「A few minutes later.」
A bus slowly pulled up.
Lin Yi and the others all got on.
The three who arrived later followed them on board.
After getting on the bus, Lin Yi chose a seat near the back door and sat down.
Clearly, the three men were after Lin Yi.
They sat down in the seats in front of, behind, and to the right of him.
Lin Yi acted as if he didn't notice, closing his eyes after sitting down.
In reality, he had opened his personal panel.
He was checking his gains for the night.
[Name: Lin Yi]
[Occupation: Student]
[Martial Arts Realm: 0-Star, 4th Order]
[Qi and Blood: 85%]
[Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique (Perfection), Basic Leg Technique (Perfection)]
[Talent Traits: Absolute Focus (Purple), Heaven-defying Comprehension (Purple), Destiny (Gold), Fist Mastery (Blue), Swiftness (Blue), Wall-Walking (Purple), Iron Fist (Blue), Tenacity (Blue)]
[Plundered Traits: Wall-Walking, Iron Fist, Tenacity]
Aside from the two blue talent traits he had plundered from the two Dog Demons, his Qi and Blood hadn't increased by much.
Then, the method the man on the motorcycle had taught him for using his body's Qi and Blood surfaced in his mind. Lin Yi tried to circulate his Qi and Blood once more.
As soon as the thought formed, Lin Yi quickly felt a mass of Qi and Blood begin to travel through his body.
It was like a ball of fire, burning.
It slowly moved along the meridians of his body.
From his core to his arm, he then guided it to his hand.
In an instant, a faint, bloody mist enveloped his entire palm.
Lin Yi opened his eyes, staring at the bloody mist on his palm.
The power of this punch would be enough to kill a 1-Star Dog Demon.
'If I can reach 1-Star? If I open an aperture, will the power increase even more?' Lin Yi wondered.
The next moment, the bloody mist dissipated with a PUFF.
Lin Yi calmed his mind and closed his eyes again to rest.
However...
The three men sitting around him had seen the change.
This was especially true for the two men sitting to his right and behind him.
The moment they clearly saw the bloody mist form on his palm, their expressions shifted in an instant, changing from surprise to terror in just a few seconds.
They exchanged a look.
The man on the right shook his head slightly.
But a crazed look flashed in the eyes of the man sitting behind him.
It seemed he had no intention of letting a big fish like Lin Yi get away...
The bus drove without stopping until it reached the city center.
When the bus came to a stop, everyone on board silently got off without a word.
Lin Yi did the same, getting up and heading for the exit.
The three men who had been following him quickly huddled together.
After a brief exchange of glances, they also followed Lin Yi off the bus.
Lin Yi had been wary of the three men following him the entire time.
Among the three, the first two weren't worth mentioning.
They were merely at the 2nd Order and had no remarkable talent traits.
Even if they tried something, they were no match for Lin Yi.
However, the third man who had appeared was different.
His realm was comparable to Lin Yi's, also at the 4th Order.
But what truly interested Lin Yi were his several traits that he had never seen before.
Whether it was [Golden Light Fist], [Body Tempering], or [Divine Dao], they all piqued Lin Yi's interest immensely.
'If I could plunder all of his traits...'
After getting off the bus, Lin Yi didn't rush to hail a taxi home.
'I have to deal with these three pests tailing me before I can go home.'
This was how public safety was in the Old District.
At night, it became a paradise for violence, bloodshed, and death.
It was extremely dangerous to walk the streets alone, especially late at night.
Even if you didn't run into a demon beast, you'd run into violent thugs.
People were even killed every night...
Lin Yi hurried across the street and plunged into an alley.
The next second, he vanished into the darkness.
The three men who had been following stood outside the alley, dumbfounded.
"Where'd he go? How'd he disappear?"
"Did he run?"
"Boss, that kid knows how to use Qi. I'm afraid he's already reached the 1-Star realm, right? Maybe we should..."
The one who spoke was the man who had been sitting to Lin Yi's right.
Clearly, after seeing the bloody mist envelop Lin Yi's palm, he was already having second thoughts.
To be able to do that, one had to be at least 1-Star.
And not a single one of the three of them had reached that realm.
What were their chances in a head-on confrontation?
The leader of the trio shot him a fierce glare.
"If you're scared, then scram! And don't ever say you know me, Lei Hu. That kid is twenty at most, probably just a high school student. How could he possibly be 1-Star?"
"You're scared just because he used a little trick?"
After this was said, the man lowered his head and didn't say anything more.
Thinking back on their earlier observations of Lin Yi in the courtyard, his age really didn't seem that high.
Although they couldn't see his face clearly, they could tell from his build and skin.
He was definitely no older than twenty.
The possibility of someone that young reaching the 1-Star realm wasn't high.
After all, Martial Arts geniuses weren't a dime a dozen.
And they couldn't have been so unlucky as to randomly target a "genius."
Besides, so what if he was a 1-Star Martial Artist?
They might not win a one-on-one fight.
But with the three of them together, they still had a chance.
After Lei Hu finished speaking, he led the other man straight into the alley.
The hesitant man paused for a moment before hurrying into the alley after them.
Just as the three of them were halfway down, a figure suddenly appeared ahead.
Looking closely, it was the very kid they had been chasing.
Lei Hu's expression changed, and he quickened his pace.
He charged after Lin Yi.
The terrain here was complex, a district of single-story houses.
Anyone unfamiliar with the area would surely get lost if they entered rashly.
Moreover, heavy clouds covered the starlight and moonlight tonight.
The alley was pitch-black.
The path was riddled with potholes and uneven.
Lei Hu and his two men stumbled along as they chased Lin Yi.
Whenever they were about to give up, Lin Yi would reappear, luring them deeper.
"Boss, something's not right. Is this kid playing hide-and-seek with us?"
"Boss, it feels like he's leading us by the nose. You don't think there's an ambush, do you?"
「Over an hour later.」
They gradually realized something was very wrong.
Lei Hu's face was grim as he silently scanned their surroundings.
By now, they were completely lost in an unfamiliar area.
Surrounded by endless alleys, they couldn't find the way back.
Just as panic began to set in for the three men, a voice quietly spoke up from behind them.
"Hey guys, were you looking for me?"
"Huh?"
Terrified, the three of them whipped around.
Before they could even get a clear look at who had spoken, a black shadow shot towards them at extreme speed.