Chapter 17: The Golden House Conceals the Beauty

"Back then, I was so tempted to seize the empress myself. My body almost lost control," he confessed.

In a sudden rush, I had no other option but to beat myself up until the pain forced me to wake up," he continued.

Jiang Li's smile faded, replaced by a solemn expression.

When he had heard of the feud between Emperor Wei and the Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty over a consort, he hadn't thought much of it. As far as he was concerned, any credibility these two had was enhanced by a lack of strong alternatives in their royal families. Despite being far from perfect, they could be seen as the best among the worst. They were nowhere near as competent as Emperor Zhou. It wouldn't be surprising if their lust caused national crisis.

But Zhang Konghu was different. As the leader of the Imperial Palace, irrespective of cultivation level, his temperament was top tier. For a rough man like him to be so infatuated with a consort, something was definitely amiss.

"I've been informed. How many days do we have until the previously agreed day of the war?" he asked.

Zhang Konghu's face stiffened, "Originally, they had agreed to settle it at the Riverside of the Earth Mother River in a month. But their quarrels have escalated, moving the battle date to twenty-five days from now."

He paused slightly, tilting his head as if he had heard something, "Ah, they've just moved it forward again to twenty days from now for a fight till death."

Jiang Li was stunned. Not only had the date been brought forward, but the nature of the contest had also escalated to a fight till the death.

His initial plan involved asking Zhang Konghu to contact those who were previously Human Emperor candidates. They could then check their circles for sightings of the man in black. But now, he decided to delegate the task to others while he dealt with the situation in the Dream River Dynasty firsthand.

The mission from the system could be put on hold for the moment.

"I will head there right away."

Jiang Li left these words behind and immediately disconnected all contact with Zhang Konghu. On his way to the Dream River Dynasty, he got in touch with one of the other leaders, asking them to alert the previous Human Emperor candidates.

…

The palace of the Dream River Dynasty was in ruins; its state of demise bore testimony to the fight between Emperor Wei and the Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty. If it weren't for Zhang Konghu's timely intervention to save lives, who knows how many casualties there would have been.

Amongst the wreckage, only the shimmering Golden House, which was left untouched, claimed onlookers' attention. Evidently, it was deliberately spared during the fight.

Zhang Konghu could hear the escalating argument from within the Golden House, predicting that before Jiang Li even arrives, the day of the war could be moved forward by another ten days.

"Conflict regarding the lives and deaths of millions of people should not be treated so frivolously!"

He gritted his teeth, decided to persuade the two emperors to reconsider their actions, smacked his face a few times, and bravely walked into the Golden House.

"Listen to my advice. Stop quarreling. You both are rulers of nations. You can't risk the prosperity of your nations over an attractive woman. Let me take responsibility for her!"

…

Thanks to Jiang Li's speed, he was able to cross half of the state of Kyushu in just half a day, traveling from the east of the dynasty to the west of the Dream River Dynasty.

His speed was astonishingly quick!

Without even reaching the Capital city of the Dream River Dynasty, Jiang Li could already hear a thunderous noise in the distance. From afar, the figures of three people could be seen fighting in mid-air over the capital city.

It was Zhang Konghu, caught in combat with the rulers of the Dream River Dynasty and Emperor Wei!

Neither Emperor Wei nor the Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty were particularly gifted when it came to their path of cultivation. They were merely at the Nascent Soul Stage. Under the combined national destinies, they could fight Zhang Konghu evenly, even showing signs of superiority. If not for Zhang Konghu's abundant combat experience, they would have defeated him by now.

This was all due to the fact that Emperor Wei was too far from the Great Wei and the effect of the national destinies was not at its peak!

Zhang Konghu was fighting passionately. His bloodline was activated to the extreme, causing the tattoos of the twelve ancestral witches on his back to emit a faint light. The power of this ineffable aura was overwhelming.

In the sky, the star was shining, casting a glittering light on the Monarch of Dream River Dynasty. Each of his punches was as mighty as a falling meteor, causing severe pain to Zhang Konghu.

Emperor Wei was holding the Imperial Jade Seal. The eight characters—'Given a mandate by heaven, enjoying prosperity and long life'—which transpired in the sky seemed like a heavenly decree, capable of changing the natural elements.

"Only the strong deserve a beauty!" Zhang Konghu roared.

"Get lost, you big oaf!" Emperor Wei bellowed.

"This is the Dream River Dynasty, you should obey my commands!" The Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty refused to back down.

"Enough! All of you, calm down."

In a split second, Jiang Li arrived above the trio. He used his palm to send these three senseless characters crashing into the ground.

The glow of the ancient twelve ancestral witches' tattoos faded away. The stars in the sky were concealed and the eight characters—'given a mandate by heaven, enjoying prosperity and long life'—were erased.

The three characters, who had been spent from the struggle, took quite a while to crawl out of the pit that had been created by their impact.

"Brother Jiang, that was a harsh blow. You almost shattered my bones." Zhang Konghu managed a grin. Jiang Li's slap had knocked some sense into him.

Jiang Li berated him without mercy. "Thankfully, you were sensible enough to fight in the air instead of the capital city. If you had dared to fight in the city, I would have sent you straight to the Underworld with a single slap!"

Zhang Konghu dared not say anything and simply chuckled foolishly. No matter what he said, it would be wrong.

Although he had always considered himself to be the topmost warrior, he also knew against whom he stood a chance. Facing Jiang Li, he did not dare propose a duel.

One slap from Jiang Li was enough to strip him of the vigor of his prided twelve ancestral witches' tattoos, rendering him confused and disoriented.

"Emperor Jiang."

"Emperor Jiang."

Despite the heavy slap from Jiang Li, both the Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty and Emperor Wei got up and greeted Jiang Li with a respectful salute. Jiang Li returned the gesture politely.

"May I meet the fair maiden?"

"Emperor Jiang, please." There was no way that the Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty could resist a request from Jiang Li.

The palace was reduced to rubble and a path was barely discernible amidst the wreckage.

They hovered three feet above the ground and flew towards the Golden House. The Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty, upon seeing the ruins of his own palace and recalling his part in the destruction, sighed, "My, was I led astray by beauty!"

"For such a beauty, I wouldn't mind rebuilding the palace even if it means destroying it ten more times," Emperor Wei refuted with a shake of his head.

"Tyrant!"

"Foolish ruler!"

The two rulers started arguing once again, showing signs of another imminent fight. Jiang Li coughed lightly to remind them and they quickly composed themselves.

The richness of the Golden House was unlike anything Jiang Li had seen before. The outsides were layered with golden bricks of meritorious deeds while premium spirit stones lined the floors. Dozens of spiritual treasures were used as wall decor. A golden fountain sprayed in the center with a green lotus taking root.

Jiang Li was of the view that the Monarch of the Dream River Dynasty had virtually emptied his treasury to build the Golden House.

The lengths that men would go for beauty, truly.

The beautiful maiden lay asleep on the golden bed, her petite body curled slightly. Her lips slightly parted as if she was a sleeping kitten, endearingly adorable.

Upon sighting the maiden with exquisite facial features that transcended mortal beauty, Jiang Li found himself slightly moved. Her delicate neck and lithe figure were enchantingly alluring. Her small and delicate feet were something one would want to play with.

He had seen her before! Or to be precise, he had seen her portrait!

That portrait, drawn with common paper and ink, had been declared a prohibited item solely because the subject was this woman!

A woman who was supposed to be dead!