The system is the proficiency panel

The two men followed silently behind the sturdy man, shadows in their wake. Apparently unaware, he simply walked steadily toward a relatively secluded, abandoned logging camp on the outskirts of the Quicksand Forest, surrounded by dead, twisted trees. The smell of decay in the air seemed to have faded slightly.

"He is the only one who has reached the late stage of Qi training. His breath is steady and his steps are powerful. He has received strict training."

Lin Ji's spiritual sense was like mercury pouring out, instantly exploring the other party inside and out, and at the same time passing the information to Yun Shitian.

"There's no sign of an ambush or companions around."

"Tsk, a small shrimp, is it worth the Jones family sending him out?"

Yun Shitian curled his lips. Although he had put away his golden armor, the fighting spirit in his eyes was still there. He needed to vent the frustration he had just felt in the guild.

"Small shrimp are more likely to be spies exploring the route. Catch them alive and interrogate them."

Lin Ji's voice sounded in Yun Shitian's mind, with an unquestionable determination.

Just as the man walked to a slightly flat open space in the center of the camp, as if preparing to check something, something strange happened!

A force so powerful it suffocated him descended from nowhere, locking him firmly in place. He couldn't even move a finger, and even his screams were strangled in his throat! His eyes instantly flashed with horror, and he desperately urged the fighting spirit in his body, but it was like a drop in the ocean, unable to move an inch.

Then, a figure appeared behind him like a ghost. Yun Shitian swung his fingers like a knife, slicing through the air with a sharp whistle as he struck the back of his neck with uncanny precision. His control of force was impeccable, enough to instantly shatter his consciousness without damaging his body.

The entire process took place in a flash, from restraint to stunning, all in one go, so fast that not even the wind could carry away a single sound. All that remained of the abandoned camp was the whimpering of the wind through the dead trees and two figures shrouded in gray cloaks.

Lin Ji glanced around, his spiritual sense sweeping through the area once more to confirm that everything was safe. He dragged the unconscious man with him, and together with Yun Shitian, they quickly retreated into a half-collapsed log storage shed on the edge of the camp, covered in dust and cobwebs.

Yun Shitian closed the creaking, nearly crumbling wooden door with his backhand, while Lin Ji waved his hand to cast a simple isolation barrier and silence array. The room was dimly lit, with only a few rays of pale sunlight filtering through the cracks.

Lin Ji dropped the unconscious man onto the cold dirt floor and looked down at him. Yun Shitian, on the other hand, leaned against the door with his arms folded, a sneer on his face, his eyes sizing him like prey.

Lin Ji squatted down, condensing a tiny but pure wisp of space-time spiritual power from his fingertips, and gently tapped the man's brow. The spiritual power was like an icy silver needle, instantly piercing the other person's drowsy spiritual world.

"Ugh—!"

The man twitched violently as if burned by a branding iron, instantly awakened from his coma by the excruciating pain! He snapped his eyes open, his pupils constricted by pain and terror, and what came into view were two blurry faces hidden beneath the shadows of cloaked hoods. He tried to struggle, but found his entire body pinned down by an invisible, mountain-like weight. Even breathing became extremely difficult, and only a hoarse gasp escaped his throat. What terrified him even more was that his vindictive spirit was now as stagnant as dead water, completely unresponsive!

"name."

A cold, emotionless voice rang out, like the friction of ice, drilling directly into his mind, carrying an irresistible willpower. This voice seemed to have some kind of magic, making him feel dazed and subconsciously about to speak.

But he bit the tip of his tongue suddenly, and the severe pain brought him a bit of clarity. A trace of stubbornness unique to the family's assassins flashed in his eyes. He closed his mouth tightly and tried to fight against the voice that invaded his mind.

Lin Ji's eyes were slightly cold, and his spiritual power fluctuated slightly. A more subtle but more terrifying shock force was accurately transmitted to the most sensitive nerve endings in the man's brain.

"what--!"

The man's body suddenly arched up, like a shrimp out of water. His eyes bulged and bloodshot, and an inhuman howl emanated from his throat. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably, and sweat instantly soaked through his leather armor. The pain didn't affect his body, but directly affected his soul. It was as if countless red-hot steel needles were stirring and burning in his brain, making him irresistible and defenseless!

In just three breaths, that stubborn look was completely drowned by boundless pain and fear. He felt that he would be completely destroyed by this inhuman torture in the next second and turned into a puddle of mud.

"I say! I say! My name is... Patton... Patton Hammer!"

He roared hoarsely, his voice distorted by the pain, filled with tears and complete collapse. That pitiful family loyalty was so fragile in the face of absolute power and unbearable pain.

"Identity, purpose."

Lin Ji's voice was still cold, and the strength of his fingertips slowed down a little, but the terrifying threat that could come again at any time was like the sword of Damocles hanging over Patton's head.

Patton gasped violently, like a dying fish, his eyes were dull and he no longer had any will to resist.

"A field agent of the Jones family... has been ordered... has been ordered to infiltrate the Quicksand Forest..."

He spoke incoherently, and every breath was accompanied by residual pain.

"Specific tasks! How many people are coming!"

Yun Shitian growled impatiently, carrying an invisible pressure that made Barton shudder again.

Patton's body trembled even more violently.

"A batch of precious family goods was robbed, and a Nine-Ring Mage who was escorting them was killed. The traces left at the scene all point to the Bloodthorn Mercenaries from the Quicksand Forest. The head of the family was furious and sent us to investigate. There are twenty of us in total..."

Twenty spies from the Jones family sneaked into the Quicksand Forest, just to track down a batch of looted "precious goods" and a fallen Nine-ring Mage... Lin Ji's fingertips were still on Patton's brow, and the cold spiritual power was like a hovering poison needle, maintaining a sense of oppression that was enough to destroy his will.

"What's the cargo?"

Lin Ji's voice was like a cold wind blowing across the ice.

“No…I don’t know!”

Patton's body was shaking like a sieve, and tears were streaming down his face.

"Only the captain knows... We're only responsible for the peripheral investigation. The Bloodthorn... The Bloodthorn Mercenaries did it! There are their marks at the scene!"

He was incoherent, his fear completely overwhelmed his reason.

Yun Shitian snorted coldly.

"Blood Thorn? Daoyan's intelligence shows they're operating nearby."

Lin Ji's eyes were deep, and Serena Jones's hideous face flashed through his memory. The Nine-Ring Mage was murdered? He was kidnapped by Bloodthorn? This coincidence was too much. Was it a frame-up due to internal strife within the Jones family, or was there another big fish hiding in the murky waters of the Quicksand Forest?

He slowly withdrew his finger from his brow. The terrifying pressure that had been directly affecting Patton's soul suddenly vanished. Patton collapsed to the ground as if his bones had been pulled out, leaving only the violent gasps of life and uncontrollable physiological tremors.

"very good."

Lin Ji's voice returned to calm, even with a strange gentleness.

"You fulfilled your promise and provided the information. Now, fulfill my word and you may go."

“Let’s go…let’s go?”

Barton looked up blankly, his bloodshot eyes filled with disbelief. He thought he was doomed.

"Yes, leave here, leave the Quicksand Forest, and forget everything that happened today."

Lin Ji's tone was unquestionable, as if he was stating an established fact.

Yun Shitian frowned and couldn't help but send a message through his spiritual sense.

"Lin Ji! Are you really going to let him go? If he knows we've captured him and reports him..."

Lin Ji didn't respond to Yun Shitian's question, but calmly watched Barton struggle to get up. Just as Barton stumbled around and was about to push open the creaking door, thinking he had truly escaped death—

Through the Looking Glass!

Lin Ji's water state of mind was activated silently, and the exquisite power of controlling the five senses instantly enveloped Patton like an invisible tide.

Illusion:

After Barton successfully pushed open the wooden door, the glaring sunlight made him squint. Outside the camp, there was no one, only the whimpering of dead trees in the wind. He was ecstatic, and without the slightest hesitation, he burst out with all the remaining fighting spirit in his body and ran for his life in the direction he remembered coming from - away from the core of the Quicksand Forest! Dead branches broke under his feet, and the smell of corruption was left behind. Driven by the instinct of survival, he didn't even look back. He had only one thought: escape! The farther the better! Away from those two devils! The family's mission, the captain's orders... all were thrown out of the window. His heart was pounding, his lungs were like bellows, and every breath was accompanied by the burning pain of surviving a disaster. It's almost time, I'm about to leave this damn place!

Reality:

Inside the abandoned cabin, Barton leaned forward slightly, preparing to push the door open. His eyes were empty, but his face was strangely intertwined with a mixture of extreme fear and a twisted expression bordering on ecstasy. He froze in place, like a puppet, oblivious to the real world outside—the dim light, the dusty, cobweb-covered walls, and the cold-eyed Lin Ji and Yun Shitian standing behind him.

Lin Ji's consciousness, like the most sophisticated probe, penetrated Barton's mind, completely dominated by illusions, capturing his most instinctive reactions and fluctuations in thought. There was no trace of fabrication, no attempt to leave a hidden message. Even the slightest lingering obsession with the family mission had been crushed by the sheer desire to survive. All his mental activity was directed in one direction—escape! The fear was real, the devastation was real, and the "ecstasy" of running for his life was also real. He wasn't lying, at least not to the best of his knowledge.

"Confirmed."

Lin Ji's voice sounded in Yun Shitian's mind, dispelling his doubts.

The next moment, Lin Ji's fingertips touched the back of Barton's neck again, this time with precise and gentle force. The combined power of Water Purification and Wood Restoration washed over a specific area of ​​Barton's cerebral cortex like the gentlest tide.

The goal was clear: to erase the opponent's entire memory from the moment they entered the logging camp until the present moment. Into this gaping void, Lin Ji cleverly inserted a blurry fragment of a man being attacked by the roots of a corrupted ancient tree, severely injured and unconscious, and then rescued by a passing adventurer, narrowly escaping. The entire process was silent, leaving no trace.

The hollowness in Barton's eyes quickly faded, replaced by the extreme exhaustion and bewilderment of someone recovering from a serious injury. He staggered, his body limp, and collapsed to the ground again, this time in a true coma. His breathing became steady and long, as if he had experienced a nightmare and exhausted all his strength.

Lin Ji withdrew his hand and removed the isolation barrier and silencing array in the room. The faint, spiritually corrosive sound of the wind, unique to the Corrupted Forest, immediately seeped in through the crack in the door.

"Walk."

Lin Ji signaled to Yun Shitian, and the two of them, like ghosts blending into the shadows, silently left the abandoned storage shed, leaving the unconscious Barton behind. It wouldn't be long before patrolling adventurers or someone else would find him, and he would only remember his good fortune in having survived this terrifying forest.

The two quickly moved away from the abandoned camp and rejoined the twisted shadows of dead trees on the outskirts of the Quicksand Forest.

"Where to go now?"

Yun Shitian asked. The experience just now made him suppress his urge to fight a little, and he realized that the water in this place was more muddy than he thought.

"Return to the base."

Lin Ji's gaze turned to the increasingly dark grey outlines deeper in the Quicksand Forest.

"Barton's intelligence, Old Pipe's clues, and Master Pu and his team's findings all need to be summarized. The Jones family's presence here, targeting the Bloodthorn Mercenary Group, may be a variable that can be exploited, but it could also be a nuisance."

The two of them did not delay any longer. Their figures turned into two blurry streaks of light and rushed towards the canyon where their temporary base was located.