Stealing The Heavens
chapter-573

One month later, on the peak of Mount Picking Star...

Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le sat snuggling together, watching the moon set under the western horizon and the red light that rose in the east. He was shrouded in a threatening air, as sharp as an unsheathed treasured sword. The dreadful air rose and gathered above him into a purple mist, ripping any birds that happened to fly through it and turning them into a rain of blood and flesh.

During the one month of hard physical activity and fascinating cultivation, Wu Qi had completely digested the enormous divine energy he seized from Mu Bai with Princess Zhang Le's help and the ancient divine art she had inherited. In addition, her innate energy gestated by her virginity had allowed him to smoothly break through some bottlenecks, pushing his cultivation base to the ninth tier Heaven Immortal realm.

The innate energy was extremely pure, and was actually a trace of the Law of Heavenly Dao in Princess Zhang Le's bloodline which she directly inherited from the Ancient Gods. However, she could never use it herself. After she made the most intimate contact with Wu Qi, it turned into his energy essence. The energy was so strong that it was almost comparable to the full power of an eighteenth tier Gold Immortal.

After acquiring this innate energy, Wu Qi had turned it into his chaotic energy, and used it to cultivate both the Seven Foundation Elevating Technique and the True Body of Heaven and Earth Scripture. The energy that came from it could perfectly fuse with the magical purple energy birthed by Pangu Continent, and had pushed him straight to the high seat of a ninth tier Heaven Immortal.

If only the two amazing cultivation techniques did not require a huge amount of energy, or he was using the energy to cultivate the Song of Gale, the Dark Yin Water Scripture, or some other techniques, he would have been a Gold Immortal right now. Even so, although his cultivation base was only at the level of a ninth tier Heaven Immortal after acquiring the innate energy, his foundation was extremely solid now, and his grasp of the Heavenly Dao was far beyond any other Immortals. He had reached an unfathomable state.

Wu Qi had not been able to restrain his aura that came from the sudden soaring of his overall strength, and hence, there was a purple mist gathering above him and killing those unlucky birds.

Princess Zhang Le, with Wu Qi's arms around her, had also undergone a thorough transformation. She was originally an elegant and beautiful girl, but now she was like an orchid blooming in the deep valley, full of mystery and yet brilliant as an aurora, a lady who was sending forth a fatal attraction. By just standing there, she was like the source of the most splendid rays between the heaven and the earth, attracting all gazes by herself alone.

During the one month period when they were having their dual-cultivation, Wu Qi's chaotic energy had been rushing into her body endlessly, inadvertently allowing her to gain enlightenment of the mystery of the early days when the Chaos was broken. She had also benefited greatly when that enlightenment combined with the countless benefits brought to Wu Qi after her innate energy exploded in his body.

If an almighty expert were to look at her with Dharma Eyes, he would see that Princess Zhang Le was no longer in a human form, but a mass of pure, strong light that took the shape of a human. In this mass of light were countless runes slowly spinning along an orbit that formed a Taiji diagram. It looked extremely mysterious and abstruse, and was full of endless secrets of creation and destruction. She was also shrouded by nine layers of faint, golden energy barriers, each constructed by countless golden runes that were as small as flies and gave off a sense of extreme danger.

Even if an ordinary Immortal observed her with divine sense, he would find that she seemed to have fused with the void. Any attack that was launched at her was like attacking the heaven and earth, and one was expected to be facing a crazy counterattack from the heaven and earth. It was a strange sign that could only be found on a Gold Immortal. But Princess Zhang Le, who had inherited the bloodline of Ancient God, had shown such a strange sign of fusing with the Heavenly Dao when she only possessed the cultivation base of a lower-grade Heaven Immortal.

There were only Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le on top of the mountain. They nestled together quietly as birds flew overhead from time to time, who exploded into blood and gore and showered down to cover them with a thick layer of feathers and blood. It was a lovely scene blended with an unspeakably weird delusion, which filled one's heart with a creepy feeling at the sight of it.

When the sun showed half of its face on the eastern horizon, Princess Zhang Le suddenly looked up and gave Wu Qi a kiss.

"My Husband, be careful on your trip, and be sure to take over the power of a province." She had changed her way of addressing Wu Qi. "If you can't claim a province with the overall strength of a ninth tier Heaven Immortal, I'll have nothing to offer you anymore." Princess Zhang Le said bluntly.

Wu Qi cleared his throat. Princess Zhang Le was perfect except for one thing, the imperious temper in her bone, which sometimes really gave him a headache. He nodded seriously while looking at her eyes which were glittering with a mysterious gleam, and said with a smile, "I won't come back to see you if I fail to claim even a province!"

The princess immediately flew into a great rage. With a blood-red gleam flashing in her eyes, she said bluntly, "You won't come back to see me? Hmph, could it be that you have another woman out there?"

With a hard pull, she ripped a strand of Wu Qi's long hair from his scalp, tucked it under her sleeve, the spun and walked away. "Let's see which sightless woman dares to pester you. Zi Xuan will put a spell on you with this strand of hair, so when a woman turns her mind on you, she will be burned to death by her own flame of lust!"

"Aye! Aye!" Wu Qi responded helplessly while Princess Zhang Le flew back into the cave abode with her head held high. 'Would there be any other woman attracted by me? I don't think so... Count themselves unlucky if they turn their mind on me!' thought Wu Qi as he touched his nose.

With a wry smile on his face, Wu Qi let out a long roar in the cave abode and stomped the ground with both feet. A pulsation of energy vein immediately came from under the ground. He made a dash in the direction of the pulsation, and in the blink of an eye, he was standing right outside the front door of the Directorate of Celestials in An He City.

Yu He had been waiting for a long time outside the Directorate of Celestial with two hundred Oracles. Every now and then, he would look up at the sky, anxiety filling his face. He had told Wu Qi the date they would set off a month ago, but Wu Qi had not shown up even though the time to depart was at hand. It made him wonder if Wu Qi was just taking him as a fool.

He could not help but shake his head when he glanced back at the two hundred Oracles behind him. They were merely Star Oracles who the Directorate of Celestial of Zhong Province had just trained. Not only were their cultivation bases weak, they were not his loyal servants. Thus, he could not put them into good use. He had laid all his hope on Wu Qi, and all he wanted was for Wu Qi to help him defeat the subordinates who his brothers had recruited, and earn him the power of a province.

"We'll not be able to make it if he still doesn't show up!" Yu He stomped with rage and nearly let loose a torrent of abuse. Although there was a short-distance teleportation formation between An He City and Zhong Ning City, with the sun almost climbing out of the horizon, they would definitely be late if they did not set off immediately. The ownership of thirty provinces would be decided during the Grand Counsel of Yu Clan. If he was late in a grand counsel such as this, not only would he lose the right to fight for the position of Prefecture Overseer, he might even be seriously punished.

A sudden gust of wind came sweeping across his face when he was almost losing his temper, and the next thing he saw was Wu Qi, who stood in front of him with a plume of purple mist billowing into the sky. He could feel a dreadful aura pushing against him, and he staggered back a few paces when Wu Qi stared at him with lightning flashing in the eyes. He nearly activated his defensive bone talisman to attack Wu Qi.

Staring at Wu Qi, who was shrouded in a roiling aura with a plume of purple mist that soared hundreds of feet above his head, Yu He cried out with surprise, "General Tan Lang, where have you been?"

Puffing his chest out and head held high, Wu Qi breathed out a deep sigh and said, "I was having a meditation in a mountain, observing the sky at night and studying Pangu Continent. Inadvertently, I've gained an enlightenment, which caused the purple energy to pour into my body and skyrocket my cultivation base. I am one hundred times stronger than a month ago."

Yu He stared at Wu Qi with elation and amazement. He could clearly sense the dreadful aura that kept being emanated from Wu Qi's body. "Wonderful, wonderful!" He exclaimed while he kept nodding, "General Tan Lang, I can sense that you are more than one hundred times stronger than one month ago indeed! Splendid! With your help, I've no doubt that we will get the power of a province!"

With a faint smile on his face, Wu Qi cupped his fist and bowed reservedly.

Yu He threw back his head to laugh long and loud. When he was done, he fished out the string of black beads that Wu Qi had seen him toying last time. "General Tan Lang, no, brother Tan Lang," he said, "this string of beads is a defensive treasure given to me by my father, a perfect tool to conceal one's aura. Please wear it to conceal your aura. If anyone asks, you will tell them that you have just broken through the Three Stars Realm of the First Pangu Heaven!"

Three Stars Realm of the First Pangu Heaven? Wu Qi did not know what the meaning of it was, but from the way Yu He had said it, it was clear that he meant to trick other people!

He unceremoniously took the string of black beads into his hand and wore it on his wrist. As soon as he did that, he felt a cold sensation washing through his body, and the aura that he had failed to conceal was gradually dissipated, all retracted into his body. 'A marvelous treasure!' he praised inwardly.

Laughing triumphantly, Yu He grabbed Wu Qi's hand and hurried toward the teleportation formation situated in the square in front of the City Lord Mansion. The two hundred Oracles who he used as front men followed them closely behind. As he had already ordered someone to make Zhong Ning City the destination of the formation, when it was swallowed by a burst of strong light, they had already left An He City and arrived on the square in front of the Prefecture Overseer Mansion in Zhong Ning City.

Great Yu's official power was extremely strong. Two months ago, Zhong Ning City was completely destroyed during the case of Feng Lingling, but two months later, the city had been rebuilt completely. Today's Zhong Ning City was no different from what it used to be, except for a slightly sparse population.

Led by Yu He, the party left the teleportation formation, and after walking less than fifteen minutes along the main street, they came to a courtyard of immense size. The courtyard, nearly tens of miles in both width and length, was home to large palaces and numerous auxiliary halls. It was the new residence of Yu Clan in Zhong Province, which had raised in power after Feng Lingling's incident.

In the past, although Yu Clan of Zhong Province was strong, they were not among the top five most powerful clans in Zhong Province. However, since Feng Lingling and his loyal servants had fled, and with the contribution they had made during the incident, Yu Clan managed to gain the appreciation and trust from the new Prefecture Overseer, Bo Zhogfu. Now, with the power of thirty provinces in hands, the atmosphere in Yu Clan was completely different from before.

It was not tough to tell that just from this newly built residence alone. At least six hundred heavy-armored soldiers stood guard before its nine standard-room wide main entrance, and light-armored soldiers were seen patrolling in lines on its outer walls. 'The guard force in Great Yan Imperial Palace is not as strong as them.' Wu Qi could not help but shake his head.

Yu He, with Wu Qi and the two hundred Oracles, strode up to the main entrance. As they approached, a burly man clad in a bronze armor suddenly shouted, "Who are you? Step back now! This is not a place you can intrude!" Even as he was shouting, Wu Qi saw a strange gleam was flashing in his eyes.

After shouting at them, the soldier suddenly drew his sword and swung it down toward Yu He. Although it was still hundreds of feet away, the fierce wind produced as it approached had already pushed Yu He back uncontrollably.

If he were struck by the sword, Yu He would die on the spot.