Stealing The Heavens
chapter-107

A dazzling red glow in arrived from far away in the eastern sky. A faint layer of water vapors was lingering and shrouding Wu Qi's body. He felt his mind and spirit were freshened up and beaming with energy. He couldn't help himself and let out a few loud laughs towards the eagles wheeling in the sky. There was a blue gleam flickered in his eyes. Though a great distance was between him and the eagles, even the tiniest hair on the eagle's body looked clear and vivid in his eyes.

The Triple Cycles Flame Golden Pill of Transcending Tribulation, a pill that ranked first in the category of the Ninth Grade Immortal Pills, had proven itself to be a real Immortal Pill. Literally in just one night, without any obstruction or challenge, two thumb-sized Gold Cores were now formed within each water meridian residing in Wu Qi's arms. The Source of Water Chapter which he was cultivating with had now officially entered the realm of Gold Core. He was now given the life of eight hundred years, and became one of the Human Immortals.

With the magical effect of the Scroll of Stealing, while all the other cultivators could only form a Gold Core in their Dantian, Wu Qi had formed two Gold Cores, one in each water meridian in his both arms. And because he had used the technique of concealing aura that was found in the Scroll of Stealing, he had hidden the stirring waves of energy during the moment when his Gold Cores were formed. As a result, no Heaven Tribulation descended during that moment; the Thunder Tribulation which was feared by all cultivators had been avoided by him.

"What a heaven defying Immortal Pill, and what a heaven defying cultivation skill!" Upon sensing the extremely powerful and frightful energy surging and circulating in the meridians on both arms, and while feeling the marvelous taste of having his body nearly going through a thorough change, he once again let out a loud and satisfying laugh into the sky.

The laugh went on for a while, then Wu Qi had his brows furrowed suddenly. According to the progress of cultivating with Scroll of Stealing, after the Source of Water Chapter had its Gold Core formed, his current cultivation had come to a temporary conclusion. If he wished to further his cultivation, he would have to obtain the other four Innate Spirit Objects of different elements: the innate energy of Gold, Wood, Fire, and Earth. With them being found, only then could he have his cultivation continue by cultivating with the Source of Gold Chapter, Source of Wood Chapter, Source of Fire Chapter, and Source of Earth Chapter.

Yet, these Innate Spirit Objects were not easy to find. The Scroll of Stealing did mention a few strange and magical places, where at the beginning of every cycle of the Age, these places would absorb natural energies and produce a few Innate Spirit Objects of five elements. Nevertheless, Scroll of Stealing had also warned Wu Qi that he could not bring himself to the place before he possessed sufficient overall strength. These places were all filled with dreadful dangers, and could get him killed easily.

With Wu Qi's temperament of boldness and desperation, those so-called dreadful dangers were nothing that could hold him back. What troubled him was that even he himself had no idea where exactly he was right now, and where could he find those places of strange and magical mentioned in the Scroll of Stealing. Nonetheless, they were not places that he could visit on this planet or this continent, where Great Yan Dynasty was residing. Those magical places were lands of spirit that could form Spirit Objects of Fire or Earth element, and they were lands hovering in a vast and boundless space, and not on the surface of a planet.

"How sad is that!" Wu Qi shook his head and breathed out a long sigh into the sky. He had formed his Gold Core with the help of tribulation transcending pill, and before he could find himself any other Innate Spirit Object, he could only have his body continue being nourished with water element energy stones, tempering and training his meridians and corporeal body. Fortunately, such tempering did not have an end. Even when he cultivated to a higher realm in the future, he would still have to keep tempering his body. The more effort he poured in, the greater benefits he would obtain. Although that couldn't improve his cultivation base, at least, the tempering of his body would not come to a complete stop.

While having his mind filled with thoughts of trouble, Lu Chengfeng came to him with a drowsy look, yawning with eyes half closed. Lazily, he asked if Wu Qi had a good sleep last night. Relying on the Immortal Pill, Wu Qi had gained a great leap last night, but Lu Chengfeng, on the other hand, was enchanted by Yue Tan's tune of zither. He was in a deep slumber, and all his memories related to Yue Tan's visit were wiped off. He couldn't remember what had happened last night.

Wu Qi smiled. He cracked some jokes with Lu Chengfeng, but mentioned nothing about what happened last night. The Grandmaster of Zither, Yue Tan, who came in a rush and left in a peculiar manner, was now placed and hidden deep within his mind. Wu Qi had a foreboding that someday in the future, she would definitely appear before him again. But, just as she had told him, when they met again, could Wu Qi still recognize her?

In high spirits, Yan Fu was seen rushing and bustling in and out of the mansion, ordering the servants of the mansion to move out a couple dozens of chests from the coffer room, filled with energy stones and all sorts of precious treasures, and have them loaded onto coaches. Lu Chengfeng had just made a decision that there was no perfect timing like the present, so he would visit Heaven Breaking Sword Sect today and officially acknowledge his Master. As the Duke Yan Le of Great Yan Dynasty, after he became the disciple of Heaven Breaking Sword Sect, not only could Lu Chengfeng get himself a powerful backup, Heaven Breaking Sword Sect would also gain another portion of income. The true meaning behind this was of significance. Therefore, the ceremony of officially acknowledging a Master for Lu Chengfeng could not be carried out in a slipshod manner.

Ordinary gold, silver, and jewelry had no use for Heaven Breaking Sword Sect. What mattered to them were energy stones and all kinds of rare minerals and ores. Therefore, the gift of ceremony prepared by Yan Fu was mostly upper tier energy stones extracted from the two provinces of Duke Yan Le's fief. He also prepared many different materials that could be used for crafting of magical items, such as ten thousand years old Black Iron, gold essence of Grand White, iron essence of magma, and other precious metals.

Of course, besides these energy stones and materials, there were also a variety of rare treasures and supplements. These included three small boxes of 'Green Ganoderma Cream', which was a mixture of crushed powder from one thousand years old Underwater Freezing Pearls, Ganoderma, Fleece Flower, and other ingredients which all were at least one thousand years old. It was the most expensive skin care product that one could find in Great Yan Dynasty, and was widely used even among Human Immortals. It could provide great nourishment to one's vitality, and even restore youth for the aged. This gift was prepared purposely for Nie Yaonu, as after she used this cream, her long white hair would definitely gain back its dark color.

It was worth mentioning that Yan Fu was, after all, the old steward of Duke Yan Le. He had prepared everything orderly and properly, which had saved Wu Qi and others from the trouble of such trifling matters.

After nearly two restless hours, Wu Qi and Lu Chengfeng, together with a long parade consisting of over one hundred coaches, left Ji City, off to Mount White Sun. Besides from a troop of over one thousand private guards who Lu Chengfeng brought from Little Meng City, Yan Bugui also brought a team of three hundred scouting officers with them, and an army of two thousand iron armored soldiers, which he summoned from City Guards using a token of Scouting Office.

The news that Yan Dan broke in a furious rage because of the assassination of Yan Buji had spread across the entire upper tier of Great Yan Dynasty. Now, as Lu Chengfeng was leaving the city to tend his own matter, regardless it was Yan Bugui or other men related to him, no one dared to neglect his safety. As a matter of fact, it was not only an army of two thousand iron armored soldiers following him, there was another army of ten thousand cavalries awaiting orders right inside Ji City. If anything happened to Lu Chengfeng, this army of cavalries would rush out from the city immediately to the rescue.

However, after the parade of coaches left the entrance of Ji City, and before they could reach a distance of two miles, Yan Bugui had listlessly given out an order, sending one of his scouting officers to bring a message back to the city. He ordered the army of ten thousand cavalries to take off their armor and go back to rest, as Lu Chengfeng's trip would no longer face any danger.

In front of them, a luxurious coach was seen waiting quietly in the middle of the road. A group of aggressive and menacing palace guards had barred the road, allowing no merchant coaches to travel past them, and forced them to continue their journey through the weed field on both sides of the road. It was a group of five hundred palace guards that were armored to the teeth, an astonishing force to look upon. However, they were not the reason why Yan Bugui ordered the cavalries in the city to return to their camp, but eight ladies, who were riding on top of eight Golden-eyed Camels beside the luxurious coaches.

They were eight demon ghosts, who had a beautiful face but gave forth an eerie air of ghosts. A faint chilly breeze was wheeling and lingering around their bodies. Different from the demon ghost who Wu Qi fought on the night when he arrived at Ji City, these demon ghosts had a corporeal body like a living human. Except for a bizarre aura sent forth from their bodies, they looked no different than any ordinary human. For demon ghosts who had their body condensed into this degree, they could no longer be addressed as a ghost, but an existence of Immortal Ghost, demon ghosts who had formed their Ghost Core.

Eight Immortal Ghosts who had formed their Ghost Core, eight Immortal Ghosts whose cultivation was comparable to Human Immortals of Gold Core realm... Without even asking, the identity of the person inside the luxurious coach was made known to everybody. Except from Princess Zhang Le, who received the most spoiled love from Great Yan Dynasty, the genius who formed her Gold Core at the young age of sixteen years, who would have such a great honor to bring eight Demon Ghosts on her trip? In addition to that, the cultivation method for Demon Ghosts was secretly inherited within the Imperial Clan of Great Yan Dynasty. Except for the Imperial Clan of Great Yan Dynasty, even a great man like the Chief General Jing Ke had no idea how a Demon Ghost cultivated. With the presence of Immortal Ghosts who had formed their Ghost Core, there must be someone from the top of Great Yan Dynasty Imperial Clan around. This was a custom that all influential and prestigious members of Great Yan Dynasty were long aware of.

The curtain veiling the window of the luxurious coach was pushed aside. Princess Zhang Le poked half of her pretty face out from it, as she quickly beckoned Wu Qi.

Helplessly, Wu Qi nodded his head at Lu Chengfeng, then rode towards the coach. The palace guards made a way between them for Wu Qi, while eight Immortal Ghosts had their ghastly glances all over his face. Sixteen freezing and eerie gazes made Wu Qi's flesh creep. He felt as if he was walking in the middle of a graveyard in the wee hours of a dark night. A chill was running down his back.

The pressure that any single one of these eight Immortal Ghosts gave Wu Qi was much time stronger than Qin Xuewen. He was sure of one thing, that their cultivation was definitely equal to or greater than middle tier Gold Core realm, and he could imagine how formidable the power they could unleash would be if they assaulted him altogether. If not for Wu Qi having formed his own Gold Core last night with the help of the cultivation pill, perhaps just the glances of these eight Immortal Ghosts would have made his knees bend, making him lie on the ground motionlessly. As humans and ghosts walked on the separate path, the aura emanating from these Immortal Ghosts were no different than a deadly venom for a living human. If not for Wu Qi possessing a pretty strong cultivation, he would have collapsed by now.

Upon seeing Wu Qi, Princess Zhang Le's face instantly melted into a smile. "They are eight guards that Imperial Grandfather has just given me, and they are many times stronger than the demon ghost you saw last time. That demon ghost was such a useless fool. She was so weak that she couldn’t even withstand a palm strike from you. I'm so angry!"

A plate of steaming hot desserts was brought out from the window while Princess Zhang Le said smilingly, "You had suffered a lot last time when you visited Heaven Breaking Sword Sect. So today, I'll accompany you and visit that place again. Let us see who will give you trouble this time. Have you had your breakfast? These cakes are made from the Five colored lotus seeds that were just harvested a few days ago. It helps lighten up your body and nourish your energy, a great breakfast they surely are."

Eight Immortal Ghosts had their eyes fixed on Wu Qi's face, stern and high in vigilance, fearing that Wu Qi might do something that could hurt Princess Zhang Le.

Wu Qi could still endure the glances from these eight Immortal Ghosts. However, from the large group of men behind him came the queer visions of Lu Chengfeng, Yan Bugui, and few other men. They made Wu Qi feel like his body was being poked by numerous needles, a truly awful feeling.

He looked at the smiling face of Princess Zhang Le, then took over the lotus seed cake, smiled and said, "I've had my breakfast. But, I feel hungry again. These cakes smell really nice! Thank you for the kindness, Princess!" He then picked up a piece of cake and shoved into his mouth. Indeed, it was sweet, fragrant and smooth, completely different from the taste of ordinary desserts.

Looking at how Wu Qi satisfyingly finished all the cakes, a smile bloomed on Princess Zhang Le's face, and her eyes curved into two tiny lines. The divine rays of five colors flickered from within the coach, as a large white cloud suddenly gathered above them. Tiny beads of rainwater drizzled down from the sky. The morning sun shone its warm light upon it, and a few rainbows were seen appearing above the coach. It was a magnificent scene that went beyond the description of any words.

Pleasingly, she clapped her palms, then Le took over the emptied plate from Wu Qi, smiled faintly and said, "Alright, off we go to Mount White Sun. Who were the people that gave you troubles last time? Qin Xuewen and Shangguan Yuhong? I'm going to teach them a good lesson today!"

Two parades now merged into one. Like a pack of fierce wolves and tigers, the palace guards led the way and began marching in the direction of Mount White Sun, billowing dust on their way.