The next morning, Fang Han left the city with ease.

Although he had already reached his goal of ten million, he had no intention of stopping there.

One could never have too much money.

His next target was Jinquan City, four hundred li north of Panshi City.

According to his intelligence, the faction here loyal to Chu Feng was a gang called the Golden Sand Gang.

The Gang Leader, Sha Tongtian, was also an Early-Sixth Grade Martial Artist. He controlled the waterway transport near Jinquan City and was fabulously wealthy.

Fang Han traveled without stopping, rushing at full speed, and arrived at Jinquan City by noon.

"What’s going on here?"

However, when he followed the directions he’d gathered and found the Golden Sand Gang’s headquarters, he couldn’t help but frown.

The courtyard with the "Golden Sand Gang" plaque had its vermilion-lacquered main gate shut tight, looking somewhat desolate.

The entrance was deserted, with no guards in sight—a stark contrast to the heavily fortified headquarters of the previous factions.

A bad premonition rose in Fang Han’s heart.

He circled around to the back of the courtyard and silently vaulted over the wall.

The courtyard was completely empty, not a soul in sight.

Tables and chairs were overturned, and miscellaneous items were scattered everywhere. It looked as if it had undergone a hasty move, leaving a total mess.

’Where did everyone go?’ Fang Han wondered.

He quickly searched the courtyard. Not only was it deserted, but not a single decent piece of furniture remained, let alone any valuables in a secret chamber.

He left the Golden Sand Gang, found a tavern, and paid a waiter for information, finally learning the reason.

One of the two Sixth Grade Martial Artists he had killed earlier was none other than the Golden Sand Gang’s leader, Sha Tongtian.

When the news of their leader’s inexplicable death reached them, the gang fell into chaos.

With old enemies eyeing them hungrily, and with a "thief" like him lurking in the shadows, the remaining members knew they couldn’t resist. After a discussion, they divided the gang’s assets and fled for their lives.

’What a pity...’

Fang Han sighed inwardly, feeling quite regretful.

The Golden Sand Gang controlled the waterways, so their accumulated wealth must have been substantial. If he had succeeded, his fortune would have grown considerably.

But with the Gang Leader dead and the members scattered, there was nothing to be gained from the Golden Sand Gang now.

He had a bad feeling. After all the chaos he had caused, the remaining factions under Chu Feng probably knew they couldn’t fight back and might have gone into hiding.

Following his intelligence, he headed to the city where the next of Chu Feng’s subordinate factions was located.

It was a small family that primarily dealt in medicinal herbs.

His bad premonition came true.

When he arrived, he found that family’s gates shut tight as well. The core members were nowhere to be found, leaving only some branch family members and servants.

They had clearly heard the news and had already moved their wealth in advance.

Coming up empty twice in a row, Fang Han frowned slightly.

’It seems that under the weight of successive bad news and panic, Chu Feng’s factions have chosen to either go into hiding or disband...’

He knew that after the consecutive robberies, any of the remaining factions with half a brain wouldn’t just stupidly wait around to be visited.

They would either disband like the Golden Sand Gang or move their assets elsewhere.

Robbing them like before was no longer possible.

’Forget it. My haul this time has far exceeded expectations. It’s time to return to the Sect, digest my gains, and increase my strength.’

His total wealth had surpassed ten million, meeting the condition to unlock a Level 7 Talent Amplification.

The most pressing task was to convert this wealth into Talent, and then convert that Talent into tangible combat power.

With his mind made up, Fang Han didn’t linger. He turned and left, his figure quickly disappearing into the crowds of Jinquan City.

He got his bearings, activated his Body Technique, and sped toward the Qingxuan Sect.

...

The towering main gate of the Qingxuan Sect was visible in the distance.

Fang Han slowed his pace, reined in the aura that had begun to leak out from his long journey, and walked steadily toward the main gate.

The disciples guarding the gate saw a figure in a Silver-Striped Cyan Robe approaching from afar. When they got a clear look at his face, their expressions immediately turned serious.

They hurriedly bowed, their tone filled with unprecedented respect, and even a hint of imperceptible awe.

"Senior Brother Fang!"

Fang Han gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, his pace unchanging as he walked straight through the main gate.

Behind him, he heard the hushed, excitedly charged discussions of the disciples on duty.

"Did you see that? That was Senior Brother Fang!"

"What? He’s the Senior Brother Fang who defeated Gong Xing, that veteran True Inheritor from the Netherworld Pavilion?"

"Gong Xing is ranked twenty-sixth among the Netherworld Pavilion’s True Inheritors, and Senior Brother Fang actually beat him? That kind of strength..."

"To become a True Inheritor in just over a year and even defeat a veteran True Inheritor from the Netherworld Pavilion... Senior Brother Fang’s strength is definitely not just number 30 on the overall rankings!"

Listening to the disciples’ discussion, Fang Han’s expression remained impassive, but his heart stirred.

’It seems the news of my battle with Gong Xing has already spread back to the Sect, and quite widely at that. Even the gate-keeping disciples know about it.’

He followed the bluestone path toward the True Inheritance Courtyard.

Along the way, the disciples and even some Stewards he encountered all looked at him differently than before.

Their gazes held a new, genuine awe and admiration, and they all took the initiative to step aside and bow.

"Did you hear? The factions under Senior Brother Chu Feng have been hit by a string of thefts. Even Senior Brother Song Xiang and the Tracking expert, Ghost Eye Luo Yan, whom he invited to help, were killed!"

"They say the thief is elusive and uses unbelievable methods to empty secret chambers of their wealth in an extremely short time, leaving almost no trace behind. It’s incredible!"

"How did he transport so much gold, silver, and jewels?"

"I think that thief must possess some strange skill. His hands must be astonishingly fast, or he wouldn’t have earned the nickname ’Thousand Hands Thief’!"

"Thousand Hands Thief? That’s fitting. Senior Brother Chu Feng has suffered heavy losses this time, and completely lost face!"

"Shhh... Quieter, don’t get us into trouble..."

The low murmurs of discussion drifted into Fang Han’s ears on the wind.

The content all revolved around the consecutive robberies of Chu Feng’s subordinate factions, the deaths of Song Xiang and the Tracking expert, and the matter of the mysterious thief.

’Thousand Hands Thief? They came up with a decent nickname.’

Fang Han’s eyes were calm and untroubled, as if he were merely overhearing idle chatter that had nothing to do with him. The rhythm of his steps didn’t change in the slightest.

Chu Feng being stressed out and his prestige taking a hit was exactly what he was happy to see.

As for the potential investigation into Song Xiang’s death, he wasn’t too worried.

He had already cleaned up the scene and disguised the characteristics of his Martial Techniques. Even if the Sect’s Law Enforcement Hall got involved, it would be difficult to trace it back to him.

Most importantly, Song Xiang was just an ordinary disciple, so the Sect would place limited importance on the case, and the investigation would be limited in scope.

"Senior Brother, you’ve returned."

Upon returning to Courtyard No. 35 in the True Inheritance Courtyard, the Maid, Qiu Lan, hurried forward to bow, her expression respectful.

"I’m going to rest for a while. Do not disturb me unless it’s important."

Fang Han instructed coolly before heading straight for his bedroom.

"Yes, Senior Brother."

Qiu Lan quickly assented and quietly withdrew.

Fang Han entered the bedroom, latched the door behind him, and carefully checked the windows. After confirming everything was secure, he let out a soft breath.

After many consecutive days of travel and action, his mind had been constantly on high alert. Now, back in this place of absolute safety, a faint sense of exhaustion crept over him.

But he didn’t rest immediately. Instead, he first took stock of his recent haul.

He started by taking out the items he had looted from Song Xiang, Luo Yan, and the two Sixth Grade Martial Artists and placing them before him.

There were several Jade Bottles of different styles, some loose silver taels, and a thick stack of silver notes.

Fang Han picked up the Jade Bottles first, uncorked them, and inspected them one by one.

Two of the bottles contained the True Spirit Pills he was familiar with, ten pills per bottle, all of high quality.

The other three bottles held Elixirs of various colors and smells.

One bottle was fiery red and emitted a scorching heat.

Another was an icy blue, cold to the touch.

The last was a pale gold, with a rather peculiar medicinal fragrance.

’The properties of these Elixirs are unknown. Taking them rashly could be risky.’

Fang Han pondered for a moment, then set the three unfamiliar Elixirs aside, deciding to "recharge" them directly later.

He put away the True Spirit Pills. They were hard currency for aiding Cultivation.

Next, he counted the silver taels and silver notes.

’There’s so much!’

There were about a hundred taels of loose silver, but the face value of the silver notes made his eyebrows twitch.

Counting carefully, they amounted to a whopping 237,000 taels!

The silver notes were of a common design, with no specific bank names or marks, so their origin couldn’t be traced.

’Most of this must have been the payment Chu Feng gave to that old man. Now it’s all mine.’

Fang Han understood that the majority of these silver notes were likely the payment Chu Feng had given to the old man.

He put away the silver notes and loose silver, deciding to use them for daily expenses.

Now that he had a maid and attendants, he occasionally needed to give out rewards to win their loyalty.

After finishing all this, with a thought, he summoned the system panel.

A translucent screen of light quietly appeared, the data clearly displayed before his eyes:

[Host: Fang Han]

[Root Bone Talent Amplification: 64x (Level 7 Amplification requires 10,000,000 silver)]

[Swordsmanship Talent Amplification: 64x (Level 7 Amplification requires 10,000,000 silver)]

[Stepping Talent Amplification: 64x (Level 7 Amplification requires 10,000,000 silver)]

[Secret Technique Talent Amplification: 64x (Level 7 Amplification requires 10,000,000 silver)]

[Wealth Owned: 10,962,000 silver]

’10,962,000 silver.’

His gaze fell on the staggering number in the [Wealth Owned] column. Even with Fang Han’s steady disposition, his breath hitched for a moment.

Before the robberies, his wealth was 415,000 silver.

Now, it was 10,962,000 silver!

This meant that his recent string of operations had netted him a total of 10,547,000 silver!

This was a terrifying sum, enough to make even Upper Three Grades Martial Artists green with envy, the total accumulated wealth of several of Chu Feng’s factions over many years.

Suppressing his turbulent emotions, Fang Han turned his attention to the three unfamiliar Elixirs.

"Recharge."

He focused his mind, and the three bottles of Elixirs vanished instantly.

The number on the panel twitched slightly:

[Wealth Owned: 10,963,000 silver]

An increase of one thousand silver. It was better than nothing.

’Which Talent’s Level 7 Amplification should I unlock?’

The total wealth on the panel had broken the ten million mark, enough to unlock a Level 7 Amplification for one Talent.

Fang Han’s gaze fell on the four Talents, a contemplative look in his eyes.

According to his usual habit, Root Bone Talent was the foundation of Cultivation and would be the first choice.

However, with his current Root Bone Talent, already improved by the Earth Core Stone Milk and stacked with a 64x amplification, his Cultivation speed was already terrifyingly fast. The accumulation of Inner Qi was extremely rapid.

On the other hand, his Swordsmanship cultivation had slowed down recently.

The reason was that after his Wind Shadow Annihilation Sword reached the Great Success realm, the difficulty of cultivating it had increased sharply.

In the future, when his Wind Shadow Annihilation Sword reached the Perfection realm and he switched to practicing a more powerful, yet more obscure and profound, top-level Swordsmanship, his Swordsmanship cultivation speed would likely become even slower.

This slowing Swordsmanship cultivation speed could no longer match his overly fast Cultivation progress.

Advancing one’s Cultivation was important, but if the level of one’s Martial Techniques couldn’t keep up, it would seriously affect the application of one’s strength.

A miscellaneous book on the first floor of the Library Pavilion recorded the story of a genius Martial Artist named Wu Tian. His Cultivation advanced extremely quickly, but his talent for Martial Techniques was comparatively ordinary, and his techniques couldn’t keep up with his Cultivation.

His strength was the weakest among those of the same rank, and he was even frequently defeated by Martial Artists with lower Cultivation, making him a disgrace among genius Martial Artists.