Stealing The Heavens
chapter-601

Ten thousand soldiers stood on the newly built drill ground in Ningbo City, forming a square that was six miles wide and stretching one hundred feet deep. A thousand soldiers in the first row, each with a thirty-stone strongbow 1 [1] in hand and an arrow on the string, released the bowstrings in unison and shot the arrows forty-five degrees into the sky at the command of a military officer.

The force of thirty-stones sent one thousand specially made arrows up to ten thousand feet in the sky, and the wind carried them further away. After that, the second wave of arrows was released, then the third, the fourth... Amidst the loud shout of the officer, arrows were being endlessly fired by the soldiers, turning into a dark curtain of death that veiled the sky.

The arrows used in the training were not attached with any talismans. But during wartime, they would be attached with all kinds of vicious talismans, which were powerful enough to cause headaches for top-tiered Heaven Immortals. If an ordinary Heaven Immortal was hit by more than three arrows at the same time, his defensive immortal item would be destroyed completely, and his immortal body and soul would be pulverized together.

The reason why the human race could firmly occupy Pangu Continent was not only because they were the chosen masters of Heaven and Earth, or the fact they were protected by the Heavenly Dao, but also because of their powerful military force! Even these ordinary soldiers, who had just been recruited and had never practiced any cultivation technique, could pose a threat to Heaven Immortals as long as they had bows and arrows in hand!

The rain of arrows pierced through the sky and filled the air with an endless whistle of terror.

Next to the ten thousand soldiers who were laboriously practicing their archery skills, another ten thousand soldiers, all clad in heavy armor and carrying huge crossbows, were shooting waves of bolts at the command of another military officer. The crossbows were also secret weapons crafted by the human race, the draw weight of which reached an astonishing 210 stones, capable of shooting specially made bolts dozens of miles away.

Each crossbow was carved with complex runes formation, and also inlaid with goose egg-sized energy stones. With the help of the runes, the soldiers could easily cock and load the crossbows, and the effort would never exceed that of the ten thousand fellow soldiers who used the thirty-stone strong bows. As a result, they were able to fire rapidly just like those with the strong bows.

In the Great Yu military, these crossbows were known as 'Dragon Hunting Crossbows.' They were specially designed by skilled craftsmen of the Great Yu military for new recruits who had never practiced any cultivation techniques, so even they could be equipped with the ability to kill Heaven Immortals. If not because of its expensive cost, Yu He would definitely have equipped the thirty thousand soldiers with this powerful weapon. In fact, even a Gold Immortal would turn around and flee if he were to face a large army with all the soldiers holding such deadly crossbows. It was indeed a great weapon that had helped the human race in ruling Pangu Continent.

In a corner of the drill ground, the last ten thousand soldiers were carefully handling two hundred strange war machines that looked like artilleries. But, in place of barrels were black, translucent, triangular crystal pillars. These machines produced by the grand craftsmen of Great Yu were called 'Fire Souls Destroyer.' When supplied with enough immortal stones, they were capable of firing Divine Fire Thunders, the power of which was the same as the full-powered strike of a top-tiered Heaven Immortal. Their firing frequency was one shot every ten minutes.

If used properly, two hundred Fire Souls Destroyers could shower the enemy with a continuous flow of destructive firepower, and annihilate dozens of high-tiered Heaven Immortals in the blink of an eye. Even if a lower-tier Gold Immortal encountered this insane firepower, he could only defend himself with immortal items and wait until the immortal stones were exhausted before he could have the chance to destroy these mighty weapons.

Two hundred Fire Souls Destroyers, ten thousand Dragon Hunting Crossbows, ten thousand strong bows, and countless arrows and bolts… All these weapons along with many other types of equipment, such as armors and bone talismans, had depleted Yu He's wealth. All the resources and money Wu Qi gave him after wiping out Mount Moon Gazing were poured into these weapons carrying an amazing lethality.

With the weapons and the thirty thousand soldiers under training, the military strength of Hai Province had increased by countless times. If Myriad Immortal Alliance only sent a small group of Immortals to raid Hai Province, they would certainly meet their doom here. And, if the alliance was bold enough to openly attack with a large group of Immortals, Bo Yunting and Yu Huai would surely welcome them with the reinforcements and give them a hard blow in the heads, making them regret coming here.

The powerful weapons and formidable reinforcements had also taken the anxiety out of Wu Qi and Yu He's heart. They no longer took Myriad Immortal Alliance's provocation seriously. Yu He continued to handle his official duties with ease and leisure, and enjoyed his free times with dancers, singers, and feasts.

As for Wu Qi, after handing over the task of training thirty thousand new recruits to the warriors of Scouting Office, he shut himself in a seclusion within Military Court.

Wisps of flame, their color a mixture of purple and green, shot out of his palms, eyes, mouth, and every pore of his body. Under the control of his powerful divine sense, the swirling Divine Flame of Order gradually compressed into a fireball the size of a wicker basket. The flame became almost tangible, with the texture of mercury.

Reverend Yao Yue's pearl had been refined to the size of a fist, and was floating in the fireball with a faint silver-blue glow. Inside the pearl, obscure visions were flashing and countless stars were spinning rapidly. At the expense of blood essence and energy, Wu Qi had completely removed the restrictive spells which Reverend Yao Yue had foolishly added to the pearl with the Divine Flame of Order, and even returned the pearl to its original form with chaotic energy, transforming it from an acquired spirit item to an extraordinary treasure with innate aura.

Now, the pearl contained no more impurities, and only the purest wisp of source energy. It had a dimly discernible connection with the stars in the sky, which allowed it to extract a trace of the star power and put it to use even during the day. The visions of spinning stars in it was actually the projection of the stars in the sky. The pearl was many times stronger now compared to when it was owned by Reverend Yao Yue.

After months of hard work, Wu Qi had finally refined the pearl to its purest form. Without hesitation, he pulled out the Star Jade Spirit Gold, which he obtained from the Blackfish Immortal Market in Mu Province, and threw it into the flame. It took almost no time for the gold to melt completely. A divine metal from the outer space such as this did not contain any impurities, as it had been refined by the power of stars for countless years. In just a few breaths' time, the precious metal turned into a ball of liquid that shone with a brilliant rainbow light.

Suddenly, a gap cracked open in the area between his brows, from which, drops of golden blood kept dripping out. Under the control of his powerful divine sense, the blood transformed into runes the size of a soybean. Thousands of such runes pulled and dragged at each other, soon turning into a ball of runes that spun rapidly in the air. Wu Qi let out a soft cry as he cast a seal into the ball of runes. All of a sudden, wisps of starlight shot out of the pearl and shone on the runes. As soon as the silvery starlight mixed with the golden runes, a magnificent light rain burst out, and the air rang with a deep rumbling as if countless stars were revolving around him.

A great amount of star power spread out of the rune formation constructed with the blood. With a point of his finger, the rune formation flew into the flame and fused with the ball of liquid that glinted with a rainbow light. After that, blood dripped out of the gap in his brows again, and using it, he constructed a more complicated formation and sent it into the liquid ball.

Repeating the same process, Wu Qi forced out ninety percent of his blood, transforming it into runes and fusing it into the ball of liquid. When all his blood vessels were dried up, and all his organs were shriveled from the lack of blood, he finally felt an intimate connection established between his soul and the ball of liquid, like that of a mother and a baby.

After that, he quickly waved his hand and threw out the beast soul of the Green Dome Shark, while splitting a thread of his own soul and silently injecting it into the beast soul. The pale green beast soul let out a sharp scream as it gradually merged with his soul. When the merging was completed, he pointed a finger out, and the pearl, the ball of liquid, and the beast soul immediately fused into one amidst the Divine Flame of Order.

With a flip of his palm, he took out dozens of immortal stones, then opened his mouth and took a deep breath, sucking all the immortal energy into his body. The advantage of an Innate Chaotic Spirit Body was immediately apparent, as the immortal energy began to rapidly flow through his meridians and blood vessels, quickly turning into the new blood that filled up his body.

As he puffed out a mouthful of turbid air, Wu Qi gently patted the rainbow light ball floating in front of him and said softly, "My precious, it's time for you to wake up!"

A sharp long hiss of the Green Dome Shark rang out, immediately followed by the deep rumbling of stars and sharp clashing of metals. A great sheet of starlight and brilliant rays burst out of the rainbow light ball, so strong that they actually penetrated mud, sand, and stone, and went out of the secret chamber. Wu Qi was startled, and he immediately wrapped the entire secret chamber with Shen energy. Fortunately, the Shen energy was able to contain the dazzling gleam.

The materials Wu Qi had used to create this weapon were all natural spirit items, and he had even used the soul of Green Dome Shark as its item spirit. With just a simple hand gesture and a soft cry, the rainbow light ball flashed several times before vanishing without a trace, leaving only a sheet of magnificent silver rays that wheeled rapidly around him.

Amidst the silver rays, a blade shaped like a leaping shark, hilt-less, twelve feet long, and so thin that it was almost tens of thousands of times thinner than a beam of light, was letting out clanging noises that sounded very happy. The blade was so thin that it almost looked transparent; but, a careful glance at it revealed that its body was filled with countless overlapping projection of stars and millions of runes. When the blade was flying in the air, these runes and stars were moving freely in it as if they were alive, their paths matching perfectly with the Great Dao.

"Starshark!" Wu Qi looked at the huge, strangely shaped blade, and announced in a deep voice, "Your name is Starshark!"

The blade let out another crisp cry as it abruptly transformed into a starlight and dove into Wu Qi's forehead. A tiny silver halo emerged in Wu Qi's forehead, where it turned into an inch-long little shark.

Wu Qi smiled proudly as he swallowed up all the Shen energy that wrapped the chamber, then slowly rose to his feet and cried out, "The spirit weapon is born. Now, who will let me try its power?"

Before his voice could fade, a loud knock suddenly came from the door, and a manly voice rang in his ears.

"Your Excellency, the scouts of Myriad Immortal Alliance have clashed with our patrols!" The ancient Chinese graded bows by 'stone', which translate to draw weight today. Different dynasty has a different measurement for stone, but generally a stone is about three to six kilograms (approximately 6.6 to 13.2 lbs).