Chapter 823: The Skywood Realm

These days, he had been cultivating while researching, but he had hit a bottleneck in his studies. He couldn't come up with a good solution.

The human body was inherently too fragile, and Tang San couldn't just genetically engineer some powerful innate abilities into people. Even assuming he was successful, such traits were not easy to pass on, and the side effects were likely to impact reproduction. If gaining powerful abilities came at the cost of reproductive capability, it would render one of humanity's greatest advantages completely moot. Therefore, Tang San had to consider this aspect as well in his research.

"No, I can't keep going on like this. Brooding over it won't help." Tang San woke from his meditation and muttered to himself.

Just then, a silver light shone inside the wooden hut, and two figures appeared simultaneously—Mei Gongzi and Xiao He had returned together.

Seeing Mei Gongzi, Tang San's furrowed brow immediately relaxed. He stood up to greet her.

"So? Is the Sky-Splitting City Lord sorted out?" he asked.

Mei Gongzi replied, "He's already gone."

Tang San asked in surprise, "So soon? What happened?"

Mei Gongzi looked at him with a half-smile. "He... came to propose marriage. He actually wanted to marry me and form an alliance with Kali City. Are you scared?"

Tang San's eyes flashed with a brief golden light, but he maintained a cheerful smile. "Of course not, I trust you. Did you drive him away?"

Mei Gongzi sighed and shrugged. "What else could I do?"

She then briefly explained her impressions and Xiao He's analysis.

After listening to her, Tang San nodded. "Our prime minister is right; all we can do is wait. Let's see what tricks the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor has up his sleeve. One thing is for sure, though: he is digging a deeper hole for himself every day. He should be thanking me for not starting trouble with him, and instead

he

is the one starting trouble with

me

? Fine. Before we leave this plane, I might let the other Emperors off, but I'll never spare him."

Watching Tang San smile while speaking such harsh words, Xiao He's heart stirred. He said, "Well, Lord Sea God, the Sea Giant clan is here and they've discussed the methods of connecting the islands with me, as you've seen in the paper I sent you. If it works, it'll be a monumental project. The future benefits for humanity's overseas expansion will be immeasurable. What do you think of the plan?"

Tang San smiled bitterly. "I've been busy with research lately, so I didn't have time to read that stuff. Why don't you give me a summary?"

Xiao He slapped his forehead. "So you're really planning to just sit back and not get involved, huh?"

Tang San chuckled and shrugged. "With you here, do I even need to step in? It's not that I want to sit back and relax; it's just that I need to minimize my presence among people. In the future, I will inevitably leave with Little Mei. This is both my personal wish and something I promised to the planar ruler, and it will be done. To most sea beasts, the Sea God is a distant, intangible figure. Moreover, most sea beasts have low intelligence, which makes things easier to handle. But humans are different. If my personal presence is too strong, and if I gain too much power of faith from the human side, I will be overstretching my authority. I am the Sea God, so gaining faith from the sea is natural, but humans are not marine creatures. The plane would react to counter that trend, and it could bring disaster to humanity. So, I'll have to rely on you for this."

"Well, no one knows if what you're saying is true, so I'll just take it as fact," replied Xiao He helplessly. "Anyway, let me explain the plan to you. Here's the situation: the islands humans have migrated to can be divided into six regions. Each region contains islands of varying sizes. One such region is right here, around Crescent Island, and it can support around a million people. Now, if what I discussed with the Sea Giant clan comes to fruition, we'll be able to host not just one or two, but ten million easily.

"The key to all this is that the Sea Giant clan will spare no effort in relocating all Sea God Pillars that aren't needed for stabilizing the sea. This is the first stage of the project. We will unify these island regions into a single area by using the Sea God Pillars. In other words, the six existing archipelagos will serve as the focal points of the foundations on which we will build our country. With the Sea God Pillars in place, this region will not be impacted by storms, underwater earthquakes, and other phenomena, so we will be able to safely implement the next step.

"According to the Sea Giant kings, the deepest part of this sea area is about a thousand meters, but most regions are only two to five hundred meters deep, which is more manageable. Once the Sea God Pillars are in place, the Seasky Tree clan can start growing appropriately. Trunks of fallen Seasky Trees will be laid flat on top of the crowns of the growing trees, and in time, they will merge into a solid structure. The first step is to build sea bridges about fifty meters wide, connecting the six island clusters as well as connecting to the other bridges. With the current capabilities of the Sea Giant clan and the Seasky Tree clan, this is entirely achievable.

"The second stage involves the Seasky Trees growing within the whole area, until the sea surface is covered in tree canopies. Using these canopies and the Sea God Pillars as support points, we can construct 'land' above. With the current population of the Seasky Tree clan, they can fill in about one third of the space between islands with landmass. Of course, this so-called landmass is actually a giant raft. If necessary, the Seasky Tree clan and Sea Giant clan can sink the pillars and tree trunks deeper into the sea, fully submerging and hiding the constructed land. We need to discuss carefully how to utilize this area.

"The final step, which will take the longest, is

actual

land reclamation. Once the Seasky Trees are firmly rooted here and fully interconnected, we'll have a solid foundation. We can then bring in silt and rocks to gradually build solid land in the entire area. With the Seasky Trees and pillars providing support, the reclaimed land will have a stable foundation. Once the whole area between the island clusters is filled in, it will be the size of a small continent. Our calculations show that the total area would be close to one-tenth the size of the Daemon Continent, more than enough for humans to thrive."

Even though Tang San was the initiator of this plan, he couldn't help but gasp when he found out the sheer magnitude of the project Xiao He was now leading.

"Damn, Father-in-law... You sure know how to scale things up!" Tang San exclaimed in awe. "But I have to say, this is probably the best way to solve the problem once and for all."

Xiao He nodded. "Yes, it is indeed the best solution. The prerequisite, though, is that the Ancestral Court doesn't interfere. I think during the first and second phases, we won't attract much attention, and if we do, we can just hide. But once we reach the third phase and a massive piece of land appears here out of nowhere, it won't be easy to stay unnoticed, given how close it is to the Daemon Continent."

Tang San shrugged. "It is what it is. By the time we reach that point, we will have the ability to protect the entire human settlement, whatever it takes. How long will each phase take?"

Xiao He said, "The first phase can be completed quickly, probably in about a month. The second phase will take about a year, and the third phase anywhere between five and ten years. Of course, this is all assuming you continue to support us. After all, for Seasky Trees to grow rapidly, they'll need the blessing of the Sea God, and they need it in abundance. In other words, it's not a bad deal for the Sea Giant clan and the Seasky Tree clan either."

Tang San nodded. "In that case, we should have enough time. Let's proceed."

Xiao He said, "Once the first phase is complete, we can start thinking about our country. After all, when all the people here start having access to each other, having a centralized government becomes essential. And speaking of that, shouldn't you give our country a name?"

Tang San smiled slightly and said, "Seasky Trees will be a crucial part of our plan; after all, this country will be built on top of an underwater forest, in a sense. For the time being... I would like to call this country the Skytree Realm[1], as a tribute to them. As for later, we'll see when we get to that step."

1. The original term here (建木之国) is quite a bit to unravel. It literally means "country built on/by/from trees/wood"; however, it

also

appears to be a reference to a tree (建木) mentioned in the

Classic of Mountains and Seas

, among other places, that is a kind of Yggdrasil/World Tree. It is said that this tree connects heaven and earth, and that gods use it as a ladder. As for the translation of 国, we are not using kingdom/empire/etc. because the term does not imply any specific form of government, and while Tang San explicitly rejects monarchy for now, the leadership is also not freely elected. Things are bound to change in the future, so we wanted to keep that part open. The term "realm" goes well with the Empyrean Dominion and Solstice Empire, so there’s that. ☜