197: The rise of a new era

The Spirit Realm, a land of the Dharma-ending age; dead silence was the eternal theme.

However, beneath that suffocating despair, the Enlightenment Fire Seeds sown by the magic bottle before it departed had not been extinguished.

Like dormant sparks, they stubbornly waited in the ruins and amidst the struggle for the opportunity to start a prairie fire.

This opportunity came from "stability."

Mo Yun transformed into the primordial wilderness, permanently stabilizing the Spiritual Veins, causing the crumbling earth to cease its wailing and providing a foundation to stand upon.

Mo Yu dispersed into the rules of water veins, faintly yet continuously nourishing and purifying, providing the source of survival.

This hard-won, cold "stability" provided the most basic fuel for those tiny sparks.

The once young ATu was now a highly respected "Wise One" in the settlement.

The Enlightenment Fire Seed on his forehead, visible to no one, burned continuously, and countless pieces of knowledge surpassing the era constantly collided, were digested, and were put into practice within his mind.

He was no longer satisfied with merely modifying a lamp or a shovel.

After the Spiritual Veins stabilized, he led his clansmen to venture deep into the massive chasm that had once expanded but was now solidified by an invisible force.

Based on knowledge of [Geological Structure] and [Energy Sensing], they did not find the legendary Spiritual Vein, but unexpectedly discovered a black "stone" (coal) buried deep underground that could burn steadily and release heat far exceeding that of beast oil, as well as another strange "gravel" (low-grade Spirit-Conducting Ore) that shimmered with a faint silver light and could conduct extremely weak electrical currents.

The discovery of coal solved the energy crisis for heating and preliminary smelting!

And that Spirit-Conducting Ore allowed the knowledge in ATu's mind regarding [Spirit Energy Conductivity] and [Basic Energy Conversion] to instantly find a use!

He threw himself into research, nearly obsessed, using the most rudimentary tools and failing repeatedly.

The people of the settlement were initially confused, even complaining that he was not pragmatically searching for food.

But when ATu finally succeeded in using Spirit-Conducting Ore sand, the heat from burning coal, and metal coils of a specific structure to create the first [Spirit-Thermal Electric Stone Lamp] that could continuously emit stable, bright light without the need for grease and with almost no smoke, all doubts turned into shock and ecstasy!

The light dispelled the darkness and also dispelled the deeper fear.

This was only the beginning.

Another one-armed hunter who had received the Fire Seed, while trying to create a more dexterous mechanical arm, combined it with the Spirit-Conducting Ore ATu had discovered and accidentally found that when this Ore was combined with the bones of certain mutated creatures, it could produce a strange "affinity" and "growth-stimulating" effect on living flesh.

He did not create a perfect mechanical arm, but unexpectedly concocted [Flesh-Generating Powder] capable of accelerating wound healing and even stimulating the slow regeneration of granulation tissue at the site of severed limbs!

Although the effect was slow and accompanied by excruciating pain, this was undoubtedly a miracle!

The young girl who observed the stars improved her instruments, not only calculating the changes in solar terms more accurately but even beginning to attempt to draw simple star charts. Combining this with the profound [Celestial Mechanics] knowledge within the Fire Seed, she vaguely perceived that beyond the sky, there were endless worlds.

Her gaze was cast toward a more distant future.

Knowledge was no longer an ethereal theory but had transformed into tangible tools, medicine, and even hope that could improve survival.

Bloody conflicts between settlements over water sources and food gradually decreased.

Replacing them was a kind of fragile exchange linked by "knowledge."

Individuals with different Fire Seed talents began to be known by other settlements and were even invited.

Although communication remained cautious, the trickle of technology began to cross the barriers between settlements, slowly spreading.

They used coal and preliminary metallurgical knowledge to refine sturdier tools and weapons, which they used to dig deeper wells and fight against mutated beasts.

They used Spirit-Conducting Ore and rudimentary knowledge of Spirit Energy to create simple alarms and even attempted to construct small-scale protective fences.

They improved agricultural techniques (although the land remained barren) and attempted to cultivate mutated crops that could grow stubbornly even in the dead-silent environment.

This was a clumsy and slow process, filled with failure and setbacks.

They had no grand Legacy, no powerful magic, only that bit of knowledge in their minds from an unknown source, and the astonishing creativity spawned by the instinct to survive.

They called this way of survival, which combined the use of weak Spirit Energy, basic physical Laws, and chemical knowledge, "Technology."

And those who led them, possessing "apocalyptic" knowledge, were respectfully called—"Cultivators."

These Cultivators were not the same as those other Cultivators; they did not cultivate the Golden Core Great Dao, did not seek Immortal Ascension, but only sought to use the principles of "Technology" to live better on this doomsday wasteland.

The era of [Technological Cultivation] sprouted here, taking its first stumbling steps.

At the edge of the Universe, inside the magic bottle.

The Mechanical Heavenly Dao's cold scan swept over the homeland, and data streams flowed into the metal Dao core.

"Civilization Fire Seeds Project Progress Report: Human Race unit survival rate continues to rise. Technology application rate: +17.3%. Social structure complexity: +5.1%. Overall civilization adaptability score: Increased."

"Environmental burden: Slightly increased (coal usage led to a decline in local air quality). Resource consumption: Increased. Assessment: Controllable."

"Conclusion: Phase One of the project (Survival Guarantee) has met expectations. Entering Phase Two (Technology Diffusion and Foundation Reconstruction)."

It silently recorded this, like observing microorganisms in a petri dish.

There was no joy, no gratification, only calm assessment and planning.

Occasionally, it would remotely fine-tune the release rhythm of knowledge within a certain "Enlightenment Fire Seed," or when a settlement was about to be wiped out due to a major technical error, it would correct it through extremely subtle environmental intervention (such as an accidental rainfall extinguishing a spreading fire).

It was like an invisible hand, ensuring from behind the scenes that this civilization experiment would not perish prematurely.

And on the land of the Spirit Realm, the survivors did not know that a cold eye was watching them.

They only saw that through their own hands and wisdom, life was getting better bit by bit.

At night, the Spirit-Thermal Electric Stone Lamp lit in the center of the settlement emitted a stable and bright light, and people sat around, listening to the "Cultivators" tell of new discoveries and ideas, their eyes burning with longing for the future.

Young ATu watched all of this, looking at the long-lost smiles on the people's faces under the lamplight, and squeezed the warm piece of Spirit-Conducting Ore in his hand tightly.

The new era, above the ruins, relying on the hands of Mortals and a spark from beyond the star sea, difficultly and firmly... rose.