Failure

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After Dales breathed his last—

He died.

Norman approached, his eyes twitching as he looked at Dales, who was staring with dead fish eyes like a demon. He said, "Didn't we agree that when the Star Luo Empire's high-ranking officials arrived, we would hand him over? Why are you going to kill him?"

"He committed suicide."

Zhou Qing shrugged. "I think both the higher-ups of the Spirit Hall and the people from the Star Luo Empire can confirm this. After all, he is a level 31 Soul Elder."

Norman walked up to Dales's body, examined it carefully, and after confirming the circumstances of Dales's death, sighed, "You really are something, managing to drive someone to their death in such a short time."

"He just couldn't accept dying as an nobody and wanted to leave himself with some dignity."

Zhou Qing hit the nail on the head, and then said, "Mr. Norman, my companions and I are just nobody. We hope that you can keep our existence a secret, or simply use our adventurous behavior as a trigger for this series of events... In short, make our presence less noticeable."

"After all, you wouldn't want You Hui to lose a group of interesting friends, would you?"

Speechless!

Utterly speechless!

Norman eventually agreed, but asked, "Then how do you explain all this? Coincidence?"

"Isn't it just a coincidence? Dales messed things up by himself, and then we adventurers from Nuoding City accidentally discovered it, which led to this series of outrageous events." Zhou Qing's face was full of innocent smiles. "I'm just a six-year-old child, I really don't know anything."

Norman was silent, then sighed Youyou. Finally, he gave Zhou Qing a thumbs up and said, "What are you going to do next? I think I understand your thoughts to some extent, but that's how the world is. Everyone is divided into different classes. You can never succeed by relying on ordinary people. And you know yourself that even if they are oppressed and exploited, their choice is still—whoever wins, they will help them!"

However, Zhou Qing didn't reply, but simply smiled, turned around, and waved to Norman with his back to him.

He was filled with an even greater passion for changing the world!

Who wins?

Whom are they helping?

That doesn't matter. No matter how obvious their flaws are, they can't change their simple and honest nature. Moreover, when it comes to matters of principle, their views are very accurate.

However, this experiment truly made Zhou Qing realize that in the midst of change, the people in the city could not be relied upon.

reason?

Although most urban residents are also commoners with the same status as rural farmers, the prosperity of the city makes urban residents more instinctively inclined to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages than rural farmers.

This does not refer to the prediction of actual danger, but rather that although those living in the city do not understand politics or know anything about politics, they have an almost instinctive sensitivity to political changes.

The situation in this world is quite similar to that of my previous life; it still requires establishing a base and cultivating a true core of talent, based on rural areas...

Of course, this is Zhou Qing's future direction. In the process, he must also improve his strength, after all, this is a world with extraordinary power.

The only saving grace is that in this world, or rather, in this era, the research on Soul Power and Soul Tool by Soul Master is still very primitive. Apart from Titled Douluo, the rest of the Soul Master can theoretically be overwhelmed by a large army. Therefore, he has the foundation for reform and the ability to allow commoners to truly stand on the same basic line as nobles in terms of status before those "noble" and powerful classes consolidate their own positions.

Above the Falling Star City Square.

After learning from Norman that Dales was an imposter, and after personally inspecting the mask and confirming that he was indeed wearing Human Skin Mask, Luo Xing, without saying a word, picked up a machete and acted as the executioner, beheading the fake Dales.

When the enormous head rolled to the ground, the entire city cheered!

Dales is dead!

Their good days are here!

Some people even carried a basket of steamed buns to dip in Dales's blood, believing that this was the blood of Soul Master and might cure all diseases, or even allow their children to have Innate Soul Power after awakening their Martial Soul.

Tang San frowned deeply—

In my past life, when court officials beheaded criminals in the Market Head, some people would dip steamed buns or bread into the blood, claiming it could cure all diseases.

In fact, that actually increases the probability of getting sick!

But the common people are foolish and delusional, and they are only hoping for the best.

And aren't the ordinary people of this world the same?

The architecture of Falling Star City is very similar to my past life, and the people... although their hair colors have changed, their ignorance remains exactly the same.

Although this scene also stimulated Tang San, who had memories of his past life, he couldn't be happy. After all, the idea that using steamed buns dipped in human blood could cure diseases was something he, as someone with authority on medical knowledge, found extremely distasteful.

"It feels no different from Soul Beast... except it's a bit disgusting."

Xiao Wu, who was transformed from Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Charm Rabbit, was used to carnivorous Soul Beast licking blood, but for some reason, she felt a sense of disgust when she saw humans doing the same thing.

In short, she felt that since humans are different from Soul Beast, they shouldn't do such things.

But that's exactly what the people of Falling Star City did—

A little more civilized?

Instead of licking it directly with your tongue, you dip it in steamed buns or dumplings.

Romantina didn't express any opinion, but simply tried her best not to look at it.

"So--"

"That's when change is needed."

Zhou Qing walked up to the three of them without them noticing. Looking at the people laughing, shouting, and fighting over the Fake Dales blood, his eyes were full of determination. "Living in this kind of world makes me feel like I'm living in hell! Although I have never experienced war and cannot imagine what mountains of corpses and seas of blood look like, I think that even a battlefield full of severed limbs is absolutely not as shocking as their behavior."

Tang San was silent for a moment, then nodded secretly, and asked, "Qing Ge, was your experiment to awaken the courage of the people a success or a failure?"

"They dared to verbally abuse Dales, but while Dales was alive, they only dared to verbally abuse him..."

"So, it failed?"

"Um."

Zhou Qing nodded, then shook his head. "However, it's not that they lack courage. It's just that I plan to temporarily abandon the city. The ruling class's authority is deeply ingrained in people's hearts, and we can't possibly build a truly independent force within the city. Even if we gather a group of people, we won't be able to compete with the ruling class in the city. The best outcome would be to integrate into the ruling class's system and be slowly assimilated..."

Tang San sighed deeply.

Ultimately, it comes down to joining the system, adapting to the system, and safeguarding the system.

To find a new path, one must create something from scratch.

Where should I create it from?

Rural areas.

This is because it is a region that neither of the Two Great Empires' high-ranking officials care much about.

If someone in the city suddenly dies, the relevant officials may investigate and find out the truth.

Meanwhile, people were murdered in the countryside...

Unless there's a large-scale massacre of a village, or an escalation of inter-village feuds, surrounding towns don't bother sending anyone down to investigate...