The thief was now nothing but a withered, stump-like corpse, standing stubbornly in place.
The lightning he had reflected earlier, which struck against the light shield, had ricocheted all around, shattering the mountainside rocks and causing them to tilt dangerously.
This cliff broke apart, and the thief's body slid down with the debris, tumbling into the stream below the rocks.
Lei Jun lifted his hand a bit, but in the end did not move to stop it, only watching silently as the body flowed downstream.
He put away the dark black scale, left the shattered cliff, and followed the river at a steady pace, searching downstream.
Halfway through his search, Lei Jun ran into other fellow disciples.
"I ran into him upstream," Lei Jun said, "I attacked with the Thunderclap Talisman given by Taoist Gao, but he managed to fall into the river and escape."
"Downstream, we dredged up the traitor's corpse," the Taoist in yellow said, "The pill furnace was also on his body."
The loot that the thief had stolen earlier had been a pill furnace from the First Branch of the Tao Boy Court.
That being said, the value surely couldn't compare to the dark black scale that had managed to block even a Thunderclap Talisman.
At present, the Sixth-Rank Opportunity alluded to by the moderately good lot most likely referred to that strange scale.
"He died, spent and broken, with nothing left to give."
The yellow-robed Taoist glanced at Lei Jun, "Everyone who took part in cornering and pursuing him contributed. You are no exception."
Lei Jun said, "I dare not take the credit, I simply did my duty."
"Mm, you all bring the corpse back to the Tao Boy Court," the yellow-robed Taoist said, hurrying off up the mountain.
The Tao Boys dared not ask further questions.
But everyone looked up the mountain, curiosity written on their faces.
The two major disturbances earlier—the first had come from the Tao Boy Court at the mountain's base, but the second seemed to have come from further up the mountain.
Everyone wondered to themselves, *But they could only gather up the group and return to the Tao Boy Court for now.*
Back in the courtyard, they learned that another fire had been started over at the First Branch.
"This time, it's really..." some of the younger Tao Boys wore strange expressions.
*Lei Jun immediately understood.*
The First Branch, the Li Clan sons' own private ground.
For young men hoping to set out on the path of cultivation, joining the Celestial Master Mansion as disciples was one of the best starting points.
If he had to point out one less-than-perfect thing, it would be that Lei Jun, only after joining, realized the Mansion's heirs actually came in two types.
Those named Li,
And those not named Li.
In this world, in the early days, the Celestial Master Mansion had no fixed rules about succession—each generation, they'd choose a worthy disciple for the role.
But for the last several generations, every Celestial Master had come from the same family line, from grandfather to father, father to son, son to grandson.
That had become today's Li Family, deeply rooted and sprawling within the Celestial Master Mansion.
To be fair, including the current Celestial Master, several recent generations of Celestial Master Li had all been among the elite of their peers.
Under their leadership, the Celestial Master Mansion had weathered plenty of storms, yet still stood tall—a famous Sacred Land of cultivation in all the world.
But as time went on, the Li sons had grown ever more high-profile and forceful.
Some of the Mansion's rules that went back to its founding were still kept up—at least on the surface.
For example, all initiates had to first enter the Tao Boy Court to study and train, and only the excellent, after attending the Transcension Ritual, could officially make it up the mountain into the Mansion proper and become a True Inheritance disciple.
For now, even sons of the Li Clan still had to go through this process.
But very few Li sons ever failed to reach Transcension as Tao Boys.
And the First Branch of the Tao Boy Court was set aside specifically for Li sons to be initiated and lay their foundations.
Officially, all resources and treatment were the same as the other branches, but the rumors said the Li sons got so much special treatment, they'd become picky eaters …
This time's stolen pill furnace was one of the special magic artifacts reserved for the First Branch.
"Lei!"
Several Tao Boys from the Sixth Branch saw Lei Jun and looked at him with envy, "We heard you caught the thief?"
Lei Jun shook his head, "Didn't catch him. Came close, but in the end he died from exhaustion on his own, so the merit was divided among everyone."
Zhang gave a long sigh, "Even if it's a group credit, the main merit always goes to those who took the initiative in hunting the thief down.
Those of us who just guarded the checkpoints did nothing, so we're only credited with minor merit—when it's all split up, there's hardly any left for anyone."
They'd been busy until midnight; everyone was exhausted, but still couldn't break for rest.
Later, plenty of True Inheritance disciples in apricot Taoist robes came to the Tao Boy Court and called everyone in for separate questioning.
They didn't give much information, but Lei Jun could tell this matter of the thief's accomplices was no small thing.
Even so, after interrogation, the Tao Boys were each sent off to rest.
Lei Jun went back to his small room, took out the dark scale again, and began to study it in greater detail.
Perhaps so that another Tao Boy at the Qi Refinement First Heaven Layer could use it, or perhaps to leave no trace, there was no magical power prohibition left in the scale.
Lei Jun activated the scale with his own True Qi, and a faint flowing light instantly appeared on the scale's surface.
In his mind's eye, an image of light and shadow appeared—part dragon, part horse, brimming with both majesty and spiritual beauty, utterly mysterious.
The Tao Boy Court's textbooks included illustrations about all the world's spirit beasts, auspicious beasts, demons, and monsters.
Which is why Lei Jun recognized at a glance that this glowing image was a Dragon Horse spirit beast.
So it was a Dragon Horse Scale … Lei Jun nodded slightly.
He tried, as the thief had done, to send more True Qi into the black scale.
Immediately, light interwove around the scale, birthing a great shield anew.
But his own True Qi drained out rapidly, being consumed almost at once.
Lei Jun stopped, and the glow faded as well, leaving only the black scale in his palm, both tranquil and unfathomable.
Sixth-Rank Opportunity—a truly exceptional protective treasure … Lei Jun nodded first, then shook his head.
*Too bad what I needed most right now was something to help refine my cultivation further—some treasure to speed my progress, or lower the difficulty of training.*
*Otherwise, at my current rate, by the time the Transcension Ritual comes at the start of next year, I'd at best reach Tenth Layer of Qi Refinement—nowhere near the Perfection of Layer Twelve.*
*Hope that the next time fate gives me a choice, it'll help me boost my cultivation further.*
Of course, a defensive treasure would always be of use.
To protect oneself was, after all, to protect the Tao.
*If you lose your life, cultivation is a moot point anyway.*
*Even if it's not a matter of risking your life, just the time spent healing from injuries would delay your training.*
Lei Jun stowed the treasure away, changed his clothes, and went to sleep.
When he woke the next day, he washed up, ate breakfast, and prepared to attend morning class.
The first person he met was Wang Guiyuan.
Lei Jun said, "Wang?"
Wang Guiyuan said, "Last night, you were acting together with Gao?"
Lei Jun said, "We split up halfway through the pursuit. The Tao Boy Court caught fire, so Taoist Gao led a group back to catch the thief's accomplices and arsonists, while the rest of us kept chasing the thief."
Wang Guiyuan fell silent.
He looked all around, his gaze wandering off, but then dropped his voice,
"Gao and his men—something happened to them."
Lei Jun: "......"
"To be precise, not just Gao and the Tao Boys he led." Wang Guiyuan nodded quietly, "A few others, too."
He walked ahead, Lei Jun following silently behind.
After a long while, Lei Jun asked, "Was it here, on Dragon Tiger Mountain?"
Wang Guiyuan gave a quiet nod.
Lei Jun said, "Senior brother, did anything happen last night at the main mansion up on the mountain?"
Wang Guiyuan didn't immediately answer Lei Jun's question, but first spoke with deep sincerity,
"Lei, what I'm about to say may sound presumptuous given our acquaintance, but personally, I think for us cultivators, it's best not to rush into things blindly. Many times, safety comes first, caution is paramount."
Lei Jun said, "I appreciate your concern, senior brother, and I do think your advice makes sense. But in life, so often things happen before anyone can predict them."