Stealing The Heavens

Clouds of dust rose to the sky as King Xin Shan, King Li Shan, and a few other princes brought nearly half of the great clans in Liangzhu away, heading to the south.

Three hundred flying ships formed a square array and obscured the sky, flying to the south like a dark cloud. Over three hundred massive square arrays like this had left, all of which were fully loaded with soldiers from the Flying Bear Army, private guard and families of the great clans, and countless treasures they had accumulated over the years.

Thousands of Supreme Towers, each surrounded by thousands of Oracles, flanked these ships, leaving together.

There were also countless generals flying all over the sky; some rode on flood dragons, some qilins, and some rocs. In high spirits, they urged the procession to move hastily for the south. All the generals had profound cultivation bases, and their laughter could be heard in Liangzhu even across thousands of miles, ringing like thunder. King Yang Shan and others who stood atop the city wall near the south gate and watched them leave couldn’t help but glower.

Wu Qi had no idea how many Supreme Oracles around King Xin Shan and King Li Shan were the incarnations of someone from the Buddhist League, but when he threatened to kill them all, Buddha Sole was forced to give in and dared not to hurt the revered elders.

Wu Qi could go ahead regardless; he had nothing to lose. Even if he caused the death of many revered elders and was hunted down by Great Yu…Just as he had mentioned before, he was a lowborn man from the wild; he could always kill himself and enter transmigration. Eighteen years later, he would be alive and kicking once again.

But, Buddha Sole did not have the courage to risk his life with Wu Qi. If he had caused the death of those who had been reincarnated as Supreme Oracles, their masters, disciples, relatives, and friends would certainly pour their anger on him, not to mention what Lord Buddha would do to him. He would not be killed, but he would savor the endless ordeal of purgatory forever.

Buddha Sole was considered a member of the Buddhist League’s inner circle, and he knew that the Buddhist League had begun their plans long before dozens of Lord Buddhas to outmaneuver Great Yu. They had been secretly manipulating the transmigration, sneaking their important figures into some great clans in Liangzhu, who would not otherwise be reincarnated in Great Yu. Among the thousands of Supreme Oracles who were held hostage by Wu Qi, about a hundred were important people of the Buddhist League. If the power behind any of them were to make things hard on him, he would be put in a life-and-death dilemma.

As a result, Buddha Sole yielded, and so did King Xin Shan. Everyone sat down together ‘calmly’ and had a ‘friendly and restrained’ negotiation. After three days and three nights of intensive negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement and signed a formal treaty, then both vowed to ensure the smooth implementation of the agreement.

All the people associated with King Xin Shan and King Li Shan had shown up, leaving Liangzhu with their families after the two princes. Nearly half of the great clans in Liangzhu had important members who chose to betray Great Yu. With their families and possessions, they drove the massive square arrays of flying ships out of the city and You Xiong Plain, to build their own foundations in the provinces they controlled in the south.

Seventy percent of the generals and soldiers in the newly founded Flying Bear Army had betrayed Great Yu, and had left with the princes. As for the remaining thirty percent, they had been slain by their comrades in the tumult. Meanwhile, almost all of the Directorate of Celestials’ most important figures were killed, while the remaining were related to King Xin Shan.

By the time the great clans led by King Xin Shan left, Liangzhu was almost empty. Apart from the private armies and guards who served King Yang Shan, the kings of the council, and great clans who remained loyal to Great Yu, there was no more regular army in the city.

Almost half of the great clans had betrayed Great Yu; the dynasty’s power was immediately weakened by more than half. It was not just these people who left, but also the provinces they controlled. There was no doubt that those places no longer belong to Great Yu. In this way, Great Yu’s territory was torn apart like a ragged fishing net. If there was a conflict between these provinces, then the whole dynasty would fall into chaos.

For example, the three provinces situated to the south, southwest, and west of Dong Hai were controlled by the direct descendants of Youchao Clan. When news of Youchao Buhuang’s death reached those people, Wu Qi believed they would certainly turn their eyes on Dong Hai. By then, his territory would be under attack on three fronts.

It was not just the power of the great clans that Great Yu had lost. The heaviest losses had been in the Military Court and the Directorate of Celestials.

In the Military Court, the generals loyal to Great Yu were all slain, including the Military Minister and both his deputies. Even their families were slaughtered by the Flying Bear Army. Now, there was no regular army in or around Liangzhu. Wu Qi’s Dong Hai Army had become the most elite and powerful force outside of the city.

But, it was the Directorate of Celestials’ loss that made King Yang Shan and the other kings want to commit suicide. The Grand Oracle, the Left and Right Oracles, as well as the heads of various divisions, were all killed with deadly poison. Except for Youchao Buhuang and the other traitors, the Oracles loyal to Great Yu all died in one day. Now, in and around Liangzhu, only the kings of the council and the great clans still had Oracles at their disposal.

The Directorate of Celestials’ elite were all but wiped out, and the Secret Palace’s loss was even more heartbreaking.

The First Master, the elders in the Elders Council, and the First Masters of various divisions were killed by Buddha Sole with an unknown evil magic. Although a handful of surviving Supreme Oracles were quickly promoted and had taken over these positions, the Secret Palace had lost at least forty percent of its strength.

Buddha Sole kept his words and did not kill any revered elders of the Temple of Truth. However, he had trapped the souls of the hibernating elders with a technique called the ‘Illusionary Transmigration’ and controlled their bodies with a strange drug. If these two restrictions were not lifted, they were completely useless even if they were awakened. The fighting force of the entire army of revered elders was almost completely disintegrated, which was a devastating blow to the foundation of Great Yu’s rule.

These were the casualties, and the material losses were innumerable.

Torch Dragon had destroyed the entire imperial palace. Of the enormous wealth Great Yu had accumulated over the years in the various secret vaults, over ninety percent was gone. All the books and savings of the Directorate of Celestials were taken away by Youchao Buhuang and the others. The various ancient books and records in the Secret Palace had not suffered many losses, for they were kept with a mystic art. But, some of their precious materials had been taken away. The losses were so much that several of the Kings who listened to the list of losses had passed out on the spot.

Half of the Supreme Towers in the Directorate of Celestials’ secret storehouse, which cost countless precious materials to make, were taken away. If Wu Qi had not mentioned this during the negotiation and forced King Xin Shan and the others to leave half behind, even if Great Yu could produce fresh Supreme Oracles with some mystic art, they would be in an awkward situation where none of them would be equipped with a Supreme Tower for very long time.

The losses left King Yang Shan and the kings of the council in tears.

In the desolate, empty site of the imperial palace, the courtiers of Great Yu sat on the ground weeping quietly. The dynasty had never suffered such a heavy loss. Even Wu Qi was affected by this mournful atmosphere. Spiritless, he sat cross-legged next to King Yang Shan with his head hung low. Meanwhile, he grabbed Ao Buzun—who had turned back to his true form—by the tail and spun him like a windmill.

Ao Buzun, who had shrunk to only a foot long, felt his head reeling. So, he clung himself to Wu Qi’s arm lazily, refusing to let go. When Wu Qi let loose of his tail, he climbed to the top of his head and stood on two hind legs as he walked back and forth there proudly. As he was a little dragon now, the way he walked on two legs atop Wu Qi’s head made for a funny sight.

But, he felt incredibly good about himself. While waving his front claws, he muttered complacently, “Well, who could step on Lord Yuan Ling’s head like me? Even the strongest few Chaos Fiend Gods of ancient times did not have such privilege! Hehe!”

While Ao Buzun was jumping happily atop Wu Qi’s head, a figure suddenly appeared quietly behind them. The little black dragon glimpsed the figure from the corner of his eyes. At the sight, strength went out of his legs, causing him to fall off Wu Qis’ head while screaming in fear.

“Spirit! I saw the spirit of the dead! No, the corpse has turned into a zombie! DAMNIT! A ZOMBIE!” Ao Buzun shrieked at the top of his lungs as he locked both front claws into an incantation gesture. A mighty bolt of lightning shaped like a dragon darted out of his claws, shooting toward the figure with a dreadful thunderclap.

Dragons were the gods of wind, rain, and thunder, and Ao Buzun, the Ancestral Dragon, was the master of all thunder. Frightened by the figure, he had reflexively unleashed a bolt of lightning with a tiny bit of his natal energy essence, giving the attack an incredible power.

The figure had just emerged behind Wu Qi when Ao Buzun’s attack smashed him right in the face. The lightning was too fast; as the divine ability of the Ancestral Dragon, it was thousands of times faster than ordinary lightning. Besides, it came with the effects of evil-breaking and armor-piercing, the unique divine power of the Ancestral Dragon. As a result, the figure was blown away by it even before he could react.

The lightning exploded with a loud boom. The figure, who had been blown hundreds of miles away, crashed heavily on the ground. A pillar of lightning burst out of his face, towering dozens of miles into the sky before gradually spreading out in all directions like a firework.

King Yang Shan and the others jumped to their feet at the same time. Exhausted by the series of changes in recent days, they suddenly found the best outlet for their anger. King Yang Shan howled and snapped, “Bring that bold fellow over here! I want to cut him up piece by piece!”

Seventeen kings of the council threw themselves at the man while screaming.

In a sorry state, the figure flew out of the hole blown up by the lightning and coughed violently, his face awkward.

The kings stopped abruptly. They looked at the man in disbelief, and then let out a cry together that was filled with surprise, incredulity, and shock.

A golden sword beam rose to the sky, and a vast pressure swept out in all directions The kings of the council, as well as all the civil and military officials, fell to their knees at the same time while crying out loudly and respectfully. “We, your humble servants, are here to pay our respects to Your Majesty!”

Ao Buzun was dumbstruck.

“I just blew the Human Emperor away with lightning? DAMNIT!”