In this mortal coil, some regrets are etched so deep that no power can erase them.

No matter if you command the reverence of generations like the flowers and the wind, no matter if you stand peerless beneath the heavens, no matter if the world’s highest authority rests in your grasp – it is all in vain.

Just as the Qi Emperor carries the sorrow of a beloved concubine, and Jiang Wuqi bears his regrets, how could Jiang Wang ever forget the streets and alleys of Maple Forest City, its neighbors and his schoolmates? And how could he bear to miss Jiang Anan’s growth?

It is precisely because one *did not* wish for something to happen, yet it came to pass, that it becomes a regret.

Jiang Wang lifted his bowl, drinking in the surging Five Energies, the hot intent stirring within him. He drank in the thunderous winds of the Four Seas, feeling a heroic spirit rise in his chest.

“Since this is the case,” he declared, the wine taking hold with a hint of nonsensical meaning, “this wine is better called the True Path of the Mortal World!”

Gu Shiyi paused, then burst into laughter. “The True Path of the Mortal World!” He picked up the wine jar again, pouring another serving. “Come, let us share another bowl of this True Path of the Mortal World!”

Once more, the wine’s essence surged back, layer upon layer, fragrant and richly scented. The wine-worm within his abdomen was already awake, its craving clawing at his heart and lungs. Every part of his body seemed to await the fine wine’s irrigation.

But Jiang Wang reached out and pressed down on his own wine bowl, shaking his head. “I cannot drink anymore.”

Gu Shiyi set down the wine jar, looking at him. “Is the wine not good?”

“The wine is *too* good! I originally had no addiction to wine, but now a wine-worm gnaws within me, greedy to death!”

“Then is this person of mine not good?”

“Brother Gu’s cultivation covers the world, his reputation spans the globe, and he is so unconstrained, making others feel close. How could he not be good?”

“Then why do you refuse this bowl of wine?” Gu Shiyi pressed.

“To stop while moderate.” Facing Gu Shiyi’s scrutinizing gaze, Jiang Wang answered seriously, “The more something threatens to addict me, the more I must restrain myself, the more I must keep my distance.”

“Just now I said you were straightforward, and here you are, not straightforward at all!” Gu Shiyi exclaimed. “Should one not indulge in youth, only to reminisce in old age?”

Jiang Wang simply said, “I wish to walk a very long road, thus I will not tarry too long on the path.” His eyes were stained with the wine’s intent, his face flushed with its color, and his voice held a touch of the wine’s lightness, yet his expression remained utterly calm. In any moment, this was his true self.

Gu Shiyi regarded him in silence for a while. Jiang Wang sat there quietly, appearing like an ordinary, easily intoxicated drunkard. But his calm self was far from ordinary.

“You have convinced this humble one.” Gu Shiyi pushed the wine bowl away. “Then let us not drink!” The wine within the bowl splashed out, spilling onto the table like scattered jade, carrying a heart-wrenching sense of regret.

Jiang Wang said apologetically, “I hope that one day I can stop and drink to my heart’s content with Brother Gu.”

Gu Shiyi paused, then said, “Do you know who accompanied this humble one in drinking here previously?”

Jiang Wang shook his head.

“Are you not curious?” Gu Shiyi asked.

Jiang Wang countered, “Should I be curious?”

“You are very cunning!” Gu Shiyi said.

Jiang Wang replied, “I am merely dutiful.”

Gu Shiyi laughed again. He truly was a man who had drunk too much, not much different from the drunkards in the market, his emotions shifting rapidly. He sighed, “That was someone who once would accompany me in drinking to my heart’s content.”

“It seems they will not now,” Jiang Wang observed.

“People always change!” Gu Shiyi said. After a pause, he added, “Or perhaps, as you said, a person with a long road to walk should not linger too long in one place!”

Jiang Wang said, “Brother Gu would understand his friends better than I.”

“That person is not my friend!” Gu Shiyi declared. But then he added, “Perhaps… they are.” His heart was full of contradiction, his emotions a tangled mess.

When the truly awakened of the world are those who do not control the Dao, who see through the world’s true existence, who declare that even at the end of days their will will not be easily shaken, he appeared so different. So complex. Perhaps this too was a kind of “truth.”

This person has too many stories, Jiang Wang thought. But he only said, “A person always walking forward must always leave something behind, whether intentionally or unintentionally at the time. But looking back afterward, it should all be considered intentional.”

“Are you saddened by this?” Gu Shiyi’s eyelids drooped slightly.

“It is difficult to avoid regrets,” Jiang Wang said. “But I still have to move forward.”

“No one will stop in the original place and wait for you. Everyone has their own story unfolding,” Gu Shiyi said.

“That is what makes it regretful,” Jiang Wang replied. “Sometimes, you have no choice.”

“At such a young age, where do you get so many sighs!” Gu Shiyi’s manner became unrestrained. “You are being very common now!”

Jiang Wang said, “These are all stories I’ve read in books. Perhaps I am drunk and speaking nonsense. Brother Gu, please do not take offense.”

“The speaker is without blame, the drinker has reason!” Gu Shiyi released a mouthful of wine-breath, perhaps unwilling to continue the topic. He changed the subject. “Brother Jiang, how do you view the word ‘righteousness’?”

“Righteousness has its vast and its small. There is the righteousness of drawing a sword for a friend, the righteousness of repaying gratitude and grudges, the righteousness of punishing evil and promoting good, the righteousness of family and nation, the righteousness of clan and group, the righteousness of all under heaven,” Jiang Wang said. “These are the theories of wise men of old; I cannot speak on them.”

Gu Shiyi pointed at him, seeming to want to call him cunning again, but ultimately did not. Instead, he gazed at him with wine-infused eyes. “What righteousness do you uphold? Are you a scholar of righteousness, Jiang Qingyang?”

Jiang Wang shook his head. “I am not a scholar of righteousness. When justice was before me, I could not uphold it. When anger was in my heart, I could not draw my sword. When interests clashed, I drew my sword and killed.” He repeated, “I am not a scholar of righteousness.”

Gu Shiyi said with heavy heart and long meaning, “Sometimes you need to restrain yourself. Sometimes you can only choose the relatively less bad option among poor choices, because you have a more important life, bestowed upon you by Heaven with a myriad of different missions.”

Jiang Wang said, “I believe I am not such a special person. My shortcomings and advantages all make me who I am.” He thought, my life lies in my own choices, my mission is not bestowed by any existence.

Gu Shiyi merely waved his hand. “You are not drinking, so there is no meaning in staying here. Go!”

Jiang Wang said no more, only offering a farewell. Then he rose, and with a slight wine-induced lightness, he stepped onto the clouds and departed. He came and went with no more than a few bowls of wine.

His body drifted like clouds, in a barren mountain where few people tread. He did not know who had built the pavilion on this mountaintop. It was already in ruins, the red paint peeled away, the wood rotting from exposure to wind and rain.

Gu Shiyi sat in it alone, facing the leftover food and cold dishes, as if facing his regretful life. Thus, he opened another jar of wine.

Cang Sang wine, Cang Sang wine. A sentence assigned to Cang Sang, and then the work is done.

“A young man who cannot drink to his heart’s content, nor act to his heart’s content, is indeed not a scholar of righteousness.” He sighed. “But he is nonetheless a sincere one, a trustworthy person.”

Zhao country’s subservience to Qi country is well-known. The court and people of this country greatly admire the ways of Qi. Zhao country’s first-class talents all considered serving Qi country an honor. Those who could not go to Qi country could only remain in Zhao country. In truth, throughout the entire Eastern Domain, where is it that only Zhao country is like this? It is precisely because Qi country widely accepted wise talents from all under heaven that it enjoys its prosperity today.

It is just that Zhao country’s expression of this is particularly obvious… People from other places would at least say things like “a good bird chooses a tree to perch on” or “this place doesn’t keep this grandpa, there are places that will.” Zhao country’s people, however, are direct and open about considering serving Qi as their ideal, taking becoming a Qi person as their life’s struggle. This is absolutely not a shameful thing in Zhao country. Even the ruler of Zhao country himself has repeatedly submitted petitions, persistently requesting to merge into Qi country’s territory.

In his national letters of submission to Qi country, the Zhao country ruler styled himself as the Zhao Marquis, not daring to call himself monarch, indicating his willingness to shed his dragon robe and become a hereditary marquis of the Great Qi Empire, willing to personally plow a hundred mu of land for the Qi Emperor, to ensure the Qi Emperor’s food includes its vegetables… writing letters filled with tears, and so on… He was refused by the Qi Emperor, who cited the principle that ancestral temples cannot be abandoned.

Some time ago, the Equality Country exposed that among their three highest leaders, there was one called “Zhao King.” This scared the ruler of Zhao country into submitting a petition to the Qi Emperor overnight, explaining his innocence. He requested the Qi court send people to Zhao country to investigate and certify his innocence, and urgently summoned his ministers to discuss immediately changing the country’s name to avoid undeserved disaster.

Ultimately, the Qi Emperor specially replied with a letter of reassurance, saying that “Zhao” is an honored name, representing ancient orthodoxy, and cannot be lightly abandoned. He also added, how could dragons and tigers change their paths because of snakes and rats? Thus, the storm was calmed.

Jiang Wang initially hid and cultivated in this country, and simply because he spoke with a slight Linzi accent, he received extremely enthusiastic treatment from shop owners. Now, crossing the border back, he would naturally not encounter any accidents. Except for the intoxication of the wine and the vastness of the cloud-filled sky, there was nothing else worth mentioning.

All along the way, he skimmed through the high air, occasionally hearing sounds of thunder. Ordinary people who accidentally noticed would vaguely consider it the movement of immortals.

Passing through Yang Province but not entering Qing Yang Town, Jiang Wang went directly to the Qi capital. When the city of Linzi, three hundred *li* away, appeared in his line of sight, he suddenly felt a sense of reliance. His title, his name, his official position, his connections—all were intimately tied to this great city.

Giving up the heavy position of North Office Lieutenant and going out was, of course, a choice he did not regret. His experiences in Chu country and the Mountain Sea Realm were also marvelous enough; he did not lead, but he witnessed wonderful chapters unfold. Returning after this journey through the world, seeing the city of Linzi at this moment, he truly realized how long he had struggled here, how much he had experienced. He and this city had already established too deep ties.

Residing in Linzi is no easy feat. And he, Jiang Qingyang, vaguely seemed to be among its people.

A petition requesting an attack on Xia was submitted to the Hall of Military Affairs and approved by the Emperor. The entire Qi country mobilized: Dao Yuan stones, grain, intelligence, negotiations with various countries along the way… a thousand threads and ten thousand strings. But once the intent of war was cast, the surge of the flood was difficult to change course.

In a single night, weapons were taken from storage, soldiers stood like a forest. However, before the attack on Xia, there was still one most important question—who would serve as the commander-in-chief of the three armies in this war of attack on Xia?

Qi country’s hegemony was newly established; it was the latest among the six great overlord countries to achieve overlord status. Many world-famous generals who had proven themselves in past wars were still in the army. Those qualified to lead large armies were not few.

However, Xia country, after all, held a special meaning, and its own power should not be ignored. In the year Qi and Xia contended for hegemony, the current Qi Emperor personally led the troops. Figures like Chong Xuan Yun Bo, Chong Xuan Chu Liang, Chong Xuan Ming Shan, Chong Xuan Ming He… Yan Ping, Jiang Mengxiong, Yan Tu, Yang Jian De, Tian Xi Li… all were in the array. They gathered stars of generals, strategists like ants, and raised the national army, hitting the then-spanning Eastern and Southern domains of Xia country until it was crippled.

And since the battle in Yuan Feng’s 38th year that quelled the chaos of Ming Di Lou Lan Gong, the Qi Emperor had not personally donned armor again. Of course, the current Xia country was also not worth the Qi Emperor personally leading the troops.

Assuming the Qi Emperor would not lead, the commander-in-chief for the attack on Xia, besides the Great Qi Military God Jiang Mengxiong, should not be considered a second person. This position of Town Country Great Marshal did indeed submit a petition requesting to go to war. Jiang Mengxiong’s honor and ability needed no further mention. He possessed the invincible super-extraordinary great power and used soldiers like a god, the deserved first person in the military.

But simultaneously requesting to go to war were three other individuals. These three people all held extraordinary weight. One was the Spring Die Army Commander Cao Ji, one was the newly promoted True Being Xiong Tu Chong Xuan Chu Liang, and one was the Prisoner Electricity Army Commander Xiu Yuan.

These three were also commander talents capable of leading million-strong armies, commanding the most elite nine troops of the Great Qi Empire, their ability in using soldiers beyond doubt. Their cultivation was not a significant issue. If they were to lead large armies, the Qi court would naturally send other strong individuals from the Yan Dao realm to accompany them and oversee the army.

Thus, the candidates for the commander-in-chief in the attack on Xia were still in contention. Among them, Cao Ji used soldiers most steadily and was, in the Qi Emperor’s words, a “good fighter of the world.” No matter how many armies were given to him, there was basically no possibility of problems, but of course, it was also difficult to see a quick victory or a great victory. There were always voices who believed he only fought stupid wars, dull wars. But before, under the identity of Yan Xiong Lue, he arrayed and chopped down the Sheng country’s famous general Qi Hong, helping Mu country capture Li Yuan City, also demonstrating the changeable nature of his military style. He is a true all-around commander talent, and in the path of using soldiers alone, he is capable of contending with the Military God.

Xiong Tu Chong Xuan Chu Liang, on the other hand, had the first merit in breaking Xia that year and was very familiar with the situation in Xia country. In the contention for the commander-in-chief of the attack on Xia, this factor was very key. And although he was not as all-around as Cao Ji, nor did he compare to Jiang Mengxiong’s “world’s first in using soldiers,” the sharpness of his soldiers was unique, difficult to match in the world. In this kind of war of extermination, he could most quickly carve out a situation. Just like the war against Yang that earned him his marquisate, it was almost a complete crushing of dry weeds and smashing of rotten wood. He used the shortest time to strike down Yang country’s resistance, not giving Yang country’s last emperor Yang Jian De a shred of opportunity, chopping him down amidst a myriad of armies. His person had also just advanced to the Cave True realm with the strength of the Eastern Domain’s first god Lin, and the first battle after his Cave True realm was against the first elder of the Fish Sea Building, True Person Chong Guang. No matter the momentum, intent, or force, he was at the peak of his life. Using him at this time, the edge of the soldiers would be at its strongest.

And Xiu Yuan… His close friend, the Chop Rain Army Commander Yan Tu, was confirmed as a spy for the Equality Country last year and died from a thousand cuts. He himself also took a trip to prison. Now, he just needed a war to prove himself.

Of course, everyone knew he was just making a stance, only there to accompany the others. A matter as big as attacking Xia could not possibly be handed over to him to prove himself. Although Xiu Yuan was also a world-famous general who had fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, his mentality of wanting to prove himself immediately excluded him from the list of commander-in-chief candidates.

The current Qi Emperor is a man who understands soldiers. He simply ordered these four people to each submit a military strategy, stating that the commander position would be decided solely based on the strategies—

For a time, winds surged and clouds gathered. From the hundred officials of the court to the peddlers and porters, none were without arguments about the candidate for the commander-in-chief of the attack on Xia. One said the Military God was invincible, another said Commander Cao was undefeated. Some said Xiong Tu should finish off Xia country because he became famous by breaking it. Others said Xiu Yuan’s life of conquest, multiple times striking the strong with the weak, made him a true master of the military way and he should have such an occasion to display it. But not a single person said this war could not be opened, nor that the attack on Xia could not be won.

Thus, State Minister Jiang Ru Mo said—”The hearts of the people can be used.”

Ps: “State unlucky, poetry home lucky; assign to Cang Sang a sentence, then the work is done,” is a line by Zhao Yi of the Qing dynasty. He also has a more famous poem, “Rivers and mountains produce talented people in each generation, each leading the winds and thunder for several hundred years.”