Donglan Mountain towered over three thousand meters high, its dense forests lush and verdant, with wild animals even roaming its remote depths.
At this moment, in an extremely secluded thicket behind Donglan Mountain, a figure was swiftly weaving through, as agile as a panther and as nimble as an ape, even leaping over ten meters onto a tree branch in a single bound, then smoothly jumping from that branch to another.
Strangely enough, despite the figure's extreme speed, it stirred not a whisper of wind.
Like lightning, the figure dove from a height of several tens of meters, plunging with a splash into a small lake nested deep within the forest, causing ripples to spread across the lake, which was as clear and beautiful as jade, providing a clear view of the pebbles at the bottom.
"That feels great." Qin Yu burst out from underwater, shaking his head freely and sending water spraying in all directions.
It had been a year and a half since Qin Yu had acquired the Meteor Tear, and six months ago, his strength had reached that of Man Dong, who was known for his Innate Divine Strength. He had unmatched speed, and conventional weapons couldn't harm him in the least. Not to mention his flexibility.
Even without gloves, Qin Yu could easily split bluestone with his fingers, which remained perfectly nimble without any stiffness. This completely contradicted Zhao Yunxing's theory, proving that it's possible for fingers to remain sensitive while becoming incredibly tough.
By all accounts, Qin Yu had reached, and even surpassed, the realm of Zhao Yunxing, supposedly hitting the so-called Postnatal Limit.
However... Qin Yu's physical abilities continued to improve at an astonishing rate, so much so that he himself found the progress terrifying. Not wanting to cause a stir at the villa, he opted to train deep in the forest instead.
Training in the depths of the forest, where massive rocks were plentiful, proved beneficial for practising the Beidou Seven Stars Moonlight Dance movement technique, especially since there were no paths in the deep forest, only various obstacles, which were ideal for movement training.
"In just a year and a half, my one-handed strength has reached a thousand pounds. If this were known..." A smile appeared on Qin Yu's face.
The strength required to lift with one hand and the force of a punched fist are entirely different concepts: lifting with one hand is much more challenging. A thousand-pound one-handed lift surely equates to over ten thousand pounds in a punch. Such fearsome power would likely dumbfound even Man Dong, who is touted as the strongest in outer strength.
"Over these past six months, I've been nearly always wearing this three-hundred-pound weight. I wonder how fast I could be without it," Qin Yu thought to himself, knowing others would find it unbelievable if they heard.
The speed Qin Yu had just demonstrated in the thicket was faster than any outer strength expert. Nevertheless, he had achieved this while wearing the three-hundred-pound weight.
"Pong!" With several sounds, Qin Yu had removed the Xuantie Arm Guards, Xuantie Leg Guards, and the Black Gold Vest to the side.
"Haha, let's feel it." Suddenly, like an arrow released from its bow, Qin Yu shot up directly from the water, his body effortlessly swaying in mid-air and then... pausing! Yes, it paused, although for only about two or three seconds.
This was the mystery of Qin Yu's movement technique, which involved harnessing the wind.
"Whoosh!" Qin Yu's form shuddered, and he dove down rapidly to the ground, "Pong!" with a slight touch, his entire form disappeared in a 'swish', and then the surrounding trees started shaking as a blurry sound darted through the forest like lightning.
Landing!
Qin Yu suddenly appeared beside the lake, his face filled with excitement, "Removing three hundred pounds of weight not only increased my speed by one level, it was incredibly fast, but..." Qin Yu furrowed his brows, "but the resistance from the wind is indeed too terrifying at such speeds, and even with my current cultivation of the Beidou Seven Stars Moonlight Dance, I still can't completely mitigate that resistance."
The faster the speed, the greater the resistance of the wind. Qin Yu's speed had reached an unprecedented level. In the past, he could easily remain unaffected by resistance, but now, his speed was so fast that he could no longer perfectly resolve the resistance.
"Yes, it seems I am not strong enough, I still need to continue striving, I want to see just where my limits lie," Qin Yu's eyes ignited with excited passion.
Qin Yu continued his arduous cultivation deep in the forests of Donglan Mountain...
Late at night, in the Imperial Palace of the Chu Dynasty's Capital, within Huayang Palace.
Huayang Palace was Noble Consort Yu's domain, and tonight, Emperor Xiang Guang was visiting Noble Consort Yu's Huayang Palace. After a night of passionate revelry, Xiang Guang and Noble Consort Yu had fallen into a deep sleep, and the two palace maids outside the door, though nodding off, still tried to keep their eyes open.
The soundly sleeping Xiang Guang suddenly started trembling, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he seemed to be in a state of extreme panic and agitation.
"No, no, don't, don't..." Xiang Guang muttered incessantly, his voice muddled and deep, making it impossible to discern what he was exactly saying. However, he continued to tremble, even startling Noble Consort Yu awake.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what is wrong, Your Majesty?" Noble Consort Yu, seeing Xiang Guang's face flush, became alarmed.
"Die!" Xiang Guang, his eyes still closed, suddenly shouted at the top of his voice and swung his arms out, striking Noble Consort Yu.
"Thud!" Noble Consort Yu was knocked off the bed, a spurt of blood spraying from her mouth, disbelief filling her eyes as she looked at Xiang Guang—she was, after all, the most favored concubine of the Emperor. Xiang Guang by now had also awoken, looking at the severely injured Noble Consort Yu with a cold expression.
"Someone, summon the imperial physician." After saying that, Xiang Guang started dressing without giving Noble Consort Yu another glance, walking past her as if she were a stranger.
Moments later, Xiang Guang appeared in the Imperial Study Room, a black-clad man with a hooked nose respectfully standing by.
"The Eastern Domain Three Prefectures are Yang Li's responsibility, correct?" Xiang Guang's voice was cold.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the man with the hooked nose respectfully replied.
Xiang Guang suddenly stood up, fixing his gaze on the man with the hooked nose, "Consolidate all the intelligence related to Qin De and inform me. Additionally, increase surveillance in the Eastern Domain Three Prefectures. I do not believe he only recruited a mere hundred thousand soldiers. What hidden cards does Qin De hold? It must be thoroughly investigated. Yang Li has been so incompetent over the years, discovering so little. From today onward, the intelligence operations in the Eastern Domain Three Prefectures will be entirely Zhen Xu's responsibility, bring Yang Li back here."
"Yes!" The man with the hooked nose knelt on one knee.
"Go." Xiang Guang waved his hand, and the man with the hooked nose bowed before his form flashed and he directly vanished from the Imperial Study Room.
Xiang Guang's gaze remained fixed ahead, but his mind was elsewhere.
"If I don't thoroughly and comprehensively investigate you, Qin De, I can neither sleep at night nor find peace when eating," Xiang Guang often had nightmares, dreaming of being killed by Qin De. He most feared that Qin De would uncover events of the past year. He wanted to annihilate the Qin Family, yet they had been entrenched in the Eastern Domain Three Prefectures for centuries, not easily eradicated.
Now, Xiang Guang's strategy was to clarify Qin De's situation. If Qin De truly showed signs of rebellion, then he would mobilize the nation's forces to annihilate the Qin Family. If Qin De remained unaware of the past events and showed no signs of rebellion, then the matter could be dropped.
"Yang Li is such an idiot, basically useless. However, Zhen Xu will surely find out something. Qin De, you better not have discovered the events of the past, just stay obedient as your Prince Zhen Dong. If you truly plan to rebel, then..." A fierce glint flashed in Xiang Guang's eyes.