Li Xiaoxiao, after copying all data from the Hongchen Pavilion database in Ye Feng's villa, was taken away by Ye Ling and returned to his hotel room.
The hotel was empty of Du Yameng and Feng Ke; they had likely gone out to play. Ye Ling didn't pay it much mind.
Seeing that Ye Ling had brought her back, Li Xiaoxiao squeezed the USB drive containing the Hongchen Pavilion database and said to Ye Ling, "Your Majesty, shall I go back and analyze the Hongchen Pavilion database now? I'll contact you if I find anything?"
Ye Ling replied directly, "No need. I'll need you for some time. You'll stay by my side for now."
Not only was Li Xiaoxiao Ye Ling's greatest asset in finding Ye Feng, but the secrets behind her also posed a significant risk if she were allowed to leave.
Although Blood Fiend was watching over the Dark Night organization, ensuring Li Xiaoxiao's safety, Blood Fiend was an outsider. If there were internal spies within the Dark Night organization monitoring Li Xiaoxiao, Blood Fiend would be unable to prevent them.
Moreover, the mastermind behind all this clearly wasn't trying to kill Li Xiaoxiao.
Blood Fiend protecting Li Xiaoxiao would be meaningless.
To unravel the mystery behind Li Xiaoxiao, she had to be kept in China, and the investigation had to proceed slowly.
"Stay... stay by Your Majesty's side?"
Upon hearing Ye Ling's words, Li Xiaoxiao was taken aback. Then, she suddenly snapped out of her work-focused state, recalling what she had done earlier.
"What... what was I doing?"
Li Xiaoxiao's entire face turned crimson, smoke seemed to rise from her head, and her brain simply crashed.
"Are you alright?"
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao in such a state, Ye Ling couldn't help but express concern.
"I... I... no..."
Li Xiaoxiao smiled at Ye Ling, then promptly collapsed onto the floor, fainting.
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao lying unconscious on the floor, Ye Ling was stunned and shook his head repeatedly, a bitter smile on his face.
Earlier, when Li Xiaoxiao was fully immersed in her work, Ye Ling had thought she had overcome her social anxiety.
He hadn't expected that Li Xiaoxiao had merely temporarily ignored her negative emotions, and now, those negative emotions had erupted completely!
Knowing that Li Xiaoxiao wouldn't wake up anytime soon, Ye Ling didn't force her awake. He carried her to the bed, then picked up Li Xiaoxiao's USB drive and opened the laptop in the hotel room.
Ye Ling sat in front of the computer, silent for a moment, and recalled Li Xiaoxiao's memories again.
However, this time, Ye Ling wasn't looking for anomalies in Li Xiaoxiao's memories but was learning hacking knowledge from them.
Just after Li Xiaoxiao had breached Hongchen Pavilion's firewall, Ye Ling had realized a problem.
In the current Earth, covering the world with one's divine soul to search for desired information was far slower than drawing information from the network world!
Take Ye Feng, for example. He had tried various methods but couldn't capture the slippery Ye Feng, who was as elusive as a loach. But once Li Xiaoxiao got involved, she actually managed to track down Ye Feng.
Still, it made sense. Ye Feng was a person from a hundred years ago. Even if his cultivation talent was exceptional, and he became a Hongchen Immortal early on, or ascended to immortality, his way of thinking was already fixed a century ago.
Earth's technological development had been too rapid, especially the iteration of network code, which changed daily. Ye Ling believed that no matter how hard Ye Feng tried to learn, he wouldn't be able to grasp much computer knowledge.
Ye Feng's cautious thinking, whenever it involved the network, made his every move appear extremely clumsy to top hackers, making him impossible to hide!
It was likely that Hongchen Pavilion's vigorous development of science, and even their actions against Li Xiaoxiao's mother, were based on this very point.
Unfortunately for Ye Feng, he had not succeeded.
Ye Ling absorbed Li Xiaoxiao's hacking knowledge and then operated the computer at lightning speed, learning various operating systems and languages.
No matter what it was, Ye Ling only needed to glance at it to remember everything, and then use Li Xiaoxiao's hacking knowledge to absorb it completely, transforming it into his own knowledge.
Although Ye Ling had been away from Earth for six years and was behind on many modern things, with his powerful soul, no one on Earth, or even in the Eastern Xuan Continent, could match his learning speed!
What was now limiting Ye Ling's speed in learning new things was, surprisingly, the internet speed!
Ye Ling sat in front of the computer for an entire afternoon.
During this time, Ye Ling mastered various languages, became familiar with various operating systems, and his hacking skills quickly approached Li Xiaoxiao's level!
If Li Xiaoxiao knew that during her unconscious period, Ye Ling had transformed from a complete computer novice into a hacker unparalleled in the world, she would likely be astonished!
All the hackers in the world would weep in despair!
"Done..."
Late at night, Ye Ling looked at the smoking laptop in front of him and slowly exhaled.
Without hesitation, Ye Ling threw the laptop into the trash. Then, using spatial abilities, he retrieved the top-tier computer components from around the world and quickly assembled a high-end computer himself!
After completing all this, Ye Ling plugged in Li Xiaoxiao's USB drive and began searching the Hongchen Pavilion database.
The value of the Hongchen Pavilion database for Ye Ling was not just in tracking down Ye Feng.
He could also use this database to find all user information from the Hongchen Pavilion website!
Previously, when he had asked the hackers of the Dark Night organization to help investigate the ID "Xiao Wu Bu Pao," Dark Night had yielded no results because they couldn't breach Hongchen Pavilion's firewall!
Now that Ye Ling had obtained the Hongchen Pavilion database, it would be incredibly easy for him to retrieve the user information from the Hongchen Pavilion website.
"Let me see who this 'Mr. Know-it-all' truly is," Ye Ling muttered to himself, accessing the user interface of "Xiao Wu Bu Pao" and retrieving all his information.
"Real name Zhang Xiaoling, founder of the Dragon Department, retired twenty years ago, now one of the twelve Venerable Lords of Hongchen Pavilion, a magnate secretly controlling the world..."
As Ye Ling browsed the information about "Xiao Wu Bu Pao," his gaze gradually became serious.
"This guy is something else, operating in both the underworld and the legitimate world... He's on the same level as Ye Feng in Hongchen Pavilion, and an elder in the Dragon Department. What's his background?"
Ye Ling read Zhang Xiaoling's resume, muttering softly, his curiosity about him growing.
Judging by his identity, Zhang Xiaoling's stance was unclear, and he was even more mysterious than Ye Feng!
He founded the Dragon Department, became a Venerable Lord of Hongchen Pavilion, and then had the Dragon Department pursue Hongchen Pavilion, causing the two forces to clash...
This behavior was akin to a deity playing with the mortal world.
Both Hongchen Pavilion and the Dragon Department were mere pawns in Zhang Xiaoling's game.
When Ye Ling scrolled to the last page of information, his gaze focused on the last line.
There, it was the combat power ranking of the twelve Venerable Lords.
Ye Feng was fifth.
And Zhang Xiaoling...
Was first.