Chapter 354: Changes

Chapter 354 -346: Changes

The world’s transformation had progressed to a certain point, and more and more perceptive people were noticing an unusual atmosphere.

This was especially true of certain large conglomerates and high-status social groups; some of the wealthy were even building their own private shelters.

Some were even exposed by the tabloids, like a few spherical, single-person shelters.

They could supposedly withstand the impact of a nuclear blast, store five years’ worth of food, and resist high temperatures, radiation, and water. For a time, this prompted a wave of amusement from online onlookers.

Nevertheless, many people began to consciously, if occasionally, buy food with a longer shelf life.

Beyond this, people living near mountains and wilderness felt the changes more keenly than those in the cities and on the plains.

Mountain forests that had long ago been clear-cut began to grow lush again. Old villages tucked away in mountain gullies, in particular, seemed on the verge of being completely enveloped by the revitalized woods.

Some mountain dwellers found the situation surreal.

Large trees now stood everywhere—in front of their homes, behind them, and all around the village. Weeds and shrubs grew with an almost absurd lushness. Even the paths into the mountains had become unfamiliar.

Red Valley Village was a village situated deep within the Shennongjia Mountain Area. For years, the village’s young people had all left to find work, leaving behind only some older adults, the elderly, and their children.

Early one morning, village chief Liu Youquan opened his window, and the first thing he saw was green.

By the mountain path near the village entrance, towering green trees now stood, and saplings that were once small had grown as thick as a man’s arm.

Some of the large trees in the village had been growing with incredible vigor since the start of spring. New branches extended far from their crowns, and a single tree could cast an immense area of shade.

A cool breeze drifted through the window, a refreshing gust that swept away any lingering morning drowsiness.

It was only 5:30 a.m., and the light in the mountain valley was not yet bright. Compounded by the dense surrounding vegetation, the atmosphere felt somewhat dim.

The only road connecting Red Valley Village to the nearest town was a two-lane concrete road, built with funding from the town government several years ago.

This road connected to a winding mountain highway, a long stretch of which was now more than half-covered by wild vegetation.

The villagers were self-sufficient when it came to water, using mountain streams and wells, but they couldn’t do without electricity.

The power had gone out in the village half a month ago. When they notified the power company for repairs, they learned that a section of the high-voltage grid had been completely wrecked by overgrown vegetation. Clearing it would take some time.

That in itself wouldn’t have been a big deal, but a week later, the town government sent special personnel into the village to do “work”—their goal was to persuade the remaining villagers to move out of Red Valley Village.

The official reason, naturally, was the construction of a new conservation area as part of a national ecological development project—an extension of the “Grain for Green” strategic plan.

Red Valley Village had existed since before Liberation, and this wasn’t how reforestation was supposed to work. Yet, Liu Youquan still busied himself carrying out the work in the village.

Unlike the other villagers, Liu Youquan understood the situation perfectly. He knew this probably wasn’t really about reforestation. But the nearby villages and the elementary school were also preparing to relocate. ‘What else can we do but leave? The children’s schooling will become a problem. Besides, the mountains have become… unfamiliar lately. Who’s to say the government isn’t making us move because they’re worried about some hidden danger?’

As for the villagers, most of them relented after learning there would be a resettlement fee of 200,000 for each household.

This might not seem like a lot of money, but this was hardly a developed region. Housing prices in the surrounding towns were very low; a single household’s resettlement fee was more than enough to buy a new apartment. Even the children working far from home, upon hearing the offer from their parents, urged them to accept it quickly.

Liu Youquan watched as the village’s elderly, who were already up and about, headed to the fields to harvest all the ripe fruits and vegetables.

Before noon today, vehicles would arrive to help the villagers move. In town, there was a block of apartment buildings that the original developer had been unable to sell. They had been offloaded to the bank at a low price, and now the government was using them to house the relocated villagers.

On the news, of course, this was all presented as part of the nation’s firm strategy to maintain ecological balance. A few villagers were even interviewed, offering mild praise for the government’s resettlement policy.

It wasn’t just the Shennongjia Mountain Area; similar situations were unfolding in other remote locations. Aside from the state’s “super-base” projects deep in certain mountains, regular human settlements were contracting toward urban centers.

These mountain villages often had poor transportation and were connected to towns by rugged mountain paths. However, whenever they took the initiative to seek help from a higher level of government, or were discovered by inspection agencies, it wasn’t long before government officials would arrive to persuade them to move.

And, spurred by the actions of the wealthiest stratum of society, long-term investment activity began to slow considerably. In contrast, the entertainment and consumer economy experienced a new boom.

Despite so many strange signs, and though a more attentive person could likely piece together the clues, for over ninety percent of the population, these matters still felt very far removed from their own lives.

Life was already difficult enough. People focused on dealing with their immediate problems and enjoying some entertainment when they had free time. Who had any energy left to worry about the anxieties of a few “paranoid” individuals?

August, a happy time of summer vacation for many students, was not a good season for Dawn.

At the peak of Taishan, the establishment of the Main Secret Realm for the “Door Project” was complete.

Driven by his own studious nature and the immense pressure from the Red Demoness, the Holy Spirit now had no trouble with Secret Realm technology, at least when it came to simply applying existing Techniques.

There was a reason for choosing Taishan. As a mountain famous throughout both ancient and modern times, it was home to numerous temples and monasteries.

The members of the Celestial Travel Association were not Wildmen. Given the choice, they would not sleep under the stars or live in caves. Constructing new buildings would be too time-consuming, which made the numerous temples on Taishan an excellent option.

As a famous tourist destination, it was originally unsuitable for inscribing a Secret Realm Array. After all, with a constant flow of people, the process of creating a Secret Realm in the real world would inevitably cause some disturbance.

However, as the national tourism ban expanded this year, a significant part of Taishan’s central region was included, giving Dawn room to operate.

Elder Mo immediately decided to claim that area, traveling to headquarters to request that Master Sage dispatch someone to establish the Secret Realm as soon as possible—what the elder conceived of as the “Great Mountain Gate Array.”

Now, the Celestial Travel Association was not limited to just the Celestial Traveler’s Hall in Kyoto. After several months of traveling and persuasion by Elder Mo, many older-generation Martial Artists from all over the country had joined the organization.

They used their existing martial arts schools or reopened their own representative dojos, recalling some of their most prized students and accepting new ones.

From Emotion Flowers and Sound Transmission Flowers to Support Fruits and more, the existence of Demonized Magical Plants not only allowed them to gauge the character of prospective students to a certain extent, but also raised the efficiency of martial arts training to an absurd degree.

There were even Celestial Travel Association-affiliated dojos in some overseas Chinese communities.

Aside from the Celestial Traveler’s Hall in Kyoto, these other venues mostly had different names, but they generally included either the word “Celestial” or “Travel.”

This approach seemed slightly different from that of the Silent Knight Order, which operated through school clubs and its various subordinate factions, spreading out in a top-down fashion and using layered assessments to recruit new members.

But in the end, it felt like all roads led to the same destination.

The successive research breakthroughs on various types of Sequence Magic Potions also enabled members of the Dawn Association to achieve a high baseline of physical fitness much more quickly.

However, both sides found it extremely difficult to produce top-tier combatants. For the Silent Knight Order, through occasional battles against Demons and their own grueling training regimens, there were still only six members who could be called Official Knights.

That’s right. Counting the original Four Knights and the two who reached Soul Burning in De Yi Country, the Silent Knight Order had not produced a single new Soul Burning Level member. On the other hand, five Magic Controllers had successively emerged through the Association’s rituals.

Similarly, producing Skywalkers was equally difficult. However, a few of the older-generation Martial Artists found by Elder Mo only needed to overcome their physical shortcomings to quickly become Skywalkers themselves.

Given this rapid development, the Celestial Travel Association’s “Door Project” became all the more urgent. The benefits of centralized training and sparring for enhancing power and reaction efficiency were also readily apparent.

Qin Xiaoxia naturally recognized that urgency, which was why the Holy Spirit had been able to go to Taishan with Elder Mo at the first opportunity.

At that moment, the Holy Spirit, who was in the middle of preparing to inscribe the next Technique Array, suddenly paused.

The brilliance around his body flickered, and he abruptly raised his head to look at the sky.

The eyes beneath the Cloak of Light suddenly flared. The overflowing radiance distorted the air, momentarily dazing several nearby Celestial Traveler Disciples.

‘Two suns?’

‘No!’

“I must inform Master Sage at once!”

In the Holy Spirit’s eyes, one of the Stars of the Dark, each with its own unique glow, had undergone a significant change in the sky.

In the daylight, it was nearly the size of a second sun, though its light was not nearly as intense.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE…

A slight tremor shook the mountain peak, and the few Celestial Traveler Disciples also looked up at the sky instinctively.

Although they couldn’t see anything, their expressions remained serious. This tremor was surely no coincidence.

However, this was not the minor, localized Taishan tremor they assumed it to be. At that very moment, a brief, faint tremor shook every location across the globe that was above a certain altitude.

About half an hour later, this situation became known to the nations of the World Alliance, causing a massive uproar.

Dawn, however, had taken notice of it even earlier and subsequently learned of the simultaneous micro-tremors in different regions worldwide through its informants in various countries.

PS: First chapter for Tuesday.