PART 3

Mr. Sun lowered his head.

Jiang Ying smiled, “Because with a brain domain evolutionary’s intelligence, after receiving this information, you would continue investigating deeper, and then you wouldn’t be far from discovering the Five-Colored Stone’s secret. Teacher naturally wouldn’t tell you. I think teacher now regrets telling me too.”

Mr. Sun said solemnly, “The Five-Colored Stone was always just my suspicion. Only today, seeing that mural, did I dare truly confirm its existence. After confirming its existence, many questions indeed became clear.”

Jiang Ying sneered, “At least you’re not lying about that. If I hadn’t entered this underground city, I couldn’t have confirmed the Five-Colored Stone’s existence either. I may have imagined such a thing should exist, just not knowing what it was.”

Cong Xia’s voice trembled slightly, “What exactly is the Five-Colored Stone?”

Jiang Ying asked back, “Do you believe the story of Nüwa mending the heavens?”

Cong Xia was stunned. If ancient gods really existed, then Nüwa…

Jiang Ying said, “As our understanding of this new world grows, I’m sure you already know that the Cambrian consciousness is an Earth balance mechanism. We can compare it to a computer—it doesn’t think independently, but it evaluates Earth’s creatures. For dangerous species that exceed assessment values, it activates destruction mechanisms to ensure other species can live and multiply in a balanced environment, keeping Earth running in balance. In this planet’s history, the Cambrian consciousness has launched destruction mechanisms multiple times. Humans have documented quite a few instances where Earth became a harsh environment unsuitable for any species. After hundreds of millions of years, Earth revived, and new creatures emerged like mushrooms after rain—like the dinosaurs we know so well, or the first Cambrian period. The Cambrian consciousness has always been adjusting the balance of Earth’s species. As passengers in its long river of life, this time it’s humanity’s turn. The evolution process always tends toward greater power, especially since humans evolved the most terrifying intelligence soon after birth. With intelligence, humans were destined to evolve into a species that could threaten Earth. We used millions of years to evolve to create weapons capable of destroying Earth countless times, and we’re even researching how to abandon Earth and seek extraterrestrial civilizations. Do you think the Cambrian consciousness would spare us? But much evidence suggests the Cambrian consciousness didn’t just start wanting to cleanse humanity—it had this intention very early on. Imagine if the Cambrian consciousness realized humans possessed intelligence that other species lacked soon after human birth. Perhaps from that time on, humanity’s danger assessment value had already exceeded the warning line, and the Cambrian consciousness wanted to do something. Following this line of thought, many things can be explained. Many savior gods praised in human mythological legends are closely connected to humanity facing major disasters. Foreign myths have great floods and Noah’s Ark, China has Pangu creating heaven and earth, and Nüwa mending heaven and creating humans. What if these all really existed? What if these disasters were all the Cambrian consciousness launching major cleanses against humanity? Pangu creating heaven and earth was to eliminate toxic gas released by the Cambrian consciousness, Nüwa mending heaven was to fill ozone holes. Understanding it this way, all myths and savior gods are actually about the Cambrian consciousness wanting to destroy humanity, while human gods fight back!”

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Kkydt Zkdt dseele, “Mbyv’p xu qkdyz bursvblpkp. Mbspl rlsrzl obs nsxxkvvle pwknkel kd vbl xwayzp vs pralye tldlp olal rascyczu yzz xwvydvp. Mbspl okvb pwrlaksa okpesx olal caykd esxykd lhszwvksdyaklp, vbspl okvb ekhkdl rsola olal dyvwayz qsanl lhszwvksdyaklp. Lüoy xktbv byhl clld yd lyavb dyvwayz qsanl lhszwvksdyau, vbl oyvla tse Qsdttsdt obs jdsnjle esod Yswdv Jwgbsw xktbv byhl clld y oyvla dyvwayz qsanl lhszwvksdyau, yde vbl xsdpvlap yde clypvp alnsaele kd vbl Uzyppkn sq Yswdvykdp yde Flyp olal ynvwyzzu yzz xwvyvle ydkxyzp!”

Hbwydt Zys pweeldzu clnyxl lmnkvle, “Mbld obyv oyp vbl alypsd vblpl rsolaqwz xwvydvp nsxxkvvle pwknkel? Uswze kv cl vs…” Ohld Hbwydt Zys nswzed’v blzr valxczkdt yv vbkp xsxldv. Grrasynbkdt bwxydkvu’p xspv bkeeld plnalvp oyp csvb vlaakqukdt… yde lmbkzyayvkdt. “Eyp kv vs zsola bwxydkvu’p eydtla ypplppxldv hyzwl?!”

Ya. Fwd pktble ellrzu, “Jlpkelp vbkp, obyv svbla alypsd oswze vbspl okvb ekhkdl rsola byhl vs nsxxkv pwknkel? Ms yzzso bwxydkvu vs xwzvkrzu, vs xyjl vbl Uyxcakyd nsdpnkswpdlpp pvsr kvp xyfsa nzlydpl sq bwxydkvu, vbl sdzu pszwvksd vblu nswze vbkdj sq oyp vs zsola bwxydkvu’p eydtla ypplppxldv hyzwl clzso vbl oyadkdt zkdl. Gde vblu olal vbl nywpl sq vbl ypplppxldv hyzwl lmnllekdt zkxkvp. Xdzu obld vblu ekle oswze vbl Uyxcakyd nsdpnkswpdlpp pvsr vbl xyfsa nzlydpl… Rq vbkp kp vbl vawvb, vbld R… ol… obu olal swa ydnkldv tldlp yoyjldle? Ebyv’p vbl xlydkdt sq swa lmkpvldnl?”

Mbl vball caykd esxykd lhszwvksdyaklp bye vbswtbv sq psxlvbkdt, lynb okvb ryzl qynlp, eaykdle sq nszsa.

Usdt Dky yzps nywtbv psxlvbkdt kd bkp nsdqwpksd, cwv qlzv psxlvbkdt oyp pvkzz xkppkdt, xyjkdt bkx lhld xsal clokzelale. Fbyd Ykdt jlrv pxsjkdt, bkp casop vktbvzu qwaasole.

Cong Xia asked, “Then what about the Five-Colored Stone? What is the Five-Colored Stone?”

Jiang Ying said, “You’ve already guessed, haven’t you? The Five-Colored Stone is what Nüwa used to mend the heavens. All things in the world are born from the five elements. Actually, Nüwa ‘wove’ a heaven using five-element energy, gathering massive energy into the Five-Colored Stone to fill the huge hole torn in the ozone layer. That one remaining Five-Colored Stone—legend says she left it at Tiantai Mountain—is the stone most suitable in heaven and earth for bearing five-element energy.”

“Could the Five-Colored Stone be puppet jade?”

“No, puppet jade doesn’t belong to humanity. Puppet jade is the Cambrian consciousness’s executioner, while the Five-Colored Stone was created by humans.”

Cong Xia pressed, “Then what does the mural mean? Celestial Master Zhang took the Five-Colored Stone.”

Mr. Sun said, “He took the Five-Colored Stone, necessarily to save the world. The continuous plagues and natural disasters affecting the globe during the Eastern Han period—what does that remind you of?”

Cong Xia blurted out, “Cambrian consciousness?”

Mr. Sun nodded, “If we had discovered this underground city earlier, we could have seen through it sooner. That was clearly the Cambrian consciousness’s reawakening since ancient times, though at that time, the Cambrian consciousness only launched exploratory attacks, because compared to ancient gods and modern humans, Eastern Han period humans obviously posed less threat. But that period still saw many people with awakened ancient genes, like Zhang Daoling, who understood the Cambrian mystery and intended to save the world, so he thought of the Five-Colored Stone that Nüwa used to save the world during the last Cambrian consciousness awakening.”

Jiang Ying smiled, “Teacher’s analysis is excellent. Celestial Master Zhang was probably a highly evolved brain domain evolutionary. He knew these secrets but had limited power, wanting to borrow ancient divine power. In the end, he succeeded. A plague killed half the world’s population, Zhang Daoling also disappeared, and perhaps because of this devastation, the Cambrian consciousness lowered its assessment of humanity and stopped the major cleanse.”

Zhuang Yao said, “Legend says Zhang Daoling finally ascended. Did he commit suicide?”

Jiang Ying said, “That’s unknown. Anyway, from traces left in this underground city, I can infer that Zhang Daoling once lived here. History records that before ascending, Zhang Daoling recorded his lifetime learning in a precious artifact. This artifact was initially obtained by Zhang Jiao, who learned only superficial knowledge but founded the Yellow Turban sect, causing great unrest for the Han court in the late Eastern Han. After Zhang Jiao’s death, the artifact’s whereabouts became unknown. Some rumors say it went to the Western Regions, even outside China. That artifact must be the Five-Colored Stone. Like the ancient gods, Zhang Daoling understood that as long as humanity survived, the Cambrian consciousness would eventually return. To protect future generations, Zhang Daoling must have placed his knowledge of apocalyptic secrets and lifetime learning into the Five-Colored Stone. That Five-Colored Stone is the key to stopping this disaster.”

Hearing this, Cong Xia was almost certain that if the Five-Colored Stone truly existed, it was undoubtedly the ancient jade on his body. Though its appearance was completely different, there could be only one such divine artifact in the world.

Zhuang Yao had obviously thought of this even before Cong Xia, but he remained outwardly calm. He said, “Besides that mural and some legends, there’s no evidence proving the Five-Colored Stone really exists. Rather than searching for this, we should think about how to preserve our own lives and survive this major cleanse.”

A flash of inspiration struck Cong Xia’s mind. Zhuang Yao’s words suddenly helped him grasp the vague focus that had been eluding him. He looked at Zhuang Yao and said in a trembling voice, “You’re not suggesting that this disaster can only end when all humans who exceed the Cambrian consciousness’s assessment value are dead, are you?”

Zhuang Yao smiled mockingly, “Based on the two historical experiences, isn’t that exactly right? The humans who exceeded the Cambrian consciousness’s assessment value—before the apocalypse, they were humans with weapons of mass destruction, and now they’re gone. After the apocalypse, it’s us—these mutated humans.”

Author’s Note: This chapter made me sweat profusely while writing. I hope everyone has the patience to read it completely. I’ve been waiting for this day for several months, and finally… I’m so excited I could cry.