"Is this real?"
Chen Xu turned the crystal over in his palm again and again, unable to believe his eyes. The two fragments he had fused now seemed utterly unchanged—no seams, no cracks. Only their color had shifted, becoming a faint gold. Its weight, texture, and feel, however, remained identical to before.
"The law of conservation of energy? Conservation of mass?"
He examined it meticulously from every angle, but the result was the same. Eventually, Chen Xu sighed in defeat. Whatever this thing was, its technology—or perhaps divinity—clearly exceeded anything he could comprehend.
"Well, as long as it can strengthen my inner force, who cares about the rest?"
Clutching the pale-golden crystal tightly, Chen Xu closed his eyes and slowly circulated his inner qi. As it flowed into his palm, the current abruptly surged. Just as he had anticipated, an immense torrent of golden energy erupted from the crystal, flooding into his meridians before pouring directly into his sea of consciousness.
Illuminated by that radiant tide, the faint core of his divine soul reappeared in his mind.
The process was identical to before—the core soul devoured the golden energy completely, then released roughly thirty percent of it back into his meridians, where it fused with his internal breath.
The core soul functioned like an energy converter. The raw golden power could not be refined directly by Chen Xu's qi, but once filtered through the core soul, it transformed into a pure, absorbable essence—though only a fraction remained, its potency was incomparable.
"I wonder how much this time will raise my cultivation."
With a single thought, his inner qi blazed. The slow, steady current of energy within him suddenly roared to life, surging wildly through his channels. His dantian grew hot, pulsing with fiery vigor, and his cultivation level began to soar at astonishing speed.
Moments later, a sharp crack echoed from within his body. His muscles swelled, becoming even more robust—broader and firmer than Ape One's. The energy in his meridians struck through several stubborn blockages, clearing his channels completely.
After a quarter of an hour, the pale-golden crystal in his hand had turned translucent, its energy entirely spent. The last traces of golden qi within his body faded into his own inner breath, and the turbulent flow of energy gradually calmed. The refinement was complete.
"Hah…"
Chen Xu opened his eyes. For an instant, they gleamed like lightning, casting a blinding flash through the dim cave.
The ape leader, who had been crouching by the fire, gave a startled yelp and fell backward onto the ground, clutching a steaming haunch of meat in trembling hands. His face was filled with awe and fear—then, after a moment's hesitation, he crept forward and offered the meat to Chen Xu, as if presenting tribute to a god.
With a glance, Chen Xu understood. The poor creature must have been frightened by the burst of spiritual light from his eyes—and now sought to appease him with food.
"The crystal's energy is fully absorbed. I should ask about his tribe soon. But tonight he's still unsettled—and it's already late. Some things can wait until morning."
He accepted the roasted leg, waved the ape away, and watched as the creature hastily bowed again before retreating to the fire.
"Late stage of the Second Heaven Realm," Chen Xu murmured, chewing thoughtfully on the half-cooked meat. "Not bad. But the crystal's effect is far weaker than the first one. Is that because the energy inside is less? Or because the higher one climbs, the harder it is to advance?"
He flexed his fingers, feeling the rush of power within his body—his inner breath nearly doubled in volume, and his flesh brimming with strength.
By his own estimation, his physical might alone now equaled that of three and a half ape leaders. If he infused his blows with inner qi, the gap would be even greater. His dantian now held far deeper reserves than before, enough to sustain long battles without exhaustion.
Clearly, this makeshift Muscle and Marrow Scripture grew increasingly powerful as he progressed—but also increasingly difficult to cultivate. The first golden crystal had boosted him by an entire major realm; the second had raised him only two minor levels.
He could already foresee that, as his cultivation deepened, the crystals' effects would dwindle, until one day, they would no longer aid him at all.
"It seems that to strengthen my inner force quickly, I'll need a large number of these golden crystals. I'll have to plan that carefully. But before that—I must expand the tribe. Only with more hands can we gather them efficiently."
After tearing off the last bites of meat, Chen Xu tossed the bone aside, rubbed his full stomach, and returned to the fire.
The other apes sat silently, their eyes fixed on him, hunger gleaming in them—but none dared to move. The smell of roasting flesh filled the cavern, yet not one creature made a sound. Chen Xu's authority loomed too heavily over them.
When he finally waved his hand, signaling that they could eat, they erupted in cheers.
He reclined once more on his stone bed, gazing at the firelit crowd. "In this era, simply eating one's fill must already be a luxury," he murmured with a smile. "Still, it feels… oddly good."
Watching the apes devour their meal in ecstatic cries, he chuckled softly. "So… class has begun to form. Well, that's fine. It's the natural order of things."
Indeed, none of the apes dared to touch food before him. First came Apes One through Four, then the ape leader, and only then the rest of the tribe. Unconsciously, the hierarchy was established—and Chen Xu had become something more than their leader. To them, he was divine.
When dawn broke, sunlight spilling into the cave, the tribe stirred from sleep and began their day.
Following Chen Xu's orders, most climbed the rope outside to gather firewood from the cliffs. The stronger ones went higher up to cut bamboo for new spears. The elders, the sick, and the weak stayed behind to tend the fires and roast meat for the hunters' return.
Under his guidance, the once-chaotic tribe now moved with clockwork precision. Efficiency soared; for the first time, their settlement resembled the faint outline of civilization.
Chen Xu, lounging by the cave mouth, basked in the morning sun with a strip of meat in his mouth—the first man of privilege in the Stone Age.
Beside him, the ape leader fidgeted nervously, unsure of what his mysterious master intended.
After swallowing the last bite, Chen Xu finally turned to him. Remarkably, the ape's injuries from yesterday—though severe even by modern standards—had healed completely overnight.
"Ape physiology really is incredible," Chen Xu thought in admiration. "In my time, this kind of trauma would leave a man half-paralyzed. Have humans grown weaker with evolution?"
Shaking his head, he picked up a twig and drew a rough sketch on the ground. Speaking in the clumsy, broken ape tongue he had learned, he asked, "Where are you from? Where is your tribe? I want you to lead us there. You know that only by following me can you eat meat. Otherwise, your tribe will starve."
The ape leader understood instantly—and to Chen Xu's surprise, responded without hesitation, his tone filled with reverence and urgency.
In modern language, his words roughly translated to:
"Great Chief, my tribe lives in a valley surrounded by forest and stone hills. Nearby lies the territory of the porcupines—fierce and deadly. My people have run out of food. Please, mighty Chief, come save them!"
Chen Xu blinked, a little speechless.
From the ape's description alone, he could hardly discern the location. Forests, valleys, and rocky hills were everywhere in this vast wilderness. Only the "porcupine territory" offered a potential clue—but even that meant little to him, a newcomer in this ancient world.
Fortunately, the ape had not relied on words alone. He had begun drawing—crudely but vividly—sketching beasts with bristling quills and jagged terrain around them.
And with that, Chen Xu's next conquest began to take shape.