The rotation duty in the capital region was currently handled by one of Qi’s nine military units—the Rain-slicing Army.

Ji Zhaonan had taken up direct residence in the military camp.

He wasn’t comfortable living in Linzi.

That sense of prosperity and stability—it didn’t quite suit him.

Despite being publicly recognized by the Political Affairs Hall as the leading figure under thirty in Qi Country, he lived in the barracks just like any ordinary soldier, sleeping in a tent, eating from the communal pot, and training on schedule.

Perhaps the only noteworthy difference was that he stayed in a single-person military tent, with specifications befitting that of a commander—of course, it wasn’t sufficient to match his status.

But it was enough.

He had experienced far worse conditions; residing in the outskirts of Linzi and rotating duty in the Capital City was truly a relaxed affair.

What kind of warfare could possibly break out near Linzi nowadays?

At most, it would be coordinating with the Patrol Inspection Bureau to exterminate spies from other countries or individuals from heretic paths and cult organizations.

Such as that "Equality Country."

At this moment, Ji Zhaonan sat alone inside his military tent, meticulously wiping his Shao Hua Spear with a piece of snow-white velvet cloth.

Today, he had killed several people from the Equality Country. It was a pity that there were no significant figures among them; it felt somewhat wasteful of the spear’s edge.

The Divine Envoy who went to make connections in Summer Country was also considered a higher-up in the Equality Country organization, yet the information he held was surprisingly limited. Even this limited information was rapidly cut off.

The true core members, not a single one harbored any luck of escaping; all chose suicide, making it immensely difficult to trace back to the roots.

But this wasn’t his concern anymore.

As a soldier, his role was merely to test his spear.

These past few days, his thoughts kept drifting to the days spent in that place...

If it hadn’t been for participating in the Yellow River Gathering to fight for his country, he wouldn’t have come back this time.

Rising amidst the evening breeze outside the tent was a young voice, "General Ji."

Without pausing his hand, Ji Zhaonan merely said, "Come in."

The person who lifted the tent curtain and entered was Wen Lianmu, a military scribe from the Sky-covering Army.

At this point, Ji Zhaonan was clad only in a single layer of clothing.

To adapt to the combat conditions on the Guanhe Platform, he didn’t don his unparalleled armor daily; only his Shao Hua Spear was never far from his grasp.

As for why he, with origins from the Sky-covering Army, seemed as comfortable as a fish in water within the Rain-slicing Army...

His status was certainly one aspect.

On the other hand, though Qi’s nine military units each had their commander, with some even passing from father to son across generations, they were not anyone’s private armies. Essentially, military authority remained with Qi Country, the state taking precedence over commanders.

Just like the War God Jiang Mengxiong’s recent campaign in Summer Country, by the authority of a single Tiger Talisman, he mobilized the Army of Spring Death.

Between the nine military units, there were competitive relations, but there were more instances of cooperation.

That’s roughly how it was.

Wen Lianmu felt somewhat reluctant to meet eyes with Ji Zhaonan, even though he had taken a seat opposite him, his gaze wandered left and right, finally resting on the Shao Hua Spear: "Mr. Chen asked me to bring some messages to you."

"Oh?" Ji Zhaonan spoke indifferently, "What has Big Brother said?"

The Big Brother he mentioned, and Mr. Chen referred to by Wen Lianmu, was surely Chen Zeqing, the War God’s eldest disciple.

The five disciples taken in by the Great Qi’s War God were each thrown onto the battlefield. Not one of them had avoided danger.

Now only three remained alive.

Naturally, the affection between them was extremely good.

"It’s about the intelligence related to the Yellow River Gathering," Wen Lianmu had no intention of exchanging pleasantries; he went straight to the point, "The unrestricted competition for those under thirty years of age, Jingguo will be represented by the foster son of the Red Horse Wei’s Great General, Murong Longque. Just last year, when the Red Horse Wei knocked on the doors of Yong Country’s Jing’an Prefecture, it was this very man who led the initiative. Although he was personally repelled by the Emperor of Yong, Han Xu, his strength is certainly not to be underestimated."

"As for Mugu, the participant will be Cang Ming, known as ’Present World God’s Envoy,’ the strongest contender for the next High Priest, revered by many on the plains as a deity."

"For the Qing Country, the participant will be Huang Buxi. This person isn’t well-known, so he must have been fighting in that place all along. The most recent record of his achievements we could find was from three years ago. Mr. Chen said it wasn’t relevant as a reference, but there’s no harm in taking a look."

"Additionally, from Chuguo, the participant is Chuguo’s number one beauty, Ye Lanner. She was personally selected by Emperor Chu without going through combat trials, and there is considerable controversy on the matter within Chuguo. But because of this, her strength is difficult to gauge."

In fact, here in Qi Country, the Political Affairs Hall had directly nominated Ji Zhaonan; on one hand, there was no dispute that Ji Zhaonan was indeed the foremost among those under thirty in Qi Country, and on the other hand, it was also to avoid showing more of him in public.

Wen Lianmu continued, "As for Jinguo... They are very secretive this time, not holding any public selections, but instead directly sent a representative from the Dao Sect Holy Land. Perhaps they will each send a person from the three branches. Like us, the majority of people from the Jing Nation also do not know who will be the participants."

After finishing, Wen Lianmu took out a thick booklet and placed it on the desk: "This was compiled by Mr. Chen. He has made a complete record and commentary of whatever significant achievements he could find for the aforementioned people, for you to review when you have time."

As Chen Zeqing’s junior disciple, Ji Zhaonan knew well that Chen Zeqing was now largely in charge of Qi Army’s intelligence work, but the workload and effort represented by such a booklet was indeed too burdensome.

However, he said nothing, simply resting the Shao Hua Spear across his lap and taking the booklet into his hands.

The booklet recorded only the top six powers other than Qi Country.

For the countries outside the top six, there was no need to collect intelligence, nor was it easy to do so. Not all countries would participate in the Yellow River Gathering. Even if they did, they rarely took part in every competition; most countries outside the top six focused their efforts on winning just one of the events. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Besides, as the unparalleled talent from the current Overlord Country, it would indeed show a lack of confidence to cast one’s eyes on those smaller nations.

Wen Lianmu sneaked a glance at him and added: "Mr. Chen has also compiled information for opponents in the Inner Mansion Realm and the External Building Environment. The intelligence has been sent separately to Jiang Qingyang... and Zhongxuan Zun."

Ji Zhaonan did not like Zhongxuan Zun; he never denied that. In his view, it was after meeting Zhongxuan Zun that Wang Yiwu became increasingly obstinate.

And he knew that, since Jiang Wang had thrown Wang Yiwu into the death camp, Chen Zeqing would likely not have any good feelings towards Jiang Qingyang.

But from the standpoint of Qi Country, offering assistance to the prodigies fighting in the Inner Mansion Realm and the External Building Environment was indeed a choice Chen Zeqing would make.

Ji Zhaonan’s face was expressionless as he said, "You have the guts to be foolish alongside Yi Wu, but not the guts to mention Zhongxuan Zun in front of me?"

Wen Lianmu looked embarrassed: "This..."

"Enough, I don’t have time to worry about these matters," Ji Zhaonan flipped open the booklet in his hand, "I do need to take a good look at Big Brother Chen’s commentary."

"Well then, General Ji, please take your time," Wen Lianmu quickly stood up and hurried out in just a few strides.

"Oh yes," Ji Zhaonan’s voice suddenly asked from behind, "You’ve crossed spears with Zhongxuan Sheng, how is he? Is there a chance of winning?"

Wen Lianmu stopped to think and said, "Though Zhongxuan Zun’s splendor overshadows Linzi, Zhongxuan Sheng exceeded me by more than a few moves; I believe he has a chance."

He waited a while, and when no further sound came from behind, he lifted the heavy curtain and left.

Outside the tent, the moon shone bright and stars were sparse.