Volume Two: The Life of a Bandit Chapter Five: The Bandit's Scheme

"Well, perhaps that's true!"

Qin Shuang’s understanding of the lowest classes in the Divine Realm was far inferior to Qin Si’s. While in the Divine Realm, Qin Si often ventured out, especially to villages, and had helped many people there.

“The people here are very poor. It looks like my great bandit plan will need to be revised!” Qin Si paid no heed to Qin Shuang’s reaction, musing to himself. Qin Shuang could only smile wryly. Even before they arrived in the Hongmeng Divine Realm, Qin Si had already begun scheming his bandit enterprise. His ambition was to build the most powerful bandit force in all of Hongmeng.

The gods of the Hongmeng Divine Realm were impoverished. Few possessed divine artifacts—not because they lacked the skill to forge them, but because the realm had existed for eons, and all valuable resources had long since been claimed by various powers. People at their level had no access to the materials needed to craft such treasures.

Taverns were always the best places to gather information. This village was large, boasting several taverns.

Compared to the gods of Hongmeng, Qin Si and Qin Shuang were wealthy men. Divine spirit stones were the same in both universes, but here in Hongmeng, their value was much higher—at least ten times that in the Linmeng Divine Realm, especially when it came to buying wine.

After a month, the brothers had gained a rough understanding of the Hongmeng Divine Realm. At the same time, their ambitions had been somewhat dampened by what they’d learned. At first, Qin Shuang couldn’t understand why their arrival as upper-level gods caused no commotion. He soon realized that in Hongmeng, upper gods were as common as minor deities in Linmeng.

“Brother, it seems your bandit plan won’t work out!” Qin Shuang said with a bitter smile in the tavern. Their soul realms were at the upper-level god stage, but their actual strength was only that of lower-level gods. In Hongmeng, they were at the bottom of the heap.

“Why wouldn’t it work? I think my bandit plan is even more suitable here!” Qin Si shot Qin Shuang a look. The two brothers were utterly different in temperament, and Qin Si despised how Qin Shuang never seemed to understand his thinking.

“Little Shuang, think about it. The gods here are poor; they don’t even have divine artifacts. But we do! Don’t forget, I took all of Father’s stock of lower-grade divine artifacts from the mountain. Do you realize what those mean? They can help us recruit a whole host of upper gods as followers. Yes, I’m sure of it! The upper gods here are not wealthy either. Among so many god-kings, there might be few upper gods who possess such artifacts!”

“Recruit a great number of followers? So you’ll continue as the chief bandit, and I’ll be the second in command?”

“Exactly! Haha, Little Shuang, you finally get it!” Qin Si slapped the table, highly satisfied with Qin Shuang’s answer.

“But, brother, with only the strength of lower-level gods, how can we control upper-god followers?” Qin Shuang said with another wry smile. He’d thought the Hongmeng Divine Realm would be much stronger than Linmeng and would thus quash Qin Si’s bandit dreams. Unexpectedly, Qin Si’s enthusiasm only grew.

“That’s a good question, but don’t worry, I have this!” Qin Si nodded, giving Qin Shuang a mysterious smile. He opened his right hand, and in his palm appeared a small tower.

“The Tower of Divine Sealing!” Qin Shuang’s eyes lit up. “Mother gave that to you as well?”

“Of course, but don’t be envious; mother gave you plenty of treasures too!” Qin Si grinned smugly. The Tower of Divine Sealing was a third-tier Hongmeng spiritual treasure. As long as it absorbed an opponent who could not resist, anyone below the level of god-king would become its slave.

“The Tower is our guarantee for taking followers, but first, we need to raise our strength. Our soul realms are at the upper-god stage. Once we comprehend the laws of space here, we’ll regain our power!” Qin Si nodded and, smiling, opened his left hand, revealing another small tower.

“The Jiang Lan World! Why haven’t you returned it to Grandpa Lan?” Qin Shuang whispered, recognizing the spatial artifact refined by Jiang Lan.

“Foolish boy, Grandpa Lan has already gifted the Jiang Lan World to me. I am now its true master!” Qin Si was even more pleased. He withdrew both hands and said, “Let’s go to the third level of the Jiang Lan World to cultivate. Once we’ve regained our strength, we’ll establish our force. I’ve decided—the Hongmeng Divine Realm’s future number one bandit force, the Purple Profound Alliance, is now officially founded!”

Thus, the Purple Profound Alliance, destined to become the foremost bandit power in the Hongmeng Divine Realm, was born at the hands of its two founders.

On the third level of the Jiang Lan World, Qin Shuang and Qin Si each chose a spot and began to cultivate quietly. Even the usually restless Qin Si was able to sit down and train in earnest, a testament to how much he looked forward to the life that awaited them.

Time flowed on, and a thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

“Haha!” A peal of laughter echoed through the third level of the Jiang Lan World. For the first time in a millennium, Qin Si emerged from seclusion, having fully restored his strength—now even more profound than in Linmeng. He had reached the peak of the upper-god stage, only a single opportunity away from fully mastering the laws of space and becoming a god-king of Hongmeng.

After countless eons of tempering in the Hongmeng Origin Water, Qin Si now found comprehending the laws of space to be effortless.

“Little Shuang, you surpassed me!” After venting his excitement, Qin Si noticed Qin Shuang standing before him, smiling. Qin Si had thought attaining mastery of Hongmeng’s spatial laws in a thousand years was fast, but his younger brother had been even quicker.

“Tell me, when did you come out?” Qin Si fixed his gaze on Qin Shuang, his eyes filled only with joy and pride for his brother’s achievement.

“Just a year before you did,” Qin Shuang replied with a chuckle. He could sense Qin Si’s concern for him. In truth, Qin Shuang had completed his breakthrough after only a hundred years, but, considering Qin Si’s feelings, he claimed it had been just one year earlier.

“From now on, the title of genius belongs to you,” Qin Si sighed with genuine relief, but soon his expression changed.

“Heh, little brother, since you’re even stronger than I am, I’m more confident than ever in our bandit force!”

“Uh…” Qin Shuang was speechless. He hadn’t expected that, fresh out of seclusion, Qin Si’s mind was still set on his bandit plan.

In a hundred years, Qin Shuang had grasped the laws of space in the Hongmeng Divine Realm, largely thanks to the effects of the Hongmeng Spirit Wine. After drinking it, it had only taken him two years to reach the upper-god stage. Now, though it took a hundred years to comprehend Hongmeng’s spatial laws, that was still a long time—had he drunk the spirit wine here, it would have only taken two years.

"Hongmeng Divine Realm, here we come!"

As they left the Jiang Lan World, Qin Si was the first to shout at the top of his lungs. His voice startled every god in the village; within moments, more than a dozen upper gods flew over. Seeing that the two brothers’ cultivation was unfathomable, they soon left.

"Wait, don’t go just yet!"

Qin Si immediately flew over to intercept the group. He was eager to understand how the bandit forces in Hongmeng were organized. To him, the best way was to subdue a force directly, then go on to conquer the others.

"Senior, what can we do for you?" One of the upper gods, clearly the small leader of the group, stepped forward, eyeing the brothers warily.

"I’d like to ask you something. If your answer satisfies me, this is yours." Qin Si produced a lower-grade divine artifact. The aura of the weapon instantly captured the attention of the group; none could look away.

"Ah, please, ask away!" Only after Qin Si coughed did the upper gods regain their composure. The leader, unable to hide his excitement, bowed and addressed Qin Si.

"In this area, what bandit groups are there? In fact, tell me about all the bandit groups in the Divine Realm, especially the most powerful ones."

"Why do you wish to know about that, senior?" The leader was instantly alarmed, retreating a few steps and looking at Qin Si with suspicion. It was no wonder—the villagers feared bandits most. When a clearly stronger stranger inquired about bandits, it could only mean trouble.

"I told you to speak, not to ask questions. Or do you not want this artifact?" Qin Si waved the divine artifact impatiently, his gesture making it clear he could always find someone else. Given what he was offering, someone would surely be willing to talk.

"Please, senior, don’t be angry. I’ll tell you everything!"

(To be continued)