Stealing the Heavens

In the morning mist, a train of chariots sped out of the palace. At the forefront was a chariot engraved with nine dragons, on which sat Wu Qi, Guigu’zi, Mo Di, and Wu Tianming. Surrounded by three hundred imperial guards and dozens of well-dressed old eunuchs, the convoy drove straight to the drill ground south of the city.

Wu Qi had made a bet with Wu Dehou that he would use only 100,000 soldiers to unify the entire valley in three months.

Wu Tianming had not a single soldier or horse under him, only seventy-two old eunuchs. So, these soldiers were naturally allocated to him by Wu Dehou. Early in the morning, Liu Qingchen, the officer in charge of all the military affairs of Great Wu, had entered the palace and informed Wu Qi that the army was ready to be inspected. He also told them that all the supplies, salary, armor, and weapons had been prepared for them.

It was an impressive efficiency. In just one night, 100,000 soldiers and all the military supplies they needed were ready. For a kingdom with a total force of less than one million, this was considered a major troop deployment, but they were able to get things done in such a short time. Apparently, Wu Dehou had put a lot of effort into it last night.

The east, west, and south of Great Wu’s capital city each had a drill ground. The two to the east and west were used by the imperial guards and city guards, respectively for their daily drills, while the one to the south was used by the army to swear their oaths and sacrifice to heaven before the war. Of the three drill grounds, the one in the south was the largest.

When the chariots arrived at the south drill ground, Wu Dehou was already waiting in front of the gate with a large group of generals.

The Regent’s slightly smug face darkened at the sight of the three Daoists and the emperor sharing a chariot. When they stopped at the gate, he cupped his fist and said coldly, “Your Majesty, Senior Immortals, the army of 100,000 soldiers is ready. Please go in and accept them. I must tell you bluntly that if you, Senior Immortals, fail to help Great Wu take over the entire valley within three months from today, hehe…”

Glancing coldly at Wu Dehou, Wu Qi said in a flat voice, “All our treasures and spirit pills will be yours, and as long as you are alive, the three of us must not step into Great Wu’s territory!”

The Regent laughed and waved his fist at Wu Qi, “You better remember that!”

He winked triumphantly at Wu Qi, then narrowed his eyes and said, “I really don’t need to worry too much as both Senior Immortals and I have sworn an oath with our souls yesterday. But, I’m just afraid that you’ll get too complacent to remember, so I kindly reminded you.”

With a fake smile, Wu Qi cupped his fist at Wu Dehou while scolding the fella in his heart for his stupidity. Putting aside the fact that he would never fail, even if he did, he could just ask Princess Zhang Le to kill Wu Dehou with a curse and come back here later.

Wu Qi gave the man a pitying glance, wondering why no one among the courtiers of Great Wu had mentioned this to him. After thinking about it for a moment, he suddenly realized that perhaps it was because none of these people knew that there was a thing called ‘cursing someone regardless of the distance’, and had never heard of a technique called ‘taking a man’s head with a flying sword from across ten thousand miles’, which was commonly used by immortals. ‘Well, Wu Dehou and the courtiers are not to be blamed, but the Heaven and Buddhist League are responsible for this situation. Aye, they are just a bunch of bumpkins, and I feel a little ashamed now to scheme against them.’

Wu Dehou rode his blue-scale wildebeest alongside Wu Tianming’s chariot into the drill ground, his face flushed with pleasure and his nose pointing skyward.

In the drill ground that was a hundred miles long and wide stood a thousand phalanxes, each consisting of a hundred soldiers. The thick fog that hung over the place obscured their faces, and there was a violent cough echoing out from among them from time to time, harsh and abrupt against the silent atmosphere.

Wu Tianming’s face darkened suddenly. Although he understood nothing about military affairs, he knew that if these men were the best soldiers, no one would cough while in the ranks, especially when the emperor was inspecting the army in person. Who dared to make a sound at such a moment, unless it was too much to resist? It was an offense that could result in death.

The Regent smiled hypocritically. As if he had not heard the cough, he said to Wu Qi, “Senior Immortals, your 100,000 soldiers are here. Don’t you forget our three-month bet! Haha, haha, haha!” After letting out a burst of laughter, he turned and strode away with the generals around him while singing a military song, leaving only a few officials responsible for handing over to Wu Qi the name list of soldiers and the books of supplies. He did not even bother to tell the emperor that he was leaving.

With a snort, Wu Qi gave his sleeve a strong flick. A gust of wind rolled up from the ground and dispersed the fog, revealing the flat drill ground and the 100,000 soldiers. At the sight of the army, Wu Tianming lurched to his feet in anger, then clenched his fist and smashed a pillar in the chariot to pieces.

“Wu Dehou, you are one big scum who will ruin our dynasty!” The emperor shouted in rage, irrespective of how many people here were the Regent’s pawns.

When the fog cleared, everyone saw a thousand phalanxes, each consisting of a hundred soldiers; nothing more, nothing less. But, what kind of soldiers were these?

The three hundred phalanxes in the forefront were entirely made up of men with missing arms and legs, dull and stupefied faces, and a stagnant aura of death all over their bodies. Obviously, they were battle-hardened soldiers, or rather, they were once battle-hardened soldiers.

These soldiers were gaunt and mostly maimed. Some had lost an arm, some a leg, and some both hands and legs. Others had a missing eye, a missing ear, or had the cheekbone on one side of the face hacked off; or they had their whole body covered with scars from a blaze.

They just stood there, silent and lifeless, staring blankly ahead.

Wu Qi shook his head. Among these men, those with stronger cultivation bases had already given birth to their Nascent Souls while the weaker ones were only in the realm of Gold Core. Yesterday, when he covered the whole territory of Great Wu with his divine sense, he found that the dynasty had two armies—one practiced the cultivation techniques of the human race and consisted of about a million soldiers, which was the main force, and the other was made up of cultivators who practiced Dao magic.

The men in these three hundred phalanxes were obviously from that army of cultivators who were defeated and maimed.

Behind these cultivators were three hundred phalanxes of young men. They did practice the cultivation techniques of the human race, but they were just beginners at best. Although their fleshly bodies were stronger than ordinary people, they did not even have a trace of Pangu Sacred Energy in them. Many still looked childish, and judging by their faces they were at most twelve or thirteen years old. Some were glancing about stupidly, as if it was an exciting adventure to line up here for early in the morning. At their present age, cultivation bases, and temperament, they were not even qualified as cannon fodder.

Wu Qi shook his head helplessly after he did a rough calculation on the fighting power of these 30,000 boys. A Nascent Soul cultivator with a full range of flying swords and magical artifacts, as well as sufficient spirit pills to replenish his energy could have easily killed them all. How much better could these little boys be than ordinary men? They literally did not have any actual fighting power!

At a glance, the last four hundred phalanxes looked pretty good. They were made up of soldiers who practiced the cultivation techniques of the human race and had all achieved decent results. Among them, the strongest had stepped into the Five Star Realm of the First Pangu Heaven, and the weakest the First Star Realm.

However, the age of these 40,000 soldiers was not so good. When Wu Qi saw them, he thought that Wu Dehou had dug up the gravesite of some clan and put all their dead ancestors here. None of them could stand up straight; they were all stooping, gasping loudly, or coughing. Clearly, this was a group of old men who were only one step away from death.

Human lifespan was limited. The soldiers who had practiced human cultivation techniques could only live a hundred years longer than ordinary people at most, after which, they would also become old and frail. Even if there was still Pangu Sacred Energy in the bodies of these old men, even if they still had the cultivation bases of the Five Stars Realm of the First Pangu Heaven, they could no longer fight with the overall strength they once had.

Time had devoured their last bit of stamina. For many of them, it already took a great effort to stand here. So, to expect them to be back on the battlefield was no different from a stupid fantasy!

Twitching his lips, Wu Qi turned to Guigu’zi and said with a wry smile, “Senior Brother, I used to think I was a mean guy.”

Guigu’zi smiled, then narrowed his eyes and said, “If I am allowed to do anything, these men may still be able to fight.”

“With all the equipment I’ve crafted,” said Mo Di with a cold grin, “they do not have to fight the enemy at close quarters.”

After listening to their conversation, Wu Tianming, his face purple with rage, turned and bowed to Wu Qi. “Master, this Wu Dehou is going too far! He… he… How could he jeopardize the most important mission of the dynasty…? He…”

The emperor was so angry that a lump of phlegm blocked his throat, making him cough for a long time and unable to speak another word. As someone who used to spend his days frequenting brothels and seeking pleasures, Wu Tianming had been overwhelmed by all the pressure after ascending to the throne not long ago. Now, in the face of Wu Dehou’s almost shameless tactics, he felt he was on the verge of collapse.

If it were not for the fact that Wu Dehou grasped the military and political power of Great Wu, and the dynasty would instantly be in danger of falling apart if something bad happened to him, Wu Tianming would have begged Wu Qi to kill the regent straightaway, saving him all the headaches.

While sneering, Wu Qi flew up into the sky and hovered above the 100,000 soldiers. He looked down on them and then shouted in a deep voice, “Would you like to contribute your strength to Great Wu? Would you like to render a meritorious service and be conferred a noble title? If your answer is yes, shout it out loudly, and I will help you with a heaven-defying way! As for those who do not want to serve Great Wu, you have the time for an incense stick to burn to leave!”

Fear and despair could be seen on the faces of many soldiers. They were shaking violently, and it was obvious that they were extremely terrified. But even so, no one dared to leave the ranks. All eyes were lingering around the few officers standing on the edge of the drill ground, who were laughing coldly.

Wu Qi smiled. While nodding, he said, “Well, that’s very good! I’ll take it that you are all willing to die for Great Wu!”

When he had finished, he took out a handful of spirit pills, crushed them into powder, and then sprinkled the energy that the pills had turned into toward the ground. With that, a large sheet of purple-and-gold mist instantly engulfed the 100,000 soldiers. Laughing wildly, he said, “You have made a wise decision! Glory, splendor, wealth, and ranks are waiting for you!”

Amidst the purple-golden light, the roar of tens of thousands of men rose to the sky.