CHAPTER 1462: CHAPTER 254: DEMON FUSION BODY (2/2)

After a round of criticism towards the Mountain People, Ian assigned them a task in the central part of the Bison Mountain Range.

That task was to find the corpse of the Icefog Dragon, or its resting place, near the ’Great Snow Peak’ of the Bison Mountain Range.

For the Mountain People, it seemed not too difficult a task.

But those who have truly ventured into the mountains understand how difficult it is to search through a dozen peaks in such a high-altitude area.

However, despite the formidable challenge, the Mountain People were incredibly enthusiastic, even to the point of being fervent.

Because this was Ian’s first ’Holy Command’ issued under the name of ’Dragon God’s Emissary’—it was a directive he had never given before since the founding of the Supreme Spirit Sect; if accomplished, the glory it would signify was unimaginable, and every tribe wished to be the first to fulfill the task.

With the Mountain People’s issues resolved, things within the Xia Hui Territory were also proceeding smoothly.

Within four months, with the quiet promotion of the municipal government, a culture of keen learning gradually spread throughout the Xia Hui Territory.

Many families wanted to send their children to school for education.

This was due to several reasons.

Firstly, having someone in the household studying would qualify them for municipal subsidies—this was fundamental.

Secondly, based on this, students with top academic rankings could receive awards from the school, obtain scholarships, and material rewards like fruits and grain, and would have a better chance of finding jobs at the Alchemy Workshop.

In this regard, learning itself equated to benefits, and excelling meant potentially ’earning money’... instead of leaving children at home or having them assist with crafts, why not send them to school?

Schools, as public facilities, not only address educational dissemination but also help parents with childcare.

Then, there’s an interesting, almost anecdotal, yet real reason.

That reason is Ian himself.

It must be noted that attractiveness is indeed very useful in advertising.

To what extent is it useful?

It can motivate people to study quantum mechanics!

The father of quantum mechanics on Earth, Max Planck, was able to attract wave after wave of people to study quantum mechanics just because there was a picture of his youthful self in physics textbooks.

At the core, learning itself is an interest, and if you want someone to be interested in something... the most straightforward approach is indeed to have a good-looking person promoting it.

Ian, as a Lord, is strikingly handsome, and his promotion of the benefits of learning, declaring that his territory needs learned individuals... having reached this point, ’Why should we learn?’ is no longer a question, but ’Why not learn?’ is.

The principle of top-down influence cannot be overstated.

Finally, there’s another factor that fueled the people’s desire for learning within the territory.

At the beginning of December of Terra Year 774, with the assistance of the Elvish expert in Canaan Moore, the ’Information Terminal’ server was finally established in the Silver Peak Castle of the Xia Hui Territory.

With help from Yisen Gard in applying for approval and Crown Prince Carlos approving it, the Xia Hui Territory became the seventh trial site in the Empire to implement the information network management system, as well as the only terminal trial site in the South Ridge.

Under the modifications by Ian and Adalbert, the ’Heart of Terra,’ after five months of operation, gradually matured and secretly took control of the local information network in the Xia Hui Territory.

The first batch of users was, of course, municipal officials.

This was not a privilege for the officials; Ian needed to use the Heart of Terra to fully manage the Xia Hui Territory’s government, enabling it to directly take over government operations during critical moments.

The second batch of users was those individuals who excelled in both child and adult schools.

The Information Terminal could do many things; firstly, as ’mobile communication devices,’ it completely replaced the Empire’s internal ’communication devices’ similar to ’landlines’—the convenience of this is self-evident, making information exchange smooth and instant.

Secondly, as a product used for many years in Canaan Moore, the Information Terminal came equipped with many functions—such as assisted calculations, notebooks, basic common-knowledge inquiries, stopwatches, heart rate, and body temperature detection... practically a versatile little assistant everyone wanted.

Currently, the third batch of Information Terminals is being manufactured, with distribution standards being residence and tax payments in the Xia Hui Territory for over a year.

Unlike Canaan Moore, Ian even planned to add some small functions to the Information Terminal.

For example... games.

Spider Solitaire, Minesweeper, Snake, Sudoku, crossword puzzles, Tetris... and so forth.

The Information Terminal couldn’t handle overly complex things, but these simple games received rave reviews and even sparked waves of gaming fever within the Xia Hui Territory.

Competing on who could sweep mines the fastest, who completed the most Sudoku puzzles, who could last the longest in Tetris...

For Earthlings, these games might be considered outdated.

But for Terra’s impoverished people, who had lost their civilization and entertainment for a long time...

This was truly a delight!

To this, Ian was encouraging.

In Ian’s view, games are indispensable for the development of a civilization.

The original games were a simulation by Humans of social production, a form of learning through entertainment.

Later games promoted critical thinking, enhanced thinking patterns, and cultivated diverse cognitive abilities.

And even later... for example, the game industry on Terra greatly promoted important related industries.

The game industry boosted the development of computers, electronic core chips, graphics cards, and other specialized electronic facilities. These high computing power, highly specialized equipment, in turn, became the precursor to many technologies later on, such as AI technology on Terra.

Lenin once said: If a person does not know how to rest, he also does not know how to work.

Games are an extremely important component of the machine.

Indeed, this is true. A society that does not understand ’play’ and ’rest’ is absolutely unhealthy.

’Play’ and ’luxurious enjoyment’ are absolutely not the same concept, and what Ian refers to as ’correcting far-sightedness’ has a different meaning here.

In Ian’s view, the entertainment people need should never be ignored, but those luxurious enjoyments used to highlight the presence of the wealthy are meaningless.

Humans have always pursued their uniqueness, creating the source of luxury, but Ian wants to transform this desire into a ’craving for learning and education’.

To the people of the Xiawei Territory, Ian’s promotion of this ideology is not seen as strange.

Because their Lord is already a Scholar and an Alchemist, so why would it be abnormal for him to wish for more people like him?

This imperceptible transformation of thought has already had a considerable effect, unbeknownst to them.

Ian is quite satisfied.

All reforms require groundwork; building a high-rise on flat ground without laying a foundation will inevitably collapse.

Although any building will collapse, it can even be said that a building will collapse once built, who doesn’t want their building to last a little longer?

In the Xiawei Territory, the foundation has already been laid very deeply and perfectly.

But to outsiders, especially foreigners, the recent transformation of the Xiawei Territory has been somewhat difficult to accept.

Terra Year 775, January 1st.

On the second day of the seven-day New Year holiday in the Xiawei Territory (usually, the last day of the previous year was also a holiday).

A seemingly ordinary man rides a large caravan, traveling along the already paved Asphalt Highway towards the Xiawei Territory.

If you asked the carriage driver who the passenger was, the driver would readily respond that this man is a free farmer from the Golden Plains, who once worked as a brewer in the Knight’s Domain. After redeeming his contract with the knight, he is now seeking a place to settle down.

He heard that lately, the Xiawei Territory is gathering a large number of people with brewing and beverage-making knowledge, so he decided to hitch a ride and come here, hoping to seize an opportunity.

Recently, there have been many such individuals in the South Ridge, all wanting to make a living in the Xiawei Territory, so no one would suspect.

This identity is genuine, and so is the person.

But in reality, ’his’ true identity is far more complicated.

[Report: Entered the Xiawei Territory]

On the surface, he appears to be dozing on the carriage, but in reality, the man’s eyes are flowing with pitch-black mist, reflecting everything within a few dozen meters with ’him’ as the center.

Whether exposed outside or concealed and even underground objects, he can sense them all.

Even ’souls’ are no exception.

Soon, following the man’s report, a serious mental communication echoed from another soul: [Report discovery]

[As the intelligence indicated, Ian Silverpeak and his senpai Mahdi have indeed acquired the Duke of Sorin’s Legacy, and ’Artificial Souls’ have been popularized within the Xiawei Territory]

The man reported that in his vision, every Xiawei Territory resident’s body contained flashing networks running through them, converging in the brain.

That is the simplest ’Artificial Soul’.

Looking at these souls, the man instinctively swallowed, suppressing his soul’s deep-rooted greed: [The territory’s development is excellent, the residents live with ease, and the city hall even allows a seven-day new year holiday... How nice, I’m so hungry...]

[If you want, you can return and we can also give you a holiday] responded the commander on the other side of the communication: [For now, suppress your desire and appetite]

[Recently, all our sent spies to the Xiawei Territory lost contact, whether it’s long-standing Mountain People operatives or bought-off Imperial People... Even the latest product, the ’Flesh and Blood Fusion Monster’, returned fruitless]

[We must know, what exactly caused them to disappear]

[’Rongying’, you are the highest creation of the Nemassas Primordial Stone Institute, the ’Demon Fusion Body’... You can freely infiltrate anyone’s mind, devour their consciousness, and take their place]

[Find the hidden secrets within the Xiawei Territory, if possible, merge with their important officials, and return with their memories]

[This is your mission]

Upon hearing the permission to ’merge souls’, ’Rongying’ couldn’t help but reveal a somewhat crazy smile: [Understood]

[I guarantee to complete the mission]