The Heavens: A Qing, the Yue Girl at the beginning

It sounds a bit ridiculous that such a great master of swordsmanship actually does the work of a stonemason, and what he is polishing is just a pure stone ball that has no artistic sense at all.

In theory, it cannot be compared with the exquisite works of those carving masters, and only some beginners will practice such simple and basic skills.

However, if anyone in this world were to witness the formation of this stone ball up close and make an evaluation of it, they would probably put aside all the contempt and ridicule in their hearts, give it the highest praise and admiration, and believe that it can definitely be called one of the greatest masterpieces of all mankind.

Not for any other reason, just because this stone ball is too big!

It is so huge that it is hard to describe in words. It seems that only words like "made in heaven" and "miraculous workmanship" can barely describe it.

When the last sword energy dissipated in the air and the dust settled, the entire mountain had completely turned into a round stone ball. The sunlight reflected dazzlingly on its surface, which was even more shocking, as if one saw a star falling from the sky and landing in this mortal world.

From the appearance, there is almost no flaw in it. It is so round and smooth that it can almost act as a mirror. Its huge size of dozens of feet in diameter does not give people a sense of heaviness and roughness. Instead, it reveals an indescribable agility and charm.

Even Zhao Yi and Zhao Si, who were present, had witnessed with their own eyes the spectacular scenes of countless practitioners controlling flying swords, cutting through heaven and earth, and many giant talismans roaring and shaking the sky, but at this moment, they still couldn't help but feel shaken and dazzled.

With their master-level vision and knowledge, they could naturally see that this sword strike only took a few breaths of time, and that the precise control of sword energy, the perfect use of strength, and the terrifying calculation ability had created an almost insurmountable gap between them.

You know, when the scale of stone carving reaches a certain level, it is no longer as simple as simply cutting and polishing the stone. You also have to consider the hardness of the stone itself, its internal structure, the distribution and transmission of stress, and all kinds of factors must be taken into account.

If you are not careful, the entire stone sculpture may crack from the inside, and then fall apart and be completely destroyed. The closer it gets to the end, the more careful you need to be and the more cautious you need to be, the more energy and time you spend will increase exponentially.

However, Zhao Qing seemed to have no such concerns at all. From beginning to end, her sword moves without any pause or delay, as if she was carving an ordinary little gadget at will, rather than a huge monster.

Such calmness and freehand style have surpassed the scope of skill and are close to a manifestation of Tao!
"If I can also grind a stone ball of this size... no, I just need to practice again and again, gradually reaching a diameter of ten feet. I think the true meaning of the 'Grinding Stone Sword Technique' can be applied to other things and I can comprehend about 70% of it, right?"

Zhao Si stared at the stone ball in front of him, secretly pondering the mystery contained in his heart.

Combined with the many exquisite sword techniques she had heard recently on the radio, she already understood that the reason why Zhao Qing could easily perform Wang Jingmeng's unique skill was not because she had inherited the other party's legacy, but because she had simulated and restored the sword technique in this way.

"Next, it's the last step."

When the illusory full moon was completely consumed and the power projected from a distance also disappeared, Zhao Qing exhaled lightly, without any sign of fatigue on her face. She raised her head to look at the sky where the stars were disappearing and whispered to herself.

Then, he stretched out a jade-like finger and lightly touched the middle of the huge stone ball in mid-air.

"Rumble, rumble..."

Accompanied by a dull and heart-shaking roar, this huge monster weighing tens of millions of tons began to tremble slowly, and then, under the traction of Zhao Qing's finger, it began to move towards the edge of the cliff little by little!

Because the stone ball itself is so huge, its slow movement gives people the illusion that the earth is shaking and the world is turning upside down, as if it is crushing the entire world forward.

Especially when it finally moved to the edge of the cliff, with its lower body hanging in the air and its upper body still leaning on the cliff, the extreme feeling of imbalance and the crisis of overturning and rolling at any time made people's hearts jump out of their throats and they were extremely nervous.

"She is going to..."

Zhao Yi and Zhao Si looked at each other, and saw a look of shock in each other's eyes. An absurd and shocking thought came to their minds at the same time - could it be that Zhao Qing wanted to control this huge stone ball and make it roll down and crush Changling City? !
"Is this her revenge? As expected... it's direct and shocking enough!"

According to Zhao Qing's instructions, they injected the burning sun true fire into the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Eyes in the stone ball, and merged it with the warm star water. The two were not too surprised or worried, and immediately stepped back, watching the scene that was about to happen from a distance.

I saw the stone ball slowly moving out of the cliff. When the tilt angle reached a certain critical point, it finally lost its balance and began to roll down the steep slope!

At first, the rolling speed of the stone ball was not very fast, but as the height continued to decrease, the effect of converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy became more and more prominent, and its rolling speed continued to increase, as if a small mountain was moving horizontally. The rumbling sound spread all over the place, the ground shook, and smoke and dust filled the sky.

Such a huge commotion naturally attracted the attention of many villagers and merchants in the Shimen Mountain area and surrounding areas. They poked their heads out from their houses and roadsides, looking in the distance in the direction where the sound came from, their faces full of astonishment and horror, not knowing what had happened.

Some brave hunters and mountain people who had rich experience in collecting herbs and hunting in the mountains all year round quickly climbed up the nearby heights or big trees, made shelter with their hands, and looked into the distance, trying to see the scene clearly in the smoke and dust.

Then, they saw the most shocking scene that they would never forget in their lives.

I saw a huge round stone ball suddenly knocking down a small mountain, then turning an arc, and then rushing out of the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, along an open river channel, continuing to roar towards the downstream, unstoppable.

Along the way, no matter how tough the grass or how hard the rock was, it was crushed into powder under the crushing of this huge stone ball.

Even if it occasionally encounters some raised hills or deep ravines, they are easily flattened or flown over by it, and cannot be stopped at all.

Because it contains the endless circulation of real water and real fire and maintains the residual grindstone sword intent, it not only protects it from being scratched and worn by conventional obstacles, but also drives up a large amount of vitality between heaven and earth, forming a giant tornado that connects the sky and the earth, carrying countless sand and stone debris.

It looked like the "Wind God" in mythology had come to blow away and overturn everything in the world.

What is even more frightening is that this stone ball is not rolling randomly and unconsciously, but generally maintains a nearly straight route, as if there is an invisible line pulling it, pointing directly to the majestic Changling City in the distance!

Obviously, this was the result of Zhao Qing's secret manipulation!

She stood on the top of the mountain, overlooking the trajectory of the stone ball, with a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.

She had clear calculations and predictions in her mind.

When will this stone ball reach Changling City, where will it be intercepted by various forces and gradually stop, what kind of damage will it cause in the process, will it implicate innocent people, and how much financial and material resources will be spent in the future to restore it to its original state.

All of this, like a sophisticated chess game, was under her control.

"Oh my god, what the hell is that?!"

"Could it be that the mountain god appeared and brought down a punishment from heaven?"

"Run quickly, it will be too late if you don't run now!"

"Don't worry about the belongings in the house! As long as there is life, there will be no shortage of firewood!"

The villages near the many rivers were immediately enveloped in noise and chaos. Farmers working in the fields, women weaving and sewing at home, and babbling children all ran out of their houses, their faces filled with panic and fear.

They had received the long-range warning from the sword intent early on, and looking at the round stone ball that was rapidly getting closer and closer, they felt no desire to resist or fight back. They just wanted to escape from this dangerous area as soon as possible and stay away from this terrifying existence that seemed to be able to crush everything.

Some elderly people who were slow to react or had difficulty walking were supported and carried by the younger generations of the clan, staggering and hurriedly fleeing away. Some of them fell to the ground, but were quickly pulled up and continued to run for their lives, fearing to fall behind.

Miraculously, although the stone ball rolled in with a devastating force, for some reason, its huge body was able to move around in the river, sometimes leaping high up using the slope of the river bank to cross over fields, and sometimes cleverly using the turns in the terrain to adjust its direction of advance.

In general, it never deviated from the trajectory preset by Zhao Qing, nor did it affect the panicked villagers. It deliberately avoided villages and towns, and only wreaked havoc in the uninhabited fields and wilderness, leaving behind shocking gullies and plowed cracks on the ground.

……

The stone ball began to roll down from a height of more than 400 feet on the mountain top, and as it bumped and fell, its speed became faster and faster, reaching the maximum speed for most chariots to charge.

Just like those super-high-speed chariots driven by talisman crystals, giant monsters or powerful practitioners, they even have a tendency to take off into the air, but their weight has increased by a hundred thousand or a million times.

However, the distance from Shimen Mountain to Changling is more than a hundred miles after all, so it is naturally impossible to reach there in an instant. Even the ground shock waves caused took some time to spread to Nie Garden.

When it just started, "Ye Celeng" was fighting against Yin Xun, a man known as the "Ghost Swordsman" who was extremely skilled in the transformation of flying swords and the closed disciple of Nie Yinshan, the dean of Qingshan Sword Academy.

Many bright sword lights twisted, intertwined, circled against the trend, disappeared and emerged strangely on the sword platform, stirring up clusters of increasingly sharp whistling sounds.

Nie Yinshan, who was once a military commander, had a close relationship with Nie Yuan since his surname was Nie. He could be said to be one of the branches of the Nie family. Therefore, his disciple represented his master in this battle, fighting with others for victory, which also had a different meaning.

Different from the previous battle between He Shanjian and others that emphasized sword fighting and faced serious light pollution, as a rare master who still mainly uses flying swords to attack and studies delicate techniques even after reaching the seventh level, Yin Xun's series of moves are undoubtedly more entertaining to watch and can bring more insights to practitioners at lower levels.

In particular, the flying sword he controlled was asymmetrical on the left and right, with the center of gravity mainly on the sword spine. Due to the static imbalance of the structure, its dynamic changes became even more bizarre and unpredictable, and it was impossible to predict its trajectory using common sense. This made many sword masters think and were deeply inspired.

However, unlike the previous competitions, on the high sword viewing platform, Emperor Yuanwu at this moment seemed to no longer care about the matter of "Ye Celeng". He just closed his eyes, rested, regulated his breathing, and took advantage of this leisurely time to swallow a elixir and practice in silence.

It was not until a young man wearing an ordinary green satin robe, who looked only about twenty years old and had a gentle and peaceful expression, slowly walked onto the stage and bowed that he opened his eyes, turned his head to look at the other person, and sized him up for a moment.

Apart from being relatively tall, the young man had a very ordinary face. He had no accessories on his body and no sword. His long hair was casually tied behind his back with a cloth belt, just like that of ordinary Qin people, but he exuded an otherworldly aura.

Naturally, he was the person Yuanwu specially called over. He was the hostage who was sent to the Qin capital Changling as a condition of the armistice agreement after the Great Chu Dynasty conquered Yangshan County nine years ago. He was the Lord of Liling who was exchanged for 600 miles of fertile land in Qin.

As we all know, apart from his identity as the emperor's son, Li Lingjun's experience can even be described as "miserable".

His mother was originally a courtesan in the palace. She was favored by the Emperor of Chu and gave birth to Lord Liling. However, a few years later, she was sentenced to death for offending the Emperor of Chu with her words.

In order to avoid seeing his mother, the Emperor of Chu gave Li Ling Jun a piece of land that no one cared about and sent him away, keeping him out of his sight. It is said that this was the result of advice from someone in the court, otherwise, given the Emperor of Chu's temperament, he might have issued a secret order to let Li Ling Jun go directly to follow his deceased mother.

However, even though the fiefdom obtained by Li Lingjun was extremely far away from the capital of the Great Chu Dynasty, so far that it was forgotten, when the Great Chu Dynasty needed a prince as a hostage in exchange for the city of the Great Qin Dynasty, the Emperor of Chu immediately thought of him!
Everyone knows that the fate of hostages in most countries is miserable.

For those emperors who control the life and death of countless armies and practitioners, when the war begins, they will definitely not care about the life or death of their least favorite son.

Although he was a Chu man who came from afar and did not have much family background, in less than ten years in Changling, Lord Liling had already become an important figure.

He already has over a thousand followers, including hundreds of practitioners.

Most people, including many officials in Changling, had no idea how he was able to slowly climb up from a discarded position to his current position in Changling, but Yuan Wu knew very well that the other party must have reached a limited cooperation with Zheng Xiu long ago and sold out some secrets of the Chu Dynasty.

After taking a quick glance at this young man, the Chu hostage whom he had not seen for several years and who once represented the shame of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Yuanwu's eyes were filled with some inexplicable meaning, like sighing and mocking. After a long while, he slowly opened his mouth and asked:
"Do you know that thirty years ago, I was also a hostage trapped in Yingcheng, the capital of Chu. Because of the defeat of my dynasty in the war during that period, I was forced to be given to your Chu as a bargaining chip for peace. I stayed in a foreign country and suffered humiliation and indifference?"

"At that time, I was also like you when you first entered Changling. I was surrounded, looked at, commented on, and even humiliated by many dignitaries. However, I could only suppress my anger and murderous intent, put on a smile, and accepted them one by one. I still remember the feeling of being powerless to struggle and being at the mercy of others."

Upon hearing this, Li Lingjun's expression changed slightly. He didn't understand why Yuan Wu suddenly mentioned such a past event and what his intention was.

He thought that Qin was defeated in both battles. Why was Yuan Wu a hostage first and himself the one who suffered the misfortune later? However, he could only follow the other party's words and bowed his head and said:
"Your Majesty is a man of great talent and vision, which I cannot compare to. In the past, you were a dragon trapped in the field, just waiting for the wind to rise. One day, you will soar into the sky and the world will be astonished."

"Now that Your Majesty has ascended the throne, you are rich and powerful, and you rule the world. You can express your ambitions, realize your lofty ideals, create unprecedented achievements, and be recorded in history and praised by future generations."

"However, everyone's life experiences are different. Even if we have similar experiences, we may not make the same choices or walk the same path. I know that I do not have the ambition and perseverance of your majesty. All I want is to find a place to settle down and make a living."

"I wonder what your majesty's intention is in bringing up these old stories with me today?"

Li Lingjun had obviously practiced this speech many times, and his tone was calm when he spoke it, without any unusual emotion, as if he was sincerely praising and envying Emperor Yuanwu, and at the same time feeling sad and helpless about his own situation.

His voice is gentle and magnetic, giving people a feeling of being bathed in spring breeze, which can easily make people feel good about him.

"Oh, you don't have to be so modest."

Emperor Yuanwu chuckled. He naturally did not believe a word of Li Lingjun's "heartfelt words". He just continued to ask, "Xiong Han, do you know why I was able to overcome many obstacles and return to the country to inherit the throne even though we were both hostages?"

No one has called the name "Xiong Han" for many years, so when Li Lingjun heard it for the first time, he couldn't help but be stunned. After a long time, he realized that this should be his real name, and his face showed a bit of sighing and reminiscence.

However, he did not say much about it. He quickly calmed down, lowered his head again, and thought about his reply: "Because Your Majesty is the eldest prince, he has the qualifications and status to inherit the throne of the Qin Dynasty."

"Although I am also a prince of Chu, I am only a concubine's son. I have never been loved by my father, and I have no foundation or power in the court. Even if I return to the country, it will be difficult for me to change anything, let alone get involved in the supreme position."

This set of words had also gone through Li Lingjun's mind countless times and he had already memorized it by heart. Now that he spoke it, it was extremely smooth and natural, without any hesitation or pause.

"Although he is a bastard-born prince of Chu, which of the fifteen princes still alive in Chu is not a bastard-born prince?"

"From this perspective, you, Xiong Han, have no chance at all. Otherwise, why did you spend so much time and effort in Changling to recruit guests, make friends with court officials, and accumulate strength over the years? Even the reputation spread outside is almost on par with that of the Thirteen Marquises of the Great Qin."

Yuan Wu glanced at Li Lingjun calmly, sensing his instantaneous change of mood and the scent of the drug used to dye his hair black. He knew that he had been so worried in recent days that his hair had turned gray. He couldn't help but chuckled and shook his head, and continued leisurely:

"In fact, I have always seen everything you do, but I have not interfered too much. After all, we are all of the same mind and reason. Since you are the son of the Emperor of Chu, it is impossible for you to be willing to stay in Changling forever and be a hostage for the rest of your life."

"It's a pity that if you stay here any longer, when Concubine Zhao Xiang's child is officially born and is designated as the crown prince by your father, in order to eliminate potential hidden dangers, even a hostage thousands of miles away may not be able to escape."

"Your situation is extremely precarious, and you are at risk of losing your life at any moment..."

"If an imperial decree comes and forces you to commit suicide, or someone in the Chu court slanders you, saying that you have made friends with Qin officials in Changling and have raised assassins with evil intentions, what should you do? Most likely, you will just follow the footsteps of your fifth and eleventh brothers!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Lingjun's body trembled violently, obviously Yuan Wu had hit upon what he was most worried about.

The Qin spies joined forces with two Chu princes to cause chaos in Yingdu, and were killed along with many important officials. Although the news was far away and seemed to be blocked from leaking out, after a long time, the news finally came through.

It was just that because Lord Liling was infiltrated like a sieve by people sent by Zheng Xiu, and many of his retainers were actually from Jiaodong County, by the time the information fell into his ears, some details had already been changed and he had been misled and lured.

In addition, he bribed the staff in the palace with a large sum of money, and when they made their analysis, they reasonably "guessed" that this should be Zhao Xiangfei, the favorite of the Emperor of Chu. Because she obtained the secret medicine of the new "imperial teacher", she finally became pregnant, and it seemed that she had already reserved the position of crown prince for her child.

It was only to ensure that after the young prince ascended the throne in the future, the threatening imperial brothers would not rely on their age and cultivation to temporarily lead and unite to launch a rebellion, or be supported by the court officials, so he took action in advance and designed and created this major case that shocked the court and the public.

And the subsequent development of events seems to verify the correctness of this "speculation".

Shortly after the two princes were executed, the Emperor of Chu lavishly rewarded Zhao Xiangfei's followers. Even the remnants of Zhao State in the territory received considerable favors. For a time, they were extremely powerful and at the peak of their careers.

Preconceived ideas, coupled with a series of new news that was difficult to distinguish between true and false, made Li Lingjun extremely worried and unable to sleep all night, because he knew very well that the more prosperous his business and the more famous he became in recent years, the more it became a death warrant under the current situation.

Even last night, Li Lingjun's most trusted master, the only master from Chu in the mansion, left a secret letter with sharp words and disappeared.

Although this guy was actually assassinated by people sent by Zheng Xiu to set up the scene and forge the letter, in the eyes of Liling Jun, this guy saw that there was no hope on his side, so he simply abandoned this "collapsed" dangerous building and fled away overnight.

It has to be said that when the gap between strength and power is too big, there is no need to design it in a sophisticated way, and one can easily play with people's hearts in the palm of his hand, making them suspicious, panic-stricken, and scaring themselves.

When he heard Yuan Wu further confirm the authenticity of the matter, Li Lingjun's heart was shocked, his face turned extremely pale, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead. He looked at the other party with complicated eyes, as if he wanted to see some clues from his face, trying to analyze new information and a way out.

Some opportunities are fleeting and may never come back in your lifetime.

But the price he had to pay was too heavy, so heavy that he could hardly bear it.

He scratched his gray hair that had been dyed black before he went out with a slow movement, feeling the hair flowing through his fingers like running water. He felt miserable, knowing that he was probably really old. In the end, he sighed and revealed a helpless bitter smile:
"The journey is long and the return is indefinite. Will Xiong Han ever be able to return to his homeland in this lifetime?"

"What's so difficult about this?"

...(End of chapter)