Stealing The Heavens

The Kunwu Swords hovered high up in the sky. No one in the vast city of Liangzhu dared to move.

As time went by, Wu Qi’s face grew unsightly. Gradually, a loud noise rang out from under the city like waves pounding on the shores. In the beginning, there were only wisps of purple energy gushing out of the ground, constantly flowing into the Kunwu Swords. But after a quarter of an hour, they turned into 108 torrents, pouring fiercely into the swords and filling the air with a deafening rumble.

Shafts of blinding light emitted from the swords, and everything in the world seemed to turn transparent. The light shone through everything, forcing those members of the powerful clans hiding in the void to reveal themselves with their eyes tightly closed.

With Liangzhu at the center, huge formation diagrams lit up one after another. Soon afterward, they integrated into a massive, three-dimensional formation that surrounded the entire city. Without Wu Qi’s control, Kunwu Swords naturally occupied the 108 most important nodes of the formation, constantly devouring the vast energy rushing out of the ground and injecting them into the formation.

The formation was the heart of Liangzhu’s defense. On the night Emperor Haozun was killed, he had failed to activate it to protect himself and kill the enemy. But today, triggered by Kunwu Swords, it was finally activated. On top of that, it was emanating a menacing killing intent and a terribly destructive aura which were not seen when Emperor Haozun was controlling it.

It had to do with the way the formation was controlled. Emperor Haozun controlled it through the Xuanyuan Sword, which was the sword of the emperor. Its aura was vast and majestic, so that it could hold the world in awe. On the other hand, the aura of Kunwu Swords was that of killing; their true nature was all about slaughtering. Because of that, the formation activated by them was emanating a menacing killing intent.

When the entire formation was activated, and the energy accumulated in Kunwu Swords had reached a point that it must be released, Wu Qi, whose face was purple because of the enormous amount of energy fed back to him by the swords, cried out, “Release King Yang Shan now! Or else…”

A shadow of sword flashed past the void. The immensely strong sword energy transformed into an azure dragon and plunged down, reducing Liangzhu’s east gate to dust amidst a dragon roar that shook the heaven. With Wu Qi’s current cultivation base, he could not control the formation or channel the enormous energy in it into his body, turning into his own. In fact, only the mystic art passed down from generation to generation in the Human Emperor’s line could control the terrifying energy in the formation. As a result, when the energy accumulated to a limit, he had no choice but let the formation release it freely.

The east gate of Liangzhu became the victim of Wu Qi’s stress relief. The walls, tens of miles long and full of countless restrictive spells, vanished completely. Since it was built, the city had never been damaged. But today, Wu Qi had ended the record.

Numerous members of the powerful clans sucked in cold breaths at the same time. As they exchanged shocking glances, dozens of Supreme Towers broke through the void and sped into Liangzhu.

Nearly ten minutes later, King Yang Shan, alone and wearing a weary face, walked slowly to the large opening that was once the east gate. With a hint of smile in his eyes and an expressionless face, he shouted dryly, “What’s all this nonsense about? Look at what have you done? You’ve destroyed Liangzhu’s gate! Does this make you proud of yourself? What are you waiting for? Withdraw the formation and get you’re a*s in here!”

He paused for a brief moment, then cried out once again, “Do you have any idea what crime you’ve committed? You nearly scared the Crown Prince to death! Do you know that?”

Although King Yang Shan was scolding Wu Qi and Ji Dai, the smile in his tone could be easily heard even by a fool. Clearly, he was taking pleasure in the crown prince’s misfortune.

‘Ah, the mighty Kunwu Swords! Why did the Sacred Emperor give them to Wu Qi?’ King Yang Shan never felt so happy before. ‘Let’s see what other excuses can you guys come out with when you are facing the Kunwu Swords!’ With both hands clasped behind his back, he nodded at Wu Qi and said, “Leave your army outside the city. Well, put a garrison on each of the four gates. King Dong Hai, Ji Dai, come with me!”

Clearing his throat, Wu Qi made a gesture, and the Dark Yin Celestial Tower flew whistling out. Its four doors swung open, and from inside came swarming out columns of burly soldiers, fully armored and riding on various fierce beasts or large war machines. Amidst the shouts let out by Huang Liang and other generals, thirty-six divisions of Dong Hai Army, each filled with a million soldiers, quickly made camps outside the four gates of Liangzhu.

It must be said that Wu Qi had been doing very well in Dong Hai for the past two years. With an endless supply of natural energy, and with him speeding up time at the cost of his own energy, Dong Hai’s army was not only huge, but the soldiers’ overall strength was incredible as well. Basically, the cultivation bases of all the military officers were at the First Star Realm of the Second Pangu Heaven, while the weakest soldiers had the cultivation bases ranging between the Seven Stars to Eight Stars Realm of the First Pangu Heaven.

In addition to the soldiers, there were hundreds of thousands of Oracles. Among them, thirty percent had golden suns embroidered on their sleeves, and the remaining had silver crescents.

The powerful clans who witnessed this felt their hearts sink. The overall strength of Wu Qi’s men was too overwhelming. Although it appeared that Dong Hai lacked some higher-tier forces, in terms of conventional military strength, what Wu Qi had presented before them was basically the military power of a dozen oldest clans in Liangzhu combined.

Some members of these clans who were harboring ill thoughts could not help but curse in their minds. Under the nose of the Human Emperor, all the powerful clans in Liangzhu had to be extremely cautious even when they were recruiting a squad of private guards, and none dared to wantonly expand their military forces. But, why did Wu Qi, a lucky fella who did not have a strong root in Great Yu, dare to raise such a large army?

Columns of soldiers from Dong Hai swaggered past outside of Liangzhu; they intentionally stamped their feet hard and made the ground shake, while some others hit the iron stakes with all their might to make them thunder. Loud noises filled the air and clouds of dust rose to the sky. Looking at the scene, the faces of those from the powerful clans turned extremely unsightly.

Had there ever been such arrogant and disrespectful men as Wu Qi among the traditional Great Yu nobles?

King Yang Shan was all smiles, as if he had not noticed the strange glances those people threw at him. With Wu Qi and Ji Dai following behind him, he strode toward the imperial palace. Along their way, people hovered midair above the mansions, looking at them quietly.

All Great Yu’s subjects knew that Wu Qi was a member of King Yang Shan’s faction. After all, he rose to power under Ji Ao, who was still King Yang Qiu back then. Now, Ji Ao had inherited the title of King Wei Shan and became the commander-in-chief of You Xiong Army; Wu Qi was also promoted to King Dong Hai, training a new army in Dong Hai at the order of Emperor Haozun.

From what they saw today, in less than two years, Wu Qi had done a great job in Dong Hai. They wondered how he managed to produce such a mighty army in such a short time. And this was only the force under Wu Qi alone. Ji Ao, with his You Xiong Army, had not arrived yet. What choice should they make when You Xiong Army arrived outside Liangzhu?

Under countless complicated gazes, Wu Qi and his company entered the imperial palace, stepped up Mount Torch Dragon, and walked into the great hall which was already buzzing with voices.

King Xin Shan, clad in a black robe, stood beneath the throne as he was surrounded by a group of imperial Kings and civil and military officials. At this moment, he was glancing at the entrance furiously. As soon as he saw Wu Qi, he cried out, “Someone, take down this arrogant b*stard! Announce my decree: his title of King Dong Hai is stripped with immediate effect! From this day, he is reduced to a commoner, and all the civil and military officials of Dong Hai are reduced to felons! All of them are to be banished to the far north!”

“Let’s do this, let’s kick up a fuss! With even civility destroyed between us, I don’t have to hold back anymore!” King Yang Shan mumbled under his breath.

With hands clasped behind his back, King Yang Shan walked casually to the front of a group of men and stood there. These people were wearing the King’s garbs as well, and most of those behind them were dressed like warriors, with helmets and suits of armors. Clearly, they were close to and supportive of King Yang Shan.

In addition to King Yang Shan’s supporters and those from King Xin Shan’s faction, there were also several other groups from separated factions in the hall. Figures in King’s garbs were among every group, followed by varying numbers of men who were either the members of the imperial clan or powerful clans, judging from their manners.

Upon hearing King Xin Shan’s almost hysterical growl, a group of tall, strong Long Bo men strode toward Wu Qi.

Wu Qi laughed coldly as he produced a Kunwu Sword and stabbed it hard into the ground. Amidst the loud clanging noise, he snapped, “Who dares to touch me? Who dares to strip me of my title? You’re King Xin Shan, aren’t you? You’re only a self-proclaimed crown prince, and you have not yet become the Human Emperor. What rights do you have to strip me of my title and judge me?”

Those Long Bo men turned pale as soon as they saw the sword as if they had seen a ghost. They hesitated for a moment, then trudged back.

King Xin Shan exploded with anger. He was about to refute when Wu Qi cried out fiercely again, “Is it because of the military power you have in your hands? The Flying Bear Army? Ha, if it were the case that whoever has more soldiers or bigger fists could decide who sits on the throne, how about I bring the whole army from Dong Hai to Liangzhu and fight you to death? What do you think?”

While rubbing his fingertips, Wu Qi stared at King Xin Shan and said with a smile, “How about a fair duel between just you and me? If you die, the throne has nothing to do with you. If I die, Dong Hai Army will leave You Xiong Plain at once, and they will willingly take you as their Human Emperor. What do you think?”

Silence reigned over the great hall. No one said a word, and everyone looked at King Xin Shan with gleaming eyes.

There was a long silence before King Xin Shan finally stammered, “Ho-how da-a-are YOU! Just now, outside the city, you’ve killed…”

“Cut the crap!” Wu Qi interrupted him once more. “Today, in front of all the members of the imperial clan, representatives of powerful clans, and the ministers in the court, I want to impeach King Xin Shan for his unfilial sin!”

King Xin Shan almost jumped. “What nonsense! When have I ever been unfilial before?”

Grinning coldly, Wu Qi pointed at him and bellowed, “Have you not? Where is His Majesty’s body? Who killed His Majesty? As His Majesty’s eldest prince, instead of finding out who the murderer is and avenging your father, you’re fighting for the throne! If this is not unfilial, what is it?”

After scolding, Wu Qi suddenly burst into tears. “You’ve died miserably, Your Majesty! Not only is your body missing, even your princes care nothing about you but the throne, while all the civil and military officials in the court are fighting for more power by supporting their own candidates! Your death is so unworthy, so unjustly!”

At the sound of Wu Qi’s cry, the men from the six states and all the subjects of Dong Hai shuddered, while all or Great Yu’s civil and military officials were struck dumb. They exchanged glances, and no one could say a single word.