I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

"Hunting civilizations are the most notorious type in the wilderness."

Shi Ling's two crack-like eyes narrowed slightly, and the dark yellow light dimmed a bit, as if he was carefully choosing his words.

"They don't produce, they don't exchange; they only plunder and devour."

"They are called 'hunters' because these greedy monsters often don't even have their own ancestral lands."

"They rely entirely on devouring other races, taking over their nests, and after consuming everything, they continue to roam, searching for their next prey."

Xuan frowned slightly, but did not interrupt him.

The little thing stretched out four thick, stone-like fingers.

"In the wild and untamed Central Plains, the most common nomadic civilizations are of four kinds: demons, monsters, ghosts, and monsters."

"You are very familiar with the term 'demon'."

"Those wolf cubs from earlier were them, all sorts of shapes and sizes, scattered throughout the entire mountain and sea."

"Those twisted creatures that are half-plant and half-beast in the Land of Wood can be considered 'monsters,' deformed beings born from the anomalies of heaven and earth."

"The 'monster' exists only as an individual, not as a group; each one represents a distortion of a set of rules."

Upon hearing this, Xuan's body jolted, as if he had realized something:

"So... those treant-devouring creatures roaming outside?"

"It's nothing more than its tentacles."

The tiny, large stone head nodded gently.

It was as if a huge rock had been placed on the hearts of the Xia family members.

The Forget-Worry Gentleman—that freak who single-handedly plunged the royal city into chaos—was actually just a vine.

What kind of terrifying being is "it" itself?

Xiao Xiao changed the subject and continued:

"As for demons and ghosts... you wouldn't want to encounter them."

There was no explanation, no description.

This one sentence, so calm, was like saying it was getting dark.

Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he reached into his robes and pulled out a withered yellow leaf.

"Thank you, this is the payment."

The small, dim yellow light suddenly brightened, but it did not reach out to catch it.

It looked down at the leaf, and deep wrinkles appeared on its stone-like brow.

"Too much." Its voice was a little strained. "The information Xiaoxiao provided is very ordinary and not worth the price."

Xuan did not retract his hand.

Xiao Xiao scratched the stone's head, then opened his mouth again.

This time, it spat out two pieces of ore—

It was a darker shade of iron-gray refined iron than the previous one, and the crystalline patterns on its surface shone with a dull golden light.

"Trading in the wilderness, I treat everyone honestly, young and old."

"Two pieces of iron essence, fair trade."

Xuan looked at the two pieces of ore, then at Xiao Xiao's earnest eyes, and nodded.

Xiao Xiao pushed the two pieces of ore in front of Xuan before happily taking away the fallen leaves from the tree god.

The dim yellow light swept over the crowd one last time, as if remembering a familiar face.

Then, it stood up, its three-zhang-tall stone body slightly contracting, emitting a thunderous roar.

In a short while, the enormous stone spirit reformed into a giant rock.

The enormous little thing began to roll, rushing westward through the canyon, raising a cloud of dust.

A message carried on the wind from afar, bearing a unique, simple and honest quality:

"A rolling stone gathers no moss; if business is good, come again..."

Everyone stared at the departing plume of dust, speechless for a moment.

Yu spoke first, his tone tinged with a complex mix of emotions: "There are actually such civilized races in this barbaric world."

Xuan stepped forward and placed his palm on the surface of the two ironstones. They felt cold to the touch, but were very clean.

"Civilization is built on strength."

"Otherwise, why would it wait until we eliminated that pack of demon wolves before showing itself?"

He dusted off his hands and turned his gaze away from the direction where the stone figure had disappeared.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone felt a pang of sorrow.

He clicked his tongue and moved the three millstone-sized pieces of refined iron aside, muttering:

"Kids, remember this."

"Mountains and seas hold no goodwill."

Xuan did not let the team continue on their way; he looked around the canyon.

With steep cliffs on both sides and a narrow valley entrance, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it a natural campsite.

"Let's set up camp here, process these ores, and then leave."

The best way to store resources is to transform them into strength.

Meng personally oversaw the forging; as the Xia family's foremost craftsman, his skills remained as sharp as ever.

The spiritual energy condensed into a blazing white flame in his palm, enveloping the iron-gray refined iron ore.

As the ore was scorched by the spiritual flames, it gradually turned red and softened. The crystalline patterns on its surface flowed slowly like melting syrup, revealing a denser metallic texture inside...

The others weren't idle either; everyone did their part and set up camp to rest.

All night long, the only sounds in the camp were the roar of the flames and the clanging of hammers.

The next day, three brand-new iron knives were handed out from Meng's hands.

The blade is slightly narrower than a regular iron knife, but the spine is thicker, making it feel heavy in the hand and extremely stable.

The moment the spiritual light entered the blade, a faint golden glow appeared on its edge.

"It is indeed a fine knife, even better than the Xia family's best iron knife."

Xuan couldn't help but praise him, and distributed the three swords to the three most skilled swordsmen in the group.

The team rested for another night in the canyon.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, everyone got up on their own and set off again.

The small wasteland map that Xiaoxiao left behind, although it was a free gift from the transaction, had the routes clearly marked.

The team traveled by day and rested by night, heading west along the dried-up ancient riverbed, avoiding most of the quicksand areas and monster lairs.

They walked for several days in a row.

The landscape gradually transitions from rugged canyons to low hills, and then from hills to an endless gray-white wasteland.

The sandstorm was getting stronger, and the acrid smell in the air was getting stronger.

In the dead of night, the team set up camp behind a sheltered sand dune.

There was no fire to be lit, and there was no wood in this wasteland, not even dry grass roots to be found.

The group, wrapped in animal skins, huddled on the sand, with four-legged lizards lying around them, forming a living barrier.

Qi didn't sleep.

He leaned against a rock rounded by wind and sand, holding the newly forged battle sword in his hand.

The night wind blew from the west, cold and dry, carrying the stinging sensation of sand hitting my face.

He gazed into the distance, at the boundless darkness.

The darkness there wasn't night, it was something deeper—

There was no sign of human habitation, no lights, and no trace of life—pure desolation.

Civilization is not important to mountains and seas.

"If one day, humanity reigns supreme over the wilderness..."

"I wish to light up the mountains and seas."

The wind swept away his voice, tore it apart, and scattered it into the boundless darkness.

No one heard it.

The night faded away inch by inch.

As dawn broke over the horizon, it gradually lifted the entire wasteland out of darkness.

The team members gradually woke up.

Some people rubbed their eyes as they packed their bags, some fed the four-legged lizards water, and some pulled iron knives out of the sand and rubbed the rust off their trousers.

Xuan stood atop the sand dune, facing west, squinting.

Then he saw it.

Where dawn meets the horizon, at the boundary between gray and orange—

A magnificent building slowly emerged.