I slay evil in the Department of the Supernatural

In a small cubicle next to the military canteen, seven extraordinary geniuses with refined auras were gathered and exchanging ideas.

Xu Lindong and his teammates Lu Qian and Xie Zhou stepped into the house, and several pairs of eyes silently swept over them from the other side.

Those present were all experts who had dealt with unusual events for many years, and their intuition was as sharp as an eagle's.

Even without making a move, one can roughly gauge a person's strength from their breathing rhythm, the focus of their gaze, and even the supernatural fluctuations emanating unconsciously. Unless the other party deliberately conceals it.

Xu Lindong's energy and spirit are inferior to Lu Qian and Qiao Zheng, and similar to Kun Ting, the short-haired girl in the team.

However, because he cultivated three paths simultaneously, his extraordinary power was far more refined and profound than that of others.

This immediately attracted several scrutinizing gazes.

Soon, hushed whispers arose from the crowd.

Clearly, someone recognized his identity as someone who "cultivates all three paths".

"Hahaha!"

At this moment, a man with an imposing aura stood up from the table, holding a meat bun in his hand, and walked out. He looked at Xie Zhou with a smile on his lips: "Old Xie, after all these years, it seems that your strength has remained stagnant."

Xie Zhou's eyelids twitched slightly, and he snorted coldly, "Huang Feng, you're only ranked forty-sixth on the Prodigy Ranking. Don't be too confident. Cultivation is about endurance. Maybe in two years, you'll have to look up to me."

"Ha ha!"

Huang Feng laughed loudly, but did not refute.

He cultivated both paths, and as he progressed further, his cultivation speed might indeed be surpassed by Xie Zhou, who focused on only one path—a fact both were well aware of. At that moment, someone else approached from the other side.

The leader was a lean-built man wearing a black baseball cap, whose aura as a Sequence Eight was comparable to Xie Zhou's.

"Yang Rui!"

Xie Zhou nodded in greeting.

This is the captain of another squad sent from the capital, a law enforcement officer of the eighth rank, ranked 123rd on the list of prodigies.

The group nodded briefly in greeting, which was considered an exchange of pleasantries.

Xu Lindong quickly glanced at the opposing team and realized that their overall strength was roughly the same as his own.

The only one, Huang Feng, a prodigy from the capital, had a significantly higher aura, after all, he was a prodigy who cultivated both paths.

He was accompanied by a woman with a cool and aloof demeanor, who also possessed extraordinary power fluctuations at Sequence Eight.

It seems that these two are the key figures in the mission to assassinate Sequence Seven "Shepherd".

"This must be Brother Xu, right?"

At this moment, Huang Feng, with a warm smile, took the initiative to walk towards Xu Lindong: "Brother Xu, you are a promising young man! You can cultivate three paths directly without relying on the barrier. I think your talent has already left those 'monsters' in the Imperial Capital Research Institute far behind."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around turned to look at Xu Lindong.

Many people did not have a clear understanding of the difficulty of cultivating all three paths simultaneously.

Hearing Huang Feng say this, I realized that Xu Lindong's talent seemed to be astonishing even among a group of geniuses who cultivated multiple paths.

"No, I just gritted my teeth and got through it back then, which is why I need the barrier device to help stabilize things now even more."

Xu Lindong spoke calmly.

This humble tone was mainly to conceal the existence of the Tower of Babel.

If we behave too unusually, it might attract the suspicion and attention of some high-ranking figures, which would be a big problem.

After all, which of those "monsters" in the research institute didn't maintain the three paths without conflict by relying on massive resources and cutting-edge equipment?

He was a little too reckless when he broke through earlier.

If someone with no connections or connections appears to be much more relaxed than them, it will arouse suspicion and might even be targeted for dissection and research. Although given the circumstances of Xia Kingdom, it is impossible for such a thing to happen, it is still hard to guarantee that there won't be powerful individuals with evil intentions who will try to do something wicked. The human heart is the most unpredictable thing.

His demand for the blocking device was also a convenient way for him to create a reasonable cover for himself.

Even so, his performance was already quite impressive.

Huang Feng laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder: "Excessive modesty is just arrogance, Brother Xu!"

"Yes, I'll be more high-profile in the future."

Xu Lindong smiled, took the silver-gray barrier from the other person, listened to a brief explanation of its usage, and then put it away. Next, the group began discussing mission strategies and familiarizing themselves with each other's abilities and characteristics.

When they heard that Xu Lindong was not only skilled in battlefield assaults, suppression and blockade, but also possessed multiple abilities such as area control, high-speed breakthroughs, and even auxiliary treatment, the expressions of several people present became complicated.

A man codenamed "Banana" sighed, "This mastery of all three... is simply too comprehensive. One person is practically an entire superhuman team."

Another person chimed in, "The key is that we really can't find any obvious weaknesses. How are we supposed to fight like this?"

"Why are you always thinking about fighting? These are our teammates. Do you really enjoy fighting?"

Qiao Zheng rolled his eyes, took a sip of tea, smiled at Xu Lindong, and said, "If I get injured, you'll treat me."

Xu Lindong glanced at them, but didn't reply. He silently sorted through the information about each team member's abilities that he had just heard.

Soon, Huang Feng, Yang Rui, Xie Zhou, and other team leaders finalized the battle plan.

Xie Zhou and Yang Rui were each responsible for leading their respective teams to infiltrate, launch a frontal assault, seize intelligence, cover the evacuation of imprisoned experimental subjects, and behead Sequence 8 and below superhumans.

The leader of Sequence Seven, "The Shepherd," was handled by Huang Feng and Dong Qing, the Criminal Judge of Sequence Eight who came with him.

After the plan was finalized, the group discussed some details and then took immediate action.

They flew out of the border fortress in three low-flying planes and quickly disappeared into the distant gray fog.

As the plane crossed the border, the scenery below began to change noticeably.

It was a scene of utter chaos.

The field of vision was filled with refugees of all skin colors, like dirty patches of color, clinging to the earth and writhing.

Further into the ravines and riverbanks, indistinct, dark shadows could be seen darting about, some even carrying the remains of refugees in their mouths—these were wandering, otherworldly creatures.

Further ahead, scattered shantytowns lie on the horizon.

The roof, cobbled together from sheet metal, wooden planks, and plastic sheeting, leaned precariously, and the cracks in the walls were plastered with mud and garbage such as plastic bags, resembling a foreign slum. Many dark-skinned people moved hunched over among them, and the chimneys emitted acrid black smoke from burning plastic.

Dirty, disorderly, dilapidated.

The buffer zone around the border is like a corner abandoned by the world.

Occasionally, sporadic shells and gunshots rang out, like fireworks being set off during the Chinese New Year in Xia Kingdom, which was under a firework ban—scattered here and there.

It wasn't that someone was fighting against monsters from another world; it was that humans were killing each other and bullying their own kind.

The plane quickly and discreetly bypassed the residential area, swooped down into a remote, desolate ravine, and then slowly descended.

Everyone present was either a highly trained elite or possessed special abilities.

They didn't even need to wait for the plane to find a place to land before jumping off in different areas, leaping from a height of ten or twenty meters. When they landed, their bodies sank slightly, but they quickly regained their footing and were unharmed.

The three groups quickly dispersed, splitting into three teams according to the battle plan. They avoided the crowded areas ahead to prevent being detected by the evil society's spies, and stealthily made their way towards their target location.

"Buzz!"

A dozen minutes later.

A strange insect, as big as a washbasin, suddenly darted out from the forest, passing by Xu Lindong's side. Its forelegs were like two curved knives gleaming with a dark green light, bringing with them a foul stench.

Xu Lindong didn't even turn his head, and casually snapped his fingers.

"Smack."

A strange sound wave, barely perceptible to the naked eye, rippled outwards. The insect's body suddenly stiffened, and it fell straight to the ground, its carapace quickly covered with a layer of gray-black patterns.

This is a sign of being corroded by the deathly aura of the underground; this tenacious insect is beyond dead.

"Merit +10!"

Xu Lindong felt the Heavenly Pride Token tremble.

"What the hell is that?" Lu Qian glanced at it and realized that the insect did not resemble any Earth creature.

Almost simultaneously, a dense buzzing sound of wings came from deep within the bushes ahead, and more dark shadows stirred among the branches and leaves.

Xu Lindong frowned slightly and tapped the shield behind him lightly with his knuckles.

"clang!"

A resounding, infrasound-like vibration spread out in an invisible ripple.

Human ears cannot hear it.

But it can penetrate directly into the mind, creating a mental impact.

The buzzing in the forest suddenly stopped, plunging into a deathly silence.

A series of "Merit +10" suddenly appeared in Xu Lindong's Pride Token.

This clean and efficient move caused the expressions of the people around him to change.

"The power of ghostly howls?"

Qiao Zheng was somewhat taken aback, then praised, "Amazing! I couldn't use Ghost Howl to this extent."

"You'll get it with practice."

Xu Lindong glanced at the hideous insect corpses on the ground. "It seems that supernatural power has accelerated the mutation of living things? But these insects... might have crawled out of the sinkhole directly."

"Not that fast."

Kunting from the team chimed in, "The Demon Realm and Bermuda Triangle, two high-risk sinkholes, have only been unsealed for half a month. The mutation of creatures wouldn't be this rapid. This must be an otherworldly creature that escaped from the Demon Realm sinkhole. That place is like a factory that keeps producing monsters."

"Keep moving forward, but be careful."

Xie Zhou lowered his voice to remind them, "There are quite a few otherworldly creatures lurking in this area. We also need to avoid the spies that the evil society has planted among the people, and not alert them."

"Um."

The group set off again.

Xu Lindong, carrying a shield and scythe, surveyed his surroundings. With each step he took, his figure vanished instantly, reappearing more than ten meters away. Using the Ghost Step technique, he could easily overcome many obstacles, including ravines in the mountains, thus his progress was quite fast.

With his methods, he could easily teleport directly to the target location using a broken car seat.

Even if he teleported there alone, he couldn't handle that many enemy forces, especially since there were even Sequence 8 and Sequence 7 members among them. Right now, he was just Xu Lindong, the squad leader of the executive officer team, not a lone wolf "King of Hell's Decree," and had to follow the team's instructions.

The group quickly crossed the ravine.

"hiss!!"

A Komodo dragon-like monster, covered in dark scales, seemed to sense a threat and suddenly burst out of the bushes. It opened its mouth and spewed out a cloud of toxic, fishy-green mist, heading straight for the front of the group.

"court death!"

Lu Qian's eyes turned cold. With a low shout, a dense aura of blood erupted from her body, instantly forming a scarlet shield in front of her, scattering the poisonous mist. She lunged forward, her long sword transforming into a chilling gleam as it slashed diagonally down the monster's neck.

"Sizzle!"

The blade tore through scales and flesh, and before the monster could even utter a wail, it was cleaved in two, its blood and entrails splattering everywhere. Almost simultaneously, Xu Lindong raised his hand and waved it, a blazing fire erupting from his palm.

Like golden-red flames, they swept over the wreckage, quickly burning the corpses to charcoal. The pungent smell of burning flesh masked the stench of blood, preventing the blood from causing trouble.

The team continued its rapid march forward with almost no stops along the way.

After stealthily advancing, by late at night, the group had traversed over 300 kilometers of desolate land and arrived at the edge of a deserted town near their target location.

The town is not large, but it exudes a solemn and oppressive atmosphere.

There were roadblocks at the entrance, and figures could be vaguely seen guarding the watchtower, indicating that it was clearly under the control of some force.

Xie Zhou suddenly stopped and lowered his voice, saying, "The target mining area is just behind the town."

However, there are also supernatural beings emanating from this town, who may very well be in league with the evil organization.

He took out his extraordinary phone and pressed the communication button: "Huang Feng, there are guards in the town. Should we clear them out first?"

Or perhaps we could split into two teams, one to handle this area while the other heads straight for the mine?

Huang Feng's calm reply came quickly through the receiver: "Don't cause any unnecessary trouble."

Prioritize the main task: rush into the mine to rescue people, retrieve the documents, and take down the leader. The town can be dealt with later.

Soon, Yang Rui's voice rang out again: "I suggest we find out the situation first. If the shepherd himself is in the town, and we directly attack the mining area, it might alert him and allow him to escape. After all, this town is well-defended, and there's definitely something inside."

Xie Zhou nodded in agreement: "That makes sense. Let's send someone in first to find out if the shepherd is in town."

If they are present, they will split up; Huang Feng will be responsible for beheading the shepherd, while the rest will proceed with the raid on the mine as planned.

Yang Rui said, "Now the question is, who will infiltrate the town and find the shepherd's whereabouts?"

Xu Lindong touched the faceless mask in his arms.

He hasn't even spoken yet.

Qiao Zheng, who was standing to the side, spoke first: "I can use the invisibility ability to go in and scout."

"I can do it too."

In Yang Rui's team, one member codenamed Banana also indicated that he could cooperate.

After a brief discussion, the three team leaders decided to first investigate the situation within the town.

But the time is set for the latter half of the night, so let's rest now.

Xu Lindong and the others found an abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts of the town to rest temporarily.

The farmer's house was so simple that all that remained were broken wooden planks and dusty clutter.

Some of the grains had gone moldy, and the French bread was so hard it could be used as a brick to kill someone.

It's clear that no one has lived here for a long time.

Xu Lindong put down his shield and giant scythe, went outside, smeared some snow on his face, boiled water, and washed his face.

After returning to the room, I grabbed a newspaper to sit on and leaned against the wall.

Then he took out the dried meat that Xun Jie had prepared from his pocket, handed a piece to Lu Qian, and chewed a couple of bites himself to satisfy his craving and pass the time. Beside him, Qiao Zheng took out a dark, lumpy thing and stuffed it into his mouth, which smelled like burnt ash.

Xu Lindong glanced at it, smelled a pungent odor of stove ash, and casually asked, "What is this thing?"

Qiao Zheng grinned: "Roasted chili peppers, never seen them before? They're made by throwing chili peppers directly into charcoal and roasting them. They're spicy and flavorful, and the more you chew, the more fragrant they become."

He handed me a piece. "Want to try some?"

Xu Lindong glanced at the ash on the chili pepper and waved his hand, "No need, I don't eat spicy food."

He can use the stove fire, but he has no interest in eating ashes.

Lu Qian walked over and sat down next to him. As soon as she got close, she wrinkled her nose and said, "You smell bad."

Xu Lindong smiled and said, "Why bother with these things when we're on a mission?"

Qiao Zheng interjected, "I'll treat you guys to a bathhouse after we're done."

Lu Qian rolled her eyes at him: "Who wants to soak with you?"

After saying that, she glanced at Xu Lindong, but didn't say anything more.

Xie Zhou glanced at the two of them, vaguely discerning something, before closing his eyes to rest.

No one said anything more and went to rest.

Xu Lindong took out the barrier device that Huang Feng had given him and began to observe it.

This thing is silver-gray all over, shaped like a heavy mechanical badge, with fine, circuit-like light patterns flowing across its surface.

Following Huang Feng's instructions, he put it inside his clothes and gently pressed it at the core.

The barrier suddenly emitted a faint blue glow, which quickly disappeared, and quietly adhered to the chest area.

A cool wave spread from the point of contact and quickly penetrated his body.

The three extraordinary forces that were originally subtly conflicting and pulsating within the meridians.

Under this external pressure, things gradually calmed down, as if they were isolated and stabilized by an invisible barrier, no longer colliding and agitating with each other.

"interesting...."

Xu Lindong was somewhat surprised.

This thing actually works quite well.

With this thing to help suppress the supernatural agitation, he can now pay 50 fewer merits to the Tower Master every day.

However, Huang Feng also gave a reminder.

Although this barrier can suppress the extraordinary agitation of low-sequence forces, the more frequent the power conflicts, the faster the internal energy circuits are worn out, and the shorter the service life becomes.

The Extraordinary Research Institute only issues them once every six months. Their production is extremely difficult, with materials and processes being top secret, making each one extremely precious. "Perhaps if I increase my value in the future, the Extraordinary Research Institute will issue them more frequently."

Xu Lindong thought to himself that he felt the extraordinary restlessness being gradually suppressed, and the consumption of merits on the Tower of Babel was also decreasing.

Without further delay, his consciousness sank into the Tower of Babel, and he arrived at the ninth floor.

Little Finger is bored inside the tower, playing rock-paper-scissors with the ghost.

The zombie Agan watched blankly from the side, trying to imitate it half a beat behind, but his movements were always a step behind.

Since consuming half of the blood of the vampire baron's family half a month ago, Agan's strength had reached the edge of advancement.

Later, Xu Lindong transformed into "Yama's Decree" to hunt down Federation superhumans, and also killed a vampire, feeding some of the refined blood of his clan to Agan.

Now Agan has truly broken through and become a Sequence Nine zombie, but it still carries the eerie characteristics of a wandering soul, and its appearance is quite strange, which is why it was able to come up to the ninth level.

"Uncle Dong..."

Seeing Xu Lindong return, Little Finger stopped playing games and toddled over, grabbing his consciousness's hand affectionately. "Uncle Dong, when are you taking me home..."

Xu Lindong smiled and patted Little Finger's head, saying, "Once I'm done with my mission, I'll take you to visit your hometown." As he spoke, he picked up Little Finger and led him into the Heavenly Dao Room on the ninth floor to cultivate together.

He felt that cultivating with this little lucky star might trigger lucky events, making his efforts twice as effective.

He needed to seize the time and continue his cultivation.

Even with the Tower of Babel as an aid, he still felt there were countless things to comprehend every day while cultivating the three paths simultaneously.

One person's energy is not enough.

However, after receiving guidance from Houtu Niangniang last time, he has gained a more refined understanding of the power of the three phases and is now attempting to apply it. The most significant change is that he can now combine only two extraordinary powers, greatly reducing the burden on his body and the consumption of energy. However, the method of combination is more ingenious, and the power unleashed is even more terrifying.

For example, the Way of Heaven and the Way of Man are in harmony, the Way of Man is in harmony with the Way of Earth, and the Way of Heaven and the Way of Earth are in harmony, and so on.

The combination of these two forces alone can give rise to three powers with completely different focuses.

The combination of Heaven and Man emphasizes the suppression of pressure and the burst of exorcising power, like the descent of heavenly might, with blood and energy overflowing.

The combination of Earth and Man emphasizes the explosive power of physical strength and sinister energy, making it fierce and menacing in close combat.

The combination of Heaven and Earth emphasizes the explosion of extraordinary power and spiritual power; in the blink of an eye, even gods and ghosts will flee.

If all three are unleashed simultaneously, forming a "three-phase combination," then all kinds of power are combined, and the strength reaches perfection.

Xu Lindong circulated the three extraordinary powers in the room, and after a slight adjustment, he condensed the power of humanity.

An extraordinary clone of him detached from his body.

It was as if an invisible turbocharger was installed inside the clone's body.

It frantically builds up power amidst a continuous buzzing sound.

With each passing moment, the phantom's outline expanded, its muscles bulging and its aura rising steadily, bringing with it a suffocating sense of oppression, as it walked out of Tiandao's room like an air pump.

"Uncle Dong."

Little Lucky Star patted Xu Lindong's head, his eyes filled with fear, as if he had remembered the enormous evil spirit in the subway.

But what she feared wasn't the evil spirits, but rather that this thing, if it continued to build up its power, would explode...