Fake Showmanship, True Divine Power! (Monthly Votes at the Start of the Month, Two-in-One)

Evening clouds floated over the far shore; the setting sun shone upon the long pavilion.

Flame-red clouds came from the north.

The farmer working the fields narrowed his eyes, set down his hoe, turned his back to the Yellow Earth and faced the sky, grabbed the towel around his neck to wipe the sweat from his brow, and watched the White Jade Palace howl southward.

The setting sun vanished without a trace, yet the blazing light remained unchanged.

The earth still gave off a dry, pallid glow. Brown soil had been baked pale yellow-white. A gust swept past, and clods rolled down the hillside, trailing a faint wisp of yellow dust.

"Rumble!"

Lightning flashed, and muffled thunder rolled.

Lead-gray clouds followed the White Jade Palace from the north. Rain poured down in sheets. The cracked earth could not absorb the water; foam spun in the pits. The hoe toppled over, splashing yellow blooms.

The farmer opened his mouth and turned in circles. Raindrops smacked into his lips and teeth. He cupped a pool of water in his hands and scrubbed his face hard.

Last year, the Xingyi Marquis.

This year, the Jiang Huai King.

The Da Shun giant rose to his feet, using the Huai River that ran east to west as a slingshot. Taking aim at the Southern Border giant, he launched an incomparably hard, sharp pebble that had once made blood stream down the other's forehead. After ten days, the pebble finally crossed mountains and rivers and flew into Lingnan!

The new "stone" fell into the pond, splashing up layer upon layer of ripples.

The ripples struck the stones at the pond's edge, rolled back, and overlapped into new waves.

The royal carriage had merely crossed a pass and half a mountain, yet the entire Da Shun and