Chapter 17: The Beauty in the Golden Chamber

“I almost wanted to snatch that consort away. My body was nearly out of control.”

“In desperation, I had no other choice but to beat myself up. The pain snapped me back to my senses.”

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

When Zhang Konghu first mentioned that the Wei Emperor and Mengjiang Emperor were fighting over a consort, Jiang Li hadn’t thought much of it. In his eyes, these two only became emperors because they were the tallest among dwarfs—there was simply no one more competent in their royal lineages. Compared to Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi, they were far from worthy. Calling them “righteous rulers” would be an overstatement. Betting their nations’ fortunes over a woman? Not impossible.

But Zhang Konghu was different. As a Human Sovereign Hall Commander, his cultivation level aside, his temperament was unquestionably top-tier. Yet now, a mere consort had bewitched even him, a rough brute, to the point of losing control?

There was definitely something wrong here.

“I understand the situation. How many days until the battle between the two dynasties?”

Zhang Konghu’s face turned bitter. “Originally, they agreed to settle things in a month by the Dimu River, but their argument kept escalating. Now, they’ve moved it up to twenty-five days later.”

As he spoke, Zhang Konghu tilted his head slightly, as if hearing something. “Oh, now they’ve changed it again—two weeks from now, life or death.”

Jiang Li couldn’t help but exclaim, “Good grief.”

Not only had the time been shortened, but now they had upgraded from simply deciding victory to fighting to the death.

Initially, Jiang Li planned to have Zhang Konghu contact the former Human Sovereign candidates and have them investigate whether any of their relatives or friends had encountered the black-robed men.

But seeing how things were escalating, it was better to leave the black-robed men to other commanders and personally visit Mengjiang Dynasty first.

As for the system’s mission? It could wait.

“I’m heading over now.”

Leaving those words behind, Jiang Li immediately severed the connection with Zhang Konghu. While en route to Mengjiang Dynasty, he contacted another commander, instructing him to notify the former Human Sovereign candidates.

At this moment, Mengjiang Imperial Palace was in ruins—a battlefield left by the Mengjiang and Wei Emperors’ fight.

Had Zhang Konghu not intervened in time to save lives, who knew how many casualties there would have been?

Among the rubble, only one golden house stood completely untouched.

Clearly, when Mengjiang Emperor and Wei Emperor fought, they had intentionally avoided damaging it.

Zhang Konghu had already driven away both emperors’ royal guards, leaving only himself near the Golden Chamber.

Inside, the sound of heated argument grew louder. Zhang Konghu figured that at this rate, before Jiang Li even arrived, the two would push the war date another ten days earlier.

How could a war involving millions of lives be treated like child’s play?

Gritting his teeth, he steeled his resolve to stop the two emperors. He slapped himself twice for focus and then charged into the Golden Chamber.

“Listen to me! Stop arguing! You’re both emperors—how can you risk your nations’ fortunes over a woman… Just give the beauty to me instead!”

With Jiang Li’s full-speed movement, it took him only half a day to traverse over half of the Nine Provinces, rushing from Great Zhou Dynasty in the east to Mengjiang Dynasty in the west.

An absolutely terrifying speed!

Before even reaching the Mengjiang capital, Jiang Li heard thunderous booms from afar.

Looking up, he saw three figures clashing fiercely in the skies above the capital—

Zhang Konghu vs. Mengjiang Emperor and Wei Emperor!

Neither Mengjiang Emperor nor Wei Emperor had much talent in cultivation. In terms of actual cultivation levels, they were likely only at the Nascent Soul Stage.

But with the power of national fortune, the two of them together could fight Zhang Konghu on even ground—and even showed signs of overpowering him.

Had Zhang Konghu not been vastly more experienced in battle, he would have been taken down already.

And this was only because the Wei Emperor was too far from Great Wei, meaning the blessing of his national fortune was not at full strength!

Zhang Konghu, however, was in his element.

His Wu Clan bloodline was fully ignited, the twelve ancestral Wu totems on his back glowing faintly, exuding a heavy and ancient aura.

The starry river in the sky shimmered, pouring down starlight onto Mengjiang Emperor—each of his punches carried the force of a falling meteor, slamming into Zhang Konghu with bone-rattling impact.

Meanwhile, Wei Emperor wielded the Imperial Jade Seal.

The eight engraved words, “Mandated by Heaven, Long Life and Eternal Prosperity,” floated in the air like divine decree, blotting out the sky, summoning wind and rain.

“A beauty belongs only to the strong!” Zhang Konghu roared.

“Get lost, you brute!” Wei Emperor bellowed.

“This is Mengjiang Dynasty! You will all listen to me!” Mengjiang Emperor refused to back down.

“All of you, calm the hell down.”

Jiang Li instantly appeared above the three, slamming them all into the ground with a single palm.

The twelve ancestral Wu totems dimmed, the starry river faded, and the Imperial Seal’s golden words vanished.

The three struggled for a long time before crawling out of their human-shaped craters.

“Brother Jiang, that was a bit much… You nearly shattered my bones,” Zhang Konghu grinned sheepishly.

Jiang Li scolded him without mercy, “You’re lucky you at least had the sense to take the fight to the sky, preventing damage to the city. If you had dared to fight in the capital, I’d have slapped you straight to the underworld!”

Zhang Konghu didn’t dare argue and could only offer a foolish grin.

At this moment, any response would be the wrong response.

Zhang Konghu prided himself as the strongest warrior below the Tribulation Stage.

Even when facing Tribulation Stage cultivators, he dared to fight them head-on.

But against Jiang Li?

One slap had dimmed his prized ancestral totems. Another slap might literally knock the sense out of him.

“Human Sovereign Jiang.”

“Human Sovereign Jiang.”

Both Mengjiang Emperor and Wei Emperor respectfully greeted him, momentarily forgetting about the earlier slap. Jiang Li politely returned the gesture.

“May I see this mysterious beauty?”

“Please, Human Sovereign Jiang.”

Mengjiang Emperor didn’t dare refuse.

The palace was in ruins—finding a solid place to step was difficult, let alone any corridors or pathways.

The four of them floated three zhang above the ground, heading toward the Golden Chamber.

Looking at his devastated palace—his own doing—Mengjiang Emperor sighed.

“I was ruined by beauty.”

“To obtain such a beauty,” Wei Emperor smirked, “I’d destroy a palace ten times over and rebuild it ten times again.”

“Tyrant!”

“Foolish Emperor!”

The two emperors started arguing again, ready to fight—until Jiang Li cleared his throat.

Silence.

The Golden Chamber was the most extravagant Jiang Li had ever seen.

Outside, it was built from golden bricks of karmic virtue.

Inside, the floor was paved with high-grade spirit stones, the walls adorned with dozens of spiritual treasures, a golden fountain gushed, and azure lotuses took root.

Jiang Li suspected Mengjiang Emperor had emptied the treasury just to build this chamber.

And on the golden bed, a woman in red slept peacefully.

Curled up, her delicate lips slightly parted and closed, she resembled a sleeping kitten—irresistibly cute.

Her features were flawless, almost inhumanly beautiful.

Even Jiang Li’s unshaken heart wavered slightly.

Because he had seen this woman before.

To be precise—he had seen a painting of her.

A forbidden painting.

Because the subject of that painting was a woman who was supposed to be dead.