Robbing the Road

Robbery is an art.

There's a saying that even thieves have their code of honor. If you're going to rob someone, you have to stand up openly and tell everyone that you're going to rob them. That's what it means to be a thief in the right way.

Taking something without permission is called stealing. Petty theft is considered evil and unorthodox, taking advantage of someone's vulnerability and catching them off guard. People in the underworld have the utmost contempt for it.

Although both involve taking advantage of someone else's opportunities, don't underestimate this difference.

Opportunities gained through theft or borrowing are not yours to claim; karma will prevent you from getting them, and you'll have to return them sooner or later. You won't even get a good price for them if you try to pawn them.

But if you openly admit you're there to steal it before you make a move, then at worst you can settle things with a fight to the death.

Opportunities are earned through one's own abilities; what's there to hide? Others who lose only lose an opportunity, but you lose your life!

Of course, if you win, the victim will probably just have to accept that they were outmatched and missed out on the treasure. Wouldn't that end the cause and effect cleanly and neatly?

Of course, if you steal someone's things, they have every reason to come back with a gang and take them back. Or they could be ruthless and kill all the witnesses. But that's a different matter, concerning one's moral conscience. It has nothing to do with the robbery in front of you, right?

So, if you want something, just take it! Might makes right. Opportunities, luck, and ability will prevail. Why bother with those worthless scoundrels, helping this person or that person through backroom deals and favors?

Earning it directly and honestly through one's own strength—that's the true path of cultivation!

After listening to Profound Heaven Sword Intent and demonstration, Li Fan subconsciously felt... something seemed off?

However, considering his past experiences and lessons, it seemed that openly robbing and kidnapping people to use as drinking snacks was just part of the local customs. Li Fan scratched his head and decided it was best not to think too much about it and just do as the locals do.

Anyway, it was Taiping Temple that attacked him first, so there was no reason to show mercy. Besides, they made way too much money in the first two rounds...

After some preparation, Li Fan, transformed into a snake-like humanoid of the Gonggong clan, rode the water and raised a wall of water that soared into the air, blocking the treasure ship's path. He roared, "Robbery!! This road is mine, this tree is mine, if you want to pass, leave your toll!"

' Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, hehehehe! Yes, yes, yes! Well said! You have a real talent for robbery! I've got my eye on you!'

On the Taiping Ship, two guards at the Golden Core Realm immediately floated into the air. Upon closer inspection, they were dressed as eunuchs with white faces and no beards, wearing red robes and jade belts. They also had gold incense burners tied to their waists, which emitted a fragrant aroma. Their hands were clean and tidy, like a pair of jade. They stood on the left and right, shaking their official robes as if they were performing in a play, and came forward to shout and curse.

"What kind of monster dares to hijack my Taiping Ship!"

"You're spouting nonsense! Do you own Lei Marsh?!"

Li Fan wasn't about to be outdone by the two eunuchs. He tossed his head of red hair, struck a pose that said, "That's how confident I am," and declared righteously, "That's right! It's my family's business!"

"Nonsense... wait, the Gonggong clan?"

"Have remnants of the Demon God Palace really escaped?"

The two eunuchs were taken aback, exchanging bewildered glances. After a moment's hesitation, they finally managed to stammer out, "How much?"

"Hmph! You think you're asking for death if you value money more than your lives..." Li Fan was about to finish his line and quickly enter the battle scene when, unexpectedly, his opponent didn't play by the rules. He subconsciously asked, "Ten thousand strings of cash?"

The two eunuchs turned their heads simultaneously, and a woman's soft laughter came from inside the boat, "Even the Gonggong god clan has stooped to begging for money on the road. Just give them a couple of handy and don't get entangled with them."

The eunuch then bowed and tossed over a string of jade pendants, saying, "Here is 100,000 strings of cash." "A reward from your master."

"Oh, thank you for your patronage, please pass, and drive carefully... what the hell?!" Li Fan roared, throwing the jade pendant back at him. "Are you kidding me?! You think you can get rid of me with this little bit of money?! Is this a robbery?! Be serious, you bastards!"

The eunuchs were also dissatisfied, "Didn't Your Excellency quote the price yourself?"

"Yeah, how can they grab something and then raise the price? That's so unprofessional."

"Hmph! I meant 100,000 strings of cash per head!"

Since he had already loudly proclaimed that he was robbing someone openly and honestly, Li Fan was too lazy to waste any more words. He made a hand seal and pointed, summoning a surging wave that swept across the sky and crashed down on the treasure ship, the Tianping!

He had long since memorized and mastered the Five Elements Indestructible Body Divine Art, further enhanced by the combined power of his multiple Daoist bodies, the skill boost from the Profound Nether True Qi, and even the Profound Nether Escape Technique he had recently learned, which deepened his understanding and mastery of the Water Control Technique. Therefore, even though he wasn't using any Daoist techniques at this moment, simply manipulating water with a casual gesture, he easily controlled a thousand-ton torrent, like a collapsing mountain torrent, directly blasting it towards the Taiping Ship!

"How dare you!" "You're asking for death!"

Upon seeing the fight break out, the two eunuchs also stepped forward angrily, unleashing four palm strikes in unison. The qi erupting from their palms acted as a protective shield, blocking the towering waves from a distance.

Li Fan immediately recognized their palm techniques as being from the same school as the old eunuch Eunuch Wang, the Martial God. It was indeed a unique martial art from the Liqiu Palace. Moreover, these two were clearly both martial arts practitioners, their attacks were imbued with divine and evil energy, and their breathing clearly showed the Dao Breath of the Golden Core realm. They were probably rare masters, not ordinary rogue cultivators who could handle them.

However, even these palace guards have their flaws. For example, although their martial arts are superb and their palm techniques are highly skilled, capable of easily seizing heads and shattering bodies, these eunuchs are clearly designed for close-quarters combat. They don't have much time to study magic spells or magical artifacts, so they can't use magical artifacts or water control techniques to deal with the torrents Li Fan splashed out. They simply use a brute force method, using their palm winds and qi to force the torrents away.

Therefore, their primary task should be to protect the safety of the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator inside the ship, the master of Taiping Temple. They dare not easily come out to engage the attackers, lest they be caught off guard.

Li Fan wasn't in a hurry. His act of robbing was actually his usual tactic: to test the waters before actually making a move, to trick and deceive, to see what trump cards Taiping Temple had up its sleeve, and to see if Jade Toad Granny would lend a hand. See, he found out that the Taiping Temple master's martial arts skills weren't particularly strong in close combat. Moreover, the two protectors with him lacked Daoist techniques; someone who could be dealt with in one round with a flying sword was relatively easy to handle.

Anyway, Li Fan had a bunch of items that made him immune to death and life-saving skills, and he could also escape at any time using water escape techniques. So he brazenly started robbing Nascent Soul Stage cultivators. Come on! Go wild! Act crazy! Who's afraid of who!

He immediately grew four more hands and made hand seals, increasing the output and creating layers of waves of water that completely enveloped the Taiping Ship. It could be seen that the treasure ship was as if it were in a water sphere, with the eunuchs inside unleashing their four palms in a chaotic manner, using their palm techniques to force the rapids away and forcefully preventing the water from capsizing the treasure ship.

These two actually didn't rush out to fight; instead, they were guarding the owner of the large ship. And they were actually holding their own, which shows their solid foundation. Want to go head-to-head with him in terms of cultivation? Well, let's just wear him down. Li Fan six Dao bodies transformed plus two Golden Core cultivators; he's not fighting alone, he's fighting a group of people. Let's see who can outlast whom!

So he increased his power output, pressing down with a hand seal, and the water sphere rapidly shrank, almost crushing the people and the boat to dust! He also took the opportunity to test the power of the moves he learned from the Nine Li Diagram, swung his body and threw a heavy punch, condensing his true qi into a fist shadow in the air, and blasting it straight at the eunuch on the deck who was resisting the water wall magic!

His cultivation level of eight elements combined was certainly not something that the two guardians could withstand. Just as the water sphere was shrinking at a visible speed and was about to crush the treasure ship trapped inside, and the fist shadow was about to strike, just as they were about to take advantage of the eunuchs' busy commotion to launch a sneak attack, the Nascent Soul Stage inside the ship indeed made his move!

The opponent was probably using some kind of magical artifact. Li Fan could clearly feel that the Profound Nether True Qi, which he had previously controlled with ease, was being interfered with and controlled by a more powerful entity on the ship. Even the water sphere was broken. It turned out that the water curtain around the flying boat had been completely sucked into a floating white porcelain Jade Pure Bottle.

Taking advantage of the moment, the two eunuchs also withdrew their palms and landed on the deck. They then launched a counterattack, unleashing two palm gusts from their sleeves, which shattered the fist shadow that Li Fan had unleashed from a distance. The combined power of their two casual attacks was originally no match for Li Fan's Dao Body, so it seems that the palm technique secretly passed down in the Liqiu Palace is indeed quite effective.

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Oh, that bottle is a sixth-grade Nascent Soul Stage treasure. It seems to be a water-controlling artifact, which can also restrain the effects of the Profound Nether True Qi in the Lei Marsh.'"

The Taiping Temple is such a ruthless platform, exploiting rogue cultivators for hundreds of years. Its master must have plenty of powerful magic weapons at his disposal. It's not surprising that he brought a water-controlling magic weapon to the Lei Marsh Swamp; it's not necessarily a gift for the toad.

However, magical artifacts consume the most Divine Sense. If she could use this opportunity to summon all sorts of random functional items, perhaps she could catch him off guard, launch a surprise attack, and suddenly burst into the ship to kill him with a single sword strike...

Then, beside the Jade Pure Bottle, a mirror, a banner, and a sword calmly appeared. Their radiant light illuminated all directions, making them appear to be of equal or even higher rank than the Jade Pure Bottle, definitely two or three grades stronger than trash.

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, tsk, the mirror can reflect your flying sword, the banner can raise a wall of qi to block your magic, if that bottle is in the heat of battle and suddenly uses it to break your water escape, I'm afraid it could kill you with a single sword strike and cut off your head."

Tsk tsk, it seems the other party really doesn't want to get entangled with you, so they're bringing out their magic weapon to intimidate you...

Damn it, you big spender.

Li Fan acted decisively, using a water escape technique to flee, escaping for dozens of miles and leaving a trail of ice in the sky.

The men from the Taiping Ship didn't pursue them. Only then did he stop, gathering his qi while pondering a countermeasure.

Sword Intent, how do you fight against a whale (a player who spends a lot of money on in-game purchases)?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, it's still the same old saying: attack when the enemy is unprepared. You've experienced it yourself, haven't you? Every time you use a magic weapon, your Divine Sense is depleted, and sooner or later you'll feel dizzy and make mistakes."

The Nascent Soul Stage cultivators on this ship are quite skilled, but they can't possibly use four mid-grade Nascent Soul Stage magic treasures indefinitely. In situations like this, you should lure them in, escape before their Divine Sense locks onto you, and then return to ambush them when they relax. Repeat this harassment, using your magic power to wear down their Divine Sense and create opportunities to strike!

Excellent! Great minds think alike!

So Li Fan learned it again, using a water escape technique to dodge past, and with a wave of his hand, summoned a giant hand formed from the water on the ground, which then shaped like a boat. Of course, the water-formed hand was immediately taken away by the jade bottle, but anyway, the Lei Marsh is so big, you can't possibly absorb all the water, can you?

Once a bunch of magical treasures appeared on the ship again, he immediately turned and ran away. Hey, he was just playing around.

This happened three times before the Taiping Ship finally stopped. Two eunuchs shouted angrily at Li Fan, "You ignorant fool! Stop causing trouble! What do you want?!"

"Sure thing! You have so many magical treasures, let me play with one! Don't be stingy!" Li Fan shouted as he picked up random stones, mud, tree trunks, and monsters from the ground and threw them at the boat, hoping to clog the bottle.

"Hmph! My master didn't want Gonggong to become extinct, so he kindly spared your life. Yet you still stubbornly cling to us. Do you really think we have no temper?"

"This is your last chance. Take this 100,000 strings of cash and get out of here! There are plenty of rogue cultivators from Ink Bamboo Mountain in this Lei Marsh for you to kill. Don't make a fool of yourself here!"

Upon hearing this, Li Fan burst into laughter, "So that's how it is! The Human Race wants to exterminate the Gonggong clan, but no one wants to bear the consequences, is that it? Come on then! I'll stand here and let you kill me! Do you dare to make a move!"

The two eunuchs were taken aback, and subconsciously turned their heads again.

A cold snort filled with anger came from the ship, followed by a rainbow of light shooting into the sky!

'The Dao of Profound Heaven Sword Intent has arrived!'

Li Fan was prepared. He flicked his wrist, took Falling Sun Mirror, and with a flash, a beam of light like a searchlight swept towards the rainbow in the sky, deflecting it and causing it to circle back into the flying boat.

Li Fan gritted his teeth and sighed inwardly. He was just waiting for the other party's flying sword to be drawn so that he could use the Falling Sun Mirror to shield it for a moment, and then use the system to snatch it away, thus cutting off the other party's arm! Moreover, he had clearly been illuminated by the mirror light, but unfortunately the difference between the levels of magic weapons was too great. The Nascent Soul Stage level entry-grade flying sword could only be blinked at his Golden Core Stage mirror, and it couldn't be brought down at all.

The attempt to seize the sword failed, but it did surprise the person opposite. A eunuch asked, "Where did you get this mirror from?"

"What are you doing! I stole it!" Seeing his trump card exposed, Li Fan immediately made a hand seal, preparing to launch another guerrilla attack.

The other person exclaimed in shock, "You can steal Yao Xuanzhou's things!?"

Hmm, the intelligence from Taiping Temple is quite detailed. He'll have to be careful with the flying swords he used to wreak havoc throughout Changsi City...

"Hehe, it's unlikely they forcibly took it. Perhaps Yao Xuanzhou just lent it to his disciple, allowing it to exploit a loophole. It seems Ink Bamboo Mountain suffered considerable losses in the battle against the Demon God Palace. Hehe!"

The Nascent Soul Stage cultivator inside the ship finally stepped out of the deck, revealing his true form.

This was a female Daoist priestess dressed in plain white robes, with a sash draped around her body. Her appearance was remarkably well-preserved, and her features clearly indicated that she was a member of the royal family of the Li Country. She bore a striking resemblance to Li Yi Li You, and was likely the woman from Taiping Temple. Although she claimed to be a nun and wore Daoist robes, she was clearly accompanied by four young boys and girls who served as her attendants, holding palm-leaf fans and incense burners to provide a backdrop for her. Her entourage was truly grand.

The female Daoist priest bowed and said, "This humble nun is the Taiping Temple Changsi City. I am on my way to visit a friend in Lei Marsh. Your Excellency is a demon god born of heaven and earth, and there is no enmity between us. However, our meeting is fate. Since Your Excellency lacks a suitable weapon, this humble nun happens to have a treasure on hand, which I will give to Your Excellency to form a good karmic connection!"

She then flicked her hand, sending out a magical artifact that radiated a fierce light, a foul stench, and a brilliant blood glow, which landed in front of Li Fan.

Li Fan frowned, staring at the Nascent Soul magic weapon whip in front of him. It looked so familiar... Holy crap, isn't this the very whip he sold?! So you've given me Jade Toad Granny's weapon again! Is this some kind of good deed?! Or are you trying to kill me?!

Taiping Temple smiled, appearing generous and sincere, without a trace of falsehood or concealment, and said, "I have already given you the magic treasure. If you are still not satisfied, I have nothing more to say."

However, you may have just escaped from the Demon God Palace and probably do not know that the Falling Sun Mirror in your hand is a magic weapon of Yao Xuanzhou of Ink Bamboo Mountain, a famous local demonic sect.

Although I do not know how you succeeded, those demonic cultivators are extremely bloodthirsty and ruthless. You killed their disciple and offended their sect, which means you have brought great trouble upon yourself. Moreover, Ink Bamboo Mountain was an accomplice of the Nangong Family, who had been suppressing the Nangong Family for thousands of years!

Even if Your Excellency hides near Mount Lei Marsh, you will be hunted down sooner or later. Perhaps right now, a large number of demonic cultivators are searching for Your Excellency's whereabouts.

Instead of wasting your time here with us, you should flee to the South China Sea. When the Gonggong clan has regained its strength and power, we can return to avenge you by attacking and destroying Ink Bamboo Mountain."

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, observing this clever little devil who was always trying to stir up trouble for Ink Bamboo Mountain. He could tell the other person had become quite adept at this over the years. Deep down, he seemed to be trying to incite anyone he met to turn against Ink Bamboo Mountain...

"What you say seems to make some sense... but we can't go back on our word when we rob someone. If we say we'll give someone 100,000 strings of cash, we mean it. We can't renege on our promise. Your son and daughter have to be included in that amount too."

Taiping Temple rolled its eyes in exasperation and could only flick its sleeve, "These aren't mine... give them the money! I don't have time to mess around like this!"

The attending eunuch was speechless for a moment, then tossed out the jade pendant again, "There are seven of us, and these are maids and servants... a total of 700,000 strings of cash. Sigh, consider this my Taiping Ship's assistance to the Gonggong clan. I hope Your Majesty will rise to power soon and raze Ink Bamboo Mountain to the ground. Alright, take it and go."

"Oh, seven people, how many men and women, what are their names, what level are they at, and where are they going and what are they doing?"

"Hey! You're inspecting the ground! What's it to you!"

"How dare you yell at me!"

So Li Fan casually made up an excuse, lashed out with his whip, and swept the unsuspecting eunuch who came to deliver money in front of him in two. Actually, the eunuch probably tried to dodge, but the Profound Heaven Sword Intent fixed him, and he was gone.

The other man was completely taken aback by Li Fan's sudden outburst. His face was splattered with the blood and flesh of his colleague, and the incense he was wearing was covered by the smell of blood. He was horrified and lost his composure on the spot. He instinctively turned to run away, but Li Fan caught up from behind, lashed out with his whip, snapped his neck, and took his head.

Hey, you know what, this whip is actually pretty effective.

"Damn it! The demonic path! The untrustworthy demonic path!" The abbot of Taiping Temple was completely caught off guard, instantly giving away a magic weapon and two guardians. His cheeks flushed red with anger, and he hurriedly summoned a bunch of magic weapons to protect himself.

Li Fan stared at the eunuch's corpse lying on the ground, a hint of suspicion in his mind.

Why would the other party suddenly act so foolishly, daring to approach so brazenly without any warning? Is there some kind of conspiracy? But to take this casual conversation so seriously seems a bit too naive, doesn't it?

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Hmph, that's normal. These pampered young masters and nobles probably haven't seen bloodshed in hundreds of years. They may have magical treasures and high cultivation levels, but they don't have much experience in martial arts battles. They're just freeloaders. Trash.'"

Don't rush in; keep your distance, let her cool off, and tire her out.

So Li Fan waved his whip at the still panicked Taiping Temple on the ship, smiled, and then used a water escape technique to disappear into the air, hiding far away in the rainforest of Lei Marsh.