The Ironworks Boneyard stank of ozone and decay. Jiang City's underbelly traded here. Lin Mo's hood shadowed his face as scarred enforcers blocked the rust-eaten gate. "Five grand entry. Or prove you're not meat."
Lin Mo let slip a sliver of the ring's aura – the chilling void that had drunk Chen's ki. The enforcers recoiled. "Pass."
Inside, gloom hid horrors: mutant beast parts dripping ichor, glowing vials of unstable gene-mods, slaves collared in suppression tech. Lin Mo ignored them. The ring pulsed, a compass pointing towards a stall piled with geological junk.
An old man snored beside a lump of basalt. Lin Mo picked up a broken dagger. "500 credits."
"Take it. Scram."
He palmed the basalt. "This as paperweight?"
"Tch. Free. Trash."
"Not quite," a nasal voice cut in. Wang Teng, scion of the middling Wang Clan, swaggered up. "I'll take that rock. Hand it over. Run."
Lin Mo turned. "No."
Wang's bodyguard lunged. Lin Mo's hand clamped the thug's wrist. ABSORB. The man shrieked as years of hard-earned ki vanished, collapsing like a sack of meal.
"Kill him!" Wang Teng screeched. His other guard, a genuine 1-Star Warrior, unleashed a Mountain-Sundering Fist. Wang Teng flanked, hands weaving sticky Silk-Binding Palms.
Lin Mo moved. Not fast. Efficient. The ring drank the fist's impact, dulling its force. He absorbed the sticky silk-ki, turning its own flow against Wang. A stomp cracked the Warrior's kneecap. A backhand sent Wang Teng sprawling into a pile of rotting furs, retching.
"Still want it?" Lin Mo's voice was gravel.
Wang Teng fled, whimpering. The market watched in stunned silence. Lin Mo vanished with his prize.
In his tunnel, the ring's energy flared. The basalt shell crumbled to dust, revealing a fist-sized crystal blazing with inner moonlight – a Peak-Grade Spirit Stone. The ring feasted.
[ENERGY ABSORBED: 50 UNITS]
[COMBAT RATING ASCENDED: TRUE 1-STAR WARRIOR]
Power, thick and molten, flooded Lin Mo's reforged meridians. Visions flickered: a skeletal gorge choked with mist… veins of identical energy pulsing deep within…
Blackwind Gorge.
Lin Mo smiled. A feast awaited. Outside, sirens wailed. Chen's father, a true Martial Master, was coming. The hunt worked both ways.