Chapter 257: Sikong Toutian
Li Qiye glanced at the thief and said in a dismissive manner: “I know its origin better than you!”
How could he not know of the origin of the Nine Nine Eighty-One Transformations? He was the one to create it during the Desolace Era before becoming powerful enough. As the Dark Crow, he used this art to escape pursuits one after another! Once he reached the true apex of power, he would rarely use this art and so, he just casually handed it to a junior nearby.
This art was personally crafted by him to escape countless times, so how could anyone in this world understand it more than him? The advantages and disadvantages of this art were all clear in his mind! This little thief using the Nine Nine Eighty-One Transformations before him was simply displaying one’s slight skill before an expert — merely seeking his own doom.
But of course, the little thief in his wildest dreams would never expect the person who created the Nine Nine Eighty-One Transformations to be right in front of him. If he did, he surely would have not used such tactics.
“Reveal your true body; don’t play games in front of me.” Li Qiye nonchalantly demanded.
The little thief stared at Li Qiye without a saying a word. Keep in mind that he would not easily expose his true body in front of outsiders. He had many enemies and once people knew his true form, it would then be an unpleasant time for he would be chased by people all over the world.
Li Qiye noticed the hesitation so he casually added: “Are you going to reveal your true form, or do I have to personally force you? Trust me, when I personally take action, it doesn’t matter who you are because you will never be able to stand up again!”
Li Qiye’s plain and leisurely tone carried no threatening presence, but after hearing these words, the little thief and the Chi brother and sister duo couldn’t help but shiver. At this moment, they had no doubt about Li Qiye’s words.
The little thief took a deep breath as his body eventually flashed once. He suddenly became a totally different person — his true body! He would not easily reveal himself in front of strangers, but his intuition was telling him that this seemingly young man before him was far more dangerous than he could imagine. Just like the young man’s words, if he didn’t reveal his true body, then it would be big trouble!
The moment his true body came to light, both the brother and sister were stunned. In their mind, this little thief was a swindler so he should have a wretched and lowly appearance. However, in actuality, this little bandit before them had a handsome and proper appearance, making it difficult to connect him to a swindler.
The little thief bowed down before Li Qiye with his true body and said: “Brother is truly amazing. My Nine Nine Eighty-One Transformations has never failed before; I can turn into a different person in just a second. It is essentially impossible for anyone else to discern it, yet Brother could do it with just a glance. This still leaves me perplexed even now.”
“Because you are simply displaying your slight bit of skill before a true expert!” Li Qiye spoke while narrowing his eyes towards the little thief: “I don’t care how you received the Nine Nine Eighty-One Transformations, but from today on, remember two things for me. Make sure to be smart when standing in front of me. If you are a dragon, then coil yourself and behave; if you are a tiger, then lie down peacefully! Don’t play games with me! Second, I don’t care what you do — whether they are good deeds or crooked matters, I will not question your tricking and swindling behaviour. However, remember to keep a bottom line in mind and never cross this particular line...”
“... If you cannot do these two things, then from now on, never use the Nine Nine Eighty-One Transformations again! You must obey my two rules if you want to keep using this art; otherwise, I will personally remove your bones one by one, understand!?”
Li Qiye uttered these words with a flat tone but, at this moment, Li Qiye had changed. It was as if he was sitting on his throne above the Nine Worlds and grasped the entire universe as he looked down on the rest of the world! At this very second, even the gods and devils would be in awe from his aura.
It was not only the little thief, Chi Xiaodao and Chi Xiaodie were also intimidated by Li Qiye’s grandeur as their hearts shivered with a chilling sensation! An instinctive, primal fear appeared from the depths of their souls. At this moment, all of them trusted that Li Qiye would do anything he said, and they could even imagine Li Qiye personally removing the little thief’s bones one by one. They couldn’t help having their hair stand on end as they coldly trembled.
Especially the little thief. His background was amazing, and he had experienced even more waves and winds compared to the Chi sister and brother duo. However, although he was much more mature, the fear remained irrepressible deep within his heart. He felt that he had met an unfathomable person who was even younger than him, and his terror was absolutely there! He trusted that if he provoked this young man, he would die without a grave. Having thought to this point, even his self-proclaimed courage doubted itself!
In her daze, Chi Xiaodie was also perplexed. Li Qiye’s aura did not resemble someone who would trick her brother’s medicinal ingredients. With such an aura, maybe it was just as he said; he did not care for the treasures of the Lion’s Roar Gate!
All three of them were shocked. If the Nine Nine Eighty-One Transformations of the little thief could turn someone into someone else, leaving others unable to recognize them, then Li Qiye’s aura — this divine might high above the nine heavens — was not something that could be replicated. Even the little thief’s transformation art could not turn into such a thing!
“I will bear Brother’s words in mind!” The little thief turned cautious and didn’t dare to act presumptuously. He bowed towards Li Qiye. In his eyes, messing with this young man before him was absolutely akin to dying without a proper burial!
Li Qiye glanced at him and asked: “What is your name?” At this time, his earlier aura that was capable of dominating the nine heavens had completely dissipated as he resumed his ordinary teenager appearance.
“People call me Sikong Toutian!” [1. Toutian = stealing the heavens]
The little thief finally took a sigh of relief after Li Qiye withdrew his aura. Li Qiye’s presence from earlier was just too frightening. He would rather face the old undyings of the great powers than to face Li Qiye’s divine aura again. It was too scary; he was sure that his dream will be a nightmare tonight!
After hearing the name “Sikong Toutian”, Chi Xiaodie glared at the little thief ahead and said: “You are the Sikong Toutian whom everyone wants to beat up in the Eastern Hundred Cities! So many people curse you as a wicked merchant, grave digger, thief, shameless dirty thief...”
“Miss, rumors like this are not credible and shouldn’t be trusted!” Sikong Toutian was quite embarrassed after Chi Xiaodie listed so many nicknames like that and retorted: “I am only a street vendor, although I sometimes coincidentally pick up a few things that are thrown away by other people. I am not a wicked merchant and definitely not a thief.”
“Bullshit! Then what about when you swindled my materials! You still dare to say you are not a little thief, but you clearly stole a lot of medicinal ingredients from me! Little thief, you really caused a lot of trouble for me, I’m not gonna let you go today!” Chi Xiaodao jumped up and cursed Sikong Toutian while pointing at his face.
Sikong Toutian was quite embarrassed after being cursed at by Chi Xiaodao. He wryly smiled and said: “Brother Chi, ah, ah, ah, this, I really didn’t want to deceive you. Ah, the truth is like this; at that moment ah, I really wanted to treat your problem. At that time when I had just started, I thought that your Physique and blood energy were too powerful and hard to control, so I thought about calming down your blood energy...”
“... But when I actually started your treatment, I found that it was not the case. At that point, I understood that your issue was not just a simple overpowering Physique and blood energy, it was an extremely rare condition of the lion biting the turtle. Ah, ah, the truth is, my heart really wanted to treat you, but I was powerless. Your condition must be treated by changing your Fate, but this is very difficult; you should also know about this. This matter is even harder than traversing to the high sky and it needs a supreme and appropriate dan recipe. Not to mention, you also need a supreme alchemy dao to treat it...” Sikong Toutian was very embarrassed as he defended himself.
Sikong Toutian’s words stunned the sister and brother for a bit, especially Chi Xiaodie. She was shocked for Toutian’s words were exactly the same as Li Qiye’s!
“But this isn’t an excuse for you to swindle my ingredients!” At this time, Chi Xiaodao’s anger had dissipated quite a bit, but he was still very upset and spoke.
With another forced smile, Sikong Toutian replied: “Brother Chi, at the time, I didn’t really want to swindle your ingredients. I also thought about fixing your issue while making a bit of profit along the way. I more or less should get some materials, right? But when I began to cure you, you didn’t have the problem I originally thought you did so it was impossible to cure. Ah-hh, to tell you the truth, Brother Chi, at that time, I, I was bragging the whole time so I didn’t want to lose face, thus I ran away. I really didn’t want to steal your ingredients!”
“I don’t care whether you intended to cheat me or not, give me back all of my medicinal ingredients!” Chi Xiaodao said with much annoyance.
After being caught, Sikong Toutian had no choice other than to acquiesce, so he smilingly said: “Fine, wait until I gather all of Brother Chi’s materials. I will bring them to the Lion’s Roar Gate for you!”
“I don’t buy your nonsense!” Chi Xiaodie snorted and demanded: “You better hand them over right now to my little brother!”
“This, this is a bit difficult. I don’t have so many medicinal ingredients at the moment!” Sikong Toutian awkwardly smiled and spoke.
Li Qiye interrupted their conversation and asked while looking at Sikong Toutian: “You know how to rob graves?”
“Brother is playing with me. With my little skill, how could I dare to say I know how to rob graves. I’m simply picking up some stuff left behind by other people at the cemetery.” Sikong Toutian immediately denied. He was still a little afraid of Li Qiye.
Li Qiye didn’t care for such things and continued: “Since you know how to rob graves, then do you know a place that will sell a Rotten Underworld Bean at Eastern Descent City?”
“Rotten Underworld Bean?” After hearing Li Qiye’s question, Sikong Toutian paused for a moment before conveying: “This item rarely appears. I heard that there was one Underworld Rotten Bean that surfaced, but it was quickly purchased by the Eternal River School. This toy is very useful and versatile so it is very hard to come by.”
“Do you know any other places?” Li Qiye asked once again while looking at him.