Golden House Hides a Beauty

"I almost wanted to snatch that Imperial Concubine away right then and there—my body nearly went out of control."

"In a panic, I had no other choice. I had to beat myself up hard, using the pain to snap out of it."

Jiang Li's smile faded, his expression gradually turning serious.

Earlier, when he heard that the Wei Emperor and the Meng Jiang Emperor had come to blows over an Imperial Concubine, Jiang Li hadn't thought much of it. In his view, those two becoming emperors was purely a case of picking the best from a bad lot—the royal families had no one capable of shouldering the burden. Compared to the Zhou Emperor, they fell short by more than a little. Calling them rulers capable of maintaining the status quo was already flattering them. It wasn't impossible that the two would gamble their national fortunes over a beauty.

But Zhang Konghu was different. As the commander of the Human Emperor Palace, setting aside his cultivation level, his mental fortitude was undoubtedly top-tier. For an Imperial Concubine to be beautiful enough to make even a rough man like Zhang Konghu lose control of himself—there had to be something wrong here.

"I understand the situation now. How many days are left until the agreed-upon battle between the two nations?"

Zhang Konghu's face twisted with bitterness: "Originally, they agreed to settle things on the Earth Mother Riverbank in one month. But the more they argued, the worse it got. Now they've set the battle for twenty-five days from now."

As he spoke, Zhang Konghu tilted his head slightly, as if hearing something: "Oh, now they've changed it to twenty days, and it's no longer about victory or defeat—it's about life and death."

Jiang Li couldn't help but exclaim inwardly. Not only had the time been shortened, but it had gone straight from deciding victory or defeat to deciding life or death.

Originally, he had planned to have Zhang Konghu contact the former Human Emperor Candidates and have them check whether their relatives and friends had encountered any Black-Clothed Men. Now, it seemed he should leave the matter of the Black-Clothed Men to other commanders and head to the Meng Jiang Dynasty himself to see what was going on.

As for the system's mission, he would postpone it for now.

"I'll head over right away."

With those words, Jiang Li immediately cut off his connection with Zhang Konghu. On his way to the Meng Jiang Dynasty, he contacted another commander and instructed him to notify the former Human Emperor Candidates.

At this moment, the Meng Jiang Dynasty's imperial palace was like a ruin—traces of the fight between the Meng Jiang Emperor and the Wei Emperor were everywhere. If Zhang Konghu hadn't intervened in time to save people, the casualties would have been far greater.

Amid the rubble, only one golden house stood out, completely unscathed. Clearly, the Meng Jiang Emperor and the Wei Emperor had deliberately avoided it during their clash. Zhang Konghu had driven away the guards of both emperors, leaving only himself near the golden house.

Hearing the increasingly fierce argument from inside the golden house, Zhang Konghu felt that before Jiang Li even arrived, those two would manage to push the war date forward by another ten days.

How could a war involving the lives of millions be treated so frivolously!

Gritting his teeth, he resolved to persuade the two emperors. He slapped himself twice, then steeled himself and barged into the golden house.

"Listen to me, stop arguing! You're both sovereigns of a nation—how can you let a beauty ruin your national fortunes... Just hand the woman over to me!"

Under Jiang Li's full-speed movement, it took him only half a day to cross most of the Nine Provinces, traveling from the Great Zhou Dynasty in the east to the Meng Jiang Dynasty in the west.

Such speed was utterly astonishing!

Before Jiang Li even reached the Meng Jiang Dynasty's capital, he could hear a rumbling sound like muffled thunder. Looking into the distance, he saw three figures flying above the capital, locked in fierce combat.

It was Zhang Konghu fighting against the Meng Jiang Emperor and the Wei Emperor! Neither the Meng Jiang Emperor nor the Wei Emperor had any talent for cultivation. Their true cultivation levels were probably only at the Nascent Soul Realm. But with the blessing of their national fortunes, the two working together could match Zhang Konghu, and even showed signs of surpassing him at times. If not for Zhang Konghu's rich combat experience, he would have been subdued long ago.

And this was despite the fact that the Wei Emperor was too far from Great Wei, so the effect of his national fortune blessing wasn't at its peak!

Zhang Konghu fought with unrestrained vigor, his Witch Clan Bloodline pushed to its limit. The tattoos of the Twelve Ancestral Witches on his back faintly glowed, and an ancient, weighty aura rushed forth.

The Star River shimmered in the sky, countless starlight pouring down onto the Meng Jiang Emperor, making every punch he threw feel like a falling meteor, slamming into Zhang Konghu with bone-jarring force.

The Wei Emperor held the Imperial Jade Seal aloft. The eight seal-script characters "Received by Heaven's Mandate, May the Emperor Live Long and Prosper" imprinted themselves in the air, like the will of heaven hanging overhead, blotting out the sky and sun, summoning wind and rain.

"Beauty belongs only to the strong!" Zhang Konghu roared.

"Get lost, you brute!" the Wei Emperor bellowed.

"This is the Meng Jiang Dynasty—you all listen to me!" the Meng Jiang Emperor shot back, unwilling to back down.

"Calm down, all of you."

Jiang Li appeared above the three in an instant and slapped the three out-of-control fools into the ground.

The Twelve Ancestral Witches' tattoos dimmed, the Star River faded back into the sea of stars, and the eight characters "Received by Heaven's Mandate, May the Emperor Live Long and Prosper" were wiped clean.

It took the three a good long while to crawl out of the human-shaped pits.

"Jiang Ge, that was a bit harsh. You nearly shattered my bones," Zhang Konghu said with a sheepish grin. Jiang Li's slap had snapped him back to his senses.

Jiang Li scolded him without mercy: "Lucky for you, you still had enough wits to avoid involving others and took the fight into the air. If you had dared to fight in the capital, I'd have slapped you straight to the underworld!"

Zhang Konghu didn't dare say a word, just kept grinning foolishly.

At times like this, anything he said would be wrong.

He, Zhang Konghu, prided himself on being the strongest below the Tribulation Stage. Even against a Tribulation Stage powerhouse, he'd have the guts to throw down. But facing Jiang Li, he wouldn't dare suggest they have a spar.

A single slap had dimmed his proudest Twelve Ancestral Witches tattoos. The next slap would literally leave him unable to find his head.

"Jiang Human Emperor."

"Jiang Human Emperor."

The Meng Jiang Emperor and the Wei Emperor, upon seeing Jiang Li, seemed to forget the slap from just moments ago and bowed in greeting. Jiang Li returned the courtesy politely.

"May I meet this extraordinary woman?"

"Please, Jiang Human Emperor." Since Jiang Li had made the request, the Meng Jiang Emperor naturally dared not refuse.

The imperial palace was a complete ruin, with hardly any place to set foot, let alone winding corridors or paths.

The four of them rose three zhang above the ground and flew toward the golden house. Seeing his palace reduced to such a state by his own hand, the Meng Jiang Emperor couldn't help but sigh: "Beauty has led me astray!"

"To obtain such a beauty, I'd be willing to destroy a palace ten times over and rebuild it ten times," the Wei Emperor said, shaking his head, utterly unrepentant.

"Tyrant King!"

"Fathead King!"

The two monarchs traded insults, on the verge of another brawl, until Jiang Li gave a light cough, and they finally settled down.

The Golden House was the most extravagant Jiang Li had ever seen—piled with Merit Golden Bricks outside, paved with Top-Grade Spirit Stones inside, dozens of spirit treasures adorning the walls, a Golden Spring gushing forth, and Green Lotuses taking root.

Jiang Li suspected the Meng Jiang Emperor had emptied the national treasury just to build this Golden House.

That beauty could drive men to madness—this was the height of it.

The woman in red lay quietly asleep on the golden bed, her petite body slightly curled, her Cherry Lips parting and closing softly like a sleeping kitten, utterly adorable.

Her features were exquisite, a beauty not meant for the mortal world—a snow-white neck slender and long, a captivating figure, and delicate jade feet so fine one couldn't resist wanting to hold them.

The moment Jiang Li saw her, his unshakable Mental State wavered.

He had seen this person before! More precisely, he had seen her portrait!

That portrait, painted with mortal paper and ink, had been classified as contraband—precisely because it depicted this woman!

A woman who should have been dead!