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Chapter 451- Zhang Yi Moves in

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Han Feizi and Lao Zi, one after another arrived at Shanhai City. However, they received different treatments.

Let's first talk about Han Feizi, who came a day earlier.

After he came to Shanhai City and greeted Jiang Shang, he was dragged off by Wei Yang, Shen Buhai, and Sheng Dao to Wei Yang's residence.

During this period of time, Shen Buhai and Sheng Dao did not move into Juxian House and stayed at Wei Yang's residence instead.

The four giants of Legalism had finally gathered.

If someone else was present, they would feel astonished. As for what the four discussed, it was not about how to win against the Confucians. Instead, they talked about the thinkings of Legalism.

In their eyes, the way of Legalism obviously held a far greater importance than this debate.

Han Feizi, the man who combined the three factions, caused a lot of sparks when he met the three founder.

After all, when Han Feizi combined the three factions, he could only use records. Mistakes in understanding and recording would definitely occur.

Their meeting truly made them feel that they should have known each other earlier.

As they talked, they forgot about the passage of time.

Only after their stomachs growled did they look at one another and laugh.

"Quick, quick!"

Wei Yang laughed boisterously and ordered the maidservant to bring the prepared dishes into the reading room.

The four of them ate and discussed at the same time.

The olden rules were not to talk during eating or sleeping times. However, the four of them were so happy that they tossed this old rule to the back of their heads. When they started to drink some of the Three Flowers Wine, they started to grow high and even more unrestrained.

After hurriedly consuming their lunch, they continued to talk.

This conversation took up another day, as they forgot all about the flow of time.

The four giants of Legalism, although their main ideas were different, they were still extremely similar to one another.

At night, Han Feizi naturally stayed in Wei Yang's residence.

In a huge coincidence, Kong Zi brought his disciples to Shanhai City the very next day.

The moment Kong Zi entered the city, he directly went to greet Jiang Shang. Kong Zi's main idea was to recreate the old; he followed and respected the rites of Zhou.

Although the main promoter of the rites of Zhou was not Jiang Shang but Zhou Gongdan, Jiang Shang was still one of the founders of Xizhou. As such, he was worth Kong Zi’s visit.

Kong Zi, this cultural giant, was an exceedingly humble person. He was a role model for everyone. The fake Confucians and corrupt Confucians were truly a disgrace to him. They were in completely different leagues.

Along with his appearance, Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, and other important figures all appeared.

A previously lackluster cultural occasion had welcomed its brightest moment.

Observing that the time was right, the ancestor of philosophers, Jiang Shang, unexpectedly invited Kong Zi, Meng Zi, Zhuang Zi, Mozi, as well as Han Feizi and his companion to the Fallen Star Island.

Before this, Jiang Shang only met the philosophers in the book collection hall.

Obviously, this conversation would be highly unusual. One must know that the invited individuals were all heavyweights of their school of thoughts; the highest existences out of all philosophers.

The only one unhappy about these arrangements was probably Lu Buwei.

After all, he did not receive an invitation. If one mentioned this matter, it actually seemed pretty normal. Lu Buwei did not even get a ‘Zi’ title, so he could not be considered an ancestor of a faction.

On Fallen Star Island, this gathering of saints was an event history would record. As for their exact words, no one knew. Even Ouyang Shuo knew nothing of their exchange.

Only at noon did Jiang Shang finally send someone to tell Xiao He that the philosophers’ debate would officially start the next day.

He also sent out a small paper note.

In the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo sat in the main hall for a meeting with the four directors. Apart from them, Xiao He, as well as one of the representative figures of diplomacy, Zhang Yi, was present.

They were discussing two matters, one being the establishment of a diplomat organization, second would be to settle the philosophers' debate matter.

Fan Zhongyan suggested they name the organization Honglu Temple. Members of the temple would spread the good name of the territory.

The main officer of the Honglu Temple would be called Honglu Temple Minister, taking charge of all diplomacy issues. They would naturally appoint Zhang Yi to the position.

The established Honglu Temple would not be placed under the control of the four departments. Instead, it would report directly to Nanjiang Governor-General House and Ouyang Shuo. The rank of the Honglu Temple Minister would be situated between director and secretary.

The basic level officials and civil servants would be taken from the Administration Department.

The culture and traditions that the Culture and Education Division took charge of had the most similarities to the job of Honglu Temple. Hence, the officials under the Culture and Education Division that they sent to the Honglu Temple could easily pick up Zhang Yi’s teachings.

Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo also granted Zhang Yi the permission to choose elites with good personalities from the school of diplomacy. Zhang Yi could decide all personnel changes.

This trust made Zhang Yi grateful to the point of tears.

"Thank you, Lord, for your trust!"

The moment they established the Honglu Temple, a system notification spread out from his ear.

"System Notification: School of diplomacy representative has moved into Shanhai City, taking charge of the Honglu Temple and accepting disciples. Shanhai City has met the three requirements for a school of thought to move in. The school of diplomacy officially moves into Shanhai City."

……

"System Notification: School of diplomacy has officially moved in. Shanhai City is awarded the title of ‘Maneuvering Amongst Political Groups’."

……

When the system notification sounded out, the other players in the China region did not have much of a reaction. Only Hefu and the others, who were on route, felt their faces cramp up.

Problematic fellow!

They were fighting a war here. Meanwhile, their enemy actually stayed in his main base maneuvering amongst political groups.’

Comparing with others would genuinely make one die from anger.

This system notification was a significant blow to Hefu and the others.

The moment they heard it, Hefu and the others experienced a shocking reality check. It made them realize again that they were going to face a terrifying opponent.

Compared to him, they were not even on the same level. They needed to personally lead their troops, while he could remain in Shanhai City and expand his circle of influence.

Philosophers, Hefu would dream and crave for them.

To Shanhai City, it was like eating rice. One after another, school of thoughts moved into Shanhai City.

As Hefu rode his horse, he felt thankful in his heart. Thankful he acted calm and rational when dealing with the Four Seas Bank. He felt lucky that he did not do anything out of hand.

Facing such an opponent, anyone would feel a headache.

If he could, he totally would not want to fight Shanhai City. Helplessly, this was the cruel reality of the wilderness—a win-win situation did not exist.

It was either you die or I die.

Since he had no way out, he could only move forward.

His expression suddenly turned more resolute, and he looked a lot more courageous.

Ouyang Shuo did not have any time to think about the thoughts of Hefu and the others. He only wanted to check the stats of the title.

Maneuvering Amongst Political Groups: 15% increase in territory reputation, 25% reduction in animosity toward territory, 20% decrease in trade difficulty, 30% increase in favoritism of tribes.

Compared to the other titles, not only was the title granted by the school of diplomacy different, even the stats headed in a different route.

The other three schools gave a one-sided raise.

Only this title had buffs and debuffs. It was not hard to see that these stats were comparable to the rest.

Raising the territory’s reputation, needless to say, was a rare stat. It was one that would only normally appear on hidden buildings.

Shanhai City’s ability to attract so many talents had to do with such stats.

As for lowering animosity and lowering trade difficulty, it might look useless for now, but in the late game, it would be an overpowered stat.

Let's not talk about animosity yet. Purely in terms of trading, the phrase would make one drool. With this buff alone, Ouyang Shuo felt more confident in his trading with Australia.

The last stat was great for his strategy toward tribes.

In the territory, he had three tribal groups, mountain barbarians, nomads, as well as the Li Race aboriginals. Apart from the mountain barbarians, who voluntarily moved over, they had forced the rest to join them through war. Hence, they still held some negative feelings toward Shanhai territory.

With this new title, such feelings would definitely be abated to an extent. It would greatly help in their soft approach in regards to Qiongzhou.

Apart from the current tribes, it was also helpful for the integration of future races.

One must not forget that in Chiyou City, a huge number of mountain barbarians lived. Ouyang Shuo had worried over the fact that even after conquering Chiyou City, the mountain barbarians within would not be willing to join them.

After all, Chiyou's influence on mountain barbarians was simply too great.

With this added stat from the title, he had an additional 30% chance.

Most importantly, this title did not only apply to races like the mountain barbarians in Chiyou City. One must know that in the settings of Gaia, commoners in other regions were also listed as other races.

With that, the meaning behind it was huge.

One could foresee that with this step, if Shanhai City started a global war in the future, they would have an easier time ruling over new territories.

With such an analysis, one could see the incredible strength of this title.

Undeniably, this title would be an unparalleled existence in the later parts of the game.

This time, he had really picked up a treasure.

After Ouyang Shuo finished looking at the stats, he thought about whether or not he should try and recruit the other representative figure, Su Qin, to prevent other territories from receiving the title.

Thinking up to this point, a cold look flashed across his eyes.

Chapter 452-Bingshan Goddess

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Ouyang Shuo regained his focus and continued the meeting.

The philosophers debate, apart from the debating portion, would also hold an important ceremony—the heaven worship ceremony. Ouyang Shuo, as the host, would have to lead the philosophers to pay respect in the Yellow Emperor Temple.

The Yellow Emperor was the ancestor of the Chinese race. He also set up the ruling systems of China, so they naturally had to worship him.

After settling all the important matters, Ouyang Shuo announced the end of the meeting. He left Xiao He with the task of making contact with Su Qin to see whether or not he was willing to work in Shanhai City.

As the organizer of the philosophers’ debate, Xiao He also had an important task apart from arranging daily matters. He had to contact the various philosophers and invite them to move into Shanhai City.

Ouyang Shuo believed that Xiao He had the ability; he could help them recruit some talents.

The results proved that. In this half month, no less than a hundred philosophers had already expressed their willingness. These people belonged to different factions and schools, so they were suitable for different industries.

Based on their specialities, Xiao He coordinated with the four departments to arrange everything in an orderly manner.

At this time, Xiao He's elder official identity played a crucial role. In the territory, apart from Ouyang Shuo, only he had the power to move the four departments.

Through the philosophers’ debate, Xiao He was slowly building up his prestige in Shanhai City.

Everyone was clear that Xiao He would replace Fan Zhongyan as the head of the officials sooner or later. However, Fan Zhongyan himself did not mind, as Xiao He was truly amazing.

The talents that Xiao He recruited either entered the four departments or moved into the various Houses and counties. Those who did not want to be an official entered the two schools to teach the various industries as advisors, or they would establish an association.

One must know that there were hundreds of types of philosophers apart from the ten school of thoughts, although the rest were not that famous. However, their values had spread down in the various professions like wood craftsmen, carvers, and leather workers.

The industry associations in Shanhai City appeared like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Before this, the main associations in Shanhai City were the textile association and the fishing association. In less than half a month, more than ten associations registered at the Financial Department. The most famous ones among them were the carpenter association, carving association, and the leatherwork association.

Apart from establishing associations, some philosophers themselves were high level talents of their industry. Based on Xiao He's calculations, about five of them had reached the master rank.

When they received the buff from Shanhai City’s specialty and ranked up to grandmaster one by one, Shanhai City's work occupation would truly boom.

Apart from Ouyang Shuo feeling delighted, work occupation players who lived in Shanhai City were similarly ecstatic. These mysterious disciples and masters were all people that they wanted to learn from.

If their luck was good, the players could even receive the inheritances of these NPCs in the form of quests. They could become a successor of some faction or school of thought.

All of a sudden, members of the Fallen Moon Guild crazily swarmed the streets.

Amongst which, a lucky person called Zhi Shui actually triggered the inheritance quest of the carpenters. This lucky fellow, probably because he was too happy, revealed the matter on the forums.

This time, the pot really blew open.

Work occupation players in the China region grew red with envy.

The guild leader of Thread even directly teleported to Shanhai City when she received the news.

"Lord Wuyi, you can't be so biased. Thread and Fallen Moon Guild are both under Shanhai City, so you can't treat us differently."

Bingshan Beauty, if her cold glance bore into a normal person, they would surrender right away.

Luckily, Ouyang Shuo was experienced. He knew that if he really allowed members of Thread to come down to Shanhai City to fight with members of Fallen Moon Guild, Sun Xiaoyue would rip him apart.

Although Sun Xiaoyue might look like a gentle next-door-type girl, she was terrifying when angered.

Thinking about this point, Ouyang Shuo felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Guild leader Qing, I am not being biased. After all, Shanhai City is where Fallen Moon Guild is registered, while Thread is registered in Yashan City, right?"

When Qing Sikou heard this response, she froze. She did not expect this jerk to not even hesitate before he rejected her. Was her charm really so useless?

However, beauties with cold exteriors had the strongest of hearts.

When she was in Jingdou, the number of guys chasing her could probably form two circles around the Jingdou city wall. Qing Sikou did not even glance at these suitors.

Especially the chasing incident of Xingzhe Zichen, which made Qing Sikou more and more cold. After she moved into Yashan City, there basically was not as much action.

Even so, it did not mean that Qing Sikou did not like it when others praised her. It did not mean that she could stand guys not falling for her charm.

For girls, especially beauties, they could not tolerate such a reaction.

However, toward Ouyang Shuo, she was helpless.

Who was the guy in front of her?

He was the best player in the China region, probably even the world, and the most pinnacle existence. His words and actions were the focal point of the China region. Some envied him, some despised him, and some even worshipped him.

However, no one dared to act insolent toward him.

After all, this man held incredible power.

Thinking about this point, Qing Sikou felt more and more annoyed. Anxiously, she could not control her feelings and blew up, “I don't care, help me out."

In her words, there was actually a tint of playfulness. When Ouyang Shuo heard her, his eyes widened.

Bingshan Goddess acting playful?

When she saw his expression, only then did Qing Sikou realize that she had lost her demeanor, and her face instantly reddened.

The atmosphere instantly became awkward.

Ouyang Shuo calmed himself down. He knew that at such a time, he needed to give Qing Sikou a way to step down. Otherwise, she might really freak out.

"Cough, how about this, arrange twenty people over to Shanhai City to either take a master or accept quests. As for whether they can become successors, that will depend on the heavens. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

Qing Sikou took in a deep breath. She was not willing to stay anymore, so she turned around and left.

Seeing that, Ouyang Shuo let out a long sigh.

Was she trying to kill me?

Not long after, Ouyang Shuo received a letter from Sun Xiaoyue in Yashan City.

When he opened the letter, he only found a white sheet of paper.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he shook his head, that girl was really too jealous.

……

Apart from scattered individuals obtaining jobs, if schools or factions moved in, they could even open a college in Xinan University to accept disciples.

The moment this news spread out, even Mohism and the other big school of thoughts felt tempted. After all, they all wanted to spread their thoughts in an influential school.

Furthermore, Xinan University also had Jiang Shang and the book collection house. Even if the various schools and factions did not station themselves in Shanhai City, just opening a college in Xinan University was still possible.

Xinan University's ability to accept all slowly gained everyone's recognition.

After this battle, Shanhai City's foundation grew more and more stable.

The entire China region could not compare with them.

……

When the Lord asked him to invite Su Qin, Xiao He looked at the Lord with a weird expression. In theory, with Zhang Yi in charge of the Honglu Temple, why would the Lord feel interested in Su Qin?

Xiao He could only keep such thoughts to himself and not speak them out loud. He only nodded his head in response.

After Xiao He left, Ouyang Shuo looked at the blue sky through the main door, deep in thought.

Su Qin ah, Su Qin. I hope that you're smart enough and don't make me take that final step.

Nanjiang Governor-General Manor, Wuji Palace.

The night sky looked like water, and the frogs croaked. The Wuji Palace, on the other hand, was silent. Be it the patrolling guards or the maidservants, they all walked quietly, afraid to disturb the Lord.

Wuji Palace was where Ouyang Shuo slept.

When they built the Nanjiang Governor-General Manor, they expanded the entire palace once again. The Yingyu sisters, as well as Bing'er, all had their own palace wing.

Bing'er, that little girl, had slowly grown up. It was time for her to learn to live independently.

As the Shanhai City system grew more and more perfect, class systems were starting to show. Although Ouyang Shuo did not want this to occur, this game was set in the olden time after all. He could not alter the natural progression of things.

Cui Yingyu and the others, as the sisters of the Lord, all took chariots when they travelled.

The number of servants in the manor grew by the day. The rules in the manor became more and more strict. The Housekeeping Division they set up long ago started to play a more and more important role.

Zisu performed well and took good care of the back palace.

Even Ouyang Shuo did not expect Zisu, that brat, to be so capable. Be it Cui Yingyu, Qing'er, or even Song Jia, everyone felt impressed.

Although the palace had expanded many times, the decorations in Wuji Palace were still relatively humble and simple. Although Ouyang Shuo possessed many riches, he was not a materialistic person.

Due to Ouyang Shuo’s influence, the entire manor was very simple.

Inside the sleeping chamber, Ouyang Shuo took out the secret manual—Killing Sword Sword Manual. After he removed the poison from his body, Ouyang Shuo had rested for several days to prepare to cultivate this sword manual.

The killing sword would soon appear in the world.

Chapter 453- Path of the Killing Sword

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Ouyang Shuo pressed his right hand onto the secret manual, prompting a system notification to sound out.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi for obtaining the Emperor Rank cultivation method, Killing Sword Sword Manual. Will you learn it?"

"Learn!"

With a Shua! the secret manual turned into a crimson light and shot into the middle of his brows. All of a sudden, his consciousness was pulled into a blood red battlefield.

A red sun, withered grass, cold air, and the scent of blood, which filled the nostrils.

Ouyang Shuo was familiar with this scene.

The last moment, before he revived, he had seen this exact same scarlet sky.

On the battlefield, the sounds of war horses bellowed toward the heavens.

On the vast wilderness, one red, one black, two huge armies engaged one another. Upon closer inspection, the two armies were not equally numbered; the red side had four times more troops than the black army.

Even so, the massacre on the battlefield was split extremely evenly.

This was because amongst the black army, there was an Asura.

A blurred out middle-aged general in the black army had attracted Ouyang Shuo's attention. He wore Qin Armor and held a Qin Sword, while the killing aura around him boiled, as he killed wantonly.

The exquisitely forged Qin Sword was long and heavy, and the thick scent of blood enveloped the blade itself.

As the blade flashed, a head fell to the ground.

The weirder part was that the middle-aged general could seemingly feel Ouyang Shuo's attention. He was cold, as he picked up his sword. He actually started practicing his sword arts in the middle of the battlefield.

"1st, killing life!"

The middle-aged general calmly pronounced, as he cut down forward with his sword. He simply killed an enemy with a horizontal strike.

"2nd, killing soldier!"

He did not retract the blade that chopped downward, as he slashed sideways toward a soldier. Before the soldier could react, the middle-aged general had slit his throat.

"3rd, killing sergeant!"

The middle-aged general seemed numb to killing, expressionless. It was like he had found a home in this chaos. With a sidestep and a block, he stopped the crescent blade of the enemy sergeant. He pushed it upward and before the sergeant could react, the middle-aged general stabbed down on his chest.

The sharp Qin Sword directly pierced the armor and embedded itself in the sergeant’s heart.

"4th, killing general!"

As the sergeant died, a black-faced enemy general blocked the middle-aged general. The enemy wore a red armor and held an exquisite crescent blade. His aura was extremely strong. With a glance, one would know that he was not simple.

The middle-aged general maintained his expressionless face. The Qin Sword in his hand moved in more and more complex manners. The sword arts before were just the most basic. However, there were now many changes.

The long sword parried and blocked, chopped and cut, leaving Ouyang Shuo dazzled.

Ha!

The middle-aged general cried out. Exerting all his strength, he directly broke the enemy’ crescent blade into half.

The black-faced general was shocked.

In just that instance, the Qin Sword swept past, one stroke.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this move, his blood boiled.

As expected from the killing sword, a real battlefield massacring sword technique.

One stroke and one stance. Nothing for show; it was all just to kill the enemy.

"5th, killing oneself!"

As the middle-aged general started to practice the fifth stroke, Ouyang Shuo felt extremely confused.

Killing oneself? Would he really commit suicide?

That seemed rather contradictory!

The middle-aged general seemed to notice Ouyang Shuo’s doubt, and he suddenly gave out a weird smirk. For a blurred out face to suddenly smirk, it looked truly creepy.

When Ouyang Shuo saw the smirk, he felt shivers run down his spine.

Only to see the middle-aged general turning the sword around and aiming for his abdomen. The sword plunged through his body and did not stop, directly piercing a general behind him.

So that was it.

Ouyang Shuo was enlightened. The so-called killing oneself was a move to deal the highest damage, while paying the smallest price.

This move needed one to have exquisite control over the position and timing of the sword. If not, you would die before the enemy.

"6th, killing all life!"

The middle-aged general pulled out the sword from his own body. Blood splattered everywhere, but he did not even frown.

Looking over, although the general was strong, his army did not have an advantage, and the enemy slowly withered them down.

The middle-aged general laughed coldly and swung his sword.

This unassuming swipe caused a colossal change. A lightning bolt crashed down from the vast sky.

Then, the bloodthirst and killing intent on the middle-aged general’s sword formed a crimson blade, killing life. In an instance, over ten soldiers fell.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this move, his brows tightened. He could not understand it. In his last life, he was a decent player amongst adventure gamemode players, so he understood a bit about the martial way.

When Gaia designed martial arts, it did not break away from reality. Based on theory, even with a buff, a move could not bend the laws of physics.

This move was something he could not understand.

What kind of move was that? The middle-aged general used the killing aura of his sword to create a formless killing intent. It was like the action of a god.

After all, to killing using just their aura, wasn't that the action of a god?

Or maybe, the Killing Sword Sword Manual was not a true secret manual. Maybe it was just an in-game thing? That could be it, but Gaia should not be so contradictory.

Before this, Gaia had pointed out that all ‘manuals’ and ‘scriptures’ were real. Hence, this made Ouyang Shuo exceedingly confused.

Did Gaia really predict martial arts to reach such a level?

Thinking in this direction, it did make sense.

Unfortunately, the middle aged-general was not planning to explain things to Ouyang Shuo. He just showed the move. Whether Ouyang Shuo could understand or not depended on his own ability.

If he learned it, then that was good. If he did not, then too bad.

Ouyang Shuo could only memorize what he had seen.

"7th, killing spirits!"

The middle-aged general did not pause. He cleared out all the enemies around him and charged straight for the enemy commander. He would kill anyone that dared to block his path.

Ouyang Shuo noticed that when the middle-aged general killed, he used the first four strokes seamlessly.

It was obvious that the way of the killing sword was not a simple seven strokes. Instead, the moves interconnected with one another to create thousands and thousands of variations, allowing one to easily kill even when surrounded by many enemies.

The killing sword was a way of killing and also the way of survival.

To kill the enemy, one must first survive.

Apart from assassins, no one would not know how to protect themselves.

The killing sword took this idea to the extreme.

That was because the killing sword was the way of the battlefield. On the battlefield, swords had no eyes and dangers lurked everywhere. The method to survive and protect yourself was a true art.

The middle-aged general had practiced the sword to an extreme, each stroke was a killing blow.

The huge army could not even stop him for a moment. Everywhere he passed, bodies fell and blood flowed like a river.

"Quick, stop him!"

The enemy commander panicked.

"Kill!"

The red wave fearlessly charged.

Numerous crescent blades formed light after light, as they encompassed the land.

"Hen!"

The middle-aged general did not care; these lines of soldiers were not at his level. Regularly, the middle-aged general would use the 6th killing move to slay enemies.

Ouyang Shuo looked on in astonishment.

Based on theory, Shi Wanshui and Er’Lai were also emperor rank generals, but Ouyang Shuo did not see them possess such strength, able to kill the commander among millions of troops.

Where did this manual come from?

He could not believe that such a technique only stood at the emperor rank.

What secret did it hide within?

Ouyang Shuo did not have time to think anymore, as the middle-aged general had already charged to the front of the commander.

Yet another sweep, killing anything in his path.

The commander rode high on his warhorse, his expression exceedingly serious. He could also fight, and he wielded his spear in preparation for a final clash.

The middle-aged general smirked coldly. He jumped up from the ground, and the sword in his hand pierced forward. He totally ignored the spear plunging toward him.

The sword was like a shooting star, slashing through the sky and into the chest of the enemy.

"Ah!"

The enemy commander lowered his head in disbelief and looked at the sword in his chest.

The spear brushed against the body of the middle-aged general before falling to the ground. At the crucial moment, the blade of the middle-aged general was faster by a step.

The essence of this move was speed.

Ouyang Shuo looked on; his eyes did not even blink. Killing spirits did not really mean killing a spirit. Rather, it alluded to killing the enemy commander.

All the killing sword moves were designed for battle. Each move was focused on the enemy.

No wonder the evaluation would contain such a line: User of the killing blade, Qin Army using Qin Sword on the battlefield, an ultimate technique refined through battle.

The way of this sword truly befitted the title of ultimate.

Seeing their commander killed, the furious soldiers rushed forward to destroy the middle-aged general.

The middle-aged general jumped down from his horse, as his sword glowed with an evil red light. He raised up his head and looked at Ouyang Shuo coldly, “A hundred mile massacre!"

Ouyang Shuo felt a shiver run down his spine; this was the final killing move of the killing sword.

The red glow of the sword seemed to suck up and absorb a certain quantity of blood from the enemy general body. Instantly, an enormous blood energy exploded into millions of small swords.

Silence, the entire battlefield fell completely silent.

Numerous soldiers instantly died.

Bug, this was a bug! Ouyang Shuo exclaimed in head.

Ouyang Shuo originally thought that it was just a description, who knew that it would actually be true?

A hundred mile massacre?

Ouyang Shuo muttered.

Chapter 454- Marketplace

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Killing sword was the sword of killing.

The moment the sword left the sheath, it must taste blood. Otherwise, it would not be withdrawn.

The moment these words left the middle-aged general, the entire blood red illusion broke down. Ouyang Shuo slowly opened his eyes. In his mind, he was still thinking back on the sword strokes he witnessed.

Just at this moment, a system notification sounded out.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, bone structure exquisite, comprehension strong. Player has obtained the teachings of the blood red illusion, Killing Sword Sword Manual has reached the ‘just learned the fundamentals’ level."

……

The sudden appearance of the blood red illusion, receiving comprehension out of nowhere.

At this point, Ouyang Shuo was sure that the Killing Sword Sword Manual hid a huge secret.

The other cultivation methods did not have anything like this, including the Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique, the Yang Family Spear Technique, and the rest. None of them created such an illusion.

"System Notification: Player Qiyue Wuyi lacks comprehension, 7th killing temporarily sealed."

……

"System notification: Player Qiyue Wuyi lacks comprehension, 6th killing temporarily sealed."

……

"System Notification: Player Qiyue Wuyi lacks comprehension, 5th killing move temporarily sealed."

……

The three successive system notifications left him speechless. He looked at his own stats. With the help of the Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique, his comprehension had reached a terrifying 32 points.

Even so, it was not good enough.

These facts aligned with the truth. After all, when he was in the blood red illusion, Ouyang Shuo did not understand anything about the last two strokes.

Making use of this chance, Ouyang Shuo took a look at his own stats.

Name: Qiyue Wuyi

Title: Mighty Lord (45% increase in NPCs’ relationship, 20% increase in the success rate of recruiting historical people)

Occupation: General (sub-occupation)

Territory: Nanjiang Governor-General House

Level: 70

Merit: 26200/1000000

Rank: 1st Class Marquis

Reputation: 173000/1000000

Primordial Energy: 710/2000

Body Structure: 39

Comprehension: 32

Luck: 8

Charm: 10

Command: 80

Force: 75

Intelligence: 27

Political: 65

Talent: Wargod (Permanent 20% increase in combat power)

Talent: Ice (Attacks have an additional icy effect)

Speciality: Magic God Possession (200% increase in combat power for 30 minutes, followed by a period of added weakness)

Specialty: Way of the King (raises sensory abilities and gives birth to the aura of a king)

Internal Art: Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique (layer 8/12)

Technique: Ba Ji Fist Art (achieved mastery through comprehension). Yang Family Spear Technique (achieved mastery through comprehension). Killing Sword Sword Manual (learned the fundamentals).

Movement Skill: Floating Ghost Shadow

Art of War: ‘Liu Tao’ (Wu Tao Volume)

Skills: Wild Beast Taming Technique (Intermediate)

Mount: Qingdian (Platinum)

Equipment: Tianmo Spear, Chixiao Sword

Armor: General Mingguang Armor (Dark Gold)

Cape: Divine Martial Cape

Accessories: Qilin Golden Seal (Platinum), Dragon and Phoenix Pendant (Platinum)

Unique Items: Yin Yang Copper Coin, Beihai Bay Treasure Map

Ouyang Shuo's current stats, even compared to adventure gamemode players, could allow him to be considered a pinnacle existence. Out of all his equipment, he only lacked a pair of good boots.

In the last few days, Ouyang Shuo had passed the king beast scale armor that Song Jia had gathered to Qing'er. He instructed her to tailor two inner armors and two pairs of boots.

That brat was really confident. For these few days, she had locked herself up in her shop.

Based on her normal speed, she should finish up soon.

Although it was dead at night, Ouyang Shuo was not tired at all. He got up and took out the Chixiao Sword.

Shua! the red sword exited its sheath. Contrasted to the night sky, it looked exceedingly elegant.

Ouyang Shuo held the sword in his hand, as he started practicing in the room. Each stroke and move closely followed the seven killing strokes that he had understood. He practiced it very slowly, as he ran it through his memory. Sometimes, he would even stop and close his eyes and fall into a moment of deep contemplation.

The original sword strokes, which seethed with killing intent, lacked that certain fire in his hand.

If an expert was present, they would feel shocked.

That was because Ouyang Shuo's strokes seemed weak and floaty, but in truth, his movements contained the essence of the sword strokes. Although it seemed formless, it actually concealed a hidden killing intent.

After a short while, Ouyang Shuo sheathed the sword.

In just that short while, the practice had left his forehead covered in sweat, while his face looked ashen white.

"Killing sword?"

Ouyang Shuo muttered.

As the light wind blew, the night remained utterly silent. The only audible sounds were someone sighing.

As the night sky passed, a red sun rose up from the east mountains. The golden glow of the sunlight scattered onto Shanhai City, waking up this titanic beast.

Outside the city, in the cover of the night, the farmers either pushed their carts or carried their items. They were bringing the fruits and vegetables that they had grown to sell in the city.

The moment the city doors opened, the farmers formed up lines and entered the city orderly.

Friendship River riverside, the area of the various Chamber of Commerces. It took up the greatest area and sold a large variety of products from the nine imperial cities. Naturally, it was the most bustling area.

Canyon Riverside, people crowded the harbor. Numerous merchant ships docked at the harbor, waiting to unload or load up the Shanhai City specialties onto their boats to sell elsewhere.

The coolies on the harbor had reached more than a thousand in number.

The streets and alleys of the city already brimmed with people.

At the private schools at the sides of the streets, sounds of children studying spread out.

Today, the number of private schools in Shanhai City had reached a number no less than a hundred. One could see such private schools everywhere. Some were built by the Culture and Education Division, some by Shanhai City, while others were built by funds that scholars donated.

Shanhai City's cultural luster was predicated on this.

Maybe a famous scholar would appear from these schools in the future.

The women who woke up early dressed up prettily, as they carried their baskets to purchase vegetables in the market. On the way there, they would purchase buns from the breakfast shop to take back home.

Seeing familiar neighbors, some people would definitely start chatting on the streets, talking about things at home, prices of vegetables, materials of their clothes, and the like.

Some vain ones could even talk about make-up.

All along, Shanhai City was an exceedingly open society. They would not look down on women. Especially with the rise of prominent women like Cui Yingyu, Mulan Yue, and Mu Guiying. They helped to push females to a high point.

Hence, these women could do as they wished.

Some of their family males even followed them to the breakfast shop to have soy milk and breakfast, as they gossiped about rumors on the streets.

Amongst them, some people had connections. They talked about the rumors inside the Governor-General Manor.

"Little princess is being so naughty at school. She drew turtles on her friends' face while they were taking a nap."

"Cui Hua, who lives beside us, has been recruited as a maidservant. Her whole family is so honored now."

"Some servants didn't follow the rules and took vases from the manor to sell. After being found out, they were sacked and sent to the Procuratorate Division."

"In the back garden of the manor, there's a playground and a weird looking castle."

The people would gossip about everything they heard regarding the manor. Moreover, the biggest topic today was naturally the philosophers’ debate.

The people naturally understood a lot about the philosophers. The officials placed so much importance on them, and they could be seen all around.

"I heard that four to five factions and schools have decided to base themselves in Shanhai City."

"What four to five, I think more than ten."

"That's right, on this earth, there's no place more suitable than our Shanhai City."

"I really want to make a trip to the imperial city to take a look. What do you think it looks like inside?"

The people that spoke were migrants that came not long ago.

After the three cities merged, the imperial city became a forbidden ground for the commoners.

"Hei, talking about that, I've been there before and stayed there for a while."

The one that spoke was an old man over fifty in age.

"Old Zhang, did you really? Tell us about it!"

A table of people instantly crowded around.

Even those from neighboring tables peeked across, their eyes all filled with curiosity.

When Old Zhang saw such a response, he smiled, “You all came too late. Last year, when I arrived, Shanhai City wasn't so big."

"That's right, that's right. I heard that Shanhai City was only a small city. The Lord brought everyone and built it up step by step."

"What small city? I heard that it was a small village."

"Old Zhang, you are wise, and you have seen a lot. What do you say?"

"It really was a village."

"That's amazing!"

"Stop asking questions and let Old Zhang speak about what the imperial city is like."

The teen from the start eagerly said.

"That's right!"

"The imperial city, ah. It's really amazing. Golden tiles on the floor, jade as walls, paintings hung around; that place is beautiful beyond belief. There's a temple of heaven for worshipping, the temple of our old ancestor, the Yellow Emperor, is also built there. However, the most amazing thing is still the old Lianzhou Lord’s Manor…."

Old Zhang's words were half real and half fake but mostly his exaggerations. The teens crowding around were all stunned and amazed. They all exclaimed out in awe.

These events at the corner of the streets was just a small happening in the city. The same scene would happen at other corners, forming a realistic, lively, and beautiful painting.

Chapter 455- Worshipping the Heavens

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Nanjiang Governor-General Manor, Wuji Palace.

Under the help of his servant, Ouyang Shuo donned his coronation costume and crown. On the left side of his waist hung the Chixiao Sword, while the Qilin Golden Seal hung on his right.

After he wore everything, he walked out of the Wuji Palace, and exited through the gates.

At the main gate, a carriage specifically crafted for the Lord was already prepared. Five elite Qingfu Horses pulled the carriage, their fur entirely green.

The entire carriage was not locked up but open instead. On the top, there was an imperial canopy design. Ouyang Shuo boarded the carriage and walked toward the Temple of Heaven. Along the way, the Divine Martial Guards stood at attention.

Under the blue sky, the marble floored Temple of Heaven seemed endless and vast.

The Divine Martial Guards carefully guarded the Temple of Heaven. Sentries stood guard every three to five steps. This subgroup of the Divine Martial Guards only had two hundred people; they were the core strength that guarded Ouyang Shuo. They never headed out to war with the army.

They all had solemn bearings, as their fresh red divine martial capes floated in the wind.

On the Temple of Heaven square, in front of the Yellow Emperor Temple, all the important generals and civil servants apart from Baiqi had gathered. According to their ranks, they stood orderly on the sides of the square.

Elder Official Xiao He stood at the front of the group.

Beside him was the principal of the Army Military Academy, Sun Wu.

Closely behind them were the four directors, then Honglu Temple Zhang Yi, Shanhai Magistrate Zhang Wenzhong, and Lianzhou Governor Wei Ran. Lastly, there were the secretaries and the few prefects of Lianzhou Prefecture.

They had also invited the various deans and lecturers of Xinan University and Army Military Academy to the ceremony. Apart from that, they also invited two hundred odd student representatives from the two schools.

All of them wore a standardized uniform, and they all looked majestic.

On the left side of the square, naturally, it was the philosophers.

The ancestor of philosophy, Jiang Shang, was the deacon of the ceremony. As such, he stood at the front.

Closely behind him was Kong Zi, Lao Zi, Mozi, and Han Feizi. Further behind was Zhuang Zi, Meng Zi, Lu Buwei, Sheng Dao, Xun Zi, Huishi, Zhou Yan, and Su Qin, the representative figures of the nine school of thoughts.

Lastly, there stood the representatives of the other factions and school of thoughts.

Apart from that, they also extended an invitation to the scholars who decided to move into Shanhai City.

This was also the first time that all the philosophers had gathered together.

Such a scene would only occur once in a lifetime.

At the two sides of the Yellow Emperor Temple stood a hundred odd ritualists and music officials the Culture and Education Division trained. The ritualists were in charge of arranging the sacrificial ceremony items, while the music officials were in charge of all the tunes and music during the ceremony.

On the large square stood four hundred odd people, but it was not a tight fit at all.

Each group stood orderly and strictly arranged by rank.

Although the ceremony had not begun, the square was utterly silent and extremely dignified.

Undeniably, they needed to conduct this worship ceremony before the philosophers’ debate. Ouyang Shuo wanted to use this chance to display the power and ability of Shanhai City.

The carriage stopped at its designated area and Ouyang Shuo slowly disembarked.

Under the shine of the sun, Ouyang Shuo seemed larger than life, his presence domineering.

Secretary Bai Nanpu loudly proclaimed, “Shanhai City Lord, Nanjiang Governor-General, Lianzhou Lord arrives!"

The Nanjiang Governor-General post that the imperial court granted him was just a position. To Ouyang Shuo, the Lianzhou Lord title held the most value, and it was also one of his significant titles as a Lord.

"Greetings, Lord!"

Xiao He led the officials to greet and bow to him.

"Greetings, Lianzhou Lord!"

Jiang Shang led the philosophers; they similarly bowed, as they greeted.

In the entire square, only Ouyang Shuo still stood up straight.

Seeing such a scene was enough to make one's blood boil.

When he saw Kong Zi and the others bow to him, Ouyang Shuo felt an immense sense of pride.

During the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, the philosophers were really respectful to the Lords. Hence, in such a situation, Ouyang Shuo could accept their bows and greetings.

The taste of power truly made one feel drunk.

Even if the road forward had many thorns that he would have to face alone, Ouyang Shuo would have no regrets.

His mindset was slowly improving.

A truly mighty Lord was rising in the wilderness. The future Ouyang Shuo would act even colder; he would toss aside his burdens completely and use his own power to climb to the apex.

He had to complete his mission to become an overlord in this life.

Ouyang Shuo nodded, “Do away with the formalities."

"Thank you, Lord!"

"Thank you, Lianzhou Lord!"

Under the guidance of the ritualist, Ouyang Shuo sat right in front of the offering.

Observing this, Xiao He announced, “Please take your seats, the offering has begun!"

"Welcome, Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor."

As his words finished, the music officials started playing the music and the drums.

The sound spread across the Temple of Heaven, past the city walls of the imperial city, and throughout Shanhai City.

The commoners in the city were praying at their own homes, similarly worshipping the Yellow Emperor. Instantly, the invisible power of incense gathered around the Yellow Emperor Statue.

Jiang Shang moved forward and raised his hands toward the sky, “Ancestor Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor, please return!"

Xiao He sang, “Dianbi."

Following which, they followed a set of complicated rituals.

The entire ceremony was exceedingly strict and severe; they did not miss anything out.

Be it Kong Zi or Lao Zi, they were all knowledgeable about such ceremonies, so they could not afford to make a mistake.

After the three offerings, Xiao He sang, "Read the blessings."

Jiang Shang faced the altar of the Yellow Emperor and knelt, as he read the blessings.

"Gaia 2nd year, 8th month, 6th day, bright and aunt day. Shanhai City commoners, as well as philosophers, have gathered here at the Shanhai City Yellow Emperor Temple to worship our Ancestor, Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor. Our ancestor has performed many good deeds, building the palace and blessing our people. Teaching us agriculture and letting us live. Riding cows and horses, opening up roads and paths. Correcting our dressing and creating books and traditions. A Lord everyone worshipped; someone who united the nine states. Pushed for education and for everyone to practice the same religion. The core of Chinese culture; the pride of our people. The pinnacle of the Chinese, the dragon bloodline will continue. In the wilderness, the philosophers will rise. Worshipping the ancestor; please bless us with prosperity. The worship ceremony is complete!"

After the blessings were read, Xiao He sang, "Enjoy the wine and meat."

Yet another set of complicated rituals.

Lastly Xiao He sang, "Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor has left; the worship ceremony has been completed!"

Only then did they finish the entire ceremony.

The moment it ended, the Yellow Emperor Statue suddenly emitted a golden glow. The radiance directly shone past the temple and spread across the entire Shanhai City.

Seeing such a scene, be it the philosophers or the commoners, they all felt delighted beyond tears.

A sign of god!

"The ancestor has sent a sign!"

At the corner of his face, Ouyang Shuo let out a smile.

The Yellow Emperor showing his spirit was enough to prove that Ouyang Shuo’s city running standards were recognized. As a Lord, his morals were approved.

Only a city ran well could receive such an auspicious sign.

Especially Kong Zi, a smile covered his face.

Originally, Kong Zi thought that the Lianzhou Lord had exploited Wei Yang. As such, some of the people in the territory would complain and feel unhappy. Who would have guessed that such a scene would occur?

At the same time, a system notification sounded out by his ear.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi. Ancestor auspicious sign has descended onto Shanhai City, 2 point increase in people’s sentiment, instant 25% increase the quality of the people in the city. Congratulations!"

Don't think that 2 points were very little. One must know that Shanhai City had reached 92 in this category, so they were already near the max. Each point was exceptionally precious.

The matter was not over, following which, another system notification rang.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, Yellow Emperor Temple has been worshipped by the philosophers. Stats have greatly increased."

Name: Yellow Emperor Temple

Type: Hidden Building

Function: 50% increase in resident satisfaction, 20% increase in reputation of territory.

Specialty: Ancestor Blessing (55% increase in body quality of residents). Cultural Prosperity (30% increase in resident culture).

Evaluation: the Yellow Emperor Temple has the name of "First Temple in The World" and is where the south Chinese people worshipped the ancestor of the Chinese race.

The worshipped Yellow Emperor Temple had a new specialty, and its other stats also rose.

Ouyang Shuo did not expect to receive such a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

Thinking about this point, Ouyang Shuo turned his eyes to the Confucius Temple and the Martial Temple beside the Yellow Emperor Temple. Not because of other reasons, but because Kong Zi and Jiang Shang were present.

Such a scene was also once in a lifetime.

Apart from Shanhai City, no other territory could have such an overpowered opportunity.

After worshipping the Yellow Emperor, the next step would be to move to Xinan University for the philosophers’ debate.

However, Ouyang Shuo hurriedly kept Kong Zi and Jiang Shang. He asked them to rewrite the horizontal inscriptions in the Confucius and Martial Temples respectively to act as a memory of such an occasion.

When the both of them heard his request, they did not reject it.

Of course, without the previous scene, Kong Zi probably would not have agreed. One must know that Kong Zi was an exceedingly humble person. He would not easily leave any personal writings.

When he obtained the precious writings, Ouyang Shuo felt delighted. He immediately asked Xu Shuda to follow it and rewrite the horizontal inscriptions.

Ouyang Shuo wanted to see what kind of changes would occur to the two temples.

Following which, Ouyang Shuo led everyone to Xinan University.

Seated scholars filled up the entirety of the philosophers’ platform.

Ouyang Shuo sat at the front of the hall; he was prepared to quietly listen.

On the platform, there were only three people, Jiang Shang, Kong Zi, and Han Feizi.

The debate of Confucius and Legalism had entered its second stage.

Oddly enough, be it Kong Zi or Han Feizi, neither looked desperate to win. Ouyang Shuo had a feeling that this debate might have a wholly different outcome.

Chapter 456- Land of Culture

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Xinan University, Philosophers’ Platform.

Kong Zi and Han Feizi did not go straight at each other's throats, nor did they try to pinpoint each other's faults. The entire debate was peaceful. Rather than calling it a debate, it was more akin to a sharing and exchanging of ideas.

Be it Kong Zi or Han Feizi, they had hung around the wilderness for a long time, so they had a clear understanding of the social structure of the wilderness. These experiences had a hefty influence on their ideas.

Not only that, the players also influenced both of them.

That was right, players like Ouyang Shuo. The China Region was so huge, and there were many hidden dragons and tigers. Even other territories would more or less use an advanced ruling system that contained elements taken from the real world.

These new and special systems and the bold ideals of these territories undoubtedly came as a huge blow to both of them.

The world in the game and the Warring States Period were two completely different concepts.

However, they were saints. No matter how the world changed, their ideals would still stay strong. From the things they learned through their travels, solely a few words about it could make one reflect and think deeply.

"Amazing!"

Within the hall, cheers would regularly erupt.

Even as you grow old, you would continue to learn.

These two knowledgeable heavyweights used their own actions to give all the philosophers a real lesson.

In the future, Confucianism and Legalism, even the rest of the philosophers, would continue to have debates. However, it would have a new requirement—they would need to accept the thinkings of other. They must not hold onto the path and close themselves up; they develop with the times.

Lastly, Jiang Shang walked up the stage.

"Philosophers, each faction and school of thinking has its strengths and weaknesses. Debating is not for deciding a victor but to motivate one another. Let's hope that this age of debating lasts forever!"

Ouyang Shuo stood up and led the applause.

The age of debating, well said.

The regret the Spring and Autumn philosophers felt was not because of who won or lost, but because the debating atmosphere and cultural platform was totally wiped away. It only allowed one school of thought and one faction to take the stage.

This action was good in that it preserved a rule, but to cultural progression and thinking, it was detrimental.

Ouyang Shuo turned around and looked at all the philosophers. Then, he made a solemn promise.

"Shanhai City will accept everyone and every school of thought. We won't cling solely on one faction or school of thought. Every philosopher can move into Shanhai City and lay their roots here."

Within the hall, thunderous applause broke out.

At this point, the philosophers’ debate officially ended.

The moment it ended, a system notification sounded out in his ear.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyu for completing the A rank quest ‘Reappear philosopher's debate.’ Player rewarded 4000 merit points and 40,000 reputation points."

……

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, Shanhai City is awarded the title of ‘Land of Culture’. Please take a look."

Ouyang Shuo immediately looked at the stats that the title granted.

Land of Culture: 45% increase in education standards of people, 10% increase in culture value of territory, 25% increase in civil servant standards, 35% increase in talent attraction rate.

As expected from such a title. With it, Shanhai City did not need to worry about failing to attract talents.

This completed the grand event. However, it did not end just yet.

Ouyang Shuo had past through many trials and hardships. Now, he had finally obtained the recognition of Jiang Shang after the debate. This ancestor of the philosophers accepted Ouyang Shuo’s invitation, and he officially became the principal of Xinan University.

The moment the news went out, the philosophers were shocked.

The first to express their interest were the Confucians. Although Kong Zi still mainly took traveling and learning as his core, he announced that he would teach at the university for a month.

The moment the news went out, all the Confucians in the world were stunned.

Before this, Kong Zi had travelled around. He would hurry around and travel mysteriously, never living for long in an area. This time, he would spend a month here, breaking the old precedence. One could foresee that in the next few days, many Confucians would swarm in to Shanhai City to listen to him.

Ouyang Shuo instructed Fan Zhongyan to use this opportunity to recruit some talents.

This event wiped away the unhappiness and disadvantage Ouyang Shuo felt because of the Qin Shihuang incident. Who knows, maybe those Confucians who left Xianyang and were ready to seclude themselves would come to Shanhai City.

Apart from Kong Zi, Meng Zi also accepted Ouyang Shuo's invitation to become the Dean of the Economics College. He would help to spread and research of economics.

Along with Meng Zi, a large number of Confucians stayed too.

The economics college now brimmed with talent.

In the future, the college would produce a large number of economics professors for the territory.

However, there was still one cause for regret. Due to the presence of Kong Zi, even if Meng Zi chose to base himself in Shanhai, it did not mean that Confucianism had moved in. One could foresee that Confucianism would probably not base themselves in any territory.

Following behind Confucianism was Legalism.

The powerhouse of Legalism, Han Feizi, accepted Ouyang Shuo's invitation to set up a law college. Apart from that, Sheng Dao would also become the vice dean of the law college.

With these two huge heads forming the base of the Law Division, they would develop Legalism disciples including commissioners, jail officers, and forensics officers.

The other representative figure of Legalism, Shen Buhai, entered the Nanjiang Governor-General House to work. Compared to the others, he was more ambitious.

Not because of other reasons, but only because the main ideology his faction pushed for was technique.

His technique was a blade, a blade created for the lord. Hence his technique could only have place through serving a Lord.

Using this blade, the Lord would have the power to kill, and his position as the Lord of the territory would not be threatened

Apart from using the knife to blade, one must have the ability to control the officials.

In other words, they must have the ability to monitor, test and prevent the officials from misusing their powers.

The above two were acts that they showed to the world. Apart from such Yang methods, they must also utilize Ying methods that were hidden in the dark.

The Lord needed to place ears around, to understand the situation amongst his officials. The moment he found any problems or schemes, he could prevent or sack the related individuals.

Ouyang Shuo understood Shen Buhai's ability, so he immediately thought of a suitable position. It was the Safety Division that he had always wanted to create.

Shen Buhai was greatly attracted toward Ouyang Shuo's suggestion, so he happily accepted the job.

Just like that, before anyone else knew anything, they secretly established the biggest intel organization in Shanhai City.

Under his suggestion, they named the division the Shanhai Guards; they would guard and protect the power and administrative ability of Shanhai.

The Shanhai Guards was not only in charge of monitoring the officials, but they also kept an eye on the Black Snake Guards and the Military Intelligence Division.

Shen Buhai was appointed as the commander.

Apart from him, Shanhai City also recruited a bunch of Legalism and Mohism scholars to join in.

That's right, Mohists.

Following Confucianism and Legalism, Mohism also made its stand.

Mozi accepted Ouyang Shuo’s suggestion and became the dean of the natural sciences college.

Mohism had vast amounts of knowledge in the areas of Cognition, Logic, Geometry, Optics, Mechanics, and Engineering.

It was highly suitable for Mozi to become the dean.

The moment he accepted the role, a system notification sounded out.

"System Notification: Mohism representative figure Mozi has entered Shanhai Territory and joined the natural science college to recruit disciples. Philosophers’ school of thought, Mohism, has officially based itself in Shanhai City."

……

System Notification: Mohism has officially moved in to Shanhai City. Awarded the title, Land of Mohism, Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi!"

……

Ouyang Shuo smiled and took a look at the stats.

Land of Mohism: 35% increase in territory technology levels, 40% increase in siege weapons research efficiency, 15% increase in territory talent skill familiarity, 10% increase in territory law and order.

As expected, Mohism mainly increased the skill branches of the territory.

The research of the Mohists on siege weapons and siege tactics was first rate. Apart from Mozi, they also had another important figure who would become a chief at the Army Military Academy.

Additionally, their scholars would also enter the academy to teach matters such as engineering, city building, and sieging.

Amongst the Mohists, apart from the research faction, there was another faction adept at martial arts.

The Shanhai Guards recruited this faction. Furthermore, the commoner intel network they had created would be placed under the control of the Shanhai Guards.

Ouyang Shuo specially made one of the best disciples of Mozi the Shanhai Guard Garrison Officer, his position only lower than Commander Shen Buhai.

Hence, the newly established Shanhai Guards became a place of both Mohism and Legalism.

Although Ouyang Shuo trusted Shen Buhai, he would not completely trust him. Instead, he would try to balance the powers between the Shanhai Guards. Only then could he fully control them in his hands.

Be it Shen Buhai or the Mohists, to control the power of the Shanhai Guards, they needed the support of Ouyang Shuo.

An organization like the Shanhai Guards was the easiest way for subordinates to wrestle leadership and render it useless.

Ouyang Shuo knew the importance of the organization, so he would prevent that from happening. Apart from letting Mohism and Legalism control one another, he also had a trump card—Cui Tianqi and the other disciples training in the special forces camp.

Cui Tianqi was his real right hand men.

In the future, the kind of role he could play in the Shanhai Guards would depend on him.

Mohism now held really high positions in both the universities and the Shanhai Guards. Their position could be compared to that of Legalism and Confucianism, as expected from a large school of thought that had a solid foundation and ability.

Out of the four main schools of thought, only Taoism was determined to not stay. After the debate, Laozi, Zhuang Zi, and the rest all disappeared.

The entire Shanhai City slowly regained its calmness and peace.

Chapter 457- Land of Philosophers

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Out of the philosopher groups, other than Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, and Taoism, the other factions and school of thoughts all had disciples move in. More than half chose to either study in Xinan University or accept disciples.

The philosophers were the best at the research of theories.

Hence, Xinan University was the most suitable place for them. With all the philosophers moving in, Xinan University was comparable to any learning institute in history, probably even better than all of them.

After all, which learning institute had Jiang Shang, Han Feizi, Mozi, Sheng Dao, Xu Hang, and more?

They also preserved the philosophers’ platform from the debate.

Based on Principal Jiang Shang’s plans, every month in the future, Xinan University would hold one debate.

The age of debating was slowly showing its glamor.

From this philosophers’ debate, Shanhai City had reaped insane rewards. However, amongst the joy, they also felt numerous regrets.

Hui Shi, Sun Long, Lu Buwei of the miscellaneous school of thought, Su Qin, and the others, were like Lao Zhuang. They left right after the debate ended.

Especially Su Qin, no matter how much Xiao He insisted, Su Qin rejected him. Based on Su Qin’s words, he did not want to work together with Zhang Yi. He wanted a different platform.

When Ouyang Shuo received the news, he seemed calm and composed. However, a flash of coldness appeared in his eyes. That afternoon, Cui Tianqi, who was still undergoing training, was summoned to his reading room.

"Lord!"

Since this was the first time Ouyang Shuo had summoned him, Cui Tianqi felt both nervous and excited.

"Do you dare to kill someone?"

Cui Tianqi felt a shiver run down his spine, but he cupped his hands and said, "if the Lord wants me to, I'll jump into flames without hesitation." When he trained in Yazhou, Cui Tianqi's sword had already tasted human blood—the blood of raiders.

When Ouyang Shuo heard this response, he shook his head in amusement. Who knew who he learned those words from.

Ouyang Shuo picked out a portrait from his desk and said expressionlessly, “Get rid of this person."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Cui Tianqi walked up and carefully accepted the portrait. He took a look before he stored it away. He definitely would not ask who the person was or why the Lord wanted to kill him.

No matter what the Lord instructed, he just had to act.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he nodded his head, pleased. Although Cui Tianqi was young, he was very mature and reliable. He knew his position and was not hot blooded, a real good seedling.

"Remember, you must keep this matter a secret. Don't let anyone know."

"Understood!"

Cui Tianqi had a solemn appearance, and his heartbeat quickened a beat.

If this matter was revealed, even Ouyang Shuo could not imagine how he would deal with the consequences. After all, it was truly unbecoming for a Lord who announced during the philosophers’ debate that he would accept everyone and be gracious to assassinate a philosopher the next day.

Ouyang Shuo would not give any justification. However, anyone who stood in his way was an enemy. Toward any enemy, Ouyang Shuo naturally would not grant any mercy.

If you wanted to blame someone, just blame that person for not knowing what was good for them.

"Go! After you finish, go back to the base; there's no need to come back. If you fail, you must inform me straight away. Definitely do not do anything rash."

As this was Cui Tianqi's first mission, Ouyang Shuo had to specifically instruct him.

"En!"

Cui Tianqi nodded his head like a little kid. Then, he turned around and left the reading room.

Ouyang Shuo looked at the fading back of Cui Tianqi and let out a soft sigh. Who knows whether leading this kid on this path was right or wrong. If Cui Yingyu knew what he did, she would probably be triggered.

At 4 PM, just when Ouyang Shuo was dealing with official documents, a system notification suddenly sounded out in his ear.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, Shanhai City's Confucius and Martial Temple has obtained the writings of both saints; its glory shines. Shanhai City awarded the title of ‘Civil and Military Assemble’.”

Xu Shuda was really efficient; he had quickly carved the words written in the morning into boards.

Civil and Military Assemble: 15% increase in quality of civil servants, 15% increase in quality of soldiers.

Although the name of this title seemed overpowered, its stats were only decent; it could not be compared with the other titles. At least, it was better than nothing, so Ouyang Shuo was still pleased.

Unexpectedly, the changes did not end there.

At this moment, another system notification sounded out.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, Land of Military Strategists, Land of Legalism, Land of Agriculture, Land of Mohism, Land of Culture, Maneuvering Amongst Political Groups, Civil and Military Assemble, these seven titles can be merged."

Who knew that Shanhai City had actually amassed so many titles; it truly drove one crazy.

The last merger of titles had let Ouyang Shuo realize that merging would not result in harm. Instead, it would result in a strengthened title.

However, this time, he was not merging gold titles like Home of Fist Arts but platinum titles.

"Merge!"

Ouyang Shuo gritted his teeth and decided to take the gamble.

"System Notification: Congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi, Shanhai City has obtained the title of Land of Philosophers; the seven other titles have automatically disappear."

Ouyang Shuo eagerly checked out the new title, as his heartbeat quickened. He was afraid that some accident might happen.

Title: Land of Philosophers

Specialty: 25% increase in territory reputation, one grade increase in territory commoner potential, 25% increase in territory industry prosperity, 25% increase in the four territory indices.

Unique Specialty: Respect the King (25% increase in deterrence to outside races).

Evaluation: Merged from numerous titles and buffed by the philosophers; it raises every industry. Unique, cannot be improved, cannot be traded.

"Phew!"

Ouyang Shuo let out a huge sigh of relief; he had made the correct gamble.

The original seven titles, a total of twenty-six stats, were all combined into four specialties and one unique specialty. Although each of them seemed simple, it meant a lot.

The buff to the territory’s reputation, needless to say, was a pretty standard speciality, but it was still a rare one.

However, the insane part was the increase in grade of the commoners’ potential. During the last system update, their potential was split into A, B, C, and D; a huge divide separated each grade.

This grade affected the NPCs speed in raising their skills, their ability to break bottlenecks, and increase research standards. It was similar to the bone structure stat of players.

Now, this buff would raise their potential by one grade. What kind of concept was that? It was incredibly overpowered. Just this one specialty was better than the specialities that the other seven titles granted him.

Undeniably, under this buff, the NPCs with an A grade would improve rapidly. Who knew whether those with original A grades would experience any change?

The problem was that the A grade was already the highest. In that case, did Gaia have any hidden settings planned? This problem could only be solved in the future.

Raising the prosperity of industries, be it agriculture, business, handicraft, was an overall raise.

This specialty not only took over the title of Land of Agriculture and Land of Mohism, it even improved the two stats, covering all the industries.

Raising the territory indices was a huge overall increase for the four indices. It was similar to what the Land of Culture and the Land of Military Strategists brought. Apart from that, it also helped to raise the economic index.

Last of all was a totally new concept, the unique specialty, Respect the King.

It was obvious that this stat replaced the diplomacy stat. It improved it and even directly increased the prestige and deterrence of the Lord.

Strength!

When Ouyang Shuo read the information about this unique specialty, he could not help but grin.

The title of Land of Philosophers was the best explanation of this philosophers’ debate. With this title, Shanhai City was in an unbeatable position in the China region.

In terms of NPC quality, no other territory could compare with them.

In the future, the territory would explode, and they could receive endless benefits.

Along with the philosophers’ debate coming to an end, the scholars who wanted to work in Shanhai City had already expressed their intentions. They would move out of Juxian House and enter the official residence area.

Those who wanted to could even directly move into the two education areas, which had many facilities and hundreds of mansions.

Those who did not move in started to pack up and leave Shanhai City. If they were scholars from the imperial city, naturally, they left through the teleportation formation.

If they were historical people added to the game after the war ended like Lu Buwei, they would disappear into the wilderness. With Gaia’s buff, they could travel thousands of miles in a day.

Ouyang Shuo had previously asked Wei Yang about this matters.

It seem that each historical person would receive a Divine Travelling Talisman from Gaia. With this, they could travel thousands of miles in a day and remain totally safe.

If they choose to work for a territory, Gaia would take back that the talisman.

When Ouyang Shuo heard about this, he felt incredibly envious. Such a talisman was pretty much the god weapon of god weapons. If he had such a talisman, he could visit territories everywhere, everyday.

Tomorrow, Lu Buwei and the others would leave.

That night, Juxian House was bustling. The philosophers were still relishing and reliving what had happened during the day, and they only dispersed late at night.

Just as everyone fell asleep, a black dressed man sneakily arrived outside Su Qin's room. Seeing that no one was around, he carefully pushed open the door.

After he entered, he did not even stop. He directly charged straight at Su Qin, who was deep in his slumber.

Coldness flashed across the man’s eyes, as he used his hand to press onto Su Qin's mouth, while the other hand slashed at his throat.

This representative figure of diplomacy fell just like that.

The black dressed man quickly took out a black bag and placed the body inside. Then, he left the room and disappeared into the night sky.

The next day, even if people found out that Su Qin was not present, they would just assume that he had left early.

The night was just so dark.

Chapter 458- Personally Leading

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

8th month, 17th day, Shanhai City.

Xiao He represented Ouyang Shuo to send off the philosophers. Weirdly enough, Xiao He could not seem to find any signs of Su Qin. Thinking back to Ouyang Shuo’s expression, Xiao He felt a chill run down his spine.

Although the event had ended, Shanhai City had grown busier instead.

The establishment of the Shanhai Guards, the law college, the change in personnel of Xinan University and Army Military Academy, the welcoming of the Confucians scholars who came over to listen to Kong Zi, and more.

Luckily, Ouyang Shuo had officials handling all these matters, so he did not need to personally settle the matter. After dealing with the philosophers’ debate, Ouyang Shuo turned his eyes back to the Zhaoqing Battlefield.

Based on the intel Baiqi had sent, just yesterday, fifty thousand alliance army vanguard troops had housed themselves in Yun An County. Yun An County was located north of Cangcheng County, just a short distance away.

Shortly behind them, the hundred thousand alliance army main force also arrived.

A huge battle was about to erupt.

At the same time, the 2nd and 4th division of the Tiger Legion had just crossed the Qiongzhou Straits. To rush to Cangcheng County, they still needed two weeks.

The anabasis squadron, on the other hand, had reached Jiaozhou Harbor.

Along with the alliance army gathering up, on the main battlefield, Shanhai City Army did not have any advantage anymore. At this point, it was time to send out their trump card, the Guards Division, to assist them.

Black Snake had previously promised him that they had successfully infiltrated Wulong County, and they had the Lord there sign an alliance contract with Shanhai City. Ouyang Shuo promised him the position of a County Magistrate and a rank of grade 1 viscount.

The Guards Division could teleport there at anytime.

The only problem was based on the battle report, the alliance army had eighty thousand troops at the back. Would it be enough to purely relied on the Guards Division?

At least till now, South Alliance had not shown any weakness.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo was ready to personally set out. Firstly, he had settled the required matters in Shanhai City, so they did not need him present. Secondly, he wanted to get in on the action. After all, staying in the city was really boring, and his body was growing sore.

Once he took this trip, he could not return to Shanhai City in a short time.

The Battle of Zhaoqing, logistical preparations, the Battle of Chiyou, and the like would definitely take up a lot of time. He would probably return to Shanhai City at the time of the next battle map.

The fifth battle map trigger point would be the presence of fifteen prefectures in the country.

Twenty odd days had passed since the Battle of Julu ended. In this period of time, King County, Pill Sun County, and Xunlong County had all upgraded to prefecture grade.

The China region was seven territories from reaching the fifteen prefecture target. Ouyang Shuo predicted that within two months, they would not trigger the fifth battle.

Despite this, before he left, Ouyang Shuo still needed to carefully plan all matters.

"Men!"

"Present!"

"Summon the Guards Division. Tomorrow, they will set off together with me!"

"Yes my Lord!"

When the guard heard his orders, he excitedly turned around and left. If the Lord was about to head to battle, their two hundred personal guards squad would have to follow.

At 2 PM, Ouyang Shuo gathered the four directors and Xiao He to discuss certain matters.

In just one morning, the news that the Lord would head out to battle had spread amongst the entire Nanjiang Governor-General House. Although in the eyes of Xiao He and the civil servants, it was normal for the Lord to take charge from Shanhai City, they did not dare to try and persuade him.

In a chaotic world, for the Lord to personally lead the troops was really normal.

"For this trip out, I don't think I'll return in a short amount of time. During this time, apart from important matters that will be sent through letter to me, Senior Minister Xiao He will handle all daily matters."

This decision was the outcome of Ouyang Shuo’s heavy deliberation.

During the war between Chu and Han, Liu Bang went to war, while Xiao He guarded the back and ran the country. Hence, Xiao He had the ability to take up this task.

The only disadvantage of this choice was that Xiao He had just joined, so his prestige was not too high. However, through the philosophers’ debate, he had shown beautiful work and started to gain recognition.

Furthermore, with the instructions of Ouyang Shuo, there would not be much problem. This was also the reason why Ouyang Shuo called the four directors over. As long as the four of them supported him, everything would be okay.

When Xiao He heard this command, he stood up and bowed solemnly, “Thank you, Lord, for your trust." Xiao He knew the preciousness and degree of importance of this trust.

When the four directors saw his actions, they all nodded one by one.

Ouyang Shuo nodded and continued, Toward the four departments, I have some plans."

"Please instruct us!"

"Firstly, the Military Affairs Department. Apart from supporting the front lines, you have two more missions. First, perfect the logistics support system. Second, set the military rewards system and the military rank system."

"Yes, my Lord!"

This matter was of utmost importance to him, and Du Ruhui understood its significance.

"Next, the Administration Department." Ouyang Shuo looked at Fan Zhongyan, "The department will make use of the philosophers’ debate and the new people to start a personnel change."

The four directors and Xiao He were astonished; they could all smell blood.

"We took over the other two prefectures of Qiongzhou and Leizhou just a short while ago. To ensure the stability of the two, in terms of officials, we had to take a discount. Now that stability has been restored, it's time to solidify our rule."

Ouyang Shuo was resolute, "I recommend that the Administration Department use one to two months to test all the officials in the territory. The worthy will rise, while the poor will be sacked. It's a good opportunity for the students that graduated Xinan University and the scholars we have recruited."

To put it bluntly, of the current officials in the territory, more than half lacked proper training and were raised from the ground up.

The reason why such a situation occurred was naturally because they lacked talents when they were building the territory. Even Shanhai City had faced the same situation, with Zhao Dewang and some others as examples.

As Shanhai City had taken over those territories, their problems were now theirs.

However, undeniably, amongst this batch of people, the fire had moulded a few talents like Zhao Dexian. However, sixty percent and above remained useless, slowly becoming a burden to the territory.

Ouyang Shuo was slowly receiving news of corrupt officials in the various Houses and counties. Some officials had started to leech off the people. Ouyang Shuo naturally could not tolerate such actions.

The territory did not have a complete talent selection system like the imperial examinations. Even if they wanted to implement such examinations, they currently lacked the ability. At the current stage, they could only choose personnel through the tests and examinations of the Administration Department.

This job not only used up a lot of time, but it also affected the interests of many parties.

If they did not act carefully, situations might occur.

To prevent such a scenario, they had to implement these tests quicker, and they needed to remove this tumor from the territory.

If they just let these people do as they wished, this small cancer would continue to grow into a huge aberration. At that time, not only would they hurt the people, it could even affect the entire rule.

Ouyang Shuo was exceedingly wary of this point.

This was also part of the reason for his establishment of the Shanhai Guards. The future Shanhai Guards would act as a sharp sword that hung over the heads of the civil servants and the military generals to instill fear.

In the road to kingship, wars only formed the surface, and internal rule was the main matter. Only by ruling well could one amass enough energy to start wars and expand.

If not, blindly expanding would mean destabilizing the base. In the end, just like a sandcastle, it would look good but crumble with a small push.

Undeniably, taking this job would make it extremely easy to make enemies.

Ouyang Shuo believed that only the fair and uncorrupt Fan Zhongyan could take this task.

"Xiwen, this matter depends on you."

"Don't worry, my Lord!"

The Lord’s worries aligned with his own. To him, as long as he could stabilize the rule and help the people, his personal loses did not mean anything.

Ouyang Shuo nodded; he believed that Fan Zhongyan had the ability to do so.

"Let's talk about the Internal Affairs Department."

When Wei Yang heard these words, he focused. From the missions the Lord had given to the Military Affairs Department and Administration Department, Wei Yang did not dare to lower his guard. The senses of the lord were truly sharp.

Each request he made cut directly into the jaguar of each department.

Wei Yang had heard that the Lord had single-handedly built the entire structure of the Nanjiang Governor-General House. Before this, he had some doubts; he vaguely thought that Fan Zhongyan and the others were acting humble.

Now that he thought about it, he was genuinely impressed.

Although the Lord was young, he had the foresight of a king. No wonder Fan Zhongyan, Du Ruhui, and other great people would respect him so much.

In truth, Wei Yang was not the only one shocked.

In Xiao He's heart, waves had also broke out. This was the first time he had seen the Lord plan for the future of the territory. He basically performed like a born king.

In comparison, the Liu Bang he had followed was nothing.

"The matter the Internal Affairs Department needs to handle would be the establishment of a perfect inspection, judgement, and review system. In the future, the case settling powers will be handed to the internal affairs director of each House and not their Prefect or County Magistrate."

This action broke the olden tradition.

In the olden days, the County Magistrate handled all cases.

In Ouyang Shuo’s eyes, such a choice was stupid.

A County Magistrate should take charge of the overall picture, not judge cases. This command aimed to make the Internal Affairs Department establish a real world politics and law committee.

In the department, the Law and Order Division was in charge of maintaining law and order and catching criminals, the Procuratorate Division would judge and review cases, while the Supervisory Division took charge of regulating officials and taking up charges.

Ouyang Shuo wanted to give up power and allow them to truly run. His first step was to remove the County Magistrates and the Prefects’ power to deal with cases.

Purely this first step was astonishing.

When Wei Yang heard this command, he felt his blood boil. The feeling of a huge burden had never felt so good.

Chapter 459- Territory Law System

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Ouyang Shuo looked toward Wei Yang before continuing.

"Apart from establishing a system, we must also develop professional officials. Luckily for us, we can make use of the recently built law college. Including the law system of the territory, we can use the resources of the law college."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Wei Yang nodded, highly motivated.

If one said that the Shanhai Guards supervised and monitored in silence, the Internal Affairs Department acted as the supervisory system. The Shanhai Guards were the method, while the department was the way.

The law system reflected the way of the Internal Affairs Department. With the system, the department would have something to rely on to solve and deal with cases. They would not have to based decisions solely on one person's deductions and experiences.

Only with the law system could the Internal Affairs Department have something to fall back on.

One could say that the law system formed the core of the entire department.

The law system was something that Ouyang Shuo had talked to Wei Yang about when the latter first took up the role. He only did this because the matter was too complicated, and it involved many aspects. It concerned too many things, so it was not something Wei Yang could handle alone.

The arrival of Han Feizi, Sheng Dao, and Shen Buhai let Ouyang Shuo heave a sigh of relief.

When the four heads of Legalism were free, they all showed a great amount of interest in the territory’s setting of the law system. This was also the reason why Han Feizi and Sheng Dao were willing to teach in the Xinan University.

For Legalists, if they could craft a suitable system, it would naturally be much better than any theory they could think up.

A system was a raise in the entire Legalism culture.

The four of them were confident that with the potential and development speed of Shanhai City, their system could radiate through the entire wilderness.

In this way, no matter what faction, they could not look down on Legalism.

However, due to these factors, they also needed to exercise extreme caution. Based on the calculations of Wei Yang, if they could finish a draft by the year end, it would be remarkable.

Apart from the four of them, the team also consisted of law experts from real life.

To these professionals, they had two motivations for joining in the creation of the system.

Firstly, they could use the chance to understand the thinking of the Legalists and open their own eyes. Although Legalism was different from modern day thinking, there were certain areas that overlapped.

Hence, be it for Wei Yang or the law professionals, working together presented a learning opportunity.

Wei Yang and the others were also very interested in the theories the law professionals pushed out.

Secondly, the law professionals wanted to make use of the chance to try out and explore.

In the future, when the spaceships reached planet Hope, the laws of the Federal Government would also need to change because of the societal structure and the running system changes.

The law professionals were exploring the section on laws for the Lord. How should the laws grant the Lord enough power but also monitor and supervise his or her actions?

This was a problem that the law world had not faced before. After all, the model of the territory on planet Hope would not have the same restrictions on the Lord. If not, it would affect their eagerness to explore.

Undoubtedly, this was an interesting question.

Hence, the law professionals living in Shanhai City saw the opportunity and decided to try out ideas and experiment.

Of course, there existed a time difference, one was olden times, the other modern. Their current law system would not work on planet Hope.

However, some of the laws were similar.

The law professionals were bored after all this time, so they naturally held a trying attitude and threw themselves into this project. Their eagerness even shocked their own family members.

Not only that, they also spread the news out amongst the law world, which made interested folks teleport over.

Amongst these law professionals, they had people who covered business laws, administrative law, economic law, and various important law topics. They greatly helped Shanhai in setting a law system.

Of course, when Ouyang Shuo met these professionals, he made it clear that this system's main goal was to protect the sole rule of the Lord.

If not, he definitely would not support the law system they designed. Ouyang Shuo naturally would not allow ideas like all humans are equal, freedom, and other such sayings.

His shamelessness shocked the professionals. Where would they find such a person, who could openly pronounce that he was the only one to hold power? Weren't such words supposed to be spoken in the dark?

Some professionals could not accept his attitude, which they perceived as arrogance, so they directly left. Ouyang Shuo politely sent them away; his attitude sincere and resolute.

Hence, even those who left could not say much. After all, each person had the right to chase for their own interests. Furthermore, this was just a game.

Of course, Ouyang Shuo’s attitude also left some of professionals awed. In their eyes, the exploration of planet Hope needed a talent like him.

Only an overlord could calm a chaotic time.

All in all, everyone had their own tastes.

……

After dealing with the Internal Affairs Department, he was left with the Financial Department.

"The Financial Department also has two matters to handle. Firstly, adjust the role of the Industry Division. The future Industry Division must focus on setting and leading the industrial strategies of the territory. As for the running of the territory, this aspect should be left to the locals. For example, the Three Flowers Wine factory, and the Langshan Minefields can be passed to Shanhai City. The hands of the Industry Division only needs to hold the mines, the military industry, the shipbuilding industry, and other core matters."

Cui Yingyu nodded to show that she had remembered his words.

Apart from the military industry, the future shipbuilding industry also had a bright future. Its profits could compare to the military industry.

Aside from the various Chambers of Commerce, adventure gamemode players also bought ships.

As they slowly opened up Yashan City, merchants ships and small-scale warships became hot products. Especially after Lin Jing’s exploration team found a treasure island; the other guilds went crazy, and they each formed their own exploration teams.

To players, it felt great to have the opportunity to explore the unknown. All of a sudden, sea exploration became a new craze.

Now, if a guild did not have a sea exploration team, they would not have the face to show themselves.

Based on Sun Xiaoyue’s words, the influx of people had reach nearly two thousand a day. Solely collecting teleportation fees was enough to cause their hands to ache.

Apart from that, when the various guilds went out to explore, they only had Yashan City as a supplies base. These sales alone generated more than half of Yashan City's income.

Ouyang Shuo saw the business opportunity, so he directly sent the excess equipment from the Shanhai City military to sell there.

The empty islands that players found came in a huge variety; there was a chance to encounter desolate beasts, rare mines, and even the burial places of pirates.

There was even a chance that they could find aboriginals. If they were unlucky, they might land on an island that pirates had taken as their base.

Of course, they were most likely to find an uninhabited island with nothing at all.

As there were many possibilities, the players felt their blood boil.

Of course, exploring came with risks. Amongst which, the part that gave the most headaches were naturally pirates. The Yashan Squadron had only removed the pirates in the vicinity of Yashan City.

Apart from pirates, deep in the oceans lurked giant beasts that also posed a huge threat to ships.

Rather than putting their hopes on the Yashan Squadron, some guilds like the War-Snow Rose Mercenary Group started to form up their own elite navy squad to face the pirates and water beasts.

After all, be it pirates or deep water beasts, although they were terrifying, they would leave behind amazing rewards if defeated.

A chase of riches and excitement aptly described the current situation.

Amongst the adventure gamemode players, especially the leaders of guilds, there were many with foresight. They had another goal—to prepare for the future country battle.

Everyone knew that in the future country battles, the enemy would most likely attack the various island countries. Especially Japan, which saw China as a nail in their sights that they needed to remove.

Maybe because the Lords had too much to consider, so they had some doubts. Adventure gamemode players were different. When their blood boiled, they were willing to do anything.

The various guilds did not lack hot blooded individuals.

Even Ouyang Shuo had participated in the war against Japan in his last life. The animosity and patriotism they felt was not something that players from other countries could understand.

Ouyang Shuo could still recall the high intensity of that battle.

In the end, the troops from the China region suffered heavy loses and retreated. This was the second exploration mission that the China region had formed up; they would not rest until they destroyed Japan.

Thinking about this matter, coldness flashed across his eyes.

The regret of his last life, he would end in this one.

Because of such considerations, the various guilds were eager to explore. The two navy squadrons that Shanhai City had built was also a clear sign.

Toward the foresight of Ouyang Shuo, the leaders of the guilds felt really respectful.

All of this was the result of Ouyang Shuo’s silent manipulation, and Lin Jing's exploration was also instructed by him.

To obtain victory in a country war, they needed to develop a strong navy. Solely depending on Shanhai City was not enough, so he needed to borrow the strength of the entire region.

Ouyang Shuo was playing a massive chess game.

Check out our first eBook here! The World Online - Rise of Shanhai!

Chapter 460- Era of Sea Travel

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

Apart from adventure gamemode players, Ouyang Shuo also treated lord gamemode players the same way.

In the future, if those territories located around the sea wanted to buy warships from Shanhai City, Ouyang Shuo would not reject them. He wanted to raise the navy strength of the China region from the start to prepare for country warfare.

As for whether doing so would in turn increase the navy strength of other territories and threaten Shanhai Territory, Ouyang Shuo did not fear such a scenario.

It was not due to arrogance or magnanimity. Any person with foresight could look past the obvious interests to achieve long run gain.

As the territory continued to expand, Ouyang Shuo had grown more confident, and his attention had started to break away from this small area. He had started to pay attention to the entire China region.

The higher you stood, the further you could look.

Strengthening oneself and forever suppressing your opponent was a reliable method. Moreover, it was time place the Yashan and Beihai Bay Squadron under some pressure.

Ouyang Shuo was confident that Shanhai City could easily reign as the overlord of the seas in the China region.

Based on what Cai Mao mentioned in the letter, Yanhuo Yaonie had performed stellarly in the 1st division of the Yashan Squadron, and he was improving at godspeed.

A naval star general was slowly being born.

Ouyang Shuo believed in Cai Mao's judgement. As such, before the Yashan Squadron set out, he promoted Yanhuo Yaonie to the position of deputy general of the Yashan Squadron 1st division, his position only lower than Cai Mao’s.

When the Yashan Squadron reached Jiaozhou Harbor and returned, if Yanhuo Yaonie performed well, Ouyang Shuo would allow him to lead a navy squadron. Moreover, he would grant Yanhou Yaonie the rank of chief general.

The island exploration boom did not just stimulate the shipbuilding industry. It also increased the trading in Yashan City.

For the rewards they gained from the explorations, some of the players were not willing to go back to the imperial cities to trade. As such, they directly dealt at Yashan City. Thanks to this, a bunch of guilds started to solely collect items from adventure gamemode players.

Amongst which, the biggest purchaser was Thread.

Just from relying on the resources gained from Five Finger Mountain and the islands, Thread managed to solve their resource problem. Under the leadership of Qing Sikou, the guild quickly moved onto the right path.

From the money spent by the adventure gamemode players in Yashan City, at least 10 percent entered the pockets of Thread. Thread produced everything adventure gamemode players needed, be it medicine, equipment, special items, bags, or anything else that adventure gamemode players needed.

Apart from that, as Thread was the first guild to move into Yashan City, the shops that they bought were all in prime locations and would definitely prosper.

Not talking about other matters, as Yashan City prospered, solely the value of the shops that Thread owned had doubled. Obviously, Qing Sikou would not stupidly sell her shops.

All of the above proved that Ouyang Shuo had fulfilled his promise to Thread.

Of course, Yashan City and Thread were both in a win-win relationship.

The rise of Thread was no doubt a huge humiliation and insult to Xingzhe Zichen and his associates. Some people had already predicted that in less than a year, Thread would regain their position as one of the top 10 guilds.

In comparison, Star Alliance was having a tough time.

Under the silent support of Shanhai City, Shadow Alliance, and Yimeng Pavilion had risen through the chaos and entered a stalemate against Jianqi Zongheng and Star Alliance.

A single party did not rule the current Jingdou. Instead, they formed a four way deadlock.

As a result, the growth of Star Alliance stunted. If Di Chen had not lent a helping hand at the crucial moment, Star Alliance would most probably fade from existence.

Putting it another way, the current Jingdou was a battle between Di Chen and Ouyang Shuo. The two guilds that they each supported were pitted against one another.

Star Alliance, who were able to gain the limelight for a while, had totally fallen. They were now just a chess piece.

The trading interests of players had let Yashan City become a trading city.

The development of Yashan City was enough to prove the strategic foresight of Ouyang Shuo. The potential of island cities was enough to make Lords located along the sea red with envy.

Ouyang Shuo had heard news that Xiong Ba had started to turn his attention to Yizhou Island. Similar to him, many other Lords had the same idea, including Xunlong Dianxue.

As an island that was similarly famous to Qiongzhou Island, and after witnessing the money making ability of Yashan City, Yizhou Island became a sausage that everyone wanted a bite of.

Even Ouyang Shuo had such thoughts.

However, Shanhai City was facing their own problems, so it was not the right time to join a battle for Yizhou Island.

No one knew who Yizhou Island would fall to in the end. However, no matter who took it, Ouyang Shuo planned to steal it sooner or later.

He was just so obnoxious!

Ouyang Shuo raised his head and looked toward Cui Yingyu, "Apart from that, the Industry Division needs to establish a freight squadron to totally open up the trade routes between the three prefectures. This trade can help stimulate the economy of the territory."

Ouyang Shuo also had another goal for building the freight squadron; he wanted to form a solid base for future long distance trade. It would help them develop talents and amass experience.

The next step naturally had to do with Jiaozhou Harbor, which would help to open up sea trade between Shanhai City and Lingnan Prefecture. After that, he would turn his eyes to the Quanzhou Harbor of the imperial city.

Step by step, they would set up Shanhai City’s sea trade network.

Undeniably, sea trade would be the core adventure of the territory. Ouyang Shuo had taken this point into account since the county grade.

Ouyang Shuo’s plan this time had something to do with the upcoming third system update. Now was the end of the 8th month, just four months till the 3rd year of Gaia.

Based on normal circumstances, Gaia would have one system update at the third year.

If nothing changed, according to his memory, the third system update would bring about a huge ecology change.

Naturally, Ouyang Shuo would use his advantages to plan for the future.

After Cui Yingyu nodded her head in acknowledgement, Ouyang Shuo ended the meeting.

Although Ouyang Shuo had just spoken a few words to the four departments, they would have to expend a lot of effort to achieve his goals.

As for the normal matters, Ouyang Shuo believed that they had the ability to decide for themselves. Even if they did not have the confidence, Xiao He was present to help settle problems.

Such a plan, even without Ouyang Shuo here, the territory could still develop as he had envisioned. He would quickly blow his competitors out of the water.

Ouyang Shuo could finally rest his worries and start leading his troops.

During dinner, Ouyang Shuo did not see any signs of Qing'er.

Although the Lord's Manor had expanded, they preserved the tradition of eating together. Although he had grown colder and colder, he did not really want to become a complete loner.

"Qing'er, that little brat, why isn't she here?"

"I know why." Cui Yingyu, who was sitting opposite to him, placed down her chopsticks, "Big Brother is going out tomorrow, right? Because of this, Qing'er wants to rush the inner armor and boots."

"That brat." Ouyang Shuo shook his head, as he felt warmth in his heart. These two little sisters were so smart, so smart that it made one’s heart feel pained, "Zisu, prepare a lunch box and send it to Qing'er."

"Yes, my Lord!"

"I also want to go!"

Bing'er, who was sitting to the left of Ouyang Shuo, started to become restless.

Ouyang Shuo knocked her little head, "You're not going; don't disturb her."

"Hen, Brother is so evil. I just want to go see sister; I won't be naughty." As she spoke, she turned her head and made an angry expression.

When Ouyang Shuo saw her response, he laughed in amusement.

"Hei, you still dare to spite your brother. I still haven't taught you a lesson for drawing a turtle on my face." Ouyang Shuo brought up an old matter.

When Bing'er saw him bring this up, her face turned bitter, and she did not dare to throw a tantrum. This matter had become a blot in her life. The smart Bing'er should not have acted so careless, allowing her brother have something over her.

After dinner, Ouyang Shuo dragged Song Jia to talk.

Ever since Tianshuang County fell, Song Jia had stayed in the Governor-General House and had not returned to the sect. She only felt relieved after she learned that her family had reached Cangcheng County.

Even so, her eyebrows were tightly locked every day.

The fall of Tianshuang County was a huge loss to her family. As one of them, she could not do anything, so she naturally blamed herself for the matter.

These few days, Ouyang Shuo was busy, so he did not have the time to console her. Tomorrow, he was going to leave, and who knows when he would return.

"Jia Jia don't worry. The fall of Tianshuang County is not a bad thing for the Song Family."

"En?" Song Jia felt confused; she laughed, "Blockhead, don't try to console me."

Ouyang Shuo shook his head, "Do you think that I'm lying to you?"

"Then tell me why it isn't a bad thing."

Hope filled her eyes; she was like a drowning person that yearned to grab onto something. She knew that Ouyang Shuo would not spout things randomly. Since he spoke such words, he might really have something in mind.

"Although your father managed to win over power, he didn't win it cleanly. Your second uncle and some of the family still weren't happy, and the Yuan Family butted in. These uncertain elements all disappeared with the fall of Tianshuang County."

Along with the fall of Tianshuang County, Song Tianli had lost the faith of his father. After experiencing blow after blow, Song Jia's grandfather had decided to retire and live life happily.

As for the Yuan Family, they still had a score to settle. How would they interfere in the Song Family business?

With that, Song Tianxiong taking over control of the Song Family would not face any obstructions. The only bad point was that as the Lord, Song Wen had to take responsibility for the fall of Tianshuang County.

He had to take responsibility for this failure.

Luckily, still had Ouyang Shuo’s support behind them.

In truth, the fall of Tianshuang County was something that Ouyang Shuo held the most responsibility for, and he should take most of the blame. At the appropriate time, he would compensate Song Wen.

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