All Heavens Strategy Game

Dusk has fallen, and the sun is setting in the west.

Smoke curls from the chimneys of Sishui Village.

At the edge of the village, on a patch of cleared land swept clean of snow, a figure continued to leap, dart, throw punches, and retract their stance, blending into the last rays of twilight, half their body tinged with red.

"Hoo... Ha!"

Su Ming stopped his final horizontal punch, slowly stood still, his chest heaving, and the white breath he exhaled from his mouth and nose like two straight columns of smoke.

He was enveloped in heat, and his sweat soaked through his thin clothes, which quickly condensed into tiny ice crystals in the extreme cold. However, the internal energy within him circulated continuously, and warmth rose from his dantian, dispelling his fatigue and cold.

After returning from hunting deer today, he felt a sense of enlightenment and began to cultivate diligently in his own courtyard, thus concluding his cultivation for the day.

With a slight thought, a semi-transparent panel, invisible to others, quietly appeared in his consciousness:

Name: Su Ming

Age: 13

[Technique: Xingyi Gong (Proficient 11/100)]

Martial Arts Skills: Xingyi Root Stance (Proficient 9/100), Five Elements Fist (Beginner 6/10)

[Skill: Basic Archery (Proficient 18/100)]

As his gaze swept over the numbers on the panel, Su Ming felt a surge of emotion.

This panel came with the "World Strategy Token," which was his identifier as a "player." He hadn't understood it before but now he knew it was no ordinary thing.

Its benefits are obvious:

First, quantify the progress and clarify the goals.

Numbers like "Proficient 11/100" and "Beginner 6/10" transform the abstract concepts of "cultivation" and "progress" into tangible and concrete steps.

Each practice session reveals subtle fluctuations in the numbers; even a mere "+1" signifies undeniable progress.

This gave him strong positive feedback and clear expectations for continued practice, letting him know where the road was and how far he still needed to go.

Especially in projects like foundation piles that require long-term, painstaking work, without this panel, ordinary people are very likely to get lost and become lax in the long and arduous practice without obvious external changes.

Second, it is suspected to be a cheat that allows "proficiency to never regress".

Based on Su Ming's observations over the past few days, as long as he engages in effective training, the proficiency level on the panel will increase, and so far there has been no sign of it decreasing due to interruptions.

This means that his cultivation achievements were "solidified" in a way that was almost like a rule.

As long as you put in the effort, you will accumulate results. Over time, quantitative changes will eventually lead to qualitative changes.

This is undoubtedly a miraculous boost.

However, the cold "Player 103455" number suggests that he is not the only one.

He wasn't sure if this panel was a standard feature for every "player," or if it was a unique opportunity for him.

"In any case, this panel is currently in my favor, so I'll use it and see how it goes."

Su Ming composed himself and stopped investigating.

The most urgent task is to use this panel to become stronger faster.

Xingyi basic stance training has become proficient, Five Elements Fist awaits a breakthrough, and archery has made great progress due to today's deer shooting, already reaching the "proficient" level... The road ahead is long, but each step is clear.

After finishing the exercise, the chill was even stronger.

Su Ming went back to his room, quickly washed himself with cold water, and changed into dry old clothes.

Just as they finished tidying up, Liu's cheerful voice came from the main room: "Sanlang! Finished practicing? Come out and eat quickly, the soup is getting cold!"

Su Ming responded and walked into the main room.

The old wooden table was now filled with a heartwarming and abundant atmosphere.

In the center is a large earthenware pot filled with steaming venison stew.

Deep red chunks of venison float in the milky white broth, garnished with a dozen or so dried dates that had shriveled up in the sun but plumped up again in the broth, emitting a rich and enticing aroma of meat and a subtle sweetness of dates.

Next to it was a bowl of golden millet rice and a small dish of pickled vegetables that Liu had made herself. She usually couldn't bear to eat pickled vegetables, but today was different because there was meat!

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the family's faces were flushed from the heat.

When Liu saw Su Ming, a loving yet slightly proud smile immediately bloomed on her face.

She quickly took Su Ming's bowl, filled it to the brim with rice without saying a word, then scooped up several trembling pieces of venison with tendons and a few dates, poured on some thick broth, and handed it to him.

"Sit down and eat! Look at you, all sweaty from practicing. Don't catch a cold! You need to take care of yourself when you practice in the future. Take it one step at a time, don't overwork yourself!"

His words revealed his undisguised heartache and concern.

Before, we worried that he wouldn't have enough to eat; now we worry that he's practicing too hard.

Su Ming could feel this sentiment.

"Okay, Mother."

Su Ming took the bowl, sat down in the seat reserved for him, and smiled at his family members sitting around the table. "Let's eat, while it's hot."

Unbeknownst to him, he had become the backbone of the family.

"Time to eat!" Su Xiaobao, the fifth son, who had been waiting with his eyes wide open, was the first to cheer, and his chopsticks went straight for the largest piece of venison.

The eldest brother, Su Yuanbao, smiled憨厚ly, first putting a piece of meat on Liu's plate, then a piece on his second sister, Su Yuyu, before finally putting a large piece on his own plate.

He shoveled a large mouthful of rice, meat and broth mixed together, chewed it, and a look of utter satisfaction spread across his face as he mumbled a deep sigh:

"This venison is really delicious! The soup is so flavorful too! Drinking it warms me up all over, making me feel like I have inexhaustible energy!"

"When I work in the fields, my hands and feet feel weak and I feel anxious in the afternoon."

"I've been busy all day and am exhausted, but now, after eating this venison and venison soup, I feel... I feel like I could plow three acres of land right now, without even needing to borrow an ox! I could pull it myself!"

He spoke frankly, which made everyone laugh.

Liu laughed and scolded, "Nonsense! A cow is a cow, and a person is a person! But... this venison is indeed nourishing."

Second Sister Su Yuyu ate the meat in small bites and drank the soup, a rare healthy blush appearing on her pale cheeks.

She was naturally pretty, but she suffered from malnutrition for many years, and she did a lot of heavy and tiring work around the house.

Washing clothes, cooking, helping with farm work...

Years of hard work have left him extremely thin, and his complexion is always pale.

After eating the venison today, she could feel a warm current spreading from her stomach to her limbs and bones, and even her hands and feet, which were usually cold, felt much warmer.

Seeing this, Su Ming noticed that her pale face finally had a touch of color, so he added two more pieces of meat and a date to her bowl: "Second sister, eat more. You're weak, so you need to nourish yourself."

Su Yuyu looked up, smiled a little shyly, and said softly, "Thank you, Third Brother."

She didn't refuse and obediently started eating.

She knew that her younger brother was different from before; he genuinely cared for the family and truly loved her.

Su Ming sighed inwardly.

In this era, in this family, and even in society as a whole, the preference for sons over daughters is the norm.

In the past, the family was poor, and the limited resources were given priority to the boys and younger children. Su Yuyu, a girl who was not quite grown up, was the second eldest sister who was neither the eldest nor the youngest, and she was often the one who ate the least and did the most miscellaneous work.

Over time, he became short and thin, with pale lips, and his physical constitution was severely depleted.

Now that we have the means, we must make up for it for her, otherwise, as she gets older, her condition may really be set.

Fortunately, thanks to the village's support over the years, and the fact that Su Ming often saved some of his own meat to share with his fourth and fifth children, Su Linlin and Su Xiaobao, they have grown much stronger than other children their age in the village.

Now, at less than ten years old, they already look quite robust and chubby.

As Liu looked at her children eating meat heartily, at her daughter whose complexion was gradually improving, and at Su Ming, who had become the pillar of the family and was becoming more and more composed and opinionated, she was filled with emotion.

She hesitated for a moment, put down her chopsticks, smiled, and looked at her eldest son: "Yuanbao, you're eighteen now, it's time to settle down and start a family."

"Our family was poor before, and I didn't dare to dream of such things, afraid of wronging you or ruining other people's daughters' lives. But now..."

She glanced at the sumptuous meal on the table and said confidently, "Thanks to Sanlang, our family is one of the wealthiest in the village."

"We've been able to eat meat every few days, and we've even saved up a little money. I'm thinking it's time to arrange a marriage for you. Have you taken a fancy to any girl? I'll ask someone to speak on your behalf!"

As the topic shifted, Su Yuanbao's dark face flushed slightly. He scratched his head, a hint of shyness and anticipation in his honest smile: "Mother... actually, I... I've taken a liking to one myself."

"Oh? Which family's daughter is she?" Madam Liu's eyes lit up, and the whole family looked at him curiously.

"Yes...she's a girl from the next village, the carpenter's daughter, her name is Li Xiuer." Su Yuanbao's voice was lower, but his tone was firm:

"Two years ago, when our village and their village were building an irrigation canal together, I... I helped her family move wood. That's how we met. She... she's hardworking and has a good personality. She didn't look down on our family because we were poor before."

Upon hearing this, Liu thought about it carefully: "I have heard of the Li carpenter's family... they are the daughter of a respectable craftsman."

"Alright, if you like it, I'll ask your Uncle Shunfa's wife to sound him out another day! With our current conditions, we have meat soup every meal, so we're not worried about not getting it!"

Upon hearing this, Su Yuanbao's smile widened. He looked at Su Ming, his eyes filled with gratitude: "Third brother, thank you so much! If it weren't for your success in bringing a good life to our family, I don't know when I would have gotten married, let alone found someone I liked!"

Su Ming waved his hand: "Brother, we're family, no need for formalities. It's a good thing that you've found a wife you like, and I'm happy for you too."

The main room was filled with a joyful and hopeful atmosphere.

The oil lamp flickered, the aroma of meat filled the air, and the laughter of family members mingled together.

For Liu Shi, Su Yuanbao, and Su Yuyu, their current lives are already "good days" that they never dared to dream of before.

Having meat soup every few days, having stored grain at home, and having the eldest son able to marry a satisfactory wife—in the countryside where disasters were frequent and poverty was widespread, this was a level of wealth and stability that many people could only envy.

Su Ming ate his meal quietly, listening to his family's laughter and feeling the simple yet precious warmth.

however,

What welled up in his heart,

But it's not just about satisfaction.

Seeing the happiness his family felt because they could eat meat regularly, and remembering how most people in the village still ate only bland food and were thin and emaciated, and thinking about what he had seen on his way to the city, where there were also many ragged beggars and numb poor people... a grander idea quietly grew in his heart and gradually became clear.

In this era, in this world, ordinary people at the bottom of society are too easily satisfied.

Because they had endured so much hunger, cold, and uncertainty, a full meal and a few mouthfuls of meat soup could bring them immense happiness and give them real hope for the future.

Their wishes were so humble, yet so difficult to fulfill.

Su Ming came from another world and had witnessed an abundance of material goods, so he knew that "eating meat every day" should not be a luxury.

He was once a loser at the bottom of that world, experiencing the coldness of human relationships and the fickleness of the world, but at least, basic food and clothing were not out of reach.

Here, in this Great Zhou Dynasty, countless impoverished people like his family and the villagers of Sishui Village could not even guarantee this most basic dignity of survival.

As the sage said, "When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven."

He came into this world with the identity of a "player" and a strategy token, with the goal of "conquering the world," obtaining extraordinary power, curing his disability, and changing his destiny.

But does this "strategy" simply mean the pinnacle of personal martial prowess, the unlimited rise in status and position, and the ultimate accumulation of wealth and prestige?

Perhaps, it can be interpreted in another way.

Since we have the ability and the opportunity, why can't we bring a little more warmth to this cold world?

Why can't more people like us, who used to struggle to survive like the villagers of Sishui Village, also see hope for having enough to eat and wear?

Even... to give all the poor people in the world a chance to taste what it's like to "eat meat every day"?

This idea did not come out of thin air from a saintly heart, but rather stemmed from his personal experience and understanding.

He comes from the bottom of society, understands the hardships and resilience of the lower classes, and knows that true "strength" may not just be fists and swords, but also the ability and mindset to enable more people to live with dignity and hope.

This might become a more ambitious goal worth his effort on his long journey of "conquering the world".

A profound mark on the soul that transcends personal revenge and pleasure.

Of course, we have to take things one step at a time.

It is too early to talk about "benefiting all under heaven" now; Su Ming's strength is still too weak.

Right now, all he can do is "take care of himself" and gradually "help those around him"—to give his family a better life, to let Sishui Village benefit from him, and to reward those who trust and follow him.

Don't worry.

Su Ming raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the satisfied smiles on his family's faces. His tone was calm yet carried an undeniable strength, "Life at home will only get better and better."

"We'll be able to eat meat every day from now on."

Liu took it as a consolation and laughed, scolding, "Stop talking big! Even the biggest fortune can't withstand eating meat every day! Don't spout such nonsense again!"

Su Ming smiled, offering no explanation, but instead took a bite of rice, his gaze not only fixed on the food in front of him.

I already had many more ideas:

It starts with ensuring that your family can eat meat every day.

Then, there is Sishui Village.

And then... perhaps, we can really try to let similar smoke rise from more corners of the world, and let similar aromas of meat waft through the air.

Carnivorous?

May all people in the world have meat to eat!