Ryen's words left everyone somewhat confused.
Zhongli, however, more or less grasped what he meant. His composure faltered slightly as he looked at Ryen with a grave expression.
"You want to… let this world give birth to civilization?"
At that moment, everyone finally understood Ryen's true intention.
In the past, although they acknowledged that this world was vast and boundless, deep down they still regarded it as a resource-gathering ground.
What Ryen wanted now was for this world to become a cradle of civilization.
"The essence of a world is to nurture life."
"The essence of life lies in the birth of civilization."
"And the essence of civilization is continuity, development, and growth…"
Ryen murmured softly, shaking his head with a faint, helpless smile.
"So, a true world should be one that gives rise to civilization."
"But unfortunately, due to this world's special nature, it cannot give birth to groups capable of forming true civilization."
"So…"
Ryen looked deeply at the visibly shaken crowd.
From the very beginning, he had never planned for this world to be nothing more than a place to harvest resources.
No resource could ever compare to an entire world itself.
"I've mentioned before, cooperating with you to develop this world."
Ryen's gaze softened as he looked at Ningguang, his voice gentle.
"When you hear 'developing a world,' you probably think it simply means moving resources from one place to another."
"But you must understand, among all things under heaven, the most important resource is the world itself."
"Developing a world isn't just about relocating materials."
"It's about…"
"Transforming the world into a livable one."
"Into a world where civilization can continue."
"Into a true world where the flowers of civilization can bloom."
For a moment, Zhongli and the others found it difficult to react.
Ryen wasn't in a hurry. Anyone hearing such an idea for the first time would find it shocking.
But he had already made up his mind.
This world was simply too vast. If it remained as it was now, could it still be considered a world?
From Teyvat's perspective, it might only be regarded as an unusually large and strange domain.
After an unknown amount of time, Ningguang and the others finally recovered somewhat. She looked at Ryen helplessly and spoke softly,
"Out of nowhere, how did you come up with such a world-shaking plan…?"
"You want the two worlds to be completely interconnected, so that people of Teyvat will live across both worlds in the future?"
Ryen did not deny it.
The MC world could not give birth to civilization on its own, so Ryen had set his sights on Teyvat itself.
No intelligent life, no civilization?
Then migrate directly from Teyvat and transplant an entire civilization system.
As for large-scale settlement by people from Teyvat, that wasn't a problem either.
In this world, without Ryen's physique-sharing, survival would be impossible.
From a management standpoint, this was actually quite easy to control.
And besides,
Ryen smiled mysteriously, looking at everyone with a faint, profound gaze.
"To transform a savage world into one where humans can live, survive, and continue civilization…"
"Don't you think such a grand undertaking is worth participating in?"
Hearing this, Zhongli opened his mouth slightly, looking at Ryen with a complicated expression.
"So from the very beginning… you were already envisioning this goal?"
Ryen shrugged lightly.
"More or less."
"Leaving a world undeveloped, cold and empty with only a few of us, it's far too lonely."
"An achievement like opening heaven and earth, akin to creation itself… surely that excites you as well, doesn't it?"
Zhongli exchanged glances with Venti and the others before letting out a wry smile.
"Indeed… turning a barren world into a cradle that nurtures civilization."
"Building a land in this world where our people can live and work in peace."
"This is an unprecedented, epic undertaking."
"From the perspective of this desolate world…"
"Calling it creation would not be an exaggeration."
Zhongli nodded slightly.
"I won't miss out. But how exactly do you plan to do this?"
Hearing that, Ryen chuckled softly and took out a brand-new scroll from his sleeve.
He had completed it during spare moments over the past few days.
Spreading it across the table, Ryen spoke calmly,
"First, I want this world to possess the shadow of civilization."
"What needs to be done, in essence, isn't that different from what we're already doing now."
As Ryen opened the scroll, Guizhong curiously leaned over to take a look. The very first word she saw was,
"Build a city?"
Guizhong looked at Ryen with curiosity and muttered,
"I heard from Ping'er that Liyue has already built a new city."
"Isn't your plan a bit behind the times?"
Ryen shook his head gently.
"The city I'm talking about isn't the same kind of city Ningguang and the others built."
"I've seen the new city they constructed. Overall, it's still very similar to Liyue Harbor."
"In other words, at its core, it can't break away from Teyvat's characteristics."
"But what I want…"
"…is a city filled with this world's own characteristics."
"To be precise, a city cluster."
Ryen paused briefly. Seeing everyone staring at him with curiosity, he pointed at the scroll, signaling them to keep reading.
Guizhong's heart stirred.
Somehow, she instinctively knew that what came next would be extremely important to her.
Unable to wait, she quickly flipped the scroll open.
The next moment, everyone who saw it fell silent.
Before them was an extraordinarily grand urban plan.
All kinds of bizarre and novel buildings and facilities were meticulously labeled.
Most of it, however, Ningguang and the others could not understand.
The planned area was even larger than Liyue's new city, yet the requirements for the buildings were staggering, skyscrapers dozens of stories tall were standard.
With this scale, accommodating tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of people would be effortless.
Keqing's eyes lit up brilliantly as she stared at the scroll in disbelief.
"So it can be done like this…! Liyue Harbor still has so much room for improvement!"
Guizhong, on the other hand, was deep in thought as she examined the redstone technology annotations Ryen had marked.
Ryen didn't comment immediately. He merely pointed lightly at the scroll and said,
"Time was tight, so I didn't have the chance to draw more city-planning scrolls,"
Ryen said calmly.
"But you understand what I mean now, right?"
Ningguang frowned slightly and shook her head.
"Why don't you just tell us directly, what is your real idea?"
Ryen pressed his lips together and replied helplessly,
"My idea is simple… I want to build multiple cities like this."
"Inside the cities, we'll use all kinds of redstone technology to enrich the basic infrastructure."
"Across this entire continent, cities will be scattered everywhere, like stars across the land."
"And between cities, we'll connect them using redstone-based rail transit."
"First, it makes it easier to control and manage the continent."
"Second, this is the cradle of civilization."
Ryen waved his hand and laughed lightly.
"Think about it, City One will be the administrative city. All major decisions and coordination across the world will be handled there."
"City Two will be the commercial city, a massive trade hub where countless people gather. If something exists, you can buy it there."
"City Three will be the entertainment city. Singing, dancing, horseback riding, archery, fishing, every kind of entertainment to enrich people's lives."
"City Four, City Five, City Six…"
Ryen smiled as he spoke.
Following his words, everyone's thoughts drifted forward, imagining what those cities would look like once completed.
Countless people of Teyvat traveling daily between cities together.
Meeting up to explore the wilderness.
Sharing adventures beyond the city walls…
"That," Ryen said softly,
"would be a truly perfect civilized world."
Ningguang looked at him with visible longing. Ryen smiled and nodded.
"That's right. And the cities you're already building can continue to be expanded and refined."
"Perfectly uniform cities are dull and lifeless."
"The cities you're constructing, those with the characteristics of the Seven Nations of Teyvat, "
", will be the stars that adorn this world's civilization."
"So I fully support you continuing to build and improve your own cities."
After a brief pause, Ryen looked at the thoughtful crowd and continued,
"Large-scale city construction is a prerequisite for the birth of civilization. It's something we must do next."
"Once we encompass this continent, we can move on to the new continent Beidou discovered, plant roots there and continue exploring."
"I hope that, for you, this world won't just be a fallback option against the Heavenly Principles…"
"But a brand-new foothold.
A place to settle, to thrive, and to multiply."
Ryen smiled, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Ten or twenty years from now, this once-desolate world will suddenly become vibrant and colorful."
"People will travel freely across this fully developed continent using redstone technology and mods."
"They'll work during the day. At night, they might go shopping or sightseeing in a city that never sleeps."
"Perhaps they'll return to Teyvat to enjoy its scenery."
"Perhaps they'll go on a date in some city of this world."
"They'll experience the diversity and brilliance of human civilization."
"Some adventurers might form parties, crossing mountains and seas to explore uninhabited lands."
"Some merchants might even conduct trade that spans two worlds."
"And we, "
", will leave a bold and unforgettable mark across tens of thousands of years of history."
"Pioneers of worlds."
"Architects of civilization."
"This is an unprecedented undertaking."
"I want to push this world, completely, into modernized urban civilization."
Just like the world he once lived in…
That final thought remained unspoken, kept quietly in Ryen's heart.
Yet everyone present was already boiling with excitement, following Ryen's vision and imagining that future.
Compared to endlessly struggling against the Heavenly Principles in an already-established Teyvat…
Wasn't building an entirely new world from scratch,
exactly as Ryen envisioned, far more exhilarating?
There was no need to think further.
Venti and the others nodded eagerly, eyes shining.
"What do we do?"
"How can we help?"
No one could resist a plan that rivaled the creation of heaven and earth itself.
To take part in such an event was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Why hesitate?
Ryen had already anticipated their reaction. He smiled and shook his head.
"For now, all future planning is still in my head. Just like what I told Ningguang back then, "
"We'll take it step by step."
"As for now…"
Ryen pushed the scroll toward Guizhong and looked at her with a cheerful smile, saying nothing.
Guizhong suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
She pressed her lips together and stared at Ryen cautiously.
"…You're not planning to make me the one in charge, are you?"
Ryen shrugged and laughed.
"Who else could possibly handle such advanced work?"
"You're my pre-designated number-one worker, "
", the world's first chief redstone scientist!"
"If not you, then who?"
~~----------------------
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