Only at the Mahayana Stage Does the Reversal System Appear - Chapter 737

Chapter 735 This is a puppet competition, where are your puppets?

The polygraph puppet sparked considerable controversy, primarily because the judges debated whether it even counted as a polygraph, nearly leading to a brawl.

Eliminating the highest and lowest scores, Jiang Li’s score stood out among the other exceptional puppets, placing him near the top.

“Not first place,” the First Emperor frowned. He always strived for first place, and despite his high scores, he was dissatisfied that he and Jiang Li weren’t in first place.

“It’s great that our puppetry has achieved such high scores. Let’s not dwell on first place. Besides, don’t we have two more competitions to go?”

The First Emperor’s brows relaxed slightly. “I didn’t expect to pass the test this way.”

The First Emperor felt this was something worth learning. During his battle with Jiang Li, he had noticed that Jiang Li’s fighting style was unconventional. If one couldn’t keep up with his thinking, one would never be able to follow his attack patterns.

Perhaps he could emulate Jiang Li’s thinking and become even stronger.

“I’ll participate in the next test,” the First Emperor said solemnly.

After the first test was over and the scores were counted, the leader of the Luban Sect quickly prepared for the next test.

“This is a practical application question.”

“In the world we’re exploring, we encountered an ancient nation called Chu, where technology hadn’t yet fully developed. Chu’s power declined, with frequent floods and droughts, insufficient grain production, and bandits plundering and burning…”

“After that world became a vassal of Jiuzhou, Chu sought help from our Luban Sect. We, the Luban Sect, helped Chu prosper by selling puppets to them.”

“While helping Chu, we used our spiritual sense to scan the entire country and simulate its development.”

“The second question is about using puppetry to strengthen Chu.”

“I’ll send you a model of Chu later. You can insert your puppet data into the model and see how Chu develops.” “

It’s important to note that Chu only has a small amount of spirit stone mines and can’t power a large number of complex puppets.”

“Okay, the competition begins now.”

The First Emperor required Jiuzhou to explore the myriad worlds. After they submitted to Jiuzhou, he also tasked the cultivators with aiding the development of each world, establishing a sound evaluation and reward system.

Jiang Li had a similar reward and punishment system.

Three hours passed, the competition concluded, and each contestant presented their creations.

“This is the water conservancy puppet I designed. It can be powered by a mere handful of spirit stones. It can build sturdy dams, control water flow, and prevent droughts and floods. The only problem is that building a dam takes a long time, measuring in years.”

In the first contestant’s model of the Chu State, the water conservancy puppet worked tirelessly, requiring only a single low-grade spirit stone to function for three months. Deployed along the riverbanks, it cleared silt and built dams, freely adjusting water storage and release according to the rainy and dry seasons.

Without the harassment of floods and droughts, the fertile land along the banks could be utilized, strengthening the Chu State’s national strength.

“Not bad. While it will take several years, Chu can afford the wait. Furthermore, this puppet is simple to manufacture and consumes little energy, so Chu can maintain it.”

The leader of the Luban Sect nodded in satisfaction. They had used similar puppets to aid the Chu State before, with similar results.

“This is the soldier puppet I made. One can wipe out a whole den of bandits.”

The second contestant focused on military force. During years of disaster, some people turned to banditry, looting homes and causing unbearable suffering for the people. Merchants were afraid to travel freely.

In his model of the Chu State, the soldier puppets, one against thirty, quickly eliminated the bandit dens.

Chu was now in turmoil, with some still considering rising up and rebelling. The King of Chu was cowardly and incompetent, and his regime was shaky. These soldier puppets became the King of Chu’s personal guards, helping him consolidate his rule. With the internal threat

of soldiers and bandits eliminated, Chu’s development was on track, though not as fast as the previous contestant’s.

In the previous contestant’s model of Chu, the people were well-fed, which discouraged rebellion and greatly reduced the threat of soldiers and bandits.

The second contestant still faced unresolved food shortages, hindering his development.

Moreover, the cost of a soldier puppet was significantly higher than a water conservancy puppet.

“Not bad, the issue of soldiers and bandits is crucial to national stability, and addressing them is a top priority,” the Luban Sect leader praised. They also created a soldier puppet for the State of Chu.

“This is the Taoist puppet I created. It’s equivalent to a Nascent Soul puppet, proficient in all aspects of Taoist magic.”

“The Taoist puppet can cast spells to address floods, droughts, bandits, and more. It can also heal illnesses and pave roads… With a Taoist puppet guarding Chu, its rule will be unshakable, allowing it to develop with peace of mind.”

“However, with Chu’s limited spiritual stone reserves, we can’t fully activate the Taoist puppet, and the number of times it can be activated is limited, requiring it to be deployed only at critical moments.” The man openly acknowledged his puppet’s shortcomings.

The third person’s Chu model had developed reasonably well. After possessing the Taoist puppet, the King of Chu became somewhat complacent, sometimes acting as a wise ruler, sometimes as a foolish one. Under these circumstances, Chu experienced a turbulent development.

Among the next dozen or so people, the Chu State experienced steady growth, but none of them achieved the same strength as the real Chu State aided by the Lu Ban Sect.

The ninth person was particularly outstanding, having designed several puppets to aid the Chu State in various ways. This approach was closest to the actual Lu Ban Sect assistance, the only difference being that this person hadn’t calculated the most cost-effective solution.

However, calculating the optimal solution in such a short time would be prohibitive.

The Lu Ban Sect leader believed the ninth person would be the ultimate winner.

Next came the Jiang Li and Chu Emperor duo.

“What a powerful Chu State!” Jiang Li and Chu Emperor’s Chu State model was incredibly powerful, surpassing the real Chu State in strength.

Even the Lu Ban Sect couldn’t achieve that.

“What did you do? What puppets did you use?”

Jiang Li pointed at Chu Emperor. “Ask him; he came up with all the ideas.”

Chu Emperor explained calmly, “I… how difficult is that?”

“The King of Chu is a monarch, ruling the country but incompetent. I wanted to depose him, but in Chu, he’s a figure of faith and cannot be deposed.”

“I will select a man with foresight and a broad perspective to control the King of Chu. Whatever that man tells him to do, he will do it.”

“That man’s talent surpasses the King of Chu. Under his rule, Chu will use its own strength to build dams, lead troops to war, suppress various rebel forces, implement the county system, reward farming and military merit, abolish the old system, and so on.”

“Chu’s various hidden dangers have disappeared, and its national strength is booming.”

“I see.” The Lu Ban Sect suddenly realized that they had never considered the issue of changing rulers.

“Wait, this is a puppet competition, where are your puppets?”

The First Emperor pointed at the King of Chu arrogantly: “Puppet regime, this is a puppet.”

The leader of the Lu Ban Sect: “…”

He had lived for so long, and for the first time, he felt that he did not understand puppetry.

(End of this chapter)