Starting with Growing Mushrooms

In almost an instant, an uncontrollable thought surfaced in everyone’s mind:

The God of Merchants, wealth rivaling nations.

To drain this unbelievably wealthy god of his fortune, is it really possible?

"The answer is, of course, it can be done."

Those present were researchers, analyzing rationally, "But it requires mobilizing a massive army."

"Yes, with every attack on him, he casually steals something in return," someone commented with a strange expression, "Truly worthy of the self-proclaimed God of Merchants, a character who profits from harmony."

The crowd could only sigh helplessly.

The God of Merchants indeed profits from harmony.

No fights, harmonious.

Sneaky theft, profits.

Isn’t this exactly profiting from harmony?

"It would probably take a massive amount of warriors attacking recklessly, risking their lives, to exhaust his wealth to the point of collapse!"

The dog-headed scientist beside them shook his head, "No, the cost isn’t that high."

"As long as you successfully take down the God of Merchants, all the treasures that were stolen will be returned, and those who were made fools will have the chance to recover, equating to no real loss."

But the other scientists disagreed with this viewpoint.

It was based on the premise of completely defeating the God of Merchants.

But the other party is so tough, without draining his treasury, it’s impossible to kill him...

There’s a risk of losing it all, failing to retrieve any of the treasures taken by the other side.

"Now, the Prince Guguang is a gambler like this, thinking he could get it all back, betting constantly, and the result? Now he’s invested too much, stuck in a dilemma!"

Someone said, "So, extravagant gambling is not the way."

Another maliciously speculated, "In my opinion, the God of Merchants did it on purpose; he might be running this kind of alternative gambling business."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, isn’t this a big gamble now? If you win, you get all my wealth as the God of Merchants, including my Divine Format."

"If you lose, you throw your whole family’s fortune in, isn’t that enticing people to plunge deeper and deeper?"

With these people’s imaginations, a terrifying image of the ancient mythical era emerged.

The God of Merchants rampant throughout the cosmos:

"Do you want my treasure? Do you want the most prosperous treasury in the cosmos?"

"Wanna gamble? Hit me and gold coins will explode, place a chip for every hit, win, and even my life as the God of Merchants is yours."

These scientists indulged in wild imaginations.

It is said that every god has their own era of rise, with versions rotating, God myth, Fate myth, Chaos myth...

As if seeing a mythical era of a great gambler from ancient times:

Gambling Dog Mythical Era.

Everyone would go after the God of Merchants, this super slot machine, hoping he’d drop gear.

——Do you want my wealth, do you want my treasures? I, without attack power, stand here, letting you attack!

In the distance.

Amid Liu Jun’s battle with the Prince Guguang, listening to these scientists’ discussions, his expression turned gloomy: "How can these people unjustly tarnish my reputation?"

This is his first appearance as the God of Merchants, and already his reputation is tarnished this way.

Liu Jun reckoned he could already predict how exaggeratedly his reputation as this merchant god would grow.

Yet, he couldn’t refute it.

Because the attribute of this thief god position destined him to be mischievous.

At this moment.

"Did this guy recover from his injuries just like that?"

The Prince Guguang was in a complete state of dejection, like a bankrupt middle-aged man wandering the streets.

He had lost so much, leading to a decline in his vigor and spirit.

"Still want to fight?"

The God of Merchants said calmly, "I am a god without attack power, engaging in harmonious trade, yet always encountering ruffians like you, bullying me for not fighting back."

Won’t fight back?

The Prince Guguang smiled.

The other side was taking hits, seemingly without any retaliation.

But he’d rather face a God with immense battle strength or ma, or even other powerful gods...

Because against those gods, he still had a chance to win!

But this guy...

Compared to others, he was truly a mechanized freak.

He disregarded the strength of realms.

His attack power is percentage-based damage.

His defensive power could keep up with the opponent’s strength.

His health bar was practically the entire treasury accumulated.

With this existence, the realm’s strength didn’t matter much...

No matter how strong your realm is, even if the heads of the three realms personally came, instantly killing him might just speed up depleting his health bar.

"His health bar is too long..."

After encountering yet another initial surprise kill and obtaining such critical information, the Prince Guguang finally resolved to retreat completely.

He already understood that nothing could be done.

There was a chance he’d fight for it, but if there was no slightest chance, fighting was just foolishness.

"Escape!" The Prince Guguang acted decisively, quickly transforming into a streak of light and shooting into the distance.

"Escaped?" Liu Jun was slightly surprised when he saw this scene.

This guy is indeed a hero.

When fighting, he’s ruthless; when escaping, he doesn’t say a word.

But...

Can he really get away?

Liu Jun took a step forward, quickly catching up.

Prince Guguang was sprinting ahead, feeling the oppressive presence behind him, "I can still escape."

"He stole my Daoist Body, the associated combat techniques, talents, skills, footsteps... all the knowledge."

"But, he doesn’t have the talent of that body!"

Indeed.

Just like cultivating the Flame Shackles requires an affinity for fire talent.

Nowadays, the cosmos’ environment has long been altered.

Back in the day, those cultivating Ancient Techniques basically needed just hands; everyone had that physique.

Now that the world’s environment has drastically changed, the life forms living in it naturally have greatly changed physiques too.

In this new era, people with the ancient cultivation [Old Day] physique are one in billions.

So.

This is one reason why even on the front lines, practitioners of Ancient Techniques are extremely rare.

And as for the other side...

He intentionally protected himself, not letting the opponent steal his Ancient Technique physique.

This was his last resort!

"Taking other Daoist Bodies, talents, Cultivation Techniques... what’s the use?"

"Without the most crucial piece, everything you’ve stolen can’t be utilized!"

Thoughts kept flashing through his mind,

"His Daoist Body can’t be used efficiently... even if he’s stronger than me now, he can’t use the corresponding techniques to catch up."

However, as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he saw a scene that left him speechless.

Behind him.

The God of Merchants casually took an artificial [Old Day] talent from his treasury and placed it on himself.

In an instant.

He had the ancient cultivation physique of Old Days.

The most critical piece was assembled, and a feeling of harmonious completeness surged in his heart.

Liu Jun secretly complained in his heart:

"It’s so easy."

"Hacks are just ridiculous."

"Could it be so simple to become a practitioner of Ancient Techniques?"

The [Old Day] item was something he unintentionally received during a pawnshop trade.

At the time, he didn’t know what it was for.

But upon thinking about it now...

Turns out it was the ancient physique of those old gods using Ancient Techniques.

What a coincidence?

He always had the Old Day physique... but he had been careless and never realized its existence until now.

However, even with the Old Day physique, Liu Jun didn’t get overconfident.

"Whether it’s his Daoist Body or this physique... they are all equipment like Divine Format, worn externally."

"Eighth Tier Tao Spirit Divine Format, Eighth Tier Ancient Technique Daoist Body Divine Format... both are the same type of thing."

"They aren’t powers I’ve cultivated myself, akin to wearing an exoskeleton Mecha..."

Liu Jun’s own strength was still at the Seventh Tier.

He still relied on his own diligent cultivation.

Nonetheless, this power was enough to give him the ability to protect himself.

With that thought, Liu Jun quickly caught up to Prince Guguang.

The opponent was already extremely haggard, virtually unable to resist any longer.

Steal! Steal! Steal!

He repeatedly extended his hand, frantically patting the prince’s body several times.

Prince Guguang’s eyes began to turn clear and dull, seemingly turning into a fool who knew only to drool.

His intelligence was stolen.

Even Liu Jun cursed under his breath at how absurd this ability was.

"It’s time to end this."

Liu Jun looked extremely calm.

This journey had explored the front lines and reaped massive gains.

However, just then, a rift suddenly appeared in the sky.

From countless twisted, violent tears, a heavily injured man fell out.

But his body shook slightly, and his wounds slowly began to heal.

This was an exceptionally silent recluse, looking a bit nervous.

His hands couldn’t help but fiddle with a Rubik’s cube composed of numerous shackles, to ease his tension.

His voice was gentle, even appearing somewhat introverted and shy, politely asking:

"Dear God, I’m sorry to have caused you trouble, could you return his original belongings?"