I will eventually become a divine being through accumulating constantly

All night long, Xue Jing searched every home on Mufeng Street, totaling seven councilors' residences.

But he found nothing... That's not entirely true; he did learn some secrets unknown to the common man, after all, these were the dwellings of the Governing Councilors, bound to contain something of interest.

It's just that none of it was related to what he was investigating.

As dawn began to break, Xue Jing ended his investigation and returned home.

Under the cover of night, his use of Shadow Flame's hiding abilities proved invincible, but in daylight, these abilities, which manifested outwardly in dark, would be far too conspicuous.

After a few hours of sleep at home, Xue Jing went to the Hidden Dragon Dojo to practice martial arts, teach his young disciple, level up his skills, and by evening, he transformed once again into the Black Dragon Knight.

Three days passed in this way.

During this time, Xue Jing checked the homes of 26 councilors and still couldn't find any clues related to the Heavenly Lodge Insect Mother.

"Am I not being thorough enough? Or was Pei Xiao'en wrong in his assumptions, and the Heavenly Lodge Insect Mother has nothing to do with the councilors..."

Dressed in Shadowflame Wrap Armor, Xue Jing crouched atop a utility pole, deep in thought.

"Or is it just my bad luck, needing to check the very last one for any discovery, a one in thirty chance..."

"No way, when I cast the 'Five Emperors Money' earlier, didn't it show the 'Starquake Hexagram' indicating great fortune is upon me?"

"Damn feudal superstitions."

Xue Jing recalled the information on the remaining four councilors.

Chu Minyi, Xi Sihan, Zuo Qingxia, and Chi Liangyun.

He had been investigating them in order of suspicion from highest to lowest, and these last four were the least likely suspects.

Among them, Chu Minyi was Pei Xiao'en's boss, the one who had commissioned him for the investigation.

Of the rest, Chi Liangyun was the Chief Councillor, while Xi Sihan and Zuo Qingxia were both vice councillors.

These three were deeply entangled in Qingcheng's interests and were highly unlikely to be involved in such matters.

"Regardless, I need to finish what I started. Let's check all of them first."

Xue Jing's figure flashed like a phantom and disappeared on the spot.

He first went to visit the homes of Xi Sihan and Zuo Qingxia, the two vice councilors, and as expected, there was no significant discovery, just a bit of useless dirt on them.

Then he crossed a large portion of the city to visit Chu Minyi's home—despite the fact that this person was the one who commissioned the investigation, Xue Jing did not rule out the possibility of a contrived ruse based on reverse psychology.

Of course, the final result proved that Xue Jing had been overthinking; Chu Minyi was clear of any wrongdoing, there was nothing to find in his home.

"That leaves only the Chief Councillor Chi Liangyun..."

Xue Jing frowned slightly.

This was the least likely candidate to be connected to the Heavenly Lodge Insect Mother, an old councilor on the verge of a serene retirement, with no apparent reason to get involved in such affairs.

"Could it be that the ten billion in cash and ten Divine Relics will vanish?"

Xue Jing stroked his chin.

Regardless, now that he was down to the last one, he had to check it out.

Looking at the plain, ordinary residence in front of him that couldn't be considered a villa, Xue Jing's figure flashed and, turning into a shadow, he stepped in.

Unlike most councilors who resided in the North City District, Chi Liangyun, the Chief Councillor, lived in the West City District, known as 'West Poor', and the house also didn't seem particularly impressive, just like any ordinary person's home.

Even the security personnel and facilities were hardly adequate. As Xue Jing visualized the entire home in his mind, he noticed only two symbolic guards at the front gate and did not find sophisticated security devices like infrared sensors, not even a single surveillance camera.

But Xue Jing didn't let his guard down because of this and became even more cautious. Throughout the entire process, he maintained a state of "Shadow Lurk" + "Aura Blockade," carefully navigating the entire house.

A Chief Councillor with absolutely no security arrangements was hard for Xue Jing to believe.

After meticulously checking several rooms on the first and second floors, Xue Jing climbed to the third floor of the house, staying within the shadows.

As soon as he reached the top, he sensed something was amiss.

Xue Jing paused at the doorway of one of the rooms on the third floor, poking his head out from the shadows with a pair of silver-white eyes looking towards the door.

Out of the entire house, only this room emitted no sound at all, which prevented Xue Jing from obtaining any data. In the fully visualized spatial scenario in his mind, this room appeared as a completely dark rectangular space.

In other rooms, even those without a single person, the slightest gap allowing a whisper of wind to pass through would give Xue Jing some clue.

"Walls made specially with soundproofing materials..." Xue Jing's eyes narrowed.

He emerged halfway from the shadows, extending his index finger, which gathered a cluster of Dark Flame at its tip, lightly touching the wall.

The annihilative effect of Shadow Flame silently burned a small hole in the wall.

As Xue Jing pressed his finger deeper, the hole grew wider until the wall was penetrated by the Dark Flame, revealing a glimmer of light, at which point Xue Jing withdrew his finger.

With a gap created, the perfect soundproofing faltered, and Xue Jing could faintly hear some voices.

"Time... I..."

"Mr. Guan... If you could..."

"... Green Cube..."

Xue Jing listened at the small hole for a moment, but the voices were still unclear.

After a thought, he flicked a spark of Dark Flame, no bigger than a fingernail, through the hole and into the room.