Chapter 305: Prime Earth Federation; Cardinal Regions
Chapter 305: Prime Earth Federation; Cardinal Regions
Time flies, and soon it will be a year since the end of the war.
Compared to the humanity of last year, the humanity of today is several times more prosperous and stronger. If the current state of humanity were to face the exact level of threat they had faced a year ago, they would completely eradicate every single one of them, including the Sin Demon King, within two hours.
A lot has changed since then; the most obvious part is the wide open gates leading out to the great expanse of the Azure Terra Continent.
Truthfully, after the initial stages of continental cleansing, if one were to apply for a permit to leave the walls and explore the world outside, the army would've allowed it. The idea wasn't endorsed publicly, but there were certainly a few people here and there who wanted to take their chances.
It wasn't until three months later that the news was publicized. The army announced that humans, be they from a military background or ordinary civilians, as long as they reached the Planar Traveler Realm in strength, could apply for permission to go on an adventure beyond the walls and search for their opportunities.
Said opportunities were obviously the ones that Cedric himself created for his people.
The secret realms he made, as well as the unique trials he left all over the continent, have been found by the army. Actually, they were the first ones who sent people inside these places and harvested the unique resources they offered. Since each of these places had its own unique set of rules that must be followed, even the army couldn't fully occupy these places on their own.
And even if they could, they wouldn't because others are just as qualified as they are to claim these resources, as long as they're lucky and pass the trials, of course.
With this announcement, many superhumans, who didn't want to be affiliated with any organizations, took the chance and risked the dangers. They applied for permits and left the safety of the walls to search for opportunities to increase their strength.
Aside from finding the scattered secret realms and opportunity sites, the army also discovered the walls at the very edge of the continent. They marveled at the sheer height and mass of this wall. Compared to the walls they built back in human civilization, this one was obviously way bigger and tougher.
Along with the discovery of this wall, the army also saw the state of the sea. Sadly, they can't handle something of that size for now, so they could only ignore it.
As for the bodies of water within the continent, though? They have a way to handle that, and they had Cedric and Charles to thank for that.
Cedric's filtering rune and Charles' genius robotics created machines that greatly helped in expediting the cleansing of the land and waters of Azure Terra. By the 6th month post-war period arrived, Azure Terra's surface had been cleansed.
They just needed to get rid of the remaining corruption in the atmosphere and clear the ones that deeply seeped underground, and the continent will be free from it completely.
Since the opening of the walls, the continental division has been planned out by the army as well.
They didn't make it complicated; they divided Azure Terra into five regions based on the cardinal directions: the Eastern Region (which is also where the original human territory was established and could also be called the Ancestral Region from now on), the Western Region, the Southern Region, the Northern Region, and the Central Region, where the new army headquarters will be stationed.
This also gave way to the establishment of the Prime Earth Federation, which will become the governing body of human territory from now on. Its founding members were, of course, those who're already members of the army right now, in addition to a few other people.
The foundation of the federation caused promotions left and right, which greatly thrilled the soldiers. Of course, this meant that they would be sent into different territories from now on and that they would be assigned the task of developing their respective territories, but this was understandable, and the potential rewards they could receive were far too tempting to ignore.
With the mass development of humanity, the federation also announced that they're lifting the ban on family counts. There was no need for it anymore since the gates had been opened. Actually, this was the federation's subtle suggestion to the people to multiply vigorously because, truth be told, they are underpopulated to completely occupy Azure Terra.
Another thing that the federation put emphasis on was the supply of basic resources, especially food.
Previously, they could harvest the flesh of demons by purifying it. But now that the continent was almost free of demons, this raised concerns about food supplies.
Fortunately, this problem has been taken care of by Cedric already. Well, he built the foundations to permanently solve this problem; it's up to them if they can grasp it.
Cedric created a secret realm, which he stuffed with all sorts of farm animals. He mutated them all and personalized habitats for them to grow in. Then, he accelerated the time inside to hasten their multiplication. As a result of that, this secret realm was now filled with all sorts of wild animals, which he dubbed 'Fierce Beasts'.
Hunting them poses a risk, but their meat is filled with nourishing properties that could help humans grow stronger.
In addition to this, he also created secret realms that are filled with wild vegetation, weird crops, etc. Entering these realms means following their designated rules and regulations; the rewards are based on their abilities and a little bit of luck. He already laid the foundations, and it's up to his people to discover how to take full advantage of them.
Cedric wasn't pessimistic about this, though. He's human too, and he knows how resourceful they can be. Human creativity knows no bounds. Sooner or later, someone will try something wild, and if it succeeds, everyone will follow it. Some would begin to improve it, and things would just snowball from there.
Speaking of resources, another one that was put into consideration was the Demon Souls and Essence Souls. They are, after all, necessary to increase the strength of the protectors of the race.
Actually, this was the first and foremost problem that Cedric solved. He has long built foundations to solve this problem, i.e., the revival of the leylines, and Acala, in extension, having the world fuse with the Spiritual Dragon Veins, the establishment of the secret realms, etc. All of this was done to slowly but surely make the existence of demon souls almost redundant.
Since Acala fused with the Spiritual Dragon Veins, the density of energies within human territory has been rising exponentially each day, the concentration of which has become so high that if you look hard enough, you'll probably see it.
In addition to this, what most people don't know is that the Acala has been converting the deeply seated corruption in her body into nourishment for herself and the human territory.
Of course, humans could still use demon souls to increase their strength, but in modern times, only fools do that. Using Demon Souls for training produces a much weaker effect and poses more risk than its worth. There's no way people would prefer this over Essence Souls, which are not only safe but also produce a greater effect on strengthening overall.
Cedric also hinted at the possibility of creating essence souls without needing demon souls as a medium, and a tool to do this had already been created.
Moreover, with the sheer density of the energies around, weaker superhumans could just train regularly, and they'd still level up even without consuming Essence Souls. In addition to the many secret realms that Cedric created and left behind, humans won't have any shortage of ways to increase their strength.
Actually, the demand for Tier Advancements had been significantly lowered because of these same reasons. In the future, it might even be eliminated entirely.
Cedric's influence has been all over the continent, and it's impossible for his traces to be invisible. He also doesn't bother hiding his activities too much because he doesn't think that's necessary.
There were a few people who caught glimpses of him through their travels, and these reports reached the ears of the federation leaders. However, none of them confronted the Young Sage about it.
During this past year, if they couldn't even reach this conclusion before others could, how could they call themselves capable leaders? Of course they knew, and they had their own guesses as to why he's doing this. But they never confronted the sage about it.
Why? Because in their minds, Cedric will never do anything that would harm the race. Time and time again, he proved that all he wanted was to help. He's not doing it for fame, nor is he doing it to prove his power or claim a position. He's simply doing it because he could and because he wanted to save the world and its people.
Following his lead never harmed anybody, so why should they stop?