68: Chapter 68 Pitiful Bones by the Wuding River

Among the "Five Tigers and Five Fierce Generals," several clones possessed psychic abilities capable of opening rifts into Warp, so the safety of Palace Attendant Cheng Yu was guaranteed.

"His Majesty is wise, may His Majesty live forever!" Palace Attendant Cheng Yu was still screaming like a madman when he was forcibly dragged into Warp by his foster sons.

The speed at which the "heirloom seal of the realm" reshaped nature was not particularly fast; based on the rate at which the earthquakes spread, it would take at least six months to terraform a planet the size of Terra.

Moreover, the causality-manipulating artifact was not without its price. A habitable planet was the "result," and the reshaping of nature was the "cause"; the heirloom seal of the realm simply allowed the "result" to become reality before the "cause."

Once the terraforming was complete, the residents who migrated to the planet would still have to follow the steps used by the heirloom seal of the realm to reshape nature, making up for those operations and costs to complete the causal logic chain.

Even so, the heirloom seal of the realm remained a divine artifact, its principles already touching upon a realm unfathomable to gods and ghosts alike.

"Hahaha!" Main Body got out of bed, feeling refreshed. Outside the door, the Aeldari handmaidens, who had stayed up all night with dark circles under their eyes, came in to help him put on his robes and crown.

"Veronica, you forced yourself upon Me last night; that is a capital offense!"

"Your Majesty, please do not tease me…" Veronica said with a coquettish pout, while Vera rolled her eyes from under the covers.

The Aeldari handmaidens brought in washing tools and towels. After Main Body finished freshening up, he drank a cup of clear tea.

There was no court session today because there were two more important matters that Main Body needed to attend to personally.

The morning was for the sacrificial ceremony offering captives to the Lord of Pleasure. Some captives refused to surrender no matter what, and according to the agreement signed with the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, their souls would belong to Slaanesh.

The afternoon was for the imperial examination, the palace test. This was already the fourth special imperial examination, and he hoped to uncover some rare talent this time.

"Woo… woo-woo-woo…" Two hundred and sixty ceremonial official Cheng Yus lined up in two rows and blew the horns that signaled the start of the sacrificial ceremony.

Two hundred and sixty strongman Cheng Yus immediately followed by beating the oxhide drums.

As the Attendant Cheng Yus cracked their long whips, the civil and military officials, foreign envoys, representatives of the vassal towns, imperial examination students, and some invited dignitaries from the Hive City entered one after another to observe the ceremony.

Two thousand and six hundred ceremonial Imperial General Cheng Yus danced the sword and shield dance, symbolizing slaughter and conquest, in the center of the sacrificial venue.

As the sword and shield dance reached its most brutal stage, with every Imperial General covered in bloody wounds, the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, representing the Lord of Pleasure, tore open a rift in Warp. Beneath the skin stretched by long spikes, six pure black eyeballs were rotating.

"Take them, take them!!" the Imperial General Cheng Yus shouted in unison.

The stubborn captives had been hooded and held aside early on.

Their heads were instantly severed by executioner Cheng Yus, and blood of various colors flowed gurglingly along the grooves carved into the floor tiles of the sacrificial venue for drainage.

And the souls of these captives were, with each breath of the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, sucked up into the high heavens of Warp, to be… joyfully savored by the eternal and undying Lord of Pleasure.

"In accordance with Heaven and following the times, receiving this brilliant mandate, with great fortune circulating, the Emperor, protected and assisted by the Lord of Pleasure, decrees: Heaven and Earth are mysterious and yellow, the universe is vast and wild; the sun, moon, and stars, the mountains and rivers—all that has substance is under My jurisdiction, and all that has sentiment is under My shepherding… Expanding in a prosperous age, the population thrives, all living beings are firm and long-lived, forever enjoying peace. Respect this."

"May His Majesty live forever without bound, may the Empire rule over all directions!" After the cheers of the masses, the sacrificial ceremony concluded. Those who had to go to school went to school, and those who had to go to work went to work.

Main Body did not return to the palace to rest; there was not much to do today, and he wanted to go out of the palace to take a look himself.

In this empire where his clones were everywhere, Cheng Yu only needed to apply a temporary tattoo to his forehead, which was quite convenient.

Although there were many Hive Cities on Cheng Yu Planet, there were none near the imperial palace; instead, a massive lawn separated the palace area from other regions.

Cheng Yu was benevolent and allowed the married clones to have picnics and outings with their families on this massive lawn.

As for the old bachelor clones… hurry up and earn merit and money to find a wife; stop playing around, is going to the dojo every day really that interesting?

But precisely because of the order he had issued, Cheng Yu had to bring Veronica out with him, otherwise, he would be too conspicuous alone on the lawn.

Overachiever Cheng Yu's body had recovered, and he had also married Seraphie; the two of them were currently acting all lovey-dovey on this large lawn.

"Hubby, kiss." "Mmm… kiss."

Seraphie now felt that life in the Cheng Yu Empire wasn't bad at all, even though the memories of being a senior assistant to an Inquisitor would occasionally flash back into her mind.

But could that even be called a human life? It could only be called the life of a weapon.

It was better this way—being lovey-dovey with her man every day, and in the future, once they had enough savings, buying a home in the Mid-Hive and having two little babies.

A couple of days ago, Seraphie had even received a special "communication," sent by her superior in the Corpse Emperor Empire through some means.

Seraphie simply didn't reply. In any case, the Great Rift had now split the galaxy, and the Corpse Emperor Empire no longer had the ability to trouble her.

His wife wanted to live an ordinary life, but Overachiever Cheng Yu did not think so.

As one of the billions of clones, he also wanted to advance. He wanted himself, his wife, and even his future children to live well, and without power and money, that was impossible.

Furthermore, he didn't want to be that kind of small official stuck in the middle; if he was going to do it, he wanted to be a chief official who could lead a region, just like Governor Ducalia.

Within the Empire, there were only three routes to becoming an official: military merit, imperial examination, and secret service. The secret service path had already been blocked, and the imperial examination was not meant for clones.

If Overachiever Cheng Yu wanted to be a high-ranking official, the only way was to earn military merit.

Therefore, Overachiever Cheng Yu had already signed up for the expeditionary army… naturally, he had kept it from his wife.

Because he had once been in the secret service and had a service record, he could start as a battle group staff officer upon entering the army, rather than just being cannon fodder.

It was one thing for him to deliver food every day, but he couldn't let his children deliver food in the future too.

"Darling, I've found a new job that requires long-term deployment abroad." "Ah… then I'll go with you!"

"It's on a battle satellite in the 'Cheng Tianbin' system… only clones and Tech-Priests are allowed in there."

"…Alright, will this job take a long time?" "No, I'll come back once I've saved enough money to buy a house."

Main Body and Veronica heard this conversation as they passed by.

He didn't need to check through shared thoughts to know that this clone was lying, because, in essence, that was himself. How could Cheng Yu not know what he looked like when he was lying?

"Suddenly seeing the color of the willows on the street, I regret letting my husband seek titles and nobility." Veronica suddenly recited a Tang poem excerpted from the "Imperial Truth."

"Alas, the bones by the Wuding River, are still the people in the dreams of the spring boudoir." Main Body replied.