Stealing The Heavens
chapter-98

A six feet long ray with light purple hue was shooting towards his face, along with high temperature. It was not an ordinary flying sword, but a divine weapon with the quality close to a lower tier magical treasure. Ordinary flying swords could only hurt someone with its sharpness. As for this light purple sword beam, it contained a fire poison of high temperature. Even though it was still over twenty feet away from Wu Qi, the devastating heatwave that felt like cutting of blade on skin had already burned and curled up Wu Qi's hairs. It was definitely a flying sword of magical treasure tier.

With full force, Wu Qi swung his Sword of Greedy Wolf. A dark gleam spread out like a folding fan, greeting the incoming attack.

A loud clanging noise rang out. Wu Qi's body trembled, as the impact sent him rolling back with eighteen somersaults and brought him to a distance of over one hundred feet away, nearly throwing him flat on the ground. The clothes clad on his body suddenly caught on fire, as the red tongue of flame coiled up to his face and instantly burned off both his brows. The burning flame continued its way up to his head, climbing up onto his newly grown short hair and vanished them into wisps of smokes.

Loud curses spewed out from Wu Qi's mouth. A curtain of water vapor emerged and enshrouded his body, as the innate water energy clad on his body with a piercing cold sensation. The flame was instantly put out. He felt all five fingers of his numb and painful. The tremendous force of impact nearly knocked the Sword of Greedy Wolf from his grip. But luckily, he unleashed a suction force with Hand of Web on time, or else the precious sword would have been sent flying far away.

A loud cry broke out from the hall, "What a daring fellow! Come quickly here and face your death!"

The light purple sword beam was knocked ten feet back by Wu Qi, but it was now ablaze with a glaring light. A layer of few inches thick purple red flame burst out from the blade, giving an appearance of a flaming dragon to the blade itself. Emanating a menacing heatwave, it sprung forward and chased towards Wu Qi. However, right when it reached to the distance of thirty feet, a ten feet white beam intercepted its course from the side, tangling it into a fierce fight. After spitting out this sword beam, Nie Baihong sneered and said, "How dare you hurt my disciple right in front of my face! The manner of you people from Wei Clan is just getting worse and worse! I'll teach you a lesson today, so that you will know how to restrain yourself in the future!"

Nie Baihong widened his eyes, and from his tiny pupils, two white rays shot out and reached to the length of nearly one foot. The strength of the sword beam unleashed by him suddenly became stronger, and then they split into three separate white sword beams, interweaving into a curtain of bright web and tightly trapping the light purple sword beam in it. After that, three sword beams compressed inwardly, and a loud cracking noise rang out. The light purple sword beam was forcefully crushed and shattered into pieces by the web of swords. Countless thumb-sized specks of purple red were splashing and shooting in all direction. The sparks fell and hit the floor, burning out at least a few hundred fist-sized holes on the floor laid with square rock slabs.

A hoarse cry came from the hall, "Can I know which honorable senior has visited this place? Please forgive my sin for offending the senior, as I've no idea a senior was present."

Nie Baihong snorted coldly, beckoning at Wu Qi and Yan Fu before walking straight into the hall. Lu Chengfeng had long risen from his seat and greeted the prestigious guest. With utmost respect, he led and brought Nie Baihong, who sat down on the most prestigious seat in the hall: the master's seat. Yan Fu was busying with all the arrangements, ordering the serving ladies of Duke Yan Le's Mansion as they came in and out of the hall like butterflies, bringing in premium quality tea and all sorts of desserts and fruits.

Hastily, Wu Qi signaled Lu Chengfeng with his eyes, demanding him to stay beside Nie Baihong and serve the newly arrived guest with care. After that, he brought his eyes around and gazed at those few people in the hall, who were having unsightly expressions. Sitting in the guest seat, who appeared as the leader of the visiting guests, was the young girl from Wei Clan who gave Lu Chengfeng those flirtatious words just now. She was a young girl with splendid appearance, clad in a light green long dress that was luxuriously decorated, subtly giving off an air of descendant from an influential clan. Yet, though this young girl from Wei Clan had an extraordinary face, the look in her eyes was too fierce and stern, and her chin was too sharp and pointy. Both of filled her with an overbearing manner, decreasing the cuteness and gentleness of a teenage girl.

This was an extremely domineering girl, who was proud of her superiority. Beside her stood a row of eight old men, beaming with energies and spirit. Each of them possessed the cultivation of Embryonic Breath tier. But obviously, their Qi essence was supplied and nourished with miraculous pills and herbs. Thus their look wasn't withered or skinny. Their skin was glinting with grease, fair with a touch of red, and their spirit was vigorous, as if they were strong young adults. Just that one of them had blood dripping from his lips, and his face was pale. Obviously, this was the old man who had his sword beam shattered by Nie Baihong, and his divine sense was hurt by the assault.

However, even though the loyal guard of hers was taught a lesson by Nie Baihong, and he had also come out with words of asking for forgiveness, the girl still wore the same lofty expression. She was tilting her head high up with her chin protruding forward, and using a glance of looking down in staring at Nie Baihong, who was emanating rocking energies and surrounded by strange signs of an Immortal Human of Gold Core realm. As for Wu Qi, who was currently surveying her, she simply ignored him.

Wu Qi's appearance was fairly awful right now. His brows were gone due to the flame, and his shirt had turned into ashes as well. He was currently clad only in a cloak. He brought his hand and touched his bald head, giving the young girl a few more looks before smiling and asking, "Young master, what is going on? I heard that this young lady is trying to buy over all your iron mines and energy stone veins by force? This cannot do, we still need to rely on these resources to live our life."

Before Lu Chengfeng could respond to him, the young girl had let out a loud laugh and said, "Funny, this is really funny. I supposed you are Mister Wu Qi, the chief hanger-on of Duke Yan Le? Let me be frank with you. If we, the Wei Clan, give out our words, all those iron ingots cast in Duke Yan Le's fief, together with the energy stones, would have no market to sell to. If you want to rely on these things in living your life, unless you can bite through those iron ingots and swallow them, or you can fill your stomach with energy stones."

"Ridiculous!" Nie Baihong snorted with a deep voice, "Slap your own face three times, or else, don't blame me for not showing mercy with my sword."

Wu Qi smiled. He took a few steps backward, passing the initiative of the situation over to Nie Baihong. Nie Baihong was truly worthy of being the Sect Leader of Heaven Breaking Sword Sect. With just one simple sentence, he had pushed the young girl into a dead end. Either she would have to slap her own face, or Nie Baihong would kill her with his sword. Sometimes, being malicious and fierce would bring good to the situation, and sometimes, being unreasonable would turn out to be the most reasonable side. Those with a bigger fist would be the lord of the event. All of a sudden, Wu Qi was deeply enlightened with the profoundness of this saying.

Obviously, the young girl was startled by Nie Baihong's words. She opened her mouth and paused in silence, then, nodded with her sharp chin. She rose to her feet and bowed towards Nie Baihong. "Your respectable senior, my name is Wei Xiaoxiao. I'm in charge of all the affairs concerning every single merchant in the territory of Great Yan Dynasty. Can I know your good name?"

Nie Baihong closed his eyes. Without giving any face to Wei Xiaoxiao he sneered and said, "Slap your own face eighteen times, or else, I'll kill you right away."

Wei Xiaoxiao's body trembled suddenly. Her eyes went wide as she stared right at Nie Baihong's face and said furiously, "Do you know Xiaoxiao is from Wei Clan? We the Wei Clan..."

Nie Baihong's eyes snapped open. Exerting his innate energy of Gold Core realm, he cried out angrily, "You people from the Wei Clan are just merchants who buy low and sell out at a high price. What rights do you have to behave unbridled in front of me? Do you, the Wei Clan, have the courage to start a war with us, the Heaven Breaking Sword Sect?" Amidst the angry roar, Nie Baihong opened his mouth and spat out a white beam, shooting it out at top speed and thrusting toward Wei Xiaoxiao's neck.

Standing aside, Lu Chengfeng nearly applauded and burst out in laughter. Since the moment Wei Xiaoxiao arrived, she had been using a domineering attitude in threatening him to cooperate with Wei Clan. Yet, the so-called cooperation was, in fact, seizing the management right of the most valuable mines found in Lu Chengfeng's fief while leaving him with only some worthless piece of rubbish. As Lu Chengfeng had no clue about the exact background of this Wei Clan, and being a man who handled matters with care, he had been compromising out of consideration for the general interest. But this Wei Xiaoxiao kept demanding one condition after another, pressing him one step closer at a time, and didn't leave him with any room of negotiation.

Now, by witnessing how Nie Baihong impetuously unleashed his sword energy while trying to kill this girl, if he were not bound by his status, Lu Chengfeng would have clapped his hands and cheered like some folks in the market. He just wished he could flip over and smash a few tea pots and plates in front of him, so he could vent the depressed air pumped up in his chest.

Wei Xiaoxiao was crying out in great terror. Nie Baihong really wanted to kill her? Among all younger generation of Wei Clan, she was the person with the most outstanding performance. No matter it was her approach in business or other aspects, she was the elite among all other elites, and that was the reason the clan selected her as the chief person in charge for all the merchants in Great Yan Dynasty. In future, she would be given greater responsibility, and would be put to great use by the clan. Yet, for an elite genius like her, for a prestigious young girl with the excellent background of a superior and influential clan, Nie Baihong really wanted to kill her without thinking twice?

Seven sword beams suddenly thrust out from beside Wei Xiaoxiao, as all eight guards of her were shouting together, "Great White God of Slaughter? Retreat at once, young lord!"

The old man who had his sword beam shattered by Nie Baihong quickly cupped up Wei Xiaoxiao with his arms, spun and fled with the quickest speed possible. Although his flying sword was destroyed, this old man still possessed the cultivation of Embryonic Breath tier. By circulating his energy and springing up into midair, he could glide a distance of at least three to five miles. While holding Wei Xiaoxiao in his arms, he had sprinted out from the hall with a leap, almost leaving Duke Yan Le's Mansion within the blink of an eye.

Resting his eyes on seven sword beams that came shooting towards his face, Nie Baihong's loosely hung hair suddenly stood up like a dense forest of pointed needles. He snapped furiously, "You are merely some rice-sized pearls, how dare you to shine before me! Hehe, come and face your death! Wu Qi my dear disciple, once I've captured that Wei Xiaoxiao, I want you to give her 108 slaps on her face!"

Three sword beams sprung whistling out from the top of his head, dispersing suddenly into countless wisps of white mist and floating down from midair. Nie Baihong then opened his mouth and spat out six more white rays. Together with the first white ray he spat out a moment ago, they all absorbed and merged the falling white mist into themselves. All seven white beams suddenly turned dazzling and filled with a powerful force, like seven raging dragons. They collided into seven sword beams unleashed by the seven old men and tangled into a fierce fight.

The strength of the flying swords used by these old men was closely matched to a lower tier magical treasure. Obviously, they were divine weapons that Wei Clan had purchased at a hefty price. However, the Sword of Grand White used by Nie Baihong was a treasure left behind by an ancient Immortal, and his technique of controlling flying sword was ingenuous and marvelous, along with his cultivation of a Gold Core realm. Meanwhile, these old men were merely having the cultivation of Embryonic Breath tier. Thus, the gap between their overall strength was tremendous and unsuppressed by any means or approaches.

Right at the moment when these seven white rays were unleashed, the glow on the sword beams of those old men faded immediately. Their body swayed, as if they were just struck by a thunderbolt. Their feet staggered as they stepped backward hastily while fresh blood was seen bursting out from their seven apertures. Nie Baihong let out roars of laughter while the glow of his white sword beams grew stronger, and with an inward press, fourteen parts of destroyed flying swords fell and hit the ground. All the flying swords of the old men were broken by him.

"Face your death!" Nie Baihong focused his eyes as his pupils suddenly turned bloodshot. Seven white beams thrust out like seven rays of death, causing seven heads of human to instantly roll up into the air with fountains of blood. Blood spilled and smeared the ground, as freshly cut human heads were rolling amidst the puddle of warm blood. The guards of Wei Xiaoxiao could merely stop Nie Baihong for less than one second, before they were all miserably killed by the ferocious Human Immortal. He laughed wildly, then transformed into a white ray and chased towards Wei Xiaoxiao's direction. Wu Qi and Lu Chengfeng were both following closely behind him, having the same intention of witnessing how Nie Baihong was going to handle Wei Xiaoxiao, an overbearing and domineering young girl.

Within the time it took to blink an eye, the last guard protecting Wei Xiaoxiao was killed with a slap by Nie Baihong. Her neck was tightly clenched in Nie Baihong's palm, and was being dragged over to Wu Qi and Lu Chengfeng. When faced with a Human Immortal of Gold Core realm, this Wei Xiaoxiao didn't have any change to run for her life.

Nie Baihong smiled ferociously, and was about to deal with the pale-faced Wei Xiaoxiao, but suddenly, a large fleet of dark cloud came rolling fast from a far distance.

A frightening pressure was gathering in Ji City from all directions. Countless lightning bolts were seen striking and streaking from within the dark clouds. The muffled rumbles of thunder shook the people and cast a depressed feeling in their mind. Slowly but surely, the dark clouds turned a vortex of cloud that spanned across a distance of nearly few hundred miles. Then, it shrunk quickly, and was very soon compressed and maintained at the size of merely tens of miles.

Nie Baihong cried out in surprise, "Gold Core Tribulation? Someone in Ji City has formed his Gold Core?"