Prince Nanzhao was just about to answer when Yelu Chenyi, who had also recovered himself, sneered as well. “Prince Yao is quite the joker. Da Zhou has no navy at all — where would its naval strength come from?”

When Da Zhou’s late emperor first took the throne, he had already considered establishing a navy, but at that time Da Zhou had only just emerged from internal turmoil, and the army itself could barely be sustained, let alone spare military funds to raise a navy.

By the time of Emperor Tianhui’s reign, the treasury was full, yet Tianhui had no interest in the matter. No matter how many times Jun Beiyue petitioned him, the emperor never granted him the authority to act.

Later, when Jun Beiyue truly came into power, he was consumed with the matter of the isolated island, and had no time at all to organize a navy.

For this reason, among the coastal nations around Longyuan, Da Zhou’s naval strength was the weakest — even weaker than Xijing, which at least had a military port in its southern territory.

Da Zhou had none at all!

Indeed — with no navy, what strength could there be?

The moment Yelu Chenyi said this, the Empress of Dongqin scoffed repeatedly, utterly contemptuous. “Jun Beiyue, if the merfolk hadn’t helped you, what would you have used to fight my navy? For you to keep making excuses now is simply deceiving yourself.”

The atmosphere seemed rather awkward.

Who was Jun Beiyue? He was the undefeated legend, the most mythical god of war in all of Longyuan!

And now he faced such an accusation — no navy, yet claiming strength?

Prince Nanzhao had watched him grow up, had watched him single-handedly write his own legend as a god of war. Now, seeing him face such doubt and questioning, though he felt some of the tenderness of an elder, he still could not avoid confronting this reality fairly.

“Beiyue, in that naval battle, wasn’t it the water that helped you? With your own strength alone, there’s no way you could have defeated Dongqin.” Prince Nanzhao finally spoke the words aloud.

Ziqing knew this would not simply end here. Watching Jun Beiyue, who had remained silent all this while, her heart ached without her meaning it to.

But she knew — Jun Beiyue could be doubted on anything else, but when it came to matters of warfare, he was not one to be easily questioned. Being doubted like this — it hurt her heart.

“Speak up!” The Empress of Dongqin grew more aggressive, and Yelu Chenyi sneered mockingly, “How curious — could it be that Prince Yao owes someone a debt of gratitude, yet dares not admit it?”

“Beiyue, say something!” Prince Nanzhao urged as well.

Yet Jun Beiyue’s answer caught even Ziqing off guard. He said, “Prince Nanzhao, if this prince told you that Da Zhou’s navy could even defeat Nanzhao’s, would you believe it?”

The moment these words left his mouth, the entire room fell into dead silence.

Even Ziqing couldn’t help crying out inwardly, “Jun Beiyue, have you lost your mind?”

The situation was already spiraling out of control, and now Jun Beiyue was provoking Nanzhao as well — wasn’t this just inviting trouble upon himself?

Everyone stood frozen. After a long moment, Prince Nanzhao slammed the table and rose to his feet. “Jun Beiyue, what makes you think this king would believe such a thing!”

“If you don’t believe it, let’s go out to sea and try.” Jun Beiyue’s tone was exactly the same as when he’d first walked through the door — cold and indifferent, utterly unruffled.

“Jun Beiyue, what scheme are you plotting now!” the Empress of Dongqin demanded angrily.

Prince Nanzhao, too, finally set aside their old friendship, and said coldly, “Out to sea? Jun Beiyue, could it be that you intend to declare war on my Nanzhao?”

“Prince Nanzhao, you think too much. This is merely a demonstration at sea — my one ship against your fleet, a contest within half an hour. This prince will show you exactly how Dongqin’s navy sank to the bottom.” Having said this, Jun Beiyue stood up as well.

By now, everyone in the room had risen to their feet — only Ziqing remained seated, her brows furrowed as she watched Jun Beiyue, just about to speak. Then, unexpectedly, the chieftain of the Jiao clan spoke up beside her. “Your Majesty, this old subject, on behalf of the entire Jiao clan, begs Your Majesty to grant Prince Yao’s request. This old subject is willing to personally lead the Jiao troops to compete against Prince Yao, to wash away the clan’s unwarranted disgrace, and to give the Empress an answer on Nanzhao’s behalf as well!”

Prince Nanzhao looked at Jun Beiyue, truly unable to read him. He took a deep breath and finally agreed. “Very well. We set out to sea at once.”

With that, he turned to the Empress of Dongqin. “Your Majesty, please, after you.”

Faced with such confidence from Jun Beiyue, the Empress of Dongqin, though somewhat uncertain deep down, still walked out with her head held high alongside Prince Nanzhao.

She simply refused to believe it — even if Jun Beiyue had extraordinary abilities, even if he truly had the means to destroy Dongqin’s navy without relying on the merfolk, there was no way he could possibly destroy Nanzhao’s navy as well!

After all, Nanzhao’s navy — that was the Jiao army itself!

Not only did it have well-trained ordinary Jiao troops aboard ships, but beneath the waves lurked the true overlords of the sea — the Black Jiao army!

What did Jun Beiyue have to compete with Nanzhao?

Such big talk — they would soon see.

“Prince Yao, after you.” Yelu Chenyi smiled, gesturing politely and courteously for Jun Beiyue and Ziqing to go first.

Only then did Jun Beiyue look directly at him, smiling gently — a smile even more elegant and refined than his own. “Crown Prince Yelu, what a pity — your wolf army can’t go to sea.”

With that, he took Ziqing’s hand and walked out the door, leaving Yelu Chenyi standing there with a face full of suspicion. What did he mean by that?

Yelu Chenyi had no time to dwell on it and quickly followed after them.

Everyone boarded their carriages and headed straight for the nearest port, with the Jiao chieftain going ahead to prepare everything.

Along the way, each person was lost in their own thoughts.

The chieftains of the Medicine clan and the Beast clan rode in the same carriage as Prince Nanzhao, and the moment they got in, the two old chieftains began speculating endlessly with each other. Meanwhile, Yelu Chenyi and the Empress of Dongqin, riding together, had their own share of speculation as well.

“What exactly is Jun Beiyue playing at?” The Empress of Dongqin was the most uneasy of all. If she lost this battle, she knew very well that Dongqin’s reputation would be utterly ruined, and any hope of avenging Xuanyuan Zhaoxi would be lost as well.

Yelu Chenyi, however, seemed unconcerned. “Don’t worry. Even if the Sea God favors him and lets him win, today he still won’t be able to leave Nanzhao.”

“Are you still hiding something from me?” The Empress of Dongqin’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “What exactly does Yanzi want with Han Ziqing?”

“That no longer matters. What matters is that Han Ziqing is here — she herself is the evidence.” Yelu Chenyi said, giving a light smile as he turned to look out the window.

Until the final moment came, he would still hold onto this trump card — Han Ziqing. This naval battle alone was already enough to give Jun Beiyue a hard time.

Half a day’s journey later, they arrived at the nearest port.

This was a fully enclosed military port under the Jiao clan’s jurisdiction. The moment they passed through the port gates, every single soldier in sight was of the Jiao clan.

The Jiao chieftain had already prepared what Jun Beiyue had requested — one ship, and a fleet.

Jun Beiyue brought his Shadow Guards and boarded a separate ship on the right side along with Ziqing, who brought her own mercenaries, while the Jiao chieftain brought several Black Jiao warriors aboard as well. Prince Nanzhao, the Empress of Dongqin, and Yelu Chenyi watched the battle from another ship.

Beneath the fading light of dusk, the fleet slowly set out to sea.

Standing at the ship’s railing, Ziqing watched the Jiao naval forces gradually moving south of them. After a moment’s hesitation, she said quietly, “Beiyue, is it… Baili Weisheng? Did you have Baili Weisheng bribe the Jiao chieftain?”

Ziqing had been guessing for a long while. Although the idea seemed rather risky, it was the only possibility she could think of.

The Golden Jiao held the highest authority among the Jiao clan — only the Golden Jiao could shake the clan’s loyalty to the Nanzhao royal family, and only the Golden Jiao could possibly handle so many Black Jiao soldiers!

This was the only possibility among impossibilities!

But to her surprise, Jun Beiyue only smiled. “Silly girl. The one who can handle them… is you.”