1: It became a source tool

Darkness receded like a tide; as if having slept for thousands of years, bright light once again filled his surroundings.

His consciousness still lingered on the sound of his Family's weeping by his bedside, and for a moment, he didn't realize where he was.

Subconsciously, he wanted to sit up, but even though he exerted immense strength, he didn't make a single corresponding movement.

He seemed...

...unable to sense his own body.

Was he not dead yet? He had simply upgraded from a weak patient lingering on his sickbed to a person in a vegetative state.

He hurriedly looked at his surroundings: towering trees, lush green grass, and even a few yellowing leaves drifting down from the branches.

The ground beneath him seemed to be sloped; he could see the rolling green mountains in the distance and a 'sun' that seemed to be trailing long ribbons beside him.

Chu Mu's somewhat dazed consciousness gradually became clear; it seemed something incredible had happened?

Good heavens, he couldn't have been dumped in the wilderness, could he?

No, that sun alone didn't look like the world he lived in; he couldn't have...

Before he could think further, a massive surge of information suddenly flooded into his mind, as if it had been waiting for a long time, instantly filling his soul.

The 'sun' trailing long ribbons and the 'moon' surrounded by an orbital ring swapped for three Reincarnations.

Only then did Chu Mu finish digesting the information flowing through his mental world.

He was indeed no longer in his original world. The good news was that he could live another life; the bad news was that he had transmigrated into an object.

The information in his mind told him that he had become a [Origin Artifact], the source of Xuanhuan power in this world.

A [Origin Artifact] provides enlightenment for the Human Race, allowing them to undergo Awakening and contract various [Source Beasts] with miraculous abilities; it is also the key to granting [Source Beasts] various abilities and raising their Realms.

Furthermore, the existence of a [Origin Artifact] can use Bloodline as a connection to improve Bloodline Aptitude over many years, thereby allowing the Human Race themselves to possess various abilities.

Therefore, most forms of power in this world exist as a Family.

Currently, Chu Mu's perspective of the outside world was 360°, but since he was surrounded by weeds, he could only really observe the sky and the rolling green mountains across this small slope.

He looked at himself from another angle, seeing the full 'appearance' of his current form.

It was a relatively regular stone book, about the size of two palms of an adult male and less than a fingernail's thickness; its blue-gray exterior gave it a slightly ancient flavor.

Overall, it looked somewhat peculiar, yet not that peculiar.

After waiting for a dozen days and nights, Chu Mu helplessly discovered that his body was located in some corner of a remote mountain range.

Even more despairing was that even if someone passed by, his stone book-like carving would not be discovered and taken away under the cover of the lush green grass.

Let alone contracting with a human Family and becoming an enshrined [Origin Artifact].

With no other entertainment to pass the time and no one to talk to, Chu Mu could only wake and sleep, sleep and wake.

He would count how many stars were in the sky at night and compare the changes in the giant tree beside him at different times during the day.

Spring came and summer went, autumn arrived and winter departed.

The green grass beside him bloomed and withered, and the cold snow covered him for several more rounds.

Chu Mu's heart became increasingly calm; even the Divine Birds with long flaming tails that occasionally streaked across the sky could no longer stir many ripples in his heart.

Sometimes Chu Mu really wished he had become a real person in a vegetative state; at least those dark days would eventually come to an end.

But now, as a stone carving, loneliness and solitude were coiled around him, endless, without beginning or end.

Perhaps one day, he would be buried underground, unable to see even these few rays of daylight.

Death, for him, was also a luxury.

Under these circumstances, his youthful Heart-Nature was ground down.

It was another early autumn. When another yellowing leaf fell on Chu Mu, a dusty little hand grasped the stone book carving.

...

Fuhe Village.

The autumn air was crisp and refreshing, and the men working on the mountain were a bit more energetic than usual.

Baskets of Ore that emitted a faint light were transported out of the mine and neatly stacked outside.

An old man with white hair and beard smiled submissively and spoke respectfully to a young man in fine silk clothes who was holding a strange little stone figure.

"My Lord, this is all of last month's Mingyu Stone production. Would you like to inspect it?"

The young man in fine clothes glanced at the baskets, and then a hint of displeasure seemed to appear on his face.

"Why is the production ten percent less than last month?"

Fuhe Village's Village Head Chen Zhengchang's face soured, and he repeatedly apologized.

"My Lord may not know, but this mine has been excavated for decades. It's not like when it was first opened; the Bright Jade Stone has become sparse, making excavation increasingly difficult."

"Next month, I will definitely make the young men put in more effort to try and mine more."

Chen Zhengchang secretly observed the face of the young noble before him. This young man was named Shi Yuanmao, a member of the town's great Shi Family. If he was dissatisfied and merely stopped their mining mission...

Life in their village would become much harder, which was not what he, the Village Head, wanted to see. It seemed he could only let the village lads suffer a bit more next month.

Shi Yuanmao held the [Little Stone Spirit] in his hand, a Source Beast unique to his Family.

Hearing Chen Zhengchang's explanation, his expression calmed. He didn't say whether it was good or bad, but just lightly patted the [Little Stone Spirit], which was not even the size of a palm, in his hand.

"Go."

The [Little Stone Spirit] was composed of six stones of different sizes. The largest one formed the main body, four longer ones formed the limbs, and a rounder one formed the head.

It shook its head, and then, as if understanding Shi Yuanmao's words, it leaped onto the Bright Jade Stone inside the basket.

"Da-da."

The sound of stones clashing came from beneath the little stone figure. It walked across the seven baskets in turn, as if inspecting the quality of these Bright Jade Stones through its own means.

The [Little Stone Spirit] performed miraculously, yet neither Village Head Chen Zhengchang nor the surrounding villagers, who kept their heads down and didn't dare look at the noble, showed any signs of surprise.

After all, this kind of scene occurred once every month; having seen it often, it had become second nature.

Finally, the [Little Stone Spirit], having finished its inspection, leaped back into Shi Yuanmao's palm. It tapped three times on his palm, and then the stones forming its body stacked onto each other, turning back into a pile of silent crushed stones.

Shi Yuanmao looked at it tenderly, and the body of the [Little Stone Spirit] gradually faded and disappeared.

His palm hovered over the baskets. Without knowing what secret technique he used, after a flash of light, all the Bright Jade Stones vanished without a trace.

A middle-aged man with a mustache, who had been standing silently behind Shi Yuanmao, stepped forward and took out silver coins from his robe to hand to the Village Head.

The Village Head took the silver coins, a hint of joy appearing on his face. The Shi Family was a great Family in town and would not mistreat them in terms of payment; it was not much different from when the situation was better.

Shi Yuanmao straightened his robes. "Since the production can't keep up, let's trade once every two months for Fuhe Village."

After saying that, he was the first to turn around and walk down the mountain with steady steps.

Chen Zhengchang opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

The man who looked like a steward spoke first. "Village Head Chen, your place is a bit remote. If you want to maintain the frequency of trade, you should develop a new mine as soon as possible, otherwise..."

Otherwise what? The steward didn't say it explicitly, but Chen Zhengchang understood his meaning. It was nothing more than the fact that one of the village's two pillar industries might come to an end in a few years.

But how could a new mine be so easy to find?

Chen Zhengchang's face soured further, but he still cupped his hands toward the steward and thanked him, "Thank you, Steward Wang."

Steward Wang shook his head, turned around, and followed his master's pace, catching up with a trot.

As for the seven or eight other characters who looked like Guards and attendants, they had already lined up in front and behind to clear the way and protect Shi Yuanmao, looking extremely imposing.

The Village Head sighed and put the silver coins into his robe. The coins given by the Shi Family Young Master were large denominations, so he couldn't pay the village lads their wages right now.

He needed to return to the village, exchange the coins, and then settle the accounts.

Relying on mining and raising cranes for the Zhang Family, Fuhe Village was a well-known wealthy village among the eighteen villages under the jurisdiction of Heyu Town, but now the mineral resources were clearly drying up.

With one of the two pillar industries about to be lost, Chen Zhengchang, the Village Head, couldn't help but feel anxious.

Seeing Shi Yuanmao's figure disappear behind the trees, a young lad approached Chen Zhengchang.

"Uncle, how much wages can be paid this time? I'm still thinking of getting the money soon to buy a Source Beast in town."

Chen Zhengchang came back to his senses and slapped the dark-skinned lad on the head.

"Still thinking of contracting a Source Beast? Even if you can afford to buy one, you can't afford to raise it."

"We village folk should just honestly think about saving money to marry a wife and have a son; don't dream of becoming a Noble Family."

The dark-skinned lad clearly didn't take Chen Zhengchang's words seriously. He curled his lip. "Uncle, our mining production is getting lower and lower. Can that old man from the Chu Family find a new mine? Otherwise, the production definitely won't keep up in the future."

Chen Zhengchang frowned. "These are not things for a half-grown boy like you to worry about."

"That's not for sure. Maybe they found one and won't tell us. After all, he's the only one in the whole village with that ability."

Chen Zhengchang angrily kicked the dark-skinned lad again, but after all, he was his own nephew by blood.

"Chu Jingyu is a sensible man; he would never do anything to distance himself from the village collective. Otherwise, he wouldn't have pointed out the existence of this mine to the villagers twenty years ago."

The dark-skinned lad was somewhat unconvinced. "Before, it was because they had just arrived in our village. To integrate as quickly as possible, they naturally had to give our village some benefits. Now that so many years have passed and they have a Foundation, they naturally don't need to be careful everywhere anymore."

These words made Chen Zhengchang's eyebrows stand up. "Shut up! Where did you hear such nonsense?"

"Everyone in the village says so." Seeing that his uncle was truly angry, the dark-skinned lad Chen Xu explained in a low voice.

Chen Zhengchang sighed deeply upon hearing this. It seemed that even after twenty years, even if the Chu Family helped the village a lot, they still hadn't truly integrated into the village.

"Village Head, Village Head, the people who went into the mountain are back."

Chen Zhengchang pulled himself together and looked toward the crowd coming from the back of the mountain, hoping they could bring some good news.