Who Can They Represent?

"Marquis Ningyuan, Marquis Ningyuan... It seems, my lord, that you have been driven into a corner," Sun Chao'en remarked. Li Zhi smiled wryly. "The King of Qi is my uncle, after all. Perhaps once the realm is pacified and I hand over my military authority—" Sun Chao'en shook his head. "Had the King of Qi enfeoffed you as some prince—even Prince Fu or Prince Duan—or, taking a step back, granted you the title of duke, this path might still have been viable. But bestowing this title of Marquis Ningyuan leaves you nowhere to retreat. "Why did the King of Qi insist on making you a marquis? It was nothing more than an effort to force you to bow your head and swallow the humiliation. And why force your head down? Because in his heart, he fears and resents you. If not for that wariness, he would have displayed magnanimity and showered you with endless honors and rewards. Since his suspicion runs this deep, will it simply vanish once the war is won and the state is founded? If you surrender military command, will he cease to suspect you?" As if waking from a dream, Li Zhi hurriedly said, "Please, sir, advise me." Sun Chao'en replied, "When our two hundred thousand elite marched into Southern Jin back then, it was two hundred thousand against nine hundred thousand. A few years have passed, and we gradually took three commanderies; now it is seven hundred thousand against one million two hundred thousand. Forty percent of Southern Jin's main forces are tied down on our front, while sixty percent face Zhao. We carved a foundation out of an impossible situation—how could the King of Qi not dread your rise?" Li Zhi sighed. "All these years, while I fought on the front lines, it was entirely thanks to you devising strategies in the rear, ensuring a never-ending flow of recruits, provisions, and military supplies. I never imagined that a mere three commanderies could produce a cumulative total of a million elite troops. Even after suffering three hundred thousand casualties, we have only grown stronger as we fought—all of this is thanks to your presence, sir!" Sun Chao'en said, "My lord, pray do not say such things. If the King of Qi found out, he would send assassins after me." "Is there any way to break this stalemate?" Instead of answering directly, Sun Chao'en countered, "Has it never crossed your mind, my lord, why the Lord of Qingming was not among the two candidates for the new emperor?" Li Zhi was taken aback. "Wei Yuan? Isn't he aiming for immortality? Er..." Li Zhi instantly remembered Wei Yuan's recent failure to ascend to immortality, leaving him momentarily at a loss for words. Sun Chao'en said sternly, "I might not know the true might of Qingming's armies, but could you possibly be ignorant of it, my lord? If the military might under heaven were divided into three parts, at least one part belongs to Qingming. Even if the Lord of Qingming has his sights set on the immortal heaven and cares nothing for the throne of a mortal king, Qingming's two billion people, its million Dao foundations, and its tens of millions of soldiers care! "To put it bluntly, even if the Lord of Qingming tethered a dog to the throne, no matter how countless the heroes under heaven may be, when selecting two candidates for the new emperor, a seat would still have to be reserved for that dog." Li Zhi let out a long breath and slowly nodded. Sun Chao'en continued, "I used to think that the immortals, perched high above, were infallible and calculated every detail. But looking at it now, they are probably nothing more than a bunch of incompetents. The Lord of Qingming has yet to respond; this is a rare opportunity." Li Zhi said slowly, "Fine! Then I will go be that dog!" Sun Chao'en smiled. "If someone else did it, they would naturally be a dog. But you and the Lord of Qingming have known each other since youth; that bond makes all the difference. Furthermore, I have heard that he is exceptionally generous and lenient, so this course is feasible." Li Zhi said, "Being Qingming's dog is still far better than being the King of Qi's dog!" "There is another matter for which you had best make early preparations, my lord." "What matter?" "If you refuse this title of Marquis Ningyuan, Duke Chengen's life may be in grave peril." Li Zhi's expression changed, and he snapped, "Nonsense! My uncle is not that kind of person!" Unfazed, Sun Chao'en said calmly, "The King of Qi has his sights set on the realm. Kinship and blood ties are nothing more than instruments to him. If you were defeated and killed in battle, that would be the end of it; but if you achieve even the slightest renown, Duke Chengen will hardly escape calamity." Li Zhi gradually calmed down, sat back down, and said softly, "Is this the price of contesting the realm?" Sun Chao'en sighed as well. He did not say much more, adding only, "Pick a time, my lord, and take a trip to Qingming. I will hold the front line here for now. If it comes down to sheer defense, even if Huai Pu had ten times the troops, he could not breach our defense lines." *** In Qingming, the latest Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony, Golden Core Convention, and Nascent Soul Summit had just concluded, and Wei Yuan was examining the freshly compiled figures in detail. Over the past year, Qingming had welcomed over fifty million newborn children and gained three million new cultivators at the peak of Body Casting. Building on this foundation, the current Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony was held simultaneously across more than a dozen cities, ultimately producing 1.3 million new templates. At the Golden Core Convention, more than two thousand cultivators newly advanced to the Golden Core stage; currently, Qingming had several tens of thousands of Golden Core cultivators in total. Additionally, thirty new Nascent Soul cultivators had emerged, every single one personally enlightened and guided by Wei Yuan. Many of these Nascent Soul cultivators were already three to four hundred years old, yet they all performed full kowtows before Wei Yuan and addressed him as teacher. This gave Wei Yuan waves of goosebumps, yet he had no choice but to accept it, even feeling a subtle hint of satisfaction deep down. The number of Golden Core cultivators was now surging rapidly; next year's additions were projected to double, while nearly a hundred were poised to attempt the breakthrough to Nascent Soul, of whom half might ultimately be enlightened with success. These figures represented the output of Qingming in just a single year. As the number of cultivators expanded dramatically, the concentration of spiritual qi across Qingming did not drop; rather, it rose. This corroborated Wei Yuan's judgment: even low-stage cultivators possessed a faint capacity to ingest and refine primal chaos, causing Qingming's total volume of spiritual qi to steadily climb. Just as Wei Yuan was about to examine the breakdown of the data in detail, an attendant came to report that Li Zhi requested an audience. Moments later, Li Zhi was seated in Wei Yuan's study and presented the King of Qi's decree. Wei Yuan unrolled it, read it through, and said with a look of surprise, "Contesting the realm requires qualifications now?" Li Zhi said, "I hear it was decided by the assembly of immortals high in the immortal heaven." "The immortals? Is there a list of names?" Li Zhi handed over another list and said, "This is what I pieced together from various inquiries; there might be some discrepancies." Wei Yuan unrolled the list and looked it over. "Why didn't your two Patriarchs vote for you either?" Li Zhi replied, "Master Huai Pu is also a direct descendant of the Sage." Hearing this, Wei Yuan understood immediately. "Ah, so he's their own darling grandson." Li Zhi offered a wry smile and said nothing. Wei Yuan flicked the list of immortals with his finger and sneered. "A bunch of buffoons tooting their own horns, yet they presume to represent the immortal heaven, represent the realm under heaven? They cannot represent anyone!" Wei Yuan then looked toward Li Zhi and asked, "What do you need me to do?" Li Zhi pondered for a moment before saying, "I need military supplies, but I may not have enough money and might not be able to pay promptly." Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised. "You don't need me to deploy troops?" Li Zhi smiled. "Contesting the realm, after all, requires showing the world whether one is worthy of the position. Although fighting in Southern Jin these past years has been grueling, it has forged my confidence. Even the Cui family and the Academy combined failed to knock me down; instead, I've only grown stronger through the fighting. So you only need to provide me with weapons—I will handle the rest." Wei Yuan nodded, then said, "Very well!" Li Zhi finally let out a sigh of relief. "Now I can at last get a good night's sleep." Wei Yuan picked up the King of Qi's decree, pondered for a moment, and said, "Your father is likely in danger." Li Zhi smiled wryly. "Sun Chao'en said the same. But I still feel that no matter how cold-blooded the King of Qi may be, he wouldn't go so far as to murder his own brother, would he? Besides, what benefit could there be in killing my father?" Wei Yuan said slowly, "As long as it throws your heart into turmoil, that is benefit enough." Li Zhi fell silent for a moment, then gave a soft sigh. Wei Yuan stood up and paced two rounds around the study before saying, "My failure to ascend to immortality last time has certainly emboldened a bunch of clowns to strut about! In that case, let me see just how much guts they truly have." Wei Yuan immediately summoned a young general inside and asked, "I have a suicide mission for you. Do you dare take it?" The general replied in a deep voice, "It is nothing more than taking a stroll through the Yellow Springs. Why would I not dare?!" A few days later, a convoy fully laden with weapons and ammunition set out from Qingming and entered Southern Jin. When questioned by the border generals, a young Qingming general bluntly declared that these were munitions and supplies destined for Li Zhi, and then announced to all that whoever dared lay a finger on the convoy was declaring war on Qingming! The convoy flew the great banner of Qingming high. With a mere hundred or so escorting soldiers, there were fewer guards than wagons—practically undefended. Strutting with complete bravado in this manner, the convoy intended to cut across Southern Jin to deliver munitions to Li Zhi, who was currently locked in a bloody struggle against Southern Jin. Not long after entering Southern Jin, three immortals appeared high above the convoy. All three concealed their forms, completely unnoticed by the mortals in the convoy below. "How about sending men disguised as bandits?" suggested Duke Yansheng. Cui Wantong immediately shook his head. "As long as an accident befalls the convoy within Southern Jin's borders, Wei Yuan will place the blame entirely on my head. Wei Yuan is clearly picking a fight so he has a righteous pretext to strike." Eldest Master Gu sneered. "Even if you do nothing at all, will he refrain from striking?" Cui Wantong gave no answer, merely watching the slowly advancing convoy, his brow knitting tighter and tighter. Everyone understood that this convoy was Wei Yuan's dignity. Whoever dared touch it was slapping Wei Yuan across the face. Now Wei Yuan had offered his cheek—it remained to be seen who among the heroes under heaven had the nerve to deliver the slap.