The system is the proficiency panel

Birthday parties are always filled with warmth, joy and celebration. When night falls and the stars twinkle, the lights in a carefully decorated banquet hall are soft and warm, as if even the air is filled with the taste of happiness.

On the long table in the center of the hall was placed a huge, multi-layered birthday cake covered with thick cream and adorned with a variety of fruits and delicate flowers. The surrounding tables were also filled with a variety of delicious dishes, from exquisite appetizers to hearty main courses to sweet desserts. Each dish was carefully selected and cooked to satisfy different taste buds.

A dozen children between the ages of ten and fifteen lined up, happily gave their gifts to Ye Zizhen and sent their blessings, then walked around the hall, choosing their favorite food with the help of the maids, leaving the seat next to Ye Zizhen for her best friend Ruoye.

After everyone in front had given their gifts, Ruoye, who was at the end of the line, walked up to Ye Zizhen and happily took out a beautifully wrapped gift box and handed it to him. She was the only one who came this time, and Chen Chen was not invited.

"Zi Xin, happy birthday."

"Thank you."

Ye Zizhen took the gift but did not open it. Instead, he put it on the table together with the gifts given by others. He did not invite Ruoye to find a place to sit down and talk, but from time to time he looked at the four people chatting on the sofa in the corner.

Although Ye Zizhen had a smile on her face, Ruoye could tell from the details that she was not in a good mood, so she asked in a low voice.

"What's wrong, Zixin? You don't seem very happy?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Zizhen immediately recalled the scene of the battle during the day, and he couldn't help but cover his heart with his right hand. After a while, he calmed down and released his right hand. He smiled and said under Ruoye's worried gaze.

"Maybe you're a little tired from practicing too much today. Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go over and eat together."

The two of them walked towards the dining table together. Ouyang Yun, who was sitting on the sofa in the corner, saw this scene, turned sideways to look at Lin Ji who was eating and talking on his phone, and joked.

"Michiko, you didn't really kill Ye Zixin again, did you? She looked like she had PTSD just now."

"Isn't that the method you suggested? When she has mastered her training, she might have to beat you up."

Lin Ji put down his phone and responded. Ye Wanjun and Yue Shanwu beside him also became interested in the conversation, but Ye Zizhen was Daozi's adopted sister after all, so it was not easy to ask Daozi directly.

So the two of them turned their attention to Ouyang Yun, and Yue Shanwu, as the elder, asked first.

"Ouyang, what happened?"

Ouyang Yun first glanced at Lin Ji, and seeing that he had no intention of stopping her, she told him what Ye Zichen had asked her.

While the three of them were talking, Lin Ji also recalled what happened during the day.

Ye Zizhen fought against his phantom holding an alloy spear. It must be said that she worked very hard in the past half month and her strength improved a lot. In addition, the spear had the advantage in close combat. In the first few rounds, she did not lose immediately like before and persisted for a while.

Seeing that he had not been hurt yet, Ye Zizhen used what Ouyang Yun had said, that is, exchanging his life for injury, and this method was quite effective.

Phantom's arm was pierced by Ye Zizhen's spear, but he had no intention of indulging her. For the sake of a birthday, although this was also a manifestation of his respect for him, making such an extreme choice would naturally have to pay the corresponding price. He wanted to teach her a lesson.

So he controlled the phantom to directly pierce Ye Zizhen's heart and then shatter it, ensuring that she would die physiologically, so that she could experience this feeling and not be so impulsive in the future.

At that time, the cheap sister's face was full of disbelief. She did not expect that Lin Ji's phantom would be so cruel and leave no room for her. In the end, she only left a few intermittent words and closed her eyes.

"Brother...Brother, why...why?"

When Ye Zizhen's soul was about to leave her body, he restored her body and put her soul back in place, reviving her. After waking up, she started to act unhappy.

Thinking about this, Lin Ji collected his thoughts, and seeing that the three people had almost finished their conversation, he immediately deployed a spiritual barrier to isolate the place.

"We're done chatting, let's get down to business. Yue Shanwu, you've been monitoring Ruoye for half a month. Have you found anything?"

After hearing Lin Ji's words, the three stopped talking and sat up straight, and Yue Shanwu spoke.

"I really couldn't see anything wrong with Ruoye, so I expanded the scope to see if there were similar people around her every time she went to a place, and sure enough, I found something."

As he spoke, Yue Shanwu used his spiritual power to condense the appearance of a woman, who was exactly the woman in the snack street that night.

"After investigation, we found that almost every time Ruoye went out, this woman would appear within 200 meters of her. Although the two had never had a direct conversation, there must be something wrong if she appeared in the same place so frequently, so we investigated it."

"This woman's name is Wu Li, which may be a pseudonym. On the surface, she is a martial artist in her thirties, but in fact, she is a martial saint. She recently came to Hongxia City to join the Adventurer's Guild. She has always been law-abiding and is also a religious believer. There is an altar in her home with a broken stone hanging on it. I don't know what sect she belongs to. I plan to continue to observe who else she will come into contact with, so that I can catch her in one fell swoop."

"And last night, Chen Chen, Ruo Ye and a man named Fu Jiu left Hongxia City through the sewers for a while. In the end, only Chen Chen came back. Fu Jiu died in a forest far away from Hongxia City. His body was bitten to pieces by wild beasts. That's all the news."

Yue Shanwu told Lin Ji everything he had found out recently in one breath. After listening, Lin Ji nodded slightly and then asked.

"Where is Wu Li now?"

"Her home is on the edge of Hongxia City. She said it's close to the outside world, which makes it convenient for her to carry out the Adventurer's Guild's missions. She invited some friends to dinner tonight. She's had this happen before, so it's pretty normal."

As Yue Shanwu spoke, he used his spiritual power to condense a map again, which marked the location of Wu Li's home.

Looking at the map reminded Lin Ji of what Ye Zizhen had told him during the day, that he and Ruoye would go out alone to celebrate his birthday in the evening, and the location would be near Wu Li's house.

Combining this information, Lin Ji felt that something must be happening tonight, so he gave the order.

"Something might happen tonight, so be careful."

After Lin Ji finished speaking, he removed the spiritual barrier and continued to eat and play with his phone. The three did not ask why, but just nodded in agreement and became very alert. They believed that Daozi must have thought of something when he said this and would not tease them for no reason.

The joyful birthday party was over quickly. After seeing off his friends, Ye Zizhen said to Ruoye beside him.

"Ruoye, wait a minute. I'll go talk to my brother before I leave."

"Well, go ahead."