Reading the lot, Lei Jun's eyes flashed.
Keep holding your ground, don't make unnecessary mistakes, don't seek merit, only strive to avoid mistakes—the result, safe and sound, but with no benefit and no danger.
If you take the initiative to pursue and capture, it might split into a moderately good lot or the worst lot, both a lucky and an unlucky ending?
"That Tao Boy was indeed talented, but so many people are chasing him, and he's managed to escape for so long—maybe there's more to it beneath the surface."
The young Taoist, who advocated sticking to his original post, kept persuading him, "Junior Brother, until the situation becomes clear, we should stick to what we know..."
The young Taoist shook his head. "I also suspect that someone else is helping that little thief. That's exactly why we need to find out the truth as soon as possible!"
He made up his mind, determined to split the group into two teams.
Although young, he was incredibly talented and favored by the elder generation of the sect.
The young Taoist had entered the sect earlier, but they did not share the same master, so he couldn't force the younger Taoist to change his decision now.
A few Tao Boys from the Sixth Division near Lei Jun hesitated.
They wanted to join the young Taoist and take the initiative; that way, their chances to earn merit seemed higher.
But the shadow of Elder Du's altar explosion a few months ago still hadn't faded.
That Tao Boy named Zhang, who had barely recovered after being seriously injured, still felt lingering fear whenever he recalled how eager he'd been at the time.
*Everyone was wondering, should we follow Lei's way from last time...*
"Lei Jun is always ready to follow Taoist Gao's orders."
A tall figure suddenly stepped forward, taking the initiative to follow the young Taoist named Gao.
Everyone around stared at Lei Jun, stunned.
"Lei?"
A younger Tao Boy next to him whispered, "Didn't you say last time to just do what's assigned and worry about the rest later...?"
Lei Jun replied, "Now, whether we stay or go, it's all for the Sect, and all for the Celestial Master Mansion."
"Very good!"
The young Taoist was delighted. He gathered a few more and quickly set out.
Not long after they left, Wang Guiyuan came over, looking around. "Luo, why are you the only one here? Where's Gao?"
The young Taoist explained, "Gao suspects the thief has help, so he took some people to investigate and search."
After hearing the list of those on the proactive team, Wang Guiyuan didn't say much, but inwardly, he sighed,
*I don't want to get involved in things like this—I just want to rest easy in my own little corner, but my master gave me this task before leaving. What a pain.*
*That Lei, though, still seems fired up.*
"Ah, young people, so full of blood and passion."
Wang Guiyuan gently shook his head. "But you can't blame him. Life's short, sometimes you've just got to seize the day..."
*But if anything happens to Lei Jun, I can't explain it to my master or Senior Sister Xu Yuanzhen.*
......
Lei Jun and the others followed the young Taoist, searching in all directions, but found nothing.
On the road, they ran into other teams, and heard that the thief had failed to break a checkpoint but didn't get caught and had slipped away again. Fortunately, the overall encirclement was gradually tightening.
"If he didn't get caught even in that situation, I bet someone is secretly helping him," the young Taoist insisted.
The team kept searching through the mountains.
As the net tightened, more clues kept surfacing.
"They're nearby!"
Before the young Taoist even finished speaking, they suddenly noticed, in another direction, a bright light flashing in the mountains under the night sky—followed by a clap of thunder.
The direction of the Tao Boy Court... Lei Jun saw this, and looked thoughtful.
The young Taoist instantly reacted too. "The Tao Boy Court... they're using a trick to lure us away!"
The wanted thief did have accomplices, and now, while most of the group was out searching, someone snuck into the more vulnerable Tao Boy Court to target someone else.
*It looked like he might've been found out, but whether he'd succeeded or not—no way to know yet.*
"That one is the big fish. We need to catch them all in one net!" the young Taoist snorted.
Lei Jun said, "Taoist, we've probably just about cornered that small-time thief already."
The young Taoist swept his gaze around, pulled out a Spirit Talisman, and handed it to Lei Jun. "You take them and keep chasing the little one. I'm going back to block the big fish."
A few Tao Boys, hearts stirred, wanted to follow the young Taoist back to grab the big fish instead.
"Taoist Luo isn't exactly wrong, the situation's unclear—Taoist Gao, all of you, be careful..." Before Lei Jun could finish, the young Taoist had already spun on his heel and rushed off.
Lei Jun calmly turned around and looked at the few Tao Boys left. "Let's keep at it. We've tracked the thief this far—can't let him get away now."
The Spirit Talisman the young Taoist had given him was a Thunderclap Talisman, notorious for its power.
Even Foundation Establishment cultivators had to watch out for it.
The thief was only at the First Heaven Layer of Qi Refinement. He definitely couldn't withstand it.
The young Taoist had hesitated a second before handing Lei Jun the talisman—not because he minded losing one, but because a Thunderclap Talisman could just blast both thief and loot to ashes in one blow.
*Truly, having true inheritance lets you make talismans yourself...* Lei Jun stashed the Spirit Talisman and led the Tao Boys to keep searching the mountain.
"Expand the search, but don't go too far from each other. Call out if anything happens," Lei Jun said, stepping into the hills first.
Halfway through the search, suddenly, the ground far away shook violently!
It was as intense as Elder Du's altar explosion a while back.
But it wasn't coming from the Tao Boy Court below the mountain.
It actually sounded like it was from above.
The Tao Boys searching the mountain all had their attention yanked by the tremor.
Just then, a shadow suddenly darted out of the woods and bolted past the cliff edge.
Lei Jun spotted it immediately, called out, and instantly chased after.
Unfortunately, with the hillside in chaos, Lei Jun's voice was drowned out.
But Lei Jun still caught up to the shadow quickly.
The guy was dressed the same gray Tao Boy robe as him, but he was ghostly pale and covered in wounds, looking downright miserable.
Lei Jun said, "We're from the same sect—I don't want us to turn on each other."
The thief sneered, "Cut the crap, get out of my way!"
Before he finished, he lashed out with a kick aimed at Lei Jun's throat.
Lei Jun kept his cool. Even before speaking, all eight of his qi seas had already started surging inside, with True Qi roaring like a great river.
He didn't dodge or flinch, raising an arm to block.
The attack was swept aside, and the thief was blasted backward, knocked off balance mid-air.
Lei Jun stepped up and reached out, grabbing for the thief's chest and abdomen.
Unexpectedly, the thief's chest flashed.
A piece of pitch-black scale-like armor appeared, acting like a shield to block Lei Jun's palm.
Centered on the dark scale, a glowing, door-sized shield rapidly formed, protecting the thief from the blow.
But the thief's face grew even paler, nearly paper-white—he looked utterly exhausted.
Lei Jun didn't hesitate for a second. The other hand, two fingers holding a yellow talisman, flicked it upward,
"By the order of the law—"
Thunder growled overhead—the sky lit up with lightning and peals of thunder.
Lei Jun brandished the Thunderclap Talisman, slashing it through the air,
"Heavenly Thunder, aid me!"
"Boom!"
A bolt of thunder crashed down!
The lightning exploded around the thief. The black scale on his chest flared up, forming a light shield to block the thunder.
The defensive power of that black scale really was remarkable—even the lightning couldn't break through.
But the treasure drained the thief desperately.
The thief wasn't touched by the lightning, but looked completely spent—blood leaking from every orifice as he collapsed backward.
As his mind drifted, the glow faded from around the black scale, the shield dissolved, and the scale itself dropped helplessly to the ground.
Lei Jun reached out and snatched up the scale.
The thief staggered, staring at Lei Jun, and shouted,
"You and I are the same! You're not even a Li, and still you break your back for the Li Family—like the Celestial Master's throne will ever be yours!"
Lei Jun replied, "Doesn't matter if I'm a Li or not. Your cultivation level is nothing more than First Heaven, jumping into this kind of business—you'll only ever be cannon fodder."
The thief's eyes bulged with rage, but with all strength gone, he slumped dead then and there.