72: Chapter 72 The Egg Thief

Yun Ming circulated the Fuli Heaven-Concealing Record, and his aura instantly vanished, blending into the night like a drop of water.

He approached the grey-robed man silently, his footsteps as light as if treading on clouds, his breathing suppressed to its shallowest level.

The man was completely unaware, staring at the courtyard gate and muttering to himself; though his voice was soft, Yun Ming heard him clearly.

"What a stroke of luck..." The man smacked his lips, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "This egg was indeed bought. Hehe, once I steal it back and sell it somewhere else, it'll be another windfall of Spirit Stones."

Yun Ming's brow twitched slightly.

He scrutinized the man—Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, with a slippery face and shifty eyes, looking just like a chicken-stealing weasel. From his words, it seemed he had sold that Red-Feathered Luan Egg more than once?

The man looked around again, confirming the alley was empty before creeping to the courtyard wall. He extended his Divine Sense to scan the entire courtyard—no fluctuations of Restrictions, no traces of Formations, completely empty.

"Tsk, what a pauper, can't even be bothered to install a warning Formation." He sneered, leaped up, and vaulted over the wall.

Yun Ming followed behind him unhurriedly.

Under the concealment of the Fuli Heaven-Concealing Record, the man couldn't sense even a trace of his presence. Yun Ming followed just three paces behind, watching him sneak toward the main room, push the door open, and head straight for the corner.

The man crouched down, and seeing the "little nest" made of Top-Grade Spirit Stones, his entire body froze.

"This... this is..."

His voice trembled, and his eyes widened like copper bells.

Top-Grade Spirit Stones.

Over a hundred Top-Grade Spirit Stones were piled into a small nest, each one lustrous and translucent, with Spiritual Qi so dense it almost overflowed. Atop the stones lay a layer of soft black mud—Living Soil, the legendary divine earth capable of nourishing all things.

Atop the Living Soil, the Red-Feathered Luan Egg lay quietly, its pale golden shell reflecting a warm glow from the Spirit Stones.

The man's breathing grew heavy.

He reached out, tremblingly stroking the Top-Grade Spirit Stones, then grabbed a handful of Living Soil, feeling the surging life force within. The value of these things far exceeded the Red-Feathered Luan Egg by thousands or tens of thousands of times.

"I'm rich... I'm rich..."

He muttered, the fire of greed in his eyes almost burning through. Red-Feathered Luan, Seals—everything was forgotten. He only thought of pocketing all these things and fleeing far away.

He reached out to grab the Spirit Stones—

A hand landed on his shoulder.

"My friend."

A calm voice sounded behind him, unhurried and even somewhat gentle.

"Breaking into a private residence—I have the right to strike you dead, you know?"

The man stiffened, as if frozen in place.

He slowly turned his head and saw a young face looking at him with a faint smile. That face was less than a foot away, his breath audible.

It was exactly the Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator he had been staking out for over half a month.

"You... when did you..."

The man's voice shook, his eyes full of disbelief. He had clearly scanned with his Divine Sense and confirmed no one was there—how could this person... how could he suddenly appear behind him?

Yun Ming didn't answer, simply watching him.

The man's gaze fell on Yun Ming's hand resting on his shoulder, and his pupils constricted.

In the next instant, he suddenly ducked, his hand grabbing for the pile of Top-Grade Spirit Stones like lightning—with a clatter, over a dozen stones were swept into his arms. Simultaneously, his other hand rose, and a spirit talisman flew out!

The talisman was entirely silver-white with flowing runes; the moment it left his hand, it erupted with a blinding light. A violent aura exploded, enveloping the man's body and instantly turning into a streak of light that crashed through the roof and vanished into the horizon.

Third-Rank Ten-Thousand-Mile Cloud-Chasing Talisman.

Yun Ming's outstretched hand froze in midair as he stared in the direction the light had vanished, stunned for a breath.

"...Damn."

He withdrew his hand and rubbed his temples.

"So professional?"

Robbing, grabbing Spirit Stones, throwing the talisman, and fleeing—all in one fluid motion without even half a breath's delay. Such professional proficiency couldn't be developed without ten or eight years of practice.

Yun Ming sighed and looked down at the pile of Spirit Stones in the corner—a small portion was missing, about a dozen or so. However, most were still there, and the Living Soil hadn't been touched.

The monk can run, but the temple cannot.

When he had patted the man's shoulder earlier, he had conveniently left a mark.

Yun Ming stood up and performed a hand Seal. As the Fuli Heaven-Concealing Record circulated, mysterious strands of aura poured from his palm, completely enveloping the Red-Feathered Luan, the pile of Top-Grade Spirit Stones, and the Living Soil in the corner.

The aura faded.

From the outside, the corner looked empty, with nothing there; only then did Yun Ming nod in satisfaction.

With a wave of his hand, a white cloud drifted from his sleeve and landed at his feet. Its appearance was a shifting smoky-blue mist, its edges shimmering with a faint golden light.

He could now activate the taiqing wanderer; at full power, its speed even approached that of the Early Golden Core Stage, though he couldn't maintain it for long.

But chasing a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage was more than enough.

He stepped onto the cloud and activated his spiritual power, and the white cloud rose leisurely.

Following the direction of the mark, he turned into a streak of light and vanished into the distant sky.

On the other side,

the grey-robed man finally stopped.

He didn't know how far he had flown—ten thousand miles? Twenty thousand? Thirty thousand? He only knew that when the Third-Rank Flight Talisman exhausted its last bit of spiritual power, he was already in the middle of a desolate wilderness. All around were rolling barren mountains where nothing grew, with only jagged rocks casting grotesque shadows under the pale moonlight.

He panted heavily, still uneasy.

He summoned an object from his Storage Pouch—a palm-sized wooden boat, pitch black and covered in Formation patterns. He tossed the wooden boat into the air; it expanded upon meeting the wind, transforming in the blink of an eye into a three-zhang-long flying boat suspended steadily in midair.

The grey-robed man stepped into the boat with a stride, and with a backhand motion, he dumped all the Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch into the Formation Plate at the bow. A full thousand Spirit Stones turned into streaks of light and were swallowed up by the plate.

The flying boat shuddered slightly, then turned into a streak of light and soared into the sky once more.

Only those dozen or so Top-Grade Spirit Stones were held tightly in his hand; he couldn't bear to throw in even a single one.

Only now did he finally have the peace of mind to look down at his palm.

Under the moonlight, those dozen Spirit Stones shimmered with a lustrous sheen, the Spiritual Qi so dense it almost solidified. Each one was purer and more translucent than any Spirit Stone he had ever seen, like treasures left on earth by the heavens.

The grey-robed man's hands were shaking.

"Top-Grade Spirit Stones... these are Top-Grade Spirit Stones..."

He muttered, his voice trembling, and his eyes even felt a bit warm.

Even Golden Core Cultivators wouldn't dare claim to have them; Top-Grade Spirit Stones were things only fit for a Nascent Soul True Lord—yet he, a mere Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, now had over a dozen!

He suddenly felt that the half-month of staking out was worth it, so worth it. Red-Feathered Luan, Seals—it was all nonsense. Just these dozen or so Top-Grade Spirit Stones were enough for him to live without worry for the rest of his life; even if he couldn't achieve a Golden Core Breakthrough, he could still live comfortably until his natural end.

"What a stroke of luck... what a stroke of luck..."

He repeated the phrase over and over, his grin stretching from ear to ear, his eyes full of light and longing.

He began to fantasize.

First, find a place to hide for a few years to lie low. Once the heat died down, he would exchange one Top-Grade Spirit Stone for High-Grade Spirit Stones, buy a small Immortal Cave, and marry two Dual Cultivation partners to live a god-like life from then on. He'd save the remaining Spirit Stones for his descendants, passing them down through endless generations—

The more he thought, the more wonderful it seemed, and the smile on his face almost overflowed.