Stealing The Heavens

What was Heaven Secret?

Heavenly Dao is a river—at times clear and at times muddy—and all living things were fish, shrimp, or crabs struggling in this river. Occasionally, a few could jump out of the river to look around, which were cultivators who had stepped into the Dao Reasoning realm. Some could lie on the boulders in the river to look around safely, but would be slammed back into the river by water from time to time—those were the cultivators who had stepped into the realm of Dao Breaking.

Only cultivators of the Dao Fusing realm could glide on the surface of the river like water spiders and, from time to time, jump up into the air to peep around.

Whether it were cultivators of Dao Reasoning, Dao Breaking, or Dao Fusing, what they saw in the river was the Heaven Secret. When the water was clear, those with good eyesight and luck could see the movement of the fishes and predict the fate of the people. When the river was muddy, they could also understand what caused that to happen, whether by nature or men, so that they could avoid those unpredictable crises.

And, any almighty expert of Dao Realm could use his or her divine power to muddy the river.

Dao Reasoning cultivators might only be able to muddy a small section of the river, and Dao Breaking cultivators could turn a long stretch of the river upside down, making it impossible for outsiders to see the fate of a few small fishes and shrimp hidden in the water. But, for those who had stepped into the realm of Dao Fusing, they could turn the whole river upside down, like pouring a bottle of black ink into a bucket of clear water and shaking it so violently that the water became dark and chaotic, and no one could see what was happening in there.

Of course, the Dao Fusing expert who did this would know what method he had used to obscure the Heaven Secret. So, even if the Heaven Secret was in a chaotic state, he could still grasp what he wanted to know by reversing the mystic art he had used.

For example, with the Heaven Secret now muddled and obscured by the Seven Buddhist Patriarchs and the nine Dao Patriarchs, it was nearly impossible for outsiders to get anything out of it. However, as they knew the flow direction of the chaotic Heaven Secret, they could still grasp a lot of things if they followed it carefully, and the movements of the fishes, shrimps, and crabs who drifted with the tide could not be concealed from their eyes.

One of the fishes was the emperor of New Yu, whom Wu Qi wanted to kill. As an important pawn of Heaven, the tool used to divide the emperor aura of the human race, he was watched by at least multiple Dao Fusing experts. After all, the purpose of his existence was to divide the emperor aura of the human race. If he was killed by Emperor Haozun, the aura would return to Great Yu, and all the schemes and plots carried out by Heaven previously would be in vain.

This was not a problem that could be solved by simply putting more guards around him. Since Heaven was using him as a chess piece, it must be wary of the possibility that some other good chess players might destroy him. Therefore, there must be some Dao Fusing experts watching his every move through Heaven Secret. And if someone showed the intention to kill him, it would probably attract their attention.

Wu Qi had made a plan to kill the emperor of New Yu. He was able to hide the intention well, so it would not stir up the already chaotic Heaven Secret and let the seven Buddhist Patriarchs and nine Dao Patriarchs discover his plan. But, it would be a different story if he was going to put the plan into action, even though he was able to hide himself in the Heavenly Dao, so much so that even the Heavenly Tribulation could not find his whereabouts.

It was like an invisible man trying to kill someone. Even though he was invisible and untraceable, he would be detected as soon as he committed the killing, for the target was watched by all eyes. For those fearsome figures in the realm of Dao Fusing, even if one left behind only the slightest trace, they would be able to immediately trace one’s true self from the vast Heavenly Dao and then launch the most terrible revenge.

There was a good chance that the moment Wu Qi got close and was about to strike the emperor of New Yu, some strange aura would be emanated from him and attract the attention of those almighty experts. Wu Qi could not kill him as long as there were any warning signs for those mighty figures to find out.

Therefore, he had to find someone who could confuse the Heaven Secret and muddle the great river of Heavenly Dao, so that no one could get any useful information out of it.

Greathorns listened carefully to Wu Qi’s plan with wide eyes. A restrictive spell had surrounded them, so even his disciples could not tell what they were discussing. As Wu Qi talked, he nodded repeatedly and the flames in his pair of horns rushed excitedly up to more than a thousand feet high.

After listening to Wu Qi, Greathorns slapped him hard on the shoulder and said, “Well, it’s decided then! If truth be told, I did feel something not so right recently…So this is the reason, eh? Why should they be the only ones who can disturb the Heaven Secret? We can do it too! It’s only fair that everyone can’t see clearly and predict what is going to happen, isn’t it?”

He punched himself hard on the head a few times and began to grumble, saying that no wonder he had been feeling a little confused and could not figure out many things lately. Besides, he had occasionally detected that someone was giving him a quick peep, but failed when he tried to find out who did that.

Wu Qi nodded to himself. This was the consequence when Heaven Secret was obscure. Others had taken the lead, so that all of one’s plans were difficult to calculate One’s every move might be watched by them, and the whereabouts of all one’s disciples could not be hidden from them. They were always ready to plan ahead based on one’s actions and disrupt all the plots with minimal effort.

During his trip to Xuanyuan Peak, Wu Qi already felt that someone had begun to muddle the steady Heavenly Dao, and the feeling had become more and more obvious in the last two years. Whenever he was meditating, he could clearly perceive that the laws of Heavenly Dao were shaking violently, which made him feel sticky all over as if he was covered in a layer of fog. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.

Wu Qi only had the cultivation base of a Dao Breaking expert. In other words, he was still struggling passively in the Heavenly Dao. It was true that he was an invisible man in the Heavenly Dao, but his true self was still in the great river. And like a fish in the water, he was the first to know when someone deliberately stirred the river into a whirlpool. For those like Greathorns who had left the river, their reaction to this would naturally be slower.

After complaining, Greathorns ripped open the void in front of him and shouted, “Hey, are you all awake? Listen to me, those bald donkeys and ox’s noses are really cunning. Try putting your divine sense into Heavenly Dao and tell me what you perceive…They have done it before us!”

More than a dozen voices rang out of the hole Greathorns had ripped open, all very surprised. “What’s going on?” Yao Ling complained, “How could they have messed up Heaven Secret before us? Hey, Wu Divinity, you’re the smartest among us! Why didn’t you warn us about this? Aye, we are in an unfavorable situation now!”

Wu Divinity’s sullen voice echoed out, “Who among us has obscured the Heaven Secret over the years?”

No one answered the question. Greathorns shook his head as he grinned at Wu Qi and then shouted, “Cut the crap! We’ve been muddle-headed all these years, and none of us has ever done anything like this. Well, only those few bald donkeys and ox’s noses like to play with such things as obscuring Heaven Secret. We are used to using fists and feet to decide the winner, and we all know that they like to play with intrigues and schemes! We can’t blame Wu Divinity for not warning us, because none of us had ever thought of doing this!”

The eighteen Saints smacked their mouths almost in unison and cursed the nonexistent ancestors of the seven Buddhist Patriarchs and nine Dao Patriarchs.

Wu Qi just shook his head. The characters of the other seventeen Saints were basically the same as Greathorns. He wondered how could such a group of people have attained the cultivation base of Dao Fusing! But, when he gave it further thought, his eyes gleamed. According to the ways how the seven Buddhist Patriarchs and nine Dao Patriarchs handled matters, if someone as astute as them wanted to fuse with the Dao, he would have been immediately attacked by them.

That was to say, it was because of his simple mind that Greathorns was able to fuse with the Dao.

Then, Wu Qi immediately thought of himself. If he were to fuse with the Dao in the future, would the seven Buddhist Patriarchs and the nine Dao Patriarchs attack him? The answer was almost certainly yes. They would certainly do something to him, especially as he was a nonexistent person to them. When a person who never existed before suddenly fused with the Dao, it would surely provoke a strong reaction from them.

He must be prepared for the worst and find the safest way to save himself. Maybe it was time for him to talk to the eighteen Saints.

Wu Divinity’s voice rang out, “Greathorns, cut the crap! With that little brain of yours, you would have never thought of this. Tell us, who told you about it?”

Wu Qi slowly rose to his feet as he cupped his fist and bowed to the void, “Fellow daoists, Yuan Ling offers greeting!”

A series of surprised cries echoed out, but Lord Changmu’s harsh voice drowned the rest, “Eh? The old monster Yuan Ling? Weren’t you killed a long time ago? So, you’re still alive, huh? Aye? Your cultivation base is pretty good!”

A dozen streams of divine sense emerged from the hole in the void, sweeping up and down at Wu Qi. He retracted all the mystic arts of Scroll of Stealing and let them glance at him as they pleased. They did not harbor any ill intentions, as he could tell from the aura of their divine sense.

Wu Divinity’s laughter was heard coming through the hole. “Excellent! It’s great that you’re not dead, Yuan Ling! If we can hold the seven Buddhist Patriarchs and the nine Dao Patriarchs back, given your ability, you shouldn’t have any problem bullying their disciples, right?”

Wu Qi smiled. “Yes, this is exactly what I’m going to do. So, I need to trouble you to muddle the Heaven Secret completely.”

Laughter filled the void as eighteen strange waves of laws poured out from different parts of Pangu World and quickly plunged into the vast and invisible Heavenly Dao.

Sitting straight in her palace, Empress Wa was stunned for a moment and then burst out laughing. Meanwhile, the seven Buddhist Patriarchs sitting in front of the Palace of Empress Wa opened their eyes in horror at the same time and muttered an angry curse together.

In a vast sea of white clouds, the nine Dao Patriarchs were sitting in a circle. In the middle of them, a mass of golden light was expanding and contracting as they breathed. Ten of thousands of vague figures could be seen floating in the golden light. But, as the Heavenly Dao suddenly turned chaotic, they trembled, and they could no longer maintain their hand incantations.

The vast Heaven Secret was a jumble now, and no one could get any information out of it anymore.

It was pitch black for all…absolutely fair for all!