Stealing The Heavens

The kings in the chamber breathed a sigh of relief when they saw King Yang Shan swing his palm down like a knife. They slowly rose to their feet, ready to take their leave so that they could separately prepare and assemble the best experts to wipe out the higher-ups of Dong Hai. As long as those people, including Wu Qi, were killed, reclaiming the vast territory of Dong Hai and its countless people and soldiers would be an easy task.

Just then, the time and space inside the chamber suddenly froze. The kings were petrified on the spot, their knees slightly bent. Subsequently, many jade charms and pendants they wore exploded wildly, releasing intense flashes that reflected them like light bulbs. However, these amulets produced by the Secret Palace’s Supreme Oracles could not break the frozen time and space, and thus could not save their masters from being imprisoned.

In the spacious chamber, only about ten feet of space around King Yang Shan remained normal. The strange atmosphere made him jump up and look around in horror, and at the same time, take out two pieces of jade charms made into ghost faces and crush them. A dim circle of light enveloped him instantly, from which came a deep howling of ghosts. Meanwhile, a few ghostly shadows wheeled around him, obscuring his form and preventing any divine sense from getting close.

Clapping his hands, Wu Qi slowly emerged from the pearl’s glow. When he first appeared, he was just a little figure about the size of a thumb. But as he walked, he grew bigger and taller; by the time he came up to King Yang Shan, he was back to normal height. He pointed out a finger, and a stone block slid behind him. Then, he gestured graciously at King Yang Shan and said, “A nice amulet, but it is useless against me. Have a seat, my lord!”

King Yang Shan’s pupils constricted. But, before he could do anything, two terrifying divine senses with a strong warning slammed at him from somewhere he could not sense, shattering the circle of light and ghostly shadows around him. He staggered back two steps and sank back into his stone block. He was horrified to learn that in addition to Wu Qi, two more formidable figures were hiding in the chamber.

Fixing his eyes on Wu Qi, King Yang Shan asked hesitatingly in a hoarse voice, “Saint realm?”

Wu Qi paused for a moment, then he remembered something he had forgotten. The cultivation level of the human race had its own system. Oracles equivalent to Heaven Immortals were marked by the symbols of the moon while warriors were divided into nine tiers of the First Pangu Heaven. Next, Oracles of the same strength as Gold Immortals were marked by the symbols of the sun while warriors were divided into nine tiers of the Second Pangu Heaven. Meanwhile, Supreme Oracles equivalent to Primordial Immortals were marked by the symbols of the Supreme Towers while warriors of the same strength were divided into nine levels of the Third Pangu Heaven.

And the realm of Dao Breaking, which was beyond the realm of Primordial, was called the Saint realm by the human race. Once in this realm, there was no difference between oracles and warriors; they were all very powerful in both melee and magic. In other words, experts in the Saint realm were figures who cultivated both body and magic, like the two most famous figures of the human race—the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan and the Yan Emperor Shennong!

King Yang Shan was still in the realm of the Third Pangu Heaven, but he was knowledgeable enough to know that only an almighty expert of the Saint realm could so effortlessly imprison the few kings of the same strength as him, and freeze not only space, but time and their thoughts as well.

Wu Qi nodded and smiled faintly.

King Yang Shan froze at the sight of Wu Qi’s smile. According to the information Lu Buwei had provided him, he knew that Wu Qi had not been in Pangu Continent for long, and had only begun his formal cultivation. Even with his rare constitution which allowed him to cultivate both body and magic at the same time, how could he have stepped into the Saint realm so quickly? Moreover, he seemed to be the kind of expert who had attained an amazing cultivation base in that realm, because it was impossible for someone who had just stepped into the Saint realm to imprison a few kings of the imperial council without alerting any of them.

“The Saint realm!” King Yang Shan sighed. “The human cultivation techniques are the fastest to achieve some success, but once you get to the Supreme realm and the Primal realm, the pace of progress slows down. Moreover, because human life is very short, neither oracles who have stepped into the Supreme realm nor warriors who have stepped into the Primal realm will have enough time to break through the Saint realm. To make the breakthrough, time is not a problem…the key is their aptitude and fortune!”

With a wave of his hand, Wu Qi took a small tea table, a small teapot, and two fine teacups out of the void. A plume of Yuan Ling True Flame blew out of his palm and boiled the innate true water in the pot, taken from Yuan Ling Dark Realm. Then, he put some tea leaves into the water, harvested from Yuan Ling Dark Realm as well. Those tea trees were planted by Lord Yuan Ling himself long ago, the seeds of which were picked from the first tea tree, the real innate spirit root.

Soon a faint fragrance spilled out of the teapot, smelling refreshing. As he brewed the tea, Wu Qi smiled and said, “I have a very good aptitude and good fortune, so I was lucky enough to step into the Saint realm in such a short time. To tell my lord the truth, my cultivation base is now at the peak of the Saint realm!”

King Yang Shan jumped to his feet in horror and stared at Wu Qi for a long time without saying a word. ‘His cultivation base is now at the peak of the Saint realm? This… this is simply impossible! It is the same level where the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan and the Yan Emperor Shennong now sit, and that’s because they have spent countless years accumulating an immense amount of virtues and often visited Empress Wa in her palace to listen to her teachings of the Heavenly Dao. How did this kid reach this level so easily!’

As the tea continued to be brewed, its fragrance grew richer. Wu Qi took out a few jade bottles as small as thumbs, and dripped into the tea a few drops of precious ingredients which were as thick as paste, such as the million-year-old Azurite. These precious medicinal ingredients also came from Yuan Ling Dark Realm. In the long time between Lord Yuan Ling’s fall and his successor, Wu Qi, returning to claim back his lair, these rare treasures had accumulated aplenty.

The fist-size pot poured into exactly two cups of tea. Wu Qi gingerly handed King Yang Shan a cup, which was as hot as lava. “Try this tea, my lord. Drink with care, as it’s very potent. My lord’s cultivation base is at the Six Stars Realm of the Third Pangu Heaven, right? I didn’t realize that before, as you are too good at hiding that. Well, this cup of tea should help you get up one level.”

The king took the cup. He glanced at Wu Qi, then gritted his teeth and poured the tea into his mouth. As soon as the scorching hot liquid entered his mouth, it turned into a stream of violent energy that pounded through his body. A quarter of an hour later, he suddenly grew about half an inch taller, and a crack opened in his forehead, where a layer of dead skin began to peel off. As Wu Qi had said, the tea had helped him break through a small level smoothly.

Wu Qi took up his cup and downed the tea in one gulp. The energy contained in it was great, but it was only effective for those in the realm of Dao Reasoning. At his current level of strength, ordinary precious herbs such as innate spiritual roots could no longer bring him any benefits. At best, they were occasionally used as mouthwashes to freshen his breath.

Putting down his teacup, King Yang Shan said coldly, “Thank you for the tea.”

Wu Qi tossed his cup aside and chuckled, “You’re most welcome! Think of this cup of tea as my way of paying you back the favor!”

King Yang Shan did not understand. “What favor have I given you?”

“When I first came to Pangu Continent, King Yang Qiu took great care of me,” Wu Qi said casually as he looked into King Yang Qiu’s eyes. “Later on, it was through the power of your faction that I gradually got what I have today. If I hadn’t been sheltered under your power, I might have been strangled by someone.”

He lightly drummed his fingers against the tea table and sighed. “And the army of hundreds of millions of soldiers in Dong Hai right now…How could I have trained so many soldiers without the energy vein channels from You Xiong Plain? How could I have enjoyed such a wonderful treatment if I hadn’t been appreciated by Emperor Haozun because I was your confidant, and had made some contributions?”

King Yang Shan snapped, “So you do know…”

Wu Qi lifted a hand and waved a strong wind over, forcing King Yang Shan’s words back into his throat. “Do you want to hear what I think?” he sneered. “I don’t really have any malice against Great Yu. I just want a stable foundation that will ensure a carefree life for me and the people around me. Dong Hai would have been good enough for us!”

With a sigh, he stood up and shook his head. “Ji Ao and I are as close as brothers. If you hadn’t secretly plotted against Dong Hai, I would still serve Great Yu with all my heart. At the very least, I would completely wipe out that Ling Dynasty and make Heaven suffer a great loss. You shouldn’t have listened to Lu Buwei.”

Wu Qi laughed strangely and then went on, “I’ve ruined several of his major plots, and many of his people have died because of me. Now, he’s an important minister of the Ling Dynasty. And yet, you’re plotting against a leading minister of your own dynasty because of what he told you…It’s so stupid that I don’t know what to say anymore.”

A plume of Pangu Sacred Energy gushed out of his palm, turning into a rapidly spinning nebula. Staring at it, Wu Qi said, “What do you mean by those who are not your kind are sure to be of a different heart? Can’t you see I’m a genuine human being? I’m just not a native of Pangu Continent. You shouldn’t have plotted against me, because I bear you and Ji Ao no ill will.

“Well, now that I’ve returned the favor and talked to you frankly, what you will do in the future depends on your own decision.”

He cocked his head and said, “But, since you and the few kings of the imperial council have made it clear that I might cause harm to Great Yu, I might as well cause a little harm then! Oh, don’t you worry! That King Hei Shan can’t attack you with my background as long as you’re not stupid enough to tell anyone who I am. You still have a good chance of succeeding to the throne!”

With a laugh, Wu Qi transformed into a shower of blue light and disappeared, with Princess Zhang Le and Qixia following behind him.

The imprisonment in the void suddenly faded away, and the few kings continued to stand up as if nothing had happened. What had just happened did not exist in their senses. King Yang Shan felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the empty chamber. He did not know what Wu Qi was going to do or how he was going to cause a little harm to Great Yu.

Suddenly, the earth around him shook.

He and the other kings hurried back to the surface, and soon received a terrible piece of news.

The mystical artifact ‘Pangu’s Map’, which was hidden deep in the imperial palace of Great Yu, was stolen by unknown people. The twelve Supreme Oracles guarding it were all knocked unconscious even before they could see the burglars, and their possessions were looted. Even their Supreme Towers were opened with some mystical art, and their lifetime savings were all gone.

King Yang Shan’s eyes went black and he nearly fainted.