Stealing The Heavens

On a hill some thirty miles from the city wall, the emperor of Great Li, Huo Wuliang, was surrounded by a crowd of generals watching the siege. On the left, right, and rear of the hill were camps of numerous tents. The dynasty’s millions of soldiers were here; the fifty thousand soldiers attacking the city were only the vanguards.

Huo Wuliang was a big, strong man who looked as fierce as a lion. Because of the technique he cultivated, his face was aglow, as if there were coals burning under his skin. Scorching heatwaves constantly spread from his body, and gusts of hot wind blew away for miles. Judging by the anomalies around him, he was an expert who had cultivated fire-element technique to the realm of Gold Immortal.

With bright sparks darting out of his eyes, the emperor let out a disapproving snort as he watched the battle on the wall.

A dozen breaches, a hundred-odd ladders, some thirty siege towers…The soldiers scaled the wall in endless streams, and then were knocked to the ground by the enemy on the wall. Blood spilled and puddled into pools while limbs flew in all directions. Even so, there were not many soldiers who lost their lives. After more than ten hours of sieging, the total number of soldiers killed on both side were only about thirty.

Great Yu’s soldiers were holding the high ground, and the city’s defensive formation had enhanced them while hindering the enemy. Under such circumstances that the enemy could not fly and was only able to jump thirty feet high, the guarding soldiers had a great advantage.

Great Li’s soldiers, on the other hand, were battle-hardened. Over the past thousand years, the dynasty had been warring constantly. Through hundreds of battles, they had crushed all their foes, and eventually unified the planet they were on, ruling over ten billion people. Every soldier of Great Li was an elite who had killed and seen blood on the battlefield. On an open field, they would need only one charge to wipe out the defenders. This time, however, their opponents had the advantage of defending the city, making the battle a boring one for the vanguard.

Both sides cultivated the cultivation technique of the human race, and their soldiers were strong in physical strength, great in stamina and, above all, extremely tough to be killed. A soldier who was seriously wounded, either because of a severed limb, a deep cut in the belly, or a broken internal organ, could return to the battlefield alive and well after a short rest in the rear, provided that he was not fatally hacked in the neck.

The siege had continued for over ten hours, and yet the total number of soldiers killed on both sides was only about thirty. This kind of stalemate was unprecedented in Huo Wuliang’s mighty army. Glancing sulkily at the wall, where the battle was still being fiercely fought but had made no progress at all, he turned into a cloud of fire and flew toward the tent in the rear.

One hundred and eight monks in black robes, their scalps cleanly shaved and their hands put together before their chests, stood erect in front of the tent. At first glance, they all looked like eminent monks. But, if one looked carefully, their bodies were emitting an evil aura; the corners of their eyes and their eyebrows were stained with hints of slyness, and their eyes were all black, without a trace of white. Obviously, they were not some good guys, and were cultivating some evil techniques.

Huo Wuliang landed carefully in front of the tent as he put his palms together and said to the black-clad monks, “This disciple, Huo Wuliang, begs for an audience with the imperial advisor.”

Just then, from inside the tent came a burst of women’s laughter, which drowned out the shrieks and moans of a young girl. The girl screamed at the top of her lungs, then seemed to be gagged by something, and could make no more sound. The monk in black put their palms together and did not stir. It was some time before a strong, hoarse voice came out of the tent.

“Oh, is it the emperor? Come in!”

Huo Wuliang smiled and nodded to the monks, then walked slowly into the tent.

The interior of the tent was spacious enough for more than a hundred people to chase and play at the same time. The floor was covered with soft white fur, and dozens of beautiful women in gauze lay panting. A petite, seemingly very young girl was lying sprawled in the middle of the tent. She was covered in sweat and unknown liquids, her blank eyes staring at a point in the ceiling as if her soul had drifted away somewhere.

Lao Ai sat lazily next to the girl. He was naked, his thick muscles twitching, giving off a strange, obscene allure. Huo Wuliang lowered his head and did not dare to look at him. He bowed as he put his palms together and called out, “Greetings, my lord!”

As he caressed the girl’s delicate and fair body, Lao Ai said lazily, “Where did you find this girl? You’ll lead the way later and get me some more. If she has sisters, bring her sisters back. If she doesn’t have sisters, bring me her mother. If she has relatives, bring back all the beauties in her family.”

Huo Wuliang smiled smugly and said, “I’ll do it right away.” After a pause, he added, “Pangu Continent is really the best place for the human race. The women raised here are very radiant and vivacious, and they taste very different from those on the planets in outer heavenly realms.”

Lao Ai squinted and smiled. He patted the girl’s hip and said lightly, “Well, if there’s anything, just say it.”

The emperor smiled and bowed. “My lord, do we have to spend all this time under the wall of this little capital city of He Province? Should I destroy the city’s defensive formation and let our soldiers go straight into the city?”

He paused, then licked his lips and said with some excitement, “If we do this, Great Li will be the first to conquer a provincial city of Great Yu. When the time comes, if I am given the power to invest the gods on behalf of heaven, I’ll certainly not forget the grace and virtue of your guidance.”

Lao Ai gave Huo Wuliang a sardonic look and said slowly, “You’d better find me women. I’ll attack the city myself. It’s the first time in years that I’ve seen two armies fighting for more than ten hours, and yet only so few people died. It’s really funny!”

The emperor was elated as he hurriedly bowed and begged Lao Ai to lead the siege in person. Lao Ai wanted to keep up his appearances, so he took his time getting dressed up with the women’s help before walking slowly out of the tent. He was wearing a gorgeous monk robe of jade silk and a pink cassock embroidered with numerous erotic sexual positions.

At the sight of Lao Ai, the monks in black put their palms together and bowed to him. With a few words, he dismissed Huo Wuliang, ordering the emperor to search for beautiful women for him. After that, he took the monks to the hill from where Huo Wuliang had been watching the siege.

“Stop wasting your time with these lesser soldiers,” Lao Ai said in a deep voice as he glanced coldly at the battle that was still being fiercely fought. “Commander of the vanguard, lead all your generals to storm the wall. Command them to storm the gates. We’ll have the victory once the gates are open! Also, order the other companies to assemble their soldiers and rush straight into the city as soon as the gates are open! You have three days to do whatever you like after that!”

His last command thrilled the generals around him. The abundance of Pangu Continent went without saying. Along the way, they had captured several small towns in He Province, from which they benefited greatly. They reckoned that as the provincial city of He Province, a fourth-grade province, the wealth behind those gates must be more than a hundred times that of other small towns!

Amidst the laughter, Lao Ai’s orders were quickly conveyed. Shortly afterward, the commanding general of Great Li’s vanguard, a general of the Seven Stars Realm of Second Pangu Heaven, jumped up the city wall himself with a dozen lieutenants who were at the Eight and Nine Stars Realm of the Second Pangu Heaven. Because of the disparity in overall strength, the defenders suffered great losses as soon as these men were up on the wall.

The general and his lieutenants slashed out their broadswords, sending numerous heads flying up into the air with jets of blood. They roared with joy, cutting a bloody path on the walls like a pack of mad tigers. The soldiers of Great Yu who got in their way were either beheaded or hacked in half from head to groin.

It was only a sprint, and they had broken through the line of defense stretching for miles atop the walls. They bolted to the gate tower, killed the few Great Yu generals stationed there, and then rushed straight into the tower.

The tower exploded and crumbled with a loud rumble, and all the defensive magic on this side of the wall faltered. With the formation diagram destroyed, the wall was no longer defended. Now, even the most common soldiers could easily jump up the wall, or even fly up. The fifty thousand troops who were outside the city immediately flew up the walls, cheering and shouting while dragging the defending soldiers into a slaughter.

Amidst a deep, muffled rattling noise, the gate swung open and the heavy drawbridge was slowly lowered. The general and lieutenants who rushed up the wall appeared at the gate, their bodies covered in blood, shouting and cheering while waving at the army outside the city.

Lao Ai sighed, then shook his head and said casually, “Look, it’s so simple to break a city! Gather all the soldiers and go in now!”

He flicked his cassock disdainfully, then glanced up at the sky with a look of egotism. The generals of Great Li around him showered him with flattery while hastily ordering their confidants to attack the city with the army. They had only three days to do whatever they liked, but there were so many good things and beautiful women in the city waiting for them to plunder!

On the surface, the generals were sucking up to Lao Ai, but they were cursing him and his ancestors on the inside.

How could it have taken them so long to capture a provincial city, if Lao Ai had not told them to play it safe and be extremely cautious, and only now allowed these generals to join the battle? No one knew why he was so cautious.

No one except Huo Wuliang knew where Lao Ai came from or how he came to be the imperial advisor. But, he was so powerful in Great Li that none of these generals dared to disobey him. So, they were only cursing at him in their hearts to vent their frustration.

Great Li’s million-strong army charged into the city while roaring like a wild beast in heat. As the defensive formation on this side of the city had been completely destroyed, they no longer faced any obstructions. The tens of thousands of Great Yu’s soldiers defending the city were routed as soon as they were confronted by the enemy, all fleeing in panic through the other three city gates.

Great Li’s soldiers poured into the city, and as was their custom, at once broke into the houses and ransacked them.

Outside the city, Lao Ai and the others were laughing wildly, but their laughter came to an abrupt stop all of a sudden.