Stealing The Heavens
chapter-276

Immortal pressure, a pressure that could only be produced by an Immortal using his divine will.

Immortals were no longer mortals. After a cultivator transcended the Heaven Immortal Tribulation and became an Immortal, he would begin to learn the true colors and master the true power of the Heaven and Earth. Gradually, his Immortal Soul would begin to emanate a tiny bit of aura that contained the true principle of Heaven and Earth. When faced with this tiny and seemingly insignificant aura, any cultivator below the realm of Heaven Immortal would have to face an all-around spiritual pressure, as if a mouse was meeting a tiger.

Mortals could not sense any immortal pressure, as they were like the insects living in a filthy deep pond, who simply could not see what was beyond the pond.

On the other hand, every single cultivator could clearly sense the immortal pressure, as cultivators were the fishes that were swimming around in a clear water. Through the crystal clear water, they could catch a tiny glimpse of the true colors of the world. They could see the mechanisms that formed the Heaven and Earth, and the law that governed its operation. Thus, all cultivators had the ability to sense the frightening might of Immortals, and would have to face the immortal pressure that came weighing down on them directly.

If it were some kindhearted and honest Immortals, they would restrain their immortal pressure at all times, while at most let it linger several tens of feet around themselves. After all, it could dispel evils and fiends, repel mosquito, ants, and all annoying bugs, and prevent any dust and dirt from staining them. Only when they were facing the enemies would these Immortals unleash their immortal pressure, using it to attack the enemies on the spiritual level. Evidently, Han Xiao was not a kindhearted Immortal, as right at the moment he entered the planet's atmosphere, he immediately unleashed all of his immortal pressure, enveloping the entire planet with his immortal aura in just a blink of an eye. He made all living beings whose cultivation base was above Xiantian realm immediately sense the arrival of this dreadful pressure.

Transforming himself into a bright and colorful beam, Han Xiao followed closely behind Shadowcloud and swept across the sky above Wu Qi and the people around him. The tremendous immortal pressure made Wu Qi and his company stagger, nearly falling to their knees. Right at the moment when Han Xiao flew past them, the surrounding natural energy froze abruptly. Not only did it cause Wu Qi and his company to be unable to absorb any more natural energy, the energy inside their bodies also turned into ice suddenly, and could no longer be controlled by them.

Among all the cultivators above Xiantian realm, only the innate five element energies that were flowing inside Wu Qi's Seven Stealing Heaven Meridians did not get affected by the immortal pressure, as they were still circulating freely inside the meridians. Thus, Wu Qi was the only person who could still stand with his back straight, as he followed two bright lights that streaked past the sky with his eyes.

Hastily, he patted Princess Zhang Le and roared hoarsely, "Use the teleportation formation and bring everyone back to Ji City immediately! Then, hide inside the residential buildings right next to the Number One Martial Club. DO NOT go to the Imperial Palace, as that place is having a very strict security, it is easier to attract attention. Be sure to remember that! Now, use your quickest speed and bring all lady officials and imperial army away from here. As for those construction workers, you can just order them to station right at this place."

Then, he patted on Catfish-flood-dragon's big head and cried out, "I'll leave Zi Xuan to you. You must take good care of her and keep her away from any mischief. Once you've reached Ji City, don't wander around aimlessly. Stay put and wait for my news!"

Catfish-flood-dragon's pitch black face turned pale with fear because of the tremendous immortal pressure. After hearing Wu Qi's words, she said while nodding her head, "I understand, understand. You want us to flee back to Ji City, as it is a safe place, and not go to Imperial Palace, don't go to places that make us look conspicuous, hiding in the residential building and not go out. Sigh, why is there a Heaven Immortal? The man just now was a Heaven Immortal, wasn't he? By all my ancestors, why does a Heaven Immortal want to come here? How many thousands of years it has been since I heard of any news concerning the visit of a Heaven Immortal to this place?"

Apparently, the cowardly Catfish-flood-dragon was greatly terrified by the sudden visit of a foreign Immortal, and it made her utter words that did not string well together.

Wu Qi wrapped his arms around Princess Zhang Le, who kept stomping her feet next to him, then gave her a kiss on the lips and said, "Zi Xuan, don't be stubborn! These lady officials and imperial army are the capital for us to build our kingdom in the future. We cannot afford to lose them here. Quickly bring them back and hide in Ji City. I'll stay here to find out the background of that Heaven Immortal, and what is his motive of coming here."

Gazing straight at Wu Qi's face, Princess Zhang Le roared, "This is too dangerous! You cannot stay here!"

Before her words could fade away, off in a distance of roughly one hundred miles, a dazzling five-colored beam fell from the sky, bringing together several tens of colorful petals that spun at high speed and smashed right into the ground. They immediately turned a huge mountain that stood ten miles tall and several nearby little rivers to shreds. Violent energy waves came sweeping across the distance of one hundred miles, and like a huge tidal wave, it rolled up Wu Qi and his company and threw them far away.

Looking at the stubborn Princess Zhang Le, Wu Qi once again gave her a fierce kiss on her lips, then brought his lips to her ears and spoke hurriedly, "Don't worry, I still have a Soul Replacement Puppet with me, and I'll not be that easy to kill. This Heaven Immortal came in a very strange manner. I can't set my mind at rest if I don't find out his background and motive. Rest assured, I'll go and return quickly. Although your husband, I, is not an expert in fighting, but my skill in fleeing is top-notch!"

Then, with a wave of his hand, a large sheet of white light immediately burst out from Spirit Breeding Ring, and the one hundred Long Bo men quickly turned into bright lights and shot back into the ring.

Pouting and glaring at Wu Qi, Princess Zhang Le whispered back, "If you die, Zhang Le will definitely take revenge for you... Hmph… And who said you will be my husband? Aye, you're such a shameless guy..." Stomping her feet, Princess Zhan transformed herself into a blinding five-colored light and sped away. Very soon, her clear and melodious voice was heard echoing throughout the area of one hundred miles in circumference, "Everyone listen to me! Here's an order to all lady officials and imperial army: assemble at the nearest teleportation formation and return to Ji City immediately. Do not utter words that can cause confusion to the people around you. Those who violate my order will be executed immediately!"

As her voice rang out and was heard by everyone, all the bustling lady officials and imperial army immediately stopped their work, gathered and packed the important things around them. Paying no attention to the panicked cries let out by those construction workers, they quickly moved and assembled at the nearest teleportation formation. A commotion broke out among the construction workers, yet Wu Qi had no intention to transfer them to other places. A Heaven Immortal, even if he were a Heaven Immortal with an evil character, would never make things difficult for ordinary mortals. Thus, these construction workers were actually the safest people in this place.

After he saw Princess Zhang Le bring a few maids and guards and become the first batch of people that stepped into the teleportation formation and returned to Ji City, Wu Qi transformed into a stream of yellow gas with a sway of his body and quickly plunged into the ground. Using the quickest speed possible, he began speeding towards the direction where the white cloud trail was disappearing into.

About one hundred miles into the pursuit, Wu Qi arrived at the side of the lofty mountain which was turned into ashes by a casual attack from Han Xiao. He could only see a large hole in the ground, about several tens of miles deep, while water had begun filling the hole up. The attack just now had already broken an underground energy vein. The hole was completely emptied with nothing left in it. Only a strong aura of demon beast could be sensed lingering in the air.

Very quickly, Wu Qi drew to a conclusion of what happened just now. One chasing after another, when both men flew past this lofty mountain, a very strong demon beast could no longer endure the immense immortal pressure and thus issued a provocative cry at the Heaven Immortal who was passing by in the sky. As a result, the Heaven Immortal killed the demon beast as if it were merely an annoying fly, and incidentally smashed the lofty mountain into ashes.

The demon beast aura lingering in the air was strong and pure. It belonged to a demon beast of at least Nascent Soul realm. Yet, it was instantly killed by the Heaven Immortal without too much of effort.

Clenching his jaws, Wu Qi continued the pursuit. The speed of innate earth element escape art was incredibly fast. By relying on the fluctuation of the underground energy vein, it could travel over several hundred miles of distance with every fluctuation. Thus, with just a few moves, Wu Qi had already traveled over ten thousand miles of distance. While squeezing himself out from an underground ore vein, a heaven-shattering and earth-crumbling rumble was suddenly heard coming from above. Hastily, Wu Qi retracted and restrained all his aura, then poked his head out amidst a forest on top of a little hill. Immediately, he saw a peculiar shaped little ship in the midst of the white cloud trail smitten by a ball of colorful flower petals, causing it to tumble and crash onto the ground. Then, a figure was seen springing out from the ship, clenched from his neck by the green figure behind him, dragging him up in the air.

"Pathetic junior! Although you've fled to such a remote region, and even risked your life and led me into the Flaming Nether Ocean, what did you gain at the end?" Han Xiao threw his head back and let out a wild laugh, grabbing Jiangcheng Zi by the neck as he thrust and smashed Jiangcheng Zi several tens of times onto the ground. Like a scarecrow, Jiangcheng Zi did not have any ability or energy to fight back, and had his body forcefully smashed into the hard mountain rock, which then crashed and broke many of his bones.

As the cultivation techniques in Jiangcheng Zi's sect focused more on the utilization of energy and Nascent Soul, it did not actually put too much emphasis on the tempering of fleshly body. As a result, compared to other ordinary Earth Immortals, the fleshly body of Earth Immortals in White Cloud Immortal Sect was rather weak. White Cloud Immortal Sect did not excel in the strength of fleshly body. When Jiangcheng Zi was brutally smashed and clashed onto the rock by Han Xiao, all his bones were broken, and the severe pain made him burst into tears.

Clutching Jiangcheng Zi's neck with his hand, Han Xiao cackled shrilly and said, "Are you crying? Pathetic junior! I thought you are a very brave man, as you were cursing me to die without a son just now. Where is your backbone? Why are you crying now? Hehe, drop to your knees and beg me to spare you. Perhaps I'll... I'll... Damn it, what is that??!"

The Immortal Han Xiao, who stood roughly nine feet tall, had a stature similar to Qin Qingshui, skinny like a bamboo pole. He was clad in a white Daoist robe, emanating a threatening cold air, as if he were entirely made of ice. His face was stern and did not have any expression. He had a very tall cheekbone, a narrow nose, and his lips were thin like a pair of sharp blades. It could be easily told from his look that he was a man with a gruesome and stubborn character, a ruthless and mean man.

Initially, he wanted to choke Jiangcheng Zi, but his vision was quickly attracted by a pale green ganoderma orchid growing on the trunk of a White Dragon pine tree about five feet away from him. The ganoderma had nine caps, and from the middle of all these caps, a very tiny green wisteria spat out, with a few pale purple-green leaflets growing on it. A few bell-shaped orchid flowers, half-transparent and about the size of a toddler's fist, were seen dangling on the wisteria. Every now and then, these orchid flowers would glow with a pale green light, as they kept absorbing the surrounding natural energy, condensing them into nectar. Then, it would be absorbed by the wisteria and injected into the ganoderma.

Wu Qi gave the ganoderma orchid a look. It was a mutated ganoderma that could be found everywhere in the depth of Meng Mountains - the 'Nine-Lefts Green Ganoderma Orchid', and judging by its look, it had only grown for slightly over one thousand years. None of the demon beasts in Meng Mountains would not harvest these ganoderma orchids at their 'juvenile stage', and would only fight for those that had grown for over ten thousand years. They would use its medicinal strength to purity their demonic energy, tempering their Nascent Divinity, and improving their own Dharmic powers and cultivation base.

But, Han Xiao's behavior exceeded Wu Qi's expectation. He actually threw Jiangcheng Zi away, then rushed over to the ganoderma orchid while jumping and leaping. He greedily stretched his hand forward, and with trembling fingers, he caressed the orchid flower like a pervert fondling the delicate skin of his most beloved concubine.

"Oh Heaven, a Nine-Lefts Green Ganoderma Orchid that’s at least one thousand five hundred years old... Jiangcheng Zi, since your sect is an expert in concocting pills and medicines, have you... have you ever seen a Nine-Lefts Green Ganoderma Orchid that is at least one thousand five hundred years old? A spirit herb like this, perhaps even an eight hundred years old plant would be hard to come by, isn't it?" Saliva could be seen dripping from the corner of Han Xiao's lips, shimmering brilliantly.

With all his bones broken to pieces, Jiangcheng Zi struggled to tilt his head up, gazing at the Nine-Lefts Green Ganoderma Orchid. Then, he turned to give Han Xiao a despising look, laughed coldly and said, "Eight hundred years old? Throughout all these years, the oldest Nine-Lefts Green Ganoderma Orchid we found was only five hundred years old. And for the sake of that orchid flower, two of my Uncle-Master even had a fierce fight with the people from the Spirit Breading Sect, which cost an arm of one of the Uncle-Master. Only then they were able to bring back the orchid flower."

Wu Qi's heart sunk immediately. Obviously, these two men were from the outer-space... But, why were they so poor?

A Ganoderma Orchid of one thousand five hundred years old had already made them so excited. What would they become if they saw those herbs that were several thousand, or even tens of thousands of years old, which the great demons in the depth of Meng Mountains ate like rice?

While Wu Qi was murmuring to himself, the Immortal Han Xiao suddenly issued a shrill cry again.