Chapter 200: Four-Dimensional Senses, Tracing Time, Encountering ISE Again, Midnight Battle Arises!

Chapter 200: Four-Dimensional Senses, Tracing Time, Encountering ISE Again, Midnight Battle Arises! (4K)



Throughout the entire night, Xueheng scoured every corner of Mu Feng Street, searching the residences of all seven council members.

However, he turned up nothing related to his investigation... Well, not exactly nothing. He did uncover some secrets that ordinary people wouldn't have access to, after all, these were the homes of influential council members, so there had to be something of value.

It just so happened that none of it pertained to what he was looking for.

As dawn broke, Xueheng called off the search and returned home.

With the cover of night, his abilities, shrouded in Shadowflame, were virtually unstoppable. But during the day, these outward manifestations of his power were far too conspicuous.

Xueheng caught a few hours of sleep at home before heading to the Hidden Dragon Dojo for his daily martial arts training and to instruct his young disciple. He spent some time grinding skill experience before once again donning the mantle of the Black Dragon Knight as night fell.

Three days passed in this manner.

During this time, Xueheng investigated a total of 26 council members' homes, still to no avail in his search for clues related to the Celestial Insect Queen.

"Am I not thorough enough in my searches? Or did Peixi'en's speculation miss the mark, and the Celestial Insect Queen has nothing to do with the council members..."

Xueheng, cloaked in shadowy armor, crouched on a utility pole, his eyes reflecting deep thought.

"Or am I just incredibly unlucky, and I have to search through all thirty possibilities before finding anything? A one-in-thirty chance..."

"Nonsense. When I threw the Imperial Coins, didn't I get the 'Star Shake Hexagram', foretelling great fortune?"

"Damn superstition."

Xueheng recalled the profiles of the remaining four council members.

Chu Minyi, Xi Sihan, Zuo Qingxia, and Chi Liangyun.

He had been investigating them in descending order of suspicion, and these four were the least likely to be involved.

Chu Minyi was Peixi'en's superior and the one who had commissioned him for this task.

As for the others, Chi Liangyun was the chief councilor, while Xi Sihan and Zuo Qingxia were both deputy councilors.

These three had the most vested interests in Qingcheng, so it was highly unlikely they would do something like this.

"Regardless, I've come this far, so I might as well see it through to the end."

Xueheng's figure flickered, and he vanished from his perch like a ghost.

He first paid a visit to the homes of the two deputy councilors, Xi Sihan and Zuo Qingxia, as he expected, he found nothing of relevance, only uncovering some dirt that held no value to him.

He then traversed half the district to reach Chu Minyi's residence—though this man had commissioned the investigation, Xueheng couldn't rule out the possibility of a reverse psychology ploy.

Of course, in the end, Xueheng's suspicions were unfounded. Chu Minyi was clean; there was nothing to be found in his home.

"That just leaves Chief Councilor Chi Liangyun..."

Xueheng furrowed his brows.

This was the least likely person to be connected to the Celestial Insect Queen—a retiring elder councilor, content to finish his career peacefully, had no reason to get involved in such affairs.

"Am I really going to lose out on the ten billion cash and ten divine relics?"

Xueheng stroked his chin.

Regardless, he had come this far, and he would definitely take a look.

Gazing at the ordinary-looking house before him, which couldn't even be considered a villa, Xueheng's figure flickered, and he stepped inside, cloaked in darkness.

Unlike most council members who resided in the upscale Northern District, Chief Councilor Chi Liangyun lived in the 'Westside Slums', and his house looked no different from those of common folk.

There were barely any security personnel or facilities in place. In Xueheng's mental projection of the entire house, he only spotted two symbolic guards standing at the front door, and there didn't seem to be any infrared sensors or even security cameras in sight.

However, this didn't make Xueheng complacent; instead, he became even more cautious. He maintained his 'Shadow Stealth' and 'Aura Concealment' abilities throughout his exploration of the house, carefully maneuvering through the shadows.

Xueheng didn't believe that a chief councilor would have absolutely no security measures in place for his personal safety.

After thoroughly searching the rooms on the first and second floors, Xueheng climbed the stairs to the third floor, remaining concealed in the shadows.

As soon as he reached the top, he sensed something amiss.

Xueheng paused at the door of one of the rooms, his silver-white eyes peering out from the shadows, fixed on the door.

In the entire house, this was the only room from which he couldn't gather any data. In his mental projection, this room appeared as a pitch-black rectangular space.

The other rooms were empty, but Xueheng could more or less sense something as long as there was a gap for the wind to blow through.

"Special soundproof walls..." Xueheng narrowed his eyes.

He emerged from the shadows, revealing his upper body, and extended his index finger, summoning a ball of black flame that gently touched the wall.

The Shadowflame silently eroded the substance of the wall, allowing him to 'burn' a small hole through it.

As Xueheng's finger penetrated deeper, the hole grew longer until the wall was pierced through, revealing a faint light. Only then did he retract his finger.

With the presence of the hole, the perfect soundproofing was compromised, and Xueheng could vaguely hear some voices.

"...time...I..."

"...Director Guan...if we could..."

"...Green Rubik's Cube..."

Xueheng listened by the hole for a while but still couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers, creating a black flame the size of a fingernail that passed through the hole and entered the room.

Then, a shadow leaped, and a figure dove into the black flame.

In the room, which appeared to be an ordinary study with a few bookshelves, sat two men.

One of them was an elderly man with a hunched back, frail and wearing white sleepwear, his face etched with wrinkles.

The other was a man clad in a black trench coat that enveloped his entire body. He had an exceptionally tall and bulky build, even surpassing the Grand Senior Brother in stature, resembling a standing adult brown bear.

This was the first time Xueheng had seen someone more robust than his Grand Senior Brother; the man was like a towering grizzly bear.

The man's head was completely bald, with six button-like objects embedded in the scalp. Below that, a black mask covered the lower half of his face, not something he had put on but rather sewn into his skin with fine thread.

The two men in the study were unaware that a shadow had silently formed in the room's unassuming corner.

They continued their conversation.

"The problem now is that we're running out of time."

"'The Conference' is in eight days. If we're any later, even if the operation succeeds, by the time the news reaches them, the conference will probably be over."

The elderly man's voice was hoarse and aged.

"Why not force him a little?"

"I'm getting a little impatient too. I've been in this skin for almost half a year. If I stay any longer, I'll start to smell like this old man..."

The man with the bear-like build spoke in a mechanically calm tone.

"A dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water. It's useless. Jiao Hongyuan is already at the end of his rope, with nothing left to threaten him."

The old man pouted in dissatisfaction, "Then why don't you just go and take the 'Green Rubik's Cube' and release it in the city center?"

The man glanced at him, his expression indifferent, "If I were to make a move, it would almost certainly be traced back to me... Besides, to ensure no connection was made, Jiao Hongyuan personally reset the password for the Green Rubik's Cube. Currently, he's the only one who knows the password, so even if I took it, I wouldn't be able to use it."

"That thing, if you enter the password wrong once, it will trigger a 'transfer', and there's no way to crack it..."

The old man slumped lazily in his chair, "Damn it, then why don't I just possess Jiao Hongyuan's body?"

The man said, "If you do that, you'll be finished... If the doctor from the Inner Ring does the autopsy and finds your 'core' in the body, then..."

The old man said, "It's not necessarily that doctor who will do the autopsy, is it? Let's take a gamble; it's better than just waiting here."

The man squeezed his palm, "A few days ago, it might have been possible, but now Jiao Hongyuan has completed the Limit-Breaking surgery, and his combat strength is almost on par with this body of mine. You probably won't be able to possess him..."

"Oh? So now we have a chance. This body of yours is for reconnaissance, right? It doesn't have many powerful xenografts. We must act without delay. I'll go to the basement now..." The elderly man stood up from his chair and headed for the door, his movements surprisingly brisk.

However, he was stopped by the man, who extended a palm as large as a bear's paw, "Let me finish what I was saying. You don't have a chance. Practitioners of the Old Arts have strong instincts, especially Limit-Breaking Masters... Even a defective product like Jiao Hongyuan would almost certainly detect an attempted ambush."

"As soon as you get close to him and have the slightest bit of hostile intent, he will sense it immediately."

The old man scowled in frustration, "Damn it! So are we just stuck in this situation now?"

"More or less... But it doesn't matter. The plan in Qingcheng is just one step in a larger scheme. Even if it fails, it won't affect the grand strategy."

"Alright, I'm about to leave. I've kept an eye on things in Qingcheng, and I'm just reminding you one last time not to do anything stupid..."

Hiding in the shadows, Xueheng, cloaked in Shadowflame, heard this and immediately vanished without a trace, reappearing on a utility pole in the street outside.

Within the helmet of his Full-Body Armor, his expression kept changing as he processed the explosive information he had just overheard.

He immediately took out his phone, opened a chat app, and quickly typed out everything he had just heard, sending it to Peixi'en.

"I never expected that it would be the least likely suspect, Chief Councilor Chi Liangyun... Although it doesn't seem to be his intention, but rather something that has 'possessed' him."

"From their conversation, it seems that man only came to remind 'Chi Liangyun' just now..."

"In that case, if I hadn't listed Chi Liangyun as the last person to investigate, and had left right after hearing their conversation, I wouldn't have heard it. What a coincidence, my luck is really good."

"So that's what the 'Star Shake Hexagram' foretold—great fortune ahead? The things passed down by our ancestors are really useful!"

Xueheng thought to himself.

After sending all the information to Peixi'en, he pushed off from the utility pole and leaped into the air, about to leave this troublesome place.

Just at that moment.

A formidable figure appeared above him, reaching out and pressing down on his neck.

Xueheng's instincts blared a warning, and without hesitation, he spun in the air, simultaneously activating his Twin Might and Twin Speed. He channeled the power of his flesh, muscles, tendons, and blood into his right arm, transforming it into a terrifying force that seemed capable of piercing through the heavens and the earth.

"Roar!"

With a dragon's roar, the peerless secret technique of the Hidden Dragon Style, the Point-Piercing Strike, burst forth.

"Screech!"

Unimpeded, the Point-Piercing Strike penetrated the attacker's palm, piercing through it and exiting from the back of his shoulder, accompanied by the sound of shattering bones and flesh. The man's entire hand was impaled, leaving a spiraling hole from front to back.

The pale golden force continued unabated, traveling a hundred meters before gradually dissipating.

"Hmm?"

The attacker was quite surprised and suddenly stopped, hovering in the air.

Xueheng landed on the ground and backflipped, leaping ten meters into the air to perch on a utility pole. His silver-white eyes looked up at the figure floating in the air.

It was the burly man from the room earlier, like a towering grizzly bear.

"Not bad martial arts, smooth flow of energy, a practitioner of the Old Arts?"

The man spoke, his voice flat and devoid of emotion, like a robot generating a simulated AI voice.

"... " Xueheng remained silent.

The man looked at him, his body covered in pitch-black armor, "And a recipient of the divine gift... cultivating both martial arts and divine gifts, interesting."

As he spoke, the man's hand, which had been pierced by Xueheng, began to regenerate. The flesh and blood at the wound site squirmed, and in a short while, the injury was almost healed.

Xueheng watched him, puzzled.

How did he get discovered?

It shouldn't be. Even if he had been detected, he should have been caught on the spot. Why did the man only catch up to him after he had left the house?

Seeming to read Xueheng's confusion, the man said, "Your 'Divine Secret Art' is powerful; your hiding ability is almost perfect."

"If I hadn't scanned the 'four-dimensional senses' around me before leaving out of caution, I wouldn't have found you."

"Rest assured, you didn't make a mistake. I only found you by following the 'time trajectory' in four-dimensional space."

Xueheng: "..."

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

"So, now that you've found me, what do you want to do?"

Xueheng asked.

Hearing Xueheng's voice, the man was a little surprised.

"So, it's a young man. About seventeen years old, yet possessing such strength at this age, what a pity."

Xueheng tilted his head, "Oh? What's so pitiful about it?"

Black crystals began to spread from the man's spine, proliferating and writhing until they enveloped his entire body, transforming into a suit of black crystal battle armor.

"It's a pity you have to die here."

He spoke softly, his voice distorted by the face mask.

Xueheng narrowed his silver-white eyes, "ISE..."

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end