Chapter 6: Wisdom Trial, The Three Treasures of Civilization

“Run!”

“We can’t escape! We’re only the size of a strand of his hair!”

Countless fleeing Bug Apes collapsed onto the ground.

While everyone screamed in despair, a young Bug Ape stubbornly looked up at the sky. “Are you, this giant beast, here to eat us too? You killed our father, our mother, our elder brother. Why are we so weak…”

Xu Zhi looked down, a little surprised by the bravery of this young Bug Ape, daring to question him.

Then, you are chosen.

Xu Zhi simply reached out a hand and placed the Bug Ape in his palm.

The young Bug Ape’s mind instantly went blank.

On the gigantic creature’s hand, it felt like an boundless continent, and it was no bigger than a delicate palm line.

It looked up again. The ten-thousand-foot-tall giant’s eyes, like furnaces, resembled the brilliant suns in the sky. Its massive face was bathed in sacred, pure white light, its features indistinct, imbued with a majestic and vast divinity.

With Xu Zhi’s face shielded by the Bug Nest, they naturally could only see a blurred face emanating a hazy glow.

Xu Zhi held the tiny Bug Ape in one hand, his eyes calm: “Gilgamesh, do you want to change everything?”

The Bug Ape suddenly trembled, then shrieked loudly from the palm: “You can communicate! What kind of giant beast are you?! There’s a ten-thousand-foot-tall giant with intelligence in this world! How can such a perfect being exist?!”

He stammered, “And you… you called me Gilgamesh?”

“A name is also a manifestation of intelligence.”

Xu Zhi held him in his palm, level with his eyes, and answered calmly.

Gilgamesh stood on the palm, gazing at the giant beast’s enormous, crystalline pupils, which were like the sun and moon. He suddenly spoke again: “We can all communicate! Then we are the same species, both intelligent beings. Why, why don’t you save us? You are clearly so strong! So magnificent!”

They didn’t know what they truly were, only believing themselves to be intelligent giant beasts, similar to these colossal creatures. Xu Zhi had no intention of explaining further.

Xu Zhi, with the Bug Ape in his hand, took great strides across mountains and rivers.

Vast stretches of trees were flattened. He allowed the tiny Bug Ape to look down upon the entire world from his palm, his resonant voice echoing through the sky,

“Look at this world. Every species is equal. You are no different from any plant, any animal. Why should I only save you? Just because you possess intelligence?”

Gilgamesh was instantly speechless.

Suddenly, he fell into despair and cried out: “Then why did you come to us?”

Xu Zhi said: “No one can save you, and do not foolishly expect anyone to save you. Only you can save yourselves. But I can give you the means of civilization, so you can save yourselves.”

“Civilization? What is that?”

Gilgamesh gazed in awe at the world below.

Blown by the fierce wind, he saw, for the first time from the clouds, the vast green land, the mountains and rivers, all beneath his eyes. Countless beasts fled and roared beneath the feet of the intelligent giant beast, creating a scene of ultimate, breathtaking grandeur.

What splendid and fantastical scenery from high above!

What terrifying and awe-inspiring, magnificent power!

“You ask what civilization is?”

Xu Zhi had never thought he would need to explain such concepts to this nascent race.

He pondered for a moment and then gave his answer: “Civilization is a spark, civilization is knowledge, civilization is order, and civilization is also the strongest power intelligent species use to protect themselves.”

“Civilization is the power we intelligent beings use to protect ourselves?” Gilgamesh murmured.

Xu Zhi walked back to the great canyon, gently placed Gilgamesh on his shoulder, then took out the miniature potted plant, a Guest-Greeting Pine, from the backpack behind him. He dug a hole and planted it in the ground.

This Guest-Greeting Pine, only sixty centimeters tall, was gnarled and ancient, yet for this miniature land, it was an infinite divine tree reaching into the clouds. Looking up, clouds swirled around its massive, winding trunk, which seemed to stretch endlessly.

“Do you see this tree I’ve planted? If you wish to gain the power of civilization, you must demonstrate your courage. Climb the divine tree. This is my trial for you, a trial of wisdom and courage…”

Xu Zhi placed the custom-made silver metal greatsword from Taobao, a match soaked in kerosene, and a previously unsuccessful transparent capsule of termite sap on top of the tree.

“These are the three treasures of civilization.”

“The Sword of Damocles is the weapon that protects civilization. Unlike the savage species that roam the earth, only intelligent species can harness the power of tools.”

“The torch, burning with a searing flame, is the bridge that sustains civilization. Mastering the spark is the origin of civilization.”

“And the last vial of liquid, that is the Blood of Power. Only the bravest warriors in the world can consume it. If you cannot survive death, you will possess unparalleled might!”

“If you wish to change the destiny of your race, then before the torch extinguishes, climb the divine tree and obtain the three treasures of civilization.”

Xu Zhi gently placed the young Bug Ape on the ground, then, amidst its awe, took great strides across the mountains and left.

“Accelerate cell division, one hundred times!”

As soon as Xu Zhi stepped away, he instantly commanded the Bug Nest.

The entire land, which had returned to normal speed, once again began to accelerate cell division.

In an instant, the movements across the whole land became wildly rapid, continuously forming afterimages. Trees quickly grew and withered, animals became blurs, rapidly living, aging, sickening, and dying.

The match, to which he had added kerosene, would burn for about thirty seconds before extinguishing.

But for that land, accelerated by a hundred times, those thirty seconds would equate to several days before it extinguished.

In other words, his divine tree trial would last for many days.

“Time is relative, a manifestation of the movement of matter… Their brain nerve cells accelerate a hundredfold, their body cells divide a hundredfold. For them, time accelerates a hundredfold.

A match that burns for an instant for me can burn for several days for them. In their worldview, a match is not a fleeting spark, but a torch that burns for days.”

Xu Zhi recalled the ancient saying:

Small knowledge cannot encompass great knowledge, a short lifespan cannot encompass a long one. How do we know this? The morning mushroom knows not the alternation of dawn and dusk; the cicada knows not spring and autumn!

The long ages they perceived were, in his eyes, but a fleeting moment.

After Xu Zhi left, he used a telescope to clearly see the scene beneath the divine tree: the young Bug Ape, calling a few companions, faced the task with determination, and quickly climbed the divine tree together.

In Xu Zhi’s eyes, the small ants climbing the tree moved so fast they were mere afterimages. In just a few seconds, they fell countless times, then struggled to climb up again. Within little more than ten seconds, they had successfully reached the top of the divine tree.

But for them, countless days had passed, filled with arduous failures.

Their movements were simply too fast.

At the peak of the divine tree, standing on its lush, emerald canopy, Gilgamesh held the sword high, seemed to say something, do something, and then blurred away.

Curious, Xu Zhi couldn’t help but ask the Bug Nest: “What were they saying?”

The Bug Nest’s sub-brain played the recent scene for Xu Zhi.

“Intelligent Giant Beast! In this world, such terrifying, colossal intelligent beings actually exist! That is a ten-thousand-foot-tall super-giant!”

Gilgamesh, having conquered the divine tree, held the Sword of Damocles high, swinging it over his head.

He gazed down at the myriad lives beneath the divine tree, his black fur fluttering in the wind, his shoulder bone-armor dark and gleaming. His resolute face suddenly filled with confidence:

“We, too, possess intelligence. In the future, we will be like that intelligent giant beast! Every member of our tribe will possess mighty divine power! Every one of us will command the prestige that makes countless giant beasts flee! I must lead our people to stand at the pinnacle, to spread the spark of civilization across the land.”

This moment was recorded for eternity.

Millions of years later, in the most ancient Sumerian dynasty, which once flourished to its extreme and then vanished like a fleeting dream on this land, people discovered during archaeological digs their Sumerian historical epic “Genesis,” composed for their great king.

This oldest document, the Sumerian ancient history, recorded:

The Intelligent Giant Beast, ten-thousand feet tall, covered in white radiance, with a sacred face, came treading over mountains and rivers. He brought forth the divine tree, set the trial of wisdom, and bestowed the three treasures of civilization—the torch, the holy sword, and the Blood of Power—upon the young hero-king, Gilgamesh.