Chapter 289: Chapter 287: Female and Male Thieves

In a mountain range that stretched for a hundred miles, a group of masters from the Divine Wind Dynasty’s Ten Thousand Beasts Sect was mining Cyan Radiance Stones.

After a full day of effort, they had finally torn through the entire mountain range.

Joy was written all over the faces of the fifty-six masters from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect. "This was a good haul. Thirty thousand low-grade Cyan Radiance Stones, three thousand middle-grade, and one thousand six hundred upper-grade."

"It’s just a shame we have to hand over seventy percent of it to Senior Brother Shan Yanlin..."

"Why don’t we hide a little extra for ourselves?"

"Hide extra? Do you have a death wish?"

"Senior Brother Shan is already being merciful. We only have to hand over seventy percent. I heard Dugu Xue of the Yinluo Sect and the Ghost Emperor of the Nine Sins Hall just take every last Cyan Radiance Stone for themselves!"

Just as they were speaking, a pink carriage suddenly descended into the mountain range, appearing as a streak of flowing light.

Throughout the entire Sixteenth State, the only person who traveled in a pink carriage like that was Sima Qingling, the Ninth Princess of the Han Dynasty. The masters from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect recognized her at once.

However...

They weren’t nervous in the slightest.

One of the masters, an expert at the Heavenly Destiny Realm Sixth Stage, stepped forward. Crouched at his side were two wolf-like demon beasts, each with a single horn. They were Tier Three Medium Demon Beasts—One-Horned Moon Wolves.

This Heavenly Destiny Realm Sixth Stage master looked indifferently at Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling as they stepped out of the carriage. A smug expression appeared on his face as he said, "You two are too late. The Cyan Radiance Stones in this mountain range have already been completely mined out by our Ten Thousand Beasts Sect!"

"All mined out?"

Jiang Chen asked with a wide smile.

The master faltered, then frowned. "Of course, they’re all mined out. Do I have any reason to lie to you?"

"If they’re all mined out, then this is simple," Jiang Chen said, leaning casually against the carriage. His voice turned cold. "Listen up. If you know what’s good for you, hand over every Cyan Radiance Stone you’ve collected, and I won’t harm a single hair on your heads. But if anyone dares to resist, don’t blame my blade for being merciless!"

"A robbery?"

Everyone from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect looked utterly stunned.

The Heavenly Destiny Realm Sixth Stage master was startled as well, but he quickly regained his composure.

He knew that Jiang Chen was powerful enough to fight the top experts of the Ten Great Dynasties and had even killed Huaa Ruyi. But as he looked at the fifty-some masters from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect behind him, along with over a hundred powerful demon beasts, his confidence swelled. He sneered, "Jiang Chen, I’ll admit you’re strong. Even our Senior Brother Shan isn’t your match. But we have numbers on our side. If you push us too far, we’ll just have to sacrifice a few masters to take you down with us!"

"Take me down with you?" Jiang Chen shook his head. "You’re not worthy of that."

"You’ve gone too far!"

"Jiang Chen, leave now, and we can pretend none of this ever happened!"

Faced with the threats from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect members, Jiang Chen simply shook his head and sighed. "It seems you have no intention of handing over the Cyan Radiance Stones peacefully. In that case, I’ll just have to take them myself!"

SWOOSH—

Jiang Chen suddenly shot forward.

He unleashed his Shadow Body Technique, and ten "Jiang Chens" instantly charged the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect masters from ten different directions.

"Damn it!"

"Brothers, get him!"

"Let’s risk it all!"

The masters of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect commanded their powerful demon beasts, which surged forward toward Jiang Chen in a ferocious tide.

"Just a pack of animals. Die!"

The ten "Jiang Chens" swung their swords in unison.

Clear Wind Embracing the Moon!

Nine Heavens Milky Way!

Endless Universe!

Blood Rain Without Limits...

Sword Qi shot to the heavens, weaving a web of deadly light. The terrifying blades mercilessly carved through the demon beasts. Under Jiang Chen’s sword, the formidable beasts were as fragile as tofu. More than thirty were slain in the very first clash.

"My Celestial Wolf! You bastard, I’ll kill you!"

"My Red-Feathered Profound Turtle..."

Watching their battle pets die, the masters from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect roared in fury. With bloodshot eyes, they charged at Jiang Chen with even greater madness.

Jiang Chen was completely unafraid.

Wielding his Dustfall Sword, he unleashed a strike that seemed to chill the very stars. A massive sword beam, hundreds of feet long, shot forward like a ferocious deluge.

AWOOO—

One demon beast after another cried out in agony as the terrifying sword qi pierced their bodies, tore them to shreds, or sliced them in half...

The hundred-plus demon beasts were almost completely wiped out.

"ROAR— Jiang Chen, I’ll take you down with me!" the Heavenly Destiny Realm Sixth Stage master bellowed, charging at Jiang Chen with his two One-Horned Moon Wolves at his side.

Jiang Chen snorted. "Endless Universe!" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

A cage of swords materialized, trapping the master and his One-Horned Moon Wolves inside.

The terrifying sword qi held them in place, unable to move. Jiang Chen’s voice was cold. "One last chance. Hand over all the Cyan Radiance Stones, or die."

"W-What do we do?"

"What else can we do? Hand them over if you don’t want to die!"

With faces full of dejection and resentment, the fifty-some masters from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect handed over their storage rings. Jiang Chen collected the fifty-six rings with satisfaction. After emptying them of their Cyan Radiance Stones—a total of 110,000 low-grade, 41,000 middle-grade, and 15,000 upper-grade—he transferred them all into his own Storage Ring.

Jiang Chen tossed the fifty-some empty storage rings to Sima Qingling, then stepped back onto the carriage and departed without a backward glance.

The experts from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, filled with resentment, pain, and powerlessness, could only let out furious, unwilling roars. "Jiang Chen, may you die a horrible death...!"

...

「Later that day.」

A group of masters from the Yuhua Sect was mercilessly robbed.

「Another half-day passed.」

More than three hundred experts from the Great Qin Dynasty’s Emperor’s Palace were silently captured and bound in the dead of night, forced to hand over a staggering five hundred thousand Cyan Radiance Stones.

「The next day.」

A team of five hundred experts from the Iron Wood Dynasty’s Yinluo Sect encountered two other experts, a man and a woman. After an intense, hour-long battle, all five hundred experts from the Yinluo Sect were subdued, and the over eight hundred thousand Cyan Radiance Stones they carried were plundered.

「On the third day, at noon.」

A group of more than thirteen hundred masters from the Saint Martial Dynasty discovered a large Cyan Radiance Stone deposit. After two days of hard work, they finally finished excavating it.

They had obtained over two million Cyan Radiance Stones.

But just as they finished mining the deposit, two experts—a man and a woman—suddenly appeared.

After a fierce battle, only three hundred of the masters from the Saint Martial Dynasty survived, and their two million-plus Cyan Radiance Stones were stolen. It was later discovered that the more than one thousand who died were all disciples of the Saint Martial Sword Sect, and all of them belonged to the sect’s number one faction: the Celestial Alliance!

Meanwhile...

Word of the man and woman’s identities also began to spread.

Jiang Chen!

Sima Qingling!

The pair had become the most terrifying nightmare, a pair of demons in the eyes of every expert in the Sixteenth State. Wherever they passed, it was like a plague of locusts, stripping every location bare.

「On the fifth day.」

Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling robbed a group of masters from the Nine Sins Hall, killing a total of eight hundred and ninety-six people, including two experts at the Heavenly Destiny Realm Eighth Stage. They plundered a massive three million two hundred thousand Cyan Radiance Stones from their victims.

Although the Sixteenth State was vast, after five days of frenzied looting, news about Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling had spread far and wide. The duo became known as the "Female and Male Thieves," a name that struck fear into the hearts of all who heard it.

Someone later made a rough estimate: in just five short days, the Female and Male Thieves had robbed every major sect aside from the Fiery Sun Sect, the Sun and Moon Pavilion, and the Star Pavilion. They had slain over three thousand experts and plundered more than seven million Cyan Radiance Stones!

This crime spree infuriated the masters of the seven major sects. Led by Dugu Xue and the Ghost Emperor, they assembled a force of more than twenty thousand top experts and began a sweeping manhunt for the Female and Male Thieves.

However...

From that day forward, it was as if Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling had vanished from the face of the earth.

Only Xing Haisheng knew the truth: Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling had disguised themselves among his Star Pavilion contingent and had quietly slipped into Celestial Relief City...

[Fifth Chapter of the day! The Female and Male Thieves are roaring: "Hand over your recommendation votes, or I’ll drop my pants for you to see!"]