NOVEL NEXT Chapter 407: Gaining Perspective
Chapter 407: Gaining Perspective
In the hands of the thirty-five Supreme Beings, each had crafted a crude stone axe or stone knife for self-defense.
Xu Lian, however, made a stone sickle, a personal preference inspired by the legendary weapon of the Grim Reaper.
Whether it was a weapon or not didn’t matter much to him. In this environment, he felt that a sickle would suffice.
His main concern was practicality.
In these wild mountains, covered with thick grass and tangled vines, there were no paths to follow. With a sickle in his hand, he could cut through the grass and vines, making it easier to forge a way forward.
He believed that with their current frail bodies, if they encountered wild birds or beasts, they would be completely defenseless – easy prey. The stone axes and knives they had made were more for psychological comfort than actual utility. In truth, they wouldn’t be much help in a real fight. A sickle, on the other hand, was far more practical.
This insight stemmed from his past life in a rural village. When he and his friends went up the mountain to gather firewood, he noticed that the chopping tools weren’t straight edged. There were no perfectly straight chopping tools in the world-they always had a slight curve. They were not only used for chopping, but also for cutting, which made moving through the wilderness easier.
Aside from their stone tools, all of them had wrapped themselves in bark and leaves, resembling primitive beings from the Stone Age.
Xu Lian weighed the stone sickle in his hand and suddenly mused aloud, “Esteemed predecessors, could the stone chopsticks from the hidden foundation of the Qian Dynasty have originated like this?”
The Supremes were momentarily stunned. Recalling the crude and simple appearance of the stone chopsticks that had emerged from the crimson vortex of the Qian Dynasty’s Hidden Foundation, they realized that the tools they now held in their hands bore a striking resemblance. It was quite possible that the stone chopsticks had indeed originated this way.
“The hidden foundation of the Qian Dynasty was established by its first ancestor, who lived during the Primordial Era. In the beginning, before cultivation, the first ancestor of the Qian Dynasty might have resembled an ape-like being. The everyday objects he used were probably made of stone!”
“Nine Heavens Divine Son, are you saying that you’ve found a clue?”
Xu Lian chuckled. “I was just speculating out loud. If we’ve truly been transported to the Primordial Era, then we might currently be on the same starting line as the first ancestor of the Qian Dynasty. If we can find this ancestor, perhaps we can prevent them from establishing the Hidden Foundation”.
There was one thing he didn’t say: with the advantage of his left-hand holy bone and divine skull, he arguably had a head start even beyond the first ancestor of the Qian Dynasty. While the ancestor was just starting his journey, Xu Lian was already eighty meters ahead, only twenty meters away from the finish line… How would the ancestor respond to that?
Heaven’s Treasury Supreme indifferently remarked, “At a time like this, are you still thinking about solving the issue of the stone chopsticks? Survival is our priority right now. Have you lost sight of what’s important?”
Xu Lian replied, “This is something we cannot afford to ignore. Even if we manage to leave this place alive and return to our original world, if the hidden foundation of the Qian Dynasty remains unresolved, we will have violated the rules of the Great Wheel of Calamity and still face annihilation. Isn’t that right?”
The Supreme of Heaven’s Treasury fell silent.
The Supremes began to deliberate.
“The Nine Heavens Divine Son is right. We have three goals right now. First, we must figure out how to survive in what appears to be the Primordial Era. Second, we need to find a way to return to the Strange Era. Third, we must locate the stone chopsticks and find a way to resolve the issue of the Qian Dynasty’s hidden foundation at its root. Otherwise, even if we return to the Strange Era, we will still be eradicated by the Great Wheel of Calamity”.
“In that case, let us focus on these three goals. First, we must find out exactly where we are. Then, we must find a way back. Finally, we must solve the mystery of the stone chopsticks and find the hidden foundation of the Qian Dynasty.”..
After finalizing their plan, Xu Lian and the thirty-five Supreme Beings sprang into action.
First, Xu Lian climbed a tall tree. As the saying goes, “Climb high to see far,” and he wanted to survey the surroundings for any useful discoveries.
Since he was the only “young ape” among a group of “elderly apes,” it naturally fell to him to perform tasks like climbing trees.
Of course, if they were to encounter any “beautiful female apes”, it would undoubtedly be his responsibility to handle the situation – after all, the “elderly apes” were hardly in any condition to do so.
This was just a lighthearted joke in Xu Lian’s mind. If this was truly the Primordial Era, it would be best not to encounter any “beautiful female apes”. Even if they did, he had to remain composed. He couldn’t let anything happen. After all, the Butterfly Effect could have terrifying consequences – who knows if it might alter the future Strange Era?
However, this concern was somewhat exaggerated. Even if the First Ancestor of the Qian Dynasty possessed extraordinary abilities, it was impossible for them to change the entire trajectory of the Strange Era-it simply wasn’t feasible.
Anyone capable of such a feat would have to be an immortal at the very least, operating within the realm of immortals.
If the first ancestor of the Qian Dynasty had reached the realm of immortality, he wouldn’t have aged and died. There would have been no need to build a hidden foundation to secure the dynasty’s wealth.
So this was a paradox.
To put it bluntly, while the Qian Dynasty’s Hidden Foundation might have disrupted time and space, pulling them into the Primordial Era, it was still possible. After all, Xu Lian himself had personally experienced crossing the river of time back in Wuguang City. A “god-level” figure like the first ancestor of the Qian Dynasty could potentially achieve something similar.
However, the Primordial Era was already a fixed point in the past. Even if they had been transported there, they couldn’t possibly alter the overarching direction of the Strange Era.
If one were to view each era as a great river of time, then they were merely fish swimming within it. Occasionally, they might swim upstream to the middle or upper reaches, but they could never change the flow of the entire river. At most, they could create a few ripples in the upper reaches, but that was all.
“Little Xu, do you see anything?”
Dantai Wujie, the Supreme of the Yin Dynasty, looked up from the base of the tree where Xu Lian had climbed to its highest point. He was growing more and more fond of this younger generation.
He decided that once they returned, he would reward the current emperor of the Yin Dynasty handsomely. The emperor had produced such an excellent daughter who had become the Dao companion of a prodigy like Xu Lian-a strategic boon for the Yin Dynasty in these chaotic times.
At the very least, an alliance between the Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands and the Yin Dynasty would ensure good relations. The Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands were an immensely powerful faction within the Yin Dynasty’s borders. Maintaining a strong relationship with them gave the Yin Dynasty a significant advantage in these turbulent times-they could advance when necessary and retreat securely. It was perfect.
“I don’t see much.”
Although the tree Xu Lian stood on was tall, it was nothing remarkable in the vast wilderness of these mountains. His view was blocked by the surrounding peaks, preventing him from seeing too far.
Dantai Wujie asked, “You didn’t see anything?”
Xu Lian had no choice but to describe in detail what he had observed. “I saw two bears fighting over the carcass of a wild ox. I also saw a mountain deer riding on the back of another deer, and an eagle carrying a half-year-old baby eagle.”
Dantai Wujie remarked optimistically, “Hmm, it’s still something. The fact that the deer are reproducing suggests that it must be autumn or winter”.
The other Supremes remained silent. The clues were far too few.
Xu Lian descended from the tree and conferred with the Supremes. They decided to go in the direction of the two mountain deer, since everyone was starving. They needed to hunt some game to fill their stomachs.
Hopefully, the two deer would stay busy with their courtship and not leave too quickly.
The fact that Supreme-level experts could feel hunger was an astonishing phenomenon in itself.
If they were to starve to death here, it would certainly make for quite a laughing stock if word got out.