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

Li Zicheng and his followers had finally established their own Great Shun dynasty, so naturally they were not willing to be so easily incorporated into the Celestial Empire.

Therefore, after a long silence, Li Zicheng spoke again.

"What about the second rule?"

"The second point is to find ways to contact countries around the world."
If all our nations unite, pooling the collective national fortune and aura of the celestial empire beyond the Celestial Empire, and forming an army of hundreds of millions, perhaps we could contend with the Celestial Empire.”

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent once again.

Let's not even talk about whether all the countries united, with their combined national fortune and massive armies, could stand against the Celestial Empire.

Just considering the first point, if all countries were to unite, that would be virtually impossible.

Some small countries may even be preparing to be incorporated into China with great fanfare.

After hearing Li Yan's two suggestions, Li Zicheng's face immediately darkened.

Neither of the suggestions was what he wanted.

Finally, Li Zicheng asked Li Yan for his last piece of advice.

"And what about the last one?"

Li Yan glanced at Li Zicheng's gloomy face and finally offered the last option.

"That means completely seizing domestic resources and dispersing and hiding all elite forces, waiting for the opportune moment in the future."

Silence, and more silence; it seems that silence is the theme of today.

The last option, as Li Yan clearly meant, was for them not to wait for the Celestial Empire to attack, but to simply dissolve the country themselves, break up into smaller units, and hide away to see if they could rise again in the future.

However, throughout Chinese history, how many of the remnants of the old regime from the time of the founding of the nation have actually been able to reorganize and rise again?

There are almost none, right?
In the end, they were all swallowed up by the tides of history, and the old forces disappeared without a trace.

Even if they possess extraordinary power and can survive for hundreds of years, what good is that?

The dynasty's cultivation level is universally acknowledged to be superior to all others, and it is even excluded from the ranking and calculation of the number of strong individuals.

In this way, the lifespan of the dynasty would naturally be longer.

They would never outlive the dynasty; instead, the dynasty would outlive them one by one.

How could Li Zicheng and his people, who had painstakingly conquered a vast territory and finally established the Great Shun Kingdom, accept this?
Li Yan was also unwilling to accept it.

However, he also knew that this was the only choice they could make under the current circumstances.

The Celestial Empire was simply too powerful. No matter how many ingenious strategies and plans they had, they could only end up empty-handed when facing a Celestial Empire that was several eras ahead of them.

The reality is that unless problems arise within China, no country can rival it.

However, while they knew this, they were not really willing to be merged into the Celestial Empire or to dissolve the country and disappear into the shadows.

Left with no other option, they could only continue to discuss and debate, but they could not reach a final conclusion.

Meanwhile, the United States of America, which was originally in opposition to the Great Shun Kingdom, and King George and his allies were also unable to make a decision.

However, because they were on the same continent, both sides sent their respective envoys to conduct friendly exchanges and discuss jointly resisting the Celestial Empire.

Furthermore, George and his colleagues sent people to contact various European countries to see if there was any possibility of a united front.

Meanwhile, these relatively large and powerful countries were constantly sending envoys to make contacts and seek strategies to counter the Celestial Empire.

Many small countries are also actively seeking solutions, and some kings have even tried to invite Chinese merchants from their homeland.

They inquired about the current policies of the Celestial Empire, hoping to see if they could still submit a petition to become a vassal state of the Celestial Empire, as in the past.

Liu Guangde had once participated in the People's Salvation Army, but he was discharged due to injuries and advanced age.

He could have taken a position at a school or become a local official.

However, in the end, he chose to go overseas to do business.

The purpose was to broaden one's horizons, draw world topographic maps, and learn about local customs and traditions.

Needless to say, some countries that already existed will rise to prominence as the universe is elevated and its energy fills the world.

Some people simply became powerful figures who suppressed a region, while others built their own power bases and even overthrew the original country to establish a new one.

These new nations often possess extraordinary qualities.

In some European countries, people have developed magic, witchcraft, and other powers using the energy of heaven and earth, and even possess special powers in certain aspects.

These people often then establish their own power bases.

For example, the Magic Kingdom, the Wizard Town, the Forest Kingdom, and so on.

All of this broadened Liu Guangde's horizons and even provided him with many ideas for cultivating supernatural powers.

Unlike ordinary countries, the kings and rulers of these countries are all top-tier powerhouses. If you take into account the blessing of the national fortune and dragon energy, each of them can alter the terrain and landform.

Even ordinary supernatural experts in the Celestial Empire might not be able to do what they did.

Yes, the cultivation level of the Divine Power Realm is quite common in the Celestial Empire.

However, once they left the territory of the Celestial Empire, they were all among the top experts.

In fact, the average top expert in the outside world only has the strength equivalent to the peak of Qi Refining.

Only the leaders of various nations, by relying on the dragon energy and national fortune that penetrate deep into the rules, can achieve the final leap and reach the same level of power as the Celestial Empire.

In some aspects, it even far surpasses the realm of supernatural powers.

For example, as mentioned earlier, it altered the entire country's topography. However, this was only in this aspect that it surpassed the realm of supernatural powers.

After all, even a master of supernatural powers can only have their own strength comparable to supernatural powers, and the range they can influence is only tens or hundreds of meters.

However, those who rule over a nation can use the dragon's energy and national fortune to directly influence the entire territory of that nation.

However, in a direct confrontation, those with supernatural powers are no less formidable than them.

Because the strength of both sides is actually at the same level.

Therefore, even if they benefit from the dragon's energy and the nation's fortune, they will not be stronger than those at the Divine Power Realm; at most, they will just have a faster recovery speed.

However, at most they can defeat those with supernatural powers; as for killing or suppressing them, they cannot.

Therefore, in these countries, those who possess supernatural powers are considered honored guests, and even the king must treat them as equals.

They might even subtly appear more humble because of the powerful figure's origin from the Celestial Empire.

So you can imagine what it was like for Chinese merchants traveling abroad.

Goods from China are always snapped up at high prices, resulting in huge profits and goods.

In these countries, they were all superior people, and their social circles were always those of the upper class.

Money, power, women, and so on—they can easily obtain any of these things if they want.

Although, due to their status as the Celestial Empire, they regarded people from other countries as barbarians.

However, few people can ignore the temptations of money, power, women, and sex held by the leaders of these powerful nations.

After all, they are businessmen, driven by profit, so why would they refuse something that benefits them?

Of course, they would not and dare not betray the Celestial Empire.

In short, we'll accept the benefits, but whether the matter is handled depends on their mood and the cost of doing so.

Just like Liu Guangde.

The Magic Kingdom is a small kingdom that has only been established for a little over ten years, roughly the size of a small province in China.

Faced with the king's deliberate praise and the marriage proposal of his daughter, Liu Guangde fell for him, becoming the prince consort of the magic kingdom and even possessing certain inheritance rights.

In fact, Liu Guangde also contributed to the establishment of the Magic Kingdom.

He had just arrived in Europe when he casually rescued Louise Bourgeois and his daughter Romain Bourgeois, who were being hunted by enemies.

Afterwards, Louis Bourgeois was naturally extremely grateful and treated Liu Guangde to a lavish meal, expressing his willingness to help him open up trade routes here.

Finally, he even married his own daughter, Roman Bourgeois, to Liu Guangde.

After establishing this relationship, he did indeed acquire many valuable items from Liu Guangde, such as powerful guns and cannons.

Well, as rune weapon technology matured, the relatively outdated modern gun manufacturing technologies gradually spread.

Although it has not yet spread overseas, many schools and libraries have relevant technical materials.

With enough effort, it can be easily obtained.

With the aid of supernatural powers, folk craftsmen could easily manufacture guns and cannons with considerable power.

These guns and cannons, whose power is far inferior to rune weapons, naturally have no market in China.

However, it's a hot commodity abroad.

Wang Chao was aware of these things, but he chose to turn a blind eye.

If we want to look to the whole world, we cannot neglect the martial spirit of the people and the technology of weapons manufacturing.

Of course, truly powerful weapons manufacturing technology is still firmly in the hands of the state, and it is always at least one era ahead of civilian technology.

When the state mastered modern gun manufacturing technology, the dynasty did not restrict the production of swords by the people.

When the nation masters the manufacture of runic energy weapons, it will not restrict the spread or even manufacture of gun technology.

Of course, as students progress through their studies, the creation of rune energy weapons is being mastered by some.

After all, once someone learns rune formations, they'll always be able to figure out some tricks of the trade.

Just like the scarecrow puppets that Lu Jun initially created.

However, the dynasty had no restrictions on this, nor was it able to restrict it.

Moreover, all these rune research directions and technologies will ultimately be stored in the Celestial Realm and fed back into the Sea of ​​Spiritual Power.

The country's top artisans and researchers have full access to this information.

Therefore, their development will always be ahead of that of the general public.

However, the laws of dynasties or celestial empires also have certain limitations on this, namely, they can only learn from it and apply it to weapons development.

The research and development of other technologies takes into account the needs of the general public.

The purpose is to protect and promote the development of private technology and enhance the enthusiasm of the public for research.

Otherwise, you'll barely get a clue out of your research before the government builds it for you.

Over time, the motivation for research and development among the general public will inevitably stagnate.

After all, who would go to great lengths to do something that offers no benefit or advantage?

As for technologies like modern weaponry, which are almost completely obsolete, the government will release them all in order to enhance the accumulation of civilian technology. (End of Chapter)