"Alright." Tang Yi nodded. He found this acceptable.
Otherwise, he would spend his days constantly on edge, worrying about the Tang Family’s safety, worrying about his friends and relatives. That kind of life would be unbearable.
It was out of concern for the Tang Family that Tang Yi had left Little Tiger behind this time, instead of bringing him along to the West Mansion.
As long as no one was specifically targeting them, Little Tiger’s strength should be enough to protect the Tang Family. But if Tang Yi accepted the Cyan Profound Warship...
...provoking the experts of the West Mansion—how could a single Little Tiger protect the Tang Family from that?
That was why Tang Yi had been so hesitant when he first heard Elder Lu offer him the Warship. But now that Elder Lu had put it this way, there was no longer a problem.
Having figured this out, Tang Yi’s gaze fell upon the Cyan Profound Warship, his eyes burning with desire.
’Soon,’ he thought, ’this Warship will be mine!’
However, another question occurred to Tang Yi at that moment.
Elder Lu had never been on this Warship, so how did he know so much about it?
"Elder Lu, there’s something I don’t understand. I was hoping you could clarify it for me," Tang Yi asked after a moment of thought.
"Please, go ahead," said Elder Lu.
"How do you know so much about this Cyan Profound Warship?" Tang Yi asked.
"Heh, that’s because our West Mansion has several Cyan Profound Warships of our own. They were all spoils of war, captured from the Heaven-Devouring Thieves," Elder Lu explained with a chuckle.
"Oh, no wonder you’re so familiar with them. So, you’re saying all these Warships came from those... Heaven-Devouring Thieves?"
Tang Yi nodded in understanding, but then another question came to mind.
"That’s right. The Cyan Profound Warship is the signature vessel of the Heaven-Devouring Thieves, just like the Void Warship is for our West Mansion," Elder Lu replied, holding nothing back.
Hearing Elder Lu’s answer didn’t satisfy Tang Yi. Like an inquisitive child, his curiosity was only piqued, and he asked again, "So, who exactly are these Heaven-Devouring Thieves? I’ve only heard you call them that, but I don’t know why. What grudge do the Heaven-Devouring Thieves have against the West Mansion? Why would they attack our Warships? This is the Western Domain. Aren’t they afraid of retaliation from our West Mansion?"
When Elder Lu heard Tang Yi refer to the West Mansion as ’our West Mansion,’ a flicker of joy appeared on his face, and he felt quite pleased. This was a sign of identification with the West Mansion. With that sense of belonging, he would one day become utterly loyal to them.
With Tang Yi’s immense Talent, if he were to become completely devoted to the West Mansion, their future would be even more powerful. This was a wonderful thing.
Nodding, Elder Lu felt a sense of relief before answering, "Yes. Even if you hadn’t asked, I was going to tell you about the Heaven-Devouring Thieves."
"The Heaven-Devouring Thieves are, in fact, an incredibly powerful force. This influence doesn’t reside in the Western Domain, nor in any of the Four Great Domains. They are a mysterious power from the Outer Domain. They hold no grudge against our West Mansion. They attack us simply because they are a band of Sky Thieves."
"Outer Domain? Sky Thieves?" Tang Yi repeated, stunned and confused.
"Correct." Elder Lu nodded and continued, "As for where in the Outer Domain they come from, we have no idea. We only know they don’t belong to our Four Great Domains. And Sky Thieves... well, as the name implies, they are bandits of the sky. They aren’t like common outlaws who turned to banditry after going astray. No, these people are raised to be Sky Thieves from the moment they are born!"
"This group of Sky Thieves flies a black flag with a skull on it. Their emblem is a Heavenly Dog with its mouth wide open. It’s because of this emblem that the Martial Artists of the Four Great Domains call them the Heaven-Devouring Thieves."
"Furthermore, they don’t prey on the weak or the unknown. They seem to have no specific goal other than to plunder the Warships of the Four Great Domains from the sky. The ’One Mansion, Two Sects, and Three Great Gates’ of the Four Great Domains have all suffered numerous attacks."
"They come without a shadow and leave without a trace. Their strength is terrifying. No matter how many you kill, a new batch of experts will emerge after a period of time. You never know when you’ll encounter them, or where they’ll come from. But when they arrive, they leave no survivors! Not a single one! That is the way of the Heaven-Devouring Thieves."
"Ah..."
After listening to Elder Lu’s explanation, it all suddenly clicked for Tang Yi. So that was the story behind the Heaven-Devouring Thieves.
’No wonder,’ he thought. ’No wonder they didn’t say a word or demand anything when we met. They just started killing. So that’s how it is.’
"So, has no one in the Four Great Domains ever investigated the background of these Heaven-Devouring Thieves? Why not find their root and eradicate them? Logically, with a threat this great and powerful in the Four Great Domains, the major powers should have united to wipe them out. And yet, the Four Great Domains haven’t reacted, letting them continue to do as they please. I find that hard to understand," Tang Yi asked again.
"It’s not that the Four Great Domains didn’t react. They did investigate before, but it was all for naught. The Six Great Forces of the Four Great Domains, including our West Mansion, once joined together and dispatched a thousand-person investigation team to the Outer Domain. This team was composed of the top echelons of the Six Great Forces. Every single one of them possessed Heaven-Reaching techniques and extraordinary strength. Yet, this very group of people... after leaving the Four Great Domains, they have never returned. There has been no news of them to this day."
"After that incident, the Six Great Forces suffered devastating losses. Our West Mansion alone lost several hundred talented Martial Artists, and to this day, we don’t know if they are dead or alive. Since then, the Six Great Forces haven’t dared to send anyone out to investigate again. The matter was simply dropped, and the Heaven-Devouring Thieves were left to run rampant throughout the Four Great Domains."
"When we encounter the Heaven-Devouring Thieves, if we have experts present and our luck is good, we might be able to turn the tables on them, just like we did today. Of course, most of the time, our luck isn’t good. The Heaven-Devouring Thieves are also incredibly strong. We may have experts, but their experts are often stronger and more numerous."
"You saw it yourself this time. The West Mansion had me, but the Heaven-Devouring Thieves also had a Battle Emperor Martial Artist, one whose strength was even a bit higher than mine. We have Battle Kings, but the Heaven-Devouring Thieves have even more, and stronger, Battle Kings. If it weren’t for you, Tang Yi, we might have been completely wiped out. And for most Martial Artists in the Four Great Domains, that is the usual outcome when they encounter the Heaven-Devouring Thieves."
"Of course, the Heaven-Devouring Thieves don’t appear frequently. They only show up once in a very long while. It’s rare to run into them. To encounter them, one can only say that our luck was extremely bad. Just like us."
Elder Lu slowly recounted the tale, explaining the situation with the Heaven-Devouring Thieves with great clarity.

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