I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

Xue Jing stopped at the door of one of the rooms on the third floor, peeking half his head out from the shadows, revealing a pair of silver-white eyes as he looked at the door.

Of the entire house, only this room remained completely silent, so Xue Jing obtained no data. In the scene of the entire house that he visualized, this room was a completely dark rectangular space.

Even in the other rooms, if there's not a single person there, as long as there's a small gap and a breeze blows in, Xue Jing can visualize something, more or less.

"Walls made with special soundproofing materials..." Xue Jing's eyes narrowed slightly.

He emerged from the shadows, extended his index finger, and a ball of black flame condensed at the tip, gently touching the wall.

The annihilation effect of the Shadow Flame silently 'burned' a small hole in the wall.

As Xue Jing's fingers penetrated deeper, the small hole he burned became deeper and deeper until the wall was burned through by the black flames, revealing a sliver of light. Only then did Xue Jing withdraw his fingers.

With the gap created, the perfect soundproofing was compromised, and Xue Jing could faintly hear some conversations.

"Time...I..."

"Mr. Guan... if only..."

"...Green Cube..."

Xue Jing put his ear to the small hole and listened for a while, but he still couldn't hear it very clearly.

After thinking for a moment, he simply flicked his finger, sending out a black flame the size of a fingernail that passed through the small hole and entered the room.

Then a shadow leaped and disappeared into the black flames beside him.

The room, which looked like an ordinary study with a few bookshelves, had two people sitting on it.

One of them was an elderly man with a somewhat hunched and thin build, wearing white pajamas and with a face full of wrinkles.

The other was a very tall man wearing a full-body black trench coat.

This was the first time Xue Jing had ever seen someone who was a whole size bigger than his senior brother, looking like an adult brown bear standing upright.

The man's head was bald, except for six button-like objects. Below his eyes was a black mask covering most of his face; the mask wasn't worn on, but rather sewn onto his skin with fine thread.

Neither of the two people in the study noticed that a shadow had silently appeared in an inconspicuous corner.

They continued talking.

"The problem now is that time is running out."

"The 'Great Discussion' is in eight days. If it's delayed by two more days, even if the operation is successful, by the time the news reaches them, the Great Discussion will probably be almost over."

The old man spoke in a hoarse, aged voice.

"Why can't you try to push him a little?"

"I can't take it anymore. I've been in this skin for almost half a year. If I stay any longer, I'll start to smell like an old person..."

The man, whose voice resembled that of a brown bear, spoke with a mechanical, steady tone:

"A dead pig is not afraid of boiling water. It's useless. Jiao Hongyuan is already just a worthless life. There's nowhere else he can be forced."

The old man pursed his lips in displeasure and said:

"Then why don't you just go and steal the 'Green Cube' and liberate it in the city center?"

The man glanced at him, his gaze indifferent: "If I were to do it, then it would basically confirm... Moreover, to ensure we wouldn't get involved, Jiao Hongyuan personally reset the password for the Green Cube. Currently, only he knows the password, so even if I snatch it, I can't use it."

"That thing, if you enter it wrong once, it will trigger 'transferability,' it's impossible to crack..."

The old man slumped lazily in his chair: "Damn it, why don't you just let me crawl into Jiao Hongyuan's body..."

The man said, "Then you're doomed... It doesn't matter if you die, there's a great doctor in the inner ring. If she does the autopsy, she might find your 'nucleus' in the body, and then..."

The old man said, "It might not be that doctor who comes to perform the autopsy, right? Let's take a gamble; it's better than just waiting like this."

The man clenched his fist: "A few days ago it might have been possible, but now Jiao Hongyuan has completed his limit-breaking surgery, and his combat power is almost comparable to my body. I'm afraid you won't be able to get in..."

"Oh? Then there's quite a chance. This body of yours is for reconnaissance, right? It doesn't have many powerful alien plants installed. Without further ado, I'll go to the basement now..." The old man stood up from the chair and walked towards the door, quite decisively.

But he was immediately stopped by the man's large, bear-paw-like hand: "Let him finish speaking. You won't have a chance. People who practice old martial arts have extremely strong intuition, especially those who have broken through the limits of the Grandmaster... Even a defective product like Jiao Hongyuan is almost impossible to be ambushed."

"If you get close to him and show even the slightest hostility, you will be discovered immediately."

The old man said unhappily, "Damn it! Does that mean there's no solution to this situation?"

"Pretty much... It doesn't really matter. Qingcheng's plan is just one step in the game. Even if it fails, it won't affect the overall situation."

"Alright, I'm leaving soon. I'll stop overseeing things in Qingcheng here. I just came to remind you not to do anything stupid..."

Upon hearing this, Xue Jing, who was lurking in the shadows in the corner, immediately and silently slipped into the black flames and appeared on a telephone pole on the street outside.

Beneath the helmet that covered his face with armor, his expression kept changing as he processed the information about the explosion he had just overheard.

He immediately took out his phone, opened the chat app, and quickly typed out everything he had just heard from memory, then sent it to Pei Xiaoen.

"I never expected that it would be the least likely chief councilor, Chi Liangyun, who got into trouble... Although it seems that it wasn't his own intention, but rather that something 'possessed' him."

"Judging from their conversation, it seems that the man only just happened to come over at this moment to remind 'Chi Liangyun'..."

"So, if I hadn't listed Chi Liangyun as the last person to be investigated and hadn't arrived at just the right time, we wouldn't have overheard their conversation. What a coincidence! We're really lucky."

"So that's how it is! This is what the Xingzhen hexagram means by 'great fortune'! The things passed down from our ancestors are indeed useful!"

Xue Jing thought to himself.

After relaying all the information to Pei Xiaoen, he stepped on a telephone pole, leaped into the air, and prepared to leave this place of trouble.

And just then.

Suddenly, a burly figure appeared directly above him, raising his hand to press down on his neck.

A sense of alarm rose in Xue Jing's heart. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned in mid-air, activating both the power and speed of twin life simultaneously. His skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and blood all circulated and condensed in his right arm, transforming into a terrifying force that seemed capable of piercing through heaven and earth.

"Roar--!!"

Amidst the roar of the dragon, the unparalleled secret technique of the Hidden Dragon Flow, the "Eye-Finishing Technique," bursts forth.

"呲-"

Without any obstruction, the needle pierced directly through the attacker's palm, going all the way in. Accompanied by the crackling sound of flesh and bone breaking, the attacker's entire palm was pierced through, leaving a large spiral hole from the back of the shoulder.

The pale golden energy continued its upward trajectory without waning, only slowly dissipating a hundred meters away.

"Ok?"

The visitor was quite surprised and suddenly stopped, floating in the air.

Xue Jing landed on the ground, did a backflip and jumped more than ten meters off the ground, standing on a telephone pole, his silvery-white eyes looking at the figure hovering in the air.

It was the same strong, bear-like man who had been in the room just moments before.

"His martial arts skills are not bad, and his energy flow is very coordinated. Does he practice traditional martial arts?"

The man spoke, his voice flat and unwavering, like a robotic, AI-generated voice.

"..." Xue Jing did not reply.

The man looked at the jet-black armor covering his entire body. "A recipient of a gift... a master of both divine and martial arts, interesting."

As they spoke, the flesh at the wound site on the man's arm, which had been pierced by Xue Jing, kept writhing, and in no time at all, it was almost completely healed.

Xue Jing stared at him, puzzled.

How was I discovered?

That shouldn't be the case. Even if they were discovered, they should have been caught on the spot. Why did they only catch up with them after they had already left the house?

Seemingly sensing Xue Jing's confusion, the man said in a completely unwavering tone:

"Your 'divinely bestowed secret technique' is very powerful; your ability to hide is almost flawless."

"If I hadn't used my 'four-dimensional senses' to scan my surroundings before leaving, I really wouldn't have noticed it."

"Don't worry, you didn't make a mistake. I just found you by following the 'time trajectory' of four-dimensional space."

Xue Jing: "..."

Four-dimensional senses? What the hell is that? It sounds amazing.

"So, you found me, what do you want?"

Xue Jing spoke up.

The man was somewhat surprised to hear Xue Jing's voice.

"So he's still a young man, around seventeen years old. It's a pity that he has such strength at this age."

Xue Jing tilted his head: "Oh? What's there to regret?"

Suddenly, black crystals spread out from the man's spine, constantly multiplying and writhing, quickly enveloping his entire body and transforming him into a suit of black crystal armor.

"Unfortunately, you're going to die here."

He spoke softly, his voice coming from inside the mask, sounding somewhat distorted.

Xue Jing narrowed his eyes: "ISE..."

……

Chapter 201 You misunderstood. I wasn't discussing this with you; I was just informing you about the War of Heaven (4K).

At this moment, the dragon's roar produced by Xue Jing's ultimate technique, "Eye-Pointing," was too loud in the quiet night, waking up almost all the residents within several kilometers.

The lights in the previously dark residential area were gradually turned on, casting a glow over the pitch-black night.

Countless residents stepped out of their balconies, peered out of their windows, or opened their doors, all looking toward the source of the sound.

Then they saw two figures whose entire bodies were completely black.

One of them was wearing a black crystal armor that slightly reflected light, and he floated in the air, surrounded by ripples of dark energy.

The other person was crouching on a telephone pole. Unlike the reflective black crystal armor, his magnificent black armor was like a black hole, seemingly capable of swallowing up all light.

"What are you doing, filming a movie in the middle of the night?"

"Wait, what's with the black flames burning on that person? The footage hasn't even been uploaded to the computer yet, and the special effects have already been added?"

"Damn, you guys are really thick-skinned. This is clearly a battle of gods! Hurry up and close the door!"

Many quick-thinking individuals, upon seeing this scene, immediately closed their doors and windows, and some even began packing up their valuables to make a hasty escape.