Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Why do we have to do this kind of work?"

"Nonsense, we always come to weddings and funerals. When I was little, I don't know who was the one who was fighting for the lights."

"Wow, wow, wow. I should be in the car, not here. I should be wearing the big red flower with them in the car. Why am I standing here firing a salute for them?"

"Stop howling. It's your duty. Fire your cannon."

"Woo woo woo then I'm going to have a good time."

[Ah, classmate Wen Yuan, how pitiful.] From a distance, he could see Wen Yuan standing by the runway, firing a cannon. One hand gripped the gun, the other holding an incense stick to light the fuse.

"I can't do anything about it. This wasn't my decision, it was the court's. We can only silently wish him well in his post. Yeah."

【But you will still help him in the future, right? 】

"I can try," Shangluo nodded. "I can't say I'll try, but I'll do my best. But they're conducting a military exercise, which is much more serious than ours. It's not just a competition, but a test of skills and tactics. It doesn't matter if we can't practice it, but they'll lose people. So, within the rules, I will definitely help him."

What if it's outside the rules?

"Then I'll try to modify the rules. After all, I'm a Heavenly Sovereign now. I'm thinking, aren't military reforms coming soon? Shouldn't something this important be arranged in advance?"

【伱 means】

"Ha!" Shangluo clapped his hands. "I think they should compete in an informationized battlefield. Throwing paint is no fun. They should compete in shooting down drones!"

[Hey man! Are you sure? Are you sure?]

"I think we can give it a try. As long as my senior brother says it's okay. After all, it was he who suggested the military reform."

"Drones?" Zhu Xianxun was stunned for a moment. "Are you talking about your family's tactics? Indeed. This kind of tactics is indeed more suitable for Master Wang's current style. I just happened to get some good equipment. You've seen the chat records, right?"

Shangluo nodded.

"Two things now. First, we need to go to Nanyang to pick up the 20,000 sets of equipment for the exercise as agreed upon earlier. I remember you seemed to have an agreement with Guoxing to film a commercial?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's perfect. You can do both things at once. Go when you have time. And if you plan to change the content of the exercise, I can't make the decision entirely on my own. I'll call a cabinet meeting. After this, you can attend as an observer, and you should also express more of your unique perspectives in your field of expertise. If you can identify the goals of the next generation of military reforms and the direction of future military operations, you can speak about it at the cabinet meeting."

"Everyone, are you easy to talk to?"

"It's very difficult to talk to." Zhu Xianxun shook his head. "You have to understand that the court is divided into the East Wing and the West Wing. Although the two sides agree on the general direction, they are incompatible when it comes to details. This is an old tradition. Each side has its own faction because they are two major academic cliques unified by a large number of departments such as administration and education."

"Academic cliques??? So the East and West Wings are academic cliques? I thought they were political cliques."

"Overall, they are two comprehensive powerhouses. But the root of both is the academic clique, because the first step into society is to go to university, and choosing which university is very important. Internal affairs are very troublesome. Although the academic cliques fight among themselves, they can at least unify their opinions and at least get things moving forward - but there is only one exception..."

"Imperial Imperial College?"

"Yes." Zhu Xianxun nodded. "So that's why I asked you to go to the Imperial Academy. The Imperial Academy won't fight any team because, like Wudang, they never want to win. To some extent, Wudang is the 'Imperial Academy' among Qigong practitioners. Like Wudang, the Imperial Academy only pursues victory in 'combat'. In other words, the Imperial Academy doesn't seek to divide seats; it only seeks to advance the agenda."

"I see. No wonder we have to go to the Imperial College. If I don't take advantage of either side, they'll both be able to calm down and listen to me, right?"

"That's right. So, the path that the Royal Ancestor and I chose for you is exactly the same. And, the next stage of this path has just arrived."

"Is Daozu going to see me again? Let's go to Yuxi Palace now."

"No." Zhu Xianxi shook his head. "It's a more powerful place, and you've seen it before. Tell your teammates that you need to leave early. Let's go now, to the Longjiang Navy Base."

"Isn't that right next door? Why are you going there?"

"Go aboard the Lianshan. Huangzu is waiting for you there. He has something important to tell you. You'll find out when you get there."

There is one more chapter, please wait, around 1 o'clock

Chapter 523 Entering the Water

The Lianshan Shipyard at Longjiang Shipyard. Ever since Shangluo returned to Jinei, the Lianshan Ship has been under construction and has not yet been launched.

Standing next to it, you can see that it will probably take a very long time to launch this ship.

In fact, he was not in the dry dock. In order to reduce the stress on the slipway, the Lianshan had been launched long ago and had been submerged.

The Longjiang Shipyard and the Longjiang Base are both located in the Yangtze River. The fresh water of the Yangtze River does not corrode the hull like seawater does, making maintenance much easier.

Even after being launched for who knows how long, the Lianshan's hull still looks pristine—of course, this is due to the constant polishing. Even now, someone is still polishing it, performing routine maintenance. Shangluo feels that with all the daily polishing, the entire ship might have been worn down.

The ship seems to be fine now. The delay in launching it might be due to some unseen reason. If you can't see it, it's not easy to find the answer.

"Your Majesty." A Jinyiwei stood at the bottom of the gangway beside the warship. A "one" was attached to his helmet with Velcro.

"Let me introduce you to Li Yi, the leader of the Thirteen Guardians. He guards the most important place in the entire capital."

"The most important place?" Shangluo raised his head. "Is this the ship?"

"It's this ship." Zhu Xianxun nodded. "To be more precise, it's the most important to the court. Over the past five thousand years, there have been countless important places. But for this dynasty, right now, this is the most important. This Lianshan."

"why?"

"Boss Li, you go tell him."

"Because when necessary, this Zhuxian ship can kill immortals."

"Zhu Xian? What kind of Xian?" Shangluo asked in surprise.

This time it was Zhu Xianxun who answered: "The one we want to kill is the Evil Sword Immortal."

"Evil Sword Immortal? What is that?"

"You'll know once you come up. Daozu is waiting for you up there."

He gestured to Li Yi to lead the way, and the two of them climbed the gangway behind him.

The deck was paved with teak, meticulously maintained, like a warship in service. There was no unusual sound when walking on it. The door leading to the island had been opened by someone inside—no sailors, only Imperial Guards. Before it was handed over to the army, this place belonged to the emperor, and the royal family was responsible for its management.

"Sometimes, my money is always like a bottomless pit, and I spend it on many strange things." Zhu Xianxun muttered as he walked in the corridor.

“But it’s not okay not to spend it, right?”

"Yes, so I earn my pocket money myself, instead of applying for it from the inner treasury. This way, at least, I can save some trouble. I don't want to beg for food all day long." Zhu Xianxun suddenly turned around and said, "Actually, I don't know if you've noticed something. Have you noticed that people always call me 'Your Majesty'? Doesn't that sound a bit strange?"

"Yeah," Shangluo nodded. "I never asked because I never called him that myself, so I didn't react after a long time. But the full honorific should be 'Your Majesty the Holy Son of Heaven'? A shortened version would be 'Your Majesty the Emperor'. 'Son of Heaven' seems to be a separate title. But why 'Your Majesty the Son of Heaven'?"

"Ultimately, it's because my great-grandfather called me the Son of Heaven—to expand on that, all my elders call me the Son of Heaven. My mother calls me the Son of Heaven, and so does my grandmother. In the mornings, when I go to pay my respects, the first thing they say is, 'Sir, please buy me a ticket,' 'Sir, please run something for me,' 'Sir, please go to Tangshan for a hot spring bath.' 'Sir,' here, is used in place of my given name, because calling me by my name never feels right. So, from the perspective of the elders, calling me the Son of Heaven is the same as calling me by my name."

"What His Majesty meant was..."

"I'll just call you 'Classmate Shangluo,' or something similar. Because at work, addressing someone by their title is the most formal. 'Your Majesty the Holy Emperor' is a respectful title for my position, just like someone calling you 'Lord Chishi.' But in less formal situations, it feels weird to always refer to someone by their title. Just like Qi Yuan from your team wouldn't call you 'Lord Chishi' all day long, would he?"

"Ah, so calling him Your Majesty the Emperor is a compromise?"

"Yes, it's a compromise, more common. My mother calls me the Son of Heaven, and at work I'm called 'Your Majesty the Emperor'. As a compromise, we just call you 'Your Majesty the Son of Heaven'. It's usually the Jinyiwei and the cabinet ministers who call me that, because they're the ones who communicate with me verbally all day long. Of course, the only one who speaks without restraint is Zhu Ling, and she's the only one who calls me brother."

“I remember it was ‘brother, brother, brother’.”

"She gives me a headache when she calls me that. But in short, you can see that although I'm the boss at work, we're all family, right? There's no need to be so serious. But why?"

He looked at Shangluo.

"Because he's one of us?"

"Yeah, that's it. We're family, so there's no need to be too restrictive. Like in our family, we all call each other dad and mom, and brothers and sisters. Basically, we're all family. 'Your Majesty the Holy Son of Heaven' sounds corny to me. If Zhu Ling called me 'Big Brother, Your Majesty the Emperor!!!', she might have made some big mess that I need to clean up - but we do it this way because the etiquette system itself is used to distinguish between superiors and subordinates. We don't need to distinguish now because we're safe at home."

Shangluo pondered for a moment, "So at work, we need to be called by our job title. This means we need to be disciplined when working so that things can be done well, and we need to be more active. When we're not working, can everyone be more lively?"

"Look, look." He said to Li Yi in front of him, "This is a smart person. It's convenient to talk to smart people."

"So," Shangluo continued, "the biggest threat that can force us all to work and make our homes unsafe is the Evil Sword Immortal?"

Zhu Xianxun nodded silently and looked up. There was an elevator in front of him.

"There's actually an elevator on this ship? Is this a hotel?"

"There's an ice cream machine in the restaurant. Let's go try it before we leave." After getting into the elevator, Zhu Xianxun pressed the button for the third floor himself.

The third floor was the location of the armored headquarters, protected on all sides by armor plating. Behind the headquarters, a room about the same size was located in the center of the island.

Zhu Xianxun took out a key, and Li Yi took out another. The two keys unlocked the door at the same time, and it opened.

The door opened from the side, and inside was the scent of sandalwood. Facing south, a shrine stood. The tablet in front of the shrine was densely inscribed with a long list of deities, ending with "Wanshou Emperor." On the wall behind the shrine hung a portrait of an old man in a white robe, his back turned. The old man, his back to the crowd, sat within the monastery, on a golden platform.

Zhu Xianxun saluted the shrine and turned around: "Is this your first time seeing the shrine of the emperor's ancestors?"

"Hmm. I've never seen it outside of Yuxi Palace. So, this is it."

"The Emperor said that before coming here, he wanted you to look at the painting opposite first."

"Across from me?" Shangluo turned and looked. There was indeed a painting hanging on the wall opposite the shrine. It wasn't an elegant painting, though. It looked more like a propaganda poster from a pictorial. In the center of the pitch-black canvas was a circular hole, and in the center was a crosshair, like a gun barrel aiming at something. And right in the center of the crosshairs was a figure.

The figure had white hair and red eyes, was wearing a black uniform, and a stream of light was under his feet. Looking closely at his face—

"This is... me?!" Shang Luo was stunned. "The Evil Sword Immortal is actually me?"

"It's another possible you." Zhu Xianxun also looked at the painting. "Do you know your own strength? If you use your own strength to deal with the court, wouldn't it be the court's biggest disaster? However, you didn't really do it - if you did, then you would be the Evil Sword Immortal to us. If you don't do this, you are the World-King who commands the Xuanmen with the sword immortal way." He pointed to the ground:

"This Zhuxian ship was built when you were born, before we even knew who you were. It's the same age as you. If, by some unfortunate fate, you stand against us, we'll be forced to use it to bombard you. Of course, that won't happen in the future." Zhu Xianxun untied a small golden sword from his waist and handed it to Shangluo.

"She's yours now. This is the key to the Lianshan. Do you want to give the Lianshan another name? Or just call it this? It's up to you. Daozu's Xuantan can be moved back; it's quite in the way. Li Yi is still here on this ship, so if you need anything, ask him to make arrangements. Or, if you want, you can replace him with someone else as the leader of the Thirteen Guardians. Also, if you want, you can transform this room into an activity room for the Thunder Department. It's up to you to decide. Take the sword. You can go into the water when you're ready."

"Wait, launching? Isn't this boat already in the water?"

"It's not this water. Going into the water is just a metaphor." He pointed to the sky. "The Lianshan can fly. Do you want to test fly it?"

Chapter 524 Violence

"So, this ship can fly?"

"Yes," Zhu Xianxi replied, "but it's not what you think. She probably can't just take off directly from the dock and fly out - a smaller flying sword wouldn't be a problem. But if something this big could be pulled out of nowhere, we wouldn't have to bother with rockets. Let Boss Li help you become the captain, and he'll help you deal with it."

"So where can this ship fly to?"

"You can fly anywhere. Of course, I won't remind you that it's best not to show up in front of others, you know that yourself. But I'm giving it to you, so you can decide how to use it."

"Is it appropriate for something so valuable?"

"Precious? No, no, no, not at all. If you win the competition, I'll consider you an adult." Zhu Xianxun looked at him, "So as an adult, this is a magic weapon for you. Just like Nezha has the Wind Fire Wheels and the Fire Spear, this Zhuxian Ship is the magic weapon given to you by the Taoist Ancestor. I give it to you because you need it to complete some tasks."

"Hmm," Shangluo nodded. "So Daozu called me to tell me that the sect has a mission for me to handle?"

"That's right. And it's not a mission for the Imperial Palace or the Danding Sect, but for the entire Xuan Sect. As the Lord of the World, these missions are worthy of you. In addition, with great power comes great responsibility. With great responsibility comes great power. Your power is unlimited, because all matters in heaven are under your control. So, although I'm finding things for you right now, for the sake of the entire Xuan Sect, you'll have to find things for yourself later."

"I understand."

"Also," he looked at Shangluo, "I'm also your subordinate in this matter. I'll obey your orders as the Grand Inner Alchemy Master 'Zhu Qi'. So don't be shy, just come to me if you need anything. We'll each have our own affairs. You call me the Son of Heaven, and I'll call you the Lord of Heaven. You help me with my errands, and I help you with yours. That's fine, because our business scopes are different. But in the final analysis, this isn't just your business or mine. It's the business of everyone in heaven and on earth."

"This is for the benefit of the people of the world. I know this very well."

"Then." Zhu Xianxun turned back to look at the portrait on the wall, "Grandfather, you can rest assured now, right?"

A breeze blew by, and the scroll flipped up. When it fell back down, the painting was blank.

"Alright." Zhu Xianxun breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll have someone move the Emperor's Xuantan back. You'll be in charge of this place."

"I'm suppressing it? Is there anything here that needs to be suppressed?"

"Yes," Zhu Xianxun replied, "Have you ever seen a wealthy family's house? Whenever there are two doors on the same plane, they don't make both doors round moon doors. Instead, they make one round door and one square door. Because if they both have two round doors, it would look like two eyes - and that would make it a spirit."

"Can ships become spirits?"

"Isn't there one in your car? That's the spirit. Strictly speaking, that's against the rules. Although these self-generated spirits are highly gifted, they must be dispelled through rituals unless absolutely necessary. Since you're there, I'm letting you handle it on your own. After all, they're not human, unlike Doudou. Doudou was raised with no specific purpose, while those spirits never went to school. They don't know etiquette or morality. They've only grown up knowing things related to their work. Therefore, they're prone to uncontrollable behavior."

He pointed to the ground and said, "So, under the suppression of the Emperor's Xuantan, this ship will not produce any autonomous spirits. You can move in with your luggage. There is no other owner here."

Speaking of this, Shangluo realized that up to now, there seemed to be more and more strange little things around him.

“Logically speaking, those around me”

"None of that should happen," Zhu Xianxi replied. "But let's look at it from another perspective—if a student makes a mistake, it's called a mistake. If a teacher makes a mistake, it's called a homophone. If an alchemist is followed by a bunch of miscellaneous people, they're called evil cultivators. If a Taoist priest is followed by a bunch of miscellaneous people, they're called guardian spirits. Well, these are all your guardian spirits, and you can supervise them yourself. And if there are any that you can't handle."

He pointed to the floor. "Use this ship to solve it."

"Wait. Is there something that needs to be solved with a cannon?"

"Well, for example, the Evil Sword Immortal is needed. First of all, look at your current situation. You are cultivating very quickly, aren't you?"

"Indeed. But I think this was done with the help of the court."

"The court did help you, but you could have found other helpers yourself. This can be broadened. The path to immortality is limitless and never-ending. Anyone with exceptional talent, even if they haven't reached the Foundation Establishment stage, even if they're only at the Qi Condensation stage, can cause damage in various areas. After all, Qi Condensers are already very powerful."

"Have we ever caught one?"