Chapter 1031: Tianming Sect Clues! You

"Teacher."

Xu Jingming entered the villa and met Emers in the living room, then bowed respectfully.

"Have you met your other two senior brothers and sister?"

Emers asked softly.

She sat on the living room sofa, bathed in the noon sunlight, appearing sacred and pure.

"I've met them, but haven't had time for a proper chat," Xu Jingming said with a smile.

"Though your two senior brothers and sister aren't as gifted as you, they've progressed further in cultivation—should you have any questions later, you may seek their advice."

Emers nodded slightly, then turned her delicate face toward Tianhen, who was being carried by Eva's flying robot: "Is this the ninth-rank Tianming Sect member you captured?"

Her voice carried a hint of surprise.

As an apex powerhouse, she could easily sense that Tianhen was a high-tier ninth-rank, and his ability had reached S-class.

Yet she hadn't expected Xu Jingming's strength to have grown this far—to have captured an S-class high-tier ninth-rank alive.

She had assumed Xu Jingming's power was merely on par with a high-tier ninth-rank S-class.

"That's correct. Please, Teacher, use him to predict information related to the Tianming Sect," Xu Jingming said, nodding.

"The Tianming Sect—during the early days of my nation, Jin, similar organizations existed, but all were eventually eradicated."

"Now that Blue Star is not unified, such cults have room to survive."

Shaking her head, Emers extended her jade-like hand and untied the black silk band covering her eyes, revealing a pair of pale golden eyes radiating overwhelming pressure.

Boom—!!

The aura of an apex powerhouse subtly erupted; in Emers' beautiful eyes, golden and purple light flickered as she gazed at Tianhen.

Xu Jingming felt a crushing pressure suddenly descend upon him.

The figure seated there no longer seemed human—but like a deity!

After more than ten seconds, the strange phenomenon in Emers' eyes slowly faded, and she opened her crimson lips to speak:

"The higher the rank of an ability user, the less information they retain. I can confirm only that the Tianming Sect's headquarters lies in Arctic Continent."

"But I don't advise you to go there—the founder of the Tianming Sect is also there, and he is an apex powerhouse."

"An apex powerhouse?" Xu Jingming frowned.

He had assumed the Tianming Sect's founder was at most a peak ninth-rank—but he hadn't expected him to be an apex powerhouse!

If he were merely a peak ninth-rank, with the Black Armor, Xu Jingming might have dared to try.

But confronting an apex powerhouse recklessly would be tantamount to suicide.

Then again, without an apex powerhouse to command them, no ninth-rank ability users would obey orders.

Screech—

SSS-class Chaotic Divine Thunder surged forth, extinguishing the last spark of Tianhen's life.

Now that he had obtained the information, Xu Jingming had no reason to keep him alive.

The only regret was that he couldn't use the Slave Heart Seal to enslave him—if he could, the man might still have been useful.

'Ding! You have slain a ninth-rank high-tier Divine Blood Envoy. Ability Points +1,000,000.'

The pleasant system chime in his mind brought a surge of joy to Xu Jingming.

Though the useful information was scarce, the Ability Points were substantial.

Previously, killing a mid-tier ninth-rank Divine Blood Envoy had granted only 400,000 Ability Points.

Regaining his composure, Xu Jingming spoke again:

"Teacher, I have some other items belonging to Tianming Sect members—could you perhaps discern anything else from them?"

Xu Jingming pulled out the space rings he had taken from Li Hao, Tianyao, and others he had slain inside the Breakthrough Tower.

"I can try."

Emers nodded slightly, her beautiful eyes fixed on the space rings; after only a few seconds, she shook her head: "Too few items—information is fragmented. I'll share these visions with you."

"There are too few items, and the information visible is very fragmented; I'm sharing all these images with you."

A vast, ocean-like surge of spiritual force poured forth, and Xu Jingming saw numerous fragments.

Dim caves, crimson blood pools, Li Hao calling out "Teacher!" to someone, and glimpses of cities.

"Li Hao's teacher must be an important figure in the Xiatianming Sect. If we find their cultivation site, we should find him."

Xu Jingming fell silent for a moment, then summoned Eva and shared the visions with her:

"Eva, see if you can analyze these fragments for useful information—ideally, pinpoint their location."

For information comparison and search, no one could match the speed of the AI Eva.

"Got it, I'll give you a conclusion as soon as possible."

Eva giggled upon receiving the data, then retracted into her smart bracer and vanished.

"Your AI's name is the same as the intelligent lifeform who piloted the Hope in my Second Civilization era," Emers remarked, surprised.

"Eva is that Lord's offspring. When the Xinhuo World emerged, it was she who informed me."

Xu Jingming replied with a smile.

Now that the Xinhuo World had emerged, there was no need to conceal this information.

"I see."

Emers nodded. "The Hope has been returned to the Xinhuo World. When the time comes, Eva's original body will awaken."

"Oh? That's good," Xu Jingming smiled.

He held considerable affection for the elegant woman who had passed on Lei Shen's legacy to him.

"Oh? That's quite good," Xu Jingming smiled.

He held considerable fondness for the mature woman, Eva, who had passed on the Lei Shen inheritance to him.

"Hmm, Eva will probably come to see you again later."

Emers nodded slightly, then turned to Xu Jingming and changed the subject: "During this time, you've been in Sakura Country. How have you progressed with the Heavenly Mechanism Eye technique I taught you?"

Oh? Is she going to test my cultivation progress?

Luckily, I've already upgraded the Heavenly Mechanism Eye to Perfect rank.

Xu Jingming was about to speak, but Emers continued:

"I know your experiences have made you hate ferocious beasts, but spending half a month continuously slaughtering low-tier ferocious beasts does nothing for your strength."

You are my disciple, Emers. I won't favor you just because you're talented."

I'll let this slide, but from now on, you must seize every moment to cultivate. Otherwise, I will impose corresponding punishments."

You can ask your senior brothers and sisters—they won't want you to suffer the same punishments they endured."

Emers claimed she wouldn't show favoritism, but if Lu Rui, Jelar, and others heard this, they'd scream foul play.

After all, they never even got a single chance to avoid punishment back then.

"Uh, Teacher, I've already learned the Heavenly Mechanism Eye," Xu Jingming interrupted, blinking.

"Learned?" Emers frowned.

As the creator of the Heavenly Mechanism Eye, she knew better than anyone how difficult this SSS-rank technique was.

Even with her guidance, and even with prior cultivation of eye techniques, it took a full month just to enter the threshold.

But only half a month has passed.

And Xu Jingming had never trained any eye technique before—he hadn't even come to ask her for help during this time. How could he possibly have learned it?

Thinking of this, Emers's face grew slightly cold as she spoke:

"You say you've learned it? Then demonstrate it for me now."

Not learning it would be one thing—but stubbornly pretending you have is unacceptable.

She had thought Xu Jingming possessed both talent and virtue, but now it seemed he still carried the arrogance of a prodigy.

This must be corrected properly.