Scorching. That was the feeling he felt on every inch of his flesh and bones. Yet, contrary to everything, his blood felt ice cold, freezing water in the chilliest winter which rolled through the head to the toe.

The two opposite extremes slowly forging him, breaking and molding him before they cooled and healed everything. A full display of both torture and europhia that the sickest masochist would enjoy. 

After some period, he felt itches spreading under his skin and the foulest stench flooding his nostrils. For the uneducated, foolish amateurs, they would reeled in reflex or ignorance, bringing more harm than good in a span of breaths. He held in those urges to scratch or even to move at all, of course. Staying still like he was nothing more than a stone and a stone he was. 

At last, the contrast sensation, together with the itches and all had subsided to the point it was barely noticeable. Opening his closed-tight eyes, he rose and walked to a corner. Retched the blackish substance out of his throat until he was satisfied. 

Wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, he subconsciously took a sniff and frowned. It didn't take a second thought before he threw his shame out of his head and took off everything except his boxer. 

Amidst the chilling breeze, he took a glance at his garments before he clicked his tongue. He couldn't wear those clothes anymore until he washed the black filth off of them. With closer inspection on his own body, many spots were grimy and stank. Yet, he noticed the developing, trained muscle behind those dark smudges. At the same time, his body became much lighter and every breath he took was incomparable to before. 

[Name : Tan Yunzheng

Age : 221 years old 

Race : Human 

Class : Cultivator

Status : Healthy 

Energy : 623/640

System : Rank 1

Cultivation : Core Crystallization cycle, elementary stage

Skills : 

-Cycle of Nine Stars 

-Serpent Cloud Steps 

-Mountain Huahu Palm

-Myriad of World's Formation 

-Three ways of Sword Sutra 

-Indestructible Golden Skin…]

As if on cue, the system displayed his status and reaffirmed his notion that he indeed managed to break through to the next realm, leaping over a small stage in one go. His cultivation speed was astonishing to say the least. He felt like he had swallowed a very precious pill that was worth a century of energy. A treatment that would only be given to inner disciples in a sizable sect. 

This shows how frightening the demonic technique called Gehenna Devouring Touch that he owned could be. Still, though a technique was almost cheating, the major reason for his leaps and bounds would be contributed to his newest prey. 

Lightly twisting his neck and stretching his fingers, Yunzheng felt the surge of strength and confidence coming from the new him. A second later, he flew in the air with just a single step whilst he surrounded his body and guided the energy into certain patterns in his meridians. Blending his figure onto the background and distorting the lights around him. 

Ten minutes later after robbing the clothes of an unfortunate drunkard who swaggered around in the middle of the night, Yunzheng arrived back in front of the police headquarters. Unlike the scene in the afternoon back then, Yumzheng barely spotted people outside and half of the windows of the building were off. 

It was a little too early, part of his reasoning said at the back of his mind. Still, he couldn't help but feel more of the urgeness from his blossoming curiosity and anxiety. He sensed that he needed to know sooner than later and Yunzheng knew he was a sucker for the word patient. 

Not wishing to wait any longer, he jumped. The air was his platform and in a few seconds, he managed to land stealthily near one of the parked cars. When he was about to continue, foreboding feelings crawled in his guts and he halted his advance. Furrowing deeply before he closed his eyes, seeing the complete darkness until a sliver of his energy surged and scarlet, faint dust drifted in the air. They moved like a colony of bees, surrounding the giant building and there were countless of them. 

An alarm system invisible to naked eyes, it wasn't something new for Yunzheng. However, this time he wouldn't deal with magical, mumbo-jumbo formation that borrowed the power of heaven and earth. No, it was something else which he was unfamiliar with. 

"Figures." he muttered in grumble, unfurling his eyelids and sighted the CCTV cameras equipped with infrared sensors all around the corner. The security was tight, comparable to a fortress. Still, Yunzheng wouldn't just call it a night that easily. 

Retreating back, Yunzheng rode the wind and wandered his eyes around the nearby blocks. Before long, he finds a couple and group of men walking together on the sidewalk. All of them reeked of alcohol, nightlife that Yinzheng was all too familiar with. With a few hypnosis tricks, he should be able to make them into his distractions.

As they have said. If you know nothing about it, experiment with it. And he gets his little lab rats right on time. First, let's go for the group of drunk men. 

Appearing right in front of them, they flinched subconsciously as they backed away in a vigilant manner. One of them even glanced in the direction of the police headquarters. Clearly displaying what he had in mind. 

"Good evening, gentlemen," Yunzheng spoke, addressing them all with an amicable smile yet piercing gaze at the same time, "A lovely night we had here, isn't that right?"

Silence greeted him and they only traded looks with each other to give wordless consensus. They won't have anything to do with Yunzheng and one of them has already sneakily moved to tap into his exwatch. 

"Easy now." Yunzheng said, still maintaining his smile while crimson light flashed in his eyes. "Now, if y'all wouldn't mind, how about having some little chats?"