277: Fifth Incarnation: Heavenly Physician (Sixty-Nine)

As the Family review meeting concluded, Xu Yuan calmly left Lingyun Hall amidst the gazes of the crowd, which were filled with admiration, wariness, or complex emotions.

He did not immediately set off in high spirits to take up his post at the newly allocated 'Hundred Herb Garden' and 'Goldstone Mine', nor was he in a hurry to receive his expanded authority.

Instead, he politely declined the congratulations of subordinates like Su Wen and Zhao Li, returning alone to his quiet residence within the Su Family clan—an independent small courtyard called the Listening to Bamboo Pavilion, situated on a branch of a Spiritual Vein.

A simple Restriction was set outside the courtyard to isolate the interior from the exterior.

Inside the courtyard, bamboo shadows swayed, a spiritual spring gurgled, and it was exceptionally tranquil.

Xu Yuan sat cross-legged on a futon in the quiet room. He did not immediately enter a meditative state to Cultivate, but slowly closed his eyes, sinking his mind into his body to merge with that humanity seal, which glowed with inner light and flowed with runes of order, beginning to carefully reflect on and digest every detail of his three months in charge of the Flowing Cloud Market.

The joy of success was, to him, as faint as passing clouds.

What he cared more about was the practice and verification of his own Dao throughout this entire process.

In his past life, he was the Emperor Shang, ruling over the Nine Provinces; his word was law, and his commands were absolute. That was the Tyrannical Way!

It was based on supreme imperial power and overwhelming martial force, commanding the world such that none dared to disobey.

Order originated from his personal will, and the people moved like chess pieces on a board, with everything revolving around imperial power.

It was efficient, yet also fragile; once imperial power wavered, the order would instantly collapse.

Its core was 'I am the order.'

But in this life, what he desired to pioneer was the Way of Humanity.

During these three months in the Flowing Cloud Market, he had deliberately restrained the emperor's craft and power plays of his past life, neither relying on personal authority to suppress others nor using subtle balancing acts to manipulate factions.

What he had done was 'set rules', 'build a platform', and 'guide the trend'.

Establishing the contribution system was to build a fair standard of measurement; promoting competitive hiring was to open up channels for upward mobility; emphasizing the spirit of contract was to lay the Foundation of trust; and information disclosure was to introduce the power of supervision.

The role he played was not that of a high-and-mighty adjudicator, but rather a designer of rules, a builder of platforms, and a guide of trends.

He had clearly handed over the power of choice, the opportunity for struggle, and the rules of reward to every Cultivator in the market.

Then, he stepped back and watched the changes quietly.

As a result, the people's hearts were naturally motivated, and vitality was naturally born.

'So that's how it is...' Xu Yuan's inner understanding deepened. 'The Tyrannical Way is "what I want," thus forcing the world to follow it. But the Way of Humanity is "what the people want," thus guiding them according to the trend, building channels and leading water so that "human desires" converge into "public justice," naturally achieving the "Great Trend."'

'In my past life, I was an emperor and controlled everything. But this time, I did not attend to everything personally and even stayed behind the scenes most of the time, yet the market operated more efficiently and orderly than ever before. This power does not stem from me personally, but from the "order" itself that is recognized and voluntarily followed by the majority.'

'The essence of the power of the Way of Humanity lies not in "control," but in "guidance"; not in "bestowal," but in "activation"; not in "command," but in "consensus."'

He looked within his Dao Foundation at that humanity seal, which was becoming increasingly solid and more closely linked to his Divine Soul. He could feel that through this practice in the Flowing Cloud Market, the "Contract · Order" runes at the bottom of the seal had become clearer and more stable, and the emitted Dao Rhyme had lost some of its deliberate guidance, gaining more of a natural flow.

'Replacing personal rule with rules, and gathering strength with consensus... this is the Foundation of the Way of Humanity.' Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a brilliant light flowing within them. 'However, this method also has its limitations. It places extremely high demands on the design of the "rules," which must align with the fundamental interests and demands of the majority, and there must be strong execution and error-correction mechanisms to guarantee their fairness. Otherwise, if the rules are biased, they will lead one astray; if execution is weak, they will exist in name only.'

He thought of the rumors and resistance that had appeared in the market; that was the counterattack of the old 'trends' and also a test for the new 'order.'

'It seems that promoting the Way of Humanity does not mean one can rest easy after establishing rules. One must constantly perceive changes in the "trend" and continuously adjust and optimize the rules, just like managing water—combining dredging and blocking, and acting according to the times. At the same time, one must also have enough strength to protect this nascent order from being swallowed by old forces or destroyed by external powers.'

This gave him a clearer plan for the Hundred Herb Garden and Goldstone Mine he was about to take over.

'Hundred Herb Garden concerns the cultivation of spiritual plants and the Foundation of Alchemy; Goldstone Mine concerns the Materials for Artifact Refining and the Family's resource lifeline. These two places are more core than the Flowing Cloud Market, the interests involved are deeper, and the Foundation of the conservative forces will inevitably be more solid. Simply copying the model of the Flowing Cloud Market will likely provoke a stronger backlash.'

'I must adapt to local conditions. While promoting the new order, I must also demonstrate sufficient "strength," using both kindness and authority to gain a firm foothold.'

Xu Yuan's gaze became profound.

This period of quiet cultivation and reflection had made his understanding of the 'Way of Humanity' deeper and more pragmatic.

It was not a visionary's utopia, but a path that needed to be constantly explored, adjusted, and even fought for in reality.

It required both an ideal blueprint and realistic means.

'Strength is the guarantee of order; order is the framework within which strength is exercised. Neither can be missing.'

In the quiet room, the brilliant light in Xu Yuan's eyes gradually faded, turning into a deep calm.

His cultivation at the Mid-Foundation Establishment Stage now seemed insufficient.

'It is time.'

Xu Yuan murmured in his heart, no longer suppressing the spiritual opportunity within his body that was already overflowing and surging restlessly.

In this life, he possessed an Innate Dao Body and was naturally close to the Dao; his cultivation speed was already far beyond that of ordinary people.

Furthermore, due to the wisdom of his past lives in Reincarnation, his mental state and cultivation had already reached the Golden Core level, and he faced no Bottleneck whatsoever.

He could have taken the opportunity to Breakthrough to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage during his previous advancement, but he had deliberately suppressed it—firstly to solidify his Foundation, and secondly to comprehend the Way of Humanity, so as not to let his cultivation grow too fast and deviate from the root of his path.

Now, the Way of Humanity had its first success, and his Foundation was incredibly solid. In fact, due to the condensation of the humanity seal, the quality of his Dao Foundation had even progressed half a step beyond perfection, containing a trace of the Origin of "Order," with infinite potential.

Breaking through now was as natural as water forming a channel.

With a thought from Xu Yuan, the Spirit Gathering Array already arranged around the quiet room instantly burst into brilliant light! With a wave of his sleeve, a mountain-like pile of High-Grade Spirit Stones poured out, and dense Spiritual Qi instantly filled the entire quiet room, almost turning into a liquid state.

"Boom—!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Yuan completely released the suppression on his own cultivation!

In an instant, the flawless Dao Foundation in his body, which had integrated the Dao Rhyme of order, seemed to turn into a bottomless vortex, erupting with terrifying suction!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Within the quiet room, Spiritual Qi surged wildly, forming a massive Spiritual Qi vortex centered on Xu Yuan!

The thick Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and the pure Qi from the High-Grade Spirit Stones poured into his body like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

The sheer magnitude of the momentum far exceeded the scene of a typical Foundation Establishment Cultivator making a Breakthrough!