Chapter 1038: Shocked Tian Hong! Clone-Type Ability!

Two hundred meters beneath the Holy Radiance Church building.

The underground space, which should have been filled with sand, stone, and soil, had been carved into a vast subterranean chamber.

This underground chamber had eighteen levels, each with an area exceeding ten thousand square meters.

Each level contained more than ten crimson blood pools, the places where Divine Blood Messengers were born.

Yet at the deepest level—the eighteenth—there was only one blood pool.

Inside the blood pool, a tall, slender man sat cross-legged, his entire body surging with crimson blood qi.

Xie Shi!

The leader of the Holy Radiance Church.

Of course, that was merely his public identity; in truth, he was the Grand Sect Master of the Tianming Sect's Great Xia Headquarters, codenamed Tian Hong!

At this moment, he was frowning slightly, pondering the news just received from headquarters.

According to headquarters, Tian Hen, sent to Sakura Nation to kill Xu Jingming, had been unreachable for thirteen hours.

Yet Xu Jingming was unharmed—and had even traveled to Iceland to attend a United Nations meeting.

"Could Tian Hen's operation have failed? Did Xu Jingming kill him instead?"

The moment this thought surfaced, he immediately dismissed it.

Tian Hen was an S-class, high-ninth-rank cultivator, immensely powerful.

Even if Xu Jingming's talent was monstrous and he had matched Tian Hen's combat power,

he could at most have severely wounded Tian Hen—impossible to kill him.

"According to prior reports, Xu Jingming entered Sakura Nation's wilderness zone.

Tian Hen must have gone into the wilderness to search for him, which is why headquarters lost contact."

This was not impossible—but the hypothesis still made Tian Hong sigh deeply.

Now that Xu Jingming had left Iceland, his whereabouts were unknown.

If he returned to Great Xia, it would become far more difficult for Tian Hen to act.

And without seeing Xu Jingming dead, the Li family would never join in.

Thus, a dead end had formed.

"If I'd known Xu Jingming would become this monstrous, I should have crushed him outright when he was still weak."

Tian Hong silently mused, "If Tian Hen truly failed, I must ask the Tianming Lord himself to act."

For an Absolute Sovereign to kill a mere ninth-rank lower-tier cultivator seemed like overkill.

But he was genuinely terrified of Xu Jingming's monstrous rate of advancement.

"Master, the Public Security Bureau Director wishes to see you—regarding the Holy Radiance Church's recent expansion."

A voice suddenly emerged from his wrist communication watch.

"Public Security Bureau Director?"

Tian Hong frowned, then murmured, "Fine. Have her wait for me in the reception hall."

Great Xia discouraged religious establishment; his creation of the Holy Radiance Church in Jinshan District inevitably brought him into contact with the Public Security Bureau.

Yet he never expected the Director herself to come personally.

"It seems the Holy Radiance Church's expansion must stop."

Whoosh—

All the blood qi receded; Tian Hong's aura rapidly dropped to sixth-rank, then vanished entirely within the blood pool.

The Holy Radiance Church was merely a cover identity; drawing too much attention would undermine his concealment.

Holy Radiance Church, reception hall.

Tian Hong first used his spiritual force to confirm only Zhou Yu was inside, then stepped in with a smile:

"Director Zhou's arrival brings honor to the entire Holy Radiance Church."

But Zhou Yu did not respond—she stood there respectfully, silent.

The next instant,

A young man suddenly appeared beside Zhou Yu.

The youth stood tall, his eyes cold, radiating an overwhelming aura of pressure.

Xu Jingming?!

How could he be here?

Tian Hong's heart jolted, yet he forced his face into a look of terrified deference and bowed hastily:

"Senior Xu."

"Senior?"

Xu Jingming regarded him with a faint, mocking smile: "I'm not worthy of that title. Isn't that right, Grand Sect Master Tian Hong of the Tianming Sect?"

Damn it!

Exposed!

Tian Hong's heart slammed—he erupted into a torrent of crimson blood qi, smashing through the wall and fleeing outward.

If Xu Jingming was here, then other ninth-ranks must be nearby!

He couldn't fight—he had to escape!

"Trying to run?"

Xu Jingming snorted, and with a thought,

Beneath the clear blue sky outside, a bolt of pitch-black Lei Ting suddenly crashed down, striking Tian Hong!

Sizzzz—!!

Although he desperately used his blood qi for protection, Tianhong was still scorched black by the strike.

"Lost 20% of indestructible matter?! How can Xu Jingming be this strong?"

After carefully sensing, Tianhong's face twisted in horror.

He was a Rank Nine Mid-Stage Martial Saint with a Strengthening-type S-class ability!

Under normal circumstances, a single lethal strike would only reduce his indestructible matter by 1%.

Yet what he didn't know was that this was merely Xu Jingming's ordinary Heavenly Thunder Art—not even in Thunderstorm State.

If Xu Jingming entered Thunderstorm State, this single Heavenly Thunder Art would be enough to extinguish most of his life force.

"Tianhong, your Tianming Sect has targeted me multiple times and even attacked my family. Now it's time for you to pay."

Crackling—

Xu Jingming, now in Thunderstorm State, soared into the sky.

Endless black lightning encircled a ten-li radius, as if the entire sky had suddenly plunged into night.

"Could a Rank Nine Low-Stage cultivator create such a commotion? Even an SSS-class ability seems excessive!"

Tianhong swallowed hard, struggling.

The power Xu Jingming now displayed was even stronger than that of the Heavenly Trace within his own sect!

In the next instant,

Endless black lightning coalesced in the sky into a colossal thunderous greatsword, then crashed down with a roar!

Tianhong had no power to resist—under this terrifying lightning force, he was instantly reduced to ash!

"So the leader of the Tianming Sect, who stirred up chaos across Daya, is just gone?"

On the ground, Zhou Yu stared blankly at the scene.

Daya had tried countless times to capture and kill Tianhong.

Yet over these past years, not only had they never caught him—they didn't even know his whereabouts!

Now, Xu Jingming not only pinpointed his location with precision, but struck and killed him instantly, giving him not a single moment to breathe.

To her, the Rank Nine Mid-Stage cultivator had seemed like a god—yet in Xu Jingming's hands, he was no more than an ant...

"Is Tianhong dead?"

Su Qingli, who had been stationed on the perimeter to prevent Tianhong's escape, flew back.

"He looks dead, but I feel something's off."

Xu Jingming frowned slightly.

Actually, it wasn't just a feeling—he hadn't received any system notification after killing Tianhong.

Yet the man had clearly been obliterated by Chaos Divine Thunder—dead beyond any doubt.

"Eva, after Tianhong activated his ability, did you analyze what kind it was?"

Xu Jingming asked.

"I couldn't analyze it."

Eva shook her head. "Usually, after activating a Strengthening-type ability, there's a very obvious physical transformation."

"But Tianhong didn't show any such change. I could only determine it was a Strengthening-type S-class ability based on his blood qi fluctuations before and after activation—but I can't identify the exact type."

"There are countless types of Strengthening-type abilities. I recall one category that seems to grant multiple lives?" Xu Jingming mused.

Eva paused, then nodded. "Yes, there is. This ability is no longer purely Strengthening-type—it's a fusion of Strengthening-type and Psychic-type."

"It divides the user into a main body and sub-bodies. As long as not all sub-body forms are destroyed, he remains immortal."

"But such an ability is extremely rare—the last time it appeared was decades ago."

"Do you suspect Tianhong possesses this kind of ability?" Su Qingli asked, her brows slightly furrowed.

"If so, it's a problem. If we can't find all his sub-bodies, we can never kill him."

"Just a guess."

Shaking his head, Xu Jingming's eyes suddenly turned hollow and profound as he gazed at the spot where Tianhong had perished.

Others might be helpless against this situation—but he was different.

The Ziwei Eye could analyze weaknesses and reveal the flow of blood qi and spiritual energy.

With these eyes, he should be able to find some trace.