Chapter 229: The Theory of Natural Balance
Dalaran’s official announcement of the existence of elves immediately caused a sensation in the human world. This was the first human lord in history to gain the loyalty of an elf tribe. Unlike the night elves in the game, the elves in this world were divided into two major factions: surface elves and dark elves. Both were descended from high elves, but the dark elves, having embraced darkness and lived underground for long periods, worshipped the spider queen of the abyss, and had become an evil race. They often appeared in past disasters and even joined forces with demonic forces to invade the main world. Thus, dark elves were undoubtedly seen as enemies in human society. If night elves, who resembled dark elves, appeared in one’s territory, it could easily cause panic and lead to serious trouble.
As a result, Donald could not summon most elf troops that resembled night elves. However, with the addition of elves from the druid tribes, who, thanks to their reliance on the World Tree, their gratitude toward him, and their respect for the high elf bloodline, were generally more loyal than human soldiers.
The beautiful and powerful elves attracted many outsiders who came to watch them. But although they no longer hid in the forests, they didn’t like to be treated like rare animals for spectacle. So, aside from a few elves occasionally going to the town for business, most of them stayed in the Moonwood, staying not too far from the World Tree.
Seizing the opportunity while the elves’ appearance caused a stir, Donald, as lord of Dalaran, announced new laws. These laws were inscribed on stone pillars in front of the lord’s palace, integrating existing regulations. Taxation and criminal laws remained largely unchanged. Building on existing laws such as forest protection, water source preservation, and waste management, Donald also issued rules prohibiting the discharge of pollutants and large-scale hunting of wild animals, magical creatures, and aquatic life.
Dalaran was now able to achieve a degree of self-sufficiency. It could supply the entire territory with food crops and livestock, even having some surplus to sell to inns, taverns, and foreign merchants.
The living standards of the people are generally above a moderate level, so there is no longer the need to hunt wild animals and fish in large numbers for meat. Thus, these new laws are mainly intended for outsiders. Today, Dalaran resembles those gold-mining towns from past eras, attracting countless people who aspire to come there. But those who wish to develop in Dalaran, whether merchants or adventurers, must abide by the laws issued by the local lords.
Additionally, Donald proposed a theory of natural balance for sustainable development in his territory. “If we fail to protect the forests, vegetation, and plants along the riverbanks, floods during the rainy season will wash away nearby villages and farmlands, resulting in no harvest and forcing people to flee!” “Without green vegetation for protection, the rocky soil in mountainous areas will loosen when hit by heavy rain, causing mudslides. Even the most fertile land, once deprived of plant roots for stabilization, will suffer from soil erosion and gradually turn into a desert—a death zone where humans cannot survive! This is nature’s punishment for destroying its environment!”
The principle of natural balance is “take from nature, give back to nature!” It is best to return what is taken from nature, either in the same amount or even more, without recklessly destroying the environment. Only in this way can a sustainable and stable cycle of development be achieved, preventing the material world from turning into a desolate realm like the Abyss.
Now, all parts of the Kingdom of Thelos pay close attention to this magical land of Dalaran. Any news of changes spreads to the highest levels of the kingdom within days, so as to prevent the young mage-lord from introducing new industries without them being informed in time and missing out on huge profits. As a result, the theory of natural balance became widely spread throughout the kingdom.
Most people who learned about the policies implemented in Donald’s territory had mixed opinions, but there were still quite a number who agreed, mostly knowledgeable individuals such as mages and scholars, as well as some visionary and wise nobles. After all, once forests are cut down, they do not regrow on their own, and future generations may face a shortage of timber. As for the many serious consequences of environmental destruction, how could people living in a medieval society understand? Even if explained to them, they might not grasp it.
However, just because ordinary people don’t understand doesn’t mean those who transcend ordinary existence don’t.
With the powers of the gods above the starry sky, it was not long before the correctness of this theory and the severe consequences of natural imbalance could be deduced. Thus, a month after Donald publicly presented this theory, the only church in the Kingdom of Celt that worshipped the Goddess of Agriculture sent envoys to Dalaran to learn the essence of this theory of natural balance.
This envoy was none other than Donald’s acquaintance, Priest Thord, an elite member of the church based in Celt. Meanwhile, the clergy of the Goddess of Agriculture’s church publicly expressed their support for the theory of natural balance in all temples and sanctuaries, urging their followers to adopt it as a creed.
At the same time, oracles were delivered in the temples of the Elven Isles, commanding all elven races to follow the theory of natural balance. Since their existence, the elves have always been friends with nature; they are a true natural race. Whether it’s forest vegetation or magical beasts, they can communicate with them and live in harmony for the most part. Even the priesthoods and domains of the elven gods are mostly related to nature.
Both the Goddess of Agriculture and the elven gods attached great importance to this theory devised by a mortal, prompting other godly churches to do the same. Aside from those in the extremely evil factions—true god churches that see destruction as their purpose—virtually all true god churches in the good and neutral factions, as well as the major royal families on the continent, declared the correctness of the theory of natural balance and began to adopt it as their guiding principle, enacting relevant laws and regulations.
The more intelligent beings that embraced the theory of natural balance, the more Donald’s reputation spread, and the more faith power he gained invisibly. Even the benefits of this theory to their own plane attracted the attention of the dormant consciousness of the main world, which bestowed upon him plane favor.
Unlike before, when he merely used his will to observe the natural cycles of the world and acknowledged the authority derived from his will to impose natural punishment, this time it was a reward from the entire main world. Although it was merely a slight manifestation of plane power for the main world and not a great force, it was enormous for an individual and had a lasting effect. As Donald’s theory continued to spread, he would receive even more plane favor.
After feeling this plane favor, Donald initially paid little attention to this reward that offered no tangible benefits. However, the spirit of the artifact, the Book of Truth, was overjoyed by it. Through the explanations in the Book of Truth, Donald also understood the advantages of this plane favor.
Its strength does not directly manifest in the abilities or capabilities of the recipient, but in daily life and cultivation, they will gain more advantages than ordinary people—almost everything they do will yield twice the result with half the effort, and their strength will improve at an accelerated pace, as if they had cheats enabled. Especially at critical moments, it plays a tremendous role. For instance, such plane favor greatly increases the recipient’s luck, greatly raising the chances of encountering opportunities and reaping benefits when outside, while in times of danger, their chances of escaping increase several times over compared to when they lack such favor. Moreover, receiving plane favor means that even the gods in the starry skies will show them certain respect, because killing someone who enjoys plane favor will result in rejection or even hostility from the will of this world, significantly weakening the true gods’ influence here and even preventing them from sending avatars or wills to this world in various ways. This is a loss too great for the true gods to bear. The higher the existence’s power level, the stronger the backlash from the plane’s force after such actions. If a world’s Planar Child is killed, unless that world is destroyed, even if the killer is a powerful true god of this world, they will face destruction. A Planar Child is the being in this world that receives the most favor from the plane’s will. As the core material plane of the world, unlike other larger or smaller planes, its laws are stronger and more complete. To receive the favor of the core world’s plane force is an influence that, in the history of this world, only the gods in the heavens have possessed. Yet, Donald, a mere mortal who has just reached the level of a Golden Archmage, was able to achieve this through advanced theories—a truly incredible thing for the gods. Of course, although a few true gods sensed the operation of the plane’s force, they paid it little attention. After all, even powerful true gods, constrained by the plane’s force, cannot influence rules outside their own domains and deities. Perhaps only the legendary Supreme God has the ability to actively influence the core world’s plane force! The only one who noticed this change was the Goddess of Agriculture, as the Kingdom of Celt was considered her semi-holy land. The churches of other gods were not welcome in this relatively isolated country due to Celt’s tradition of respecting the gods from the Ancient Magic Empire. When the plane’s force changed, in a plane filled with golden fertile lands in the upper realms, a beautiful woman standing thirty feet tall, with brown hair and eyes, was the first to detect the anomaly.
This is the Fertile Fields, the sacred realm of the Goddess of Agriculture. Through the network of temples and beliefs in Celt, this goddess discovered the place where the powers of various realms ultimately converge in the First World. By wielding her supernatural abilities and seeing with the vision of a true god, she can observe most of the main world from her sacred realm, which is why her followers claim their deity to be all-knowing and all-powerful. In reality, such omniscience and omnipotence come with significant limitations. Unless within her own realm of faith, where temples, altars, and followers serve as anchors and mediums, even a true god must expend considerable divine energy to explore a certain place in the main world or other realms, and that location must not have protective barriers of equal strength. Thus, even true gods do not constantly monitor events in the main world; most information is gathered through prayers from followers and church clergy. “What an interesting little guy! Fortunately, it’s in Celt; otherwise, other true gods would get involved, and things could turn ugly!” The Goddess of Agriculture was well aware that Donald possessed two powerful bloodlines—the divine bloodline and the high elf bloodline—and now, thanks to a certain theory, he had the favor of the will of the main world. His future achievements were predictable; reaching demi-god status would be no problem at all. The more she learned about Donald, the more amazed she became. The Goddess of Agriculture was very optimistic about Donald’s growth rate and potential, which was why she had repeatedly tried to establish a friendly relationship with him. After all, most of these efforts were merely symbolic—she could gain his gratitude without any real effort. For a true god whose life is essentially eternal, it was just a fun distraction in an otherwise long existence! Who knows? These small investments might yield many times the return in the future!