"Your grandson is willing to accept your arrangements!"
Genichiro nodded vigorously in agreement.
He knew that politics was a game of mutual compromise, and he understood his grandfather's choice, willingly accepting this arrangement.
After all, he had always firmly believed that his grandfather could lead Ashina to glory.
"Alas, it's just hard on that child, Emma!"
Isshin couldn't help but sigh.
Emma and Genichiro had grown up together as childhood sweethearts, and their relationship was incredibly close.
They had learned swordsmanship together under Isshin's guidance and grown up side by side.
Although Isshin wasn't sure whether Genichiro held a place for Emma in his heart, he knew that Emma certainly had feelings for Genichiro.
It was just that Genichiro had always been occupied with Ashina's affairs and had never placed personal feelings in his heart, while Emma had never broken through that silent barrier.
Now, although the world had been pacified by Ashina, Isshin had personally arranged for Genichiro to marry Princess Senhime.
Perhaps it was all fate; the two were destined to meet but not destined to become husband and wife.
Despite this, Genichiro did not feel much sadness or regret.
For him, personal feelings were not the most important thing.
He cared more about Ashina's future and development.
He understood that to achieve greater goals, sacrifices sometimes had to be made.
And those sacrifices, whether personal or familial, were worthwhile.
"Everyone exists for Ashina. Sacrificing the small self is nothing worth worrying about!"
Genichiro spoke firmly.
His eyes shone with determination and resolve.
To him, Ashina's interests came first, and he was willing to pay any price for them.
"Alas, you blockhead. You'll regret it one day!"
Isshin had never married in his life precisely because, in his youth, he had abandoned the moonlight in his heart for the sake of his ambitions, ultimately regretting it for the rest of his life.
Now, seeing his grandson walking the same path, he could only sigh helplessly.
When it came to matters of the heart, even as Genichiro's grandfather, he could not interfere.
"Your grandson's ambitions do not lie here!"
Genichiro still ignored Isshin's advice.
A man's ambitions should be like the Yangtze River flowing eastward into the sea—why linger in a gentle haven?
However, he would first have to meet his fiancée.
Although he did not care much about personal feelings, if Senhime wasn't beautiful enough, then he would have that old Tokugawa villain replace her.
...
...
After the private conversation between the Ashina grandfather and grandson ended, Genichiro immediately began preparing for his grand wedding with Princess Senhime.
Meanwhile, Isshin sent invitations far and wide, inviting the old Tokugawa Shogun and the various daimyos across the land to attend as guests.
At the same time, when the Shogunate learned of this news, everyone breathed a long sigh of relief, as though a huge burden had finally been lifted.
They immediately began preparing a lavish dowry for Princess Senhime and dispatched her elder brother, born of the same mother, as a representative to attend the wedding in place of the elderly Shogun.
This action undoubtedly demonstrated the Shogunate's sincerity and the importance they attached to this alliance.
While the upper echelons were scheming over the reconciliation between Ashina and the Shogunate, the Law of Death spread across the Land of Reeds like a plague.
Every day, the dead rose again.
After a brief period of fear, people quickly adapted to the laws of this new world.
After all, the ghosts you feared were the very people others longed for day and night but could never see again.
For those who should have died but could still remain among them as spirits, many commoners gladly accepted the situation.
Because even though these people were dead, their souls remained in the world and could continue accompanying their families and friends.
Furthermore, these spirits required neither food nor sleep and could work tirelessly for extended periods.
For struggling commoners, this was practically a gift from heaven.
Many impoverished families would even actively transform elderly relatives who could no longer work and were silently awaiting death into spirits.
Not only did this save the cost of feeding several mouths, but it also added several powerful laborers, greatly improving the family's economic situation.
Thus, the faith of death gradually took root in this land, replacing the original faith in the countless local gods.
At the same time, Xiao wandered throughout the Land of Reeds, occasionally catching those local gods that accepted lewd sacrifices and roasting them on skewers.
Although these local gods were not particularly powerful, they had received worship and offerings for many years and thus possessed traces of divinity.
Moreover, many of these local gods had originally been powerful beasts that were later deified.
These local gods were not only delicious and juicy, but they also provided Xiao with many life templates for his Eight-Nine Arcane Art.
Although none of those templates could compare with Ghidorah's, they possessed a wide variety of abilities.
The Ghidorah template was purely a combat form.
However, the local god templates possessed all kinds of abilities and could be combined with Xiao's various superpowers.
Most of their functions were auxiliary and life-support oriented, greatly compensating for Xiao's lack of non-combat utility abilities.
At the same time, Xiao also received a wedding invitation from Genichiro.
However, Xiao had no intention of attending.
He was currently preparing how to devour this world without attracting attention.
After all, this was a complete world, even if it was not particularly large.
If he could devour it, then his Cyber Dimension could take another step toward becoming a true world.
No matter how vast a Dimension was, it still needed to rely on a complete world and could not exist independently.
The more complete the Dimension became, the greater the enhancement to Xiao's strength.
The method Xiao devised was to first establish Dimension coordinates and Dimension Gates throughout the world, then use the connection between each gate to pull the entire Land of Reeds into the Cyber Dimension.
It would be like a gigantic net, with every node connected to one another, ultimately forming a complete system.
At the center of this system was the Cyber Dimension controlled by Xiao.
Therefore, regarding Genichiro's grand wedding, Xiao merely sent a Death Butterfly as a symbolic blessing.
He had no intention of interrupting his plans because of Genichiro.
He continued spreading the faith of death throughout the Land of Reeds while simultaneously arranging Dimension Gates.
Each Dimension Gate was a masterpiece carefully designed by Xiao.
They were scattered throughout every corner of the Land of Reeds, forming mysterious and magnificent landscapes that attracted the worship of the local people.
Xiao's wandering lasted for an entire year.
He established tens of thousands of Dimension Gates, with nodes spread across the entire Land of Reeds.
He traveled throughout the world, constantly adjusting and perfecting the positions and energy flow of these Dimension Gates.
It was an extremely complicated and tedious task.
Yet Xiao enjoyed it immensely.
"Finally finished. I'm exhausted!"
Looking at the Dimension Gates gradually lighting up, Xiao couldn't help but sigh emotionally as a sense of accomplishment welled up in his heart.
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