Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow slightly. The young man was Bai Xingzhou, the captain of the First Brigade of the New Sea Special Intelligence Bureau.

It's likely that the old man beside him is Bai Zhenyue, the martial arts expert from the Bai family who oversees the Special Affairs Bureau.

The moment Sun Kaiyuan saw Bai Zhenyue, a blinding light suddenly burst forth from his turbid single eye, as if a drowning person had grasped at the last straw.

"Hahahaha..." Sun Kaiyuan threw his head back and laughed wildly, his laughter hoarse and manic: "You still couldn't kill me after all!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Lin Ran turned around, her long crimson hair, disguised in the illusion, swaying slightly in the lightning.

"The Secret Service is here. Are you going to lay a hand on them in front of them?"

Sun Kaiyuan grew increasingly confident as he spoke: "Openly defying the Special Intelligence Bureau, no one in all of China can save you! If I don't die today, I will definitely spread your deeds far and wide!"

"A fully awakened being can use various elemental abilities; many people will definitely be interested in your situation!"

"Tsk tsk tsk!" Lin Ran shook his head: "Really? I'm so scared!"

He loosely clenched his fist, and five blue-gold arcs of electricity leaped across his fingers, quickly compressing into a lightning ball the size of a fist.

The core was almost transparent white, with faint five-colored light emanating from it.

Lin Ran glanced at Bai Zhenyue and Bai Xingzhou, who were hurrying towards them, and said with a sneer, "Do you think they can save you?"

As he spoke, he pushed the thunderball toward Sun Kaiyuan.

Upon seeing this, Sun Kaiyuan's eyes widened in fury: "No! You can't do this to me!"

"Stop!" Bai Zhenyue shouted, trying to stop them.

However, the lightning ball eventually struck him, exploding into a burst of blue-gold lightning.

boom!

The lightning reflected off the cliff face, and the blinding light made everyone present instinctively squint.

"what!"

A piercing scream echoed through the valley.

When the lightning dissipated, Sun Kaiyuan's lower body was charred black, and only his upper body barely retained its shape.

His previous smug smile turned into terror.

"Sorry! I missed. I'll be more careful next time!"

As he spoke, Lin Ran prepared to gather lightning once more.

"Young man, don't be so stubborn!" Bai Zhenyue exuded an aura that was even more powerful than Sun Kaiyuan's.

"I am Bai Zhenyue, Deputy Director of the Xinhai Special Intelligence Bureau. Your actions in Xinhai City have violated the law."

He abruptly changed his tone: "Stop now, and there's still room for maneuver. If you remain obstinate, I'll have no choice but to take matters into my own hands!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ran pursed his lips: "Didn't we already leave Xinhai?"

"The area within fifty li of Xinhai City is under Xinhai's jurisdiction," Bai Xingzhou explained honestly.

"Oh...I see." Lin Ran nodded. "Then can I take him with me?"

Bai Zhenyue's face darkened: "Outrageous! You've already broken the law, and instead of thinking about how to remedy the situation, you're continuing to defy law enforcement?"

"Alright! Stop acting all dutiful!"

Lin Ran pointed at Sun Kaiyuan on the ground: "When the Sun family was committing evil deeds, you didn't stand up for justice. Now that I've dealt with this old bastard, you're all running around acting like good guys."

At this point, he feigned sudden realization: "Oh... I see! Are you going to act as protectors of evil forces?"

"Absurd!" Bai Zhenyue took a deep breath. "Everything requires evidence. We will investigate the Sun family's issues, but if you kill him now, there's no going back!"

"When doing things, we can't just look at the surface; we also have to consider the big picture. Every martial arts expert who has mastered the profound mysteries is an important resource for China."

He looked at Lin Ran, his tone sincere: "You're so young, yet you've achieved such cultivation; you must be exceptionally talented. You shouldn't ruin your future like this!"

"What future do you mean by 'future'?" Lin Ran sneered. "How do you know that the future you're talking about is the future I want?"

The image he now presents to everyone is that of a young man with long red hair, a far cry from his original appearance.

What future can a false image possibly have?

Moreover, even if he showed his true face, the Special Affairs Bureau couldn't give him the future he wanted!

"As for the bigger picture, what does it have to do with me?"

"Stubborn to the end!" Bai Zhenyue, with his fiery temper, said in a low voice, "You really won't stop?"

Lin Ran, abandoning his usual playful demeanor, turned cold: "Today, he must die!"

With only half his torso remaining, Sun Kaiyuan's face showed terror again: "Save me! I don't want to die! I can go to the secret realm, I'm still useful!"

Bai Zhenyue glanced at him, his face showing disgust: "If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"

After saying that, he looked at Lin Ran and said, "In his current state, going to the secret realm would only be suicide. Why do you need to do it yourself?"

Lin Ran shook his head: "Some things, you can only feel at ease if you do them yourself!"

Before Bai Zhenyue could respond, Lin Ran raised his hand and waved the Jinghong Sword, which transformed into a streak of light and swept across Sun Kaiyuan's charred neck.

bass!

After the sword flashed, Sun Kaiyuan's charred head rolled off his shoulder and tumbled to the edge of the shallow pool before coming to a stop.

The eyes on its head were still open, the mouth was slightly open, maintaining the shape of a plea for help, and the light in its pupils quickly dissipated.

The headless torso swayed, then fell completely silent.

Upon seeing this, Bai Zhenyue's chest heaved violently.

Profound Realm martial artists are the backbone of the Chinese martial arts system, and there are only a handful of them in the entire Xinhai.

Although Sun Kaiyuan acts domineeringly, he has killed no fewer than a hundred high-level mutated beasts while guarding the secret realm over the years.

Such a martial artist was beheaded right in front of him without going through any special procedures or being tried by the Special Affairs Bureau.

"Have you considered the consequences of your actions?" Bai Zhenyue's voice was filled with barely suppressed anger.

"As long as you can't catch me, I don't need to consider the consequences."

Lin Ran's gaze swept over the crowd, revealing a playful smile.

"What?" Bai Zhenyue sensed something was wrong and suddenly raised his hand, slapping Lin Ran with his palm.

The true energy of the Profound Realm left his body, transforming into a palm print visible to the naked eye, pressing down on him with immense force.

Where the palm print passed, the air was compressed and made to explode, and gravel flew everywhere.

Bang!

The palm print pierced through Lin Ran's chest and slammed into the cliff behind him, creating a palm-shaped crater several feet deep, with rubble scattering all over the ground.

Everyone stared intently as the figure with long, crimson hair twisted a few times, then vanished into the air like a wisp of mist blown away by the wind.

Bai Zhenyue's pupils suddenly contracted as he channeled his inner energy into his eyes and quickly scanned his surroundings.

However, he couldn't detect any lingering traces, not even a footprint, as if it had never existed.

The martial artist who had been standing in front of them seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Chief, the person is missing!" an investigator exclaimed, his long knife still in a defensive stance.

Bai Xingzhou strode to the spot where Lin Ran had just stood and squatted down to examine the ground.

There were no footprints on the gravel, and the spiritual energy fluctuations in the air had completely dissipated, leaving no trace.

His handsome face was furrowed with worry: "How could it be so fast?"

"It shouldn't be something that can be done simply by speed." Bai Zhenyue concealed his aura and frowned slightly. "It's more like a spatial ability."

He turned and looked towards the dense forest: "Send the order for a city-wide search. Target characteristics: red hair, Profound Realm cultivator, skilled in using flying swords and lightning, suspected of also possessing spatial abilities. Report immediately if found!"

"Yes!" The investigators responded in unison and quickly ran out of the dense forest.

Bai Xingzhou walked to the edge of the shallow pool and looked down at the head that had rolled onto the edge of the pool.

Those eyes were still wide open, revealing fear and despair.

The headless torso by the pool had stopped bleeding, but its lower limbs were still emitting faint wisps of smoke.

"Sun Kaiyuan was, after all, a martial artist at the Tongxuan Realm, yet he ended up in such a state."

He looked at the other two Transcendent Realm corpses and sighed even more, "To fight three against one, his strength far surpasses that of an ordinary Transcendent Realm martial artist."