"In my life up to this point, there is no reason to look back,"
"But I’m very interested in what you’ve told me."
"Can you tell me how to restrain the aristocratic families you’ve seen under the heavens?"
Li Guanyi responded, "When everyone is like a dragon, there will be unity under the heavens."
Jiang Wanxiang asked, "Do you think we will live to see it?"
Li Guanyi became quiet, then gently replied,
Jiang Wanxiang felt a regret, then immediately moved a piece on the board and said with a leisurely smile, "Then, I have one last question. After I ask this question and finish this game of chess, I will personally see you out..."
"In ancient times when there were few people, fruits were enough to fill the belly. People were much kinder as there were plenty of fruits everywhere and there was no need to fight with others over them."
"But now, in the Central Plains, Jiangnan, the Western Regions, everywhere there are people. Especially in a prosperous age, the populace is numerous, but the wealth of the world is limited. Tell me."
"If everyone is like a dragon, and you are a dragon, he is a dragon, then the so-called dragon loses its meaning. If everyone is like a dragon, then everyone is like an insect. Isn’t it the same as in the beginning? The commoners will still have to fight for wealth."
Li Guanyi shook his head and replied, "It’s different."
"People are the same, in the past, they only knew to farm, eat, and live; whereas the latter will understand why they do these things, will think, and upon realizing the absurdity of life, their dissatisfaction will drive them to try to solve problems..."
"Moreover, when everyone is powerful like a dragon, why must one oppress others or be above them to be considered strong? Those who always want to rise above others are not seeking strength but just superiority."
Suddenly, Jiang Wanxiang felt a trace of fear, unreasonably, as he looked at the young man. From the latter’s eyes, he saw a glimpse of fire. Yes, everyone as a dragon, everyone thinking about the status quo, facing problems to solve.
To solve problems, or to target the root cause of the injustice.
What will be overturned is not just the aristocratic families.
Jiang Wanxiang looked at Li Guanyi, instinctively wanting to ask if he knew what he was doing. Seeing the fire in the young Qilin’s eyes, he understood that Li Guanyi was very clear about what he wanted to do, about the kind of flame he wanted to set.
Even if that fire is just a spark, a barely significant ember.
It may need decades, a hundred years, or even longer to gestate in the hearts of the people.
Still, Jiang Wanxiang unconsciously felt a flicker of intent to kill.
It was an instinctive hostility and murderous intent towards a flame that could destroy the familiar rules that emerged in an era where the lords of Central State vied for dominance of the world.
But Jiang Wanxiang suppressed such killing intent.
He suddenly burst into a hearty laugh, exuberant and uninhibited. Letting the chess piece fall wherever on the board, he swept his sleeve, overturning the chessboard and exclaimed, "Good, good, good!"
"After all, in that era, my descendants won’t be sovereigns, and I actually look forward to such a scene where everyone is like a dragon. Hahaha, if everyone could be so wise, I would be willing to be born in that time and travel the world."
"I’ve decided. I will let you live, even if I win, I will let you live, Li Guanyi. Thank you for teaching me these things. If I win, you will become a Marquis."
"Just leave the flame you spoke of in my world."
Jiang Wanxiang paused, then simply smiled:
"I will only lose to the passage of time."
With a sweep of his sleeve, his demeanor was imposing.
And so the pieces on the chessboard scattered.
Li Guanyi raised his eyebrows, looking at the chaotic chessboard and the pieces, and said, "You just lost."
Jiang Wanxiang remained unruffled and replied, "No one saw it."
Li Guanyi felt like smashing the chessboard on this old man’s head.
After thinking, he replied, "You said you would only lose to the passage of time?"
Li Guanyi placed the last chess piece on the board, the sound crisp:
"You will also lose to the people of the world."
Jiang Wanxiang did not answer. He was casual and natural. The first legend of martial arts right here, where no one who came could make much of a splash. He just watched the young man, thinking that if he died, the one who would take the world must be Li Guanyi.
He regretted, regretted the current positions of the two.
How great it would be if his own son had such ambition.
Jiang Wanxiang sighed and laughed, saying,
"Indeed, you are more suitable to be my opponent than Chen Dingye, a pity that you are still too young; you can’t leave here empty-handed since I have met you, I cannot waste this rare opportunity."
"Then, I will strike at Chen, and you will enter the Western Regions."
"While I restrain Chen Country, you can freely roam the Western Regions; as you restrain that old Wolf King for me, allowing me to swallow Chen without worry. Between us, it’s an exchange of needs, how about it?"
"In the strategies of the Military School, one wins with orthodoxy and conquers with surprise. Many people care about cunning schemes but fail to see that the strongest move is to be upright and honorable. At this time, it’s about betting on the momentum, competing with open strategies."
"Both of us are using open strategies, you know mine, and I know yours."
"Let’s see, whether I can swallow the north and south before my time comes."
"Or whether you can snatch the Western Regions from the mouth of the old Wolf King and fully succeed."
Now that it came to this stage in the world, both could see each other’s actions without saying, distant friendships as a stratagem against closer threats was an ancient strategy.