Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 245

Sensing something amiss in her body, Shao Siming, like a startled fawn, instantly activated her Yin-Yang Body Technique and vanished without a trace.

Only a dozen or so scattered leaves drifted down from Lu Wei's arms, and the bell she had taken off her hand turned into a delicate green autumn orchid. It seemed she hadn't forgotten to take her crucial voice-making tool with her.

Looking up at the crescent moon in the sky for a full quarter of an hour, Lu Wei's keen senses immediately detected another gaze fixed on him in the air.

finally come.

Judging from the speed at which they caught up, the other party was being quite cautious, but much slower than I had anticipated. It's also possible that they reported some information to their master along the way.

After all, they were going to be tracking them, so it was only natural that they would be more serious.

He casually tossed the orchid in his hand aside by the roadside and continued on his way to the headquarters of Gonggong Hall.

Just as he was about to enter the headquarters, the shout of "Heroic Leader" rang out behind him.

Still can't hold back?

With a smile on his face, Lu Wei turned around, and a short, stout figure emerged from the darkness not far in front of him: Zhu Jia.

At this moment, Zhu Jia's mask was blue with sorrow. As he ran closer, he said in a panicked tone, "Chief of Heroes, a body suspected to be that of the former Chief of Heroes, Tian Guang, has been found at the Tomb of the Six Sages!"

"Oh?" Raising an eyebrow, Lu Wei stared at Zhu Jia's heavy breathing and disordered internal energy, his expression turning serious: "Take me to see him."

...

When she passed by the roadside where she had just teased Shao Siming again, the autumn orchid she had discarded was nowhere to be found.

"Some of my disciples went out on patrol today and haven't returned. I was worried, so I went to look for them, but I never expected..."

Following behind without making a sound, the short Zhu family member in front of him naturally introduced what had happened. From his movements, expressions, and even the constantly changing mask on his face while speaking, this 'Zhu family member' had no flaws at all; he was simply lifelike.

Such a realistic fake... truly lives up to its name: 'A dark and windy night, a deadly omen, unpredictable and ever-changing... a black jade unicorn!'

If he hadn't been so bold as to sneak into the Four Mountains Hall and been discovered by Xiao Yan'er's keen observation, he probably would have instinctively thought that the Zhu family was a bit strange, but he would have found it hard to associate them with counterfeit goods.

Recalling the time she secretly revealed to Xiao Yan'er after dinner when she was teaching her swordsmanship, she realized that the target of the black jade unicorn was her own purpose.

As the most mysterious character in the quicksand, the presence of Mo Yu Qilin means that Wei Zhuang is also present.

This disciple of Guigu Hengjian seems to want to give me a surprise, but I wonder if he can handle the return gift.

This is Dazeshan.

The location chosen by the black jade unicorn to lead the way was clearly carefully planned and very clever; however, this cleverness was two-way.

In a relatively open space, after confirming that his movements could be seen by the characters lurking in the shadows, Lu Wei suddenly stopped.

The disguised black Qilin was confused and kept calling out to the leader of the heroes while asking for the reason. Then, he saw Lu suddenly draw his sword and stab him without any expression!

With a look of great alarm, the Black Qilin realized that it had been exposed for some unknown reason. It quickly retreated while removing its disguise, and raised its hand to take out its weapon, the Qilin Dagger, and held it in front of it to try to block.

A sharp clang of metal echoed through the forest. Lu Wei's force sent the black Qilin's right hand numbing, and his Qilin thorns were knocked away. The Devouring Sea Sword then pierced directly through his abdomen...

Black Qilin, who was once known as the number one assassin in Korea and even claimed by Wei Zhuang as the number one assassin in the world, only possessed the ability to transform himself.

Once his ability to change forms fails, his weak martial arts skills are hardly worth praising.

There are four places in the surrounding dense forest and hillside where the open space can be secretly monitored. The hidden members of the Quicksand were hiding in one of the groves. When they saw that the Black Qilin was dead in just one move, an extremely fast shadow rushed out and attacked Lu Wei from behind.

He remained silent, coldly snorted, drew his sword, and turned to slash. However, the newcomer possessed exceptional lightness skills, managing to use the momentum of mid-air to bypass Lu Wei's figure from above and pounce directly on the Black Qilin.

Clearly, the opponent values ​​rescuing people more than fighting: the value of the Black Qilin is irreplaceable for Quicksand.

But Lu Wei was quick to react as well. He had already recognized the newly emerged member of Quicksand as Bai Feng: In terms of long-distance travel, he certainly couldn't catch up with these guys who specialized in lightness skills, but in terms of reaction speed in martial arts combat, Lord Xia Kui could be faster than Bai Feng!

A cold glint flashed in the moonlight. Lu Wei took a step back and arrived in front of the Black Qilin, who had been tormented into unconsciousness by the sword energy within his body. The Devouring Sea Sword was thrust out again. Bai Feng hurriedly used his feather blade to block, but even with his quick reaction, he was still pierced in the shoulder by the Devouring Sea Sword.

If the feather blade hadn't deflected the sword tip, it would have pierced his throat.

Despite being injured and in pain, Bai Feng threw out about ten feathers as hidden weapons with her other hand, aiming them at Lu Wei's vital acupoints. At the same time, she was forced to abandon her rescue efforts and retreat first.

With a burst of energy from his left palm, Lu Wei froze the light yet deadly feathers. He did not continue the pursuit because behind Bai Feng, Wei Zhuang, the main figure, and Chi Lian, who was manipulating the snake formation, appeared.

“The second… oh no, the third time we’ve met.” After kicking the unconscious Black Qilin back towards the quicksand, Lu Wei slung his sword behind his arm and chuckled, “I’ve received your gift, but it’s clear your people can’t handle it.”

The sword energy within the Black Qilin's body is both a marker and a threat. Even if he survives, he will be practically crippled. There are no medical experts in the Quicksand, and while Chi Lian, being skilled in poison, should also possess some medical knowledge, she has absolutely no way to treat this kind of internal martial arts injury.

After all, even Wei Zhuang himself has never been able to resolve the hidden injuries that have accumulated in his body over the years.

Wei Zhuang glanced sideways at the Black Qilin, who was completely unable to fight, and the White Phoenix, whose right shoulder was injured, but his cold expression remained unchanged.

Chi Lian, standing to the side, was activating the snake formation to launch an attack, but among everyone present, she posed the least threat to Lu Wei.

The Rejuvenation Technique ignores snake venom. Even if these small snakes, having lost their strongest weapon, manage to break through the inexhaustible protective energy around them, the damage caused by a bite from their tiny, cute fangs is almost negligible.

As for Chi Lian's martial arts skills after losing her poison weapon, let's not even mention them.

The only formidable enemy is Wei Zhuang. Given the current situation, the two will definitely have to fight before discussing serious matters.

That encounter in Sanghai was too short.

"Is that so? But I haven't finished giving my gifts yet." With a clang, Wei Zhuang pulled out the Shark Tooth sword. After speaking in a cold voice, he did not immediately launch an attack. Instead, he plunged the sword into the ground with a clang and at the same time, he reached out and forcefully ripped off his black and gold outer robe.

Without the outer robe to conceal it, the strength hidden within his robust physique became even more apparent.

This is a formidable opponent...

------

Inside the Xianyang Palace, Ying Zheng was still handling state affairs late into the night.

His diligence has never slackened since he assumed power. In recent days, there have been more memorials from his ministers than usual, so Ying Zheng has added an extra hour to his already heavy workload.

Whenever Ying Zheng's head was throbbing and his eyes were sore from processing official documents, he would always remember what Han Fei had once said:

When the ancient emperors Yao, Shun, and Yu were emperors, in order to set an example for the world, they ate coarse grains and drank wild vegetable soup. They had to personally take up shovels and hoes to lead people in their work, which made their thighs thin and the hair on their calves worn away. Even today's gatekeepers and farmers are happier than them.

Therefore, their practice of abdication was merely an escape from hard work and is not worthy of praise.

In today's country, even if a county magistrate dies, his descendants can enjoy wealth and honor for generations, so everyone is very enthusiastic about becoming an official.

Therefore, people can "easily resign from the emperors of the past, but find it difficult to resign from the county magistrates of today."

Now that I am the ruler of the world, with a territory larger than that of Yao, Shun, and Yu, and a population larger than that of Yao, Shun, and Yu, and countless wealthy officials under my command, I am still so diligent in my duties, and my mind is ten times more burdened than that of Yao, Shun, and Yu. Doesn't this prove that I am greater than Yao, Shun, and Yu?

"My kingdom will surpass those ancient sages and become a new paradise that everyone yearns for!"

"My achievements will become a magnificent benchmark that all future generations will aspire to reach!"

Reinvigorated, Ying Zheng summoned a young eunuch and took a pill offered by Yun Zhongjun of the Yin-Yang School. After his slight headache subsided, some of his physical fatigue was also relieved.

Then he took out a new scroll of official memorials from the table:

It was Li Si's memorial to the throne, which concerned the issue of changing his own title after the unification of the country.

Unifying the seven kingdoms was an unprecedented and great undertaking. The title of mere king was not commensurate with the level of his achievements, and the title of "Son of Heaven" placed him under the "heaven," which displeased the domineering Ying Zheng.

Li Si suggested that "in ancient times there were Heavenly Emperors, Earthly Emperors, and Tai Emperors, with the Tai Emperor being the most noble, so we can change 'King' to 'Tai Emperor'."

This suggestion also failed to satisfy Ying Zheng: he wanted to use a new title that had never been proposed in historical records.

In his subsequent memorial, Li Si detailed the noble qualities of the 'Emperor Tai'. Although the content of the proposal was not good, Li Si's writing style had always been the one that Ying Zheng liked the most since Han Fei, so he continued to read with great interest. However, halfway through... he stopped... the scroll of bamboo slips was already full.

Left with no other choice, Ying Zheng had to reach out and take out the follow-up bamboo slips from Li Si's memorial.

'Bamboo slips are too cumbersome; a single scroll can only hold a few words.'

His interest was interrupted and the heavy feeling in his hand made Ying Zheng frown slightly in displeasure. At this moment, he thought of the paper that Qi State had offered as tribute: although the paper was not very fine and was easily damaged, it was much cheaper than cloth and silk, and it had mature technology. He had heard of its reputation a long time ago, but Qi State strictly controlled the outflow of paper, making it difficult to obtain that mature technology.

Fortunately, the whole world is now his, and the papermaking technology of the Qi government will soon be reproduced in Xianyang, making it much easier for him to handle government affairs.

I've heard that papermaking originated with farmers, and that Confucianism was the promoter of papermaking. The government of Qi later used the technology of the Mohists to further develop the production technology... If these various schools of thought had simply stayed put and done this kind of thing, they would have been quite useful.

Unfortunately, putting aside the Confucian farmers, the Mohists are staunch rebels: recently, the Luo Wang (a secret intelligence network) has reported a lot of information about local nobles secretly colluding with the Mohists.

Taking a heavy blow against the Mohists is something the Qin Dynasty must do next.

The tragic end of the Mohists should serve as a warning to other schools of thought to follow their lead!

Chapter 283 Wei Zhuang in the Second World War

A crimson sword aura appeared on the shark tooth, and Wei Zhuang never said anything more when fighting outsiders.

He had always regarded Gai Nie as his senior brother whom he was destined to defeat, but his current behavior of taking off his robe when facing Lu Wei proved that he also had enough respect for this new leader of the peasant faction.

With a powerful stomp of his foot, Shark Tooth slashed wildly towards Lu Wei, the sword light shining like the flames of the sun in the darkness, fierce and intense.

Given Wei Zhuang's personality, defeating him physically is the best way to communicate with him.

The vast sword intent of the Devouring Sea Sword echoed the crescent moon in the sky, completely enveloping the faint dragon roar that was coming towards them within its attack range. Before the two swords clashed, their eyes met first: one sharp and the other calm.

The moment the two swords clashed, both sides realized that they were different from when they were in Sanghai many years ago. The murderous Shark Tooth and the heavy Devouring Sea each took another step forward on their own paths!

Feeling a slight numbness in his right hand, Wei Zhuang did not back down at all. With a determined look in his eyes, he continued to attack, each swing of his sword carrying the roar of a shark tooth, while also occasionally concealing the cunning moves of a hunter.

Intense killing intent and sword energy formed invisible chains, binding the prey tightly and forcing Lu Wei to act according to his will.

In terms of the subtlety of sword moves, Lu Wei realized that he was not as good as Guigu Hengjian Technique. However, just as lightness skill is not the same as martial arts skill, clever sword moves do not mean superb swordsmanship. Lu Wei's Whale Drinking Sword Technique and Wei Zhuang were not playing the same game, so it was impossible for Lu Wei to follow Wei Zhuang's rules to determine the winner.

The sword's momentum created a towering tsunami in the air, the surging waves never restrained by the chains, the charged waves possessing the power to devour everything in their path!

Even from a distance, one could sense the terrifying sword energy occasionally flying out, tearing poisonous snakes around the road into mincemeat. Chi Lian and Bai Feng were forced to retreat into the dense forest with the Black Qilin, trying to use the trees of Daze Mountain as cover to resist some of the pressure from the center of the battle.

'Even the Six Sword Slaves would have to back down from this next move.' A relentless exchange of attacks, confidence gleamed in Lu Wei's eyes, like waves crashing down relentlessly...

With each clash of the two swords, Wei Zhuang endured the tremor in his right hand, suppressing the numbness. He subconsciously compared his opponent's sword technique to his senior brother's Hundred Steps Flying Sword, unleashing his full power across all directions.

Even in Chi Lian's biased eyes, the fiery red shark charging into the boundless waves was doomed to fail...

With a whoosh, the Shark Tooth Sword was knocked away, and the wave-like sword energy condensed on the Swallowing Sea Sword at the last moment, pointing towards Wei Zhuang's throat.

The slashed skin on his throat and the cracked web of his right hand clearly showed the reality: Wei Zhuang had been completely defeated.

"Zhuang!" Chi Lian was about to rush out regardless of the consequences, but Bai Feng stopped her: "If this peasant hero wanted to kill someone, he would already be dead. Besides, do you think he wants others to see him in such a sorry state right now?"

Upon hearing Bai Feng's prompting, Chi Lian abruptly stopped in her tracks...

"Your surprise doesn't seem as heavy as you imagined." Glancing at the dense forest on the other side out of the corner of his eye, Lu Wei decisively sheathed his sword, making no attempt to conceal his intentions: "You owe me your life once."

"You would trust the reputation of Quicksand?" Wei Zhuang's arrogance completely vanished, just as Lord Xia Kui had guessed: whoever defeats Wei Zhuang will naturally earn his respect.

“You trust the sword in your hand, and so do I.” Speaking calmly, Lu Wei drew Shark Tooth into his hand from a distance: This sword was heavy, but still lighter than Devouring the Sea.

Without giving it much of a second glance, he tossed it back to Wei Zhuang: In the eyes of most swordsmen who care about their swords, the sword is like their wife, and they are naturally unwilling to lend it to others to examine closely.

"Now you can tell me why Liu Sha came to the farmer's house."