Stealing the Heavens

A jade vase was smashed to pieces in the largest parlor in Wanling Palace, atop the city that had been brought back to the surface. The ten-feet-tall vase was fiercely thrown to the ground, and the loud shattering noise frightened the eunuchs and maidservants inside and outside the parlor. They bowed their heads cautiously, not daring to make a sound.

Zhang Tengyun smashed all the expensive furnishings in the parlor like a madman. Even dozens pieces of jade, which had already produced chalcedony in them and could be used to make resurrection elixirs, were thrown on the ground by him, causing the milky bluish liquid to spill all over the floor. When these precious things came into contact with the air, they quickly froze and their energy dissipated, as all their magical effects were soon lost.

Liu Bang and Lu Buwei sat in the parlor, looking coldly at Zhang Tengyun, who was throwing a tantrum.

Never before Zhang Tengyun, Heaven’s chosen next Human Emperor, had suffered such a defeat. He had brought a huge army to Dong Hai, but was routed by the many bodhisattvas and arhats who suddenly came out of nowhere.

At first, it was the yellow spring that suddenly poured out of the rift. The extremely filthy liquid had defiled almost all the magical artifacts of the unprepared Supreme Oracles and immortals who had submitted to Ling Dynasty. With their artifacts losing spirituality, their strength was instantly cut in half. After that came the many bodhisattvas and arhats led by Kṣitigarbha, who had formed the Six Path Mandala Formation, then used the small clone of the Six Paths of Reincarnation to crazily slaughter the soldiers. Countless men were crushed by its power and died completely, no longer able to be resurrected.

Immediately afterward, innumerable Yakshas from the Nether World charged out from behind the formation, chasing his army for tens of millions of miles. Their attack was so fierce that he almost coughed up blood. The yellow spring was so filthy that no one in the army could resist it, and everyone was weak and twitching like a cockroach sprayed with insecticide. Even Zhang Tengyun, a peak-level Primordial expert, had his head reeling because of it. As a result, no one was able to organize an effective counterattack.

In the process of being chased, Zhang Tengyun lost hundreds of Supreme Oracles and generals whose cultivation base had reached the realm of Third Pangu Heaven. Such a heavy loss made him almost faint with heartache. As for the casualties of ordinary soldiers, he did not even want to hear the post-war statistics. He had already killed three courtiers with thunders in front of everyone else, who had tried to report to him the exact casualties. So, he did not know how many soldiers he had lost. But imaginably, it was an astronomical figure that would make him vomit three buckets of blood.

The blow came too suddenly, and the damage was terrible. No one had ever expected that someone would be so mad as to draw the yellow spring of the Nether World to Pangu Continent, the volume of which was so great that it was the combination of several East Seas. As a result, the entire army of Ling Dynasty was crushed in an instant.

Zhang Tengyun was so angry that his eyes were bloodshot. He wantonly vented his anger in the palace, and in just one day, he had ordered hundreds of eunuchs and maidservants to be dragged out and executed. No one but the deep-minded Liu Bang and Lu Buwei dared to appear before him now.

With a crisp crack, the last piece of furniture in the parlor was smashed to pieces by him, and the fragments scattered all over the floor. His fury seemed to have faded away with the fragments, as almost at the same moment as the thing shattered, he recovered his composure and returned to his throne with a cold face.

It was getting dark. While shivering, several maidservants entered the parlor and replaced new candlesticks. Inside them were candles made of merman’s oil, which had a faint fragrance and a calming effect. The flames they produced were exceptionally bright, without any smoke.

Wu Qi was sitting squarely on the wick of one of the candles. He had transformed himself into a wisp of flame and hidden in the candlelight, looking at Zhang Tengyun, Liu Bang, and Lu Buwei with a belly full of laughs. In the wick of a candle beside him, Qixia was twisting her slender waist and flying around the candlelight. With her divine power, even though she was making a scene in the light, the three men outside could not discover her presence.

A silence reigned over the parlor. After a long stare at the fragments scattered across the floor, Zhang Tengyun finally said, “It was Kṣitigarbha from the Buddhist League’s Nether Branch who attacked us. Their appearances are very different from the other buddhas and bodhisattvas, so they could not be faked.”

Liu Bang and Lu Buwei nodded at the same time. “When I was sent to Gridhrakuta Mountain to attend the Golden Fall Festival, I saw this Kṣitigarbha among other eminent monks of Buddhist League,” Liu Bang said in a deep voice. “He had confronted the Lord Buddha, Amitabha, in front of everyone, and Amitabha could only smile at him. He was one of the trickiest figures in Buddhist League.”

Zhang Tengyun snorted coldly and sneered, “Do you know why he attacked my army?”

Qixia beamed with pleasure and twisted her waist in the candlelight, spinning like a windmill. At her movement, a breeze blew into the parlor, making the candlelight flicker and adding a richer touch of fragrance to the air.

Liu Bang frowned and thought hard for a long time, then said hesitantly, “Heaven and Buddhist League have agreed that when this is over, Heaven will govern the heavens, Human Emperor will govern the earth, and Buddhist League will govern the Nether World. Buddhist League has already selected 108 Buddhas of Transmigration to take over the Nether Branch’s control of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Could this be the reason why they attacked us?”

Zhang Tengyun gave him a disgruntled look and said angrily, “If it is because of a dispute within the Buddhist League, Kṣitigarbha should have taken those Yakshas to attack Gridhrakuta Mountain! Why would he attack my army? And when we were engaged in the battle, I called him dozens of times and asked him why he was attacking us, but he made no reply. Isn’t that ridiculous?”

Lu Buwei was frowning, his old eyes flickering, and no one knew what he was thinking. Liu Bang cocked his head, racking his brain for the reason. From time to time, he looked up and exchanged glances with Lu Buwei, but it was clear that neither of them was able to reach a conclusion.

Wu Qi’s mouth twitched with laughter as he watched the scene. Qixia, on the other hand, spun her body faster and more proudly, and the rainbow light that shrouded her began to glow faintly out of the candlelight. After Wu Qi gave her a hard look, she quickly sat down on the candlewick. Even so, she was still twisting her body restlessly, winking at Wu Qi and making faces.

Just then, several very fine beams of starlight fell from the sky, and then eight Celestial Lords in rich robes and crowns of stars appeared in the parlor, all shrouded in a brilliant light. Liu Bang hurriedly stood up and respectfully bowed to them. “Greetings, my lords!”

They quickly returned the gesture and said, “Don’t stand on ceremony, King of Han!”

Zhang Tengyun rose to his feet too and humbly greeted the few Celestial Lords. According to his address to the visitors, these Celestial Lords were apparently powerful officials in Heaven, among whom were Gloom, Dubhe, and Megrez.

Wu Qi looked at the visitors curiously, wondering why they had come to Ling Dynasty in such a haste.

As if nothing had happened, Zhang Tengyun summoned a few eunuchs and maidservants. He ordered them to clean up the mess in the parlor, replace the furnishings, and bring in additional seats for the Celestial Lords. Gloom smiled and lightly clapped his hands. A beam of starlight fell from the sky and enveloped the entire parlor, as several other Celestial Lords followed him. Streams of colorful light swirled around the parlor for a full circle, then compressed into countless runes as small as green beans and branded on every tile and pillar.

Wu Qi and Qixia smiled at each other; it was a clever trick. If anyone else was hiding in here, they would certainly be thrown out by these Celestial Lords. But, how could the two freaks—Wu Qi and Qixia—be so easy to get rid of?

After sealing off the entire parlor with magic, Gloom snorted and said in a slightly fierce voice, “His Majesties have already learned what’s going on here. The Great Celestial Emperor Ziwei Lingying has sent a letter to Gridhrakuta Mountain, questioning their Nether Branch’s attack on the army of Ling Dynasty. But, the Lord Buddha said this branch has never obeyed his orders, and there is nothing Buddhist League can do about it.”

Zhang Tengyun’s brows jerked with anger. “There’s nothing Buddhist League can do about it?” he snapped in a low voice. “Are they trying to protect this group of bald donkeys?”

“According to the information we have received from our eyes and ears lurking in Buddhist League, the mentor of Kṣitigarbha, the Great Buddha Vairocana, who was also the Lord Buddha of Buddhist League a hundred generations ago, is now the emperor of the Jin Dynasty in the western region of Great Yu after tens of thousands of reincarnations,” Megrez said in a faint tone.

Upon hearing that, Zhang Tengyun crushed the teacup in his hand, and Liu Bang and Lu Buwei exchanged a shocked look. “Is Buddhist League doing something else besides cooperating with us, as it has done before?” Liu Bang snapped. “How can we compete with Great Yu if we cannot gather the emperor aura of all the mortal kingdoms in outer heavenly realms?”

Wu Qi’s eyes grew wide as he gave Qixia a stunned look.

‘The mischief of this little she-fiend has actually messed up the relation between Heaven and Buddhist League? Is my luck too good or their luck too bad? This is going to be interesting…Vairocana is now the emperor of Jin Dynasty, and he is desperately gathering emperor aura, while his disciple—Kṣitigarbha—had attacked and routed Ling Dynasty’s army with countless Yakshas. Now, it is impossible for these two great powers to not have a conflict. I wonder how the sixteen Patriarchs will handle this situation?’

Zhang Tengyun squeezed the teacup to powder and asked the most important question, “What is the view of the Dao Patriarchs on this situation?”

Gloom stood up as he cupped his fist and bowed respectfully, then said, “According to the Dao Patriarchs’ decree, you have to solve this all by yourself.”

Zhang Tengyun and Liu Bang exchanged a look. “It seems that we have to let Dong Hai off the hook for now,” Liu Bang sneered.

The emperor gritted his teeth and said, “Send armies to seize emperor aura right away! And take this opportunity to teach the Buddhist League a lesson!”

Liu Bang and Lu Buwei stood up at the same time and bowed respectfully to him.