Only I, Great General Shi

Although the words sounded nice, Shi Wenguang looked at the elixir before him with a somewhat dazed and desolate expression, reluctant to take it for a long time. He wasn't excited that Yue Qianchou wanted to bestow upon him a rare and precious elixir; instead, he was thinking that Yue Qianchou wanted to give him poison to control him. In his decades of military service, he had seen many similar things.

Yue Qianchou saw through his ruse and sneered, "Great General, you underestimate me too much. Do you really think that you, Pillar State General, are some indispensable figure, and that I, Yue Qianchou, cannot do without you? If it weren't for Shi Xiaotian's sake, why would I go to such lengths to deal with your Shi family? I could have just overthrown Fu Xian Island from its pedestal. Do you think I'm afraid that the Lady Li Dynasty wouldn't submit to me then? Why would I need to go through all this trouble?"

"Uh..." Shi Wenguang was taken aback by his words, but then it dawned on him, and he suddenly understood. It made sense; if he could dethrone Fu Xian Island from its position as the number one sect, its strength would already qualify it to lead the Cultivation World. Why would it need to ask him for help, or even support someone else to take the throne? It would be a simple matter of a word. But...

"No need to hesitate, this elixir is indeed the genuine Seven Orifices Exquisite Pill. Even if someone begs me to give it to them, I won't give it to them." Yue Qianchou's expression already showed a hint of impatience. He said bluntly, "General, you might as well speak frankly. Today, let's have a frank discussion."

Shi Wenguang gritted his teeth, grabbed the elixir in his hand, and made his stance clear: whether it was poison or a elixir, he would take it. But he also spoke frankly, "Excuse my bluntness, but what you just did clearly shows that you want to keep my Shi family firmly under your control, not giving my Shi family any chance to escape your control. Shouldn't I have some doubts?" As he spoke, he raised the elixir in his hand.

Upon hearing this, Yue Qianchou paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, shaking his head and saying, "I admit that I want to control your Shi family, but it's only temporary control, not what you think. Once I've accomplished what I want to do, you'll find that your Shi family's small sacrifice will bring you immeasurable benefits."

"Oh!" Shi Wenguang regained his Great General's heroic spirit and asked, "Please speak frankly, sir, so as to dispel my doubts and put my mind at ease."

"Good! This will prepare you mentally. Let me see how grand your ambition, Great General, truly is." Yue Qianchou swept all the official documents, paper, pens, and command vessels on the table to the ground, then conjured a box out of thin air and placed it on the table. Opening the lid revealed a box full of polished jade tablets. Yue Qianchou pointed to the contents of the box, essentially telling him to take a look.

Shi Wenguang didn't understand what he meant. He picked up a jade tablet and examined it over and over, but couldn't figure it out. He looked at him with some confusion. Yue Qianchou walked to his side, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said, "General, close your eyes and let your consciousness follow the sensations I'm transmitting."

Shi Wenguang did indeed feel something inexplicable flowing from his hand. He immediately closed his eyes as instructed, and his consciousness was instantly drawn by this strange force, flowing along his arm and into the jade tablet in his palm. Although his eyes were still closed, he felt a sudden brightness before his eyes; a vast and detailed map appeared before him, showing mountains, rivers, roads, cities, customs and traditions, and the population, military strength, and defenses of each city...

Shi Wenguang, a man of military command, naturally understood the significance of these things and was engrossed in them when his gaze suddenly fell upon a magnificent palace map. Several large characters caught his attention: 'Royal Palace of Liu Yun Country'... He was immediately startled, his consciousness snapping out of his focus on the jade tablet. He abruptly turned around and exclaimed, "Is this a complete geographical map of Liu Yun Country?"

Yue Qianchou nodded and smiled, "General, you are indeed a general who has led troops. You can tell at a glance. I don't need to say more."

"Hiss!" Shi Wenguang exclaimed in shock, "Such a detailed geographical map is simply unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it in my decades of military service. I wonder who made it?"

"Don't look at me with suspicion. I didn't make this. I seized it from a foreign cultivator, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to ascertain his identity. I'm sure the general has already realized that the person who made this box of maps probably has ulterior motives," Yue Qianchou said. Of course, he wouldn't admit that he had profited from the dead.

"This whole box of jade tablets? Could it be that all the maps of various countries are here?" Shi Wenguang asked, increasingly shocked.

Yue Qianchou shook his head. "It's not complete either. There are still two countries missing. Huaxia Country is not included, and there's another country. I look and look, but I don't know which country I missed. There are too many, and my eyes are getting tired. But without a doubt, the country that was not found is the one who made these maps."

"Why are you so sure, sir? Could it be that it was done by my Huaxia Country?" Shi Wenguang asked, puzzled.

"Do you really think that a single country is capable of producing these things?" Yue Qianchou sneered.

Shi Wenguang hesitated and said, "This... is indeed quite difficult. Not to mention how long it will take, other countries will not allow foreigners to investigate their terrain. Moreover, the deployment of troops has been marked in detail, which is extremely difficult."

"So, only people from the Cultivation World have the ability to do this. Speaking of the Cultivation World, you don't know as much as I do." Yue Qianchou touched the smooth jade tablet in the box with one hand and said slowly, "Why is there no map of Huaxia Country inside? The reason is simple. The Huaxia Cultivation World has always claimed to be the orthodox Cultivation World and looks down on the Cultivation World of other countries."

"The xenophobic sentiment is extremely strong, to the point of being self-isolated. I don't interfere with the outside world, and the outside world shouldn't interfere with my affairs either, or they won't be polite. It's almost impossible for foreign cultivators to spend a lot of time drawing maps within China without being discovered, which is probably why there's no map of Huaxia Country. Of course, it's also possible that the map of Huaxia Country hasn't been completed yet, or that it wasn't placed in this box, but the chances are very small."

"According to what you're saying, another country is highly suspicious." Shi Wenguang solemnly put the jade tablet back into the box and said, "It seems that someone has ambitions to rule the entire world."

"Heh heh, a tail that's grown too long can't be pulled back; it'll be found out sooner or later," Yue Qianchou sneered.

"What's so difficult about finding out?" Shi Wenguang asked in surprise. "I have a complete list of all the countries here. You can just check off the ones you're looking for. According to what you've said, the one that's left must be the country with the strongest suspicion."

"Uh..." Yue Qianchou paused for a moment, then said, "Is there one? Then give me a copy." He realized that he always overcomplicated things, and sometimes he couldn't see things that were right in front of him.

"Please wait a moment, sir!" Shi Wenguang turned and went to the inner tent. After a short while, he personally brought back a leather scroll and handed it to Yue Qianchou, saying, "The names of all 319 countries, regardless of size, are contained inside."

Yue Qianchou took the boxes, opened them, looked at them, and nodded. He closed the boxes on the table and threw them all into his Storage Bag. He'd get a toothache doing this meticulous work; it was better to find someone more careful. He then asked, "What are your thoughts on these, General?"

Shi Wenguang's pupils contracted slightly, and he slowly said, "I don't understand what you mean, sir."

"You don't understand, but you've guessed a bit, right?" Yue Qianchou put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in front of him, saying, "Before, my thinking was always limited to the Huaxia Empire. Since seeing this thing, it's like the clouds have parted to reveal the blue sky, giving me a sudden enlightenment. If we're going to play, let's play big." Saying this, he moved closer to Shi Wenguang and asked, "General, do you have the courage to lead your millions of troops to conquer the entire world?"

The tent fell silent again, but the shouts of battle and training outside suddenly stirred a sense of excitement within one. After a long silence, Shi Wenguang shook his head thoughtfully and said, "Sir, you flatter me. What virtue or ability do I possess to presume to rule the entire world? I am unworthy of this responsibility."

"General, you've spent half your life on the battlefield, your fame earned entirely on horseback. Mention the Great General, and everyone in the entire Huaxia Empire knows him." Yue Qianchou patiently explained, "If you could achieve even greater fame, so that the entire world would know of you, then the Great General would be the greatest general of all time, forever etched in history, and revered as a role model by future generations of soldiers. This glory is something that even future generations might never be able to surpass."

Shi Wenguang's lips were tight, his breathing gradually became heavy, and his cheeks were slightly flushed. He was clearly experiencing great emotional fluctuations and was forcibly suppressing them.

Yue Qianchou smiled without saying a word. He knew from his past life that a general who disliked war and military achievements could never become a famous general. Between nations, war was the only ever-present and enduring topic, a drama that never truly ended; peace was merely intermission, and everything else was utter nonsense. A powerful nation always actively prepared for the ever-present threat of war.

War belongs to generals who display their brilliance, and those generals are the most dazzling records in history... Yue Qianchou believed that Great General Shi would be very interested.

"The world is vast, and there are countless brave and skilled generals. Moreover, every country has Cultivation World stationed there. How dare Shi Wenguang ask about the world's military affairs?" Shi Wenguang swallowed hard and refused tactfully.

He had long heard that Yue Qianchou was a notorious madman in the Cultivation World, capable of anything. How could he possibly agree to go against the entire world with this madman without thinking? That would be ridiculous! War is no child's play!

"If I can control the entire Cultivation World and eliminate your worries, General, would you dare?" Yue Qianchou said with a faint smile.

This guy has clearly grabbed the most tempting thing. He's been constantly trying to seduce her. Shi Wenguang smiled wryly, "Why are you so sure, sir, that I have the ability to conquer the whole world?"

"Because a great man of unparalleled stature once wrote a poem praising you, I have full confidence in you," Yue Qianchou said solemnly.

Shi Wenguang was taken aback and asked, "Which great man wrote a poem praising me? I don't know anything about it. What poem?"

"That great man can only be admired in our hearts, not spoken of in vain. As for that poem, I can recite it to you." Yue Qianchou placed his hand on the table and gently tapped his fingers as he recited. "High mountains, long roads, deep pits, the army gallops across the land. Who dares to stand against me with sword drawn, Only I, Great General Shi."

.