Stealing The Heavens
chapter-521

Sneaking Into The Fiend Formation

The Jianlong army and Fiend immortals of Miao Ying palace were closely chasing behind Feng Lingling and his company. As he followed along stealthily, Wu Qi yelled in his mind with great panic, 'Do not disappoint me! Things have come so far that no power can interfere anymore. It will all depend on my luck now!'

According to the Scroll of Stealing, there was another thread of innate Yang energy hiding somewhere near You Xiong Plain. However, it was also where the Great Yu had built their capital, a dangerous place where even a Primordial Immortal would be slaughtered alive. Wu Qi did not have the overall strength or the courage to visit that place as of present.

The innate Yang energy hiding inside of this Dark Abyss was his only hope now!

'Feng Lingling, you have to help me get what I want! Should you die here today, I'll take care of your descendants!'

'At the worst, if you die here because of me, I'll give aid to your son, Feng Jiupan.'

'Although there is an old score between Feng Jiupan and me, and I do plan to get rid of him and Feng Qingwu, if you can help me achieve my goal today and die because of this, I'll help your son inherit your title of nobility, and maybe, I can even help him become a King in the future.'

With his head filled with a jumble of thoughts, Wu Qi quickly caught up and kept a very close distance behind Feng Lingling and the others.

A sheet of fiend flame suddenly flashed and danced before Feng Lingling. The thirty-six Fiend guards had arrived with teleportation. But, they came with a great momentum, and as the environment underneath the Northern Ocean was too complicated with natural energies rocking and swirling violently, their divine will could not function as normal, causing nine of them to accidentally step into the fiend formation that enveloped the Dark Abyss.

The Minor Rakshasa 1 [1] Void Reversing and Heart Slaughtering Formation was triggered instantly. Billows of black smoke and evil aura surged from the once pitch-dark void that was filled with nothing, and countless Rakshasas and foul ghosts made their appearances amidst the black smoke, dancing in a circle around the nine Fiend Immortals who had accidentally stepped into the formation. Slowly, they began to take the features of humans; fair skin and tender flesh were growing from their bony limbs, and before long, they all transformed into handsome youths and beautiful girls.

Even as the Rakshasas and foul ghosts were transforming into humans, the nine Fiend guards were smiling like fools, hovering in the fiend formation without moving at all. Their bodies gradually shriveled, as if all their blood and flesh were sucked away by the Rakshasas and foul ghosts. In just a few moments, they had turned into nine dried corpses, then crumbled into ashes that sprinkled down to the ocean floor.

A dense black smoke rushed out of the entrance of the Dark Abyss and washed over the Rakshasas and foul ghosts, turning them back into their original appearances in just a blink of an eye. They gave some eerie screeches as they dissolved into the void.

It all happened in just a flash. Nine Fiend guards, including a lower-tier Gold Immortal, had vanished into nothingness without a sound.

Not only had these Fiend Immortals who were accidentally trapped in the formation suffered a deadly blow, those who had witnessed that from the outside were suffering a powerful blow to their souls as well. As Reverend Li Yang and the other six Gold Immortals were protected by the Primordial Gold Talisman, they only felt a dizziness before everything went back to normal. But, among the several thousand soldiers and captains who Feng Lingling had brought here, nearly eighty percent of them snorted at the same time, then their bodies trembled and collapsed to the ground. Their souls transformed into streams of dark light that one could see with naked eyes and were sucked into the fiend formation, becoming the nourishment for the countless Rakshasas and foul ghosts.

Saddening wails and shrieks were heard coming from the soldiers of Jianlong Army who came chasing from behind. Countless corpses fell down from the rank as if it were raining cats and dogs. An evil force emanating from the fiend formation had extracted their souls, turning them into the formation's nourishment and strengthening its power.

King Bai Shan, who was supervising the situation at the rear of the army, was struck by a great shock. "What a wicked fiend formation! Damn it!" he cursed.

Almost at the same time, Goddess Miao Xin cried out in a hurried voice, "It is the defensive formation personally deployed by my Master. Those with a weak soul should not get too close to it!"

King Bai Shan laughed immediately and praised, "I see! So this is the formation personally deployed by Nine Yin Celestial Lady Lord. No wonder it possesses such an extraordinary power. It is indeed magical, as I can't comprehend its essence even with my knowledge and experience. Truly amazing!"

The many Oracles of Jianlong Army had thrown out numerous bones talismans. They exploded midair, sprinkling down large sheets of white light that blanketed the soldiers of Jianlong Army. The bone talismans had protected their mind and souls. Although the fiend formation was still sending forth the evil force that could suck away a man's soul, it could no longer kill any of these human soldiers.

By witnessing how the fiend formation killed so many people with his own eyes, it had given Wu Qi an opportunity to fully understand its real offensive strength. Its power was wicked even at the outside, and he reckoned that if he were trapped in it with his current cultivation base, he would have turned into a heap of ashes in just a twinkle.

With utmost cautiousness, he retracted all of his aura and hid under the muddy sand like a sea insect. Slowly, he crawled and came to a stop at a spot just one step away from the Land of Nine Yin Negate Yang. He laid flat on his belly in the mud with his nose just inches away from the wiggling dark smoke. The Rakshasas and foul ghosts were drifting and wheeling, sometimes passing right before his face.

He looked into the Minor Rakshasa Void Reversing and Heart Slaughtering Formation with his Mystic Eyes of Universe. The three-dimensional layout of the formation had appeared in his eyes, overlapping with one another. He could understand about seventy percent of it, but the remaining thirty percent, which happened to be the core of this formation, looked like a messy ball of tangled wool to him.

And, there was something hovering right in the center of the formation, something used to suppress the entire formation. It was a Relic Golden Body covered in a dazzling green sheen. It seemed all skin and bones like a mummy, but was emanating a vast aura that made no one be able to look straight at it. Mighty golden lights and auspicious clouds lingered all around it, suppressing the Rakshasas and foul ghosts in the formation, preventing them from wreaking havoc.

Usually, a Relic Golden Body would be covered in a golden sheen, but this one looked as if it were a bronze bell which had gone through the test of ages. It looked ancient and almost primeval. Every now and then, big and small swastikas as well as countless Buddhist seals would flash and blink on its surface. The whole Relic Golden Body gave people a feeling of strength, dignity, solemness, and inviolability.

Wu Qi shuddered suddenly as he thought of some records he read in the Scroll of Stealing, something related to the Golden Body of Buddha. This green Relic Golden Body was not ordinary, but the Golden Body of an ancient Buddha who had fallen in the ancient time! There were innumerable Buddhism cultivation techniques that existed in the ancient era, as well as infinite types of Relic Golden Bodies, all strange and eccentric. Apparently, this green Relic Golden Body was from an ancient Buddha who had stepped into the realm of Buddha right after the Heaven and Earth were created.

Patriarch Miao Ying had actually found a Golden Body of an ancient Buddha, and even used it to suppress this fiend formation? Wasn't this a rather wasteful decision for such a precious treasure?

Although it was just the remains of an ancient Buddha, the value of this Golden Body was enough to compare to an ordinary Primordial Immortal item. If it were obtained by Buddhist cultivators, perhaps it would not take long before a new Buddha made his appearance in some outer heavenly realm.

'This is one nice treasure! Hopefully I'll have a chance to steal it!' Wu Qi thought as he gave the remains of the ancient Buddha a covetous glance. Although he really wished to have it, he did not have the courage to do so. Even though the remains were no longer controlled by any willpower, the restrictive spells and divine abilities still attached to them had prevented him from claiming it. It was true that Miao Ying Palace could control it, but that did not mean Wu Qi could do it as well.

He gulped, then raised his head to look at Feng Lingling.

Feng Lingling was steadily losing his ground under the joint attacks of Goddess Miao Xin and King Bai Shan. With the protection of the Primordial Gold Talisman, Reverend Li Yang and the other six Gold Immortals had yet to suffer any major injury. But, the many people who Feng Lingling had brought here were either dead or severely wounded, and only dozens of the strongest ones were still putting up a desperate fight.

Feng Lingling gave a despairing and furious roar.

Initially, he had put all his hope on the cave that led to the Dark Abyss. As the Prefecture Overseer of Zhong Province, he knew quite well about some dangerous places on Pangu Continent. He knew that from time to time, some innate evil energy would be sprayed out of the Dark Abyss of the Northern Ocean. It was an energy that came with a lethal force against all Immortals. In the plan he had come up with a moment ago, these Fiend Immortals including Goddess Miao Xin would not come pursuing him to the cave. And, once he freed himself from the threats posed by these Fiend Immortals, he was confident in escaping from King Bai Shan. After all, they were practicing similar cultivation techniques, and their cultivation base were almost at the same level.

But, little did he expect that the entire entrance to the Dark Abyss was sealed by someone using a formation, and it was a deadly formation in which those who entered would be killed instantly. All the innate evil energy was trapped by the formation, and not even a tiny bit was leaked which he could have used to aid in his escape.

"Yu Mu, Yu Miao, do you have any ways to destroy this formation?" he asked in a voice mixed with both anger and frustration.

Yu Mu and Yu Miao exchanged a glance, a bitter smile on their faces. "We will try!"

Feng Lingling snorted coldly. He gave King Bai Shan and the others a furious glance, threw his head back and let out a loud roar before suddenly pulling out dozens of bone talismans and throwing them towards the pursuers. Yu Mu, Yu Miao, Feng Muye, Feng Mulin, and the others followed suit, each pulling out the bone talismans with the strongest power and throwing them towards the enemies.

King Bai Shan's expression changed drastically as he cried out in a stern voice, "Wipe them out in one blow! Leave no survivor!"

Obeying his command, the several hundred Oracles, captains, and generals behind him pulled out countless bone talismans and threw them out.

Each of the bone talismans was personally crafted by the Great Oracles of the Directorate of Celestials, and to be able to be carried by Feng Lingling and King Bai Shan and those who were present, all important ministers of Great Yu, each of the talismans possessed the power comparable to the full force attack of a high-tier Gold Immortal. And now, in this place, both parties had thrown out nearly two thousand bone talismans, and this power exploded at a spot less than one thousand feet from the fiend formation.

A tiny speck of blinding light cracked open, from which, a frightening force surged and swept across the ocean floor. At that moment, the force of impact which the fiend formation received per unit area was equal to that of a casual strike unleashed by a Primordial Immortal.

With a blink of his body, Wu Qi dashed into the fiend formation like a spirit, quickly worming his way into it through the paths which he had found among the seventy percent of the layout.

Loud booms and strong lights kept coming from behind. Feng Lingling and his company, who had lost all hopes in escaping, had initiated a desperate counterattack.

Except for Reverend Li Yang, the other six Gold Immortals of Green City had self-detonated their immortal souls and fleshly bodies. The terrifying power from the self-detonation of Gold Immortals had made the fiend formation tremble violently, and caused a small part of it to cease functioning temporarily, the part where Wu Qi had sneaked into.

Wu Qi coughed out a mouthful of blood and exercised his escape art with the fastest speed found in the Scroll of Stealing, taking the opportunity when this part of the fiend formation had ceased functioning to sneak in. He made a quick dash into the inner part of it through a tiny crack that had just been ripped open.

But, he made a careless mistake and triggered a restrictive spell. A stream of fiend flame brushed across his waist and turned both of his legs into ashes.

He gave a muffled snort. Trying his best to endure the pain that kept washing through him, he rolled and crawled his way into the Dark Abyss.

[1] Rakshasa - A Rakshasa (Sanskrit: राक्षस, rākṣasa) is a mythological being in Hindu mythology. As this mythology influenced other religions, the rakshasa was later incorporated into Buddhism. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakshasa) [1] Rakshasa - A Rakshasa (Sanskrit: राक्षस, rākṣasa) is a mythological being in Hindu mythology. As this mythology influenced other religions, the rakshasa was later incorporated into Buddhism. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakshasa)