Infinite Professions from a Pearl Collector

On the Grassland, a force of a thousand Black Armor cavalrymen struck like a sharp dagger, piercing the heart of a mid-sized tribe.

The Captain in the lead didn’t even bother with pleasantries. He simply pointed his long saber forward and spat out a single word.

"Kill!"

The iron hooves of warhorses instantly shattered the tranquility of the Grassland. The tribe’s tents were easily set ablaze as panicked herders fled in all directions.

However, what drove them to despair was that some of the low-ranking herders, who should have been fighting alongside them, had now turned on them, helping the Central Plains army pinpoint the whereabouts of the nobles.

"General, Chief Batu’s cattle and sheep are all in that pen!"

"Over there! That’s the tent where they hide their women!"

Chen Ye’s psychological tactics were more lethal than the sharpest of Swords and Sabers.

They easily exploited the internal conflicts of the Grassland tribes, turning the long-oppressed common herders into the Great Chen army’s most loyal guides.

These Black Armor Soldiers were as fierce as wolves and tigers.

They had undergone the most rigorous training, and their combat prowess was already astonishing. This was compounded by their near-fanatical desire for military honors.

Thus, in their eyes, these were not enemies, but walking achievements, piles of cattle and sheep—wealth for the taking.

The Grassland war, which later generations would call the Black Scourge, lasted for an entire month.

When Chen Ye personally led the main force of the Central Army and, in one fell swoop, charged to the shores of the Vast Sea and uprooted the Grassland’s most powerful Golden Horde, the entire region’s will to resist completely collapsed.

The head of the once-invincible Great Khan of the Grassland, along with those of all his descendants, were piled up before the golden tent to form a gruesome skull tower.

With that, the Grassland threat that had plagued the Central Plains for centuries was wiped out in a single stroke.

Before the Civil Servants at court could even finish drafting memorials to sing his praises, Chen Ye’s gaze had already turned west.

To deal with the equally unruly Western Barbarians, Chen Ye didn’t even bother with new tactics; he simply reused his Grassland playbook.

Simple. Crude. But incredibly effective.

Six months later, the heads of the various Western Barbarian chieftains were delivered by swift horse to the Capital City, signaling that another vast territory had been added to Great Chen’s empire.

By now, the territory of Great Chen was vaster than that of any dynasty before it.

In the imperial court, Civil Servants and Military Generals alike considered this an unprecedented achievement, a feat unrivaled in history.

But Chen Ye was not satisfied.

He stood before a massive map, his gaze sweeping past the vast territories to fall upon the azure ocean to the east.

"Your Majesty," an official from the Ministry of Revenue ventured cautiously, "building a Navy is immensely expensive. Moreover, our dynasty has enforced a maritime ban for years. We have no experience in naval warfare. Perhaps we should reconsider..."

Without turning, Chen Ye simply pointed to an island on the map.

"This island nation is entrenched at sea. They monopolize trade routes, constantly harass our coastal prefectures, kill our people, and plunder our wealth. If We are to take to the seas, We must first destroy them."

"Do you, my dear ministers, wish for Our descendants to face these jackals year after year, just as We have?"

His voice wasn’t loud, but it rendered the entire hall silent.

The Emperor’s will was unshakable.

The island nation across the sea quickly received word, but they scoffed.

In their eyes, Great Chen was a master of the land, but the sea was their domain.

An army that had never fought a naval battle wanted to challenge their navy, which had a hundred years of history?

It was utterly preposterous.

Chen Ye remained unmoved, simply accelerating the construction of warships and the training of his Navy.

「Five years later.」

A fleet of unprecedented size set sail from the ports of Great Chen, its sun-blotting sails emblazoned with a striking "Chen."

The outcome of the war stunned those who had been pessimistic, who had seen it as a waste of manpower and resources.

In just two years, the island nation’s navy, once the hegemon of the seas, was utterly crushed, its main force annihilated.

Once Great Chen’s army landed, they advanced with unstoppable momentum, absorbing the entire island nation into the empire.

As for the pirates infesting the trade routes, this powerful new Navy wiped them out with ease.

Henceforth, they were unrivaled at sea.

Chen Ye then ordered the maritime ban to be lifted, encouraging commerce.

Almost overnight, the coastal towns began to prosper at an astonishing rate.

Countless merchant ships, laden with silk, porcelain, and tea, set sail for distant lands, returning with mountains of gold, silver, and Exotic Treasures.

The realm was finally, completely unified.

In just over a decade since his ascension, Chen Ye had transformed a crumbling old dynasty into a vast and unprecedentedly powerful empire.

For this, Chen Ye was hailed as the true Lord of All Under Heaven, a wise monarch for the ages.

But at that moment, a new problem confronted everyone.

That was, the Emperor still had no heir.

For a newly established empire, this was a matter of the highest priority, one that could shake the very foundations of the nation.

At first, only a few Counselors submitted memorials with earnest pleas. Before long, nearly all the Civil Servants and Military Generals in the court had joined the chorus.

"Your Majesty, the nation cannot go a single day without a Crown Prince!"

"We implore Your Majesty to expand the imperial harem and produce heirs for our Great Chen!"

In the Imperial Study, Wang Xing and Meng Xu flanked Chen Ye, speaking with frantic passion.

Meng Yi had since retired to his hometown to live out his golden years.

Meng Xu, meanwhile, had succeeded his father as the Commander of the Imperial Guard. As for Wang Xing, he held several concurrent posts and was unquestionably the top figure in the military, second only to Chen Ye himself.

Yet these two fierce generals, who could kill on the battlefield without batting an eye, were now nagging Chen Ye like a pair of worried old hens.

Chen Ye was getting a headache from their clamor.

He really had no interest in women.

For years, aside from building his empire as if playing a nation-building game, his greatest pleasure had been immersing himself in the world of the Martial Dao.

His Talent, Martial Dao Celestial Heart, seemed tailor-made for him. No Martial Arts, no matter how complex or profound, held any secrets from him. He could learn any technique in an instant and master it soon after. For him, bottlenecks simply did not exist.

He could clearly feel himself growing stronger with each passing day.

The feeling of holding such power, of mastering all, was far more intoxicating than any romance.

But ultimately, he couldn’t ignore the loyalty of his entire court of civil and military officials.

"Alright, alright!" Chen Ye waved his hand impatiently. "Do as you wish. Just get on with it."

Wang Xing and Meng Xu exchanged a glance, their faces lighting up with ecstatic joy.

But they quickly encountered a new problem: Chen Ye’s physical body was no longer comparable to that of an ordinary mortal.

Though his physique was no longer as exaggerated as it had been before his breakthrough, he still stood over two meters tall. His body was harder than refined steel; he didn’t look fat, but his weight was astonishing.

An ordinary noble lady, far from being able to please him, would likely be overwhelmed by his immense, intangible aura of vitality just by getting close. To put it bluntly, there was a real possibility she could be crushed to death.

This left only one solution: to select women who cultivated the Martial Dao to enter the palace as imperial consorts.

Only they could hope to withstand the Emperor’s "Dragon Mighty."

Once the news spread, the entire Martial World was in an uproar.

The Martial World Sects, which Chen Ye had previously beaten into submission, went into a frenzy, their eyes red with avarice.

After all, this was a heaven-sent opportunity!

If a female disciple from their Sect could be chosen for the palace, even as a mere consort, the future benefits to the entire Sect would be immeasurable!

In an instant, all the major Sects sprang into action.

Of course, entering the palace was not so easy.

First, a thorough background check was required; only virgins would be considered. It was an absolute requirement.

Second, their Martial Arts had to be superb, and their beauty had to be top-tier.

After multiple rounds of rigorous screening, three women emerged as the top candidates.

All three were elites from the top Sects of the era; either a Sect’s Saintess or the personal disciple of a Sect Leader. In both power and appearance, they were considered peerless.

When the portraits and profiles of the three women were placed before Chen Ye, he only glanced at them casually.

"They’ll do."

Wang Xing stood to the side, rubbing his hands together and grinning. "Your Majesty, these three are all supreme beauties. Which one will you summon to the palace first?"

Chen Ye set down the memorial, glanced at him, and said nonchalantly.

"All of them. Together."