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

After entering the room, the yellow-robed practitioner skillfully walked around sacks of dried salted fish and walls of pickle jars. He quickly came to a compartment inside and took out a bottle of unknown potion from the secret cabinet. He then walked deeper into the room and smeared the potion on the seals of each wine jar one by one.

This is a means of keeping the prisoners in a dormant state and pre-processing. In his cognition, "Tianmo Taisui" was once an extremely powerful evil creature, but in the past years, its self-consciousness was erased by the "ancestors" of Jiaodong County and it became very weak.

Therefore, in order for "Tai Sui" to successfully transform the prisoners into medicine men who can quickly restore their missing flesh and blood, it is necessary to minimize the host's resistance and reduce their vitality before parasitizing them to ensure the smooth progress of the parasitic process.

The yellow-robed cultivator's movements were skilled and indifferent, as if he was carrying out an ordinary daily task. To him, these medicine men who were cultivated as food ingredients were nothing more than experimental materials. It was a great honor for him to be able to contribute to the development of his own family.

Just when his bottle of medicine was about to run out, an old man sitting in a comfortable yellow rattan chair in the observation cabin high up in the leading ironclad merchant ship in front of him suddenly opened his eyes and looked toward the river in the distance with alertness, as if he sensed some approaching crisis.

In the spiritual perception of the old man in yellow robe, the current head of the Zheng family, at the bottom of the water where the front of the large ship he was riding was about to pass, there seemed to be many black lines emitting a terrifying aura that were gestating, changing, and growing at a high speed, and then condensed into a trap that swallowed everything.

So, he began to inhale deeply, which quickly led to the formation of a huge vortex of vital energy. A nine-foot-long, spiral spike naturally condensed in the palm of his hand. The surface was covered with layers of strange energy waves, and the color changed unpredictably, as bright as clouds, with star patterns visible.

If there were any cultivators from outside the region who had been fishing in the Arctic Ice Sea for many years, they might be able to recognize that this should be the long horn and outer tusk of a narwhal.

Therefore, this long sword with a special shape was named "Whale Tooth Sword", symbolizing power, wealth and purity. It is one of the most powerful swords of the Zheng family.

Without having time to give specific instructions to others, Zheng Canghai, nourished by many rare spiritual medicines, burst out with his vast innate true energy that far exceeded that of most people of the same realm from the tip of the whale-tooth sword. In an instant, he transformed into the shape of a giant whale shining with starlight, and was about to wrap up the entire ship under his feet.

Almost at the same time, a blazing, expanding bubble suddenly formed from under the ship and hit the outer wall of a running water-leaving magic circle, pushing it upwards into a pit of several feet. It then suddenly shrank and became smaller, and then expanded again, hitting the same position.

In a very short period of time, the Yin Lei that exploded underwater had performed countless "bubble pulsations". Each expansion and contraction of the bubble carried a destructive force, which pushed the entire 9,000-ton ironclad ship with a slightly deformed bottom out of the water and into a nearly vertical state.

Then, a nuclear torpedo with a yield of one thousand tons landed right under the Zheng family's armored merchant ship, pouring out all its stored energy.

The surrounding air seemed to solidify at this moment, and then was torn apart by the huge shock wave, forming circles of ripples visible to the naked eye. The aftermath of the explosion surged on the surface of the river, causing huge waves. It seemed that even the sky was shaken by this force, and the clouds rolled and thunder was faint.

Looking from afar, a giant water column hundreds of feet high rose from the middle of the surface of this section of the Wei River. The stirring white water splashes spread outwards at a rapid speed, turning into thick water mist that stretched for dozens of miles, and then rolled back to form a beautiful mushroom cloud.

Several ships, which seemed insignificant under the towering water column, seemed to have become upside-down decorations on the outer layer of the waterfall. They were first thrown mercilessly into the air, and then fell heavily on the river surface, making a deafening roar.

This was a sudden disaster. Even a veteran master like Zheng Canghai, who was in the middle level of the seventh realm, could not have anticipated such a horrific attack. He used all his strength to activate the Whale Tooth Sword, and the star-studded shape of a giant whale tumbled in the air, trying to stabilize the ship that was about to capsize.

Although the energy output of the Seventh Realm Grandmaster is not inferior to some small and medium-sized nuclear bombs, he is far inferior in terms of instantaneous burst of power and can hardly withstand the overwhelming shock wave.

The large ship was like a lone leaf, swaying in the huge waves, and the crew members who stayed on the deck were instantly shaken into a bloody mist. It must be said that the defense of the UFO large ship was very outrageous, and it seemed that only a small part of it was melted by such a shot at close range.

What kind of force is attacking the fleet?

Zheng Canghai never expected that such a dramatic change would occur before he had even finished taking a breath. In an instant, thousands of complicated thoughts flashed through his mind, and the wrinkles and dark spots on his face quickly disappeared along with his luck.

Although his face became extremely gloomy and terrifying, he seemed to become several decades younger with this breath, returning to the appearance of a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. He shook the whale-tooth sword in his hand, and did not look at the yellow-robed boy who was bleeding from all seven orifices and dying beside him, but soared towards a higher place.

Zheng Canghai's figure suddenly disappeared from the damaged observation cabin, and then appeared thousands of feet in the sky, knocking a large transparent hole in the mist. He then reached the top of the mushroom cloud, looking down at the scene below with a sharp gaze.

Then, he suddenly jumped down from the sky like a falling meteor, and the whale-tooth sword in his hand cut through the sky, with the tip of the sword pointing directly at the center of the explosion that had not yet subsided. His body was surrounded by brilliant starlight, and the sword intent that came down was so powerful that it seemed like a punishment from heaven.

With every hundred feet he fell, the power of Zheng Canghai's sword light increased sharply, and the area it covered also expanded several times. When his body crashed into the rising mushroom cloud again, creating a huge hole, the sword light had actually expanded to the point of almost reaching the sky and the earth.

The scorching mushroom cloud, which was still oscillating and releasing the aftermath of the shock wave, was like a large, white and reddish dough that was fermenting. It was flattened by a slap, collapsed from a height of hundreds of feet all the way down, and was pressed into the undulating river surface by the recoil.

With one sword strike, the white fog within a dozen miles disappeared, clearing the visual obstruction within the range. The river water was boiling, and the white foam was rolling, which could not calm down for a long time. And at the center of the sunken water vortex where the ironclad ship he was originally on was, there appeared a mysterious figure shrouded in black fog.

"Zheng Canghai, I didn't expect that although your cultivation level has stagnated, you have made such a breakthrough in the attainment of the 'Heavenly Punishment Sword Scripture'... Your death in my hands today can be considered as a reward for your life."

Seeing the extraordinary strength displayed by the other party, the mysterious figure spoke lightly, and at the same time his figure disappeared as if wiped out, and no one knew where he went.

The surface of the Wei River sank and swayed, and it turned out to be two huge swords in the north and south, formed by the water flow and swung towards each other. Together, they were like a pair of scissors of waves dozens of feet long, as if they were going to cut the entire river into two sections. Zheng Canghai happened to be in the middle of the rapidly approaching double blades.

Normally, Zheng Canghai only needs to move forward or backward a few feet to dodge such a sword move with a huge range of motion and therefore a relatively slow speed, allowing the massive attack to fall into the air. However, in his perception, the sword energy and sword intent surging in the waves seemed to be everywhere.

Because this is based on the changes of countless whirlpools in the water, an extremely profound and mysterious sword talisman secret technique based on water element. The two scissor-like waves were transformed into a powerful talisman in an instant, and flow lines of the vital energy of heaven and earth were generated inside, constructing an unimaginable confinement array.

Under the influence of the magic circle that was growing larger in an instant, Zheng Canghai clearly felt that countless tiny energy lines around him were suddenly broken, and the powerful sword move that he was about to release was aborted halfway.

Then, the whale-tooth sword in his hand rose slightly, and some fine light rose like phantom bubbles towards the huge hole in the sky that was created by the previous collision. Along with the raging wind and thunder and the surge of his innate aura, a blue-green column of light fell from the sky.

It was initially several dozen times thick, but it did not expand as it moved. Instead, it shrank rapidly until it became a needle. It was first swallowed by the sword energy condensed from whale teeth, and then it shot out an extremely condensed sword light along the spiral spike-like patterns on the sword body towards the edge of one of the waves.

The sword light was as thin as a needle, and with a bang, it pierced a tiny hole on one edge of the Wave Scissors. However, this hole seemed to break some kind of balance, causing the water sword blade that was originally as solid as steel to suddenly collapse and disintegrate, turning into water splashes all over the sky.

Mingxiao still had a wave blade, cutting the nearby heaven and earth energy. Although Zheng Canghai had a slight advantage at the moment, he did not dare to stay any longer. He continued to fall, passing through the turbid river water, and stepped heavily on the severely deformed ironclad ship that had been half-sunken to the bottom of the river. The surrounding waters avoided him because of his powerful momentum, forming a short period of tranquility.

However, a lot of true energy was poured into the acupoints on his feet and input into the "UFO Sword and Shield" magic array on the hull which was still relatively intact, causing the entire ship to suddenly shake, the defense system to be fully activated, and it slowly floated up, and the weapons on board began to be launched one by one.

At the same time, in addition to the first three or four ships that were severely affected by the explosion, the various protective formations of the ten or so ironclad merchant ships at the back with a relatively good survival rate of the crew were also activated, and the surface of the hull was glowing with a deep and cold luster.

Many practitioners also leaped and flew out, surrounded by groups of flying swords, and stood guard outside vigilantly.

At the rear of the fleet, which was nearly ten miles away, the sound of a huge mountain moving was heard in the sky. This was obviously another seventh-level master from Jiaodong County, who was bringing with him the surging vitality of heaven and earth and was about to meet up with Zheng Canghai in the front to jointly deal with the powerful enemy who attacked this time.

This is a middle-aged man with square eyebrows and eyes wearing a khaki outer robe. One can see that the inner armor hidden in his robe is fully activated and emitting a crystal light. During the flight, his right hand stretched out like lightning and made a gesture of throwing in the air.

With a crackling sound, a huge hole was torn in the sky above. Several sudden lightning bolts were pulled down by his true energy like living things, and instantly condensed into a lightning spear in the air.

The gun body was surrounded by dazzling electric light, as if it could tear apart all obstacles.

"Who are you, you rogue? You dare to attack my Zheng family fleet? You're courting death!" The middle-aged master's voice was as deep as a bell, soaring into the sky, resonating and vibrating with the lightning gun in his hand, forming circles of detective ripples.

Then, he seemed to have found the target's position, and the spear flew out of his hand, cutting through the sky like a stream of light. In the blink of an eye, it crossed a distance of hundreds of feet. The electric net woven into the spear's body kept splitting and reorganizing, sucking in the energy of heaven and earth along the way, and its power became more and more astonishing.

It was at this moment that the mysterious enemy like a black mist reappeared dozens of feet behind the middle-aged master. Taking advantage of the enemy being deceived by the bait and having insufficient true energy in a short period of time, a slender white arm stretched out from the cover of the mist, and the five fingers acted like swords, stabbing straight out.

Five wisps of faint and ethereal aura, seemingly leaving no trace, yet extremely tenacious and powerful, naturally outlined the complex changes in vital energy without attracting anyone's attention, passed through the resonant ripple area and the tough inner armor, and silently penetrated into the body of the middle-aged master in front.

So, the middle-aged master from Jiaodong County suddenly felt that the circulation of the five qi in his internal organs became slower and heavier, as if several balls of lead and mercury powder were stuffed into him. Then the powder spread and spread to his qi sea, dantian and the meridians throughout his body.

The next moment, this cultivator who had just displayed his powerful might fell from dozens of feet in the air and landed deep in the water. He never floated up again, as if he was a solid dissolved in the water, leaving no trace.

His death didn't even cause a ripple on the river. Everything happened too quickly and silently.

Almost at the same time, under the command of the consuls and the control of the formation masters of the ironclad ships, more than half of the ships were still swaying with the waves, but their hatches and decks were quickly opened, and large weapons were raised one after another:

Dragon head crossbow, Changfeng armor-piercing crossbow, rune chariot, annihilation arrow array, divine lotus tower, burning sky instrument...

The most eye-catching are the four huge array plates that look like multiple sun wheels, with a diameter of 49 feet, covered with rune lines, and made of a mixture of gold and copper. On the plates stands a golden divine crow with fiery eyes and endless flames. The total weight is at least hundreds of thousands of pounds, making them truly giant rune instruments.

They are the most powerful military talismans currently on the market of the Great Qin Dynasty, the "Golden Crow Burning". Each one is enough to serve as the core force of an army. Unexpectedly, four of them would appear in such a place at once.

Equipping merchant ships with such top-level talismans was clearly against Qin law, but at this critical moment, they had to be used.

As countless vital energies gathered from the nearby river and inside the ship and were poured into the four array plates and the Golden Crow statues on top of them, a ball of scorching sun spontaneously formed from the outer edge of the Golden Crow and condensed into a blazing fireball with a diameter of four feet and nine feet, which became as bright and burning as a real rising sun.

Four balls of blazing flames rose into the sky and hovered above the armored fleet, instantly burning and distorting the surrounding air. The surface of the river seemed to be ignited, with the sparkling waves mixed with blazing red light and bursts of mist rising.

The statue of the Golden Crow spreads its wings as if ready to fly, and there seems to be a silent cry coming from its mouth, ready to take off.

At the same time, Zheng Canghai jumped again to a height of thousands of feet, with the sword of heavenly punishment hanging in the air, constantly searching for the possible hiding place of the enemy. In addition to his right hand holding the whale-tooth sword, a golden light appeared in his left hand at this time, like a dazzling light emanating from a page of golden paper.

What appeared along with the page of gold paper was not the Heavenly Punishment Sword Intent that he majored in, but an ancient and powerful symbol Intent. However, to some extent, it also revealed an aura similar to Heavenly Punishment, and there were vague signs of mutual fusion between the sword Intent and the symbol Intent.

This is the "Golden Scapegoat", one of the deepest heritage of the Zheng family. According to legend, when an emperor of the Dayu Dynasty ascended the throne, because the martial arts he practiced were too violent, it caused constant collisions of the vital energy of heaven and earth and constant natural disasters, so he made such a golden talisman to suppress his own vital energy.

Judging from its effect, theoretically, if this talisman is used properly, it can have a certain suppressing effect on practitioners who have just entered the eighth realm. Even in the hands of a mediocre person like Zheng Canghai, it can serve as an excellent aid in a major battle and reverse the situation.

When the true energy in his body poured into the words written on the paper and activated the runes, these runes began to glow, and then golden light shot towards the sky, imprinting ancient patterns in the sky and earth within a radius of dozens of miles, constructing a huge and complex rune formation.

This is a means to truly reach the realm of the Eight Realms, attempting to change the laws of the vital energy within the talisman array. It completely isolates all the vital energy of heaven and earth that can be perceived by all practitioners, except for the vital energy emitted by the scapegoat golden talisman itself, forming a small world of its own.

Although with the help of the remaining vitality in the golden talisman, it is impossible for a mere mid-level seventh realm to truly control such a high-level power, but the "Heavenly Punishment Sword Sutra" of the Zheng family originally came from their ancestors' understanding of the scapegoat golden talisman, and the restrictions they are subject to are much smaller than those of others, and can even be amplified a little.

In this situation where one side is gaining while the other is losing, even a grandmaster-level figure who is much stronger than Zheng Canghai himself, if he cannot break the restraint and suppression of the scapegoat golden talisman, can only fight the enemy with the true energy he has cultivated through hard work, which is equivalent to falling to the level of the sixth realm, and it is unlikely that he can be his opponent.

"Show yourself, no matter who you are, you can't leave easily today!" Wielding both the sword and the rune, Zheng Canghai, who was originally a little flustered, regained his confidence. His voice echoed in the world composed of runes, carrying with it awe-inspiring majesty.

As if sensing the tremendous pressure brought by the scapegoat golden talisman, Zhao Qing, who had put on a certain disguise, also floated up from the water in the middle of the entire fleet. His eyes penetrated the black fog and looked into the distance at the golden rune barrier that covered the sky and the earth. However, he had no fear in his heart, but instead felt a little sad.

The treasures of the world belong to those with virtue. A rare relic of the You Dynasty like the Golden Scapegoating Talisman even contains many of Emperor You’s insights into cultivation and the mysteries of the Eight Realms. We cannot allow the other party to abuse and destroy it!
If the golden talisman is damaged in the slightest, or something happens to the rare elixirs in the ship, Old Man Zheng’s life won’t be enough to compensate!

...(End of chapter)