Stealing The Heavens
chapter-853

The ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar was an auspicious day, suitable for holding sacrifices. It was a good day chosen by Princess Zhang Le with the art of divination.

In the depths of the mountain some five thousand miles south of An He City, an earthen sacrificial altar was raised. It stood about a thousand feet tall, with a base that measured two thousand feet in both width and length. At the moment, it was fully surrounded by people, including the emperors and courtiers of the six states, the members of their imperial clans, and descendants of powerful clans. Thirty-six storage bracelets with huge capacity were placed in a row on top of the altar. Clad in a long black robe, Princess Zhang Le stood atop the altar, looking calmly at a passing cloud in the sky.

Beneath the altar, Wu Qi, the emperors, and the courtiers of the six states had each made a cut on their wrists, and were signing with their own blood on the treaty of the alliance made with a piece of yellow silk. Each one swore an oath while signing his name that he would do everything in his power to protect the overall interests of Dong Hai Alliance, which encompassed the interests of everyone in the six states, and naturally the interests of Dong Hai Province represented by Wu Qi.

After the treaty was signed, the armies and civilians of the six states would be able to move into Wu Qi's fief. From then on, no one in Great Yu could discover the infiltration of the six states. With the vast land of the thirty provinces directly under his name, and the three hundred provinces under Bo Clan who had submitted to him, even if the population of the six states increased ten-thousand-fold, their migration was like throwing a stone into a boundless ocean—nobody would notice anything unusual.

In a reverent and solemn atmosphere, Wu Qi, the emperors, and the courtiers of the six states prayed to the heaven and earth and formally signed the treaty. Taking the opportunity, Great Yan's emperor, Yan Dan, announced his abdication, and his decision of passing the throne to his granddaughter—Princess Zhang Le, Ji Zixuan. From now on, she had another formal title: Emperor Zhang Le. But, as she did not like that title, she asked those close to her to still call her princess.

When the signing of the treaty was concluded, Wu Qi and the emperors withdrew to the rear, and then troops of elite soldiers brought to the altar large quantities of livestock, as well as large numbers of immortals and cultivators whom Dong Hai had secretly captured during these days. As Princess Zhang Le's soft cry rang out from the top of the altar, the livestock and immortals were slaughtered in mass. Fresh blood spilled all over the place, turning into plumes of dense blood mist and towering thousands of feet into the sky. The princess then began to recite a ritual incantation, calling Hei Mo's name. Suddenly, a light pressure came falling down from the void.

Under his sleeve, Wu Qi gently flicked his fingers a few times. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Dong Hai Province carefully hid on hundreds of mountains scattered around the valley. Among them, 1,080 generals were holding Kunwu Swords that Wu Qi had conjured with chaotic energy. Together with all the other soldiers, they formed a huge Fiend Slaying Sword Formation.

Outside this formation, Ao Buzun, Lord Xiansheng, and a dozen other Primordial experts from Dong Hai had led thousands of Gold Immortals and laid out an aura-concealing formation called the Chaos Heaven Formation. Invented by Lord Yuan Ling, although the formation did not have too much offensive power, its ability to conceal auras was the best in the universe. In those days, whenever Lord Yuan Ling found some supreme-grade herbs that were not matured enough, he would use this formation to conceal their auras, and wait until they were matured before picking them.

The ability of the formation to fool countless ancient Chaotic Fiend Gods proved its effectiveness in hiding auras.

With both hands tucked under his sleeves, Wu Qi smiled and looked at a ring of black light slowly emerging in the sky over the altar. If Hei Mo honored his word and removed the curses, then swore that he would never leak this to anyone, Wu Qi would let him take away all the precious natural treasures. However, if he dared to play tricks, regardless of how strong he was, Wu Qi would take him down with force. He was prepared to do that.

Although the Black Celestial Forbidden Curse was bizarre and mysterious, with Lord Yuan Ling's experience and knowledge, Wu Qi knew that as long as his cultivation base broke through the realm of first-tier Primordial, he would be able to break it. But, in order to reassure the emperors and courtiers of the six states and strengthen their sense of belonging toward Dong Hai Alliance, he was willing to spend a fortune. If not, he would rather use those vast quantities of natural treasures in artifact refinement than give them to Hei Mo.

Accompanied by a strange laugh, a plume of black smoke gushed out of the ring of light. In the next moment, the ferocious-looking Hei Mo revealed himself in it. He blinked and glanced around, then suddenly clapped his hands and burst out laughing. "Oh, you have prepared all the sacrificial offerings I asked? Well, well... So many people are controlled by Black Celestial Forbidden Curse? You humans are really fast at giving birth to babies."

"Please lift the curse for them as we have agreed before," said Princess Zhang Le coolly.

Hei Mo thought for a moment, then he casually waved a hand, and all thirty-six storage bracelets came falling into his hands. When he glanced inside the bracelets with his divine sense, he sucked in a cold breath. "Did you rob the Human Emperor's treasury? If not, how did you manage to gather so many treasures?" His eyes moved about wildly as he fiddled with the bracelets for a long time without saying a word.

Wu Qi flew slowly up to the top of the altar and landed next to Princess Zhang Le. He gave Hei Mo a faint smile and said, "Senior Hei Mo, we've prepared everything as per your request, and the people who need you to lift their curse are all here. Have a look at them and count carefully. According to the price you've asked, we've paid fully for every single one of them."

An enormous spatial magic was cast in this valley, so it was large enough to accommodate all the members of the imperial clans and descendants of the powerful clans from the six states.

When the emperors and courtiers of the six states were brought to the Myriad Immortals Planet, each state had only about hundreds of people. After more than two thousand years of living and multiplying there, they had produced nearly a hundred generations of descendants. Today, the members of the imperial clan and descendants of the powerful clans of each state were numbered in millions, excluding those who had died due to the lack of aptitude in cultivation or in accidents. When the number was added up, the six states had nearly 100 million people.

Wu Qi did not want to complicate the matter, so he had prepared enough treasures for the total population of the six states to meet Hei Mo's exorbitant demand. He thought he had done his part, and Hei Mo should not have any other excuses.

Hei Mo's eyes moved about rapidly as he ran his hand across the storage bracelets. Suddenly he sighed and said, "I can't believe how determined you are! Even in Pangu Continent, it must be not easy for you to gather so many natural treasures, is it? But..."

Wu Qi flared up when he heard the word 'but'. "But what?" he asked with a cold grin.

Hei Mo was startled by the sudden fierce aura that came from Wu Qi. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes moving rapidly, but then he said all the same, "But, something has changed lately." He blinked and laughed in a funny manner before going on, "The world I come from has recently discovered several huge veins of ore, so the value of these things has diminished. If you want me to lift the curse of so many people, hmm..."

Hefting the bracelets, he frowned and said, "Since you are so determined, give me twice as many materials. Although the value of these things has reduced by more than half in my homeland, for the sake of your sincerity, you only need to give me twice as much. Take the rest as my discount to you!"

Princess Zhang Le had no reply for that, and Wu Qi also did not say a word. Meanwhile, the members of the imperial clans and descendants of the powerful clans from the six states all raised their heads and looked at Hei Mo fiercely at the same time.

Even though he thought he could look down on Wu Qi and the others with his mighty overall strength, when so many people were staring at him at the same time, Hei Mo still felt his skin crawl a little. "Don't you try any strange tricks on me! I can come and go as I want. What can you do to me?"

With a cold snort, Wu Qi slowly released his aura. The aura of an eighth-tier Primordial expert made Hei Mo's face fall while he flew hundreds of feet backward reflexively. Then, a plume of blood smoke thrust out from the top of Wu Qi's head, from which came flying out eighteen Blood-draining Celestial Fiends. Laughing evilly, each fiend released the pressure of the ninth-tier Primordial experts.

Hei Mo's facial muscle trembled when he saw the eighteen bizarre-looking fiends. "Alright, forget it. In that case, you...you only need to give me fifty percent...no, thirty percent as much materials."

Wu Qi snorted coldly once more and waved his hand in the air. Immediately, 1,080 beams of blue light towered into the sky from around the valley–the Fiend Slaying Sword Formation was activated. Countless soldiers jumped into it at the same time, and, bolstered by the formation, their bodies began to emit a threatening golden light as they cried out in unison, releasing a terrible pressure that went smashing down on Hei Mo.

Hei Mo's face turned extremely unsightly. "Fiend Slaying Sword Formation? You've inherited the Sacred Emperor's legacy?" he snapped. "Aye, why so serious? I've made a mistake. The veins found in my homeland are huge, but they lack the materials you have put in these bracelets. We are all good friends, so why fight each other? Well, let me lift the curse for you now, what do you think?"

Suddenly, Ao Buzun and Lord Xiansheng broke out of the void, one with the Soul-splitting Spear in hand and the other carrying the Illusion-breaking Halberd. While swinging and thrusting the black spear, Ao Buzun said with an evil smile, "Little punk, do you want to taste my spear?" He was finally given a spear that he could use to make some lousy joke, which made him feel really good.

Lord Xiansheng, on the other hand, swung the Illusion-breaking Halberd and tore a very thin, arc-shaped rift in the void. The rift did not go away even after ten minutes, making Hei Mo's face darker.

He gave a deep look at the divine weapons in their hands and sighed. "Chaotic Spirit Artifacts? I'm losing out big this time!"

Wu Qi stared at him, perfectly calm and collected as he said lightly, "Swear it that you will not leak what happens today to anyone, whether by means of hinting or metaphor, and I'll let you go, together with everything in your hands now."

Hei Mo gnashed his teeth. Grinning coldly, he said, "I'm really losing out big today! I can't believe you have such extraordinary means and fortune. Well, well... if you want me to swear, you'll have to come out with more bargaining chips. If you can really frighten me, not only will I swear, but I will accept your worship and offerings in the future."

Wu Qi said nothing but gave Princess Zhang Le a look. A lotus platform surrounded in spirit light spun out from beneath the princess's feet. It was the Immovable Lotus crafted by Wu Qi in his previous life, which had merged with the innate silver lotus flower, making it extremely powerful in both offense and defense. After that, a beam of auspicious light shot out from the top of her head, with a tiny nine-storied pagoda gradually revealing itself from within. It was the Cardinal Tower, which had the ability to nourish one's foundation when used as a protection against the enemies.

As soon as these two Chaotic Spirit Artifacts appeared, Hei Mo knitted his brows in despair.

With a long sigh, he raised both hands and swore the oath, and then waved his hand. Accompanied by the howling of ghosts, plumes of black smoke came rushing out of the heads of the emperors, the courtiers, the members of the imperial clans, and the descendants of the powerful clans of the six states, which quickly disappeared into Hei Mo's body.

Together, the people of the six states revealed their nascent divinities—they were perfectly clean, with no trace of abnormality.

For a moment, the valley rang with thunderous cheers, and there were even some members of the imperial clans and noble descendants who shouted 'All hail King Dong Hai!'.

Wu Qi laughed heartily as he looked down from the altar at the people of the six states who were cheering and laughing and dancing happily.