Because Ding Yun’s previous actions, such as curing Emperor Ping Zhao’s illness and achieving cultivation success that allowed her to refine pills, were highly abnormal and unreasonable, yet undeniably real.
Therefore, although everyone was still very surprised this time, finding it somewhat unbelievable, no one questioned or refuted her. Some even began to reflect on their own lack of imagination, thinking that since the Grand Princess dared to say it, it should be true. After all, she was the foremost Qi cultivator of the current era, and it was normal for her to possess extraordinary abilities.
Consequently, a long speech Ding Yun had prepared, filled with explanations of principles, was not needed. Everyone readily accepted and believed her extraordinary capabilities.
Meanwhile, information regarding the Dragon Tooth Rice continued to spread rapidly throughout the imperial capital after the New Year's banquet, and further outwards. Ding Yun, considering that such a special type of rice needed a wide range of belief to transform the fake into the real, put considerable effort into it this time, sending many people to disseminate related information. Even staff members of the recently established but not yet fully operational postal and logistics system were dispatched to spread the efficacy of the Dragon Tooth Rice.
Under her unremitting efforts in promotion, the Dragon Tooth Rice within the "Refining Fake into Real Talisman" finally managed to bloom after the spring plowing of the following year, successfully transforming the fake into the real with a single ear of Dragon Tooth Rice. This single ear contained exactly one hundred and eight grains, harmonizing with the celestial and terrestrial numbers. The entire ear of rice was golden in color, with subtle silver patterns hidden within, a characteristic shared by the grains themselves. The combination of gold and silver colors perfectly matched the essence of the sun and moon.
With the seeds secured, Ding Yun immediately proceeded to plant all one hundred and eight grains. She also set up numerous traps, formations, and personnel for guarding. She even requested a decree from Emperor Ping Zhao, declaring theft of Dragon Tooth Rice within three years as treason punishable by the extermination of three generations of the offender’s clan. As for after three years, by then she would have already initiated nationwide promotion, making theft unnecessary.
Although the Dragon Tooth Rice was destined for widespread promotion sooner or later, the seeds were exceedingly scarce at present. If they were stolen and monopolized by aristocratic families, it would significantly impact Ding Yun's plan for universal martial arts training. Therefore, she had to be cautious and diligent in cultivating more seeds to facilitate nationwide dissemination.
The Dragon Tooth Rice normally matures in eighty-one days. While the growth period is slightly longer in winter, it is resistant to cold and heat and not picky about soil, allowing for four harvests per year. Even with only one hundred and eight seeds, three years would be sufficient for Ding Yun to cultivate an immense quantity of seeds for nationwide distribution. After all, one harvest could yield over ten thousand seeds, two harvests over a million, three harvests over one hundred million, and four harvests over ten billion. With this exponential growth, after three years, there would be no shortage of seeds.
Subsequent developments proved Ding Yun's foresight was not unfounded. Areas where the Dragon Tooth Rice was planted soon saw individuals attempting to steal it. The extermination of three generations of several instigators’ clans managed to bring the situation under control. However, Ding Yun couldn't fathom their reasoning. She had clearly stated that after three years, the Dragon Tooth Rice would be promoted nationwide. Yet, they couldn't wait, rushing to their deaths, and she wondered what they were thinking.
After eighty-one days, Ding Yun specifically brought her father, Emperor Ping Zhao, to the Dragon Tooth Rice cultivation area for the first harvest. She then delegated the responsibility for subsequent harvests and guarding to her father, while she continued to attend to other matters, such as establishing the postal and logistics system and the newspaper as a mouthpiece.
…
Three years later, Ding Yun's postal and logistics system was successfully established. While it wasn't yet possible to set up a point in every village, it had expanded to every small county town and market town, with some large villages also having designated points. The "Great Chapter Weekly" and "Great Chapter Monthly" were also being distributed and sold nationwide. The reason for a weekly newspaper instead of a daily one was primarily due to the current logistics speed, which was insufficient to deliver a newspaper to all parts of the country within a single day. Regional printing also lagged behind, and some very distant locations might not receive it even within a week. It was only because most places could receive it within seven days that Ding Yun could produce a weekly publication; without the logistics system, she would likely have had to settle for a monthly issue.
Now that the three-year period had arrived, both the Dragon Tooth Rice and the universal martial arts training were undoubtedly ripe for implementation. Therefore, upon receiving notification from Emperor Ping Zhao, Ding Yun immediately dispatched people to typeset and print a new issue of the "Great Chapter Weekly" for nationwide distribution, which was announced across the country seven days later. The core content consisted of two main points:
First, all citizens were to bring their household registration documents to their local county office to receive a portion of Dragon Tooth Rice seeds.
Second, all citizens could also bring their household registration documents to their local county office to receive a basic martial arts manual. Those who cultivated successfully and passed the assessment could study martial arts examination knowledge for free at the county school and participate in the martial arts examinations.
The special, miraculous properties of the Dragon Tooth Rice had been known to the public for three years, and the magical nature of the martial arts manuals had also circulated among the upper echelons. Therefore, after the "Great Chapter Weekly" published the relevant news, the common people in most areas, provided the news wasn't too outdated, rushed to obtain seeds and manuals with their household registration documents. Some mountain dwellers and undocumented individuals were also motivated to obtain household registration and collect their entitlements.
Over a month later, while it couldn't be guaranteed that everyone had received Dragon Tooth Rice seeds and manuals, it was absolutely certain that over ninety percent of the population had. For the remaining portion who hadn't, with the widespread availability of these two items, obtaining them would not be a difficult task if they desired.
Simultaneously, the "Martial Ancestor" within Ding Yun's "Refining Fake into Real Talisman" finally achieved its true form after the majority of the population began practicing martial arts. With the item obtained, there was no need to keep it. Therefore, as soon as the Martial Ancestor materialized, Ding Yun immediately extracted it from the "Refining Fake into Real Talisman," absorbed and integrated it, making it her own.
In the next instant, Ding Yun's internal organs, bones, and muscles underwent earth-shattering changes. Her bones rapidly transformed, shifting from their original white to a jade-like color. Even her bone marrow, through extreme pain, metamorphosed into golden marrow, including her skull. After the transformation of the bone marrow and bones was complete, the blood produced by the bone marrow quickly turned golden-red, beginning to cleanse her body. Starting from the heart, her internal organs underwent transformation. The heart became a brilliant crimson-gold, the liver a dazzling emerald-gold, the kidneys a deep black-gold, and the lungs a piercing white-gold. The spleen transformed into pure, bright gold.
Once these transformations were complete, a torrent of true qi, like a surging flood, emerged from the void and circulated through her meridians, converging in the lower dan tian. It condensed and compressed, forming a golden core. An immortal golden core. The Martial Ancestor had directly propelled her to the Martial Dao Golden Core realm.
In martial cultivation, after the Innate stage comes Grandmaster, followed by Great Grandmaster. After Great Grandmaster is the Martial Dao Golden Body realm, involving the refinement of the five organs and the transformation of bone marrow. Only then does the Martial Dao Golden Core realm follow, a state generally referred to as Martial Saint. The Martial Ancestor, by bearing the title of the ancestor of martial arts, enabling Ding Yun to directly reach the Martial Saint realm, was considered reasonable and normal.
However, at this very moment, in the instant Ding Yun's transformation was successful, numerous cracks suddenly appeared in the sky above, and the earth began to shake violently, as if the world was descending into an apocalypse.