Chapter 252: The Heaven-Stealing Thief's Reminder

At that moment, Jin Hai had countless curses he wanted to spew.

If he could just transmit everything he had just heard back to his main body, he would have accepted his fate. Losing a mere wisp of divine sense was a loss he could afford.

But the problem was, he couldn't send it back!

The most crucial medium, the Void Joy Non-Dual Guardian Consort Talisman, had been locked down by Wang Ping. Naturally, he could no longer use the talisman to contact his main body.

What was he supposed to do?

If he offered to switch sides and declare his love for the Immortal Gate right now, could he buy himself a way out? A large bead of sweat slowly rolled down Jin Hai's forehead.

However, he quickly abandoned the thought. Even if he were willing to surrender, he likely wouldn't be accepted. The Brahma Nation's control over its lower-tier cultivators far exceeded that of the Immortal Gate. While many immortal gate cultivators had defected to the Brahma Nation over the years, the number of Brahma Nation cultivators who had successfully fled to the Immortal Gate could be counted on one hand.

Realizing this, Jin Hai managed a smile that looked worse than crying.

"So... can we call a truce?"

Before the words even left his mouth, Wang Ping drew his blade. Dazzling firelight blinded Jin Hai's divine sense, and at the exact same moment, Kunlun's Heavenly Craft Creation Hammer swung down right over his head.

Almost simultaneously, Xianfu spoke in a slow, measured tone:

"By imperial decree, the subordinate minister shall execute the thief and quell the rebellion!"

As he spoke, two majestic beams of light fell upon Wang Ping and Kunlun, elevating their Divine Powers and amplifying their magic, pushing their attacks to an entirely new level.

Seeing this, Jin Hai immediately tried to resist.

'...What was I about to do?'

In the distance, the Heaven-Stealing Thief calmly withdrew his hand. Stripped of his will to fight back, Jin Hai stood blankly in place, completely at a loss.

"Boom!"

Offering no resistance, Jin Hai's divine sense shattered with a resounding crash, instantly crumbling into a scatter of broken beads. At the same time, a golden crystal dropped from the remains.

"Mine..." Kunlun immediately reached out for it.

"Object-Stealing Thief!"

The golden crystal vanished instantly, only to be plucked out of thin air by Wang Ping. Kunlun's eye twitched at the sight, but he had no choice but to give up in frustration.

The entire sequence flowed like water. Xianfu, the Heaven-Stealing Thief, Kunlun, and Wang Ping—any one of these four could have destroyed Jin Hai's divine sense in a one-on-one fight. Yet they had all tacitly chosen to gang up on him. This overwhelming combined assault was why Jin Hai died instantly, leaving him no time to even destroy the treasures he carried.

'This is... a divine sense crystal!'

Wang Ping was thoroughly satisfied.

A divine sense crystal, as the name implied, was a condensed fragment of divine sense. Once refined, it could be used to replenish damaged divine sense, making it a rather precious material.

'This crystal is perfect for unlocking another scripture scroll in the Taiping Sutra.'

Up until now, he hadn't found a suitable material to unlock the seventh scripture scroll. Everything he encountered was either too low in quality to work, or so high that using it felt like a waste.

This, however, was just right. As a material, the divine sense crystal sat perfectly in the middle tier of Earth-Vein Spiritual Extracts—neither too exceptional nor too weak. By using it to unlock the seventh scripture scroll, the future quantity of scrolls wouldn't be overly restricted by the baseline material quality, allowing him to unlock as many as possible going forward.

As for the corpse needed for the system settlement...

'The Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle is about to begin. When the time comes, let alone Divine Powers cultivators, finding the corpses of Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivators won't be impossible.'

By now, Wang Ping's standards had grown quite high.

After all, the scripture scrolls couldn't be unlocked infinitely. Every single addition required careful calculation. He was already starting to look down on the scrolls yielded from mere Divine Powers cultivators.

'It's a pity Kunyun died without leaving an intact corpse. Otherwise, if I could have settled his body back then, I definitely would have unlocked an extremely high-quality scripture scroll.'

Tucking the divine sense crystal away, Wang Ping looked toward Xianfu.

Speaking of which, this third true transmission disciple was also undergoing his life tribulation within the Eight Trigrams Furnace, wasn't he? If so, Wang Ping wondered if there would be a chance to harvest his corpse later...

"Can we talk now?"

The Heaven-Stealing Thief smiled.

"The details of our cooperation... For example, Junior Brother Xianfu, I've been very curious about how you plan to return the Profound Firmament Governance-Bestowing Talisman-Wielding Qi to the world's natural sequence."

"You don't need to trouble yourself over that, Senior Brother Gan."

Xianfu shook his head. "This was only to establish a foundation for our cooperation and confirm that we both share the same intent. As for how we'll actually work together, that remains to be discussed."

"Right, Junior Brother Dousheng."

Xianfu suddenly turned to Wang Ping and brought out an Imperial Edict. Wang Ping looked down at it, only to see that the title written on it was actually a royal rank.

State-Protecting Peer Prince.

"Your master personally instructed me to bestow this title upon that Martial Dao First Seat inside the furnace. As for whether you actually give it to her, Junior Brother, you can decide that for yourself."

Xianfu's tone was remarkably casual. "The great cultivators have their plans, and I have mine. The one undergoing this life tribulation is ultimately me, not them. And it's the same for you, Junior Brother... Although the great cultivators are the ones laying out the chessboard, they can only guide and coax; they cannot force our hands."

"In the end, the only ones who can decide our destiny are ourselves."

With that said, he looked toward the Heaven-Stealing Thief again.

Xianfu took out a radiant golden plaque and casually tossed it over. "This is for you, Senior Brother Gan. Consider it a convenience."

"Oh?"

The Heaven-Stealing Thief glanced at it and immediately laughed. "A Golden Immunity Plaque. Whose crimes can it pardon? Mine? Do you really think this thing is of any use to me?"

Xianfu replied calmly, "While it might not pardon your crimes, it still has its uses. At the very least, you can rely on it to freely enter and exit the Immortal Gate during the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle."

"Who'd believe that?" the Heaven-Stealing Thief scoffed.

"Because it was personally written by my family's True Monarch. But if you don't want it, Senior Brother Gan..."

"Then I'll gladly accept it."

Without the slightest hesitation, the Heaven-Stealing Thief decisively tucked the golden plaque away. His figure rapidly blurred, but right before he vanished, he suddenly turned back to look at Wang Ping.

A second later, a voice rang in Wang Ping's ear:

"Good apprentice, your situation is growing more difficult by the day. Let your master give you a hint: the True Person standing behind that great cultivator is none other than Daoist Master Hanguang Danyang!"

...........

Brahma Nation, the Eight Treasure Table, the Heavenly Demon Royal Court.

Following the destruction of his divine sense, Jin Hai abruptly opened his eyes. He felt a slight ache between his brows, but no matter how he probed with his mind, no images were transmitted back.

"What exactly is the Immortal Gate trying to do?"

Jin Hai frowned deeply. In the final image sent back by that wisp of divine sense, he had only seen a few faint silhouettes. He couldn't make them out clearly, but their auras were each more massive than the last.

"Could it be... that the Immortal Gate sent more than one Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivator to participate in the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle this time? Are they that serious? Aren't they worried about diluting the opportunity?"

Ultimately, the so-called Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle was actually a structured opportunity jointly orchestrated by the Immortal Gate and the Brahma Nation, specifically tailored for the true transmission disciples of both sides. For the Immortal Gate, this served as their life tribulation; if they won, they could advance to become Qi Refining practitioners. For the Brahma Sect, it represented an immensely important source of merit.

It provided bonus evaluation points for the Buddhist examination.

Therefore, in previous Immortal-Brahma Sword Battles, the Immortal Gate had only ever sent a single Tribulation Transcending Third Layer true transmission disciple to oversee their side. This was the only way to maximize the benefits gained from the battle.

If they sent too many Tribulation Transcending Third Layer experts and made the outcome a foregone conclusion, the life tribulation would become far too easy to pass. Ironically, this would lower their odds of successfully breaking through to Qi Refining.

Because of this, Jin Hai had always assumed his opponent would be a single Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivator from the Immortal Gate. Beyond that, the battle would simply be a matter of pitting their respective subordinates against each other. He had even prepared a hidden trump card for this very scenario, giving him absolute confidence. However, looking at it now... it seemed the situation wasn't quite what he had anticipated.

"This won't do. I have to report to my master!"

Jin Hai abruptly stood up. He linked his mind to the Great Brahma Heaven, causing the scene before his eyes to rapidly shift until he arrived inside an ancient Buddhist temple.

Within the temple stood a towering golden statue.

The moment Jin Hai walked into the sanctuary, a pungent stench of rot assaulted his nose. Yet his expression didn't change at all; instead, he took a deep, thoroughly enjoyable breath.

After all, this was entirely the result of his master, Great Monk Yishi, painstakingly defecating it out. Every wisp of this aura carried immense benefits for the believers of the Great Golden Wheel Wisdom King, allowing them to better comprehend the Wisdom King's true intent. Even as an esteemed true transmission disciple, Jin Hai was only permitted to receive one lump a month...

"Amitabha."

The next second, the towering, solemn golden statue opened its eyes. A pair of radiant golden pupils looked toward Jin Hai, and a grand, majestic Buddhist voice resounded:

"What is it?"

"To seek me out so suddenly—could there be a problem with the Eight Treasure Table?"

Hearing this, Jin Hai hurriedly knelt on the floor and kowtowed. "To answer Master, it isn't the Eight Treasure Table. It seems a slight anomaly has occurred within the Immortal Gate's Eight Trigrams Furnace."

"This disciple suspects that the Immortal Gate has dispatched several Tribulation Transcending Third Layer true transmission disciples to participate in the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle this time. It appears they are making a major move."

"Oh?"

Great Monk Yishi pondered this for a moment, then shook his head. "If that is the case, submit a report first and wait for the sword battle department to review it."

"If the sword battle department hasn't concluded their review within sixty days, you may apply to a higher department for reconsideration. If that still fails, come back and file an appeal with me."

Jin Hai: "..."

By the time he went through the standard procedures, it would be far too late!

Left with no choice, he kowtowed once more. "Master, the sword battle concerns the prestige of both the Immortal Gate and the Brahma Nation. This disciple felt the matter was urgent enough to warrant special dispensation, which is why I sought you out directly."

In short, could they expedite the process?

Great Monk Yishi chuckled. "Granting special dispensation for an urgent matter isn't impossible. But my good apprentice, you came here empty-handed. That makes it very difficult for your master to bend the rules for you."

This shit-eating bastard!

While cursing wildly in his heart, Jin Hai quickly flashed an ingratiating smile. He reached into his robes, pulled out three thick scripture books, and offered them up.

This was an unspoken rule of the Brahma Nation. Material offerings never involved actual wealth or valuables—that was considered far too vulgar. If one genuinely tried to use spiritual materials for a bribe, they would be flatly rejected. After all, doing so left an obvious paper trail and undermined the illusion of the Brahma Nation's pure, worldly-detached cultivation environment.

Compared to that, exchanging scripture books was far more elegant.

Furthermore, the contents of these books were entirely orthodox texts dedicated to the Four Great Wisdom Kings. Even if they were investigated, one could simply claim to be collecting them out of profound reverence.

Of course, if one actually needed spiritual materials or other cultivation resources...

...they simply had to take the scripture books to certain secretive, high-level ancient temples that operated exclusively within inner circles, and exchange them for goods there. Outwardly, the temple would declare the resulting resources to be anonymous donations from devout believers.

From start to finish, no overt financial transactions were involved.

Everyone's hands remained perfectly clean.

"Mm, not bad."

Great Monk Yishi stowed the scripture books away, finally revealing a satisfied smile. "Good. You may step down. I will have a reply for you within three days."

"Many thanks, Master!"

Only then did Jin Hai back out of the sanctuary, expressing his endless gratitude.