Volume Two: The Bandit's Life Chapter Eleven: The Heaven-Pacifying God King

“Zhengyuan has entered his true form!”

Tai Hong, who was locked in combat with Jianhui and Shangguan Hong, was shaken. For him to force them into combat state was enough to show Shangguan Hong’s strength—and the fact that Jianhui, who Tai had once ignored, had suddenly become so dangerous proved how difficult this fight had become. Even without using his combat state, Tai found it hard to keep up.

Wind Tyrant also noticed Zhengyuan’s change, his brows tightening slightly, though he said nothing.

“It’s taking too long. Have you forgotten what I said?”

Qin Si’s expression darkened, and she spoke slowly. Jianhui and Shangguan were both startled and forgot their opponents, flying together at once.

“Not good!”

Wind Tyrant thought in alarm. He suddenly remembered: Jianhui and Shangguan had taken Thousand-Insect Gorge by using a fused assault of their Heavenly power. Alone they were already no weaker than his brother, and if they fought together, even in full battle state, his brother might not hold.

A far larger sphere of energy than the one they had seen when facing Qin Si appeared before Jianhui and Shangguan. Its pressure forced Tai Hong to reveal his true form as well.

“Careful!”

The sphere shot out, and Jianhui and Shangguan became blurs. Wind Tyrant, ignoring previous agreements, shot at once toward Ma Zhengyuan.

“Boom!”

He only had a flicker of light before him; his body felt as if it had struck a wall, and immense rebound force flung him backward. “Trust, trust!”

Qin Si appeared before him, shaking her head faintly as she whispered.

“You!”

Wind Tyrant was startled and furious. His true form, the Wind-God Eagle, made speed his strongest trait, yet Qin Si was even faster. He had no idea when she had appeared in front of him.

By then the fight near Jianhui was already decided. Ma Zhengyuan, struck by their surprise blow, was badly wounded and had fallen. Mid-Tier Celestial Beings pulled him away. Tai Hong dodged the two’s coordinated strike, but was hit by a second blow from behind and also went down, blood spilling from his mouth.

“Your three brothers are very close, aren’t you?”

Qin Si flew before Wind Tyrant with a cryptic smile.

“Of course!”

Wind Tyrant, anxious for the condition of the two brothers, hurried down at once, without stopping to ask why she had suddenly said that.

“Then come with them,” she said. Her lips curved, and suddenly a long spear appeared in her hand, stabbing at him from behind.

No one had expected the leader of a faction to use a sneak attack. Jianhui and Shangguan themselves were stunned. Qin Si had never been this base when she had faced them before.

“Bam.”

Qin Si was even faster than Wind Tyrant, and with the ambush there was no dodge. He coughed blood and crashed to the ground. The three of them had truly become hard-luck brothers.

“It’s still the easiest way,” Qin Si nodded. In her mind there was no such thing as playing fair and noble; if a problem could be solved simply, she would never complicate it.

As they passed the three men, the people of Wind God Encampment looked on in shock: the three injured chieftains had vanished. For a moment everyone stood frozen.

Jianhui and Shangguan shivered. They understood perfectly. Thinking back on what had happened in the Sealing-God Tower sent a fresh chill through both of them. At least they had now fully submitted to Qin Si; as long as they did not betray her, they had nothing to fear.

The next day the Wind God Encampment, once a once-prominent bandit force, was dissolved. Everyone joined the rising Purple Mystic Alliance, and all three chieftains became the three masters of the Wind God Hall.

Nearby bandit powers were in uproar. The three remaining groups openly formed an alliance: one branch reported to the Demon-Refining Cavern, while the other prepared for a possible attack from Purple Mystic.

The Demon-Refining Cavern, strangely, showed no response. Qin Shuang knew exactly why. After Qin Si took Wind God Encampment, Qin Shuang had intentionally sent word that Jianhui and Shangguan possessed upper-grade Heavenly artifacts. Just as she had anticipated, the cavern began to doubt the brothers’ identity and would not act until it had investigated.

On the fifth day, Qin Si and Qin Shuang themselves moved out. In Stinging Grassplain, the arriving leaders of reinforcements from two other powers were captured as soon as they came, and then absorbed into Purple Mystic.

On the tenth day, the Dune Territory, home to three Upper-Tier Celestial Beings, was swallowed by the alliance. Two days later, the last small power, Gourd Mountain—its two leaders one dead, one surrendering—was also absorbed. In less than half a month, Purple Mystic had swallowed every small power around Sangping Village, leaving only the greatest bandit clique, the Demon-Refining Cavern.

And still the cavern made no move. That silence astounded those who watched bandit factions, and rumors about the backgrounds of Qin Si and Qin Shuang only multiplied.

No one knew that at the headquarters of Purple Mystic, Qin Si and Qin Shuang themselves worried each day. They had absorbed so many powers too quickly to stabilize them. If the cavern struck now, all their labor would be wasted. In its current strength, Purple Mystic could not endure an assault from the cavern. Even with Qin Si’s first-rate Hongmeng relic and Qin Shuang’s duplicate form, they were insufficient alone for a large campaign.

Still, Qin Shuang’s smoke bombs had worked. The cavern had given them breathing room. During that time, Qin Si trained the absorbed people in batches in the realm of Jianglan. After three months, all the swallowed factions were at last stabilized, and the alliance was secure.

The newcomers finally understood how this tiny force had expanded so quickly. With the wealth of the two brothers, any group could build such a power in little time.

Half a year later the Demon-Refining Cavern finally stirred. Its lord, King Pingtian, surprisingly invited the two leaders of Purple Mystic to come as guests. Qin Shuang understood: they had already finished investigating the two brothers’ identities and, finding nothing, had proposed a test of meeting.

Qin Shuang’s deception had its good and bad sides. It bought time, yes, but the longer it lasted, the more dangerous it became. If they discovered the two had no true backing, disaster would follow. Without patrons, Qin Shuang and Qin Si would be like ownerless treasure, drawing countless claimants.

Yet fortunately, they were not natives of this place. Investigating their origins was difficult enough, and the more mysterious they seemed, the less likely the cavern was to act.

King Pingtian of the Demon-Refining Cavern had been a God King for nearly two cycles. Though he was not old in the Hongmeng Heavenly Realm, he had made a bandit’s life of it for almost two cycles since ascending and had amassed considerable wealth. Yet such a life had tarnished his name, and after rejecting invitations from the Eight Great Lineages, his relations with others were poor.

In the main hall of the cavern, the lamps blazed. In the center, on a broad throne, King Pingtian sat upright and formal, with three Upper-Tier Celestial Beings standing on either side.

To invite the two Purple Mystic chiefs, King Pingtian even made an exception: not even a Mid-Tier Celestial remained in the hall.

Qin Si nodded inwardly. He was giving them real face. After all, outwardly they were only Upper-Tier Celestial beings.

When Qin Si and Qin Shuang entered calmly, even King Pingtian admired them inwardly. He had once faced a God King as only an Upper-Tier being and had never had such composure.

With one hand, Qin Si tossed a spatial ring.

“King Pingtian, this is tribute from the Purple Mystic Alliance. Since I have taken over six powers, the tribute from those six is now also my alliance’s contribution.”

Though she did not fear open enmity with the cavern, Qin Si preferred not to begin a war when it could be avoided.

“Ha... Qin Si, you are truly generous,” King Pingtian said as he caught the ring and stood, laughing. “I thought we might stop receiving tribute.”

“How could that be?” Qin Si said with a smile. “Now that I have taken over those six powers, your cavern will only gain more.”

“Hm?” As his divine sense entered the ring for a moment, King Pingtian seemed startled. “One hundred supreme spirit stones, one hundred upper-grade heavenly artifacts, and three lower-grade heavenly artifacts...”

A hundred finest spirit stones, one hundred superior artifacts, and three lower-grade heavenly relics—things that in former times could not be obtained even in five hundred years.

“Lords, although Purple Mystic lies within my jurisdiction, my cavern is fair to every bandit power. Since your alliance has absorbed six groups, just pay tribute according to each one’s original quota.”

King Pingtian said it politely, narrowing his eyes. Qin Si had presented such a massive gift all at once that he still could not fathom her intent.

To be continued.