With the generous financial backing of Ding Yun, her Panda Empress plan proceeded quite smoothly. In less than three years, she had garnered significant prestige within Jinghua Prefecture, one of the seventy-two states on the Beastman Planet, specifically in Fude County.
She then participated in the county's quinquennial election.
And successfully won the position of local Prefect.
Transforming from a business owner into an official.
This could be considered a characteristic of the Beastman Planet. In many regions of the Beastman Planet, Prefects and even the governors of dozens of states are held by owners of large enterprises or group CEOs. The method of their election is also quite simple.
They provide over eighty to ninety percent of the jobs in the entire region. If they aren't elected, are people expecting unemployment?
Although Ding Yun's initial intention differed from theirs, the actual operational procedures were not significantly different. The only real difference was that the compensation and benefits she provided for work were better than those of other bosses.
Her successful election this time was primarily because more than sixty percent of the people in Fude County now relied on her for their livelihood. When over sixty percent of the population depends on you, what choice do they have but to elect you?
Was her work being provided for free?
And with her successful election as the Prefect of Fude County, matters that were previously inconvenient now had a legitimate and qualified basis to proceed. For instance, constructing weapon factories for self-defense, or even undertaking appropriate industrial upgrades, cultivating rarer crops to increase revenue and profit margins, and so forth.
Only by doing so could she continue to expand!
She hadn't done these things before mainly because she feared being exploited if she, with no power or influence, earned too much too soon.
Now that she had some footing, she could naturally begin to implement measures that suited her current identity and were less susceptible to theft. As for better things, those would have to wait until she became a Governor or something similar.
She had plenty of high-quality goods in her personal gourmet planet.
If not on the gourmet planet, they were in her soul space.
Time was also something she had in abundance.
After all, pandas had long lifespans, and her cultivation realm had already reached considerable heights. She had long since surpassed the recognized highest level in this world, refining her bloodline to revert to the ancient divine beast, the Yin-Yang Panda.
This placed her on par with a Demon Venerable, Martial God, or Nascent Soul Cultivator.
She enjoyed ten thousand years of lifespan, ample time for her endeavors.
Therefore, Ding Yun continued her progress unhurriedly, adhering to her original plan, diligently serving as a Prefect dedicated to her people. She arranged work for those capable, and for those not, she arranged learning followed by work.
Those below the age limit were uniformly sent to schools for education.
Additionally, she began to advocate for eugenics and better breeding practices.
To this end, Ding Yun even specially modified the Golden Gate Locking Jade Technique from the Quanzhen Sect, originating from the martial arts world, to be applicable to various beastmen and disseminated it. The promotion was not overly explicit.
It merely stated that if one wished to have children, they could cease training for half a year.
It caused no harm to the body.
It could also increase cultivation speed, physical strength, vitality, and even offer some longevity benefits.
Some matters don't necessarily require coercion. If there are methods that are gentler and encourage voluntary participation, that is best. In a world where everyone can cultivate, naturally, introducing a high-level cultivation technique that is effective and otherwise inaccessible to ordinary people would be more readily accepted.
Many high-level cultivation techniques with significant flaws are eagerly sought after, let alone a technique with only minor imperfections that can be resolved by ceasing training for half a year.
During the initial stages of promotion and dissemination, no one obstructed it.
Everyone happily accepted and practiced it.
The reason was simple: high-level cultivation techniques had always been monopolized by powerful families. Ordinary people, aside from the basic cultivation techniques initially promoted by the government and widely circulated, had virtually no other way to obtain them, and cultivating to the level of a Rank 5 beastman was already their limit.
It was difficult to achieve further breakthroughs.
Although no one explicitly forbade its dissemination, it was clear that no one was willing to share it. The Golden Gate Locking Jade Technique, modified by Ding Yun, had long surpassed the martial arts level.
Upon reaching completion,
It would allow one to "swallow a golden core and have one's destiny controlled by oneself, not by heaven," surpassing Rank 1 beastmen and becoming comparable to human Venerables.
Years ago, humans who strengthened themselves through three different paths established a classification standard: Rank 1 to Rank 9, with Rank 1 being the highest and Rank 9 the lowest. This standard remained unchanged even after later internal divisions and was passed down.
Above Rank 1, there was another tier.
That was the Venerable level.
This level could be considered inhuman. Most weapons were ineffective against them, and they could even survive in space for short periods without protective gear. Upon reaching this level, whether beastmen or espers, they would receive extremely high courtesies on Emperor Star.
Generally, no one dared to offend them.
Therefore, at this level, they were no longer referred to as beastmen, espers, or gene-humans. They were uniformly called Venerables.
Revered as the apex of humanity.
Techniques that allowed one to cultivate to this level were exceedingly rare.
Even the most powerful families would eagerly pursue any technique discovered for this level. This was even more true for ordinary beastmen. Consequently, no one cared about such minor flaws; everyone was eager to learn and practice, fearing that it might be banned by certain individuals if they delayed even by a day.
After the technique had been disseminated for some time and confirmed as genuine, some members of the Beastman Alliance Council raised objections.
They even initiated an inquiry into Ding Yun.
Their general argument was that if she unexpectedly obtained a high-level cultivation technique, she should have submitted it to them instead of arbitrarily disseminating it. This was clearly disrupting regional peace.
After all, martial prowess could lead to transgressions.
Beastmen were already difficult to manage. If they became even more powerful, breaking through to Rank 5, becoming Rank 4 or 3, or even Rank 1 beastmen, how would their Beastman Alliance Council govern the world? They might not even be able to collect taxes from various regions through force.
However, Ding Yun did not indulge them. She directly demonstrated her peak Venerable strength to the inquiring officials as a warning, striking one of them to a state of near-paralysis. After that, no one else raised any objections.
Faced with a Venerable,
The Beastman Alliance Council had to acquiesce.
Moreover, a Venerable was disseminating their cultivation technique,
Spreading enlightenment to the world, acting solely for the benefit of the beastmen. If one were ungrateful, they would not only be courting death but also be reviled by countless beastmen and be remembered infamously for eternity.
Slanders and fabricated accusations were useless against true powerhouses, and no one dared to act in such a manner.
This undoubtedly further enhanced Ding Yun's prestige and authority. At least, any faction without a Venerable in their family would absolutely not dare to act rashly against her.
Even forces from Emperor Star and the Esper Planet had to show her some respect and not target her easily.
The Beastman Planet itself, needless to say, was no different.
Prior to this, the entire Beastman Planet had only three Venerables, and all three were elderly and infirm. The youngest was already over seven hundred years old, with only a few hundred years left before the theoretical lifespan limit of a millennium. However, a millennium was theoretical; who could avoid injuries or unexpected events mid-way? Living to nine hundred would be considered fortunate.
Therefore, Ding Yun's demonstration of Venerable strength not only deterred a large number of people but also served as a powerful morale boost for many intelligent beastmen on the Beastman Planet. Some media outlets even began referring to Ding Yun as "Beastman Hope" and "Pillar of the Beastman Planet's Future."
Even the media on Emperor Star were promoting Ding Yun as worthy of her ancient national treasure bloodline, truly remarkable.
Numerous families even extended marriage proposals.
If the panda bloodline were truly so formidable, then its presence in a family's offspring would no longer be considered a scandal.
Of course, these were not what Ding Yun valued most.
What Ding Yun valued most was that, from this point forward, she would be eligible to participate in the Governor election three years later. With her current prestige and the general admiration she had garnered from all beastmen, securing the position of Governor was almost a certainty.
Nine years later, she even stood a significant chance of winning the next Speaker election.
Originally, Ding Yun had not intended to rush things. She planned to disseminate high-level cultivation techniques and reveal her Venerable cultivation only after becoming a Governor or advancing further. However, after becoming Prefect, she learned that one had to serve a full twenty years as Prefect to be eligible for the Governor election, which would be too long.
The only two exceptions were for making significant contributions with special approval from the Beastman Alliance Council, or for becoming a Venerable oneself.
Therefore, she had no choice but to take a calculated risk and stir things up.
To increase her prestige and contributions.
To be safe, she adopted a two-pronged approach: disseminating high-level cultivation techniques to earn sufficient contributions, and concurrently revealing her Venerable strength.
This was to prevent certain council organizations from reneging on their word later.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly in the end.
Her contributions and cultivation level were sufficient for her to be promoted exceptionally and be permitted to participate in the next Governor election.
After achieving her objective,
Ding Yun naturally reverted to a low-profile approach, expanding her strength and simultaneously improving the living standards of her people.