Yang Ling watched the gift offer with bated breath. This diamond-like artifact must be peerless, the top treasure of the mouse, hence its dignified appearance.

The atmosphere became frozen; even the winds stopped blowing.

“Bang!” A loud sound startled her, causing her to turn around with haste.

A cultivator somehow got to this alley and saw the hug mouse and its treasure. His jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

“The mouse!” He shouted with his eyes wide open, not expecting to meet the highly-coveted mythical creature in this place.

It was actually handing a treasure over to Li Qiye as well. He calmed down and took a good look at the group before leaving right away, not lingering for a second.

He was afraid that Li Qiye would kill him to keep this a secret. This was a reasonable train of thought.

“Not good!” Yang Ling regained her wits and cried out. Unfortunately, this cultivator was long gone now.

Meanwhile, Li Qiye didn’t even look at the unwelcome intruder. He took a look at the treasure and smiled before giving it back to the mouse.

The mouse squeaked and waved its paws, not wanting to accept it.

“This treasure is important and useful to you while it has limited use for me. You keep it.” Li Qiye chuckled.

Yang Ling also found this astonishing. No one else would have refused the mouse.

The mouse looked awkward and felt bad since it wanted to repay Li Qiye. It squeaked and waved its paws at him.

“Fine, I’ll pick a few items.” Li Qiye understood its intent and smiled. He then picked several treasures from its treasury.

The mouse was finally satisfied and put the brick back in its place. No clues were left behind.

“Good, go now.” He smiled and gently patted the mouse.

It looked unwilling and squeaked a few times before jumping off his shoulder and disappearing into the dark alley.

“We’re leaving.” Li Qiye stretched and left the alley.

“What should we do?” Yang Ling caught up, feeling awfully worried.

“About what?” Li Qiye nonchalantly said.

“The mouse issue, you got a treasure from it, everyone will know.” She elaborated.

The cultivator who fled earlier would definitely divulge this information. Others would subsequently find out.

“Let them know.” Li Qiye smiled.

“But we also took so many items from Vajra’s treasury.” Yang Ling was afraid of the connected dots being figured out. She thought that the dean back then must have felt the same way. 

“And?” Li Qiye said. 

“Well, if Vajra finds out, they’ll exterminate our clans.” She said. They could become the prime suspects due to the circumstances once the dynasty figured out the missing treasures.

“Don’t worry so much. The fact that I took their treasures is an honor for them. They need to act smart or risk destruction.” Li Qiye chuckled.

She has grown used to his overbearing style before but this had reached the next level. He made it sound as if he was showing kindness to Vajra by taking its treasures. The members of the royal clan might go crazy after hearing this.

She smiled wryly and said: “What about if others start to scheme against us?”

Other cultivators would definitely plot against them, going as far as killing them for the treasures.

“That’s a good thing.” Li Qiye replied.

“How is it a good thing?” Her mouth became agape: “Some might be planning how to kill us right now.” She looked around cautiously afterward, feeling extremely tense.

“Have to kill a few to let everyone know who actually has control over life and death, maybe a million or so to warm up. It has been a while since my last massacre.” Li Qiye’s smile turned into a smirk.

“Uh…” She was at a loss for words. She then recalled the event back in Myriad Beast Mountains. People thought nothing of Li Qiye back then and wanted to take advantage of him. They threatened him and eventually became part of a tragic tale. Not a single soul out of one hundred thousand cultivators survived.

She suddenly saw a gruesome carnage where blood engulfed ten thousand miles. She shuddered in fear as a result while thinking - did the young master let that guy escape on purpose?

***

Her worries were warranted. During their trip back, the experts along the way stared at them in a strange manner.

She felt as if they have become the targets under the spotlight. Most viewed them as prey.

“That’s Li Qiye.” Someone murmured and pointed at him.

This person wasn’t the only one. Many muttered and pointed at them.

“Him? Favored by the hug mouse?” Some remained skeptical.

“Yes, my friend witnessed the entire thing. He even got a supreme treasure from the mouse.” One cultivator said with absolute confidence.

Their stares became intense after hearing the confirmation. They considered him a fat sheep ready to be slaughtered.

“Weak cultivation.” One powerful cultivator’s eyes turned hot after seeing Li Qiye’s realm. It would be too easy to subdue Li Qiye and take his treasure. 

“There’s no way he can keep it.” Others had no intention of doing anything to Li Qiye. They were just ready to gloat at his inevitable suffering.

Of course, everyone had qualms in taking action at Wish Ward. Robbing someone in broad daylight was akin to disrespecting Wish Ward and Vajra Dynasty.

They had to wait until he was in a desolate area before killing him and taking the treasure.

“This brat is so devilish.” On the other hand, those from the previous generations remained prudent. One guy stared at Li Qiye and judged: “A treasure from the golden spring, opening the wooden door, now the hug mouse too? He gets all the good things in this world. How bizarre.”

“Not just that, he lifted that hammer up in Myriad Cauldron Peak.” A student from Duality nearby said with envy: “The heaven pampers him too much.”

“Really?” The old cultivator became surprised and had no explanation. All of this occurring on an unknown junior? This didn’t make sense.