Stealing The Heavens

King Bai Shan colluded with immortals to conspire against Great Yu.

When the news was brought back to Liangzhu, the imperial court was utterly shocked.

At Emperor Haozun’s decree, Wu Qi, as the most important witness and the direct victim who just had his broken bones mended with the Nine Death Resurrection Spirit Pill, was on his way to Liangzhu with the imperial troops who had come to fetch him. As dozens of gigantic flying ships flew across the sky, a bell was pealing ever louder in the city. It was an alarm that rang only when Great Yu was facing a serious crisis.

King Yang Shan was standing on the forecastle of a leading ship, while Wu Qi, who had just ‘recovered from his injuries’ but was ‘significantly weakened’, stood trembling beside him, supported by Princess Zhang Le. The domineering princess had put on an aggrieved face, with her head hung low and tears in her eyes. The way she looked now made one think that she might kill herself if Wu Qi were dead.

When that combined with Wu Qi’s pale complexion and the sick look on his face, they both appeared to be a sad couple. It did fit their current situation, though. Wu Qi was attacked by someone in his own palaces; his residence was reduced to dust; more than ten thousand of his personal guards were killed, leaving him with only a dozen captains whose cultivation bases were the strongest. Whoever came across something like this, they should look exactly the same as them, shouldn’t they?

Every now and then, King Yang Shan turned to give Wu Qi a glance. He was quickly accessing this wounded man’s current situation. Wu Qi’s serious injury came as no surprise to him. After all, King Bai Shan shared the same reputation and status as him: they both served in Great Yu’s imperial court, with fearsome military power in hand and great influence. King Bai Shan could easily call upon a few Supreme Oracles to attack Wu Qi, he knew, and when he did that in secret, it was only natural that Wu Qi should be seriously hurt.

The strength around Wu Qi was a little out of his expectation, though. Only about a year after being promoted as the King of Dong Hai Province, Wu Qi already had dozens of captains whose cultivation bases were at the peak-level of Second Pangu Heaven. ‘He must have used the Supreme Tower’s time-accelerating capability to nurture this group of elites,’ thought King Yang Shan. ‘A man cultivates both body and magic, who has stepped into the realm of Supreme Oracle and conferred the title of King… I should stop trying to win him over, but use all efforts to draw him into my camp!

‘No doubt Ji Ao and he are on good terms, but how can I make him truly pledge his allegiance to me?’ He took a quick look at Princess Zhang Le, who was so beautiful and naturally exuding an air of nobility. King Yang Shan began to think about how many unmarried daughters he still had. ‘The mother must be from a noble family. It’ll be a shame if I give a daughter whose mother is a maidservant to him…’

Wu Qi coughed softly against the strong wind that came blowing in his face. “Have you inform His Majesty what I’ve told you, my lord?”

That pulled King Yang Shan out of his thought. Nodding, he said, “Yes, I did. His Majesty had flown into a rage, and the whole imperial court was utterly shocked. King Bai Shan is of royal blood, and his grandfather’s grandfather is actually my brother. I didn’t expect him to do such a treacherous thing.”

He paused for a moment, sighing, and then went on, “Escaped from the imperial dungeon and attacked an important official of Great Yu with an army, just these two charges are enough to get his whole clan executed. As for the other things you mentioned… It’s not that I don’t want to believe, and it’s not that His Majesty doesn’t trust you, but they are simply too alarming. That’s why His Majesty wants you to come to him in person and explain everything in detail.”

Wu Qi nodded slowly and said nothing.

“What you told us is too serious, and I find it hard to believe…” said King Yang Shan in a low voice, his eyes narrowed. “The loyalty of the army responsible for defending Liangzhu is shaking… this is just…”

You Xiong Army was the core of Great Yu’s imperial army, consisting of only the members from the imperial clan and other powerful clans of Great Yu. Of all its officers, over sixty percent were of the royal blood. It was the most elite, most loyal, and most reliable strategic force of Great Yu. Its size was enormous, and was divided into five divisions: Left, Right, Front, Rear, and Central. Using only the best equipment, the army’s only purpose was to protect Liangzhu and the imperial palace. It was the Human Emperor’s personal guard.

The predecessor of this army was the invincible army of the human race who had assisted the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, in his quest of conquering Pangu Continent. In term of both tradition and combat effectiveness, You Xiong Army was the best in Great Yu, second to none.

The army’s reserve soldiers were all peak-level elites of First Pangu Heaven, and only those who had stepped into the realm of Second Pangu Heaven could be promoted as regular soldiers. Its junior soldiers were all of the ranks of lieutenant, and they were divided into three grades. Above them were the ranks of colonel and general, which were also divided into three grades each. They corresponded precisely to the nine realms of the Second Pangu Heaven.

It was clear that this was a fearsome army, and yet Wu Qi told King Yang Shan that through interrogating King Bai Shan’s soul, he had found out that the loyalty of most of the soldiers and officers in it was questionable. Not only did this information scared the living daylights out of King Yang Shan, but even Emperor Haozun nearly fell off his throne when he heard of it.

Excluding the Secret Palace, You Xiong Army was Great Yu’s most powerful force. If something went wrong with this force, the very foundation of the dynasty would become unstable. As all the soldiers chosen to join this army came from either the imperial clan or powerful clans of Great Yu, if their loyalty was questionable, wouldn’t that mean that the loyalty of the clans behind them was also questionable?

Therefore, even though he knew Wu Qi was seriously injured, Emperor Haozun still ordered him to present himself in the imperial palace. So King Yang Shan had brought thirty huge flying ships here to escort Wu Qi to Liangzhu, together with three thousand soldiers from the Right Division of You Xiong Army, and a team of his own private soldiers.

As the reward of killing the Sovereign, Ji Ao was put to charge the Right Division of You Xiong Army by Emperor Haozun. In order to escort Wu Qi to Liangzhu, he had brought with him three thousand reliable soldiers from this division.

Wu Qi’s palace was only about a hundred thousand miles away from Liangzhu. At the speed of the flying ship, such a distance was only a short journey of about an hour. With three thousand elites from You Xiong Army, and a part of King Yang Shan’s private army escorting them, the safety of the fleet was guaranteed. If anyone dared to attack them outside of the city, it was no different than looking for death.

The forecastle fell silent. King Yang Shan was in a mixed mood. He was thinking about two things at the same time: how to draw Wu Qi to his camp, and what he should do if something really went wrong with You Xiong Army. He knew what was Great Yu’s secret ultimate strength, so if something really went wrong with You Xiong Army, it would be nothing more than a complete purge, killing all the current soldiers and officers. But the scariest thing was that these soldiers and officers represented not only themselves.

With a wry smile, he shook his head and sighed.

Looking at King Yang Shan, Wu Qi, too, shook his head and sighed. Then, he turned around to face the two generals who had crept up behind him, and asked, “Why are you two here without being summoned?” As King Yang Shan was sighing and deep in thought, he did not notice anything around him, and Ji Ao was also pondering over something with a frown, so he also did not hear anything behind him.

But Wu Qi’s divine sense had already completely locked down the area of tens of thousands of miles around him, and the silent movement of the two generals from the Right Division of You Xiong Army, whose cultivation bases were at the peak level of the Nine Stars Realm of the Second Pangu Heaven, could not escape from him.

At the sound of Wu Qi’s voice, Ji Ao looked back hurriedly. He arched an eyebrow and cried out in a deep voice, “Dongyi Huang, Dongyi Mo, why are you here?”

Heavily armored and unsmiling, both men laid their right hands on the hilts of their swords that hung from their waists, and one of them said, “King of Dong Hai Province, you cannot enter Liangzhu!”

Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le did not show any signs of surprise, but looked at them with half a smile. However, both King Yang Shan and Ji Ao’s faces turned pale. “How dare you! Do you have any idea what you’re talking about?” Ji Ao snapped at them. “What do you want to do? You…”

Dongyi Huang and Dongyi Mo were brothers, and they were the Left and Right Generals of the Right Division, Ji Ao’s deputies. One was responsible for the training of soldiers, while the other was responsible for the movement and distribution of logistical supplies. They were both seniors in the Right Division, and Ji Ao’s right-hand men who helped him ran the army.

But judging by what they said and what they were about to do, it was clear that Wu Qi was telling the truth. There was a big problem with You Xiong Army!

Wu Qi was entering Liangzhu at Emperor Haozun’s edict, therefore, what the two brothers had just said made it clear that they did not obey the emperor’s decree. In Great Yu, a dynasty which paid the most attention to tradition and laws, it was a serious crime punishable by having one’s whole clan executed!

Dongyi Huang gave a loud cry, drew his sword and thrust it toward Wu Qi’s chest.

Leisurely, Wu Qi took a step back as King Yang Shan came between him and the attacker, pushed his right palm out and slapped Dongyi Huang in the chest. King Yang Shan was a supreme expert whose physical strength had broken through the realm of Third Pangu Heaven. Under his iron palm, Dongyi Huang’s body was as fragile as a piece of tofu.

A crisp crunch echoed out as Dongyi Huang’s upper body exploded, and a soul emanating blood-red light was grabbed in King Yang Shan’s palm.

But just as Dongyi Huang drew his sword and thrust it out, Dongyi Mo had pulled out a fist-sized black skull, bit his own tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto it. A shrill cry like the wailing of a toddler immediately soared into the sky. King Yang Shan and Ji Ao howled painfully as soon as they heard the sound, with black blood spraying out of their seven orifices at the same time. Luckily, both men each owned an extraordinary treasure that could protect their souls, which were specially crafted for them by the Great Oracles. As a result, no sooner had their souls were shaken than the treasures were activated, began to protect their souls.

Two masses of red fire engulfed King Yang Shan and Ji Ao. While coughing out mouthfuls of blood, they stared fixedly at the black skull in Dongyi Mo’s hand as if they were looking at a ghost. Obviously, they recognized it, and they knew who was the person it represented!

Seeing King Yang Shan and Ji Ao were seriously injured by the sound of the toddler’s wailing, Wu Qi immediately forced blood out of his seven orifices. The blood was converted from his chaotic energy, and he did not feel pain even if he sprayed out thirty to fifty liters. Soon he was stained all over with the blood, and they trickled down along his body and pooled across the deck.

Rolling his eyes, Wu Qi fell into Princess Zhang Le’s arms.

The princess gave a cold snort as the five-colored divine ray rolled up from behind her back, from which came flying out her avatar of the God of Thunder, shrouding in lightning. A red bolt of light made its appearance in the void, and bringing with it a terribly high temperature, it smote Dongyi Mo.

Dongyi Mo shrieked as Princess Zhang Le’s lightning melted him into wisps of smoke. Even so, the black skull spun and soared up into the air, continued to let out shrill cries which transformed into black waves, all of which rushing toward the princess.