Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 916 - 916 554 Everyone Takes a Step Back_1

Chapter 916: Chapter 554: Everyone Takes a Step Back_1 Chapter 916: Chapter 554: Everyone Takes a Step Back_1 Chapter 0554 – Let’s Each Take a Step Back

After returning several storage bags to their original owners, Zhang Ting still hadn’t realized that her storage bag was missing until she returned to her tent with the spirit crow. A few minutes later, a piercing scream came from the tent, “My storage bag? Where is my storage bag?”

Immediately, Zhang Ting rushed out of the tent. Under the bright moonlight, her gaze searched for the storage bag while she continuously cast spirit runes, also trying to locate it. Typically, a cultivator would leave their Divine Sense imprint on their storage bag for a couple of reasons, one being to prevent loss or to facilitate retrieval in case it got lost.

Regrettably, Zhang Ting had successfully snatched seven storage bags not long ago, reaping huge gains and growing overly confident, causing her alertness to wane, and providing Qi Tian with an opening. Now faced with this situation, Zhang Ting needed to rely on her Divine Sense imprint left on the storage bag to find it. However, upon casting spirit runes inside the tent, she couldn’t sense the location of her storage bag, and even after coming outside and casting the runes dozens, even hundreds of times, she still couldn’t feel the whereabouts of her storage bag.

Zhang Ting was unaware of the miraculous capabilities of the Heavenly Dao Engine, and instead thought someone must have stolen her storage bag and left with it. She shouted into the night, “I don’t care who you are, daring to steal my storage bag—you’ll rue the day if you ever fall into my hands, for I will surely shatter you into ten thousand pieces!”

Zhang Ting’s voice was loud, and she wasn’t the least bit concerned that it might startle Qi Tian and the others. She didn’t shout much more after that, expressing her thoughts with one strong stamp of her foot and returning to her tent with the spirit crow, not coming out again.

Master Xia Xiaoming sent a message to Qi Tian, “Master, what does Zhang Ting mean? She’s stolen so many people’s storage bags. If not now, when would she leave?”

Qi Tian smiled and said, “Old Xia, it seems you haven’t given much thought to the psychology of thieves. She’s pilfered the cultivation resources of so many—were she to leave now, wouldn’t that be tantamount to confessing the theft? She’s not a drifter; she has a home and a livelihood that she can’t just abandon. Imagine if Xiang Bo led people to her home causing an uproar; how would she handle it?” Gazing at the tent, Qi Tian shook his head. He had encountered many cultivators and, to obtain cultivation resources, they would resort to any means necessary, resulting in a myriad of techniques that dazzled onlookers. Yet even so, this was his first time coming across someone gathering such common resources through theft. Regardless of the reason, Zhang Ting held no value in his eyes apart from being a channel for Qi Tian to forge ties with the royal family.

As the sky began to lighten, Xiang Bo was the first to wake up. Being the City Lord’s son, and the eldest legitimate child at that, the City Lord had always lavished extra attention and investment on him. This included a specially purchased pill, which he had come by with great difficulty, capable of resisting Bewilderment Pills for a certain period—even though its quality wasn’t excellent. After taking it, Xiang Bo had only increased his resistance slightly. Now, that slight increase in resistance to the Bewilderment Pills allowed Xiang Bo to awaken faster than everyone else.

Initially groggy, Xiang Bo felt as though his head was enveloped in chains and his eyelids as heavy as if weighted with a thousand pounds. Barely conscious and still groggy, he shook his head vigorously to alleviate some discomfort before reaching for his storage bag. He had received specialized training and knew he might have been drugged with Bewilderment Pills, and had antidotes against such drugging in his storage bag. Yet when he reached into the storage bag, he felt nothing on the left, and found emptiness on the right.

A chill spread up from Xiang Bo’s spine, washing over his entire body and instantly invigorating him. He sat up and reached into his storage bag again, but no matter how much he searched, the outcome was the same as before—all items of value were gone. Panicking, he shouted, “Get up, everyone, get up now!”

No one responded to Xiang Bo. He climbed up from the ground and staggered over to several guest officials lying helter-skelter, kicking and shaking them in an attempt to rouse them. Unfortunately, these guest officials had never trained against Bewilderment Pills and lacked any resistance. Even as Xiang Bo, in a fit of rage, nearly broke their bones, they still did not wake up.

Stumbling, Xiang Bo went to find Qi Tian, who had maintained a meditative posture throughout the night. There was no need for Xiang Bo to kick Qi; a simple shake of Qi’s shoulders startled him into alertness, and he immediately opened his eyes, feigning confusion, “Who’s that? Who is disturbing my dreams?”

Xiang Bo hurriedly said, “Qi, my storage bag has been stolen—almost everything inside is gone. Help me wake everyone up, and let’s investigate who did this. I will have them shattered into ten thousand pieces.”