Chapter 337: One Willing to Be Struck, One Willing to Be Beaten

"How's the progress?" On the rooftop of Qiancao Lingyun Pavilion, Feng Xue sat cross-legged on a temporary platform, data from Xiao Lingdang flowing through countless devices, each monitor showing different Japanese people performing the same actions.

"Basically within estimates: forty-six have completed the second stage, their breathing techniques flowing smoothly, physiological states nearing optimal; two hundred seventy-one have just broken through the first stage and are still adapting to the engraved cultivation technique; two thousand seven hundred are still hesitating, and many more haven't even exited the Illusion."

As Xiao Lingdang finished its report, it also highlighted several top-performing experimental subjects on the screen.

Though the main goal was to stir up chaos in Uta City, Feng Xue also took the opportunity to run some experiments.

Emperor's Dew can implant specific knowledge into a target; the Yuan Acquisition Technique can store energy—such as Yuan Qi and devotional force—into matter. By embedding strong suggestions and prayers into Emperor's Dew's knowledge, those who receive it can rapidly absorb the Yuan Qi Feng Xue provides, becoming third-rate Wu Xiu who worship Kitodora.

He wasn't doing this for their faith—truthfully, Feng Xue didn't want a single scrap of devotional force; he'd even poured extra Yuan Qi into them.

The reason for all this effort? Naturally, the human body… damn it! He was doing clinical experiments.

After preliminary pharmacological tests, Xiao Lingdang integrated Feng Xue's Wu Xiu cultivation techniques into the Xuanwu Can Tong Qi, then exhaustively generated thousands of viable schemes based on principles, compatibility, and synergy with Xiu Xiu and Shen Dao cultivation systems.

For Feng Xue to test each one individually was obviously impractical, but there were still many desperate lower-class people in Japan who needed power. One willing to be struck, the other willing to be beaten—he simply unleashed a torrent of Wu Dao Fruits, each containing a version of the Xuanwu Can Tong Qi, paired with Feng Xue's free Yuan Qi bonus pack, letting anyone quickly enter cultivation, then resonate with him through devotional force, using the faith channel to deliver packaged devotional force like "Yahweh granting miracles to believers," aiding their rapid progress.

To refine further, Feng Xue subdivided those thousands of viable schemes, incorporating drug-assisted simulations and different spell combinations into the trial protocols.

This entire system had almost no drawbacks—except Feng Xue had to keep shoving fish cakes into his mouth nonstop.

"But these fish cakes won't last long—I hope we get results before they're gone."

Feng Xue glanced at the several hundred jin of dried fish cakes in his Hutian Bag, shook his head. He said that, but he wasn't really concerned—after all, once he released the official version of the Xuanwu Can Tong Qi, he could head straight to the Sea World; how many fish cakes wouldn't he have then?

"By the way, that dog woman—is she a human illusion beast? I wonder if she can control nanite unit division. If she can, we could scale up nanite farming; then not only Yuan Qi would be guaranteed, but even drones could be replaced with Moonlight Butterflies… hmm, that's a bit exaggerated. Let's start with the hover-return lines."

Feng Xue muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the subjects preliminarily filtered by Xiao Lingdang, correcting their mistakes and doling out bonuses via Kitodora based on their observed states.

The oppression of the Industrial Revolution was truly extreme. Only two hours after Seeing Mo Ying had spread the Divine Concealment Illusion, even lower-class civilians deemed lacking in rebellious spirit, who hadn't reached the critical threshold and thus weren't dragged into the Illusion, were gradually awakening.

It was hard to say whether this was blind conformity or genuine awakening of inner fire—but Feng Xue certainly didn't mind having more test subjects. He immediately ordered Xiao Lingdang to further refine the techniques, turn them into Wu Dao Fruits, and distribute them through the Illusion.

…

"Phew, this ritual is ridiculously complex. What on earth were the Han people thinking when they developed this?"

The young cultivator wiped sweat from his brow, straightened his back, and frowned in confusion. The composed cultivator shook his head.

"Probably figured a Han envoy's life was still a life?"

He carefully verified the ritual once more, then said:

"Go find the manager—we can bring those senior elders over now."

The two walked out of the room, yet felt an unusual commotion. As they headed to find the broker's manager, a servant called out:

"Gentlemen, it's dangerous outside—the manager has…"

"What danger? Did Feng Dao fail? Why didn't anyone notify us?" The young cultivator panicked instantly and turned to rush out. Just as the calm cultivator reached out to stop him, the broker's manager entered, wiping oil and sweat from his face.

"Not a failure—it's a success! Too successful! I can't even look at it! They said Shenxiao Sect was royalist—how come they're rebelling harder than the Taiping Dao?"

"Huh?" The young cultivator's eyes widened. He instantly slashed his hand through the air, summoning a water mirror—the famed Yuan Guang Technique. Without prior setup, it could only project scenes within a ten-li radius.

But it was enough. The young cultivator zoomed the image upward, revealing Uta City in chaos: short, slender Japanese men, wielding nothing more than makeshift tools, marched with disciplined breath and step, facing off against taller, sword- and rifle-wielding Japanese warriors.

Their body types clearly reflected differences in living conditions—yet the strong, well-fed warriors were now in absolute disarray.

"What's going on? Where did all these Japanese Wu Xiu come from?"

Even the composed cultivator couldn't stay calm. With his eyes, he could clearly see that each of the seemingly frail, short Japanese men was at least a third-rate Wu Xiu. Though their weapons and gear were primitive, their technique and strength utterly crushed the pampered Japanese samurai.

"It's scattering beans to form an army! I always thought it odd—modern 'scattering beans to form soldiers' usually turns beans into troops, but ancient texts say Zhang Jue's 'scattering beans to form an army' turned peasants into the Yellow Turbans. I once wondered if Zhang Jue used some dark art to transform people into Dao soldiers. Now I know—I was shallow! These aren't the same technique at all! This is the true 'scattering beans to form an army'!"

The broker's manager spoke incoherently. The composed cultivator said:

"Zoom the Yuan Guang Technique higher—see if there's… never mind, I'll do it myself!"

(End of Chapter)