Chapter Forty: The First Fruit of Civilization

After spending several days of painstaking effort, Fang Zhuowei finally managed to complete the translation of the entire Dao De Jing.

“I can’t translate the rest of them myself,” he murmured. “If I finish copying and translating all of them, I’ll probably end up losing my life over it.”

Rubbing his swollen, aching eyes, Fang Zhuowei let out a long, weary breath. Just finishing the translation of the Dao De Jing left him feeling utterly drained, as if every ounce of strength had been pulled from his body. If he had to translate all the classics, he might have to be remade from scratch.

Moreover, among all the scriptures, the Dao De Jing was only of average thickness. The thickest ones were practically as hefty as a modern dictionary.

There was no time to rest. After catching his breath, Fang Zhuowei hurriedly summoned the black hole again and stored away the newly transcribed Dao De Jing in the ancient simian script.

A flash of light.

The Dao De Jing shrank to a suitable size and turned into a dazzling meteor, shooting into a corner of the Black Earth Continent, to await discovery by some destined soul in the distant future.

Only after finishing all this did he finally turn serious attention to the ancient simian tribe on the Black Earth Continent. Yet in the next moment, Fang Zhuowei’s solemn expression suddenly froze.

Time passes differently in the mortal world and other realms.

In the distance, he saw several ancient apes leaping through the air, crossing a span as wide as a human thumbnail before landing back on the ground. Even more astonishing, he saw an elderly, white-haired ape shatter a distant high wall with a gesture, reducing it to powder without even touching it.

The most astounding of all was a bald young ape whose body glimmered with a faint golden light and emitted the clear sound of steel. With a single punch, he could create a massive depression half a centimeter wide in the ground, even at a distance.

What did this mean? In human terms, it was equivalent to smashing the surrounding asphalt within dozens of meters, sinking it five or six meters deep with a single blow.

It was like witnessing a superman.

From these few ancient apes, Fang Zhuowei could clearly sense a powerful current of energy surging through them. Especially the bald one—if the others were like streams, he was an ocean, his strength overwhelming.

“It’s the effect of those illustrated storybooks,” Fang Zhuowei realized instantly.

Although he had only finished transcribing one book, he had long since introduced those picture-filled manuals, and the golden aura that bathed the bald ape was none other than the legendary “Indestructible Body of Vajra.”

Though those martial arts manuals had been fabricated, after centuries of trial and development by the simian tribe, they had truly evolved into grand roads of progress. Some techniques, like the Indestructible Body, had even reached the point of manifesting visibly.

Fang Zhuowei’s face was alight with joy.

Most crucially, the fact that these apes had undergone such dramatic transformation proved that his experimental approach was the right path.

“If ordinary techniques can produce such changes, then works as profound as the Dao De Jing or The Classic of Emptying and Transcendence might actually bring about the emergence of extraordinary races,” he thought, barely able to contain his excitement.

At that moment.

Right before his eyes.

Above the heart of simian civilization, ripples like concentric waves began to shimmer into view.

In the next instant, the ripples faded, and a perfectly round object, resembling the Eye of Sauron, formed in the air. About the size of a marble, it rotated in place, radiating brilliant black and white light. Below it trailed a strand akin to a blood vessel.

Anyone else witnessing this scene would have been terrified, but Fang Zhuowei’s face only brightened further.

This was the Fruit of Civilization—blooming with the Flower of the Race, each one encapsulating the essence of a civilization’s stage, visible only to the creator. Incredibly precious.

As the creator, one needed only to consume the Fruit of Civilization to instantly acquire all the energy it contained.

“I didn’t expect the simian civilization to produce a fruit this early, even before the spotted rat civilization I designed myself.”

He circled the eye-like oval several times before managing to calm his excitement.

Without further hesitation, he strode forward.

With a crisp snap, like breaking a twig, he plucked the marble-sized Fruit of Civilization from its stem.

It wasn’t entirely weightless in his hand—perhaps a little over a hundred grams. Its texture was reminiscent of a real marble, hard and cool to the touch.

After weighing it for a moment, Fang Zhuowei popped it into his mouth.

Crunch. Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch.

It didn’t melt instantly, and the sensation was rather like chocolate, though it had no taste—neither sweet nor salty. Purely from a culinary perspective, it was hardly enjoyable.

Moments later, the entire Fruit of Civilization was swallowed.

As soon as it was eaten, a wave of warmth began to rise from his lower abdomen, like basking in sunlight on a bitterly cold winter’s day—a tingling comfort that radiated from his bones, indescribably pleasant.

With this sensation, Fang Zhuowei could distinctly feel his physical strength increasing and his mind becoming clearer.

After a long while, the tingling faded.

The Fruit of Civilization had been completely absorbed.

Fang Zhuowei examined himself carefully. In the end, the changes brought by this fruit weren’t as dramatic as he’d imagined—it hadn’t cured his cancer.

Still, from another perspective, the fruit’s effects were significant. While it hadn’t eradicated the disease, the severity of his cancer had lessened considerably. If before he’d been at the terminal stage, now he was closer to early-stage.

Beyond that, the fruit had greatly enhanced his overall physical abilities—strength, agility, speed, reflexes—all had leapt to a new level, especially his physical power, which had increased most dramatically.

By his estimation, if he had to quantify it, his punch was now about ten times stronger than an ordinary person’s. If the average person could muster a hundred pounds of force, he now had a thousand—enough to kill a bull with a single blow.

And this was only the change brought about by a single Fruit of Civilization.