Stealing The Heavens

On Mount Kunlun in the Ninth-Nether Ghost Realm, Prince Chang Qin could be seen gently playing a zither. Several fairies were singing and dancing on the side while a slender white dragon wheeled over him, letting out faint cries from time to time. Dozens of jade trees surrounded this little patch of grassland, and a small clear river flowed past outside. Hundreds of rainbow-colored fishes were swimming in the river, jumping out of the water from time to time at the sound of the zither.

Countless deities, divine beasts, immortals, and soldiers were stationed on Mount Kunlun, and the mountain itself was enveloped in a vast plume of purple energy that came falling from the sky. Innumerable purple runes the size of jars could be faintly seen amidst the purple energy, all of which condensed into the shadow of a huge bell in the sky over the mountain.

An army of infinite heavenly ghosts surrounded Mount Kunlun, all looking ferocious and savage. Their skins were of striking colors such as blue, green, red, livid, purple, and their bodies were covered with sharp bone spikes. Some of them, whose cultivation base was especially strong, stood over a thousand miles tall. These giant heavenly ghosts flew freely in the void like fishes in the water, leaving large and small holes in the void wherever they passed.

Countless small heavenly ghosts attached themselves to these giant heavenly ghosts. The giant heavenly ghosts were like warships, and the small ones were the crews on the ships. Together, they blocked off all the passages between Mount Kunlun and the outside world. All the passages in the void were completely sealed off.

The thirteen Great Heavenly Ghost Kings and the eight hundred Ghost Saints had gone to Pangu Continent with an army of heavenly ghosts to help the Jin Dynasty. They were promised that once Emperor Wugou became the Human Emperor, the clan of heavenly ghosts would be given a territory to live and reproduce on Pangu Continent, where resources, flesh, and blood were in abundance. They would no longer have to struggle in the harsh environment of the Ghost Realm at that point.

Of course, the Great Heavenly Ghost Kings would never abandon their lairs. So, every Ghost King and every Ghost Saint had sent a strong army to guard around Mount Kunlun, lest Prince Chang Qin took the opportunity and wiped out their lairs.

Although the heavenly ghosts yearned for the good life on Pangu Continent, the Ninth-Nether Ghost Realm was, after all, their birthplace. So, they could not abandon it at will. Besides, there was still plenty of wealth here, such as the countless dead bodies of ancient almighty experts and the artifacts they had left behind. None of the Ghost Kings and Ghost Saints would want to leave these treasures to Prince Chang Qin.

While gently plucking the strings of the zither, Prince Chang Qin glanced at the numerous heavenly ghosts in all directions with a smile on his face. How many heavenly ghosts were there? He did not have the answer, because he could not count them all even with his powerful divine sense. Nevertheless, he did manage to count the number of heavenly ghosts that were more than a thousand miles long. Called ‘Sky Ghosts’ among the heavenly ghosts, there were about 300,000 of these giants out there. Each of them was incredibly strong, nearly as good as peak-level Gold Immortals. And when combined with their ability to travel through the void at will, even ordinary Primordial experts would have a headache when facing them.

“They sure have made the biggest bet!” Chang Qin laughed mockingly, then lifted the collar of his cloth and looked at the dense restrictive runes on his chest. The runes were drawn by Xuanyuan, and the purpose was to conceal Chang Qin’s real cultivation base, preventing anyone from learning how strong he really was.

“It should be unlocked soon, right? These vulnerable fools!” A little agitated, he set aside the zither and walked slowly to the hall where the Mirror of Kunlun was placed. The large mirror was still hovering in the center of the hall, surrounded in colorful light. He pressed both palms on its surface and a stream of powerful, heavy energy poured into his body, making him feel safe.

Previously, when he told Wu Qi that he could not control the mirror at will, it was the first time he had lied in his life. In fact, he had refined the mirror into his natal artifact; they shared the same life now. When either one of them died, the other would die as well. He could effortlessly use all its power, such as breaking apart the void and reversing time.

Only that he could not tell anyone about this at that time. Nobody except Xuanyuan, Shennong, and Empress Wa knew that he had become one with the Mirror of Kunlun, and nobody except them knew why he was stationed in the Ninth-Nether Ghost Realm with Mount Kunlun.

Everyone thought he was just the eyes and ears the human race had sent to the Ghost Realm, in charge of monitoring all the activities of various realms through Mirror of Kunlun.

“Do they really think such a trifle task requires me to stay here for countless years?” Prince Chang Qin stretched himself and said a little excitedly, “When I am done here, I’ll go back and settle the score with the few ‘old friends’ in the Dao League. With my current strength, should I kill them straight away or dismember them first?”

Just then, three old men in red robes walked silently into the hall. They looked at Prince Chang Qin while smiling, and one of them asked, “If we may ask, my lord, what are you planning to do this time? By the Great Celestial Emperor Ziwei Lingying’s decree, you better not do anything.”

Chang Qin turned around slowly, then smiled and nodded at the three old men. “What? You can’t contain yourself anymore?”

“Not that we can’t contain ourselves, but my lord seems to be losing your composure these past few days,” said another old man. “My lord has stayed in the Ghost Realm for countless years, and you have never been so unsettled and short-tempered. Therefore, we know my lord is likely to do something. But, you better not do anything!”

Chang Qin smiled derisively and pointed out a finger. At the gesture, three white sword beams, each about three feet long, flew out like lightning, piercing through the void toward the necks of the old men.

A crisp noise rang out as the middle old man produced an alms bowl the size of a man’s head and gently shook it, causing the sword beams to fall in it. While smiling, he put the swords into his sleeve, then said triumphantly to Prince Chang Qin, “Thank you for the gifts, my lord! Three excellent flying swords who have almost given birth to their spirit immortals and become Primordial artifacts…My lord is truly a generous man!”

The old man on the left laughed as from his sleeve came flying out a beam of purple light, which transformed into a flood dragon and swooped down toward Chang Qin. The prince stood still with a casual smile and did nothing to stop the dragon from coiling a dozen times around his body, then turn into a thumb-sized rope that tightly bound him.

All three old men laughed at the same time, and then the one on the right said, “After lurking here for countless years, we finally got to this day. We’ve managed to capture Prince Chang Qin and the Mirror of Kunlun, and thus sabotaged the human race’s plans in the Ghost Realm. We will surely be handsomely rewarded for this!”

Prince Chang Qin just looked at them with a smile and did not fight back at all.

Suddenly, a fierce roar was heard. The iconic divine beast of Mount Kunlun, Kaiming ¹ , had somehow slipped behind the three old men. The deity of Mount Kunlun, Yingzhao ² , rode on Kaiming’s back as he brandished a large single-blade long-axe and hacked off the trio’s heads with a single side swing.

The Mirror of Kunlun swayed, and a sheet of blue light rushed out of it. Before the trio’s souls could flee, they were all sucked over and locked up in the depths of the mirror.

Chang Qin shook his body slightly and the purple rope fell to the ground. He nodded at Yingzhao, then chuckled and said, “Such a pity! They had been doing their jobs conscientiously for so many years without getting paid, all those dirty, laborious jobs you had purposely asked them to do. I feel it’s a waste to kill them!”

Yingzhao twitched his mouth as he glared at Chang Qin and said, “Who ordered them to clean the pens and use the dungs to plant flowers?”

The prince cackled and avoided the subject, “What are those heavenly ghosts doing out there? Why haven’t they attacked us?”

Yingzhao ignored Chang Qin and rode off on Kaiming. It was clear that the prince could hardly retain his composure over the last two days, and was in a mood of stirring up trouble. Yingzhao did not wish to waste his breath with the prince right now.

While frowning, Chang Qin grumbled in a low voice, “Taking advantage of your seniority is not a good habit!”

He was about to further mock Yingzhao when a wave of energy suddenly swept over. His body trembled, and his eyes gleamed brilliantly.

“Her Holiness has finally given the order! Does this mean all outer heavenly realms have reunited with Pangu Continent? In other words, over ninety percent of the humans in outer space have migrated to Pangu Continent? Hehe, excellent!”

He lightly patted the Mirror of Kunlun as he sighed and said in a low voice, “I feel pity for those people who are left behind in outer space…Anyhow, their souls will be safe under the protection of the Myriad Spirit Cauldron, and they will still be part of the human race after they reincarnate! Hehe…As for those gods, saints, immortals, and buddhas…here comes your main dish!”

His eyes suddenly widened, and the restrictive runes on his chest turned into flames and faded away. Soon, a terrifyingly strong ripple of energy spread out of his body—shockingly, he was also a Dao Breaking expert! Although he was only at the sixth tier, it was still enough to frighten many people.

His body transformed into a beam of light and fused with the Mirror of Kunlun. A sharp cry rang out from inside the mirror as it ripped through the void and came to the sky over the mountain. Once there, it expanded rapidly, turning in the blink of an eye into a colossal mirror that stood ninety thousand miles tall, with a thickness of tens of thousands of miles. Then, shafts of bright light and purple clouds began to pour out of it. Wherever the light passed, thick black smoke rose from the heavenly ghosts’ bodies, and they all uttered piercing cries while running away in desperation.

“Open now, the Mirror of Kunlun, and so do the portals of all quarters!”

Prince Chang Qin’s loud cry echoed out from the depths of the mirror. The void of the Ninth-Nether Ghost Realm was blown apart, and several holes with diameters from tens of thousands of miles to hundreds of thousands of miles suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Then, beams of strong light shot out of the mirror and blasted into these holes, creating dozens of huge portals in the void.

Savage roars filled with the thirst of blood and murder rang out of these portals. Suddenly, a huge arm, a thousand miles long and covered in black hairs, reached out of one of the portals, crushing tens of thousands of heavenly ghosts with one slap.

Amidst a deafening rumble, a colossal Fiend God with the head of a goat, the body of a man, and a height of several thousand miles, carefully and hesitantly stepped out of the portal.

At the sight of countless heavenly ghosts in the surroundings, the Fiend God jumped up excitedly. He swung a huge bone hammer and smashed a heavenly ghost with a height of a thousand miles into pieces, then cried out at the top of his lungs, “Brothers, boys, do you smell the aroma of flesh and blood? Kill! Kill! Kill! Let us conquer this cute world!”

At the same time, similar portals had also appeared in front of the South Gate of the Thirty-three Heavens, as well as the front gates of the Gridhrakuta Mountain. Just like that, countless strange-looking Fiend Gods rushed into the Thirty-three Heavens and Gridhrakuta Mountain.