[Oh, the system notified me that another important hero has entered Jing Country.]
Xiao Chuchu, lying in her rocking bed, suddenly noticed a new alert from the system.
[What important figure? The system didn't specify.]
Xiao Yunzhou put down the progress report on the Ministry of Works' firearms research, raising an eyebrow with interest.
'An important figure... entering Jing Country.' From his fairy daughter's words, it seemed this new hero wasn't from Jing Country?
A map of the Central Plains immediately appeared in Xiao Yunzhou's mind.
Which neighboring country could it be? Zhou, Sheng, Qin... or an even more distant land?
Not to brag, but ever since conquering Princess Yunwu of Chu State and nearly gaining the full favor of the Chu emperor, Xiao Yunzhou truly couldn't muster much interest in ordinary elite characters anymore.
Of course, the more elites the better, but Xiao Yunzhou wouldn't specially put down his work to deliberately pursue them anymore.
Indeed, Xiao Chuchu felt the same. After investigating for a while without discovering who this elite was, she lost interest.
But not long after, she was startled.
[This unnamed important elite's collection rate has risen to 7%!]
Xiao Yunzhou: "!" Huh?
He hadn't even paid attention to this person!
[Could this be the legendary self-conquest?]
[Goodness, how long has he been in our Jing Country's territory to self-conquer and let us subdue nearly ten percent of him?]
Xiao Yunzhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How could such a thing happen?
Which country bumpkin was this? Had he been shocked by Jing Country's prosperity upon entering their territory?
Xiao Yunzhou couldn't figure it out. Recently, Xun City on the Jing-Chu border continued to hold its special literary gatherings. According to reports from the local governor, although it had been over a month, the common people still showed great enthusiasm for the new things at the gatherings.
Peddlers from Chu State coming to Xun City and Chu relatives visiting Jing Country had increased a hundredfold compared to usual.
But lately, his fairy daughter's inner voice hadn't mentioned any new elites for a long time.
In a month, besides the King of Chu, Princess Yunwu, and Prime Minister Ji Duan's twin granddaughters, eight elites from various fields in Chu State had been added to the elite collection handbook.
At the same time, during the gatherings, six scholars and merchants from Jing Country had also been included in the elite catalog.
But in the past seven days, even though the Xun City gatherings were still ongoing, they gradually stopped attracting new talents. The elite catalog hadn't moved for a long time, indicating that most of the available talents in the area had been collected.
So at this moment, Xiao Yunzhou couldn't think of "which place's people were so inexperienced..." that they would be conquered just by entering Jing Country's territory.
But he had barely said half the sentence when he heard his daughter exclaim, "Holy crap!"
[This mysterious figure's collection rate has risen to 11%!] Xiao Chuchu's eyes widened. [The system says that at 10%, we can view this mysterious hero's identity.]
[Damn, we even need to spend points to exchange for this person's information. Who is this great person?]
Xiao Yunzhou was so shocked that he put down the report in his hand.
It seemed there had never been a situation like this before. This country bumpkin, ahem, mysterious hero was quite unusual.
[Fifty points, I'll pay!]
Xiao Chuchu waved her little hand generously, causing Xiao Yunzhou a pang of heartache.
It was all fairy power.
Xiao Yunzhou felt that no matter how powerful this hero was, it wasn't worth his little princess spending fairy power. Hadn't this person foolishly self-conquered?
Why should his little princess bother to know this person's information?
Xiao Yunzhou felt distressed, but his concern was quickly interrupted by his fairy daughter's inner voice!
[Damn, fifty points, I wondered who it could be? Turns out he's just like the King of Chu~] Xiao Chuchu thought.
What? Wasting his daughter's fairy power!
Xiao Yunzhou was very angry. So it was just another King of Chu, what's so impor... Huh?
Wait, this guy was like who? Like the King of Chu?!
Xiao Yunzhou's eyes widened.
[It's King Zhou Ling, the Emperor of Zhou Xing. He actually came to our Jing Country incognito?]
Xiao Chuchu was amused. [So the King of Chu traveled to Zhou Xing Kingdom and persuaded King Zhou Ling to come along.]
What? This country bumpkin who was conquered ten percent by Jing Country upon entering was the King of Zhou?
Xiao Yunzhou's scalp tingled.
Two or three years later, Yuan Mu Country would attack Jing Country by borrowing passage through Zhou Xing Kingdom!
[I see, he came to inspect our Jing Country. He has already received an invitation from the Yuan King. If he lends passage to Yuan Mu Country, their Zhou Xing Kingdom would receive a million gold taels and the Yuan King's gratitude.]
[King Zhou Ling came this time to make a choice between our Yuan Mu Country and Jing Country!]
Xiao Chuchu was greatly surprised by the information she exchanged from the system.
[Is it already close to the three-year doom period in the novel? Or did my arrival cause a butterfly effect... Could it be that the Noble Consort was demoted and confined because Emperor Father woke up, making the Yuan King anxious?]
Xiao Yunzhou stared in shock.
[Can our Jing Country now offer a price higher than a million gold taels to make the King of Zhou side with my Emperor Father and reject the Yuan King?]
Xiao Yunzhou suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Where would Jing Country's treasury have so much gold?
Although they had earned some recently, it wasn't even enough to develop military power. Using it to send to the King of Zhou to ward off disaster would be like taking from one's left hand to give to the right.
They couldn't send a million gold taels to the King of Zhou every year!
Just as Xiao Yunzhou was sweating profusely, he heard Xiao Chuchu exclaim in surprise.
[Huh? The King of Zhou's collection rate has increased by another 1.8%?]
[What the hell is he doing? Still self-conquering, continuously increasing his favorability towards Jing Country?]
[Let me see where he is. Oh my, he's in a carriage coming to Jing Country's capital.]
[No way? In the carriage, why is his collection rate rising for no reason?]
Xiao Yunzhou listened, dumbfounded. What did this mean?
What was the King of Zhou doing?
Had he fallen in love with their Jing Country carriage!?
*
Inside the carriage.
The King of Zhou and the King of Chu sat in the spacious, comfortable compartment, separated by a table. Opposite them, an old man in plain clothes was speaking with great enthusiasm, spittle flying!
"It is said that Zhou Aotian obtained that iron ring pendant. Though covered in rust on the surface, who would have thought that when he practiced his martial arts at night, going against the norm, and spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto it—"
"The iron ring pendant actually transformed into jade, emitting a faint moonlike glow and radiating rich spiritual energy!"
"And from inside the jade ring came the stern voice of an old man, saying he was a fallen god with only a remnant soul left, but he remembered supreme martial arts that he could teach to Zhou Aotian!"
King Zhou Ling: "!"
King of Chu: "!"
They listened so intently that they forgot to drink their tea.
Especially King Zhou Ling, who, as the storyteller narrated, seemed to be there himself, obtaining the jade ring containing the immortal old man along with Zhou Aotian!
His face showed great satisfaction. "Old sir, is this Zhou Aotian from Zhou Xing Kingdom?"
This Zhou Aotian who had such a miraculous encounter was surnamed Zhou!
King Zhou Ling couldn't help but imagine himself in that role. "And this old man in the jade ring, does he really know martial arts, or is he deceiving Zhou Aotian?"
King Zhou Ling couldn't wait to know what happened next.
But the old storyteller smiled slightly. "Dear guest, please be patient. To know what happens next, please listen to the next installment."
"Huh?" King Zhou Ling couldn't bear to wait. "Never mind the next installment. We haven't reached the capital yet. I'll give you another fifty taels, please continue."
The King of Chu nodded repeatedly in agreement.
But the storyteller in the carriage looked helpless and regretful. "Alas, dear guests, I wish I could accept your silver."
"But unfortunately, this 'Number One Immortal Lord' has only spread from our Jing Country capital to the border."
The old storyteller sighed deeply. "I set out with you from the border, and I've only heard thirty chapters."
"Look, we're about to reach the capital. I can also enter the city to update my progress, instead of waiting for peddlers to bring it to my hometown."
The King of Chu and King Zhou Ling stared wide-eyed, almost cursing the storyteller's ancestors.
This story was still ongoing?!
"Then how many chapters are there in total, do you know?"
"According to peddlers from the capital, there are over two thousand chapters in total!"
"???"
"..."
"!!!"
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