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"Oh, what kind of trick are you playing today?"

In the bright daylight, Princess Chang, accompanied by Elder Shen and others, was heading to yet another banquet invitation from Chen Qing when they stepped outside and saw an astonishing sight.

The grand barrier enveloping the sky had turned a glacial blue, the sun shone brightly outside it, allowing sunlight to filter through, yet it was devoid of any warmth, replaced instead by coldness!

It was an intense kind of cold, even colder than the harshest winter, with ice crystals filling the sky above and not a soul on the streets as far as the eye could see!

Princess Chang caught a couple of floating ice flowers with her hand, and something strange occurred—the ice flowers rapidly melted in her palm, and as the water from the melting ice seeped into her pores, a piercing chill swept through her entire body, putting Princess Chang instantly on alert.

She could feel that the water from the melted ice was capable of infusing coldness deep into her body, and most critical was that as a martial artist of her level, her blood and qi suddenly became sluggish due to the cold obstruction!

Putting aside the joking demeanor on her face, Princess Chang frowned and gazed at the ice flowers filling the sky, "What on earth is Chen Qing trying to do?"

"Is that Princess Chang?" From a distance, several soldiers, clad in armor and tall and formidable in stature, approached swiftly through the countless ice crystals.

Princess Chang observed the approaching soldiers, her brows slightly furrowing.

The power of these ice crystals was not to be underestimated.

Ordinary soldiers would probably only manage a few steps before their blood and qi would succumb to the cold intruding their bodies, rendering them immobile.

However, these soldiers had walked over from hundreds of meters away seemingly unaffected.

What exactly did Chen Qing want to do? To cause such a widespread technique, not to mention how it was achieved, wasn’t he afraid that the common people might be harmed?

This thing, without careful attention, could likely wipe out the entire city’s population!

"Your Highness..." The leading soldier approached and saluted before presenting several orange-yellow jade stones with due respect, saying, "Due to the grand array being tested for new functions, travel is prohibited in Nanming Prefecture today.

If Your Highness and your party wish to attend the banquet, please bring these with you. "

Princess Chang looked at the jade stones offered by the soldier and took them gently, immediately feeling a sense of warmth enveloping her body. In just that instant, the previous sensation of biting cold had vanished without a trace.

"Is this based on the same principle as the Ice Jade that’s been selling like hotcakes in Nanming Prefecture the past few days?" Elder Shen, curious, weighed the jade stone in his hand.

These days, his favorite activity was visiting the market and observing the novel items transported to Nanming Prefecture from all over Jiangnan, particularly those jade stones capable of carrying techniques, which intrigued him most.

"Yes, my lord..." The soldier responded with a smile, "All are products of the same magician’s handiwork. With these, Your Highness and your company would be unaffected while traveling outside."

Hearing this, Princess Chang glanced outside at the sky filled with ice crystals—a sight so beautiful it was intoxicating, yet fraught with lethal danger.

"Why can’t we feel any coldness inside the buildings?"

The ice water formed from these crystals could obstruct even her own blood and qi. If it were to land on ordinary buildings, based on the coldness of the water just now, it wouldn’t take more than a moment for all the buildings to become as exaggerated as ice cellars.

"Your Highness can rest assured..." The soldier hastily explained, "All the buildings have been inscribed with Dharma Seals and will not be affected."

"All buildings have been inscribed with Dharma Seals?" Princess Chang narrowed her eyes, "So am I to understand that if you wished, the interiors of these buildings could become more terrifying than the outside?"

"Your Highness is joking," the soldier chuckled nervously.

"Ha, just pulling your leg... Let’s be on our way, we wouldn’t want to be late for the banquet.

I’m quite looking forward to whatever arrangements Lord Chen has made.

If I keep being wined and dined like this, I might never want to leave," she said, striding boldly into the icy crystal-laden air while her entourage quickly followed.

The soldier watched, stunned, then turned to his subordinates and remarked, "What a boldly spirited woman! "

The soldiers behind him nodded repeatedly in agreement. If it had been them, they would have approached such a scene with great caution. Indeed, among the men in the world, few could match the spirit of Great Jin’s Princess Chang.

-------------------------

"My lord, please secure the jade stone. The grand array’s testing is likely to continue for at least another day or two without pause. Without the jade stone, travel will be quite inconvenient."

Elsewhere, the Duke of Wei and several other factions also received jade stones delivered by the soldiers, all observing the sky filled with ice crystals in silence.

The soldiers did not urge them, patiently waiting. After some time, Elder Shen from the West Sea was the first to lead his followers into the midst of the snow.

"You sure are bold," the Duke of Wei remarked darkly as he watched the other man.

Ever since the beginning, when faced with the monster that had slaughtered countless citizens, the Duke of Wei had never shown any kindness.

Elder Shen, upon hearing this, turned around with a gentle smile, "This coldness may indeed be troublesome for human martial artists like yourself, but for us, it’s not much of an issue.

We have spent too many years in the frigid depths of the sea, already resistant to most of the world’s coldness. "

The expression on the Duke of Wei’s face stiffened at his words, while Minister Pang and others not far behind furrowed their brows as they watched the ice and snow filling the sky.

"My lord, shall we not go?" A few descendants from the Sorcerer Families hesitantly inquired.

Looking forward to the banquet, the various forces were highly expectant, after all, the items Chen Qing served, even for those born into noble families, were delicacies they had never tasted before, especially the beverages. They still craved for the wine aroma from two days ago.

Concerning the effectiveness of the Warm Jade, they were even more convinced. In the recent days, eager to study those jade stones with built-in techniques, these descendants from the Sorcerer Families had each bought several pieces of Ice Jade, already agreeing on their efficacy.

After a few moments of silence, Minister Pang said in a low voice, "I want to know, is this Warm Jade something that Chen Qing can render useless if he so desires?"

The others, upon hearing this, all stiffened.

"Lord Chen is jesting," laughed the soldier in charge of offering the Jade Stone. "Had our Family Head harbored any ill thoughts, you would have frozen into lumps while you were still in the room."

Everyone: "....."

"It’s quite simple," the soldier chuckled.

"The rooms were inscribed with Dharma Seals by the magicians, which is why they were spared from the chill of these ice crystals. However, if the magicians wished, couldn’t they also turn these seals into a tool to make the inside of the house even colder? What do you all think?"

This soldier... sure knows how to speak...

Duke of Wei rolled his eyes but said nothing more. Holding the Warm Jade, he strode into the snowy surroundings.

Minister Pang, meanwhile, rubbed the Warm Jade in his hands for a long time before finally leading a group of noble youths to follow behind.

At the same time, in Minister Pang’s room, a few women in black appeared like phantoms. Lumings watched from afar with a flicker of concern in his eyes.

"My lord, could this be a trap aimed at the lady?"

"It might be..." Lumings didn’t even turn his head or bother to lift his eyelids as he responded, "With all the commotion you’ve caused, it would be odd if Chen Qing didn’t target you!"

"The lady took the risk for the sake of my lord!" the leading woman said grimly. "If it weren’t for your situation, my lord, the lady wouldn’t have needed to venture into danger. That mother and daughter not only shamelessly seduced my lord but also have an obvious extraordinary effect on Chen Qing’s power.

Isn’t the lady right to seek intelligence? "

Lumings fell silent.

Seek intelligence? He would have to be a fool to believe that!

He knew full well the true character of his wife; he just hadn’t expected her to venture into such perilous circumstances.

She couldn’t resist her jealousy, to say she was gathering intelligence was something not even ghosts would believe.

What intelligence could a widow of humble means have?

But unexpectedly, her blunder had led her into something substantial.

He wasn’t sure whether to regard Yun Yuye and her daughter as lucky or unfortunate...

"What did that woman say?" Lumings asked softly.

"Chen Qing’s target is that little girl, apparently due to her special constitution, which was discovered when she enrolled at Lyuzhou Academy.

A Warrior General was immediately assigned to escort her to Nanming.

The lady suspects it has something to do with the extravagant formation at Nanming Prefecture. "

"Is that so?" Lumings stood up and said to everyone, "What about Yun Yuye? Is she dead?"

"My lord jests, would the lady let that despicable woman die so easily? Surely she would..."

Bang!!

In the next moment, the woman flew back as if struck, and nobody saw how Lumings had moved. The giant handprint on her face indicated that Lumings didn’t go easy on her, deforming her face with the blow.

The woman was dazed and couldn’t come back to her senses for quite some time. The other women quickly looked at Lumings: "My lord... how could you?!"

"Why couldn’t I?" Lumings sneered. "What are you to me? Do you think the lady would criticise me for disciplining a servant? Even if I killed all of you, do you truly believe... your mistress would seek justice for you?"

The women: "....."

"How is Yun Yuye?"

"She has been tortured, somewhat weakened."

"Weakened?" Lumings suppressed the icy chill in his eyes. "What kind of torture?"

"The Ten-Needle Punishment..."

Bang!

The room instantly turned icy cold, and all the women hurriedly retreated next to a water bottle.

Lumings closed his eyes, restraining the murderous intent surging through his body.

The Ten-Needle Punishment involved stabbing the ten fingers with poisonous wasp needles.

The venom of these wasps was a hundred times more potent than that of ordinary wasps, and while not lethal, the pain of being stabbed in the vital parts of the fingers was unimaginable.

Not just any woman, but even the trained death soldiers in the army could not bear it.

After inserting the needles, hair-thin serpents would crawl into the wounds, spreading the venom throughout the body, creating an unbearable, writhing pain. ..

Sometimes Lumings wondered how his wife could come up with such twisted methods.

"That woman is worthless now, go and put her out of her misery!"

"But... what about the lady..."

"If you’re afraid of being held accountable, then tell me the place, and I’ll go myself!"

The women hesitated. One of them gathered her courage and said, "My lord, shouldn’t you be concerned about the lady’s safety at a time like this?"

"Safety?" Lumings looked towards the bottle behind them. "She has done so much evil; many have wanted her dead, yet who has succeeded?"

"As long as that bottle is present... no one in this world... can kill her!"