Chapter 159: Civilization

The Midland world was far too vast. Even with Crow Lord flying at full speed, coupled with Si Wenming accelerating their journey using divine shamanic arts, it still took more than a month for Ji Hao to truly set foot upon the immensely massive core continent situated right at the center of Midland.

Jumping down from Crow Lord's back, his body landed heavily upon the ground. Beneath his feet lay a layer of rich, oily black soil. Ji Hao wore straw sandals woven from fine grass, and the greasy black soil completely swallowed his soles, giving rise to a peculiar sensation that arose spontaneously from within.

Ji Hao quietly savored this feeling.

With both feet planted upon this earth, Ji Hao felt as though he were a seed that had fallen into the ground, gently enveloped by the fertile soil. A profound, ancient, and mighty force surrounded him. This was such an unfamiliar land, yet here, Ji Hao sensed the taste of "home" and the aura of "origin."

Manman unconcernedly dropped her heavy hammers, running around in circles with a hearty laugh. Many of the flower and grass species on the Midland soil were different from those in the Southern Wasteland. Catching a blade of fine grass she had never seen before, Manman could joyfully examine it for half a day.

Si Wenming stood beside Ji Hao, wearing a gentle smile as he watched him, not disturbing his meditation.

After a very, very long time, Ji Hao slowly opened his eyes. He felt as though a mysterious connection had formed between himself and this earth. His entire body and soul seemed to have grown much heavier, and his connection with the primal chaos energy of heaven and earth had become even tighter.

"Uncle, it seems some marvelous changes have taken place within me," Ji Hao said earnestly, looking at Si Wenming. "The Midland world is truly wondrous."

"Midland is the center of heaven and earth, the place where this realm was first created. Our human race originated right here," Si Wenming said warmly. "Many clan members born in Midland will never have such a clear comprehension in their entire lifetime. For you to achieve this insight—your talent far exceeds my most optimistic guesses. This is very good, truly very good."

Si Wenming smiled and squatted down, grabbing a handful of pitch-black soil and forcefully compressing it into a small mud ball.

"Hao, it is truly wonderful that you can perceive the most primordial will of this heaven and earth. You must always remember: this land belongs to us," Si Wenming said solemnly, looking straight at Ji Hao. "The masters of this land are us, not any other race. Because our bloodline is permanently linked with this earth, and no one can ever sever them."

Ji Hao looked at Si Wenming and slowly nodded.

Meanwhile, Manman had just caught a small beast, pinned it to the ground, and was desperately trying to pry open its mouth to see whether it ate grass or meat. Hearing this, she turned her head curiously and glanced at Ji Hao and Si Wenming.

The atmosphere between the two was exceptionally sacred and solemn. Manman blinked her eyes and, losing interest completely, returned her entire focus to the small beast.

"Ah, your teeth are flat? Big Brother said that anything with flat teeth eats grass... I've never seen a little fellow like you in the Southern Wasteland. What kind of grass do you like to eat?" The next instant, a large mouthful of wild grass—enough to choke the small beast to death—was casually shoved into its mouth by Manman.

Laughing and crying at once, Si Wenming called out to bring Manman back, simultaneously rescuing the hapless little beast. Without using any shamanic arts, he led the two of them as they walked toward the center of the continent. After traveling several hundred miles, man-tilled fields began to appear in the surroundings.

Plot after plot of farmland was laid out neatly, with tender green shoots poking out sporadically between the fields. In the distance and nearby, elderly men and women wrapped in animal skins squatted among the crops, carefully weeding around the tender sprouts.

Seeing the three of them, the people at work stood up one after another and greeted them with smiles.

Si Wenming smiled and bowed slightly in return, striking up a conversation with practiced familiarity: "Are these planted with wheat and millet? They seem to be growing quite well. Having cleared such a vast expanse of farmland, the uncles' and aunties' tribe must be thriving indeed!"

A flash of golden-red light crossed Ji Hao's pupils. He looked around; just as Si Wenming had said, the surrounding farmland altogether covered an area of hundreds of thousands of mu. With soil this fertile and the primal energy of heaven and earth so abundant, the grain yield per mu must surely be substantial.

In the Southern Wasteland, tribes relied more on hunting to obtain food. But in Midland, had large-scale agricultural tribes already emerged? Hundreds of thousands of mu of farmland—could this tribe number in the tens of thousands? It was indeed a thriving, large tribe.

Si Wenming was in no rush to continue their journey. Instead, he squatted down in the fields, enthusiastically discussing the experience of planting wheat and millet with several elders. From sowing seeds, fertilizing, and weeding, all the way to irrigation and repelling birds and pests—Si Wenming spoke eloquently about every aspect of farming, clearly demonstrating that he was quite proficient in agricultural matters.

Ji Hao stood smiling beside Si Wenming, listening to his exchange with the elders.

Although he did not know why Si Wenming had chosen to stop here, Ji Hao knew that Si Wenming would never do anything without meaning. Therefore, he listened quietly and observed closely.

Manman dropped her two heavy hammers and ran off with a giggle. Before long, she led back an old yellow ox from somewhere, straddling its back crookedly, struggling hard to turn around and grab the ox's tail to play.

Seeing Manman's innocent and carefree appearance, the elders burst into hearty laughter, their gazes filled with overflowing warmth and affection.

Perhaps due to Si Wenming's familiarity with agricultural matters, or perhaps because of Manman's innocence that won the elders' favor, it was not long before several elders warmly invited the three of them to rest at their tribe.

Si Wenming smiled and accepted their invitation. Following the elders, the three walked for dozens of miles along the smooth paths between the fields, passed through a small grove, and arrived at a tribe built beside a river bend.

Neat little wooden houses lined the riverbank. This tribe, home to tens of thousands of citizens, was reasonably planned. Enclosed by a low wooden wall, the streets were paved with flagstones, making it very neat and clean—far cleaner, at least, than the tribes of the Southern Wasteland.

A large group of children gathered together in the tribe, either practicing martial arts with fists and staves, organizing various farming tools and implements, or feeding large flocks of domesticated poultry. What made Ji Hao's scalp tingle was that some of the older children, led by white-haired elders, were using tree branches to write simple, primitive characters upon the sandy ground.

Characters!

Not talismans capable of communicating with ghosts and deities and possessing unfathomable magical powers, but actual characters—characters that ordinary people could learn.

In the Southern Wasteland, the most primitive symbols were only secretly passed down from generation to generation within shamanic rituals, usable only to write the simplest of phrases and sentences. But in the Midland world, even the most remote tribe was consciously and collectively imparting written characters to the next generation.

This was civilization!

Ji Hao's body trembled slightly, every hair on his body standing on end. Only then did he truly realize that he had genuinely left the Southern Wasteland and stepped into a world vastly different from it. (To be continued.)

PS: Writing up to this point, a chill ran down my own spine! The feeling in my heart is indescribable!