Chapter 107: End of the Article
Chu Jiu looked at the notification, somewhat dazed.
The black big cat beside him “meow-ed” softly, “What’s wrong?”
Knowing that the big cat was worried about him, Chu Jiu quickly said, “It’s nothing, it’s just that system in my head just gave me a new notification, telling me to find the ‘first and last guardian’ within 24 hours, and then use the big shark’s teeth to repair the rift…”
Black Big Cat: “Any ideas?”
Chu Jiu thought for a moment, even more confused, “I have a little, but… I’m not sure…”
He remembered that there was indeed a “guardian” in this world—
In the rarely visited Azure Icefield, that solitary giant stone statue was called the “Guardian.”
What the statue guarded was precisely the “Initial Tree.”
These characteristics perfectly matched the system notification.
But what Chu Jiu couldn’t understand was: the Azure Icefield was at the northernmost end of the Carrot Continent, across a frozen sea.
From the royal city to the Azure Icefield, and then to that “Initial Tree,” even taking secret passages, riding Bodo birds, and getting Kaja’s help, it would take at least twenty days.
But the system only gave him 24 hours?
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but frown, wondering if he had misunderstood something.
At this moment, the black big cat said again, “If you’re not sure, just ask your ‘system’.”
Chu Jiu: “Huh? But my system never answers questions, it only pops up to give information when it wants to…”
Black Big Cat: “Close your eyes and imagine your golden hamster. The more detailed the better.”
Chu Jiu was a little confused, but he still did as he was told.
Golden hamster… small wings… round cheeks…
Bang!
A golden light flashed.
Chu Jiu opened his eyes and saw the golden hamster fluttering its wings in front of him.
Black Big Cat: “This is your ‘system’. Once it materializes, it can answer your questions.”
Chu Jiu was secretly surprised, thinking, isn’t this my “spiritual body”? Why is it also the system at the same time? He obediently accepted the suggestion and asked, “Little hamster, is the ‘first and last guardian’ you just mentioned that statue in the Azure Icefield?”
The little hamster nodded its chubby head vigorously.
Chu Jiu: “!”
“Ah, so you really can answer questions! Then why have you never answered before?”
The little hamster clasped its paws together and held them up to its mouth, looking somewhat aggrieved.
Chu Jiu didn’t question the little hamster further, but instead became more troubled, “So, that means I have to get to the Azure Icefield within 24 hours and find the guardian…”
How was that possible?
The little hamster suddenly raised its small arm and pointed its small finger at the black big cat beside them, chirping happily.
The meaning was clear: let the black big cat take you there!
Before Chu Jiu could speak, the black big cat responded, “I’ll carry you.”
“Traveling from here, we should be able to arrive within 24 hours.”
The big cat paused, then raised a paw and gently touched Chu Jiu’s hair, “However, once the rift is repaired…”
“Chu Jiu, as ‘outsiders,’ we won’t be able to stay in this world.”
Hearing these words, Chu Jiu first froze on the spot, then let out a somewhat bewildered “ah.”
All he had been thinking about just now was “where is the guardian,” “how can I get there in time,” and “how to repair it,” completely forgetting to consider “what repairing the rift means.”
Or rather, subconsciously… he had gradually forgotten that “he was an outsider.”
“Forgetting” didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
Eventually, they would have to leave.
Himself, Little Can, Rawr Rawr Rabbit, Glup-Glup, Kakaba…
They all had to leave.
He lowered his head and stood blankly for a while, then looked at the black big cat, “Then… I’ll let Kakaba say goodbye to the Great Beaver, and leave some things for Clara and the others, will there still be time?”
The black big cat’s eyes were very gentle, “There will be time.”
Chu Jiu nodded, “I’ll be right back.”
*
Half a day later.
Having received the signal, Clara led the guard straight into the royal city.
Prince Halsin greeted her.
After clarifying the King’s life and death and the association’s whereabouts, Clara looked around, “Where’s Chu Jiu?”
Where was the young man who had single-handedly shouldered the greatest danger and saved countless lives?
Prince Halsin’s expression was complicated, “…Go take a look in the banquet hall. He left some things for you.”
Clara’s expression changed, and she immediately strode into the palace and pushed open the doors of the banquet hall.
This room, which could accommodate hundreds of people and was known as the “most magnificent hall in the royal city,” was now piled high with various items.
At a rough glance, there were potions, ores, salt, sugar, cloth, paper, various tools…
There was even a strangely shaped pointed-bottom iron pot.
And on a long table in the center, there was a letter with the words “To Clara and everyone in Bean Village.”
Clara hurried to the table and opened the letter.
The letter was naturally written by Chu Jiu. The content was simple: “The pioneering work in Bean Village is over, I’m going to the next place to pioneer, don’t worry.” and “I hope Bean Village can successfully upgrade to Bean Town, and then become Bean City.”
Looking at the crooked and illegible words on the light yellow bamboo paper, Clara’s eyes turned slightly red, and a sad smile appeared,
“Going to the next place to pioneer…”
“He’s gone to the world beyond the Carrot Continent, hasn’t he…”
“With his spirit beasts…”
Although Prince Halsin beside her had heard Clara’s words clearly, he was somewhat puzzled, “The world beyond the Carrot Continent? Is that further west than the Nether Jungle?”
Clara shook her head, “No.”
“It’s another, completely different world.”
Prince Halsin: “?”
Clara sighed, carefully put away the letter, and said to Halsin, “When shall we discuss the reconstruction?”
Chu Jiu’s “pioneering” was complete.
Our work had just begun.
Don’t worry, Pioneer Chu Jiu.
The Bean Village you poured your heart into will definitely become an amazing city of miracles.
*
Azure Icefield.
Chu Jiu jumped off the black big cat’s back.
During the journey just now, he had heard many, many things from the black big cat about mental power, spiritual bodies, the insect race, and Arsa Star.
He now knew that the world where Bean Village was located was called the “WT0906 Plane” in Arsa Star.
This plane had nothing to do with Arsa Star originally, and the barrier in between was so thick that even the Nine Heavens Shark couldn’t pass through.
But in the Arsa Star plane, a group of insects first secretly created “accidents” to kill the last “healer of spiritual power” on Arsa Star, and then massively invaded Arsa Star, intending to completely annex Arsa Star while Lu Qingyan and the others were unable to heal spiritual bodies.
Later, a small part of the insect race, on the verge of complete annihilation, used the power of the insect core to forcibly distort space-time and jump to the WT0906 plane.
After arriving here, the insect race discovered that although WT0906 was still countless years away from interstellar civilization, its humans possessed the “genes to evolve into spiritual power users.”
For the insect race, which could not generate spiritual power on its own, absorbing human spiritual power was the best way to satisfy their desires and promote their evolution.
However, according to the rules of plane operation, humans would only spontaneously evolve into spiritual power users after a certain plane had developed to the interstellar age.
Just like rice seedlings will only sprout when the time comes, and beans will only flower in season.
The insect race was unwilling to wait tens of thousands of years.
Therefore, they catalyzed WT0906, allowing people who should not have possessed spiritual power to acquire this ability prematurely.
And those monsters that permeated WT0906 were byproducts of this catalysis.
When catalyzing this plane, they noticed that if the civilization level of a region was relatively high, the catalysis would become more difficult, and fewer “ability users” could be harvested.
The more backward the civilization, the more humans relied on “abilities,” and the smoother the catalysis would be.
Thus, they began to try every means to accelerate the regression of WT0906.
They induced monster riots, had modified bugs destroy old facilities, and used various imperceptible insects to lay down “surveillance” in every corner—once they detected any budding signs of civilization restarting, they would not hesitate to nip them in the bud.
Because they didn’t need to be colonizers, they just needed meat on a plate.
They were almost successful.
Until some humans who were skeptical of abilities appeared, some humans who desperately wanted to pass on knowledge appeared, until Sea Moon City, Bean Village, and the strange pioneer appeared.
The story that followed was what Chu Jiu knew and had experienced.
But Chu Jiu still had one thing he didn’t understand.
He stroked the black big cat’s warm and fluffy head:
“That dead worm said I was a monster from Arsa Star, and that I ‘actually didn’t die’ and followed them here.”
“According to you, I have a spiritual body, and my spiritual body secretly turned into a system to stay by my side without being noticed…”
“Plus, my system can also help Rawr Rawr Rabbit and the others recover their health.”
“Thinking about it this way, the most reasonable explanation is that ‘I was actually the healer who was killed by the insect race earliest’? I didn’t die, and I ended up in this plane?”
“But I clearly grew up on Earth. All my knowledge comes from Earth.”
The black big cat subconsciously nuzzled Chu Jiu’s palm with its head, “You can ask that ‘guardian’ about this.”
As it spoke, the stone statue holding a broad-bladed greatsword, fully ten meters tall, walked step by step to Chu Jiu.
Just like last time, its footsteps made the ground here tremble slightly.
Unlike last time, after seeing Chu Jiu, it bowed deeply, “Master.”
Chu Jiu: …?
The guardian raised its head, “Please forgive me for not being able to greet Master last time.”
“You instructed that when you first returned here, you would not recognize me.”
“The second time you returned here would be when you were about to leave permanently.”
Chu Jiu: …?
He was even more confused.
The guardian said again, “You also said that before you left, you wanted me to tell you the whole story from beginning to end—”
Just as Chu Jiu had guessed, he came from Arsa Star and was indeed the “healer inheritor” who was “assassinated” earliest.
At that time, Chu Jiu was just a child, without any ability to resist.
But even so, the insect race did not truly “assassinate successfully.”
Chu Jiu’s spiritual body, at the critical moment, hid both his physical body and spiritual body in the rift of space-time.
Then, taking advantage of the insect race tearing through space-time, Chu Jiu’s spiritual body sent his weak physical body into the space-time turbulence, hoping that the rules of space-time attraction would allow his physical body to return to Arsa Star, or fall into a plane similar to Arsa Star.
And his spiritual body followed the fleeing insect race to WT0906.
His spiritual body, his spiritual body in its infancy, which was that golden hamster, although it had not undergone any training or upbringing, relied on its unique and powerful intuition, as well as the protective consciousness inherited from its bloodline, to fight the insect race alone.
Since the little hamster and the insect race arrived in WT0906 at the same time, when the insect race sensed this world, the little hamster’s spiritual power and the little hamster’s actions were like natural background noise, which would be ignored by the insect race.
It was this only advantage that gave the little hamster the opportunity to make many preparations.
The little hamster first hid in this ancient ruin located in the Azure Icefield, and in the name of some lost religion—the insect race never opposed religion—planted the “Initial Tree.”
This tree, this tree infused with the little hamster’s spiritual power, gradually grew up, and although it could not directly intercept monsters, it had a more magical effect:
The Initial Tree could continuously spread its pollen into the air and ground, and then let these pollen, which were even more inconspicuous than insects, collect information about “monsters” for it.
Not only that, but enough pollen could also, to a certain extent, restore the clarity and rationality of monsters.
Speaking to this point, the guardian paused for a moment and slowly said, “Master, have you noticed the ‘road signs’ on the Carrot Continent?”
Chu Jiu: “Of course.”
“I’ve always been curious about how these road signs were made and why they have such a peculiar effect—”
“Could it also be made from the trunk of the Initial Tree? But they just look like ordinary wood.”
Guardian: “That is ordinary wood.”
Chu Jiu: “?”
Guardian: “Road signs are just ordinary road signs. What is truly effective are the imperceptible ‘pollen’ in the air, imbued with spiritual power.”
“This spiritual power suppressed the monsters’ urge to attack humans, causing them to fear ‘human areas within the road signs’.”
“The so-called monster riots were actually caused by the insect race’s spiritual power overpowering this part of the spiritual power, causing the monsters to completely lose control.”
Chu Jiu: …
So that’s how it is.
No wonder that in the end, I could freely decide whether monsters could enter the “road sign range.”
Thinking of this, Chu Jiu suddenly realized, “So, that [Black Box] was also made by the little hamster?!”
Guardian: “Yes…”
“Your spiritual body, in order to find a way to completely suppress the insect race, collected various materials and finally completed the recipe for the [Black Box].”
“However, limited by its weak physical body, the spiritual body was unable to evolve and could not take more actions…”
“Finally, the spiritual body created the ‘statue guarding the Initial Tree’—which is me, this guardian—and then entered a dormant state, waiting for the physical body to mature and be attracted to this space-time.”
After listening to the guardian’s explanation of the past, Chu Jiu was silent for a moment and closed his eyes again.
He summoned the golden hamster.
Looking at the little hamster flapping its wings diligently in front of him, Chu Jiu sighed and stroked its small head, “You’ve worked hard, little guy.”
You’re a spirit beast baby who has always been working hard.
And working alone, lonely, without companions, not even knowing when your master would return.
The little hamster raised its face, hesitantly stretched out its small paws, as if waiting for Chu Jiu to high-five it.
Chu Jiu touched its soft little paws.
At this moment, Chu Jiu heard the little hamster ask softly:
“That, where’s the kitty?”
“I, I miss the kitty…”
…So it wasn’t waiting for me to high-five it a few times.
The black big cat, hearing what the little hamster said, took the initiative to speak:
“Next, the guardian should tell you what to do.”
“I’ll go back to Arsa Star first.”
“We’ll… see each other in that world.”
Chu Jiu: “……Okay.”
A moment later, the black big cat suddenly turned into a pure black kitten.
The little hamster in Chu Jiu’s hand, who had been a bit dazed, smiled immediately when it saw Little Can and flew over to hug him tightly.
Chu Jiu: ……
Alright then.
Chu Jiu called Rawr Rawr Rabbit, Glup-Glup, and Kakaba in front of him, had them stand in a row with Little Can, who had the little hamster on his head, and patted each of them:
“Little guys, you’re all the best, the very best babies.”
“Now, our agreement has been completed.”
“Let’s go home together.”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit: “Roar roar roar!”
Glup-Glup: “Glup-Glup!”
Kakaba: “Dang dang dang…?”
Chu Jiu: “Huh? Does Kakaba still have something to do?”
Kakaba: “Dang dang dang, that, the agreement, we still have an agree…”
Before Kakaba could finish speaking, Little Can let out a fierce “meow,” abruptly interrupting Kakaba.
Kakaba retracted his raised little paw and shook his head repeatedly, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing, the agreement has been fulfilled!”
Chu Jiu: …What on earth are these little guys playing at?
Although the little guys were fine, Chu Jiu himself still had something to deal with.
He opened the background interface for the last time, looking at the status bar that had been with him for almost three years.
Exploration Rate 92%, Exploration Points 32036, all three area maps unlocked, Bean Village resident status: ecstatic…
Chu Jiu looked at the only “pending notification.”
When leaving the royal city, he received a system message telling him that he had completed the related hidden event [The King’s Regret].
In this way, he could obtain a total of 52000 Exploration Points from [The King’s Regret], [The Undead Physician’s Obsession], [The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wish], [Even the Setting Sun Should Not Be Underestimated], [The Boy’s True Wish], [The Merchant’s Small Dream], and [Protecting the Merchant’s Small Dream].
Or, Chu Jiu could choose a “super value gift.”
He tapped the little hamster’s forehead, “Little hamster, do you know what that ‘super value gift’ that can be exchanged for 52000 Exploration Points actually is?”
The little hamster raised its head, “What are you most worried about right now?”
A hint of unease flashed through Chu Jiu’s heart.
On the way here, he had already told Lu Qingyan about his worries.
He said that Bean Village was very good now, and the Carrot Continent was also very good. Thriving, full of vitality.
However, the history of Earth told him that what often accompanied “vigorous development” was “survival of the fittest” and “ruthless plunder.”
Behind the comfortable cotton fabrics and delicious sugar cubes were slaves who had left their homes and could never return, countless wronged souls crying in the manors.
What would his textile mills and sugar refineries in Bean Village eventually become?
Would humans, no longer needing to guard against monsters, turn their energy to scheming against each other? Would they use it to plunder and enslave other races?
Speaking to this point, Chu Jiu said with self-deprecating humor, “I’m really overthinking things.”
The black big cat turned its head and nuzzled his hand, “No.”
“This isn’t overthinking.”
“For the vast majority of civilizations, this is their inevitable path.”
“But… although rare, there are always exceptions.”
“Everything you’ve done might bring an exception to this civilization.”
Chu Jiu pursed his lips, thinking about Lu Qingyan’s words.
The little hamster vibrated its wings and flew in front of Chu Jiu, “This ‘gift’ can alleviate your worries.”
Chu Jiu: !
In that case, let’s exchange the gift.
[Gift generation in progress…]
[Gift generated.]
[Host has obtained: “Heart of Origin,” born from the fusion of many wishes.]
[Heart of Origin: After the host leaves, the Heart of Origin will automatically decompose and leave a trace of “inheritance” for all races that have interacted with the host. This inheritance will remind them, as well as their descendants, of their original wishes and how their friends and ancestors would choose in such situations, every time they make a major decision in the future. However, the ultimate effect of this little bit of inheritance is completely unpredictable.]
Chu Jiu stared at the notification for a long time, then sighed heavily.
He turned around and handed the [Fangs that Cross the Nine Heavens Wall] to the guardian, saying, “It’s all taken care of.”
Guardian: “Understood, Master. I will guide you to complete the final repair and send you away.”
Chu Jiu: “…What will happen to you after we leave?”
Guardian: “Master, I am originally just a stone driven by your spiritual power, acting according to your instructions.”
“After you leave, the Initial Tree will no longer be necessary, and I will return to being a stone.”
A sense of sadness rose in Chu Jiu’s heart again.
He bowed to the ten-meter-tall stone guardian, “Thank you for your hard work.”
A faint smile appeared on the guardian’s face, which should not have had any expression:
“I completed Master’s instructions, protected the important tree, and waited for the returning Master.”
“I, who was just a pile of stones, met a very cute little bird, became friends with him, and heard the most terrifying singing in the world.”
“I lived a very interesting life.”
“Goodbye, Master.”
*
Half a year later.
Arsa Star.
Chu Jiu sat at the table, trying to create a small mushroom with his spiritual power to feed the little hamster.
The mushroom was created, but the little hamster ate it reluctantly, its face saying: the ones you bake with real mushrooms are still tastier.
Chu Jiu: ……
“But mushrooms made with spiritual power can make you grow faster—no picky eating, hurry up and eat.”
The little hamster nibbled on the mushroom with a wronged expression, occasionally secretly glancing at the optical brain Chu Jiu had placed aside.
Chu Jiu knew what the little hamster was looking at: it was waiting for Lu Qingyan to return.
This little fellow was clearly his spiritual body, yet it was more attached to Lu Qingyan—to be precise, more attached to Lu Qingyan’s spiritual body in the form of Little Can.
Chu Jiu now knew:
Theoretically, since Lu Qingyan and the others’ spiritual bodies had recovered, they should no longer maintain their infantile state, let alone this kind of “infantile state with independent consciousness.”
But strangely, these individuals’ spiritual bodies could seamlessly switch between the “fully body-controlled adult spiritual body” and the “infantile spiritual body with independent consciousness.”
The physician repeatedly checked and stated that both the adult and infantile states were very healthy.
The physician also said: this must be a miracle brought about by a top-tier healing spiritual power user!
Chu Jiu: …
So, anything you can’t find a reason for, you just call it a “miracle,” huh?
After the little hamster reluctantly finished nibbling on the mushroom, the optical brain actually popped up a few messages.
But it wasn’t from Lu Qingyan.
It was a message from the group chat “Bean Village Spirit Beasts.”
Kang Ruoding, Tu Mingyuan, and Shu Yiheng, who had regained consciousness, had pulled Lu Qingyan and Chu Jiu into a “group.”
There was nothing else in this group, just photos and videos of the “infantile spiritual bodies.”
For example, right now, a video of “Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Kakaba fighting” popped up on the optical brain.
Chu Jiu tsked twice, thinking that Rawr Rawr Rabbit definitely couldn’t win, always getting pinned down, truly the more useless, the more it loved to play…
Just as he was watching the little rabbit and the little capybara fight, another message popped up on the optical brain.
[Lu Qingyan: I’m at your door. Do you have time?]
Chu Jiu quickly ran to open the door.
Outside the door, the handsome young man’s lips curved into a slight smile, and he reached out to brush the hair falling over Chu Jiu’s forehead, “I’ll take you to see something, you’ll definitely be interested.”
Lu Qingyan directly took Chu Jiu to a specially set up monitoring center in the Imperial Military Department.
This monitoring center occasionally received information from unknown civilizations across galaxies and even across time and space.
Lu Qingyan didn’t let the staff do it, but lit up the screen for Chu Jiu himself.
While operating it, he said to Chu Jiu, “You know, the time flow of WT0906 is completely different from ours.”
Chu Jiu: “Mhm mhm.”
Lu Qingyan: “Especially after we completely disconnected our spiritual power link, their space-time changes are already under another system.”
Chu Jiu: “Mhm mhm!”
Lu Qingyan: “This morning, the monitoring team observed an interstellar probe.”
“This probe came from another time-space and was swept into the turbulence, arriving in our space.”
“Based on the items carried in the probe, the staff speculated that this is a civilization trying to enter the stellar age, sending out ‘expressions of goodwill’ and ‘proof of existence’ to interstellar space.”
“The items carried by the probe recorded text, numbers, and images.”
“From the records, it can be seen that this is a civilization jointly created by seven completely different races.”
Seven races?!
Chu Jiu realized something.
His heart began to beat wildly.
Lu Qingyan continued, “Besides the text and images, there’s also a song.”
“A song commemorating ‘the friend of all races, the legendary figure who continued civilization’.”
Chu Jiu: “…A song?”
Lu Qingyan: “Do you want to hear this song?”
Chu Jiu couldn’t even speak at this moment, only nodded.
A moment later, the song began.
“Ah ah ah, on the other side of the mountain, at the end of the river, there was a two-legged beast, hairy and brave, kind and strong…”
“Ah ah ah, the two-legged beast brought fire! Ah ah ah, the two-legged beast brought sweet nectar!”
“La la la, our good friend…”
“Our two-legged beast friend…”
It was the song Little Gray Bird had composed for Chu Jiu, the unique “Our Two-Legged Beast Friend.”
After who knows how many millennia, it was reinterpreted by other Feather Clan members and sent into the sky.
Chu Jiu’s nose and eyes started bleeding and tearing at the same time.
He wiped his nosebleed while wiping away his tears.
He cried and laughed at the same time.
He choked out:
“They, the Feather Clan, they really sent such a song into space?”
“Aren’t they afraid that people from other planets will think it’s a declaration of war?”
Lu Qingyan hugged the tear-streaked Chu Jiu, carefully wiping away his tears, and said softly:
“What you worried about didn’t happen—or even if it did, it was corrected.”
“That world didn’t fall into darkness. They are moving towards a higher level of civilization in their own way.”
Chu Jiu nodded vigorously, his voice still somewhat broken,
“The two-legged beast’s friends, the Bean Village partners, are amazing.”
Lu Qingyan lowered his head and gently kissed Chu Jiu’s hair, as if comforting and affirming:
“Because their two-legged beast friend is the best, the most amazing pioneer.”
