Volume Two: Life of a Bandit, Chapter Forty: The God-King Li Yi

“Ah, this is so frustrating. I never imagined that in less than a hundred years, you would already comprehend the stillness of time. This world is truly insane.”

Above a vast ocean, Qin Si and Qin Shuang flew through the air, aimlessly enjoying the sea breeze. They looked completely at ease.

“That isn’t quite fair,” Qin Shuang said, dark lines appearing across his face. “I cultivated in the Jiang Lan Realm, where a hundred years here is a hundred thousand years. And besides, Pingtian and Xuanmiao maintained a temporal acceleration field in the Jiang Lan Realm—at a full five-thousandfold acceleration. By my calculations, I’ve actually cultivated there for five hundred million years. Comprehending the stillness of time after five hundred million years isn’t exactly exaggerated, is it?”

Qin Si rolled his eyes at him. “All right, all right. Are you still dissatisfied? Do you have to cultivate for several billion more years before you’ll be content?”

“Big Brother, you don’t seem inferior to me either. Although you haven’t become a God King, your comprehension of space seems even more formidable than that of a God King.” Qin Shuang had always been unable to understand Qin Si’s extraordinary abilities.

Qin Si smiled. “Heh heh, it all depends on fate and opportunity. And I have one more thing to tell you. Your big brother isn’t weak either. I’ve already…” He quietly transmitted the final words directly to Qin Shuang.

“What? This… this is unbelievable!”

Even Qin Shuang, who had already comprehended the law of temporal stillness, could not help exclaiming aloud. The people nearby all turned to look at them.

“Keep your voice down, you fool. This must remain a secret.” Qin Si glared reproachfully at him.

“Looks like I’ll never be able to catch up with you, Big Brother. What use is comprehending the stillness of time? If we really fought, I’m afraid I still wouldn’t be your match, even though you’re only an Upper-Level Heavenly Deity.” Qin Shuang sounded somewhat languid, but there was not the slightest trace of jealousy or dejection in his voice. He was sincerely happy for his elder brother.

“Heh heh, that’s hard to say. Perhaps I could win. After all, I’ve never tried.” A glimmer of anticipation flashed through Qin Si’s eyes. Clearly, he was eager to test his new ability as well.

“The Grandmist Divine Realm really is enormous. This ocean alone is probably far larger than the Linmeng Divine Realm.” Qin Shuang sighed. They had been flying and teleporting by turns for nearly a month, yet they had not even seen a single island.

“Yes. The demonic beasts seem to be considerably stronger too.” Qin Si suddenly stopped. With his hands clasped behind his head, he lay suspended in the air, closed his eyes, and spoke lazily. “I’m not going any farther. Let’s rest for a while. Damn it, what kind of place is this? Water everywhere and nothing else. How boring. We might as well go sightseeing in the Eight Great Holy Cities.”

Qin Shuang gave a helpless, bitter smile. “If we went to the Eight Great Holy Cities, we would probably either be forced to surrender or be killed. How could we be as comfortable as we are now?”

“Tch. I’m not afraid. We still have a Heavenly Exalt with us,” Qin Si said indifferently.

“If that Heavenly Exalt really makes a move, I’m afraid even his clone would be killed.” If a Heavenly Exalt attacked a God King, countless other Heavenly Exalts would probably immediately hunt him down. That would certainly not be pleasant.

“There are quite a few Heavenly Exalts in the Grandmist Divine Realm, but they seem just as difficult to encounter as the three Heavenly Exalts of the Linmeng Divine Realm. There isn’t much difference,” Qin Si said boredly.

“Eh? Big Brother, it looks like there’s fighting up ahead,” Qin Shuang suddenly said.

“Where? Where?” Qin Si sprang to his feet and urgently tugged at Qin Shuang’s hand. “Come on, let’s go take a look.”

“All right!”

The moment Qin Shuang said it, he seized Qin Si and the two of them vanished.

High in the sky, two God Kings floated opposite one another.

One of them had a handsome, cold expression, and a chilling murderous aura surrounded him. A black robe fluttered violently in the sea wind, while his eyes remained fixed on the other God King.

“Whoever you are, I hope you’ll give that item to me. The only valuable possession I have is this second-rate Grandmist spiritual treasure.”

As he spoke, he pulled an unremarkable suit of armor from his body and gently held it in his hand.

“Heh heh. A defensive second-rate Grandmist spiritual treasure is indeed extraordinarily precious, and certainly tempting. Unfortunately, I have no intention of trading for it.” The God King opposite him smiled.

“Haha!” The black-robed God King suddenly burst into laughter. “I’ve been searching for this item for a very long time. Now that it has fallen into my hands, you have two choices. Either exchange it with me and receive a second-rate Grandmist spiritual treasure, or I kill you and take it.”

“Li Yi!” the other God King suddenly said coldly. “Here in the Northern Sea, hardly anyone is unaware of your name. But if I refuse, there is nothing you can do to me. You are a God King, and so am I. With a single thought, I can teleport away. If you want to kill me, it won’t be as easy as you imagine.”

Li Yi raised his head and looked at the man as though he were an idiot.

“I’ll give you one last chance. Hand over the item, and I’ll give you this second-rate Grandmist spiritual treasure.”

“Hmph. You’re impossible to reason with.” The God King sneered. With a thought, he prepared to teleport away.

“Kunpeng Devouring!”

Suddenly, the God King called Li Yi seemed to vanish. In his place appeared a gigantic black hole. Within ten thousand miles of it, space trembled violently, filled with black spatial cracks that flashed like lightning.

The seawater beneath the black hole was seized by an immense force. It surged toward the center in a vast whirlpool before disappearing completely.

“What is this…?”

By then, Qin Si and Qin Shuang had also arrived nearby. Both were stunned as they stared at the enormous black vortex and the violently trembling space surrounding it.

“The Grandmist Divine Realm actually has someone like this.” Qin Si’s eyes widened at once, and he stared at the scene with excitement.

The God King who had believed he could escape with the slightest movement was now completely dumbfounded. The surrounding space had become utterly chaotic, and spatial cracks were everywhere. Teleportation had become nothing more than a hopeless fantasy. At the same time, he had to use all his power to resist the enormous suction constantly pouring from the center of the black hole.

Whoosh!

A point of light suddenly flashed.

In that instant, it seemed as though the essence of heaven and earth had gathered into that single point. Its radiance was dazzling beyond measure. Even Qin Shuang, a God King, felt as if his divine sense were being pierced by it.

In the blink of an eye, calm returned to the surface of the sea.

Of the two God Kings who had stood there moments before, only one remained.

Li Yi, dressed in black, now held a three-foot-long ruler in his hand.

“Heh heh. Welcome, welcome. I never expected three guests to arrive at my territory all at once today.” The moment Li Yi’s voice fell, his figure had already appeared before Qin Si and Qin Shuang.

“You, an Upper-Level Heavenly Deity, are probably no ordinary person either.” Li Yi threw back his head and laughed, showing not the slightest trace of hostility.

“And you, a God King, are certainly no ordinary person yourself.” Qin Si narrowed his eyes and studied Li Yi.

“Oh? Not ordinary? The God King beside you is the truly extraordinary one. He probably hasn’t cultivated for even one cosmic era, yet he has already comprehended the stillness of time. The younger generation is indeed formidable.” Li Yi patted Qin Shuang on the shoulder, acting as though they were old friends.

“You said this was your territory?” Qin Shuang asked.

Li Yi smiled and answered frankly, “That’s right, my territory. Although I don’t have a single subordinate and am completely alone, it seems that no one in the entire Northern Sea wants to contest it with me. Whenever a God King passes through here, they show me considerable respect.”

Of course. Wherever one went, strength ruled above all else. Judging solely from the power Li Yi had displayed moments earlier, even a large number of God Kings would be of no use against him. They should consider themselves fortunate if he did not cause them trouble.

“May I ask what brings you two to the Northern Sea? If you’ve come to persuade me to submit to some power, then save your breath,” Li Yi said bluntly.

The light in Qin Si’s eyes grew even brighter. Everything about Li Yi suited his temperament perfectly.

“Haha, Brother, you really are straightforward. The two of us were merely traveling around when we happened to encounter someone as extraordinary as you. We would be delighted to make you a friend. What do you think?”

“Good. I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t afraid of me and didn’t try to persuade me to surrender. Come, I’ll take you both out for a drink.”

Li Yi spread his arms and draped one around the shoulders of each brother. His figure blurred, and the three of them vanished completely.

“This is… a high-grade Heavenly Divine Artifact!”

At the bottom of the Northern Sea, Qin Si and Qin Shuang cried out in unison.

A high-grade Heavenly Divine Artifact was not particularly astonishing in itself. But before this, the only person they knew who had refined an entire palace into a single high-grade Heavenly Divine Artifact was Zixuan Manor—and Zixuan Manor was merely a low-grade Heavenly Divine Artifact.

“Heh heh, it’s nothing special,” Li Yi said with a smile, stroking his chin. “Come along. My Snowrise Manor hasn’t welcomed guests in many years.”

Qin Si and Qin Shuang forcibly suppressed their astonishment and followed Li Yi into Snowrise Manor.

“This is also a high-grade Heavenly Divine Artifact!”

The moment he entered Snowrise Manor, Qin Shuang caught sight of a sculpture beside a pool. It depicted a woman bending slightly at the waist, holding a lotus flower between her fingers. The corners of her mouth were raised in a faint, blissful smile.

“It seems… there are a great many high-grade Heavenly Divine Artifacts here.” Qin Si looked left and right. Sculptures of women filled every corner of Snowrise Manor, each with a different expression and posture.

“All of these sculptures are of the same woman…” Qin Shuang suddenly realized.

Although the sculptures displayed different expressions, their faces were identical. Clearly, they all depicted one and the same woman.

To be continued.