Chapter Five: Lightning Thief

  "A treasured sword forged from a hundred years of cold iron, an Red Viper that has grown for at least ten years, and a staff carved from thousand-year-old Ironwood. I'm saying this to the three of you, the things in your hands are worth more than my entire person, so it's not necessary to come rob me, right?" Chu Cheng took a deep breath.

  A century-old Cold Iron, a Scarlet Practice King Snake, and a thousand-year-old Iron Tree - all of these are rare and precious objects that cost several thousand gold coins each. Chu Cheng had only seen them in books before.

  "Master Chu, look at what you're saying! You're worth more than these broken copper and iron pieces! Five thousand gold coins, and that's five thousand per person! Hehe, I really can't see where your value lies. Is it in your arm? Your leg? Or..."

  The withered old man stared at the thing between Chu Cheng's legs with ill intentions, scaring Chu Cheng into a cold sweat.

  "Heh heh, don't scare Second Young Master. How about this, Second Young Master gives us some money, not too much, one million gold coins per person, and we'll leave immediately, what do you say?" The enchanting woman's beautiful eyes sparkled with mischief.

  "Enough, stop wasting words! Hurry up and tie him up, we can also go back and report. The ninth guard of the Bian Huang Fu is not easy to deal with, be careful or you'll have a long and sleepless night!" The handsome young man closed his fan, and a burst of murderous aura emanated from his body.

  Chu Cheng suddenly realized that these people were probably not hired to kill him, but rather to kidnap him!

  And Ninth Uncle, probably isn't by his own side either, but is being held back by someone or something! Otherwise, these three people are strong, how dare they be so arrogant?

  "Hmph, a mere mortal whelp, not even having refined essence blood, and yet we three need to take action? What a waste! Little brat, come here!" The withered old man suddenly stretched out his left hand, his bony fingers resembling an eagle's claw. A powerful suction force swept towards Chucheng.

  If it were half a day ago, Chu Cheng would definitely not be able to escape his palm. However, now...

  The Chu City was caught by the old man as if it had no resistance.

  Just as the old man's claws were about to grab his neck, Chu Cheng's eyes suddenly opened wide, his eyebrows raised, and his right hand suddenly lifted up, grabbing the old man's claws.

  The next moment, a blood vein appeared and turned into a blood rope that wrapped around the withered old man's claws. Then the blood rope quickly tightened, Chu Cheng suddenly used force, and heard a cracking sound, the old man's claws were removed by Chu Cheng!

  "You say I'm a waste of time? Well, let me show you who the real waste is!" Chu Cheng's face was icy cold as he stared at the withered old man.

  "Ah!" The withered old man let out a mournful cry, his spirit shaken violently.

  Although he had already entered the extraordinary realm of the second layer, and even possessed three bloodlines, he was unable to display them, simply because of his carelessness, and had one hand cut off by Chu Cheng!

  This young man is not twelve years old at all, he's even more sinister and ruthless than a thirty-year-old killer!

  "You little scumbag, you're always a piece of trash, trash! Go die for me!"

  The withered old man raised his cane and hit him.

  This thousand-year-old iron wood is extremely hard and heavy, this small crutch must weigh at least a thousand catties. The withered old man already has great strength, if he were to strike with this crutch, who could withstand it?

  What's more, this crutch has been infused with the old man's profound and mysterious power!

  However, Chu Cheng smiled slightly.

  "A minor skill! I'd like to see who's the useless one!"

  His right hand shook, and the blood vessels returned to his body. In an instant, it reappeared on his left hand, transforming into a thin layer of membrane that wrapped around his left hand.

  Reborn for twelve years, studied the Divine Fetus Precious Blood Record for nine years. As for the various changes within it, he had long been aware of them in his heart, but was limited by his cultivation and couldn't put them into practice.

  The previous blood cord was exceptionally resilient, the simplest transformation, called Blood Binding Cord. The current thin membrane is much more profound and mysterious, called Divine Blood Cloak, which can transform the body's essence into a battle cloak, impervious to all attacks, swords and guns cannot penetrate.

  Chu City has only one bloodline, and it can only transform into a glove of the Divine Blood Cloak, which is still just a thin layer.

  But it's already enough!

  "Bang!"

  With a grunt, Chu Cheng's left hand firmly grasped the iron crutch and, disregarding the withered old man's shock, suddenly exerted force and snapped the iron crutch in two!

  "Crack!"

  A shrill cracking sound, and the withered old man suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood!

  This staff, which he had nourished with his own blood and energy, had long since become a part of him. Now that it was broken, he too was severely injured, his liver and gallbladder shattered, his five internal organs burned to ashes.

  "Divine fetus precious blood, heavenly symbol Tao talisman; divine blood precious clothes, invincible wherever you go!"

  A faint voice sounded, Chu Cheng's left hand was like a ghost claw from the underworld, suddenly piercing through the withered old man's chest, piercing his heart.

  Withdrawing his left hand, he ignored the withered old man who slowly fell to the ground, allowing the fresh blood on his hand to drip down. Chu Cheng turned around, looking at the seductive woman and the handsome young man, giving a sly smile.

  "I was originally going to slack off, but Ninth Uncle isn't here, so I have no choice but to take action myself. Next one, you guys, who's going to send themselves to death!"

  Bianfang Prefecture, study room.

  Chu Tian Ge suddenly stood up, a strong aura sweeping across the entire study, as if a fierce beast from the primordial chaos had awakened.

  "What did you say? Yan Er was ambushed? By the Lightning Thief's hand?" Chu Tian Ge's face was filled with anger.

  Outside the door, a gloomy voice sounded, but no one could be seen.

  "Yes, sir. The Lightning Thief sent out four people, one of whom was at the Fifth Lineage First Realm and three were at the Seven Treasures Third Realm! I was blocked by the person at the Fifth Lineage, while Young Master fought alone against the three Lightning Thieves and won with great difficulty, suffering severe injuries!"

  "Yan'er's cultivation has increased again? No matter, with Xuan Lao watching over him, Yan'er won't die. What I'm worried about is Cheng'er!" Chu Tian Ge's face turned gloomy, and he suddenly slammed his hand on the table, causing the solid wood to split into four or five pieces and crash to the ground.

  "Second Master? What does Sir mean?" The voice seemed to have thought of something and trembled slightly.

  "Hmph! Lightning Thief! Since they dared to assassinate Yan Er, they naturally won't let Cheng Er off!" Chu Tian Ge coldly snorted.

  "Ah! Something's wrong, I'll go rescue Second Young Master at once!" The voice was shocked and panicked.

  "No need! I'll go myself!" Chu Tian Ge's face turned gloomy, and with a swift movement of his feet, he vanished into thin air.

  At the edge of the forest, a masked man knelt on one knee, propping up a black long knife with his hand, looking up with a terrified face.

  His entire body was filled with withered leaves, and fresh blood flowed out.

  Across from him, a slender figure emerged, intact except for a torn corner of his clothing, which had been hacked off.

  "Ninth Guardian, Ninth Guardian! I didn't think the Bian Huang Prefecture was so powerful, even you, the weakest one, have already reached the third level of the Seven Treasures Realm!" The black cloth on the face of the masked big man shattered, and his life was about to disappear.

  However, he wasn't too afraid because he knew that since Flash Thief had offended the Bian Huang Fu, those other brothers would probably soon be joining him underground! He wouldn't be lonely!

  "I thought that among the nine of you, apart from the mysterious Chu Da and the inseparable Chu Er and Chu San, the rest were all useless old men! I didn't expect that you would be so powerful! Me... I died without regret!"

  His neck twisted, and the masked man died completely.

  "Lightning Thief? The Tenth Thief Gang? A bunch of trash! You can only hang on to this title because no one wants to deal with you!" Ninth Uncle sneered, and was about to chase after Chu Cheng.

  Because of the swift battle, it had only been less than a minute, and Chu Cheng hadn't gone far. When he caught up, he couldn't help but stare in shock.

  Just as he was about to speak, suddenly his heart skipped a beat, and a hand slapped him on the shoulder.

  "Who?" Ninth Uncle's body was covered in cold sweat. How could someone have approached him without making a sound?

  No time to think more, Ninth Uncle immediately activated his Xuanli, about to escape, but suddenly found that his own Xuanli couldn't be used!

  "Good job, Lao Jiu!"

  Ninth Uncle was taken aback and hastily said in a low voice: "Master!"

  The newcomer was precisely Chu Tian Ge.

  "Look, old man..." Ninth Uncle pointed into the distance.

  Chu Tian Ge nodded: "I didn't expect that Cheng Er had grown to such an extent, and he was no worse than his older brother! Just watch, there's no need for him to take action, he can solve it himself! Having carried the title of 'waste' for twelve years, he should be able to soar now!"

  If Chu Cheng knew that Jiu Shu and Chu Tian Ge were both there, he would definitely be too lazy to take action. Unfortunately, he didn't know.

  With a swift and deadly force that left no time for escape, he struck down the withered old man. Chu Cheng turned to face the other two, his heart crystal clear.

  "I think I know what you people are now!"

  "Lightning Thief!"

  As soon as this was said, the enchanting woman immediately exclaimed: "How did you know!"

  How were they supposed to know, without wearing the Lightning Thief's insignia, that a twelve-year-old kid would be able to recognize them?

  "Because I've seen all of your profiles. Not just the Lightning Thief, but also the Veteran Thief, the Blood Tears Thief, the Imperial City Thief, the Ling Xi Thief, and the Qian Ji Thief. The ten major thief groups, except for the strongest Shasheng Thief, the most mysterious Wuxing Thief, and the hardest to deal with Hu Die Thief, I know each of your identities, your cultivated Xuan Gong, even including your life experiences!"

  The voice of Chu City was like a sound from the nine hells, low and terrifying, captivating people's hearts.

  "How is this possible! How is this possible! What kind of person are you? Aren't you just a young master from the small Bian Huang Prefecture, a waste who hasn't even condensed his spiritual energy at twelve years old, how can you know so much!" The enchanting woman's face fell.

  "Gu San Ku, holding a thousand-year-old iron wooden staff, is sixty-two years old this year and was born in Xiangcheng. He joined the Lightning Thief at the age of thirty-two, with incredible strength and speed, ranking first among the Lightning Thieves..."

  "Flowers bloom in spring, branches stretch out, venomous heart. This year is twenty-five years old, raising a red python king snake. There are records that you are beyond the ordinary realm, second heavy, four bloodlines..."

  "Yin Gongzi, unknown name, joined Lightning Thief at 12 years old, extremely fast, participated in Thousand Mile Sprint Robbery of Thirteen Heavy Towns, escaped from Ordinary Realm twice, Five Bloodlines..."

  Every time Chu Cheng spoke a sentence, the enchanting woman's face turned paler by one shade.

  "I've always been puzzled, why does the old man's study have so many materials, almost all of the top two-thirds of Chu State's strongmen's information is here, yet there's only one copy of the Xuan Gong 'Shen Tai Bao Xue Lu'."

  The corners of Chu's mouth slightly rose.

  "Perhaps the old man wants me to cultivate the Divine Fetus Precious Blood Record? But that thing is only for those who have escaped the mortal realm, there's no follow-up! But since the old master is my own father, he wouldn't harm me, would he?"

  Chu Cheng pointed at his own head.

  "I've been thinking that the old man is not simple at all! However, I never asked, but instead memorized all the materials in the study room and updated them from time to time..."

  "And now, it's finally useful!"

  The smile of Chu Cheng is like a devil's.

  "I know Gu San is slow, so I'll take the initiative."

  "Guess what, I know your weaknesses?"