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

After several hours, a bright moon hung in the night sky, casting a silver light.

A platform next to the Linxing Tower, supported by many pillars, extends above the lake. It appears broad and flat, and steadily supports a six-meter-tall bronze statue that resembles a flying goddess.

This is the most powerful talisman of the Chu Army known to all the world, the "Flying Sky", which requires nine practitioners in the sixth realm to control and activate. In the entire Chu Dynasty, there are only sixteen such talismans.

The reason why the number is so small is naturally because there are too many runes engraved inside and it lacks some rare refined gold crystals.

Taking into account the battles on the battlefield, even if the "Flying Goddess" is destroyed, many sophisticated array components will usually remain. The refined gold that guides the vital energy and the crystals that store energy in the wreckage can also be reused. Places like the Divine Craftsman's Workshop have manufactured dozens of spare Flying Goddess fetuses.

Just the outer metal shell does not consume many rare materials. It mainly consists of several thousand kilograms of black steel and black copper, plus tens of thousands of kilograms of ordinary iron, copper, tin, lead, and hundreds of kilograms of gold and silver, and dozens of simple rune arrays, which have a certain degree of protection and vitality absorption ability.

At this moment, in the center of the "launch platform" by the lake, the statue of the flying goddess, which was originally hollow inside, has been installed with a series of new magic arrays and instruments, filled with many fixed frames, separated into multiple cabins with different functions, and arranged with some hidden portholes.

The hull and internal magic array have completed the final inspection after careful debugging by the craftsmen. The sealing has been tested by deep water pressurization, and the low-temperature toughness has been tested by extremely cold energy to ensure that it can maintain internal stability and safety in extreme environments.

Although the black steel plated on the outer layer is enough to withstand temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees and its specific heat capacity is very outrageous, in order to adapt to the ultra-high temperature and huge air resistance environment during the subsequent launch and to avoid accidents, a streamlined black crystal fairing and related thermal insulation coating were also arranged.

The weather was clear and the stars were shining. Dozens of craftsmen were surrounding the cabin, conducting the final inspection before "launch". Under the moonlight, the surface of the gold and blue bronze statue was glowing with a faint cold light, as if it was endowed with some mysterious power.

Everything is ready, waiting for the moment of "flying into the sky".

Although a cordon was set up around the platform and a faint protective light curtain was raised, there were still many workshop craftsmen and practitioners who had received the news and crowded onto the corridor bridge, watching from a distance, whispering and discussing.

After all, several masters planned to fly into the starry sky in a self-made "flying" cabin. This was an unprecedented event!

"Have you heard? This time, Feitian is going to fly to the outer space, a place that even the strongest practitioners of our Great Chu Dynasty have never set foot on!"

"Yes, I've heard about it too. It is said that the vitality there is incredibly rich, and there are all kinds of strange stars and extraterrestrial creatures. I don't know whether it is true or not." A young practitioner said to his companion with excitement in his eyes.

"It must be true! Otherwise, how could those big shots spend so much effort to let the owner Ji Tianxue personally transform this "flying" goddess and even sit in it personally? They must want to explore the unknown starry sky and open up a new path of cultivation for our Great Chu!"

"Explore the starry sky?" A royal child who happened to come to the Godcrafter's Workshop to order weapons could not help but sneer when he heard this: "The so-called outer space, other than endless darkness and cold, desolate and empty, with the faint light of flying stars, what else can there be?"

"Those fairy gods and gods in folklore are nothing but imaginary creations! As practitioners, we can clearly see that the moon is full of craters and pits. It is extremely desolate. There are no fairies or gods at all."

"As for the stars, according to the 'Universe Panorama', they are nothing more than huge rocks floating in the void. Some are burning with fire, while others are as cold as death. They move along specific trajectories. Where do these strange creatures come from? These are nothing more than the imaginations of ignorant people."

Although the words of this royal descendant seemed cold and a bit arrogant, he also quoted profound knowledge from many classics, and every word seemed to make sense.

The expressions of some people around became a little gloomy. Indeed, people are always full of imagination and speculation about the unknown extraterrestrial space, but only a few people really understand it.

However, at this moment, an old craftsman with white hair and beard and wearing a purple robe suddenly appeared in front of this person, shook his head slowly, and said earnestly:

"Young man, don't be so arbitrary. This world is so vast that there are all kinds of things. Although we have practiced for many years, what we know and see is still just a drop in the ocean. The outer space is a realm we have never really set foot on. How many secrets are hidden in it? Who can tell?"

"Back then, our ancestors in ancient times also believed that the sky was round and the earth was flat, and that the sun rising in the east and setting in the west was just the will of the gods. But what about now? We already know that this world is spherical, suspended in the void and clouds, and the sun, moon, and stars all move according to the law."

"It is precisely because generations of ancestors have been constantly exploring the unknown and daring to challenge that we have today's world of practitioners and the current Great Chu Dynasty. The outer space may indeed be full of desolation and danger as you said, but it may also contain miracles, treasures and hopes that we cannot imagine."

"Hope? Humph, don't let hope turn into disappointment, or even lose your life in the endless starry sky!" The royal young man curled his lips and muttered to himself, obviously not optimistic about this expedition.

In fact, there were quite a few practitioners who held similar views to this person. At the same time, on the top of a covered bridge opposite, a young craftsman who was watching from the sidelines, holding a telescope and observing the movements on the platform from afar, could not help but voice out his doubts:

"Speaking of which, this 'Flying' goddess was originally our main military talisman. Although it is called 'Flying', it actually has nothing to do with flying. Now that it has been transformed into this, can it really fly smoothly into the starry sky? Will it disintegrate halfway?"

"Don't talk nonsense! No matter what those important figures think or why they came here, they are undoubtedly the pillars of our dynasty. How can you, a young man like you, make irresponsible comments?" An elderly craftsman frowned and scolded:
"Besides, although this 'Flying Goddess' was not originally designed for flying, after being carefully modified by Master Ji Tianxue and many craftsmen, how can it be judged by common sense? If you don't believe it, then open your eyes and watch carefully to see whether this 'Flying Goddess' can successfully take off and fly to the outer space!"

The young craftsman who was scolded shrank his neck and dared not speak any more, but he was still somewhat skeptical in his heart. After all, flying to the outer space was too shocking, it was simply something that only the legendary immortals could do.

Time passed and the night deepened, but the noise around the platform did not diminish in the slightest. On the contrary, as the news that "Feitian" was about to take off spread, more and more onlookers gathered here, all wanting to witness this historic moment with their own eyes.

Finally, as everyone was eagerly waiting, a clear bell rang out, and a low humming sound suddenly came from the "Flying" goddess statue in the center of the platform. Then, a powerful wave of vital energy emanated from the cabin, shaking the surrounding air slightly.

"It's about to begin!" Exclamations came one after another from the crowd. Everyone held their breath and stared through the outer layer of light curtain that was rippling with the vibrating vital energy, staring closely at the "flying" goddess who was about to take off into the sky with countless blue lines lighting up all around her.

……

At this time, inside the "Flying" goddess statue, in the cockpit located at the head of the goddess, three masters, Zhao Xiangfei, Gongshu Zhi and Zhen Lingzi, were sitting upright in their respective seats, fastened their seat belts, their eyes sweeping over the glowing runes on the cabin wall and the lead glass portholes that had long been closed.

With their usual status and position, they had never been squeezed in such a small space. The vitality emitted from their bodies was almost mixed together. But at this moment, there was no dissatisfaction or complaint on the faces of the three people. Instead, they were full of seriousness and expectation.

"You two, do you have any thoughts of temporarily withdrawing? If something unexpected happens, none of us can guarantee survival in the extreme environment of the Lonely and Cold Starry Sky."

After a moment of silence, Gongshu Zhi spoke first: "It's not too late to regret now, but once this 'Feitian' is activated, there will be no turning back."

"That's because you're not sure. I'm full of confidence." Concubine Zhao smiled slightly and touched a few defensive martial arts instruments in her sleeves. "Even if you fall from a height of a million feet, how can you do anything to my well-tempered body?"

"That's right." Zhen Lingzi also nodded and encouraged: "As long as our vitality is not exhausted and our magic tools are intact, the three of us can turn danger into safety even if we encounter a big crisis. We can rely on the starlight traction method to return to the ground safely. What is there to worry about?"

"The final countdown is about to begin!"

Inside the cockpit, Zhao Qing's voice came from a giant Lingxi jade talisman with extremely high power: "Pay attention to the overload and overweight during takeoff. The acceleration is about 200 G... The instrument panel next to it will display the height of the cabin from the ground in real time..."

"During the launch process, the cabin may vibrate violently and resonate, similar to the damage caused by a musical note arrow. You need to be careful and use your true energy to protect your internal organs and brain... The mounting bracket has been officially unlocked, don't be nervous... Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, start!"

As Zhao Qing's countdown ended, with an order, a brilliant light suddenly burst out from inside the "Flying" goddess statue, and the runes engraved on the bulkhead were immediately activated, flashing dazzling blue light, while bursts of hissing sounds like the friction of a giant steel ship came from inside.

A strong sense of resonance also arose in the depths of the three masters' qi seas. Strands of their innate vital energy tightly wrapped around circles of silver starlight and colorful qi like spindles, and then burst out and splashed, turning into blooming fireworks, dyeing the rune lines on the cabin wall with a deeper color.

Countless silver and colorful points of light burst out from the runes, naturally condensing into entangled chains, shooting straight up into the extremely high dark sky, forming a bright column of light hundreds of feet in diameter, like a waterfall of starlight rolling up, about to flow into the Milky Way in the sky.

The next moment, the three of them felt a huge force coming from under the seats, as if a weight of tens of millions of pounds was pressing on their chests, and the whole world seemed to be turned upside down at this moment.

Their bodies were tightly strapped to the safety belts. Facing the unprecedented weight, they all remained calm and composed. "Boom!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, the statue of the "Flying" goddess shook violently, and then soared into the sky at an astonishing speed, turning into a stream of light, and rushed straight into the sky, leaving behind it a long tail of light, like the brightest comet in the night sky.

From afar, it looks like a gigantic god awakening in the night, wrapped in a silver and blue light cocoon, waving its gorgeous wings of light, trying to break free from the earth and fly along the track paved by the light column that runs through the sky, towards the distant and mysterious starry sky.

"Success! 'Feitian' really flew!"

Although the crowd around the platform was forced to retreat again and again by the shock wave generated by the takeoff, and their voices were drowned out by the huge sonic boom, they could not hide the shock and excitement on their faces. They cheered and looked up to follow the tiny and blurry light that was flying higher and higher.

The royal son who had been quoting from classics also widened his eyes at this moment, his face full of disbelief, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. He felt that the laughter of everyone around him was a mockery of himself, so he stomped his feet fiercely, turned around and left in anger.

The other craftsmen and practitioners who had originally harbored doubts and expressed their opposition were also slapped in the face on the spot. They were all dumbfounded, with shock in their hearts beyond words. They unconsciously developed awe and a desire to follow the leader of this project.

In the stone pillar formation on the lakeshore, several young men who were trying to pass the level looked up at the sky in astonishment, loosening their grip on the weapons in their hands. As a result, they were almost injured by the air blades generated out of thin air by the opposite side, and had to leap back and exit the current level.

Due to the limited range of the concealment formation covering the area of ​​the Master Craftsman's Workshop, when the Flying Goddess rushed straight up, not only the entire Yingdu, but even most of the territory of the Chu Dynasty, as well as the observers and seven-level masters of the Qin, Qi, and Yan dynasties, noticed this strange retrograde meteor.

Taking into account the existence of spies from various dynasties in Yingdu, the starting point of the meteor will obviously not be kept secret for long. It is estimated that it will soon be presented to the tables of leaders of some major forces, causing far-reaching impacts on the situation in the world.

……

At the same time, the heavy metal statue was dragged by the starlight chain controlled by Zhao Qing and rose into the air at a high speed. The black crystal fairing outside the cabin continued to withstand the air resistance and high temperature, emitting a blazing white flame, and countless light and dark runes flashed inside.

But none of these can stop the rising momentum of the "Flying" goddess. It is like a giant beast that has broken free from its restraints and rushes towards the unknown starry sky regardless of everything.

In the cockpit, the faces of the three masters, Zhao Xiangfei, Gongshu Zhi and Zhen Lingzi, were slightly pale due to their first experience of huge acceleration and repeated oscillations; on the surrounding dashboards, various data were jumping rapidly, displaying information such as the pressure, temperature and altitude of the cabin.

"The current altitude has exceeded 150,000 feet, and the acceleration is gradually decreasing." Zhao Qing's voice sounded again from the Lingxi Jade Talisman: "All data are normal, the cabin is stable, and the vitality supply is sufficient! We will soon enter the starry sky!"

"When can we see outside?" Zhao Xiangfei asked suddenly. She unbuckled her seat belt and stood directly on the cabin wall, stretching her muscles. She seemed to have fully adapted to the overweight and overload, and felt that this was a good environment for training.

"It should be soon. When we reach an altitude of about 400,000 feet, we will be able to observe the scenery outside through the specially made glazed portholes." Gongshu Zhi closed his eyes and concentrated, and slowly responded: "This is really a strange feeling, as if my soul is also flying away from the mundane world."

"Four hundred thousand feet, that's really an unimaginable height!"

Zhen Lingzi sighed, and he also unbuckled his seat belt, but compared to Zhao Xiangfei's ease, he seemed more cautious. After all, this was their first time to attempt such a bold adventure, with too many unknown risks and challenges.

"boom!"

There was another loud bang. The black crystal fairing on the top finally completed its mission under the intense friction and high temperature. It split into two halves on its own. The runes melted instantly, detonating it into a ball of brilliant sparks that dissipated into the night sky.

At this moment, the "Flying" goddess statue has completely broken away from the constraints of the atmosphere and entered the space area above the Karman line. A lead glass porthole on the top of the cockpit and the sunshade covering it slowly moved away, revealing the real scene outside.

The three masters, Zhao Xiangfei, Gongshu Zhi and Zhen Lingzi, looked up quickly and saw an orange-red atmospheric glow band with yellow, green and blue colors, which separated the slightly curved edge of the earth from the dark space and the starry sky. It was incomparably magnificent and breathtakingly beautiful.

"We have entered space. What should we do next?" Staring at the starry sky in the distance, Zhao Xiangfei didn't know how long it had passed. She withdrew her thoughts, connected the Lingxi Jade Talisman, and asked about the next plan.

"Let's take a break first. When we reach an altitude of 1.8 million feet, the spacecraft is officially in orbit, and the flight status is stable, we will start the various operations as originally planned..."

Zhao Qing quickly replied in the jade talisman through the starlight link: "Activate the two astronomical telescopes in the palms of the left and right hands of the goddess statue, the energy sensors distributed in each cabin, and unfold the ten thin plates of the solar energy array in the dark cabin on the back..."

"These operations are very simple. After you are done, you can move freely and try to communicate with the nearby star energy, comprehend the mysteries, and establish connections with those bright stars. If you have any questions, you can ask me. Be careful."

……

As time went by, the "Flying" goddess statue gradually stabilized at the predetermined height and orbit. The three masters looked at each other, quickly opened the hatch on the neck, and under the guidance of the crystal light, came to the core cabin at the chest and began their respective operations in an orderly manner.

Although it was their first time experiencing a microgravity environment, with the help of the extended True Energy tentacles and their pulling and adsorption effects, it only took a few moments for them to start and adjust many instruments and complete the task successfully.

The "Goddess" gently opened the clenched fingers of her left and right hands, revealing the crystal clear black ice optical lenses in her palms. She slightly rotated her wrist joints, adjusted the direction of the mirror, and aimed at the corresponding target;

Pieces of dark red thin sheets that were connected to each other and were about several meters long and wide slowly unfolded. They were slightly curved, like petals. Although the surface emitted a metallic glow, they were so thin that they were almost transparent, like the wings behind a fairy, shining brightly in the space.

Although they were in the dark hemisphere with almost no sunlight, the sparse atmospheric glow and distant starlight caused golden lines to light up on these strange metal sheets.

The golden rune lines overlapped one another, like countless transparent golden cicada wings stacked together, so complicated that it was somewhat unbelievable. Strands of star energy were absorbed into those thin sheets and continuously condensed in those runes.

Apart from the relevant workshop craftsmen, only a very small number of high-ranking officials of the Great Chu Dynasty recognized that these extremely thin sheets of metal were the "Heavenly Punishment" that was believed to be powerful enough to change the situation of heaven and earth, a new military standard talisman that was only developed at the beginning of this year.

In Zhao Qing's opinion, this is also the most advanced technological crystallization of the Chu Dynasty Workshop so far and the talisman with the most development potential.

Simply put, they were originally used to absorb the sun's energy at high altitudes, continuously condense the sun's true fire, scatter flames to attack the enemy, and burn and melt the battlefield into a powerful weapon. They are the result of the Chu Dynasty's research on the Qinglei Tianjue Formation next to the Goddess Peak of Wushan Mountain over the years.

Due to the effect of "pulling the threads of distant vital energy", this "Divine Punishment" talisman, which looks very much like a solar panel, seems that the area of ​​each piece is not large and cannot absorb much energy, but in fact, it can absorb thousands of light energies that exceed its surface area.

If they are in an area exposed to direct sunlight, these ten sheets together are enough to absorb half of the solar and thermal energy within a few dozen square kilometers, which is equivalent to the power of half the Three Gorges Hydropower Station.

Such data is undoubtedly outrageous. It is believed that after large-scale production, it will have the ability to allow the Chu Dynasty to sweep the world. In addition to the fact that the process is too sophisticated and the production speed is limited, the main raw material it consumes, "Lieyang Sand", is not a rare spiritual mineral.

Naturally, the hundreds of "Heavenly Punishment" talismans produced by the Divine Craftsman Workshop and other places have only been tested at altitudes of several hundred to several thousand feet, and it has been confirmed that they can still operate inefficiently under starlight, but they have never been truly sent into the extreme starry sky environment.

Not to mention the broad prospects of this talisman in energy supply, as long as this batch of "Divine Punishment" can also produce some effects in space, it will be a truly space-based super weapon that can be called a divine punishment. Hung at such an astonishing height, how can it be countered and destroyed by any conventional means?
Instructing Zhao Xiangfei and others to record the detection data displayed by each instrument on time, Zhao Qing was in the Neighboring Star Tower on the ground, slowly recovering the huge amount of true energy consumed in sending the statue of the goddess into space. At the same time, he also maintained the resonance between his own vital energy and comprehended many means of application from it.

She casually opened the ink-colored jade box containing Tai Sui, and while looking at the contents, she waited for good news from heaven. However, she did not expect that strange information suddenly came from the jade talisman:

"Just now I seemed to see a huge, incomplete humanoid object floating hundreds of miles away..."

...(End of chapter)