You Were Such a Beauty, Why Turn to Thievery?

Above the boundless yellow sands, a solitary figure trudged forward. With an iron sword strapped to his back and a wizened countenance, anyone familiar with him would have taken him for Zuo Song, the sect master of Iron Sword Hall in Tianlan Immortal City. Only the Nether Twin Fiends and the Four Elders of Lian Cang might know that Zuo Song had perished long ago within the Deity Transformation ruins. Luo Chen did not yet know that after his departure, the Luoyun Sect had already decided to seal off the ruins. At this moment, his mind replayed the swift, decisive clash from earlier, giving him an even clearer understanding of his own strength. Movement speed far surpassing an early Golden Core cultivator, a physical body resilient enough to withstand ordinary attacks from magic treasures, and vigorous vitality. Bolstered by all three, his close-quarters combat yielded terrifyingly explosive power! Even a False Core cultivator, known as the strongest under Golden Core, could be slain by his hands with ease. As for facing an actual Golden Core cultivator, he still had little confidence. Yet on second thought, perhaps he could put up a hard-fought battle? "With such a formidable physique, I must put it to proper use. Yet when it comes to lethal body tempering techniques, I know very few—only the exceedingly low-tier Mountain-Cleaving Stele-Shattering Palm and the Heavenly Roc Divine Claw recorded in the Heavenly Roc Transformation. "Once I return, I'll need to discuss this thoroughly with Wang Yuan. He will surely be able to give me plenty of guidance." In that brief battle earlier, he had tested the Heavenly Roc Divine Claw. Backed by his explosive power, it was indeed formidable. It could even tear into defensive magic treasures. Yet in the end, its reach was too short. Unless Luo Chen altered his form and assumed a beast-like transformation, expanding his body and extending his attack range. However, doing so would inevitably broaden the target he presented to his enemies as well. There were advantages and disadvantages; for now, he could not easily choose between them. "Han Zheng most likely survived. Their Han family possesses Death-Substitute Puppets; I saw one back at Dahe Mill." Back then, during the bloody gang battle on the Dao Discussion Platform at Dahe Mill, Gao Tingyuan of the Great River Gang had owned a Death-Substitute Puppet, only to squander it on the platform. That thing was truly a wondrous treasure. Yet throughout the entire Jade Cauldron Domain, only the Han family of the Luoyun Sect could craft them. Thinking of Dahe Mill brought Xu Ji to Luo Chen's mind, as well as the humanoid puppet stored inside his pouch. At this moment, a glint of grim satisfaction showed on Luo Chen's face! If Tianxingzi had not inadvertently spoken of the past, Luo Chen might truly have remained deceived by Xu Ji all along. Back then, Tianxingzi had indeed kept his word! He truly had gathered three Foundation Establishment Pills for him! Yet Xu Ji, who went to fulfill the pact, had only handed over two, secretly withholding one for himself! Had Luo Chen not managed to brew three portions of Emperor Flowing Liquid, his Foundation Establishment might well have failed, ruining all his efforts on the verge of success. This was the grudge of obstructing his path to the Dao. Having found the opportunity earlier, he naturally made sure to repay it in full. As for whether Han Zheng, feigning death, would notice anything or report it, Luo Chen did not care in the slightest. When he struck, he had concealed his face, and the techniques he used were far from his signature fire method. It could be said he had left no trace whatsoever. The only thing that might have exposed him was the Blazing Cloud Wings. However, they were an ethereal manifestation conjured from a magical artifact, and at that moment, he had fueled them purely with vitality. Han Zheng had closed his eyes while playing dead and could not have noticed. The Blood Demon knew his identity, but unfortunately for him, he was already dead. Still, regarding the Blood Demon's true identity, Luo Chen was genuinely astounded. After slaying his opponent and piercing through the disguise with his spirit eyes, he had found that the man was none other than Xuan Yu of Peach Mountain. That truly caught him off guard. Though Xuan Yu's status could hardly be called noble, he was backed by Patriarch Peach Blossom, was a False Core cultivator himself, and had the gold-devouring den of Peach Mountain raking in wealth for him. Why would he stoop to such demonic practices? Nor had Xuan Yu shown any signs of madness or mental instability. "None of this concerns me. "I'll return to Tianlan Immortal City first, restore my spiritual power, and make plans from there!" Luo Chen quickly made his decision. However, as he passed within a thousand li of the Golden Sand Floating Island, his heart suddenly stirred. He retrieved several jade pendants and raised an eyebrow. They were all voice transmissions! There were messages from Duan Feng, Xu Huanzhen, and Chu Kui. Strangely enough, there were even transmissions from Wang Yuan and Min Longyu. The first three were no surprise. When he entered the Deity Transformation ruins, they were still on the battlefield. It was only natural for them to send transmissions out of concern. But the latter two ought to have been back in Tianlan Immortal City. He activated the jade pendants, listening to the transmissions one by one. Once he finished listening, a warm current welled up within him, leaving a faint sense of touched emotion lingering in his heart. "To think they traveled thousands of li just to rescue me. "Very well, I should arrange to meet them first!" He immediately dispatched voice transmissions to Wang Yuan, Chu Kui, and Min Longyu. …… Beyond the vast expanse of yellow sand, amidst a lush, verdant forest. Three figures tore across the sky, arriving at blistering speed. The moment they touched down, the trio spread their divine senses. Yet before they could locate their quarry, a white-robed figure stepped leisurely out from within a massive tree. "Gentlemen, it has been a long time!" Luo Chen smiled faintly, a hint of softness appearing on his cool, lean face. "President, you really are alive!" Min Longyu rushed forward in excitement. Seeing his overwhelming enthusiasm, looking as though he were about to throw his arms around him, Luo Chen swiftly put out a hand. "Hold on. If Caiyi were here, I wouldn't mind an embrace." Min Longyu halted in his tracks, giving an embarrassed chuckle. Luo Chen patted his shoulder. "That formation of yours was fantastic!" Min Longyu's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "I have an even better formation now! President, do you want it?" Luo Chen chuckled and shook his head. "Set up a concealment formation first, lest passing travelers spot us." "Right away!" Min Longyu promptly produced an impeccably complete formation plate and bustled about the area. If nothing unexpected had occurred, that magic treasure formation plate had to be the prized possession of Yang Wei, who had once laid down the Thunder Prison Grand Array in an attempt to suppress and execute Wang Yuan! Luo Chen had asked Wang Yuan to take it back, and after more than a year, it appeared Min Longyu had already mastered a portion of it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to boast just now. "I knew you wouldn't die so easily, kid!" Chu Kui roared with laughter. Luo Chen cupped his hands to him. "Back then, Brother Chu covered my retreat, holding off a Golden Core cultivator as a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. I will remember this favor for the rest of my days!" Chu Kui waved a broad hand dismissively! "Why bring that up! "I'm the type who always delivers once paid, but if I've given my word, I'll see it through without fail even if there's no money involved!" Luo Chen smiled and said nothing further. Such matters were best kept in one's heart. Finally, Wang Yuan stepped before Luo Chen and punched him heavily in the chest. "You fought that battle in my place!" A simple sentence, yet all remaining words were understood without being spoken. Indeed, had it not been to rescue Wang Yuan, Luo Chen would never have killed Yanleizi and offended Di Wanyun. Every cause bears its fruit, preordained by heaven. Though Luo Chen had suffered greatly, he had also gained a fair share in the ruins; all in all, he had lost nothing. "Huh?" Suddenly, Wang Yuan stared at Luo Chen in astonishment. Instinctively, he extended a finger, looking as if he wanted to poke Luo Chen's body. "Don't!" Luo Chen brushed his hand aside. "Brother, spare me. That look in your eyes, that gesture—it's getting a bit uncomfortable!" Wang Yuan shook his head, staring at Luo Chen with immense wonder. "Your body..." "We'll talk about that when we get back!" Luo Chen cut him off. Then, as the concealment formation unfolded around them, he tipped out unowned magical artifacts and treasures from his storage pouch one after another. Among them, only Chu Kui understood the meaning behind his peculiar actions. "Actually, there's no need to take these to register merits anymore. The Four-Sect Alliance already knows about you slaying Di Wanyun; ten thousand merit points have long since been credited to your name on the Merit Board. "That's plenty for us to exchange for the superior Core Formation secret art." Only ten thousand for killing a Golden Core? Cheap indeed! Luo Chen spoke up. "Ten thousand isn't enough. I also need to exchange for the inferior Core Formation secret arts from Mount Ailao and Azure Pill Valley." "Even so, that's still more than enough!" Chu Kui said in confusion. "Back then, when you and I joined forces, we racked up eight or nine thousand merit points. Exchanging for those two Core Formation secret arts only requires four thousand merits." Luo Chen nodded and changed the subject. "Inferior secret arts mostly rely on external aids. For instance, the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation requires the Dragon Transformation Pill and Ice Phoenix Pellet as catalysts. The other two sects probably aren't much different. The extra merit points can be used to redeem the corresponding supplementary materials. If none are available, then exchange everything for Foundation Establishment Pills and cultivation resources needed for late Foundation Establishment." At this point, he gave a hearty laugh. "It's free for the taking, so why waste it? "With the Deity Transformation ruins opened, this war will likely come to an end. "We might as well reap one last haul so this trip won't have been in vain." Realization dawned upon Chu Kui! He had truly forgotten about that. Furthermore, trading for things like Foundation Establishment Pills seemed utterly pointless to him. Yet standing at the helm of the Luotian Association, Luo Chen would certainly never let such opportunities slip by. Chu Kui's merits had already been registered. Tallying them alongside Luo Chen's share, the combined merit points from both sides reached roughly nine thousand. Chu Kui couldn't help but sigh wistfully at that figure. "If Di Wanyun hadn't interfered, the two of us could have cobbled together all the necessary merit points by ourselves back then." "Stop lamenting. Go quickly and return swiftly; we'll wait for you here!" "Then I'll head out first!" "Remember to keep a low profile; don't draw attention," Luo Chen warned, not entirely at ease. "I know. After all, three Core Formation secret arts are bound to attract greedy eyes!" Chu Kui gave a slight smile. Stowing the pile of tokens needed for merit accounting, he leaped into the air and departed. Once he was gone, Luo Chen briefly inquired about the Luotian Association's situation. Learning that the association remained safe and sound set his mind at ease. However, Fairy Jueqing personally entering the Deity Transformation ruins to search for him was somewhat unexpected. Despite her fickle temperament, that woman truly valued him quite highly. He vaguely recalled that back when he triggered the Violent Thunder Wild Surge Formation, she had rushed thousands of li across the landscape to reach the scene. "Once I return, I'll likely have to meet with her." Dealing with Golden Core cultivators no longer filled Luo Chen with apprehension. In the past, he had relied entirely on the status afforded by his alchemy skills, which naturally left his footing somewhat hollow. Now, with his explosive surge in strength, he possessed the underlying confidence to handle such encounters far more calmly. Toward the end, Luo Chen brought up the matter of the Blood Demon. "Xuan Yu of Peach Mountain?" Wang Yuan was taken aback. Luo Chen nodded. "Indeed it was him. I don't know why he engaged in such deeds." Wang Yuan frowned. "He was probably cultivating some wicked art, which is why he harvested the essence blood of so many Foundation Establishment cultivators!" Luo Chen hummed in agreement. That had been his guess as well—much like when Wang Yuan had secretly collected large amounts of Qi Refinement cultivators' essence blood in the Golden Core ruins of the Guyuan Mountain Range. It was never out of personal preference. There had to be a purpose behind it, and evil cultivation arts or alchemy was the most plausible explanation. "It's a pity. I obtained a defensive magic treasure from him, but now I can hardly display it openly before others." Xuan Yu—the male favorite of Patriarch Peach Blossom! A rare treasure like a defensive magic treasure was something an ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivator could hardly possess unless they were an artifact crafter who forged it themselves. Even Chu Kui had previously relied on a damaged defensive magic treasure, which had been destroyed at Di Wanyun's hands. The origins of that red silk defensive treasure were very likely a personal gift from Patriarch Peach Blossom. Xuan Yu couldn't have had it in his possession for long either. Otherwise, during the fight, Luo Chen wouldn't have been able to rip an opening through it so easily with sheer physical might. Such a scenario could only be explained by insufficient refinement. Wang Yuan consoled him, "It's just a single magic treasure. Between you and Chu Kui, you've collected several dozen magic treasures from this war! Many among them are fine, exquisite pieces, so why fret over just this one?" He had a point! In this war across Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks, Luo Chen had only suffered a major setback against Di Wanyun. Looking at the bigger picture, he had made an astronomical profit! The inheritances of so many Foundation Establishment True Cultivators—including the lifelong savings of several late Foundation Establishment masters— had all gathered into his hands. Whether for personal use or distributed to the cultivators of the Luotian Association, there was more than enough to go around. In fact, even many first-rate factions would struggle to produce so many magic treasures! "Once Chu Kui returns with the Core Formation secret arts and a vast hoard of Foundation Establishment Pills, combined with this mountain of resources, the rise of our Luotian Association will be right around the corner!" For once, Wang Yuan looked toward the future of the Luotian Association. The rise and fall of a faction involved many factors. Broadly speaking, it came down to internal talent and external environment. Internally, the Luotian Association already possessed a solid foundation. As for the external environment, the baptism of war had left a massive vacuum among mid-tier factions across the Jade Cauldron Domain. This was the perfect window of opportunity for the Luotian Association to rise! While they were discussing this, Min Longyu, who was maintaining the formation, suddenly spoke up. "Elder Chu is back!" So quickly? Or had the Four-Sect Alliance already prepared for the Luotian Association's cultivators to redeem resources? Luo Chen looked up and spotted Chu Kui's figure several hundred li away. Suddenly, his eyebrows twitched. High in the air, Chu Kui made a peculiar hand gesture, clenching and opening his fist three times in succession. Luo Chen was no stranger to this gesture. When they had joined forces previously, they had agreed on several hand signals. This sequence meant that someone was pursuing him from behind and he was preparing to counterattack. "Looks like someone truly set their sights on him!" Luo Chen smiled faintly and sent Wang Yuan a transmission via divine sense while the latter watched curiously. Moments later, Chu Kui crossed hundreds of li and flew over the canopy of the forest. Passing directly above the concealment formation, he made no stop, continuing straight ahead. Ten li behind him, faint spiritual fluctuations flickered through the air. Just as those fluctuations were about to cross above the dense forest, they suddenly hitched, as though struck by an invisible blow. Three figures were forced out of hiding. "Careful!" A shrill woman's voice rang out. Answering her was a faint, chilling whisper. "Too late!" The next instant, four earthen-yellow giant walls rose rumbling from the ground, sealing off all four directions entirely. Two silhouettes shot skyward—one flashing with white light like lightning, the other surging with vitality like an enraged dragon. The three pursuers blanched, soaring upward in unison. Yet before they knew it, Chu Kui had already doubled back. A colossal club shadow that blotted out the sky crashed downward with immense force. Boom! Boom! Boom! In a single exchange, the hunters and the hunted swapped places. A middle-aged man plummeted toward the earth, his eyes wide in disbelief as he died with grievances unavenged, his heart clutched firmly within Luo Chen's white claw. Another elderly man had two gaping holes torn through his torso, barely missing his heart. The last one, a glamorous and alluring woman, was in the most wretched state: her hair disheveled, coughing up blood after taking a direct blow from Chu Kui. That she hadn't died was testament enough to her skill. Yet in the blink of an eye, one was dead and two were gravely wounded, leaving the surviving pair terrified like birds startled by the twang of a bowstring. The three of them were late Foundation Establishment cultivators working together! Even on the battlefield, they had never suffered such a devastating defeat. That white flash had obliterated the strongest burly man among them in a single flicker—a feat none could have anticipated. For a moment, all eyes converged on Luo Chen. Sizzle! A burst of flames flared, reducing the heart cradled in his hand to ash. With a smile on his face, Luo Chen looked toward the pair. "Fellow Daoist Ling, we haven't seen each other in years. How have you fallen so low as to do something as wretched as banditry?"