Progress is always the ruling class's mortal enemy! Those hopeless illiterates at Spirit Hall

At Nan Feng's words, a trace of awkwardness flickered across Bibi Dong's face.

"Actually... it wasn't as if Spirit Hall had absolutely no one researching these theories."

"It was just that those people were basically old men whose cultivation had stagnated, with one foot already in the grave. Bored out of their minds, they occasionally flipped through ancient texts and did a little research as a hobby to pass the time."

"Give me a break."

Nan Feng mercilessly exposed the truth. "Put bluntly, this is a structural flaw in that rotten organization known as Spirit Hall."

"The higher-ups only value immediate combat power. They don't care about foundational theory at all, nor have they established any effective reward or promotion system. Everyone out there is trying to climb the ranks and make money. Who would do something with no benefits?"

"For powerful Soul Masters with status, casually throwing out a few theories might add a little polish to their air of superiority, something to brag about."

"As for commoner Soul Masters at the bottom with neither status nor standing, spending time on this is simply wasting their lives. Worse still, even if some low-ranking Soul Master really worked himself bald and came up with a groundbreaking discovery, there was an eighty percent chance some high-ranking old fossil would steal the credit outright and wear it on his chest as an academic medal!"

"Over time, when faced with theoretical research that brought no tangible benefits, could leave them with nothing at any moment, and might even bring disaster upon them, everyone naturally came to an unspoken agreement to abandon it completely. Right?"

Bibi Dong fell silent for a moment. Unable to refute Nan Feng's venomous words, she could only sigh softly.

"It can't be said that the Soul Master world completely ignores theory. Those powerful Soul Master clans and sects with deep foundations do conduct extensive research. It's just that..."

"What they develop is all highly specialized."

"More precisely, they are systems built around their respective inherited Martial Souls."

Bibi Dong explained, "Especially their core meditation methods. Great families such as the Upper Three Sects and Lower Four Sects all possess exclusive secret cultivation techniques passed down through generations. But those techniques only work when paired with their clans' unique Martial Souls. Outsiders gain nothing from practicing them and may even suffer cultivation deviation."

After hearing that, Nan Feng practically rolled his eyes into the sky.

"Isn't that blatant technological monopoly?"

"Extreme specialization means extremely poor applicability. They are crippling the universality of theory at its source just to ensure that only their own people can ever use this core knowledge!"

"From great sects to Soul Master clans, they're all engaged in monopolies and technological blockades, with everyone building carts behind closed doors."

Nan Feng caught a mottled spider that had fallen from a tree and toyed with it between his fingers, his tone faintly chilling.

"Logically speaking, the emergence of an enormous organization like Spirit Hall, one that broke down sect barriers and accepted talent from all directions, should have greatly promoted the exchange and development of foundational theory in the Soul Master world. But because Spirit Hall's leaders are so short-sighted, neither encouraging nor rewarding such research, the entire organization has become stagnant water."

"At the root of it all are this damned worship of strength and entrenched class interests."

Nan Feng casually tossed the venomous spider into the air and watched it spin silk and weave another web.

"Not only will people refuse to actively research universal knowledge that could benefit the masses, but once anyone tries to touch it, they will join forces to deliberately suppress and block it!"

"Because those with vested interests will never allow anyone to smash their rice bowls."

"After all, if these universal cultivation theories were truly researched systematically and spread widely, allowing more and more commoner Soul Masters without backgrounds to grow strong quickly, then the existing class pyramid and distribution of interests in the Soul Master world would inevitably be reshuffled beyond recognition."

"Progress always means change."

"So, to those lofty beneficiaries of the status quo, progress... will always be the ruling class's mortal enemy."

"Those old bastards in Spirit Hall who hold real power absolutely don't want commoner Soul Masters below them to truly grow strong and grasp core knowledge. It's the same reason those bloated nobles in the Two Great Empires would never give the common people at the bottom a chance to prosper and rise up."

Bibi Dong was left speechless.

The words were harsh, but that was reality.

Whether it was the Two Great Empires or Spirit Hall, as long as they were part of the ruling class, their greed always looked the same when protecting their vested interests.

"Looking at it this way, that Yu Xiaogang from back then had a bit of courage after all."

Nan Feng stroked his chin. "Of course, he might simply have been a brainless hothead. Fortunately, he was the biological son of Yu Yuanzhen, the clan leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan of the Upper Three Sects. And fortunately, everything he had tinkered with over the years was nothing but useless paper that had no practical impact whatsoever on the structure of the Soul Master world."

"Otherwise, with his meager strength, if he had truly researched something capable of shaking the ruling class's interests, he wouldn't even know how he died."

Bibi Dong's expression became awkward again, and she cut him off stiffly. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm analyzing the roots of these chronic problems for you in advance."

Nan Feng shrugged. "And seeing whether, after you take power and become Pope someday, you'll want to change this filthy Soul Master world."

"Enough nonsense. Back to Mimetic Cultivation Environments."

Nan Feng stared at her. "Has Spirit Hall really never researched their principles at all?"

Bibi Dong was speechless. "I'm the Saintess of Spirit Hall. If there had been secret research in this area, how could I not know?"

"What a bunch of hopeless illiterates."

Nan Feng shook his head disdainfully. "Forget it. Let me explain it to you. The essence of your so-called Mimetic Cultivation Environment is actually the resonance of Same-Frequency Energy."

"Same-Frequency Energy Resonance?" Bibi Dong froze, clearly hearing the term for the first time.

Nan Feng did not waste words. He directly reached toward his waist.

A faint flash of light appeared, and three strangely shaped metallic pendulums appeared in his hand.

Bibi Dong looked closely, her brows knitting together. "What are these? There are Soul Power fluctuations on them... Soul Tools?!"

"More accurately, they are Soul Tools I made myself," Nan Feng corrected.

"You made them yourself?!"

Bibi Dong was genuinely shocked this time. "The crafting methods for Soul Tools were completely lost long ago. How could you possibly know how to make them?!"

"I was interested, so I figured it out on my own."

Nan Feng spread his hands. "I dismantled quite a few antique Soul Tools excavated from ruins. Aside from my daily cultivation, I spent nearly several decades before finally understanding this stuff."

The corner of Bibi Dong's eye twitched wildly. "You... are you really human?"

He had cultivated himself to Rank 99 as an Ultimate Douluo, while also cracking Soul Tool technology that had been lost for thousands of years?!

"Please, I stayed alone in the deep mountains and old forests. Other than cultivating, I had no other proper business to occupy myself with."

Nan Feng rolled his eyes. "I couldn't exactly sneak into the imperial palace whenever I got bored and discuss life with the concubines, could I? Of course I had to find myself a more respectable hobby to pass the time."

"But there wasn't even half a blueprint or record available, so I could only dismantle them by force and reverse-engineer them. Later, I couldn't even remember how many precious antiques I had dismantled into scrap. Fortunately, I figured it out in the end, so it wasn't all for nothing!"