Chapter 39: Jumping into the Net

  "Yes!" The disciples responded in unison, most of them with excited and expectant expressions.

  Along the way, they watched as Master Purple Cloud collected several treasures. If they could find some for themselves, even with only a 10% reward, it would still be a substantial amount of spirit stones that would allow them to purchase the medicinal pills, magical tools, or talismans they had been eyeing for a long time.

  "Take care, Master Zhao!"

  "Be careful, little brother."

  The disciples dispersed in all directions among the mountains, bidding each other farewell.

  The young man with the surname Na Mo also politely bid farewell to everyone, and when he walked to Li Muran's side, he patted Li Muran's shoulder in a friendly manner and said: "Zhao Shidi, good luck to you, take care!"

  Li Muran's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm and expressionless. He only smiled faintly and said, "Take care, Master Mo!"

  Zi Xia Dao Ren also saw this scene, he slightly furrowed his brow, and asked Li Mu Ran with a hint of curiosity: "How is it that you two are very familiar?"

  "Disciple once temporarily took care of the book pavilion, and later it was Master Mo who replaced Disciple." Li Muran replied.

  "Really!" Zi Xia nodded and said: "Go, be more careful!"

  Li Muran, Mo surname youth, and Qingfengzi and others quickly dispersed in various places among the mountains, entering deep into the dark underground tomb city.

  Treasure hunting is, of course, more efficient when done separately. No one wants to travel with others and then have to share the treasure they find. Each person goes their own way, each looking for their own opportunities.

  Li Muran filled the night pearl with yuan energy and hung it in front of him, illuminating a hundred or so feet ahead. Further away was just a dark expanse that was hard to make out.

  Li Muran walked out for a while, seeing that there was no one around, suddenly put away the Night Pearl and activated a layer of magical power to envelop his entire body. In an instant, he disappeared into the darkness.

  At this time, even if there was light shining in, it would be hard to see Li Muran's figure. He had already cast the Night Concealment Technique and was slowly moving.

  "As expected, I can use Stealth at night!"

  Li Muran's heart was filled with joy, he broke the Night Concealment Technique and took out the Night Pearl, at the same time trying out the Moon Erosion Technique. After burning a small amount of spiritual power to turn into a hot flow that surged throughout his body, his movements suddenly became much quicker, like a black shadow darting through the mountains.

  "The environment here is indeed no different from the night, not only is the divine light changing and the magical power flowing smoothly, but also the two spells that can only be cast at night can be used, and it seems to have an exceptionally good effect!"

  Li Muran put away his technique and muttered to himself with joy.

  He suddenly took off his Taoist robe, looked at the little dust on it, and hummed coldly in his nose: "Since you have no good intentions three times, then let's follow the plan! Let's see whose trick is more clever, or whether the tactics recorded in 'Theft Scripture' are higher!"

  "Who would have thought that the 'Thieving Scripture' I read so diligently back then would actually come in handy now!" Li Muran recalled the contents of the scripture, and in an instant, dozens of methods floated to mind. Among them, there were seven or eight that were suitable for the current environment and could be set up quickly. Any one of these methods was enough to send his opponent to their death!

  ……

  After several hours of searching for treasure separately, a black figure was running quickly through the mountains.

  Unlike other disciples who filled their night pearls with yuan energy to illuminate as far as possible, this person's night pearl only emitted a weak light, barely illuminating the area several meters in front of them.

  After running a certain distance, the dark shadow will take out a round white jade plate. On the jade plate is a slender silver needle. The silver needle rotates on the jade plate and finally points to a certain place.

  The dark shadow continued to rush in the direction indicated by the silver needle.

  After passing two small hills, a faint fluorescent light spot suddenly appeared on the jade plate. The black shadow was overjoyed and slowed down its speed, slowly approaching in the direction indicated by the light spot.

  Before long, the dark shadow saw a light in the distance that was moving slowly - apparently, it was a disciple using a night pearl to illuminate his way while searching for treasure.

  Heiying hastily put his own night pearl into his storage bag, so that not a single ray of light would shine out.

  A dark shadow crept slowly through the pitch-black valley, step by step approaching the distant light.

  The distant light suddenly stopped moving, and the beam of light slowly turned around, shining in all directions, apparently that disciple was turning around to look around.

  The dark shadow hastily crawled on the ground and hid among the rocks, avoiding being illuminated by that light.

  The bright light swept around in two circles and then stopped moving and didn't move anymore.

  The dark shadow took the opportunity to continue moving slowly closer, and soon after, with the help of the bright light emitted by the other party, the dark shadow had vaguely made out the position of the other party.

  The disciple was sitting cross-legged, with the Night Pearl placed beside him, and his back happened to be facing the dark shadow.

  "Haha, just in time to catch you off guard while you're recovering your energy, this is truly heaven helping me!" The black shadow was overjoyed in his heart, but his body movements became even more subtle, almost inching along slowly, gradually approaching the disciple beside Ye Mingzhu.

  Twenty jins, fifteen jins, ten jins!

  At this time, the dark shadow was almost ready to launch an attack, but it was still a little far away. If the opponent was quick-witted and reacted in time, they might be able to take out their magic tool or talisman and block the incoming blow!

  "It's not like the meditation will end anytime soon, I have plenty of time, I'll get a bit closer!" The dark figure held its breath and cautiously continued to move forward, while also quietly loading three poisonous arrow launchers in hand, ready to launch a surprise attack at any moment.

  Nine zhang, eight zhang, seven zhang! Every time he gets closer by one zhang, the black shadow's heart is filled with a burst of wild joy. The closer the distance, the greater his chances of success!

  "When I get within five zhang of you, you're dead for sure!" The black shadow gazed at the back of that disciple, his heart filled with inexplicable excitement.

  Suddenly, a soft "ding" sound came from beside him, followed by a sweet fragrance that rushed towards his face. The black shadow suddenly felt his whole body go limp, as if he had lost all his strength!

  He held his breath and didn't inhale the fragrance, but it still clung to his body on its own and seeped into his skin!

  "What's going on!" The dark figure was shocked, and could no longer care about hiding its actions. It immediately mobilized its magic to cast a layer of Stone Armor Technique to isolate the fragrance, but suddenly found that its own magic had also solidified like golden soup, making it difficult to mobilize!

  At that moment, several kinds of toxic liquids sprayed out around him at the same time. Some were pungent and irritating to the nose, while others were as black as ink. The dark shadow suddenly felt his whole body stiffen like a wooden stick, unable to move. His eyes were also irritated by a stream of acidic mist, causing tears to flow continuously, forcing him to close his eyes.

  With this closing of his eyes, he would never have another chance to open them again!

  At the same time that several poisonous gases and liquids were sprayed out, the disciple who was originally sitting cross-legged with his back to this place suddenly turned around, stretched out a finger and shot out a stream of magical energy which entered a huge boulder about ten feet in front of him.

  A sudden burst of flames erupted from within the boulder, transforming into a myriad of light beams that exploded in mid-air, illuminating an area of several dozen meters. This was a fire-attribute array symbol, and under its influence, with the motionless black figure at its center, dozens of explosive flame symbols suddenly activated simultaneously, instantly producing a violent explosion of flames.

  Before the explosion's flames had dissipated, several cold glows flashed by, and seven or eight flying daggers shot towards this place from all directions, at an astonishing speed!

  However, these few flying knives all hit empty air. The original location had already been blasted into a mess of flying dust, without even half a person's shadow - only a damaged storage bag and the remaining part of the treasure that was left on the ground.

  All of this happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, that black figure was still gloating over his impending sneak attack, and the next, he had vanished into thin air without a sound, leaving not even a corpse behind!

  "This is your own demise!" The disciple of the black figure said coldly as he struck.

  This young man was Li Muran. The black figure he had just killed was the Mo youth who had repeatedly plotted against him on three occasions.

  Li Muran took off his Taoist robe, glanced at it, and then suddenly popped out a ball of flame to burn it to ashes, and put on a new one.

  "Hmph, to actually leave some iron powder on me and use it to track my whereabouts, this kind of trick is only considered low-level among the many tracking techniques mentioned in 'The Art of Thievery'!"

  At the beginning, when all the disciples were searching for treasures separately, a young man with the surname Mo had patted Li Muran's shoulder. This seemingly ordinary action made Li Muran pay extra attention - this kind of action is usually only done by extremely familiar fellow disciples, and this Mo brother was clearly not at that level with him yet.

  Later, Li Muran casually checked the Taoist robe and found the powder on it. He recognized that it was a kind of magnetic powder, which could be used to track targets with the help of the jade disk instrument. This was a common trick in theft repair. Li Muran, who was familiar with the "Thief's Scripture", naturally didn't take it seriously.

  He then set up a trap, laying out a net in the sky and on the ground, waiting for Mo Shixiong to fall into it. The several methods he had prepared almost all could instantly subdue Mo Shixiong and then kill him; however, to be extra cautious, Li Muran still simultaneously set up multiple methods, seeking to ensure that nothing went wrong.

  It's better to spend more effort and make careful arrangements, rather than leaving any hidden dangers! This is a principle that "Theft Scripture" has repeatedly emphasized. As a thief, one cannot have the slightest bit of complacency! Since Li Mu Ran has decided to take the initiative, he will not give his opponent any opportunities!

  As for whether to temporarily subdue Master Mo, leave him alive to interrogate the reason for dealing with himself, Li Muran had also thought about it, but he felt that this approach still had a bit of hidden danger. If Master Mo had special means to resolve it, it would be very troublesome. Directly killing him was the most secure move.

  Anyway, as long as he's dead, the reason doesn't matter that much!

  That young man with the surname Namo only regarded Li Muran as an ordinary disciple who had just entered the door for more than a year, and repeatedly made up his mind to hit him - but his approach was undoubtedly a self-inflicted death!

  "In order to ensure its destruction, more Flame Explosive Symbols were used than necessary, and his storage bag was also damaged in the process. It's likely that most of the treasures inside were destroyed as well. I wonder what's left?"

  Li Muran muttered to himself, he was about to go forward to pick up the treasure, when suddenly a strong light cut through the darkness from afar, shining directly at him.