Stealing The Heavens

Wu Qi smiled warmly as he looked at the crowd standing in front of him.

“I won’t go into the details. The purpose of bringing you here is to get you all over that threshold,” said Wu Qi in earnest. “To be honest with you, Pangu Continent may be in turmoil in the near future, as may outer heavenly realms. There will be no more peace in this world. If we want to live in peace and contentment, and let our friends and family live on, we will have to rely on you!”

Wu Qi cupped his fist and bowed slightly to the crowd in all seriousness.

Lord Xiansheng’s father, the old dragon king whose name had been changed into Ao Guang by Wu Qi, returned the bow and said, “Why would you say that? Wu Qi my little friend, we are now on the same boat. No matter how hard the weather is out there, we will go through it together as a big family.”

Others nodded in agreement, especially Luo Le, Luo Hao, Luo Shui, Luo Ling, and Luo Yu. They were Wu Qi’s disciples, so naturally they would not have any objection. As for Gold Horn and Silver Horn, they were already drooling. “Pangu Continent will be in turmoil? Great! The messier the world becomes the better! Hahaha, we will be able to eat to our heart’s content then! When will it be? When?!”

The brothers’ eyes turned green, and even Gold Feather and Silver Feather, who were standing behind them, had a savage hunger in their eyes. The best food for dragon pythons were dragons, but the four of them could not eat the dragons around Wu Qi, could they? They knew that whether in Heaven, Buddhism League or Great Yu, countless dragons were bred to serve as mounts, guardians, or the providers of beast souls, so, once Pangu Continent fell in chaos, they would be able to eat as many dragons as they wanted!

Dragon pythons could produce their strongest offspring only by feeding on large quantities of dragons. If truth be told, Gold Horn and Silver Horn were among those who were born with malnutrition. If Wu Qi had not given them a lot of good things, they would have never been able to break through the realm of Gold Immortal in their lives, let alone step into the realm of Primordial.

While the four dragon pythons were grinding their teeth, Yuan Qing’s eyes were red with excitement. Swinging his staff, he threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Turmoil! Turmoil! Master, can we go out and beat someone when the world plunged into chaos? You see, none of those fellow disciples can stand more than three blows from me, I just can’t get enough!”

Wu Qi gave him a troubled look, then nodded and said, “Yes, once the world is in chaos and if there’s going to be a war, I’ll put you in the vanguard of Dong Hai Province!”

Yuan Qing danced with excitement and shouted with laughter, but Wu Qi hesitated. Once Pangu Continent was in turmoil and Dong Hai Province was involved, it would be perfectly justified for a demon monkey to be in the vanguard, provided that they fought for the Heaven. Otherwise, before meeting the enemy, Dong Hai’s army might be first attacked by Great Yu’s army.

He shook his head and decided not to waste his time thinking about such a trifle matter. If the world was really in turmoil, it was up to him to decide who he would use and not others. With a cold snort, he pulled a black, immobilized Bodhisattva out of his sleeve and threw him on the ground, then reached into the sleeve again and pulled out another Bodhisattva, then another…

Pointing at the Bodhisattvas from the Buddhism League’s branch in the Nether World, whose bodies were wrapped in evil karma and eyes red with red lotus karmic fire, Wu Qi said faintly, “Two for each of you. Kill them and naturally virtues will fall. Well, do it one by one. After absorbing the virtues, with the evil karma they had created, you will be able to break through the realm of Primordial. When the time comes, Dong Hai will have so many Primordial experts that, even if Heaven’s army do come attacking us, we will have the power to fight them!”

Everyone except Xiang Yu sucked in a cold breath when they saw the black Bodhisattvas Wu Qi threw out. Patriarch Jiang Yun’s spouses, Qing Xia and Bai Wu, stared in astonishment and cried out, “Are they Bodhisattvas from the Buddhism League? Why do they look like this?”

Wu Qi gave a brief account of the origins of these Bodhisattvas, including why they had become like this. When the crowd heard that he had gone to the Nether World and captured all the Bodhisattvas and Arhats there, their faces filled with all kinds of expressions. What he did had made him the Buddhism League’s eternal enemy, hadn’t it? But when they thought of what he had done in the past—killed three Buddhas and even robbed Buddha Futu—they found that it was not a big deal to kill a few more Bodhisattvas.

Clearing his throat, Luo Le, the head of Luo Clan, stepped forward gingerly. His three granddaughters were Wu Qi’s disciples, but that did not put him on the same rank as Wu Qi. He bowed respectfully and said, in his capacity as an Underhand Sect’s disciple, “Sect Leader, why don’t I be the first to try?”

Wu Qi nodded and said with a smile, “Alright. But before that, let me tell you one more thing. Although this place is in the depths of the Chaotic World, as long as you are born in Pangu World, you will not escape the scrutiny of that world’s Heavenly Dao. Kill these Bodhisattvas, and you will have the virtues, but when you step into the realm of Primordial, you will also have to face your Heavenly Tribulation.”

He thought for a moment, then went on, “As you are stepping into the Dao realm with virtues, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation will not be too strong. I’ll share some of the power for you, and you can just focus all your mind to comprehend the enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao when you break through the realm of Primordial.”

Luo Le answered respectfully. He took two Bodhisattvas, who could not move except for their eyes, and strode a mile away, then unleashed a flying sword and split their foreheads, shattering their natal relics and divine souls. Luo Le’s cultivation base of a peak-level Gold Immortal was much stronger than the two Bodhisattvas to begin with, and as both of them could not fight back, he was able to kill them effortlessly.

After two Bodhisattvas were killed, a graceful heavenly tune filled the air while purple clouds rolled over from all directions, gathering in the sky over Yuan Ling Dark Realm. Soon, droplets of golden energy began to fall in a heavy downpour, all fusing into Luo Le’s body. Pushed by the enormous virtues, his divine soul grew rapidly, and before long a golden halo of virtues was taken shape behind his head. In the eyes of all, his body seemed to fuse into the void around him as a blinding light radiated out of him.

All those who were touched by the light felt they suddenly understood many things, as if their intellects were improved significantly; when they looked around them, they found the sky and the earth were so clear, as if the curves of each leaf and each blade of grass contained infinite profound mysteries.

When the Heavenly Tribulation descended, Wu Qi shared ninety percent of its power for Luo Le. Just like that, Luo Le smoothly broke through the realm of Primordial. Wu Qi told him to go aside and absorb Yuan Ling energy to stabilize his cultivation base, and then asked Luo Hao to do the same.

One after another, those who Wu Qi brought here stepped into the Dao Realm with the help of virtues. Everyone was doing well, until the last one, Yuan Qing. When he was making the breakthrough, something strange happened. In his 1,000-feet-tall golden ape form, he was smashing the lightning of his Heavenly Tribulation with his iron staff when suddenly a sweet smell drifted out from around him, and then followed by hundreds of delicate, pink petals which still had droplets of dew hanging on their ends.

His eyes suddenly turned scarlet, gleaming with a strong blood-red light. He seemed to have lost his sanity. Slowly he turned to look at Wu Qi and laughed in a deep voice. “Interesting, this is very interesting. I can’t believe someone is transcending their Heavenly Tribulation here in the chaos. Ha, are you those heaven-defying existences who are intolerable by the Heavenly Dao of your own world?”

Wu Qi’s face flickered. He waved a hand and sprinkled a sheet of Buddha’s light toward Yuan Qing.

A muffled rumble rang out as a beam of clear, swaying ray shot out of Yuan Qing’s mouth and slammed head-on into the Buddha’s light. The giant ape staggered back a few steps, and a greater part of the blood gleam suddenly disappeared from his eyes. The deep voice echoed out once more, then suddenly turned feminine, “Aye, why are you so cruel? Why do you try to kill me when we have just met for the first time? Be patience… wait till I get here. Tee-hee! I’ve been wandering around here for countless years, and this is the first time I’ve found such interesting beings like you!”

Luo Le and others all rose to their feet and demanded fiercely, “What demon are you? How dare you to cause trouble here?!”

Wu Qi gave a cold laugh, shook his head and said, “No, this is not a demon, but a shapeless fiend born in chaos. It can come and go without casting a shadow or leaving a trace. In fact, it is the ancestor to those so-called Heavenly Fiends of the outer domains. Judging by how easy it has intruded Yuan Ling Dark Realm, I am not its match now!”

The crowd turned pale. Wu Qi waved his sleeve and put everyone in it, and then reaching for Yuan Qing with one hand. Before the ape could react, a small glinting seal shot out of Wu Qi’s fingertip and smashed him in the forehead, knocking him out. It was the Heart Seal which Wu Qi had crafted in his previous life. It had many amazing abilities, so even though Yuan Qing had stepped into the realm of Primordial, he was still knocked out by it.

Wu Qi grabbed Yuan Qing and stamped his foot as he was about to put the whole Yuan Ling Dark Realm into his interstitial world.

But before he could do it, a mass of colorful ray had silently emerged behind his back. Two small, fair and tender hands stretched out of the ray, reaching for the back of his waist together with a sweet tune. The hands came with a terrible cold that chilled one to the bone, and it made Wu Qi’s scalp went numb. He had no doubt that if he let them struck the back of his waist, his kidneys would be smashed to pieces and then froze instantly.

He roared furiously and flicked his sleeve, throwing out all the Bodhisattvas and Arhats he had captured in the Nether World. Kṣitigarbha was also thrown out by him, and Wu Qi even gave him back one-third of his vast magic power.

Then, his figure flickered, and in the next instant he had transformed into a black Arhat and blended in with the crowd. Stealthily, he pressed a palm against Yuan Ling Dark Realm and put it into his interstitial world. As soon as he put the lair of his previous life into his body, he heard a series of miserable cries. The mass of ray had plunged into the dense crowd of monks, while the palms threw out in all directions and struck three Bodhisattvas and ninety-seven Arhats in the back of their waists. Caught off guard, the Yang energy in their kidneys was sucked away, and their bodies were frozen into ice cubes.

As Wu Qi had concealed his aura, the fiend could not find his trace. “What an interesting little fella!” cried the voice. “Your technique of concealing aura seems pretty decent! But, no matter how you hide, you can’t escape from me!”

Wu Qi narrowed his eyes as his body abruptly turned into a wisp of chaotic energy and drifted away.

If it was other time, even though he had turned into a wisp of chaotic energy and fled, the fiend would still be able to trace him. But not this time, as Wu Qi had thrown out Kṣitigarbha and even lifted the restrictive spell he had cast. “Demon! How dare you to hurt my disciples?! The Buddhism League is vast, the Sea of Dharma is boundless! Infinite Transmigration Formation, activate!”

A deafening rumble rang out, and for the moment the chaotic energy in the surroundings turned extremely violent.

This place was not the Nether World, so they could not borrow the power of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. However, these monks still managed to form the formation, and to Wu Qi’s surprise, they used their own energy to produce a small clone of Six Paths of Reincarnation.

As an enormous power bound around the mass of light, Wu Qi took the opportunity and sped away.