I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

After dealing with the new school curriculum, the dynasty turned its attention to Japan.

He was confident that Li Shu would bring him down.

However, governance is a bit more difficult.

To reiterate, China's rise has been too rapid, naturally resulting in a much weaker accumulation of management talent.

Even within the Celestial Empire, it is barely enough now, let alone in other places.

Moreover, there are also Ü-Tsang, Döghan, Yarkand, and other regions that originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty and China, but later became independent or semi-independent, and are still waiting for the Celestial Empire to reclaim them.

In comparison, the dynasty preferred to send talented administrators from the Celestial Empire to govern these areas and improve the lives of the people there, rather than to Japan.

However, faced with Japan's provocation, he had no choice but to punish them.

Are we just going to let Li Shu beat them up and that's it?
He always felt that they were being treated too well.

Wang Chao tapped the table lightly, pondering how to punish them.

Suddenly, Wang Chao paused, muttering to himself in a low voice.

"After another transformation in the nation's destiny, it seems that it can now exert its influence far beyond its borders."

Thinking of this, Wang Chao couldn't help but have a slight thought. He picked up a brush and a blank imperial edict from the side.

The dark gray power flowed, and an imperial edict was issued in an instant.

Wang Chao glanced at the large jade seal that had been formed from the pure dragon energy of the nation's destiny after the Imperial Seal of the State was broken, and secretly shook his head.

Then, with a thought, a dark gold seal quietly appeared.

The dynasty seized him and pressed him heavily onto the imperial edict. A dark golden light quickly spread and merged into the edict.

At the same time, it also drew down a wisp of dragon energy from the sky, which merged into the imperial edict.

Wang Chao waved his hand and put away the dark gold seal; the imperial edict immediately rolled up automatically.

"Somebody come!"

"Your Majesty!"

"Send this imperial edict to Li Shu and have him go to Japan to deliver it!"

"Yes!"

A day later, Li Shu looked at the imperial edict in his hand and was somewhat taken aback.

When did it become necessary for a marquis like him to issue imperial edicts?

However, a sudden thought struck him.

This time, the target of the imperial decree was Japan, a country that did not respect the monarchy.

The dynasty ordered him to deliver the imperial edict, but the method of doing so was questionable.

"Yes, issue the order: mobilize all warships and proceed to Japan to deliver the imperial decree!"

"Yes!"

The Jiaolong and Jiaolong II, along with the two steam-powered steel warships launched in succession, Jiaolong III and Jiaolong IV, sailed majestically toward Japan.

On June 20th of the first year of the Heavenly Dynasty, Li Shu led four massive steel warships to the vicinity of Kyushu Island.

With his internal energy circulating and his eyes shining brightly, Li Shu looked towards the Nine Continents Island in the distance.

The entire sky above Kyushu Island was shrouded not only in the Ming Dynasty's national fortune but also in a bloody aura.

There was a crimson dragon, its blood-red eyes glaring, looking down towards the northeast, seemingly ready to launch a fierce attack at any moment.

At this moment, seemingly sensing Li Shu's gaze, the Crimson Gold Blood Dragon let out a roar and looked at him as it shook its head and tail.

A vast and powerful aura, imbued with bloodthirsty killing intent, pressed down on him relentlessly.

"Humph!"

Upon seeing this, Li Shu's expression changed slightly. He let out a cold snort, circulated his inner energy, and a beam of azure divine light shot into the sky.

"Ang~!"

Immediately afterwards, the soaring azure divine light suddenly manifested into an azure divine dragon, which let out a majestic dragon roar, and its vast momentum surged up, showing no sign of being inferior.

"boom!"

In an instant, two completely different yet equally domineering auras and powers collided violently.

Even the air above was distorted, and the thin clouds that were floating around were instantly torn apart and dissipated.

"uh-huh!"

It was a bit too much for an individual to fight against the fate of a nation. Under the collision of powerful forces, Li Shu couldn't help but groan and stagger back half a step.

The azure dragon above its head dissipated, its form becoming somewhat illusory.

However, Li Shu quickly circulated his internal power to stabilize his body and the azure dragon above his head, confronting the crimson-gold blood dragon.

"Hmm~?"

In a magnificent city in northern Kyushu, Zhang Xianzhong, who was celebrating another victory with his men, suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked southwest.

Through the gaze of the Divine Dragon of National Fortune, he saw four steel warships on the southwestern sea, and the leader whose azure divine light shone forth, manifesting as an azure divine dragon.

"This is... a warship of the Celestial Empire?"
Has anyone from the Celestial Empire come? We've already retreated overseas, yet that dynasty still won't let us go?

Without thinking, Zhang Xianzhong muttered to himself, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.

Looking down at his men below, who were embracing Japanese women and laughing and having fun, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation.

"Humph!"

Zhang Xianzhong let out a furious snort, unleashing a surge of immense power as he slammed his palm onto the table in front of him.

At the same time, the crimson-gold dragon hovering in the sky suddenly lowered its eyes and looked down, its domineering dragon aura descending and sweeping across the hall in an instant, together with Zhang Xianzhong's power.

"bang bang bang"

In an instant, all the Japanese servants and women in the hall exploded into clouds of blood mist, which surged toward Zhang Xianzhong and were forcefully inhaled into his body.

After absorbing the blood mist, his face flushed, and his aura fluctuated, rising slightly.

Seeing the Japanese beauty who had just been in his arms turn into a cloud of blood mist in an instant, Zhang Xianzhong's generals were slightly stunned. They looked at Zhang Xianzhong with some confusion and their expressions were filled with apprehension and fear.

They were fine just a moment ago, why did they suddenly get angry?

"People from the Celestial Empire have arrived!"

Zhang Xianzhong said with a gloomy face.

"what?"

"How could this be?"

"We've already left the Central Plains, escaping the dynasty and the savior army, yet they still refuse to give up."

"It's so deceiving!"

"Your Majesty, let's fight them to the death!"

"Exactly, even if they send people, they probably can't send many, right?"

Recalling what he had seen earlier, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but say:
"They really didn't send many people."
There were only four warships.

"Hoo~!"

"That's alright, that's alright."

Hearing that there weren't many people, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Moreover, their strength has improved significantly.

They felt that even if the Celestial Empire hadn't dispatched a large army, they might still have been able to resist and hold their ground.

Well, they weren't as arrogant as the Japanese. They had witnessed the brutality of the militia firsthand, and they thought that one against a hundred was an understatement.

Although their strength has improved a lot now, they still don't have much confidence in defeating the previous militias.

Now that so much time has passed, their strength has increased significantly, but the strength of those rescue forces will not stagnate either.
Therefore, they never considered launching a counterattack against China, at least not during the dynasty's reign.

Therefore, even when Li Shu and his group arrived nearby, they did not intend to annihilate them, but rather to resist and defend against them.

The fear is that annihilating the invaders would completely enrage the Celestial Empire, prompting them to mobilize a large army to encircle and annihilate them.

Seeing everyone breathe a sigh of relief, and then looking at the azure dragon confronting the crimson-gold blood dragon, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but twitch his lips. You guys are thinking way too simply.

The power of that one leader alone was enough to stand against the entire divine dragon of the Great Western Kingdom, yet he was only slightly at a disadvantage.

He knew then that they were most likely not his opponents.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Xianzhong finally made up his mind, and his consciousness instantly connected with the dragon of national destiny.

Riding the divine dragon body that governs the nation's destiny, every blade of grass and every tree on the entire Kyushu Island is under his perception.

Dozens of cities stood scattered about, hundreds of thousands of troops were stationed in various places, and hundreds of thousands of civilians and millions of slaves worked.

Furthermore, the slightest slackening would result in beatings, scoldings, and even torture. Every day, a large number of slaves died, and endless bloodlust rose, turning the entire Kyushu Island into a blood-red expanse.

Yes, Zhang Xianzhong implemented an extremely strict hierarchical system in the Great Western Kingdom on the island of Kyushu.

The Ming people from China who came with him were all top-class nobles. Not only did they not need to work, they also had the power to kill or be killed by others.

Those Japanese who surrendered first were ordinary nobles and commoners.

Occasionally, those who made great contributions and killed many Japanese soldiers and civilians would be promoted to the rank of upper-class nobles.

Those who were captured, or even those who surrendered too late, would all be reduced to slavery.

Let alone nobles, even ordinary commoners could be killed and the matter settled by paying a fine.

If it weren't for Zhang Xianzhong, who would frequently send men to harass Japan's Honshu Island and abduct people to be enslaved.

The number of slaves on Kyushu Island was so small that it was lucky if even half a million remained, let alone millions.

After being immersed in this state of controlling the heavens and earth and looking down upon the universe for a while, Zhang Xianzhong finally broke free and looked towards the southwest again.

At this moment, the two sides were clearly very far apart.

However, in the eyes of the Divine Dragon of National Destiny, they appeared to be face to face.

"General, we have already left the Central Plains, why are you so aggressive and determined to kill us?"

Back then, we were both members of the rebel army, and I didn't believe there were any conflicts or contradictions between us.
I admire the character of Chief Wang and the Emperor of the Celestial Empire, so I have retreated to Japan as a place to live.
"Do we really have to resort to arms?"

"Hmm~?"

Hearing the voice coming from the Divine Dragon of National Fortune on the other side, Li Shu was slightly surprised at first, and then hesitated before saying:

"Are you Li Zicheng? Zhang Xianzhong?"

"Hmm~?"

Zhang Xianzhong was slightly taken aback upon hearing Li Shu's reply.

What? Aren't these people here looking for them? Why do they seem to not know he's here?
"You...you guys, you're not here to kill us?"

"Want to hunt you down?"

Hehe, you're overthinking it.

Li Shu slightly pursed his lips. If he hadn't run into them here, he would have almost forgotten about their existence.

"Hoo~!"

Zhang Xianzhong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then perked up and asked:

"I am Zhang Xianzhong, the Emperor of the Great Western Kingdom."

May I ask what brings the general here?

"Oh, the Emperor of Atlantis?"
Hey! "

Li Shu smiled noncommittally, and then said:
"The Japanese shogunate has defied the imperial rule and provoked our Celestial Empire. Therefore, we have been ordered to come and proclaim the imperial edict of punishment."

"Ah~?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong was slightly taken aback.

You've already said that the Japanese Mu family is not submitting to the rule of the Celestial Empire and is provoking the Celestial Empire, so what's the point of you reading out this punitive edict?

Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but feel somewhat disapproving.

When I first saw this dynasty, I thought of a ruthless and unscrupulous hero.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has been overthrown and a new country has been established, how come they have become so weak?
However, he thought so in his heart.

But naturally, he wouldn't be foolish enough to say it aloud; instead, he laughed as if suddenly realizing something and said:

"I see."

"In that case, I am willing to guide the Heavenly Army of the Celestial Empire. What does the General think?"

"it is good!"

Gazing at the crimson-gold dragon ahead, Li Shu pondered for a moment, then finally nodded.

"Hahaha, so refreshing!"

Zhang Xianzhong laughed loudly, and instantly a wisp of dragon energy descended.

At a mine near Nagasaki, the closest to Li Shu and his group, thousands of slaves instantly exploded into a bloody mist, which, centered on that dragon aura, condensed and evolved into a bloody shadow.

The blood shadows crisscrossed, instantly transforming into a streak of blood light that rushed towards Li Shu's location.

Li Shu watched all this from the perspective of the Azure Dragon, his heart as calm as a still well.

This is nothing but a provocation against our Celestial Empire and an insult to the Emperor. We Japanese slaves are indifferent to the deaths of many.

However, he took a closer look at the methods Zhang Xianzhong used; they were undoubtedly methods at the supernatural level, or even close to the realm of immortality.

Although there was suspicion that he was using the power of the national fortune dragon, it was enough to make him restrain his contempt for other countries.

When entering the territory of other countries, we still need to be serious.

Meanwhile, upon noticing the change in Li Shu's gaze, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but feel a surge of satisfaction.

He doesn't use such methods casually.

His purpose was to intimidate Li Shu, at least to prevent him from underestimating him.

He wanted to tell Li Shu that he, Zhang Xianzhong, also possessed many strange and powerful methods.

Li Shu could roughly guess Zhang Xianzhong's thoughts, so he smiled slightly and withdrew the divine power that had manifested as the Azure Dragon above.

"Ang~!"

The dragon roared, then suddenly coiled up and swooped down, disappearing into Li Shu's body.

Seeing this scene, even though he had some idea of ​​what was going on, Zhang Xianzhong still couldn't help but shrink his pupils.

This kind of personal power does indeed surpass the national destiny of the dragon to a certain extent.

At least in terms of use and control, it far surpasses the Divine Dragon of National Fortune, and can be created at will, allowing for greater freedom of action.

Unlike the national destiny or the dragon's energy, when it is mobilized, both the body and mind will suffer tremendous pressure and impact.

At the very least, Zhang Xianzhong would never dare to casually incorporate the national destiny dragon into his body.

However, despite his shock and envy, Zhang Xianzhong did not show it.

Instead, he controlled his Blood Shadow Avatar, instantly descending upon Li Shu's warship, while simultaneously withdrawing his mind from its connection to the nation's fate. (End of Chapter)