The Heavens: Man Covers the Heavens, Refines Treasures to Become an Emperor

In the night sky, the Ziying warship, which had been hijacked by Jiang Xuan, spewed out a destructive beam of light that tore apart the hull of its companion.

The hit warships emitted deafening explosions, bursting into flames and billowing thick smoke.

The massive ship swayed and tilted violently in the air.

Finally, trailing a long fiery tail, it crashed into the ground in the distance, triggering a second, even more violent explosion that illuminated half the sky!

Inside the main camp on the riverbank, Du Xingchuan, Xiao Mu, and all the remaining cultivators were completely stunned!
Their eyes widened, their mouths gaped, their minds went blank, completely unable to comprehend what was happening before their eyes.

"How...how could it be..."

"Warships... attacking their own side?"

"crazy!
"He must be crazy!"

After a brief silence came utter chaos and panic!
The cultivators were in complete chaos, like headless flies, with shouts, screams, and questions mingling together, and the camp instantly erupted into chaos!

Before they could even recover from this earth-shattering turn of events—

"boom!!!"

Another loud noise!
Then another Zi Ying warship, which had heard the news, arrived and attempted to approach to investigate the situation.

Before they could react, they were hit precisely by a salvo from the secondary guns on the side of the "traitorous" warship!
The shields shattered instantly due to overload, and the ship was blasted open with several holes, emitting black smoke as it plummeted erratically towards the ground!

"It's Jiang Xuan! It's that Jiang Xuan!"

He hijacked our warship!

Du Xingchuan finally snapped out of his utter shock and let out a heart-wrenching roar, his voice filled with despair and disbelief!

This conclusion is too shocking. How could one person possibly hijack the Empire's most powerful Ziying warship?!

"puff!"

Overwhelmed by anger, Du Xingchuan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his face instantly turning ashen, and his body swaying precariously.

He pointed at the warship in the air, which was turning its cannons around like the Grim Reaper, and roared with his last breath.

"Retreat! Retreat now! Everyone, scatter and retreat! Run as far as you can!"

At this moment, no matter what the mission or dignity, he couldn't care less!

Faced with a Ziying warship controlled by the enemy, these ground forces were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter!

Xiao Mu was also deathly pale.

But he still retained his rationality, suppressed his fear, grabbed Du Xingchuan, and shouted sternly at the chaotic crowd.

"Retreat! Follow the leader's orders, disperse and retreat! Quickly!"

The surviving cultivators were terrified. Upon hearing the order, they fled for their lives, heading away from the riverbank and away from the warships.

They only regretted that their parents hadn't given them two more legs, and the situation completely spiraled out of control.

……

High in the sky, Jiang Xuan stood in the warship's control room, his hands steadily manipulating the spirit array disk, his eyes as cold as frost.

He knew the warships he helped design inside and out, and could operate them with ease.

Under his control, the warships performed a variety of agile evasive maneuvers in the night sky.

He easily dodged the cannon fire from the other two enemy ships that finally reacted and began to attack him.

He did not rush to retaliate, but calmly observed the battle situation.

He soon noticed that the attack frequency and the spiritual light of one of the enemy ships began to weaken.

Clearly, the high-grade spirit crystal reserves were about to run out, and the captain began to consider retreating, attempting to descend and prepare to withdraw from the battlefield.

"Want to run? It's too late!"

Jiang Xuan maneuvered the warship with a swift sideslip, seizing a favorable attack position. The main gun on the bow and the secondary guns on the sides simultaneously lit up with dazzling light!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A barrage of precise and fierce artillery fire rained down on the enemy ship that was trying to escape!
The enemy ship, already lacking spirit crystals and with weakened shields, was utterly unable to withstand this long-planned, deadly attack.

The ship was instantly torn apart, turning into a huge fireball in the air. The shockwave from the explosion even made the escapees on the ground feel a chill!
The captain of the last enemy ship witnessed the tragic fate of his comrades and completely lost his will to fight.

Ignoring everything, it turned around and sped up the engine to maximum power, fleeing desperately towards the distant horizon!

"Humph!"

Jiang Xuan snorted coldly, how could he allow it to escape?

He maneuvered his warship relentlessly, and with his superior control skills and still plentiful spirit crystals, he quickly caught up with his target.

Another relentless barrage of fire erupted, and once again, a poignant flower of death bloomed in the night sky.

The last Ziying warship followed in the footsteps of its companions, turning into fragments and falling to the ground.

In a short period of time, five powerful Ziying warships...

Two ships were destroyed by Jiang Xuan, one was hijacked by him, and the other two fled in panic.

This sudden aerial counterattack ended in a complete victory for Jiang Xuan.

Standing by the porthole, I looked down at the ravaged riverbank and the fleeing black dots in the distance.

Jiang Xuan felt little joy; instead, he thought of Luo Luo's face, now etched with the memory of losing her mother.

Thinking of the innocent passengers who died tragically on the Spirit Pattern Shuttle... the Chi family's blood debt has been further compounded!
"I will personally collect this debt, one by one!"

He clenched his fists, his eyes burning with a cold flame.

……

Due to continuous high-intensity battles and pursuits, the Ziying warship that Jiang Xuan hijacked was also on the verge of running out of high-grade spirit crystals.

The warning lights flashed continuously. Jiang Xuan decisively maneuvered the warship, choosing a relatively secluded valley to land slowly.

After the warship came to a stop, he acted swiftly.

He looted all the precious pills, spiritual materials, and unused spirit crystals from the ship's inventory and put them into his storage ring.

He then went to the spirit furnace at the warship's power core and violently destroyed its core spirit pattern structure.

Ensure that this warship cannot be easily repaired and used by the enemy.

After doing all this, Jiang Xuan quietly left the wreckage of the warship, his figure disappearing into the darkness before dawn.

He needed to continue his journey to the Forbidden City.

During the journey, a hawk seemed to sense the commotion below and flew low overhead.

Jiang Xuan looked up and met the sharp gaze of the Wind Shadow Hawk.

Instead of dodging, he curled his lips into a cold smile, raised his hand, and waved gently at the Wind Shadow Hawk, as if to greet it or to say goodbye.

Then, without lingering, he turned and headed north toward the heart of the empire, shrouded in mist and danger, and resolutely moved forward.

Deep within the Chi family mansion in the Forbidden City, in that oppressive study.

Several key deputies gathered together.

But now their faces no longer held their usual arrogance and composure; instead, they showed panic, anger, and barely concealed fear.

The latest battle report, just transmitted by the Wind Shadow Hawk, swept through everyone's minds.

Of the three thousand elite troops, only a few hundred remained and fled in panic!

Six Ziying warships, representing the imperial military power and costing a fortune.

Two ships were completely destroyed, and one was hijacked and used to attack friendly forces, but was eventually abandoned after running out of spirit crystals.

The other two ships were destroyed during their escape, and the last one was also severely damaged!

Jiang Xuan, the target, not only escaped unharmed, but also demonstrated the terrifying ability to hijack a warship and turn the tide of battle single-handedly!
"Useless! Du Xingchuan is a complete waste! Three thousand men against one man, with warships to support him, and he still managed to fight like this!" "And those warship pilots! Are they all pigs? How could they let someone hijack their warships?!"

"A humiliating disgrace!"
This is an utter disgrace, unprecedented in the history of my Chi family!

The deputies could no longer remain calm. Some angrily smashed the jade cup in their hands, while others pounded the table and roared in impotent rage.

The entire study was a mess, filled with an atmosphere of despair and hysteria.

Only Chi Cangmei, who sat in the main seat, remained unusually silent.

She sat there, her beautiful face expressionless, except for her slender fingers, which were white at the knuckles from excessive force and trembling slightly.

On the table in front of her was a Wind Shadow Pearl that had just been delivered and recorded the last scene.

After a long while, the angry shouting in the study subsided somewhat.

Chi Cangmei slowly raised his head, his gaze slowly sweeping over each of his red-faced deputies present.

Her lips curled into a mocking smile, and her voice was icy cold.

"Useless? You're only realizing who's useless now?"

Her deputies were speechless, their faces turning red and then pale.

Chi Cangmei continued coldly.

"Before the operation, who was so confident that victory was assured? Who mocked Xu Qianjing for being overly cautious? Now that it has ended in a crushing defeat, what can you do besides smash things and curse in the streets? The real trash is not Du Xingchuan on the front lines, but you idiots who only know how to talk big and then shift blame afterward!"

Some people blushed and wanted to retort, but their momentum instantly vanished when they met Chi Cangmei's cold gaze.

"Please calm down, young lady!"

A deputy reluctantly pledged his loyalty.

"Your subordinates are willing to go to the front lines to atone for our crimes and bring back Jiang Xuan's head!"

"Go to the front lines in person?"

Chi Cangmei chuckled as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"You think Jiang Xuan is still that easily manipulated Human Realm kid? He's now a ruthless star who can hijack the Ziying warship and kill thousands of elites! Are you going to his death, or to add another laughing stock to the Chi family?"

The deputy was speechless and lowered his head, his face pale.

Chi Cangmei stopped looking at them, slowly stood up, and said indifferently.

"You are responsible for cleaning up the mess yourselves. I will personally report this matter to Father."

After saying that, she ignored the group of ashen-faced deputies behind her and left the study.

……

Riding in a magnificent palanquin, Chi Cangmei was all alone.

She held the Wind Shadow Pearl in her hand, channeled spiritual energy into it, and the final scene appeared.

It was the scene of Jiang Xuan standing in front of the porthole of the hijacked warship, smiling at the Wind Shadow Hawk high in the sky, and gently waving.

The smile was calm, yet it carried a chilling indifference and mockery.

Looking at that young face that seemed to know everything, Chi Cangmei felt a chill rise from the bottom of his heart for no reason.

She suddenly tightened her grip.

With a "crack", the Wind Shadow Pearl was crushed to pieces!

The imperial carriage drove straight to the core forbidden area of ​​the Chi family clan.

In a quiet, ancient room, Chi Cangmei met her father, Chi Lingxiao, the current head of the Chi family.

Chi Lingxiao had a dignified face and an unfathomable aura. After listening to Chi Cangmei's report, he did not show much surprise or anger on his face, but rather a calmness that he expected.

“Father, I have failed in my duty in this operation, causing heavy losses to the family. Please punish me.”

Chi Cangmei knelt down on the ground.

Chi Lingxiao slowly opened his eyes, looked at his daughter with deep eyes, and said calmly.

"Get up. The fault in this matter is not yours, nor is it entirely Du Xingchuan's fault."

Chi Cangmei looked up in astonishment.

Chi Lingxiao continued.

“From the very beginning, the success or failure of this operation was predetermined. This is not merely a personal grudge between my Chi family and Jiang Xuan, but also... a test for him by the forces behind him. Or rather, it is a game of strategy orchestrated by certain entities through my Chi family.”

"A test? A game of strategy?"

Chi Cangmei was even more confused.

"This child's background is connected to an old incident in the Forbidden City more than ten years ago, and the matter is very complicated."

Chi Lingxiao's tone was cryptic and enigmatic.

"Now that he has overcome these deadly traps on his own, in a sense, he has passed this 'test'. Therefore, the failure of the operation can also be considered a kind of... 'mission accomplished'."

Chi Cangmei was shocked. She had never imagined that a seemingly simple chase would hide such a complex vortex!
she couldn't help but ask.

"Father, what exactly happened more than ten years ago...?"

Chi Lingxiao waved his hand, interrupting her.

"Knowing too much about some things won't do you any good. Let's leave it at that; you don't need to concern yourself with anything more. The Forbidden City is probably not going to be peaceful from now on, so just focus on your own business."

Filled with doubt and resentment, Chi Cangmei left the quiet room.

She decided that she had to find out the truth no matter what.

What earth-shattering events related to Jiang Xuan happened in the Forbidden City more than a decade ago?
……

The Castle of Darkness.

The hunched old man stood respectfully behind the Queen of the Night, reporting in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, the Chi family's operation in Falling Star River... has been a complete failure. The losses are heavy, and they have lost face."

The Queen of the Night stood before the enormous crystal window, gazing at the eternal night outside. Upon hearing this, she simply hummed softly, seemingly unsurprised.

She turned around and asked.

"What's the reaction from the observatory?"

The old man replied.

The High Priest only said four words: "Trouble is brewing."

"Trouble is brewing..."

The Queen of the Night repeated it softly, a meaningful smile appearing on her exquisite face.

"It seems that the boy is almost here. I am quite looking forward to seeing how much of a storm his 'key' will stir up in the stagnant waters of the Forbidden City."

……

At the heart of imperial power, atop the observatory.

The Heavenly Priest stood by the railing, his long, snow-white beard swaying slightly in the night breeze.

His deep gaze seemed to pierce through layers of space, revealing the figure of the young man who was gradually approaching the Forbidden City.

After a long while, he let out a barely audible sigh and muttered to himself.

"Having its 'Great Abyss Devouring the Heavens' lifeblood vein forcibly removed, and after more than ten years of silence, it has managed to return to the Forbidden City in such a manner... The wonders of the world and the mysteries of fate are beyond even the Observatory's comprehension... But how many people will be drawn into this vortex this time?"

Jiang Xuan slithered along the murky riverbed, silently calculating in his mind. (End of Chapter)