Inference

"I beseech the Heavenly Venerable to forgive my negligence."

The two Heavenly Venerate walker hurriedly apologized.

It was because Lu Bai had not issued the decree in advance that they were unable to make arrangements for the reception.

But in front of Lu Bai, these two rogue cultivators absolutely did not dare to speak ill of him, not even in their hearts.

On the contrary, the people around the shop went into a state of extreme fanaticism after confirming Lu Bai's identity.

Without needing anyone to lead the way, they all knelt down before Lu Bai, chanting "Loyalty!"

Just like in feudal times, no matter how hard life was for ordinary people, they would not think that the emperor was bad; at most, they would think that the officials below were causing trouble.

From a human nature perspective, this kind of fantasy about the top has, to some extent, approached the realm of faith.

Only by believing this can we have hope and the courage to continue living.

The image of Lu Bai in the minds of these ordinary people is even more exaggerated than their belief in imperial power.

A truly unique sage, whose wisdom shines eternally through the ages.

Lu Bai raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

Once the situation calmed down a bit, he released his Mana and, in a gentle yet undeniable way, helped the mortals and cultivators who were kneeling on the ground to their feet.

"If your heart is wicked, burning incense will bring you no benefit. If you are upright, what harm is there in not bowing to me?"

Lu Bai wore a kind smile, exuding approachability. "Seeing that everyone is doing well, I'm relieved."

Having said that, a beam of Mana appeared beneath his feet. He walked on the light, as if shrinking the distance between people, and in just a few steps, his figure disappeared into the clouds.

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Heavenly Venerable!"

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Heavenly Venerable!"

"Loyalty!!"

The shouts of the crowd and cultivators below mingled together, creating a rather noisy and lively scene. After Lu Bai's reminder, no one knelt down anymore.

The wind blew through the streets, carrying with it the pungent smell of coal ash.

To avoid being choked by the smell, many pedestrians instinctively covered their mouths and noses.

With reckless industrialization, many cities have experienced varying degrees of pollution.

In heavily polluted areas, if you go for a walk outside and then come back, you can easily wipe your face with a tissue and find black impurities.

"Cough cough!"

The owner of a grocery store coughed for a while, then hunched his neck, pulled up the collar of his new-style shirt, and roughly covered his mouth and nose.

He strolled out of the shop and pasted the newly written job posting on the side of the shop door.

Seeing this, an acquaintance from the shop next door joked, "Boss Zhou, with such good benefits, you still can't find anyone?"

Hearing this, Boss Zhou sighed helplessly, "Sigh, there's nothing I can do. The Heavenly Venerable is too good to those peasants. In the old days, just having food to eat was a blessing. I provide food, lodging, and wages, so they would be scrambling to buy it. But now, nobody even wants to look at it. Can you believe how messed this is?"

"That's for sure. I advise you not to hire anyone. Otherwise, the little profit you make won't even be enough to pay the workers' wages."

"This labor law," Boss Zhou clicked his tongue twice, his tone tinged with self-deprecation, "I run a street-front shop, but when I calculate the profits, I'd be better off working in a factory."

"What's that saying again? If you don't open a shop, plenty of others will."

"If only the Heavenly Venerable could take pity on us business owners and amend the labor law... Hey? Daoist Master, come in quickly, what would you like to buy?"

Halfway through his speech, Boss Zhou noticed Lu Bai standing still. Forgetting about chatting with his acquaintance, he immediately and enthusiastically beckoned to him.

Lu Bai waved his hand with a smile, "I'm not buying, you guys chat."

Without waiting for a response from Mr. Zhou, Lu Bai turned and left.

The smile on his face vanished slightly as he turned away.

As reforms deepen, the shortcomings of the legal system in various aspects have begun to emerge, which is inevitable.

In fact, the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, naturally arises from the self-regulating mechanism of a market economy.

In a strict sense, the idea of equality for all is also against human nature.

The more ruthlessly you suppress it, the stronger the rebound will be after Lu Bai leaves.

Even if you anticipated it, when you actually experience it firsthand, it still gives you a strong sense of frustration, making you wonder what the point of change really is.

Especially in a world where great power resides within oneself, even if one liberates thought and enlightens the people, it has little significance.

After all, the weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons. While cultivators may not be able to refute the thoughts of mortals, they can eliminate opposing opinions on a physical level.

Eliminate thought, enslave the body.

It won't be long before, after a few generations of ordinary people, they will return to that state of being worse than pigs and dogs, and perhaps even worse than before.

You should know that ordinary people live for at most a hundred or two hundred years, which is not even as long as Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Lu Bai sighed softly, "There are no eternally strong people, nor are there immortal ideas."

Even if he were willing and could stay in this world forever, he couldn't guarantee that his thoughts would never change.

Return to the Qingwang Sect.

He sat down cross-legged on the Dao Seeking Stone in the square in front of the palace.

Lu Bai took out a jade slip and sent his divine sense into it.

This jade slip contains a divine power called the Great Evolution Immortal Art.

As the most powerful divine ability of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, normally only True Inheritance disciples of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion are qualified to learn it.

However, it wouldn't be too difficult for Lu Bai to obtain it.

Ultimately, might makes right. Compared to severing the lineage, showing the sect's supreme power to others is nothing.

After all, cultivating such supernatural abilities requires high aptitude, and 99% of cultivators find it difficult to even begin.

Of course, this was not a problem for Lu Bai.

"The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven evolves into forty-nine, and humanity escapes to the last one..."

The text about this supernatural ability was several thousand words long, and Lu Bai quickly finished reading it. After a brief trial and error based on the records, he was able to roughly perform it.

As can be somewhat guessed from the name, this Great Evolution Immortal Art is not used for attack and slaughter, but rather a supernatural power for predicting the future and seeking good fortune while avoiding misfortune.

The reason he cultivated this supernatural power was because he did not intend to stay in this Deathmatch Arena for long.

The most time-efficient way to confirm the results of this large-scale social experiment is through deduction.

"Let's try it first."

Lu Bai formed hand seals, calmed his mind, and slowly closed his eyes.

In an instant, his magical Mana surged, and immortal energy rose from his body, flowing with a hazy radiance.

In his first simulation, Lu Bai wasn't sure how much effort he needed, so to avoid failure, he simply poured most of his Mana into it.

In a daze, time seemed to speed up its passage, a thousand years passing in an instant.

In a state between dreaming and waking, a scene of desolation appeared in Lu Bai's mind.

Desolate, dilapidated, and deserted, he could vaguely smell the stench of decay in the scene.