Stealing The Heavens

Following the map in the jade slip that Prince Chang Qin had given him, Wu Qi raced across Pangu Continent.

You Xiong Plain was the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan. However, he did not reside there now. The city of Liangzhu had become the capital city of Great Yu, and the once Sacred Emperor of the human race had become the most powerful figure on Pangu Continent, who held a significant status even in the entire universe. Therefore, his residence had been relocated to the Land of Sacred Emperor situated in the far north of You Xiong Plain.

While sensing the surging energy veins beneath the ground, Wu Qi transformed himself into a gust of wind, a ball of light, or a whirlwind that was no different from the scorching hot energy in the energy vein; racing forward at a high speed using the Kuafu Step. Every step he took brought him millions, and sometimes tens of millions of miles further, and every beat of the underground energy vein sent him across a great distance. Meanwhile, with every step he took, there would be a great amount of Pangu Sacred Energy rushing into his body to rapidly cleanse his flesh and strengthen his body.

Tempered by the Pangu Sacred Energy, his fleshly body became stronger and stronger, and the temperature across his skin became higher and higher. The skeleton of the ancient immortal, which was wrapped around by his chaotic energy and being refined by his natal true flame, was melting down quickly, making his bones tougher and stronger. With every step he took, his overall strength was going through a tremendous change.

Even the Buddhist willpower in between his brows became active because of his high-speed motion. Controlled by the Great Light Indestructible Amitabha Treasure Scripture, the willpower kept transforming into scented cream and flowing down from his brows into his entire body, strengthening everything about him, including his fleshly body and divine sense.

Kuafu Step was one of the great divine abilities of the human race, and only a few elite human warriors could master it by perceiving the pulsation of Pangu Continent. For those who mastered it, running across the Pangu Continent with the Kuafu Step was the quickest way to boost their cultivation bases; with every step they took, the result was equivalent to several months’ meditation. Therefore, whenever they were not assigned any task, the greatest hobby of those truly powerful human warriors was to run aimlessly across the Pangu Continent.

Wu Qi could sense the underground energy veins beating under his feet, and hear the strong wind roaring next to his ears. When he looked up, he could see lines of silver light that were the stars in the sky. He ran as fast he as could, but still, it took him half a month to get to You Xiong Plain from the valley, and then another month to run north until he finally came to a great mountain range.

The mountain range still had the flavor of the primal wilderness. There were huge savage beasts and birds of prey everywhere, and the venomous snakes and poisonous insects crawling on the ground were extremely large. Grass snakes that were more than ten thousand feet long, centipedes over a thousand feet long, mosquitoes the size of water tanks, and many other strange creatures roamed the place. Called the ‘Northern Ridge’, the mountain range was the most dangerous place in the north of Great Yu, and beyond it laid the territory of the legendary Northern Black Emperor.

The Northern Black Emperor was an almighty figure who had been around since the dawn of time. He was served by many ancient deities, who were the ominous deities representing plagues and calamities, and a majority of the most savage and violent mountain demons and water monsters under heaven. If truth be told, one of the reasons the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan relocated his residence to the Northern Ridge was to keep a close eye on Northern Black Emperor, and to prevent his subordinates from invading and harassing Great Yu.

A loud boom rang out from under the earth as a cloud of air burst and spread out in all directions above the ground, revealing Wu Qi. Sweating all over, he took a few deep breaths. After a month and a half of running, his body was now emitting a terrible heat that was enough to vaporize even gold and iron. His skin had turned red, and his blood was rushing rapidly through his veins, producing a sound so loud that it was like the waves in a great river.

After spending some time looking at the mountain range that stretched for a trillion miles, Wu Qi fished out the jade slip Prince Chang Qin gave him, the one that recorded the exact location of the Land of Sacred Emperor, and crushed it with his hand. Immediately, a beam of spirit light shot out of the crushed jade slip, transforming into a jade-colored gateway in front of him. Without hesitation, he strode right into the gateway. The scenery around him shifted, and in just a flash, he was teleported into the depths of the Northern Ridge.

The entire trillion-mile radius of the Northern Ridge was sealed off by Xuanyuan’s restrictive magic, so anyone would just have to cast a corresponding spell when in this region, and he or she would be immediately teleported to the area where the Land of Sacred Emperor was situated. Otherwise, even if Wu Qi had its exact coordinates, it would take at least half a year for him to travel across the vast wilderness of the Northern Ridge before reaching his destination.

Prince Chang Qin had specifically told him to go to the Land of Sacred Emperor first and seek an audience with the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, and then only deliver the message to You Xiong Plain. Wu Qi did not know for what reason the prince had asked him to send the intelligence to the Yellow Emperor before the current Human Emperor. Maybe this was simply because of some kind of ‘tradition’?

Twitching his lips, Wu Qi put aside those strange thoughts in his mind. In any case, there were countless messy traditions in Great Yu. So, even though it was somewhat baffling, he did not find it too awkward.

Standing on the peak of a towering mountain, Wu Qi peered ahead. A thousand miles from where he was laid the Land of Sacred Emperor.

It was once a cone-shaped mountain that stood a million miles tall, with a base almost one hundred million miles in circumference. Later on, a mighty deity under the Yellow Emperor split it in two with an axe, transforming its pointed peak into a rounded flat top. Subsequently, numerous almighty experts worked together to turn it into a fertile land with their great divine power. Hundreds of millions of people lived there now; Wu Qi could see people farming in the vast fertile fields, and cattle grazing on the beautiful grasslands. The place appeared to be a beautiful countryside, and he could even smell the free and leisurely flavor that filled the air.

This man-made flatland was the Land of Sacred Emperor, and the mountaintop which the deity had split was elevated into the sky, now hovering several hundred miles above the flatland. Protected by countless restrictive magics, the mountaintop was riddled with numerous palaces and pavilions. Named ‘Xuanyuan Peak’, it was the current residence of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan.

According to Prince Chang Qin, Xuanyuan Peak had been crafted into a very powerful magical artifact that was capable of severely wounding a Primordial Immortal with a single strike. It was one of the trump cards the Yellow Emperor used to deter the Northern Black Emperor. For countless eons, all those who served the Black Emperor and tried to intrude Great Yu’s territory or cause trouble had suffered greatly from the Xuanyuan Peak.

As Wu Qi was overlooking the scenery on the Land of Sacred Emperor, a long streak of cloud suddenly emerged out of nowhere in the sky above the flatland. Soon afterward, he saw twelve four-wheeled bronze chariots, each pulled by a heavenly steed with a pair of wings on its back, make their appearances out of the cloud and begin to race across the sky at him while filling the air with a thunderous rumble. Every chariot was enormous, and every piece of equipment on them was extremely thick and heavy, giving off a ferocious and savage aura. The heavily armored soldiers standing on these chariots all looked fierce, with murderous gleams flashing in their eyes, which made them appear more like a group of butchers who had been imprisoned for countless years than soldiers.

The chariots whistled over and stopped before Wu Qi. From the leading chariot, a captain thrust out a twenty-feet-long bronze spear, pointing its sharp tip at Wu Qi and bellowing, “Give us your name and your business, boy! If you broke into the Land of Sacred Emperor on purpose, you’re dead! No matter who your parents are, no one can save you! I swear on the soul of your ancestors that if you broke into the Land of Sacred Emperor on purpose, I will cut off your head, pierce your heart, ground you to meat paste, and feed you to the wolves!”

The captain’s cultivation base was as strong as Wu Qi’s, about the level of a second-tier Gold Immortal. If translated to the grades that were commonly used in Great Yu, he was at the level of the peak Eight Stars, and almost Nine Stars Realm of the Second Pangu Heaven. In Liangzhu, an overall strength such as this could well make him a general who was in charge of a vast region. But in the Land of Sacred Emperor, he was only the leader of a military patrol.

Wu Qi’s heart jolted when his gaze swept across the hundreds of heavily armored soldiers in the twelve chariots behind the captain. Each of them possessed the cultivation base of Second Pangu Heaven, and even the drivers had the overall strength of the peak Nine Stars Realm of the First Pangu Heaven, which equivalent to that of a peak Heaven Immortal.

With his lips twitching, Wu Qi turned to look at the Land of Sacred Emperor. The vast flatland was enveloped by a thick purple mist, the density of which was so high that it was visible even to the naked eyes of the mortals. Evidently, the Pangu Sacred Energy here was richer than that of Liangzhu, so it was conceivable that the people living here must have excellent conditions for cultivation.

In addition, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan was the Sacred Emperor of Virtue recognized by the Heavenly Dao, who had obtained immortality through his immense virtue. A Sacred Emperor of Virtue like this would always radiate the Sacred Light of Virtue to illuminate the surroundings; under the blessing of such a light, the soldiers under him had a longer lifespan than others. So, it was understandable that he was surrounded by so many experts, and even used such a fearsome captain as the leader of a patrol.

Wu Qi gave the captain a look, then bowed and said, “I am Tan Lang, Great Yu’s Marquis of Dong Hai Province. I am here to seek an audience with the Sacred Emperor on Prince Chang Qin’s order, to deliver His Majesty an important military intelligence!”

The captain was taken aback momentarily, and then he cried out, “An important military intelligence from Prince Chang Qin? Show me the proof of your identity!”

Wu Qi quickly took out all the items that represented his identity of the Marquis of Dong Hai Province, including his seal and medallion. After that, he flipped his hand with palm side up, producing a ball of raging purple flame. This was the natal true flame peculiar to human warriors, and could only be produced by compressing and purifying Pangu Sacred Energy in the body to the maximum. Apart from the strongest human warriors, no one could cultivate this kind of natal true flame called the ‘Pangu True Flame’, not even those mighty Buddhas and Primordial Immortals.

“Aye, not bad, lad!” The captain darted a look at the ball of flame burning atop Wu Qi’s palm, then moved his razor-sharp gaze to stop at Wu Qi’s face, who appeared like a seventeen or eighteen years old youth. “You can’t be older than fifty, right?” He said after letting out a strange laugh, “And yet, your cultivation base is almost the same as mine! Tsk-tsk…How many pills did you take to get to where you are today?”

After making the emotional remark, the captain grabbed Wu Qi’s hand and pulled him up the chariot. “Try best not to fall, boy! Brothers, bring us back as fast as you can! It has been a long time since Prince Chang Qin was able to send us any military intelligence, so we better hurry and not delay any further!”

The chariots roared and rushed toward the void where they had made their appearances just now, filling the air with bolts of lighting and a muffled rumble.

The streak of cloud tumbled, and in just the blink of an eye, the chariots had plunged into a dense cluster of restrictive magics. A brief moment later, Wu Qi saw light again, and a huge mountaintop hovering midair was presented before his eyes. It was accompanied by several hundred smaller auxiliary peaks, all of which were suspended in the air as well.

He had arrived at the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan’s residence, the Xuanyuan Peak!