Lu Yao raised the [Wishing Star].
The impact of the new era on everyone could get real feedback through this prop.
The blue sun hung in the dome of the sky, and one by one, the pixelated villains on the ground grasped the opportunity to make a wish.
Inside the Wishing Star, Isabelle categorised the wishes and vows one by one.
Lu Yao clicked to view them.
There were two of the largest wishing stars, and they were in between regardless of size and light, representing the oldest impulses of most life: survival and reproduction.
However, under the process of civilisation, these two major desires had spawned many branches.
Survival, for example, includes health, safety, food, and shelter, while reproduction includes items such as love, marriage, and childbirth.
In addition to these two universal stars, there are two smaller secondary stars of slightly weaker brightness.
The desire of the first one is opportunity.
Many people, including quite a few Transcendents, were praying for more opportunities.
“I’m going to sail to the north this year, and I hope to find a job with a higher salary in the Dragon’s Nest, or in Uda City and Crystal City.”
“Lord God, the farmland has been flooded a few times in the past two years, I hope that the crops will have a good harvest this year, so that I can find some large quantities of more wheat seeds, and have a bumper harvest in the coming year.”
“There are too many scholars in Yao City. I graduated from the seminary this year, so I can’t even enter the temple council, so I can only go next door to Salt City and try my luck, hopefully the engineering school over there still needs scholars. Please please please, Wishing Star ah, please give me some luck.”
“The steamboat is about to set sail, hopefully I can find some new merchandise this time when I go back east and raise the dead, or else the debt problem is really …… just going to have to run away to the southern elf village to hide for a while.”
……
Through the description of their wishes, Lu Yao learnt that nowadays, in the cities led by the Twin Cities, the competition in various industries had become extremely fierce. Whether it was scholars, artisans or merchants all rolled up.
The emergence of refined devices, led by the Fire and Vapour Furnace, further accelerated the process.
The strong got stronger and the weak got weaker.
Many people left the Twin Cities one after another, rushing to the new Twin Cities in the north (i.e. Crystal City and Uda City). In comparison, the population there was still small, and there was a considerable gap in manpower in all industries.
Especially Uda City, after the Uzi Clan took control of the Omnipotent Stone Mine, they instantly became synonymous with wealth.
The entire city changed by leaps and bounds.
Uda City, which used to be like a chain of mountains, erected a high wall and paved wide streets that crisscrossed the city. Each arch has been transformed by architects and engineers into a magnificent mountain-like castle.
The ingenious transformation based on the arches of the ground has preserved the old Uzi traditions of the past, but has revealed a gorgeous and magnificent new era.
Such is the glamour of no expense spared.
Uda City is the premier mining city and the mining and metallurgical centre of the entire world. The first group of people to migrate to Uda City had almost all made a fortune.
Continuing further north, one would reach Crystal City.
Unlike the dusty Uda City, Crystal City was a much more livable and comprehensive large city.
The city was lush with greenery, the Ghost Academy had a strong academic atmosphere, and the ancient capital of the old empire had been revitalised under the White God’s watchful eye.
Eighty per cent of the glass products on the market come from Crystal City, and even though the profits from glass have dropped a lot these days, it is still a well-developed industry in the area. The city used a large amount of coloured glass, made into windows and doorways that appeared colourful in the sunlight.
One thing that has to be mentioned is the iconic Rose of Crystal City.
It was the first city to plant roses on a large scale within the city.
The Gentle Green Rose not only beautifies and protects the city, but also extends the city’s safety to the more peripheral plantations and farmlands, and the Warning White Rose instantly detects locust swarms attacking or all sorts of dangers……. The roses make the city bright and vibrant.
Because of the colourful glass and roses of all colours, Crystal City is also known as the ‘City of Radiance’.
The development speed of the northern twin cities exceeded Lu Yao s expectations.
Both of the Gods had actually changed the backwardness of the area in the past.
Lu Yao looked towards another star.
This one was called Bewilderment.
The arrival of the Fire Vapour Era had left many people all a little lost.
The epoch-making steam ovens were gradually replacing the skilled labourers of the past, and the manual labourers, in particular, were at a loss as to what to do.
They were labourers of strength, but with the fire steam ovens, a considerable part of the heavy labour of strength, such as wharf-carrying, stone-heaving, and timber-cutting, might be done by a single rudder-pole and rudder-shaft. They do not know what the future holds.
Manual workers usually labour in silence, contributing to the many trades, the silent majority. Only in the Wishing Star could their voices be heard.
Lu Yao understood their worries and uncertainties.
When new things appear, the unknown will make people subconsciously afraid, and instinctive conservatism will dominate their conscious stance.
But no matter what kind of new tool is born, it always needs a human being to operate it, and the tool is an aid, not a dominator.
Lu Yao ordered the apostles: let the cities led by the Twin Cities do a good job of publicising and popularising the relevant science, and tell everyone that the Fire Steam Furnace is not a competitor, but an auxiliary. Learning new things should be encouraged, so that the majority of people can participate in the process of the Fire Vapour Era and bring into play the power of the majority of the working people.
Gathering the wisdom of more people can collide with more creative inventions.
This collection of information from the Wishing Star made Lu Yao realise a problem.
With the times constantly changing, the strong in the past might immediately decline, and the once laggards might turn into new leaders, this was the law of the natural cycle.
The Crystal City and the backward Uda City, which used to be in ruins, had now turned into new era favourites.
How to reduce the number of laggards is the great test.
Lu Yao’s current experience was to engage in subsidies and make an investment for the future.
Make up for the shortfall.
Crystal City and Wuda City were successful cases.
Now, he was looking towards the Martial Cultivators.
The Martial Cultivators that had once given humanity confidence and inspiration had become unloved and declining in the Fire Vapour Era. To just let the extreme stream of martial cultivators decline was not only a pity, but also a talent drain.
Lu Yao thought left and right and had an idea.
Under the onslaught of the strong version of the Armour Bearer, the Martial Cultivators appeared to be a bit useless, so wouldn’t it be fine to give them a place where they could display their talents?
Lu Yao recruited Isabelle and Slymod and revealed his entire plan.
Upon hearing this, Slimerd stated, “The wisdom of Lord Divine is truly something that I admire, I can only think of one word, absolutely marvellous. There will never be a better way than this.”
Lu Yao issued one warning to him.
It was fine to flatter, but note the restraint.
“It is truly a blessing for all believers that Lord Divine is so pragmatic. I am humbled.”
This scale wasn’t bad.
Lu Yao found it acceptable.
Isabelle, on the other hand, said, “My Lord, the ‘Martial Arts Conference’ that you are organising uses the Cloud Temple as the venue, so since the participants are all martial practitioners, is it possible to invite other Transcendents to participate?”
Lu Yao thought about it and decided that it would be better to be conservative for the first session and see how it works out first. Later on, it could be gradually liberalised to increase the audience involved.
Slymod also said, “Lord God, I think that such an event needs to be advertised in every city to encourage the Martial Cultivators. The rewards afterwards should also be heavily advertised to be a bit more effective.”
Lu Yao agreed.
He planned to hold a five-yearly martial arts convention at the Cloud Temple, tentatively limiting participation to martial cultivators only. All martial cultivators of LV20 and above would be invited to participate, and the use of weapons and equipment would be prohibited, competing with purely physical abilities.
The winner of the competition will not only receive the power of the gods, but will also have the opportunity to be transformed into a “Sandwalker”.
This is just the beginning.
In the future, Lu Yao also planned to link the Sand Walkers with the [Ghost Realm], giving a complete pathway for upward mobility and further training.
However, this follow-up involved other divine kingdoms, so extra caution had to be exercised.
Lu Yao asked Slymod’s opinion again and again.
This one had been a Title Deity Master Teacher and knew the ecology of the Gods very well.
What he said was right might not be correct, but when he said there were problems, it was mostly pertinent.
Slemod said, “Lord Divine, this is actually something you don’t need to worry about.”
“The ecology of the Creeping Zone is such that the Gods fight amongst themselves, but there is order in areas where there are Title Gods, and He is the centre of that order.”
“The attitudes of the Gods towards the Title Deities are one of awe and reverence, because to the Gods, there is nothing more important than the continuation of the Divine Kingdom.”
“The mere appearance of your followers is enough to shock those two Gods.”
“In the eyes of the Title Gods, the Gods are more like trees and rocks floating in the Creeping Zone, and only those with value are qualified to be taken by the Title Gods, usually either with immediate combat power or special abilities, or with uncommon growth potential.”
“Otherwise they’re just talking trees, cut down for use as wood when needed.”
“It’s just that the Title Gods consider whether most trees are worth the consumption and acquisition of felling, that’s all.”
