All-Heavens Game, the Strongest Player

Chapter 43 Taking Xuzhou
The level 10 ultimate skill is actually an upgraded version of the Zhuge Bagua Formation. The minimum number of people required to set up the formation is the same as the Zhuge Bagua Formation, which is 1,250 people.

With the passive blessing of the Marquis of Wu, these 1,250 people can be completely ignorant.

The formation was set up using Chu Xiu's remote commands alone.

In this situation, he could easily gather the followers of the "Southern Heavenly Cult" in "a group" and unleash "Peerless Star Lamp Life Extension" to grant them the "resurrection" effect in batches.

Imagine a group of fanatical believers with unwavering loyalty, who can always receive a response from "God".

If they were given the ability to resurrect, how powerful would they be?
"Mengde, gather a group of local officials and prepare to take over Xuzhou!" Chu Xiu's double said to Cao Cao.

This surprised Cao Cao.

"What do you mean?"

Although Chen Tu Gou was defeated and killed by Dian Wei, Cao Cao's camp won a great victory. However, because Chen Tu Gou distrusted everyone, he only lost his own military dogs; the garrison of Xuzhou remained intact.

The major clans were united like never before, while Yuan Shu was also eyeing them covetously.

Taking Xuzhou will not be so easy.

"It's not scary for powerful clans to unite, it's when ordinary people unite that it's truly terrifying!" Chu Xiu smiled and said, "And I can not only unite them now, but also arm them. The end is nigh for the major clans of Xuzhou!"

Unlike Yu Province, which was occupied by Yuan Shu, the defensive strength of Xu Province depended entirely on the local gentry.

The troops were actually dispersed.

Although the major clans have united, unless Cao Cao launches an invasion, they will each protect their own territories, and their fighting strength will not be concentrated.

In this situation, if the common people were to revolt across the board, they would have no way to organize a counterattack.

It will be divided and devoured!
“But if we break ties with the major families of Xuzhou, even if we gain control of Xuzhou, we won’t be able to hold onto it!” Cao Cao said.

It's not just a saying that powerful families control the world.

Farmland, shops, mines, laborers—everything belongs to them. Without their support, the state government wouldn't be able to function!
This is why there was a saying in ancient times that "imperial power did not extend to the countryside."

The emperor is far away, and the local tyrants don't listen to you!
"Mengde, you didn't understand what I said at all. I'm not going to use the common people to deal with the powerful clans. I'm going to arm them, completely destroy the powerful clans, and create a Xuzhou that belongs entirely to the people and to us, an impregnable and monolithic city!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao's gaze towards Chu Xiu changed.

"I only massacred a city, you're going to massacre an entire province?"

……

Initially, no one paid attention to the rise of the Southern Heavenly Cult: it was nothing more than a group of peasants worshipping a god, a ceremony that seemed to have many people, but in reality, thousands of people couldn't even put together a single piece of calligraphy, and even the sacrificial text could be written incorrectly.

It's just a bunch of lowly people daydreaming.

It was a simple case of a servant betraying its master.

It was the demise of a third-rate minor family!
Until this upheaval, which was closely related to every aristocratic family: an unprecedentedly large peasant uprising that swept through the entire Xuzhou, and which even the remaining Yellow Turban rebels had to acknowledge as "experts," broke out!

They are organized and disciplined.

They won't burn down houses, they won't mistreat women, and they won't loot indiscriminately!
However, they conquered one aristocratic family after another, took their family genealogies, and cleaned them up one by one according to the list on them. No one from any aristocratic family was spared.

Furthermore, when faced with resistance, they were fearless and even eager to fight, considering death an honor.

At the same time, they shouted slogans that they themselves did not understand, yet which terrified the major families of Xuzhou, shook the entire Central Plains, and almost made Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, cry.

"When autumn comes on September 8th, I will kill hundreds of flowers after they bloom!"

"The bones of nobles and officials are trampled on the streets, and the imperial treasury is burned to ashes!"

How to subdue the major families of Xuzhou?

impossible!

They had a fundamental conflict of interest with Cao Cao, who insisted on appointing people based solely on their abilities, treating everyone equally regardless of their background.

But what the powerful families of Xuzhou wanted was for the elite to have no poor families, and for them to control the world.

They couldn't reach an agreement!
Therefore, Chu Xiu simply went to extremes, developing the Southern Heavenly Cult in the Xuzhou region, promoting the concept of "equality for all," and emulating Huang Chao by launching a major purge against the Xuzhou aristocratic families!

At the same time, Xuzhou was also an experiment for him.

We wanted to try and see if unifying the people's hearts could lead to "changing the hearts of the people and the hearts of the emperor"—and sure enough, we made some pretty good discoveries!

As his followers expanded, he did not perceive the existence of "human hearts" or "Heaven's will."

From having no faith to believing in Him, nothing changed.

However, when the believers awakened and raised the banner of rebellion against the powerful families, he felt the change in "people's hearts" and also felt what "the will of Heaven" was.

It turns out that both Shen Tianci's understanding and the information given by Lü Shengnan were wrong.

Faith is not the same as the human heart.

It does nothing to change the hearts of the people and the hearts of the heavens.

Even if everyone in the world, and even animals, simultaneously believed in the same person, it would only be their belief, and would not change the world itself in the slightest.

The true "human heart" is not about what the heart is inclined towards, but about the heart itself.

A person's inner thoughts, their views on heaven and earth, their understanding of the Tao and reason, and their distinction between right and wrong.

These are the true human hearts.

What is the relationship between the human heart and the will of Heaven? The will of Heaven is the direction of the human heart; it is the collective of the thoughts of all living beings!
There's no such thing as changing the will of Heaven with people's hearts, because people's hearts are the will of Heaven. If you want to control the will of Heaven, what you really need to do is not to make others believe in you, but to make others recognize you.

You are God, you have helped me, so I believe in you, therefore you are always right.

This is blind obedience, not genuine acceptance.

What you did was right, I approve of you, so I follow you. You did what I couldn't do, so I believe in you, so you are God!
This is the correct "faith".

"To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth is to establish a destiny for the people and a path for all living beings! The clue to the ultimate reward is actually in this instance. If Zhang Jiao does not fail but succeeds, then he can complete the task of 'changing the hearts of the people for the heart of Heaven'!"

Thinking about this, Chu Xiu suddenly had a sudden realization.

It's not just about "changing hearts and minds," but also about the opportunity for the world to be elevated—this is hidden within the original work!

However, because the person who triggered the opportunity in the original story failed, he was unable to be promoted.

"I even speculate that the so-called world upgrade is not as simple as advancing from a first-order world to a second-order world!" Chu Xiu thought to himself. "Jin Yong's martial arts novels are basically typical second-order worlds, but apart from the slightly higher personal cultivation systems, are the worlds themselves really more advanced than this one?"

Putting aside other things, if the worlds of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber were compared to the world of Three Kingdoms...

The ultimate victor will most likely be one of the Three Kingdoms.

The Mongol cavalry was able to sweep across the Central Plains, but when faced with the many legendary warriors of the time and top strategists like Zhuge Liang, the outcome was still uncertain!

Therefore, the elevation of the world should not be about increasing its rank, but rather its status.

It is an upgrade from a "copy" in the game of the heavens to a completely independent "world". It is a transformation from a power system that was completely locked to one that has been unlocked and has infinite possibilities!

Only in this way can valuable "marks of the heavens" be produced.

Only then can it be considered the ultimate and highest reward, making players of all levels flock to it!

It's not just a private, exclusive world!
"If that's the case, then the direction for cultivating believers in the future will not be their faith in me, but their identification with the 'Southern Heavenly Cult,' not their gratitude to me, but the awakening of the believers' own minds!"

As for what kind of heart to set for this world?

Just copy it directly!
Whether it's Earth or the planet before Chu Xiu's transmigration, both have actually achieved "establishing a mindset," which means the awakening of the people.

Liberating minds and allowing ordinary people to have unlimited thinking opens up infinite possibilities.

It is also the foundation for the world to advance its status.

"From now on, the doctrine of my Southern Heavenly Sect will be 'My fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of Heaven.' All futures will be created by our own hands, and every member should have their own piece of sky!"

……

The peasant uprisings continued.

As its popularity grew, many people who were neither from the lower classes nor from prominent families joined in.

For example, Zang Ba, the leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Xuzhou, who later became one of Lü Bu's eight generals!
Zhang Ning, the daughter of Zhang Jiao, is on the run and has nowhere to go.

"If Father had been able to keep his army in check during the uprising and prevent them from spiraling out of control and becoming a band of scourges on the world, perhaps the world would be completely different today?"

Listening to the doctrines of the Southern Heavenly Cult and watching the actions of its members.

Even though she came from the Yellow Turban Rebellion, she came to accept Chu Xiu and became his devout follower.

On the other hand, Tao Qian, the head of the largest family in Xuzhou and the governor of the state, was in a bad mood: just now, he was about to go out to discuss with the heads of the various families how to deal with the Southern Heavenly Cult uprising.

However, the groom who had been with him for over a decade suddenly turned against him.

Not only did they refuse to let him ride, they also pulled out a long knife and slashed at his head—although Tao Qian had guards, he was not injured and captured the other party alive.

But he was still angry.

"I've raised you for over ten years. Even if you raised a dog, you should have developed feelings for it by now. Why are you turning against me?"

The groom spat at this.

He said angrily, "Do you think I'm stupid? More than ten years ago, Pengcheng suffered a natural disaster. As the county magistrate, you did not provide disaster relief. Instead, you encouraged the people to sell their land to survive, which ultimately led to my parents starving to death the following year because they had no land. You take in orphans under the guise of doing good deeds, but you make us work like cattle and horses. Who is taking care of whom?"

When powerful families take everything away, leaving you with nothing, then your survival is merely a favor they bestow upon you.

They want you to be grateful.

But why should everything be taken away by powerful families?
How did the Han Dynasty come to an end?

It was because of the relentless exploitation by officials and powerful families that ordinary people, no matter how hard they worked, had to give most of their harvest to others, leaving them with no surplus food and unable to survive in the event of a natural disaster.

The powerful families and the imperial court, however, did not care about the lives of ordinary people.

This is why the people, even though they knew that rebellion would result in execution, still responded to Zhang Jiao, because they wanted to live!

"Aren't you afraid of dying?" Tao Qian asked.

The driver shook his head upon hearing this and said, "Don't be afraid. Even if you kill one of me today, there will be thousands upon thousands of me. You can't kill them all!"

As the voices seemed to respond to his words, a riot broke out in the city.

Countless people from the lower classes rose up in rebellion.

A large number of conscripted soldiers rebelled, and some even opened the city gates, letting in the Southern Heavenly Cult army from outside the city, which then engulfed the major families like a tidal wave.

"Xuzhou has been captured!"

(End of this chapter)