Immortal Creation.

Chapter 663 Accumulating Virtue to Steal Treasure
This is extremely rare!

To ensure that no thief left empty-handed, Sun Lingtong read extensively and secretly gained control of the black market. By combining learning with practice, she broadened her horizons and became familiar with even the materials from the underworld.

But the treasures here were completely outside his knowledge; he was utterly unaware of them.

Zeng Jide noticed Sun Lingtong's doubt and longing expression. He put his hands behind his back, strolled slowly to the shelves, and said, "This storehouse can be said to be the essence of the Wangchuan Immortal City."

"The River of Oblivion is the most famous long river in the underworld. When a soul falls into the river, it will gradually lose its memories and feelings. As these memories and feelings are discarded, the soul is like being freed from a heavy burden, becoming lighter and lighter until it floats to the surface of the river and finally reaches the shore."

"The souls that come ashore remember nothing, like newborn children, ignorant and curious about everything."

Therefore, some people also call the River of Oblivion the River of Cleansing Sins or the River of Rebirth.

After giving his introduction, Zeng Jide steered the conversation back on track: "These precious materials all come from the River of Oblivion and are a local specialty. They are almost never seen in other areas."

"So it's normal that you don't know him."

"For example, this one is called 'Sorrowful Silk Entangled in Lotus Root'."

Sun Lingtong looked over and saw a pile of lotus root sections, each about half a foot long, completely gray and withered, as if dead. The surface of the lotus root was wrapped with many translucent, grayish-white threads.

Upon closer inspection, one discovers that these threads are wriggling and intertwining on their own, emanating a sorrowful aura that makes one feel a tightness in the chest and an irresistible urge to shed tears.

Zeng Jide pointed to another spot and said, "This is the Angry Fire Glazed Glass. It's similar to the Heart-Entwined Lotus Root of Sorrow. It's formed at the bottom of the River of Oblivion by the accumulation and condensation of countless angry and resentful thoughts."

Sun Lingtong took a few steps and saw the precious material Zeng Jide was pointing to, and immediately felt as if her eyes had been stung.

This is a fist-sized, irregularly shaped crystal. It is blood-red throughout, with flames seemingly burning and leaping inside, constantly emitting subtle crackling sounds, while radiating a violent, angry intent that wants to smash everything.

Next, Zeng Jide introduced the Fearful Soul Cold Crystal, the Venomous Miasma Flower, and the Obsessive Iron.

Fearful Frost Crystal is an ice-blue prismatic crystal that emits a chilling aura that instills fear and dread.

The petals of the Vengeful Poison Flower are as black as ink, layer upon layer, while the stamens are an eerie purplish-red.

The appearance of the Obsession Iron is unremarkable; it's just a heavy, jet-black block of iron. If placed before Sun Lingtong, it would simply be mistaken for an ordinary block of iron. But in reality, this iron is extremely heavy and is a core material for forging top-tier defensive magical artifacts.

Zeng Jide stopped in front of a shelf, a glint of shrewdness in his eyes.

He said in a surprised tone, "Oh? There's even gold in the tears of a child here."

This is liquid gold, held in a bowl. It is pure and immaculate, radiating an aura of ultimate warmth, affection, and hope, like the rising sun.

"These are the purest and most flawless souls, shedding tears of utmost sincerity."

“Under normal circumstances, it is very difficult to have such a soul. But the River of Oblivion can completely cleanse a soul, as if it were reborn, which can greatly increase the probability of this.”

Sun Lingtong's eyes were opened wide.

Zeng Jide finally stopped at the deepest shelf, his gaze fixed on it, and said, "Found it."

"This is my target for this trip—the eye of the River of Oblivion."

"Vortex eye?" Sun Lingtong knew about this.

Any flowing substance that forms a vortex over many years may eventually develop an eyeball at its center. This is called the vortex eye.

Zeng Jide said, "These are the vortexes you know, but these few are different; they are vortexes formed in the River of Oblivion."

"You should know that the River of Oblivion contains the way of forgetting, which can erase emotions and memories. Every drop of the River of Oblivion has this effect and can be considered a treasure. This is no small matter."

"The previous shelves were nothing more than a collection of emotions. But this vortex of the River of Oblivion was formed from the River of Oblivion itself; these are two different levels."

"The River of Oblivion is a river of precious materials. The precious materials nurtured within these materials possess numerous and intricate principles, forming a harmonious whole, and are often natural magical artifacts!"

Sun Lingtong's eyes lit up.

He had heard of natural magical artifacts before, but they were only on paper or in the legends told by others. Now he finally saw the real thing.

Zeng Jide stood in front of the vortex of the River of Oblivion and performed a series of hand seals.

Each time a fingertip touches the surface, an extremely subtle ripple spreads across the light membrane covering the gaps.

One by one, mysterious talismans appeared, then immediately faded away silently, as if the lock had been "pried open" by the most sophisticated tools.

Ten breaths later, a gap was opened in the light membrane. The edge runes twisted and kept disappearing, but no alarm was triggered.

Zeng Jide reached in and easily grabbed several Wangchuan Vortex Eyes, then brought them out.

Zeng Jide carefully examined these vortexes and found that only one was of the best quality, which became a natural magic artifact.

The remaining few are still somewhat lacking in the quality of being considered magical artifacts.

Zeng Jide looked at the vortex at his fingertips: "In that case, I have achieved my purpose for this trip."

Sun Lingtong: "Ah? Senior, you traveled all the way to Wangchuan Immortal City, risking countless dangers, just to steal this?"

Zeng Jide nodded, then shook his head: "Whenever I commit theft, I always send out a formal invitation, stating that I will be coming to a certain place soon to steal something."

"This time is no exception."

"In my letter of invitation to the Lord of Wangchuan, I specifically named him and said that I wanted to steal the eye of the Wangchuan Vortex."

Upon hearing this, Sun Lingtong's pupils dilated in astonishment: "Your Feng thievery... is truly unique!"

Zeng Jide chuckled: "I feel like you're looking at me like I'm a fool."

Sun Lingtong put her hands behind her head: "Hehe, I can't do such a stupid thing. Why bother with something so thankless? Since it's theft, I'll be careful and try my best to do it without anyone noticing."

When Zeng Jide heard that his actions were being called foolish, he actually found Sun Lingtong more to his liking: "You brat, you're quite the impolite one."

"Hehe, I'm not afraid to tell you, I've done this kind of stupid thing many times before."

“With each success, my thieving skills improve dramatically! If the profits weren't substantial, do you think I would do something so ostentatious?”

Sun Lingtong's eyes widened again. This was the first time he had heard of such a cultivation method. He asked incredulously, "The art of thievery is also a kind of magic. Besides increasing one's cultivation level, it requires diligent practice. Are there other shortcuts to cultivation?"

“Yes, little devil,” Zeng Jide said. “I read Buddhist scriptures and practice Buddhist techniques. I can make vows, fulfill vows, and repay vows.”

“Every time a visiting card is sent out, it is a vow.”

"If the theft is successful, then my wish will be fulfilled."

"Finally, I wish that any techniques I use in theft will be rapidly enhanced!"

"This kind of cultivation efficiency far surpasses my arduous practice." Sun Lingtong was immediately enlightened: "Buddhist cultivation has such methods?"

Zeng Jide stroked his beard and smiled, instructing him: "All the arts, schools, and methods of cultivation are essentially methods of spiritual practice. As long as it is useful to you, then use it."

"Who cares if it's Buddhist or demonic?"

"Cultivators should be open-minded, flexible, and adaptable, making everything work for their own benefit; they must never be rigid."

Sun Lingtong nodded repeatedly, taking these words to heart.

Zeng Jide took all the vortex eyes, achieving his goal, but did not leave immediately.

“Since we’re already here, senior, why not take a little more?” Sun Lingtong suggested.

Zeng Jide nodded, and said with great seriousness, "That's right, all of these are connected to me by fate. In our Buddhist practice, we value both vows and fate."

Zeng Jide made a series of moves, sweeping away all the precious materials on the shelves.

"Huh? There's another secret room here!" Zeng Jide made an unexpected discovery.

He used several thieving techniques in succession before he was able to open the door to the secret room.

The secret chamber was not large, and it only contained three kinds of precious materials: the Dew of Innocence, the Jade of Seven Emotions, and the Moon Soul of Emptiness.

There is only one drop of the True Dew of Innocence.

It floated in the center of the jade bottle. The dewdrop was clear and transparent, seemingly non-existent yet undeniably present.

It exudes an aura of pure nothingness, transcending all things, as if it can cleanse all delusions and dust.

Zeng Jide's gaze was complex as he explained, "Under extremely rare circumstances, the River of Oblivion can form a Daoist Temple of Nothingness. The True Dew of Nothingness is the only treasure left behind after this Daoist Temple of Nothingness naturally dissipates."

"It can purify inner demons, dispel illusions, and stabilize one's Dao heart. It is a sacred object for cultivating top-tier righteous techniques and overcoming inner demon tribulations. A single drop is enough to ignite a frenzied struggle among great cultivators of both the righteous and evil paths!"

The Seven Emotions Jade Settles consists of seven pieces, each a different color and shaped like glass or jade. They naturally piled up together to form a small, seven-colored mountain.

"Seven Emotions Jade!" Zeng Jide took a deep breath. "This jade is formed under certain special conditions after the seven fundamental emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire have accumulated to their extremes! Each piece contains the primal power of an extreme emotion! It is the supreme sacred object for cultivating the Seven Emotions Demonic Art, and also the core material for top-tier illusion arrays, emotional attack or defensive magic weapons. Legend has it that collecting all seven pieces can activate the primal source of the seven emotions, with endless power and wondrous uses!"

"This is something of utmost emotion and nature that the River of Oblivion has 'washed' and 'sedied' from countless fallen souls over countless years."

Sun Lingtong immediately understood.

Many of the previous treasures were also products of accumulated emotions. For example, the Heart-Entwined Lotus Root of Sorrow, the Flaming Glaze of Anger, the Frosty Crystal of Fear, the Poisonous Flower of Resentment, and the Iron of Obsession, etc.

The Seven Emotions Jade should be the pinnacle of these precious materials!
Kongshi Yuepo is like a crescent moon sealed in ten thousand years of mysterious ice.

The crescent moon appears as a strange, translucent blue, radiating a peculiar energy that seems to trace back to the past and reflect on bygone days.

"The Buddha said that all four elements are empty."

"This is the origin of 'emptiness' condensed from the River of Oblivion, containing the true meaning of 'emptiness and stillness'. It is a treasure for cultivating top-level cultivation techniques of the Dao of Oblivion such as 'Supreme Oblivion' and 'Silent Extinction Heart Method', and it is also an auxiliary artifact for creating spatial magic treasures or comprehending the laws of space. However, if you come into direct contact with it, there is a great danger of losing yourself and turning into nothingness."

"Legend has it that Yun Xiao used this item to burn himself out and create the Void Return Chariot."

"It is said that the Void Consciousness Moon Essence he used at the time was as large as a small mountain, which was extremely astonishing. It was probably the largest and most abundant treasure of its kind accumulated in the River of Oblivion!"

Sun Lingtong was deeply moved: "That's too much of a coincidence. Just when Yun Xiao wanted to save his Daoist partner, he encountered Kong Shi Yue Po, which allowed him to fulfill this condition."

Zeng Jide nodded slightly: "So, there's another story behind Yun Xiao's tale."

"It is said that the underworld heavens did not want to see the River of Oblivion become a forbidden zone, and wanted to create a method to cross the river for the beings of the underworld to cross."

"Therefore, under the evolution of fate, the two cultivators Yun Xiao and Yue Yi were designed and arranged. In the end, Yun Xiao sacrificed himself, and there were many crossings of forgetfulness and empty return rafts."

"This is the theory of destiny."

Sun Lingtong remained silent, but in her heart she thought: her arrival in the Forgotten River Immortal City, her encounter with Zeng Jide, and her receiving his help were probably due to the changes in fate.

He asked Zeng Jide, "Elder Zeng, I am extremely interested in destiny!"

"Can you teach me?"

"I have a good idea, which is to cultivate the methods of destiny and then integrate and create new thieving techniques."

"With the new thieving technique, I can directly steal destiny. At that time, I might encounter treasure every few steps, my enemies will kill each other, and I will have everything go smoothly and be blessed with wealth! Life couldn't be more enjoyable."

"Hahaha." Zeng Jide was amused and laughed three times.

He stretched out his finger and tapped Sun Lingtong's forehead from afar: "You're dreaming, kid."

"I have no knowledge of divination or destiny."

"Even the Lord of Wangchuan, the ruler of a country, doesn't have it. If he wants to divine, he has to go to the Old Man of Gray Bones for help."

"There's a secret behind this!"

Sun Lingtong pressed, "What secret?"

Zeng Jide said, "To obtain destiny and divination methods, you cannot force it; you must rely on following the will of Heaven!"

"Heaven made this arrangement because it wanted you to have it."

"Otherwise, the stronger the being (person or force), the less likely they are to obtain this method."

"It is because learning this method can easily lead to an uncontrollable problem, becoming a 'stubborn disease' in the world that is difficult to eliminate and threatens the natural cycle of birth, aging, sickness and death."

Sun Lingtong frowned: "If that's the case, then from another perspective, it means that the stronger a person is, the less likely they are to obtain destiny or divination methods?"

Zeng Jide nodded: "Yes."

"The strong here also refers to someone like you with a bright future. Although you are currently weak, as long as you continue to grow, you will surely become strong."

"Therefore, it is almost impossible for you to find the methods of destiny and divination."

At this point, Zeng Jide sighed, "Alas, I have already tried. If I had the method of divination, combined with my vow-making technique, I could divine the possibility of success or failure, as well as the hidden risks, before each letter of invitation was submitted."

"Then my cultivation speed will undergo a complete qualitative change, and becoming a legendary thief will be just around the corner."

"Therefore, cultivators who obtain the methods of destiny and divination often have weak destiny or frequent calamities, and often suffer from three deficiencies and five shortcomings."

"As far as I know, diviners also value their own destiny, always maintaining it between an upper limit and a lower limit, which is very particular."

(End of this chapter)