Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable was known for many atrocities and crimes alike. He was a demon everyone feared encountering due to the creation of theft path. Even before becoming a venerable, there was no vault that was too secure from Thieving Heaven's claws. However, his nature was quite mild and he never went overboard. He was not infallible even after becoming a demon venerable. Although a space and theft path supreme grandmaster, he sought Long Hair Ancestor's assistance in refining an immortal gu worm. Even back then, after numerous losses, Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable showed the worth of his character by leaving behind killer moves like Familiar Face and he even used a true inheritance consisting of a rank 8 immortal gu as compensation.
He created immortal killer moves such as Divine and Ghostly Concealment. The effects of the latter were still mysterious but the former allowed him to do away with wisdom path deductions. Not even heaven's will could deduce him, freeing him from the constant assault of tribulations.
Among his legendary killer moves, there was another.
Formless Hand!
In fact, Formless Hand immortal killer move was Thieving Heaven's signature killer move.
The hands created by this theft path immortal killer move freely entered the target's immortal aperture and stole their immortal gu worms. The difficulty to do so was even less when one considered how the immortal gu worms in the battle formation were outside everyone's immortal apertures. When used, the open hands of the immortal killer move could not be attacked by most methods in the world. It was simply too fearful of an immortal killer move!
'But how could I have this immortal killer move? Even if I could deduce it myself… I simply don't have the necessary theft path immortal gu worms. I just got the necessary immortal materials to refine a few immortal gu worms from this blessed land itself.' Lo Jik thought secretly as he carefully stored the two rule path immortal gu worms. The truth was, he had already refined these immortal gu worms but disguised the will inside the two gu worms as Lang Ya Land Spirit's will. How could Lang Ya Land Spirit discover him if Lo Jik did not want himself to get discovered? He had merely lent Lang Ya Land Spirit to use these gu worms in the battle formation for he already knew all about it.
So, he refined these two gu worms earlier and used Disguise Immortal Gu to perform a fake immortal killer move.
Lo Jik planned of making an example out of Lang Ya Land Spirit even if Qin Bai Sheng had refused to momentary side with him. First, he required these immortal gu worms to further his own foundation. Secondly, Lang Ya Land Spirit was genuinely easier to deal with and intimidating the land spirit with the information he exposed earlier and the current battle strength was the best way to obtain that rank 8 theft path immortal gu worm.
The gu immortals from Lang Ya Land Spirit's side quickly gathered together and healed their injuries while casting fearful gazes towards the smiling Heavenly Thief.
Lo Jik's plan and acting was impeccable.
Lang Ya Land Spirit nearly deflated into nothingness as he couldn't fathom how to get out of this mess except for allying with Heavenly Thief. He couldn't help but feel aggrieved. Heavenly Thief was obviously the malicious party here. However, Lang Ya Land Spirit had to lower his head and ask the enemy to become his ally.
As if noticing this change, Qin Bai Sheng suddenly smiled widely.
"That was extremely impressive, Lord Heavenly Thief. I'm sure my side will not dare wrong you. Forget about the earlier terms. Just help us gain Refinement Cauldron. I wouldn't dare demand anything else. This grand blessed land is something fitting for the greatest theft path gu immortal of our era."
Heavenly Thief shot Qin Bai Sheng a soft smile as his aura suddenly flooded the surroundings.
*Whoosh*
*Whoosh*
*Whoosh*
*Whoosh*
*Whoosh*
Pale blue hands appeared one after another. There were hands with three, four, five, six, and seven fingers! The time it took to fill the small portion of sky with countless formless hands like the stars in the night sky was not long at all!
"We are done for!" Lang Ya Land Spirit howled bitterly while Qin Bai Sheng's pupils shrunk. He truly could not deal with such a demonic might.
A gu immortal's strength was derived from their immortal gu worms. Heavenly Thief's formless hand targeted this aspect directly!
"O' Lang Ya. Why do you feel so helpless? I acted earlier because I'm a man of my word. I had to show that I was willing to side with Qin Bai Sheng."
Lang Ya Land Spirit suddenly heard Heavenly Thief's transmission.
"You are at fault here, little land spirit. I gave you a chance but you squandered it. Let me give you another chance." Heavenly Thief pinned the blame on the poor land spirit rather shamelessly. "I must have that theft path true inheritance. But the price of my assistance is now greater. I know you also possess Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's true inheritance. Hand it over and I shall take your side in this invasion. I shall leave your blessed land alone for the next 50 years based on the main continent's flow of time after I defeat this bunch of gu immortals. How about it?"
Qin Bai Sheng was a seasoned character. He knew that Heavenly Thief was an unreliable character. How could thieves ever be reliable?! He kept paying attention on Lang Ya Land Spirit and noticed the latter's expression shifting from helplessness to anger before defeat and a tinge of hope.
'Damn it! This old man is truly vicious. His earlier act was to subdue Lang Ya Land Spirit and now this old bastard must be using me as an external threat to fork out even more benefits from the land spirit.'
While formless hand was impressive, couldn't Lang Ya Land Spirit detonate all the immortal gu worms in an act of desperation. As such no parties would receive anything!
"Why are you hesitating, Lord Heavenly Thief? Please bring this immortal gu house down. You clearly know about Refinement Cauldron being embedded into the blessed land to increase its space to this extent."
"Don't worry, Junior Qin Bai Sheng. I have my methods. Just you wait." Heavenly Thief's reply did not fill Qin Bai Sheng with confidence. He might have even attacked if not for the threat of countless blue hands floating around the rank 8 gu immortal… and the fact that Heavenly Thief was a rank 8 gu immortal!
Qin Bai Sheng couldn't help but grit his teeth as Lang Ya Land Spirit suddenly summoned a rank 8 immortal gu worm. His actions surprised everyone.
The current situation forced many impressive gu immortals to the sidelines as they all focused on the three entities. The one who appeared the weakest was Lang Ya Land Spirit. However, nobody knew how deep the land spirit's foundation actually was. Then came Qin Bai Sheng. He was strong but ultimately a rank 7 gu immortal in an enemy territory. Lastly, the sudden arrival of Heavenly Thief threw things into a chaos.
This invasion was no longer about taking down Refinement Cauldron but… to participate in an auction for Heavenly Thief's assistance!
Heavenly Thief smile but made no move, forcing Lang Ya Land Spirit to grit his teeth and summon a few other gu worms. There were several information path gu worm alongside a strange rank 6 immortal gu worm.
'That is… a luck path immortal gu! One of Giant Sun's jealously guarded treasures!' Qin Bai Sheng nearly spat a mouthful of blood as he saw all this. Taking down the blessed land would have allowed them to obtain everything! Now all these treasures were actually going to Heavenly Thief!
"Hahaha! A wise choice, little land spirit!" Heavenly Thief accepted these gifts and quickly refined them while crying internally. Placing another rank 8 immortal gu nearly injured Lo Jik's strength path blessed land! The pressure was simply too immense.
He was suffering from success—physically!
"Senior… this…" Qin Bai Sheng transmitted while revealing slight dissatisfaction. He stopped addressing Heavenly Thief as a lord and called him a senior instead. However, the grand rank 8 gu immortal took no offense at his impudence and chuckled.
"I'm already helping you. I just snatched one of Lang Ya Land Spirit's trump cards. Isn't that what you want? To weaken the land spirit? Offense is not the only method in battles of this scale, junior Qin Bai Sheng."
Qin Bai Sheng cursed internally and understood the old man's actions.
He smiled bitterly and continued calmly.
"Please state your conditions, Lord Heavenly Thief."
"Hahaha! I like communicating with straightforward individuals the most. Lang Ya Land Spirit just offered me two immortal venerable's true inheritance, junior Qin Bai Sheng. It even has a famed rank 8 theft path gu immortal. Surely, you must have heard of Steal Life Immortal Gu. I'm afraid even Bo Qing's true inheritance would not be enough."
Heavenly Thief indirectly hinted at his desire for Bo Qing's inheritance alongside things equivalent to two venerable true inheritances and a rank 8 immortal gu.
'This greedy old bastard. He is truly that Thieving Demon's inheritor!'
Qin Bai Sheng was also helpless. He was now in a passive position and could either be extorted or suffer a combined assault from Lang Ya Land Spirit and Heavenly Thief Immortal. Lang Ya Land Spirit was still manageable but one look at the floating formless hands doused most of Qin Bai Sheng's fighting spirit.
'The deductions are taking too long. Do I have to stall for time by actually giving up Bo Qing's immortal gu worms? It might weaken him once he eventually awakens… how will this affect the plan?'
Qin Bai Sheng had many considerations before he smiled.
"I wonder if Lord still desires another Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable's true inheritance."
Qin Bai Sheng suddenly released an information path gu worm.
Pleasantly surprised, Heavenly Thief caught the gu worm and inspected it before staring at Qin Bai Sheng with slight appreciation. Ultimately, however, he shook his head.
"You and I both know that benefit obtained from this information is circumstantial. Time is running out, Junior Qin. Aren't you Bo Qing's inheritor. He was a straightforward man. Why are you being so dodgy?"
'To think Luo Po Valley is in Northern Plains. I must get my hands on Ghostly Concealment.' Lo Jik reeled from shock. Divine and Ghostly Concealments came in a pair. Lo Jik got a clue about Ghostly Concealment once he acquired Divine Concealment. He had even revealed this clue to Feng Jiu Ge and Fairy Yi, hoping to borrow their strength and get his hands on this mysterious immortal killer move.
Meanwhile, unaware of Lo Jik's thoughts, Qin Bai Sheng fell momentarily silent.
Heavenly Thief Immortal gaze turned more unhappy by the second while Lang Ya Land Spirit constantly asked the gu immortal to take action.
"Have patience, little land spirit. I'm on the cusp of weakening your enemy without lifting a finger. Believe in me," assured the old man as Qin Bai Sheng suddenly revealed a rather disappointing yet amazing trump card.
"How would senior like to know about dream path?"
"Dream path?" Heavenly Thief Immortal inquired. "You mean that legendary path prophesized by Immortal Yi Yan to flourish in the great era? What do you know about dream path?"
Qin Bai Sheng smiled.
He released another mortal gu worm filled with vague information that couldn't be more disappointing.
'Sigh. Just this? I got five times more information when I refined my first Dreamer Gu.' Lo Jik secretly shook his head and acted ignorant.
"Haha! You want to exchange just this measly research result in comparison to rank 8 immortal gu and two venerable true inheritances. You want to conquer this grand blessed land with just this pathetic amount of wealth?"
All the hands in the sky suddenly pointed at Qin Bai Sheng, greatly frightening him and his group of gu immortals.
"Appease your anger, lord. It was not my intention to offend you. But dream path is only just—"
"I don't care. Either hand over immortal level dream path research with a set of gu worms including one immortal gu or surpass Lang Ya Land Spirit's earlier wealth."
This was blatant extortion. Lo Jik had already taken benefits from Lang Ya land spirit but continued extorting Qin Bai Sheng. It was likely that the so-called Heavenly Thief would suddenly turn on Lang Ya land spirit and continue extorting the poor land spirit once Qin Bai Sheng handed over some benefits. This 'virtuous' cycle would keep going and everyone was helpless.
Qin Bai Sheng gritted his teeth and suddenly cupped his fist.
"This is my greatest sincerity, Lord Heavenly Thief. But this method is far too incomplete."
'Incomplete?' Lo Jik sneered. How could he believe such lies. How could he tell if Qin Bai Sheng was telling the truth or not. However, he was internally alert ever since Qin Bai Sheng revealed he had knowledge about dream path.
Lo Jik greatly relied on dream path as his trump card. Did Qin Bai Sheng boast a method of resisting Lo Jik's dream path immortal killer moves?
Still, he accepted the information path gu worm before his heart jumped from shock.
'This!'
He couldn't help but gaze at the quiet Qin Bai Sheng.
'What is this organization behind Qin Bai Sheng. What is Chen Jiu's connection with them. She was one of the ten extreme physiques but this mysterious organization actually tampered with it and removed it from her body. And now Qin Bai Sheng as this wild research result.'
'Pure Dream Reality Seeker Physique, an eleventh man-made extreme physique made from dream path dao marks. But this method is too incomplete and filled with various traps meant to lure me into dangers of the dream realms.' Lo Jik could see-through Qin Bai Sheng's plan. This method was too alluring so Heavenly Thief would definitely fall for it. Alas, Lo Jik was a dream path great grandmaster! Not only could he complete this research result alongside his human path attainment but he was already researching something similar—the method of creating extreme physiques and variant humans of different paths.
"Not enough." Heavenly Thief's stance was overbearing. The glowing hands around him stirred slightly as Qin Bai Sheng sighed and let out another gu worm.
Inspecting it allowed Lo Jik to confirm his guesses.
'This method is already 40% complete now, but it is filled with many traps. It's obvious that Qin Bai Sheng is holding out on me, and anyone who can deduce such a method is no slouch when it comes to dream path. Does Qin Bai Sheng really have a dream path immortal killer move?'
Lo Jik thought internally before refuting the assumption.
'No. Qin Bai Sheng is helpless or perhaps stalling for time. He is not working alone and my methods confirm that there is a great organization behind him. It's quite likely he is in touch with them as we speak. This dream path method might not even be his creation. As for immortal killer move. Why would Qin Bai Sheng wait until now if he had such a method? I have such method but I'm only stalling things to maximize my benefits. Is he in the same boat?'
Lo Jik's thoughts moved swiftly.
'Even if he has a dream path immortal killer move… can it truly do anything against me?' Lo Jik didn't feel the need to retreat right away.
Instead, he smiled and turned towards Lang Ya Land Spirit.
The hands followed his movement and suddenly aimed at the land spirit and his group.
"What are you doing? You promised to help me!" Lang Ya howled as Heavenly Thief Immortal transmitted calmly.
"You have to play along, little land spirit. Look, I already snatched great benefits from Qin Bai Sheng. Would he continue paying me if you don't? You must think of more benefits to share for your own benefits. Qin Bai Sheng cannot fathom your foundation but I'm aware of them. You can effortlessly exhaust Qin Bai Sheng's accumulation. He might even be forced to hand out Bo Qing's immortal gu worms."
Lo Jik made overbearing demands earlier but he also willingly backed out from pressuring Qin Bai Sheng too much to continue extorting everyone. Eventually, Qin Bai Sheng would be forced to share immortal gu worms.
Lang Ya Land Spirit nearly collapsed into a mist as he clenched his fists tightly.
The land spirit also heard another transmission at this time.
"Let us deal with this old man before resolving our enmity, land spirit."
It was Qin Bai Sheng.
Lang Ya Land Spirit was greatly started by his call for alliance before understanding things.
"So, you mean to say that this Heavenly Thief Immortal is likely a rank 7 gu immortal disguising himself as a rank 8 gu immortal?" Lang Ya Land Spirit observed the floating formless hands before sneering.
"Go ahead then. Attack him. Why should I be your shield? What if he is a rank 7 gu immortal? Can you handle his Formless Hand killer move?" Lang Ya Land Spirit snorted while immediately throwing Qin Bai Sheng under the bus.
"Qin Bai Sheng just contacted me and wishes to attack you, Lord Heavenly Thief. Let's deal with him first. You are a man of your word. You can have anything you desire from the blessed land once you get rid of him!"
Qin Bai Sheng immediately sensed Lang Ya Land Spirit's ploy but he was helpless. He could only grit his teeth.
'This old man saw my earlier battle and observed the range of my Soul Suppression immortal killer move. He is still out of my range. His soul foundation is likely weaker than mine. Furthermore, the deductions from earlier could not divine this bastard's secrets, but Old Man Yan Shi did predict that this Heavenly Thief Immortal is probably disguising his aura. There were a few clues hinting to this truth based on Yan Shi's deductions.'
Qin Bai Sheng erupted with a grand aura and suddenly charged Heavenly Thief Immortal.
Already prepared for this eventuality yet disappointed nevertheless, Heavenly Thief Immortal sighed.
"Oh, you fools!"
The sky changed colors as dream-like pink clouds materialized and covered everyone's view!
***
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