Sorry, I Was Wrong

The Young Girl suddenly expanded all her senses, frantically searching within a radius of dozens of miles, trying to locate Gu Qingfeng's figure.

However, with the innate divine physique's ability to shrink or enlarge at will, coupled with concealed aura and invisibility spells, how could she possibly see through it?

The innate divine physique was a constitution obtained only after the explosion of a Minor Thousand World's heavenly laws—its level was unimaginably high.

Even though Gu Qingfeng's current cultivation was low, it was still absolutely undetectable by a cultivator at the Divine Core Realm.

Thus, Gu Qingfeng remained completely unruffled. During his escape, he even had the leisure to turn back and admire the Young Maiden's furious expression.

Honestly, the sight of her stomping her feet in rage was rather adorable.

Hmm, once the Little Corpse Charm finishes her seclusion, there’ll be another transformation reference to draw from.

But just as he was enjoying the view, the Young Maiden, seeing her search yield no results, suddenly began forming hand seals, chanting incantations, and divining the heavenly secrets.

Gu Qingfeng’s heart sank. He never expected her to know the art of celestial divination.

Are disciples from major sects in the Cangming Realm all so multi-talented?

Divination was essentially fortune-telling—utterly unreasonable!

Those proficient in it could even catch glimpses of the hazy future.

Of course, this Young Maiden certainly didn’t possess such skill, and without any prior information about him, she couldn’t possibly deduce his existence out of thin air.

But the problem was, unless she was a fool, she would definitely divine the location of his Qiankun Ring!

The nature of celestial divination was such that the closer the event in time and the more information available, the more accurate the result.

Time? It had only been two seconds.

Information? There was no one in the world more familiar with her own Qiankun Ring than her, given how closely she carried it.

Sure enough, moments later, the Young Maiden shouted in the direction of Gu Qingfeng’s escape, "Stop right there, you thief!"

Damn it!

Seeing that he’d been exposed, Gu Qingfeng abandoned concealment, revealing his form and channeling all his energy into fleeing.

The Young Maiden’s eyes blazed with fury as she spotted the thief’s figure. Transforming into a streak of light, she gave chase.

She clearly excelled in some kind of movement technique, and with her peak Human Yuan Realm cultivation, her speed surged relentlessly, gradually closing the gap between them.

Gu Qingfeng watched her approach and knew it was only a matter of time before she caught up.

At the same time, he mused inwardly—seemed like it was high time he mastered the Nine Heavens Dragon Step. Without a proper movement technique, he was at a clear disadvantage.

Abruptly, Gu Qingfeng halted, turning around to face the furious Young Maiden with calm composure.

He wasn’t worried about her seeing his true appearance—he was still cloaked in black.

The Young Maiden, about to strike, suddenly stiffened upon seeing him and stopped as well.

The two stood facing each other from a distance.

The Young Maiden seemed frozen, silent.

So, Gu Qingfeng spoke first, his tone dripping with pity and admonishment—like an elder addressing a misguided but well-meaning youth.

"Young Maiden, though you’re young, you’re still a cultivator. You should understand reason and know that the world needs peace. We’re both of the human race—shouldn’t our kin strive for harmony? Don’t you agree?"

The Young Maiden nodded with visible difficulty.

Gu Qingfeng was deeply satisfied.

"Good children like you, who grasp reason so well, are rare. You’re a fine girl with a bright future ahead. Think of yourself and your family—suffering a small loss is nothing, but throwing your life away isn’t worth it. You have a long road ahead.

Be good now. Apologize, admit you were wrong, and go home."

After a stiff pause, the Young Maiden slowly spoke.

"I... I’m sorry. I was wrong."

"Good girl. Go on, return home."

The Young Maiden took a deep breath, turned, and left.

Gu Qingfeng admired her attitude of correcting mistakes—a truly commendable trait. Watching her retreating figure, he quietly stowed away the [Heavenly Thunder Pearl] in his hand.

With a sigh, he remarked, "As expected of a disciple from a major sect—so reasonable."

......

Far away now, the Young Maiden was on the verge of tears from sheer frustration.

What kind of absurdity was this?!

He was the one who stole from her, yet she had to apologize to him!

As a prodigy cherished by her sect since childhood, when had she ever endured such humiliation?

Yet, beneath her indignation, confusion gnawed at her.

How had he so effortlessly erased her spiritual mark on the Qiankun Ring and taken out the Heavenly Thunder Pearl?

A claimed Qiankun Ring bore its owner’s imprint—without removing it, no one else could open it. Yet that thief had done so with terrifying ease. Why?

Such a thing only happened when the difference in cultivation was overwhelming.

But he didn’t seem strong at all—after all, he couldn’t even outrun her.

Could he be some old monster concealing his power, toying with her for amusement?

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Her sect had similar eccentric seniors who delighted in teasing juniors.

"Just you wait—I’ll report this to my master and the elders!"

Fuming, she quickened her pace, ready to tattle to her elders.

In truth, Gu Qingfeng hadn’t erased the Qiankun Ring’s mark through cultivation—but through the Heavenly Dao!

He had first stored the ring in his Palm World, then used the Heavenly Dao’s power to effortlessly wipe the imprint clean.

The only downside was that this method only worked within the Palm World. At his current level, wielding the Heavenly Dao’s power in the outside world was impossible.

In simpler terms—he was a mouse brandishing a gun: fierce in his own hole, useless outside it.

......

Linyuan City.

After renting a cave dwelling, Gu Qingfeng settled in temporarily.

His priority now was to condense his Divine Core and break through to the next realm.

As for why he hadn’t stayed in Sunset City—wasn’t it obvious?

He’d just robbed someone who was likely a major sect’s disciple. If he didn’t flee immediately, he might as well wait for Qingming Festival to sweep his own grave!

So he’d traveled overnight for thousands of miles, arriving at another human city—Linyuan City.

As for the Young Maiden’s Qiankun Ring, he had thoroughly obliterated it.

Inside the cave dwelling...

Gu Qingfeng began tallying his spoils.

"As expected of a major sect’s disciple—a proper little heiress! Even after splurging at the auction, she still had over ten million taels left, plus all these pills and treasures. I’ve struck gold! Heh heh heh..."