Sun Lingtong felt parched, his heart racing.
For a moment, he wanted to follow the current topic and directly clarify his purpose to Zeng Jide—that is, to cause destruction in Wangchuan Immortal City, coordinating with another group of brothers to stop the Lord of Wangchuan!
But Sun Lingtong eventually restrained himself.
Because, through his recent exchange with Zeng Jide, he already understood: the latter seemed flamboyant, but was actually very cautious. He chose his timing very well and had done a lot of exploration in advance. He was using the magic techniques of Buddhist Cultivation to elevate his stealing techniques. Although it was risky, his cultivation level and resources would increase significantly—it’s a highly profitable endeavor!
Zeng Jide’s purpose was solely for his own cultivation.
If he were to help Sun Lingtong deal with the Lord of Wangchuan, that would impede the lord’s path, which was a completely different matter.
Even if Zeng Jide stole some items like the Wangchuan Vortex, it would be no more than pulling teeth from a tiger’s mouth. With so many of the tiger’s teeth, losing one or two is no big deal.
But if Zeng Jide helped Sun Lingtong, it would mean forming a deadly feud with the Lord of Wangchuan. The severity here was not just about pulling teeth; it was about killing the tiger!
Would Zeng Jide help?
Sun Lingtong believed that the hope was extremely slim.
Would you risk your life to help someone you met for the first time, offending a Prefect on your own behalf? Offending a cultivation kingdom in the Netherworld?
Zeng Jide was willing to guide Sun Lingtong because he was a fellow sect junior and was appreciated. Really asking Zeng Jide to help would instead offend this Thief Sect senior, ruining the opportunity, acting too recklessly, and not knowing his place.
"Go with the flow, go with the flow." Sun Lingtong firmly kept the advice of Buddhist Doctor Meng Yaoyin in mind. Ultimately, he didn’t mention this aspect of the request, not even a little.
After Zeng Jide took the three treasures from the secret chamber, his expression immediately changed.
"Be careful!" The next moment, he burst forth with vigor, unleashing his lifebound magical treasure without a care for exposure.
It was a monkey-faced Buddha statue, its golden monkey face grimacing, draped in a pitch-black kasaya.
From the chest opening of the kasaya, a hairy monkey hand reached out. But clearly, the left and right hands of the monkey statue extended from the sides of the kasaya, converging at the lower dantian.
This was a three-handed Buddha monkey statue!
Once released, the Buddha statue pierced through the roof, soaring into the sky, transforming from death to life, from solid to illusion. In an instant, it became a Buddha monkey illusion several meters tall.
The illusion clasped its hands together, while the third hand on its chest stretched upward with force.
It grew longer and larger, resembling a cloud covering the sky, casting a large shadow within the City Lord’s Mansion.
Bang!
A loud noise erupted like thunder.
With it came a gust of wind, sweeping around, causing countless buildings to activate their defensive magic arrays.
A streak of black light shot back, which Zeng Jide re-incorporated into his dantian.
He spat a mouthful of blood and, with a sweep of his hand, gathered the blood, his face pale as he dragged Sun Lingtong to leave.
Stealing Technique—Shadow Escape!
The two transformed back into a mass of shadows, crossing the threshold and swiftly moving through the door seam.
Soon after, numerous patrolling cultivators swarmed in.
"Over here!"
"Didn’t expect the Painted Skin Rakshasa to have accomplices!!"
"Storehouse number three is empty, nothing inside was left!"
"I got it, it’s that despicable Zeng Jide!"
"He had announced beforehand that he would come to steal the Wangchuan Vortex, never thought he actually succeeded."
"Chase quickly, they must not have escaped far."
In an instant, a variety of detection spells were rapidly activated, and various defensive magic arrays were consecutively initiated. The whole City Lord’s Mansion awoke like a lion, showing the true grandeur of a national capital!
Zeng Jide scanned with his divine sense, and upon seeing the assortment of spells and arrays, he couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat.
With the City Lord’s Mansion fully operational, the difficulty of infiltration skyrocketed dozens of times, entirely different from before, vastly more challenging.
If Zeng Jide were alone, it would be easier, but bringing Sun Lingtong proved somewhat troublesome.
He did not abandon this junior fellow sect member, taking Sun Lingtong with him, urging the Shadow Escape Technique with all his might, while using over a dozen different techniques successively to counter various detection spells and defensive arrays.
Many defensive arrays were like fortresses, preventing him from moving freely, forcing him to avoid the edge temporarily.
Zeng Jide, taking Sun Lingtong with him, darted through twists and turns, discovering a flaw and slipping in according to the situation.
This was a crevice in the array space.
Zeng Jide lost the shadow state, half-kneeling on the ground, panting heavily, as his body was almost soaked in sweat.
The whole person was utterly exhausted, so different from when he had just been advising the junior member.
Sun Lingtong also returned to his human form. Concerned about Zeng Jide, after the latter waved his hands at him, he immediately sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to perform breathing control.
Sun Lingtong, on the other hand, was in a good state, as he had been dragged along by Zeng Jide and hadn’t expended much energy, let alone mana.
Sun Lingtong carefully observed his surroundings, noticing a verdant green light film behind him, where shadows hurriedly moved past. In front of him lay a mass of fog.
From the fog emerged occasional sounds of fierce battle, the cries of female cultivators.
Suddenly, voices came from behind.
"How come we can’t find that despicable Zeng Jide!"
"Do you think he might be hiding here?"
"This is the Julan Formation that traps the Painted Skin Rakshasa. If those two were to unite, it would be quite dangerous."
"Indeed, the cultivators from Bukong Sect are best at breaking arrays and infiltration. If Zeng Jide helps the Painted Skin Rakshasa escape, it would be very hard to trap that demon cultivator again!"
Sun Lingtong looked back, seeing a team of cultivators pressing in just outside the verdant light film.
The green film rippled, this team of cultivators closing in, their figures and faces becoming clearer.
Sun Lingtong’s hair stood on end, his heart in his throat.
Zeng Jide focused on his breathing, seemingly unable to care for the outside, while the team of cultivators was about to discover them.
What to do?
Sun Lingtong gritted his teeth, just about to use his stealing technique to conceal himself, when Zeng Jide’s divine sense transmission advised him to stay calm and not act rashly.
"Boy, if you hastily use those stealing techniques, they’ll discover the two of us!"
Sun Lingtong immediately stopped.
The team of cultivators brushed past him, close as they were, still separated by a layer of green film.
The cultivators filed in, entering the mist.
Soon, the sounds of battle in the mist grew louder. The Painted Skin Rakshasa laughed enticingly: "Heeheehee, so many are coming to care for me? Come on, let me cherish you brothers!"
Screams echoed in succession.
Evidently, the recently entered cultivators suffered greatly.
One shouted in fury: "Treacherous witch, may you die painfully!"
Painted Skin Rakshasa retorted: "Whether I die or not, I don’t know, but some of your men have already died!"
Some cultivators suppressed their anger, hurling threats: "You won’t boast for long! Struggle in this Julan Formation until your stamina and mana are exhausted; we will capture you alive and flay you to avenge our brothers!"
Painted Skin Rakshasa mocked: "I can’t say for sure. For all you know, your Prefect might already be dead out there. After all, I’m not the only one dealing with him this time. Just the great Lord Yin Jiu alone... "
Cultivators: "Damn witch, stop trying to deceive us! We’ll see!"
They retreated in disarray, again brushing past Sun Lingtong, still not discovering the elder and younger pair from the Bukong Sect.
"Let things take their course, let nature run its course... My dear brother’s mother is really amazing!" Sun Lingtong thought with infinite admiration as he looked at the mist before him.
He bit his lip, pondered a moment, and suggested, "Why don’t we release the Painted Skin Rakshasa, let her draw attention for us to escape more easily?"