After sensing the situation, Zhang Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought several hundred years had passed.
He instantly learned everything that had happened over those ten years. As for the Dwarf Race's behavior, he merely curled his lip. There was nothing strange about it.
They simply stood on different sides.
Blue Star's civilization had reached a bottleneck. What came next depended on what the Human Race could work out for themselves.
In his previous world, it had taken a hundred years to move from the Steam Age to the Electrical Age, and another hundred to reach the Information Age. Technology advanced a thousand miles a day, with innovations changing from one day to the next. Now it remained to be seen how Blue Star's humans would develop.
Zhang Yang could not interfere much in this. In his previous life, he had only been a complete novice himself, and everything he knew about industrial development had come from history books.
The defining feature of the Electrical Age was the widespread use of electricity. The most fundamental step was developing electromagnetic induction.
He had faith in the human craftsmen, and he had no intention of advancing to a second-tier civilization just yet.
Other civilizations had maxed out their technology trees. With no room left to grow, advancement was their only option.
Human technology was different. Its future was full of uncertainty, and what the Human Race needed most was time.
Moreover, the human population still had plenty of room to grow. Based on Blue Star's surface area, its population limit was one billion.
He currently had 1,000 energy points, only halfway to the amount needed to upgrade the planet's level.
Blue Star's development was an oddity. Taking the Dwarf Race's Bo'er Star as an example, their civilization had developed for seventy million years, so they should have accumulated at least 7,000 energy points in total. According to stories passed down by some dwarves, Bo'er Star had suddenly grown larger once. That must have been a planetary upgrade.
Had Bo'er Star used 5,000 energy points to develop to the peak of a first-tier civilization?
No, upgrading a planet's level increased the number of energy points absorbed every ten thousand years. It should have had at least 5,000 energy points.
Yet only one civilized race, the dwarves, had emerged. There were hardly any other species on Bo'er Star because there simply was not enough energy to go around.
Only 1.7 million years had passed since Blue Star's birth. It had used fewer than two thousand energy points, yet had tens of thousands of species and boundless potential.
Zhang Yang had started with 1,000 points and received another 500 as a reward from the Cosmic Elders Council. Blue Star's natural development over 1.7 million years had yielded over 170 points. These had all gone toward strengthening genes, accelerating time, and maintaining solar energy.
After devouring Bo'er Star, Zhang Yang still had 1,050 energy points. He kept 1,000 as his reserve, planning to hunt for bargains on the Starry Sky Virtual Platform once he advanced to a second-tier civilization.
Zhang Yang was unwilling to use the time acceleration function now. One point meant ten thousand years. After ten thousand years, the world would remain, but its people would be gone. The humans might even have nuclear bombs by then.
If all life went extinct after ten thousand years, he would suffer a colossal loss.
Then how should I solve this problem?
Keep watching Blue Star's development forever?
Would I still be a god, then?
Zhang Yang sank into contemplation.
And so, time on Blue Star slowly slipped by...
With the arrival of the Steam Age, a hundred flowers bloomed, and every industry underwent changes.
Without any external pressure, the people lived peacefully and prosperously, gradually growing dissatisfied with their current lives.
They began pursuing spiritual enjoyment, and all sorts of clothing were developed.
Cuisine, medicine, architecture, transportation, energy, education, entertainment, books, and novels all began to flourish.
One novel in particular received widespread acclaim: "Transmigrated without a cheat, I became a planet."
The novel let its imagination run wild. It began with Blue Star's Father God creating the Human Race, and read as though everything had truly happened. It was more like a history of human civilization's development, and it continued to be serialized.
Someone teased the author, "Post more! There's nowhere near enough to read!"
The author replied, "I want to, too, but I really don't have any chapters stockpiled..."
And so, the wheels of history rolled onward.
The royal court in Yu Province.
"Cough, cough." The Yellow Emperor bent over and rubbed his stiff old legs as he continued reading memorials from across the Nine Provinces. Major events occurred every day, requiring his instructions.
He had experienced far, far too much in his lifetime. He remembered when he was a child, still living in a primitive age, struggling each day simply to fill his belly.
After defeating the Chiyou Tribe and receiving Father God's instructions, they had begun developing toward the Bronze Age.
How had everything passed so quickly?
Yes, it had begun with that Star War. The humans had suddenly gained the ability to communicate with wild beasts. After defeating the Dwarf Race, their technology had advanced by leaps and bounds, right up to the present.
His generation had experienced far, far too much. They would be using bronze one year and steel the next.
Now they had begun using something called steam power. He could not make sense of it. How had weaving suddenly stopped requiring anyone to operate the equipment?
The last time he had left the palace had been when the steam engine was first developed, hadn't it?
Ten whole years had passed in the blink of an eye. Whenever the weather turned gloomy or rainy, the pain in his legs became unbearable.
His grandson kept wanting to replace things in the palace. He said there was now something called glass that could let sunlight in and make the rooms brighter.
One day, his grandson brought in a mirror and told him it was made of glass. Looking at the old man in the mirror, with white temples and sagging skin, the Yellow Emperor felt afraid.
He had refused his grandson's request to renovate the palace halls. Across the entire Nine Provinces, this was the only place that still felt familiar to him.
In the vast royal palace, only the places where he often stayed remained unaltered.
The place where his grandson worked had changed completely. After visiting once, he never went again.
The memorials he reviewed were all matters his grandson dared not decide on his own and had sent to him for guidance.
Looking at the strange and varied requests in the memorials, Xuanyuan Huangdi silently grieved. It seems I really can't keep pace with the times anymore.
In the nearly twenty years since the Star War, he had worshipped Father God many times, hoping to hear that familiar voice again.
Unfortunately, he had never heard it again.
"Someone bring me brush and ink," Xuanyuan Huangdi said mildly, looking toward the doorway.
"Send these memorials down." He stood, stretched his stiff waist, and headed outside.
Among them were letters concerning the Yellow Emperor's sons committing crimes throughout the Nine Provinces, oppressing the common people, and colluding with officials.
His grandson found it difficult to deal with them, so he had passed them all to him.
Now that he was old, he missed his sons, too. But he dared not let them return, lest it put undesirable ideas into their heads.
At last, he hardened his heart and issued his instructions. He could not leave these future troubles to his grandson.
He slowly walked outside. It had been a long time since he had visited the other part of the palace.
A little later, the unusual objects around him stirred his curiosity. From outside the room, he could see his grandson Zhuanxu inside, reviewing memorials.
The sight of that youthful figure left him momentarily dazed. "So alike," he murmured.
Hearing a voice outside, Zhuanxu suddenly looked up. Surprise crossed his face when he saw his grandfather at this palace, and he hurried outside.
Zhuanxu wondered, Grandfather never leaves his own Summer Palace. Why has he come here today?
The northern side of the palace had all been renovated according to his ideas. In the words people used outside, it was fashionable.
There was even a newly developed Steam Car in the courtyard. It was rather large, unattractive, and not particularly fast, but he simply loved it!
Xuanyuan Huangdi fondly patted his head. Seeing his grandson's delighted expression, he smiled and said, "Come, show your grandfather around your palace."
Zhuanxu was overjoyed. His grandfather had finally accepted these new things!
He immediately nodded and took Xuanyuan Huangdi on a tour, explaining everything to his grandfather along the way.
He even took his grandfather for a ride in the Steam Car. Seeing his grandfather's astonished expression made Zhuanxu immensely happy.
Over the next few days, Xuanyuan Huangdi seemed to become a different person. He handed every memorial over to his grandson Zhuanxu and stopped concerning himself with anything.
Watching his grandson bustle about every day, Xuanyuan Huangdi chuckled gleefully.
July, year 51 of the Xia Era.
Xuanyuan Huangdi led the civil and military officials, along with his grandson Zhuanxu, toward Mount Tai in a grand procession.
At Mount Tai's summit, he worshipped Father God, burning incense and paper offerings. He prayed to Father God, expressing his wish to pass the throne to his grandson Zhuanxu from that day onward, so that Zhuanxu could lead the Xia Dynasty's continued development.
Strangely, there was no response. The civil and military officials standing behind him exchanged bewildered glances. Chiyou's eyes shifted, then his expression returned to normal, showing no reaction.
After the Star War, he had scarcely made his presence felt in the Xia Dynasty. He had returned the position of supreme military commander to the Yellow Emperor and attended court with unwavering regularity for ten years. He never colluded with any officials, simply reporting for duty and leaving when his work was done.
Xuanyuan Huangdi was baffled, too. I fought alongside Father God!
When the Xia Dynasty was founded, auspicious signs descended from the heavens, and Father God appeared. It was magnificent. Why was this time...?
He prayed again, but still received no response. Standing beside Xuanyuan Huangdi, Zhuanxu flushed with embarrassment, his fists clenched tightly.
In fact, Zhang Yang had only just roused himself. Looking down at Zhuanxu, whose fists were clenched as he cursed incessantly in his heart, he gave a cold laugh and remained silent.
Who do you think you are?
Must I respond just because you worship heaven and earth?
In the end, the great procession set off back to the palace. The Yellow Emperor issued a gag order, forbidding anyone from speaking of what had happened that day. Violators would be beheaded.
After returning to the Summer Palace, he announced to the Nine Provinces that, effective immediately, the throne would pass to his grandson Zhuanxu.
Yet word of what had happened that day still reached the ears of those with vested interests throughout the Nine Provinces.
Across the Nine Provinces, wind and rain threatened to break, and dark undercurrents stirred.
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