At this moment, people from all walks of life began to stand up and angrily denounce Lu Li's ideas as too terrible and autocratic.

But Lu Li persisted in his beliefs and debated with people from all walks of life.

Only the military strategists and the legalists remained silent, because for them, even if a country were unified, they would certainly not abandon the concepts of military strategy and legalism.

To put it bluntly, what the Hundred Schools of Thought were worried about was not the demise of the world at dawn, but whether the Hundred Schools of Thought would prosper indefinitely.

"Heh, didn't you strategists advocate the art of alliances and counter-alliances? When did you start pursuing the path of imperial ambitions?" A Confucian scholar mocked Lu Li.

The scholar's words immediately drew laughter from everyone.

Lu Li was not annoyed and said calmly, "The ultimate goal of alliances and counter-alliances is to strengthen a country and achieve hegemony. What I seek is to choose a strong country, form alliances and counter-alliances, and eventually annex six countries and bring them into conflict."

Good heavens! To annex six states? The Warring States period has been going on for hundreds of years. Even Bai Qi back then didn't have the ability to annex six states. In the end, he still met a tragic end.

How dare Lu Li, a mere lad in his early twenties, utter such arrogant words?

"I thought the Guigu lineage had found some remarkable successor, but could it be just another one like Zhao Kuo, only good at theoretical discussions?" the Confucian scholar mocked.

Lu Li, however, did not back down at all, and asked the Confucian scholar, "May I ask, where does the evidence that Zhao Kuo only knew how to talk about war on paper come from?"

"His defeat at the hands of Bai Qi, along with the massacre of 400,000 surrendered soldiers, doesn't that speak volumes?" the Confucian scholar replied.

Lu Li smiled and said, "Alright, since that's the case, if I were to appoint you as the commander of Zhao, would you be able to deal with Bai Qi?"

At this moment, the Confucian scholar was rendered speechless, as if his throat had been choked, and he could not utter a single word.

"I......."

All the people present lowered their heads, as if they were unaware of the problem.

Who was Zhao Kuo facing? It was none other than Bai Qi, the god of war! He fought countless battles throughout his life and rarely suffered a defeat.

Zhao Kuo merely became an ally of Bai Qi; this does not mean he was only good at theoretical warfare.

“I think Lu Li is right. Zhao Kuo once pushed Bai Qi to the brink of defeat. If it weren’t for his greed for merit and recklessness, Bai Qi would have had a hard time winning.”

At this moment, the representative of the military strategist stood up and spoke.

When it comes to war, the military strategists have the most say, followed by the Mohists.

Lu Li's words made the current leader of the Mo family fall into deep thought. If they were in his place, they probably wouldn't be a match for Bai Qi either.

Ultimately, it wasn't that Zhao Kuo was too incompetent, but rather that Bai Qi was too strong.

At this point, no one present could refute Lu Li, and the atmosphere became awkward. The Taoists then announced that it was getting late and the debate would end here, and arranged accommodations for the various schools of thought.

Lu Li shone brightly at the Hundred Schools Conference, and it is believed that his fame will soon spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms.

"Hahaha! You little rascal, you really boosted your teacher's morale!"

Back in his room, Guiguzi felt extremely pleased.

Lu Li debated with all the schools of thought without holding back, and Guiguzi did not blame him; on the contrary, he was extremely happy.

The purpose of debate is to leave the opponent speechless; that is the ultimate goal of debate.

Just then, there was a knock on their door.

"This junior, Ying Zheng of Qin, has come to pay my respects to Guiguzi!"

The boy's voice came from the doorway, and Lu Li was immediately overjoyed upon hearing it!

Ying Zheng, it really is Ying Zheng!

The person behind that Legalist representative was none other than Qin Shi Huang, the future emperor who would unify the world!

When Lu Li opened the door, he only saw Ying Zheng.

"Junior Ying Zheng greets Mr. Lu and Elder Master Guiguzi!"

Ying Zheng bowed with his hands clasped, adopting a very humble posture.

"Are you Ying Zheng? The newly enthroned King of Qin?" Guiguzi asked in surprise.

He never expected that one of the members of today's gathering of a hundred schools of thought would be a King of Qin.

"I am disturbing you so late at night because I have some doubts in my mind and would like to ask Mr. Lu to enlighten me!"

Upon hearing Ying Zheng's words, Guiguzi nodded, gave Lu Li a wink, and then began to drink his tea.

"Mr. Lu, the moonlight is lovely tonight, how about we go for a walk?"

Ying Zheng invited Lu Li to join him, and Lu Li did not refuse. After bowing to Guiguzi, the two went to the back mountain of the Taoist temple.

It was right here that he took Cangwu away, and now a year has passed.

"King Qin, please speak plainly."

Although Ying Zheng was only thirteen years old, his mental maturity had already surpassed that of his peers.

"What Mr. Lu said today, that the world will eventually unite after a long period of division, and will eventually divide after a long period of unity, is very helpful to me."

"But I have a question: what is the ultimate purpose of these nations' struggle for supremacy?"

After a moment's thought, Lu Li said calmly, "For desire."

Ying Zheng looked at Lu Li and asked in confusion, "Desire?"

"Yes! Humans have seven emotions and six desires. The common people's desire is to survive, while the desire of people like you princes and nobles is power."

Ying Zheng didn't know how to respond to Lu Li at this moment. He wanted to refute, but he felt that what Lu Li said made sense.

"Is the struggle for supremacy solely for personal gain?"

"Not entirely. The Qin state was weak at the beginning. To put it bluntly, it was just trying to survive."

Ying Zheng fell into deep thought; he still didn't understand.

"Mr. Lu, if the struggle for supremacy is only for the selfish interests of a certain person in power, when will the world be at peace? How can the people live and work in peace?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!