God Weird Fairy

Chapter 452 Preliminary Selection: Making a Move

Nan Yi explained the basic rules of the Merit Competition in detail.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yingqi asked doubtfully, "If we follow these rules, the time required would be too long; perhaps it's not suitable as a competition?"

Building and developing a base is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Especially in the latter half, which involves competition between bases, it takes at least three to five years of operation to achieve any results.

But if the competition lasts that long, the audience will probably get tired of it.

Yuan Yingqi looked at Nan Yi in confusion, only to hear:
"The preliminary selection in each state is for a period of three years, during which the participants will manage and build the facilities for three years, and the merits will be compared and settled at the end. However, the Void Spirit Realm has the effect of accelerating thinking, and one month in it is equivalent to only one day in the real world. The three-year preliminary selection will only take a little over a month in the real world."

Yuan Yingqi was stunned upon hearing this: "Thirty times faster thinking? Ordinary people probably couldn't handle that, could they?"

“That’s right.” Nan Yi nodded. “That’s why there are thresholds for the competition. Ordinary people are not allowed to participate. Only cultivators, or as your Kan Dynasty calls them, those who have entered the monk realm, can register.”

Nan Yi continued with an admiring tone: "Afterwards, during the competition, the experiences of those who perform exceptionally well will be edited into a story and shown to the public; at the same time, betting odds will be set up for the public to place bets on the contestants they favor."

Kanchao was not lacking in talented people.

Although the merit competition was unprecedented and was being held for the first time, it did not prevent Kanchao from using the competition as a basis to plan supporting projects, thereby creating some profits and gathering the scattered spiritual energy of the people.

As Nan Yi just said, this can only be considered one or two of the supporting plans of Kanchao surrounding the Merit Competition.

It can be said that Kan Chao used an open strategy, attracting the public's attention from all angles and not giving Nan Yi any opportunity to create hype or sensationalize things out of thin air.

This rendered Nan Yi's usual off-field tactics in the Li Dynasty ineffective, forcing him to limit himself to the Merit Tournament and face off against the heroes of various states in the Kan Dynasty.

At this juncture, if Nan Yi wants to make preparations in advance, the only way is to develop informants, win the title of a prefecture in the preliminary selection, and cooperate with them in the finals.

Therefore, this person on the front line must be an exceptionally talented individual.

Nan Yi looked at Yuan Yingqi and asked with a smile, "Are you confident that you can win the Yuanzhou preliminary round and meet me in the final?"

Yuan Yingqi did not readily agree.

Like Nan Yi, he was not the type to make empty promises.

After thoroughly digesting and understanding all the competition rules explained by Nan Yi, Yuan Yingqi, who had been pondering for a long time, finally spoke up: "May I ask, brother, in this competition's preliminary rounds, apart from the top-ranked contestant advancing to the finals, what can the other contestants expect to gain?"

Nan Yi nodded slightly.

He also inquired about this issue in detail with Yuan Shida.

This question concerns the intensity of the competition.

If only the first-place winner receives a large share of the prizes, the rest will inevitably strive to be the first to go all out, making a desperate gamble in the final stages of the competition, acting as aggressively as if betting on the fate of the nation.

However, if the prizes are distributed reasonably, participants' strategies will generally tend to be conservative, with a greater inclination to prioritize preserving existing achievements and maintaining their rankings.

Ultimately, after careful questioning, Nan Yi confirmed that only the crown would be awarded in the final round; however, the distribution of prizes during the preliminary rounds was quite reasonable.

He relayed, "The Merit Contest, being named after merit, will naturally not be stingy with merit. In the final settlement of merit, the top 100 contestants will have their merits credited to their respective worldly merit accounts according to their rankings."

"That's one thing. Secondly, there are the corresponding prizes for the top ten."

"Finally, all participants who successfully pass through a stage and complete the base construction can choose a professional skill to realize their mastery after the competition."

This is equivalent to a guaranteed minimum reward.

The highly realistic simulation of the illusory realm means that the insights and experiences gained during the competition can actually be applied in the real world. Through a method similar to initiation, these insights can be materialized and thoroughly mastered.

However, transforming the virtual into the real, even though it is only intangible knowledge, will consume resources. Therefore, there is a certain threshold, which requires successfully completing the construction of a base and entering the second stage where many bases compete with each other.

Crucially, during the competition, participants can take on new jobs as long as certain conditions are met, and can also merge jobs to form specific professions in designated directions.

In other words, as long as participants are willing, they can make their final profession align with their current worldly cultivation needs. In this way, the insights and experiences gained after realization can be transformed into cultivation to a certain extent—this guaranteed reward is the biggest motivation that truly attracts many cultivators to participate.

In fact, from Nan Yi's perspective, this merit competition was essentially an expansion of the agreement he had made with Kan Chao to end the war.

In Kan Jun's eyes, if he were to directly compete with Nan Yi, winning would not bring much benefit, but losing would harm the fate of the nation.

Although Kanchao had the priority to set the rules, no matter what, he could not design a duel rule that would inevitably lead to Nanyi's defeat.

In other words, any duel that is a head-to-head competition involves placing a portion of the Kan Dynasty's national fortune on it, betting on whether the person representing the Kan Dynasty can defeat Nan Yi during the duel.

Kan Jun was naturally displeased with this, feeling it was not a safe bet.

Ultimately, the six ministers of the Kan Dynasty discussed the matter and proposed a solution: to expand the agreement to end the war into a merit competition covering the entire population.

On the one hand, it weakens the combative nature of the peace treaty, thus avoiding involvement in the fate of the nation; on the other hand, it is also a way for Kanchao to preemptively restrict the means that Nan Yi could use after analyzing and predicting them, so as not to give Nan Yi an opportunity to build public opinion.

To be fair, this method is effective, and it has indeed put Nan Yi at a disadvantage, making it difficult for him to use it effectively and to create a hot topic outside of the merit competition.

However, expansion also means a more complex participating group, no longer limited to steam and true qi, but including more cultivators from other schools of thought, or supporters of other development paths.

After all, steam technology, originating from the True Wonderful Observatory, is the mainstream approach of the Kan Dynasty at present, but not the only one.

Sects that support other development paths can also take this opportunity to promote their own technical approaches through the Merit Competition.

In short, Kan Jun made a move to encircle Nan Yi by anticipating the situation in advance, but this also left an opportunity for some independent forces to take advantage of the situation, which can be considered both an advantage and a disadvantage.

However, as competitors, Nan Yi has no reason to cooperate with these opposition forces.

Therefore, Kan Jun was willing to relinquish some benefits to attract many cultivators to participate in the competition, just to select outstanding individuals from among them and defeat Nan Yi in the Merit Competition.

However, Kan still hopes that the winners selected from the state-level auditions will be supporters of the steam route.

After listening to Nan Yi explain the distribution of awards, Yuan Yingqi solemnly expressed his willingness to give it his all and win first place in the Yuanzhou preliminary selection.

As a time traveler, the greatest advantage lies in having a broad perspective and a strong ability to understand and accept.

The competition format of the Merit Contest is similar to a management and construction game with role-playing elements.

After listening to the rules, Yuan Yingqi was able to quickly grasp the gameplay and was just waiting for the actual battle.

However, while the people of this world may be no less intelligent than Yuan Yingqi and can easily understand the rules, they may not be able to quickly enter the most suitable state for the game.

Yuan Yingqi was confident that, assuming his cultivation level wouldn't affect the course of the competition, he could consistently finish in the top ten. As for first place, he also had a chance.

In response, Nan Yi simply said, "During the preliminary rounds, I hope you can focus on the steam route and win first place."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(End of this chapter)