Chapter 1039

With the power of the Purple Microcosm Eye, Xu Jingming instantly saw a vision.

The vision showed a villa, where a man lay on a large bed.

A crimson bloodline, its origin unknown, suddenly surged into his body; as the bloodline flowed in, the man seemed on the verge of waking from sleep.

"So this is a clone-type ability!"

Xu Jingming's gaze flickered. "Teacher Su, I've found him. I'm heading over now."

As soon as he spoke, he unfurled his Thunder Dragon Wings, lightning flashing, and shot forward at the absolute limit of six times the speed of sound.

The distance between them was not far—barely ten kilometers or so.

"Does Tian Hong really possess such a rare ability?"

Su Qingli was surprised.

What surprised her even more was how Xu Jingming had discovered this—after all, even Eva hadn't detected it.

"Never mind, I'll ask Jingming later. For now, let's follow him."

Shaking her head, Su Qingli did not press further and flew after him.

Compared to Xu Jingming, her flight speed was slightly slower—only four times the speed of sound.

In Jinshan District, inside a villa, the man who had absorbed the crimson bloodline suddenly opened his eyes.

"Phew… I made it out."

Scanning his surroundings, finding nothing unusual, Tian Hong exhaled deeply, secretly relieved:

"Thank goodness my ability is so unique, and I've never exposed it—otherwise, I'd be in trouble."

Sky-Devouring Bloodworm!

This was the name of his S-class enhancement ability.

In terms of combat power, this ability was actually weak—merely equivalent to an ordinary A+ level enhancement-type adept.

But this S-class ability possessed an extraordinarily devastating ability.

Each time he ascended a major stage, he could split off a sub-body from his main body!

Just like earthworms in nature, severed into several pieces, each segment could regrow into a new worm.

And as a ninth-stage adept, he possessed one main body and eight sub-bodies.

Although he had many sub-bodies, only one could remain conscious at a time.

Now that his main body was dead, his consciousness naturally transferred to the next sub-body.

It was precisely this trick that had allowed him to escape death multiple times.

Even the Tianming Sect did not know he possessed this ability; they only believed his combat power was weaker than that of an ordinary ninth-stage mid-tier S-class adept.

"Too bad my main body had already reached ninth stage—this sub-body is only eighth stage. It will likely take years to regain ninth stage."

Tian Hong silently checked his own status.

Although his enhancement ability could split off sub-bodies, no sub-body could ever surpass the rank of its predecessor—unless the predecessor died.

In other words, his sub-bodies' ranks decayed sequentially: eighth, seventh, sixth, down to the lowest first stage.

And this current sub-body was merely eighth stage low-tier.

"That Xu Jingming is probably still reveling in the joy of having killed me—he certainly never imagined the real me has already escaped successfully," Tian Hong thought smugly.

So strong, yet still couldn't kill me?

Once I regain ninth stage, I'll return with a vengeance.

"But this damn bastard's full power is terrifyingly strong—this must be reported to headquarters."

"Also, Tian Hen, who lost contact, likely died in Xu Jingming's hands. Reporting this might prompt Lord Tianming to act personally."

Tian Hong quickly pulled out a specialized communication watch from his space ring.

But before he could dial, a sharp crack—black lightning crashed down from the sky!

Crackling—

The entire villa was swallowed by black thunder; Tian Hong didn't even have time to react—he was obliterated in an instant.

Above the villa, Xu Jingming, his Purple Microcosm Eye activated, watched everything below unfold.

He quickly locked onto Tian Hong's next consciousness transfer target—ten kilometers away.

"So Tian Hong's consciousness transfer range can't exceed ten kilometers."

Xu Jingming confirmed this immediately.

This was good for him—if Tian Hong's sub-bodies and main body were thousands of kilometers apart, even if he could pinpoint the location, he'd arrive too late—the target would have fled.

Crack—

A flash of black lightning, and Xu Jingming's towering figure vanished from his spot.

In Jinshan District, inside a secluded villa.

A man lying in the villa suddenly awoke.

The searing pain of being pierced by thunder still lingered in his mind—he awoke drenched in sweat, gasping for breath as if emerging from a nightmare.

"What just happened… did I die?"

After a long moment, he finally realized what had occurred.

More critically, this body was only eighth stage low-tier—its spiritual force was far too weak to sense even the attacker's form or attack type.

But he was certain: the attack had reached ninth-stage power!

"My sub-body rarely ever showed itself—how could it have drawn the attention of a ninth-stage being?"

Tian Hong puzzled over this, then his pupils shrank sharply:

"Could it be Xu Jingming? No! Impossible—he couldn't possibly have detected my ability."

He frantically reassured himself.

"Whether it's him or not, my current situation is very dangerous. Someone may have noticed my special ability. The top priority is still to run for my life!"

Whoosh—

He, who was only at the seventh tier, transformed into an illusion and rushed out of the villa, but the moment he stepped outside, he saw a pitch-black figure in the distant sky flying toward him like a bolt of lightning.

"It really is Xu Jingming?!"

Tian Hong's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly said, "Xu Jingming, wait, don't kill me! I still have..."

His voice was cut off by the sharp howl of Lei Ting, and his entire body simply vanished.

Xu Jingming, who had used his Ziwei Eyes to sense the next location, swiftly departed, racing toward the next spot.

It had to be said, Tian Hong was extremely cunning, hiding his sub-bodies in extremely secret locations.

Some were underground several hundred meters deep, some were in deep pools, and some were even hidden in active volcanoes with churning lava.

But no matter where his sub-bodies were, Xu Jingming could find them and kill them in an instant.

The citizens of Jinshan District, unaware of the truth, only knew that a black lightning bolt had appeared in the sky, darting about all over the place.

"Hoo, hoo—!!"

In Jinshan District, on the 13th floor of a tube-shaped apartment building, a young boy woke from his sleep, his face full of terror.

It's over!

Completely over!

Tian Hong's face was full of terror.

He now only had his very last sub-body left, and its level was only first tier!

Once this sub-body died, then he would truly be dead!

Judging from the previous situations, Xu Jingming must have already grasped the mysteries of his ability and could lock onto his location.

"Just what battle technique has this Xu Jingming cultivated, to be able to lock onto my location in advance?"

Tian Hong's expression was dark as water.

The previous seven times, his strength was greater, and the locations where his sub-bodies were hidden were even more secret, yet none of them escaped.

Now he only had first-tier strength; Xu Jingming could kill him with a single glare, so there was even less need to run.

Since that's the case, there is only one way.

Tian Hong took a deep breath and looked toward the doorway.

A few seconds later, a flash of pitch-black Lei Guang, and Xu Jingming appeared in the room.

Tian Hong no longer hesitated and suddenly knelt down: "I beg Lord Xu to spare my life! I, Tian Hong, am willing to submit to you and hand over all the secrets of the Tianming Sect!"

"Oh?"

Xu Jingming raised his sword-like brows, watching him with great interest.