Plundering the Heavens

Within Jambu’s western deserts and beneath a tall, majestic mountain, the black water of a large lake twisted in abnormal ways as an uncountable number of beast spirits shifted within. The beasts had died many years ago but their spirits had been sealed within the lake, and their violent resentment painted the waters a pitch black that turned it into a terrifying hell.

Several cave estates could be found next to the lake, and the mysterious cultivators within would cultivate day and night using the resentment within the water as their fuel. For the past thousand years, they’d cultivated day in and day out just like this without any care for worldly matters, yet now an old cultivator who’d been immersed in his Sea of Consciousness for an untold time suddenly snapped awake as though sensing something.

A spirit sense floated out after he opened his sharp eyes, and after it quickly gathered some information, an aged voice shouted, “Useless, useless, useless!” His voice was so loud it caused the lake to surge and nearly shook the entire mountain.

“The great grand elder has awakened?”

The clan master deep within layer after layer of the palace atop the mountain had only just received news about their young master’s assassination. He’d been busy assigning tasks to his soldiers, but he immediately kneeled towards the Blackwater Lake in shock and shouted, “Please forgive us your juniors, great grand elder. It was our fault. I shall personally take the lead and capture the person who killed our young master and kill the entirety of his clan to restore the prestige and might of our Huangfu clan….”

“The young master can die, but the lotus treasure cannot be lost!”

Before the clan master had even finished speaking, the cultivator at the lakeside had already released an impatient growl before a black shadow shot up into the sky. At the same time, the water within the blackwater lake began to surge as though a dragon was swimming within, only for the surface to erupt in a loud explosion. Half of the lake’s water was drained upward into a terrifying cloud of beasts that tore through the sky and carried the old cultivator towards Bohai Kingdom….

The speed of that cloud was so extreme that a hundred thousand miles would take only an hour or so—much faster than a flying vessel. Just as he neared within ten thousand miles from Bohai Kingdom, however, he suddenly felt something and instantly halted all of his skills in order to float in the air above the clouds. A wind blew along his path and tore apart the clouds in front of him, revealing an airborne white-haired man sitting cross-legged in the lotus position. In front of him was a Weiqi board, and on the board was a number of stones showing a game that had yet to finish.

“Who might you be, fellow Daoist?” the brown-robed great grand elder asked, although he didn’t directly rush over out of concern for the other person’s cultivation level. “Why are you blocking my path?”

The white-haired man showed a calm expression before lightly smiling. “I’d like to ask you to play a game of Weiqi with me!”

The brown-robed elder creased his brows. “I do not have time to play with you! Hurry and get out of my way!”

The white-haired man glanced up towards the brown-robed elder, but his expression did not change. “If you’re unwilling to play, then go back to your Blackwater Lake!”

The brown-robed elder was immediately furious and his gaze became as sharp as an arrow. “What did you say?” he coldly shouted.

The white-haired man let out a low sigh. “I really don’t like people from your Huangfu clan. I originally didn’t want to get involved, but I’ve been forced to interfere. I will give you one last chance; if you do not go back, I shall kill you.”

—

At the Qingqiu Tombs, the situation had gotten completely out of hand. Those who’d been lured into the tomb by Fang Xing had all been killed, and even the three Golden Cores who’d been guarding outside were killed through the four masked cultivators’ combined effort. A single sentence afterwards had caused all of the spectators to kill and loot, and even though the group of Huangfu cultivators would typically be above everyone else, now they’d been turned into nothing more than sheep waiting to be butchered….

After the four Snowy Mountain elders killed the three Huangfu Golden Cores, they stood to the side and watched the chaos around the Qingqiu Tombs unfold. Even they were surprised when the scene became much worse than they’d imagined. “Things have gone quite far!”

Demon God Valley’s Zhang Daoyi could only sigh with a guilty conscience while watching everything unfold. “Cultivators who lose themselves in frenzy are incredibly frightening, enough so that we’re experiencing some fear despite having caused this ourselves. Tell me, where does that little bastard get his guts from that he’d dare cause the same chaos within the Mysterious Domain, despite being on his own and at such a young age?”

The old Wanluo was actually proud to hear this and began to laugh. “That little bastard has guts like a dog—he doesn’t know the meaning of fear!”

The old man Hu Qin smiled as well. “That child is not ordinary.”

“If he can live through this, I’m afraid even we will end up looking up to his existence in the future,” Mu Longyin replied, “but let’s not talk about him for now. He’s definitely capable of escaping with abilities like his and there’s nothing more we can do for him, so let’s take a look at our own situation. This is incredibly serious, and although the Huangfu clan might not directly seek evidence to prosecute us, they aren’t fools and will definitely notice the connection. If the Budding Soul Stage of the Huangfu clan becomes angry enough to act, I’m afraid it’s not something the four of us will be able to handle….”

The old Wanluo sneered when he heard this. “How could a Budding Soul Stage great grand elder so easily act? If a Budding Soul were to act, the entire realm would be alarmed, and the Spirit Mountain Temple definitely wouldn’t sit aside and watch. If all else fails, the four of us can just shave our heads and join them as monks!”

The others exchanged helpless smiles when they heard this. What the old Wanluo said was indeed not wrong.

Hu Qin laughed at his old friend and mockingly replied, “I’ve been alone my entire life without any worldly concerns, so becoming a monk wouldn’t be a problem for me. For someone like you who was such a womanizer and playboy during their youth to become a monk, however… just imagining that is interesting….”

The four prepared to leave after finishing their discussion, but the old man Hu Qin suddenly looked off to the distance while creasing his brows. Old Wanluo, Zhang Daoyi, and Mu Longyin also looked over in unison before long, causing them to see a group of clouds flying towards them from the southeastern skies at an extraordinary speed. These clouds were different from the ones they typically saw—they contained the powers of divinity and a terrifying power of suppression that was difficult to describe.

Zhang Daoyi’s expression immediately changed upon seeing those clouds. “Why are the people from Videha here?” he asked, feeling a bad premonition.

“There’s murderous intent within the clouds,” Hu Qin replied in a low voice. “These people don’t have any good intentions; let us return to the shrine!”

Once the four came to a decision, they immediately activated teleportation and sped away.

Whether it was in regards to speed or decisiveness, the other cultivators didn’t have such an immediate reaction and the killings below continued unabated. It was no longer the case of everyone else trying to kill and loot the Huangfu clan’s cultivators; those who were slightly weaker, wounded, or lacking a leader to watch over them were also eyed and attacked.

There were cultivators who robbed in the dark, but they wouldn’t dare to do so out in the open; there were still some unwritten rules between different forces that cultivators would do their best to comply with. Even the Huangfu clan only suppressed others with their might and didn’t try to rob others, yet today the Huangfu clan’s cultivators were robbed and the equilibrium that had been maintained seemed broken broken. Everyone simply started preying upon anyone weaker, and no one stopped even when the group of clouds arrived from the southeast—only a small number of people took the opportunity to flee.

As the clouds flew past the skies of the Qingqiu Tombs, one of the clouds landed and dissipated, revealing an elderly man with long black hair flowing down his shoulders. “Hehe, Jambu is indeed filled with a bunch of barbarians. I knew they couldn’t follow any rules at all!” His eyes were filled with disdain as he looked towards the cultivators below, and a flash of viciousness appeared in his gaze after a quick thought, ‘Since the young master of our Qingluo Sect was killed within the Mysterious Domain, the opportunities we gained is very little. For these opportunities to fall into the hands of this group of barbarians… well, might as well….’ After considering it, he sent a message through spirit sense to his disciples behind him: “Since Jambu wants chaos, let us help them make even more chaos!”

Understanding his words, the disciples all stepped off their clouds and rushed towards the Jambu cultivators who were already in complete chaos….

The elder of the Qingluo Sect merely showed a cold smile and followed everyone else down from the sky, but the original reason he’d come here was due to the aura of the Qingqiu Tombs. The fastest cultivator of the group rushed down into the valley before performing a spell, grabbing the fog in their hands, and giving a sniff. A shine flashed in their eyes and they declared, “Indeed, judging from this scent, this is the same immortal’s hall that was in Videha in the past. Who would have expected it to be here!”.

“Could Jambu truly be a land of fortunes? Such a great opportunity is here as well!”

“Let’s go inside. The fog is certainly not wrong; the immortal’s hall that fled from Videha back then is most likely inside!”

The Videha cultivators were quickly filled with joy, and someone began to study the fog gathered inside the Qingqiu Tombs in prepare to enter.

A countless number of clouds were still making their way over from the southeastern direction, all carrying people from Videha. They’d originally stationed themselves above the ocean and hadn’t stepped onto the soil of Jambu except to send their youths into the Mysterious Domain, but they’d all been lured over by the immortal’s hall inside the Qingqiu Tombs and the clouds began flying from the sky like drops of rain.

Among the Videha cultivators who arrived, some had come for the Qingqiu Tombs and others had seen the chaos Jambu was in and had the same thoughts as the Qingluo Sect. There was a tacit mutual understanding, and it didn’t take long before they joined in on killing for the treasures as well.

Chaos started extending farther and farther from the Qingqiu Tombs. One of the largest catastrophes ever seen since the Battle of Beast Exhaustion began spreading like wildfire along the Jambu continent!