Chapter 152: Thousand Thieves, Beggar Prostitutes: Future Plans—Haley Calls

As for Jiali, all her previous academic records were invalidated; now she was merely a senior transfer student at Lakeview High School, and her family had moved back in next door to Louis's household.

What about Margaret, that religious hardliner?

Since going through that ordeal, Jiali's personality had changed drastically—cold, ruthless, decisive—utterly opposite from who she used to be; before such a person, Margaret had little say.

It was said she had consulted Maria on family matters, and the results were remarkable: Margaret indeed stopped causing trouble, though she also grew distant from Jiali.

Well, she'd never been close to begin with, so it wasn't noticeable.

As for Jiali, Louis primarily taught her Daoist texts on character cultivation, but she struggled to grasp them, so he taught her only the meditation aspects of Qi Gong—she trained well enough, though her coldness and detachment deepened further.

Today, he taught her a new method: the revised White Bone Contemplation.

To help her enhance, refine, and control her formidable abilities.

"Yes, like that—control your emotions…"

After guiding her step by step, Louis returned to his seat and toyed with the Blood River Pearl.

Over the past six months, aside from the first few months spent aiding his family against those capitalists, the last one or two months had been devoted entirely to his own pursuits.

Including but not limited to studying the Ascension Technique, alchemy, dual cultivation, refining the Spirit Eye Art, attempting to cultivate the One Qi Art, the Demon Body Art, and the Heng and Ha Two Acupoints Art, among others.

The Ascension Technique, due to ritual requirements and celestial obfuscation, could only be used at the turn of the millennium, when the era shifted and stellar configurations changed.

Dual cultivation and the Spirit Eye Art were progressing steadily; the Spirit Eye Art was nearing mastery, and perhaps he could one day achieve killing with a glance.

As for the Three Yin Spirit Arts, each had its own difficulties, but all were surmountable.

Most importantly, in alchemy, he discovered he had an unexpected talent—his success rate was high.

He used the Mo Shen's skin as auxiliary material, combined it with some gold brick components, added supplementary materials, and after a month of work, produced the unsealed embryo of the Ten Thousand Illusions Robe—successfully in only three attempts.

As for inscribing the sealing talismans onto the embryo, that would require vast amounts of magic power and spiritual energy, layer by layer; Louis had not yet done it, instead planning to finish crafting all Mo Shen materials before sealing them.

This Blood River Pearl was forged from the leftover flesh and blood of Mo Shen—undoubtedly, a god's flesh and blood were superb; using it as auxiliary material alongside gold brick components, he succeeded in just one attempt.

It now contained three special types of blood.

Each additional special blood brought the Blood River Pearl one step closer to condensing a Blood Core; six more were still needed to form the Human Essence Blood Core.

The Blood River Pearl was not merely a physical weapon—it was also a divine alchemy tool prepared by the Divine Lord; all arts required time to master, but with the Blood River Pearl, at least cultivating cultivation base and restoring vital energy no longer posed a problem, saving immense time and freeing him from dependence on others.

The Divine Lord had truly thought of everything.

The Ten Thousand Illusions Robe, forged from Mo Shen's skin, also possessed concealment properties; beyond its basic immunity to blades, bullets, fire, and water, it faintly granted Mo Shen's illusionary abilities—though these seemed stable only after one sealing talisman was inscribed.

In the future, he could integrate skins of other monsters to add multiple abilities—it was supremely practical.

Both artifact embryos possessed hidden effects, making Louis all the more eager to see the results of the remaining four artifacts.

Unfortunately, these artifacts consumed enormous resources; even crafting the Ten Thousand Illusions Robe required burning gold and silver to extract gold and silver threads—imagine the cost—and with the principle of not biting off more than one can chew.

Louis planned to craft only these two artifacts for now, and would begin the third only after achieving mastery.

So his focus wouldn't be too scattered.

Now, what artifact should he craft next?

The Corpse Cultivation Coffin—or…

As he was lost in thought, Yulunca approached, wiping sweat from her brow. "Louis, do you have any plans ahead?"

Louis snapped back to reality—he understood Yulunca wasn't asking about school, but about his future.

She had asked him this before; she asked because she had less than a year left before entering university—no, Jiali did too.

Thus, planning for the future had become urgent.

"Harvard."

Many elite American universities had produced political figures, even presidents; Harvard, as one such institution, had produced notably famous ones—Roosevelt, the president who cut the capitalists' flesh with a swift blade.

Even today, Harvard's prestige in politics remained strong, having produced numerous senators and governors.

"After graduation, you should return to Florida, join the city council—I'll make sure you shine there."

Yulunca nodded; it didn't surprise her. She knew exactly what path she'd take—but Harvard? That would require serious study; getting in wouldn't be easy.

"As for Jiali, her grades won't get her into an elite school—she'll stay at the University of Florida."

Besides, with Jiali's personality and abilities, Louis dared not let her go far—she might explode at someone any day.

"As for the next few years…"

Louis had his own plan: originally, he intended to hunt monsters—to consume them for cultivation advancement and to forge them into artifacts, aiming to complete all his artifacts.

But recently, the "Thousand Thieves, Beggar Prostitutes" chapter had unlocked—and its conditions differed from the others.

He needed to find four individuals qualified in these four trades, recruit them as subordinates, and only then could he unlock the chapter's special arts—its purpose being to use these four people—or rather, these four industries—to build the foundational power of his future Daoist lineage.

Throughout history, every rising Daoist lineage had relied on wealth, intelligence, and power; though the "Thousand Thieves, Beggar Prostitutes" seemed lowly, they were immensely useful and universally applicable—no matter the world, as long as society retained its structure, these trades would never vanish.

That was why the "Thousand Thieves, Beggar Prostitutes" chapter unlocked last—and why its conditions were unique.

Moreover, the Civil Code revealed that upon unlocking the "Thousand Thieves, Beggar Prostitutes" chapter, a ritual for establishing an altar would unlock simultaneously; once combined, he would formally establish his sect.

This was a prerequisite for founding a Daoist lineage!

Louis strongly agreed, for in modern times, these trades had transformed—rebranded as professions people admired, wielding far greater power than imagined.

For instance, the Thousand Thieves—fraud. Was there any fraud more sophisticated than the financiers on Wall Street? Forget the suburbs—those low-tech scammers casting wide nets weren't even real con artists.

In an era of rampant commerce and material desire, con artists were destined to thrive.

The Thief Guild? A formidable force—ranging from pickpockets and grave robbers to organized gangs, bandits, and even minor warlords—all belonged to this trade.

In America, practitioners of this trade were widespread; as long as a robbery didn't exceed a certain monetary threshold, it wasn't even classified as robbery—no arrest!

It was a paradise for the Thief Guild!

The Beggar Guild? The core of intelligence networks. No society can exist without beggars—they're everywhere, naturally forming the basis for gathering intelligence; they're divided into Clean-Cloth and Dirty-Cloth factions, with the Clean-Cloth acting as merchants, though many dark practices lurk within, like harvesting organs and mutilating living beings.

Are there few homeless in America? Few slums? Few undocumented immigrants? All could become potential Beggar Guild members.

The Prostitute Guild? No need to explain—since Guan Zhong founded the first brothels, it has never ceased, one of humanity's oldest professions; today, they've found better stages—celebrities, the entertainment industry.

In this era of Quanminyulezhisi, the Prostitute Guild will inevitably expand infinitely.

Clearly, if these four trades are cultivated well, his Daoist lineage's secular power will never lack.

That's precisely why the "Thousand Thieves, Beggar Prostitutes" chapter stands alone.

Thus, Louis revised his future plan for the coming years: two parallel paths—one, hunting monsters to advance cultivation and forge artifacts; two, seeking four elite individuals—four lowly but indispensable talents to help him build his great enterprise.

It would be difficult, but Louis wasn't in a hurry—he had plenty of time, and he was still young.

Moreover, he'd heard on TV and in newspapers about the Warrens; now that he'd reached the Yin Spirit realm, he could begin attempting to participate in the spirit-summoning plot.

He remembered the demons involved—some even reached the level of the Seventy-Two Demons of Solomon.

As he pondered, Louis's phone rang.

The caller ID startled him.

Haley.

The girl who had once helped them escape from Emilia's estate.

Though they'd kept in touch over the years, contact had been rare—just seasonal greetings.

He never expected her to call now—was there a holiday?

Puzzled, Louis answered the call.

Haley's voice came through.

"Hello, Louis."

Louis paused—how to put it? She'd always been so distant.

"Hello, Haley."

Then she spoke words that felt familiar to Louis.

"Interested in coming to California?"

Louis felt a flicker of déjà vu—he thought of Mary.

Mary had been the same—same identity, same phone call—only the words differed…

After a moment of silence, Louis asked Haley what she meant, without immediately agreeing to go.

After all, Haley was not Mary.

(End of Chapter)