8: Night Raid Ghost Shadow

The night was thick as ink, completely engulfing Black Stone City.

The daytime clamor and despair were replaced by deathly silence, with only occasional mournful dog barks or suppressed sobs tearing through the deep darkness, only to be swallowed by an even deeper stillness.

Inside the dilapidated guest room of the “Youcai Inn,” Lin Jingyu sat cross-legged on the creaking wooden bed, his breathing long and powerful.

Beneath his skin, dark golden streams of light surged silently like dormant lava through the knotted muscle fibers, making the entire room flicker between bright and dim.

That layer of dark golden luster, solid as substance, covered his entire body, making him resemble a sleeping Vajra statue, exuding a profound aura of unmoving, indestructible might.

“Creak... creak...”

The wooden bed groaned continuously, gratingly, under a weight and pressure far exceeding its design limit, as if it could collapse at any moment.

Suddenly!

A cold, slimy chill, carrying a strong scent of putrefaction, penetrated the wall crack without warning, like a cold viper, abruptly drilling into the room!

The air temperature plummeted, and a thin layer of white frost even condensed on the floor in the corner!

Lin Jingyu’s tightly closed eyes snapped open! Deep within his pupils, a dark golden glint flashed!

It’s here!

Almost at the same instant!

Whoosh—!

A blurry, distorted grey-white shadow, like insubstantial smoke, actually “flowed” directly through the crack in the wall!

Its speed was astonishing, leaving only a faint afterimage as it instantly pounced before the cross-legged Lin Jingyu!

A Ghost Shadow!

It had no clear facial features, only two bottomless, phosphorescent green holes that “stared” fixedly at Lin Jingyu.

A translucent ghostly claw, formed from pure, cold resentment Qi, silently reached for Lin Jingyu’s unguarded throat with a Soul-freezing chill!

Its movements were swift, malicious, and silent, precisely the kind of dark night assassin most feared by Mortal Martial Artists and even low-tier Body Refining realm cultivators!

This claw contained sinister power that could erode Qi and blood and freeze marrow!

If it were the previous Lin Jingyu, even with a Body Refining Seventh Layer physique and a Minor Achievement Vajra Shield, he would inevitably be injured if caught off guard!

But now—

“Hmph!”

A cold snort rolled from Lin Jingyu’s throat.

He didn’t even stand up! He didn’t block!

With a slight thought!

Buzz—!!!

The dark golden luster covering his body suddenly became incredibly bright and solid!

The molten gold surging beneath his skin instantly boiled!

A layer of pale golden light, visible to the naked eye and solid as substance, abruptly expanded, like an incredibly tough Qi Shield, firmly protecting Lin Jingyu’s entire body within it!

“Hiss—!!”

That sinister ghostly claw, carrying an aura that could freeze all things, fiercely struck the suddenly illuminated Vajra Shield aura!

There was no penetration as expected!

No freezing as expected!

Only an incredibly harsh, searing sound, like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water!

“Wooooah—!!”

A shrill, ear-piercing shriek, not of human origin, suddenly erupted from the Ghost Shadow’s blurry head!

The translucent ghostly claw was as if it had grabbed onto scorching refined gold, instantly emitting large plumes of foul-smelling grey-black smoke... The sinister resentment Qi forming the ghostly claw actually melted rapidly like ice meeting scorching sun under the Vajra Shield’s supremely firm and potent defensive rebound force!

In the Ghost Shadow’s phosphorescent green eye sockets, an emotion called “horror” and “disbelief” clearly appeared for the first time!

It instinctively wanted to retract its ghostly claw and retreat!

But it was too late... The cross-legged Lin Jingyu moved!

As fast as lightning!

His cross-legged body didn’t even fully stand up; his waist and hips merely twisted violently, and his right arm, infused with terrifying power, swept out like a steel whip tearing through the night, carrying a low roar that ripped through the air... Its target was the Ghost Shadow’s body, slightly stiffened by pain and horror!

This arm sweep had no fancy Moves, only the purest, most barbaric, most violent power! Muscles bulged and knotted, bones chimed like thunder, and dark golden light surged beneath his skin!

“Bang—!!!”

A dull thud so loud it made hearts stop!

Lin Jingyu’s arm, covered in a dark golden aura and imbued with Dragon-Elephant Giant Strength, solidly slammed into the Ghost Shadow’s semi-ethereal body!

There was no ethereal sensation of hitting nothing!

Only the feeling of striking something viscous and cold!

“Woo... ugh...” The Ghost Shadow’s wail abruptly cut off, as if its neck had been squeezed!

Its grey-white body, condensed from resentment and Yin Souls, violently caved in and deformed like a rag doll hit by a heavy hammer!

Hiss, hiss, hiss—!

Large plumes of grey-black smoke frantically dissipated from the Ghost Shadow’s struck area!

The sinister energy forming its body rapidly disintegrated like snow melting in boiling water under the impact of the supremely firm and potent force and the Vajra Shield’s rebound scorching... The horror in the Ghost Shadow’s phosphorescent eye sockets was instantly replaced by endless fear and despair... It wanted to escape, to merge back into the wall!

But the terrifying power contained in Lin Jingyu’s arm not only shattered its form but also created a temporary “imprisonment” on a purely physical level, preventing it from even becoming ethereal!

“Shatter... for me!”

Lin Jingyu’s eyes flared with ferocity, and he let out a low growl! His sweeping arm, its momentum not yet spent, suddenly spread its five fingers like five red-hot steel hooks, fiercely grabbing at the Ghost Shadow’s twisted and deformed “torso”!

Pfft—!

His five fingers, covered in a dark golden aura and strong enough to crush refined iron, plunged unimpeded into the Ghost Shadow’s body, formed of Yin Qi!

Like a red-hot branding iron plunged into solidified grease... “Awooo! Awooo! Awooo—!!!!”

An even more shrill, desperate shriek echoed throughout the room! It even pierced through the thin walls!

Lin Jingyu’s five fingers suddenly exerted force, tearing fiercely in two directions!

“Screech—!!!”

A piercing sound, like cloth being violently ripped apart!

That twisted grey-white Ghost Shadow was actually torn in half by him!

Viscous, inky black foul liquid, accompanied by large amounts of foul-smelling grey-black smoke, splattered out like a fountain... [Ding! Killed a low-tier Resentful Soul Ghost Shadow! evolution points +20!]

[Current evolution points: 75!]

A cold notification sound rang in his mind.

Lin Jingyu’s arm shook, and the dark golden luster flowed, instantly evaporating and scorching clean the foul Yin Qi that had stained it.

He slowly retracted his arm and straightened his body. His burly figure, like a demon god in the dim moonlight, slowly retracted the dark golden aura circulating around him, but the solid, substantial feeling remained undiminished.

Inside the room, a pungent stench lingered.

The remnants of the Ghost Shadow, torn in half, twitched slightly on the ground like tattered cotton, rapidly turning into two puddles of foul, sticky liquid emitting black smoke, eventually completely dissipating, leaving only two charred marks on the ground corroded by Yin Qi.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Urgent knocking and frightened shouts sounded outside the door.

“Si... Sir inside! Are... are you alright? That commotion just now...” It was the trembling voice of the innkeeper, Zhao Youcai, with a hint of crying, clearly terrified by the Ghost Shadow’s screams and the loud sounds of fighting.

“I’m fine.” Lin Jingyu’s voice was calm and unwavering, with a metallic coldness, “Just an annoying bug, I swatted it dead.”

The knocking outside the door abruptly stopped, leaving only heavy, suppressed breathing; clearly, Shopkeeper Zhao was quite frightened by the casual “swatted it dead.”

Lin Jingyu no longer paid attention to the outside. He walked to the window and pushed open the dilapidated wooden frame.

The cool night wind, carrying the unique scent of vegetation and a faint hint of blood from the wilderness outside the city, poured in, dispelling the stench in the room.

He looked towards the wilderness outside Black Stone City, shrouded in even deeper darkness, his gaze as sharp as an eagle’s.

With Vajra Shield at Minor Achievement, he could directly confront Ghost Shadows and tear them apart with his bare hands! The power of Body Refining Eighth Layer, combined with this defense, gave him the confidence to establish himself in this frontier town.

However, 75 evolution points... a drop in the bucket!

To deduce the Vajra Shield to the next layer, “Thorough Mastery,” required 500 points! The Savage Bull Strength was still in an uninitiated state, requiring 100 points for initiation, and evolution was a bottomless pit!

He needed evolution points! A large amount of evolution points!

The contemptuous words of the two Fierce Tiger Martial Arts Hall Disciples during the day, the wine guests downstairs discussing the public recruitment of Disciples at the South City Training Ground, and the vaguely mentioned Wang Family... these places must hold stronger martial arts and more “resources.”

More importantly—outside the city!

Those wandering Demonic Wolves, which even dared to sneak into the city to dig out hearts and livers last night, and more demonic evil spirits hidden in the darkness... they were the most direct and abundant source of evolution points!

A cold, bloodthirsty arc curved at the corner of Lin Jingyu’s mouth.

“The bugs are dead,” he murmured to himself, his voice scattering in the night wind, “It’s time to go outside the city and look for something ‘bigger’.”

While he would certainly go to the South City Training Ground, before that, the “harvest” from the wilderness outside the city might allow him to approach certain people with a more “full” demeanor and give them a “surprise.”

He turned and closed the window, isolating the bloody and putrid wilderness air outside.

The room once again fell into dimness, with only the dark golden lava flowing beneath his skin, indicating that the terrifying power within this body, capable of tearing apart demons, was quietly dormant, awaiting the hunt of dawn.