Successfully stealing the Spirit Stones

Ye Fei recognized that voice.

It belonged to the white-haired old man who had sold him the Pill Furnace at the Qingyuan Town Market.

For the old man to say something like that, his cultivation had to be on par with Wang Changqing's.

How is that possible?

He was only at the qi refining third layer back then. How has he become a core formation expert now?

The possibility left Ye Fei utterly astonished.

"Old man Deng Chao, what are you doing here?"

Just as Ye Fei was puzzling over this, Wang Changqing's irritated voice rang out.

"I was just wandering around. Before I knew it, I'd wandered all the way here."

"What I didn't expect was to find you playing hide-and-seek here."

"Hahaha! What's so fun about playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of disciples? Why not spar with me and stretch our muscles?"

The old man named Deng Chao pointed at Wang Changqing, who had just flown out from underground, and burst into laughter.

"You shameless rogue, leave at once. This has nothing to do with you."

Looking at Deng Chao, Wang Changqing was so furious his teeth itched.

"You want me to leave?"

"Fine. Let's settle who's stronger first."

"I hear your divine sense can reach thirty li now? Mine happens to be pretty strong too. Why don't we have a proper contest?"

Deng Chao stared at Wang Changqing with a smile, showing no intention of leaving.

"Old man Deng, you..."

Wang Changqing choked on his anger, at a loss for words.

Against a shameless rogue like Deng Chao, there was little he could do.

After all, Deng Chao's shamelessness was notorious throughout the Cultivation World, and he was powerful too. Wang Changqing really had no good way to deal with him.

"You're dragging your feet. How about just one exchange?"

"Once we're done, I still have to go to the Linwu Town Market down south to repay an old acquaintance fifty Spirit Stones."

Seeing Wang Changqing dawdle, Deng Chao spoke with some impatience.

"You'd better keep your word. Just one exchange, and then you leave."

Wang Changqing's eyes lit up, and he hurried to confirm the terms.

"Ask around! My word has always carried the weight of nine cauldrons. I, Deng Chao, keep my promises."

Deng Chao patted his chest in assurance.

Hearing Deng Chao sing his own praises, Wang Changqing's mouth twitched.

Still, he said nothing more and immediately took his stance.

"Heaven-Shaking Earth-Splitting!"

Seeing Wang Changqing take his stance, Deng Chao gave a playful smile. Then he shouted, clenched his right fist, and slammed it into the ground.

In an instant, an invisible wave of force spread outward from him.

Wherever it passed, the earth trembled and clouds of dust billowed.

Though the move looked impressive, to Wang Changqing, who was at late core formation, it seemed far too ordinary.

Wang Changqing swept his broad sleeve, and a circular screen of light appeared before him.

The billowing dust and surging wave of force were instantly blocked by the light screen, leaving Wang Changqing completely unharmed.

"Old man Wang, you truly are formidable. I'm impressed. Farewell."

Seeing that his strike had accomplished nothing, Deng Chao shook his head helplessly and cupped his hands toward Wang Changqing. Then his figure flashed as he flew south.

"That madman."

Watching Deng Chao's retreating figure, Wang Changqing was left speechless.

"Huh? Something's wrong. Those Storage Pouches are gone!"

As soon as Wang Changqing withdrew his gaze, he sensed something amiss.

The Storage Pouches in the underground cave abode had vanished.

Not only that, the twenty-odd disciples were still foolishly looking up at him.

They had not noticed the missing Storage Pouches at all.

"Damn it!"

Wang Changqing roared, sending his divine sense sweeping outward in all directions, blanketing heaven and earth.

Ten li.

Twenty li.

Thirty li.

In the blink of an eye, his divine sense covered a radius of thirty li.

By then, Deng Chao had flown only ten li away.

Could it have been Deng Chao?

Impossible. He never had a chance to act.

Then who could it have been?

Anyone who could take so many Storage Pouches without anyone noticing must have a Storage Ring.

Could it have been some nascent soul old monster?

Wang Changqing quietly withdrew his divine sense, his face grave.

One Storage Pouch held a thousand liters. More than thirty of them had a combined capacity of over thirty thousand liters.

Only a Storage Ring could accommodate such a volume. Even a Storage Belt with a capacity of ten thousand liters was already considered good; it could not possibly hold all those Storage Pouches.

Storage Rings were extremely rare in the Cultivation World. Even nascent soul powerhouses were not guaranteed to own one each.

Thus, he dared not investigate any further.

If he encountered an unreasonable nascent soul old monster, he would be in trouble.

At that thought, Wang Changqing hurried back to the Void-Surpassing Gate with the twenty-odd disciples.

Whether the sect would punish him no longer mattered to him.

In truth, Wang Changqing had guessed wrong. The one who had taken the Spirit Stones was no nascent soul old monster, but Ye Fei.

At first, Deng Chao's appearance had puzzled Ye Fei.

But when Deng Chao mentioned fifty Spirit Stones, Ye Fei began to suspect something.

Thus, when Deng Chao unleashed "Heaven-Shaking Earth-Splitting," Ye Fei seized the moment while the disciples were distracted by the fight above and stowed the Storage Pouches inside the Azure Dragon Sword as quickly as he could.

Then, using the trembling earth as cover, he swiftly sent the speck of dust that the Azure Dragon Sword had become out of the ground.

After that, he let the wind carry the speck south.

He remembered Deng Chao saying there was a Linwu Town Market to the south.

Once the speck had flown thirty li south, Ye Fei emerged from the Azure Dragon Sword.

Then he summoned the Black Disc and flew toward Linwu Town at top speed.

A quarter of an hour later, Ye Fei appeared on the streets of Linwu Town.

Like Qingyuan Town, Linwu Town was a market near Mount Hongcang.

However, Linwu Town was considerably smaller than Qingyuan Town.

After all, its location was not as uniquely blessed as Qingyuan Town's.

He really is here.

Ye Fei had walked only a few hundred meters along the streets of Linwu Town when he spotted Deng Chao.

Deng Chao was once again running a roadside stall.

His cultivation was still at the qi refining third layer.

"Isn't it time you repaid the fifty Spirit Stones you owe me?"

Ye Fei walked up to the stall, held out his right hand, and spoke with a smile.

"Hahaha, you really are a clever lad. Let me keep owing you those Spirit Stones for now. I'll pay you back next time."

Deng Chao laughed and patted a stone stool beside him.

Ye Fei did not hesitate. He walked straight over and sat down.

After sitting down, Ye Fei stared curiously at Deng Chao without saying a word.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to ask me a few questions?"

Seeing that Ye Fei remained silent, Deng Chao asked in surprise.

"I don't know what to ask."

Ye Fei shrugged, his expression calm.

"You dared follow me here without knowing anything about me?"

Deng Chao raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

"I'm an idiot, I guess!"

Ye Fei shrugged again.

"That personality of yours is exactly like Master's. You really are his son."

At Ye Fei's attitude, Deng Chao's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm your master's son?"

The moment Deng Chao finished speaking, Ye Fei sprang up from the stone stool, looking somewhat agitated.

"That's right!"

"You're my master's son!"

Deng Chao nodded.

"Who is your master?"

Ye Fei hurriedly pressed him.

"My master is your father."

Deng Chao looked at Ye Fei as though he were an idiot.

For Ye Fei to ask such an obvious question, he clearly had to be a little dim.

"My father?"

"Do you know who my father is?"

Ye Fei frowned slightly.

"Isn't your father Ye Canglong?"

Deng Chao replied as though it were only natural.

"You really are my father's disciple?"

When Deng Chao actually said the name Ye Canglong, disbelief filled Ye Fei's face.