Stealing The Heavens

Chapter 757: Taming the Heavenly Ghosts

Wu Qi did not know that the enraged princess had made such a scene in Zhong Province. He was now heading to the lair of the primitive heavenly ghosts with 378 strong heavenly ghosts and his soldiers. The heavenly ghosts were running hard on the ground while he was flying above them, sitting on Ao Buzun’s back. Miles behind them, the flying ship was inching along, shrouded in dark clouds and thick mists.

Along the way, the bitter, cold wind kept blowing in his face. If it were in the outside world, a wind as strong and biting as this could easily dissolve any ordinary immortal’s body and soul. But here in the ghost realm, such winds never stopped blowing; and as a result, the creatures here were much stronger than those in the outside world. The flesh of a creature of Nascent Divinity realm, who was born and grew up here, was strong enough to compete with those Heaven Immortals who focused in the cultivation of their fleshly bodies.

The heavenly ghosts who were leading the way down below were the perfect example. They were running at a speed almost equivalent to that of heaven immortals flying with swords. Well-fed, they could run at this speed for three days and three nights without rest. And, if they were willing to use some of their energy essence, they could run ten times faster for hours. With only their sturdy bodies, they could fight any heaven immortal.

It was only that they could not travel through the void when they were in the ghost realm. In fact, these heavenly ghosts could not penetrate the void as long as it was filled with innate ghost energy. But, once summoned to the outside world, the ability of traveling through the void to attack the enemies came to them naturally. On the contrary, the place filled with innate ghost energy was an absolute blind alley for ordinary immortals. Even a Gold Immortal who strayed into the ghost realm could not fly freely here. So, the heavenly ghosts’ ability to run so fast here had proved their mightiness.

It had only taken these heavenly ghosts ten minutes to travel across the distance of hundreds of miles. Soon, they came to a stretch of rocky shore along a hundred miles wide river, riddled with jagged black rocks that messily piled up together like the teeth of thousands of wild dogs. Amidst these rocks, some tall heavenly ghosts could be seen crazily fighting against each other. From time to time a strong heavenly ghost threw his opponent to the ground, then excitedly grabbed the boulder beside him and beat his opponent’s head hard.

This was a popular sport among the primitive heavenly ghosts. By throwing the opponents to the ground and beating their heads with boulders, the winners got to enjoy the females and flesh to their hearts’ content while the losers had to hunt to feed these powerful members of the clan.

There was a popular saying among the immortals of the outside world, that the reason these primitive heavenly ghosts were able to produce descendants with intelligence after dozens of generations had to do with this brutal and bloody sport. By having their heads constantly beaten with boulders, it actually stimulated the evolution of their brains, allowing their chicken-egg-sized brains to grow larger; eventually making them more and more intelligent.

Of course, it was nothing more than a joke told by immortals who despised the primitive heavenly ghosts. But when Wu Qi saw them in such activities, he had a different thought. The strong ones were beating the weak at will, and the weak ones were beaten bloody days and nights, so they had to think of ways to turn the tables. And when physical strength had failed, it was only natural for them to scheme their opponents with intelligence. Eventually, it stimulated their evolution.

At the moment, there were thousands of heavenly ghosts playing this sport with great enthusiasm across the vast rocky shore. More than two thousand unlucky losers were pinned to the ground while the victors were beating their heads with hundred feet wide boulders in high spirits. These primitive heavenly ghosts had large heads, at least as big as two or three water buckets, but they contained only egg-sized brains. So, the air rang with thunderous booms as the boulders hit their heads that were mostly bones, where sparks could be seen darting out from time to time.

The spectacle of more than two thousand heavenly ghosts pinned to the ground and hit on the heads by boulders seemed to be both overwhelming and hilarious. Wu Qi twitched his mouth and said nothing, but Huang Liang and others were already grinning from ear to ear in the ship behind him.

In the heart of the rocky shore, on a patch of sandy ground surrounded by a screen-shaped black reef, a group of young heavenly ghosts was feeding frantically. Of these juveniles, the largest ones were about thirty feet long, their age equivalent of three to five years old human children; the smallest ones were only about one foot long, who had just been born not too long ago.

There was no such thing as respecting the old and caring for the young among the primitive heavenly ghosts. The older ones were gobbling up food wildly, and whenever some younger ones came to them and took a few bites at their prey, the former would give them a round of brutal beating. The scene of a thirty-feet-long heavenly ghost beating at a younger one that was only about one foot long looked almost like a burly adult hitting a small hen. It was both hilarious and cruel, and left Wu Qi speechless for the customs of these primitive heavenly ghosts.

Next to these little heavenly ghosts, thousands of male adults were madly mating with a group of female adults whose number was lesser. As their huge bodies slammed with one another, their hard bone shells and bone spikes constantly knocked against one another to fill the air with loud thuds and dazzling sparks. Occasionally, some worked their bodies so violently that their slender and powerful tails tore through the void and lashed the others like whips, leaving wounds so deep that bones could be seen through them.

Some heavenly ghosts who were accidentally wounded lurched to their feet while howling furiously, and battles began next. But, some others did not mind the wounds and still clung themselves to the females beneath them while sprinting for the finish lines.

This was the life of the primitive heavenly ghosts—after eating and drinking to their heart’s content, they focused their minds in producing the next generation!

If nothing went wrong, primitive heavenly ghosts could have eighty offspring in one birth. And with adequate nutrition, they could give birth three times in a year! In other words, a female primitive heavenly ghost could produce 240 offspring in just a year! The most amazing thing was that it only took ten years for them to reach adulthood and begin to reproduce!

Therefore, if a male and female primitive heavenly ghost were sent to a certain planet in the outer heavenly realm, and if they were not struck by any natural or man-made disasters, the planet would be completely occupied by primitive heavenly ghosts in less than a few hundred years, with all living things becoming their food. This was why the immortals forbade the heavenly ghosts from leaving the ghost realm at will. Even among those cultivating the Heavenly Ghost Grand Magic, few would dare to allow the heavenly ghosts to breed in the outside world, for that would cause great trouble.

Of the thousands of heavenly ghosts that were mating, nearly a thousand females were howling and wailing mournfully; apparently, they were forced. But, the males who were upon them were far stronger than them, so none of them could put up any fight. Amidst their shrill howls, the males worked their bodies more excitedly, causing the females’ skin to be torn and blood to spill out.

Wu Qi narrowed his eyes. The eyes of these females gleamed with intelligence, and he reckoned they must be the members of those who lived in the valley, the unlucky ones who had been captured by these primitive heavenly ghosts as the tools of reproduction.

The heavenly ghosts who led the way down below stopped and looked up at Wu Qi with tearful eyes, like puppies who had been scolded and beaten by their master. Although their appearances were hideous and grotesque, Wu Qi found them somewhat cute actually.

He patted Ao Buzun on the head, signaling the black dragon to reduce the height. “I can save your people,” said Wu Qi as he looked at the group of heavenly ghosts, “…and I can give all the females of this primitive clan to you. But, you will be my servants after this, and you must obey all my orders!”

The heavenly ghosts glanced at each other, and then all at once threw themselves to the ground in reverence.

They were not love fools like their ancestor who had offended a seasoned Ghost Saint because of his wife. The rules of the ghost realm were that the strong were respected. Since Wu Qi was so strong and had promised to save their people, it was only natural for them to submit to him.

With these heavenly ghosts bowing their heads before him, Wu Qi threw his head back and let out a long cry into the sky.

The huge ship emerged from the thick dark clouds and slowly flew over the rocky shore. Its arrival immediately attracted the attention of those primitive heavenly ghosts who were beating their own people and mating, all looking up at it at the same time. The air rang with savage howls as some of them began to hurl the boulders in their hands toward the ship in the sky.

The heavy boulders flew miles high up into the sky and struck the ship’s hull. But, there was no way they could cause any damage to the ship. Instead, the boulders plunged back down and slammed into the faces of the primitive heavenly ghosts who were foolishly looking up at the sky, knocking them out and throwing them to the ground.

Wu Qi laughed, and so did Huang Liang and others in the ship.

Just then, ten thousand Bone Piercing Crossbows had locked onto all the males on the ground. At Huang Liang’s command, countless bolts shot out silently; the thousands of male primitive heavenly ghosts suddenly trembled and froze in place. After about a second, tiny arrows of blood spurted from each and every single one of them. Their internal organs were torn apart by the powerful penetration of the bolts, which killed these ferocious heavenly ghosts instantly.

The heavenly ghosts who led Wu Qi and his men here gave a cheerful howl. After hastily kowtowing to Wu Qi, they rushed toward the rocky shore, roaring and crying all the way, and came beside those females who were kidnapped here.

The female primitive heavenly ghosts, who were mating a moment ago, gawked at the dead males around them. When they saw the captive female heavenly ghosts happily embracing a group of strange males, these brainless female primitive heavenly ghosts flew into a rage.

Accompanied by shrill howls, thousands of female primitive heavenly ghosts leaped forward, seemingly intent on tearing the invading heavenly ghosts to pieces.

Wu Qi smiled coldly. With a wave of his hand, the Dark Yin Celestial Tower flew out from the top of his head. In just the blink of an eye, cold star power condensed into countless thick and long chains that wound around these savage female heavenly ghosts.

Meanwhile, after the hundreds of male heavenly ghosts whispered to the captive females, all of them knelt down before Wu Qi at the same time. All of the heavenly ghosts prostrated with their tails tightly clung to the ground. It was the sign of their complete submission.