Chapter 1285: Thief God Dao Leader

## Chapter 1285: The Leader of the Thieving Divine Path

Twilight Society’s Queen of Hearts, Bai Ye.

The moment he saw that familiar face, Chen Ling’s heart trembled.

It wasn't fear, nor was it panic... Chen Ling hadn't seen old acquaintances from the Twilight Society in a long time. For the past six months, he had only recently seen Chu Muyun; most of the time, he had faced the storms of the Nanhai Realm alone, fighting by himself.

And just when he was in the deepest pain and most critical situation, a familiar and powerful old friend appeared behind him. The surprise and sense of security this brought him were indescribable.

At this moment, Chen Ling involuntarily recalled the scene of his fourth senior brother, Mojiao, bringing him food back in the Wuji Realm.

It was a long-lost feeling of "home."

"Bai Ye... Senior," Chen Ling said hoarsely.

Bai Ye leaped lightly from the window, one hand pressing down the brim of his baseball cap. A pair of silver, snake-shaped earrings swayed gently in the faint light.

He patted Chen Ling's shoulder and chuckled softly:

"I knew you'd come back... Six of Hearts."

"Senior Bai Ye, what are you doing here?"

"Chu Muyun sent me a message saying you needed help in the Nanhai Realm, so I rushed over." Bai Ye thought for a moment and added, "Actually, I think I arrived yesterday."

"...Think?"

Chen Ling was startled.

"Bai Ye, the Thieving Sage?" Seeing Bai Ye's appearance, the expressions of the Pu family members instantly changed, and even the Pu family head's eyes revealed deep apprehension.

"You go first. Leave this to me." Bai Ye glanced at the Pu family members and spoke calmly.

"Senior Bai Ye, can you handle this alone?"

In Chen Ling's memory, Bai Ye was only a Seventh-tier practitioner. Facing the encirclement of an Eighth-tier and numerous Seventh-tier opponents, it would be difficult for him to escape unscathed.

Bai Ye gave him a subtle look back.

"Quite a lot has changed in the past six months you haven't been with the Twilight Society..."

The next moment,

an Eighth-tier aura burst forth from Bai Ye!

A vast Thieving Divine Path soared skyward from Bai Ye. Simultaneously, an indescribable aura enveloped it... This aura was not unfamiliar to Chen Ling.

This was...

A Divine Path Leader???

Bai Ye had actually become the Leader of the Thieving Divine Path?

Chen Ling was incredibly surprised, but on second thought, it seemed very logical... The Silver King had once stolen the Eighth-tier power of the Thieving Divine Path, and with the Silver King's death, that Eighth-tier power quickly returned. Among the five Thieving Sages of the Usurpers of Fire, most had already died, leaving only Bai Ye and Molian.

It now seemed that in the past six months, Bai Ye had advanced to the Eighth Tier ahead of Molian, and the position of Leader of the Thieving Divine Path naturally belonged to Bai Ye!

Furthermore, Chen Ling could feel that after Bai Ye became the Leader of the Thieving Divine Path in this era, his divine path had undergone some changes. It was no longer simply "Borrowing the Moon" as it once was; Chen Ling could vaguely sense the aura of several other paths of the Thieving Divine Path on him...

Could this be a unique bonus reserved for the Leader of the Thieving Divine Path?

"Go. Do what you need to do," Bai Ye said, looking into Chen Ling's eyes.

"Regardless of your relationship with the Red King, at least we, the members of the Twilight Society, will always have your back."

Chen Ling's lips pressed together slightly.

The sleeves of his grand crimson opera robe fluttered in the belfry as Chen Ling bowed to him solemnly:

"Thank you, Senior Bai Ye!!"

The next moment, Chen Ling transformed into the Heaven-Recording Red Paper and sped out of the belfry!

"Stop him!" a Pu family elder immediately called out.

But before anyone could act, Bai Ye stepped in front of them all. Looking at his dark yellow eyes, reminiscent of snake eyes, the Pu family members were startled.

At the same time, the Pu family head beside them spoke in a deep voice:

"Bai Ye, the Thieving Sage, possesses cunning and mysterious methods. His thieving arts are unpredictable and impossible to guard against... Absolutely do not engage him in direct combat."

"Then... what should we do?"

"Set up the ancestral formation and trap him within it."

"Ah? But Patriarch, this ancestral formation was bestowed by the ancestor to trap Chaozai... Is it appropriate to use it on him?"

"Fools, can't you see? That Chen Ling cannot easily use Chaozai's power. The most important thing now is to trap Bai Ye. Otherwise, the longer he delays us, the more variables will arise on Chen Ling's side!"

With the patriarch's explanation, no one naturally objected. Many Pu family members stood solemnly, flicking their fingers, and small black characters flew from their sleeves.

"...Hm?"

Bai Ye saw these small black characters streaking across the sky and instinctively felt something was wrong, his brows furrowed tightly.

He raised his hand without hesitation, preparing to steal these characters using his thieving art, but the next moment, he froze in place...

"Activate the formation!!"

As the Pu family members shouted, all practitioners of the Divine Path of Calligraphy poured their spiritual energy into it. Complex characters rapidly expanded, locking onto Bai Ye from all directions!

During this process, Bai Ye felt everything around him accelerating while he himself was constantly decelerating... These characters were like shackles from another dimension, directly fixing time and space around Bai Ye!

Finally, Bai Ye's body was trapped in place like a statue. Simultaneously, the ink and brushstrokes converged into a black sphere, gradually enveloping him...

The ancestral formation was complete!

Only then did the Pu family members, having expended a great deal of spiritual energy, finally breathe a sigh of relief...

"This ancestral formation can fix spacetime; even a Ninth-tier Demigod cannot easily escape."

"Indeed, Bai Ye, the Thieving Sage, is only Eighth-tier. He's certainly not getting out."

"Next, should we go after Chen Ling?"

"Yes."

"Wait..."

"Where's the Patriarch?"

Just as the Pu family members looked around bewildered, searching for their patriarch's whereabouts, in a nearby alley corner, the Pu family head's figure moved forward aimlessly, like a walking corpse.

He didn't notice that seven or eight thick Heart Serpents had already coiled around his body, flicking their scarlet tongues as fragments of memory returned to the patriarch's mind...

"...Whose memories are these?"

"They seem to be Bai Ye's memories. Damn it, is he influencing me with his own memories?"

"No, wait..."

"I... no, Bai Ye arrived in the Nanhai Realm yesterday... So I... no, what has Bai Ye been doing from yesterday until now?"

"It doesn't add up... Why suddenly doesn't it add up?"

"This is..."

Just then, the Pu family head's hand suddenly touched something hard in his pocket. A cold sensation seemed to awaken certain memories in him, and he suddenly froze.

He looked down to see a revolver engraved with mysterious patterns, which had appeared on him at some unknown point. It was somewhat similar to the revolver in Chen Ling's hand, but not entirely the same; the one he now held was more complete and mysterious.

"This gun... looks very familiar..."

Driven by instinct, the Pu family head subconsciously raised the revolver, pointed the muzzle at his own forehead, and gently pulled the trigger.

Bang—

Two exchanged lives, with the firing of the bullet, instantly returned to their rightful places!

At this moment, Bai Ye seemed to recall something. He turned to look at the ancestral formation that had trapped "Bai Ye," and suddenly understood...

"Oh..."

"So that's how it is."

---*Author's Note: Tomorrow, Sanjiu will be holding a book signing in Hefei and a joint offline birthday celebration for Chen Ling and Zhou Ping. My schedule is tight, so I might not have time to update. Just letting you know in advance.*