Chapter 1142: Tang San and Mei Gongzi's Wedding Gift |
Wu Bingji rose into the air, soaring above the village until he reached a huge warehouse to the west. Sweeping his arms in a circle, he produced a powerful suction that tore the wooden structure from its foundations, revealing a circular patch of flat ground nearly fifty meters in diameter.
On that ground, a complex array had already been carved, studded with numerous gemstones.
Wu Bingji descended, holding a round, silver-colored array plate in his hand. Around them, the village had begun to stir with activity. He took a deep breath and carefully placed the plate at the exact center of the massive array under his feet.
For an instant, the array was still. Then, a silver ripple pulsed outward from its core, spreading rapidly until it covered the full fifty-meter diameter. One by one, the gemstones embedded in the array lit up, dazzling light flaring as a strange spatial aura erupted. A column of silver brilliance surged dozens of meters high, then cascaded down.
The array was active.
Things had been planned since a long time ago and rehearsed before, so there was no hesitation. The villagers of this settlement were already packed and ready, and they immediately began converging toward the array.
Stepping outside the array, Wu Bingji joined the rescue team members in guiding them swiftly inside. In no time, over a thousand people had gathered within the pattern.
"Lord Wu, the first group is ready!"
"Good!" Wu Bingji nodded.
In the next heartbeat, a beam of light shot from his hand, and the array burst into a fierce silver blaze. The people inside—their faces a mix of tension and wonder at the kaleidoscopic scene—watched in silence for a few moments until, suddenly, the light collapsed inward and every last one of them vanished without a trace.
As the glow faded, Wu Bingji moved quickly, wasting no time in helping the others replace the array's power gems with fresh ones. They had to get it ready for the next teleportation.
This was the most important mission the Redemption Society had undertaken in recent days.
If humanity was to have a future on the Daemon Continent, they needed a place of their own, and they needed a way to cultivate by themselves. Demons and nymphs were far too powerful, and they had always been wary of humans, especially with the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor in power. That wariness made progress extraordinarily difficult.
Only by moving overseas could humans have a real chance. And thanks to Tang San's efforts, things were finally going in the right direction. He had laid the groundwork for humanity's future by building the Skytree Realm overseas, as well as devising two entirely new cultivation methods for humans. It would take years, decades even, but the opportunity now existed.
With overseas settlements now able to house more people, the Redemption Society had begun collecting humans from all over the continent, building teleportation arrays to take them away.
This plan had been long in the making. The Peacock Demon clan's Aetherhorn Merchant Association had played a vital role, ferrying resources to remote locations.
To earn the trust of scattered human communities, the Redemption Society had long ago escorted respected leaders from different regions to Crescent Island, to see with their own eyes how well life could be lived there. These leaders returned with the news, inspiring more and more to yearn for life beyond the mainland.
Since Xiao He became prime minister of the new human country, he was the one to oversee everything. As for the core work, that was done by original Redemption Society members, especially graduates of the Redemption Academy. They were trustworthy people with both strength and vision.
The arrays had been ready for some time; the only missing piece was timing. Moving large numbers of humans would inevitably alarm local demon or nymph rulers, so the transportation had to happen all at once, leaving them no time to react.
This matter involved millions of people. The Skytree Realm couldn't take them all at once, so the first priority was to rescue those from the most heavily persecuted regions. Those living under relatively tolerant rulers would remain for now as "seeds" of humanity on the continent. In the future, if humanity was to rise on Planet Falan, they would also be able to return to the Daemon Continent if they chose to do so.
Those left behind would be brought in small groups to the Skytree Realm to learn new skills, and in turn, teachers would be sent to their home regions to spread education.
It was a complex, delicate, and utterly secretive task. Every member of the Redemption Society was fully occupied.
Tang San himself chose the timing: his own wedding day, when the entire Daemon Continent's attention would be fixed on the ceremony. It was the perfect moment to move without notice. This was his gift to himself, to Mei Gongzi, and to all humanity.
Simultaneous transfers were happening surreptitiously all across the continent.
The arrays could not all link directly to Crescent Island, so a precisely designed network was in place. Short distances were handled in one jump; longer ones used relay points.
On Crescent Island, preparations were complete. There were vast stores of food, and numerous ships. The bridges made passage to other islands easier, but their breadth was limited, and ordinary humans could only travel so far on foot. With ships assisting, the speed of the migration would only increase.
Arrivals from across the continent would first land on Crescent Island, receive medical attention where needed, share a meal, and then be sent to other islands where settlements were ready for them.
Today was of great significance to Tang San and Mei Gongzi, but also to all the humans of the Daemon Continent. This was the day of their rebirth.
Meanwhile, the Ancestral Court was a sea of celebration. Cheers, music, dragon roars, and phoenix cries filled the air.
In front of Council Mountain, a great banquet was laid out. Thousands of tables were filled with strong representatives of every race.
The Blue Gold Sacred Mountain could not host such numbers, and its divine aura could not be exposed. Thus, the wedding feast was held in the plaza where the Battle for the Throne had once been fought. It was the perfect location, both physically and symbolically.
Tang San and Mei Gongzi were, of course, the busiest people there. First, they toasted every Emperor present, then went to offer drinks to the leaders of major clans. Of course, only those with first- and second-tier bloodlines were honored with personal toasts from the two Crown Princes.
In the Ancestral Court that day, joy overflowed everywhere.