Concealing his movements, Li Jing continued to look directly at Qu Lianghong, surreptitiously scanning his surroundings with the corner of his eye.

No one else in the bar noted anything unusual.

Those who were drinking continued to drink, those who were engaged in idle chatter continued their conversation, and those who were taking pictures carried on snapping photos.

However, including Lu Yangcheng and Yi Xiuzhu, the attention of everyone in the bar seemed glued to Qu Lianghong, unwilling to turn away no matter what they were doing.

Additionally, their actions were subconsciously confined to mundane tasks and appreciating the music on repeat.

Noting this situation, Li Jing felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

Things were getting complicated.

However, purely based on the situation at hand, it was not too dire.

Techniques that were not inherently offensive but could affect others were often charming spells that could influence a person’s willpower.

Such techniques were notorious for their subtlety and unpredictability, catching people off guard.

The technique employed by Qu Lianghong shouldn’t be too advanced, and her proficiency was not high.

Otherwise, he would have been affected by now.

Qu Lianghong was at the early stage of the Third Realm.

There’s a vast difference in levels.

If it were an advanced technique executed with a certain degree of proficiency, he, still at the Second Realm, might not be able to resist it.

At this moment, the people in the bar weren’t excessively infatuated with Qu Lianghong. They were simply unable to take their eyes off her, it couldn’t truly be called ’charmed’, it seemed more like they were under a discreet suggestion.

Li Jing quickly analyzed the situation and ultimately decided to react as conditions changed.

He was in a sticky situation.

Any movement on his part would give him away.

Starting a confrontation directly was not feasible.

If they were to face off, he wouldn’t stand a chance against Qu Lianghong.

Moreover, the bar was crowded with people, initiating a fight could result in unpredictable casualties.

All he could do now was to lay low and see what Qu Lianghong was up to.

At least for now, her goal did not seem to be to harm others, rather it seemed she was taking preventive and controlling measures.

As long as he didn’t make any rash moves, she wouldn’t harm the people in the bar.

After all, similar performances had taken place over several days without any incidents.

...

Time flew by quickly.

In the blink of an eye, more than two hours had passed.

Qu Lianghong was a great singer. She only took three breaks during the more than two-hour performance and picked three "lucky ones".

During these brief interludes when her singing paused, the people in the bar momentarily regained their clarity.

No one realized they had been bewitched, they merely admired Qu Lianghong’s beautiful voice and cheered enthusiastically when she picked the "lucky ones".

Li Jing, sitting on the edge of the stage, considered taking advantage of Lu Yangcheng and Yi Xiuzhu regaining consciousness to warn them.

However, Qu Lianghong picked people with such speed that she would get the chosen person on stage to state their name and then immediately resume her singing.

Eventually, it was around ten at night.

Qu Lianghong’s singing halted, and she wiped an imaginary drop of sweat from her forehead.

"That’s the end of my performance for tonight, thank you all for your enthusiastic support. As is customary, I will choose the last guest for tonight’s rendezvous before I leave the stage and sing one last song for you all."

With a teasing smile, she casually pointed to someone in the audience.

The person, evidently hoping to be picked, expressed his sheer joy on his face.

Before Qu Lianghong had even spoken, he pushed his way through the crowd towards the stage.

Seeing this, Qu Lianghong didn’t seem to mind. She gave an alluring smile to the man who climbed on stage and casually waved towards Li Jing and the other three "lucky ones" who were standing by the edge of the stage.

Caught unprepared by her gesture, Li Jing stood up subconsciously.

The other three "lucky ones" also stood.

Meanwhile, Qu Lianghong started singing again, and slowly retreated towards the back of the stage.

Observing her use her voice to continue to bewitch the remaining people in the bar, even skipping the step of asking the "lucky ones" for their names, Li Jing’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Casting a casual glance at Lu Yangcheng and Yi Xiuzhu who had once again fallen for her charms, Li Jing silently moved forward.

Including the "lucky one" who was just selected, the three other individuals had already begun to follow Qu Lianghong towards the backstage area, forcing him to follow suit.

...

Soon, Qu Lianghong led the five of them backstage, singing all the while, went through the back door of the bar into a gloomy little alley, slowly proceeding deeper.

Her singing never stopped.

Li Jing followed behind her, his face darkening.

Qu Lianghong had really seen to every detail.

The wireless microphone in her hand was directly linked to the sound system inside the bar.

As long as the singing didn’t stop, the people in the bar wouldn’t regain their clarity.

As they left the stage, he had observed it closely.

Even though Qu Lianghong had already left, the people in the bar still had their gaze fixed on the spot where she had exited.

Following Qu Lianghong deep into the gloomy alleyway, Li Jing refrained from acting impulsively.

After walking some distance, Qu Lianghong landed a beat with her wireless microphone, softly humming the tune instead.

Clearly, the limit of the wireless microphone’s effective range had been reached.

However, this didn’t change the current predicament that Li Jing was facing.

On Qu Lianghong’s final beat, he had clearly felt the slight pressure exerted on his Clothing Protection Spirit, which had taken form around his ears.

Undoubtedly, this final beat was meant to enhance her technique’s effect.

It looked as if he couldn’t count on Lu Yangcheng and Yi Xiuzhu for a while.

No wonder there were so many discussions about Qu Lianghong online, yet no information about her precise rendezvous location.

This woman acted extremely cautiously.

...

After traversing the gloomy alley for about five minutes, Qu Lianghong, still softly humming the tune, led the five men to a small residential courtyard.

From a slight distance, Li Jing could see a figure standing in front of the house.

Because of the distance, he couldn’t make out the figure’s facial features.

The city’s suburbs were eerily silent and poorly lit at midnight.

It was too dark.

At the same time that Li Jing noticed the figure, Qu Lianghong, who was leading the group, made a hand gesture.

The figure standing in front of the house nodded from afar and twisted its body, transforming into a gust of wind and ducking into the house.

An Evil Cultivator!

Li Jing froze but kept moving.

He had already sensed their evil energy.

When the figure displayed its escape skill, it inevitably revealed a trace of it.

Without making a sound, Li Jing stole a glance at Qu Lianghong and continued on his way.

Soon, they arrived in front of the house.

Qu Lianghong bit off the final note of her humming, halted and looked back at the other four "lucky ones," smiling brightly.

"You all wait here for a bit, Mr. Lu was the first to be chosen tonight, so we’ll go in order."

Reacting to her words, the four "lucky ones" nodded, their gaze glued to her.

Li Jing noticed this detail but remained impassive.

As he had expected, the effect of Qu Lianghong’s technique was somewhat limited, it seemed more like a subtle suggestion she was influencing people with.

Presumably, even though those affected wouldn’t notice anything amiss when they regained their awareness, they would have some memory of their experience.

Otherwise, after she emphasized her technique with her final note, she wouldn’t have specified the order of their entry and asked the others to wait.

After receiving a response from the four "lucky ones," Qu Lianghong casually glanced over them.

Once she confirmed everything was fine, she took Li Jing’s hand and walked towards the house, directly entering the dark house without turning on any lights and heading straight for the staircase.

There were no lights inside the house. It was pitch black.

Li Jing was unsure whether there were other people inside.

Although at least there was no noise heard within the house.

Not missing a rare opportunity, Li Jing lightly moved his finger and got out the communication headset of the Crime Investigation Team Six, and placed it on the shoe cabinet at the stairway entrance, while being led upstairs by Qu Lianghong.

Qu Lianghong did not notice anything unusual and led Li Jing into a bedroom and closed the door.

In the darkness, her enchanting voice echoed.

"Mr. Lu, are you at the One Realm level of cultivation?"

Hearing this, Li Jing nodded, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Seeing the Evil Cultivators as lookouts in the courtyard earlier, he had already determined that Qu Lianghong was associated with the gang of Evil Cultivators.

Qu Lianghong’s suspicious behavior of selectively choosing "lucky ones" in the bar made it clear that at least some of the contraband was being distributed from her hands.

Qu Lianghong’s current intentions seemed to be adopting the role of seductress, using hints to tempt him into being a victim of a drugged scheme.

This tactic was dirty.

With the subtle influence of her hints, the victims would unknowingly risk their lives out of a desire for something more than mediocrity.

However, they would inevitably assume afterwards that it was voluntary.

"Isn’t it tiring to be an ordinary person? Do you... want to break through the One Realm?"

In the dark, Qu Lianghong whispered and moved closer, leaning her face almost onto Li Jing’s. She held out a pill.

"This is a cultivation breakthrough drug that I’ve made with a spirit medicine. Once you take it, you can progress to the Second Realm and escape from the bottom of society to a higher position."

After seeing the pill, Li Jing slowly reached out to take it.

But there was no way he would actually take it.

However, there’s no reason not to take the sample that had been delivered to his face.

"You’re very lucky to have been chosen, tonight is the day your life can take a turn," Qu Lianghong said, her eyes shining like water as she spoke softly.

"You can rest assured, the pill is absolutely safe. After you take it, we can act as if we have never met each other. I won’t force you to do anything. Later, someone else will follow you and give you a tamed Rat Demon that has been artificially bred. If you take good care of it, it will help you on your way to cultivation."

Before she could finish talking, she impatiently reached out and pushed Li Jing’s hand with the pill towards his mouth.

Li Jing cooperated and put the pill near his mouth. He then paused and used his other hand to reach for her chest.

???

Qu Lianghong.

This sudden turn of events puzzled her.

Normally, Li Jing should obediently take the medicine.

But not only he didn’t take it, but he also grabbed her chest.

What was going on?

Before Qu Lianghong could comprehend what was happening, a loud blast echoed in the darkness.

A dazzling ball of lightning exploded on her chest.

Caught off guard, Qu Lianghong was thrown back, grunting in pain. She crashed into the wall, breaking it.

In the darkness, Li Jing checked the health bar above Qu Lianghong’s head with eyes sharp as a hawk.

The Health Bar that originally showed 3312.

Now showed 2570 after being depleted.

It was the first time Li Jing had encountered a situation where a single attack didn’t clear the health bar.

But he was well aware.

Despite taking her by surprise and using his full power, his ability to harm a Three Realm being was quite limited.

Without any hesitation, Li Jing drew his standard steel knife.

Spiritual Power was infused!

The blade became visible.

Without saying a word, Li Jing threw the steel knife at his target.

"Pu!"

Blood spurted.

The steel knife pierced the darkness, stabbing into Qu Lianghong’s chest and nailing her to the broken wall.

The health bar went down again, showing 2346.

As he saw the health bar decrease, Li Jing remained calm and decisively raised his hand.

At this time, Qu Lianghong had already come to her senses, but she had no chance of fighting back.

If she had been prepared, Li Jing’s Palm Thunder wouldn’t have hurt her.

But unfortunately she was unprepared.

At this moment, her entire body was numb, and she was unable to mobilize her Demonic Qi.

The immaculate and pure Thunder Skill had also suppressed the circulation of her Demonic Qi to some extent.

Upon seeing Li Jing raise his hand, Qu Lianghong, whose face was originally pale, turned even paler.

"No!"

Would Li Jing take her into consideration?

Certainly not.

After taking care of this one, there was still another one outside.

Now was not the time for mercy.

Palm Thunder!

All firepower open, fire in succession!

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Three successive Palm Thunders, with all his strength behind them, accurately hit the steel knife lodged in Qu Lianghong’s chest.

The turbulent electric current instantly flowed into her body.

It wreaked havoc inside her, and shattered the wall behind her.

The health bar above her head, which was originally quite "solid", evaporated in an instant, completely down to zero.

"Experience +3312."

"Level Up, 14. Spiritual Power Intensity +28, Skill Points +2."

"Level Up, 15. Spiritual Power Intensity +30, Skill Points +2."

"Warning: Standard Steel Knife (Ordinary Grade Four Level 58%), damaged."

Emotionless prompts sounded in Li Jing’s ears one after the other.

At the same time, the explosive increase in Spiritual Power within him due to the Level Up felt like crossing a threshold, and it increased by almost tenfold in an instant.

Feeling this, Li Jing immediately understood.

He had successfully advanced to the Three Realm.

Unlike before, when he had accidentally entered the Second Realm and didn’t even know when he had advanced, this time the sensation was particularly strong.

In his senses, the storage space created by the Momentary Space had been expanded by more than three times.

Three Realm.

Li Jing clenched his hand.

Just as he wanted to get used to the qualitatively changed Spiritual Power, a loud bang sounded in his ears, and a giant black handprint smashed through the roof of the room and pressed downwards.

"Damn!"

Li Jing had time to utter a curse.

The black handprint descended and crushed the entire house to rubble.