The unexpected event caused an uproar in both Star City and Silver Moon City.
Soon after, Star City and the Silver Moon Clan formed a joint investigation team to look into the incident.
From the perspective of the Silver Moon Clan, the cause of the sudden explosion seemed quite clear. They quickly linked it to the repeated assassination attempts on Lin Zhengyuan, the human military commander, who had been attacked by mysterious creatures and injured several times over the years.
It was highly likely that this was another sudden assassination attempt.
While gathering information, the joint investigation team also discovered psychic energy traces at the scene.
At this point, the Silver Moon Clan recalled the intelligence that Star City had previously provided, suggesting that the Psionic Tribe might be behind the assassination attempts on Lin Zhengyuan.
However, the available clues weren't enough to piece together the full truth.
After a month of investigation, they had no choice but to give up.
The final report from the joint investigation team was released.
The psychic explosion had caused the deaths of 3 humans, 6 seriously injured, and 2 lightly injured. For the Silver Moon Clan, there were 5 deaths, 17 seriously injured, and 32 lightly injured.
The blast radius was quite large. Only those who were able to react quickly and raise defensive barriers in time were protected, while those at closer ranges, both humans and Silver Moon Clan members, had no chance to defend themselves.
Among the casualties, 3 human military members died, while the Silver Moon Clan lost a leader candidate, an elder council member, and 2 Silver Moon Clan attendants serving the elder council.
Thanks to Ji He's preparations, the Silver Moon Clan didn't suspect that the incident was a plot against Yin Tong.
In fact, after the explosion, the Silver Moon Clan proactively expressed their apologies to Star City.
They admitted that their security measures had been inadequate, leading to the sudden explosion, and hoped that this incident wouldn't affect the stable alliance between humanity and the Silver Moon Clan.
Ji He didn't respond to their apology.
As Ji He had predicted, the Silver Moon Clan's elder council soon arrived in Star City, hoping to meet with the highest council members of Star City and express their apologies in person.
This time, Ji He accepted their apology and also expressed condolences to the families of the Silver Moon Clan members who had been killed.
After the incident, Ji He began to realize a critical issue.
The gap between the Silver Moon Clan and humanity would gradually widen in the future, which would be highly unfavorable for humanity.
Information from the database revealed that the Silver Moon Clan's potential was incredibly high. After all, they were descendants of the once-dominant Silver Serpent Empire in the Domain World.
Their bloodline potential and engineering technology had exceptionally high growth limits.
The only thing that had been holding back the Silver Moon Clan's rise was a lack of resources.
According to intelligence from the leader of the Domain Weak Tribe Alliance, Hei Long, who had once infiltrated Star City, there was another force contesting the control of the Silver Moon Clan's domain with them.
This meant the resources the Silver Moon Clan could develop were limited.
Due to this, the Silver Moon Clan's development had been restricted by a lack of resources.
However, after entering the human world, the new environment combined with humanity's support allowed the Silver Moon Clan to rapidly develop.
That's when their bloodline potential and engineering technology advantages really came to the forefront.
Ji He had no doubt that in the future, the gap between humanity and the Silver Moon Clan would only grow wider.
Now that Yin Tong was dead, the other Silver Moon Clan leader candidate had succeeded in becoming the new leader, and his attitude toward humanity mirrored that of the previous leader. He was willing to share resources and technology with humanity and cooperate for mutual development.
But Ji He couldn't guarantee that the Silver Moon Clan wouldn't produce another high-ranking figure like Yin Tong, who was opposed to humanity.
He felt it was necessary to think about humanity's long-term interests in this matter.
If this problem couldn't be solved, the Silver Moon Clan would eventually diverge from humanity as it grew stronger, and the two races would part ways.
This issue didn't exist with the Mist Clan.
After all, the leader of the Mist Clan had always been the Mist Lord. With the foundation laid by their ancestor, Feng Qi, the Mist Clan would remain humanity's ally as long as the Mist Lord was in power.
But the Silver Moon Clan changed their leader every 200 years.
Each time the leader changed, the future direction of the race could change as well.
Whether they would be friendly or hostile toward humanity was completely uncertain.
This was a result Ji He didn't want to see.
Although the Silver Moon Clan was currently grateful and willing to work together with humanity, Ji He had to consider the worst-case scenario and how humanity would respond if that happened.
With this in mind, Ji He came up with a new idea.
No matter what, humanity's safety always came first. Even though the ancestors who signed the alliance agreement with the Silver Moon Clan had sworn to stand by them, times were changing.
For the sake of humanity, Ji He knew he had to suppress the rise of the Silver Moon Clan, ensuring that they could never break away from humanity.
...
Year 418 of Dawn.
Ji He personally promoted a group of veteran generals who had followed him for years and formed the highest ranks of Star City's military.
At the same time, he removed the position of military commander.
He divided the military's authority into different domains.
This was done to better control the military.
Ji He had absolute trust in Lin Zhengyuan, the former military commander, as he had followed Ji He from the very beginning when Ji He had nothing.
But after new people came to power, variables could arise.
It was just like Ji He's own experience. He had once been patient and kept his sharp blade hidden, but once he reached a high position, it was bound to be unsheathed.
These veteran generals were trustworthy at present, but that didn't mean they didn't have their own ideas.
Ji He knew very well how he was viewed by Star City's citizens and many capable high-ranking officials.
The military was Star City's strongest force, and any change in its leadership was dangerous.
So, dividing the military's power was Ji He's easiest way to maintain control.
At the same time, this year, the reform process in Star City advanced significantly.
The previous resource distribution model was overthrown by Ji He, and all resources that used to belong to the frontline were now allocated to the military.
Meanwhile, the Tiger Soul Research Institute was also divided into several departments by Ji He.
Moving forward, the various departments would only have a cooperative relationship, not be part of the same unit. They would no longer be directly governed by the Tiger Soul Research Institute, and would have full autonomy over their research and development.
At the same time, the family planning program in Star City began to be strictly enforced.
Looking through history, Ji He discovered a phenomenon that existed not only among humans but also in other domain races.
He called this phenomenon "bloodline evolution."
It specifically refers to a rare occurrence in a species' development where a new generation is born with bloodline potential far exceeding that of their predecessors.
For example, the human genius Lin Ran in the past.
Also, examples like Jian Ji from the Sword Clan, Chao Xuan from the Knife Clan, Long Qiang from the Spear Clan, and others.
Their parents had no obvious advantages compared to other members of their race, but their descendants had growth potential far beyond their peers.
Humanity's history is filled with such geniuses.
This is what Ji He sees as bloodline evolution—like a mutation that suddenly elevates the bloodline potential of the next generation.
The strict requirement to raise Star City's birth rate was made with this in mind.
The more new generations are born, the higher the probability of producing geniuses.
In Ji He's eyes, increasing the birth rate would bring three significant improvements to Star City.
First, the construction of the new city, Dawn, had already begun, with resources and manpower being invested. However, there was a clear shortage of labor.
Star City had now entered a period of stable development, with everyone in the city already assigned to a specific role. It was impossible to suddenly pull a large workforce from other areas to help build Dawn City unless the military also participated.
But the military, now replacing the battle groups of the frontlines, was the main force for bringing back resources from the frontlines and couldn't spare most of its fighting power for Dawn City's construction.
Therefore, the importance of a growing population was evident.
Second, the improvement in bloodline potential.
Accelerating the population turnover would significantly raise the starting bloodline potential of the next generation, and encouraging childbirth was intended to lay the foundation for the future development of humanity.
Third, the increase in population would lead to the optimization of Star City's structure.
A larger population meant that various industries in society would become more competitive. To stand out, higher abilities would be required.
This competition would also bring progress to Star City.
...
There were many other advantages.
However, the only disadvantage of a larger population was the issue of resource distribution.
The more people there were, the fewer resources each person would receive.
Ji He believed that the previous generations had already laid a solid foundation for Star City and had stockpiled enormous resources, enough to support the population reform.
This was also the main reason Ji He believed that Star City had to embrace change.
In times of chaos, heavy measures were required. The situation was only getting worse.
Star City's predecessors had come from an era of resource scarcity, and they had saved up more and more resources. Ji He's reform was aimed at consuming this accumulated resource and turning it into fuel for Star City's development.
Ji He didn't deny the vision behind the strategy of the previous generations.
But with the new era, change was inevitable.
Next, Ji He began pushing for a shift in the people's belief in Feng Qi.
He wanted the people's faith to be more rational, no longer blindly following.
For example, Feng Qi had once established an alliance between humanity and the Silver Moon Clan, demanding that both races never betray each other and always trust one another.
But when the situation became uncontrollable, and the Silver Moon Clan turned against humanity, those fanatical followers of Feng Qi would still try to enforce his words.
This was a result Ji He didn't want to see.
He was certain that if Feng Qi faced the Silver Moon Clan's betrayal, he would act without hesitation.
But his fanatic followers wouldn't, and they would still try to implement Feng Qi's teachings, trying to mend the rift between the races and restore their former friendship.
For over a century, Feng Qi hadn't been in contact with the highest levels of Star City.
According to the words of the little emissary from over a hundred years ago, as the number of believers grew, Feng Qi had become stretched too thin and found it hard to devote energy to Star City's development.
Perhaps one day, contact would be reestablished.
Thus, Feng Qi gradually moved from being the hidden controller behind Star City to becoming a true deity of faith.
His influence over Star City was slowly diminishing.
While Feng Qi was still present, he could control the situation behind the scenes, but the faith, as time passed, had become almost magical.
Although not everyone felt this way, the fanatical belief had become a hindrance to Star City's adaptation to the new era and reforms.
To rationalize this faith, Ji He started a new round of reform, beginning at the educational level.
During this period, some unexpected figures emerged.
With the power Ji He had granted, they pushed the educational reform too far, even trying to overthrow Feng Qi's faith.
When Ji He heard this news, he showed no mercy.
He immediately conducted a purge in Star City, ordering the military to arrest all those involved in attempting to overthrow Feng Qi's faith. The next day, without following the highest council's trial process, these individuals were executed in public at the military's execution grounds.
To Ji He, the faith in Feng Qi was the foundation of humanity's new era.
Feng Qi's legacy, the Dawn Will, had influenced several generations. Therefore, the people of Star City referred to themselves as the descendants of Dawn, a symbol of unity.
If the foundation of Feng Qi's faith was shaken, Star City would gradually fall apart, and the Dawn Will that had been followed for centuries would become a thing of the past.
This was an absolute taboo for Ji He.
Even though he aimed to rationalize the faith, he would only proceed gradually, never daring to go to extremes or touch the core of that faith.
Now, any attempt to overthrow Feng Qi's faith was, in Ji He's eyes, no different from betraying humanity.
So, before this brewing chaos could fully develop, Ji He crushed it with swift and bloody measures.
With this, Ji He sent a clear message to everyone—neither the Dawn Will nor Feng Qi's faith could be shaken.
Year 419 of Dawn.
Ji He once again optimized the resource distribution plan for Star City.
The military's share of spiritual resources accounted for two-fifths of the total output, with the remaining resources being allocated to Star City's various research units and the maintenance and operation of the city.
To ensure more effective resource utilization, Ji He upgraded the resource scheduling department to the resource supervision department.
From now on, every use of resources must be recorded, and the resource supervision department is responsible for monitoring. There can be no unjustified consumption of resources.
As for how resources would be allocated between the various research institutes, Ji He introduced a new method.
Each year, the research technologies of each institute would be evaluated. The scores would then be compiled and used to determine the resource distribution.
Factors like the expected resource input for new technologies, their future development prospects, and the level of technological refinement, among others, would all contribute to the evaluation scores.
This system would ensure innovation while also ensuring that resources are distributed more effectively.
This allocation plan would also shift the conflict over resource distribution from a battle with higher authorities to competition between the institutes.
Making competition the driving force of development was one of Ji He's reform goals.
At the same time, Ji He did not forget the threats posed by the forces surrounding Star City.
At present, the forces around Star City were mostly not scattered, weak races, but generally had strong power. The greatest threat came from the Rift Heaven Divine Clan.
Ji He had reviewed intelligence on the Rift Heaven Divine Clan hundreds of times.
One thing was clear: this force initially came from the direction of Winter City. They may have encountered an enemy they couldn't fight and crossed into Star City's northern direction, bringing the Cloud Palace with them and annexing the former nuclear bone domain field, thus connecting with Star City's territory.
The appearance of the Rift Heaven Divine Clan forced Star City to halt its northern expansion and eliminated the possibility of gaining more resource-rich lands.
This massive threat had long been a thorn in Ji He's side.
However, the Rift Heaven Divine Clan's strength was clearly beyond what humanity could handle at the moment. But, as the saying goes, "one cannot sleep peacefully when there's someone lying beside their bed."
Even though the Rift Heaven Divine Clan had not launched an attack on Star City yet, Ji He had to prepare for the worst-case scenario and figure out how humanity should respond if such a situation occurred.
This time, he decided to set up a major plan.
He intended to eliminate this huge threat and pave the way for humanity's future development.
...
In 419 of Dawn, the new year was approaching.
Heavy snow was a good omen for a bountiful year.
Snowflakes fell heavily from the sky, and Ji He, dressed in a white robe, stood atop the Administrative Building, overlooking the snow-covered Star City.
At this moment, Ji He was 56 years old.
In this new era, the average lifespan had reached 138 years, but Ji He's hair had already begun to turn gray at the temples.
He did not have the lifespan and physique of a cultivator. His face was pale from the cold wind, but his eyes were bright and filled with life.
Standing next to him was a boy, about ten years old.
"Master, there's another protest, with people opposing the new talent competition policy you announced... Should we do something about it?"
"No need, let them be."
"But Master, you've given so much to Star City's development. Even if your actions are radical, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks..."
Before the boy could finish, Ji He turned around from his stance with his hands behind his back and looked at him.
"Xiao Jie, merit is merit, and fault is fault. There's no such thing as merit balancing fault."
Looking at the boy's indignant expression, Ji He smiled slightly. He could vaguely see his own past self in the boy.
He used to be like that—blood running hot, always wanting to accomplish something great.
But once he truly reached the top, he understood how cold it is at the top.
Just like his teacher had said before passing away, some things don't always go the way you envision. There are too many variables and resistance involved.
The boy looked at him with confusion in his eyes.
In his eyes, his teacher had worked tirelessly for decades, never thinking about personal gains or losses. Even if he bore criticism, he continued to work for Star City's future, dedicating himself fully to the city's development.
But to the people of Star City and many of its high-ranking members, his teacher was seen as a tyrant, a dictator... and received various negative evaluations.
Yet, to the boy, it was clear that his teacher's decades of hard work had brought visible changes to Star City. His reforms had ushered in a new era of development. Star City was rapidly changing, and talents were emerging.
But there was one issue.
He had pushed Star City's citizens out of their comfort zone, making them part of a society marked by intense competition.
Competition was everywhere, and no one dared to rest.
The teacher had always been working for humanity's future, but to the people of Star City living in this era, Ji He's iron-fisted rule did not seem like a good time to live in.
"Xiao Jie, go back. Let me be alone for a while."
"Yes, Master."
Although the boy still had more to say, upon hearing his teacher's request, he obediently nodded and turned to leave.
Once the boy left, Ji He stood alone in the snowstorm, still gazing at Star City, his eyes filled with a longing for the future.
His life was short. Unlike the Silver Moon Clan and other domain races with their long lifespans, a hundred years might not be enough for him to complete his reforms in Star City.
Now, in his fifties, time was running out.
All he could do was try his best.
Even if it meant bearing the historical criticism.
Amid the swirling snow, Ji He looked up at the sky, his heart filled with an intense desire to keep going.
In this post-catastrophe new era, humanity had been living cautiously for centuries, never having a single day of peace.
If he could, he too would want to pave a new future for humanity through his own efforts, just like Feng Qi did.