After the fairy disappeared

Chapter 2596 Group Experiments
Three years later.

Dark clouds hung heavy, and lightning flashed and thunder roared over Jucheng.

Wanqifeng was reporting to the Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds when a gust of wind blew by and banged open the window of the imperial study.

The little monkey Lingguang, who was eating a sticky rice ball nearby, jumped over and closed the window upon seeing this. He Lingchuan then said to it, "Have someone open the wind-control barrier."

"We must be quiet during the meeting." Lingguang nodded, stuffed the last piece of rice ball into her mouth, and skipped away.

The royal palace is equipped with various protective barriers that can control wind, water, and temperature, and can also switch between the four seasons at any time. However, the Nine Nether Emperor is frugal and only activates them when necessary.

He also liked the natural wind, frost, rain, snow, and cold.

He then picked up his pen to continue reviewing the memorials, saying to Wan Qifeng, "Go on."

“Yes. This round of Yuan Power testing for the army lasted for a year and a half, with a total of 30 generals and 150,000 troops participating. We divided them into 30 groups, each led by a general with 5,000 men. Every six months, the generals rotated between groups, that is, the soldiers were changed to lead them.” Wan Qifeng straightened his back and lowered his head slightly. “We found that the Yuan Power fluctuations were greatest in the early stages of the troop rotation.”

"Your Yuan Power was at its lowest then, right?"

"Yes. Especially when I swapped Ah Liang's and Pu Hua's soldiers, their Yuan Power immediately changed from light red back to pale yellow."

"They dropped two ranks directly." He Lingchuan found it somewhat amusing. Wan Qiliang was a general of the Bailong tribe, and Pu Hua was Qiu Hu's junior brother. Within the Dragon God Army, they had always been two factions, secretly rivals. Wan Qifeng, that bastard, used the guise of an experiment to make them exchange soldiers—truly despicable. "And now?"

"Usually, the Yuan Power begins to recover about half a month after the troop rotation. But it took Ah Liang and Pu Hua's groups a full three months."

“They need time to adjust.” He Lingchuan wasn’t surprised. “The relationship between Yuan Power and people’s hearts is becoming increasingly close. What’s the situation now?”

"Pu Hua's group's Yuan Power level is slightly inferior to A Liang's group."

"What's the reason?" He Lingchuan kept writing. "Their training methods and leadership skills are probably about the same."

That's why Wan Qifeng used them as the comparison group.

"After our investigation, we believe that this may be related to the accident involving A Liang's group." Wan Qifeng continued to report, "At that time, a great demon suddenly appeared in the suburbs of Chi Dong City. A Liang led his troops to the scene. The battle was very difficult. A Liang personally saved two soldiers, but he was seriously injured and had to recuperate for two months. He almost did not recover."

“I’ve heard about that too.” He Lingchuan nodded. “You mean, after that, the Yuan Power of the A Liang Group increased?”

“Yes, the growth is rapid. We think this must be because A Liang won over the hearts of the troops.” Wan Qifeng continued, “We have also conducted many sub-experiments to get the troops into training and combat as soon as possible, which can indeed improve the Yuan Power.”

"This is something that all countries should know." Unlike twenty years ago, countries today attach great importance to the research and application of elemental power, and have specialized institutions to conduct this kind of research.

"We also designed an experiment according to your requirements. After the change of troops, we will have Dr. Li maintain a distance and dignity in front of the army, have a grand entrance and more exquisite meals, while Yang Meng will eat, sleep and train with the army."

"The results of it?"

"Six months later, the Yuan power of the two groups was evenly matched, and no one could be distinguished as superior or inferior." Wan Qifeng habitually scratched the back of his head. "This is really surprising. In the past, when we were in charge of the army, we always emphasized that everyone should be of one mind and advance and retreat together."

The secrets of Yuan Power are truly difficult to fathom.

“‘Unity from top to bottom’ is the essence, and those four words are certainly correct.” He Lingchuan thought for a moment and smiled. “Perhaps it just means that the form is not so important.”

"You said that Yuan Power is not just the power of faith, otherwise the Heavenly Palace would have the strongest Yuan Power if it organized an army." No organization in the world has stolen more incense and faith than the Heavenly Palace.

"The commonly known 'faith' is easily misused, leading to blind obedience and extremism. Yuanli is one of the righteous energies of heaven and earth, upright and vast, and cannot be obscured. Trying to use the power of faith to steal Yuanli should not be possible."

"How did he do that?" Even though Wan Qifeng had been dealing with Yuan power every day for years and could use it, he still couldn't figure out the source of this power.

“The more conditions that stimulate Yuan Power, the harder it is to understand and the harder it is to steal.” He Lingchuan answered him casually while writing. “For example, we have now discovered that the Yuan Power of small countries is not necessarily weak. The territory of Xuan Yi Kingdom is only one-third of that of Yuan Kingdom, but its Yuan Power is at least seven or eight times that of Yuan Kingdom.”

The Xuanyi Kingdom was established seven years ago after overthrowing the old dynasty, and subsequently surrendered to Cang Yan. Its ruler, Gu Min, is over thirty years old. He studied in Beijia in his early years and is a fanatical worshipper of the Nine Nether Emperor. Many of his systems and decrees are modeled after Cang Yan's.

In its early days, Xuanyi was protected by Cangyan. Gumin's forceful implementation of reforms triggered a rebellion among nobles and generals, who then sought help from Cangyan. Later, Xuanyi proved itself capable, and under Gumin's diligent governance, its national strength grew rapidly. Moreover, its Yuan power was the strongest among all of Cangyan's vassal states, making it a model for neighboring smaller states to emulate.

The Yuan power of Xuanyi Kingdom has also become a valuable model for He Lingchuan's research.

In fact, Panlong City was the same in the past. Its territory was small compared to Bega, but the Yuan power it generated was even greater.

It is evident that the strength of one's resources is not entirely positively correlated with the strength of one's national power.

“In recent years, not only cultivators, but also more and more immortals have joined the army to share the power of the nation,” Wan Qifeng said. “Once they enjoy the Yuan power, they become more powerful than other immortals.”

The lifelong goal of most immortals is to achieve immortality and become stronger.

Similarly, most immortals experience slow progress in their cultivation. If they want to make even the smallest progress, they should try a different approach.

Yuanli is the new track.

In this new era, clever immortals are trying to integrate into the national system, but just as many sects still exist independently.

"However, whether they are immortals or demons, even if they are assigned the same amount of energy, the amount of energy they acquire is usually less than that of a military general."

For example, Aunt Zhu, who holds a position in the Bingyuan Division, possesses powerful magical abilities, and enjoys high popularity in Cangyan, still manages to acquire a level of Yuan energy far inferior to that of Wan Qifeng.

“Of course,” He Lingchuan said casually. “They didn’t bring troops, nor did they interact with the people.”

The peculiarity of Yuan Power lies in its requirement that the recipient be "engaged in the world." The closer the interaction and connection with one's family and country, the more effective the Yuan Power becomes. No matter how powerful the Cave Spider Queen is, she is destined not to have much interaction with ordinary people or the military, and therefore the upper limit of the Yuan Power she can obtain is not high.

Even so, Aunt Zhu often won when she fought opponents of similar skill level, which was very satisfying.