Stealing The Heavens
chapter-318

Among the group of twelve Nascent Divinity cultivators, three of them sent forth an aura that was as strong as Lin Qiuluo. Apparently, they were also peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivators.

In addition to that, they were all clad in a thick and solid body armor, that shone with numerous runes hovering and gleaming on its surface brilliantly, radiating a very powerful energy ripple. Although they were not immortal armors like the one worn by Lin Qiuluo, they were the best quality body armors among upper-grade magical treasures.

Unlike Lin Qiuluo's immortal armor, which was forcibly refined with the help of someone else, the body armors worn by the twelve Nascent Divinity cultivators were refined by themselves, using their own blood essence and Fire of Samadhi. Therefore, these armors had become their Prime magical treasures, which they had a perfect command of, and could blend their energies flawlessly with. Although their defensive strength still could not compare with that of Lin Qiuluo's immortal armor, they were not so far apart.

What made Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu even more despaired was that the twelve Nascent Divinity cultivators were shrouded in boiling murderous aura, and there was a ruthless look flickering in their eyes. Evidently, they were experts and veterans in battles, and there was no way Lin Qiuluo, who obviously did not have any experience in battle, could compare with them.

In Xiong Wanling's opinion, when he was at his top form, he could fight with one of the peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivators plus another random cultivator, while He Qianqiu could barely fight one peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivator alone! And this was also because both of them had a significant advantage over them with their true form, as both Xiong Wanling's muscle and defensive strength were far greater than ordinary cultivators, and when He Qianqiu transformed into his true form of the white crane, he had a significant advantage in the sky.

But they were facing twelve Nascent Divinity cultivators now, plus Lin Qiuluo, who was protected by an immortal armor!

He Qianqiu let out a loud and long screech. Despite his long beak missing after being broken, and his face and body covered in blood, he flapped his large wings, transforming his gigantic body into a white beam as he shot forward. With one talon, he seized Xiong Wanling, and with another, he grabbed Yan Qijun. After that, he soared three hundred miles up into the sky, turning into a white beam again and speeding away into the distance. He Qianqiu had used his divine will to take a glance at the Grand Universal Teleportation Formation a moment ago, and he discovered that it had already been shut down by someone. Therefore, he had no other choice but to flee to some other places in order to seek the slightest chance of survival, or they would face an inevitable doom if they kept staying in Snowflake City.

Three peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivators landed near Lin Qiuluo. While looking at the approaching sword beams shot out by those Nascent Soul cultivators who Yan Qijun brought here, one of them snorted coldly and said, "How audacious!" Then, he bent his body forward, as a huge round shield immediately emerged before him. Pushing the round shield from behind, he began to charge forward at top speed. Several tens of sword beams smashed on the round shield, and were immediately smote and ripped to pieces by the electric arcs that bolted out from the surface of the shield.

One after another, Yan Qijun's Nascent Soul personal guards cried out in shock, coughing blood while being forced back. Among this group of personal guards, some of them were Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu's disciples and apprentices, the demons from Meng Mountains. When they noticed that the peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was running towards them, this group of demons stepped forward and greeted upon him without the fear of being killed.

Hovering midair above them, a few Nascent Divinity cultivators sneered. Without the slightest hesitation, they unleashed a few sword beams that streaked down from the sky like rainbows and killed all these demons in an instant. For Nascent Divinity cultivators, killing Earth Immortals of Nascent Soul realm was exactly like a Gold Core cultivator killing an ordinary mortal, as easy as blowing the dust off a table.

As for the rest of the Nascent Soul personal guards, they were actually the assassins who Great Yan's imperial palace had secretly cultivated. When facing enemies that were too strong for them to resist, they gathered together suddenly and stood in a very strange formation. In the next moment, their bodies began to emit a strong blinding light. Almost at the same moment, the group of twelve Nascent Divinity cultivators and Lin Qiuluo cried out with great terror, as they just realized that before them was a group of over sixty Earth Immortals of Nascent Soul realm, and quite a few of them were having peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivation base.

Before they could come out with any counter measurements, these Earth Immortals of Nascent Soul realm had already pulled out a huge amount of energy stones from their storage rings, using some mystic technique to stimulate the enormous energies stored in the stones, and absorbing them into their body. Impacted by such a high volume of energy, their skin and flesh began to break and rip, causing their blood to spray out. An invisible force controlled this blood, using them to draw a very bizarre formation map underneath their feet.

"Kill Qin!! Kill!!!" A peak-stage Earth Immortal of Nascent Soul realm cried out sternly at the top of his voice.

A muffled rumble rang out. All sixty Earth Immortals of Nascent Soul realms, together with the formation constructed using their blood essence, and the enormous energies contained in all the energy stones they brought here with them, exploded at the same time. A blood red light pillar shot up into the sky, spread out, and enveloped the entire Snowflake City which had collapsed. The several tens of mansions which were protected by some defensive formations began to generate cracking noises, a sign that they could no longer withstand the immense pressure. Dazzling gleams flashed and blinked above these mansions, as defensive formations were shattered and ripped by the blood red light one after another. Screams filled with utter despair were heard coming from the mansions.

The power generated by the explosion of over sixty Earth Immortals was more than enough to wipe out everything within a radius of five hundred miles. On top of that, they had also ignited all the energy stones they brought here. Great Yan's cultivators were very rich, and they did not bring just a puny amount of energy stones. Therefore, when the huge amount of energy stones exploded at the same time, the power generated was incredibly horrifying. Worst of all, the explosive forces were bounded by the Kill Qin Formation, limiting them to explode only within the Snowflake City, with only a tiny fraction of the shockwaves being leaked.

With that, the self-explosion of Earth Immortals had caused a maximum destruction.

Amidst the deafening rumbles, the defensive formations in seven mansions crumbled into pieces, and several tens of thousands of cultivators and mortals that sought refuge in these mansions, which occupied the land several thousand acres in area, were turned into nothingness in the blood red light. Only three mansions managed to stand still after their defensive formations were destroyed, as there was an immortal talisman that shot out from each of them all of a sudden, hovering high up above them and blocked the rocking and rolling blood-red light that filled every inch of the void.

The destructive forces generated by the self-explosion only lasted for a short moment of three breaths. Very soon, the blood red light faded away, and the group of over sixty Great Yan imperial guards was nowhere to be found, having their souls completely disintegrated. Only three mansions were left in Snowflake City, standing all alone loftily on a rock pillar. Apart from these three mansions and the rock pillars supporting them, the entire Snowflake City had turned into a huge crater, as deep as one hundred miles.

Panting heavily, Lin Qiuluo sprung out from the protective ring formed by three peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivators. Wisps of green smokes were rising up from her body. She stared at the completely destroyed Snowflake City with a vacant expression, and in a near hysterical manner, she threw her head back and let out a shrill scream, "Yan Qijun! Xiong Wanling! He Qianqiu! How could you destroy my Snowflake City?!!! I, Lin Qiuluo, will not rest until you are dead!!! B*stard! That b*stard, that damn b*stard!!"

Lin Qiuluo's pretty face turned deadly pale, tears coursing down her face as she roared again, "One million upper-grade energy stones, that was the price of asking me to kill Yan Qijun! He is only a Human Immortal of Gold Core realm, but why is he protected by Nascent Divinity cultivators? Why did he have so many Nascent Soul guards who could risk their lives for him?"

The twelve Nascent Divinity cultivators stared at Lin Qiuluo absentmindedly, none daring to say a word.

After venting her wrath hysterically for a moment, her face turned cold. "Somebody, follow me as I will hunt down those thieves!" said Lin Qiuluo gravely, "Announce the Snowflake Order. I want all the Grand Universal Teleportation Formations in Xue Yuan Planet to be completely shut down, preventing those three b*stards from leaving the planet. Order the Flying snow City, White Frost City, and Snowdrift City to dispatch their city guards, assisting Snowflake City in hunting those three damn b*stards!"

A Nascent Divinity cultivator answered her, then quickly pulled out three jade talismans and threw them into the air. Immediately, a series of rapid booms echoed out, as three jade talisman transformed into three tiny sparks and shot southward at top speed. Like a lunatic, Lin Qiuluo threw her head back and howled a few times, then spun and transformed into a white beam as she began to shoot towards the direction where He Qianqiu fled.

The group of Nascent Divinity cultivators dared not to hesitate. They exerted all their strength and energy hastily to follow closely behind Lin Qiuluo. It was especially true for the three peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivators, as they feared Lin Qiuluo would be hurt again. Hence, they flew in a triangular formation with her in the middle. The leading cultivator did not try to reserve his energy, and straightaway unleashed the round shield, using it to break through the air and reduce the air resistance for Lin Qiuluo.

As the group of pursuers did not bring anything heavy with them, their speed was incredible. In just less than the time it took to finish a pot of tea, the huge and staggering silhouette of He Qianqiu had emerged before them.

Previously, when He Qianqiu and Xiong Wanling joined hands in attacking Lin Qiuluo, out of his desperation, he used the hardest body part of his, which was his crane beak, as the weapon to attack. As the crane beak was not as tough as the immortal armor, it shattered into pieces, and the tremendous backlash had shaken his brain, causing him to barely maintain a slight consciousness so he could flee with Xiong Wanling and Yan Qijun. However, only less than one thousand miles into the escape, the things around him began to turn dark, while a severe pain kept twitching in his brain, and the speed of wings flapping had become slower as well.

Worst of all, when he was in his true form, he could use the long beak to pierce through the air; it was the best tool that could assist him to fly at a greater speed. But now, as it was destroyed, he was flying with just one round head, using it to push through the air resistance, and eventually reducing his flying speed by another thirty percent.

On the other hand, as Lin Qiuluo and her company became extremely angry with shame, they burned their blood essence in order to increase their flying speed. And because of that, they were able to catch up Yan Qijun and his companions in less than the time to finish a pot of tea.

Looking at the enemies that pursued from behind menacingly, Xiong Wanling roared furiously. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath. The natural energies in the radius of one thousand miles immediately flew over and plunged into his big mouth, forming into a huge light ball that shot out with a deafening roaring of thunder. The leading peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivator snorted coldly. In the next moment, the round shield before him shone with a blinding light, and Xiong Wanling's mighty attack came and smashed brutally on it.

The light ball exploded and shook the void. Lin Qiuluo and her company were slowed down by the explosion, but on the other side, He Qianqiu's body began to wobble and sway violently, as his wings could no longer carry the weight. Bringing Xiong Wanling and Yan Qijun together, they plunged down heavily towards the vast snowfield underneath. A muffled thud rang out, as He Qianqiu and the others crashed into the snowfield, and opened up a deep hole in the ice that had never melted since the ancient times. Some bone-cracking noises could be heard coming from He Qianqiu's body. He rolled his eyes and passed out in the next moment.

The approaching Lin Qiuluo laughed ferociously. She waved her hand and pulled out a golden magical treasure, which was shaped like a shuttle, with powerful electric arcs darting out from its surface. Exerting all her strength she waved the shuttle, unleashing a lightning bolt that was nearly one mile long.

Staring at the incoming lightning bolt, Yan Qijun breathed out a long sigh. Clenching his jaws, he pulled out a jade pendant and crushed it. It was a 'Son-Mother Pendant' which was carried by all the members of the Great Yan Dynasty imperial clan. Those who traveled outside would bring the Son Pendant with them, and once it was crushed, the Mother Pendant placed in the depth of Great Yan imperial palace would break at the same time. With that, the imperial clan would know that some of their clan members were facing a crisis, and they could assemble a team of men to the rescue.

After crushing the jade pendant, Yan Qijun did the last thing he could possibly do. He activated an upper-grade defensive magical treasure - the 'Purple Smoke Tent', which transformed into a large sheet of purple smoke and wrapped him, Xiong Wanling, and He Qianqiu tightly within.

The lightning bolt came smiting down, hitting right at Yan Qijun and the others, and opened up a huge hole that measured over one hundred miles in radius in the vast snowfield.