Ten years of dormancy: Starting as a martial arts master at the pinnacle

Inside the palace, Li Zheng and the Empress waited for a long time.

Judging from their appearance alone, you would never guess that these two are over sixty years old.

The two looked to be in their early forties, and were very well-maintained.

After bestowing a great many rewards, Li Zheng pulled Li Changqing aside and discussed with him the next steps for the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Recapture the ten southern cities?"

When Li Changqing heard this for the first time, he couldn't help but be surprised.

"Previously, the fifteen southern kingdoms suddenly gained two more Supreme Realm experts, bringing their total to five Supreme Realm experts. The fifteen kingdoms united and waged a great war to conquer the north. It was during that time that the ten southern cities were lost. Originally, our Great Zhou and the fifteen southern kingdoms were separated by a great river. The area north of the river belonged to us, and the area south of the river belonged to them. Now that those ten cities have been lost, they are like nails driven into the heart of our Great Zhou."

"The enemy is so strong, how come they only took ten cities?"

Li Changqing was always puzzled by this matter.

The power of the Supreme Realm is so great that it's practically bugged.

If they have an overwhelming advantage in the number and strength of the Supreme Beings, they can easily advance and occupy more land.

Even if it were just to save face for the supreme rulers of the Great Zhou, it would be impossible to occupy only ten cities.

There are many similar cases.

In the historical records of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the struggles between states for land were more about competing for waterways, land routes, and some important cities and passes.

They are not attached to territory.

Even though that location is a land of plenty, they don't seem to be very interested.

"The strength of a Supreme Being isn't necessarily better when there are more of them. Qi Yufan and Xiaoyao Hou are not weak among the Supreme Beings. Especially Xiaoyao Hou, he has a unique lightness technique that allows him to travel 30,000 li a day."

"How many?"

Li Changqing doubted that he had heard correctly.

Thirty thousand li is fifteen thousand kilometers. Even if we calculate it in 24 hours, that's 625 kilometers per hour.

Even high-speed rail isn't that fast!

Keep in mind that this is a long-distance raid, not a sudden burst of speed.

For a Supreme Being, bursting at this speed in an instant is not difficult; basically, every Supreme Being can do it.

But maintaining this speed in the long run is a completely different story.

"He has used the technique of traveling 30,000 li a day more than once. At that time, it was because of the appearance of the Carefree Marquis that even though the fifteen southern kingdoms had five Supreme Realm experts, they did not dare to act rashly."

After all, if they make a move, the Carefree Marquis will also make a move.

With the addition of Qi Yufan and Yang Bo, who were hiding in the shadows, the supreme rulers of the fifteen southern kingdoms dared not act rashly.

Why do people say that a powerful person who has reached the Supreme Realm is equivalent to having the strongest trump card?

One very important reason for this is that the Supreme Being is extremely difficult to kill.

To prevent Yang Bo from resorting to desperate measures, the Great Zhou Dynasty had to send three Supreme Beings to achieve this goal.

In a one-on-one fight, even if you are stronger than your opponent, it is still very difficult to capture them.

Of course, difficult doesn't mean impossible.

Otherwise, so many supreme beings wouldn't have perished.

"What does Your Majesty wish me to do?"

"After you are engaged to the Marquis of Sanyang, you will go to Jiangnan."

"Jiangnan!"

"Of the marriages you've arranged, the Marquis of Sanyang's residence is in the capital, so the Cui family can be put on hold until last. As for the Nangong family..."

When the Nangong family was mentioned, Li Zheng suddenly fell silent.

Li Changqing understood his meaning, of course; the Nangong family was Nangong Ya's maternal family.

What should be done about their family situation?

Nangong Ya can make the decision.

"The remaining Wang family and the Xiaoyao Marquis's mansion are both in Jiangnan. Your trip to Jiangnan is ostensibly to discuss the marriage. Didn't you want to see them in person before getting engaged?"

Everyone knows that His Highness the Regent, like other men, prefers good-looking men.

Otherwise, given Luo Qingqing's status and position, there would be no way to save her original marriage.

She wasn't even ranked as a concubine.

Li Changqing spread the word that he would personally select the candidates for concubines and secondary consorts.

Although there are certain limitations, you can still make a selection.

Why would His Highness the Regent do this?

Isn't it because they're afraid of marrying an ugly woman and not being able to bring themselves to kiss her?

So it must be a good color.

Little did they know that Li Changqing's reason for personally discussing the marriage was simply to ask the girl if she was willing.

A forced marriage might quench thirst, but Li Changqing's values ​​had already been formed in his previous life.

He can't do things that force others to do things against their will.

To confine an innocent young girl to the inner quarters for life, even if she is provided with a life of luxury.

The little girl will also have a very miserable life.

After all, their backgrounds speak for themselves. Even if they didn't marry into the Regent's Palace, they would still live a life of luxury, wearing gold and silver.

People of this era are destined to be unable to understand Li Changqing's thoughts.

He couldn't explain much more.

"Secretly, in coordination with our southern army, the Dragon Guard, and the Great Zhou's retainers, we should seize ten southern cities in one fell swoop, and ideally, capture a few more south of the Yangtze River. We should drive a thorn into their heartland!"

Li Zheng gritted his teeth.

That incident back then was a great disgrace to the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

Now that they have the strength, they naturally want to avenge their previous defeat.

"The three of us?"

Li Changqing frowned.

Qi Yufan, Xie Xiaoyao, and Li Changqing.

Although they were all exceptionally powerful, Li Changqing possessed the Sun and Moon Wheel and could even contend with two Supreme Beings simultaneously.

However, if they were to face the five supreme rulers of the fifteen southern kingdoms, they probably wouldn't stand a chance.

Especially the old abbot of Lingyin Temple.

Not only was his strength unfathomable, but he also possessed a Buddhist treasure. The power of that treasure was absolutely no less than any supreme divine artifact.

"You don't need three people, just you and Xiaoyao Hou are enough."

"Um?"

"The Carefree Marquis can travel 30,000 li a day. His speed is among the top in the Supreme Realm. In addition, you have learned the Shrinking Earth to an Inch technique. This means that even if the two of you can't beat them, they can't catch you. If those old guys are shameless enough to personally deal with ordinary soldiers, you should do the same. Generally speaking, as long as both sides have Supreme Realm experts present, Supreme Realm experts cannot attack mortals."

mortal.

This is a very sensitive word.

Li Zheng spoke this matter-of-factly, clearly indicating that among the experts at the Supreme Realm, they no longer regarded ordinary people as equals to themselves.

Those were mortals, but they were not.

"Are our forces strong enough? There are probably quite a few near-Supreme beings from the fifteen southern kingdoms, including the carefree and powerful Xiaoyao, aren't there?"

Hearing Li Changqing's question, Li Zheng laughed again: "Don't we have the Golden Dragon Hero Chen Changfeng? If all else fails, we can have Ma Changfeng or Liu Changfeng. The Cloud Dragon Body Refining Technique has seven or eight levels in the south. Maybe you'll get it by chance."

"really?"

"In the fifteen southern kingdoms, there is a powerful expert at the half-step Supreme realm, known as the second strongest person below the Supreme level."

"The second person?"

"The first person is the Grand Elder of the Great Zhou royal family. The two fought for a thousand rounds without a clear winner. But that person said that his strength was not as good as the Grand Elder's. So he called himself the second person below the Supreme, with the compound surname Ouyang and the single character Fu."

"Ouyang Fu!"

……