"This little bastard really can run!"
The man cursed under his breath while using his prosthetic eye to lock onto Xue Jing's trail.
Martial artists are such a pain, all nimble like monkeys, darting here and there, it's so frustrating.
After shattering another wall, the man waved away the dust and stopped in his tracks.
The tracking traces displayed in his prosthetic eye ended here, with three question marks appearing in the upper right corner, indicating insufficient data to determine the direction.
"Got away?" The man's face darkened.
"No, if he could've escaped, he would have done it earlier. He must be hiding!"
The man switched his prosthetic eye mode from [Tracking] to [Insight].
"You can't run away, you cur."
In the dark red view, every detail of the alley was scanned into the chip for thorough analysis.
A silhouette exactly matching Xue Jing's physique appeared in the prosthetic eye's vision; 'he' leaped and dodged into the alley, looked around for a moment, and then bent down to pick something up from the ground.
The prosthetic eye was still analyzing when suddenly a sharp whizzing sound came from above.
Instinctively, the man raised his right hand and extended two fingers in front of his eyes, just in time to catch a rusty nail.
But before he could react further, immediately following the nail, a figure dropped from the sky at an unbelievable speed, throwing a punch straight at him!
The figure's speed was so incredibly fast that the man had no time to react; the punch had already struck his palm, which was holding the nail, and forcibly drove the nail forward, directly into his prosthetic eye!
"Aaaahhhhh!!!!"
The rusty nail brutally penetrated his eye, sinking in completely, and the man screamed in agony as blood poured out, covering his eye as he wailed.
Seeing his surprise attack had succeeded, Xue Jing immediately pressed on, bombarding the nail-pierced eye of his opponent with a continuous barrage of punches.
"Bang bang bang bang bang..."
The already embedded nail was driven deeper into the man's body with each successive punch.
"You're asking for it!!"
The man roared in anger, enduring the pain, opened his other eye to regain his vision, and forcefully pushed outward with both hands, breaking Xue Jing's barrage of attacks.
Then he kicked out at Xue Jing, who immediately raised his arms in defense, placing them in front of his chest.
Xue Jing was knocked back several meters by the kick, slamming into a wall and leaving an imprint of his body.
"..."
Although he had braced himself with his power for defense, Xue Jing still felt a painful sensation, his arms burning and his chest feeling tight.
"Such inhuman strength."
Xue Jing casually picked up a handful of stones from the shattered wall on the ground and threw them at the man.
"Pitter-patter..."
The stones, which almost served as bullets in his hand, had no effect on the man but made him cover his face with his hands, shielding his eyes.
"I'll tear you limb from limb, you despicable runt!"
The man bellowed.
He truly hadn't expected to fall head over heels in a rural place like Outer Ring City, and to suffer such a loss at the hands of a kid who had just barely passed a Level 2 evaluation.
"Lowly dog, you're just a bit thick-skinned."
Xue Jing taunted.
He opened the panel and glanced at it.
His new Divine Skill shone even brighter.
Enraged beyond control by the taunt, the man charged at him like a heavy tank.
Xue Jing activated his Twin Speed, stepped to the side to dodge, and the wall was directly smashed through by the man.
'Damn it!'
The man felt like spitting blood in frustration.
If it weren't for the fact that [ISE] couldn't pass the security check to be legally brought into Outer Ring City, would he have allowed this kid to hop around like this?
He would have fucking obliterated him already!
At that moment, as Xue Jing dodged to the side, his gaze sharpened, and he suddenly kicked out, brushing precisely at the man's chin.
It was a stroke of Fortune Comes to a Prepared Mind, an effortless, antelope-hanging strike, with almost perfect angle and timing.
The force of Xue Jing's kick, combined with the man's forward momentum, immediately caused a concussion in the man's head, making him feel as though the world was spinning.
'This is bad!'
As he watched the ground get closer, the man sensed trouble.
The most valuable part of his body was the [C5-grade Protective Membrane] on his skin, which provided excellent defense against the Power of martial artists.
But even so, he couldn't withstand a heavy blow to the chin, the most vulnerable part of the human body—the brain.
The man collapsed to the ground and struggled to stand up, but the concussion had destroyed his sense of balance, and despite his efforts, he couldn't get up.
Xue Jing narrowed his eyes and picked up a discarded pressure cooker lid from a pile of trash in the alley, walking towards the man.
"Bang!"
The lid's edge struck the man's occiput harshly, making a loud noise.
"Bang bang bang bang!!"
After continuous heavy blows, the handle of the lid couldn't bear the force and broke off, and the lid flew away.
"You... wait for me, I will... eat you alive..."
However, the man seemed to be fine and even gradually regained his balance, slowly standing up, and shouting threats.
Xue Jing clicked his tongue, "What a monster."
This was simply not a human's anti-strike capacity.
At that moment, a dazzling golden light bloomed on the panel.
[Divine Absorption complete]
And beneath Twin Lifes, a new Divine Skill appeared!
[Shadow Flame (Inactive): Divine Skill, Divinity required to activate 539/500]
[Requirements met, activate now?]
[Yes/No]
Xue Jing hesitated, unsure whether to upgrade Twin Lifes and activate another active effect or to activate this new Divine Skill.
But [Shadow Flame] sounded like an offensive skill...
After considering, Xue Jing made his decision, clicking [Yes].
[Activation successful]
[Shadow Flame Lv1 (Divinity required to upgrade: 39/100)]
[Effect: Turns shadows into tangible Shadow Flames]
[Divine Incarnation: Locked (Unlock requirements: Divinity 39/2000, level to reach Lv10)]
In the alley, from every shadow untouched by sunlight, countless black streams, like whirlpools, converged toward Xue Jing.
Whoosh—
Clusters of black flames began to burn and bloom on Xue Jing's body.
The black flames grew fiercer and transformed into a magnificent coat of Dark Flame.
The man, gradually recovering from his daze, witnessed this scene, and the pupil of his only flesh eye drastically contracted.
He opened his mouth wide, his expression gradually shifting from anger to fear.
"You...!"
He seemed to want to say something, but he couldn't speak any longer.
An arm wreathed in Dark Flame grabbed the lower half of his face and lifted him high.
The man's pupil shrank tightly, terrified to the extreme, and didn't dare to resist at all.
'Inhuman strength, the Blessed One...'
'He is a Blessed One!!'
'Am I actually contending with a Blessed One?'
'Ha, hahaha, haha...'
'I'm dead, am I going to die?'
'It's over for sure...'
"Better watch how you talk in your next life," said Xue Jing softly.
"Boom!"
The countless Dark Flames, under his control, converged toward his arm and poured into the man's mouth.
The man convulsed a few times, his skin swelled up, his eyes rolled back, and shortly after, he stopped struggling.
Trails of Dark Flame emerged from his eyes, nose, and ears and dissipated into the air.
"..."
Gazing at the now still body in his hand, Xue Jing dropped it to the ground, calming the inner turmoil prompted by his first deadly encounter.
The black flames wrapped around him, dancing quietly, as though he was clothed in the deathly attire of a god from the Netherworld.
...