novelden Chapter 53 Even Thieves Have Their Code
Chapter 53 Even Thieves Have Their Code
"To be honest, I know this Celestial Thief, and I can go to him right now." Zhang Yunling calmly took out a jade slip from his storage bag, and after transmitting his divine sense, he said to the jade slip, "Brother Sun, it's been a long time. I'm going back to see you. I have something to tell you."
The woman in black standing nearby looked on with some confusion, then sneered, "What a joke! I am the leader of the Thief Heaven Sect. Even to meet Lord Thief Heaven, I must possess rare magical treasures and perform the three bows and nine kowtows. You think you can just spout nonsense..."
Before the woman in black could finish speaking, the space above the secret chamber tore open, and a huge purplish-black hand reached out from it, grabbed Zhang Yunling, and then slowly withdrew, leaving the woman in black standing there dumbfounded.
"Master, this..."
The surrounding disciples of the Thief Heaven Sect were equally shocked. They had originally thought that their leader had brought an enemy that needed to be besieged, but the current development had become bizarre.
The Western Desert, the pyramids.
As the pressure from Wu Xiang Shou dissipated, a familiar earthy yellow color came into view, and the purple-robed man sitting before him was none other than his good elder brother, Sun Jie.
"It's you, Brother Yun Ling. How's it going? Any news on the whereabouts of other immortal artifacts?" Sun Jie smiled and got up from the stone chair.
Zhang Yunling scratched his head and said somewhat helplessly, "It's not about immortal artifacts. Didn't I find you the Banana Leaf Fan before? We probably won't encounter any immortal artifacts anytime soon. I came here on another matter. Do you know that a 'Stealing Heaven Sect' has been established on the Heavenly Continent?"
Sun Jie nodded slightly: "I know, what's wrong?"
"Did you order its establishment?" Zhang Yunling asked, frowning. "They stole my things and even took me to their headquarters to try and recruit me. But when the female cult leader showed me their deity, I realized it was you, so I came here."
Upon hearing this, Sun Jie laughed with amusement: "Hahahaha! That girl was saved by me back then, and she insisted on becoming my maid. I wasn't interested in that, so I gave her a life-saving magic technique and let her go back and develop on her own."
"But a year later, this girl took the jade slip I gave her and told me that she had established a sect for me. I don't know where she heard that immortals can become powerful by accepting people's faith, so she hoped that I could absorb the power of faith to help me."
Thinking of this, Sun Jie put away his smile and became sad. "She was saved by me and regarded me as the dawn and hope in her life. I couldn't bear to break all of this, so I just let her be."
Zhang Yunling was speechless for a moment, and continued, "You've even started playing the redemption game. Now that female cult leader is determined to recruit me into the Thief of Heaven Cult. Should I join or not?"
"What does this have to do with me? Do as you please. Besides, none of these trivial matters matter. I still haven't returned the Vajra Bracelet I lent you last time." Sun Jie shrugged and started bringing up old grievances.
"What? That's my own Vajra Bracelet. I lent it to you, and I'll return it to you when I'm done using it." Zhang Yunling felt guilty when he thought about Ming Shan taking the Vajra Bracelet, so he had to find a reason to refute Sun Jie.
Sun Jie put on an indifferent expression and turned to walk towards the stone bench. "Alright, anyway, you have to lend me all of them after you've collected them all. I'll return them to you when I'm done using them. You'll keep your word."
"There's one more thing, something I didn't have a chance to ask before, but I'll ask it now." Zhang Yunling stepped forward, his expression serious. "I have an enemy whose strength surpasses mine. Could you use your supernatural powers to kill her when I find her?"
Sun Jie sat back down on the stone chair, not responding, but simply nodding silently.
"Yes, thank you very much, Brother Sun. I've asked all the questions I needed to ask. Please let me go back." Zhang Yunling opened his arms, waiting for Sun Jie to use the Formless Hand to grab him and send him back to the Dao Tian Continent.
“Brother Yun Ling, remember, I can no longer leave this stone tower, and you will bear the heavy responsibility of finding immortal artifacts for me outside. When the time is right, I will give you another chance. Now you can go back.”
After saying that, Sun Jie waved his hand, grabbed Zhang Yunling, tore open a spatial rift, and threw him back into the Dao Tian Continent.
The woman in black was still pondering Zhang Yunling's words when she suddenly felt a fluctuation. A crack appeared above her head again, and a person slowly floated down from it—it was Zhang Yunling.
Originally, the woman in black had always regarded him as an undercover agent who could be used to steal treasures from the Quanzhen Sect. However, after witnessing the scene where the Immortal Venerable Thief personally used his supernatural powers to take him away, Zhang Yunling's image in the woman in black had completely changed.
As the other person descended from the sky, his robes fluttering in the wind, his long hair flowing, and his incredibly handsome face, with his youthful and innocent appearance yet exuding a sense of maturity and composure, the woman in black was completely captivated. Her heart fluttered, and she immediately knelt down on the ground.
"Master, why such a grand gesture?" Zhang Yunling smiled and gently helped the woman in black up.
"You...you really went to see Lord Daotian?" Despite the fact, the woman in black was still extremely excited, and her voice trembled slightly.
"Is it so difficult for you to see him?" Zhang Yunling asked doubtfully. "He told me that he saved you, and that you founded the Thief of Heaven Sect to repay him?"
The woman in black looked at the group of disciples behind her, her expression suddenly becoming firm: "That was indeed the case before, but now I have greater aspirations. In the past, we only stole some odds and ends of small magical treasures to survive. Although Lord Daotian never said a bad word about us, I still feel a lot of guilt in my heart."
"Later, Lord Daotian told me about the immortal artifacts, and I realized that what I should do was to assist Lord Daotian in completing his plan. When that time comes, we will all ascend with Lord Daotian and become immortals!"
The other disciples of the Thief of Heaven also raised their arms and shouted, their emotions running high. It seemed that they, who were born ordinary, had been given a new life under the leadership of this woman in black, and had the motivation to live on.
Zhang Yunling was speechless. “You lot have arms and legs, but instead of working hard to cultivate, you rely on stealing chickens and dogs to survive. Regardless of your background, you spend your days studying how to steal more magic treasures instead of using perseverance and hard work to gain strength. Even if you have Daotian as your backer, you will probably all end up in vain.”
"What a joke! Do you think I need to teach me these profound principles?" The woman in black was displeased with Zhang Yunling's words. She pointed to her abdomen and retorted, "Yes, we are all cultivators, but are all cultivators equal? Does everyone have to start cultivating from the first level of Qi Refining?"
"That's not the case! What's the difference between cultivators and mortals? It's just a difference between those who can cultivate and those who can't. Cultivators also have different levels of status and wealth. There are cultivators from poor backgrounds and those from noble backgrounds."
Do those cultivators from powerful families and sects really need to hone their skills and cultivate diligently every day like us? They only need the help of their families and sects to surpass all of us lowly cultivators in the blink of an eye! We are merely insignificant, lowly beings who serve to highlight how superior these so-called geniuses are!
The woman in black became more and more agitated as she spoke, stamping her feet and pointing at Zhang Yunling as she roared, "Aren't you a prodigy from a major sect like Quanzhen Dao? How could you possibly understand our predicament!"
We, the rogue cultivators born into poor families, already have extremely poor aptitude. Even if we cultivate alone, we are not safe and sound, and we will become the targets of slaughter by those powerful cultivators!
I once went into the forest to find medicinal herbs to heal myself after being injured in a monster attack. However, I was inexplicably pursued by a cultivator from another sect. Just as I was about to fall into his hands and be humiliated and tortured, it was Lord Daotian who saved me!
Hearing this, Zhang Yunling, who had been somewhat moved, suddenly became puzzled and interrupted, "Wait a minute, as far as I know, Daotian is unable to leave the Western Desert. So how did he save you?"
The woman in black's eyes shone with dazzling golden light. Pointing to the spot where Zhang Yunling had fallen, she shouted, "That's the spatial rift! Lord Daotian used his divine power to save me and even personally killed that despicable cultivator. I wanted to repay Lord Daotian's kindness by offering myself to him, but he refused! He personally rescued a mortal woman without asking for anything in return. This is the perfect image of an immortal in my heart!"
Zhang Yunling wanted to continue asking questions, but the woman in black became more and more agitated as she spoke, giving him no chance to interrupt.
"Therefore, I established the Thief of Heaven Sect, and made the cultivation technique I obtained in an ancient tomb the only one that I had to learn when entering the sect. I recruited ordinary cultivators who, like me, came from humble backgrounds but were unwilling to be eliminated by the cruel world of cultivation, as my disciples, to follow in the footsteps of Lord Thief of Heaven and embark on our own path to immortality!"
Even thieves have their code of honor: never go to extremes. We only take what we need, without uprooting anything or harming the innocent. This is the code of conduct I learned from Master Thief Tian, and it belongs to us!