Stealing The Heavens
chapter-74

The armored soldiers brought here by Yan Heluo were all elites, each being one in a thousand. Meanwhile, the dozens of men who were leaping towards Wu Qi were all having the cultivation of peak Houtian. Among them, two had their body faintly emanating ripples of innate energy. Obviously, they were only one step away from breaking through to Xiantian realm.

It was as if they were skillful in some kind of a converging melee tactic. The tens of people were leaping toward Wu Qi from all directions, stretching and grabbing their hands at Wu Qi's neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, chest, knees, and all other vital joints on his body.

Wu Qi was caught unprepared by the assault. Honestly, everyone was surprised that Yan Heluo would order his men to capture someone in Lu Chengfeng's mansion. If his order was lightly elaborated, he was looking down on Wu Qi; if it was moderately elaborated, he was ignoring Lu Chengfeng's status. To turn it to the extreme case, he was provoking all the members of the Great Yan Dynasty's Ninth Clan.

No one expected that Yan Heluo would come out with such an order. As a result, Wu Qi was tightly gripped by these armored soldiers. Tens of men let out a loud cry at the same time, exerting force with their arms and wanting to press Wu Qi down against the floor. Four soldiers had come from behind, each carrying a bowl-sized black pole in their hand. Once Wu Qi was pressed down against the floor, they would immediately give him a good treatment.

Though these four black poles had an ordinary look, they were actually made from ten thousand years old mountain rattan. After these aged rattans were picked and harvested from remote mountains, they would be soaked in tung oil for three years, and then exposed to the hot sun. The same process would repeat for eighteen years. Only when the bucket-sized rattan shrunk to the diameter of a bowl would it be considered successfully made.

Thus, even though they were made from rattan, their strength could be compared to that of steel. A stroke of it consisted a powerful force as well as its tenderness in it, and it could even shatter a large rock into pieces. No ordinary people could withstand even three strokes of it, let alone three hundred strokes. By giving out an order of three hundred strokes for Wu Qi, it was obvious that Yan Heluo wanted to kill him.

Wu Qi never thought Yan Heluo would simply ignore the feeling of Lu Chengfeng, the host of this mansion, and that was why it had brought him into the current situation. Tens of peak Houtian armored soldiers exerting their force together. His feet staggered because of the sudden force, causing him to lose the control of his body and fell facing the floor.

Right after he fell, besides from four armored soldiers who were still clenching their grip on his shoulders and back, the rest of the soldiers had loosened their grip. The four soldiers came rushing from the back raised the heavy dark poles in the air, exhaled a long breath and cried out at the same time. They then thrust the pole toward Wu Qi's buttock and legs. All four of them had exerted their full force. The black pole streaked through the air and produced a muffled whistling noise before forcefully hitting on Wu Qi's buttock.

The stroke came with a tremendous force and made Wu Qi's body tremble. It penetrated through his body and hit the floor. Four dark green floor tiles made from mountain rock were instantly shattered into powder form. Wu Qi felt a severe pain come from his back and rushed into his heart. His shirt and pants on the buttock were falling apart, and a thick red mark instantly emerged on his skin. Although he managed to circulate his innate energy and protect himself, the stroke still nearly shattered this layer of protection.

The first soldier who swung the black pole took two steps back. While following a steady frequency, the other three soldiers swung their pole, one after another. These four soldiers were experts in punishing someone's buttock. Once they began the punishment, the black poles would swing endlessly like a windmill, and there would be no delay or hesitation.

Wu Qi was greatly shocked when he heard the sound of another incoming strike. The first stroke had nearly broken his protection of innate energy, and his skin and flesh had suffered a serious injury. If he were hit by another few strokes, perhaps Wu Qi would really be killed by them in this place.

He tilted his head and let out a sharp cry, and in an instant, his eyes turned bloodshot.

The enormous innate water energy hiding within the water meridians in both his arms begun to surge. Like a raging river that just broke through the dam, they rushed and flowed into his Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Principle Meridians. A clump of misty vapor that one could see with naked eyes burst out from Wu Qi's body. Four soldiers who were holding on Wu Qi's body suddenly let out a muffled snort, and felt like a bomb suddenly exploded at their fingertips. An irresistible force came pushing towards them. The flesh on their fingers was ripped, and the exposed bones were also breaking and falling apart.

Wu Qi roared furiously. His short hairs had stood up pointing towards the sky. On his left palm, he condensed and held the force of Jade Breaking Hand, while on his right palm he secretly hid the force of Picking Stars Palm. Like a frenzied venomous python, he twisted his body and sprung up from the floor. Together with a muffled sound of a tidal wave, he thrust his left palm of Jade Breaking Hand forward, striking it on the chest of all four soldiers who held him up just now. The extremely condensed force of shivering barged into their body, and exploded within the depths.

Four burly and tall peak Houtian experts let out a shrill cry together, before their body suddenly exploded. Only those who witnessed this would know the true meaning of 'flesh and blood flying in all directions'. Their body was instantly blown into pieces as blood and pieces of flesh squeezed out from the cracks in their armor, shooting as far as one hundred feet with an awful whistling noise. At this moment, Lu Chengfeng's meeting hall was besmeared with a layer of blood.

Before the other three poles could come down, Wu Qi spun and gave all four armored soldiers a Jade Breaking Hand on their chest. At the same time, his Picking Stars Palm struck out noiselessly, and lightly pressed onto their Dantian.

The blood essence of these four armored soldiers rushed through Wu Qi's right palm and came into his body. Supplemented by these blood essences, his buttock which had just been hit and was swelling had started to heal at an incredible speed. His blood and Qi were surging and rushing throughout his entire body, making Wu Qi feel like he was full of power right now. He let out a long cry, opened his bloodshot eyes widely and sprinted toward Yan Heluo.

"Since you want to kill me, I'll kill you then!" Wu Qi shouted aggressively, raising both palms high up and thrusting toward Yan Heluo's head.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*! The body of four armored soldiers who were holding black poles trembled as the frightening force of Jade Breaking exploded within their body. Exactly like the previous four soldiers, their bodies exploded and blew into countless pieces of flesh and blood, bursting through the cracks of their armor and shooting at a far distance.

A rain of blood poured down into the meeting hall, and everyone at the scene was now covered in blood.

Flesh and blood were splashing and flying in the air. Wu Qi's eyes had turned bloodshot, and like a demon who just came from the bloody hell, he cried out savagely and struck towards Yan Heluo. The poor Yan Heluo, as he was one of the eight Princes that govern Great Yan Dynasty, a man of extreme prestige who lived a comfortable and luxurious life, he never saw someone like Wu Qi before, someone who had climbed out from mountains of corpses and a pool of blood.

Though he possessed the cultivation of Energy Concentrating, but Yan Heluo was like a delicate and fragile young girl who was alone facing a couple dozens of lustful men. His body kept shivering as he kept backing off, rolling and crawling crazily on the floor. While scurrying away in a messy state, he kept shouting fiercely, "Somebody, somebody! Quickly kill this fanatic, kill him now!"

A few soldiers who helped to hold Wu Qi just now were still standing in the hall closest to Wu Qi. They had witnessed how Wu Qi used a tactic that was beyond their imagination and killed eight of their peers, and then continued assaulting their master, Prince Ci in such a ferocious manner. These soldiers were greatly frightened and nearly had their soul flying out from their bodies. As they were stunned by what happened, they had forgotten the skill or tactics they learned, and just dashed towards Wu Qi straightaway.

They didn't hope that they could kill Wu Qi. But instead, they wished they could just delay Wu Qi for a brief moment, so Yan Heluo could have the time to escape. At the same time, they were buying some time for the real experts that stayed around Yan Heluo, giving them the opportunity to make the rescue. They spread their arms and circulated their innate energy repeatedly, overloading their energy and unleashing the strongest power they could, howling furiously and leaping towards Wu Qi.

Wu Qi had just sprung up a few feet from the ground and reached a distance of fewer than twenty feet, but was immediately greeted by these desperate soldiers. They clustered around him and hugged him tightly.

"Die!" The red glow in Wu Qi's eyes grown stronger, the dense crimson gleam nearly shooting out from his eyes. He took out the pearl of Innate Water Serpent and put it into his mouth. The enormous water elemental energy kept bursting out from the pearl and rushed into his body, replenishing his huge consumption.

The biggest characteristic of Scroll of Stealing was that it allowed the one who cultivated it to consume his own innate energy wantonly, as it would replenish the consumed innate energy at the same time. In fact, this actually fit the characteristic of 'bandits' and 'thieves'. When a bandit or thief stole something, it was natural that they would use up the stolen goods wantonly. No bandit or thief would be careful in their spending, and none of them would be calculative of every single coin and rice they used.

Except for the Scroll of Stealing, which was a heaven-defying cultivating skill, if any other cultivator dared to do what Wu Qi was doing now, his body would have long exploded by the tremendous energy contained in the Innate Water Serpent pearl. This was the restriction of the skill they cultivated. Except for Wu Qi, no one else in this world would have the courage to act recklessly like this.

Currently, Wu Qi's body had turned into a bridge. Through his body, the massive energy of Innate Water Serpent pearl kept bursting out ragingly, allowing him to instantly possess the full power of the three thousand eight hundred years old Innate Water Serpent. Waves of water that one could see with naked eyes emerged around Wu Qi, produced a loud boom and smashed onto the few soldiers hugging him.

Right after these soldiers hugged Wu Qi's body, the crystal clear waves of water that formed entirely from water elemental energy immediately thrust into their bodies. In an instant, their bodies shattered, as every single cell in their body was exploded by the expanding liquid.

The color of the water waves instantly turned into that of blood. At the same time, he had absorbed all the blood and qi essence of these few soldiers.

If it was Wu Qi himself, he could only steal 10% of these soldiers' blood and Qi essence. However, with the help of Innate Water Serpent pearl, the frightening cultivation of three thousand eight hundred years, he was able to draw out every single blood and Qi essence from these soldiers, including all their innate energy of peak Houtian realm.

Standing amidst the rocking and rolling waves of crimson, Wu Qi shouted ferociously, "Yan Heluo, die!"

He stretched his left hand out and pointed at Yan Heluo, and all of a sudden, countless blood red threads shot out from Wu Qi's palm. Jarring whistling noises rung out in the scene. The crimson wave around Wu Qi starting to spin, transforming into a gigantic crimson whirlpool. Agitated by this crimson whirlpool, the surrounding air began to spin as well, forming into a dozen bowl sized twisters.

Yan Heluo's body suddenly halted, as the invisible force from the Hand of Web had trapped his body. Unable to control his own body, Yan Heluo was being dragged toward Wu Qi's direction. But that was not the only thing that shocked him, as he also felt his energy, blood, and Qi essence showing a symptom of leaving his body, as if they were going to squeeze out from his pores and mixed into the bloody waves around Wu Qi.

At this critical moment when death was upon Yan Heluo's face, two vague figures suddenly dashed from beside and blocked in front of him.

"What a boorish fellow! How dare you be rude to Prince Ci? Die now!"

Two vague figures scolded at the same time. They waved their hand and unleashed two eight-feet long sword beams, striking toward Wu Qi together with a cold breeze. One of them was yellow and the other was gray in color. These sword beams didn't look of that high a quality. Obviously, they were made with ordinary materials. However, the cultivation of these two men was pretty strong, as both of them were showing the cultivation of Embryonic Breath tier.

They were different from Old Devil and Lord Flame, who used some kind of evil skills in increasing their cultivation. These two men were both Embryonic Breath tier cultivators who had spent a long time in arduously cultivating their skill. When their sword beams were unleashed, the blood red whirlpool in Wu Qi's palm was immediately shattered.

Wu Qi laughed ferociously, then he focused his vision and cried, "Let's see who will die in the end!"

He raised his left arm up in the air and circulated all innate water energy into it, then greeted both sword beams using this arm. The sword beams flashed through, and blood instantly burst out from Wu Qi's left arm.