154: Returning to simplicity and the spread of the "lucky koi effect"

Long Qianyuan's three questions, embodying the 'Great Dao is Simple,' were like three scoops of ice water, extinguishing the illusory flames ignited across all realms by the 'Cloud Court Certification.' The fervent wave of formalistic reforms quickly receded, replaced by a more profound and introspective 'Return to Simplicity' movement.

Various planes began to re-examine themselves. The 'small heavenly pools' built at immense cost were filled in, the replicated stone tables and stools were dismantled for Materials, the exceedingly cumbersome etiquette rules were greatly simplified, and the ostentatious welfare projects were halted. Resources were redirected towards the most basic maintenance of order, livelihood security, and Dao Legacy.

The Xuanhuang Great World retained the core popularization of the 'Qingxin Mantra' and the integrity System but abolished the headache-inducing complex rituals and contracts, causing social operational efficiency to rise instead of fall.

The Fierce Beast Star Domain tore up its thick 'Fighting Regulations,' returning to the three core rules: 'no fatal blows, acknowledge wins and losses, and mutual aid in repairing homes.' The Star Domain's atmosphere became more cohesive, and warriors fought with greater exhilaration (within the rules).

The Mind Realm no longer pursued hundreds of 'emotion packages' but focused on basic and positive emotional guidance such as 'Mind Serenity' and 'Positive Upliftment.' The effects were more substantial, and its reputation rose instead of falling.

This shift, abandoning extravagance and returning to essence, initially caused some who were accustomed to the previous 'prosperity' to feel a slight sense of loss. However, soon, a more grounded and composed way of life allowed the vast majority of beings to truly experience the taste of 'peace of mind.' Cultivation was no longer for comparison, and life was no longer for performance; everything became simple and real.

And this 'Return to Simplicity' ideological trend, guided by the Cloud Court, even began to permeate back into the Cloud Court itself, especially among the Holy Land Leaders and System creators who had attached themselves to it.

The Logos team was the first to respond. They voluntarily paused the complex 'Golden Koi Bubble Output Optimization System' and instead began researching more fundamental questions: How to make the Golden Koi swim more freely and blow bubbles more spontaneously? They found that when they stopped trying to 'guide' and 'optimize' and simply maintained the pond environment and recorded data in a natural state, the Golden Koi became more lively. Although the bubbles they blew were no longer 'neat,' they were more dynamic and natural, and the Dao Rhyme they contained seemed purer.

"Perhaps the 'optimal solution' we have always pursued is itself a form of interference." Logos's liquid metal body exhibited a thinking ripple pattern. "The true 'Dao' exists in the natural flow without intervention."

Other Holy Land Leaders were also deeply moved. They no longer spent their days pondering how to 'get closer to Dao Rhyme.' Instead, they learned from Yun Feng, cultivating a small herb garden on their floating islands, raising a few Spirit fish, or simply enjoying tea and playing chess, savoring that rare leisure. They found that when their minds truly settled, the Bottlenecks they had previously struggled to overcome showed signs of loosening.

This subtle influence of the 'Cloud Court lifestyle' made the atmosphere around the Cloud Court increasingly peaceful, and the flow of Dao Rhyme became more harmonious and natural.

However, a tree desires calm, but the wind does not cease. The changes brought by the Cloud Court eventually attracted the attention of some more distant and ancient existences.

In a forgotten corner of the Endless Void Sea, floated a vast 'graveyard' composed of the remnants of withered worlds. Many ancient world wills, which had gradually lost vitality and moved towards extinction over long eons, slept here. Most of them had vague consciousness, only waiting for final demise in eternal slumber.

But recently, a faint ripple of 'order' and 'tranquility,' full of vitality, like a stone cast into still water, awakened some of the oldest and most conscious world wills among them.

"...Strange...order...vitality..." an ancient thought, like wind through ruins, slowly awoke.

"Not...tyranny...oppression...but...from the heart's...recognition and...peace?" another thought carried confusion and a barely perceptible longing.

"The source...points to...a place named 'Cloud Court'..."

These ancient world wills had long grown weary of the chaos of the strong preying on the weak and were fed up with the despair of their own gradual decline. The model of order displayed by the Cloud Court—'not forced, not oppressive, yet naturally orderly and imbued with inner vitality'—held a fatal attraction for them.

They were too old, too old to undergo dramatic 'reforms' like those lower planes. But they still possessed a trace of residual power, and...a long accumulation.

Thus, a faint plea, yet one that traversed endless time and space, like a spider's silk, cautiously extended towards the direction of the Cloud Court. There was no greed in this thought, no demand, only an almost humble longing for 'peace' and 'order,' and a resolute willingness to pay any price for a glimmer of hope.

This thought was too faint, too special, so much so that even Nie Li and Long Qianyuan did not detect it. But as it floated past the pond behind the Star Gazing Hall, the Golden Koi, leisurely flicking its tail, paused slightly, and the golden spot on its forehead seemed to brighten. It gently blew a bubble towards the direction from which the thought originated.

This bubble was unlike any before; it was not colorful but presented a warm, soft golden hue, like the nascent morning sun. The bubble slowly ascended, not bursting, but as if possessing life, it followed that faint pleading thought, silently penetrating layers of dimensions, drifting towards that ancient world graveyard.

Yun Feng seemed to sense something, raising his eyes to glance in the direction where the bubble disappeared, then lowered his head again, continuing to fish with a straight hook.

"Fate, wondrous beyond words," he murmured to himself, a subtle, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.

No one knew what incredible changes this warm golden bubble, exhaled by the Golden Koi and imbued with the Cloud Court's 'Return to Simplicity' Dao Rhyme, would bring about in that desolate world graveyard.

Perhaps the 'Golden Koi Effect' brought by the Cloud Court, its sphere of influence, would far exceed anyone's imagination. It could not only lead to internal competition in lower planes, transform System creators, bring peace of mind to Holy Land Leaders, but even...bring a ray of new life to those ancient existences already destined for demise?

All of this was just the beginning.