「Inside Celestial Relief City.」

Xing Haisheng had a complicated look on his face as he looked at the disguised Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling, who were now dressed in the uniforms of Star Pavilion disciples. He forced a wry smile. "I... Are you two really the ’Female and Male Thieves’ everyone is talking about?"

If Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling hadn’t secretly found him and asked for his help to disguise themselves and sneak into Celestial Relief City, Xing Haisheng would have never believed they were the Female and Male Thieves.

Oh, wait, that’s not right!

Actually, while he was shocked that Jiang Chen could pull something like this, he wasn’t overly surprised.

But for Sima Qingling to have also become one of the Female and Male Thieves... that he found unbelievable and hard to accept!

This was the Ninth Princess of the Han Dynasty, a goddess in the eyes of countless people!

Xing Haisheng simply couldn’t imagine such a high and mighty princess transformed into a robber, brandishing a weapon and shouting, "This road is my road, these trees are my trees! If you want to pass, leave your valuables behind!"

The mental image was too much to bear!

But Sima Qingling, a look of excitement on her face, said, "Brother Xing, why don’t you come with us next time?"

She had now been thoroughly and successfully converted by Jiang Chen.

Xing Haisheng’s eye twitched. He shot a mournful look at Jiang Chen. "Brother Jiang, look at what the Ninth Princess has become. How am I supposed to explain this to His Majesty when I get back...?"

"You can’t blame me for this. You could say that by following me, Qingling has unleashed her true nature!"

Jiang Chen quickly waved his hands dismissively before saying, "Brother Xing, Qingling is actually right. How long are you going to be busy sending people to painstakingly search for Cyan Radiance Stones? You might as well join us and pull off a big score!"

"Er..."

Xing Haisheng’s mouth twitched as he politely refused. "Forget it. I’m not cut out for this sort of thing!"

As they spoke, he couldn’t help but look at Jiang Chen curiously. "Everyone outside is saying you two robbed millions of Cyan Radiance Stones?"

"You’ll find out in a bit!" Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling shared a mysterious smile.

The three of them then headed for the City Lord’s Mansion.

BUZZ—

The Celestial Fate Daoist appeared before Jiang Chen and the others, standing on a Flying Carpet. He looked at Jiang Chen with a smile in his eyes. "Young man, I sense a great many Cyan Radiance Stones on you. Are you here to exchange them for treasures?"

"Yes, Senior!"

Jiang Chen replied respectfully, taking out a Storage Ring and handing it to the Celestial Fate Daoist.

The Celestial Fate Daoist nodded and beckoned with his finger.

The Storage Ring appeared in his palm before Jiang Chen could even react. Jiang Chen was inwardly shocked, feeling even more curious about and awed by the Celestial Fate Daoist’s abilities.

"4,154,321 Low-grade Cyan Radiance Stones, 1,939,186 Middle-grade Cyan Radiance Stones, and 734,700 Upper Grade Cyan Radiance Stones... for a total value of 211,972,510 points. Young man, are you sure you want to convert them all into points?" the Celestial Fate Daoist asked with a gentle expression, smiling at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen nodded. "Yes, convert them all into points!"

"Then give me your Celestial Fate Order!"

the Celestial Fate Daoist said.

He pointed his finger, and a ray of white light flew into Jiang Chen’s Celestial Fate Order.

The golden Celestial Fate Order erupted with a blinding golden light.

BUZZ—

A ball of golden light erupted from the Celestial Fate Order, shooting out and sinking into the Coiling Dragon Jade Pillar that displayed the Hundred Kings List.

RUMBLE!

The Hundred Kings List’s Coiling Dragon Jade Pillar began to vibrate violently.

Golden points of light appeared and condensed into two words: Jiang Chen. After his name was a string of numbers: 211,972,510.

His name began to climb up the Hundred Kings List.

100th place.

90th place!

80th place...

It kept rising until it finally stopped at 9th place.

Hundred Kings List—9th Place: Jiang Chen, Saint Martial Dynasty. Points: 211,972,510!

"Wow, Master, you made it into the top ten of the Hundred Kings List!" Sima Qingling exclaimed excitedly.

Xing Haisheng’s eyes widened as well. He stared at the string of numbers after Jiang Chen’s name and swallowed hard. "H-Holy... Over two hundred million points? How long has it even been? He actually got over two hundred million points... Is robbing people of their Cyan Radiance Stones really that easy?"

A smile appeared on Jiang Chen’s face as well.

However...

His gaze traveled up the Hundred Kings List to the few people ranked above him.

Hundred Kings List—8th Place: Wui Kang, Divine Wind Dynasty. Points: 230,151,154.

7th Place: Yuwen Tiandu, Saint Martial Dynasty. Points: 242,143,256.

...

Hundred Kings List—1st Place: Di Tian, Saint Martial Dynasty. Points: 514,563,585.

Jiang Chen sucked in a sharp breath. ’As expected of the Holy Dragon Knight, Di Tian. He managed to get over five hundred million points in such a short time. If the competition for the Hundred Kings List is already this fierce, I can’t imagine how terrifying the experts on the Venerable List are.’

He glanced over at the Coiling Dragon Jade Pillar for the Venerable List.

Unfortunately...

Unfortunately, since no one from the Sixteenth State had ever made it onto the Venerable List, the rankings weren’t displayed here.

Jiang Chen turned to the Celestial Fate Daoist. "Senior, this junior would like to know who is currently first on the Venerable List."

"First on the Venerable List?" The Celestial Fate Daoist paused for a moment, then said, "He’s from the First State. Oh, and he’s also from your Saint Martial Dynasty. A remarkable young man named Lan Haichen. His current point total is over 1.3 billion!"

HISS...

Sima Qingling and Xing Haisheng both sucked in a sharp breath.

1.3 billion!

’Even if you combined the points of all the experts in the entire Sixteenth State, you probably wouldn’t reach that number!’

Jiang Chen clenched his fists, his eyes burning with a fiery battle intent as he stared at the Venerable List’s pillar. ’Lan Haichen, number one on the Venerable List? Just you wait. I will definitely surpass you!’

"Young man, would you like to exchange for any treasures?" the Celestial Fate Daoist asked.

Jiang Chen nodded and said, "Senior, I’d like to exchange for one Spirit Nurturing Divine Fruit, five Mixed Element Golden Pills, the Celestial-Tier Low-Level Martial Skill ’Celestial Flame Sun-Devouring Slash,’ a Nine-leaf Profound Nether Grass, a Starry Flower, and World Grinding Powder!"

These were all items Jiang Chen had decided on his way here.

The Spirit Nurturing Divine Fruit could significantly boost his Divine Thought Power.

The Mixed Element Golden Pill was a Top-grade Spirit Pill for Heavenly Destiny Realm cultivation, allowing experts at that level to rapidly increase their strength.

As his own strength grew, his current Martial Skills were gradually becoming insufficient. The ’Celestial Flame Sun-Devouring Slash’ would be a good upgrade.

As for the Nine-leaf Profound Nether Grass and the other items, they were materials for refining the Third-Revolution Tyrant Essence Pill.

However...

Refining the Third-Revolution Tyrant Essence Pill required many more materials, and he didn’t have enough points. He could only exchange for a few of them for now.

The Celestial Fate Daoist nodded. "The Spirit Nurturing Divine Fruit and the Mixed Element Golden Pills total one hundred million points. The ’Celestial Flame Sun-Devouring Slash,’ Nine-leaf Profound Nether Grass, Starry Flower, and World Grinding Powder come to a total of eighty million points. You still have over forty million points left. Would you like to look at anything else?"

"Senior, is there anything else you might recommend for this junior?" Jiang Chen asked after a moment’s thought, deciding it was worth a shot.

The Celestial Fate Daoist was taken aback, not expecting Jiang Chen to ask for his opinion. A wise glint appeared in his eyes as he said, "If you’re asking for my recommendation, you could exchange for a scroll of the ’Five Thunder Secret Technique’!"

"The ’Five Thunder Secret Technique’? Doesn’t that cost one billion points?" Jiang Chen asked, confused.

The Celestial Fate Daoist laughed. "That’s for the complete ’Five Thunder Secret Technique.’ It’s composed of ten scrolls in total. The first scroll is the cheapest, costing only forty million points." After a pause, he continued, "I saw that you exchanged for the Spirit Nurturing Divine Fruit, which means you must be a Divine Thought Master. This ’Five Thunder Secret Technique’ is a Martial Skill exclusive to Divine Thought Masters. It’s perfectly suited for you!"

A thrill of excitement shot through Jiang Chen’s heart.

’A Martial Skill exclusive to Divine Thought Masters!’

’Right now, my only method of controlling my Divine Thought Power is the simple Divine Thought Blade, but its limitations are too great.’

’This ’Five Thunder Secret Technique’ is an offensive Martial Skill exclusive to Divine Thought Masters.’

’Just as the Celestial Fate Daoist said, it’s truly a perfect fit for me!’

Jiang Chen nodded. "Alright, I’ll exchange for the first scroll of the ’Five Thunder Secret Technique’!"

"Here are the items you exchanged for. Keep them safe!" The Celestial Fate Daoist sent a Storage Ring flying into Jiang Chen’s hand. He smiled. "Young man, perform well. Strive to go even further!"

"Thank you, Senior!"

Jiang Chen clasped his hands in a respectful gesture toward him.

The Celestial Fate Daoist nodded, and his figure faded into nothingness.

Jiang Chen then turned to Xing Haisheng and Sima Qingling. He took out two Mixed Element Golden Pills and gave one to each of them, saying in a serious voice, "Brother Xing, Qingling, take these two Mixed Element Golden Pills."

"Thank you, Master!" Sima Qingling chirped happily.

Xing Haisheng’s eyes burned with desire, but he hesitated. "Brother Jiang, I can’t accept a reward I haven’t earned..."

Jiang Chen smiled. "Take it first and hear me out... Just relying on mining and digging for Cyan Radiance Stones is definitely the least efficient method. What I mean is, we should go big or go home. Don’t forget, there are nearly a hundred thousand experts from the Ten Great Dynasties in the Sixteenth State. Excluding our Han Dynasty, that’s still seventy or eighty thousand experts from the other nine dynasties. If we rob them all, forget about the Hundred Kings List—we might even have a shot at the Venerable List!"

"Hiss... Rob them all?" Xing Haisheng swallowed hard, terrified by Jiang Chen’s idea.

Jiang Chen nodded.

Xing Haisheng hesitated again and again. He looked at the Mixed Element Golden Pill, then at Jiang Chen’s two hundred million-plus points, and steeled his resolve. "Alright, I’m in. However, the strength of our two groups is far from enough. I think we should bring in Shaoyang Yu and Xu Canghai. I’m on very good terms with both of them. If we have the assistance of their two dynasties, our chances of success will be much higher!"

"Deal!"

Jiang Chen took out two more Mixed Element Golden Pills. "Give these two pills to them. I believe it’ll be some time before Dugu Xue and the others return. We’ll use this time to break through and increase our strength, then wait for them right here in Celestial Relief City. We’ll be waiting to pounce!"

"No problem, I’ll go find Xu Canghai and Shaoyang Yu right now!" Xing Haisheng said, his face alight with excitement.

After Xing Haisheng left, Jiang Chen and Sima Qingling found a secluded spot in Celestial Relief City and entered closed-door cultivation.

’My gains this time have been substantial. The day I emerge from my cultivation will be the day I sweep through the entire Sixteenth State!’