"How bright!"
"What is that?!"
"Is there a fire somewhere?"
"Impossible! A fire couldn't be that bright! Plus, there's no building that tall in Cangnan City!"
"Hurry, hurry, take a picture! Post it to WeChat!"
...
The beam of light shooting into the sky was so blinding that half of Cangnan City's residents noticed it. Pedestrians stopped in their tracks, speculating excitedly about what could have caused the appearance of such a phenomenon.
Some thought it was an explosion. Others guessed it might be an optical experiment. A few even claimed it was a divine miracle. But only a very few people knew exactly what the beam signified.
Two minutes earlier, in the old district.
On an empty street, space rippled slightly, as though someone had lifted a corner of the "canvas" covering the old district. Then, five figures clad in black and red cloaks stepped out from the distortion.
One of them scanned the area and walked forward, picking up a "No Entry Ahead" sign from the ground and folding it.
The moment the sign was picked up, the silence of the old district seemed to dissolve like bubbles, revealing the true, sinister nature of the area.
Bloodstains soaked into the old streets, and scattered, grotesque limbs littered the surroundings. Had Lin Qiye seen this scene, he would have recognized that the severed parts scattered across the ground belonged to the demonic face monsters he had encountered before.
There were at least thirty-four of them.
"[Wuji Void]recovered," said the man holding the sign with a cold expression. "We can call in the cleanup crew now."
"What about Old Zhao?"
"He's chasing the two Ghostface Demons that escaped."
"...We missed them," a woman, wounded and clutching her right shoulder, muttered weakly.
"Don't blame yourself, Hong Ying," a man comforted her. "None of us knew there was a Ghostface King hidden among these demons."
"Do you think the captain will be okay facing the Ghostface King alone?" another man asked.
"Of course. Don't forget, the captain is a powerful 'Chuan' from the Three Realms. He'll be fine." The man paused for a moment. "Just hope those two escaping Ghostface Demons won't cause casualties among civilians..."
Just as he finished speaking, a scorching pillar of light shot into the sky from another direction, illuminating half of the sky!
The five of them turned in unison, eyes filled with shock.
"That's...?"
"It's a Forbidden Ruin! This energy fluctuation... it's outrageously strong!"
"This... this must be a five-realms 'Wuliang' level powerhouse! No, it could even be a six-realms 'Klein' level!"
"In such a small city like Cangnan, how could someone so strong have appeared?"
"No, this doesn't feel like a human Forbidden Ruin." The man frowned deeply.
Hong Ying paused, then seemed to realize something. "Are you saying...?"
"This feels like a divine Forbidden Ruin. More specifically... a Divine Ruin."
At the mention of divine, the group's eyes hardened.
"Which god are you talking about?"
"Burning, holy, powerful, and this aura of creation... If I'm not mistaken, this should be..." The man stared at the fading light beam, speaking each word carefully. "God code 003, the King of Angels, Michael."
...
Lin Qiye was feeling miserable.
At the very center of the golden light beam, his body was completely out of control, floating strangely in midair. Endless energy poured from his eyes, surging out uncontrollably.
He felt as though he had returned to ten years ago, gazing across the boundless universe, and once again meeting that pair of eyes.
That supreme and holy aura—he could still remember it clearly.
The difference was, ten years ago, that aura had come from the moon. But now, that same aura came from... his own eyes.
The blazing angelic power and divine might were pouring out from his eyes, which now glowed like two burning suns, as if they were about to turn everything to nothingness.
Ten years ago, the Seraphim Michael had locked eyes with him from the moon.
Now, ten years later, Lin Qiye opened his eyes, and the angelic power lingering in them erupted!
Fortunately, the angelic power left in Lin Qiye's eyes was not much. The golden beam lasted only seven or eight seconds before gradually dissipating. Lin Qiye fell from the air, staggering to stabilize himself.
The brilliant golden light in his eyes dimmed, leaving only a faint golden halo.
If the earlier light was as bright as the sun, now it was no more than the glow of a candle.
Although the golden light that had burst forth earlier was extremely powerful, it had not belonged to him. But now, the faint golden halo resting in Lin Qiye's eyes was fully under his control.
A weak thread of Seraphim power.
Lin Qiye took a deep breath and slowly raised his head.
The dark sky, the old streets, the eerie monsters, and the blood-soaked ground... When this grim and far-from-beautiful scene unfolded before him, Lin Qiye smiled.
He smiled happily.
It had been ten years. Finally, with his own eyes, he could once again see this world.
At this moment, in Lin Qiye's eyes, the blood-soaked monsters even appeared somewhat... cute.
When the divine might had erupted from Lin Qiye's body earlier, these two monsters had been pressed to the ground by the divine force, nearly crushed into a paste.
It wasn't until the golden beam disappeared that they regained their senses, looking around confusedly before returning their bloodthirsty gaze to Lin Qiye.
"Jie—!"
One of the monsters let out a strange cry and lunged at Lin Qiye!
Compared to earlier, Lin Qiye was much calmer now. The moment the monster moved, he had already determined its trajectory and dove sideways to avoid it.
Lin Qiye was certainly slower than the monster, but his reflexes were shockingly fast. The few seconds of preemptive prediction gave him the time he needed to dodge.
It wasn't that he could foresee the future, but after opening his eyes, his perception had undergone a dramatic transformation.
One change was the range of his mental perception, which had expanded from ten meters to twenty meters. Keep in mind, it had taken Lin Qiye five years to extend his detection range to ten meters before—now it had doubled.
Another change was his dynamic vision.
Within that twenty-meter radius, Lin Qiye possessed nearly three times the dynamic vision of a normal person. His reflexes were almost superhuman, allowing him to predict the monster's movements to an incredible degree.
As for other abilities his new eyes provided, Lin Qiye hadn't fully realized them yet.
But right now, there was no time for exploration.
The monster shot forward like an arrow, flying past the place Lin Qiye had just been standing, crashing into a large piece of wall. Using its limbs, it pushed off the debris and launched itself back at Lin Qiye!
At this moment, Lin Qiye had already rolled to the side to avoid the monster's landing point. Reaching out, he grabbed the half-broken cane that had fallen nearby.
Lin Qiye quickly got to his feet, crouched, and fixed his gaze on the rapidly approaching monster. His hands tightly gripped the cane.
The monster left a trail of afterimages as it stirred up gusts of wind, blowing Lin Qiye's hair into the air.
It kicked off with its hind legs and soared toward him!
This time, Lin Qiye did not dodge.
He gripped the half-broken cane, his eyes locked onto the monster's.
"Jie—!"
The monster extended its claws, aiming for Lin Qiye's throat.
Just as it was about to strike, Lin Qiye's eyes suddenly contracted!
The faint golden halo in his eyes flared like kindling, suddenly blazing to life, like two roaring furnaces!
A wave of divine power, channeled through Lin Qiye's eyes, surged into the monster's body.
At that instant, the monster's perspective of Lin Qiye changed. To the monster, Lin Qiye now appeared as a supreme being—one with six wings, radiating terrifying divine pressure!
Under this divine might, the monster's body stiffened, paralyzed for a brief moment.
In that instant, Lin Qiye raised the half-broken cane high...
And precisely drove it into the monster's right eye!