Chapter 433: Close Your Eyes  

The letter ended abruptly, the final stroke of the last word trailing off, making it obvious that the writer had been nervous and fearful.

But for Lin Jie, there was no need to continue analyzing the contents or handwriting of the letter. As long as he wanted to, he could cast his omnipresent gaze at Duan Xuemin, which could traverse all time and space.

That woman was worthy of being someone that had escaped the evil god's corruption. When writing the latter, she had subconsciously looked up into the air, feeling the familiar sensation of a gaze that frightened her.

Perhaps it was this sensation that confirmed her suspicion that the letter's recipient was that divine being.

Lin Jie withdrew his gaze and didn't even raise his head. He returned the letter back to the envelope and placed it on the table. As he did so, he looked at the thick book, One Thousand Classic Homedishes.

Lin Jie glanced at Joseph, then at Franca, gently stroking the cookbook in his hand. He had a complicated look on his face for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly. "So that's how it is... Haha, so that's how it is."

Franca and Joseph both looked at Lin Jie in surprise.

This was the first time Joseph had seen Boss Lin in such a state. Boss Lin had always been calm and composed, so how could he suddenly act this way? Thus, Joseph couldn't help but shift his gaze to Franca.

Franca asked apprehensively, "Is anything wrong, Boss Lin?"

Lin Jie raised his hand and rubbed the top of Franca's head, saying softly, "It's nothing, good child. I ought to give you a reward. Walking all the way from the Central District must be tiring, huh?"

Franca immediately broke into a cute smile, revealing a row of neat, white teeth. Such behavior was usually frowned upon in noble etiquette.

"Thank you, but it's fine. This was something that I did for my mom!"

Lin Jie's touch made Flanca feel a warm energy entering her body as if she were bathed in holy light, which made her squint.

Lin Jie could see the pride in Franca's smile and scanned the table as if looking for something. Then, he noticed the balance scale on the table and promptly handed it to Franca. "This little token... is for you."

You call this a little token?! thought Joseph to himself. This is the balance scale that controls the Law of equivalent exchange in the world...

He was going crazy inside, but he had long understood Boss Lin's strength. For this great being, this balance scale was indeed something trivial. "Boss Lin," Joseph whispered, and even gulped a little nervously.

Lin Jie glanced up at Joseph and gave him the usual smile.

"You seem to be troubled. Do you have any orders?" muttered Joseph.

Lin Jie shook his head. "I'm not all troubled. On the contrary, I see things much clearer now... I think I roughly know where I have to go. But before I go, there are some things I need to take care of."

"What?" Joseph couldn't help blurting out.

Rumble— Crash!

The moment Joseph exclaimed, and before Franca's eyes could even widen in surprise, the entire bookstore came crashing down like a soda can that had been abruptly stomped on. The bookshelf behind Lin Jie, which had been dark and indistinct like the mouth of a menacing beast, shattered like a mirror in an instant.

The books within it were sucked into a shadow-like vortex behind Lin Jie. At the moment the bookstore was flattened, the layer of darkness all around the bookstore was also sucked in and rushed frantically into the shadows behind Lin Jie.

The bookstore wasn't destroyed by anyone; rather, it was because Lin Jie had retrieved the power that originally resided there.

Joseph wasn't afraid of falling steel and concrete but instead stared fixedly at Boss Lin. Boss Lin appeared completely unperturbed as stuff fell all around him and the darkness all around was sucked into his shadow.

——

"Is it... over?" Zaphkiel, who was struggling to float in the void, whispered.

Zaphkiel, the 'Void Intermediary,' the world's strongest black magician that incorporated the void as his own domain, had pulled the entire bookstore into his constructed void, causing the physical form of the bookstore to collapse completely.

This was the first step of the Path of the Flaming Sword's attack on Lin Jie.

"Don't underestimate him," Michael muttered. Standing beside him were the other Path of the Flaming Sword's 'angels.'

"I'll go take a look." The headless yet dressed in knight garb, 'Thousand-Souled Undead,' Kamael, transformed into a black shadow and infiltrated the ruins.

Michael frowned as he watched the former go. Kamael controlled the souls of the world and was a true hell knight, using his own body to control the underworld and tens of thousands of dead souls.

Kamael was undoubtedly one of the Path of the Flaming Sword's strongest members. As long as there were souls of humans in the world, Kamael would be immortal.

'Thousand-Souled Undead,' Kamael, possessed thousands of souls and existed in every corner of Norzin.

Kamael and Raphael could be considered the Path of the Flaming Sword's trump cards.

Raphael could be considered a friend of Michael's since a long time ago. Kamael was quiet and reserved and practically followed the other two obediently. The three of them formed the initial Path of the Flaming Sword, and they considered Michael their friend.

"Keep observing, Metatron," Michael raised his hand and reminded 'Thought Observer,' Metatron, who was away from the rest and observing from outside the void domain. "Uh..." Metatron's slightly perplexed voice echoed all around. "The bookstore owner's will within the bookstore has disappeared."

"Is he dead?" Raphael cocked his head. He had a figure similar to Michael's but had what seemed like an undulating surface of the water for a face. Unlike Michael, he didn't like humans and wouldn't appear in a human form.

"Of course not," said 'Haniel,' who was right at the back. "Boss Lin is clearly an immortal... How could a god be bound by death?"

Everyone's gazes fell on Haniel. His words didn't sound like a compatriot of the Path of the Flaming Sword but rather seemed like someone gloating about his boss being very powerful

At that moment, Michael also realized what he had been suspicious about 'Haniel.'

"You, what exactly..."

"Hmm?" A puzzled sound from Metatron interrupted Michael's questioning. "It's appeared again. Boss Lin's thoughts."

All of the 'angels' were stunned upon hearing this.

"He only disappeared for a few seconds," Metatron said, the fear in his voice evident to his compatriots. "Kamael's clone... disappeared in an instant... Kamael's dead."

Michael: "...?"

Fitch, posing as Haniel, scoffed and chuckled softly, seemingly having given up his disguise completely. However, the several Supreme-ranks around him were already too busy to care.

Raphael's lake-like face was rippling, indicating the turmoil within him.

"Kamael..." Raphael whispered.

The door of the flattened bookstore was abruptly kicked open. Joseph stood there with a bewildered expression. He then looked behind him, then moved aside differentially, revealing a figure that still appeared the same as always.

Dark hair, black eyes, slightly pale skin. A scholarly face and a gentle smile, dressed in all-black garb, with dark and deep pupils that were like an unfathomable abyss.

Lin Jie, or perhaps, not Lin Jie.

His shadow extended behind him, covering the ruins of the entire bookstore and forming a dark void, like a curtain where the stars and universe were warped and twisted.

In Lin Jie's hand was a fresh book without a title on its cover. The blank pages flitted rapidly, with each page being a screaming soul—Kamael!

Michael's pupils narrowed. Kamael... had actually been turned into a book!

Thump!

Lin Jie mercilessly shut the thick book, and a flustered-looking Franca peeked out from behind him, holding the balance scale like a little toy.

Lin Jie's dark eyes scanned all the Path of the Flaming Sword's members, finally stopping on Michael.

"You knocked a little too strongly, my guests," uttered Lin Jie.

Michael unexpectedly felt a sense of trepidation the moment their eyes met. It was the same feeling as being scared out of his wits during his first battle with Lin Jie.

"Unforgivable... unforgivable!" Raphael's face bubbled like boiling water as he roared. The need to avenge Kamael had already firmly taken hold of him. He opened his arms, and the entire void was engulfed by the towering waves.

Lin Jie smiled slightly, kept the book in his hand away, and said gently to Franca who was behind him, "Close your eyes."