roccoschili Chapter 282 He really didn't harm a single person surnamed Li Yang.
Chapter 282 He really didn't harm a single person surnamed Li Yang.
The night breeze gradually subsided.
On the white marble plaza, the shattered sword fragments gleamed coldly in the moonlight, like a ground littered with broken stars.
Li Chunfeng stood still, letting Qin Mu support his arm.
Those calm eyes gazed at the night sky, which was gradually returning to calm.
Gazing at the sword lights slowly drifting down from the night sky.
The sword lights were as light as feathers, drifting to every corner of the palace, to every direction of the imperial city, and into the hands of the people who had just been awakened from their sleep.
He saw a flash of sword light fall into the backyard of a blacksmith's shop in the east of the city.
He saw a sword flash land in the study of a scholar's house in the south of the city.
He saw a flash of sword light land beside a child's pillow in the west of the city, where a wooden sword lay...
Those sword lights were all borrowed by him.
He borrowed the sword intent of millions of people.
Now, it's been repaid.
A faint smile slowly curved the corners of Li Chunfeng's lips.
He turned his head and looked at Qin Mu.
The moonlight shone on that young face, making his deep eyes exceptionally clear.
In those eyes, there was no triumph of the victor, no arrogance of the strong, only a sincere and equal appreciation.
Li Chunfeng took a deep breath.
He spoke.
The voice was old and ethereal, and it was exceptionally clear in the quiet square.
"I have been defeated."
These four simple words, however, were like four giant stones thrown into the magnificent palace behind them.
Gu Jiantang and Zhang Julu exchanged a glance and remained silent.
His eyes were filled with complex emotions.
After saying those four words, Li Chunfeng slowly turned around.
His gaze traveled over a distance of thirty feet, past the shattered sword fragments, past the moonlit white marble floor, and landed on the open palace door.
It landed on the moon-white figure standing in front of the palace gate.
Zhao Qingxue.
Empress Liyang.
His Majesty.
A deep sense of guilt flashed in Li Chunfeng's eyes.
"His Majesty."
"minister--"
He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately:
"I did my best."
Zhao Qingxue's eyelashes trembled violently.
She looked at Li Chunfeng's pale beard and hair, at his hunched back, and at his slightly trembling shoulders as his forehead touched the ground.
This is the Sword God of Liyang.
This was the imperial advisor who had assisted her for five years.
This is the person she has called "Grandpa Imperial Advisor" since she was a child.
She always thought that Li Chunfeng was the strongest in the world, and that others could only be on par with him at best.
Li Chunfeng always maintained a calm and composed demeanor, as if he had everything under control, giving people a sense of security.
Li Chunfeng played a crucial role in her ability to quickly take control of the Liyang Dynasty.
At this moment, however, he stood before her, in such an almost humble manner, and spoke to her—
I have done my best.
Zhao Qingxue's eyes were slightly red.
"The Imperial Advisor."
"You don't need to blame yourself."
"You've done a great job."
Li Chunfeng was stunned.
He looked at Zhao Qingxue, at that young yet unusually calm face.
Looking into the sincere, unreserved light in her eyes.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something.
But in the end, he didn't say anything.
Because he really did his best.
That last sword strike was the pinnacle of his life.
After that sword strike, his cultivation level should have plummeted, and his swordsmanship should have collapsed.
But he didn't.
Because of Qin Mu.
Because that young man held back at the last moment.
That punch, seemingly shattering the sword light, actually only shattered the sword light.
He wasn't hurt in the slightest.
Even the sword intent within his body didn't tremble in the slightest.
This is even more terrifying than defeating him with a single sword strike.
This means that the other party's control over power has reached a level he could not even imagine.
It can split mountains and crack rocks, yet it can do so without harming ants.
It can destroy the world, or it can bring warmth and kindness.
This control—
Li Chunfeng closed his eyes.
The scene from just now flashed through my mind.
The sword light fell, and the force of the fist met it.
At the moment the two forces collided, he felt a power as vast as the sea and as deep as an abyss.
That power was enough to grind him into dust.
But the moment that force touched his body—
It has dissipated.
Like the receding tide, like the dissipating clouds.
Nothing was left behind.
Only the falling dust proved the existence of that sword strike.
Li Chunfeng opened his eyes.
A complex light flashed in those cloudy old eyes.
His gaze passed over Zhao Qingxue and landed on the moon-white figure standing in the center of the square.
Zhao Qingxue followed his gaze.
Qin Mu remained standing in the center of the square, his hands behind his back.
The moonlight shone on him, making his pale figure stand out clearly.
He stood there quietly, as if the earth-shattering battle that had just taken place had nothing to do with him.
But Zhao Qingxue knew that it was related.
Li Chunfeng's "Ten Thousand Swords Paying Homage" is a way of proving his own path by using the meaning of ten thousand swords.
That sword strike was the culmination of Li Chunfeng's life's work, and also the most dangerous moment of his life.
If successful, he will enter an unprecedented realm.
If it fails,
At best, one's cultivation level will drop; at worst, one's swordsmanship will collapse, and one will never be able to wield a sword again.
She had just stood by the window, watching the dazzling sword light fall from the night sky, and that was what she feared most.
In a duel between masters, it is ten times harder to control one's strength than to exert it.
Such a sword, once unleashed, is like an arrow shot from a bow, with no turning back.
But Qin Mu—
Under those circumstances, at the last moment, he forcefully withdrew his strength.
It did not harm Li Chunfeng in the slightest.
What does this mean?
This means that Qin Mu's strength far surpasses that of Li Chunfeng.
This means that in that instant, he not only caught the sword strike but also had the strength to control his power and protect his opponent.
mean,
The gap between him and Li Chunfeng was immeasurable.
Zhao Qingxue's feelings were very complicated.
Li Chunfeng looked at the complex emotions in Zhao Qingxue's eyes and sighed softly.
"Your Majesty," he continued, his voice hoarse but calm, "though I have been defeated."
"But this battle—"
He paused, a complex light flashing in his eyes:
"I have benefited greatly from this."
Zhao Qingxue was slightly taken aback.
Li Chunfeng continued, each word as if he were savoring something precious:
"That punch from the Emperor of Qin."
"It may seem simple, but it contains profound truths about the universe."
"I have lived for seventy years and have never seen such a fist."
"While that punch shattered my sword light, it also implanted some things that I had never thought of into my heart."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When I opened my eyes again, they were filled with a complex clarity.
"I seem to have realized something."
"only--"
He paused, a self-deprecating smile curving his lips:
"This step is too difficult."
"Perhaps it will take me a long time to understand this."
"Maybe,"
He shook his head:
"I'll never understand it in my entire life."
Zhao Qingxue looked at Li Chunfeng's aged yet unusually calm face.
The warmth she felt for Qin Mu deepened even further.
She stood up.
He turned around.
Looking up at the night sky.
In the night sky, those swords had completely vanished.
They returned to where they belonged.
It returned to the hands of those people.
She saw the blacksmith's shop lights on in the east of the city.
The old blacksmith ran out, dressed in his clothes, and looked blankly at the rusty old sword in his hand.
He looked around, not knowing what had happened, so he could only scratch his head, put away his sword, and go back to sleep.
She saw that the scholar's lamp was lit in the south of the city.
The young scholar pushed open the window, looked at the decorative sword in his hand that had never been drawn, and his eyes were full of confusion.
He held the sword up to the moonlight for a long time, but couldn't figure it out. He shook his head and hung the sword back on the wall.
She saw the sound of children crying coming from the west of the city.
The child who had been sleeping while holding the wooden sword was awakened by the earth-shattering scene and was crying loudly in his mother's arms.
His mother held him, gently patted his back, and comforted him.
The wooden sword lay beside my pillow.
As Zhao Qingxue watched these scenes unfold, her eyes reddened slightly.
Those ordinary people knew nothing.
Little did anyone know that an earth-shattering battle had just taken place in the night sky.
Unbeknownst to them, their swords had just been borrowed for a brief moment.
Unbeknownst to them, their sword intent had just coalesced into a power powerful enough to shake heaven and earth.
They simply woke up in a daze, looked around blankly, and then went back to sleep.
They continued their ordinary lives.
Work at sunrise, and rest at sunset.
Marrying a wife and having children, experiencing birth, aging, sickness, and death.
These are the people of Liyang.
This is the person she wants to protect.
And those powerful martial artists
Zhao Qingxue saw several men in black standing on the tall building in the east of the city.
Those were her secret guards stationed in the imperial city, each one a master of the second rank or higher.
At this moment, they are standing on the rooftop, looking in the direction of the palace.
His face was full of solemnity.
His eyes were filled with deep awe.
They knew that an earth-shattering battle had just taken place above the palace.
They could feel the sword intent that was powerful enough to crush the heavens.
You can feel the dazzling sword light.
You can feel the hand that shattered the sword light with a single punch.
Their bodies were trembling slightly, their eyes filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.
Zhao Qingxue withdrew her gaze and took a deep breath.
She suddenly felt so relaxed.
An unprecedented sense of ease.
Because Qin Mu did it.
He really did it.
No one was hurt.
No harm was done to the people of Liyang.
Li Chunfeng was not harmed.
He clearly could.
With his strength, killing Li Chunfeng would be a piece of cake.
With his strength, it wouldn't be difficult for him to flatten the Liyang Imperial City.
But he didn't.
He stopped exerting his strength.
He showed mercy.
He gave Li Yang his final dignity.
Zhao Qingxue closed her eyes.
A tear slowly slid down the corner of her eye.
The tears streamed down her pale cheeks, shimmering in the moonlight.
She didn't know why that tear was there.
Was it because I was moved?
Is it because of a sense of relief?
Is it because of the relief of finally being able to let go of everything?
Or because—
Was that man better than she had imagined?
she does not know.
All she knew was that at this moment, the last trace of resentment, the last trace of bitterness, the last trace of struggle within her heart—
All of it flowed away with that single tear.
Zhao Qingxue opened her eyes.
Those deep purple phoenix eyes were now filled with a clear light.
She turned around and looked at the moon-white figure still standing in the center of the square.
Qin Mu stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the night sky.
The moonlight shone on him, gilding his entire body with a silvery edge.
His handsome profile was exceptionally clear in the moonlight.
The corners of his mouth held that familiar, ambiguous smile.
But at this moment, that curve no longer frightened her.
Zhao Qingxue took a step.
I walked towards him step by step.
The moon-white skirt trailed over the shattered sword fragments, making a soft rustling sound.
She stopped beside him.
Standing side by side with him.
I looked up at the night sky.
In the night sky, the moonlight was like water, and the stars twinkled.
Everything returned to calm.
It was as if that astonishing scene had never happened.
Zhao Qingxue said softly:
"Thank you."
Qin Mu turned his head and looked at her.
The moonlight shone on her face, illuminating her stunning beauty with exceptional clarity.
Those deep purple phoenix eyes were now filled with sincere light.
Qin Mu looked at her and smiled softly.
"Thank me for what?" he asked.
Zhao Qingxue looked at him and said, word by word:
"Thank you, you didn't hurt anyone."
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I harm them?"
He asked, his tone carrying a hint of self-assurance.
Zhao Qingxue was stunned for a moment.
Qin Mu continued, his gaze returning to the night sky:
"They are all my future subjects."
"Why would I harm my own people?"
Zhao Qingxue was stunned.
She looked at him, at his earnest, unpretentious face.
A complex and indescribable emotion welled up within me.
The people of the future.
The people of Liyang are his subjects.
She, Zhao Qingxue, was his empress.
From this day forward, the Li Yang Dynasty will be united with the Great Qin Dynasty.
That was his idea.
It has been that way from the very beginning.
It was not about conquest.
It is not slavery.
It was not plunder.
It is integration.
A slow smile curved Zhao Qingxue's lips.
The curve was shallow and faint, yet it felt incredibly real.
"You're right," she said softly.
"They are all your future people."
Qin Mu turned his head and looked at her.
The two looked at each other.
The moonlight shone on the two of them, casting their shadows on the ground, where they intertwined.
At that moment, all the barriers, all the grudges, all the resentment—
They all quietly melted away in that gaze.
......