Stealing the Heavens

Tu Xiaobai, Yuan Qing, and other demon cultivators, as well as Luo Le and some other human cultivators, were thrown out of his sleeve by Wu Qi. They shouted in astonishment, then immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and began to absorb the Yuan Ling energy that filled the air. They cautiously absorbed this energy of the same grade as chaotic energy, and carefully refined it with their natal true flame.

Yuan Ling energy could strengthen the soul and nourish the flesh. It was a very special kind of energy that accompanied Lord Yuan Ling when he was born in the chaos. In the boundless Chaotic World, only Yuan Ling Dark Realm had an energy vein of Yuan Ling energy, which was constantly extracting chaotic energy and converting it into Yuan Ling energy. This kind of energy was very beneficial to even Chaos Fiend Gods. For today's cultivators, if they could absorb just a small amount and refine it, it was undoubtedly a great fortune that could change them thoroughly.

Among so many people, only Xiang Yu and Huhai were in confusion and did not know what to do. Their cultivation base and attainment had not reached the same level as others. They only felt that the Yuan Ling energy smelled nice and refreshing. Apart from that, they did not feel anything else. Their bodies were a little too far from the 'Dao', so Yuan Ling energy only circulated a few times in their bodies and then came out intact. They did not yet have the ability to absorb Yuan Ling energy.

Wu Qi nodded as he saw Tu Xiaobai and others enter a deep meditation state. He performed an incantation gesture and cast a few spells around them, protecting them from the attack of the Heavenly Fiends whom they might attract from the outer domains. This place was, after all, the depths of the Chaotic World. Heaven knew what kind of bizarre things might pass by. Even though this part of the void had been tightly sealed off by countless restrictive spells Lord Yuan Ling had set up years ago, there were innumerable strange beings in the Chaotic World who could ignore restrictive spells. Even Lord Yuan Ling had suffered from them, so Wu Qi had to be extra careful.

To be certain, he produced the Natural Phenomena Medallion and hung a thick layer of cloud over them. When he was done, he turned to Xiang Yu and Huhai and said with a smile, "It will take them some time to wake up. This Yuan Ling energy is very beneficial to them. Initially, I feared that their foundations might be unstable once I helped them break through the realm of Primordial with virtues. But, now that they are using Yuan Ling energy to stabilize their foundations, I don't have to worry anymore."

Glancing at the cave beneath a cliff covered in fresh green leaves, Wu Qi sighed with mixed emotions. Then, he took Xiang Yu and Huhai and walked toward it.

Lord Yuan Ling was an unsociable and eccentric man. There were no animals in this vast Yuan Ling Dark Realm, and all plants were the innate spirit roots he found from chaos. These innate roots had strong and deep foundations; the flowers and fruits they bore all came with amazing effects of bringing back life and health or turning a mortal into an immortal. They were also the sources of raw materials for his alchemy.

However, just because these innate spirit roots were too powerful, after living in Yuan Ling Dark Realm for so many years, they still had not given birth to their own sentience. If ordinary plants were planted here, they would have transformed into demons in just three to five thousand years.

"When I look back now, I find it really strange. How was I able to live alone in this place? A lone old man dwelt in this large planet, spending every single day in concocting pills and crafting artifacts, and fought with those Chaos Fiend Gods for all kinds of rare materials to bring himself so many enemies...Ugh, why was I enjoying such a lifestyle?"

Wu Qi complained as he walked with hands clasped behind his back, "What kind of life did I have in my previous incarnation? Why didn't I become a bully like Ao Buzun? I think that would be a better life. Among those Chaos Fiend Gods, there are many women who are not only strong in cultivation base, but beautiful and sexy…Aye, instead of watching them fall in the fight for nothing, don't you think it was better to abduct them and make them your concubines?"

Wu Qi was full of grievance against Lord Yuan Ling, his previous incarnation. This old fella was an extreme example of an otaku, and a technical one at that. Unless he ran out of the materials for artifact refinement or alchemy, he never left the Yuan Ling Dark Realm. He did not have a spouse or disciples; apart from him, the whole Yuan Ling Dark Realm did not have any other living being. There was not even a single plankton to be found in the river.

Wu Qi did not know how he had survived the endless years. When he thought of the days Lord Yuan Ling had lived, his skin was covered in goosebumps. Was that a character defect? Regardless, he was absolutely psychologically unsound.

Xiang Yu followed after Wu Qi without saying a word. With his character, since he had acknowledged the latter as his master, he would never change his decision. Huhai, on the other hand, was glancing around with both curiosity and fear. "Prince of Tianyun, why are you bringing me here?" he asked suddenly.

Wu Qi thought for a while, then slapped Huhai on the head. The prisoner wagon, which was crafted by Huhai himself and had imprisoned him for over two thousand years, broke apart instantly. Huhai stumbled to his feet, bemused.

"I think you're an interesting man, much more interesting than your brother, Fu Su, who always goes by the book," said Wu Qi faintly. "Therefore, I'm going to train you."

He grinned at Huhai and said frankly, "Well, I found that you have the potential to be a hatchet man, so I plan to elevate your cultivation base and make you my hatchet man. You see, you can't run a state and don't know how to manage court affairs. So, apart from enjoying life, you can only be a hatchet man. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with being my hatchet man…and if you do well, I'll give some benefits to Great Qin."

A gleam of madness flickered in Huhai's eyes. He nodded seriously, then shook his hands and coiled the iron chains that bound his wrists and ankles around his waist. He did not look back at the prisoner wagon which had imprisoned him for over two thousand years, but followed after Wu Qi in all seriousness.

Yuan Cave was the cave abode where Lord Yuan Ling used to dwell in secluded cultivation. Dug by himself, the cave abode was not large. It measured about one mile in both width and length, and inside were only an alchemy room, a workshop, and a study. Once stepping through the entrance, what laid in front were three doors that led to these three rooms. There was no bedroom in Yuan Cave or sitting room to entertain the guests. Wu Qi sighed once more as he looked at the simple and almost crude arrangement.

In those days, Lord Yuan Ling was either concocting pills in the alchemy room, crafting artifacts in the workshop, or recording his findings of alchemy and artifact refinement in the study. The strong body and divine soul of a Chaos Fiend God kept him from resting, eating, and drinking. So, he put his whole heart into alchemy and artifact refinement, and asked for nothing more. Even he himself could not understand why he was working so hard on alchemy and artifact refinement, but he did so anyway.

Very few of the pills and artifacts produced by Lord Yuan Ling could be found in the outside world. Only occasionally did he encounter Chaos Fiend Gods he could not defeat when competing for rare materials, and exchanged the finished pills and artifacts with them, thus making some of his works known to the outside world. But, it were these few pills and artifacts that earned him the reputation of being the best alchemist and artifact crafter among all Chaos Fiend Gods.

Wu Qi brought Xiang Yu and Huhai into the alchemy room. It was originally only about an acre in size; but, because of the restrictive spell Lord Yuan Ling had constructed, the small room could be expanded almost infinitely. In the smoke-filled room stood 180 giant purple cauldrons, each emitting a terrifying energy fluctuation that made Xiang Yu and Huhai nearly pass out.

There were 180 cauldrons in the alchemy room, and another 180 in the workshop. They were the clones of Lord Yuan Ling's Heaven Refining Cauldron. When fused as one, they turned into the true form of the Heaven Refining Cauldron, which had the mighty power to refine everything in the universe.

The room was cluttered with myriad oddly shaped, apparently crudely made pill bottles. A faint light shone through them, and even though still contained inside, all the pills still gave them a feeling of liveliness and power. Wu Qi's divine sense swept across these pills he had concocted in his previous life, and he could not help but twitch his lips. Half of them were either poisonous, anesthetic, or drugs with strange, unpredictable effects. Only the other half were medicines beneficial to cultivators.

But, the quality of these medicinal pills was too high. Unless they had the cultivation bases above that of a first-tier Primordial expert, anyone who ate these pills would instantly explode and die. After all, these were the medicinal pills Lord Yuan Ling made for himself; and with his cultivation base very close to the realm of Dao Fusing, one could only imagine how high their quality was.

Wu Qi sighed and put all the pills and cauldrons into his body. Then, he went to the workshop and collected the other 180 cauldrons, as well as six strange-looking artifacts. Unlike medicinal pills which Lord Yuan Ling threw all over the place when he had concocted them, whenever he crafted an artifact he was not satisfied, he threw it back into the cauldron and reforged it. As a result, after so many years, he had only crafted six artifacts he was truly satisfied with, which he fashioned after some Supreme Treasures of Primordial, and each had the power of Chaotic Spirit Artifacts.

All spirit treasures were sentient, so after Wu Qi opened up his divine sense and allowed the six artifacts to sense the thread of Lord Yuan Ling's soul in him, they obediently threw themselves into his arms.

Heaven-pacifying Sword, Soul-splitting Spear, Illusion-breaking Halberd, Immovable Lotus, Cardinal Tower, Heart Seal…These were the artifacts crafted by Lord Yuan Ling after the famous Supreme Treasures of Primordial owned by those mighty Chaos Fiend Gods. Although they did not have the terrifying power that could smash the Heavenly Dao to pieces like the real Supreme Treasure of Primordial due to the materials used to craft them, they still reached the level of Chaotic Spirit Artifacts. That gave them the ability to resist the Heavenly Dao.

"There are too many monks and too little gruel!" Wu Qi rubbed his palms in annoyance. With so many subordinates and only six artifacts, he did not know how to distribute them.

After considering for some while, he decided where these six artifacts would go.

He left the workshop and brought Xiang Yu and Huhai into the study, which was in a mess. With a gloomy face, he looked at the messy piles of paper, then smiled embarrassingly and said, "Well, it seems that my previous incarnation was a bit untidy!"

His face flushed a little as he put all the papers into his sleeve, then carefully picked up two gray jade slips from the stone table placed in the middle of the study. The Scripture of Alchemy and the Book of Artifact, all of Lord Yuan Ling's alchemy and artifact refinement knowledge and experiences, were recorded in these two jade slips.

"I have to find someone to pass on these two divine abilities! I can't live my life alone again!" Wu Qi sighed softly, and then he heard Yuan Qing and the others calling from outside.