Chapter 307: with translation of chapter title

"Sixty years in the human world, like a dream and also like an illusion……"

Lin Liu, who had long dwelt by the eastern sea, gazed upon the vast, boundless ocean, couldn't help stroking his whitening beard, and let out a long sigh.

In the blink of an eye, the village boy who once fished and gathered shells by the sea had already become a sixty-year-old man, and now, as the Great Shun Grand General Who Pacifies the Barbarians, he no longer needed to fish to supplement the household……

The monkey stood to one side and also said softly:

"Master, last time you refused the throne, I could still understand, but this time……"

What punitive expedition against the barbarians? The barbarians are only a handful! To put it bluntly, if the shogun wanted to deal with those barbarians, he could simply send a letter to the East Victory Divine Continent and the opposing state would surely launch a crusade! Yet he insists on not taking the simplest route, but personally leading a great army across the sea to campaign in the East Victory Divine Continent—this cannot possibly be just for a few insignificant barbarians……

In fact, the monkey knew full well:

This is simply because Master himself does not want to accept the throne, so he is deliberately stirring up trouble to divert everyone's attention! "Master, do you really owe such a deep gratitude to the Great Shun emperor? And even if the gratitude is immense, merely by helping him prolong his reign for several decades, you should have long since repaid it……"

The monkey's complaints are not without reason; Lin Liu's actions are truly puzzling……

But Lin Liu merely smiled:

"You meddlesome monkey, all you know is to stir up trouble! Whether I become emperor or not, what difference does it make?"

"Over these many years, I have already emptied the Great Shun of its substance; all the incense of the world belongs solely to the eight of us, and becoming a god is merely a matter of time……"

Having come this far, is there still any need to be a nominal emperor?

Obviously not.

"Moreover, after all these years, I no longer wish to be an emperor; to me, real power outweighs empty titles… In that case, it would be better to save the emperor some face and continue to preserve his throne."

Lin Liu's words were quite reasonable, but the monkey hearing them felt ill at ease, even somewhat disheartened:

After preparing for so many years, with the sole aim of seeing Master ascend the throne, yet now that the opportunity is at hand, he refuses to step forward.

After all, it's a matter of name; the monkey still cares too much about empty fame……

Seeing its low spirits, Lin Liu thought a moment and then added: "Furthermore, I don't even have the time to be an emperor now… Master's yang lifespan is not long."

The monkey's head shot up in shock! 【You're not lying—your yang lifespan really is not much……】

【The essence of Divine Dao cultivation is merely training the primordial spirit's dharma form, not the flesh; thus the cultivators' flesh is always a weak point, making them all fragile—once the flesh dies, no matter how formidable the dharma form, it's useless.】

【And precisely because Divine Dao cultivation does not temper the flesh, this directly results in the cultivators' lifespan not being much longer than that of ordinary people.】

【But if one wishes to achieve longevity, one must become a true god, making the dharma form into the true body, thereby existing independently of the frail mortal flesh!】

【Thus, the realm of the true god is a barrier.】

【Back when the founding ancestor of Great Shun crossed this barrier, it was actually easy—at most ten or twenty years to accumulate enough incense.】

【But you are different—you are not alone; you have seven subordinates, meaning eight people sharing a single share of resources… which is naturally insufficient!】

【Given your current cultivation efficiency, to become a true god you would still need at least another fifty or sixty years, yet you are already sixty years old……】

【You lack confidence in living past one hundred twenty years, so if you wish to attain longevity within your lifetime, you must resort to some rule‑breaking measures.】

【Before you lie only two paths: either cut expenses, or increase income!】

【If you choose to cut expenses, you must find a way to kill the monkey and his companions, carrying out a great slaughter of meritorious officials!】

【If you choose to increase income, you must conquer the Southern Jambu Continent, seize more land and population, thereby gaining more incense.】

【Obviously you cannot massacre the meritorious officials, so your only recourse is to conquer the other three great continents!】

【This is precisely why you would rather relinquish the throne than ignore the trivial matter of "pirate harassment," using it as a pretext to act against the East Victory Divine Continent, which is utterly unrelated to you……】

【……】

【At sixty years old, you led the monkey and seven other Divine Dao cultivators, and drafted thirty‑eight thousand elite Eight Banner troops stationed nationwide, beginning to organize the eastern expedition!】

【The East Victory Divine Continent lies in the vast ocean east of the Southern Jambu Continent; according to the monkey, a native, it is not entirely land like the Southern Jambu Continent, but consists of countless islands—some large, comparable to prefectures, some tiny, with only a few households.】

【Thus the East Victory Divine Continent is not unified; usually a few islands constitute a state, sparsely populated and narrow in territory, mostly weaklings.】

【And precisely because of their poverty, the inhabitants of these island nations always like to engage in somewhat illegal side businesses……】

【This time, using pirate incursions as a pretext to launch a punitive war is nominally justified, but dispatching tens of thousands of elite troops for it is somewhat of an overreaction.】

【Thus anyone with sense knows that you are simply going to annihilate states and seize land!】

【But you don't care about others' talk; you only took the monkey and his companions together with the Eight Banner army, boarded the long‑prepared ocean‑going vessels, and set off in a mighty procession……】【After sailing for several months with smooth winds and waters, you gradually reached the East Victory Divine Continent.】

【Your first stop is called Mount Huaguo!】

【Indeed, this is precisely the monkey's native home—a modest sea island with no humans, only various animals……among which primates are especially numerous.】

【Having arrived here, you naturally ought to tour it thoroughly; under the monkey's eager guidance you visited in succession the places it had mentioned, such as the Water Curtain Cave, and also inspected the remnants of the stone womb from which it was born……】

【The fact that a monkey leapt from a stone is already extraordinary; moreover, this monkey neither ages nor dies, understands human nature, and possesses the innate ability to discern people's hearts……This naturally arouses your curiosity, so you attempt to glean valuable information from its birthplace.】

【But you failed—the stone is just stone; you found no noticeable difference between these stones and others, nor any useful information, leaving you disappointed: it seems the monkey's secret remains, for now, undecipherable……】

【Next, you encountered the so‑called monkey's offspring: they are not the monkey's descendants, but wild monkeys on Mount Huaguo, lacking spiritual intellect, and are quite ordinary.】

【However, the monkey can read minds, enabling a certain degree of communication with them, and due to its wisdom and strength, they spontaneously acknowledge it as the monkey king.】

【And precisely because they are merely ordinary wild monkeys, they undergo birth, aging, sickness, and death; the monkey king, having witnessed much of their life and death, thus conceived the desire to seek the Immortality Technique, hoping to grant eternal life to all the wild monkeys……Unfortunately, to this day the monkey king has still not found such a technique for them……】

【After touring, you felt greatly disappointed—after all, you had hoped to glean hidden information from this place, yet you gained nothing at all.】

【The monkey also felt low, because the young monkeys on the island no longer recognized it—not because the youths have poor memory, but because the old monkeys who knew it have all died of old age……】

【Amidst all the disappointment and sorrow, you bade farewell to Mount Huaguo, and after traveling a stretch of time, you finally reached the first nation of the East Victory Divine Continent: the State of Aolai!】

【The State of Aolai is merely a minor country, occupying at most dozens of islands; confronted with your thirty‑eight thousand elite Eight Banner troops, it was shocked and terrified, not even daring to resist—its ruler personally hurried over and knelt in submission……】

【You admired his discernment of the times as a mark of talent, so you accepted the surrender without further hassle, and with a casual slap of a Blood God Son you made him shout "Loyalty!" on the spot.】

【Having stayed in the State of Aolai for less than a month, you spread the West Queen God teachings, turning everyone into brain‑dead fans.】

【Amidst the cheers of "Loyalty" and "Gratitude," you satisfactorily proceeded to the next island nation……】

【Thus you crushed one small state after another; most island nations dared not resist, and as soon as the heavenly troops arrived they knelt in submission.】

【The few that presumed to have some strength engaged you in battle, only to be swept away by you in an overwhelming rout……】

【For those rulers who knelt, you gently slapped a Blood God Son upon them; for those who resisted, you unhappily slapped a Blood God Son……Either way, everyone inevitably undergoes the Blood God Son's brainwashing—this is not cruelty on your part, but merely a reluctance to waste time……Your time is limited, so of course you must fight swiftly and decisively, prioritizing efficiency above all!】

【All that can be said is that the Blood God Son is truly effective—wherever you go, the place fills with hymns of loyalty……】

Three years later, you finally subdued the last island nation, and from then on East Victory Divine Continent was entirely under your command!

But you did not return home satisfied; instead, after replenishing supplies, you continued forward: your next stop was North Giant Reed Continent.

North Giant Reed Continent differs from East Victory Divine Continent: this place has only a single landmass, but there are hardly any people on the land because it is extremely bitterly cold; the locals are poor and few, even worse than East Victory Divine Continent.

When your fleet arrived, it merely revealed your identity as the Shogun of South Sustenance Continent, whereupon the local native chieftains hurriedly came to surrender: they had no other demands, only begging the wealthy southerners to come quickly and relieve poverty!

You were greatly surprised, but you did not refuse; after accepting their surrender, you distributed some of the grain seeds and iron tools you had brought, and not long after, everyone was singing praises for you……

Having left the vast but sparsely populated North Giant Reed Continent, you gradually came to a realization: why did previous dynasties only occupy South Sustenance Continent and not the other continents?

The answer is simple: it's not that you can't conquer them, but that there's no need to—each is poorer than the last, and conquering them would still require relief efforts……

The essence of the world lies entirely in South Sustenance Continent; it is not just an empty boast.

……

After consecutively occupying East Victory Divine Continent and North Giant Reed Continent, you again mustered your fleet and set out for the final continent.

Not long after, with smooth sailing, you arrived at Xiniu Hezhou!

Arriving at this land where you met your demise in a past life, you felt many emotions…… but you also did not waste time, directly as usual bringing tens of thousands of elite troops ashore; the mighty army marched mightily, crushing all in its path!

Xiniu Hezhou differs from other continents: it is vast and populous, roughly comparable to South Sustenance Continent, but it is not unified; instead, it is split into many large and small states.

Faced with your elite army, the various nations were shocked and terrified; after witnessing you easily destroy several formidable powers, the remaining states immediately declared an alliance!

Led by eight major powers, they formed an alliance of eight states, and another alliance of seventeen small and medium-sized states, which then attacked you in succession!

The Western Eight-State Alliance plus the Seventeen-State Alliance versus the Dragon Tiger General and Shogun-composed Eight Banner Elite!

An abstract war, ready to erupt at a touch!

……

(End of Chapter)