The entire venue fell silent.

Jing Hengbo was dumbfounded.

Every Luoyun official changed color.

The questioning man’s face turned pale as he stared at Gong Yin, instinctively retreating one step, then another, while the others had already hidden in the shadows of the arena.

Below the stage, the Queen’s supporters showed various expressions. Yi Qi widened her eyes with a mix of surprise and admiration, Yong Xue finally looked directly at Gong Yin once, her tense face relaxing slightly, Pei Shu’s highly arched eyebrows seemed ready to fly off his forehead, and after a long moment he exclaimed “Hey!” and slammed his fist into his palm, then turned his head away in frustration. Tian Qi smiled with a face full of pride, as if Gong Yin’s words had been directed at him.

Jing Hengbo stared blankly for a long time, keeping a stern face as she turned her head sideways, seemingly returning to normal, yet her eyes were smiling, sparkling with two small starflowers, bright as pearls in water.

“What else would you like to compete in?” Gong Yin hadn’t even looked at everyone’s reactions. In his view, knowing these things was only natural. From beginning to end, everything about her had always been meticulously detailed in his heart.

All intentions beautified with words were frivolous and superficial; only what remained in the heart and was shown through actions was most precious.

He raised his hand slightly, and something in that man’s hand fell with a clang – a huge deep red tourmaline gem, oval-shaped with pure color that flowed with brilliance under sunlight, casting the area around the man’s feet in magnificent rainbow hues.

A gem of considerable quality, priceless.

Seeing the gem, the man’s mood calmed somewhat. Taking a breath, he said: “Avoiding the important issues, seeming right but actually wrong, and even turning accusations around! This isn’t answering questions at all – it’s clearly sowing discord!” He then bowed to Jing Hengbo: “Your Majesty, judging right and wrong based on such an answer would be unfair. Please allow us to challenge him once more!”

“Aren’t you already prepared to try again?” Jing Hengbo said with a smile. “Continue playing.”

She was in a very good mood now, having heard his long speech earlier and finally knowing that he had always kept her in his heart.

Those matters – she believed that if it were anyone else, he definitely wouldn’t know them. But now he recited them fluently, even truly understanding her innermost thoughts that she had never shared even with Zirui.

That seemingly cold and indifferent person – his world had actually always overlapped with hers, never separating for a moment.

“Worldly people can hardly prevent others’ slander,” the man regained his composure, “but true intentions can be expressed.”

He spread his palm flat, revealing the glittering gem within.

“Can you carve, sir? If not, you might as well admit defeat immediately.”

Gong Yin didn’t look at him. “Just do whatever you please.” He paused, then added: “You all need to get lost anyway.”

“Such big boasting! Setting aside other things, you say the Queen needs to retain male customers, but I believe she needs the best carving masters and the most miraculous carving techniques.” The man said mockingly: “My Jiang family’s secret carving art that’s never been publicly revealed – three-sided gem relief carving – I’m willing to demonstrate freely for the Queen.”

A commotion arose below the stage, with people continuously saying “Three-sided gem carving!” and “Floating light and penetrating shadows!”

Jing Hengbo also became interested. Gems were different from jade – they had high hardness and were difficult to carve. Emeralds and tourmalines, being single-crystal gems, had the possibility of being carved, but very few could actually do the carving. Any slight flaw or crack would cause shattering during the carving process, destroying the entire gem, so very few dared to attempt carving gems. Moreover, in this era, gem faceting techniques hadn’t yet developed, making gem carving even more miraculous. Just the question of what tools to use for carving gems aroused her immense curiosity.

The Luoyun Ministry of Rites officials quickly approached, whispering: “Your Majesty, the Jiang family of Zhanzhou is a renowned craftsman family famous throughout our tribe and even all of Dahuang. They’re most skilled at appraising and carving jade and gems. The gems their family sells have always been nobility’s treasured collections. Especially their famous three-sided carving – one gem can be carved on three sides yet display images on the smooth surface – very miraculous. You absolutely cannot miss this.”

Jing Hengbo rested her chin on her hand, thinking this technique couldn’t be missed. If Gong Yin won again, she wouldn’t be able to obtain this technology. Though she had never seen Gong Yin handle a carving knife, he had wisdom! He might just use some cunning method to win, and then wouldn’t she end up with nothing?

“How about this,” she smiled, “you want to compete in carving, right? It’s just that this kind of judgment is too subjective. Everyone has different vision and preferences – results from this would be hard to convince everyone.”

“My family’s technique is naturally the world’s best,” Young Master Jiang was very confident, saying proudly: “If the Queen is worried, other conditions can be added. Though I’m not particularly talented, in the art of carving, I can surely make everyone completely convinced.”

Before Jing Hengbo could think of something, Gong Yin glanced at her and suddenly said: “Then let’s compete on accuracy – the accuracy of the carved object.”

“Agreed.” Young Master Jiang immediately consented.

Jing Hengbo immediately said: “Competitions are more interesting with stakes…”

Young Master Jiang indeed immediately said: “If I lose, we four will immediately withdraw and freely gift this three-sided relief gem technique to Your Majesty. If he loses, it’s nothing much – just have him kowtow once to each of us four in apology and swear never to appear in Luoyun again.”

Jing Hengbo looked toward Gong Yin. Gong Yin maintained his indifferent appearance: “Fine.”

Young Master Jiang glanced at him, still uneasy, and added: “We ask for nothing else, only that Your Majesty judge fairly.”

This statement was somewhat rude, clearly showing distrust of Jing Hengbo, greatly suggesting concern that she might be swayed by beauty and go easy on him. Jing Hengbo wasn’t angry either, smiling as she ate snacks: “Don’t worry, I really enjoy watching people kowtow.”

In the past, she might have truly gone easy due to beauty. Now, well, she had already eaten her fill and wiped clean – early depreciation.

Gong Yin glanced at her, thinking that if there really was kowtowing to be done, she should bow to him first, then he’d bow to her. Still, she should kowtow first – he’d quite enjoy watching that too.

But would such a day ever come…

Thinking this, his heart ached, and he gently turned his head away.

His internal energy had completely recovered, and the needle fragments that had injured his heart and lungs had shattered. He looked even better than before, no longer unable to feel emotion, no longer coughing up blood at every turn. But no one would know that after his meridians had been blocked by those fragments for so long, the unblocked meridians would prevent the deep-seated residual poison in his body from being refined, forming new lesions. Given time, even if all the fragments could be dissolved or expelled in the future, it would probably be too late.

Most crucially, he couldn’t predict what kind of change that would be. It might be complete recovery, but more likely disability or sudden death that could happen in an instant. For him, he’d rather live brilliantly first then die happily. But for her, that would be many times worse than lingering illness followed by death, because there would be no psychological preparation, because she would think she saw hope.

He should keep his distance from her, yet he couldn’t do it.

Especially knowing she had given him the Bright Moon Heart, he was even less able to completely abandon her. Having lost the true power that could protect her, when real danger came, that bit of teleportation and object control couldn’t save her.

The Bright Moon Heart within his body was slowly cleansing the accumulated poison, but the refinement speed couldn’t match the poison’s years of gradual penetration into his meridians and flesh. Jing Hengbo had started martial arts too late and practiced too briefly – her internal energy wasn’t powerful enough. He needed something more important.

Beside him, she smiled like a flower. He only hoped that while he remained by her side, he would be at his most complete and powerful.

He only wished this flower-like smile would bloom through eternal night.

Young Master Jiang retreated behind the curtain – his exclusive technique naturally couldn’t be seen by anyone.

He didn’t say what he intended to carve, and Gong Yin didn’t ask, seeming very confident.

Jing Hengbo didn’t see him take out anything to prepare either. Gong Yin had never liked wearing ornaments – the only accessory she’d seen him wear was the pearl that fastened his collar, and now he didn’t even wear the pearl.

Carving was work that required time, so Jing Hengbo, finding it boring, simply suggested that Gong Yin dispatch those four martial artists as well.

People from martial backgrounds relied on martial arts, so their proposal was still to compete in martial skills – each using their own ultimate techniques to challenge Gong Yin.

Challenge sounded nice, but it was actually a battle of attrition. However, Jing Hengbo was too lazy to cry injustice for Gong Yin – she just happened to want to see what Gong Yin’s current condition was really like.

The first to take the stage was that naturally strong expert. He looked quite ordinary, even somewhat thin and sallow, coming onto the stage lightly. He didn’t announce his name, and Jing Hengbo was still guessing he was that “Luoyun” lightness expert when she saw the fellow suddenly walk to the side platform where Jing Hengbo sat, glance at the platform surface, and with a “Hey-yo!” give a mighty shout, fiercely slapping the platform!

This slap created a thunderous sound. The platform made of thick wooden boards shook violently, nails flying everywhere. Jing Hengbo was startled, and an osmanthus cake got stuck in her throat – couldn’t go up or down. She coughed hoarsely, her face turning completely red.

At this moment, with nails flying around and dust filling the air, everyone was still watching that amazingly powerful strongman, and no one noticed the Queen was about to choke to death on a thin cake.

Fortunately, Gong Yin was beside her, his attention always on her. One hand reached over with just a light pat, rescuing her from the inglorious fate of choking to death on snacks. He also smoothly pulled out a snow-white cloth, covering those snacks to prevent them from being dirtied by dust.

Before Jing Hengbo could thank him, she turned to glare and scold: “Good heavens…” Suddenly she heard that fellow exhale and shout again with another mighty “Hey-yo!” Then she felt trembling beneath her feet, objects in front of her moving upward, and the common people below crying out in alarm. Looking down, she discovered that somehow she, along with the Eight Immortals table, chairs, and a thick wooden board about half a zhang square beneath her feet, had all been lifted up together by that strongman.

The arena platform was built with thick paulownia wood, fastened with foot-long giant nails. That fellow’s one slap had knocked them all out, not to mention the weight of the half-zhang square wooden board itself, her body weight, the table, and the force needed to lift them – added together, it was almost an astronomical figure. Looking back, Jing Hengbo saw that the strongman’s not particularly robust arms had muscles trembling as he forcibly lifted this whole “plate” of queen past his chest, abdomen, shoulders…

“Hey!”

The strongman gave another mighty shout, like a weightlifter suddenly thrusting upward, forcibly raising the Queen along with her table, chairs, and platform board high above his head!

“Excellent!”

The crowd’s cheers nearly overturned the entire street.

Gong Yin had been watching coolly the whole time, then suddenly said: “This strong fellow, can you come on stage?”

That man glared at him. Weightlifters shouldn’t speak while lifting, as speaking would dissipate energy. He could only step by step climb the stairs onto the stage, his steps extremely steady. The Queen suspended high in the air and the tea on the table beside her didn’t even splash. The crowd cheered again.

“Goo… huh?”

The cheering stopped abruptly halfway through.

Gong Yin had suddenly disappeared.

The next instant he appeared at the platform’s edge.

With exactly the same motion as that man just now, he pressed his hand on the platform’s edge, but without shouting or slapping down – just this light press. The platform crackled, and the gaps between the platform surface and wooden boards suddenly became covered with a thin layer of ice. The strongman’s feet slipped and he nearly fell. Fortunately, his companions reminded him, and he stamped down hard with both feet, breaking through the platform boards and jamming himself firmly in place.

But Gong Yin wasn’t just trying to make him slip. As soon as he pressed, he released, and the thin ice immediately melted under the blazing sun. He pressed again, and the ice layer rose again with another crackling sound of freezing and cracking. He did this two or three times.

Then he gave a light slap.

All the nails in the entire platform flew scattered into the air, crisscrossing and raining down like a shower of nails.

Before the crowd could marvel, Gong Yin raised one hand, and the entire platform froze into solid ice. With another raise of his hand, the entire platform rose in response.

“Ah…”

The crowd’s exclamations carried intoxicated amazement. Unlike the strongman who had only lifted one wooden board from the platform, this time Gong Yin, with one hand, lightly and easily lifted the entire platform! Even more wonderful was that the platform had originally been assembled from wooden boards that anyone lifting could only take piece by piece, but he used ice to freeze the gaps, first extracted the nails, then froze the entire platform into one piece and lifted it all at once.

At this moment, the strongman was holding the Queen, and he was holding the strongman and the Queen.

No need for further comparison – the superiority was immediately clear.

The Queen sat in the strongman’s hands cheerfully eating melon seeds, while the strongman in Gong Yin’s hands had an iron-blue face, looking at the slowly rising platform below, not knowing whether he should drop the Queen and admit defeat or continue persisting like this.

But he soon didn’t need to worry about it.

The noble great god wouldn’t personally hold cats and dogs.

Gong Yin drew his finger across, and the platform split in half, cracking right under the strongman’s feet. Unable to maintain his footing, the fellow fell downward, naturally unable to continue supporting his burden. Jing Hengbo fell person and chair together, the strongman tumbled to one side, and amid the cries of alarm from thousands, a white shadow flashed and Her Majesty the Queen landed in the embrace where she belonged.

Her Majesty the Queen smiled like a flower, forcefully pinching the flesh at Gong Yin’s waist with her hand, twisting once, then again, before jumping down with satisfaction and waving cheerfully to those below: “How was that?”

“Brilliant!” the crowd below shouted.

The strongman climbed up shamefacedly amid the cheering, walking away without a word from the damaged platform edge.

Gong Yin set down the platform board, still a complete piece, with even the section the strongman had pried up fitted back perfectly.

Amid the cheers of thousands, one person carefully walked up, as if afraid of slipping on residual ice, taking two steps then placing a clod of earth.

The crowd below burst into laughter, and Jing Hengbo laughed too, then suddenly felt something was wrong.

The scene before her eyes suddenly changed.

No longer the platform, no longer seeing people and officials – before her was clearly a cliff, with hanging ice and accumulated snow, reaching thousands of feet high.

And she stood at the cliff’s edge, facing thick ice layers sliding downward. The slightest movement would probably send her sliding off the cliff.

She knew in her heart this was an illusion – this person was skilled in formations. Who would have thought he truly had a technique? Soundlessly, the formation had already been set, and this moment’s cliff, with howling ice winds and bone-piercing cold, even had very realistic simulation.

Because it was too realistic, even knowing it was an illusion, she dared not move. That danger was close at hand, heart-trembling. She feared that one movement might make her fall off the stage, her skirt exposing her.

Suddenly a great wind passed by her side, billowing so the mountain forests swayed. She started, then understood – the person who set the formation was using this moment to attack Gong Yin!

“Bang.” With one sound, the scene before her violently shook, the clear blue sea of clouds cracked thread by thread, revealing the earthy yellow wooden boards of the platform.

Gong Yin still stood there perfectly fine. Opposite him, the person who had just come up to set the formation was also there, but huddled in a corner of the platform, sweating profusely and throwing punches and kicks.

Looking closely, Jing Hengbo saw those clods of earth had somehow changed positions and were now scattered around that person.

Those who trap others are trapped in return.

The common people below couldn’t understand at first, only seeing the clods of earth first surround Gong Yin, then somehow change direction. Now both people on stage were just standing there quite boringly.

The people were feeling puzzled when they suddenly burst into loud laughter, pointing at the stage – the formation expert surrounded by earth clods didn’t know what he was seeing, but covered in sweat and completely red-faced, he actually began taking off his clothes, removing his outer garment then his pants, his outer clothes then his undergarments…

If Jing Hengbo hadn’t seen the situation turning bad and, disgusted that this fellow had a poor physique that wouldn’t look good naked, ordered Tian Qi to go break the formation and pull him away, this person would probably have streaked naked before the entire city’s people today.

Tian Qi ran off the stage holding his blushing face and scolding “Shameless, how can you make people do such things…” The fellow pulled from the formation still stood there dazedly holding a pile of clothes. After a long moment he gave a great “Ah!” scream, covered his head with the clothes, and ran away frantically.

Having suffered consecutive defeats, both losing at their own specialties and losing quite disgracefully, the remaining two looked at each other. One of them cupped his hands, turned and left without a word, his form truly like a gust of wind, disappearing from the crowd in an instant. Jing Hengbo couldn’t even see his face clearly.

That must have been the lightness expert – quite sensible. Jing Hengbo gave Pei Shu a look, and Pei Shu secretly ordered his subordinates to follow that person. Given the chance, he should still be properly recruited.

Only the external cultivation expert remained. This fellow stayed on stage because he felt that although Gong Yin’s martial arts and wisdom were exceptional, external family cultivation was different – this was a type of hard work requiring perseverance. Truly intelligent people didn’t practice it, and it also required natural talent. He didn’t believe Gong Yin had even practiced external cultivation.

Jing Hengbo knew Gong Yin had no external family cultivation techniques. Forget about being invulnerable to blades and spears – she remembered he simply couldn’t be injured.

However, since Gong Yin said he would make all the cats and dogs get lost, he definitely wouldn’t be walking down – this much she believed.

The external cultivation expert’s method of demonstrating his specialty was simple and brutal – testing with a blade, inviting someone on stage, like a modern variety show interactive activity, having them strike with force, strike hard.

The striker swung his arms with bulging veins, while the one being struck wore a smile, muscles half-exposed. The striker’s eyes gleamed as he looked, murmuring to himself: “Mermaid lines… eight-pack abs… fresh meat…”

Several blade-striking sounds rang out loudly, actually like striking metal. The eight-pack abs remained perfectly undamaged. The Queen applauded vigorously: “Excellent! Good external cultivation, good physique! Good muscles…”

Gong Yin was silent, looking down at himself, suddenly thinking that those two previous times were in complete darkness, so this woman was drooling over such third-rate physiques – really embarrassing for him.

He was in a bad mood, casually tossing over a blade and indicating to the external cultivation expert: “Come strike yourself.” Then he extended his left leg.

Jing Hengbo looked at his form, knowing he had one leg that could already move, which was why he no longer used the small crutch lately. But that moveable leg seemed to be the right leg?

The external cultivation expert came over with a cold smile, blade light chopping straight down, accurate, fierce, with a harsh wind sound – clearly also an internal energy expert.

“Clang.” One sound.

A streak of snow light flew up, “whoosh”ing through the air in a turn, directly grazing the external cultivation expert’s face. The fellow was greatly alarmed, instinctively performing an iron bridge, the blade barely grazing his nose tip. Just as he sighed in relief, the blade suddenly shattered into three pieces above his face. One piece struck his face, causing his nose to bleed profusely. Two pieces fell to the ground. The external cultivation expert, just recovering from his iron bridge, stepped on one blade fragment, his foot slipping. His other foot hurriedly braced backward, but coincidentally, that’s exactly where the second blade piece was. This foot stepped on it again, and the external cultivation expert could no longer support his body. He fell with a bang, sliding all the way out, crashing down the platform steps with several bangs and clatters, tumbling into the dust.

This time the crowd even forgot to cheer, looking at the external cultivation expert, then at the stage, none understanding how in the blink of an eye, another person had rolled down.

But Jing Hengbo stared at Gong Yin’s robe. He was slowly withdrawing his left leg, but quickly covered it with his robe. With sharp eyes, Jing Hengbo noticed that where he had extended – the left ankle joint – both pants and boots had been damaged by the chopping, yet there really was no wound, no blood. In that fleeting glimpse, she only saw extraordinarily pale, bloodless skin.

Jing Hengbo frowned – his leg was the one that still couldn’t move, obviously different from his other hands and feet, and that difference was precisely what caused his inability to move?

What was it? It must be hard, freezing muscles and bones, so that it actually had the effect of external cultivation.

She took a deep breath – just how many ailments did he have that she couldn’t fully understand?

Suddenly the curtain lifted, interrupting her thoughts. The Young Master Jiang who had gone in to carve earlier rushed out excitedly, raising his hand high and shouting loudly: “Success! Your Majesty and everyone, please look!”

Jing Hengbo’s gaze instinctively turned, then her eyes narrowed.

The common people below also let out gasps of amazement.

“A portrait of the Queen!”

The curtain used to block the rear of the platform, at Young Master Jiang’s request, was snow white. Now Young Master Jiang stood before the white curtain, holding the gem high. The gem was small, so the carving naturally couldn’t be seen clearly, but people weren’t looking at the gem – they were looking at the curtain, where a hazy human figure was suddenly projected.

Light red, delicate and exquisite, with distinct curves – looking at the clothing and form, it was clearly the Queen.

And at this moment under sunlight, that piece of red tourmaline flowed with brilliance, powder colors sparkling. Young Master Jiang rotated the gem, and the carved projection on the gem slowly changed on the curtain – the standing Queen, the reclining Queen, the dancing Queen.

Though the projection was somewhat blurred, for carving on a gem to still be so lifelike through projection showed the carving was absolutely miraculous.

“Three-sided relief carving!” the crowd marveled.

Jing Hengbo walked closer, and the crowd’s amazement intensified – the Queen’s image on the curtain actually had almost the same form as the Queen herself. From a distance, it looked like the Queen’s shadow projected on the curtain.

Young Master Jiang proudly presented the gem. Jing Hengbo examined it carefully, seeing that the gem indeed had carving on all three sides, all depicting her in three poses that were not only lifelike but more wonderfully, the left side had floating clouds as background, the right side had green trees, and the back had potted flowers, arranged in upper, middle, and lower positions, yet finally projected as a complete relief of floating clouds, green trees, and fresh flowers on the smooth front surface.

Within the uniform glow of magnificent red, no matter which side the gem was turned to, it formed the most exquisite picture.

This was the most ingenious and magnificent aspect of this carving technique. Even Jing Hengbo had never seen its like in her life. For a moment she actually hoped Gong Yin would lose, so she could bring this Young Master Jiang along with his absolute technique into her harem. She could imagine her marketplace jewelry business would have high-end brands from then on.

As for Gong Yin winning… she really didn’t think there could be any carving technique more beautiful or miraculous than this.

She turned to look at Gong Yin. Gong Yin maintained his calm, composed appearance, only glancing at the gem once before saying: “Wait a moment.” Then he too entered the curtain.

Jing Hengbo raised her eyebrows – no way? He was really going to try carving too? What kind of technique could surpass this carving method? Could he be hiding some skill she didn’t know about?

No, impossible. She could be certain that such carving techniques were absolutely unsurpassable.

Just as she was curious, suddenly there was a commotion below, as if someone was approaching. The Luoyun officials went down to inquire, and after a while came back up beaming, whispering in her ear: “The last two candidates have finally arrived.”

Jing Hengbo looked toward the stage below following his indication, and suddenly her gaze focused.