Chapter 217: The Promotion of the Entire World!
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Submission, such a thing, becomes much easier once the first step is taken.
In fact, at this moment, Xi Qing's excitement and surprise were no less than that of her envoy.
After the Civilization Trial ended, just the thought of the upcoming Trial filled her with an indescribable sense of immense pressure.
Her people might still trust her, but she found it increasingly difficult to trust herself.
The first time she saw the words "Affiliated Civilization," she even felt it was a sign from the Heavenly Dao.
And it was the greatest fortune for the Great Yan Immortal Dynasty.
"No matter the cost, we must secure a spot for Great Yan!" Xi Qing's gaze was extremely resolute.
This might have been the most correct decision she made as the Emperor of Great Yan.
Meanwhile, on the Human Mother Planet, as the sunlight began to softly brighten once more, the Chosen One Association together with the Global United Front released a regulation.
It directed everyone to emerge from the Underground Cities in turn.
After all, it was still unclear what form this increase in size was taking.
Staying underground might pose certain risks.
People quickly received orders to set aside their work, gather valuable possessions, and queue up to head to the surface.
Li Tao was among the first batch from his Underground City.
He used to be a construction worker responsible for building the Underground City; when the Senya people arrived, he became a battery factory worker.
The moment he received his orders, he began packing his things, and his colleagues, also among the first to leave the Underground City, were excitedly discussing.
"Finally, we can leave the underground."
"I heard the sun has come out!"
"But the surface temperature is still minus fifty degrees."
"Just fifty degrees, that's nothing for us, I don't even need to activate my heating belt."
"You're right, we're all little Supermen now."
"..."
Indeed, the reason they were chosen as the first batch was because they had fairly good Extraordinary Power.
Although they had been busy and tired during this period, they had earned many contribution points, and moreover, the prices of some basic resources were continuously dropping; by now, virtually all of them had achieved Level 3, even Level 4 strength.
Li Tao was Level 4.
If he reached Level 5, he could become part of the reserve military personnel.
This had always been a slight regret for Li Tao—the reserve forces weren't as dangerous, but they had much better benefits.
"Li Tao." Someone beside him slapped his shoulder heavily and smiled, "Your kid is in the thirteenth kindergarten, right? Let's pick up our kids together later; I miss my little one so much."
"Who doesn't miss them?" Speaking of his children, Li Tao too smiled, "I even promised to take them camping."
"You said that too? I did as well. Let's go together with both our families, and call some more buddies."
"Sure, you arrange it." Li Tao nodded with a laugh, his face revealing his anticipation.
Although living in the Underground City had only been for a short two months, most people were already longing for the sunshine, the sky, and the plants and flowers.
The warm lighting of the Underground City simply could not make up for all of this.
The warmth brought by the lights was incomparable to the natural world.
Now, at last, they could go out.
Filled with anticipation and excitement, Li Tao and his colleagues queued up and took the elevator to the surface.
The moment they opened the door, the howling cold wind hit them, and everything in sight was covered in ice, almost making one doubt whether the Trial was really over.
But people quickly noticed the dim sky, and the sun that was becoming visibly brighter to the naked eye.
"It's really over!" At this instant, Li Tao felt an urge to cry.
He had been on a surface mission before, where the howling wind could easily sweep a person away, the cold was almost freezing everything, and the sky was so dark that not even the slightest bit of light was visible.
Even though it was still cold now, just the sight of the sun in the sky was enough to excite everyone.
Some even started cheering loudly, not caring about the cold as they opened their arms and ran excitedly, tilting their heads back to bask in the sunlight.
It wasn't until personal terminals issued new orders that people reluctantly regrouped.
Nowadays, everyone's tasks were directly assigned by their terminals. Although they had managers and heads of departments at various levels, the powers of these leaders were strictly limited; this was a system advantage that maintained order at the grassroots level during the Trial.
It also made people accustomed to following the directives given by their terminal tasks.
And those who were the first to leave the Underground City didn't have no tasks at all, they were responsible for clearing the cities and the ground.
After being ravaged by fierce winds, most of the original cities were in ruins, with many tall buildings directly collapsed.
For people to live on the surface again, most cities needed to be demolished and rebuilt.
This, too, was one of the tasks for the upcoming rest period.
As more and more people returned to the surface, the climate continued to warm, snow and ice began to melt, some of the plants that had been frozen started showing green again, and people were pleasantly surprised to discover that these plants had not completely died—the Life Force from the Life Mother Tree and the World Tree had sustained their lives.
Until two days later, when everyone had reached the surface and found relatively open spaces to stand in.
Their personal terminals also initiated a countdown.
The countdown to the changes of the world.
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Li Tao had already reunited with his family; he was holding one child with one hand and looking at the countdown with anticipation alongside his wife.
Until the last second.
The earth trembled slightly.
Li Tao saw with utmost clarity that the ground next to him began to extend!
It was an undoubtedly bizarre sensation, as if someone was controlling it on a computer, simply stretching the map out!
But if you looked carefully, you could see that some of the ground and soil were being born out of thin air, identical to what was already there.
The speed was not slow, and it was extremely smooth; there was no squeezing or compacting happening.
The distance between Li Tao and his wife, which was originally just over a meter, was now visibly increasing without his wife moving an inch, and everything around them was the same; many people even fell on their butts to the ground, but the soil they were sitting on showed no change whatsoever.
Even the ground where people's feet stood seemed to stay the same size as well.
"Look at the city!" someone suddenly exclaimed.
Li Tao raised his head to look towards the city not far away.
That moment was filled with shock.
Because the buildings in the city were clearly changing; some stayed put, while the ones in the suburbs were noticeably shifting!
"I get it now," someone seemed to have realized. "Areas with human intervention remain unchanged, and those without extend and spread!"
"That's right, it's really like that," more and more people realized.
"Roads, houses, squares, none of them are affected."
"Then the Underground City should be fine, too."
"Damn, this is too epic."
"The methods of the Civilization Trial are beyond our imagination."
"I'm starting to doubt if this world is real—it feels like a computer program that can do whatever it wants."
"..."
Everyone was shocked by the changes happening around them.
Although they had long known about the mystery and power of the Civilization Trial, the scene before them still surpassed everyone's understanding.
Land was expanding out of nowhere, perfectly avoiding damage to individuals and architectural structures of civilization!
Until everything settled down, the people who had been standing close together on the ground now found themselves almost nine times farther apart than before!
Li Tao's wife ran over to him, her face full of shock; they also discovered that gravity seemed unchanged.
And that wasn't all.
The Extraordinary Elements in the air were visibly changing at an observable rate.
It was like a tide of Spiritual Energy had surged.
Many people even sat down right where they were, eager to begin Cultivation.
"This is too amazing," said Li Tao's wife, her face filled with emotion as though she was still immersed in the scenes from moments ago. "I could never have dreamed of such a fantastical scene."
"Indeed it's amazing," Li Tao nodded, his gaze lingering on his wife's face when he suddenly noticed that the faint crow's feet at the corners of her eyes had vanished.
This left him somewhat stunned.
No, this was not a dream.
His wife looked younger, and so did he.
The Civilization Trial had been underway for over eight months now, and everything had drastically changed.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Li Tao's wife felt a bit embarrassed.
"I was just thinking," Li Tao started to smile, holding his child as he looked around at everything, "if we can keep overcoming the Trials, whether our lives will continue to get better."
"They definitely will!" The longing and anticipation in Li Tao's wife's eyes mirrored his own.
The power surging within them, as well as the planet beneath their feet that was now even larger and would become more prosperous, all showcased the potential.
At this moment, countless others, just like them, were filled with hope for the future!
And it wasn't just the average person.
Even the powerful Chosen Ones and the officials wielding authority were excitedly observing the changes taking place in the whole world.
"It's expanding proportionally!"
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"The mineral resources have all increased!"
"It's not just an increase, in some places Extraordinary Resources traces have been detected!"
"That's right, some resources have undergone transformation to become Extraordinary."
"Cities and the Underground City both remain undamaged! There's hardly any change in gravity, either."
"The amount of Extraordinary Elements has grown too much, my Cultivation speed is now at least ten times faster than before!"
"This reward is too generous; our Mother Planet has now become a powerful Extraordinary World!"
"This is the advancement of the entire world!"
"..."