A Bold Idea

However, with his cultivation level, he couldn't interrupt Si Ming's charged attack. Let alone break through the protective Gang Qi, he couldn't even get close to a range of three zhang. Seeing the dazzling Sword Qi piercing through the sky, the fierce wind howling, and the sky once again covered with dark clouds, absorbing moisture from all directions, how could he dare to wait any longer? He hurriedly ran away, hiding far away to avoid being caught in the crossfire. If it happened again, he didn't know if Si Ming would live or die, but if he got caught up in it, he would definitely die.

Soon, the purple celestial dragon appeared, roaring in the sky. Up to this point, the process was exactly the same as before when he was summoning the dragon. Si Ming once again felt that sense of powerlessness, but the next moment, golden light rose from his whole body, and he entered the state of Solar Prominence Eruption.

Although the Solar Prominence Eruption would rapidly deplete True Qi, it would also greatly enhance various qualities, including Cultivation Body. Thus, Si Ming used this to meet the minimum requirements for executing sword techniques, and the Sword Qi generated by the Dragon Scale Sword immediately stabilized.

Of course, simply relying on the Solar Prominence Eruption to unleash sword techniques would likely result in the sword technique being completed just before the internal True Qi was depleted, leaving the user with insufficient strength and causing the attack to be interrupted again. Therefore, Si Ming used the Vacuum Zero-Energy Furnace to frantically absorb vacuum Zero-Point Energy to replenish the energy consumed.

This behavior was extremely crazy. He was frantically outputting True Qi while simultaneously absorbing spiritual energy. In the eyes of ordinary martial artists, it was no different from Qi Deviation. If he was not careful, he could explode on the spot. If he was lucky, his meridians would be severed and his Foundation would be mostly destroyed. However, for Si Ming, who possessed multiple protective divine skills, it was just a slight swelling and pain.

So, carefully maintaining the in-and-out motion, Si Ming finally completed the sword move when only a trace of True Qi remained in his body.

"Rain Falls on All Things, Purple Dragon Billows!"

The Shiryu formed from Sword Qi soared into the clouds, seemingly becoming a dragon king capable of summoning wind and rain. Soon, dark clouds gathered, thunder roared, and bright lightning flashed like silver snakes through the sky. Heavy rain poured down, covering the land for hundreds of miles around.

Rain streams danced across the sky, like thousands of sharp arrows hurtling towards the earth with unstoppable force and immense power. Plants struggled, desperately clinging to the ground in their final effort, while animals ran frantically through the rain, fleeing its onslaught. Many were gripped by panic, their normally keen sense of rain now rendered ineffective.

Si Ming landed from the sky, letting out a long sigh, "It's really not easy to get rain."

If the sole purpose is to bring rain, it would be more convenient to summon the Si Clan's exclusive deity than to use this One Sword. At most, it would require more uses because the range of the Divine Arts is not wide enough, but the total amount of True Qi consumed would definitely be less than it is now, since sword techniques are ultimately used for combat, and rain is just a side effect. More than half of the Primal Qi was transformed into Sword Qi and blasted towards the sky.

In a normal thunderstorm, the thunder stops after it starts to rain. But the "artificial rain" created by Si Ming defies common sense. Shiryu still shuttle back and forth among the clouds. Looking up, one can see a bolt of lightning stretching across the layers of dark clouds, like a giant, hungry dragon. The dragon opens its mouth and roars loudly. Before one can even cover their ears, the thunder has already shattered their eardrums.

The Sword Qi Shiryu continuously gathered water vapor, making the heavy rain long-lasting and tireless. It quickly formed puddles on the flat ground and rapidly expanded. Under the curtain of wind and rain, the golden snakes danced wildly, making the scene even more spectacular.

According to Si Ming's estimate, the heavy rain should last for an hour and a half, but the rain will subside after half an hour. After all, his Internal Cultivation will be somewhat reduced when he uses this type of water-attribute sword technique. Of course, this move is essentially about attracting water vapor with Sword Qi, rather than directly converting it, so the reduction is not too great.

"This is incredible! To manipulate the celestial phenomena at will—this is the power of Spirit Transformation cultivator..."

Si Ming turned his head and saw that the secretary was looking up at the sky with a shocked expression on her face.

Although being amazed by passersby was a pleasant experience, Si Ming really didn't want to get soaked any longer. His internal True Qi was almost completely depleted, and he could no longer condense an energy shield to protect himself from the rain. So he reached out and picked up his secretary, then ran away quickly.

The secretary screamed as he ran through the thunderstorm, especially when lightning struck a large tree that had just passed by him. This thrilling experience was unlike anything he had ever had before.

When Si Ming returned to the government office building, the secretary could barely stand, but she didn't seem scared; she looked more like she had just ridden a roller coaster.

Si Ming patted the other person on the shoulder, about to offer some words of encouragement, but then noticed that the other person was wearing a short brown jacket under their coat.

The so-called "short hem" refers to a short garment made of coarse linen, which was worn by poor people in ancient times. In modern times, almost no one wears this kind of clothing anymore, and it is even impossible to buy it.

But there is one group of people who occasionally wear it: the Mohist.

Mencius described the Mohist as those who wore fur coats and coarse cloth and straw sandals, working tirelessly day and night, taking extreme self-torture as their goal.

Mohist are certainly not ascetics. Some wear short robes because they cannot afford fine clothes, while others wear short robes because the world cannot afford fine clothes. So they will not wear fine clothes until the world can afford them. Mohist are those who can afford fine clothes but do not wear them.

In this day and age, everyone can afford fine clothes, or at least the vast majority of people can. Therefore, Mohist no longer need to wear coarse clothes to express their aspirations. However, this symbolism has been preserved in history, so some Mohist still retain this habit, considering it a Mohist tradition.

If Mozi were still alive, he would surely rebuke his disciples and followers for being superficial learners who only learned the surface and not the essence. The reason Mozi chose short coarse clothing as the uniform was because most of his disciples were poor people who could not afford good clothes. He chose short coarse clothing to avoid internal strife.

Just as Kongzi required his disciples to send him ten pieces of cured meat before accepting them, this was not because Confucian School were all gluttons, but because Kongzi used this method to screen his students. Families that couldn't even afford ten pieces of cured meat couldn't concentrate on their studies with him.

However, Mozi has passed away, and later generations cannot correct this. Even if the Grandmaster came forward, he could only persuade the majority, not everyone. Dogmatism was ultimately unavoidable, and the Mohist School were no exception.

Fortunately, it's not a big deal. These days, you can't even buy clothes made of coarse linen unless you make them yourself. The tunic the secretary is wearing only looks like a tunic; it's not actually made of coarse linen at all.

"Are you Mohist?" Si Ming asked directly.

The secretary nodded and added, "Actually, all the administrative staff in this office building are Mohist, except for that Secretary Hu. Although she also wants to become Mohist, she's still in her probationary period."

Si Ming was somewhat surprised. He had just become Mohist through Yan Jinghong's recommendation, so he knew very well that becoming Mohist was not an easy thing. If he hadn't made great contributions in the war between humans and demons, he might still be in the assessment period.

The requirements to become Mohist are extremely strict. To illustrate this with a simple statistic, the ratio of a certain party to the general population is about 1 to 15, while in the Su State, the ratio of Mohist to the general population is 1 to 500. Out of 500 people, only one meets the requirements.

There's a Mensa Club on Earth that claims only the top 2% of people by IQ can join. It sounds prestigious, but in reality, it's only 1 in 50. Becoming Mohist is ten times harder.

There are two reasons why there are few Mohist. First, becoming Mohist means greater responsibility and more constraints. Mistakes that are forgivable for ordinary people may be serious breaches of principle for Mohist. For example, if someone is drowning, an ordinary person can simply stand by and do nothing and at most receive moral condemnation, but Mohist fails to do so, they will be held criminally liable. This is clearly stipulated in the laws of the Su State.

People join an organization often because they gain more power and social benefits, but becoming Mohist offers few advantages and a mountain of obligations, so naturally no one wants to join.

Secondly, the recommender bears joint liability. According to the laws of the Su State, if a Mohist commits a crime, the person who recommended him will be held accountable for a certain proportion of the time he has been a member of the school: equal liability within ten years, half liability within twenty years, one-quarter liability within thirty years, and so on.

For example, if a Mohist is sentenced to ten years for embezzlement, and he became Mohist fifteen years ago, then the person who recommended him will also serve five years in prison. Therefore, Mohist will not easily recommend others unless they completely trust their character.

This dual restriction resulted in a very small number of Mohist, but it also allowed the Mohist group to maintain a very high level of morality. Sometimes, what the Mohist said carried more credibility than what the government said.

Could it be that Martial Uncle Xiao intends to use only Mohist to form the government personnel, thereby solving the problem of corruption that has plagued people for thousands of years?

Si Ming asked Xiao Xuan with a puzzled look in his eyes.

"That's right, that's exactly what I think. The best way to solve the deep-seated problems of the bureaucratic class is to replace it with another group. Although it's impossible to completely eradicate these Evil Qi, it should be able to curb them to a large extent," Xiao Xuan readily admitted. "The facts have proven that it works well. At least since the founding of Mystic Earth Country, there hasn't been a single case of corruption."

Chapter 733 A Bold Idea

How to address bureaucratic corruption is not only a historical challenge but also a cross-dimensional one. Zhu Yuanzhang's brutal punishment of officials by skinning them alive was unparalleled, but it was merely a temporary measure. Once the heat died down, the restless hearts of the officials would stir again.

In the Sea Continent, some people once thought of using deities to supervise officials or Li State. The former was France, and the latter was Germany, but both failed because the deities of the Sea Continent were not natural spirits that came out of nowhere, but artificial spirits created by humans. Since they were created by humans, humans could find ways to deal with them.

Thus, in France, bureaucrats colluded with priests to evade divine oversight, and the talented simply taught themselves Divine Arts. In Germany, there were no bureaucratic corruptions, but the temple keeper in charge of incense replaced the bureaucrats and continued to embezzle.

During this period, corruption in these two countries reached an all-time high. In other countries, there are laws to protect the system, but in these two countries, the gods are the last line of defense. Since the gods believe they are innocent, then they are innocent of corruption and can naturally break the bottom line repeatedly.

As for replacing artificial spirits with natural spirits, that's even more impossible. Sea Continent's philosophy came first, then its nation, not the other way around. Foreign deities are incompatible with its own school of thought, so it's impossible to trust them. For example, if they talk about capitalism but actually practice socialism, the capitalists would definitely be outraged. As for the reverse...

"At the beginning of any nation's founding, there is always a pure and upright atmosphere. However, as time goes by, the fragrance gradually dissipates and turns into stench. Moreover, small countries with few people are easier to govern. Under your supervision, Uncle Master, they certainly wouldn't dare to act recklessly."

Corruption can occur even in small, sparsely populated countries, as evidenced by numerous examples around the world. However, when a small, sparsely populated country is combined with a powerful dragon raised by a large nation, as long as the dragon remains alive, the people below will at most engage in minor disturbances, with one or two exceptions where they break the law as a warning to others. The dragon's might alone is enough to suppress petty thieves and prevent them from taking any action.