Chapter 2465: God Slaying

The New Year of the Second Year of Yuanfeng swiftly passed amidst the laughter and chatter of everyone, and once again, everyone became busy. This year, in the positioning of Chen Xi, was the year of unification.

“Zilong has already gone ahead to the Western Regions. Let’s get started too,” Chen Xi said solemnly. After waiting for so many years, it was finally time for unification.

This time there would absolutely not be any unexpected incidents like the battle between Yuan and Liu. Now, Chen Xi was confident that after so many years of accumulation, he could definitely control the situation successfully.

“Unification, huh?” Li Youu slightly leaned back, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth. Has this moment finally arrived? And it would be unification with hardly any loss of national power!

This way of unification, compared to the past reliance on war, martial force, and slaughter to gain a fractured Central Plains, was far more intoxicating and made one feel their own strength more profoundly.

“After waiting for so many years, we finally don’t have to worry about our strength being insufficient, thus breaking this nation,” Lub Su smiled as he spoke, “The only thing left for Sunx Bofu and Cao Mengde’s army is to subdue them.”

“After waiting for so many years, it has finally arrived.” Liu Ye crossed his hands and said with a certain excitement, “The Han Dynasty is about to be unified once again!”

There’s no need to say who was the most excited among those present; it was undoubtedly Liu Ye, because he was of the Han Imperial Clan, and in terms of bloodline, his was not much inferior to Liu Zhang’s. In fact, with his current status, he could easily take on the role of the Minister of Ceremonies.

However, speaking of which, those who could be counted as part of the Han Imperial Household now could be counted on one hand, so the work of the Minister of Ceremonies had become much simpler, to the extent that even without one, the Grand Princess herself could handle the affairs of the Imperial Clan.

As a result, Liu Yu, who was previously the Minister of Ceremonies, had now become the Grand Herald. As for the previous Grand Herald, considering the recent bold actions of Kushan, such as proposing to marry the Grand Princess, he naturally resigned immediately and went into retirement.

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and then appointed Liu Yu to the role responsible for Han’s interactions and diplomacy with foreign nations and vassal states. This role held little significance on Cao Cao’s side, and now with hardly any Imperial Clan members left, it was better to give it to Liu Yu, indirectly appeasing Liu Tong.

Although Liu Tong had absolutely no intention of dividing power, Cao Cao still felt the need to show his loyalty to the Han Dynasty. Thus, after the previous Grand Herald Zhou Huan retired, Cao Cao appointed Liu Yu as the new Grand Herald.

Relatively speaking, it was indeed suitable for Liu Yu to be the Grand Herald. At least after he took up the position, he soon managed to engage a large number of vassal states and foreign friends enamored with the culture of the Central Plains, even commissioning a set of classic texts specifically to educate these foreign friends.

The so-called Lu Confucian and Qi Confucian explanations were relatively simple: “Lu philosophy valued ancient ways while Qi philosophy was timely; Lu focused on chapter and verse while Qi focused on practical use.” It was obvious what Liu Yu intended to do. He was among the few exceptionally capable among the Imperial Clan, but couldn’t surpass the formidable Gongsun Zan!

“Let’s get to work!” Lub Su excitedly said, placing a stack of materials on the table. Seeing themselves inching toward their initial goal, the motivation to work only increased.

Under the rule of Cao Cao and Sunx Ce, things too began to operate at high speed. Although Liu Bei never specified a precise time for unification, after working together for so long, following the end of the New Year holiday of the Second Year of Yuanfeng, they all inexplicably felt that Liu Bei’s war chariot was about to set in motion. This was the year of unification.

With Liu Bei opening information, and with their own intelligence gathered from elsewhere, Cao Cao and Sunx Ce already knew that the world was not solely Central Plains, and Sunx Ce had even clashed with Kushan’s marines. They clearly understood the gap between them and those empires.

More importantly, with Liu Bei opening up information entirely, the higher-ups from Cao Cao and Sunx Ce’s forces clearly realized the massive difference in power between themselves and Liu Bei, even understanding Liu Bei’s aim: he wanted a prosperous Central Plains, not a war-torn and broken one.

In such a scenario where an internal powerhouse with the same script and roots was crushing in strength and external enemies were eyeing covetously, both Cao Cao and Sunx Ce gradually understood the intentions of Liu Bei’s faction.

Thus, for both at this point, it no longer mattered whether to fight or not—Liu Bei was no longer their enemy. From a certain perspective, they had already unified their stance.

Striking forward aligned with everyone’s interests—Cao Cao and Sunx Ce both held this plan. However, before advancing, they needed to showcase their strength one final time.

Even if they did not initiate war, they needed to exhibit their power, and this was a demonstration of martial force to assure their subordinates. Even though they were aware of Liu Xuande’s disdain for certain actions, it was never advisable to entrust fate to others’ morality.

After all, Cao Cao possessed the demeanor of an overlord, and if he hadn’t realized the existence of other nations beyond Central Plains, he might have clashed with Liu Bei. Even if defeated, he wouldn’t lower his head.

Bowing to the Han Dynasty and bowing to Liu Bei were vastly different things. Now, Chen Xi and Liu Bei provided them with a reason, and although it might serve as a fig leaf, this stepping stone allowed them to clearly state that they acted for the country and the nation, not because they lost to them.

For Chen Xi, these people were treasures of this nation.

Your talents, your abilities, and every aspect of you are strong. You, too, are the essence of this country; your journey was never meant to be domestic. You should be the sword and spear of this nation, expanding its boundaries.

In summary, Liu Bei’s faction always expressed the following sentiment, both gentle and domineering. Rather than falling with rebelliousness in the Central Plains’ shadows, leaving history to record reproach,

It would be better to mend your ways, adapt to the grand trend, and step beyond the borders, leaving behind fertile land for the nation, the ethnic group, and distant future descendants.

With no other choice, having this option, even Cao Cao deeply felt satisfied. At least compared to the disgrace in history following a civil war defeat, stepping beyond the borders, emulating the sages to expand territory, would at least earn him a place in history.

As Liu Cao Sunx resolved to strive for their futures, the Second Year of Yuanfeng officially began, and each of their ideals ultimately needed to be practiced by themselves.

“It’s our time to act now, the six days have passed, and it’s time for us to start crossing this mire,” Fabio took a deep breath. The six-day buffer had quickly passed, and during this time, their staff group had thoroughly completed the previous plans.

“We’ll push straight through,” Novelli said with a faint smile. “The six days have given us enough rest, all aspects have been validated. By the way, has Pipunsanannus the Financial Officer completed what he needed to do?”

“It’s been resolved; he tackled it with half of the staff group and has completed the divine blessing,” Fabio said with a smile. Of course, they were just unaware of the facts; if they knew what exactly Pipunsanannus had done, they wouldn’t say it so lightly.

The Han civil servants essentially possessed the ability to change the heavens. In contrast, the civil officials of other empires, besides their wisdom, mainly held corresponding positions. They had special positions within their national religious systems, and simply put, they also had a bit in blessings.

This meant that by utilizing their special status within their respective religions, they could confer certain blessings upon their citizens, although such blessings were usually of little practical use.

As for Pipunsanannus, after confirming through exchanges with Jian Yong that the Han civil servants indeed possessed the mythic ability to change the heavens, he had other ideas.

If this power wasn’t stolen or blasphemed, why shouldn’t Romans possess it too? Although he didn’t understand how the power worked, it wasn’t too important; if the Han Army could do it, so could they. So where was the problem?

The Roman Empire, not yet dragged into the abyss by Christianity and not yet overrun by barbarians, was much like the Han of the same era, with a deep-seated pride in its heart for other nations and ethnicities, as they had defeated too many opponents and built unmatched confidence.

This was also why they dared to plan god-slaying battles, even while acknowledging Lyu Bu’s celestial prowess. They revered the gods but did not fear them.

Pipunsanannus was indeed quite a character; few materials from the Roman Era have survived, contrasting with the continuously updated literary heritage of the Central Plains. After being overthrown by barbarians, European civilization regressed for a millennium.

Hence, only those with golden fingers, besides emperors, left names in Roman history, among whom Pipunsanannus was included.

If this power was inherently human, then what prevented me from using it now? Was I indeed weaker than the Han people? Surely not.

Did humans usurp godly power, or did gods parasitize humans?

Pipunsanannus decided to initiate blessings through sacrifice, choosing to bestow the blessing of the Nature Divine Light, so invisible in the thick fog, letting the light guide the way forward.

There was no issue with this blessing; other members of the staff group felt it was the most proper way to overcome visual obstruction by the mist. Then, half the staff group and Pipunsanannus proceeded with sacrifice, intending to bless their army’s vision, preventing their sight from being obscured by mist.

However, what happened afterward almost caused a staff group riot—Pipunsanannus had used the method meant to slay European evil gods to take down the Nature God.