Chapter 570: Maintaining the Empire’s Rule
Time flies when there is something to do.
Unknowingly, two years have passed.
The entire world seems to have undergone some changes, but on the surface, it looks the same as before.
Over these two to three years, Ah Xing and Ah Wang almost made the name ‘Lucky Star Team’ known throughout the Heng Xuan district, becoming one of the most dazzling star teams. They have also both passed the advanced source magician assessment, obtained the title of advanced source magician, and opened up opportunities for promotion within the Origin Mage Association, with the chance to become high-level management personnel within the association.
This is the result of their uninhibited adventuring, subtly gaining the title of “Weird Disaster Buster”. Whenever a place encounters a long-standing inexplicable disaster, people always think of Ah Xing and Ah Wang’s ‘Lucky Star Team’.
Of course, over these two years, Su Hao has not failed to help them in times of need.
When facing dangerous and inexplicable disasters, Ah Xing decisively activates the positioning stone given to him by Su Hao.
Is he reckless or just timid?
Indeed, most people are a contradiction in themselves. You might think they would react one way, but they end up acting differently.
As for the matter of Wang Luo, the source team that dared to investigate the incident of Huai Shui Town has disappeared. Huai Shui Town has become famous throughout the Heng Xuan district, turning into a forbidden area for source magician teams, where the danger is comparable to that of inexplicable disasters.
More than ten source teams have mysteriously disappeared near Huai Shui Town. Isn’t it terrifying?
Regarding the disappeared Wang Luo, the matter has been left unsettled. The heir of Wang Luo doesn’t care about his fate. They have sent some of the most active yet least favored individuals to investigate. Should they risk losing all their positions just for this matter, it would be entirely not worth it.
As for the other royal, Wang Zhao Wang, who was killed by Zhi Peng and others, a team named the ‘Sorrowful Dog Butcher’ has ascended the walls of the grand halls of the major Origin Mages Associations. The corresponding abilities were also made public. As for who is in the ‘Sorrowful Dog Butcher’, nobody knows.
Due to this matter, the actions of the lords from various places have become much more restrained, or one could say more discreet.
And now, individuals like Zhi Peng who are wanted, are living very lavishly, how does it feel to have friends all over the world? Everywhere he goes, he is treated by a large number of friends, and these friends are all powerful source magicians in their respective regions.
In just over two years, Zhi Peng has made a name for himself, being respected as ‘Mental Doctor,’ ‘Scholar,’ ‘Preacher Saint,’ ‘Wisdom Sage’…
Even many high-level royal families have been attracted to him, actively inviting him to the royal palace to consult on philosophy, and then becoming Zhi Peng’s good friends.
Unfortunately, Zhi Peng currently does not dare to send these royal family members who have become his friends to the Gourd Dao, to be experimented on by Yashan, for fear of slipping up.
Even good friends are likely to be betrayed without their knowledge! He does not underestimate the power of the Origin Mage Association.
Of course, Zhi Peng’s appearance will definitely trigger an investigation by the Origin Mage Association.
But is he afraid of the investigation?
Not at all, he has now undergone a complete change in appearance under Su Hao’s genetic needle, even dispersing all the sources used to maintain the ‘source body,’ disguising himself as an ordinary scholar.
He is just an ordinary person with extensive knowledge! Other than being able to talk a lot of principles, he simply cannot deceive the eyes of those source magician lords.
Even if investigated, it can only be done through Yashan’s experimental subjects, but if done discreetly, it can last a long time.
At this point, we have to mention the attitude of the Origin Mage Association towards the royal family members.
Simply put, it is ‘maintaining the legitimate rule of the royal family’!
This dates back to the round table meeting of the eighteen empires over twelve hundred years ago.
Before the round table meeting, the world was ruled by twenty large empires and numerous small countries, engaged in continuous wars due to various disputes, both external disasters and internal warfare, making the lives of the people extremely difficult, with deaths from freezing and starvation being common.
It was in this background that a small organization full of justice was born, called the ‘He,’ aiming to bring peace to the world, end the endless wars. This was the precursor to the Origin Mage Association.
After decades of development, this organization grew into a giant entity, overseeing the world from above, proposing peace agreements to be signed by all empires, forming a united front against disasters, without mutual aggression.
The twenty empires sneered at this, what kind of ‘He’ was this? They ridiculed, did he understand the ‘art of governance’ or that ‘war is a means to achieve political goals’?
Then, under the threat of force from ‘He’ which wiped out the military of two empires, the remaining eighteen incredibly powerful empires acquiesced! Acknowledging that ‘He’ indeed understood the essence of ‘war as a means to achieve political goals.’
Thus, the eighteen empires and various small countries signed a treaty called the ‘Eighteen Empire United Federation Agreement.’
As long as ‘He’ exists, this document remains in effect permanently.
The final article of this agreement states: ‘He’ upholds the legitimate rule of the eighteen empires, not interfering in their governance. In case of disputed events, it has the right to convene a joint council, make decisions by vote, including but not limited to changing emperors (for details on disputed events, see Appendix Ninety-Nine).
It is this provision that has brought blessings to the royal families of the eighteen empires for over a thousand years. Many incidents occurred during this period, but all were eventually suppressed by the Origin Mage Association.
The Origin Mage Association is ‘He,’ the ‘Eighteen Empire United Federation Agreement’ signed over twelve hundred years ago has been continually amended along with the progress of the Great Unified Society, changing many articles, even renaming ’empires’ to ‘regions’, to diminish their opposition to each other.
Only that final article upholding the legitimacy of the empire remains unchanged.
Whether this is good or bad is uncertain.
All this information was gathered by Su Hao from various sources, he even found the original document of that agreement, verifying its authenticity.
From the current social structure, as long as the Origin Mage Association can wield the greatest power and hold a transcendent position in this world, the social order of this world will not change significantly for a long time.
Even unique Origin Mages like Zhi Peng cannot shake their rule.
However, it is unfortunate that Su Hao’s arrival to this world has destined a tremendous change in the order upheld for over a thousand years.
The reason is simple, he does not like these royal families.
But these are all side matters, overturning the entire world order is not something that can be achieved overnight.
And this matter is not the main concern of Su Hao, who has always focused on source research.
Until now, it can be said that Su Hao’s research has made significant progress.
This is thanks to the millions of different marine fish he recorded in the bullet space. On average, he can now harvest a fish that transforms into a source beast every month.
After two years of accumulation, twenty fish have transformed into source beasts, providing him with specific sample data.
Not a lot, but it has allowed Su Hao to grasp a certain pattern, finding the unique interface hidden in the bodies of source beasts, and successfully finding the method of plugging and unplugging the interface.
In other words, after two years of research, he followed a certain thread and found the ‘system’ that can transform matter into a source!
Having found it, is it far from deciphering it?
On that day, Su Hao was in the laboratory, magically extracting an octopus from the fish tank and placing it on the experimental platform.
This octopus had recently transformed into a source beast, and Su Hao had conducted numerous studies on it. Today, he wanted to conduct a different experiment: to sever the connection between this octopus source beast and the ‘system’, and observe its subsequent changes to see if it would lose its source abilities and revert back to a regular octopus.
So, how could this connection between the source beast and the ‘system’ be severed?
There was a simple method, which was to kill the octopus. Once the octopus lost its life, the connection with the ‘system’ would be broken.
However, Su Hao wanted to sever this connection without destroying the organism’s structure.
He had made many attempts before, all of which had failed.
But from the idea of ‘killing the octopus’, he found a viable method.
That was to induce the octopus into a state of feigned death.
As the experiment deepened, Su Hao gained a preliminary understanding of the ‘system’ that could convert matter into a source.
In simpler terms, it was ‘movement’!
In this world, there inevitably existed a certain special way of movement that precisely satisfied the conditions for matter to transform into a source.
What Su Hao needed to do was to find that method of movement.
More precisely, he needed to find the principle of material change under that movement mode and analyze the principle.
That mode of movement was just a means to an end.
Su Hao created a rune, emitted a faint purple light onto the octopus, and after a moment, the octopus slumped down, like a lump of mud.
He picked up one of its tentacles and shook it a few times, finding the octopus completely motionless, as if dead.
In reality, it was not dead. It still retained faint life signs, and Su Hao could awaken it at any time. He called this state ‘feigned death’, with the organism’s motor functions nearly non-existent.
In this state, it would take just one day for the octopus to sever its connection with the ‘system’.
And what Su Hao wanted to observe was the state of the octopus after the connection was severed.
Two days later, the octopus perished!
Su Hao: “A source beast wasted!”
…
