Chapter Six: The Man Who Astonished the Chief of Police

Wang Fan assessed the current state of Z City and concluded that the city had fallen into a brief period of chaos. Having made his judgment, he did not linger at the No. 5 bus stop but instead began to circulate his internal energy, vibrating the essence within his energy sea. He drew that azure energy forth, letting it flow throughout his body, finally concentrating it into his feet. The moment the energy merged with his feet, Wang Fan sensed the strength in his legs surge, a leap-like enhancement empowering him. His legs brimmed with power in an instant. With just a few steps, he left small pits in the earth beneath him. Each stride carried him several meters forward, propelling him at an astonishing speed.

At the peak of the Sea of Bitterness realm, the pinnacle of the tenth tier—how fast could I truly run at this stage? This thought flashed through Wang Fan’s mind. Then, he dashed forward, speeding along the suburban roads at 278 kilometers per hour—faster than many of the world’s most powerful supercars! Many would not dare to drive at such speeds; at that velocity, even cars struggle to stay grounded, and accidents can happen at any time.

Having reached such a speed, all Wang Fan could hear was the roaring wind, no other sound reached his ears. Sensing his own limits, Wang Fan eased off, slowing to around 200 kilometers per hour, maintaining this pace as he pressed onward.

Head down, he ran with abandon. In less than ten minutes, he had crossed from the outskirts of Z City into its urban core. He sped through the streets, passing countless drivers and pedestrians, all left gaping in stunned disbelief.

“What the hell? Is that a man or a ghost? How could a human run that fast?”

“A god? A monster? Even if this city has seen many inheritance halls and cultivators, none should be this inhuman.”

“This must be an illusion, right?”

Eyes wide and rubbing at their faces, people simply could not believe what they were seeing.

...

Inside the Z City Police Bureau, an officer monitoring the surveillance feeds also noticed Wang Fan’s mad dash. He repeatedly spotted a shadowy figure flashing across the screens. At first, he thought it was a hallucination, but when the same phenomenon appeared on multiple cameras, he realized it was real—someone was moving at an incredible speed, passing under each camera in turn.

With a grave expression, the officer retrieved the surveillance footage, slowing it down dozens of times to examine the shadow. Even then, the figure was blurry and kept his head down, making his face impossible to see. Still, the officer could confirm it was a human, not an animal.

But this person’s behavior was far from normal—their speed exceeded legal limits, reaching more than 120 kilometers per hour, even doubling that. The officer, who had excelled at mathematics in school, quickly calculated that the runner’s speed surpassed 200 kilometers per hour.

A human running at 200 kilometers per hour—the officer swallowed hard at the realization. He immediately backed up the footage and sent it via email to Chief Zhao Dong, the director of the Z City Police Bureau.

Chief Zhao was in his office, poring over case files involving cultivators. These cases gave him no end of headaches; after all, the suspects were all at the Sea of Bitterness realm, and arresting one would only make the others more cautious.

How could he catch all the criminal cultivators? Zhao Dong was lost in thought when the urgent email from his subordinate arrived. He almost ignored it, moving to close the email window, but then he noticed the “urgent” mark in the subject line.

Urgent. Those were not words to be used lightly—especially not in the police chief’s inbox. If a message was marked urgent, it meant something truly serious had occurred. Zhao Dong immediately set aside his files and opened the email. It contained a video and a note from the officer:

“Chief Zhao Dong, an extraordinary cultivator has appeared in Z City. This individual can run at 200 kilometers per hour, possibly even faster.”

At first glance, Zhao Dong did not believe it. How could a human possibly reach speeds only attainable by race cars? His instincts told him such a thing was impossible.

Still skeptical, Zhao Dong opened the first video clip. It was just five seconds long, filmed on a street he knew well—Z City’s East District. For the first three seconds, he remained unconvinced. But in the fourth second, when he saw a shadow flicker across the screen, Zhao Dong was stunned. He rewound and replayed the footage several times, finally confirming the shadow was real and not an illusion. He drew in a sharp breath.

He opened the subsequent videos, each from a different street camera. In every one, the same shadowy figure flashed past. Slowing the footage, Zhao Dong saw, just as his subordinate had described, that the shadow was indeed a person—moving at a terrifying, impossible speed.

Zhao Dong strained to discern the runner’s identity or appearance, but the figure’s lowered head and incredible pace rendered him unrecognizable. Even Zhao Dong’s keen eyes, which had helped him apprehend countless criminals, were of no use here.

Z City had truly produced an extraordinary figure.

Without delay, Chief Zhao Dong reported the matter to his superiors, forwarding it to the city’s mayor.

...

Countless people in Z City were left in shock by Wang Fan’s blistering pace, but none could see what he looked like. He kept his head down, moving so fast that no one could make out his features.

Finally, Wang Fan dashed into a narrow alley without surveillance and came to a stop. Alone in the silent alley, he suddenly realized his feet were numb. Looking down, he saw that the rubber soles of his shoes had been worn away entirely, leaving only his reddened, bare feet.