Fellow Daoist, please stay—this item is fated with me.

"Hahaha... I really didn’t check the celestial omens before leaving home today. Never thought I’d run into such a fool..."

"Fellow Daoist, think carefully before you speak," Gu Qingfeng interrupted with a faint smile.

The man’s laughter abruptly ceased, his grin freezing on his face as his eyes locked onto the Heavenly Thunder Pearl in Gu Qingfeng’s hand.

At night, the Heavenly Thunder Pearl shimmered with dazzling brilliance, its azure lightning writhing like tiny serpents within the orb.

"Heavenly Thunder Pearl!" The man’s expression twisted in horror as he gasped.

"Fellow Daoist has sharp eyes. With this, do you think I might—"

The man wielding the blood-red sword was clearly battle-hardened. Without waiting for Gu Qingfeng to finish, he lunged forward, thrusting his blade fiercely at him—clearly aiming to prevent him from activating the pearl.

The Heavenly Thunder Pearl worked much like a grenade—it required a trigger to arm it before use, a safety measure to avoid accidental detonation.

The swordsman sought to strike first.

Yet, faced with this strike from an early-stage Earth Yuan Realm cultivator, Gu Qingfeng remained unperturbed, not even bothering to dodge.

Clang!

A translucent barrier erupted from his body, deflecting the blood-red sword.

The man’s face paled as he instantly retreated. "A top-grade defensive divine artifact! Just who are you?!"

Gu Qingfeng smiled faintly. "I am merely a man who cherishes peace."

His top-grade defensive artifact, naturally, had been acquired from that well-endowed young woman.

This treasure was called the Profound Spirit Pearl. By channeling energy into it, one could activate a protective barrier—convenient to use and remarkably sturdy.

Realizing he couldn’t overpower Gu Qingfeng quickly, the swordsman made a snap decision and bolted, desperate to escape the blast radius of the Heavenly Thunder Pearl.

The other man, who had wielded the Silver Serpent Shears, did the same. Both fled in panic.

Yet, before they could get far, they found their path blocked by an array formation.

Gu Qingfeng leisurely approached them, still smiling. "While you two were fighting earlier, I took the liberty of setting up this formation. I didn’t want to disturb you and risk breaking your focus.

"Given your strength, it would take at least an incense stick’s worth of time to break through this array. As for me? Activating the Heavenly Thunder Pearl takes less than a single breath. So... I hope you two Fellow Daoists won’t be so unwise as to refuse my generosity."

The two men’s faces twisted as if they’d just swallowed something vile.

Moments later, two stark-naked men sprinted frantically into the night, vanishing into the darkness.

Gu Qingfeng watched their retreating figures with a sigh. "Another crime prevented. Truly, my virtue knows no bounds."

He then began tallying his spoils.

+1 Divine Sword (Blood-Red Longsword)

Several spirit weapons, pills, and spirit stones.

Total value: Fifty million spirit stones.

"Not bad, not bad. Good deeds bring good rewards—the ancients spoke true."

Before long, a faint streak of light shot past from the south. The figure seemed to have just emerged from the black market, doing his utmost to conceal himself in the shadows as he fled.

But nothing escaped Gu Qingfeng’s keen perception.

His eyes gleamed with interest—the man was flying on a sword, and the blade beneath his feet was unmistakably a low-grade divine artifact.

"Skulking about like that? Clearly up to no good. Time for this venerable one to investigate... and confiscate his tools of mischief."

Gu Qingfeng stowed away his array formation tools, then activated a series of techniques—Size Manipulation, Invisibility, Breath Concealment, Disguise, and Sound Suppression—before slinking after his target like a shadow.

Once he drew close enough to confirm the man was merely a peak Human Yuan Realm cultivator, he dropped his stealth and reappeared.

"Fellow Daoist, halt! That flying sword beneath your feet has a connection to me. I trust you won’t be so unwise as to refuse."

An incense stick’s time later, Gu Qingfeng held another gleaming divine sword in his hand.

"Kekeke... At this rate, just a few more days, and I’ll have all thirty-six divine swords!"

......

Five days later, in the black market of Ghost Mother Mountain...

Several Heaven Yuan Realm cultivators gathered together.

"What’s going on? Why has business been so terrible these past few days?"

"I’ve been wondering the same. I just walked around the market—there are less than half as many people as before."

"Something’s definitely amiss. I’ll go investigate."

After some time, the investigator returned with a grim expression.

"I’ve figured it out. Somewhere along the way, a Soul Formation Realm cultivator wielding a Heavenly Thunder Pearl appeared. He stops anyone he sees with a ‘Fellow Daoist, halt!’ and claims any treasure he fancies has a ‘connection’ to him.

"In just a few days, over a dozen groups of cultivators have been stripped clean—some even had their robes taken, leaving them stark naked.

"Now, everyone’s terrified. No one dares come here anymore. Some even refuse to call each other ‘Fellow Daoist,’ claiming they’ve developed a phobia of the term."

"With such low cultivation, how is he running rampant like this? Has no one stopped him?"

"No one can stop him. Despite his weak cultivation, he seems to excel in stealth and evasion. He appears and vanishes without a trace.

"Yesterday, the victims formed an alliance to bait and ambush him. But the moment things looked bad, he disappeared into thin air—likely using some form of spatial teleportation."

"Are we just supposed to let this scoundrel run wild? How are we supposed to keep the market running?" someone growled.

"What else can we do? He has a Heavenly Thunder Pearl. You want to provoke him?"

"He can’t have more than one Heavenly Thunder Pearl. With so many of us, are we really afraid of a single pearl?"

"If you’re not afraid, you go deal with him."

The man fell silent.

This was reality.

What was reality?

Reality was this: A man holding a gun with a single bullet could make dozens obey.

Even if those dozens knew he only had one bullet, the question remained—who would be the first to step forward and die? No one was willing to sacrifice themselves for others, hoping instead that someone else would take the fall.

......

On this day, several extraordinary figures arrived at Ghost Mother Mountain.

Dressed in pristine white robes, each bore a radiant divine sword at their waist.

There were four in total—two men and two women. The leader was a handsome young man in his mid-twenties, his demeanor gentle yet his presence overwhelming. His eyes gleamed with an almost divine light, and his aura was unmistakably that of a Heaven Yuan Realm expert.

He rode atop a mythical beast resembling a lion-tiger hybrid, its golden scales shimmering as if bathed in divine flames. Two thick, branching horns adorned its head, crackling intermittently with golden lightning.

The others, though less striking, were equally extraordinary, each mounted atop majestic beasts.

Their noble bearing marked them as figures of significant background.

At this moment, the leading scholar turned to a beautiful young woman beside him and asked, "Junior Sister Wen, this is Ghost Mother Mountain. Is this where that man who robbed you has been lurking?"

The young maiden referred to as Junior Sister Wen gnashed her silver teeth in fury and declared, "He must be in this area. Heavenly Thunder Pearls are exceedingly rare, and recently, the Ghost Mother Mountain sect has been repeatedly robbed by a bandit wielding one. It must be that scoundrel—no mistake about it!"

At that moment, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen from their group suddenly spoke up, "This thief has truly got some nerve, daring to steal from the Sword Gate! He must have a death wish. Today, we'll make him witness the might of the Imperial Court's immortal sect!"