"Does Lord Nie mean that Tianfu plans to withdraw its troops from the four overseas continents?"

The banquet was lavish, but Jiang Yuan had no appetite. He had learned from Nie Zhen that Tianfu had begun to withdraw its troops, which meant that Tianfu would only defend the five current land states: Tianzhou, Wuzhou, Lizhou, Guzhou, and Zhongzhou.

"It's just a temporary withdrawal!"

Nie Zhen raised his voice and said, "The lord of the Heavenly Army has made a prediction about the upcoming battlefield situation. The overseas situation has exceeded the Heavenly Army's control, so withdrawing troops to defend the five continental states is the most conservative approach."

"It's not just because of the situation overseas!" Jiang Yuan said calmly.

"well!"

Nie Zhen looked at Jiang Yuan approvingly and nodded, saying, "That's right, there's another reason."

"Didn't they say they had already driven the alien races out of China? How can there be external reasons?" An Xiaoyu asked, puzzled.

Nie Zhen then explained, "You should know the relationship between the Sage and the Heavenly Palace. Some time ago, the Sage withdrew all his forces from the Chinese mainland and turned to focus on overseas operations. It was for this reason that the Heavenly Palace had to make a choice, so it chose not to confront the Sage's forces head-on, but to stabilize the situation on the mainland before making plans to reclaim the entire Nine Provinces."

"Now that the decision has been made, there shouldn't be any problem with contacting us, right?" Jiang Yuan's tone became indifferent.

"No, quite the opposite, you have to be a part of this!"

A flame ignited in Nie Zhen's eyes, and he slowly said, "The Sage will one day stand on the opposite side of China, and China must also be prepared to confront her. There is only one person who can lead China to confront the Sage."

"You mean me?" Jiang Yuan didn't mince words, because it was practically written all over Nie Zhen's face.

“That’s right! The only one who can rival the Sage is you. The Sage’s goal is to transcend the entire battlefield, and in the process of her transcendence, China and even the entire battlefield may become her pawns. Those who walk different paths cannot work together. The Sage will be our common enemy.” Nie Zhen clearly knew a lot about the Sage’s faction.

Jiang Yuan's expression remained unchanged after hearing this, and he simply said, "So, you want to push me to the front to confront the Sage?"

The implication was clear: no one wants to be someone else's pawn, even if that pawn is the Heavenly Kingdom of China.

“You’ve dealt with Tianfu for so long, I think you understand Tianfu’s purpose better than anyone else. The world is so big, there will always be darkness that the light cannot reach. Although Tianfu cannot be perfect, it has always strived to continue Chinese civilization. Therefore, Tianfu is trustworthy.” Nie Zhen did not use moral blackmail, because he knew very well that moral blackmail would have no effect on someone of Jiang Yuan’s stature. He only needed to let the other party know the significance of Tianfu’s existence.

"Okay, then let me tell you something first. I need to see Tianfu's decision-making and action capabilities."

Jiang Yuan's demeanor became serious, and he said, word by word, "In the seventh year of Tianqi, the sea tribes landed in Haicheng."

"Don't worry about that. Haicheng has experienced so many maritime disasters before, and Tianfu has the experience to deal with them." Nie Zhen didn't show any surprise at Jiang Yuan's words, because in his eyes, maritime disasters were commonplace. Even though this disaster was several times more severe than the previous ones, it was still under Tianfu's control.

"Oh!"

Jiang Yuan chuckled, then said seriously, "I hope Tianfu can fight against all the sea creatures!"

"That's natural... wait, you said? All the sea creatures?" Nie Zhen's expression changed, and he subconsciously thought he had misheard.

"In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, this was the decisive battle between the sea and the land."

Jiang Yuan picked up his wine and drank it all in one gulp. He watched the wine slide down the glass and said, "China has two choices. First, give up Haicheng and the surrounding territory, and let Haicheng become the landing point for the sea race. Then the sea race will use it as a springboard to attack all land creatures, which can drag other alien races into the water."

"There is another one: China resisted on its own and rose from the ashes amidst destruction."

After stating his two options, Jiang Yuan slammed down his wine glass and said, "Let's go. I'll visit Uncle Nie again next time!"

Jiang Yuan called out "Uncle Nie" out of respect for An Xiaoyu.

"Wait, are you serious?" Nie Zhen stopped Jiang Yuan.

"Do I look like I'm lying?" Jiang Yuan shrugged, looking nonchalant, but the mockery in his eyes was a warning to Nie Zhen that she had better not take it seriously.

"Uncle Nie, the rising level of the maritime disaster is a sign of the final maritime disaster. We must not underestimate the enemy, or most of Wuzhou will be destroyed!" An Xiaoyu also reminded him. Nie Zhen was one of her few remaining relatives, and she could not stand by and watch him go astray.

"Phew!" Nie Zhen took a deep breath and it took him a while to process the information before he continued, "Could you let Xiaoyu stay? I need her to help send a message to Tianfu."

"You'll have to ask Xiaoyu. I can't interfere with her choice." Jiang Yuan wasn't a chauvinist, so he was naturally very lenient with the women.

“I…” An Xiaoyu hesitated. What she wanted most was to follow Jiang Yuan and wander the world, but Uncle Nie had been kind to her, so how could she abandon him?

“Your old partner has also retired from the front lines, so take this opportunity to get together.” Nie Zhen added another bargaining chip.

"Old partner?"

Jiang Yuan, who had just said he wouldn't interfere with An Xiaoyu's choice, leaned over and asked, "Male or female?"

Liu Zhaodi rolled her eyes and muttered to herself, "Don't worry about it, old man. She's known Xiaoyu longer than you have. If she really wanted to win Xiaoyu over, she would have done so long ago while you were gone."

Jiang Yuan: "..."

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