. In her mind, she kept replaying the scenes from the arena during the day, especially Lin Muyang's calm and deep eyes, and those young ladies beside him who were powerful enough to be suffocating... as well as that brief exchange after the match that made her heart race. Her cheeks felt slightly hot, and she hadn't been able to truly fall asleep all night.

There were not a few people in similar situations to her. Tonight, countless Class Transferee forums, social platforms, and secret chat groups around the world that were following the Summoner Competition were completely boiling over because of the name "Lin Muyang." What he displayed in the finals, especially the eerie, soul-striking, and terrifying methods of the "Yama Maiden" Gui Wanwan, became the focus of everyone's discussion. That ability to make powerful summons instantly "dull" and lose their will to fight was unprecedented, making countless experts feel both shocked and wary, and it also attracted countless open and secret inquisitive gazes.

Undercurrents had already begun to surge. The secret forces of many countries had already quietly extended their tentacles toward the Xia Kingdom through various channels, aiming directly at this peerless genius who had suddenly emerged. The Xia Kingdom side was naturally well-prepared; the national security machine was fully activated, and countless experts belonging to various security departments were mobilized to weave an invisible net across the country, striving to isolate all potential threats from Lin Muyang's world.

Lin Muyang was temporarily unaware of these national-level secret wars and confrontations, and he didn't need to worry too much about them. Out of absolute regard for his value, the Xia Kingdom officials had taken the initiative to assume the role of the vast majority of the "barrier."

When the first light of dawn appeared, Lin Muyang returned to Ziyun Mountain Villa with the young ladies, who had completed a night of special training and looked slightly tired but had bright eyes. The sky was not yet fully bright, and the villa area was shrouded in a quiet mist.

However, just as he was about to push open the fence gate of the villa's front courtyard, his footsteps paused slightly.

His gaze was drawn to the weeping willow with vigorous branches and elegant posture in the villa's front courtyard. No, to be precise, he was attracted by a slender figure on the weeping willow.

It was a young girl. She was wearing a well-tailored black outfit, with a dark purple short jacket with cherry blossom patterns worn casually over it. Her waterfall-like black hair was not tied up, flowing down her shoulders smoothly, with the ends slightly curled. She was lying on her side on a thick horizontal branch of the willow tree in an extremely relaxed, even somewhat lazy posture, with one hand behind her head and the other holding the latest foldable screen phone, her fingertips sliding nimbly across the screen, seemingly engrossed in what she was watching.

The morning light filtered through the gaps in the willow leaves, casting mottled spots of light on her. Her slender legs, wearing pure black short socks and no shoes, hung casually off the branch, swaying gently in the air with her slight movements, outlining breathtakingly beautiful curves. The whole person exuded a mysterious and agile Aura that was out of place with the quiet environment around her.

What caught Lin Muyang's attention even more was that from the faint light reflected from her phone screen, he vaguely caught a glimpse of the text on the screen—it was the text of Japan.

"A person from Japan?" Lin Muyang's heart stirred, and with almost no hesitation, the insight of Divine Sight was quietly activated. The invisible perception power, like the most precise scanner, instantly enveloped the girl on the willow tree.

In the next instant, the feedback information caused a trace of extremely subtle, yet real waves to flash across Lin Muyang's usually calm eyes.

"Sub-God Rank Talent..." Lin Muyang muttered these four words in his heart, and his eyes became deep. In his previous knowledge and public information, the talent limit of Blue Star Class Transferees was SSS rank. Although the God-Tier Aura he possessed had long surpassed this category, it belonged to an uncopyable gift from the "System." And the Japanese girl in front of him was the first existence he had encountered in reality whose talent was clearly labeled as "Sub-God Rank"!

"Interesting." Lin Muyang quickly calmed down, and his brain began to analyze rapidly, "'Spatial Leap'... ignore obstacles, infinite short-distance spatial teleportation. With her current total attributes of over ten thousand, the maximum teleportation distance can reach more than one hundred and fifty kilometers... This talent, whether used for extreme assassination, super-mobile evasion, or long-distance travel and strategic transfer, can be called a divine skill. No wonder she could silently break through the outer perimeter's alert and appear directly at the door of my villa."

"A Sub-God Rank Talent holder from Japan, appearing here at this sensitive time..." Lin Muyang's gaze swept over the girl's seemingly lazy and harmless figure, and several possibilities flashed through his mind. Recruitment? Probing? Assassination? Or some other purpose?

But in any case, since the other party dared to come to his door directly, she must have something to rely on. And Lin Muyang happened to be interested in this owner of a "Sub-God Rank Talent."

"It seems she is here for me." The corners of Lin Muyang's mouth lifted slightly, curving into an imperceptible arc. He did not alert the young ladies behind him, but only gave them a look indicating "stay calm and remain vigilant."