Stealing The Heavens

“Die!”

The flaming figure that appeared behind Wu Qi was obviously a descendant of a phoenix. He was about ten feet tall, and although his facial features were obscured by the flame, a sharp beak could be roughly seen on his face. His body was almost completely transparent like red-hot glass, and flames that appeared to be exceptionally clean and calm constantly gushed out from inside of him. It was this seemingly harmless and beautiful flame that burned through the barrier made of the star power within Wu Qi’s formation.

It was the Heavenly Fire of Phoenix, the only superior-grade divine flame between heaven and earth which was upgraded from acquired fires to an innate fire. As a divine flame capable of burning down everything, it could only be produced by the royal descendants of the Phoenix who had an excellent aptitude, and how they did it was by devouring all kinds of acquired fires and fusing them with a wisp of the innate fire spirit they inherited through their bloodlines.

It was also a flame that had life and the ability to create things. In fact, the broadsword in the man’s hand was conjured out of thin air with this flame. The sword was not an incorporeal object; instead, it was a powerful weapon forged with the Divine Iron of Phoenix, a material formed of condensed Heavenly Fire of Phoenix. Creating something out of nothing was the primary magical ability of this divine flame.

Ordinary phoenixes could only use the Nanming Flame, a very powerful flame under heaven. However, only the royal descendants of the phoenix could produce the Heavenly Fire of Phoenix. It was one of the most mysterious flames between the heaven and earth, and was rarely revealed in front of the public.

Wu Qi’s heart sank. There was actually a royal descendant of the Phoenix among this group of divine beasts who claimed that their sons died in the Myriad Poisons Formation? That was not good! He was the one who had constructed that formation, and if he drew the attention of the Phoenix clan because of this, he would have to face endless troubles. The royal family of the Phoenix was the emperor of all the fowls under heaven. Although divine fowls such as Gales and Green Luan sometimes ignored their orders, no one dared to underestimate their power.

Even though the Phoenix clan was no longer as powerful and influential as it used to be, and the conflict in their royal family had split them into different factions to serve the five Celestial Emperors and Great Yu respectively, the identity of this man was still enough to give Wu Qi headache. After all, even one-sixth of the Phoenix clan’s power was not what he could deal with right now.

“Damn it! Why didn’t you watch over your sons? Why were you letting them run around wildly? It’s the fault of the fathers if they don’t educate their children well and only feed them…Serves you right for having your sons killed!” A spite rushed up into his head, and in that instance, a still black flame that also looked like molten glass gushed out from underneath his dragon scales. He had unleashed the Divine Flame of Void, and used it to burn a huge hole in the void behind him.

The flaming phoenix gave a cry of alarm as his broadsword hacked into the now shattered void behind Wu Qi, and his momentum sent him tumbling into it. A killing intent flashed across Wu Qi’s face; he clasped his palms together, sending a vast stream of thunder-flame condensed of chaotic energy into the hole in the void. In the blink of an eye, numerous half-transparent white bubbles emerged within the thirty feet wide void behind him. It was a strange phenomenon in which the spatial barrier was shattered by his chaotic divine thunderbolt.

Bai Zhu and his wife’s eyes grew wide in disbelief as they roared in unison, “How dare you kill Lord Feng Heng!”

Wu Qi stamped his foot on Bai Zhu’s head and growled, “Oh, so only you can kill me, and I’m not allowed to kill you?”

As he waved his hand, a tiny blade conjured from the Divine Flame of Void emerged and cut open the void, from which, Lord Feng Heng dropped out. His skin was covered with nasty wounds, and it was evident that the shattering of the void a moment ago had done him great harm. Although he had royal blood, his cultivation level was, after all, too low. A mere twelfth-tier Gold Immortal was undoubtedly vulnerable in front of Wu Qi.

Wu Qi took a step forward and grabbed Lord Feng Heng’s head with one hand before crushing it. Black Inferno of Hell rushed out of his palm and wiped out the phoenix’s soul before quickly refining the body into a heap of golden blood crystals and purple soul crystals. Then, Wu Qi took a deep breath; a thread of the Phoenix bloodline was extracted from the phoenix’s body, about a few miles long and as thick as a water bucket, instantly being sucked into his body. It was a bloodline that only the royal family of the Phoenix could have!

Finally, a tongue of chaotic energy darted out of his hand and wrapped around a small ball of Heavenly Fire of Phoenix that was shivering near where Lord Feng Heng had vanished, bringing it back into his body. It was the seed of the purest Heavenly Fire of Phoenix, and now that Wu Qi had it, he did not have to trouble himself for collecting all kinds of acquired flames.

As Bai Zhu watched in horror, Wu Qi pointed a finger out, and in the next moment, the tip of a sharp sword forged with the Divine Iron of Phoenix was tightly pressed against his forehead. “Open your soul and let me imprison you, or I’ll kill you now and give your wife to Ao Buzun!”

Upon hearing Wu Qi’s words, Ao Buzun’s mouth watered. “All hail the mighty Master! May he live forever!” The black dragon cried in glee. “Kill the male one, and I guarantee the female one will obey all our orders after I have spent a few days in teaching her a good lesson! She will not go west if I ask her to go east, and she will not kill a chicken if I ask her to kill a duck! Hehe, here I come, my beauty! There was a time when I was attracted to women as strong as you!”

Bai Zhu and his wife roared furiously at the same time. Without hesitation, Wu Qi gently pushed his sword forward. The blazing flame immediately burned the white tiger’s fur as the tip of the sword pierced the skin and rested on the skull. “I don’t know why your son was in the Myriad Poisons Formation, and I didn’t go there for him!” Wu Qi said in a deep voice. “Let me be frank with you…Although your son is dead, you can always have more sons. But, if you are dead now, you will have no descendants left in this world! So, open your soul and let me imprison you. Otherwise…Ao Buzun, can dragons and white tigers give birth to mixed-blood offspring?”

Laughing evilly, Ao Buzun answered, “Well, it’s impossible if we do it only once! But, I can do it a thousand times, ten thousand times, and if need be, I can do it every night for one whole eon! I reckon we can have a few white tiger eggs if we persist, can’t we? Aye, love will come in time, my beauty, so why don’t you just submit to me? Your husband will soon be a dead tiger, and I’m going to dip his penis in wine!”

White tiger eggs?

Bai Zhu and his wife’s faces turned black as charcoal at once. It was known to all that white tigers were viviparous, and dragons were oviparous. So, if a white tigress did lay eggs, it would surely be the result of working persistently for a thousand times, or even ten thousand times as Ao Buzun had suggested! And the notion of dipping his private part in wine had made Bai Zhu tremble and feel a chill creep up from between his legs.

“I know you have lost your son, but you can always produce more sons!” said Wu Qi grimly as he slowly drove the sword into Bai Zhu’s skull.

Bai Zhu gave an indignant roar. “Yield, I yield! You better not regret this…I work for the White Emperor!”

Ao Buzun, who was swelling with pride and in high spirits a moment ago, lost all his strength at once. He flew back to Wu Qi’s shoulder and turned listless, then threw his head back and heaved a long sigh. “How disappointing…Do you know that a man should rather die than surrender before the enemy? Bai Zhu, you still have a chance…you still have a chance to be a hero! Come on, you should not surrender to your enemy…Stand up like a man! It’s nothing more than having yourself killed by my master and having your wife submit to me!”

His passion seemed to have come back to him as he spoke. Standing up on two hind legs atop Wu Qi’s shoulder, he roared in excitement and said with extravagant gestures, “Come on, Bai Zhu, don’t be a disgrace to all the ancestors of the white tigers! Die like a hero! It’s better to die standing than live kneeling!”

Wu Qi gave Ao Buzun a sideways glance and snorted coldly.

Bai Zhu and his wife exchanged a glance, their bodies shivering. It was evident that their minds were filled with inner struggles now. Noticing that, Wu Qi gave a cold laugh and said, “Oh, it’s better to die standing than live kneeling? Ao Buzun, are you going to make Bai Zhu’s wife kneel or stand after you take her?”

Ao Buzun’s mouth watered once again. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Well, of course I’ll make her lay down on her stomach!”

Bai Zhu and his wife were so angry that they each coughed out a mouthful of blood. “I…I…YIELD!” Bai Zhu bellowed through his tightly clenched teeth.

With that, a beam of white light shot out of his forehead, inside which, the soul of a white tiger could be seen dashing and pouncing wildly back and forth. Wu Qi gave a cold snort as a tiny cut split open on his forehead, and a drop of natal blood essence flew out of it. Using it, he planted the most complicated and vicious restrictive spell he knew in Bai Zhu’s soul. After that, he did the same to his wife, Bai Er. Forced to yield to their enemy, the couples looked at each other for a few moments before bursting into tears.

But, Lord Feng Heng was brutally killed by Wu Qi right in front of them; the sad scene really frightened them.

Combined with Wu Qi’s vicious and unscrupulous threats, Bai Zhu and Bai Er simply did not have the courage to disobey his orders. So, even as proud descendants of the white tiger, they chose to submit themselves.

The formation trembled violently. The divine beasts were still attacking it with all their might, causing blood to ooze out of Wu Qi’s seven orifices. Clenching his teeth, he cursed under his breath. In a hurry, he brought Bai Zhu and Bai Er and teleported to the side of another fire phoenix in the formation, who was Lord Feng Heng’s wife. With the white tiger couple launching a sneak attack from behind and Wu Qi himself attacking from the front, they killed the fire phoenix as easy as falling off a log.

As for Ao Buzun’s request to keep the Phoenix to warm his bed, Wu Qi simply ignored it. Wearing a sad face, the black dragon stared bitterly at Wu Qi. But, after Wu Qi threw all the blood crystals and soul crystals refined from the Phoenix to him, he immediately stood up in high spirits and kept flattering him.

With the help of the two white tigers, Wu Qi subdued the remaining forty-two divine beasts in the formation one at a time, and planted vicious restrictive spells in their souls; forcing them, all of whom possessed the cultivation bases of Gold Immortals, to submit to him.

Together with the two Star Golden Rhinos trapped in the Dark Yin Celestial Tower, Wu Qi now had forty-six mighty divine beasts under his control. After looking proudly at the group of mighty divine beasts for a moment, he put them away into his Dark Yin Celestial Tower, then waved his hand to dismiss the celestial formation.

The sixty flying ships which had formed into a formation under Huang Liang’s command slowly revealed themselves amidst the dissipating starlight.

Thousands of miles away, Liu Bang, who was drinking and merrymaking on the top of the mountain, jumped up in horror. “That fellow killed Bai Zhu and all the others? How did he do that? Is he a Supreme Oracle already?”

Upon hearing that, King Zhang Qiu, who was sprinting atop the naked bodies of a few female immortals, jumped to his feet in horror.