Jiang Li floated above Qingcheng, hands crossed behind his head, pondering Jiang Yixing's words.
"If only Lao Ji could trace back to three hundred and eighty years ago... But unfortunately, even by exhausting all his lifespan, he can't trace back that far."
Thinking of this, Jiang Li sneered. Lao Ji was good in every aspect; as an emperor, he was diligent, fair, and just; as a friend, he was loyal and caring. However, as a cultivator, he was unwilling to practice, wasting his extraordinary talent for time manipulation attributed to the Emperor Shun, the founder of their kingdom. Legend has it that Emperor Shun was originally a fish in the river of time. For some unknown reason, he jumped out of the river of time, transformed into a human, and arrived at Jiuzhou to establish the Great Zhou dynasty. Therefore, the descendants of the Great Zhou were naturally close to the path of time. Jiang Li had also studied the path of time and found it to rely purely on insight, something he couldn't grasp himself. "So, Comrade Lao Ji, you should strive to cultivate," Jiang Li muttered to himself. He took out a long, narrow yellow parchment inscribed with ancient characters in cinnabar. This was a remote communication symbol written by the Daoist, enabling contact regardless of distance as long as they were still in Jiuzhou. What was regrettable for Jiang Li was that the production of this remote communication symbol was difficult, requiring several months of effort from an elder of the Daoist level. Therefore, even the Daoist sect itself didn't have enough of them, let alone selling them to the public. It was only through a good relationship with the Imperial Palace that Jiang Li had a few in his possession. He kept one for himself and gave the rest to the commander of the Imperial Palace. "Summon Commander Zhang Konghu of the Imperial Palace." The remote communication symbol flickered faintly, connecting to the other end. Soon, a burly figure occupied almost half of Jiang Li's field of vision. "Jiang Ge, I was just thinking of contacting you; something big has happened!" Zhang Konghu's face pressed close to Jiang Li, but was instinctively dispersed by a slap from Jiang Li, and the virtual image quickly formed into Zhang Konghu's appearance. Zhang Konghu was a sturdy man with a somewhat dark complexion, and his robust arms were like the columns that supported the sky. Born into a shaman family, he had a lot of expertise in physical training. It was said that he had secretly helped write the "Jiang Li Imperial Strength" inscribed by the Sea Dragon King. But now, this strong man looked quite miserable, with distinct purple and blue circles around his eyes, bruises visible wherever skin was exposed, and probably a few broken bones. Jiang Li was taken aback; he knew how astonishing Zhang Konghu's physique was. This man, with his physical strength alone, could compete with someone in the Crossing Tribulation stage. It was rare for anyone in Jiuzhou to injure him to this degree. Tentatively, Jiang Li asked, "Did you have another argument with your wife?" "No." "Has a demon invaded?" "No." "Did the venerable Monk Xumi eat pork with vermicelli?" "Not that either." "Then..." "Jiang Ge, stop guessing. You have only ever won third prize in the lottery. I don't need to say anymore about your luck, do I?" "Oh, so tell me." "A beauty contest is brewing!" "Hmm?" Jiang Li was completely puzzled. How could this be considered a big deal? It was quite skillful how they summarized both the reason and result in such a few words. Jiang Li was thinking about whether he should pay for Zhang Konghu to find a private tutor. However, two empires going to war was indeed a big deal, especially if both emperors were leading in person. It must be to lead a million or even more troops. Furthermore, these million troops were not like the ancient armies in his previous life. When they met in battle, there wouldn't be just a simple win or loss, and innocent people wouldn't be spared. Rather, it would be comprised of a million Qi Refining Stage cultivators, tens of thousands of Foundation Building Stage cultivators, and thousands of Core Formation Stage cultivators. There were probably not too many of them above the Nascent Soul Stage. Based on Jiang Li's estimate, a true Qi finger at the sixth level was equivalent to a bullet, and the explosion of a Core Formation Stage cultivator could rival a missile. In other words, when this million-man army fought, it would be like World War II in his previous life. The battlefield's scale would purely depend on the circumstances and would likely extend to the territories of other empires. In a chain reaction, it might turn into chaos in the whole Jiuzhou.