Sneaking into the Heavenly Court, Stealing the Luo Book

The baleful aura around Buzhou Mountain had yet to fully disperse when Lu Chen was already crouching in the clouds outside the Heavenly Court, gnawing on the third roasted beast leg he had swiped from the Witch Clan kitchen.

"This Demon Clan is pathetic. The Great Formation of the Stars had its Solar Star Formation Banner pulled out, and they still haven't repaired it." He squinted at the resplendent Thirty-Three Heavens in the distance and muttered indistinctly through a mouthful of meat.

The wisp of green smoke that was Hun Yuanzi floated beside him, his voice helpless. "Main body, weren't we supposed to go to Spirit Mountain to find Jieyin and Zhunti? Why did we come to the Heavenly Court instead?"

"What's the rush?" Lu Chen finished the beast leg in a few bites and casually tossed the bone beneath the clouds—just as an unlucky immortal crane flew past below. It was struck with a squawk and plunged headfirst into Yaochi. "The Dao Ancestor told me to recover three stolen imitation treasures. I figured the Heavenly Court has at least one of them."

"Which one?"

"The River Diagram and Luo Book." Lu Chen licked the grease from his fingers. "Before Kunpeng was punished and sent to guard the North Sea Eye, he secretly sent me a voice transmission. He said Di Jun hid the genuine River Diagram and Luo Book in the deepest part of the Heavenly Court treasury, while the ones usually displayed were all imitations."

Hun Yuanzi froze. "Why would he tell you that?"

"Because he hates Di Jun." Lu Chen grinned. "Back when seats were being offered at the Purple Cloud Palace, Di Jun and Taiyi stirred up plenty of trouble. Kunpeng wanted to drag someone down with him before he died... too bad I'm hard to kill."

He stood up, dusted the cloud fluff from his body, and weighed the Chaos Brick in his hand. "Besides, although I snatched most of the core formation diagrams for the Great Formation of the Stars from Kunpeng, the most crucial River-Luo Evolution Chapter is still inside the genuine Luo Book. If I don't get it, how will I screw over the Demon Clan later?"

His reasoning was flawless and impossible to refute.

Hun Yuanzi sighed. "But the Heavenly Court's guards..."

"The Witch and Demon Clans just fought a brutal battle. The Demon Clan suffered massive losses, Di Jun and Taiyi are both recovering from injuries, and Saint Nuwa has returned to Wa Huang Palace." Lu Chen listed the facts as though reciting treasures from a chest. "The one currently running the Heavenly Court is Demon Master Bai Ze. He's smart, but his combat strength is average. Three of the Ten Demon Saints are dead, while the rest are either recovering or stationed at the front."

He paused before adding, "And last night, I had Yan Chen set a fire at the Demon Clan's front lines. Most of their guards have been reassigned to put it out."

Hun Yuanzi: "..."

His main body's Old Sixth tactics were truly becoming more and more practiced.

"Let's go." Lu Chen activated Brick Escape, his figure turning into an almost invisible streak of dark light as he silently passed through the Heavenly Court's outer warning formation—the weaknesses in that formation had been thoroughly mapped out by him three years ago.

The Thirty-Three Heavens grew more heavily guarded with every level.

But Lu Chen had no intention of taking the proper route.

He specifically chose poorly maintained formations and gaps between guard shifts, slipping inward like a loach.

The first heaven, Taihuang Huangzeng Heaven.

The commanding general was a drunk ox demon, snoring as he hugged a wine jar.

The second heaven, Taiming Yuwan Heaven.

Two patrol squads of demon soldiers were changing shifts, noisily arguing over who should stand guard.

The third heaven, Qingming Hetong Heaven.

Several demon immortals were gossiping. "Did you hear? Ancestral Witch Zhu Rong is forging some kind of 'Demon-Slaying Sword,' using the blood essence of our Demon Clan's Great Luos!"

"I heard that too! And I heard that Your Majesty is forging a 'Witch-Slaying Saber,' using the heart's blood of the Ancestral Witches!"

"Hiss—if those are completed, won't the next war turn into a river of blood?"

"Exactly..."

Lu Chen drifted over their heads, secretly amused. The rumors were spreading quite quickly.

He encountered no obstacles all the way to the thirty-third heaven—Daluo Heaven, where the Demon Clan treasury was located.

The treasury was a towering golden palace. Four great Dao-script characters were carved upon its gates: Lingxiao Treasure Repository.

Two rows of golden-armored demon generals stood before the entrance, each with a deep and powerful aura. Every one of them was at least an early Great Luo.

More troublesome still, the gates were covered in dense restrictions. Lu Chen alone could recognize three hundred and sixty-five of them, corresponding to the number of the heavens.

"That old Di Jun has a pretty strong awareness of theft prevention." Lu Chen lay hidden in an auspicious cloud a hundred zhang away, watching with narrowed eyes.

Hun Yuanzi's voice echoed in his mind. "Main body, we can't force our way in. These restrictions are linked together. Touch one, and the entire Heavenly Court will be alerted."

"Who said I planned to force my way in?" Lu Chen smiled and pulled an item from the Qiankun Diagram—a single strand of hair.

He had casually plucked it when he knocked out Demon Saint Ji Meng earlier.

Ji Meng was Di Jun's trusted subordinate and had permission to freely enter and leave the treasury.

Lu Chen blew the hair onto himself. His body changed, transforming into Ji Meng's appearance, even replicating his aura with perfect realism.

Then he swaggered toward the treasury.

"Lord Ji Meng!" The demon general guarding the gate hurriedly bowed. "Weren't you recovering from your wounds at the front lines?"

"My injuries are healed. I came back to retrieve something." Lu Chen imitated Ji Meng's rough voice. "His Majesty ordered me to collect the River Diagram and Luo Book. They are urgently needed."

The demon general was stunned. "The River Diagram and Luo Book? But His Majesty instructed us this morning that without his written order, no one may..."

Smack!

Lu Chen slapped him across the face, sending the demon general spinning three circles on the spot. "His Majesty's written order? Take a look at this!"

He displayed the Chaos Brick—naturally, it had been transformed into the appearance of Di Jun's command token.

The demon general was dazed from the slap. Then he saw the dense aura of Di Jun on the "token"—simulated by Lu Chen using the Morning Bell—and did not dare question it further. He hurriedly opened the treasury gates. "Please enter, my lord. This lowly demon was foolish!"

Lu Chen snorted coldly and strode into the treasury with his head held high.

The gates shut behind him.

He let out a long breath and wiped away a cold sweat. If that slap had failed to intimidate them, he would have had no choice but to force his way in.

The treasury's interior was absurdly vast, practically a small world.

On the left were mountains of Xiantian Spiritual Material. On the right floated tens of thousands of Houtian Spiritual Treasures. At the center were several dozen jade platforms, each holding an imitation Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Imitation Taiji Diagram, imitation Pangu Banner, imitation Immortal-Slaying Sword... all those treasures stolen from Treasure Distribution Cliff had backup copies here!

"Damn, did Di Jun turn Treasure Distribution Cliff into his private warehouse?" Lu Chen's eyes gleamed, but he did not touch them. His goal was clear: take the River Diagram and Luo Book first.

Following the clues provided by Kunpeng, he reached the deepest part of the treasury.

This place was empty, containing only a jade wall.

The jade wall was smooth as a mirror, with stellar trajectories flowing across its surface. This was precisely where the River Diagram and Luo Book were sealed.

"It requires Di Jun's blood essence and Primordial Spirit imprint to open..." Lu Chen frowned.

That was troublesome.

He did have a drop of Di Jun's blood essence—refined from Taiyi's wound during the blood sacrifice of the God-Slaying Spear—but the Primordial Spirit imprint...

"Let's try this." He took out the Morning Bell.

The Morning Bell shared the same origin as the Chaos Bell, and the Chaos Bell had been refined by Di Jun for many years. It certainly retained traces of Di Jun's Primordial Spirit aura.

Lu Chen activated the Morning Bell, simulating an incredibly faint fluctuation of Di Jun's Primordial Spirit. Together with that drop of blood essence, he pressed them against the jade wall.

Buzz—

The jade wall trembled and slowly split apart to either side. Two treasures floated inside: a stellar scroll painting, the River Diagram, and a jade book, the Luo Book.

They were the genuine River Diagram and Luo Book!

Lu Chen's heartbeat quickened as he reached out to take them—

"Ji Meng, you have some nerve."

A cold voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Every hair on Lu Chen's body stood on end. Brick Escape activated instantly, and he shifted ten zhang sideways.

Turning around, he saw Demon Master Bai Ze standing in the treasury at some unknown time, a feather fan in hand and eyes sharp as blades.

"Lord Bai Ze, you jest." Lu Chen forced himself to remain calm. "His Majesty ordered me to retrieve the treasures."

"Oh?" Bai Ze smiled without smiling. "Then why did His Majesty simultaneously send me a voice transmission saying that a thief had impersonated Ji Meng and infiltrated the treasury?"

Damn it! Di Jun had noticed!

Lu Chen made his decision at once. He stopped pretending, revealed his true form, and gripped the Chaos Brick. "Bai Ze, move aside. I won't kill you."

"So it really is you, Lu Chen." Bai Ze sighed. "His Majesty anticipated that you would come. This treasury... is a trap."

He swept his feather fan.

The entire treasury blazed with light as countless restrictions activated at once! Space was completely sealed, and even Brick Escape failed!

Even more terrifying, the floating imitation Spiritual Treasures all turned toward Lu Chen—they had been converted into the formation eyes of a killing formation!

"The Great Formation of the Stars, miniature version." Bai Ze spoke calmly. "Though it has only one ten-thousandth of its original power, it is more than enough to trap and kill a Quasi-Saint like you."

Lu Chen looked around. It was indeed perilous.

But then he suddenly smiled.

"Bai Ze, did you forget... that I also have the formation diagrams for the Great Formation of the Stars?"

He raised his hand, and one hundred and eight formation banners flew out of the Qiankun Diagram—the very banners he had previously pulled from the Demon Clan's formation!

The formation banners automatically formed an array. Within the Demon Clan's own great formation, they created another Minor Formation of the Stars!

The two formations collided, and the restrictions clashed violently. The treasury space began to crack apart!

"You!" Bai Ze's expression changed drastically.

"See you!" Lu Chen took the opportunity to rush toward the River Diagram and Luo Book, seized them in one grab, then turned and fled.

"Don't run!" Bai Ze activated the formation, and hundreds of millions of starlights shot toward him like arrows.

Lu Chen neither dodged nor evaded. The God-Slaying Spear swept out, its baleful energy shredding all the starlight.

At the same time, the Morning Bell rang, freezing Bai Ze for an instant.

In that instant, Lu Chen had reached the treasury gates.

But the gates would not open—they had been completely sealed from the outside!

"Lu Chen, today you cannot escape even if you grow wings." Di Jun's voice came from outside the gates, heavy with suppressed fury. "Hand over the River Diagram and Luo Book, along with every treasure you stole, and I will leave your corpse intact."

Lu Chen grinned and shouted at the gate, "Di Jun, did you forget... that I know how to dig holes?"

He smashed the ground with one brick.

One Brick Breaks All Laws—open!

The Axe Blade Sharpness of the Chaos Brick erupted, forcibly blasting a massive hole through the treasury floor! Beneath it was not the next heaven, but... a Chaos rift!

This treasury had actually been built at the boundary between the Primordial World and Chaos!

"Not good! He's going to escape into Chaos!" Di Jun shouted in shock and fury.

But it was too late.

Lu Chen leaped into the rift, turned back, and waved at Di Jun and Bai Ze. "Thanks, brothers. I'll come play again next time—"

His figure vanished into Chaos.

The rift slowly closed.

Di Jun smashed the treasury gates apart with one palm. Looking at the empty jade wall and the wreckage covering the ground, he trembled with rage. "LU! CHEN!"

Bai Ze smiled bitterly. "Your Majesty, he came prepared. Those formation banners..."

"Investigate!" Di Jun ground his teeth. "Find out who leaked the treasury's structure and formation arrangements! I will tear him into ten thousand pieces!"

Meanwhile, within Chaos.

Lu Chen hugged the River Diagram and Luo Book, grinning so broadly that his teeth showed.

"I struck it rich, I struck it rich... Huh?"

He suddenly noticed a line of tiny writing on the final page of the Luo Book:

[Primordial Calendar, Year 37,500: Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged three seeds of the Twelve-Grade Golden Lotus of Merit for one imitation Taiji Diagram and one imitation Pangu Banner.]

"Damn!" Lu Chen's eyes lit up. "Jieyin, Zhunti, you really did stash away stolen goods!"

He looked toward Western Spirit Mountain, and his smile gradually turned dangerous.

"You're my next target."

Brick Escape activated at full force as he shot straight toward Spirit Mountain.

At that moment, inside the Great Hero Hall of Spirit Mountain.

Jieyin, Amitabha, and Zhunti, Patriarch Bodhi, shuddered at the same time.

"Senior brother, why do I have such an ominous feeling?"

"Me too... Quick, hide those two imitation treasures we just acquired!"

The two hurriedly opened the secret chamber, only to find a blue-robed Daoist crouching inside, grinning at them.

"Gentlemen, we meet again."

"Lu Chen—?!"