Chapter 886

Boom—!!!

Above the neon city, rain poured down in torrents.

The entire sky was split in two by emerald and black lightning.

Within that sea of lightning, a black and an emerald presence—like embodiments of thunder—fought fiercely.

A single stray bolt of lightning splashing down could obliterate a stretch of the city spanning kilometers, even over ten kilometers.

Finally, after an unknown length of time.

The downpour ceased; the lightning vanished.

Xu Jingming's towering figure, wreathed in black lightning, hovered midair, aided by Thunder Dragon Wings.

"Still failed."

Xu Jingming frowned, gazing toward the distant sky.

There, standing in the sky, was a Lei Ying, over ten meters tall, radiating overwhelming pressure.

This was the opponent Xu Jingming created based on Su Qingli's S-Class ability, "Yuqing Shenlei."

Rank: Ninth Tier Lower, also a Law Saint skilled in ranged spells.

At first, the battle went well; Xu Jingming could trade blows evenly with the opponent.

But once the opponent entered elemental form, their power surged instantly.

Even when Xu Jingming activated Thunderstorm State and unleashed all his techniques, he could only achieve a stalemate—unable to kill.

"S-Class abilities are truly formidable. I'll need to grow stronger before I can defeat a Ninth Tier S-Class like Teacher Su."

Xu Jingming thought silently.

When I break through to Eighth Tier Mid, or when my Body Tempering or Soul Refinement techniques reach the next level, it should be enough.

Boom!!

At that moment, the colossal Lei Ying vanished instantly, transforming into the figure of Eva, a twin-tailed little girl.

She then flashed away from her spot and reappeared before Xu Jingming, hands on hips, chin raised, smugly declaring:

"S-Class! In terms of power, you're still lacking!"

As a virtual world's intelligent sprite, Eva could directly control the arena's virtual characters.

With her control, she could fully unleash the complete power of an S-Class Law Saint.

"That's only within the virtual world."

Xu Jingming flicked her white forehead, "Outside the virtual world, you don't even have a physical form—only a holographic projection."

"Ow!"

Eva rubbed her head, grumbling discontentedly:

"I clearly remember I used to be strong—I could slice through a planet with a single sword."

"Have you been dreaming too much in electronics?"

When you finally get a physical body, tell me that story about slicing a planet with one sword again.

I'll definitely give you the most enthusiastic applause then."

Xu Jingming grinned.

"S-Class! You're too mean! I'm going to fight you!"

The little girl Eva's face flushed bright red as she charged forward to attack.

But at barely one meter fifty tall, she was easily pinned by Xu Jingming's towering one-meter-ninety frame.

No matter how hard she swung her fists, she couldn't land a single hit on Xu Jingming.

Seeing this, Xu Jingming nearly burst out laughing; just as he was about to speak, he suddenly sensed something and smiled:

"Enough fooling around—someone's here."

With that, he ruffled her small head as Eva pouted in annoyance.

He then removed the neural helmet and exited the virtual world.

A quick glance confirmed it: on the door's surveillance monitor stood Fu Xingye, respectfully waiting outside.

The neural helmet provides immersive experience—once inside the virtual world, all perception is replaced by the virtual environment.

But that's only true for ordinary people; for Xu Jingming, multitasking was simple.

Even within the virtual world, he could still perceive events in reality and sense Fu Xingye's arrival.

"Come in."

The villa's front door opened automatically.

Fu Xingye stepped forward to stand before Xu Jingming and bowed respectfully:

"Congratulations, Inspector, on defeating Meng Ke and winning the Seventh Tier Challenge Rankings."

Indeed, his intuition at noon had been correct—Xu Jingming had indeed broken through to Eighth Tier!

An Eighth Tier Master Zongshi under twenty-one—just thinking of it was terrifying!

Thinking of this, Fu Xingye's deference deepened further.

"Hmm. Have you returned because the matter in Suzhou-Hangzhou Province is settled?"

Xu Jingming nodded slightly and asked.

"Inspector, your foresight astounds me."

Fu Xingye flattered him, then turned serious:

"According to my investigation, Li Gang, Regional Chairman of Suzhou-Hangzhou Province, lost a batch of warehouse resources worth three hundred million Daya coins.

Yet he concealed it entirely. Per Lei Ting Martial Temple regulations, this constitutes grave dereliction of duty and warrants immediate dismissal."

With that, he respectfully extended five space rings.

With a sweep of his spiritual force, Xu Jingming immediately discovered neatly stored exotic flowers and herbs, pills, equipment, and other resources within the five spatial rings.

It seemed this was the thirty-billion warehouse resource that Fu Xingye had mentioned.

"Well done." Xu Jingming smiled and nodded.

Losing resources and concealing it without reporting — Li Gang already had a path to death!

"It's all thanks to your cultivation, my lord!" Fu Xingye hurriedly said.

"Alright, I know everything now. You may go down first."

As his words fell, only then did Fu Xingye respectfully take his leave.

"How is it? The feeling of holding great power isn't bad, is it?"

Swoosh—

Space flickered, and Hearing Ling Shuang, clad in a tight combat suit, appeared out of thin air.

Her rounded, perky bottom settled onto the sofa, and her delicate pretty face — with a tear mole at the corner of her eye — looked over as she asked with great interest.

Xu Jingming had not used his spiritual force to block the surrounding perception, so she could easily sense what was happening in the living room from the training room.

"Not bad — enough to make an eighth-rank Master Zongshi keep praising me."

Xu Jingming smiled slightly, taking the opportunity to wrap an arm around Hearing Ling Shuang's slender, elastic waist. "But flattery is useless to me; in the end, it still comes down to ability.

If he fails to complete the task I gave him, no amount of praise will do any good."

"True — you've always been a pragmatist."

Feeling that warm large hand reaching over, Hearing Ling Shuang gently tucked back a strand of hair, forcefully suppressing the restless heat that had quickly risen in her heart from not seeing him for a month, and asked:

"So how are you planning to handle the Suhang Province side? Removing Li Gang means standing completely opposed to the Li family, with no possibility of reconciliation."

"Haven't I long since been standing opposed to the Li family?"

Xu Jingming smiled. "Tomorrow we'll make a trip to Suhang Province. First, we'll take Li Gang down, reassign someone in his place, and then slowly weed out the other Li family members within Suhang Province."

"Fair enough." Hearing Ling Shuang nodded.

"By the way, has that Li Hao come looking for you again since then?" Xu Jingming asked.

"No."

Hearing Ling Shuang shook her head. "Ever since you beat him up that time, he seems to have gone quiet — we rarely hear any news about him."

"That's good."

Xu Jingming nodded, his gaze turning cold:

"If he dares to harass you again, it won't be as simple as a beating."

"Yes, yes, yes — our great Inspector Xu is the most formidable."

Hearing Ling Shuang's soft, supple body had already pressed close, and a pair of beautiful eyes brimming with spring water looked over:

"It's getting late — should I have Sister Qiuyun and the others stop training and rest first?"

"Sure."

Having already spent over a month in the Dayangzhou wilderness, Xu Jingming naturally wouldn't refuse.