Chen Bailong moved. A golden blur. His fist, wreathed in incandescent ki, aimed to erase Lin Mo from existence.
Lin Mo didn't try to block. He pulled.
[VOID FIST: MAXIMUM FEED - 20 UNITS]
A vortex of pure negation, a miniature black hole, bloomed before his outstretched palm. It met Chen Bailong's sun-bright fist.
No sound. No shockwave. A terrible silence as light and fury were consumed. The golden ki flared, dimmed, and streamed into the vortex like water down a drain. Chen Bailong's eyes widened in shock and dawning horror as he felt his own power being ripped away.
"WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!" he roared, trying to pull back.
Lin Mo held. The strain was immense. His arm felt like it was tearing apart. [ENERGY DRAIN: 5 UNITS/SECOND] [FLESH INTEGRITY: 73%] But he fed the vortex, pouring stolen Chen ki back into it, amplifying the pull.
Chen Bailong's fist inched closer to the event horizon of the Void Fist. His golden aura flickered, dimming. Panic flashed across his face. He couldn't break free.
Then, the Martial Master did the unexpected. He pushed. Not against the pull. With it. Using the vortex's own terrible suction, he launched himself forward, a golden comet aimed past Lin Mo, straight at the comatose Chen Tianhao!
Not an attack. A rescue.
Lin Mo saw the gambit too late. He tried to shift the vortex, but the energy was too wild. Chen Bailong's shoulder clipped the edge of the Void Fist.
SHLUCK!
Flesh, bone, and golden ki vanished into the hungry dark. Chen Bailong screamed, a raw sound of agony, as his entire right arm below the shoulder was cleanly erased. But his momentum carried him to his son.
He scooped up Chen Tianhao with his remaining arm, ki flaring wildly in pain and desperation. He didn't look back. He blasted through the penthouse's panoramic window, a shower of glass raining down onto the city below as he fled, clutching his heir.
Lin Mo let the Void Fist collapse. Exhaustion hit him like a hammer. [ENERGY: 2 UNITS] [FLESH INTEGRITY: 41% - MULTIPLE INTERNAL TEARS]
He staggered to the shattered window. Far below, a golden streak vanished toward the Chen Clan compound. He'd hurt the tiger. Badly. Taken its cub. But not killed it.
The Vault. Where Chen Bailong hid the Bloom that poisoned Yu. It was beneath the compound. A fortress within a fortress.
He looked at the ring. [ENERGY CRITICAL. FLESH REPAIR REQUIRED]
The hunt wasn't over. It was entering the dragon's den.