Chapter 1073: Without spilling a drop of blood

They had to maintain the highest level of stealth while constantly changing their movements, sometimes flying at an angle, sometimes landing to sneak, sometimes moving straight, sometimes in zig-zagging trajectories, sometimes moving in short bursts of acceleration, sometimes at a constant very slow speed.

Though some of the precautions were only required for Qian Ying as he was the only one using a movement technique that generated wind with his movements, so he had to adjust to the flow of the wind when passing through formations that were sensitive to wind movement and Qi flow.

He was also surprised to learn that neither Wu Long or the twins needed a special Alchemy Pill that thinned out the aura of their specific Qi frequency since Bahshi Ghost Presence technique often used alongside Bahshi Ghost Steps already had that effect.

There was still no leisure for conversations during this phase, as the two sisters, and even Qian Ying needed all of their concentration to pass through the formations undetected.

Wu Long, on the other hand, was observing with interest the different approaches of the twins.

Hong Yue was holding a jade slip in her hand - one that contained the same information that Wu Long gave Qian Ying as she observed all of his movements and decisions while comparing them to the information she had.

Hong Ye, in contrast, seemed to learn more intuitively. She read through her own copy of Jade Slip once when she first received it from Wu Long, and now left it in her spatial ring. She was far more concerned with the immediate circumstances rather than analytical work, and yet her response times grew better and better at the same speed as her twin’s.

They paid no heed to the low-level guards who weren’t able to detect them, concerned only with trap arrays and formations.

The number of formations and their difficulty increased as they got closer to the headquarters, but as soon as they landed on the rooftop of the outermost building atop the foundation, there suddenly were none, or rather, they could see a few around some individual buildings, but that was it.

[There are eight guards in Essence Gathering Realm trained in detection techniques who constantly patrol the premises among the low-level ones, but we know their routes, habits, and timing], Qian Ying commented as he moved forward, followed by them still in a single file with Wu Long as the rear guard.

Instead of moving straight toward the Auction House, they took a meandering pathway, soundlessly and tracelessly sneaking past all guards, array traps, and other defenses like intangible spirits.

[The Life Gate of formations installed and integrated directly into buildings is usually set static at the main entrance, so we will have to use these here], Qian Ying took out a few talismans as they were floating a bit above the roof.

Hong Yue slightly raised her eyebrows, since she saw Wu Long disable a powerful formation integrated with the building once in the Corrupt Path lair in the capital, and he used way more talismans.

[I used basic talismans then and did most of the work manually - these are high-level talismans I handcrafted that do basically the same thing I did back then but with a single talisman], Wu Long instantly saw her distrust of Qian Ying’s methods, sending her an individual sound transmission.

Qian Ying sent out three talismans that formed a pattern and connected, before slamming soundlessly into the roof, which created a small concealment field.

They landed within that field, as Qian Ying carefully put a single talisman onto the roof, which sank into it as if it was dissolved.

He then took out a whole set of an illusory array, setting the array disc and anchors, as well as a spatial ring filled with spiritual stones, activating the array by simply touching the array disc and flowing a bit of his Spiritual Qi into it.

Hong Ye was now more and more reassured that every bit of this process seemed to rely on either being able to recognize flaws in defenses - something which was rooted in prior knowledge through reconnaissance, or relying on tools - ones that didn’t seem to take much specialized knowledge to use.

Once the array was active, Qian Ying took out about 200 talismans that moved on their own as soon as he activated them, sliding under the roof tiles, and as he made a hand seal, the tiles floated up held by the talismans, as well as a few wooden planks with already inactive formation patterns and symbols carved into them, opening a passage into the interior of the roof - the floating parts of the roof concealed by the illusion array.

They climbed in, and from there on their path was much more smooth, as they only had to avoid localized trap arrays and mechanical traps, navigating through a rather simple building. Some trap arrays which guarded the only entrance to the basement vault area had to be disabled with array-disrupting needles, but overall there wasn’t much to it.

Soon, Hong Yue and Hong Ye noticed an anomaly, as the closer they were to their destination, the more Qian Ying seemed to slip through their attention even with the spiritual treasure ring that allowed them to perceive his position.

They had to constantly and consciously remind themselves about his presence, otherwise risking to completely forget he was there with them.

[It is the same effect as Daoist Zhao Biren], Hong Yue turned a questioning look to Wu Long.

[Almost, it is similar but different. It is a unique trait of Dao Practicing Cultivators, to project their Dao into the world. Zhao Biren, through his Wine Dao, projects an overall dulling of caution and senses, propagating confusion and lack of clarity, causing people to feel the same effects as if they were getting drunk. Shadowless is demonstrating Theft Dao, the art of absence, the mastery of unnoticed flow and harmonizing with gaps], the latter replied with a smile.

[Now, there’s just two guards we have to worry about ahead], Qian Ying warned as he stopped moving in front of a corner.

Hong Ye took out a dagger, causing Hong Yue to instinctively follow, and Qian Ying to widen his eyes and turn to Wu Long with a questioning look.

[Hahaha, let’s not jump to conclusions, Ye’er], the latter chuckled.

[Oh! Right, right, right... stealing not assassinating~], Hong Ye had an enlightened look, followed closely by ’clumsy me’ roll of eyes and shrug, as she silently nodded several times and put away her dagger.

Her twin also seemed made a look of realization, and reflection as she nodded once.

This reaction left Qian Ying even more baffled, but he quickly shook it off, focusing on the task at hand. He took out an alchemy pill and, crushing it in his hand, blew the powder toward the corner.

What made both twins widen their eyes, was that the powder which didn’t have concealing properties and would normally be quite visible, seemingly disappeared into thin air, and both could tell that it was the flow of Qi in Qian Ying’s breath as he blew the powder that had that effect.

Almost right after sending out the powder, Qian Ying sent out two talismans.

They then turned the corner to see the two guards, deeply sleeping, but held up standing by the talismans since there was an array on the floor that detected such irregularities that the named thief disabled with another array-disrupting needle.

Qian Ying used all the tools Wu Long provided to open the heavy vault door and disarm the formations just like the authorized personnel of the Silverleaf Trade Hall would have done, allowing them to simply go in and take everything without any worries.

And as they were leaving the empty vault, Qian Ying took out a dagger.

[Eh? We still do it now? Is it like a ritual?], Hong Ye proceeded to take out her dagger again with a slightly confused look, causing Qian Ying who squatted down to turn a bewildered look to her again. Though this time Hong Yue didn’t follow through despite her hand reaching for the handle of her own dagger.

[He’s leaving his mark, Ye’er], Wu Long chuckled.

[[Ah~]], both sisters nodded with a realization as slightly spooked Qian Ying quickly scratched the character "Shadow" on the floor, and then cut a line through it, leaving a distinct imprint of Qi in the cuts.

There seemed to me something profound within the mark itself, and they could detect some kind of a change in Qian Ying, a feeling reminiscent of but not even remotely as intense as a breakthrough in cultivation - a mysterious aura surrounding the old man.

[You can go ahead and add yours], Qian Ying commented, [I don’t know if tonight’s mission will inspire you to continue on the path of Theft Dao, but since you’re at least considering it, this might as well be a way to taste what it feels like - you don’t have to feel pressure to create a mark that will signify you forever, just a temporary one will do]

The twins exchanged a glance first with each other, and then with Wu Long who made a slight encouraging nod, and simultaneously drew their daggers again, lowering their postures.

They both remembered the cultivation technique for the Theft Dao that Wu Long gave them, which was a mind cultivation technique, circulating their Qi according to it.

And as they carved "Night" and "Moon" characters on the floor with the daggers, a profound formless ripple spread from them, concealed by Wu Long with a barrier of talismans.

A unique rush of adrenaline spread through them as a realization hit them that they successfully accomplished their goals without spilling a drop of blood, completely unnoticed, which made both slightly emotional. But they were too well-trained to drop their guards or spend time exploring those emotions at this moment, saving them for later.

They got up, exchanging another look, one that contained a lot of words and emotions, and then turned to Qian Ying and Wu Long, nodding that they were ready to move out.

[Alright, we’re done with this part, but there’s still one detail left - the main treasure for the auction, as you know, is in the spatial ring of the Silverleaf Trade Hall general manager], Qian Ying then briefed them.

Hong Ye drew her dagger again, causing both Hong Yue and Wu Long to wryly shake their heads, and Qian Ying to turn a pleading look to Wu Long, along with some worry as the look in his eyes read ’W-what is wrong with this young lady?! she won’t cut my throat after all this is done, right?!’

[Ah~, wait, no! I got it, got it, my bad~ made a mistake again~], this time Hong Ye realized on her own, nodding along as she gestured with her finger while putting away the dagger.

They proceeded to sneak past the heavy guard into the bedroom of the general manager in another building, who was meditating on the bed in lotus pose, and Qian Ying proceeded to demonstrate his mastery of the art of stealing to obtain the main auction treasure directly from his spatial ring before they retraced their way back out of the Silverleaf Trade Hall, and then retreat from the Eastern Outskirts.