Dust rolled and churned across the ground.
Slowly, as the dust settled, the crushed corpse of the Supreme Bright King emerged—along with the enormous handprint stamped deep into the earth. From atop the city walls, the sight was nothing short of annihilating.
The original forty-two residents of Gao Family Village had seen this scene once before. Yet even now, witnessing it again, their minds went blank all the same.
Thud, thud, thud.
They dropped to their knees almost simultaneously, filling the ground in an instant.
Then came the new villagers.
Then Bai Yuan's tenants.
Then his retainers.
One after another, people knelt, foreheads touching earth, movements instinctive and unanimous.
Even Bai Yuan—proud, upright, and stubborn to the bone—stood frozen in place, stunned beyond words. The impact of this moment struck him even harder than it had the common villagers.
He turned his head.
San Shier and Mrs. San were already kneeling properly among the crowd, postures reverent and sincere.
A low murmur rose from every throat, merging into a single sound:
"All hail Dao Xuan Tianzun…"
Just then, the curtain of Bai Yuan's large family carriage was flung aside. A middle-aged woman and a young man stepped down, followed closely by Bai Yuan's wife and son. The instant their feet touched the ground, they too knelt without hesitation, robes pressed into dust and mud, utterly unconcerned with appearances.
Bai Yuan looked around.
He was the only person still standing in all of Gao Family Village.
The contrast was… uncomfortable.
He struggled internally, hurriedly assembling a justification for himself:
This is no evil god. No demonic idol. This is a true immortal—one who just demonstrated divine might. His title follows Daoist canon, his presence aligns with orthodox teachings. Paying respect to a Daoist immortal does not constitute heresy… certainly not joining a cult.
During the Ming Dynasty, Daoist robes were practically fashionable among scholars. Daoism itself was widely accepted, its immortals commonly revered.
Having reasoned this through, Bai Yuan's knees finally stopped resisting.
He knelt.
"All hail Dao Xuan Tianzun!"
From above, Li Daoxuan observed the tiny figures kneeling en masse. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he prepared to let them rise.
Then—
A strange sensation brushed his awareness.
From each kneeling figure, a faint point of light floated upward, shimmering like fireflies at dusk. The points gathered, drifting through the air toward the Dao Xuan Tianzun Temple at the village's center.
The village's original population—over one hundred and fifty—combined with the hundred-plus people Bai Yuan had brought, formed nearly three hundred individuals.
Nearly three hundred lights.
They streamed into the temple one after another.
And then—
The Dao Xuan Tianzun Temple erupted in brilliant golden radiance.
It was as if an enormous golden lantern had been lit inside the diorama.
The miniature people seemed completely unaware of it. Not a blink, not a pause.
Li Daoxuan, however, had to squint.
When the glare faded, his breath caught.
Five new buttons had appeared in the corner of the box:
East
South
West
North
Center
A sudden intuition struck him—sharp, unmistakable.
Don't tell me…
He pressed East.
The entire village slid smoothly to the left. The visible area on the left shrank, while the right side expanded.
He pressed East again.
More terrain appeared.
His heartbeat quickened.
He hammered North several times.
The village drifted southward, revealing the northern landscape—a small hillside dotted with skeletal trees, bark stripped clean.
Li Daoxuan recognized it immediately.
"That's the hillside where Zheng Daniu's been chopping trees."
Previously invisible. Now, perfectly clear.
"So the field of view can pan."
His excitement surged.
"Hahaha! The field of view finally expanded!"
So this was the mechanism.
The Dao Xuan Tianzun Temple acted as the anchor point. The number of worshippers determined the observable radius.
Initially, a hundred or so worshippers hadn't met the threshold. But now—nearly three hundred—the condition had been satisfied.
Thus, the directional controls appeared.
He tapped North again.
Nothing happened.
"Hm? Boundary reached already?"
He pressed Center.
Instantly, the view snapped back, neatly centered on the Dao Xuan Tianzun Temple.
Li Daoxuan tested all directions carefully, ruler in hand, calculating with the 1:200 scale.
"About five hundred meters in each direction."
Not much—but understandable.
The increase in worshippers had been modest.
Still, the discovery itself was huge.
As long as he kept increasing worshippers, the world would keep expanding.
Then another thought struck him.
"Wait… what if I exploit this?"
If he physically picked up the Dao Xuan Tianzun Temple and placed it at the very edge of the field of view, wouldn't that extend his vision even further?
He immediately reached out.
His fingers stopped.
The temple was wrapped in an invisible barrier. No matter how he tried, he couldn't grasp it.
"Ah. Anti-cheat."
Li Daoxuan nodded, accepting it calmly.
He opened a Notepad file and typed:
The Dao Xuan Tianzun Temple is the focal point of the diorama's field of view. Expansion radius is proportional to number of worshippers.
Field of view can be navigated via East, South, West, North, and Center buttons. Scale remains fixed at 1:200.
The system includes anti-exploit protection preventing physical relocation of the temple.
Satisfied, he leaned back and stretched, utterly content.
Looking back into the diorama, Gao Family Village was already buzzing with activity.
Just like after the previous bandit raid, cleanup had begun immediately.
Bandit corpses were being dragged away. Their clothes were stripped clean—nothing wasted. Weapons were collected and redistributed. Any copper coins found were pocketed on the spot by whoever noticed them first.
The naked bodies were hauled out of the fortress, dumped into a large pit on the hillside, and buried without ceremony.
Thanks to Li Daoxuan's biased intervention, the village had suffered minimal losses.
Ironically, the most severely injured person was one of Bai Yuan's own retainers. While pouring boiling oil, he had accidentally splashed some onto his own leg.
The skin was badly blistered. He lay there groaning in pain.
Villagers poured cold water over the burn, trying their best—but they had no real treatment.
Li Daoxuan opened his drawer, found a tube of Potent Brand Burn Ointment, squeezed out a speck no larger than a sesame seed, and carefully dropped it into the diorama.