Stealing the Heavens

Wu Tianming rode his flood dragon and led the way ahead, turning and nodding politely to the three men behind him every thirty to fifty miles. The wind in the sky was so strong that, with his cultivation base of a Nascent Soul cultivator—he was even weaker than his mount, who was a Heaven Immortal—there was no way for him to speak at all. So, he could only express his sincerity by actions.

Wu Qi, Guigu’zi, and Mo Di sat astride their cranes and followed after Wu Tianming, their faces expressionless as they communicated with each other through divine sense.

“He looks like an unlucky emperor.”

“That’s right. He was accompanied by only eight Oracles and not even a single guard. It shows he is in dire straits.”

“Oh, could he be a mere figurehead? This is interesting.”

“It seems that we will have to help this emperor fight for his power on this trip to Great Wu Dynasty.”

“Hehe, the same old story. I haven’t done such a thing for a long time.”

The three chatted happily, while Wu Tianming led the way gingerly. After about four hours, they left the mountain range and came to a large river valley. It was a long, narrow plain between two mountain ranges, shaped like a mulberry leaf, about five thousand miles wide at its widest part and almost a million miles long. A great river, a hundred miles wide, tumbled through the valley and separated it from the middle. On both sides of the river were sparsely dotted with many cities that had apparently been built only a short time ago.

The soil of Pangu Continent was so fertile that crops could ripen once in about a month or two after the seeds had been sown. On the outskirts of these cities, in the fields next to the villages, large tracts of crops were just slightly yellow, and the soil looked as if it had just been plowed. These should be the first batch of crops. Judging by the fact that they had not yet been harvested, it meant that these villages had only been built for less than two months.

Though they had only been here for a short time, and even their livelihood had not yet been properly arranged, seven or eight mortal kingdoms were already at war in the valley on either side of the river. The borders of these kingdoms were crowded with military towns garrisoned by armies, and millions of soldiers could be seen clustered around these towns attacking each other. Murderous aura soared to the sky, and battle cries shook the river, rising waves across its surface.

Just below them, more than 200,000 people were fighting fiercely on a fertile field. From time to time, soldiers fell to the ground, covered in blood, and yet after a plume of purple mist swirled about their bodies, they jumped up again and continued to fight their enemies. Unless someone was quick enough to chop off his opponent’s head, the enemy in front of him would stand up, again and again, and went on fighting.

Wu Qi watched the battle for a moment. So many soldiers were frantically attacking each other, and yet after a full hour, only less than two hundred people were killed. He could not help but shake his head. It was too inefficient. If they kept fighting like this, when would the victor be decided?

Above the battlefield, dozens of Oracles were divided into two groups, casting spells at each other.

A group used the spell Wu Qi had seen before, which summoned meteors from the sky to bombard their enemies. Small meteors were constantly falling and slamming into their opponents. The other group used the ice spell. Whenever a meteor fell, they immediately raised their hands and conjured a thick sheet of blue ice, throwing it into the sky to meet the meteor. A terrifying noise would ring then as both meteor and ice clashed. As the cultivation base of both sides was about the same, they always ended up in a tie.

Wu Qi and his companions stopped in the air and gawked as the two groups of Oracles gnashed their teeth and attacked each other. They watched for six hours, until both sides exhausted all their magic power, exchanged curses, and turned and flew back to their own camps.

Even as the Oracles retreated, shrill and loud gongs rang out from within the two armies fighting on the ground. Amid the jarring noises, both sides stopped their attacks at the same time, began to regroup and gather the dead and wounded, and then retreated to their camps in the rear, singing military songs loudly.

Wu Qi was speechless when he saw what happened. It was a long time before he looked at Guigu’zi and asked, “Senior, have you ever seen a battle like this?” Guigu’zi rubbed his nose, twitched his lips and stared up into the sky. He did not even want to judge this ‘battle’! What could he say? To him, such a battle was not a battle at all!

Mo Di, on the other hand, was laughing. Even he could not stand to watch a battle like this, not to mention Guigu’zi. It was like serving a large bowl of stewed pigweed to a gourmet accustomed to eating the choicest delicacies prepared by a master chef. How could he be interested in tasting it?

Wu Qi smiled, shook his head and said to Wu Tianming, who waited respectfully ahead, “Your Majesty, please lead the way.”

The emperor bowed his head, patted the horn of the flood dragon he was riding, and then sped off with the three of them toward a triangular alluvial plain in the distance, where a tributary of the great river converged with the mainstream. Hundreds of cities, numerous towns and villages dotted the plain that covered more than 50,000 miles. Wu Qi glanced the area with his divine sense. Wu Tianming’s dynasty was considered a powerful kingdom with a population of more than three billion.

In this valley, Great Wu’s population was far larger than that of other kingdoms. The least populous kingdom had only about 200 million people, not even a fraction of Great Wu’s. However, its whole territory was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, the soldiers in the military towns along the border were listless and low in morale.

‘There’s something wrong with this kingdom,’ Wu Qi narrowed his eyes and smiled. This was the kind of kingdom he was looking for. How else he could carry out his plan?

They sped toward the top of the triangular plain, where a huge city with a population of more than two million stood mightily. The 100-foot-high city wall was constructed entirely of white sparkling marble, with numerous restrictive runes painted in black across its surface. The contrast between the black runes and white walls gave the city an air of mystery and majesty. Inside, the streets were neatly planned, and the neighborhoods were arranged like chessboards. Tall trees with large canopies were everywhere, providing shades to the people. Everything looked neat and clean. It was a decent city.

Wu Tianming’s flood dragon had barely reached above the city when a sudden thunderclap echoed out. A blue-scale wildebeest, stepping on four flaming clouds, roared furiously and soared into the air, heading straight for the emperor. Riding on its back was an old man in heavy gold armor, who looked fierce and dignified while giving off a towering murderous air. Even from a great distance, he already snapped sharply, “Where has Your Majesty gone? Didn’t this old subject tell Your Majesty that the current situation is not in our favor, and that Your Majesty can’t leave the palace?”

The old man had a square black face that looked just like the bottom of a pot. Beneath his bushy eyebrows was a pair of triangular eyes and a huge catfish mouth. Anyone who saw him for the first time knew immediately he was a wicked man.

Wu Qi’s divine sense swept over the old man. He had decent overall strength, and was practicing another cultivation technique of the human race called the ‘Nine Rotations Indestructible Body’. Compared with the highly balanced True Body of Heaven and Earth Scripture, it was an extreme technique focused on defense, absolute strength, and strong vitality. The practitioner of this technique was the most troublesome enemy on the battlefield, and it often took several men of his equal strength to suppress him.

And the old man had cultivated his Nine Rotations Indestructible Body to the level of the First Star Realm of Second Pangu Heaven, that was, equivalent to a first-tier Gold Immortal. Compared to the emperor’s pathetic cultivation base of a Nascent Soul cultivator, he could kill a million Wu Tianming with a single slap.

At the sight of the old man, Wu Tianming shivered reflectively, pushed both hands on the flood dragon’s back and slid nearly thirty feet back. With a wry smile, he stammered, “Imperial Uncle, you, you…”

The old man rode the wildebeest to Wu Tianming’s side and gave the flood dragon’s head a slap. The emperor’s mount howled miserably as its head smashed to pieces. Blood spurted on the old man’s face, and the flood dragon’s huge, heavy body fell to the ground. Wu Tianming stood shivering on a thin cloud, almost without the courage to look at the old man.

Grinning coldly, the old man snapped in a low voice, “Ungrateful beast! Who gave you the courage to go out with His Majesty? You deserve the punishment!”

When he had finished, he glanced around but could not find the eight Oracles who had been killed by Wu Qi. Fuming, he growled, “Where have Your Majesty’s eight bodyguards gone? Huh? Where are they? Where have they gone, these damn things?!”

Wu Qi cleared his throat and slowly stood up. A purple cloud at his feet brought him to Wu Tianming’s side. Looking at the furious old man, he said indifferently, “Are you looking for the eight useless fools? They are dead, killed by my sword!”

The old man suddenly calmed down. He squinted up and down at Wu Qi for a moment, then asked cautiously, “May I ask who are you, Senior Immortal?”

Patting the sword hilt that poked out from behind his shoulder, Wu Qi said coolly, “I’m Daoist Seven Killing.”

Guigu’zi, with a sullen face, said listlessly, “I’m Daoist Greed.”

Mo Di’s face was stiff, his eyes rolled as he said with a cold snort, “I’m Daoist Vanquisher!” As he said this, his face flushed slightly, but no one noticed that. He felt a little embarrassed. Given his age and status, why did he agree to follow Wu Qi here and fool others?

“You can ask His Majesty who we are,” Wu Qi snorted coldly at the old man, who seemed somewhat baffled.

Wu Tianming’s eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he laughed and said, “Imperial Uncle, these are the Imperial Advisors I hired for Great Wu! They have great magic power and amazing divine abilities, which I’ve witnessed with my own eyes. With them joining us, Great Wu will be safe in Pangu Continent!”

The old man was stunned. Subconsciously, he growled, “Imperial Advisors? Who gave you the right to hire three savages as Imperial Advisors? I, Wu Dehou, am the King Regent of Great Wu, and I am responsible for all state affairs! Why did Your Majesty hire these savages without consulting me?!”

Guigu’zi spoke suddenly, and his chilly voice instantly silenced Wu Dehou.

“Since you are the King Regent, you must understand your duty. You are only the king, and His Majesty is the emperor of Great Wu! How dare you to offend your monarch? Are you trying to violate the laws of Great Wu’s imperial court? Are you trying to usurp the throne?”

With just a few words, Guigu’zi had pinned a serious accusation squarely on Wu Dehou’s head.