Guiding Public Opinion

"... Is this the strength of the regular players?"

"I used eighty percent of my strength just now to block the energy blade, how about you?"

"I used ninety percent... but it was only one percent of my strength, yet it forced me to use almost my full power. Is this the true strength of the Second Martial Arts Club?"

"It's not quite one percent. The power of area-of-effect moves isn't calculated purely based on the area compared to single-target moves, but it won't exceed one percent at most."

"Going all out is no match for a casual strike from the opponent. Isn't that gap terrifying enough? I was quite confident about becoming a regular player before, thinking that those regular players were nothing special, and that I could win if I went up against them. Now it seems that they were clearly holding back. I can only pray that I don't make a big fool of myself tomorrow."

After a long separation, they naturally had to have a meal together. However, Hao Shuai had to leave early because he was having dinner with his girlfriend, which resulted in one man inviting five women. His luck with women was the envy of everyone.

Normally, Si Ming would have been quite smug, but he had no such intention now. After ordering the food, he couldn't wait to ask Si Jingyu the question that had just come to mind.

"The timing of your breakthrough to the Spirit Transformation stage is very close to the time when Remote Heaven Society severed the Divine Pillar of the Li State. Is there some kind of connection between the two?"

"Did it happen or not?" Si Jingyu tapped the table with her fan. "Judging from the timing, it is indeed too coincidental, but we can't rule out the possibility of coincidence. Moreover, the Divine Pillar was severed, and the power of the Eternal Barrier weakened, which may have caused changes in the heavenly secrets, thus affecting my aura. No one can explain the cause and effect in this matter... I know what you're worried about, but you've asked the wrong person. I've already broken through to the Spirit Transformation, so naturally I can't remember what happened back then."

Si Ming, "If it's just a temporary change, it's not a big deal. You can only say you're lucky. But what I'm afraid of is that after the Eternal Barrier is weakened, it will become easier for everyone to break through to the Spirit Transformation."

Si Jingyu has no shortage of talent, comprehension, Cultivation Method, fortuitous encounters, renowned teachers, or hard work. Even if she advanced to the Nascent Spirit Transformation normally, it would be perfectly normal, as it has nothing to do with the Eternal Barrier. This is also one of the factors that interfered with Si Ming's judgment.

Si Huaruo asked doubtfully, "Is it really a bad thing that it's easier to break through to the Spirit Transformation?"

Si Ming, "On this point alone, it's indeed not a bad thing. But the problem lies in the reasons for achieving it. If everyone thinks that severing the Divine Pillar is a good thing, then even if they don't join the Remote Heaven Society, they will help in secret. At least those martial artists who have been stuck at the Spirit Transformation Threshold for a long time are happy to do so, even if the Remote Heaven Society branded as a traitor, it won't stop them from pursuing their own interests."

Si Huaruo said thoughtfully, "That makes sense. If severing the Divine Pillar increases one's chances of breaking through to the Spirit Transformation stage, why keep the Divine Pillar?"

Si Jingyu tapped her fan against her palm and said, "What I fear most is this kind of profit-driven thinking, which narrows people's vision and leads to limited understanding. Just think about it for a moment and you'll realize that if the Eternal Barrier were harmful and useless, why would its creator have left Eternal Barrier behind?"

Si Huaruo asked irritably, "Then why is that?"

"How would I know? But I imagine there would be very serious consequences. For example, if the barrier breaks, the end of the world could come immediately. That possibility does exist." Si Jingyu revealed his "utterly foolish" fan again.

"I will send someone to investigate the consequences of destroying the Eternal Barrier," Si Ming nodded. "However, before that, we need to confirm the relationship between advancing to the Spirit Transformation and the Eternal Barrier, and whether it is truly as we suspect."

Si Jingyu covered her smile with her fan and said, "It's very simple to verify. Just let Huaruo try to break through to the Spirit Transformation stage. Although she is far inferior to me, she can still be considered a genius. She should have reached the threshold of the Spirit Transformation by now. If even she can break through easily, it proves that the Eternal Barrier is indeed preventing martial artists from advancing to the Nascent Spirit Transformation."

Si Huaruo glanced at her and said, "Even without the influence of the Eternal Barrier, I could still break through to the Spirit Transformation. Don't look down on me!"

"I don't mean to look down on you. It's precisely because I have confidence in you that I bring this up. Please don't underestimate yourself."

Upon hearing this, Si Huaruo's expression softened slightly, but then she saw Si Jingyu turn to ask Si Shuiyun, "Shuiyun, what level is your Internal Cultivation?"

"Level twelve, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Miss."

"It's alright, just a little more effort and you'll reach the Spirit Transformation Threshold. If someone proves useless, then we'll have to rely on you to prove them right."

"You bastard, in the end you still look down on me!" Si Huaruo was furious.

"Just in case, don't worry about such a small thing."

Si Huaruo wasn't so easily fooled, and pressed, "Then what do you consider a major issue?"

Si Jingyu covered the lower half of her face with her fan and said with a mischievous smile, "The big deal is that if the guess is true, then something really big is going to happen."

What exactly is it?

"This means that the founders of the Remote Heaven Society were either Peak Spirit Transformation cultivators or Void Returning Great Grandmaster Refining stage."

Chapter 759 Public Opinion Guidance

Hearing Si Jingyu's guess, Si Ming's expression also became serious. There were only a handful of Void Returning Great Grandmaster of the Peak Spirit Transformation Realm—no more than fifteen in total. Even his master, Yan Jinghong, couldn't be considered at the Peak Spirit Transformation Realm; he was at the level of Xiao Xuan or Ba Shenhuang.

These are all renowned masters, household names, and some even possess powerful backers or intricate networks of connections. If their identities were ever revealed, it would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar. The practice of secretly cultivating divine skills in the mountains until reaching the Peak Spirit Transformation has never existed before. After all, without rigorous training, one can never reach such a level simply by working in seclusion.

Si Ming sighed and said, "I don't need to worry about the investigation of the Heaven-Defying Society for now. We still need to prevent people from following suit. If it really is proven that it's easier to advance to the Spirit Transformation stage after the Eternal Barrier is weakened, there will definitely be quite a few people tempted."

Murong Qing, "Even if they are tempted, do they really want to join the Heaven-Defying Society? I think the 'cruel methods the Heaven-Defying Society to control its members,' which you publicized in the newspapers before, is enough to dispel their thoughts. Advancing to the Spirit Transformation is certainly good, and it can extend their lives by several decades, but to pay the price of losing their freedom and having their life and death in the hands of others is a decision that very few people can make."

Si Huaruo chimed in, "That's right. In the end, this matter only concerns the interests of a small group of people. Those who have already advanced to the Spirit Transformation and those who are not yet qualified to advance to the Spirit Transformation Soul stage certainly won't care. Only those who have been stuck at the Spirit Transformation Threshold for many years will be interested. Although there are quite a few of these people, they only account for a small percentage of all martial artists. The young are unwilling to gamble their freedom for the rest of their lives, and the old have long lost hope of advancing. Even if the Eternal Barrier is gone, it has nothing to do with them."

Si Jingyu laughed and said, "What they want is to sever the Divine Pillar, not to join the Heaven-Defying Society. Joining the Heaven-Defying Society is not a necessary condition; they can form their own organization, such as the Transcendent Heaven Society, the Annihilation Heaven Society, the Heaven-Treading Society, the Heaven-Fighting Society... whatever they want to be called."

Si Huaruo retorted, "But they don't know how to sever the Divine Pillar. Even if they wanted to, what could they do? Although I only glimpsed a few clues in my battle with the Heaven-Defying Society, I know that severing the Divine Pillar is by no means an easy task. The time and place of the Divine Pillar's appearance need to be calculated, and corresponding divine weapons need to be prepared. If the Divine Pillar were so easy to sever, the Eternal Barrier would have been destroyed long ago. Why would it have waited until today?"

Si Jingyu fell silent, as if stumped by Si Huaruo's question. She carefully put the fan away, section by section, folding it up. Si Huaruo, who rarely won a round in a debate, was secretly pleased and was about to launch a sarcastic remark when the waiter came in with a tray, forcing her to stop for the moment.

Seeing the quiet and tense atmosphere in the private room, reminiscent of a halftime break in a martial arts competition, the waiter glanced at the gender ratio of one man and five women and immediately understood. Not daring to say anything, he put down the dishes and hurried out, intending to tell the owner to keep a close eye on things so that someone could be sent to stop a fight in time.

After the waiter left, Si Huaruo was about to continue her joy at being interrupted when Si Jingyu said slowly, "What if Heaven-Defying Society publicly reveal the method for severing the Divine Pillar?"

Si Huaruo was stunned. "This... how is this possible?"

"Why not? What benefit Heaven-Defying Society? They care about the result of severing the Divine Pillar, not who performed the process. It's not some glory worthy of the world's worship. If someone else did it, they could save a divine weapon; they'd be overjoyed."

Having successfully rendered the other party speechless, Si Jingyu unfolded her paper fan again. No one knew what trick she had played, but the original "utterly foolish" had become "clever but actually stupid," meaning someone who was good at using petty tricks but was actually quite foolish.

Si Huaruo was so angry she wanted to bite her teeth, but she was helpless. Fortunately, she had experienced this kind of thing many times before and had her own way of relieving stress, so she didn't need anyone's advice and would forget about it after half an hour.

Si Jingyu, however, did not let her off easily. Adopting a victorious stance, he smiled slightly and asked, "Shuiyun, what do you think?"

"Miss, this matter must be taken seriously," Si Shuiyun said solemnly.

Si Ming thought to himself, "Are you going to change your name to Si Yuanfang?" He then said, "Preventing it isn't difficult. We just need to use newspapers to tell everyone that the severed Divine Pillar will have terrible consequences. We can promote it like drugs. Although a few people will still try it, they will be a very small minority. Besides, even if they have the intention, they may not have the ability."

Murong Qing frowned and said, "But we don't know the consequences of the Divine Pillar being cut down. Lying and deceiving the people is ultimately wrong, no matter how small the intention... The Mohist School's reputation is built on long-term accumulation of truth, and it cannot be damaged because of this."