"Visitation" Plan

In the cave, Lam Minh's eyes suddenly snapped open from his cultivation state.

A warrior's intuition told him that someone was coming. Not foolish monsters, but professionals, carrying a cold, well-concealed killing intent.

"Oh? Is the fun finally starting?"

His first reaction wasn't to defend or hide. The corner of his mouth curled into a smile filled with amusement. For the past few days, just bullying monsters had started to bore him. He craved a more "proper" fight.

"Finally, a chance to let loose," he murmured. "All this time, I've had to disguise myself and act. It's so tiring."

No sooner said than done.

Instead of erasing his tracks and hiding, he did the complete opposite.

Not only did he not extinguish the fire, but he threw a few more dry branches into it, causing the flames to roar to life, the bright light illuminating a corner of the forest, with thick smoke billowing up.

He took out the remaining piece of bear meat, skewered it on a branch, and leisurely sat down to grill it by the fire. As he grilled, he whistled a cheerful tune, as if he were on a camping trip rather than being stalked by enemies.

This action was no different from setting up a giant neon sign in the middle of the forest that read: "I'M OVER HERE, COME AND GET ME IF YOU'VE GOT THE GUTS!"

A few kilometers away, the two "Night Shadow" assassins who were on the move came to a halt.

"Look," one of them pointed to the column of smoke in the distance. "A campfire. And... the smell of grilled meat?"

"Impossible," the other said, his voice full of suspicion. "Our target is described as an extremely cautious and cunning individual. Why would he act so foolishly? This must be a trap."

"Trap or not, we'll know when we get there," the first one said, a cruel glint in his eyes. "With the two of us working together, even if it's a trap, we can break it. Let's go!"

The two black shadows accelerated, rushing towards the firelight.

They approached with extreme professionalism, hiding in the shadows of the thickets, observing their target from a distance.

They saw a young human male, sitting leisurely grilling meat. He looked completely unguarded.

"He's alone," the second one whispered through their psychic link. "His aura is strange, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, we can't determine his cultivation level. But he definitely can't be a Golden Core. He's deliberately concealing it."

"An arrogant prey," the first one concluded. "He's too confident in his own strength. This is his weakness. I'll attack from the left, you attack from behind. Use a finishing blow, give him no chance to resist."

"Understood!"

The two black shadows split up, silently closing in on their target from two different directions. They were like two venomous snakes, preparing to deliver a fatal strike.

Lam Minh, who was pretending to be engrossed in grilling his meat, had an even wider smirk on his face. His spiritual sense had already locked onto the positions of the two assassins.

"Peak Foundation Establishment. Specializing in assassination and stealth. Good! Very good! A quality appetizer."

He feigned ignorance, flipped the bear meat, and praised it with a click of his tongue. "Smells so good! Grilled bear meat truly is a delicacy of the mortal world."

At that exact moment.

Two cold killing intents exploded simultaneously.

From the darkness, two black daggers, coated in poison and engraved with deadly runes, flew out at a terrifying speed, aimed straight at Lam Minh's heart and the nape of his neck.

A perfectly coordinated attack, leaving no blind spots. Any other Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, if attacked so suddenly, would surely have perished.

But their opponent was Lam Minh.

He didn't dodge.

He didn't even bother to turn his head.

SHINK! SHINK!

The two daggers plunged accurately into his body.

The two assassins were stunned. It's over? That easily?

But before they could celebrate, they saw Lam Minh's "corpse" slowly turn its head, look at them, and flash a brilliant smile.

"Hello, you two. Did that hurt your hands?"

On his body, at the location of the two stab wounds, not a single drop of blood was flowing. The wounds were healing themselves at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The two "Night Shadows," who had been through hundreds of assassinations, for the first time in their lives, felt a fear that came from the bottom of their souls.

"No... impossible! He... he's not human!"

They understood that they had encountered a true monster. They no longer had any intention of fighting and immediately turned to flee.

"Hey, where's the fire?" Lam Minh's voice sounded right in their ears. "Since you're here, why not stay and play? You haven't had any grilled meat yet."

He appeared between the two assassins like a ghost.

"I've received your welcoming gift. Now, it's my turn to give one back."

He reached out his hands and grabbed the heads of the two assassins.

They struggled in panic, but their strength compared to Lam Minh's now was like a child's compared to a giant's.

Primeval Dragon God Art – Dragon Soul Devour!

A skill he had never used before. He didn't use it to absorb spiritual energy, but to absorb... life force and memories.

"Aaaaaaargh!!!"

The two assassins let out their final, wretched screams. Their bodies shriveled up, turning into two dried husks.

[Eliminated two Peak Foundation Establishment Madakaros. Received 15,000 Immortality Points.]

Lam Minh released the two dried corpses and closed his eyes. Countless images, memories of assassination techniques, secret bases, and communication routes of the Madakaros race flashed through his mind.

"So that's how it is," he murmured. "The 'Night Shadow' unit. Specializes in doing the dirty work. Interesting."

He looked into the distance, where their command base was located.

"Thanks for the information. It seems, instead of sitting here waiting to be hunted, I should take the initiative to 'visit' their home."

He turned back, picked up the golden-brown, perfectly grilled piece of bear meat, and took a large bite.

"I'll eat my fill first, then go wreck their village later."

The game of cat and mouse had been completely reversed. The prey had now become a hunter a hundred times more terrifying.

...

After enjoying a lavish "bear steak" dinner, Lam Minh didn't act immediately. He returned to the cave, sat down by the fire, and began the process of "digesting" the information he had just absorbed from the two "Night Shadow" assassins.

This was the first time he had used the "Dragon Soul Devour" skill. It not only brought him Immortality Points but also gave him a huge amount of intelligence. However, these memories were chaotic and fragmented, like the shards of a broken mirror. He needed to sort and analyze them carefully.

He closed his eyes, letting his spiritual sense sink deep into the newly acquired sea of memories.

Images flashed through his mind like a fast-forwarded film.

He saw the brutal training process of the "Night Shadow" unit. They were selected from Madakaros with a talent for stealth and speed. They had to go through life-and-death exercises, killing each other to survive. Only the final survivor was worthy of becoming a "Night Shadow."

He saw their organizational structure. The "Night Shadows" were an independent unit, taking orders directly from one of the highest-ranking elders of the clans invading Earth, a being with a Late-stage Golden Core cultivation.

He saw their secret bases, cleverly disguised underground or in treacherous jungles.

And most importantly, he saw some "classified information" that even the ASEAN military might not know.

"So that's how it is," he murmured as he opened his eyes, a sharp glint within them. "They're preparing for a major plan."

Through the memories of the two assassins, he learned that Lac Long Quan's sudden appearance had caused great panic and shock among the Madakaros clans invading Earth. The ceasefire agreement was just a temporary plan to buy them time to investigate and prepare.

Their plan was to find and destroy the "Dragon Veins" of Earth. They believed that Lac Long Quan could appear and possess such terrifying power because he had absorbed energy from the Dragon Veins. If they could destroy the Dragon Veins, Lac Long Quan's power would be weakened, and humanity would lose its greatest support.

"A sinister plan," Lam Minh frowned.

He also learned the location of one of the "Night Shadow" unit's most important forward bases, which they used as a launchpad and command center for this northwestern region.

The base was located about 300km north of his current position, disguised under an abandoned ancient temple. According to the memories, this base had about 20 other "Night Shadow" members, all at Peak Foundation Establishment, and was commanded by an Early-stage Golden Core cultivator, a being nicknamed "Black Shadow."

"An Early Golden Core and over twenty Peak Foundation Establishment assassins... a lineup sufficient to cause big trouble for an entire legion."

If it were someone else, upon learning this information, the first reaction would be to report it to their superiors, to let the military plan a large-scale attack.

But Lam Minh thought differently.

"Why should I share the 'points' with others?" he chuckled to himself. "This is an extremely high-quality mobile 'point mine.' I have to 'excavate' it myself."

He began to plan his "visit."

He couldn't just charge straight in. Although he wasn't afraid of death, if he was besieged by a whole group of Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators and a Golden Core at the same time, he would also "die" very quickly and repeatedly. That would be inefficient and might also alert the enemy and allow them to escape.

"I have to use my head a little," he thought. "To deal with assassins, I have to use an assassin's methods."

He recalled the assassination techniques, the trapping methods, the ways to use poison that he had just "learned" from the memories of the two "Night Shadows." He combined them with his own knowledge.

A bold and somewhat... despicable plan began to form in his mind.

He wouldn't attack the base. He would "invite" them out.

He would turn this entire jungle into a giant trap, and he would be the bait. He would play the role of a wounded, weak "prey," fleeing with great difficulty, luring the "Night Shadows," who were eager for a kill, to separate from their formation and chase after him.

And once they were in the trap, he would "clean them up" one by one.

This was an extremely risky plan. It required skillful acting, patience, and perfect control of the situation. A single small mistake, and he would be surrounded and fall into a disadvantageous position.

But for Lam Minh, "disadvantage" was just another word for "opportunity." Being surrounded meant there were more targets to "farm."

"Alright. It's decided."

He stood up and extinguished the fire. He didn't head north immediately. He went south, creating false tracks, as if he were trying to flee back towards the Great Wall.

The game of cat and mouse had officially begun. And this time, the mouse was the one setting the trap.