Chapter 788: Recalling Bitterness and Thinking of Sweetness, Passing the Manifesto

"Members of the Progress Society! I have summoned everyone here today primarily to give you an opportunity to get to know one another.

"For a long time, you may have known that an organization called the Progress Society existed and even joined it, but you are not that familiar with the Progress Society itself.

"Now that we are all fellow travelers on the Magic Path, it would be truly pathetic if we didn't even know our own companions and friends.

"Let's start with me, and I will introduce myself to everyone."

As Xia Duo said this, the members of the Progress Society, including Dien and Sami who were already relatively familiar with him, all showed expressions of interest.

Following that, Xia Duo briefly recounted some of his experiences after entering the Tower of Time, such as studying characters late into the night and haggling over even a single Copper coin when purchasing supplies.

Of course, with such difficult experiences, there were naturally experiences worth rejoicing over and reflecting upon.

Xia Duo focused on how he utilized his Permission Level as a former Official Apprentice of the Tower of Time to facilitate the exchange of resources among apprentices and build mutual trust.

This was, in fact, the original origin of the Progress Society: a multi-person Study Group with Xia Duo at its core.

There was nothing to hide about this; for an organization that wants to grow and thrive, the greatest taboo is to be vague about its origins, philosophy, system, and personnel.

That kind of ambiguity is a clear sign of a cult organization; who would dare to join it sincerely!

Regarding the Progress Society, Xia Duo not only wanted to talk about it, he wanted to talk about it extensively, laying bare every root and past event so that everyone would know why only the Progress Society represents progress, why one should join the Progress Society, and what joining the Progress Society means!

With Xia Duo taking the lead, the Formal Members began their self-introductions, recounting their past experiences. Xia Duo watched all of this from the sidelines, feeling a strange sense of familiarity and, inexplicably, a sense of witnessing history.

"Hello everyone, my name is Dium. My family lives in Xiaoyang Village, west of Savile Town. I, I—"

Whether it was from being overly excited or overly nervous, Dium became somewhat stuttering after only saying a few words. Later, with the encouragement of the crowd, especially Xia Duo, he continued:

"Thank you, Progress Society, for allowing me to come into contact with real Magic! And thank you, Mailun; if it weren't for you tutoring me regardless of your own loss, I wouldn't be able to stand here and meet everyone!"

A farmer's son, hence somewhat precocious, but also possessing a simplicity that children raised in town lacked. Of course, here, everyone had only one identity, and that was Spellcaster.

Listening to the speeches of these Progress Society members, Xia Duo could not help but be moved. What they mentioned most were the regular exchange meetings organized by the Progress Society and the selfless explanations provided by advanced members.

On Earth, this would almost be the mechanism that a normal School should have, but just this alone made them very satisfied.

They could not yet think as far as social reform or the development of civilization, but even just this was enough to make the emergence of the Progress Society quite necessary.

……

After everyone finished their introductions, all the Formal Members and Probationary Members of the Progress Society jointly passed the Progress Society Manifesto, which detailed the origin, program, and organizational system of the Progress Society.

And they proposed a long-term common goal for all members—

To establish a highly developed Magic civilization where everyone is a Spellcaster.

This was also the first time Xia Duo had put the concept of "Magic civilization" down on paper, although the Progress Society Manifesto did not provide very clear indicators for what exactly constituted a highly developed Magic civilization.

But the premise that "everyone is a Spellcaster" was enough to make one's blood boil!

……

After the meeting, Xia Duo had the 30 Associate Members leave first, keeping the 17 Formal Members and Probationary Members, including himself.

With fewer people, the Formal Members, especially Dien, Sami, and others who were closer to Xia Duo, could no longer maintain the solemnity of a formal occasion and hurriedly asked Xia Duo:

"Xia Duo, what exactly does your Magic civilization look like? Can you tell us first?"

"Yeah, tell us first!"

Each and every one of them had their focus on this so-called Magic civilization. However, Xia Duo did not blame them; perhaps that "everyone is a Spellcaster" was just too attractive.

The common goal was too distant; what Xia Duo cared about more was that the appearance of the manifesto meant that the Progress Society had truly become an organization with vitality.

And this was the foundation for achieving the common goal.

Of course, it was possible that the content of the manifesto was something he had already discussed to some extent with Dien and the others before today. In their view, today's manifesto was merely a summary, and that exaggerated goal of "everyone is a Spellcaster" was more important.

"Magic civilization! I think it should be an era where every individual can be fully developed!"

Xia Duo said with deep emotion.

In fact, the phrase "let every individual be fully developed" seems simple, but even his hometown had failed to achieve this.

Only in this new Universe where eternal life might be possible did he dare to propose such a viewpoint; otherwise, it would truly be a fantasy!

And now, he truly had the urge to fight for it.

After all, there is a big difference between potentially seeing it with one's own eyes and it being impossible to see.

On Earth, Xia Duo was just a small screw fighting for this goal, and he himself felt lost; how could he have understood the reformist passion of the leaders of the Progress Society!

But now, he truly understood it—that surging passion, different from physiological experiences, gushing out from the depths of his Soul. He truly had an urge to transform the world!

Moreover, he believed that this passion and this urge would continue for a long time to come, becoming the support of his heart and an inextinguishable power.

……

After imagining the scene of a Magic civilization for a while, Xia Duo told everyone the purpose of keeping them behind: "In a while, I will leave the Tower of Time. The time is uncertain. You must maintain the stable development of the Progress Society. The Academic Affairs Office and the Magic Technician Office must not slack off, and you must actively develop new members."

"What about the limit of 30 people?" Dien suddenly asked.

"It no longer exists, but you must also pay attention to the influence. Try to develop from among the apprentices, and keep the number under one hundred for now. We'll talk about the rest when I return!"

"I understand!"

"As long as you understand!"

Xia Duo nodded. He was still at ease with Dien; it had always been Dien who handled the daily affairs of the Progress Society, and almost nothing had gone wrong.

He figured this time would not disappoint him either.

Finally, Xia Duo added: "Do not slack off on the internal exchange meetings of the Progress Society after I leave; keep an eye on them and organize them regularly. Additionally, you can organize some open exchange meetings outside the Progress Society to spread the philosophy of the Progress Society, and at the same time, attract and observe potential apprentices."

"Mm, I will supervise it personally, don't you worry!" Dien agreed immediately.

Xia Duo said again: "Everyone else must also cooperate with Dien to maintain the united and upward atmosphere of the Progress Society; do not engage in infighting."

Everyone responded in agreement.

Afterward, Xia Duo gave a few more instructions before leaving the meeting room.