Chapter 3: Losing Control (Part 2)

No matter how fierce Ming Liang’s temper, seeing Li Ran’s altar made him give up any resistance. He understood that with Li Ran’s strength, killing them all would be effortless, not to mention the presence of those ancient ancestors—who gave them no chance to escape. At this moment, he felt like a fish on a chopping board, with nowhere to flee.

Ming Wudeng said bitterly, “What should we do?” He was still unaccustomed to suddenly going from hunter to prey. He wanted to fight desperately, but he knew that once he did, he would have no chance of survival. Having reached the seventh-tier altar, he certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to challenge a master.

Ming Liang was completely demoralized. He was even more afraid of death than Ming Wudeng. He had already reached the pinnacle of professionalism in his life. If it weren’t for Li Ran, he could have continued to show off his power. But this time, his luck was terrible—like being kicked against an iron plate.

Li Ran also felt a headache. Robbery required skill. After all, the belongings of altar-level professionals weren’t stored in talisman bags but in the altar’s space. He didn’t have Gu Xi Bi at his disposal, nor did he know that Guo Shier had such a bizarre tool.

Guo Shier said, “Brother Li Ran, let me do it… You protect me!”
Li Ran asked, “How do you plan to do it?”
Guo Shier slapped the top of the altar, and countless tentacles emerged from its base, writhing in the air. Smiling, he said, “I can use Gu Xi Bi’s tentacles… to snatch things straight from their talisman spaces!”

Li Ran was stunned. He exclaimed in surprise, “Huh? There’s such a method?” Then he burst into laughter. “Damn, you’re the real professional robber! Haha, hahaha!” Their conversation wasn’t hidden from the others.

Ming Liang and Ming Wudeng turned pale. This was too cruel—stealing from the altar itself! They hurriedly tried to hide their most precious materials, but Li Ran was extremely cunning. Suddenly, he shouted, “Hold still!”

Instantly, the ancient ancestors of the Gu Ming family froze like statues. A soul-pressure wave swept over them, crushing their souls and preventing them from moving. Sweat dripped down Ming Liang and Ming Wudeng’s faces. They never expected Li Ran to act suddenly. They couldn’t even protest—no sound could come out.

Guo Shier and the handsome old man cheered at the same time. He rode the altar forward, saying, “Brother Li Ran, hold on a little longer…”

Hai Miluo and the others watched as the tentacles on Guo Shier’s altar pierced into the altars of Ming Liang and Ming Wu Deng—a truly eerie sight that made everyone shiver. After all, each altar was connected to a soul, and such a tactic was extremely terrifying.

In just a few breaths, Guo Shier rushed at the other ancestors of the Gu Ming family. In less than two minutes, he had cleared them all out. Although Ming Liang and Ming Wu Deng couldn’t move, they were fully aware of what was happening in the altars. Guo Shier focused on controlling the altars, while the task of looting was handled by Old Shuai. That guy acted like a ruthless robber, taking everything he could find, leaving nothing behind.

Old Shuai didn’t spare any sacrificial items he could grab, except for a few particularly powerful ones that he had to give up for now. But he recorded them and asked Guo Shier to give Li Ran a jade talisman detailing these high-grade sacrificial items. As for the sacred treasures, there was nothing he could do—those weren’t something Gu Xi Bi could take.

Li Ran picked up the jade talisman, glanced at it briefly, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, you even figured this out? Haha, young brother, you’re amazing! I’m thinking… maybe we should form a team just to rob—this is brilliant.”

Old Shuai quietly communicated with Guo Shier. He said, “Kid, trouble… our storage space is running out. I’ve created many more storage talismans, but it’s still not enough…”

Guo Shier found it amusing. Having robbed over thirty altar-level experts in one go, it would be strange if there was still enough space. Old Shuai robbed recklessly, taking everything—even the materials and items that those ancestors had long forgotten and stored in their talisman spaces.

Li Ran threw the jade talisman onto Ming Liang’s altar and said calmly, “Bring out all these sacrificial items. Since I’ve thought this through, even if you fight desperately… it’s not worth it.”

Ming Liang was heartbroken. Sensing the restraining force ease slightly, he struggled to pick up the jade talisman. After staring at it for a while, he said dejectedly, “Fine, I’ll give them!” The words came out through gritted teeth.

At this point, as Li Ran said, survival was the only priority. It was better to give up material possessions. Ming Liang and Ming Wu Deng had completely surrendered. Both shared the same thought: as long as the lives of those ancestors could be saved, it counted as a victory. As for revenge, they didn’t even dare consider it—unless their family had a professional who could surpass the ninth-tier altar, which was impossible.

Both of them gave up the idea of revenge. When the opponent’s strength became hopelessly overwhelming, they had no other thoughts but to escape from there as soon as possible. Whoever got involved with those guys would suffer the consequences.

Ming Liang sat motionless on the altar, in a daze. This outing had cost them dearly—half of their clan’s ancestors had died, and the rest were robbed of everything. His heart felt as if it were being torn apart by venomous snakes, filled with extreme pain. He regretted not leaving earlier and had been foolish enough to try to rob them.

Ming Wu Deng dutifully placed the offerings into the talisman bag. Each of the ancestors took out a sacrificial treasure. Fortunately, they were all advanced professionals, at least experts at the fifth-level altar, each possessing several sacrificial treasures, so taking out just one wasn’t a big deal.

After the looting, Li Ran said, “You can go now!”

Hai Miluo said coldly, “Next time you plan to rob someone… make sure you know who you’re dealing with! Don’t think just because you have a professional at the eighth-level altar that you can do whatever you want!”

Ming Liang and Ming Wu Deng, along with their clan’s ancestors, fled frantically, trying to get as far away as possible, not daring to say a word for fear of angering Li Ran, as it would be impossible to leave then.

Guo Shier said, “These guys are quite smart.”

Li Ran said, “Yes, that’s why you were able to steal so much. Actually… if they had fought back desperately, we wouldn’t have been able to take anything. Of course, they wouldn’t have survived either.”

Guo Shier said, “I don’t have any intention of facing death bravely. Life may be hard, but as long as you’re alive, there’s hope. Once dead… there’s nothing left.”

Li Ran smiled and asked, “Then would you also choose to surrender like them?”

Guo Shier shook his head. “Not necessarily. It depends on who your opponent is. Some people… even if you surrender, they’ll still try to steal everything and kill everyone. If I encounter such people, I’ll fight to the death… even if I die, I’ll bite off a piece of their flesh!”

Li Ran asked, “So did the people of the Gu Ming clan realize we would let them go?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “You’ve left them completely helpless. With such an absolute advantage, their attitude no longer matters. Even if they try to fight desperately… they can’t succeed.”

Hai Miluo laughed and said, “Alright, let’s start dividing the loot!”

Guo Shier took out the looted materials, not realizing that Shuai Lao Tou had already reserved the necessary ones in advance. According to Shuai Lao Tou, this was a necessary fee, so he generously released all the unnecessary materials.

As for how to distribute it, that was Hai Miluo and Feng Miluo’s concern; Li Ran didn’t care about it. He took out a bag of Soul Beads and sacrificial treasures and said, “You divide them among yourselves. I’ll give mine to Er Shier.” He didn’t care about such things.
A loot-sharing ceremony made everyone extremely happy. Guo Shier laughed and said, “Robbery has always been a great way to get rich quickly. Hehe, now I even have all the materials needed to advance to the seventh-tier altar.”
The old man grumbled, “It’s not just enough for the seventh-tier altar; I even have all the materials for the eighth-tier altar. I just need one special material to get the complete set for the ninth-tier altar… As for the remaining materials, they’re enough for Ying Mo and Luo Zhan to advance to the fifth tier… Damn it, if I were still alive… I would have gone robbing too! Sigh, I’m such an idiot. I wasn’t dead back then—why didn’t I think of such a trick?” he said full of resentment.
…
Ming Liang and Ming Wu Deng led a group of ancestors and flew over a thousand kilometers in one go.
Ming Wu Deng said, “Ancestors, let’s descend and rest for a while to discuss what to do.”
Ming Liang replied listlessly, “Okay.” Then he couldn’t help but add, “Damn those bastards!” The group landed.
One of the ancestors said, “All our supplies have been stolen, and we don’t have any sacrifices left. If we encounter a fight, it will be extremely dangerous. Are we really going to go back like this? I can’t accept it!”
Ming Liang flew into a rage and shouted, “Can’t accept it? Then go and fight to your death… What’s the use of being unwilling? Damn it… That guy is a professional who surpasses the ninth-tier altar. Forget about him! I’ve never seen anyone who surpasses the ninth-tier altar in my life, yet here I am, encountering one… Damn it, damn it…” He cursed chaotically.
All the ancestors fell silent.
Ming Wu Deng said, “Ancestors, it’s just bad luck for us. Sigh, it’s all my fault… If we hadn’t provoked them, nothing of this would have happened…”
Ming Liang shook his head and said, “It’s not your fault… I guess that Silver-Spotted Dragon was killed by them. It’s really frustrating.” He also expressed his frustration. The ancestor who had been cursed was indignant: “You say you’re frustrated too, yet you come to scold me.”
Ming Wu Deng said, “Going back like this is too humiliating. Ancestors, even if we can’t retaliate, we should at least make them suffer a bit…”
Ming Liang smiled bitterly and said, “Provoking them again… people will really die. If they haven’t killed us completely, we’re already lucky. Sigh, they’re too strong; we have no way to deal with them.”

Ming Wu Deng said, “Then we’ll act as the situation demands. Anyway, we shouldn’t confront them directly—it would cost us dearly.”
Ming Liang nodded. “Good. Let’s first find the families from our alliance. They’ve been in here for quite some time; maybe we can find an opportunity…” His eyes burned with hatred. In truth, he knew that direct confrontation was suicide. Only with a very good opportunity could they possibly trick the enemy once. Whether it would work was uncertain, as the enemy had a super expert who could handle many unexpected situations and get them out of dangerous predicaments.
Ming Wu Deng said, “I’ll send a signal charm to see where they are.”
……
Li Ran led a group of people and continued flying south. The climate gradually became hotter. That day, they arrived at a grassland, and the sky suddenly darkened as torrential rain poured down. Guo Shier Shi sat on the altar, with an invisible rune shielding them from the rain.
Crack! Boom…
A bolt of lightning flashed through the dark clouds, shaking everyone’s souls. Li Ran shouted, “Let’s go down! Lightning is dangerous!”
With lightning and thunder and rolling clouds, everyone immediately steered the altar downward.