Chapter 1173: The Cicada Chirps

"Woo~~"

The banana leaves are emerald green, the spring rain is pouring.

Seven hundred and twenty Pan-Ox horns play across the mountains and dense forests, drowning out the cries of descendants. The direct grandson of the Pan-Dong carries the coffin through the rain. The Centipede and the Withered Bone stand on both sides, moved by a feeling, looking north, looking at the mountains and the rain.

Meng Yi shrinks into a corner, like a curled-up hedgehog. Seeing the Great Wu's movements, he guesses that the new replaces the old, grabs a green gourd, takes a fierce gulp, and laughs self-deprecatingly.

Click, click, click.

Mouthparts opening and closing, A-Wei eats facing north, swallowing the fish belly meat sent by Li Xianghan.

Scavenging the feast.

"Charge, charge, charge!"

"Hahaha! Whoever runs the fastest is the next Great King of the Huai River East!"

"Woo-loo, woo-loo!"

The wooden planks stomp with a thumping sound.

The Little Xiao Xiao Shenlong flies over first, followed by a string of little fish-men swaying as they follow. They run back and forth on the treasure ship's deck. The Fat Catfish, Cannot-Move, Round-Head, Fist, and Otter-Open line up in a row, two feet tall, as long as they are wide, scurrying all over the ship like earth dogs on a field ridge, howling and yelping.

"Ouch! My shoe!"

Long Yao feels a pain on the back of her foot. Looking down, a prickly round footprint is clearly stamped on the surface of her embroidered shoe. Her long-suppressed anger rises from her heart, and she grabs Otter-Open.

Otter-Open is held by one hand, dangling in mid-air, refusing to admit the mistake, and points at the Fat Catfish.

Long Yao points to the sharpness on the footprint: "Claws! Claws! Only you have claws!"

Otter-Open still refuses to admit it, swipes its claw, and points at the emerald-colored "Cannot-Move." "Cannot-Move" lifts its front limbs, spreading its five claws.

"Bang!"

Otter-Open falls to the ground in response, a large bump rising on its head.

Long Yao, furious, takes off her shoe, soaks it in clear water with soap, and washes away the black mark.

It's all the Elder's fault! He didn't know what kind of divine ability or spell he used, insisting on shrinking these big guys one by one and bringing them onto the ship. Doesn't he know what kind of temperament his own water beasts have? They can't encounter anything new; once they do, they all go crazy and lawless!

Swish!

The Fat Catfish splashes water with a bucket, wets its body for lubrication, kicks the ground, and dives, its white belly sticking to the deck, sliding up the slanted gangplank, zooming out like a cannonball into the Great Marsh, splashing the washed embroidered shoe.

"Sister Eying! Look at them!"

"Husband is entering the capital to be enfeoffed, such a great joyous occasion, let them be happy too," Long Eying says with a smile. "Just leave it there, I'll have A-Fei wash it for you later."

Noisy and boisterous.

The Fat Catfish, topped with two strands of parted waterweed, pokes its head into the Great Marsh, flicks its tail to store power, and suddenly lifts its head.

A brilliant light shoots into the sky, shaking away the layers of clouds.

The thick white clouds become sparse and thin, the sky is blue for a thousand miles, and the sun shines down.

Long Yao and Long Li are pleasantly surprised: "Sister Eying, is the Elder coming out of seclusion?"

Long Eying stands up. The Imperial Envoy, Su Guishan, Xu Yuelong, Wei Lin, Yang Dongxiong, the Xu clan, the sect members, and colleagues from the River-Lake Office... all step out of their cabins.

Hunting Tiger enters Perfected Form, one month of cultivation to reach the peak; Perfected Form entering Sky Dragon requires the same.

Breaking through seclusion at the Awakening of Insects, it is already cultivated!

Inside the cultivation room, breath sprays out, and a scorching white dragon circles around, as if it were a living thing.

Liang Qu sits in the lotus position, introspecting his own body.

Beneath the Xiandao, the vast Qi Sea of twenty-three thousand six hundred times has no clearly visible boundaries anymore, all connected to the external world, boundless and limitless, without edges or frames.

Boundless Sea!

An infinite number is called boundless!

Perfected Form enters Sky Dragon, the Qi Sea transforms into a Boundless Sea. From this point on, divine abilities and creation are no longer troubled by the size of the Qi Sea, limited only by the scope of the world influenced by oneself.

The deeper the Sky Dragon cultivation, the wider the range.

The starting point of twenty-three thousand six hundred times...

Liang Qu does not know how long an ordinary Sky Dragon must cultivate bitterly to reach his starting point today.

On the Boundless Sea, the three Dragon Court Immortal Islands have expanded their prosperity more than tenfold compared to the Perfected Form stage. Above the majestic Dragon Court of the first Dragon Court Xiandao's Dragon-Tiger Golden Body, a second pavilion has grown, like a branching tree.

He points his finger.

A golden light flashes, suddenly enveloping the entire treasure ship and all surrounding merchant and passenger ships.

The canal is in an uproar.

Otter-Open knocks on the ship's deck.

A metallic sound, hard and solid, the claws cannot scratch it.

"Strange, such a wide divine ability," Ke Wenbin pinches the ship's railing.

"Pointing the earth into steel!" The Imperial Envoy, Eunuch Li, is knowledgeable and touches the ship's edge. "Marquis Baron Xingyi has derived another divine ability. It should be an extension of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body, but..."

"But what?" Yang Dongxiong worries that his disciple's cultivation has gone awry.

"Oh," Eunuch Li laughs and waves his horsetail whisk. "Lord Yang, no need to panic. There is no problem. I am just surprised by the vast range of Marquis Baron Xingyi's divine ability."

Xu Zishuai straightens his neck: "Lord Li, you are from the capital, your horizons are broad, you've seen more Martial Saints than we've seen Perfected Forms. Tell us, what's the significance of this range size?"

"It's no secret. As everyone knows, Perfected Form experts cultivate Heavenly Palaces—three Heavenly Palaces, three divine abilities. The use of divine abilities consumes the Qi Sea, just as the use of Hunting Tiger consumes blood Qi.

And the size of the Perfected Form Qi Sea has limits. Most in the first realm reach twenty, a few reach thirty. Without promotion, to continue expanding, one must 'break the limit.'

Once entering Sky Dragon, the Qi Sea transforms into a Boundless Sea. There are two interpretations of 'boundless' here: one is that the Qi Sea connects with the world, inexhaustible; the second is that the Qi Sea no longer has limits, there is no such thing as perfection, and one can continue to cultivate upward. The deeper the cultivation, the wider the range of influence naturally becomes. A large boundless is greater than a small boundless."

Xu Zishuai ponders for a moment.

"I understand. Is it equivalent to using a bamboo tube to suck water? Sky Dragon sucks from the ocean, endless, but the bamboo tubes are of different sizes, so the efficiency is different? A large bamboo tube is a large boundless, a small bamboo tube is a small boundless?"

"Exactly," Eunuch Li laughs. "Young Master Xu is wise, worthy of being a high disciple of Lord Yang. Entering Sky Dragon, there is a 'Root Sea' within the Boundless Sea. A Qi Sea one thousand times that of the Perfected Form stage is equivalent to one 'Root Sea' of the Sky Dragon."

"Lord Li, look, how many roots does my junior brother have?"

Eunuch Li looks around, helpless: "This, I do not know. Marquis Baron Xingyi's range of influence is too broad. He doesn't look like someone who just entered; he looks like a Sky Dragon who has cultivated for decades or even a century..."

Twenty-three.

Long Eying thinks to herself.

She has heard Liang Qu tell her about the scale of his Qi Sea; it is so large it makes one's liver tremble.

On the canal, the pillar of essence is majestic and unceasing. Those on both banks who are well-informed vaguely guess who is passing by, and on the ships and banks, they bow and kowtow.

"Hoo!"

Liang Qu's breath becomes increasingly long, and his heart slowly stops beating.

A Sky Dragon Wu Sheng's heart beats once every seven days, but the sound can be like thunder, shaking others to death.

"Crack."

Deep within the Root Sea, a dark golden peach blossom suddenly takes root, sprouts, grows into a peach tree, the peach tree blooms, and a small, bright red fruit grows on top.

"Yin-Yang Spirit Seed Art"!

The supreme dual cultivation technique that Lu Jia of the Heavenly Ship Chamber of Commerce bought for him from the Sky-Person couple on Moon-Watching Tower, divided into four layers: Grain-in-Ear, Star-Fruit, Moon-Real, and Sun-Wheel.

This method has benefits without drawbacks, only the cultivation is difficult.

The third layer, Moon-Real, is already hard to come by; the Sky-Person couple had only cultivated it three times.

In the past, he could cultivate it until the Moon-Real shell broke and turned into a peach blossom Sun-Wheel, which was already the accumulation of years of Liang Qu's Perfected Form primordial yang, the Octopus King's multi-tentacle connection, the Dragon-Subduing Tiger-Subduing Body, the "Wan Sheng Holding Origin" steel refinement, and the Chishan 【Pure Yang】 and other multiple talents and treasure medicines.

The effect was extraordinary, comparable to a creation medicine; one fruit helped Long Eying enter the second realm.

Now that he has thoroughly promoted, the Sun-Wheel has actually broken through the limit of the four-layer fruit realm recorded in the "Yin-Yang Spirit Seed Art" itself, entering an unprecedented "fifth layer" realm!

Perhaps this technique has never been cultivated by a top expert in the Sky Dragon realm, and even if a Wu Sheng cultivated it... it wouldn't likely be a Wu Sheng who retains "primordial yang."

Although the situation is a bit strange, the facts are as they are.

Withered wood meets spring and returns to life, silkworm cocoon breaks and stands again, "Wan Sheng Holding Origin" fourth realm "Steel Refinement" returns to the innate... Liang Qu doesn't know which mechanism played a role in his recovery of primordial yang, or if it was the combined force of all three, which cannot be replicated.

In short, Liang Qu is now truly a "virgin," a Wu Sheng-level "virgin," "primordial yang."

There is only one such person in the world.

There were no predecessors, and... it will be very difficult to have successors.

What effect will the fifth layer have?

While pondering, Liang Qu adds the posture of the peach tree blooming and bearing fruit, and the feeling of the fruit's Qi, as the fifth layer "Holy Fruit," recording it in detail on the technique for future reference.

Finally.

Liang Qu stands up and comes to the weapon rack.

The Wave-Subduing spear lies across, the Abyss Wood bow lies flat.

The Wave-Subduing spear slashed Pan-Dong, a small profound weapon, but in the end, it was no match for a true Wu Sheng. Pan-Dong fell, and the Wave-Subduing spear blade broke into three pieces. Not only the Wave-Subduing spear, but the Kui boots and silver armor gifted by the Holy Emperor in the past were all damaged.

Fortunately, the Wave-Subduing spear is a spirit weapon, like a living thing, with self-repairing ability. Three months later, the surface has been reconnected, but it is not enough!

He raises his hand and beckons.

Liang Qu firmly grips the Wave-Subduing spear shaft with both hands.

Mind and body are connected, as if using his own arm.

"Ten years."

The Wave-Subduing spear's light flows and responds.

Liang Qu laughs lightly, twists his palm, and hears a crisp sound; the wooden shaft of the spear bursts open.

Inside the wooden shaft is a black gold iron core.

This iron core was initially tungsten gold sent by Cao Shixiong Lu, worth a hundred gold, later replaced by Ink Dragon Gold provided by the Frog King, a core mineral produced by dragon-species demon beasts living for a long time and splashing blood, worth tens of thousands of gold.

Later, it was infused with a portion of "self-nature" by the old monk, transforming into a small profound weapon. At this time, it can no longer be called Ink Dragon Gold; perhaps it can be called "Dragon-Subduing Vajra Gold"?

Hum~

Heat waves are scorching.

Otter-Open and the other water beasts outside can feel the stuffiness.

"It's a profound weapon!" Lu Gang is the first to know what Liang Qu is doing.

Liang Qu also has a tacit understanding with his senior brother, knowing that Cao Shixiong Lu likes weapon refining and doesn't want him to miss the scene of this profound weapon's birth, so he walks out of the cultivation room and onto the deck.

"Cao Shixiong Lu, watch closely!"

Lu Gang's expression is spirited: "Good!"

The crowd forms a circle, and Xiang Fang Su and others on the building ship also can't stand the loneliness and jump onto the treasure ship.

Click, click, click.

As his hands twist, the red-hot iron core and spear blade expand and swell rapidly, as if hit by a leavening agent, golden-red and dazzling, as thick as a house beam, looking more like a big club than a spear. The outer layer of jade-white wooden shaft completely turns into charcoal, black and charred.

Lu Gang doesn't blink, knowing this is his junior brother introducing all the "self-nature" produced by his promotion to Wu Sheng into the spirit weapon.

"Crackling."

The wooden charcoal shell falls to the ground, revealing a milky-white spear shaft. Tiny emerald buds emerge, growing into countless vines in the blink of an eye, wrapping around the golden-red iron core like a group of snakes, twisting and knotting, covering it all like twisting a hemp rope. In this way, it looks even more huge—more than just a house beam, it's like a pillar in a palace.

White steam sprays out.

The iron core cools, gradually shrinking from the thickness of a house beam, and the vines on the spear shaft also continuously contract, twisting and knotting, slender and tight.

A cold glint gradually appears.

The Wave-Subduing spear hangs in the air.

From a palace pillar that two people could embrace, it tightens to the thickness of a single grip.

The water beasts widen their eyes. Outside the crowd, A-Fei, just over half a meter tall, jumps up and down, only to be tripped to the ground by the Little Xiao Xiao Shenlong's sweeping tail.

The battle begins again.

After the refining is finished, Lu Gang approaches impatiently. At close range, he can still see that the wooden shaft is actually composed of thousands of "vines," but macroscopically, it is very smooth, delicate as palm prints and fingerprints, providing a very comfortable grip.

The tiger mouth spits out a blade, sharp and exposed, like half a peerless sword; one look is enough to be cut.

The crowd dares not touch it.

The tiger head and dragon head can still be switched at will, with weight as desired.

Hum!

The spear blade rings lightly.

Once the profound weapon is formed, Liang Qu seems to have an extra "eye" detached from his body, able to sense the environment around the Wave-Subduing spear through it, with the control distance extending infinitely.

In the past, Xu Yuelong and Wei Lin, at the Great Martial Artist realm, could use profound weapons to defeat Ghost Mother Sect Grandmasters. In other words, the current Wave-Subduing spear could also be taken by Great Martial Artists like Cao Shixiong Lu and Cao Shixiong Xu to cross a major realm and kill a Perfected Form Jiang Zongshi!

With the Wave-Subduing spear formed, it lies dormant like a dragon.

Liang Qu grabs the Abyss Wood bow again and infuses the last trace of "self-nature."

The Abyss Wood was originally a wooden bow, and it also regrows.

This big bow was gifted by colleagues from the River-Lake Office, Lu Kaiyun and Ren Yipeng, due to poor flood control, and came from Uncle Liu in the capital, with a long heritage, a semi-spirit weapon formed in one piece.

It has no bowstring, and usually doesn't need to be strung or unstrung, which is very convenient. It only needs blood Qi infused, and the bow body will be covered with red patterns, like black rock cracking after a volcanic eruption, revealing dark red magma that hasn't completely cooled, and then a bowstring grows from the center, with the bow's power increasing in proportion to the blood Qi.

Since Perfected Form, the Abyss Wood has rarely appeared, and with Water Dragon Piercing Clouds, it has become completely useless, but upgrading it one last time to be a "small, small, small profound weapon" counts as fulfilling the sentiment.

The Abyss Wood is reshaped, and the originally somewhat rough bow body is extremely smooth.

Lu Gang infuses blood Qi into it, and it's like holding a living thing, with a demon beast swallowing it in big gulps.

"Does this count as a profound weapon!"

"Let me touch it, let me touch it."

"Woo, it's alive, it's alive!"

"I feel like I can take on two Grandmasters at once, two!"

"Lent out for ten years, and it's been cultivated into this. If Uncle Liu sees it later, he'll laugh himself to death, laugh his teeth out. No, Uncle Liu is an elder, can't let him pass away early. This bow should be given to me."

The senior brothers and colleagues shout like monkeys, touching the spear shaft and the big bow, unable to put them down.

A rare treasure!

A fragment of a Wu Sheng profound weapon outside is a sky-high price, unique. Once a weapon is cultivated to this stage, it is basically impossible to find materials in the world that can directly compare in strength.

The Wu Sheng himself is the pinnacle of the world.

Liang Qu doesn't put away the Abyss Wood and the Wave-Subduing spear, leaving them to attract attention, while he finds Long Pingjiang on the side.

"Are there any leftovers or changes?"

"Returning to the River... Elder, half a jin of blood remains, the operation is very stable."

Liang Qu nods: "You and Long Pinghe pay more attention. Once there is any special situation, such as the blood dimming, notify me immediately through the link."

"My lord, rest assured, your subordinate knows the weight of this."

The River-Heart Stone is the most critical priority.

In the past, the Northern Court eagle Balstai used the Blood Fiend divine ability to mislead Liang Qu into a thousand-mile soul chase, taking a long detour, which is still fresh in his memory. Afterward, he spent a full four hundred great merits to buy the three-in-one divine ability order, just hoping for this scene.

If it were just the effect of a divine ability, Liang Qu naturally wouldn't spend money unjustly; forging a Wu Sheng with a divine ability is almost impossible.

The Blood Fiend divine ability is different; its essence is "maintenance," "replication," maintaining a pile of blood and minced meat into a "living" state, thereby releasing Qi, rather than creating it out of thin air.

Liang Qu sits in the Long Gong, letting Long Pingjiang take the divine ability order to the Southern Frontier front line, and then continuously transports blood and tissue to fill the Blood Fiend human body. A brand-new "River-Heart Stone," with him sitting in Jianghuai, reaches the critical point and appears out of thin air in the Southern Frontier.

When the situation stabilizes, the Imperial Court issues an order, and he has Long Pingjiang control the Blood Fiend human to return to Jianghuai. A blood fiend overlap and passing by, seemingly communicating with the Bai Yuan, is actually a theft of heaven and change of day.

The "Bai Yuan" sits in the Long Gong, and Liang Qu heads north to the capital.

"A-Shui, are there any arrows on the ship?" Xu Zishuai raises the Abyss Wood bow.

"I forgot too. Eying, are there any?"

"There are two baskets in the cabin, I had Otter-Open go get them."

The river wind is vast, and the sails are bulging.

Laughing and shouting.

Liang Qu stands with his hands behind his back, blowing in the wind, watching the sunset, the world is vast, and the road ahead is infinite.

Wu Sheng Marquis Baron Xingyi, the mountains are majestic, all mountains look up, along the Jinglan Canal, heading north all the way.

"Pop!"

A crisp sound in the sky, an arrow explodes, leaving a long rainbow.

Wei Lin's fingers move, and he turns back to the cabin.

At the hour of Si (9-11 AM), the sundial shadow moves, the treasure ships and building ships line up and anchor. Those who have not entered Jishuitan do so according to the "Great Shun Collected Statutes" system: "Meritorious officials return in triumph, naval forces anchor at outer ports."

Eunuch Li bows and leads over Chishan: "Marquis Baron Xingyi, please mount the horse."

Chishan wears a vermilion tassel and golden bridle.

Liang Qu adjusts his crown tassel, strokes his jade belt hook, turns and mounts the red horse. The River-Lake Office follows, and amidst the ranks of the Heavenly Feather Guards, they proceed slowly northward.

Clouds drift slowly, shadows change.

The city gates are high and dangerous, the capital is prosperous and glorious.

The common people stand on both sides, shoulder to shoulder.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The drum surface shakes away the dust, the armored Harmony-Coordinating Official beats the big mallet, according to the ancient method of the "Music Book · Military Rites Section": "Three drum beats for triumph": one beat to clear the road, two beats to solemnize the countenance, three beats to pay respects.

The big flag occasionally flutters in the breeze, the divine beast Mo Yun soars, and the complex gold-stamped "Shun" character twists and turns in the wind, rustling.

Where the banners are divided, the current Prime Minister, leading the cabinet ministers of the three departments, holding the Emperor's scepter, waits on the official road, standing in the position of heaven and earth. Seeing the Marquis's honor guard, the Prime Minister steps forward and says loudly:

"His Majesty has issued a decree: 'We honor you for your long journey! Marquis Baron Xingyi has pacified the southern pestilence; your merit serves the nation!'"

The hundred officials behind respond in unison: "Laboring for the official to travel far, Marquis Baron Xingyi has pacified the Southern Filth, his merit is for the country!"

The sound shakes the four fields.

Liang Qu immediately dismounts and bows deeply: "This is all the merit of His Majesty's temple calculations and the result of the soldiers' dedication. This subject dares not claim the merit!"

The attendant respectfully holds the cloud tray, raising it above his head.

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: You, Marquis Baron Xingyi Liang Qu, possess the firmness of heaven and exert martial power, carrying out temple calculations to extend prestige. Capturing the wicked and winning, restoring the royal seal of ten thousand miles; pacifying chaos and calming the borders, settling the miasma rain of the three Xiang..."

The Prime Minister reads the imperial edict and personally presents the imperial-bestowed golden cup with coiled-snake patterns, filled with fine wine.

Liang Qu raises the cup to the ground to inform heaven and earth, covers his face with his sleeve, bows again, and drinks.

After the ceremony, the honor guard is reorganized.

Arriving at the Meridian Gate, beneath the Dan steps, the Meridian Gate music uses six Zhu and six Yu instruments.

"Woo~~~"

The Grand Music Official orders the striking of the Yellow Bell, the Harmony-Coordinating Official bows and raises the banner, beats the Zhu, and in the key of Gu-Xi, plays the great music of breaking the formation, while the Grand Music Official holds the banner to draw the heaven and earth hexagrams.

Eunuch Li shouts loudly:

"The Holy Carriage personally labors!"

The palace gates open wide, the Imperial Guards are lined up, holding Green Dragon halberds and White Tiger shields, the banners covering the sky.

The Holy Emperor rides out in a carriage, the canopy spreading nine layers of silk.

"The ugly captives are exterminated, the borders are peaceful, you have pacified the chaos, you should be inscribed on the tripod of the Grand Temple, using this to reward merit, forever inscribed as a pillar of stone."

Three thousand Heavenly Feather Guards shout in unison:

"The Holy Carriage personally labors, rewarding your meritorious service! Marquis Baron Xingyi has pacified the chaos, inscribed on the tripod of the Grand Temple!"

Walking a few steps quickly, Liang Qu arrives before the steps and performs the great kowtow.

"Relying on His Majesty's divine martial power, the great fortune of the country! This subject is fortunate not to have failed the mission!"

Su Guishan, Xu Yuelong, Wei Lin, and Yang Dongxiong kowtow and shout in unison.

"Relying on His Majesty's divine martial power, the great fortune of the country!"

The drums beat deeply, the returning troops are orderly.

The carving knife rotates, the bamboo silk curls, drifting in the wind.

"Hoo..."

The small clerk carves on the green jade bamboo board, blowing away the bamboo shavings, revealing the handwriting.

"Shun History Records · Pacifying the South Volume" records:

"Summer of the 79th year of Shun, Marquis Baron Xingyi pacified the Southern Frontier, the Great Wu was beheaded, and the remnants of the previous dynasty were all pacified. The troops returned to the capital. The Prime Minister received the edict to welcome them in the suburbs, and the Son of Heaven personally labored at the palace gate..." ===== CHAPTER 1174 =====