Jiadi was slack-jawed and wide-eyed for the first time. He thought Li Qiye only wished to be a debaucherous emperor, not expecting him to dare and attack the great powers.

He felt that the guy was insane. Even Lucidity never did something like this. He had swept through Nine Secrets before and had thoughts about destroying the five great powers, but these thoughts never came into fruition.

“Your Majesty, we mustn’t.” Jiadi hastily elaborated: “The Bingchi is famous for their military prowess, I’m afraid the Central Legion can’t match them in a direct contest.”

“Oh? The Central Legion isn’t enough? Send the North, South, West, and East Legion too then.”

“What?!” Jiadi was bewildered. Moving the Central Legion alone was enough to cause a stir, but all five legions? It would cause widespread panic and chaos. The dynasty might even fall overnight because of this decision. Only Lucidity would dare to go all out like this.

“Your Majesty, please reconsider. Once all five are sent to the battlefield, turmoil will pervade our dynasty and the enemies will take advantage of this. It’ll put us in a precarious situation.” Jiadi tried his best.

“It’s fine. Just let the dynasty crumble in that case. Go order the five legions now, tell the Bingchi that if they wish to survive, hand that girl named Bingchi Hanyu over along with a dowry of one hundred, nay, one thousand beauties. They must be gorgeous and well-endowed.”

“Your Majesty, if you want girls, just say the word and I can send people to pick for you. There are countless beauties in Nine Secrets and you can select them later. Whoever you want, big butt, large breasts... No need to mobilize against the Bingchi.” Jiadi advised.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“Jiadi, wrong again.” Li Qiye smiled and shook his head: “If I just want women, then I don’t need to do something like this. I, Li Qiye, just need to beckon and numerous saintesses will come running. Plus, even though I might be considered an incapable king right now, I’m still a king. Getting women is not a problem, however many I would like, but those women are only there for a little bit of fun.”

“Your Majesty...” The Eternal stood there looking silly.

“That’s not enough. If I am King, then I should be able to play and have fun with anything. Women or the world itself. Mobilize and attack whoever annoys me with my massive army! We’ll see who wants to play back!” Li Qiye said.

“Your Majesty, you still haven’t gotten a firm grasp on the kingdom. If the legions were to lose, it’ll be over for the dynasty.” Jiadi convinced.

“Like I have said before, Jiadi, I didn’t toil to create this kingdom so I don’t care.” Li Qiye answered.

Which other kings would want their kingdom to crumble? Only Li Qiye could be so nonchalant about a potential demise. He’s treating his authority right now in Nine Secret as a game.

“Your Majesty, the flames of war will incinerate the sky; the people will lament and wail; so many innocent victims and combatants will fall as a result, please think about your citizens and their happiness.” Jiadi tried again.

“Think about the citizens and their happiness? Jiadi, tell me what you think about Lucidity King?” Li Qiye answered with a question.

Jiadi was surprised, not sure why Li Qiye would bring Lucidity up.

“The late king is wise and mighty.” Jiadi replied without embellishing. Lucidity was indeed worthy of this description.

“A wise and mighty king, you think he’ll make a mistake because of senility?” Li Qiye smiled.

“I don’t know.” Jiadi shook his head. It was virtually impossible for an Eternal to become senile.

“A wise and mighty king, not senile, mind you, suddenly pass down his throne to a bastard like me instead of Sun Lengying or other talents in War Saint Dynasty? Tell me, Jiadi, what is he thinking?” Li Qiye smiled.

Jiadi couldn’t respond. Lucidity’s wisdom was unquestionable, completely proven after three generations. However, his choice of Li Qiye was inexplicable. The only logical explanation entailed that Li Qiye was an illegitimate child.

“Many people believe that I’m his illegitimate child, but even then, passing the throne down to someone useless and ridiculous as myself? Is he that irresponsible?” Li Qiye went on with a grin: “This kingdom is built upon his blood and sweat, yet he gave it to me just like that? Do you think he cared about the citizens and happiness when he made the choice? Of course not!”

“If he didn’t give a damn about his own kingdom, then why should I, a king by chance, toil and protect this kingdom for him? Why should I care about his citizens? I don’t give a shit about the whole thing. That’s why I’m going to have fun and do whatever I want right now.”

Jiadi pondered, not knowing what to say. Lucidity’s choice might be the most unfathomable question in the world right now.

As a guard, he had followed Lucidity for a long time. He himself was confused because Li Qiye was far from being a good candidate.

“And, Jiadi, let’s say that I want to be a good king, prudence and capable of administration, do you think my legacy will ever surpass Lucidity, a king of three generations? Will my pages in the history books be thicker than his?”

Jiadi gently shook his head and sincerely answered: “Impossible.”

Under the reign of Lucidity, War Sainty Dynasty has reached its golden age and Nine Secrets has become one of the strongest systems in Imperial.

Regardless of Li Qiye’s effort in the future, he would ever be able to surpass Lucidity. The future generations would only think of him as an inheritor, benefited from the great kingdom left behind by Lucidity.

Under Lucidity’s blinding glory, any achievements from Li Qiye would seem so trivial.

“So, what if War Saint Dynasty is on the verge of collapse?” Li Qiye smiled: “And I create a new dynasty, sweeping through the world, destroying the five great powers, forcing everyone to prostrate before me, how does that compare to Lucidity’s achievements?”

“Well...” Jiadi became frozen.

A founding king that managed to destroy the five great powers and take over? Such an achievement would indeed be above Lucidity’s.

“Your Majesty...” Jiadi immediately realized what Li Qiye wanted to do. It was to break then rebuild. He actually wished for War Saint Dynasty’s demise.

“I’m just casually speaking. This break and rebuild thing is just for fun. When I’m in a good mood, this land will be eternal; I will rebuild when necessary. When the opposite is true, all will turn to ashes and I will leave it as ruins. This is not my choice. Lucidity King was the one who made the decision, got it?” Li Qiye said.

Jiadi had no response.

“Alright, go send my orders for the five legions to immediately mobilize for the Bingchi. If they don’t hand over Bingchi Hanyu and 100,000 beauties, War Saint Dynasty will eradicate them!” Li Qiye nonchalantly waved his sleeve.

“I shall obey.” Jiadi couldn’t do anything else but to follow the order.

He sighed as he was leaving. In the past, he felt that the imperious Lucidity’s conduct was out of the norms, borderline being crazy. But now, Li Qiye was actually insane! His choices were madness.

He still didn’t know why Lucidity chose Li Qiye, but he found a point of familiarity between the two - they were both madmen!

He lacked the power to change anything since he didn’t wish to go against Lucidity’s will. That would be considered betrayal, violating the mission given to him.

Li Qiye lazily lay down and smiled after Jiadi was gone: “It’s time to have fun. We’ll see who is a chess piece and who is the player.”