312: Chapter 313 Side Story of the Heavens, Part Four: Russell!

Russell began to reorganize the military and prepare for war.

He reformed the military System, established a new army, and equipped them with modern weaponry.

He also set up military academies in various regions to Cultivate military talent.

Once all preparations were complete, Russell launched a war of unification.

First the north, then the south; first the west, then the east.

Within five years, the Prairie Barbarians were conquered, the tribes of the Western Regions submitted, and the Baiyue of the southern border surrendered.

It took another three years for all the kingdoms of the Eastern Sea to be incorporated into the map.

However, those foreign nations across the sea with blonde hair and blue eyes were not so easy to handle.

Separated by a vast ocean, logistics were difficult, and power projection was uneasy.

Russell spent ten years building over a thousand warships and training a navy of a hundred thousand.

With everything ready, the great army crossed the sea on an eastern expedition.

That war lasted for three years.

The foreign nations possessed firearms and ironclad ships; their combat strength was not weak.

But Russell had superior numbers, ample supplies, and flexible tactics.

Ultimately, the foreign nations were defeated, and their kings surrendered.

Russell did not massacre cities or enslave the people; instead, he implemented the System of the great unity world in these places.

He abolished local slavery and liberated all slaves.

He opened schools, promoted literacy, and unified weights and measures.

He established courts to govern the land by law.

Those blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigners were defiant at first, but over time, they found their lives were indeed better than before and gradually accepted it.

Another twenty years passed, and every corner of the Minor Thousand Worlds was brought under the scope of the great unity world.

Regardless of skin color, hair color, or eye color, everyone lived under the same System.

They had food to eat, clothes to wear, and houses to live in.

There were clinics for the sick and schools for students.

Crimes were judged in courts, and grievances could be appealed locally.

This was the great unity world.

By the time Russell completed all this, he was already over eighty years old.

This Physical Body had reached the point where the oil was exhausted and the lamp was going out.

Russell calculated that he had at most two or three years before his Lifespan was depleted.

He had originally planned to complete the mission before dying a natural death and then leave this body.

But he hadn't expected there would be so much more to do after unification.

System construction, cultural integration, the popularization of education...

Every single one required time.

Russell gritted his teeth and used the first Magical Artifact: the Lifespan Pill.

After consuming the Lifespan Pill, his Physical Body's life was extended by another hundred years.

Russell continued to push forward with reforms.

He established a sophisticated bureaucratic System, decentralizing power to local levels to avoid excessive centralization.

He set up oversight agencies to prevent official corruption.

He implemented the Imperial Examination System, giving the common people a chance to rise to prominence.

He abolished the hereditary System; all official positions were appointed based on talent.

He established nursing homes and orphanages so the elderly were cared for and the young had support.

He wrote the Systems of the great unity world into a legal code to be passed down to future generations.

A hundred years later, Russell again faced the problem of his Lifespan being exhausted.

Russell looked at his white-haired self in the mirror and smiled.

It's about time.

This world has already been set on the right track; even without him, the great unity world can continue.

He called up the System panel.

"Ding, mission complete. Evaluating..."

"Evaluating..."

"Evaluation Result: Grade C."

"Completion Degree: This Minor Thousand Worlds has fully achieved Great Unity; all corners are incorporated into the Great Unity System, and the System is perfected and self-sustaining."

"Magical Artifact Usage: One Lifespan Pill; Heaven-Seeing Earth-Hearing Talisman and Body-Fixing Bead were not used."

"Time Taken: One hundred and thirty-seven years, exceeding the standard time limit by thirty-seven years. This is a deduction point."

"Comprehensive Score: Grade C."

"Karma Reward: 36,000 points."

Russell looked at the Grade C rating, his lips twitching slightly.

Grade C was only slightly better than Grade D.

But on second thought, at least the mission was completed, right?

36,000 Karma points might not be much in the Tianheng Realm, but it was enough for him to use for a while.

Moreover, the experience of this mission was a fortune in itself.

He had managed this Minor Thousand Worlds for one hundred and thirty-seven years, rising from Prime Minister to Emperor and turning the entire world into a great unity world.

This kind of experience was not something one could gain from closed-door Cultivation.

"Ding, the host is about to leave the current world."

"The possessed Physical Body will naturally perish after the host's departure."

"The original owner's soul will carry all the memories of this body into Reincarnation, to be born into a kind and prosperous family for a peaceful next life."

Russell nodded slightly, and the last trace of concern in his heart dissipated.

The original owner was, to put it kindly, honest and thick-headed; to put it bluntly, he was mediocre.

If he were suddenly given control of these one hundred and thirty-seven years of memories while remaining in this world as its last Emperor, God knows what he would do.

If he acted impulsively and ruined the great unity world that had been so hard to build, then Russell's hundred and thirty-seven years of effort would have been in vain.

This was for the best.

The Physical Body dies, and the original owner reincarnates with the memories.

In his next life, he can be a wealthy man of leisure and live a stable life.

It was the best of both worlds.

Russell took one last look at this world he had managed for a hundred and thirty-seven years.

The capital of Great Liang was now the most prosperous city in the world.

The streets were filled with heavy traffic and a constant stream of pedestrians.

The sound of clear reading came from the schools, and patients were treated in an orderly fashion at the clinics.

The sounds of bargaining rose and fell in the markets; everywhere was filled with the smoke and fire of the mortal world.

This was the great unity world he had created with his own hands.

And he himself was the last Emperor of Great Liang.

Once this body departed, the imperial throne would vanish along with him.

From now on, there would be no Son of Heaven in this world, only the legal code and the System.

With no further attachments, Russell closed his eyes, and his consciousness began to withdraw.

...

Within the Great Liang palace, the aged Emperor slowly closed his eyes.

His pulse stopped, and his breathing ceased.

When the imperial physician arrived, he only had time to say: "Your Majesty... has passed away."

The whole nation mourned, yet no princes fought for the throne, and no officials seized power.

Because since thirty years ago, there had been no Crown Prince, no Princes, and no hereditary succession in this world.

The office of Emperor ended here.

The historian took up his brush and wrote the final entry in the chronicles:

"In the 317th year of Great Unity, the Great Ancestor passed. No heir. The imperial System ends."

In the depths of Reincarnation unknown to anyone, an ignorant soul, carrying the magnificent memories of one hundred and thirty-seven years, entered a well-to-do family.

Ten months later, accompanied by a loud cry, a healthy baby boy was born.

The midwife held the child, beaming with joy: "Congratulations, it's a big, chubby boy!"

The child neither cried nor fussed; his dark eyes darted around, revealing a calmness unsuited to his age.

He remembered many things.

He remembered being a Prime Minister and an Emperor.

He remembered crossing the vast oceans and conquering the blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigners.

He remembered personally turning the entire world into a Great Unity.

But he also remembered that those things were not done by "him."

It was another person who used his body to do them.

Now, that person was gone.

And he would start anew with all those memories.

The infant yawned and closed his eyes.

In this life, he would be neither Prime Minister nor Emperor.

To simply be a wealthy old man would be enough.