"Hey, what kind of trick are you up to today?"
In broad daylight, when the Eldest Princess, accompanied by Fifth Master Shen and others, went to Chen Qing's banquet invitation, they were greeted by an incredibly strange sight as soon as they stepped outside.
The great barrier that covered the sky turned ice blue. The sun shone brightly outside the barrier, and sunlight could still shine in, but it had lost its warmth and was replaced by cold!
It was extremely cold, even colder than the dead of winter. Ice crystals were falling from the sky, and there was hardly a soul on the street!
The princess caught one or two floating ice flowers with her hand, and a strange thing happened: the ice flowers in her palm melted rapidly, and the melted water seeped into her pores, sending a chill through her entire body. The princess instantly became alert.
She could feel that the melting water had actually allowed the cold air to seep into her body. The key point was that even for a martial artist of her level, her blood and qi were blocked by the cold air for a moment!
The princess, her playful expression vanishing, frowned as she gazed at the sky filled with ice flowers. "What is Chen Qing trying to do?"
"Your Highness, Princess?" In the distance, several tall and imposing soldiers in armor strode quickly through the swirling ice crystals.
The princess frowned slightly as she looked at the soldiers opposite her. The power of these ice crystals was extraordinary. Ordinary soldiers would probably not be able to move for more than a few steps before their blood and qi were blocked by the cold air, making it difficult for them to even move. Yet these soldiers had walked over from hundreds of meters away and seemed to be completely unharmed.
The key question is, what exactly is Chen Qing trying to do? Such a large-scale technique—not only is it unclear how he accomplished it, isn't he worried about the safety of the people?
If we're not careful, this thing could wipe out the entire city!
"Your Highness." The leading soldier approached and saluted, then respectfully presented several pieces of orange-yellow jade, saying, "Because the grand formation is testing new functions, travel is prohibited in Nanming Prefecture today. Your Highness and your party should take these with you to the banquet."
The princess glanced at the jade offered by the other party, gently accepted it, and immediately felt a warm sensation envelop her entire body. In that instant, the chill she had felt earlier vanished without a trace.
"Is this based on the same principle as that ice jade that sold so well in Nanming Prefecture a couple of days ago?" Fifth Master Shen asked curiously, weighing the jade in his hand.
These days, his favorite thing to do is go to the market to see the novel items transported from all over Jiangnan to Nanming Prefecture, especially the jade that can be imbued with magical spells, which interests him the most.
"Yes, sir," the soldier replied with a smile, "They're all the work of the same sorcerer. Your Highness, carrying these things won't cause any problems when you travel."
Upon hearing this, the eldest princess looked at the scene outside filled with ice crystals, a beauty that was mesmerizing yet fraught with deadly danger.
Why can't I feel any cold air in the house?
The ice water formed from these ice crystals can even obstruct one's own blood and qi. If it were to drip onto an ordinary house, given the level of coldness just now, it would probably cause all the houses to be even more severely affected than an ice cellar within half a quarter of an hour.
"Your Highness, please rest assured," the soldier quickly replied, "All the houses are engraved with magical seals and will not be affected in any way."
"Are all the houses engraved with magical seals?" The princess narrowed her eyes. "Then can I assume that, if you so desire, the inside of these houses could become even more terrifying than the outside?"
"Your Highness is joking," the soldier said with a forced smile.
"Ha, I was just saying. Let's go then, but don't delay the banquet. I'm really looking forward to the arrangements made by Lord Chen. If you keep feeding me like this, I won't want to leave."
With that, she strode into the sea of ice crystals. A group of people quickly followed. The soldier was stunned for a moment, then looked at his two subordinates behind him and said, "What a bold and spirited woman!"
The soldiers behind her nodded repeatedly. If it were them, they would have to be extremely careful in such a situation. It must be said that, in terms of sheer courage and spirit, few men in the world can match Princess Chang of the Great Jin.
--
"My lord, please keep the jade safe. The large-scale formation test is expected to continue for at least a day or two, and without the jade, it will be quite inconvenient to travel."
On the other side, the Duke of Wei and several other forces also received warm jade from the soldiers, and all looked at the sky full of ice crystals in silence.
The soldiers didn't urge them, waiting patiently. After an unknown amount of time, it was Shen Laoda from the West Sea who led his men into the snow and ice first.
"You certainly have a big heart," the Duke of Wei said quietly, looking at the other person.
From the very beginning, the Duke of Wei never gave this monster, which had slaughtered hundreds of millions of people, a kind look.
Upon hearing this Shen Laoda turned around and smiled gently, "This kind of cold air is indeed troublesome for you human martial artists, but it doesn't affect us much. We've spent too long in the icy seabed and can already resist most of the cold in the world."
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Wei's face stiffened, while not far behind him Minister Pang and the others frowned as they looked at the snow falling all around.
"My lord, aren't we leaving?" several disciples of the direct line of sorcerers asked cautiously.
All factions are eagerly anticipating the banquet, as even those from aristocratic families have never tasted the dishes served at Chen Qing's feast, especially the wine; they still crave the aroma of the wine from two days ago.
As for the effects of the warm jade, they were even more convinced. In the past few days, in order to study those jade stones with their own spell patterns, almost every direct descendant of these sorcerer families bought several pieces of ice jade, and they had long since accepted its effects.
After a few moments of silence, Minister Pang said quietly, "I'd like to know, is this warm jade something that Chen Qing can render useless simply by desiring it?"
Everyone else's expression froze upon hearing this.
"You jest, sir," the soldier in charge of presenting the jade chuckled. "If my lord had any ill intentions, you would have frozen solid while you were still inside."
Everyone: "."
"The logic is simple," the soldier chuckled. "The house has magical seals inscribed by sorcerers, which prevents it from absorbing the chill of these ice crystals. But if the sorcerers wanted, couldn't these seals also be transformed into objects that make the house even colder? What do you gentlemen think?"
This soldier... he can talk!
Duke of Wei rolled his eyes, said nothing more, and strode into the snow with the warm jade in his hand.
Minister Pang rubbed the warm jade in his hand for a long time before finally leading a group of aristocratic scions to follow behind.
Meanwhile, in Minister Pang's room, several women dressed in black appeared like ghosts. Lu Ming looked out the window, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.
"Sir, could this be a setup targeting Madam?"
"You've caused such a commotion, it would be strange if Chen Qing didn't target you!" Lu Ming said without even turning his head or lifting his eyelids.
"Madam risked her life for Master's sake!" the leading woman said sinisterly. "If it weren't for Master's predicament, Madam wouldn't have had to venture into such danger. That mother and daughter not only shamelessly seduced Master, but they also clearly had an extraordinary effect on Chen Qing's forces. Madam was there to gather intelligence; shouldn't she have done so?"
Lu Ming remained silent.
Obtain intelligence? He'd be a fool to believe that!
He knew his wife's character perfectly well, but he never expected that in such a dangerous situation, she would still succumb to her jealousy and claim to be gathering intelligence. Nobody believed that; what intelligence could a commoner widow possibly have? But by sheer chance, she actually stumbled upon it.
For a moment, he didn't know whether to feel sorry for Yu'e and her daughter or whether they were unfortunate.
"What did that woman say?" Lu Ming asked softly.
" Chen Qing's target is that little girl, because she seems to have a special constitution. She was discovered when she registered at the Liuzhou Academy, and a special warrior general was immediately dispatched to escort her all the way to Nanming. Madam suspects that it is related to the exaggerated array in Nanming Prefecture."
"Really?" Lu Ming stood up and looked at Human Dao, "Where's Yun Yu'e? Is she dead?"
"Sir, you jest. How could Madam allow that wretched woman to die so easily? It must be..."
Bang!!
The woman was sent flying backward in the next instant. No one saw how Lu Ming made his move, but judging from the huge handprint on the woman's face, Lu Ming had hit her hard; her entire face was deformed.
The woman was so dizzy and disoriented that she couldn't come to her senses for a long time. Several other women around her quickly looked at Lu Ming and exclaimed, "Master, how could you do this?!"
"Why can't I?" Lu Ming sneered, "What are you? Do you think my mistress will say anything if I teach a servant a lesson? Even if I kill you all, do you think your mistress will seek justice for you?"
woman. "."
How is Yu'e?
"He's been tortured and is somewhat weak."
"Some?" Lu Ming suppressed the icy coldness in his eyes. "What kind of torture?"
" Ten-Needle Torture "
Bang!
The entire room instantly turned icy cold, and all the women were so frightened that they quickly retreated to the side of a water bottle.
Lu Ming closed his eyes, suppressing the killing intent emanating from his entire body.
The Ten-Needle Torture" involves piercing the ten fingers with the stinger of a venomous wasp. The venom of this wasp is a hundred times more potent than that of a regular wasp, yet it's not fatal. The pain from the stings, penetrating the very core of the body, is unbearable, even for a seasoned soldier undergoing rigorous training. The worst part is that after the stings, tiny, hair-like insects are released, traveling along the wounds and carrying the venom throughout the body via the blood vessels. The sensation of the venom burrowing into the flesh, writhing with excruciating pain, is truly unbearable.
Sometimes even Lu Ming didn't know how his wife could come up with so many bizarre methods!
"That woman is worthless now, go and free her!"
"But... what about Madam?"
"If you're afraid of being held accountable, then tell me the location, and I'll go there myself!"
Hearing this, the men hesitated. One of them mustered his courage and said, "Master, shouldn't you be worried about Madam's safety at this time?"
"Safety?" Lu Ming looked at the bottle behind them and said, "She's done countless evil things, so many people have wanted to kill her, but who has ever succeeded?"
"As long as that bottle exists in this world, no one can kill her!"