The lush and boundless grassland. Ding Yun had been here for a full week and finally understood the threat level of the world she had encountered this time, breathing a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, it was only the second level.
The Universal Pioneer Guide clearly marked this.
World threat levels were divided into five tiers.
The first level involved general misfortune, where one would frequently encounter minor setbacks that weren't life-threatening. Everything attempted would face initial hurdles, and nothing would succeed on the first try. Their fate was rather rough.
The second level built upon misfortune, making individuals particularly susceptible to the aversion of low-intelligence beings. This meant a higher likelihood of animal attacks. In this world, those subjected to this threat level, when interacting with normal people, would be the ones stung if they disturbed a hornet's nest.
If a person and a sheep appeared before a grassland wolf.
That wolf would ignore the sheep and bite the person first.
The third level was even more miserable, with misfortune escalating further. To what extent? To the point where during rain, others would experience raindrops, while the targeted individual would be hit by hailstones.
If there was an archer nearby, the arrow would invariably veer off course and strike the targeted person. No matter how carefully one walked, a moment's lapse in attention could lead to stepping on shrapnel. Their assets were also prone to crisis, such as being robbed by bandits or their house catching fire.
Generally, ordinary people would find it hard to last long.
They would die quite easily.
Reaching the fourth level was even more extraordinary.
The saying "even drinking water can get stuck in your throat, or you can choke to death on water" described this level perfectly. At this stage, it was akin to death's door being open, and one could face threats of death at any moment. Things that theoretically should never lead to death, for someone targeted by the world consciousness, would become almost certain fatal crises.
If one was targeted to this degree.
The Universal Pioneer Guide's advice was to directly confront the world consciousness, disregarding everything else. The goal was to preserve one's life and gain a certain status and luck within the shortest possible time, relying on human destiny and luck to temporarily resist the world's targeting, otherwise, death was inevitable. After all, a thief could operate for a thousand days, but a guard could not stand guard for a thousand days; it was impossible to guarantee resistance against every fatal misfortune.
As for reaching the fifth level.
It was no longer about various accidents causing the targeted individual's death, but direct interventions such as celestial lightning strikes or falling meteorites, and these would be relentless, inescapable attacks. If one didn't die, the lightning wouldn't stop; if one didn't die, the meteorites wouldn't disappear. At this level, the Universal Pioneer Guide offered no advice for confrontation. Its suggested coping mechanism was to give up, accept death, or leave immediately. Bafeng Novel.
However, even if they were visitors from another realm, as long as they didn't cause extremely significant destruction to the world.
They wouldn't be targeted to this extent.
In fact, even the fourth-level targeting would only occur if one disrupted the world's main destiny line or accidentally killed the Son of the World.
Therefore, Ding Yun being targeted at the second level.
Was still considered reasonable.
As for the crises she had encountered on the grassland during this period, they were mostly resolved with ease. For example, the dangers from snakes, insects, rats, and ants were dealt with using insect repellent. The wild animals that attacked her, such as bison and wild sheep, had become her meals or stored provisions. As for injuries caused by unfortunate events, she had various healing potions. Overall, it was just slightly troublesome and time-consuming, with no life-threatening danger.
And since the situation was confirmed.
The pioneering plan naturally had to continue.
To this end, Ding Yun specifically outlined several routes for herself. One route was to pretend to be a deity, creating an image of herself as a true immortal god to gain faith. With enough followers, she should be able to easily engrave her imprint into the world consciousness.
Another route was to instigate an uprising and ascend to the throne, becoming the empress of this world for all eternity, and concurrently ensuring the prosperity and well-being of the people. This should also be sufficient to engrave her imprint.
Compared to these two straightforward routes with clear future outcomes, the path of becoming a contemporary sage, a relatively gentler approach, had many uncertainties.
After all, for her, a woman, to become a contemporary sage in a patriarchal society was no less difficult than becoming an emperor.
Despite her contributions, the risk of erasure remained.
"This is so hard to choose. Becoming an immortal god or an empress are certainly the most direct, but they also carry considerable risk. I'm truly uncertain if the world consciousness will intensify its targeting if my actions are too grand. What if meteorites and shooting stars start falling during a war?
How could I possibly fight then? My Anywhere Door, however useful, cannot compare to true celestial phenomena!"
"In comparison, trying to become a contemporary sage, whether by spreading knowledge or developing high-yield crops to become a 'Grain Saint,' is relatively gentler. The world consciousness should not increase its targeting level due to this.
However, without sufficient power, attempting these things would likely result in the collective condemnation and eradication of my new ideas as heresy by the aristocratic families who currently monopolize knowledge. In that case, a conflict would be unavoidable.
The same applies to spreading high-yield crops. Without power, my achievements could easily be usurped. Once my achievements are usurped, how can I become a contemporary sage?
Without sufficient fame and influence.
It's impossible to engrave my own imprint!"
The trouble with ancient societies was this: without some power, one's actions were constrained, and it was akin to a child carrying gold, easily attracting disaster.
This was precisely what Ding Yun worried about.
She didn't lack the ability to become a contemporary sage; she lacked the ability to protect her title as a contemporary sage.
After a week of hesitation and deliberation, Ding Yun finally decided to take a more conservative approach. Her first pioneering world could not afford to fail, lest she be too embarrassed.
Compared to the challenges posed by ordinary people, the world's targeting was undoubtedly more terrifying.
Once the decision was made.
Ding Yun immediately used the Anywhere Door to return to Great Qian and went to various human markets to purchase people. She primarily sought young boys and girls, preferably orphans.
As for what she would do with these people after buying them.
Naturally, they would become her disciples.
Ding Yun had no status, neither from a prominent family nor a renowned scholar. If she were to openly establish an academy and recruit disciples, who would be willing to join?
Even if she could attract some people for free.
There would undoubtedly be many difficulties and troubles later on.
Entering officialdom was even less feasible, as there was no imperial examination system yet. How would those disciples enter officialdom?
Therefore, Ding Yun's plan was to operate from behind the scenes, cultivating disciples while accumulating power. Once these disciples were trained to a high level, she would put them forward.
Let these disciples compete for dominance under heaven.
If her disciples succeeded, she would then have power and the confidence to spread her teachings throughout the land. She would also have no fear of others stealing credit for her research and promotion of high-yield grain varieties, and then she would naturally and legitimately become a contemporary sage.
And engrave her imprint into the world's origin.
The only issue was that this approach would take a considerable amount of time. It was estimated to take at least twenty years to succeed, as it took years to cultivate illiterate children into talented individuals.
Wouldn't it take more than a decade?
And it would take time for them to compete for dominance after becoming successful.
However, Ding Yun had plenty of time. She carried her soul space with her, which contained an abundance of life-prolonging items. While living for tens of thousands of years might be difficult, living for several hundred years was easily achievable.
Since she didn't have to worry about lifespan, some things could be taken slowly and unhurriedly.
Moreover, according to Ding Yun's estimation, operating from behind the scenes and using indigenous people of this world to accomplish tasks would likely be safer and less prone to the world consciousness's targeting. In short, her new plan was definitely both effective and safe.
In any case, Great Qian wouldn't collapse completely easily.
There was ample time for Ding Yun to plan slowly.