Stealing The Heavens
chapter-163

Wu Qi threw a glance over at the group of soldiers, who were sending forth a pungent smell of blood and portrayed an aggressive and savage look like a pack of wolves or tigers. He picked up and put away everything around him and began walking back slowly. For every step forward taken by those soldiers, Wu Qi would move a step backward, with full composure as he maintained a distance of two thousand feet with them. While backing off, Wu Qi smiled and said, "What you said is lacking creativity. You're trying to rob me, but your words sound like you are bestowing me with great kindness. As you are leading the life of a wh*re, why are you erecting a monument for your chastity?"

Frowning and looking at Wu Qi, the burly man said with an indifferent voice, "I know what a wh*re is, but what do you mean by a monument?"

From the depth of Wu Qi's soul, Le Xiaobai's memory stirred suddenly. Wu Qi said joyfully, "So you don't understand the meaning of this phrase? It seems that you're just an uneducated, boorish fellow. Hehe, what I mean was: You're a man similar to Dao Ta[1], so why are you mimicking Confucius, filling your mouth with benevolence, righteousness, and virtue? Spare my soul and let me go freely to reincarnation? I don't like it. You better be careful and don't get yourself killed here."

The burly man laughed. His mouth opened widely as he gave a deep, gloomy laugh, like a tiger who had just been provoked. He shook, not saying a word. He wielded the spear in his hand and suddenly increased his speed in sprinting towards Wu Qi. His heavy steps hit the ground, subtly causing it to quake. Both his legs turned into vague shadows, stirring up a strong breeze as he sprung and leaped towards Wu Qi's direction.

Wu Qi looked at the burly man smilingly. Suddenly, the movements of both his legs became vague as well, as he stirred up a strong wind and sprinted backward at the same time. He coldly rested his eyes on this burly man, who appeared to possess the cultivation base of late-stage Gold Core realm. Wu Qi was pondering in his mind, calculating the distance between the burly man and the few Human Immortals behind him, including the group of several dozens of Embryonic Breath tier Daoists. As long as the burly man was over one thousand feet away from his subordinates, Wu Qi had the confidence that he could kill him with the quickest speed possible.

Behind the burly man, the few Human Immortals and the group of Xiantian Daoists had formed into a concave offensive formation, usually used by the army. For cultivators, every battle formation was dangerous, and needed to be handled with extreme care. Wu Qi did not want to take the risk of being trapped by the crescent-shaped formation just for the sake of killing the man. Even though he was confident that he could kill the burly man by paying the smallest price, that did not mean he had to take an unnecessary risk.

Very soon, the pursuit had reached to a distance of three miles away. For the entire three miles of running, Wu Qi's upper body did not seem moving at all, while he kept running backward facing the burly man, wearing a hideous expression. Meanwhile, as the pursuit went further, the burly man had his expression turned ferocious as well. His facial muscles were tensing up, and both eyes became bloodshot, as if blood was nearly oozing out from them.

Finally, the distance between the burly man and his subordinates was over one thousand feet. He was now out of the coverage of the crescent-shaped formation. Without hesitation, Wu Qi gave a long cry as the Sword of Greedy Wolf shot out from his mouth and transformed into three large wooden pillars, ten feet long and two feet in diameter each, enshrouded in a strong greenish wind and thrusting towards the burly man's head. Vaguely, seven wolf heads were seen wheeling around the wooden pillars, and as long as the burly man showed any sign of weakness, they would take the opportunity and launch a strike immediately, seizing all his blood essence and life force.

The burly man let out a wild laugh. Suddenly, a deep, long whistling noise came from the tiger-headed spear held in his hand. A large clump of blood-red light shot out from it, as dozens of several feet long blood-red beams sprung and shot into the sky, fighting fiercely with all three wooden pillars. Meanwhile, the tiger-headed spear itself turned into a thirty feet long blood-red tiger, giving out roars that shook the sky and brought seven wolf heads into a tough battle. The burly man kept laughing out loud while drawing out a longsword with his right hand and throwing it into the air. It turned into a ten feet long blood-red beam that thrust towards Wu Qi. After that, he leaped forward with both arms spread to each side, trying to catch Wu Qi with them.

With a loud laugh that came spewing out from Wu Qi's mouth, a golden gleam shone from his eyes. The gold coin which could capture any flying sword and magical treasure was shot out from his mouth, turning into a huge gold coin the size of a water bucket, and greeted the blood-red beam. A vague, dim beam burst out from the center hole of the coin, quickly and rapidly slicing and reducing a great amount of blood-red light from the flying sword, making it expose its true form. Within a blink of an eye, the flying sword was knocked off to the ground by the gold coin, twitching and struggling like a fish that just came out of the water.

While breaking out in a delightful laughter, Wu Qi stared at the man and shouted, "Come, let's fight and see whose strength is greater!"

Then, he waved both arms, using his near indestructible body muscle to exert the force of several tens of thousands of kilogram, and greeted both fists of the burly man. The palms and the fists collided and produced a deep rumble. The tremendous force of the impact knocked the burly man flying back while blood was forced out from his mouth. Wu Qi gave a moan as well, as he was forced back with swaggering steps by the incredible strength coming from the burly man's arms. The burly man possessed a very strong strength. Although his body was not as sturdy as Wu Qi's, yet the force exerted by him was up to par with Wu Qi's muscle strength.

Wu Qi merely possessed a nearly indestructible body, which made him so strong. But the burly man had specifically cultivated a technique that could strengthen his body. It was not as simple as a cultivation technique that could temper one's body, but a righteous cultivation technique that was at least ten times more powerful than the evil technique used by Shi Tianmo and his son. Although his body strength was merely 1/20th of Wu Qi's, yet because of such a miraculous technique, he was able to exert the force that could compete with Wu Qi.

Nevertheless, as Wu Qi's corporeal body was simply too strong, so even though the burly man was able to exert the force matching Wu Qi’s, when the two collided, the latter did not suffer any damage on his body. The force, on the other hand, had caused countless cracks to appear on the burly man's bones in both arms, while all his viscera suffered from a severe shock.

The great impact forced Wu Qi to take several dozens of steps back and barely maintain a firm posture. He said with astonishment, "What a great strength you have! What kind of cultivation technique are you using?"

The burly man laughed wildly and said, "Excellent! For a little man who has yet to form his Gold Core, you actually possess a corporeal body matching my teacher. What kind of extraordinary treasures had you consumed? Young lad, you have a bright future, and there are many great things you can achieve. I, Bai Qitian, like you! How about you join us, the army of Great Qin, conquering the world for our Majesty, and fighting yourself a glorious and prosperous future? This is a great destiny for you!"

Not allowing Wu Qi to say a word, Bai Qitian continued cried out in a loud voice, "I, Bai Qitian, the Captain of the Great Qin Yulin Army, am calling you to join the great army of Great Qin. Why are you not agreeing immediately? With the potential of your body, as long as you are given a simple teaching, you will become a valiant general. This is your destiny!"

While backing off with staggering steps, Wu Qi stumbled on a small rock and nearly fell facing down to the ground. Bai Qitian, the Captain of Great Qin Yulin Army? Wu Qi cried out in shock, "Bai Qitian, who is your teacher? What you said is impressive. So tell me, what benefits will I be getting after joining the so-called great army of Great Qin?"

Bai Qitian spat out a mouthful of blood, having both arms hanging down on both sides and swinging back and forth as he gave a deep look at Wu Qi. A delightful expression emerged on his face as he gave a laugh and said, "My father is the Prince of Wu'an of Great Qin Dynasty, the Chief General who governs the military, Bai Qi! My father always seeks worthy men just like a thirsty person looks for water, and he really likes young warriors. A young lad like you, who knows nothing much in cultivation but is bestowed with great luck, it is best for you to join us, the Great Qin Dynasty!"

The Prince of Wu'an of Great Qin Dynasty, Chief General who governs the military, Bai Qi!

Wu Qi felt his heart, liver, and lungs were all shivering violently together. The Lord Wu'an of Great Qin Dynasty, Bai Qi[2], was now the Prince of Wu'an, and the chief general who governed the military? This was a man who had the nickname of Human Butcher, granted by the people during the Warring States period of China. Even if it were over two thousand years ago, but upon hearing his name, it still made Wu Qi shiver and feel awful. He deeply threw a glance over at Bai Qitian, then without saying a word, he simply spun and ran. Sword of Greedy Wolf gave a shrill cry as it quickly turned into a black beam and returned to Wu Qi's hand, given up fighting against Bai Qitian's spear.

Noticing Wu Qi trying to flee, Bai Qitian hastened his steps and chased up from behind while roaring out loud, "Little kid, are you foolish enough to reject my offer? Are you looking to die? Either you join us, the army of Great Qin, or you'll be a convicted felon who is wanted by us. Do you want a glorious and prosperous future, or being hunted for wherever you go?"

Wu Qi gave Bai Qitian a cold gaze over his shoulder, sneered and said, "I don't know what your Great Qin Dynasty is. I never heard of it before!"

He fiercely glared at Bai Qitian, then bowed his head and continued running using the quickest speed possible. If not because of the fear of the name of Human Butcher Bai Qi, Wu Qi would definitely kill this Bai Qitian here. The menacing name of Bai Qi was simply too fearsome, and since Bai Qitian had arrived at this place, that made Wu Qi wonder where would this Bai Qi currently be. He did not believe that with Bai Qitian's insignificant cultivation base, he was able to travel alone across the entire Meng Mountains and come to a place only four hundred miles away from Great Yan Dynasty.

After becoming one of the prestigious members of Great Yan Dynasty, Wu Qi had learned a lot concerning Meng Mountains from the mouth of Yan Bugui. It was a monstrous mountain range, stretching a few million miles across the land. In over two thousand years in the past, many lives from the Great Yan Dynasty were lost in here, and even several hundred Human Immortals had fallen while exploring the mountains. Yet until now, no one could find out the exact boundaries of Meng Mountains. Bai Qitian was just a tiny little Human Immortal of late-stage Gold Core realm. How could he travel through the entire Meng Mountains with such a small army? It was impossible, absolutely impossible! He must be accompanied by someone stronger.

Who would that be? Bai Qi? Or someone else? Or even...

Upon thinking of those people with awe-inspiring fame, or even notorious reputation, Wu Qi felt a numbness creep over his scalp. No matter what, he could not kill Bai Qitian now. Once he alerted those people behind him, running panic-stricken like a stray dog was not something enjoyable.

As he was now in a vast mountain range with nobody around, if he, a mere tiny little Human Immortal of False Core realm, were pursued by a group of Earth Immortals, or someone with an even more frightening cultivation, it would be a frightful and pathetic situation. Without a proper reason, Wu Qi would never want to stir up this hornets' nest.

However, although he had decided not to provoke the hornets, the hornets were coming after him.

Merely a few miles into the desperate escape, Wu Qi was halted by a few soldiers, all clad in black soft armor and stepping on a winged flying magical item. They were led by a skinny, middle-aged scholar who was clad in a dark robe. Wu Qi's instinct told him to stop, as he rested his eyes straight on the face of the middle-aged scholar. The man had a withered face. His skin looked dark, his eyes sunk deeply, and there was a shivering gleam glinting within them, which made him look like a viper.

From a far distance behind came the joyful cry of Bai Qitian, "Mister Li Si, Prime Minister Li Si, catch that young lad! I have no idea what kind of extraordinary treasures he has consumed, that although he only possesses the cultivation base of Xiantian realm, he already has the indestructible body of Earth Immortal. Both my arms were crippled by him!"

As if he was so sure that Li Si was able to deal with Wu Qi, Bai Qitian, who had been chasing crazily behind, stopped suddenly, panting while pulling out a bottle of pills and pouring them into his mouth. His arms were seen trembling, as crackling noises kept coming out from them. Obviously, his bones were healing quickly.

Li Si[3]!

Looking at the middle-aged scholar in front of him, who had both his arms hiding under sleeves while standing motionlessly like a great mountain, Wu Qi forced a smile and cupped his fist. He bowed and said, "Senior, please give way. I do not have the intention to turn hostile and be aggressive against all of you. I hope senior does not push me into a corner."

Suddenly noises of rustling came from all around Wu Qi. Over two thousand black-armored soldiers squeezed out from the surrounding tall weeds and woods, pressing towards them in a circle. Every twenty black-armored soldiers of Xiantian realm were led by a captain of Gold Core realm. So, amidst this army of over two thousand soldiers, there were roughly one hundred Human Immortals of Gold Core realm.

Wu Qi gasped, resting his eyes at Li Si and preparing himself for a desperate struggle.

[1] Dao Ta - A famous bandit during Qing Dynasty

[2] Bai Qi - He was a military general of the Qin state in the Warring States period of China. He was responsible for the deaths of a total of between 890,000 to 2,000,000 enemy soldiers, earning him the nickname Ren Tu (human butcher). (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bai_Qi)

[3] Li Si - He was a Chinese politician of the Qin dynasty, served as the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Si)