Chapter Fifty-Two: Ode to Ice and Fire

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(Today I happened upon some videos about Elden Ring, and the fifteen bosses in it seem quite impressive. What do you think about incorporating them into our future creations?)

...

This unknown creature was quite extraordinary—even Fang Zhuowei couldn’t predict what kind of species would emerge after it combined with the spores. Of course, that was true for all spore creatures, but the uncertainty was clearly greater with this one.

Still, it was worth a try.

With a single thought from Fang Zhuowei,

In midair.

A dark whirl of light, akin to an ancient black hole formed by the collapse and annihilation of a star, slowly appeared above the pile of bloody, water-soaked flesh.

The next moment.

A bead of deep gray blood, about the size of a grain of rice, shot out from the mixture and darted into the swirling blackness.

Breeding complete.

Ready to release and incubate.

This time, Fang Zhuowei didn’t carve out a new test field; instead, he chose to introduce it into the Fish Tank Microcosm.

At present, the Black Earth Continent only had the ancient apes as permanent inhabitants, which was rather monotonous.

Moreover, he had recently been considering a new plan—to connect the Fish Tank World with the civilization of the Spotted Rats in the rear mountain and the yet-to-be-formed Dragon-making civilization, creating a multiverse of sorts, a small world of multiple planes.

However, this project was massive, and for now he hadn’t decided exactly how to link these microcosms together.

...

In front of the half-human-sized fish tank,

Fang Zhuowei looked down, his gaze lingering on the jagged rocks for a long time.

Though he’d already decided to release the spore cell into the Fish Tank Microcosm, the specific spot still required careful consideration.

He couldn’t possibly drop the spore cell right under the noses of the ancient apes; if he did, they’d likely be cleaned up by the next day.

Likewise, simply tossing them into the water was out of the question.

After careful observation, Fang Zhuowei did find a suitable location.

It was a protruding corner at the highest point among the jagged rocks—arguably the most majestic and perilous peak of the Black Earth Continent.

From afar, it looked as if it had been hewn by a divine axe—an awe-inspiring sight.

And at the very tip of this jutting stone was a naturally formed pit, about the size of a pinky finger and a centimeter deep. If filled with water, it would be the perfect place for hatching spores.

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Once the preparations were complete, he immediately began releasing the spore cells.

Next came the setting for evolutionary time.

As the creator, he could assign different evolutionary rates not only to each species within a single microcosm, but even to individual beings.

Just as he’d done with the ancient apes and primordial creatures before, Fang Zhuowei set the highest evolutionary rate from the start.

However, there was a constraint: once a spore creature reached its complete form, the rate would revert to the normal time flow of the Fish Tank Microcosm.

With that settled,

Fang Zhuowei fetched some crushed flint particles from a corner.

He’d picked these up in the rear mountain a few days ago.

Flint, hard to the touch and usually gray or black, breaks with a distinctive, shell-like fracture and is a common siliceous rock.

The important thing was—

As everyone knows, flint—often called "firestone"—can create sparks when struck against a hard surface, making it an ancient tool for kindling fire.

Though the ancient apes had already made preliminary contact with supernatural civilization, this mainly referred to combat abilities. In truth, the entire species’ productivity remained pitifully low; with such underdeveloped productivity, material wealth in their society could never truly flourish.

It was like having a person with nearly unmatched fighting power, but the mind of a fool.

He intended to bestow the Flower of Fire upon the ancient apes as a reward for their achievements.

Furthermore,

Fire was of inestimable importance to the progress of any civilization.

The earliest form of agriculture—slash-and-burn—relied on fire. Primitive handicrafts, too, depended on it: bows and wooden spears were straightened by fire; later, pottery and smelting would be impossible without it.

Flint had to be given, but how best to present it posed a problem.

He couldn’t expect the apes to discover flint’s use on their own; with their limited imagination, it might take hundreds of years, if at all.

This wasn’t to say the apes were unintelligent—just that, without witnessing it firsthand, they’d be unlikely to grasp its potential for a long time.

Just as people in ancient times couldn’t have imagined that modern communication would allow video calls with someone a thousand miles away.

After much thought, Fang Zhuowei finally came up with a less-than-perfect solution.

He would use a lighter to heat the flint until it was red-hot, then toss it onto the Black Earth Continent.

Surely flaming stones would draw the apes’ attention.

No sooner said than done. Fang Zhuowei quickly found a lighter and carefully heated the flint particles until they glowed.

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Once everything was ready, he took a pair of tweezers, picked up the glowing-hot flint particles, and threw them onto a wide open space on the Black Earth Continent.

From the bottomless depths of space,

Countless ember-red flint fragments plummeted at high speed, falling like meteors, each tracing a streaming arc of light. The scorching and brilliant glow instantly bathed half the sky in crimson...

This sight left the ancient apes, who had been hiding from the eternal night, utterly stunned.

It was a spectacle of unimaginable grandeur.

In their eyes,

The sky erupted with a thunderous roar and a blinding flash; in the blink of an eye, a streak of dazzling light arced across the heavens from some distant place and crashed to earth.

On the ground, countless wild grasses were set ablaze in an instant, and towering ancient trees were transformed by the searing heat into pillars of flame...

The earth burned, fire soared, thick smoke billowed, blotting out the sun and sky...

It was as if the apocalypse had come.

They swore they would never forget this scene for as long as they lived.

Such terrifying brilliance—it even tore open a rift in the undying night, its radiant light making the silent darkness appear all the more vivid.

So overwhelming was this phenomenon that the hidden ancient apes cried out in terror.

This power would make even the most transcendent of the eight great holy lords tremble with soul-deep fear.

But gradually,

The ancient apes realized these burning stones did not harm them, and even brought light and long-lost warmth.

Moreover,

Someone discovered that certain foods, when roasted by this dazzling light, tasted better and even aided in cultivation.

This discovery sent a shockwave through the entire ape tribe.

That day,

Countless ancient apes emerged from the darkness, gathering around the flint fragments, their faces alight with excitement and reverence for all they beheld.

Fire—a thing both sacred and fearsome—had come at last to the vast Black Earth Continent.

That day would be recorded by the ancient apes for generations to come, remembered forever as the Day of Light.