Chapter 362: Circle

"Confirming the enemy was not killed, Unit 031, do you require support from other Architects?" The voice on the walkie-talkie sounded again.

"Yes." Lin Xi nodded without hesitation. "He's very strong, hard to kill, and his abilities are strange... I definitely can't handle him alone."

"Understood. Notifying nearby Units 030 and 029 to provide support. Estimated arrival within five hours."

"Five hours... He might have left by then."

Lin Xi's brows furrowed. After a moment of thought, his voice suddenly turned serious.

"I request the activation of 'The Circle'."

"Please confirm 'The Circle's' scope."

"Willow Town."

"Please confirm activation duration."

"From now for 24 hours... No, 48 hours," Lin Xi said in a deep voice. "We should be able to kill him within 48 hours."

"Unit 031, a 48-hour activation of 'The Circle' is not a small cost... Are you certain?"

"Certain. That guy is definitely not ordinary... He cannot be allowed to leave Willow Town."

"Understood."

After a brief pause, the voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie sounded again:

"Coordinates: Willow Town. 'The Circle' activation countdown..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One."

As the countdown reached zero, a drop of ink appeared out of nowhere in the dim sky above Willow Town, as if someone in the void had lifted a paintbrush and began to sketch it little by little onto the canvas of the sky...

A perfect arc was drawn in the air, the inkblot transforming into an ink mark. Within mere seconds, an enormous circle was drawn above Willow Town, completely engulfing it!

"'The Circle' has been activated. For the next 48 hours, Willow Town can only be entered, not exited."

"Unit 031, Lin Xi, your time is running out."

As the words fell, the walkie-talkie fell completely silent.

Lin Xi slowly lowered the walkie-talkie in his hand and lay back on the ground, his eyes reflecting the starry sky and the faint, almost imperceptible circle.

After a long while, he let out a deep sigh...

Specks of starlight twinkled in the sky.

A figure in a brown overcoat stepped over the threshold and entered a rather exquisite courtyard.

On either side of the courtyard stood three-story small buildings with white walls, resembling guesthouses from before the Great Cataclysm. Although they seemed to have only a dozen or so rooms combined, for Willow Town, this was already their largest inn.

"Boss, a room," the figure said, pulling a silver coin from a pocket and placing it on the counter. "Keep the change. Just give me a quiet room."

The innkeeper's eyes lit up at the sight of the silver coin, and he looked up at the newcomer.

It was a young man in a brown overcoat, wearing a pair of semi-rimless glasses on the bridge of his nose. A silver spectacle chain hung behind his ears, glinting faintly in the dim light, and his gaze behind the lenses was as calm as water.

"Alright, room 309, here's your key!" the boss said respectfully, handing over the key.

The man took the key and calmly walked up the stairs, disappearing from the boss's sight.

Chen Ling stopped in front of the room's door.

His gaze behind the lenses flickered subtly around, and after confirming no one was present, he opened the door, entered, and then locked it from the inside.

"Whew..." In the enclosed, secure space, Chen Ling let out a long breath.

He took off his brown overcoat and stood naked before the mirror. His skin was now charred black, torn open, with grotesque lightning patterns leaving deep marks on its surface. In some deeper areas, even his stark white bones were visible...

The black lightning bolt that struck from the sky had considerable power, hitting him head-on and instantly inflicting severe injuries.

Of course, this level of attack was still insufficient to kill him.

If Chen Ling hadn't been paralyzed by the lightning strike, he would have killed the Umbrella Painter. Unfortunately, the Umbrella Painter was also jolted by the residual shockwave from the lightning, falling into the river and disappearing. By the time Chen Ling recovered, the painter had been swept away and was nowhere to be found.

However, with the Blood Cloak, as long as no limbs were severed, these injuries would heal on their own within a day at most, so it wasn't a major problem...

The crucial point, however, was the escaped Umbrella Painter.

"Damn it..." Chen Ling murmured to himself. "After he escapes, he's bound to attract other Divine Path wielders to hunt me down. If a higher-tier enemy shows up, things will get troublesome."

As Chen Ling pondered, he rinsed the dirt and sand mixed into his wounds with clean water. Only by washing away these impurities could his wounds heal faster.

Fortunately, the Blood Cloak distorted his perception of pain, so the process wasn't too difficult to endure. At least Chen Ling could calmly consider his next steps, and once he had finished cleaning all his wounds, he had reached a conclusion.

He couldn't stay in Willow Town any longer... His sect members weren't here anyway, so staying would be pointless.

What if the Umbrella Painter brought higher-tier reinforcements who possessed means to see through his disguise? His situation would become passive... Most importantly, Chen Ling was still unnerved by the ink-colored lightning that had fallen from the sky just moments ago.

What exactly was that? A precise aerial strike? It activated far too quickly.

Chen Ling remembered that the Umbrella Painter had merely reported his coordinates via walkie-talkie, and that lightning bolt struck him directly. Furthermore, judging by the lightning's power, it was definitely not something a Tier 3 Umbrella Painter could unleash... Could it be that this organization, the so-called Floating Life Painting, possessed the ability to provide full-domain support anytime, anywhere?

No wonder they didn't need to station people everywhere. With such an ability, they could completely control every inch of the Mortal Realm, raining down divine punishment anytime, anywhere, just like gods.

However, after experiencing such a setback, Chen Ling had already formulated a plan on how to deal with this kind of support.

Chen Ling got dressed, but instead of using the main door, he opened the window slightly. He then tore vigorously at his chin with his fingertips.

The next moment, his form transformed into a wild goose, flapping its wings and flying from the window into the sky!

A few minutes later, Chen Ling arrived at the edge of Willow Town.

In the Mortal Realm, hundreds of small towns were scattered like stars across various locations. The towns were not far apart, primarily connected by roads rather than industrially partitioned and linked by railways like the seven major districts of the Aurora Realm. Thus, merchants and residents frequently traveled to other towns.

At that moment, a few people were scattered along the road leading to other towns, pointing at an endless arc that had appeared out of nowhere on the ground.

"What's going on? Willow Town is sealed too?"

"It's probably about that matter with the Flower Capital Troupe, isn't it? Haven't you heard?"

"What matter?"

"Apparently, during the troupe's preliminary auditions this year, a madman appeared. He performed a living person transformation in front of everyone and killed all the judges... They've probably sealed Willow Town to catch him."

"What? Doesn't that mean this madman is still inside our Willow Town?"