Volume Two: The Life of a Bandit Chapter Thirteen: Taking Advantage of the Situation to Subdue

In the eyes of Ping Tian, the Divine King, a glint of sharpness flashed as he said coldly, “Actually, I have no other extravagant demands. I only want the two alliance leaders to swear never to lay a hand on the Refining Demons Cave again. As for the tributes every century, the Refining Demons Cave is willing to forgo them!”

To give up the tributes and only ask Qin Si and Qin Shuang for a single oath—this was Ping Tian’s bottom line. Otherwise, he would rather kill them both immediately.

“Swear?” Qin Si narrowed his eyes. “Ping Tian, don’t take my kindness for weakness. Just because you’re a Divine King doesn’t mean we brothers are afraid of provoking you. We gave you those things out of respect. If you want to start a fight, you’d better weigh the consequences.”

“Swearing is absolutely impossible. My elder brother just said the same thing—we won’t touch your Refining Demons Cave. If you don’t believe us, we don’t mind taking the cave right now,” Qin Shuang said calmly as he poured himself a cup of wine, speaking with a faint tone.

“Fine, fine… truly admirable youth,” Ping Tian sneered through his anger. “But don’t think that just because you have a Heavenly Lord shielding you, you’re invincible. There are accords between Heavenly Lords as well. Aside from the divine war every six eons, Heavenly Lords cannot interfere in battles between Divine Kings.”

“Heh, don’t think we need to rely on our clan elders to deal with you. To be honest, you don’t deserve it!” Qin Si spat on the ground as he spoke.

“Smack!” Ping Tian slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his face turning red and green with fury. Qin Si’s gesture had thoroughly enraged Ping Tian. Although there were tens of thousands of Divine Kings in the Primordial Divine Realm, Divine Kings still had their pride.

“Ready to fight?” Qin Shuang took a sip of wine and asked in a calm voice.

“Heh, little Shuang, elder brother will take care of those Heavenly Gods; you come handle Ping Tian,” Qin Si chuckled, his eyes glancing at the six Heavenly Gods around them as he assessed their strength.

“Hmph, you two youngsters are courting death…” Ping Tian snorted coldly. Suddenly, a short dagger appeared in his hand, and he thrust it fiercely at Qin Si.

Ping Tian’s hand didn’t seem fast, but the dagger instantly appeared before Qin Si, as if teleported.

“Time acceleration?” Qin Shuang’s lips curled into a cold smile.

Ping Tian had accelerated his attack several thousand times faster, aiming to kill Qin Si with a single blow. Unexpectedly, just as the dagger was about to pierce Qin Si, a young man in blue suddenly appeared, blocking the attack with his body.

Ping Tian sneered. “Hmph, so you have a backup plan. But even if you are a Divine King, you absolutely can’t block my strike.” Ping Tian was confident in his attack. Though the dagger was only a superior-grade heavenly artifact, it possessed both the “Sharpness” and “Soul Devouring” effects. Even an ordinary Divine King could not block this strike with their body.

“Clang!” Ping Tian’s wrist tingled as the dagger struck the young man’s body, producing a metallic collision sound. From the sensation alone, he knew the dagger hadn’t caused the slightest damage.

“Heh, thanks, little Shuang, I’m off to collect the slaves,” Qin Si shouted as a golden spear materialized in his hand. He bypassed Ping Tian and charged toward the six upper-tier Heavenly Gods behind him.

One against six—Qin Si was cautious and immediately unleashed a first-class Primordial Spiritual Treasure.

“Heh, Ping Tian, leave him to me,” Qin Shuang said without a word, but the young man in blue spoke, looking at Ping Tian with complete indifference.

“You… you’re their clan elder?” Ping Tian’s pupils contracted, eyes fixed tightly on the youth. Despite his Divine King strength, he could not discern the young man’s realm at all.

“Little Shuang is just bluffing,” Qin Si smiled. That clone of Qin Shuang had completely taken on the appearance of Qin Yu. However, Qin Si had no time to ponder further as he was already surrounded by six upper-tier Heavenly Gods and had to fight.

“Clan elder?” The clone smiled. “I’m not worthy of that title. I’m just a servant of the Qin family.”

“Servant?” Ping Tian frowned. “A servant with such strength? But… I’ve never heard of any Qin family in the divine realm!” His mind raced wildly. “For someone to block my strike without injury, there are only two possibilities: either they wear first-class Primordial Spiritual Treasure armor, or they are actually a Heavenly Lord.”

“Well? Still want to keep fighting?” Qin Shuang asked with a teasing smile, watching Ping Tian’s face change constantly.

“Pfft!” On the other side, Qin Si’s golden spear pierced the chest of one upper-tier Heavenly God, who vanished before understanding what had happened.

“Alright, I’m willing to concede…” Ping Tian finally made up his mind. He had originally thought there were only two upper-tier Heavenly Gods, but now there was an unknown figure of unknown realm.

“Alliance Leader Qin, please stop,” Ping Tian said helplessly. He hadn’t expected that after cultivating the Refining Demons Cave for nearly two eons, he would be caught off guard by this newly emerged Purple Profound Alliance.

Qin Si was in the midst of a fierce battle and had no intention of stopping. The golden spear in his hand swirled, trapping five upper-tier Heavenly Gods within its shadow.

“What are you conceding to?” Qin Shuang laughed, watching Qin Si capture the upper-tier Heavenly Gods. They were, after all, in a phase where talent was scarce.

“I promise you, the Refining Demons Cave will no longer collect any tributes from the Purple Profound Alliance, and you two alliance leaders don’t even need to promise not to attack the cave in the future,” Ping Tian said helplessly. The situation was clear now—he was no match for the young man in blue. He could teleport away to escape, but that would mean surrendering the Refining Demons Cave he had built for two eons.

“Oh? But it’s too late,” Qin Shuang smiled faintly. “Our terms have changed: either you submit to the Purple Profound Alliance or you die.”

“Pfft!” Qin Si’s spear pierced another upper-tier Heavenly God’s chest and locked him inside the Soul Lock Tower.

“I’ll give you time to consider,” Qin Shuang said with a composed smile, watching Ping Tian.

“Die?” Ping Tian sneered. “Perhaps I’m no match for your servant, but you think killing a Divine King is so…” Just as he was about to say “easy” and teleport away, he was horrified to find the space around him locked—teleportation was impossible.

“Five seconds have passed,” Qin Shuang kindly reminded.

“I…” Sweat beaded on Ping Tian’s forehead as countless thoughts flooded his mind. Unable to escape, he faced the same ultimatum as the deputy alliance leader had said: submit or die.

“I… I agree…” Ten seconds had just passed when the young man in blue moved slightly, and Ping Tian hurriedly said, “I agree to submit. From now on, the Refining Demons Cave shall serve as the Refining Pavilion under the Purple Profound Alliance.” Ping Tian seemed well aware of the alliance’s rules and responded quickly.

“Very well. The rule of the Purple Profound Alliance is that any member must swear never to betray the alliance for life. Should the oath be broken, heaven and earth will abandon them,” Qin Shuang said coldly. A Divine King cannot be controlled by the Soul Lock Tower; only an oath can bind them.

Ping Tian felt frustrated. Originally, he had intended to force Qin Si and Qin Shuang to swear; unexpectedly, the outcome was that he himself had to swear eternal loyalty to the Purple Profound Alliance. Yet he had no choice—without the oath, this would be his death day.

He recalled that when the eight great divine clans first invited him, they had never used such methods. Otherwise, the Refining Pavilion would not exist.

“I, Ping Tian, lead the Refining Demons Cave to join the Purple Profound Alliance, never to betray it. Should I break this oath, may heaven and earth forsake me forever.”

After swearing, Qin Si had just finished subduing the last upper-tier Heavenly God and returned to his seat. He looked at Ping Tian with satisfaction and nodded. “That’s more like it. Those who know when to act wisely are heroes. Follow us brothers, and you won’t suffer any losses in the future.”

Ping Tian smiled bitterly and took out the spatial ring Qin Si had “offered” him earlier. “Alliance Leader, I haven’t touched the things here; I’ll return them to you.”

Qin Si waved his hand. “No need. If they were meant for you, they’re yours. Keep them for your subordinates. By the way, I took those six upper-tier Heavenly Gods with me.”

“R-Really no need to return them?” Ping Tian was astonished—where had he seen such brazen bandits?

“No need. But…” Qin Si waved his hand, and suddenly over a hundred mid-tier Heavenly Gods appeared in the grand hall. “Ping Tian, from now on, you don’t need to worry about the Purple Profound Alliance’s income. Just maintain a time acceleration space at five thousand times speed in the Refining Demons Cave to help them cultivate quickly. Whatever materials they need for cultivation, just come to me.”

“Ah?” Such a good deal? Just cultivation? Maintaining a five-thousand-fold time acceleration space isn’t difficult, and he could cultivate too, but the divine spirit stones…

“Don’t worry!” Qin Shuang saw Ping Tian’s thoughts and produced a spatial ring. “We have plenty of divine spirit stones. Here, take these for now.”

Ping Tian took the ring in astonishment. His divine sense immediately sank into it, and he was dumbfounded.

Superior-grade divine spirit stones—though not the highest quality, they were stacked like a mountain. Despite surviving over four eons in the divine realm, this was the first time Ping Tian had seen such a sight.

(To be continued)