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

While Zhao Qing's original body was browsing many sword manuals in the Lu family's ancestral library, taming ancient swords with the "Soul Shedding Sword Technique", and counting nearly 100 billion harvests, her other incarnation in Changling, pretending to be Ye Celeng, entered the Qin Palace Sword Library on the pretext of inspecting the famous swords needed for the sword club and practicing the "sword-controlling intention".

The sword meeting, which had been interrupted for nearly two days due to the stone ball attack on the military port and the death of Liling Jun, did not end hastily. On the contrary, it received great attention from Emperor Yuanwu - according to the insights in the "Suggestions": public gatherings for exchanges are indeed one of the best ways to improve cultivation.

The Xuanying Hall in the northwest corner of the Changling Imperial Palace is hidden behind nine layers of flying eaves, and a thin layer of frost has accumulated on the bluestone steps.

This seemingly ordinary three-story palace is loose on the outside but tight on the inside. The "Soul-Locking Wall" made of a layer of black iron mixed with heavy lead is secretly cast into the blue brick wall. Even the wind chimes on the eaves are hung with black jade talismans engraved with the word "Zhen".

When the blue-shirted priest guarding the hall pushed open the sunken iron door, the tortoise and snake symbols on the bronze lamps lit up one after another, illuminating the iron birch frames on both sides that reached the dome - sixteen frames with seven layers of grilles, and 36,000 volumes of "Famous Swords of Han, Zhao and Wei" glowed coldly in the dim blue phosphorescence.

Walking around nine jade tables piled with bamboo slips, the entire wall behind was made into a sword box. The dense grooves were filled with the swords of the masters seized after the fall of the three dynasties. The scabbards were either wrapped with dragon skin or inlaid with star sand. The jade plaque hanging at the end of the scabbard was engraved with the name of the original owner: Han Zhaoli Hou, Wei Wuzu Grand Commander Shentu Hai...

The sword of the destroyer became a trophy here, and the tassel still had dried blood scabs on it.

The top layer of the "Xingcheng Moon" is dark green, with a crescent-shaped curved blade and a butterfly-like phantom on the blade. It is said to be the natal sword of Han general Pengping, who once set up a seven-layer maze on the Taihang Xingdao. The "Blood Chiwen" at the bottom is like a sawtooth, and the dark red marks record that it drank the blood of 7,000 Qin soldiers when the Zhao capital Handan was captured.

The three pairs of scarlet pupils suddenly opened in the shadows. It should be the "six-eyed" magic sword that was wrapped into a cocoon by the talisman. Its owner was the last King of Zhongshan who had refined all the relatives of the dynasty through blood. The Zhao sword "Smashed Jade" four inches below was awakened by the wandering sword energy, and the light blue crystals condensed on the sword were flowing down along the Kuilong patterned hilt...

When Zhao Qing, disguised as Ye Celeng, stepped within five steps of the sword wall, four hundred and seventy-three ancient swords began to vibrate at the same time. The buzzing sound they made was enough to crack the eardrums of cultivators below the sixth realm.

Between the octagonal beams wrapped with black gold threads, runes were moving all over the ground like living things. The spirit-suppressing seal characters carved with cinnabar mixed with malachite powder flickered with her breathing.

"boom!"

A dark broad green sword suddenly roared like a tiger, and the two insect-bird characters "Yecheng" on the sword spine shone like molten gold - this was the "Tiger Roar" sword of Jin Bi, a general of the Wei State. In the past, when the Qin army flooded Daye, Jin Bi personally led his soldiers to break through the nine-layer deer fortress, and the sword tip drank the blood of 800 sharp soldiers in Zhaowu Camp.

At this moment, the scarlet crystals condensed on the sword hilt suddenly exploded, but were tied back into the sheath by the blood-red chains transformed from the beam and pillar runes.

The whistling sound of an unsheathed dagger suddenly became sharp.

Zhao Qing raised his hand and pressed lightly, the ripples of true energy that came through his sleeves brushed over the sword, and the two-inch-long gap suddenly glowed with a purple-green luster - the place where a Korean grandmaster had tapped with his finger bones before his death a hundred years ago, and the broken Xuanyin True Fire still remains there, burning forever.

The rune lamp suddenly burst out with a dazzling light, and seventeen golden locks hung down from the top of the hall, forcibly suppressing the restless sword group.

Zhao Qing took another step forward and saw that Zhao Kuo's sword, which had once illuminated 19 cities with one sword, was still struggling in the diamond grid, revealing the unyielding pride of the Qingyang Sword Tower. Countless natural golden threads flowed on the surface of the hilt, forming a pattern like a three-legged golden toad, emitting flames like a corona.

The Hanjiang Qianxue Sword, which was also recommended by Xue Wangxu, was completely buried deep in the pure ice crystals, hidden and frozen so solid that it was difficult to see the pure white sword body that looked like it was made entirely of snow. One could only feel the extremely cold air lingering around it like ribbons.

These famous swords, whose country names have been erased, are like poisonous insects trapped in amber. Even the mirage beads inlaid in the central pillar cannot reflect their sharpness in their heyday - after all, each sword has pierced through mountains and rivers and cut down royal flags.

"They are all good swords. They are deeply engraved with the traces of their previous masters. The imprint of their life force is still there. They can all serve as nourishment for my cultivation... The four hundred and seventy-three swords are the memory fragments, sword essence, and the rhythm of the gold element of at least four hundred and seventy-three masters..."

Zhao Qing sighed in his heart but remained expressionless. He calmly asked the blue-shirted priest about the history and battle records of these famous swords in the identity of Ye Celeng.

The temple guards did not suspect anything. After all, Ye Celeng was the head of the Heavenly Monitoring Department and had a very high status in the Qin Dynasty. His achievements were outstanding, far above those of ordinary people at the peak of the sixth realm. He could have applied to observe and practice in the palace's sword library through legal procedures. However, it was strictly forbidden to take these famous swords out of the temple.

In fact, considering that there were not many people in the Qin Dynasty who practiced the skills of the Han, Zhao and Wei dynasties, the adaptation rate of these natal swords was quite low and their value was also limited. In many cases, they were even loaned out to the Lingxu Sword Sect and the Minshan Sword Sect and guarded by the elders of these two sects as a privilege of the supreme sect of the dynasty.

Therefore, the blue-shirted priest did not accompany "Ye Celeng" all the time, but allowed her to visit the sword library on her own. He only told her how to screen and read the biographies of the corresponding famous swords, and said not to draw out multiple master swords at the same time to avoid triggering a sword resonance riot.

Amid the buzzing sound of the faint blue phosphorous fire and the ancient sword, Zhao Qing's eyelashes trembled slightly.

When the footsteps of the blue-shirted priest disappeared at the third rune restriction outside the heavy iron gate, the true energy dormant in her sleeves suddenly turned into thousands of threads, spreading along the gaps between the tortoise and snake runes on the bronze lamp.

"Om-"

The moment the Yaoguang Sword was unsheathed, the golden toad pattern on the hilt burst out with thousands of golden threads. These threads of light, which contained the supreme meaning of "Sunlight Sky Sword Sutra", were climbing and spreading along the black iron beams, like the scorching sun overhead, illuminating the entire sword wall like a furnace, and seventeen golden locks were stretched into a fully-stringed bow in the air.

The vibration frequency of the 473 ancient swords on the entire sword wall suddenly increased, and the cinnabar seal characters running on the rune floor tiles were like a group of startled snakes, twisting and pouncing towards Zhao Qing's feet.

The mirage bead on the top of the palace suddenly projected seven illusions: the maze of Taihang Pass, the blood and fire on the top of Handan City, the floating corpses in Daye Lake, the resentful souls in the Changping Pit, the cries of King Zhao Liu before he committed suicide for his country... The remaining memory fragments of the ancient sword boiled and rolled under the suppression of the magic circle.

Taking advantage of the moment when the sword intent was disturbed, Zhao Qing's right fingertips slid across the spine of the shining sword, and the jade toad hanging on the end of the scabbard emitted a ray of golden light, just like a thin layer of frost melting from the eaves dripping onto the green bricks - in the ripples of vital energy that were stimulated in an instant, a blue-tailed magpie curled up in the shadow of the Chiwen in the Xuanying Hall suddenly flapped its wings.

"call out--"

It flapped its wings lightly, quietly passed through the nine palaces, and flew quickly towards the laundry house behind the imperial kitchen in the northwest. Deep in the palace, there were several ditches leading to the nearest river outside the palace. The source of the ditches was several square wells, and beside the wells were piled many clothes, bedding and other items that needed to be washed.

The sounds of washing clothes by the square well became increasingly frequent, and a blue-tailed magpie folded its wings and landed on a pile of white gauze waiting to be washed.

An old palace maid with filthy clothes was beating a medicine-stained undershirt. Every time her chilblained fingers lifted the wooden pestle, the wrinkles reflected in the well water seemed to deepen, until the magpie hovered over her messy white hair, tapping out a rhythm of three long and two short beats with the tip of its beak.

"Tap!" As the soap water flowed along the creek over her cracked ankles, a drop of ice water mixed with sword energy fell into the stone trough for pounding clothes. The old palace maid's cloudy pupils suddenly contracted. She pretended to bend over to wash clothes, but her calloused palms accurately caught the ice crystal thrown by the blue-tailed magpie. The extremely cold crystal slowly melted in her body temperature, revealing the secret words outlined by the silky sword energy.

……

In the same long night, in the Liling Mansion where the cries of sacrifice were still echoing, in the study room where many classics were piled the night before, Lu Siche stood silently in the position where he used to stand, touching the cold Lingxi Jade Talisman, his eyes cast towards the empty seat of the lord, feeling melancholy in his heart.

For now, his strategy of following the example of his ancestors in supporting the Qin emperor to ascend the throne and investing heavily in Liling Jun, the hostage from Chu, can be said to have completely failed. In order to silence him, he even had to add the most critical fuel to the death of his lord.

"Hua La--" The night wind blew up the half-opened silk, awakening the counselor who was lost in his memories. He leaned over to pick up the scattered bamboo slips, and his eyes swept over the ink marks on them, "A defeated man loses his assistants" and "When the benefits are gone, the relationship becomes distant", and the corners of his mouth curled up in a self-deprecating arc.

After nine years of operation, he used up all his ancestral skills to turn half of his family wealth into assassins in Liling Jun's mansion, secret letters for connecting with the court, and carriages for lobbying various countries. However, he did not expect that the talent of this prince of the Chu Dynasty was not even one-tenth of that of the old Qin Emperor.

People like Lu Siche, who serves as both the main investor and core aide, manage the entire mansion and countless businesses for his master in every detail. Naturally, he would not care much about Li Lingjun's true moral conduct. He only needs him to act like a gentleman in front of outsiders and create a suitable political image.

But what he fears most is that the "king" has recently revealed the character of "destroying the bridge after crossing it". Under external pressure, he decisively cut off ties with his retainers who had made contributions, and abandoned them without any emotion. Loyalty and hard work are so vulnerable in the face of absolute strength and interests.

Since then, Lu Siche has understood that Li Lingjun is not a truly qualified politician after all. Whether he forgot to hide his chilling and cold nature in front of him, or he had already prepared to settle accounts with his group of people afterwards, it all shows his immaturity and lack of foresight.

So, after seeing this morning that Zhong Zheng, the most "loyal" person in the mansion, was severely injured by Xu Fu, and Li Lingjun could only obey and demanded that Zhong Zheng be killed afterwards, Lu Siche finally made up his mind and chose to withdraw from this failed investment, while trying his best to ensure his own safety and future.

"Your Majesty, please do not blame me for being cruel." Lu Siche murmured in a low voice: "In this chaotic world, I am only doing this for the survival of the Lu family." He looked out the window. The sky was dark, but he did not know where the future was heading. Li Lingjun was dead, so where should he go next?

The court of the Qin Dynasty is still turbulent, Yuan Wu and Zheng Xiu's methods are endless, but the remnants of the Bashan Sword Field are still hidden in the dark. He understands that he must find new support as soon as possible, or make a new arrangement.

Just as Lu Siche was lost in thought, there was a sudden rhythmic knock on the door outside the study. This sudden sound broke the silence of the night and brought his thoughts to an abrupt halt. His natal sword suddenly condensed in his palm: "Who?"

"It's me, Night Owl." The person behind the door said slowly, "Mr. Lu, the night dew has soaked your bones, why don't you have a cup of warm wine? By the way, let's talk about the orphan who is being fostered by a doctor in Qijing?"

……

The peaks of Wushan Mountain pierce the night sky like iron spears, and twelve rapid streams roar and rush through the canyon.

This natural barrier has been a restricted area for the army since ancient times, and only the copper bells of the caravans can echo on the horse path carved out between the cliffs.

At this moment, the eight hundred Qin soldiers guarding Wushan Pass were wearing black iron armor, and the tan cotton coats lining them shone coldly under the torchlight. Since the fall of Yangshan County in the third year of Yuanwu, this pass, more than sixty miles away from Hangu Pass, has become the last iron gate of the southern border of the Qin Dynasty.

It was not a city wall in the traditional sense: in the gaps on both sides of the mountain, iron-clad wooden fences five meters wide were fused to the mountain rocks, with the crossbow platform on top sticking out like the fangs of a giant beast; a seven-mile stone wall extended from the low part of the ridge, and the sixteen Changfeng heavy crossbows set up between the arrow battlements glowed with a cold blue light under the moonlight.

At five o'clock in the night, the bronze beacon on the corner tower of the city gate suddenly trembled. The crossbowman on duty wiped the frost from his brow, and his pupils suddenly contracted: among the clouds in the direction of Chu territory, dozens of blue spots were drifting against the north wind.

He pulled the wolf-fang bell hard and seven purple flames exploded on the top of the city wall.

These special phosphorescent flares, after being fired, look like elongated candle flames. When the wind blows, they scatter like countless purple-red fireflies and fly all over the sky - this is the highest level of night alarm recorded in the "Beacon Order".

The entire Wushan Pass was in an uproar: "C-type crossbow machine up two quarters of an inch!" "Guard team three, go up to the west wall!"

The sound of the order echoed in the corridor of the city wall, and the lieutenant on duty tightly grasped the command flag, staring at the hourglass, with beads of sweat spreading like icy flowers on the collar of his armor - from the time the purple fireflies took off to the time the first wave of arrows rained down, the array transformation had to be completed within a hundred breaths.

When the garrison commander rushed out of his sleeping quarters barefoot, the heavy crossbows on the watchtower had already made a teeth-grinding winch sound, and the three hundred crossbows on the watchtower were all pointed at the distant sky. In the outpost tent that first sounded the alarm, five garrison soldiers were frantically turning the brass compass: "We are not at the position yet, about ..."

The Qin army, which had been dealing with ground threats for years, had never imagined an enemy coming from the air. In a panic, the eight crossbows on the west wing were only raised to a 30-degree angle and then hastily fired. The three-edged armor-piercing arrows whistled in the cold wind, but the moment they left the bow, everyone realized that they had miscalculated the height.

The Chu people's flying kites had now fully appeared, with iron-boned, skin-covered giants with wingspans of more than five feet arranged in a wedge-shaped array, and their height exceeded the maximum range of crossbows by more than 70%. The first round of volleys of whistling arrows fell down exhausted a thousand feet away from the kites, piercing into the hard soil at the northern foot of Wushan Mountain in vain.

"Parabolic trajectory correction completed!"

The crossbowmen quickly spun the bronze ruler, preparing for the second round of long-range shooting, but before they could pull down their swords, three thousand sheets of mulberry paper had already poured down like snowflakes. The belly of the giant kite in the front was engraved with the Dou Da Chu seal script, and the phoenix head emblem drawn with gold lacquer was so painful that it hurt people's eyes.

The flyer that landed on the top of the Arrow Tower still had the scent of pine smoke and ink, and was soaked by frost the moment it touched the ground. It clearly read:

"The Ministry of Justice of the Great Chu sends a letter to the State of Qin: You sent 327 assassins to burn down my workshop and armory and assassinate my important ministers and heirs to the throne on the night of October 11th. Such evil tricks will only make the world laugh at you..."

"The universe has its own rules, and human relations have their own order... The old alliance of Lushan is still fresh in my mind, but you have broken your blood oath like a worn-out shoe... I am sending the Sky Kite to issue a decree, requiring you to pay 120,000 taels of gold and 3 million pieces of silk within ten days. If you fail to do so, thunder and fire from the Nine Heavens will descend on Changling. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

The knuckles of the city garrison commander crackled as he held the leaflet. The golden phoenix pattern on the edge of the paper glowed coldly under the light of the torch.

The eastern sky was already turning pale, and the kites that had just delivered their manifestos were climbing rapidly with the help of the morning updrafts, disappearing into the depths of the clouds and fog. The smoke of war had not yet been lit at Hangu Pass, sixty miles away, and the sound of the rushing waters of Wushan seemed to be mixed with sounds other than the bells of the caravan.

...(End of chapter)