Chapter 2: Armed Robbery (Part 1)

The handsome old man gestured excitedly, “You can now advance to the seventh-tier altar. Hehe, luckily I had enough materials prepared. I can start building it right away. In just a few more days, you’ll be able to advance smoothly.”
Guo Shier was slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected to advance so quickly. After all, there was a fundamental difference between the sixth-tier and seventh-tier altars. Once one advanced from the sixth to the seventh tier, they would truly belong to the ranks of top professionals. In an ancient clan, it was usually a master of the seventh-tier altar who held ultimate power—like an immovable pillar.
The handsome old man said, “Should you discuss this with Senior Li Ran and stay here for another ten or so days before setting off after advancing?” He hoped Guo Shier would advance as soon as possible.
Guo Shier thought for a moment and said, “Better not. We don’t have time to waste. You go ahead and build the seventh-tier altar as planned. When I have time, I’ll try to advance as well. This isn’t a place to stay long.”
The handsome old man smiled bitterly. “What could be more important than your advancement? Fine, I’ll get started. Try to find some free time—this can’t be delayed.” His body suddenly retracted into the altar.
Guo Shier got up and went outside the room. Li Ran, Yang Miluo, and Fan Zhen Tong were already waiting there. He waved to hide the talisman house before asking, “Are we leaving now?”
Li Ran nodded. Glancing at Guo Shier casually, he was a bit surprised and said, “Huh? You’re going to advance?”
Guo Shier replied, “Uh, can it really be told?”
Li Ran laughed. “Of course. Advancing from the sixth to the seventh tier is a huge change. You’ll truly become a top professional. In this world, you can practically do as you please… Of course, assuming you don’t run into people like us, haha.”
Yang Miluo was also at the sixth-tier altar and had been stuck there for countless years, long since giving up on advancing. Hearing that Guo Shier was about to advance, he felt mixed emotions. Envious, he said, “Sigh, advancing to the seventh tier… Ahem, congratulations!”
Fan Zhen Tong asked, “Are the materials for advancement ready?”
Guo Shier nodded. “No problem. They’re all prepared. As soon as I have time, I plan to advance right away.”

Fan Zhen also couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh. He said, “You’re truly well-prepared. When my soul power reached the level required for advancement, I simply didn’t have enough materials. I had to go to an ancient clan, serve as its patriarch for forty years, and guard the clan’s continent to obtain the materials needed for advancement. It was only through the full efforts of that ancient clan that I succeeded—it was truly not easy.”

Guo Shier smiled without saying a word. In fact, he had not only gathered all the materials needed for advancing to the seventh-level altar but also almost all the materials required for the eighth and ninth-level altars, so he didn’t need to worry at all. This was thanks to his plundering of countless professionals and several ancient clans; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to collect such a large quantity and variety of materials.

By chance, fortune, and with the help of powerful individuals, Guo Shier had unknowingly completed the most difficult task for professionals.

Li Ran, of course, knew Guo Shier was extremely wealthy. He smiled and said, “Alright, let’s first go see what’s causing the fluctuations that have attracted so many mutated rune beasts and allowed them to grow stronger invisibly. Then we’ll find a secluded place for Shier to advance.”

The four of them flew out of the crack in the rock and discovered a thick layer of snow on the ground—it had snowed heavily the night before.

Guo Shier took a breath of the cold air and smiled, “With all those chaotic beast roars last night, I wonder how many people and beasts died. This place must be considered extremely inauspicious.”

Li Ran said, “The mutated rune beasts and aberrant rune beasts here were all attracted from outside. There are few native beasts. Hehe, even we came from outside. Stop lamenting—let’s go!”

Since the Great Abyssal Pool covered such a vast area, even professionals would need a long time to reach it, during which time they would hunt along the way. The main task of each group of professionals was to collect materials and sacrifices. As the number of mutated and aberrant rune beasts increased, so did the brutality of the killings.

Along the way, one could often see broken altars—traces left by fallen professionals. There were also the skeletons of some mutated rune beasts, usually of middle or low levels. As for the advanced ones, not even their bones remained, as those were high-quality materials.

This time, Li Ran ignored the mutated rune beasts below and led the three of them swiftly across the sky, flying forward.

FourFulu lights lights streaked across the sky. Guo Shier saw several mutatedFulu lights beasts and wanted to take action, but found that Li Ran didn’t stop at all. With a wry smile, he whispered to the handsome old man, “Old man, look, another mutatedFulu lights beast. Brother Li Ran still isn’t stopping. What a shame.”

The handsome old man dismissed it, saying, “What he’s after is far more attractive than this. I found those ripples to be very strange. I don’t know what kind of genius treasure it is. He’s doing the right thing. If I were the leader, I’d also charge forward without hesitation.”

Guo Shier sighed and said, “I wonder where Master Kumu is.”

The handsome old man replied, “As long as you’re determined, you can always find them. Don’t worry. But kid, even if you find your master and wife, you’ll eventually have to part ways.”

Guo Shier nodded. “Yes, I know. But I just want to see them one more time.”

The handsome old man said with a wry smile, “See them again? Yeah, just one more time! Maybe that will bring some comfort. Back then… well, never mind.”

Guo Shier said, “Hmm, handsome old man, maybe you can be reborn in the future.”

The handsome old man scratched his head and asked, “Reborn? What do you mean?” He didn’t have such a concept.

Guo Shier explained, “It means living again.”

The handsome old man said, “Stop joking. Living again? I’m already very lucky to be alive now. Hehe, do you despise me as a sacrificial spirit? This old man has had quite good luck in life—died once, but still managed to keep my soul.”

Guo Shier replied, “That’s nothing. I’ve already lived three times.”

The handsome old man was shocked. “Lived three times?”

Guo Shier smiled. “Well? Are you tempted now, hehe?” Since he had exchanged his Soul Scripture with Li Ran and planned to leave this world, he no longer kept it secret from the handsome old man. After all, the old man had helped him greatly. Giving him hope meant giving himself hope.

The handsome old man asked, “Explain to me what rebirth means.”

Guo Shier explained in detail. The handsome old man was completely stunned. After a long while, he said, “If that’s really the case, does it mean that once you die, you can live again? You’d never die!”

“If I had that luck, I could live again too!”

Guo Shier smiled. “That’s exactly right.”

The handsome old man sighed. “No wonder you advanced so quickly. Hmm, I need to plan carefully. If rebirth is possible, I’ll need to prepare as well.” His face was filled with excitement. No one wants to die, and if there’s a way to live on, he would be overjoyed.

Guo Shier said, “I don’t know how much longer I can live, but I think there will come a day when I die. By then, we can be reborn together.”
The old man said, “You’d better find a way to reach the level of Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen—go beyond the ninth-tier altar. I think rebirth would be fine at that point.”
Guo Shier said, “Yes, you need to help me.”
After this conversation, the old man was completely committed to helping Guo Shier. It was simple logic: helping Guo Shier meant helping himself, because as Guo Shier advanced, his strength would rise rapidly. The soul entities of the altars also varied in strength, and he felt he wasn’t strong enough yet.
Guo Shier said, “The fluctuations are becoming clearer.”
The old man sensed them briefly and said, “These fluctuations are strange. They seem similar to your soul’s fluctuations, but they have limited effect on humans. However, they’re very effective against mutated and aberrant beast spirits.”
Guo Shier said, “I don’t know what they are. I’m curious too.”
The old man said, “There’s a fight ahead!”
Guo Shier laughed, “Fights are common here. We’ve seen many along the way. Ignore them; we can just fly over.”
Before the four of them reached the scene of the fight, they were blocked by several professionals.
It was two professionals from the fifth-tier altar, who seriously blocked their path and shouted, “This is a hunt by the Gulangshang family. Please take another route!”
Li Ran didn’t say much. With a wave of his hand, he sent a powerful gust of wind that sent the two flying.
The two were terrified and immediately sent out alarm signals. Two red signals flew into the air and exploded like fireworks. Li Ran was both annoyed and amused. He said, “This is the Great Abyss Pool. There are still such stupid families that think they can block things like this! Ignore them. Let’s go!”
The four continued flying forward without stopping. But the professionals from the Gulangshang family refused to let them pass. Soon, more than a dozen professionals arrived, blocking their way. It seemed to be a super-large family. With a glance, Guo Shier counted over two hundred professionals. The weakest among them were at the fourth-tier altar—no wonder they were so domineering.
Li Ran didn’t summon an altar, but Fan Zhen Tong, Yang Miluo, and Guo Shier were all seated on altars. Daring to offend professionals at the seventh-tier altar and two at the sixth-tier altar, this family indeed had the confidence. But they never expected that among these four, there was someone extremely powerful.
They probably thought it would be easy to bully these four, so Li Ran’s intervention gave them a reason to attack.

Guo Shier sighed and said, “Brother Li Ran, if you just release the altar, nothing will happen.” He was speechless about Li Ran’s cruel sense of humor—it only delayed things.
Li Ran smiled and said, “I just like stepping on people. It’s their own fault for not being careful.”
Not only was Guo Shier disgusted, but Yang Miluo and Fan Zhen Tong were also speechless. It seemed this guy couldn’t help but act in such a cruel way.
Guo Shier, Yang Miluo, and Fan Zhen Tong unconsciously stepped back a bit, pushing Li Ran to the front. Since he liked to act, they would satisfy his cruel desires.