You became an emperor by letting me AFK.

The white jade statue gradually "came to life".

Xia He stretched lazily in a reclining posture, and Feng Tianyin, who was holding the body in her hands, immediately bowed.

"Doesn't this feeling of being possessed by a statue give off a bit of an evil god vibe?"

The opening joke elicited a serious reply: "Your Majesty, you are the only God, the supreme God, who defines the standard in the entire world. Since you can possess people, that is a blessing to mankind. Only those who do not obey the Great Qian are considered evil gods."

Let's get down to business.

"You should have also discovered the existence of polluted primitive beliefs in the South."

Feng Tianyin, an expert in this field, nodded in agreement.

It wasn't just through hints that I learned this; I had suspected it earlier. As more information came in, it became clear that the Sea God was some kind of corrupted monster trying to absorb faith to strengthen itself.

The Qingzhou authorities are ignoring the situation and there seems to be some kind of cooperation involved. This is the initial intelligence provided by Ke Rong, and the investigation is still ongoing.

"Your Majesty, I will be prepared for psionic combat."

"it is good."

"According to my calculations, the conquest of Qingzhou and Minyue regions may take a whole round. You are right, this is a war of attrition."

"After all, they are too far from the core area of ​​Daqian, so from an economic point of view, they are not worth it at all."

"We fight for the will of Heaven, regardless of the cost."

Feng Tianyin stared intently at the statue and bowed deeply, clearly requesting permission to fight. Xia He could only nod in agreement; after all, this battle was inevitable, it was just a matter of time.

Since the little robot has made up its mind, there's no need to waste words.

"You don't need to worry so much. Just follow the steps and don't always seem so tense."

"Your Majesty, I am actually developing a hobby."

"Oh, you have hobbies too?"

The gray-haired girl proudly took out a small statue from her wide sleeves. It was a figurine-style incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, exquisitely carved and made of jade, which looked very expensive.

That wasn't all; they even pulled out materials like clay and terracotta figurines.

Although the materials used later were ordinary, they were more in line with her two-dimensional carving style. Besides, who would care what kind of materials were used in the jewelry made by the High Priest?

The religious-themed statues carved by Feng Tianyin herself would be priceless if they were to be sold.

A national treasure!

Xia He looked at it with complicated emotions. From the first-person perspective of what she was currently possessing, it was a life-sized figurine.

"...The workmanship is good, and it looks quite nice."

It's difficult to evaluate the sculptures modeled after her, and they're rather odd because none of them have a face. Admittedly, the white jade statue only has vague facial features when it's in a state of self-possession; otherwise, it's largely unadorned.

Over time, this became a common practice within the Tiandao Sect's beliefs.

"It's so strange not to paint a face on the statue; it makes it look even more like an evil god." Xia He rolled her eyes. "You're not deliberately watching over me to remind me to perfect my image, are you?"

"Tianyin would never dare."

"Fine, since we've already come this far, I'll just modify the model."

Xia He immediately replaced the existing face model file with her own, and at the same time extracted all the statues of the gods of the Great Qian Dynasty, selecting the area as follows:

Patch it!

In an instant, a surge of spiritual energy reverberated in all directions, and all the statues emitted a radiant glow. In the light, people were astonished to discover the statues' exquisite faces.

The fact that everything was replaced in an instant made it appear even more sacred and majestic.

People exclaimed in surprise, convinced that it symbolized the increasingly close connection between the Way of Heaven and the world.

They cheered wildly, believing this to be the greatest blessing Heaven had bestowed upon them. It was a grace, an affirmation of their act of carving the statues, and indeed, they all radiated light—yes, it was divine.

"This is actually quite embarrassing."

The original, most primitive statue scratched its head awkwardly, guessing there would be a reaction, but not expecting such a big one.

Feng Tianyin smiled sweetly, a hint of triumph in her eyes.

"You bot!"

"Your Majesty, we, including myself, have been waiting for this for a long time, and I am delighted by your further blessing."

"Anyway, if you like it, consider it a reward."

---

It was a bit embarrassing to have everyone discussing my appearance.

Actually, there was no discussion.

Xia He understood that most people wouldn't dare to point at the statue that represented the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao; they had worshipped it again and again, filled with awe, so how could they dare to comment? But she felt that the believers would ponder it.

From another perspective, consider it as an idol debut.

She relaxed after thinking about it this way. People shouldn't waste their energy on internal conflicts or get caught up in unnecessary worries, especially when it comes to NPCs.

Xia He quickly adapted to the awkward situation, which was nothing more than perfecting the Heavenly Dao Sect's beliefs.

That's right.

The statue should have been established much earlier; it's decades too late for the believers. It's just a matter of a few rounds for her; their concepts of time are different, and only now has the image of the Heavenly Way been formally established.

The happiest person was none other than Feng Tianyin, the one who proposed it.

She couldn't help but move closer to the white jade statue, her purple eyes widening as she carefully observed it, her gaze shimmering, her face filled with emotion.

"Your Majesty must also be a goddess of beauty."

"Don't praise me to my face, and definitely don't praise me so exaggeratedly, it's too embarrassing."

Xia He, who had just felt better, couldn't help but cough.

"I am stating the facts, and I am being realistic. I believe no one in the entire Great Qian Dynasty would disagree with me."

"That's true."

"Not only in the Great Qian Dynasty, but I will also spread your image far and wide, so that all living beings will understand that only the Heavenly Dao is the only salvation, the only supreme god. The rest are nothing but evil heretics."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, let's get back to the main topic."

Upon hearing this, Feng Tianyin had no choice but to give up. She had clearly prepared tens of thousands of words of praise and could recite poetry at any moment, but the other party ignored her.

She punched cotton; I really don't know where the creator got the embarrassment from.

What a difficult woman.

In any case, we have made great progress today. Let's take it slow; everyone has plenty of time.

"Your Majesty has perfected the idol, so the faith of the Heavenly Dao Sect will spread greatly. I have already made arrangements. Those who returned from the previous missionary conference will cooperate with the priests to spread the word and let more people understand the philosophy of our sect."

"This is also to prepare for the next operational plan."

Feng Tianyin spoke with absolute certainty.

The uncivilized primitive beliefs of the South were a direct provocation to the entire Daqian Dynasty, and we had long been disgusted by them.

“Conflict of faith is a catch-all phrase, and you’re planning to fill it with a whole bunch of reasons to declare war.” Xia He laughed when she heard this: “Fine, as long as there’s a legitimate reason to make a claim, the truth doesn’t matter.”

She certainly enjoys coloring maps, so she couldn't overlook the vast southern region.

As for the reasons, they are never important.

"My chosen actions will also coordinate with yours. Wait for me a moment. I have a lot of actions planned for this round, including taking over the branch cities."

"Your Majesty's decision is entirely up to you."

Another reason for entrusting the operation to Xia He is that it comes with special effects.

If each branch city can further experience the blessings of Heaven, that would be the simplest and most effective encouragement, enabling them to devote themselves even more energy to the upcoming southern expedition.

Therefore, this round is destined to be tedious.

However, this was a piece of cake for Xia He, a veteran player, as she was familiar with all aspects of the Civilization Evolution game's mechanics. Looking around, the population, productivity, and food resources of each region were clearly visible.

She used to have to read things carefully, but lately she's quick-witted and reads information with ease.

I memorized it at a glance, and also estimated the various options and their derivative possibilities...

【hint】

[Psionic energy is currently rising in the Terra world.]

Both of them saw the log update, likely triggered by this large-scale religious event, and vaguely sensed an increase in psychic energy. In other words, the middle of the Classical Era would arrive earlier than expected.

No, we're already in it now; the times have accelerated.

"That's normal, not surprising."

Xia He's interference would also be taken into account by the algorithm, so all civilizations should be catching up and developing within an active environment. She ignored the minor details and continued operating:

First, the long-term national policy must be changed, as the original considerations based on population and arable land are no longer valid.

Because in the short term, Daqian will not continue to reclaim land or expand into new cities, or rather, it is not worthwhile to increase investment.

It's better to rob than to plant.

Feng Tianyin's consistent approach to dealing with barbarians is applicable here.

Because the cost of developing and catching up with leading cities is becoming increasingly prohibitive, it's better to simply conquer their cities and then leverage the scale of their expansion to attract newcomers. In short, the focus should be on strategic deployments for warfare.

[Long-term national policy: Early mobilization order]

[Description: War is the most complex social activity of humankind, requiring high investment and organization. When a national political entity is threatened, it must respond. Even in early societies with limited resources, mobilization mechanisms existed that activated the war machine. Come, ignite the flames of war, let the cities across the vast territory become supply nodes, and let our iron hooves trample the distant lands.]

[Effects: Mobilization efficiency +3%, Army cohesion +2%, Significantly increased military deterrence against surrounding areas]

Xia He chose the [Early Mobilization Order] buff without hesitation...

You're the one.

It doesn't directly affect frontal combat, but its effect on military reinforcement is remarkable. Ultimately, it's a contest of a political entity's mobilization capabilities, so strengthening it is the most direct approach.

Secondly, there are direct enhancements for expeditions.

Military Strategy: Expeditionary Operations

[Description: Every long-distance military operation must be approached with utmost caution, especially when we anticipate a protracted conflict. Internal discipline and organization are crucial, and this will be a test of the entire social systems engineering.]