I will eventually become a divine being through accumulating constantly

"I can control the distance, which is two hundred meters."

"It doesn't mean you'll be safe if you flee beyond two hundred meters from me... Once you exceed that distance, it will go out of my control and detonate instantly, burning you to death just the same."

An Luping broke out in a cold sweat.

"It will remain inside your body until my eyes lay upon Yun Qin."

An Luping's voice trembled as he said, "But... if I die, you'll never see Yun Qin again."

Xue Jing glanced at him:

"Mr. An, you don't really believe that I'm merely bluffing or negotiating with you, afraid to actually kill you, do you?"

Xue Jing patted his shoulder, a smile in his eyes.

"Words, this thing, can reveal far more information than you think."

"You just said, without you to bring her food, Yun Qin would soon starve... right?"

An Luping's pupils shrank.

"It seems I've guessed correctly... She's in Yuan City, and she's even close to you."

Xue Jing spoke calmly, his voice quite soft.

"Mr. An, you might not be aware, but I am actually a member of The Sixth Agency, and I belong to both the 'Cease-Blades' and 'White Crow' special forces units of the Special Duties Department."

"Fortunately, these two special forces units have exceptionally high search authority and can even conduct large-scale carpet searches throughout the entire city... And more fortunately, the commanders of these units think highly of me and are eager to recruit me fully."

As Xue Jing spoke, the cold sweat on An Luping's forehead grew denser.

"With your capabilities, it's impossible for you to hide her in an extremely high-security area for elites or corporate territories; it would be too easy to search there."

Xue Jing's gaze grew colder, emanating a killing intent that seemed to cut across An Luping's body with the sharpness of a small knife, giving him a sensation of phantom pain.
Explore new worlds at empire

"Let me repeat, I'm not negotiating with you."

"You can choose to die, and I'll take some effort to find Yun Qin... But you see, I'm quite lazy by nature and don't really want the hassle, so if you take me to her now, I'll withdraw the Dark Flame from within you and spare your life."

"As long as you never appear before me again, I won't kill you."

"Rest assured, I am unlike you. Keeping my word is my motto; I don't go back on my promises," Xue Jing said softly.

"What about it? It's quite a good deal, isn't it?"

An Luping felt panic and confusion within, utterly disoriented.

He never expected things to have escalated to this point.

A piece of information inadvertently revealed in a single sentence had pushed him to such an extremity.

Is this person really just a seventeen-year-old boy?

"I..."

His mouth opened, but for a moment, he couldn't speak.

Seeing this, Xue Jing shook his head and sighed, "It seems you've rejected the offer... Well, that's fine too. After all, I'm not particularly fond of leaving people like you alive. I'll find her on my own."

He raised his right hand, preparing to snap his fingers.

"Three."

"Two."

"One..."

"Wait, I agree, I agree!!"

An Luping cried out desperately, his voice almost breaking, exerting himself to the utmost.

Xue Jing's expression did not change as he said lightly, "You've agreed too late."

"Snap—"

The snap of the fingers rang out.

Instantly, An Luping felt an extremely terrifying pain within his body, as if countless vicious ants were frantically gnawing at his flesh.

"Ahhhhhh!!"

He screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground and thrashing like a fish out of water, his face contorted with pain.

Enduring the torment, he half-rose, pleading with Xue Jing, "Please... Xue, I agree, stop it, stop..."

Xue Jing looked down at him, his eyes cold as if he was regarding a dead man.

"I really promised... to take you to Yun Qin's place right away... I also know a lot about the Dragon Cult, and I can tell you everything..."

Seeing that Xue Jing was unmoved, An Luping grew even more panicked, quickly upping the ante.

"I... I also have money, I can give you anything..."

It wasn't until An Luping started to become slightly deranged with his nonsensical rambling that Xue Jing waved his hand, stopping the annihilation burn of the Shadow Flame within him.

"Ha... ha... ha..."

An Luping lay on the ground, gasping for breath, shaking all over.

His mind was stretched to its limits, on the verge of breaking, a moment of despair and breakdown, skillfully caught by Xue Jing and pulled back from the brink.

At this moment, the extreme instinct to survive from a narrow escape from death made him dare not harbor any more luck.

He forced himself to stand up with his riddled body, looked at the terrifying young man before him, and felt extreme fear in his heart.

Regarding why he had the nickname 'Demon King,' he now had a deep understanding that chilled him to the bone.

"Lead the way."

Xue Jing spoke softly.

His tone was as casual as if he was chatting with a friend, but to An Luping at that moment, it made him tremble all over, shrink back, and he quickly said:

"Yes... please, follow me..."

...

Yuan City, C16 district, at the entrance of an ordinary-looking residence.

Xue Jing followed An Luping, looking around as he did.

The 'C' prefixed areas, comparatively speaking, were civilian zones, where the buildings and facilities generally seemed inferior to those in the B and A areas, and there were less people around with Alien Implants.

As An Luping opened the door to the house, Xue Jing followed him inside.

"Yun Qin is in the basement..."

An Luping pointed to a concealed spot covered by a carpet, his voice trembling as he spoke.

But at this point, Xue Jing didn't need any hints; he had already begun his Meditative Visualization, incorporating the surroundings into his mind, clearly 'seeing' a life reaction not far below him.

As the images from his visualization became clearer, the figure of the life reaction was also gradually outlined by him.

It was a little girl squatting on the ground, her appearance and features were exactly that of Yun Qin, whom Xue Jing had met before.

"...You, you said you would spare my life."

Xue Jing looked at him, snapped his fingers.

Wisps of Dark Flame emerged continuously from An Luping's eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils, soon all spilling out, vanishing into the air.

Feeling the cold sensation inside him gone, An Luping even felt grateful, touched.

He had actually kept his word, truly a man of his word!

What a good person...

An Luping felt an urge to kneel down and thank Xue Jing, a bizarre feeling as if facing his own lifesaver.

He suppressed this impulse, stammering, "Then, can I... go now?"

Xue Jing softly said, "Yes, it's all about credit in life, you can go. If I see you again, I won't show any mercy."

An Luping's tears flowed: "Thank you, thank you..."

He wiped his tears, scrambling to run outside.

Once he exited the doorway, left the gloomy residence, and saw the sunlight... even though it was only the dim sunset, it never felt so beautiful to him.

He must cherish this life and never provoke such a terrifying creature again, hide as far away as possible, never to appear before that person for the rest of his life...

An Luping took a deep breath, his body aching terribly from the burns of the Dark Flame, he turned a corner at the junction, planning to head to the hospital first.

But just after making the turn, he suddenly saw a familiar figure, standing with his back to him, seemingly waiting there just for him.

An Luping's eyes widened in disbelief, suddenly realizing something, and he let out a bitter laugh of despair.

"Ha... hahaha, hahahaha!"

Xue Jing slowly turned around, looking at An Luping, who had gone slack-faced, starting to drool, and chuckled softly:

"What a coincidence, Mr. An, we meet again."

...