Stealing the Heavens

In front of his subjects, Wu Tianming put his two fingers together and unleashed a purple-golden sword beam from his fingertips. It sped away like a mad serpent and brushed past the towering gatehouse at the palace’s main entrance, shattering half of it. Then, it flew some two thousand miles away and pierced through a lofty mountain on one side of the valley, leaving a transparent hole about one mile in diameter.

After the strike, Wu Tianming slowly rose to his feet and stretched himself. All his joints rang crisply, and at the same time, a mighty wave of immortal energy emanated from his body, startling all the courtiers. In just a quarter of an hour, a pill that Wu Qi called the Nine Rotations Pill had given the emperor, who was only a Nascent Soul cultivator, the overall strength of a third-tier Gold Immortal.

The result could have been better, if not because Wu Tianming’s foundation was too weak to merge all the medicinal strength and the profound essence of the Great Dao contained in the pill. Otherwise, the ten percent purified energy essence of a Delightful Buddha could have easily pushed him to the peak of Gold Immortal realm, infinitely close to the realm of Primordial.

Even so, the powerful effect of the pill had shocked everyone. Moreover, most of its medicinal strength was still stored in his body, and as long as he digested it all later, he would become a true peak-level Gold Immortal.

Wu Tianming took a deep breath. Suddenly a gust of strong wind swept across the great hall, almost knocking everybody over. It was a long time before he regulated his breath. As his cultivation base did not come from his own effort, he did not have the experience of controlling such great power. Therefore, it had taken him a lot of time to regulate his breath.

A purple-golden gleam flashed in his eyes as the emperor bowed solemnly to Wu Qi and said, “Thank you, Imperial Advisor!”

He then bowed to Guigu’zi and Mo Di, one at a time, and reverently addressed them as Imperial Advisors. The two old men nodded modestly but said nothing, leaving all the intrigue to Wu Qi. It was not that they did not know how to scheme, but they were disdained to fight someone like Wu Dehou.

Wu Qi sneered and asked Wu Dehou intentionally, “Now, my lord, do you think my brothers and I are qualified to be Great Wu’s Imperial Advisors?”

Wu Dehou opened his mouth and stared at Wu Qi. He was so shocked that he could not say a word. What kind of spirit pill was this that could produce a third-tier Gold Immortal in just a quarter of an hour? And how freakish was the existence who could concoct it? After hearing Wu Qi’s slightly provocative question, the regent turned his head to look at the courtiers standing behind him. He saw his henchmen gape like toads frightened by thunderclaps, and those who were not on his side were looking at Wu Tianming with wild surprise in their eyes.

Major changes were about to take place in Great Wu’s imperial court. Wu Dehou had this sudden realization.

With a dry smile, he said with difficulty, “The Imperial Advisors of Great Wu must be men of both ability and virtue. Senior Immortals…”

Before Wu Qi could speak, Guigu’zi, who was standing beside him, laughed coldly and said, “What is virtue? Is it virtuous to seek to usurp the throne? Is it virtuous to bully one’s nephew? Is it virtuous to control the imperial court in His Majesty’s stead? Is it virtuous to stop talented people from serving the dynasty? What is virtuous? If I may ask you, my lord, can you tell me what is virtuous?”

Wu Dehou blushed at Guigu’zi’s series of acerbic questions. He stared angrily at the latter and was about to explode when he suddenly recalled the eight Supreme Oracles who had been killed by Wu Qi with just one sword strike. With that, his anger vanished in an instant. He opened his mouth and racked his brains to find an excuse for opposing Wu Qi, Guigu’zi, and Mo Di becoming Great Wu’s Imperial Advisors.

Perhaps he should just call in soldiers to kill all three of them? After failing to come up with a suitable excuse, Wu Dehou was tempted to kill.

In addition to the eight Supreme Oracles who had been killed, Wu Dehou still had twenty-three Supreme Oracles and twelve generals whose cultivation bases were slightly weaker than him supporting his cause in Great Wu. Coupled with the two hundred thousand soldiers guarding the imperial city, he was confident that he could kill the three unknown Daoists.

Just as he was about to give the order, another elderly courtier, who was as old and wizened as dried fruit, walked slowly out of the ranks. The old man narrowed his triangular eyes and coughed a few times, then said in a low voice, “Senior Immortals, your attainment in the art of pill refinement is indeed amazing. However, it is only an unorthodox way, for even though it can produce several Gold Immortals, it will only benefit the individuals. It cannot increase the strength of Great Wu as a whole.”

Wu Dehou nodded with satisfaction. That was a great excuse. So what if Wu Tianming had become a third-tier Gold Immortal? He was the only one who had become a Gold Immortal now, and the whole Great Wu had more than three billion people! Even if Wu Qi could produce ten or even twenty Gold Immortals, it was still useless for the dynasty’s overall strength!

The emperor’s hair stood on end in anger at the courtier’s words. Pointing furiously at the old man, he growled, “Minister of War, you…”

More than seventy percent of the courtiers in the hall bowed to Wu Tianming and cried out in unison, “Please consider again, Your Majesty!”

The courtier, whom the emperor addressed as the Minister of War, stroked his long beard complacently and said with a smile, “Your Majesty, please think twice. The position of the Imperial Advisor is too important. Our dynasty will suffer a great harm if it is entrusted to the wrong person!”

He was about to go on when Wu Qi interrupted him coldly, “Enough!”

After forcing the old man back a few steps with a shout, Wu Qi said proudly, “Initially, my Senior Brothers and I had no desire for worldly fame, neither did we care about this mortal world. We have been cultivating in seclusion in Pangu Continent for eighteen eons, and we left our retreat this time just to find a blessed place to construct a temple and promote the Great Dao. Do you really think we coveted the positions of Great Wu’s Imperial Advisors?”

With a sneer, he pointed to Wu Dehou and all the courtiers and said, “But you’ve been making things difficult for the three of us. In that case, I must sit on the throne of the Imperial Advisor and play for a few days!”

Before the courtiers could say anything, Wu Qi turned to Wu Tianming and said, “Your Majesty, the three of us are determined to contribute to the great cause of your dynasty. Please wait a moment and allow us to demonstrate a little trick to let them decide if we are qualified to be the Imperial Advisors of Great Wu!”

The emperor cupped his fist and said, “Do what you want, Imperial Advisor.”

Wu Qi nodded slowly and then sneered at Wu Dehou and others. “Today I’ll show you what it means to be extremely talented and unpredictable!” Clearing his throat, he bowed slightly to Mo Di and said, “Senior Brother, please show them what you are capable of!”

Mo Di snorted coldly and said to Wu Tianming, “Bring me 50,000 kilograms of fine wrought iron at once!”

Wu Tianming went blank and looked almost instinctively at Wu Dehou.

Wu Dehou was equally stunned. He narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then waved lightly. At the gesture, several officials in charge of weapon forging strode out of the hall. A series of orders were quickly passed down, and 50,000 kilograms of iron ingots were soon piled up in the middle of the great hall.

Mo Di wanted 50,000 kilograms of fine wrought iron, the best quality finished iron ingots that ordinary iron ore could produce. However, these officials had brought over 50,000 kilograms of ordinary iron ingots, which were at least ten times inferior to what he had requested!

Wu Tianming was not stupid, and he saw what these subjects were up to. Gritting his teeth, he glared at the officials and remembered their faces. He vowed that as long as he defeated Wu Dehou and took complete control of Great Wu, he would severely punish these courtiers who dared to defy his will so that they would always remember what it was like to offend their monarch.

Mo Di shook his head indifferently and sneered as he waved at the iron ingots. A fine stream of crimson flame gushed out of his palm and melted them into molten iron, shrinking their sizes by several times in the blink of an eye. Then, he casually drew a few runes in the air with his finger, threw them into the molten iron, and waved his right hand to envelop everything with a bright light. A few moments later, amidst a rapid clanging noise, thirty single-handed swords with a simple design were neatly lined up in the center of the hall.

Flicking his sleeve, Mo Di gave a cold snort.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Wu Qi looked up at the ceiling and said proudly, “You may now appreciate my Senior Brother’s amazing work!”

After a moment’s silence, Wu Dehou burst into laughter and said, “Where’s the Court General?”

A general in golden armor strode up from the entrance of the hall. He cupped his fist and saluted Wu Dehou before bowing to Wu Tianming. The emperor smiled coldly and said in a deep voice, “Try the weapons forged by Imperial Advisor Vanquisher.”

All the courtiers in the hall could not help but shake their heads at the same time. Although they knew nothing about artifact refinement, they knew it was a very complicated and difficult skill, and they were certain that weapons forged in less than the span of two breaths could never be good weapons. Great Wu had its own blacksmiths, and the weapons forged by them, who were Heaven Immortals, were all immortal artifacts. The few Court Generals were now wearing the divine weapons forged by these blacksmiths.

The thirty single-handed swords forged by Mo Di appeared so dull that they did not look like sharp weapons at all!

Taking his instruction from Wu Dehou’s eyes, the general drew the sword that hung from his waist and slashed it at the center of a single-handed sword. The next moment, he heard a sound as if a paper was torn apart, and then he felt his hand get lightened as he saw half of his sword fall to the ground.

The mouths of all the courtiers dropped open in astonishment while Wu Dehou took a few steps forward in consternation.

The general’s sword, which had taken half a year to forge by the most brilliant blacksmith of Great Wu, was effortlessly broke off by the single-handed sword Mo Di had forged in the span of only two breaths, with a mirror-like fracture and no burrs!

Mo Di snorted coldly and closed his eyes disdainfully.

Wu Qi burst out laughing, then bowed to Wu Tianming and said, “Your Majesty, my second senior brother will make you 100,000 sets of armor and weapons, my eldest senior brother will be sitting in the rear and planning out everything for you, and I will be your vanguard. Within three months, we will assist Your Majesty in overthrowing all the forces in this valley!”

Wu Tianming had jumped up with excitement when the general’s sword broke, and when he heard Wu Qi say that, he could not help but laugh and clap his hands. “Wonderful!” he exclaimed. “We will do as the Imperial Advisors say!”

“Senior Immortals, are you willing to sign a military pledge ¹ for what you’ve just said?” Wu Dehou jumped up suddenly and snapped.

Wu Qi gave him a pitying look and said in a flat tone, “A military pledge? Why not? Does the Regent want to add some wager to it?”

Wu Dehou went blank for a moment before bursting into laughter. “If Senior Immortals can really make Great Wu rule over this whole valley in three months, I will step down as Regent and become a commoner. How about that?”

They exchanged a glance. Wu Dehou instinctively turned his head while Wu Qi laughed and clapped.