Chapter Two: Blossoming

Many of these "Yin women" were orphans or vagrants, so slight discrepancies in their recorded ages were to be expected.

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow, about to say something, when Long Er smiled and said, "Don't worry, Fourth Young Master. After the last lesson, we prepared several backups this time!"

The Fourth Young Master’s brow smoothed out, and he laughed heartily. "Excellent!"

He continued to use the stone to test them, though he did pull out two more women whose birth years did not match. The others, however, all passed.

"Proceed as we did last time. Keep the remaining Yin women, and deal with those 'counterfeits' on the spot," the Fourth Young Master commanded the two.

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow at this, sneered, and nodded. "No problem."

Lei Siguang nodded, his gaze shifting as he scanned the many women. "What about that... star-rated candidate you mentioned?"

At this, Long Er turned his head to look at Lin Lei.

Lin Lei smiled and pointed casually at one of the women. "It’s her!"

The Fourth Young Master frowned and stepped forward, crouching down to examine the woman. "Are you sure? A woman chosen by the 'Goddess of the Red Moon' must be a beauty even in the secular world... This woman?"

"That is correct," Lin Lei said, smiling as he walked behind Lei Siguang.

He held his palm forward, aiming it at the Fourth Young Master’s back.

*Squelch!*

A sharp, black spike extended from the center of his palm.

Enhanced by Lin Lei’s terrifying strength, the bone sword pierced instantly into the Fourth Young Master’s back, protruding through his chest.

"Ah!!"

A shrill, miserable scream erupted, and Lei Siguang began to struggle violently...

Unfortunately, Lin Lei had inscribed the [Sealing] technique onto the bone sword, and because it was stained with Lin Lei’s own blood, it also carried a [Blood Curse], which significantly weakened the victim's abilities and mobility.

"Die!"

Lin Lei focused his intent.

*Shhh, shhh, shhh!*

Dozens of sharp, black spikes sprouted from within Lei Siguang’s body, piercing through his skin and creating bloody holes everywhere! The bone sword blossomed like a flower. In the blink of an eye, Lei Siguang had become a human "hedgehog."

As long as the bone sword remained connected to the bones within Lin Lei’s own body, he could manipulate and deform it at will. This was a move Lin Lei had created himself, which he called [Blooming].

Once the bone sword pierced an enemy’s body, he could trigger this technique, causing the sword to split into countless spikes that would deal devastating damage from inside the enemy’s body!

Lei Siguang was only at the Third Realm and clearly not a "Physical-type" source energy user; there was no way he could withstand Lin Lei’s technique. His body twitched uncontrollably, blood poured from his nose and mouth, and his eyes stared at Lin Lei, filled with shock and terror. "You... you..."

Regrettably, despite his grave injuries, he could only manage two words before his body went limp and silent after a final convulsion.

Although they were both members of a cult, Lei Siguang had not suffered the physical mutations seen in the members of the Blood Sakura Society.

*Shhh, shhh, shhh.*

The bone spikes began to retract, vanishing back into Lin Lei’s body in an instant.

"Even a Fourth Realm source energy user cannot survive if I manage to get close enough for a sneak attack, provided they aren't of the 'Physical-type'."

Not to mention a sneak attack—even in a direct confrontation, it wouldn't be difficult for Lin Lei to take down someone in the Third Realm.

On the other side, Long Er watched the scene with a blank, stunned expression. "Brother, what are you doing?!"

Lin Lei curled his lips, the bone sword retracting into his body in a flash. He turned back, grinning at Long Er. "Kill him, and won't all his belongings become ours?"

Long Er’s mouth twitched, his expression subtle. "But... the Goddess of the Red Moon must be watching this..."

Lin Lei smirked. "I’m just sending the Fourth Young Master to serve the Goddess of the Red Moon ahead of schedule."

A flicker of hesitation crossed Long Er’s eyes. He took a deep breath, his gaze shifting toward the Fourth Young Master’s corpse, and he couldn't help but say, "The Fourth Young Master was, after all, one of the 'Death Messengers.' If he dies, I fear..."

Lin Lei’s heart stirred, but he maintained an air of fearless indifference. "It doesn't matter. No one knows about my connection to Lei Siguang, and his actions were certainly kept hidden from the Death Messengers... They won't be able to track this to us!"

Long Er nodded, though he looked at the women in the truck with some reluctance. "It’s just a pity. Only Lei Siguang knew how to perform the Red Moon blessing ritual... All the effort we put into gathering these 'Yin women' has gone to waste..."

He frowned deeply. "These Yin women are useless now. Keeping them will only bring trouble. Brother, we must get rid of them all."

Lin Lei’s eyes flickered.

Long Er continued, "Take these Yin women back to Ah San and have him finish them off... After that, I’ll deal with Ah San, and no one will ever know we were involved in this..."

Hearing this, a chill ran through Chen Fan. In Long Er’s eyes, dozens of innocent lives seemed to mean nothing. This man was completely twisted inside.

Lin Lei nodded coldly. He raised an eyebrow slightly, looking down at Lei Siguang, and attempted to activate "Gluttony."

A moment later, he raised his brows again. "Plundering" this guy's abilities would require over two hundred units of Gluttony energy.

For Lin Lei, that wasn't a huge amount of energy. It was likely just the standard cost for "Plundering" someone at the Third Realm. However, he had none left to spare. During his recent operations, Lin Lei had exhausted all his Gluttony energy. He had only gained a little over a hundred units from killing Du Juan, and he hadn't harvested any since then.

He shook his head and picked up the canvas bag the man had been carrying.

Bald Long Er hurried over, looking equally excited. "Brother—"

Lin Lei opened the bag, and his eyes glinted. Inside were various strange items of unknown purpose—a chaotic assortment of bottles, jars, and materials. There were strange lizard tails, the carcasses of certain peculiar frogs, and red powders that emitted a foul stench...

"These must all be transcendent materials used for the ritual..."

Besides these, there were several glass bottles containing mysterious liquids. Five large ones and three small ones.

The three palm-sized bottles contained a pale purple liquid that shimmered with a faint, ghostly glow, giving off an aura of mystery and dreaminess.

The other glass bottles were significantly larger and filled with a pink liquid, though it lacked the shimmering quality of the smaller ones. Clearly, they were two different things.

Long Er looked at the bottles with excitement. "Brother, there are three bottles of Awakening Reagent and five bottles of Red Moon Potion!"

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow. So, the small ones were Awakening Reagents, and the large ones were Red Moon Potions.

Lin Lei reached out and picked up one of the Awakening Reagents, then shook his head. It looked very different from the "Enlightenment Potion" he had consumed before; it was likely something entirely different.