“Master Pentorn, we’ve arrived,” a voice said over my ship’s announcement system. “Any further and we’ll be intruding on the Holy Beasts Sect’s airspace.”

Since I’ve decided to raid sects, why not start with the strongest one? That way, I’ll know just how strong my forces are, and I’ll be able to intimidate the rest of the Immortal Continent if I win. If I started at the weakest sect, they’d resist for a bit, but if I conquered the strongest, the weaker sects would instantly surrender if I paid them a visit. That’s how people are in the Immortal Continent. Once they see someone stronger than themselves, they tuck their tails between their legs and lower their heads to the ground.

I teleported out of my room in the ship and appeared on the deck. Teleportation really is handy—time saved on transport is more time spent on learning formations. Outside, we were stopped in front of a layer of mist. The Holy Beasts Sect didn’t want outsiders to peer into their sect apparently. The mist extended from the ground all the way to the sky. I suspect if I flew higher up, the mist would curve into a dome to cover the sect grounds. The fact that I can only see it as a vertical wall just goes to show how much space the Holy Beasts Sect is occupying. It’s no wonder they’re the strongest sect. In the center of the Immortal Continent, the concentration of qi is at its highest, and these people are smackdab in the middle of it, probably using a formation to prevent any leakage too.

One of my bodyguards walked towards me. All the other bodyguards were staring at his back. It seemed like he had drawn the short straw or something along those lines. “Master…,” he said and glanced at the mist wall. “Are we really going to do this?”

“Why are all of you so nervous? We’re just going to go in and have a little chat with them.” Honest. There’s no need to fight if I can intimidate them into surrendering. I did my research. The Holy Beasts Sect only has eighty sky-realm experts, much more than a normal sect, but less than my group. However, they’re rumored to have four quasi-immortals. If I only had these sky-realm experts with me, I wouldn’t dare attack, err, negotiate with this sect, but luckily, even quasi-immortals can be bought with resources. I traded a few rare pills from Pill Valley and temporarily hired six quasi-immortals. Their rates are quite expensive: fifty billion spirit stones a week per person. That’s why, to get the most out of my money, we’re going to sweep through all of the central Immortal Continent within a week, starting with the Holy Beasts Sect. “Fire the anti-Lucia cannon.”

“Firing the cannon!”

Why am I firing the cannon? Well, there’s no entrance, so I have to make one. There was no sound when the beam of light from my ship’s cannon collided with the mist wall, but just because it was silent didn’t mean the effect wasn’t impressive. Like soap bubbles, the wall and the formation supporting it crumbled into nothingness, spreading outwards from the impact. A land filled with mountains and dark green vegetation was revealed in front of me. There was a white mist floating about, qi so abundant and concentrated that it manifested in a physical form. Across the mountains, there were splashes of red and gold, pagodas that supposedly housed the disciples—if they weren’t living in caves, that is. Suddenly, dozens of golden beams shot into the sky towards the ship. They stopped a few meters away, revealing people wearing different-colored robes. There were blue, red, black, and white ones, most likely referencing the four holy beasts the sect was named after.

A handsome—by the Immortal Continent’s standards—man wearing white robes floated forward with a calm expression. “Who are you?”

“I’m Ilya Pentorn, founder of the Pentorn Armory, and owner of the soon-to-be-established Pentorn Bank.” That about covers my introduction. “I’m here today to take your sect’s wealth and secret techniques to distribute them amongst the populace.” I’ve thought about it, and even though karma doesn’t make a lot of sense, if I can help a lot of people by giving them strong cultivation techniques—taken from the top-tier sects—wouldn’t that bring me a lot of good karma? At the very least, it should be enough to offset the bad karma I’ll gain from robbery.

“You’re … here today to take our sect’s wealth and secret techniques?”

The man seemed confused, as if I had spoken in a strange language. “Yes, that’s right. If you resist, we’ll have to resort to force. And as the people on the Immortal Continent love to say, fists and feet have no eyes; don’t blame us if you’re heavily wounded.”

The man raised his eyebrows before breaking into a smile. “Is this a challenge, then? You’re aware we’re the Holy Beasts Sect? From which rock did you crawl under that you think you can posture in front of us like so?”

“Fire the anti-Lucia cannon.”

“Firing the cannon!”

As I’ve stated before, a show of strength is necessary. It’s unfortunate that that’s the case on the Immortal Continent. Words don’t work as well as they do back in my pocket realm. Well, smart people adapt to any circumstance; if strength is required, then that’s what I’ll obtain. There was a white flash of light. Once it disappeared, the handsome man had disappeared. Moments later, he reappeared, but looking a lot less handsome than before. His clothes were torn to shreds, a strip of cloth barely covering his groin, and his skin was burnt. Also, his flowing hair was gone too, replaced by a burnt and raw scalp. His arms were loose by his sides, and his legs dangled underneath him; it seemed like his limbs were broken or at least unresponsive, but he was still alive, surprisingly. Well, it’s not completely unexpected. In order to prevent the anti-Lucia cannon from disintegrating after one use, I had to reduce its power.

“A despicable sneak attack!” A woman wearing red robes pointed at me. She was even more beautiful than Softie, and there aren’t many women like that in the world. “Get them!”

The heavily injured handsome man swallowed a pill, and his injuries recovered in an instant. He, along with three other people, each wearing a different-colored robe, charged at my boat. In unison, they shouted, “Holy Beast Heaven-Conquering Formation!”

Above them, a dragon, a phoenix, a tortoise, and a tiger appeared in the air. They seemed solid, but I could still see the clouds behind them. From the four beasts, a heavy pressure radiated outwards, bending the planks of my ship, forcing my sky-realm experts—and myself—to our knees.

A cruel laughter rang out of the man dressed in black robes amongst the four. “Overestimating yourself! Die!” The illusionary tortoise’s jaw spread open, wider than the ship. Right when it was about to bite the boat in half, a scythe appeared in the air above it and slashed down, beheading the tortoise in an instant. The scythe flashed three more times, and the rest of the holy beasts wailed as they were beheaded as well. Blood spurted out of the four sky-realm experts’ mouths, and their faces turned pale as they halted in midair. The handsome man in white shouted, “Grim Reaper Jin Mo! You dare act against our Holy Beasts Sect!? Aren’t you afraid of offending my grandfather!?”

One of the quasi-immortals I hired rose up into the air from behind me. “Don’t think you’re untouchable just because your grandfather is strong.” A massive skeletal hand appeared in the sky and grasped the four sky-realm experts from the Holy Beasts Sect. They tried to break free, but they let out cries when the skeletal hand clenched, crushing their bodies. “Master Pentorn, what shall I do with them?”

“Tie them up and put them under the deck.” It’s not like I want people to die. I’m not a murderer after all.