Douluo: Emerald Poison King

Chapter 500: Sevenfold Plague, Sevenfold Corruption, Sevenfold Blessing (4000 words)
Chen Ming is not yet able to abolish all the situations he deems bad, but he can veto any systems he doesn't want within his own territory and has established strict laws and penalties for them.

To prevent anyone from outwardly complying while inwardly resisting, Chen Ming even returned to his hometown, Biluo City, and moved his family home there. He then had trusted members of his family act as enforcers, while Chen Ming was responsible for using his Eye of Sin to check every now and then to see if these people had gained any sinful power.

If not, or if it's merely due to some minor taint of sinful power, then reward them. But if they use their status to do things they shouldn't...
Chen Ming wouldn't mind setting up a stake in the settlement, conducting a public trial of these people, and then purifying them (physically). He would use their status as his "confidants" or even "relatives" to boost his achievements in upholding justice and show his determination.

To be honest, after burning the heads of seven or eight relatives they had barely met, no one in the leadership of the entire territory, regardless of rank, dared to use their authority to do anything they shouldn't.

But Chen Ming wasn't just demanding; he also gave generously. As long as the rules he set were followed properly, Chen Ming didn't mind bestowing large rewards.

(Anyway, the Gold Soul Coins were all "borrowed" from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.)
Under the combined pressure of carrots and sticks, the makeshift team that Chen Ming had assembled unleashed capabilities that even surpassed the bureaucratic systems of many places, creating a scene where people didn't pick up lost items on the road and didn't lock their doors at night.

Chen Ming also has his own ideas about the development of ordinary people.

Free rental of oxen, low-priced grain and farm tools, tax exemption for ordinary people in the first year, subsidies for childbirth, tax exemption for newlywed couples within three years of marriage, rewards for outstanding individuals in the group, and children of families who have paid taxes for more than three years can enter a regular college for three years of study.

Most importantly, agricultural taxes were only 30%, with tax revenue decreasing in years of disaster. Unreasonable extra taxes such as the first night tax and window tax were abolished, and it was declared that taxes would never be increased arbitrarily.

Although the various taxes seem substantial, in reality, even when added together, they amount to only about half to one-third of the normal tax burden of the two great empires.

Normal taxation is predicated on normality, but in reality, even in the capitals of the two great empires, it is extremely rare for them to be able to collect taxes normally without incurring additional taxes.

If we take into account the free oxen, low-priced seeds, and farm tools, the income of ordinary people who would normally have 80% or even 90% of their income taken away could actually increase three or four times or even more in a year.

With the autumn harvest complete and the year finally over, many farmers who had never experienced such good days in their lives spontaneously organized a prayer ceremony for Chen Ming. Even in the midst of heavy snow, a group of people could be seen kowtowing outside Chen Ming's residence.

Although ordinary people provide less faith than soul masters and soul beasts due to their strength, the sheer number of ordinary people and their generally more devout faith still means that Chen Ming can obtain a huge amount of faith from them.

However, faith is a bit more difficult to develop among Soul Masters.

Because the Soul Masters of this era either believed in the Angel God or had no faith at all. Even though there was no open conflict between Chen Ming and the Spirit Hall, many people who considered themselves to have pure faith still maintained a resistant attitude towards Chen Ming.

Furthermore, because the Spirit Hall of this era was still regularly sending people across the continent to awaken spirits in every village, awakening a spirit was considered a matter of course by almost everyone. Those commoner spirit masters who rose from humble backgrounds were still subconsciously closer to the Spirit Hall's Angel God faith.

Even when they came to Chen Ming's territory to develop, these people were more interested in profit than in having any particular belief.

In order to develop faith among Soul Masters, Chen Ming also used many methods.

He recruited some younger, mild-mannered Soul Masters from the sects that were close to him or secretly allied with him. After that, he gathered some commoner Soul Masters in his territory who were not very talented but had a strong will and began to carry out additional modifications.

In Douluo Continent II, the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult possess the ability to corrupt martial souls through secret techniques. Chen Ming also has a similar ability, allowing him to modify other people's martial souls. However, it's not necessary to become so evil.

For ordinary Soul Masters, Chen Ming created seven types of modifications that could transform them completely.

These are respectively: activating internal organs, compensating for congenital deficiencies, strengthening secondary growth, enhancing abnormal resistance, adding martial soul devouring ability, stimulating martial soul potential, and stimulating mental power.

The visceral activation method involves using various medicinal herbs to create a special decoction, and using special toxins to put the Soul Master into a weakened state. Through regular and quantitative nourishment, stimulation, and exercise, the strength of the Soul Master's internal organs is gradually stimulated while the Soul Master is in a weakened state, thereby improving the Soul Master's Qi and blood.

The method of compensating for congenital deficiencies is for Soul Masters who are born with deficiencies. It involves putting them into a weakened state close to death and using a number of special rituals to make up for the Soul Master's innate lack of Soul Power.

Soul Masters at level five and below can increase their innate soul power by about one level, while Soul Masters at level five and above can increase their innate soul power by about half a level. It is a ritual that replenishes innate soul power through artificial stimulation.

Because this method is essentially a way to compensate for the innate deficiencies of a Soul Master, theoretically it does not conflict with pills like the Profound Water Pill, which can compensate for innate Soul Power.

A Soul Master can use a ritual to compensate for innate deficiencies to stimulate their innate Soul Power before taking pills that enhance it.

Secondary growth enhancement uses toxins to stimulate the body, forcing it to grow again in extreme pain.

Abnormal resistance is achieved by using multiple toxins to stimulate the body in turn, making the body more resilient through pain, and gradually gaining stronger vitality and resistance to abnormal abilities.

The Devouring Ability stat can grant a Martial Soul a weak, non-growing Devouring Ability. While it cannot devour flesh and blood to increase its own Soul Power, it can enhance the digestion speed of normal medicines and increase resistance to drug toxicity, allowing a resource to be used to its fullest potential.

The Martial Soul Potential Activation is a ritual tailored to each individual. It stimulates the Martial Soul to grow further through methods such as hypnosis, infusion of life force, and artificially induced near-death experiences. If a Soul Master's Martial Soul is inherently flawed due to malignant mutations, these flaws can be repaired to some extent during this process.

Theoretically, there is a very small chance that a specific Soul Master can undergo a second awakening of their Martial Soul. Mental stimulation, on the other hand, uses methods such as suggestion to induce a Soul Master into a state close to deep meditation, releasing the shackles of mental power under the sensation of physical decay, thereby enhancing mental power and comprehension in one fell swoop.

The most distinctive feature of these methods is that they cannot be easily imitated or spread. In addition, apart from the need for individual customization to stimulate the potential of a martial soul, they are universally applicable. Even if they fail, they will only lead to weakness and not to life-threatening danger.

Once Chen Ming finds a suitable candidate, he can directly hand over these steps to a specialist.

There are seven transformations, each lasting seven days. The first three days are a period of weakness, the fourth day is a period of gradual adaptation and improvement, and the seventh day is a period of rebuilding from the ashes. The seven transformations last a total of forty-nine days. Each transformation can only be used after the previous one has been completed.

If the transformation from destruction to creation is not successfully achieved within seven days, then the ritual is considered a failure. At best, the enhancement will be reduced, far less than the pain itself. At worst, the very essence will be damaged, requiring a long period of recuperation for slow recovery. Even if the ritual is performed again after recovery, the subsequent enhancement effect will not be as good as completing all seven rituals at once.

Without Chen Ming's extra safety net, it wouldn't have been uncommon for people to die from the plague during the process.

Although Chen Ming had selected the Soul Masters before the rituals and honed their will through training, only seven out of dozens of Soul Masters with average talent successfully completed the seven rituals. They endured immense suffering, constantly struggling between life and death, but their final results were remarkable.

These seven individuals all possess low innate soul power, with the lowest being only level two and the highest only level four and a half. Even with significant training in the future, they would at most become Soul Kings, and becoming a Soul Emperor would be a breakthrough beyond their limits.

However, after the ceremony, everyone's innate soul power increased by at least four levels, and their martial soul also developed and progressed.

The worst one had his innate soul power raised to approximately level eight, while the best ones were practically on par with those with full innate soul power. Their martial souls had also been uniformly elevated, becoming genuine high-level martial souls.

Even the least talented among them would be considered a genius in a major sect, a strong contender for the next sect leader. Each one of them has transformed into a future titled Douluo seed.

The enhancement in mental strength makes it less likely for him to get stuck when advancing in the future, and the seemingly insurmountable barrier between Soul Douluo and Title Douluo becomes much easier to overcome.

Moreover, the physical enhancement gives it greater combat power and vitality than other Soul Masters of the same level, making it less susceptible to abnormal conditions and extending its lifespan to at least two hundred years. Furthermore, its strong vitality makes it less likely to develop hidden injuries that could affect its future.

Aside from the fact that the process is so painful that most people would find it unbearable, this technology is completely flawless. In terms of value, even the Great Sumeru Hammer and the Ring-Exploding Technique of the Haotian Sect cannot compare to this modification technology, which can permanently increase one's potential, even by a fraction.

Because each transformation involves using toxins and plagues to infect the body, penetrating every corner and causing pain to the bone marrow, and even the sensation of one's own flesh gradually rotting when near death, these seven transformations are known by those who have undergone them as the Sevenfold Plague and the Sevenfold Corruption.

However, because each transformation brings a significant boost to the individual, resulting in a rebirth of the body, this ritual is also known as the Sevenfold Blessing by those who have experienced it. Each blessing makes the individual stronger, and the previously hazy future becomes clearer.

Those who successfully underwent a complete transformation were publicized by Chen Ming as typical success stories within his territory, and it was announced that commoner Soul Masters could also receive talent improvements after making sufficient contributions.

Furthermore, everyone who participates in the transformation, regardless of how many transformations they undergo, can obtain the basic internal energy cultivation techniques created by Chen Ming, further enhancing everyone's cultivation speed.

With this double boost, even the worst Soul Master's cultivation speed doubled, significantly improving their future potential.

Having survived a life-or-death struggle and experienced an improvement in their talents in various aspects, all those who complete the ritual become fanatical followers of Chen Ming, placing him in an extremely important place in their hearts, even above their sect and family.

After all, these people are not the kind of people that the family has been cultivating. Instead, they are more like consumables, with average talent and even more average backgrounds. Even if they receive family education every day, they will still undergo a huge change in mindset under such a transformative change.

In the hearts of ordinary soul masters, Chen Ming was simply a walking sun on the ground, who, under the blazing light, had learned to swing his hands without being taught.

For the Soul Masters of Douluo Continent today, Chen Ming's move was a pure, unadulterated miracle.

Since it was revealed, many high-level Soul Masters who claimed to have no sect background but whose Martial Souls were quite famous on the continent seemed to have sprung up on the spot and rushed into Chen Ming's territory to desperately show their loyalty.

Children and youths who might never have met in their lifetime were mobilized to develop the land. These noble children, who usually had to be fed, were now faster than anyone else at wielding hoes, and would get angry at anyone who asked them to rest.

They get up earlier than the chickens, sleep later than the dogs, and work harder than the oxen. They bring their own food and even contribute their own money, often leading a professional technical team all by themselves. Using soul skills to plow the newly reclaimed farmland is a minor matter; confident beast-type soul masters simply kick aside the old oxen and harness the plow themselves to till the land.

Offensive and defensive Soul Masters explore the wilderness, sharp-type Soul Masters are responsible for cutting down forests, fire-attribute Soul Masters are responsible for burning wastelands, and earth-attribute Soul Masters work with water-attribute Soul Masters for infrastructure construction, while others work with plant-type Soul Masters to help farmers with sowing and soil improvement.

It's not the first time Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent have used Soul Skills for production; in fact, it's quite common. However, this is the first time in the continent's history that Soul Masters have used their power to compete with commoners for production on such a large scale, without regard for their own status.

Generally, land reclamation begins with rough clearing, followed by intensive cultivation once productivity increases. However, due to the relentless competition among Soul Masters, the civilian population within Chen Ming's territory is insufficient. He has even had to temporarily suspend expansion to the outskirts of the territory and instead begin undertaking tasks such as road construction and well digging, which were not originally planned for this time.

(End of this chapter)