You looked at the letter and considered for a moment, deciding to go help Li Jiang save face.

After all, over these past few years, Li Jiang had indeed sent you letters reporting Earth Source intelligence.

During usual holidays and festivals, he would also send precious gifts to you, the State Preceptor, as tokens of regard, while wishing you good health and advising you to sleep early, wake early, and exercise more.

Li Jiang's attitude was relatively proper.

Secondly, after advancing to the fourth stage Ultimate Grandmaster level, it was time for you to go out and show off.

You departed from the Palace of Ten Thousand Dreams, heading toward the Cangwang Desert in the north.

The Jin Yue Nation's army had already crossed the Cangwang Desert and fought their way to Tayong Pass south of the desert.

Tayong Pass lay west of Yajiangkou—these two military fortresses together formed Great Qian's northern steel defense line.

If Tayong Pass fell, Jin Yue Nation and Li Yu could drive straight down and directly assault the capital.

This time Jin Yue Nation came with ferocious momentum—their Ultimate Grandmasters had already entered the battlefield to participate in combat.

Li Jiang knew the situation was urgent and had dispatched many of the Li imperial clan's Ultimate Grandmasters to provide support.

When the Ultimate Grandmasters from both sides clashed, they all suffered significant casualties.

But the Li imperial clan originally had over ten fewer Ultimate Grandmasters than Jin Yue Nation and the Mizhen Sect combined.

Last time, you had also killed over a dozen of the Li imperial clan's Ultimate Grandmasters.

With losses here and gains there, Great Qian's ultra-high-end combat power among Ultimate Grandmasters had become stretched thin.

Li Jiang's relationship with Jianghu sects wasn't particularly close—only three Ultimate Grandmasters from the martial world went to support Li Jiang.

Another important reason other sects didn't provide support was that while this was ostensibly Jin Yue Nation attacking Great Qian, Jin Yue Nation had Li Yu's name backing them.

In essence, this was your Li family's internal affair—no matter who ultimately won, Great Qian would remain Great Qian, and Jianghu sects wouldn't be much affected.

Under these circumstances, Li Jiang had no choice but to send you a letter, requesting you come to Tayong Pass to resist Jin Yue Nation's offensive.

You were rather pressed for time, so you raced ahead at full speed and soon caught sight of Tayong Pass.

The tall, mottled walls of Tayong Pass were already riddled with holes, and the vast yellow earth outside the pass was stained dark red with massive amounts of blood.

Clearly, the armies from both sides had already engaged in multiple clashes.

The Great Qian soldiers on Tayong Pass's walls were drenched in blood, their eyes blank and desperate.

High in the air above Tayong Pass, Great Qian and Jin Yue Nation's Ultimate Grandmasters stood facing each other from a distance, locked in a standoff.

Jin Yue Nation had fifty-seven Ultimate Grandmasters, all in perfect condition, while Great Qian had thirty-nine, many of whom were already injured.

The disparity in combat power between the two sides was immediately apparent.

The atmosphere was tense and heavy, with swords drawn and bows bent.

The leader among Jin Yue Nation's Ultimate Grandmasters wore a light smile as he slowly spoke: "Li Shen, take your people and withdraw. After Prince Yongning ascends the throne, he will confer upon you the title of Guardian Duke!"

The speaker was Meng Han, Great Elder of Jin Yue Nation's Mizhen Sect.

Li Shen stared silently at Meng Han without speaking.

Meng Han showed no urgency, instead turning to another person on Great Qian's side.

"Zhang Qing, you three martial brothers simply want to secure a future for Jiu Hua Sect. If you withdraw now, I promise that the next Earth Source our Mizhen Sect obtains will be prioritized for your Jiu Hua Sect!"

The man called Zhang Qing tensed slightly, exchanging glances with the two behind him—uncertainty appearing in all three pairs of eyes.

Meng Han didn't elaborate further, instead making many promises—some genuine, some false—to others on Great Qian's side.

Clearly, Meng Han had done thorough preparatory work, having carefully investigated all of Great Qian's deployed Ultimate Grandmasters.

Finally, Meng Han said: "Let me share something with everyone: our Mizhen Sect long ago made an agreement with Prince Yongning. After helping Prince Yongning overthrow the false emperor Li Jiang, we only require Prince Yongning to cede five provinces—we will not interfere in any other Great Qian matters!"

This caused an immediate uproar among Great Qian's ranks.

This meant that even if Li Yu captured Li Jiang, these Ultimate Grandmasters of the Li imperial clan would hardly be affected.

There was no need for them to fight against superior numbers here at the cost of their lives.

If they simply stepped aside, Great Qian would just get a new emperor—as Ultimate Grandmasters, they would still enjoy privilege and luxury.

They might even gain more benefits by moving quickly and yielding promptly.

A peculiar atmosphere began to spread among Great Qian's forces.

Even the leading peak Ultimate Grandmaster Li Shen began to show flickering uncertainty in his eyes.

Great Qian's Ultimate Grandmasters exchanged glances, followed by an eerie silence.

After a while, Li Shen finally slowly raised his eyes to look at Meng Han.

Meng Han wore a calm, confident smile that suggested everything was under control.

Li Shen hesitated for two breaths before saying: "Meng Han, how can you guarantee everything you've said is true?"

Meng Han smiled: "I will only send three Ultimate Grandmasters to accompany Prince Yongning to the capital to capture the false emperor Li Jiang. If you're uneasy, you can follow along as well."

As these words left Meng Han's mouth, Great Qian's Ultimate Grandmasters completely capitulated, breaking into low murmurs of discussion.

Li Shen's eyes focused sharply as he said directly: "As long as you can keep your promises, I can—"

"You cannot."

High above the two groups, your voice suddenly rang out—calm in tone yet deafening in impact.

Meng Han, shocked and furious, jerked his head up to look at you: "How dare! Who are you?!"

As everyone looked up, many immediately recognized you: "Pa-Palace Leader Shangguan!"

Though Meng Han had never met you, he had heard of your reputation—knowing you possessed formidable strength, ranked as Great Qian's foremost martial power, with abilities far surpassing even peak Ultimate Grandmasters.

Rumor had it you could single-handedly suppress twenty Ultimate Grandmasters, which was utterly absurd.

Meng Han's heart jumped with alarm—Li Yu had explicitly promised him you wouldn't interfere in Li family matters, yet unexpectedly you had come.

Meng Han's face lost its composure as pressure suddenly intensified.

You slowly descended, then turned your gaze to Great Qian's people.

Li Shen said excitedly: "Palace Leader Shangguan, you've finally come!"

Li Shen had been among those chased and cut down by you in the palace city, and had personally witnessed your miraculous capture of Li Anlong without taking a single injury.

You looked at Li Shen and smiled: "You want to surrender?"

A chill ran down Li Shen's back as he hurriedly said: "Palace Leader, your subject wishes to fight to the death!"

You nodded: "Then go kill everyone on the opposite side."

Li Shen's mouth fell open: "Ah? Me?"

"Just you."

"Palace Leader, isn't that... inappropriate?"

You gave a light laugh and waved your hand for Li Shen to step back—now it was your turn to take charge.

Fortunately you had arrived just in time to stop Li Shen's surrender with your words, otherwise you would have nearly lost your chance to show off.

You turned to face Meng Han and the other Jin Yue Nation people, your tone calm: "Withdraw from Great Qian's territory."

Li Shen believed that you alone could match over twenty Ultimate Grandmasters. With Great Qian's thirty-nine against Jin Yue Nation's fifty-seven, the eighteen-person gap could just be bridged by you alone, even giving a slight advantage.

But since more people on Great Qian's side were injured, Li Shen felt their combat power was basically balanced.

Li Shen suddenly gained confidence, though he didn't dare be too arrogant, thinking it would be enough to scare Jin Yue Nation into retreat.

Li Shen said solemnly: "Meng Han, be sensible and withdraw immediately. Don't think that just because the Palace Leader came alone means there's any gap between our sides!"