chapter 9 half stick

"Wow, it's so bright!" "What is that?!" "Is there a fire somewhere?" "No way! A fire wouldn't be this bright! And our city doesn't have buildings that tall!" "Hurry, take a picture and post it on social media!" "..."
This towering pillar of light was incredibly dazzling, catching the attention of half of Canglan City. Pedestrians stopped in their tracks, excitedly speculating about its origin. Some said it was an explosion, others thought it was an optical experiment, and a few even believed it was a divine miracle. But only a very few knew what this pillar of light truly meant.
Two minutes earlier, in the old city district.
On the deserted streets, ripples of space gently swayed, as if someone had lifted a corner of the canvas that shrouded the old city district. Following that, five figures wearing black and red cloaks emerged.
One of them looked around, then walked forward and picked up the "No Entry" sign on the ground, folding it shut.
As the sign was put away, the silent old city district seemed to shatter like a bubble, revealing the true interior of the old city district.
The old streets were soaked in eerie blood, with gruesome remains scattered all around. If Ben Lin had witnessed this scene, he would have realized that the fragmented, grotesque figures strewn across the ground were the same monstrous faces he had faced!
They were densely packed, at least thirty-four of them!
"[Zone of No Restraint], retrieval complete," the person holding the sign calmly spoke. "We can now have logistics come in to clean up the battlefield."
"Where's Elder Zhao?"
"He went after those two escaped Masked Phantoms."
"...We were negligent."
"Don't say that, Alice. No one knew there was a Phantom King among those Masked Phantoms."
"The Captain is facing the Phantom King alone. It should be fine, right?"
"Of course, don't forget that the Captain is a strongman of the Three Realms, in the 'River' Realm. He won't be in danger."
"I just hope... those two escaped Masked Phantoms won't cause harm to civilians..."
As his words fell, a blazing pillar of light shot up from another direction, illuminating half of the sky!
All five of them turned their heads simultaneously, their eyes filled with shock!
"That is..."
"A Forbidden Ruin has appeared. This energy fluctuation... it's outrageously powerful!"
"This, this is at least a Five Realm 'Immeasurable' Realm powerhouse, or even a Six Realm... In a small city like Canglan, how could such powerful beings appear here?"
"No, this doesn't seem like a human Forbidden Ruin." The man's brow furrowed.
Alice paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something. "Are you saying..."
"This seems like a divine Forbidden Ruin , in other words... a Divine Ruin."
Hearing the word 'divine', the gazes of the several people focused.
"Which deity?"
"Burning, sacred, powerful, and this aura of creation. If I'm not mistaken, this should be..." The man stared fixedly at the fading pillar of light and enunciated each word: "Divine Being Codename 003, Angel Michael, the King of Angels."
...
Ben Lin felt uncomfortable.
In the center of this golden light, his body had completely lost control, bizarrely suspended in mid-air. Boundless energy surged from his eyes.
Ben Lin felt like he was back ten years ago, gazing at those eyes across the vast universe.
That supremely holy aura was still vivid in his memory.
The difference was that, ten years ago, that aura came from the moon, but now it emanated from... his own eyes.
The aura of an Angel zhi and the divine might burst forth uncontrollably from his eyes. His eyes were like two burning suns, seemingly ready to melt everything into nothingness.
Ten years ago, the Angel zhi Michael had locked eyes with him from the moon.
Ten years later, Ben Lin opened his eyes, and the residual Angel zhi power in his eyes erupted completely!
Fortunately, the amount of Angel zhi’s power left in Ben Lin's eyes was not much. The pillar of light lasted for only seven or eight seconds before gradually dissipating. Ben Lin's body fell from mid-air and he staggered to stabilize himself.
In his eyes, the radiant golden light gradually dimmed, leaving only a faint halo.
If the previous brightness was akin to the sun, then the current brightness was like a small candle.
The golden radiance that had erupted earlier was indeed incredibly powerful, but it didn't belong to him. The faint golden halo in Ben Lin's eyes now was the Angel zhi’s power that he truly controlled.
A faint thread of Angel zhi’s power.
Ben Lin took a deep breath, lifting his head slowly.
The pitch-black night, the old and worn-out streets, the terrifying monsters, and the blood-soaked ground... as this far-from-beautiful scene unfolded before Ben Lin's eyes, he smiled.
He smiled happily.
After ten years, he finally saw the world again with his own eyes.
At this moment, in Ben Lin's eyes, even the bloodstained monster in front of him seemed somewhat endearing.
As soon as the Angel zhi erupted from Ben Lin's body, these two monsters were instantly pinned down by the divine power. They were on the verge of being flattened.
Only after the golden pillar of light disappeared did they regain their senses. They looked around in confusion for a moment, then continued to fixate on Ben Lin.
Bloodthirsty desire returned to their eyes.
"Puff—!"
One of the monsters screeched and pounced towards Ben Lin!
Compared to before, Ben Lin was noticeably calmer. The moment the monster showed any movement, he had already determined its trajectory in his heart. With a swift move to the side, Ben Lin dodged it.
While Ben Lin's speed was slow relative to the monster's, his reaction speed was astonishing. The few seconds he predicted in advance were already enough to secure his evasion.
It wasn't that he could predict the future, but after opening his eyes, his sensory abilities had undergone a complete transformation.
One was the range of his mental perception, expanding from ten meters to twenty. Keep in mind that it took Ben Lin five years to reach a range of ten meters, but now it had doubled instantly.
The other was dynamic vision.
Within this twenty-meter range, Ben Lin had almost three times the dynamic vision of an ordinary person. His reflexes were borderline supernatural. In the process of close combat, he could predict movements as if he were clairvoyant.
As for the other abilities granted by his eyes, Ben Lin hadn't felt them yet.
However, in his current situation, he couldn't afford to explore them slowly.
The monster shot forward like an arrow, passing over the spot Ben Lin had just stood, and crashed into a large section of wall. It then forcefully kicked off the debris, launching itself at Ben Lin again!
By this time, Ben Lin had already rolled away from the monster's landing point. He reached out to his side and picked up the half of the cane that had fallen to the ground!
Ben Lin quickly stood up, crouching down, his gaze fixed on the rapidly approaching monster. Both his hands gripped the half of the cane!
The monster left a trail of afterimages, stirring up a gust of wind that blew Ben Lin's black hair in front of his forehead.
It exerted force with its hind legs, propelling its entire body into the air!
This time, Ben Lin didn't dodge.
He clenched the half of the cane tightly, his gaze locked onto the monster's eyes.
"Puff—!"
The monster's sharp claw extended, heading directly for Ben Lin's neck.
At the very moment it was about to touch Ben Lin, his pupils suddenly contracted!
The faint golden halo in his eyes seemed to be kindled like a stack of firewood, abruptly brightening. They appeared like two blazing furnaces!
A thread of divine might, through Ben Lin's eyes as a medium, surged fiercely into the monster's body.
In that instant, Ben Lin was perceived by the monster differently. He transformed into a supreme deity with six wings, exuding a terrifying pressure all over!
Under this divine might, its body stiffened momentarily.
In this brief moment, Ben Lin's hand held the broken cane high...
And accurately stabbed the monster's right eye!
..