Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

There was a quick flicker of emotions on King Ping's face before he recomposed himself and gave a slight nod. “Hmm, makes sense.”

As the Deputy General, Sun Zhanhe had an army of ten thousand under his command. If these troops were to be completely wiped out, it would deal a huge blow to the vitality of the Xi Jiang Military. The Ji Dynasty's most elite group of soldiers belonged to the Xi Jiang Military, so losing one-tenth of them would have a decisive effect on the situation between the Ji Dynasty and the Li Dynasty.

If he were to suffer such a great loss, the Chancellors and courtiers of the imperial court would surely rejoice, finally being able to find an excuse to transfer him away and revoke his military power. With that, they would then be able to help their beloved King Jing remove any obstacles to the Emperor's throne!

When Chu Li saw that King Ping had taken his opinion into consideration, he sighed to himself in relief.

He held a different viewpoint than the Chancellors of the imperial court.

The Chancellors wanted to maintain the stability of the Ji Dynasty by attempting to prevent any internal strife. If it were to occur, the Li Dynasty would certainly take advantage of the situation to put in an offensive, and the Ji Dynasty would then face the risk of having their nation destroyed.

Every time a change in dynasty occurred, or whenever there was a transition period between dynasties, it was usually due to internal problems that foreign enemies were able to exploit, allowing them to force their way in. On the other hand, the dynasties that did not face any internal problems had almost never been destroyed by foreign enemies.

The most serious problem of the Ji Dynasty was the dispute between the civil and military branches of the government. King Jing was well-received by civil officials and had gained the hearts of the courtiers. Meanwhile, King Ping was favored by military officials and had an army of ten-thousand under his command.

If the two leaders were to ever enter into conflict, the covetous Li Dynasty would never let go of this opportunity.

The main focus of the major courtiers was to remove King Ping's military power.

Unfortunately, due to the persistence of the Emperor, they were unable to persuade His Majesty. However, if an opportunity were available, they would definitely not let it slip by; they would fight for it until the very end in spite of the Emperor's persistence.

Nonetheless, Chu Li felt that they had already missed their chance to remove King Ping's military power. The Li Dynasty was growing stronger and could advance southward at any moment now. Currently, their biggest obstacle was King Ping. If King Ping was removed from his position, the Li Dynasty would have no more worries and might even mobilize their troops at once.

Even if the current situation required them to quench their thirst with poison, they would have no choice but to keep drinking it for now.

Only if there were more time could a chance to change things arise.

In his opinion, the Holy Church of Light should be dealt with first.

The Holy Church of Light was the state religion of the Li Dynasty. The more powerful the Holy Church of Light was, the stronger the Li Dynasty would be. If they were to weaken the power of the Li Dynasty, they should start from the Holy Church of Light.

Now that the Holy Church of Light had gotten their hands on the complete version of the Scripture of Great Light, they would only become stronger in the future.

Therefore, the four major sects would have to work together to deal with the Holy Church of Light and find ways to weaken them just like what the Holy Church of Light was trying to do to King Ping now.

“Your Royal Highness, the ring I've brought is still with General Sun,” Chu Li said. “Please ask General Sun to return it to me. I have to give it back to the Princess.”

Then came an announcement from outside. “Your Royal Highness, General Sun has come.”

“Let him in,” King Ping said.

Sun Zhanhe drew the curtain and entered the tent, holding up a fist salute while smiling. “Commander-in-Chief, I've been discourteous. I've almost killed Scribe Liu here.”

“What you did was right,” King Ping said with a calm expression. “If it were me, I would've done so as well… Where's the ring?”

“Ah, here it is.” Sun Zhanhe took it out from his inner pocket and handed it over.

King Ping took it from him and gave it a glance, confirming that it was indeed his belonging.

He carefully caressed the white jade ring and sighed before giving it to Chu Li. “Go back and tell the Princess that I'll return to see her after a month!”

Chu Li quickly replied, “Your Royal Highness, I'm afraid the Princess might not even have a month to live.”

“Shut up!” King Ping huffed. “I believe that the Princess will be able to hold on until I return!”

“… Yes,” Chu Li said. “We've hired a famous physician. Perhaps the Princess will be fine.”

“That's good then!” King Ping waved a hand at him. “Return immediately. If anything happens, come and report to me at once!”

After giving it some thought, he took out a wooden tag. “With this, you can enter the military encampment and come straight to my tent!”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.” Chu Li reached out his hands to receive the ordinary-looking wooden tag.

It was a rectangular wooden tag with a width and length of about half a palm. When he took it, the tag felt heavy in his hands. Instead of being made of wood, it felt more like an iron tag. He secretly tightened his grip around it and found it to be extremely solid to the point where no blades could manage to leave a mark on it. This was surely not an ordinary object.

“Your Royal Highness, Heaven blesses the good man,” Sun Zhanhe said with a sigh. “I believe the Princess will turn her misfortune into a blessing.”

“I certainly hope so,” King Ping muttered.

He waved his hand. “You may leave now.”

Chu Li gave a fist salute before turning around and striding off.

Sun Zhanhe stared at his retreating figure. It was only until the tent curtains had stopped swaying did he withdraw his gaze. “Your Royal Highness' Residence is truly a place of hidden talents. What a character he is!”

King Ping lowered his gaze to the sand table, calmly replying, “He's a servant the Princess brought from home who has been trained since he was young. He's pretty loyal.”

“As expected of a n.o.ble family.” Sun Zhanhe sighed.

King Ping raised his head and glanced at him. “Members of a n.o.ble family are also mortals who experience birth, age, illness, and death. There's nothing special about them. Where's the Li Dynasty Military now?”

“Around the region of Boling,” Sun Zhanhe replied.

“Hmm, seems like it's time to teach them a lesson,” King Ping muttered.

Chu Li left the encampment and returned to King An's Imperial Residence in a flash. Then, he sat on his bed in his bedchamber staring at the Amethyst Gold Plate.

The sword technique contained within it was very intriguing, and he wanted to try and see if he could comprehend it.

The Omniscient Mirror was capable of seeing through the entire plate and had examined every inch of it. However, it did not detect anything out of the ordinary. The plate did not have any formation or talisman in it, so its overwhelming aura was simply caused by how the swords were positioned. It was wonderful indeed. Rather than having inner energy or spiritual force, it was nothing more than the swords' positions.

He tried posing with his long sword in a position that was identical to that on the Amethyst Gold Plate, but it did not seem to incite that same awe-inspiring feeling.

No matter how closely he studied it, he could not find anything definitive. Thus, he activated the Manifestation of Nature Restoration skill. By discerning the essence of it through its outward appearance, perhaps the Manifestation of Nature Restoration would be able to find out why the positioning of the swords could inspire such awe in people's hearts.

Based on the daggers on the Amethyst Gold Plate, the Manifestation of Nature Restoration could simulate and a.n.a.lyze the posture of the person holding them in order to identify the postures that could bring forth such formidable power.

After studying it from nighttime to the next morning, he ended up learning nothing.

Fortunately, these two sword positions had been deeply imprinted in his mind, so he would never forget them. He could just use the Manifestation of Nature Restoration to continue searching. Eventually, he should be able to find the postures that could go with those sword positions, comprehending the sword techniques from there.

Leng Qiu and Leng Qing had both come by to learn cultivation. Chu Li had cultivated a fist technique, and the power of his Crouching Bull Punch slowly increased.

After having his breakfast, he came to the Secret Guardians Hall.

If he had returned directly to the Secret Guardians Hall yesterday, he would have probably startled the others.

Moreover, since he had informed King Ping, there was no need for him to worry about the rest of the matter. With that said, he could be at ease and relax a little as he made his way to the Secret Guardians Hall slowly.

Upon entering the main hall, aside from the two Commanders, he found Chen Donghai sitting there with a dark expression.

“Commander, I've completed the task.” Chu Li greeted them with a fist salute before taking out the wooden tag from his inner pocket and handing it over to them.

Fu Mengshan and Xu Huande studied the wooden tag for a moment and returned it to Chu Li.

“Did King Ping believe you?” Fu Mengshan asked.

Chu Li replied, “Not completely, since he holds some prejudice against the Secret Guardians Hall. Nonetheless, as long as he has doubts and be more cautious, Sun Zhanhe won't be able to achieve his goal.”

“Hmm, makes sense.” Fu Mengshan heaved a deep sigh. “Finally, there's one less problem to worry about.”

Chu Li turned his gaze to Chen Donghai, who had his head in his hands.

Fu Mengshan huffed.

Xu Huande said, “Gu Qi has escaped!”

Chu Li frowned and looked to Chen Donghai.

Chen Donghai seemed expressionless and calm as he spoke, “I've hurried over as quickly as possible, but by the time I arrived at the Gu Residence, he's already gone.”

“What about the Ning Brothers?” Chu Li asked.

Fu Mengshan replied, “Oh, we haven't informed you. Due to the urgency of the matter, we've dispatched them already.”

Chu Li nodded. “Of course… Commander, Commander Xu, this situation is the same as when that previous Minister Counsellor escaped the last time. The only difference is that one of them is a real Minister Counsellor, while the other is a fake!”

Fu Mengshan pondered over it and slowly said, “Given the situation right now, I've decided to issue a martial arts kill order.”