Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao

Chapter 1729: Highway Robbers

Ling Han didn’t rush over immediately. As long as Zhang Chong and Mao Shuyu didn’t come across truly life-threatening dangers, he definitely wouldn’t reveal himself easily.

Firstly, this was to avoid damaging their confidence and dignity. Secondly, this was to avoid making them overly reliant on others. This place was far too dangerous, so much so that even Ling Han needed to be fully alert. Thus, he naturally couldn’t become a babysitter for others.

However, Zhang Chong and Mao Shuyu didn’t waste too much time, nor did they need to battle. They easily passed their first trial.

Ling Han “saw” everything clearly. They had passed so easily because Zhang Chong had given each of the 13 people 10 Star Stones as a “road toll”. This had greatly angered Mao Shuyu, and she had been on the verge of charging over and attacking. However, Zhang Chong had eventually convinced her to calm down.

Their opponents had outnumbered them far too much, and this place was also far too dangerous. Thus, if they weren’t careful, they might even risk losing their lives. That being the case, problems that could be solved with money were naturally best solved using money.

Moreover, the Severing Mundane Pool would only be open for a limited time, so one naturally couldn’t waste their precious time on meaningless conflicts such as this.

As if they had come here for a holiday, Ling Han and his two wives casually wandered over.

“Halt!” Sure enough, they were stopped upon nearing the 13 “highway robbers”.

“What’s wrong?” Ling Han asked in mock astonishment.

“My brothers and I have been short on funds lately, so we want to borrow some Star Stones to use. You won’t mind helping us, will you?” one of the highway robbers said with a taunting smile.

These robbers were also eagle-eyed, and they could easily determine what people they could provoke and what people they couldn’t provoke.

Regarding Ling Han and his two wives? Heh…

“No worries, no worries,” Ling Han immediately said with a nod.

The 13 highway robbers smiled upon hearing this. What an absolute pushover. He was frightened before they had even started to threaten him. This person was definitely a member of some small clan who had been overly protected since a young age. His Genesis Tier cultivation level was nothing but show.

“Wives, we’ve come across good people! They know we’re poor, so they want to give us Star Stones!” Ling Han exclaimed in delight. His expression was full of innocence and naivety.

The 13 highway robbers were astonished upon hearing this. Was there something wrong with this person’s ears?

One of the highway robbers couldn’t help but say, “Brat, you’re the one giving us Star Stones!”

“Yeah, you’re the ones giving us Star Stones,” Ling Han said with a nod. He then reached over and asked, “Where are the Star Stones?”

‘F*ck!’

The 13 highway robbers felt extremely vexed. This brat couldn’t even differentiate between “you” and “I”?

One of the highway robbers stepped forward, and said, “No, no, it’s you… Oh, no, it’s we who are giving you Star Stones.”

‘He should understand now, right?’

Ling Han continued to nod, saying, “That’s right, you’re giving us Star Stones. Now, hurry up and hand them over.”

He was bullsh*tting with a straight face, and the Empress and the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden could barely contain their laughter. They felt like their husband was incredibly mischievous. He had definitely been negatively influenced by the large black dog.

If the large black dog knew this, he would definitely feel extremely irritated. Ling Han had clearly been this mischievous and devious to begin with, so what did it have to do with him?

“Brat, are you messing with us?” the leader of the highway robbers said. He finally came to his senses at this moment. This brat was perhaps stupid, but his two women couldn’t also be as stupid as him, right? However, neither of them spoke at this moment, so it was clear that something was wrong.

Ling Han smiled, and said, “It seems like you’re not downright stupid, after all. You’ve finally realized.”

“Detestable!” the 13 highway robbers roared in anger. They all glowered at Ling Han.

“Brat, do you know the consequences of fighting here?” the leader of the highway robbers asked coldly. “You’ll immediately die if you come into contact with any of the stone spikes in the surroundings!

“So, I suggest that you obediently hand your Star Stones over. That way, you can buy yourself some peace. Anyhow, it’s not too expensive, and we only want 100 Star Stones per person.”

‘Tsk, the price has risen.’

“100 is too little. It should be at least 10,000 Star Stones per person,” Ling Han said with a shake of his head.

‘Huh? Is this brat playing stupid again?’

The highway robbers exchanged a glance with. They didn’t understand why this person was actually unhappy with paying too little. However, they naturally wouldn’t be against making more money. Thus, they all nodded in agreement.

Ling Han reached over, and said, “10,000 Star Stones per person. There are 13 of you, so that will come to a total of 200,000 Star Stones. Wives, my calculation is correct, yeah?” He turned around to look at the Empress and the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden. His two wives naturally nodded in agreement.

The highway robbers were extremely pissed off. This brat was messing with them again!

“Shouldn’t 13 people mean 130,000 Star Stones?” one of them mumbled softly.

“Don’t speak any more nonsense with him! Capture him and take all of his possessions!” the leader of the highway robbers shouted in anger. He immediately charged over and grabbed at Ling Han.

The other highway robbers also howled in anger. They had already held back for a very long time.

Peng, peng, peng, peng!

Ling Han casually moved around, and it wasn’t long before all 13 of the highway robbers were beaten into the ground. If it weren’t for Ling Han keeping them hovering in the air with his Origin Power, all of them would have already been killed by the stone spikes on the ground.

The highway robbers were scared out of their minds. They hadn’t imagined that this foolish-looking man was actually a powerful being in disguise. His battle prowess was completely unrivaled.

They had picked on the wrong person!

Ling Han smiled, and said, “10,000 each. Are you guys going to pay or not?”

“We’ll pay! Of course we’ll pay!” the highway robbers shouted in unison.

Ling Han nodded and removed the restrictions on their bodies, allowing them to stand again.

The highway robbers then obediently handed him 10,000 Star Stones each. This was already the limit of what they could pay. In fact, some of them didn’t have enough, and they needed to borrow from others to make the right sum. Not only did they vomit what they had earned before, but they were even exhausted of their own savings.

They wanted to cry, yet no tears were forthcoming. Their years of hard work had been stolen by this man.

Ling Han counted the Star Stones as he accepted them. When he finished counting, he angrily asked, “Why is there 70,000 missing?”

‘There are 13 of us, so didn’t we give you 130,000?’

“Young Master, you said 10,000 per person, so 130,000 should be right,” the leader of the highway robbers said with a bitter expression.

Ling Han’s expression became solemn, and he shouted, “Are you looking down on my arithmetic skills? There are 13 of you, so 10,000 Star Stones each should total 200,000 Star Stones, no?”

‘You genuinely can’t count!’

However, the leader of the bandits didn’t dare to retort Ling Han at all. Ling Han was clearly messing with them on purpose. However, even though he knew this, did he dare to complain?

The highway robbers had no option but to retrieve more Star Stones. However, in the end, they could only gather 50,000 Star Stones. This was still 20,000 short of the 70,000 Star Stones that Ling Han demanded. Thus, they could only use Godly metal and Saintly Materials to make up for this amount.

Anyhow, Ling Han’s intention was to milk them dry, so after achieving his aim, he patted his hands and left. The 13 highway robbers could only look on with bitter expressions.

“Boss, should we continue?” one of the highway robbers asked.

The leader of the highway robbers grimaced, and said, “Forget about it. Let’s return and continue our successful business as mountain bandits. This place is far too dangerous, and it’s not suitable for us.”

“Mm-hm!” The remaining highway robbers all nodded in agreement. They had already been traumatized by Ling Han.

Meanwhile, Ling Han and his two wives quickly caught up to Zhang Chong and Mao Shuyu, once again following five kilometers behind them.

As they advanced, the deadly stone spikes gradually disappeared from the ground. All that remained was jagged mountains and stones of extremely peculiar shapes. This was a relatively safe region, though some of the stones were actually Demonic Beasts in disguise. As one passed by, some of the stones might suddenly jump up and attack.

However, they were fairly fortunate, and they didn’t come across any such situation. After advancing for another two hours, they arrived before a cliff face that was filled with caves. It looked much like a beehive.

Each of these caves would lead into the depths of the Severing Mundane Pool. However, each of them possessed different dangers, and if one chose the most dangerous cave, they could only pray that they made it out alive.