Grand Duke Su was still naggingly trying to persuade Empress Su Mingyue, his voice carrying the stubbornness peculiar to an old man.

"Mingyue, I know what you are thinking."

"But you must consider this: the Liu family has been able to firmly hold onto this empire for six hundred years not because of how many soldiers or horses they have."

"No matter how many generations the Su Family has operated in Youzhou, no matter how many troops you have in your hands now, and no matter how powerful those troops are."

"As long as the founding Emperor Liu Jun is still around, none of this is enough. Unless..."

His voice stopped abruptly, and he did not speak the second half of the sentence.

Empress Su Mingyue did not ask what came after that "unless." She sat quietly for a while, then stood up, raised her hands to her chest, and bowed to Grand Duke Su.

She did not say "I understand," nor did she say "I do not agree."

Emerging from Wenhua Hall, Chunlan was waiting at the entrance. Seeing her expression was as usual, only the light in the depths of her eyes was more restrained than ever.

She did not wait for Su Mingli and walked alone through the long corridor outside Wenhua Hall.

Then she stopped. The corridor beneath the high walls was deep and cold, and the palace walls on both sides cut the sky into a narrow, blue-gray line.

Empress Su Mingyue stood with her back to Chunlan. No one could see the expression on her face, only hearing her voice, calm to the point of indifference, gently echoing in the corridor:

"Qiuju, relay an order to the Nightingales: starting from today, search for all clues related to the founding Emperor of the Great Xia, Emperor Liu Jun. Whether it be classics, inscriptions, or legends, leave nothing out."

She paused, continued walking forward, and her voice dropped lower, as if talking to herself: "Also, organize personnel to explore the Endless Forest."

Zhou Ming had been running between Wuying Hall and the drill ground for ten days, a straight line between two points. His days were more regular than when he was the Kitchen manager.

He left the city before dawn and returned only when it was pitch black. Even the Imperial Guards in the Imperial Palace had become accustomed to his daily footsteps of leaving early and returning late.

The more than a thousand soldiers had been carefully selected from various armies, their cultivation all around the fourth level of Qi Refining, and the Causal Chain above their heads were thick and solid.

They learned slowly, but there were many of them. One question per person could surround Zhou Ming on the drill platform for an entire afternoon.

Zhou Ming was not annoyed; whatever they asked, he would ponder. If he couldn't figure it out, he would deconstruct the path of mana circulation on the spot and test it bit by bit.

Someone asked him if the Fireball Technique could be launched without flicking the hand. Zhou Ming tried for nearly half an hour.

He discovered that by compressing the mana in his palm to the limit beforehand, locking onto the target with Divine Thought, and then releasing it instantly, the fireball could appear silently in front of the target and explode.

A commander asked if the Light Body Sorcery could be used only on the soles of the feet instead of the whole body to save mana and run faster. He tried infusing mana only into the Yongquan acupoints, and the effect was surprisingly good.

Later, it was named "Wind-Stepping Step" by Dongmei and spread the fastest in the army.

The wisdom of one is limited, but the wisdom of a thousand is vast.

In the process of teaching others, Zhou Ming also gained many new ideas. Many Sorcerys became increasingly concise in his hands, while their power actually multiplied several times over.

Besides improving existing Sorcerys, he also casually created several new ones.

He combined the Earth Wall Sorcery with the Earth Spike Sorcery, allowing the Earth Wall to shoot out stone spikes from the base as it rose.

He superimposed the Ice Needle Sorcery with the Water Dragon Sorcery. As the water dragon rushed out, countless ice needles as fine as cow hair condensed within its body. Upon hitting the target, the ice needles exploded, expanding the damage range several times over.

He also wrote these new Sorcerys into the drill manual and handed them to the first batch of instructors who had completed their training, letting them take them to the various armies to teach.

This morning, the thousand-plus soldiers finally mastered a dozen basic Sorcerys. Even the slowest old soldiers could conjure a fireball the size of a fist.

Zhou Ming stood on the drill platform, watching the rising and falling fireballs, water arrows, and earth walls on the drill ground, nodded, and turned to leave the drill ground.

He did not return to Wuying Hall but headed straight for Begonia Court in the Marquis's estate.

Just as he arrived at the entrance of Begonia Court, he ran into Dongmei, who was carrying a thick stack of documents and walking out.

Seeing him, Dongmei rolled her eyes at him, but skillfully stepped aside to make way for him.

Zhou Ming stepped over the threshold of the main hall and looked up to see Empress Su Mingyue.

She was sitting in the main seat, holding a military report in her hand, with a map spread out in front of her. Chunlan and Qiuju, the two head maids, were serving on both sides.

But the first thing Zhou Ming noticed was not the military report in her hand, but the top of Empress Su Mingyue's head.

A thick Causal Chain was steadily hanging above her hair bun, its solidity no weaker than that of the Qi Refining level four commanders on the drill ground.

This Eldest Miss, when did she also start to Cultivate the Dushi Sutra?

Zhou Ming pondered inwardly, but his face remained calm.

He had been busy at the drill ground for the past ten days, and it was inconvenient to scan Empress Su Mingyue with his Divine Sense, so he hadn't noticed when this Causal Chain appeared on her.

But thinking about it, with her personality, since the soldiers in the army had been Cultivating for so long without any subsequent hidden dangers from the Cultivation Technique, how could she not Cultivate it herself?

Zhou Ming collected his thoughts, stepped forward, cupped his hands in a salute, and asked.

"Eldest Miss, how is the matter regarding Emperor Liu Jun?"

Empress Su Mingyue looked up, put down the military report in her hand, and recounted the situation Grand Duke Su had told her one by one.

She spoke concisely, her tone very calm, only her hand gripping Junqing was a bit tight.

Zhou Ming had, of course, long ago used his Divine Sense to eavesdrop on the conversation in Wenhua Hall, but at this moment, he still listened carefully and put on a thoughtful expression.

After a moment of silence, Zhou Ming looked up: "Eldest Miss, I want to go and see beyond the Endless Forest."

This sentence was not an impulsive decision; he had been pondering this matter for the past few days while teaching Sorcerys on the drill ground.

Emperor Liu Jun was still alive, and had lived for six hundred years; his cultivation was at least at the Golden Core Stage or above.

Comparing it with Zhou Ming's current cultivation, when he was at the Golden Core Stage, he felt that his life limit had greatly increased.

He felt that he could live for at least 500 years, and after reaching the Nascent Soul Stage.

He felt that his life force limit had increased again.

Living for a thousand years should be easy.

A Cultivator who had lived for six hundred years must be at least at the Nascent Soul Stage.

And a Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage must certainly not be an unknown person in the Immortal Realm.

He currently knew nothing about the Immortal Realm, did not know how high Emperor Liu Jun's status was in the Immortal Realm, and even less about what forces were behind him.

If Emperor Liu Jun returned and saw Cultivators all over the world, and in a momentary lapse of judgment, used a large-scale Sorcery to try to wipe out this group of Cultivators.

Then wouldn't he be unable to hide?

This was just one reason.

Secondly, Zhou Ming also wanted to see the outside world, especially the world of Cultivators.

Although he now had a body full of mana, his combat power was shockingly low; if things went wrong, he might not even be able to defeat a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

"Oh? You want to go personally?" Empress Su Mingyue's eyebrows moved slightly, and those phoenix eyes lifted from the map and landed on his face.

"Yes, I hope Eldest Miss will grant permission."

Empress Su Mingyue pondered for a while before nodding.

She did not ask "Can you do it?" nor did she ask "Why do you want to go?" She just looked at him for a moment and then said:

"Since you want to go, then go. Make preserving your life the priority, and come back alive."

She paused and added, "Whatever number of troops you need, draw them directly from the Imperial Guards. They have been with you for quite some time, and you are familiar with each other."

Zhou Ming, however, shook his head: "I do not intend to take anyone with me. With more people, the target is too big; on my own, the target will be smaller, and it will be easier to investigate the situation."

Empress Su Mingyue lowered her head and pondered for a while, not trying to persuade him further. Zhou Ming saw her nod slightly and heard her repeat once more: "Come back alive."