Stealing The Heavens
chapter-123

Seeing that Wei Xiaoxiao’s guard spun and was trying to make his escape, Wu Qi did not have time to further ponder on why this man was here. From Meng Xiaobai's waist, he pulled out a sharp dagger that the people of Meng Village brought with them all the time, and with a swing of his arm, he threw it towards the man. With a loud whistling noise, the dagger thrust right out, its hilt hitting forcefully onto the back of the man's head, causing his upper body to tilt forward, foaming at the mouth while rolling on the ground.

"Hey, my young miss has come here personally for the challenge. Who dares to run away from us? If Shi Tianmo still doesn't want to show himself, each of you will have to die!" snapped Wu Qi, as he glared ferociously at all the apprentices in front of him. With keen eyes, Zhao Chenzui saw how Wu Qi purposely knocked out that man. Thus, he hastily brought a group of guards and sprinted over, dispersing all the apprentices who tried to block them with pikes in their hand. Then, they tied up the man, together with a few other followers of him, bringing all of them back to Wu Qi’s side.

The few men who followed the guard of Wei Xiaoxiao kept struggling and roaring furiously. With a loud shout, Zhao Chenzui ordered his men to give them a round of beating, leaving them with a bloody nose and a swollen face. After that, only the groaning of pain could be heard from them, as they dared not to yell and scold any more. The secret agents of Scouting Office moved in quickly, using strings made from cow tendon to tightly tie up the hands and legs of these men. They then pulled out some clothes that came with a strange smell and shoved into their mouths. With all that being done, they dragged these men behind Wu Qi.

A few instructors of Shi Martial Club rushed out from the crowd, pointing their fingers at Wu Qi and yelled, "Presumptuous! They are the distinguished guests of our martial club. Why do you tie them up? Set them free, hurry up and let them go! My boys, fence up these group of people who have no idea of death or danger!" As these instructors kept yelling out loudly, a large group of apprentices drew their weapons. Some of them simply picked up stone dumbbells or wooden sticks placed nearby, and slowly formed a circle around Wu Qi and his company.

As time went by, numerous warriors who came to watch the happenings began to emerge on top of Shi Martial Club's wall. These warriors, who were too eager for the fray, sat on the wall, or simply lied on their stomachs, pointing and looking into the courtyard with their faces kindled with joy. Some even let out sharp and loud whistles, pointing their finger into the courtyard and scolding, "Useless fools of Shi Martial Club, these people are here for the challenge, so you better fight them according to the rule of the underground, fist to fist and sword to sword! Are you going to bully them with great numbers?"

Wu Qi let out a loud and long laugh, cupped his fist and bowed at those warriors who sat on the wall and were watching the scene, then said, "Thank you for speaking boldly to uphold justice! Today, my young miss has taken a fancy to this property of Shi Martial Club. Thus she brings my brothers and me here to challenge them and seize the ownership of the venue. I hope all of you can be our witness. If we defeat Shi Tianmo today, the ownership of this Shi Martial Club will go to my young miss!"

All the warriors on the wall broke out into a loud laughter, each coming out with words of agreement towards Wu Qi's provocation. It was a rare event to witness someone come and challenge Shi Martial Club, and these warriors just wished they could fight fiercely and make blood flow into a stream. As a result, they kept cursing and scolding loudly, cursing Shi Tianmo as a coward that only knew how to bully those rangers who had no proper background, and when there were real experts coming to challenge him, he could only hide behind the wall, quivering and daring not to come out and meet with the challenger.

Amidst the chaotic scene, out of the eight Ghost Immortals who were disguised into serving women, four of them had mixed themselves inside the crowd. They stealthily sneaked into the backyard of Shi Martial Club. As the sun was shining brightly in the sky, all the escape arts of these Ghost Immortals who cultivated their Yin Spirit from the body of the ghost had lost their function. Therefore they could only take the opportunity when the situation was getting messier to sneak into Shi Martial Club. As their current look was no different from serving women from ordinary wealthy clans, they did not attract any attention.

On the other side, Wu Qi was still clamoring in the courtyard. He kept holding onto the so-called rules of the underground, demanding someone from Shi Martial Club to fight a fair duel with him. However, as all those instructors at the scene were not someone who could make decisions, they could only order all the apprentices to form into a large circle around Wu Qi and his company, while pressing and shrinking the space in between. None of them dared to answer Wu Qi's challenge, as they had no rights to decide on the problem that could affect the future of Shi Martial Club.

The clamor of whistling and shouting was rising, as those warriors who came seeking for pleasure were getting more and more impatient. No expert of Shi Martial Club was showing up, and over three thousand apprentices had encircled a few hundred warriors who came challenging them. It was a great evidence to use against Shi Martial Club. If such news were spread out, the reputation of Shi Martial Club would be severely affected. These warriors kept cursing wantonly with loud voices, and someone even cursed every single one of Shi Tianmo's ancestors of eighteen generations.

Right when the atmosphere was getting more and more intense, a loud and long cry that soared into the sky suddenly rung out from a courtyard a few buildings away further into Shi Martial Club. With the long cry, a deep and powerful voice suddenly echoed out, "Who is this unbridled junior? How dare you to stir up trouble in Shi Martial Club? And you, a bunch of useless fools, scram now!"

The last two words, 'scram now', sounded like a muffled rumbling of thunder, causing nearly a thousand warriors, who were either standing, sitting, or lying on the wall, to let out a shocking cry at the same time. Blood was seen bursting out from the ears of these warriors, and each lost their balance, rolling and falling off the wall, being thrown to the ground and nearly getting themselves killed.

Together with the loud reproach, a group of over twenty young men was seen marching out slowly from a large hall at the far end of the courtyard. Each of them was clad in a same dark long robe and was having different kinds of weapons hanging down from their waists, their faces beaming with energy as they were led by an old man,. Upon seeing their arrival, all the instructors immediately breathed out a long sigh of relief. Smile was seen emerging on their face as they greeted, "Young Master is here. Now we can have a peace of mind. Greeting, Young Master!"

The old man was Shi Wugou, the only son of Shi Tianmo, an expert with a cultivation of Mind Focusing tier of Xiantian realm, and a man who enjoyed a high reputation in the martial art circle of Ji City. After all, for those warriors who did not have a proper teacher and background, it was extremely difficult to cultivate into Xiantian realm, let alone breaking through Respiration tier, or even leaping into a higher tier. Unless one was a disciple of any of the thirteen sects that cultivated Dao of Immortality in Great Yan Dynasty, which allowed him to access a complete legacy of cultivation, and also possessed the Spirit Root that was suitable for cultivation, it would be nearly impossible to attain advanced cultivation of Xiantian realm.

As a warrior, Shi Tianmo had allegedly cultivated to the peak of Embryonic Breath tier, and Shi Wugou had also attained the cultivation of Mind Focusing tier. In the underground society of Great Yan Dynasty, this pair of father and son could definitely be considered as the grandmasters who stood at the pinnacle of martial arts. Therefore, upon seeing the arrival of Shi Wugou, all the apprentices of Shi Martial Club immediately spread out, lining into rows of neat formation on both sides of the field. The sharp vibes around them were all gone now.

Shi Wugou did not have a tall stature. He stood nearly six feet tall, looking neat and clean, but his body was rather skinny. He had a head of white hair and a white beard, with a hair bun tied on top of his head using a red string. It was said that he too had the age of over one hundred years, yet his skin looked silky smooth and illuminating like the skin of a youth. He was clad in a dark, broad sleeved, and baggy robe. A longsword nearly as tall as his height was hanging on the side of his waist. With swaggering steps, he came before Wu Qi.

Disdainfully, he gave Wu Qi a gaze. As Wu Qi had concealed all his aura with a secret skill in Scroll of Stealing, the ripples of his energy showed that he merely had the cultivation of Meridian Cultivating tier. The discovery made Shi Wugou shake his head. Then, from the corner of his eyes, he gazed at Princess Zhang Le. The five-colored divine ray had been hiding within her body, causing her aura to be in a rather chaotic state, vague and hardly detectable. Shi Wugou could barely sense that Princess Zhang Le had the cultivation base of Meridian Cultivating Tier, or something higher than that, and that was all he could detect.

Shi Wugou let out a cold snort, then cried out with a deep voice, "So, you are the one who hurt the apprentices of Shi Martial Club? Fine. I want all attendants and guards to cripple one of your own arms, and to redeem the sin that you have committed. This little girl will kneel before the front entrance of Shi Martial Club for three days. Then, I want a heavy compensation as the payment for the medicine for my apprentices. With that, this matter will be settled. Young people such as you have no idea how high the sky is, and how deep the earth is. You are lucky that you have come to Shi Martial Club and have met with me, a kindhearted man. If it were any other martial club, you would have been brought upon yourself a great calamity."

Shi Wugou had placed himself aloft, yet Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le did not appreciate that.

After hearing what he said, Princess Zhang Le couldn't help herself and kept sneering. "You want me to kneel for three days and redeem my sin? Aye, for so many years that I've lived, you're the first guy who dares to talk to me like this, old man!" A murderous gleam was flashing from her eyes, as she ran them aggressively up and down on Shi Wugou's skinny body, pondering which part should she hit the hardest later.

Wu Qi too was surveying Shi Wugou from top to toe. A warrior of Mind Focusing tier? Heh, it was obvious that this Shi Wugou had reached the Embryonic Breath tier of Xiantian realm, and he had even stepped into its peak. It was especially clear when Wu Qi saw his strangely smooth and silky skin, and an abnormal hue of green underneath the skin. Apparently, Shi Wugou was cultivating with some peculiar technique that primarily focused on tempering his corporeal body. How could he be considered as a legendary warrior?

A gleam of four-colors flashed through Wu Qi's eyes, and with that, he saw through the real situation of Shi Wugou. If not for a technique in Scroll of Stealing which could cultivate the eyes, perhaps Wu Qi would have been deceived by this Shi Wugou. The technique Shi Wugou cultivated was a weird one. It did not give him a strong energy in his body, yet all of his strength had been gathered in his corporeal body. With a rough estimation, Wu Qi reckoned that the strength of Shi Wugou's body was at least ten times stronger than his.

By injecting innate energy into his eyes, Wu Qi could clearly see the dazzling glow that was emitting from Shi Wugou's formidable corporeal body. That made Wu Qi unable to refrain himself from shaking his head.

No wonder Lao Ai told Princess Ying Chuan that the man who assassinated Yan Buji was related to Shi Martial Club. Judging from what Wu Qi discovered from Shi Wugou, how could he be considered as a warrior? He must have been supported by an existence that was as strong as the thirteen Immortal Sects of Great Yan Dynasty. It was all because of Lao Ai, who had been working secretly in Ji City for so many years, and even took Yan Xianchen, the Prince of Ren as his disciple, that Wu Qi was able to know this. If not because of that, who would have thought that a martial club in the middle of Street of Mighty Martial was courageous enough to assassinate the Duke of the Imperial Clan?

Wu Qi sighed lightly. Then, he pulled out a stack of three hundred premium quality Explosive Talismans from his storage ring, exclusively produced by Heavenly Spirit Sect. They were neatly bundled up with a red string, and Wu Qi simply threw the whole stack over to Shi Wugou. With quick reflexes, Shi Wugou grabbed the thick stack of 'paper'.

"What is this? Why are you giving it to me?" Shi Wugou gave the stack of Explosive Talisman a look. As they were tightly bundled up by a red string, he could not tell what they were. He gazed at Wu Qi while wondering, then weighed the stack of paper with his hand. They were pretty light, just like a stack of paper, and there wasn't any poison or sleeping incense on them. It just did not look like a weapon that could hurt people.

Wu Qi grabbed on Princess Zhang Le's little hand, spun and ran wildly towards the entrance.

After reaching a distance of over a couple hundred feet away, with a thought in his mind, the thick stack of Explosive Talisman held in Shi Wugou's hand suddenly exploded.

The flames leaped and swept over an area of a thousand feet. The explosion made Shi Wugou's body fume with black smoke as he flew quickly back from the raging flame. Sticky and light green colored blood that looked like ink kept shooting out from his broken body. Before the twenty warriors of Xiantian realm following behind him could let out any shout, their bodies had been ripped and shattered by the violent explosion.

The situation was even worse for those apprentices of Shi Martial Club who were lined up in a neat formation, as miserable and shrill cries kept coming from them. Although there was quite some distance between them and the center of the explosion, as it was the explosion from all three hundred Explosive Talismans, the power was simply brutal. It could almost be compared to the power of an upper grade 'Thunder of the Ninth Heaven Talisman', which could only be produced by a Human Immortal of Heavenly Spirit Sect with all his effort. Nearly a thousand apprentices were sent flying in the sky by the shock wave, and were forcefully thrown and slammed at random places some thousand feet away.

It was a chaotic scene, and fresh blood could be seen everywhere.

Suddenly, a loud roar rang out from the backyard of the martial club. It sounded like coming from a wild beast who just went on a rampage. Following the roar was a hard, cold, emotionless voice, "Who dares to hurt my son, my apprentices? Face your death now!"

A strong breeze tore and ripped the flame produced by the explosion, revealing a tall and burly figure, with both his hands carrying the severely wounded Shi Wugou, appearing right in front of Wu Qi.