Bibi Dong finally understood that behind something as seemingly simple as letting everyone go to school lay such a harrowing road.
"Bibi Dong, if you apply that to the Douluo Continent, do you still think you can do it?"
"I..."
This time, Bibi Dong no longer dared to boast.
"I'm not trying to discourage you. I just want you to understand how difficult it is. Knowing the road ahead is hard and still having the courage to walk it-that's what makes a true hero."
"Mm, perhaps the Douluo Continent is missing a group of true heroes like that."
"When you go back, you could try being a pioneer yourself. You were mad in the book, but you held the position of Pope firmly for twenty years, so you clearly knew how to handle things."
Bibi Dong gave a bitter smile. "Heh... when I go back, I don't even know if I'll be able to escape the gods' schemes."
"Don't worry too much. The fact that you could come here means your fate has already been rewritten. I think you'll still have a chance to come back after you return."
"Really?"
"I can't guarantee it, but it's very likely."
Bibi Dong felt reassured. If the gods still schemed against her after she went back, she would run to Tang Fan's place and hide.
Even being an ordinary person in modern society was better than being a saintess in Spirit Hall.
Back on the Douluo Continent, Qian Daoliu frowned again when he heard Tang Fan and Bibi Dong speak of the gods' schemes once more.
"If the Angel God really has abandoned Spirit Hall, how am I supposed to defend against the other gods' schemes? Perhaps things will take a turn when she returns."
Qian Daoliu could only pin his hopes on Bibi Dong.
Back with Tang Fan, Bibi Dong brought the conversation back to the subject.
"So, after you defeated the united army, was everyone able to go to school?"
"No, there was still a whole series of tasks to do, like simplifying the written language. When characters are too complicated, learning them takes more time and effort.
"There was also a widespread literacy campaign. Before that, most people couldn't read a single character. After the campaign, most people could write their own names and recognize most commonly used characters."
"How much manpower and resources must that have taken!"
"No one has calculated it, but if the actual figures were tallied up, the result would definitely be astronomical.
"Only after a foundation of literacy had been established nationwide did we go on to build schools and make compulsory education universal."
"To accomplish something like that is truly admirable. On the Douluo Continent, just the literacy campaign you mentioned would be impossible.
"The two empires would love nothing more than for commoners to remain completely illiterate and farm all their lives to support the nobles."
Bibi Dong's eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked Tang Fan, "Tang Fan, tell me, if I became a god too, could I transform the Douluo Continent according to my wishes, making it more like your world?"
But Tang Fan shook his head again. "I don't want to discourage you, but it's still impossible."
"Why?"
"Because of the Divine Realm. Even if you became a god on the Douluo Continent and no one else held you back, you'd only have a hundred years.
"After a hundred years, you'd have to report to the Divine Realm. For that hundred years, you could suppress the nobles, or even slaughter every last one of the old nobility.
"But the followers who depend on you would grow into a new nobility. Even if you left behind a divine decree, it would ultimately be torn to shreds by material interests.
"Spirit Hall is a perfect example. You'd simply be walking the same old road the Angel God once walked."
Bibi Dong's face fell again. "Even becoming a god can't change the Douluo Continent?
"Huh... then how did you solve the problem of the new nobility?
"I don't believe there was no one among the higher-ups who wanted to become part of a new nobility."
"You've hit the nail on the head. That's human nature: once people hold power, corruption and moral decay are inevitable.
"But our leader turned the blade inward, nipped those stirrings in the bud, and laid down rules."
"Turned the blade inward?!"
"Yes. Even if someone had once performed illustrious deeds, if they wanted to become part of a new nobility and exploit the common people, the leader's blade would still fall."
"Ah... wouldn't that earn him a bad name for killing those who had rendered great service?"
"No, it didn't. Education allowed every one of us to think independently, and most people could understand his painstaking intentions.
"In the end, education was the foundation. Ideological education, rigorous self-examination and oversight, together with the resolve to turn the blade inward, allowed us to break the cycle and forge a new path."
"He really was a great man. I'd love to meet him."
"Meeting him in person would be a little difficult, but here... take a look!"
Tang Fan handed Bibi Dong a red banknote. Although cash was rarely used anymore, he still carried some in case he needed it.
As Bibi Dong looked at the red banknote, the sky screen over the Douluo Continent showed a close-up.
A red light as warm as the sun shone with countless rays, and countless commoners felt warm and at ease.
But those nobles laden with evil deeds did not dare look directly at it. Terror rose in their hearts, as though they had encountered their natural enemy.
What was more, that terror would follow them for the rest of their lives, surrounding them at every moment.
The Soul Power in their bodies would also slowly disappear. Once it was all gone, who knew if they would still be able to mock the commoners?
Some nobles refused to believe it and insisted on looking directly at the "sun." As a result, they naturally ended up clutching their eyes and howling in agony.
Those nobles, no different from beasts, were not worthy of looking directly at him.
Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi likewise dared not look directly at the sky screen. That towering figure filled them, too, with fear and made them ashamed of their own inadequacy.
But those people from the Clear Sky Sect, arrogant and conceited to the extreme, knew neither respect nor awe.
The terror they felt before the "sun" made them angry, so they raised their hammers and challenged the sky screen.
As a result, the warmth of the "sun" could melt everything. The Soul Power and Martial Souls of the Clear Sky Sect elders and disciples who challenged the sky screen with their giant hammers melted like ice and snow, leaving them utterly crippled.
Through its actions, the "sun" showed them that hammers were tools of production, not weapons for fighting and brawling.
Having their Soul Power and Martial Souls completely stripped away, leaving them crippled, was a punishment worse than death for those madmen of the Clear Sky Sect.
At that moment, wails filled the Clear Sky Sect, a perfect illustration of reaping what one had sown.
Only when Tang Fan put the red banknote back in his wallet did the strange phenomenon on the Douluo Continent come to an end.
"High Priestess, was... was that a god too?"
Bo Saixi's maid was still shaken, but Bo Saixi shook her head.
"I don't know."
She did not know why, but her faith in the Sea God had diminished greatly, and that filled her heart with fear.
Tang Fan had no idea what had happened on the Douluo Continent.
"Bibi Dong, are you finished eating? If you are, I'll take you to see high school evening self-study."
"Sure! What's high school evening self-study?"
"It's when students study on their own in the classroom at night. If they have questions, they can ask the teacher on duty."
"You still have to study at night?"
"Don't you meditate and cultivate at night too?"
"We do meditate and cultivate, but not for very long. When we're at school, we spend most of the night sleeping."