Shen Luo had barely returned to the Inner Academy when a purple blur hurled herself at him.
"Boss! Where did you go?"
Zi Yan tilted her head up, her eyes slightly red. "I thought you... thought you..."
"Thought I'd slipped away?" Shen Luo laughed.
"N-no!" Zi Yan bared her two little canine teeth and pouted. "I was just worried about you."
Shen Luo saw right through her.
This girl was all bluster.
But without realizing it, she had already begun to depend on him.
Zi Yan had been stranded in the Black-Corner Region since childhood.
Su Qian had raised her, but humans and magical beasts were different, and she had almost no friends.
Although Jia Nan Academy was a powerhouse in the Black-Corner Region, it had many elders. There were too many wolves and too little meat; its resources simply could not stretch far enough.
Zi Yan had a special constitution and needed enormous amounts of energy.
She could only rely on her talent for finding treasures and her ability to pass through barriers to scrounge for resources wherever she could.
Quite a few Inner Academy elders looked at her as though she were a thief.
There was nothing Su Qian could do about it, either.
The best Alchemist in all of Jia Nan Academy was only fifth-grade.
Su Qian himself had not tasted a Sixth-Grade Pill in years. Where would he find spare resources to support Zi Yan?
Besides, Zi Yan was merely a magical beast of unknown species.
Even if there were resources to spare, the Inner Academy elders received priority.
As a result, she had remained severely malnourished all these years.
"Have you finished the pills?" Shen Luo stroked the back of her head, his face full of concern.
Zi Yan's gaze wandered. "Th-there's still enough for a few days..."
Shen Luo sighed softly.
He could actually take Zi Yan back to the Central Plains and return her to the Ancient Void Dragon Clan at any time.
Although the Ancient Void Dragons were now fractured into rival factions.
East Dragon Island seemed to be the weakest of them.
But that was no problem at all for Shen Luo.
Whether he asked his teacher, Old Man Shennong, or the Fire Fairy to act, either could subdue the other Three Great Dragon Islands.
But Old Man Shennong had always disliked conflict.
If asked to participate in the civil war of a supreme clan like the Ancient Void Dragons, he would probably refuse outright.
Shen Luo knew his master's temperament all too well.
It seemed he would have to ask the Fire Fairy to act.
Although the Fire Fairy was a supreme elder of the Yan Clan, and her every action represented the clan's stance.
He had Fire Control. He could easily have the Fire Fairy disguise her identity.
The Fire Fairy was his greatest trump card.
Once he took down the Three Great Dragon Kings, none of the remaining islands would dare oppose Zi Yan.
Because Zi Yan possessed the legitimate imperial bloodline of the Ancient Void Dragons.
But the time was not yet right.
He had not spent much time with Zi Yan, and their bond was not yet that deep.
Even if he did her a favor now, once she ascended to the position of Dragon Emperor, the Ancient Void Dragons' vast reserves would allow her to repay that debt in other ways.
Shen Luo did not want their debt of gratitude settled and cleared.
How could I grow closer to Zi Yan?
Shen Luo pondered privately.
"Zi Yan, what do you like doing most?"
"Doing?" Zi Yan frowned, then gave Shen Luo a sly look and chuckled. "I like... stealing things... no, treasure hunting... treasure hunting!"
Shen Luo paused.
Ancient Void Dragons had three innate talents.
First, their defense was maxed out, and their physical bodies were invincible.
Second, they had a special sensitivity to natural treasures, essentially a built-in treasure radar.
Third, they were born with mastery over spatial power. Not only could they roam the void for long periods, but they could also ignore any seal or barrier.
Put those abilities together, and they were practically designed to be perfect thieves.
Just imagine: you had hidden your treasures securely, and nobody knew where they were, but an Ancient Void Dragon would know.
You could add every kind of seal and layer upon layer of barriers, but none of it would work on an Ancient Void Dragon.
Even if you discovered one, you could not catch up. They ran faster than rabbits.
Of course, even if you did catch up, their invincible bodies meant you could not hurt them.
Wouldn't that give you a headache?
Shen Luo remembered that Zi Yan's father, Zhu Kun, had landed himself in trouble precisely because he had set his sights on Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion.
Without informing anyone in the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, Zhu Kun had sneaked off alone to investigate that opportunity to become a Dou Di.
In his eyes, there were no longer any Dou Di on the Dou Qi Continent, making him, Zhu Kun, unquestionably the strongest expert in the world.
Great skill bred great boldness.
In the end, he had fallen into Tou She Ancient God's trap.
His supreme spatial talent had been useless against the rule-based restrictions left behind by a Dou Di.
He had ultimately been reduced to the gatekeeper of the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion.
That was also why Zi Yan had ended up stranded in the Black-Corner Region.
Zhu Kun had probably thought he could leave Zi Yan there, tell her not to wander off, and be right back.
With his supreme physical body and maxed-out defenses, he could maintain a slight edge even against an opponent of equal rank.
Who could have imagined that he would never return?
"Zi Yan, how about your boss takes you treasure hunting?" Shen Luo rubbed his hands together. "Let's go to the Black-Corner Region and pull off a few big jobs."
Zi Yan abruptly raised her head.
"B-boss, did you just say... you'd come steal... hunt for treasure with me?"
Shen Luo nodded.
Zi Yan's mouth opened slightly, her face filled with disbelief.
She often visited the Inner Academy's treasury, and she had lost count of how many times Su Qian had scolded her.
But she could not change.
That feeling was addictive, like a dog spotting a bone or a cat spotting a mouse. It was etched deep into her bones.
After the elders of Jia Nan Academy had turned their noses up at her, she could only set her sights on the vast, boundless forest behind the Inner Academy.
Sometimes, the magical beasts guarding the treasures would discover her.
But that was fine. She was fast.
With that in mind, Shen Luo decided to leave immediately.
He had originally wanted to let Su Qian know.
But the old fellow had already been in seclusion for days.
Presumably, he had taken Shen Luo's pill and was diligently cultivating to strengthen himself.
After all, a Seventh-Grade Pill was something one could encounter but never count on finding, and it held considerable allure for any Dou Zong expert.
So Shen Luo took Zi Yan straight out of the Inner Academy.
Although the Black-Corner Region had no shortage of Dou Zong-level factions.
With Shen Luo's current strength, he feared no one.
Since Zi Yan liked treasure hunting, he would accompany her and let her have some proper fun.
There were many ways to deepen a bond.
But doing a hundred good deeds together could not compare to doing one bad deed together.
That tense, thrilling feeling would leave a deep, unforgettable impression.
Shen Luo first picked a Dou Emperor-level faction called the Blood Sect.
Its sect master, Fan Lao, was roughly a Five-Star Dou Emperor.
They covered themselves from head to toe in black robes and deliberately chose to act at night.
There was no other reason; it simply felt more authentic that way.
That guilty feeling of being thieves thrilled both Zi Yan and Shen Luo.
"Shh, keep it down. Don't let them spot us."
Zi Yan crouched ahead of him and warned him cautiously, looking every bit the seasoned veteran.
Shen Luo obligingly bent over as well.
The pair, one big and one small, crept up to the Blood Sect's treasury.
A purple glow rose from Zi Yan's body.
Then she silently stepped into the formation, which had several layers of barriers laid over it.
Shen Luo stood guard outside.
In truth, Shen Luo's soul power would have allowed him to avoid everyone completely.
But since he was playing along with Zi Yan, he ought to make the performance convincing.
A moment later, Zi Yan poked her head out and made an OK gesture at Shen Luo.
She was signaling that she had succeeded.
Her cheeks were bulging; clearly, she had eaten her fill while helping herself to the loot.
The two immediately hurried away and headed for their next target.
Occasionally, Shen Luo deliberately released a trace of his aura, exposing their whereabouts.
Then he drew several Dou Wang and numerous Dou Ling into pursuing them.
One Dou Huang expert even chased them for dozens of li with a large saber in hand.
Naturally, Shen Luo would not kill that Dou Emperor with a single palm strike.
That would take all the fun out of it.
And so, Zi Yan and Shen Luo wore night clothes beneath their enveloping black robes and hunted for treasure throughout the Black-Corner Region.
For a time, panic gripped the entire Black-Corner Region.
Within just half a month, more than a dozen Dou Wang- and Dou Emperor-level factions had been stripped clean of their treasured natural treasures.
Who in the Black-Corner Region was a pushover?
Normally, they were the ones murdering people and stealing their goods. Since when was it their turn to get fleeced?
Numerous factions began issuing Black List kill orders.
They put out bounties to hunt down two notorious thieves.
One big, one small.
One was a Dou Wang, and the other was probably a Dou Emperor.
Before you continue