Chapter 126: Steal Mastery

Chapter 126: Stealing the Craft

Braving Elder Shenlin of the Deep Forest Tiger Clan's murderous glare, Shang Yunduo sat in the front row and watched the competition for a full eight days, even going up to compete three times himself. He won all three matches, only...

Each time, he wrecked the arena.

After the matches, he didn't dare go over to hand over spirit stones and apologize—after all, the elder couldn't give a damn about his measly spirit stones. And being a Fire Spirit Root himself, he couldn't even repair the arena. So he had no choice but to tough it out and call on his new buddies. The tiger cultivators with Wood Spirit Roots or Earth Spirit Roots whom he'd befriended had no choice but to suck it up.

They didn't have a choice either—Shang Yunduo would call them out by name!

Who could have imagined that?

The first unlucky one to be called up was Fengliu, who walked up and down the arena all stiff and robotic.

Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times? And sure enough...

Shang Yunduo told himself, by the third time, the elder was probably used to it by now.

Even if he wasn't used to it, oh well—the unlucky third opponent was from the Deep Forest Tiger Clan anyway!

It wasn't just him who broke the arena! Let's point fingers where they belong—Elder Shenlin couldn't pin it all on him.

After the match, he yanked his opponent aside and asked him to help fix the arena together.

Unlucky opponent: “...”

Not every Deep Forest Tiger Clan member had a Wood Spirit Root!

Help! He's a Water Spirit Root!!

But arguing with Shang Yunduo at this point would end up with a brutal question like, “If you have a Water Spirit Root, why couldn’t you defeat someone with a Fire Spirit Root?” So the poor guy shot helpless looks at his buddies, silently begging for someone to save him.

In the end, several tiger cultivators from different branches held back their laughter, cautiously ran up, and worked together to restore the arena. They did it to get in good with Shang Yunduo, hoping to score some friend-discounted Baleful Blood Pills later.

Having a clan alchemy cultivator was super handy!

All the lively young hotshots from the various tiger branches wanted to lure Shang Yunduo back to their own homes.

Of course, they couldn't actually steal him away, so they settled for asking him to teach them alchemy.

What if it turned out to be easy?

Every night, Shang Yunduo would teach others a bit about alchemy. But as he taught, he gradually realized in despair that not a single one of these tiger cultivators had a lick of talent for alchemy!

Not a single tiger could refine the Baleful Blood Pill, and that pill was dead simple.

Frustrated, Shang Yunduo would return to Pei Jie at night and brag like crazy about being a genius to make up for his failed teaching.

Pei Jie: “...”

After seeing it for himself, Pei Jie secretly thanked his lucky stars he'd been the one teaching Shang Yunduo.

He had originally thought Shang Yunduo was already hard enough to teach—now he realized everything was relative.

“The tiger clan just isn't cut out for magic arts, let alone alchemy. Instead of teaching them alchemy, you'd be better off learning body techniques from them.”

Shang Yunduo: “I've learned! I've been seriously sneaking in lessons every day! I even used some tiger clan techniques today. If only I had real claws—how convenient would that be?”

Shang Yunduo said enviously, jabbing Pei Jie's chest with the fake claws he'd conjured.

“And tails! So convenient!”

He was super jealous of the tigers' big tails, which could both maintain balance and be used as weapons.

Unfortunately, he didn't dare conjure one—if he messed it up and got caught, it'd be worse than nothing.

When he got back to human territory, he'd take his time figuring out how to mimic their tail with spiritual energy.

Pei Jie pushed away the claws that were using his chest as a cat scratch post, squeezed one, couldn't help squeezing again, then picked it up to get a closer look.

Shang Yunduo grinned: “Looks real, doesn't it? I totally studied their paw pads on the sly!”

Pei Jie: “...”

Shang Yunduo moved down a little: “And the ears—feel them, this is version 3.0!”

Pei Jie pinched one. The fur felt more real, with layered texture, cartilage-like firmness inside, and even body heat.

“...”

For a moment, he wondered where Shang Yunduo's real talent actually lay.

Shang Yunduo climbed back up and touched Pei Jie's deer antlers: “Senior, real antlers also have warmth. The texture here should be a bit soft and fuzzy.”

Pei Jie: “...”

No one was gonna come feel his antlers and check if they were real.

Reading his mind, Shang Yunduo quickly said, “I can tell!”

“What?”

Shang Yunduo: “As long as you use spiritual power, I can tell!”

Pei Jie narrowed his eyes. “Illusion Art?”

“Mhm!” Shang Yunduo touched his antlers again: “If you're not fighting—just walking and talking normally—the spiritual power fluctuations inside you are tiny, concentrated in your dantian and meridians. But when you use moves, the spiritual power gets active.”

Pei Jie nodded. That was natural.

Sensing changes in different people's spiritual power lets you predict if they're about to attack. But normally you need to be at Golden Core stage for that; Foundation Establishment cultivators can only vaguely sense obvious killing intent.

“When the spiritual power is active, those little specks also start moving around various parts of the body.” He poked Pei Jie's belly and arm: “Here, here, and...”

Pei Jie: “Antlers?”

“Mhm!” Shang Yunduo leaned in and shared his new discovery: “The ears definitely have them! I've checked all the tiger cultivators—their ears always have them. Since they don't have antlers, I'm not sure if antlers should have them. But Silverwing Butterflies have them on their wings, so antlers should have them too, right? Too bad I didn't get a good look at the Darkhorn Ox's horns. Still, they probably have them too. If you use spiritual power and there are no specks on your antlers and ears, I can instantly tell they're fake!”

Pei Jie fell silent, thinking. Then he suddenly smiled, a look of realization crossing his face: “I see. No wonder I got found out so fast back then.”

Shang Yunduo: “Huh?”

Pei Jie: “Didn't you ask me once where I got the Illusion Art?”

Shang Yunduo: “Mhm.”

Pei Jie: “I wandered through the demon realm many times disguised as a demon cultivator and never got caught. But once, I encountered a troublesome fellow. We'd barely crossed paths before he figured out I wasn't a demon.”

Shang Yunduo couldn't help lifting his head: “He's the one behind the Illusion Art? He knows the Illusion Art?”

Pei Jie: "Probably. I tried hiding a few times but he caught me every time. It was probably similar to how you chased the Silverwing Butterfly—invisibility didn't work."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He couldn't help but ask: "What happened next?"

Pei Jie: "He had good eyesight for chasing people, but his perception was still a bit lacking. He didn't see through my hidden cultivation and thought I was only at the Golden Core stage. He wanted to consume me to boost his own cultivation, so he kept chasing me. I had no choice but to kill him."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Pei Jie: "Come to think of it, the dots you mentioned aren't exactly the same as spiritual energy."

Shang Yunduo: "Huh?"

Pei Jie: "Spiritual energy is concentrated in the dantian, but those dots don't seem to be?"

Shang Yunduo: "Ah! That's what you mean. No, they're more scattered, all over the body."

Pei Jie: "Do they change with the form?"

Shang Yunduo: "Mm-hmm!"

The Silverwing Butterfly was like that, and so were the Tiger cultivators.

When switching between tiger form and human form, the spiritual energy and those dots on them would also change accordingly.

Pei Jie: "So, if I hide my antlers and ears and just use my human form to pass as a demon, it would be harder to get caught?"

Shang Yunduo thought for a moment: "Yes, in theory."

Pei Jie was momentarily speechless.

If he hadn't come up with the idea at that time to disguise himself in too many beast forms, he might not have been discovered.

But considering that guy's intelligence and talent back then, there's no way he could have learned the Illusion Art. Did this technique require a different kind of talent, or...

"Senior? Senior? Brother!" Seeing Pei Jie lost in thought and silent for a while, Shang Yunduo couldn't help calling him.

Pei Jie snapped out of it at the word "brother" and turned to glare at him.

Shang Yunduo chuckled: "What were you thinking? I've been thinking carefully, and those dots do have something to do with cultivation."

Pei Jie: "How so?"

Shang Yunduo gave an example: "At the same level of cultivation, everyone has roughly the same amount of dots, but the elders have more than those in the Nourishing Spirit stage. A Fourth-order Beast has more than a Third-order one. So there must be a connection. Also, actually, the Silverwing Butterfly has about as many dots as a Third-order Beast. I suspect it's been overrated!"

Pei Jie: "..."

"If you couldn't see those dots, would you still think the Silverwing Butterfly was overrated? Strength doesn't perfectly correspond to spiritual energy or your dots. The criteria for measuring strength in this world aren't limited to what you know. If you underestimate someone just because they have fewer dots, you'll eventually pay the price."

"Oh..." Shang Yunduo muttered and buried his head in Pei Jie's chest, his voice muffled: "I know."

Pei Jie was amused by his nibbling and pushed his head away, then suddenly asked: "How many do I have?"

"Huh?"

"The dots you see."

Shang Yunduo was taken aback. He hadn't really paid close attention to his own or Pei Jie's dots. "Huh?!"

He sat up abruptly and stared at Pei Jie again. "That can't be right..."

Pei Jie's cultivation foundation was much more solid than others at the same stage!

In terms of spiritual energy and strength, he should be even stronger than Hua Guan. But Hua Guan had two to three times more dots than Pei Jie. Even Fengliu and the others had more than Pei Jie.

Pei Jie: "Not a lot?"

Shang Yunduo: "Uh..."

Pei Jie: "So it's not that closely tied to cultivation."

Shang Yunduo: "Uh..."

He couldn't figure it out.

Pei Jie: "Let's sleep."

Shang Yunduo: "Okay."

But he couldn't stop thinking and couldn't fall asleep. After lying with his eyes closed for a while, an idea suddenly hit him. "Senior, what if demons naturally have more than humans?"

"Hmm?" Pei Jie was almost asleep but perked up at this.

Shang Yunduo: "Think about it. Those dots, like spiritual energy, are a form of energy. But they aren't spiritual energy. Cultivation requires drawing spiritual energy into the body, so those things count as impurities. Humans are more refined and meticulous in cultivation than demon cultivators, so they filter out the impurities!"

Pei Jie understood what Shang Yunduo meant.

It wasn't just cultivation methods; even living habits differed greatly between demons and humans.

According to Shang Yunduo's earlier statement, everything has this kind of energy.

Humans usually go into fasting after reaching Foundation Establishment. The pills they take also filter out many impurities compared to the raw devouring of demons. When advancing, they often cleanse the body of accumulated pill toxins.

Thus, their spiritual energy becomes purer, and naturally, there are fewer impurities.

Demons are far less restrained in their habits. They still cultivate by devouring and absorbing raw materials internally. They eat a lot and eat everything, so they ingest more impurities and have more impurities in their bodies.

He nodded: "That makes sense."

Shang Yunduo: "Hehe, right? I'm a genius, what can I say?"

He reached out and grabbed Pei Jie's hand, lifting both arms to compare: "My arms have more dots than yours! No wonder my spiritual energy is weaker—it's because of all the impurities... But as the old saying goes, weeds are just useful plants that humans haven't discovered yet! These dots could turn out to be really useful."

Pei Jie chuckled: "Your spiritual energy isn't weak—it's just your natural physique... Shh!"

Huh?

Shang Yunduo listened carefully. Hua Guan?

Why would he show up in the middle of the night?

But the Giant Tiger Clan members have incredibly light footsteps!

All around, the only sound was snoring. If they hadn't stayed up late talking, they probably wouldn't have heard a thing.

Soon after, the elder of the Wasp-waist Clan left with him.

Shang Yunduo whispered: "Where are they off to?"

Pei Jie thought for a moment and said, "It probably has nothing to do with the clan, but it is related to this trip."

Shang Yunduo was blank: "Huh...?"

Pei Jie sighed: "Something might have gone wrong at the Spirit Rhino Valley, and they knew about it in advance."

Shang Yunduo freaked out: "We're not in danger, are we?"

Pei Jie: "If tomorrow's normal and we set off as planned, that means the situation's under control—no big deal."

Seeing that Shang Yunduo was still bewildered, he continued to explain: "If there were a major issue, they would have sent a Transformation Stage cultivator, not a Core Formation Stage cultivator."

Shang Yunduo: "Hmm... makes sense!"

Compared to human sects, the demon clans still have a lot of animal-like social behaviors. Although the Tiger Clan prefers to fight alone, they are a large clan. Personal stuff they handle on their own, but matters concerning the entire clan rely on the Demon King, just like other demon clans. If it were a real disaster, it would naturally be dealt with by the Tiger King or a Transformation Stage elder. Even if it weren't serious enough to need a Transformation Stage, sending only Core Formation cultivators means they wouldn't bring along Spirit Gathering Stage cultivators as dead weight.

If it were an internal clan dispute, it'd be even less their business. It would start with the elders of each branch arguing, then fighting. Moreover, the Tiger Clan is mostly straightforward; they wouldn't smile during the day and stage a sneak attack at night. If there were a real conflict, they would have fought long ago.

For Hua Guan to visit the Wasp-waist Clan elder in the middle of the night, it was likely that he needed the elder to do something related to the entire Tiger Clan. Otherwise, even the Giant Tiger Clan wouldn't be able to boss around elders from other branches.

Pei Jie added: "But sending the Giant Tiger Clan does mean there might be trouble."

This time, Shang Yunduo understood.

According to the rules, the Spirit Rhino Valley is divided into two layers: only Spirit Gathering Stage cultivators can enter the inner valley, and only Core Formation Stage cultivators can watch from the outer valley. If it really is about the Spirit Rhino Valley trip and they want to keep the rules while handling surprises, of course they'd send the strongest Core Formation cultivators!

By the same logic, Hua Guan is the strongest Spirit Gathering Stage cultivator in the Tiger Clan for this trip.

If there are no surprises, they'll snatch the Spirit Rhino.

If something unexpected happens, they've got a strong leader to handle emergencies.

Pei Jie: "In any case, whatever they plan to do has nothing to do with us. You just need to blend in and figure out where the Spirit Rhino Valley is."

Shang Yunduo: "Mm."

It would be great if they could successfully capture the Spirit Rhino, but if they lose and can't enter the inner valley, that's fine too. At worst, they can pull a counterattack like they did back in the Lin family.

As long as they know the location, with Pei Jie around, they can always find a way to sneak in and steal some beast armor.

Author's note:

Pei Jie: Watch their matches carefully

Yunduo: Steal techniques, steal techniques, and also sneak a look at tiger skins, tiger claws, tiger ears, paw pads...

The young tiger cultivators from the various clans, who were being treated as reference models, had no idea that while they were being fed pills and snacks, Yunduo had already taken the chance to pet their fur and squeeze their paw pads.