53 Global Evolution
All three adults climbed into the car to sleep, while Zhuang Yao nestled on Abu, using its long and soft fur as a blanket. He fell asleep comfortably. It was already autumn, and the forest temperature at night was quite low. Despite being covered with a blanket, the three inside the car still felt a bit chilly, but Zhuang Yao slept soundly.
The next morning, Cong Xia was the first to wake up. He wiped off the fog on the car window and saw a beautiful big cat curled up on the ground not far away. A fair and graceful boy was nestled in its arms, sleeping peacefully.
Cong Xia smiled gently and prepared to cook some porridge. In order to save food, they now only ate two meals a day, which was already considered a luxury compared to before.
As he moved, Cheng Tianbi also woke up.
Cong Xia said, "You can lie down a bit longer; I'll call you when the meal is ready."
"I'll help you."
The two got out of the car, and Cheng Tianbi helped him start a fire. Cong Xia cooked a pot of mixed grain porridge and took out the last bag of ham. Smelling the aroma, the remaining two also woke up.
Cong Xia picked up a slice of ham and sighed, "This is the last bag. We must savor it."
After the four of them finished eating, they continued on their journey. When passing through a small county, they were harassed by some locusts, but they were all driven away by Liu Fengyu, and the rest of the journey remained relatively peaceful.
They traveled for two whole days and finally arrived at the junction of Guizhou and Chongqing in the evening, standing on a high hill with four people and a cat. Looking down, the once developed industrial zone had now turned into a dense forest. In the area completely covered by vegetation, occasionally one could see a corner of a concrete building protruding from the trees, serving as evidence that this place was once an epitome of human technological development.
Cong Xia said, "Let's set up camp and rest here. We'll continue downwards when it's bright tomorrow." Although the journey had been relatively smooth so far, he couldn't help but feel that this industrial zone wouldn't be as peaceful anymore.
Zhuang Yao took out a map, saying, "This is the former master plan of this industrial zone. It's no longer discernible now, and since it's quite large, it's not easy to find these gasoline and energy storage sites. However, as long as we can find one, it should be enough for our future consumption."
The four of them carefully studied the map under the car's headlights and eventually determined their location and the nearest energy storage site.
"Then let's go to this oil depot tomorrow morning."
After finishing their meal, Zhuang Yao began to record Cheng Tianbi and Liu Fengyu's progress. Although their progress was not significant each day, if they continued to accumulate day by day, their growth would be astonishing.
Before going to sleep, Cong Xia asked Zhuang Yao, "How do you feel these days?"
Zhuang Yao shook his head and replied, "Nothing special. I was already quite intelligent, even when my brain domain first mutated, I didn't feel much. It just enhanced my analytical abilities towards the surrounding things."
Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes skyward.
Cong Xia helplessly said, "Well, you should continue your cultivation. The progress of brain domain evolution might not be easily noticeable, but it will definitely be effective. At the very least, if you continue to cultivate, the precision of your energy nucleus will improve, and something will change."
"I understand. But what about you? Why don't you cultivate?"
"Because I can't find my energy nucleus. I'm curious about it too. I can clearly perceive and use my energy, but I can't sense my energy nucleus."
Zhuang Yao pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps your energy nucleus is different from ours."
"Maybe, but at least for now, I haven't figured it out."
Zhuang Yao glanced at him deeply and said, "If you tell me the secret, I can help you analyze it."
Cong Xia smiled and patted his head, saying, "Go to sleep now."
Zhuang Yao pouted, then snuggled into Abu's embrace and fell into a deep slumber.
Liu Fengyu, who was always lazy and loved to eat, had already gone into the car to rest early.
Cheng Tianbi said, "I'll drive tomorrow. You sleep a little later tonight and take the opportunity to enter the void and search for answers. Since this cultivation method is effective and the ancient jade also requires you to cultivate, then you should have an energy nucleus. You just haven't found it yet."
Cong Xia nodded, "That's right. I haven't had the chance recently. I'll go inside and take a look tomorrow. Maybe I really overlooked something, or perhaps I lacked some conditions..."
After getting into the car, the two lay down next to each other. Cong Xia touched the ancient jade and entered the void.
He wandered through vast amounts of textual information, carefully searching for any hints about the energy nucleus, but still, just like before, he gained nothing. However, there was a separate section in the ancient jade that explained the control of energy. This section seemed to be able to help Liu Fengyu control his foul odor and also assist himself in using attributeless energy more reasonably and efficiently to achieve certain goals.
After recording this passage in writing, Cong Xia started to explore the process of materializing tools using attributeless energy. He felt that the purification of the energy nucleus and the materialization of tools mentioned in the preserved information of the ancient jade were the essence of all the information. However, for him at the moment, he only had a partial understanding of the cultivation method, and he was completely ignorant about the materialization of tools. He had always been interested in being able to create useful things, but previously he lacked sufficient energy. Now that he had surplus energy absorbed from the gecko, he decided to start experimenting from the basics.
The tools mentioned in the ancient jade were divided into four categories: energy storage, defense, attack, and manipulation. These four categories were sorted by the level of difficulty in materialization and energy consumption. The energy storage category was relatively the simplest, using jade as a medium to store various types of energy.
It was similar to his own function but more compact and portable. If there was excessive energy that he couldn't absorb, he could act as an intermediary and transfer the energy into the energy storage jade talisman. The energy storage jade talisman not only stored attributeless energy but also stored the five elemental energies, and it could be used by energy bodies that utilized the five elemental energies.
However, he had no idea how to directly convert attributeless energy into the five elemental energies. At most, he could inject attributeless energy into an energy body to make it part of the five elemental energies at work. So even if he managed to create the energy storage jade talisman, other energy bodies wouldn't be able to use it.
The defense category included weapons and armor, which could be materialized using specific materials or energy as a medium. For example, to create a steel weapon, one would need steel as a medium. However, creating defense tools also required knowledge of relevant manufacturing techniques, which he currently lacked.
The attack and defense category seemed even more powerful, allowing one to replicate the attack and defense skills of other energy bodies. However, whether it was the method, energy control and consumption, or the medium, it was all extremely complex.
Based on his shallow understanding, if he wanted to create an attack tool with the function of Liu Fengyu's digestive fluid, he would need to use fire energy as a medium and Liu Fengyu's digestive fluid as a trigger. Moreover, this type of attack and defense tool didn't have a physical form; even the medium was energy. It was something he couldn't even figure out how to create no matter how hard he tried.
The last category was the most mystical, involving tools to manipulate energy bodies. They required a part of the energy body's body as a medium and consumed a large amount of energy. Without a continuous supply of energy, it was impossible to achieve.
After browsing through all this information, he was already feeling dizzy and exhausted. He decided to record the manufacturing method of the energy storage category tools next time. Now, he was too tired to continue. He withdrew from the void and fell asleep within half a minute.
Hearing his steady breathing, Cheng Tianbi opened his eyes and glanced at him. Although they now had Abu and didn't need someone to keep watch, Cheng Tianbi still had the habit of waiting for Cong Xia to fall asleep before going to sleep himself. He closed his eyes, and Cong Xia was very close to him, with his scent permeating the surroundings. Cheng Tianbi gradually fell asleep.
The next morning, after having breakfast, they set off towards the industrial zone with great momentum. As long as they stored enough gasoline, they would be able to enter Chongqing by passing through this industrial zone, taking them one step closer to their destination, Beijing.
After driving for the entire morning, they finally entered the industrial zone. Walking inside the industrial zone felt better than standing on the mountain and looking down. At least the vegetation wasn't as dense as what they had seen yesterday.
Although the buildings in the industrial zone were covered in plants, most of them remained intact with only minor damage. As long as the buildings were still standing, the oil depot they were looking for would be much easier to find than they had imagined.
After wandering around the industrial zone for over an hour, they finally found an oil depot that closely resembled the one on the map.
"Here it is. The maximum gasoline storage capacity of this oil depot is 150 tons. I wonder how much is left now."
"Maybe there's none left at all."
"We'll have to go inside and check."
Outside the oil depot, they saw an abandoned gas station. Due to the large size of this industrial zone and the transportation of large goods, there were five gas stations in different directions.
Liu Fengyu said, "This thing must be broken. The oil is probably stored underground. How do we get it up?"
Zhuang Yao snorted. "We'll figure out a way to bring it up through the pipelines. Anyone can do it."
Liu Fengyu raised her fist. "Feeling itchy, huh?"
Cong Xia circled around the fuel tank and picked up the fuel gun. "How do we do it? Should we dismantle it?"
"You really have no experience."
Cong Xia smiled bitterly. "We really don't have any experience stealing gasoline from gas stations."
Zhuang Yao was about to give instructions when suddenly Abu let out a short, startled cry. In an instant, a dark figure shot towards the fuel tank in front of Zhuang Yao, and with a loud bang, the fuel tank violently shook, and the display panel shattered.
The four of them were terrified and looked towards the fuel tank. A simple and even somewhat rough wooden arrow was firmly stuck in the fuel tank. The arrowhead penetrated the tank. It was a very plain-looking arrow, but its power was astonishing. If the arrow had deviated three centimeters to the left, it would have pierced through the fuel tank as well as Zhuang Yao and Cong Xia's heads!
The four turned their heads to look in the direction the arrow had come from, but all they could see were towering trees, obscuring their view.
Cheng Tianbi was trembling with anger, clenching his fists and shouting, "Who is it?"
Zhuang Yao was also a bit afraid, but he forced himself to calm down. "Stop shouting, there's something on the arrow." There was a red silk tied to the end of the arrow. Zhuang Yao untied the red silk and unfolded it, revealing just two short words: "Leave now."
Cong Xia walked over with weak legs. The arrowhead had almost been right next to his head earlier, scaring his heart nearly out of his chest. What kind of archery was that? What power! If the archer had really wanted to kill them, at least he and Zhuang Yao would have died. It was too terrifying!
Liu Fengyu's face darkened. She was also shocked by the scene just now. "It seems like there are people here, and they don't seem to welcome us."
53 Global Evolution
All three adults climbed into the car to sleep, while Zhuang Yao nestled on Abu, using its long and soft fur as a blanket. He fell asleep comfortably. It was already autumn, and the forest temperature at night was quite low. Despite being covered with a blanket, the three inside the car still felt a bit chilly, but Zhuang Yao slept soundly.
The next morning, Cong Xia was the first to wake up. He wiped off the fog on the car window and saw a beautiful big cat curled up on the ground not far away. A fair and graceful boy was nestled in its arms, sleeping peacefully.
Cong Xia smiled gently and prepared to cook some porridge. In order to save food, they now only ate two meals a day, which was already considered a luxury compared to before.
As he moved, Cheng Tianbi also woke up.
Cong Xia said, "You can lie down a bit longer; I'll call you when the meal is ready."
"I'll help you."
The two got out of the car, and Cheng Tianbi helped him start a fire. Cong Xia cooked a pot of mixed grain porridge and took out the last bag of ham. Smelling the aroma, the remaining two also woke up.
Cong Xia picked up a slice of ham and sighed, "This is the last bag. We must savor it."
After the four of them finished eating, they continued on their journey. When passing through a small county, they were harassed by some locusts, but they were all driven away by Liu Fengyu, and the rest of the journey remained relatively peaceful.
They traveled for two whole days and finally arrived at the junction of Guizhou and Chongqing in the evening, standing on a high hill with four people and a cat. Looking down, the once developed industrial zone had now turned into a dense forest. In the area completely covered by vegetation, occasionally one could see a corner of a concrete building protruding from the trees, serving as evidence that this place was once an epitome of human technological development.
Cong Xia said, "Let's set up camp and rest here. We'll continue downwards when it's bright tomorrow." Although the journey had been relatively smooth so far, he couldn't help but feel that this industrial zone wouldn't be as peaceful anymore.
Zhuang Yao took out a map, saying, "This is the former master plan of this industrial zone. It's no longer discernible now, and since it's quite large, it's not easy to find these gasoline and energy storage sites. However, as long as we can find one, it should be enough for our future consumption."
The four of them carefully studied the map under the car's headlights and eventually determined their location and the nearest energy storage site.
"Then let's go to this oil depot tomorrow morning."
After finishing their meal, Zhuang Yao began to record Cheng Tianbi and Liu Fengyu's progress. Although their progress was not significant each day, if they continued to accumulate day by day, their growth would be astonishing.
Before going to sleep, Cong Xia asked Zhuang Yao, "How do you feel these days?"
Zhuang Yao shook his head and replied, "Nothing special. I was already quite intelligent, even when my brain domain first mutated, I didn't feel much. It just enhanced my analytical abilities towards the surrounding things."
Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes skyward.
Cong Xia helplessly said, "Well, you should continue your cultivation. The progress of brain domain evolution might not be easily noticeable, but it will definitely be effective. At the very least, if you continue to cultivate, the precision of your energy nucleus will improve, and something will change."
"I understand. But what about you? Why don't you cultivate?"
"Because I can't find my energy nucleus. I'm curious about it too. I can clearly perceive and use my energy, but I can't sense my energy nucleus."
Zhuang Yao pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps your energy nucleus is different from ours."
"Maybe, but at least for now, I haven't figured it out."
Zhuang Yao glanced at him deeply and said, "If you tell me the secret, I can help you analyze it."
Cong Xia smiled and patted his head, saying, "Go to sleep now."
Zhuang Yao pouted, then snuggled into Abu's embrace and fell into a deep slumber.
Liu Fengyu, who was always lazy and loved to eat, had already gone into the car to rest early.
Cheng Tianbi said, "I'll drive tomorrow. You sleep a little later tonight and take the opportunity to enter the void and search for answers. Since this cultivation method is effective and the ancient jade also requires you to cultivate, then you should have an energy nucleus. You just haven't found it yet."
Cong Xia nodded, "That's right. I haven't had the chance recently. I'll go inside and take a look tomorrow. Maybe I really overlooked something, or perhaps I lacked some conditions..."
After getting into the car, the two lay down next to each other. Cong Xia touched the ancient jade and entered the void.
He wandered through vast amounts of textual information, carefully searching for any hints about the energy nucleus, but still, just like before, he gained nothing. However, there was a separate section in the ancient jade that explained the control of energy. This section seemed to be able to help Liu Fengyu control his foul odor and also assist himself in using attributeless energy more reasonably and efficiently to achieve certain goals.
After recording this passage in writing, Cong Xia started to explore the process of materializing tools using attributeless energy. He felt that the purification of the energy nucleus and the materialization of tools mentioned in the preserved information of the ancient jade were the essence of all the information. However, for him at the moment, he only had a partial understanding of the cultivation method, and he was completely ignorant about the materialization of tools. He had always been interested in being able to create useful things, but previously he lacked sufficient energy. Now that he had surplus energy absorbed from the gecko, he decided to start experimenting from the basics.
The tools mentioned in the ancient jade were divided into four categories: energy storage, defense, attack, and manipulation. These four categories were sorted by the level of difficulty in materialization and energy consumption. The energy storage category was relatively the simplest, using jade as a medium to store various types of energy.
It was similar to his own function but more compact and portable. If there was excessive energy that he couldn't absorb, he could act as an intermediary and transfer the energy into the energy storage jade talisman. The energy storage jade talisman not only stored attributeless energy but also stored the five elemental energies, and it could be used by energy bodies that utilized the five elemental energies.
However, he had no idea how to directly convert attributeless energy into the five elemental energies. At most, he could inject attributeless energy into an energy body to make it part of the five elemental energies at work. So even if he managed to create the energy storage jade talisman, other energy bodies wouldn't be able to use it.
The defense category included weapons and armor, which could be materialized using specific materials or energy as a medium. For example, to create a steel weapon, one would need steel as a medium. However, creating defense tools also required knowledge of relevant manufacturing techniques, which he currently lacked.
The attack and defense category seemed even more powerful, allowing one to replicate the attack and defense skills of other energy bodies. However, whether it was the method, energy control and consumption, or the medium, it was all extremely complex.
Based on his shallow understanding, if he wanted to create an attack tool with the function of Liu Fengyu's digestive fluid, he would need to use fire energy as a medium and Liu Fengyu's digestive fluid as a trigger. Moreover, this type of attack and defense tool didn't have a physical form; even the medium was energy. It was something he couldn't even figure out how to create no matter how hard he tried.
The last category was the most mystical, involving tools to manipulate energy bodies. They required a part of the energy body's body as a medium and consumed a large amount of energy. Without a continuous supply of energy, it was impossible to achieve.
After browsing through all this information, he was already feeling dizzy and exhausted. He decided to record the manufacturing method of the energy storage category tools next time. Now, he was too tired to continue. He withdrew from the void and fell asleep within half a minute.
Hearing his steady breathing, Cheng Tianbi opened his eyes and glanced at him. Although they now had Abu and didn't need someone to keep watch, Cheng Tianbi still had the habit of waiting for Cong Xia to fall asleep before going to sleep himself. He closed his eyes, and Cong Xia was very close to him, with his scent permeating the surroundings. Cheng Tianbi gradually fell asleep.
The next morning, after having breakfast, they set off towards the industrial zone with great momentum. As long as they stored enough gasoline, they would be able to enter Chongqing by passing through this industrial zone, taking them one step closer to their destination, Beijing.
After driving for the entire morning, they finally entered the industrial zone. Walking inside the industrial zone felt better than standing on the mountain and looking down. At least the vegetation wasn't as dense as what they had seen yesterday.
Although the buildings in the industrial zone were covered in plants, most of them remained intact with only minor damage. As long as the buildings were still standing, the oil depot they were looking for would be much easier to find than they had imagined.
After wandering around the industrial zone for over an hour, they finally found an oil depot that closely resembled the one on the map.
"Here it is. The maximum gasoline storage capacity of this oil depot is 150 tons. I wonder how much is left now."
"Maybe there's none left at all."
"We'll have to go inside and check."
Outside the oil depot, they saw an abandoned gas station. Due to the large size of this industrial zone and the transportation of large goods, there were five gas stations in different directions.
Liu Fengyu said, "This thing must be broken. The oil is probably stored underground. How do we get it up?"
Zhuang Yao snorted. "We'll figure out a way to bring it up through the pipelines. Anyone can do it."
Liu Fengyu raised her fist. "Feeling itchy, huh?"
Cong Xia circled around the fuel tank and picked up the fuel gun. "How do we do it? Should we dismantle it?"
"You really have no experience."
Cong Xia smiled bitterly. "We really don't have any experience stealing gasoline from gas stations."
Zhuang Yao was about to give instructions when suddenly Abu let out a short, startled cry. In an instant, a dark figure shot towards the fuel tank in front of Zhuang Yao, and with a loud bang, the fuel tank violently shook, and the display panel shattered.
The four of them were terrified and looked towards the fuel tank. A simple and even somewhat rough wooden arrow was firmly stuck in the fuel tank. The arrowhead penetrated the tank. It was a very plain-looking arrow, but its power was astonishing. If the arrow had deviated three centimeters to the left, it would have pierced through the fuel tank as well as Zhuang Yao and Cong Xia's heads!
The four turned their heads to look in the direction the arrow had come from, but all they could see were towering trees, obscuring their view.
Cheng Tianbi was trembling with anger, clenching his fists and shouting, "Who is it?"
Zhuang Yao was also a bit afraid, but he forced himself to calm down. "Stop shouting, there's something on the arrow." There was a red silk tied to the end of the arrow. Zhuang Yao untied the red silk and unfolded it, revealing just two short words: "Leave now."
Cong Xia walked over with weak legs. The arrowhead had almost been right next to his head earlier, scaring his heart nearly out of his chest. What kind of archery was that? What power! If the archer had really wanted to kill them, at least he and Zhuang Yao would have died. It was too terrifying!
Liu Fengyu's face darkened. She was also shocked by the scene just now. "It seems like there are people here, and they don't seem to welcome us."
