This Holy Grail War was, without a doubt, an excellent opportunity for Cerydra.
As long as she could win this war, she would be able to descend into this world in her true form and finally witness the otherworldly realm she had always longed for.
Of course, compared to direct clashes on the battlefield, she was more skilled at strategizing, treating the world as a chessboard and skillfully commanding armies.
However, this did not mean her strength in direct combat was weak.
In fact, her favorite strategy when playing chess was to move her king piece at the opening, demonstrating the charisma of a leader who leads from the front.
Due to her own abilities and personality, Cerydra highly valued Zhang Lexuan and sought to nurture her, making her a stronger Master and turning her into the most crucial and powerful piece on her chessboard.
Zhang Lexuan had no objections to this, since Cerydra's abilities were extremely helpful to her.
Moreover, in their daily interactions, she had come to like this uniquely charismatic Empress.
Although Cerydra was an empress, she had her own unique principles.
She disliked people taller than her lowering their heads below her crown; except for those close to her, no one else was allowed within five meters of her.
This combination of approachability and arrogance was extremely contradictory, just like her contrasting attire, leaving a deep impression.
At the same time, like her figure—clearly possessing the petite and cute appearance of a legal loli, she exuded a majestic imperial aura that commanded awe.
At this moment, there was at least a five-meter distance between Cerydra and Lu Jingming.
Although she had been summoned by Zhang Lexuan for some time, those she considered close numbered only a few, with Zhang Lexuan being almost the only one.
Unfortunately, Lu Jingming was not among them.
Actually, Lu Jingming was quite fond of this empress with a pseudo-loli appearance, but regrettably, he had yet to earn her approval.
Interestingly, Cerydra's relationship with Castorice was quite harmonious.
Though they hailed from different eras, Castorice deeply respected this first leader of the First Flame-Chase Journey.
Cerydra, too, was very fond of Castorice, who was also a demigod of golden blood.
After all, in this unfamiliar world, their similar backgrounds made it easier for them to resonate with each other.
As a demigod of law, Cerydra's legal decrees—formulated from her understanding of law and careful observation of Haiyuan City's realities—were naturally trustworthy.
Moreover, for Zhang Lexuan, learning and communicating with Cerydra was highly beneficial.
After all, Cerydra was an empress with rich experience in governance and exceptional leadership.
As for Zhang Lexuan, even though she herself was unaware of her own identity, it was not impossible for her to one day become the empress of an empire, even if only for a short time.
Lu Jingming watched as Cerydra and Zhang Lexuan walked further away, his thoughts drifting to the intelligence reported by Ji Yingying.
All this information had been provided by Ju Zi; the movements of the Sun-Moon Empire were completely under his control.
Ju Zi had already graduated successfully from the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and, with Xu Tiannan's careful arrangement, joined the military.
She seemed born for the military, naturally gifted in strategy. Not long after joining, she quickly made her mark and soon secured her position within the army.
Originally, even with Ju Zi's outstanding military talent and Xu Tiannan's support as crown prince, it should have taken her some time to establish herself among the powerhouses of the military.
However, things often take unexpected turns.
As expected, Ju Zi was also chosen by the Holy Grail and became a Master.
What surprised Lu Jingming the most was that the servant Ju Zi summoned was unimaginably powerful—far surpassing Skirk and Cerydra, and even Raiden Mei paled in comparison.
With the help, or rather under the control, of this powerful servant, Ju Zi not only firmly secured her position in the army, but her status also shifted from Xu Tiannan's most trusted subordinate to his best partner.
Initially, Xu Tiannan's plan was to grant Ju Zi the title of crown princess, using that position to help her better control the military.
But plans can't keep up with change. Due to the overwhelming power of Ju Zi's summoned servant, it wouldn't be long before the Sun-Moon Empire's military fell entirely under Ju Zi's control.
Facing these circumstances, Xu Tiannan's attitude also changed drastically—from total trust to a mix of wariness and attempts to win her over, which was rather ironic.
Ju Zi had worked so hard to gain Xu Tiannan's trust and become his most valued subordinate, yet simply by summoning such a powerful servant, she made him wary.
Still, there are two sides to everything.
The downside was that she aroused Xu Tiannan's suspicion, but the upside was that Ju Zi's status rose from a mere subordinate to an equal partner.
After all, Ju Zi had always demonstrated utmost loyalty; even after summoning a powerful servant, she still treated Xu Tiannan with deep respect.
Given this, Xu Tiannan weighed the pros and cons and shifted his attitude, turning Ju Zi from a key subordinate into a trusted ally.
Xu Tiannan was no ordinary figure—he was a heroic schemer, able to tolerate and even use evil soul masters, so how could he easily give up such a powerful asset as Ju Zi?
The fact that he dared let Ju Zi control the Sun-Moon Empire's military without taking any countermeasures showed his confidence.
Even without using the Holy Grail's admin privileges, Lu Jingming could deduce from the situation that Xu Tiannan was likely also chosen by the Holy Grail and had drawn an equally powerful servant, which was why he wasn't afraid of Ju Zi's formidable ally.
It was precisely because of this that the Sun-Moon Empire so confidently chose Mingdu as the battlefield for the Holy Grail War.
Lu Jingming couldn't help but marvel at the Sun-Moon Empire's incredible luck.
Given the importance of Ju Zi and Xu Tiannan in this planet's fate, it was reasonable for them to be Masters.
But for both to summon such overwhelmingly powerful, top-tier servants was purely luck.
Despite gaining such powerful help, Ju Zi clearly had no intention of betraying Wuchang Division or Lu Jingming.
On the contrary, she secretly sent a call for help to Lu Jingming through encrypted channels.
From the brief message she sent, even though Lu Jingming didn't see her expression, the fear and helplessness in her words were palpable.
She was genuinely terrified by the servant she had summoned—far more than when she had witnessed Xu Tiannan's cruelty; the fear was dozens of times stronger.
When Lu Jingming learned the name of Ju Zi's servant, he nearly let out a curse.
He was speechless. Just how much negative energy had Douluo Continent accumulated over these ten thousand years, to be able to summon such a character?
For the first time, he felt a headache regarding his own memory bank.
After all, his memory bank contained quite a few problem characters that were extremely troublesome.
If these characters were summoned, Douluo Continent would plunge into unprecedented chaos.
However, despite his worries, he also felt a hint of excitement.
Perhaps that was why he hadn't placed restrictions on his memory bank.
He seemed to always be anticipating unexpected events, even though that was contradictory.
Many times, Lu Jingming himself felt conflicted—wanting to keep a low profile and develop steadily, yet occasionally craving major upheaval.
He wanted to control the direction of all developments, yet was also full of anticipation for unknown variables.
It was under this contradiction that he had long expected someone to summon troublesome characters, but he never restricted the memory bank, letting others summon randomly.
As for who Xu Tiannan had summoned, Lu Jingming, who had forbidden himself from using admin privileges, did not know.
But for Xu Tiannan to be unafraid of Ju Zi's powerful servant, his own servant must be formidable as well.
Either Xu Tiannan didn't realize how terrifying Ju Zi's servant was, or his own was equally strong.
Lu Jingming's intuition told him the latter was more likely.
After all, in the original work, Xu Tiannan was a major boss; with his luck and abilities, the servant he summoned would not be ordinary.
If the original Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek Academy failed to summon servants to match them, then at the upcoming Soul Master Tournament in Mingdu, everyone might be wiped out.
Just Ju Zi's servant alone could defeat them all, not to mention Xu Tiannan's hidden servant.
Moreover, Xu Tiannan's camp also had Huo Yuhao.
Even though he had lost his Child of Destiny status and most of his luck had shifted to Lu Jingming, with his original importance in Douluo Star, he would surely be chosen as a Master, and the servant he summoned would certainly be powerful.
"How exciting! Things are getting more and more interesting." Lu Jingming looked up toward the direction of dawn, a smile unconsciously appearing on his lips.
For him, being invincible alone was too lonely; only now, with these developments, did he finally find some enjoyment.