Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

History won’t come to a halt just because a few people have died.

No matter if they’re emperors, treacherous ministers, heroes, or peerless beauties, it’s the same.

Time will always march on.

As it always has.

Fang Zheng stood before the hillside, silent as he gazed at the tombstone ahead.

Qin Shi Huang, just like in history, died suddenly at the dunes during his tour.

In fact, the people Fang Zheng once saw are just like him; Xiang Shaolong and others have long since passed away, Qin Shi Huang being no exception. No one can escape the shackles of time; apart from the Time Dragon, all will move forward in the torrential flow of time, eventually reaching their endpoint.

The time has come.

Fang Zheng reached out, placing a flower before the tombstone, looking at the name above. Strictly speaking, this might be Fang Zheng’s first genuine experience of the disparity between deities and mortals. The Time Dragon won’t experience death, while mortals will gradually age. Although Fang Zheng was mentally prepared for this, he hadn’t expected his first experience of such reality would be here......

Perhaps this is one reason the Goddess of Order set this trial for him.

As an Immortal Seed, as an undying entity, transcending time like the Time Dragon, Fang Zheng is bound to face such realities one day. Perhaps only a rare few can remain with him forever, like Tilia, Black Katie, Nymph, and Yui; they all count as half-Immortal Seeds, unaffected by the lifespan like the King of the Crimson Realm, with Artificial Angels and Digital Elves evidently the same. But as for others, it’s uncertain, especially like Black Cat, Asuna, and Eiriri...... maybe one day Fang Zheng will stand before their tombstones, offering his mourning and blessings.

Hmm... yet considering Black Cat’s temperament, she might transform herself into a Lich or Vampire...... after all, that deeply ingrained chuunibyou is beyond cure.

This needs careful watching; a Vampire is one thing, but if Black Cat intends to transform into a Lich, Fang Zheng will definitely intervene.

At this thought, Fang Zheng shook his head and chuckled.

Originally, Fang Zheng thought the death of a beloved would bring him exceptional pain, like in so many Immortal Hero novels where the disparity in lifespan leads many immortals to detach from worldly matters, to avoid the agony of watching their loved ones pass away. However, Fang Zheng found himself not quite so affected; although he mourns the loss of loved ones, he is unexpectedly devoid of a heart-dead feeling.

After all, those novels are written by mortals, who themselves have limited lifespans. From the perspective of a more long-lived race, the scenery is different. In truth, everyone’s journey in life encompasses experiences of life and death, such as grandparents and parents, naturally calculated as black-haired bidding farewell to white-haired, but this does not mean persistent sadness and pain.

Moreover, it’s not unheard of for elders who lost partners to find new companions to spend their later years with.

In Fang Zheng’s view, life is like a train; some board it to journey with him, then disembark at their station to part ways. This is undeniably poignant, possibly even sorrowful. But the train will carry on, and sooner or later, new companions will board as well. Thus, the conclusion of one journey heralds the beginning of another.

Upon realizing this, Fang Zheng felt at ease.

”Master!”

Just then, a voice rang out, prompting Fang Zheng to turn and glance behind him, where one of his students stood.

”It’s time for the lecture.”

”Hmm...... I’ll head over now.”

Fang Zheng replied with a slight smile, nodding.

Although Qin Shi Huang’s sudden demise occurred a few years earlier than Fang Zheng’s historical recollection, there was not much difference in specific events, as in the First Year of Qin the Second Generation, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang initiated an uprising at Daze Township, marking the onset of the Late Qin Period peasant uprisings. Following this, numerous heroes emerged across the land, with all sorts of entities appearing.

Among them, the rebellion army led by Fang Zheng was indeed the most peculiar.

Unlike Chen Sheng and Wu Guang’s ”No difference between kings and nobility” or those attempting the Six Kingdoms restoration, seeking a return to the Era of Warring States, Fang Zheng profoundly understood the nature of an army with real combat power. Accordingly, his rebellion army prioritized ideological education above all else.

Different from this era’s ”King of Qin tyranny, we would overthrow him to become the emperor”, Fang Zheng analyzed the current situation with his rebellion army comrades from a foundational ideological level, clarifying the rebellion army’s objectives.

First, the goal of the rebel army is to overthrow the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, but why does such tyranny exist in the Qin Dynasty? Fang Zheng very thoroughly explained this issue to his students and subordinates, the source of the Qin Dynasty’s tyranny, and why the current situation has arisen. Why could Qin Shi Huang remain impassive and allow people to suffer without batting an eye.

Secondly, what is the nature of the rebel army?

At present, the rebel armies in the Late Qin Period actually have very simple, crude, and direct objectives; to put it plainly, they take territory for themselves, claim land for themselves, crown themselves king, and enjoy the good things for themselves.

This is the origin of ”Are princes and kings born from certain seeds.”

And the armies of this era are simply collections of interests like this. People gather under those generals merely to pursue a better life—however, this objective is quite vague, such as what is a better life? Is it like those landlords and officials?

An army without the people has none of the people’s attributes.

This is also the guideline and ideological goal that Fang Zheng taught.

Fang Zheng is not worried that these thoughts are too advanced—in fact, these thoughts are applicable in any era; one must know that during the Chinese revolution, the social atmosphere in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic was actually not very different from the Late Qin Period, and was even more feudal and conservative.

Just one thing gives Fang Zheng a headache, and that is the need for a clear goal. The revolution during the late Qing Dynasty was driven by foreign powerful ships and guns, which caused people to be unwilling to endure centuries of weakness and oppression by foreign powers, thus seeking change together. However, in this era, not to mention an Eight-Nation Alliance, whether there is civilized existence on the Japanese Islands is doubtful. Where to find a clear target to gather the strength of the masses in unity?

But fortunately, a so-called divine opponent is not as troubling as foolish teammates. Accompanied by the uprisings of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the movement for the restoration of the Six Kingdoms had given Fang Zheng a very good target. He used this as a basis to explain to his students—the only way to maintain peace in the world is to have one prosperous, strong, and prosperous nation. Qin Shi Huang had great achievements but also great faults. However, only by unifying the world could the incessant Six Kingdoms warfare and the people being displaced be utterly eliminated.

At that time, Fang Zheng truly thanked the heavens for the existence of these idiots...

Furthermore, Fang Zheng’s rebel army had something unmatched by other rebel armies, which was that the Carefree Palace had numerous students serving as officials in the Qin Dynasty. Although most of these young people lacked connections and were engaged in basic local work due to their youth, it was precisely for this reason that once Fang Zheng started a new movement, these students would nearly immediately follow. There was even an instance where, apart from the highest official designated above, all other officials in a city came from the Carefree Palace...this was basically set up so that it would immediately collapse once devoided of power.

As a result, the expansion of Fang Zheng’s rebel army was much slower than other rebel armies, since at each place he arrived, he needed to first occupy the territory and then send people to explain to the local populace, including the purpose of the rebel army and why they were fighting. These all required a substantial amount of time and also required using some examples to boost the confidence of other officers and soldiers, and it is for this reason that when the rebel armies of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang joyously reached the Hangu Pass, Fang Zheng remained in his corner, seemingly completely unlike the other rebel armies flourishing everywhere in terms of power.

In fact, Chen Sheng had once sent someone to invite Fang Zheng to join, but different paths cannot lead to the same destination. Seeing Chen Sheng’s approach of conferring positions everywhere, Fang Zheng could guess what he had in mind and naturally refused under the pretense of insufficient strength. He was very clear that despite the current thriving state of Chen Sheng’s rebel army, seeming to be able to directly launch an attack on Xianyang to seize the world, the initial unrestrained expansion had become the main cause of Chen Sheng’s defeat.

The reason so many answered Chen Sheng’s call was entirely because ”The world has suffered from Qin for a long time,” but everyone had different goals and ideas. Some wanted to overthrow the Qin Dynasty to become the big boss themselves, some wanted to restore their former countries, and others simply wanted to exploit the chaos for personal gain.

Such an army without ideals, just with a crowd of miscellaneous fish, it’s no wonder that Chen Sheng’s uprising ended six months after claiming kingship, instead allowing Xiang Yu and Liu Bang to reap the benefits.

Oh, as for Liu Bang...he no longer exists now.

Thus, Fang Zheng steadily expanded his forces while climbing the tree of technology and production—after all, technology is the primary productive force, and productivity and relations of production are the determining factors in the shape of warfare.

It is well said that civilization truly is a divine artifact that consumes time.

While Fang Zheng was engrossed in climbing the technology tree beyond redemption, a piece of news broke his calm days of technology tree climbing.

In December of the third year of Qin the Second Generation, Xiang Yu led the Chu Army to Julu, achieving nine victories in nine battles with the momentum of breaking the cauldrons, and greatly defeating the Qin Army.

Upon receiving this news, Fang Zheng knew that it was his time to act.

After all, there’s no Liu Bang in this world anymore.

So, it was only up to himself to become Xiang Yu’s opponent.

This wasn’t Fang Zheng trying to ”Follow the historical flow,” it was truly because the conflict between him and Xiang Yu was nearly unsolvable. The Kingdom of Chu, where Xiang Yu was, highly respected the nobility, and indeed after the demise of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the exiled nobility of the Six Kingdoms became the main force against the Qin. However, Fang Zheng’s rebel army aims to uproot the entire aristocratic class and thoroughly eliminate them.

Especially the old nobility of the Six Kingdoms, who always expect the restoration of the feudal system, but this is something Fang Zheng will absolutely not allow.

Thus, it is clear that the confrontation between the two sides is inevitable.

So, upon receiving the news, Fang Zheng immediately issued orders for the rebel army to take advantage of the Qin Army being restrained by Xiang Yu, to directly enter Guanzhong and march towards Xianyang!