Wisdom Trial, Three Treasures of Civilization

"Run!"

"We can't escape! We're only as big as one of his hairs!"

Countless fleeing Insect Apes collapsed limply to the ground.

Amid the terrified screams, a young Insect Ape stubbornly raised his head to the sky. "Are you a Giant Beast here to eat us too? You killed Father, killed Mother, killed Elder Brother. Why are we so weak?"

Xu Zhi lowered his head, somewhat surprised by the young Insect Ape's courage in daring to question him.

Then it would be you.

Xu Zhi merely reached out and placed the Insect Ape in his palm.

The young Insect Ape's mind instantly went blank.

Upon the palm of this enormous creature lay what seemed like a boundless continent, while he was no larger than a delicate palm print.

When he looked up again, the Ten Thousand Feet Giant's furnace-like eyes resembled the brilliant sun in the heavens. Its massive face was bathed in holy white radiance, its features impossible to discern, carrying a majestic and boundless divinity.

The Insect Nest had obscured Xu Zhi's face, so they could only see a blurry visage emitting a hazy glow.

Holding the tiny Insect Ape in one hand, Xu Zhi looked at him calmly. "Gilgamesh, do you want to change everything?"

The Insect Ape suddenly began to tremble, shrieking from atop his palm. "You can communicate?! What kind of Giant Beast are you? There is actually a Ten Thousand Feet Giant with intelligence in this world! How can such a perfect being exist?!"

He could not stop himself from trembling. "And you called me... Gilgamesh?"

"A name is also one manifestation of intelligence."

Xu Zhi held him in his palm before his eyes and answered calmly.

Standing in the palm, Gilgamesh stared at the Giant Beast's enormous, crystalline pupils, as vast as the sun and moon. Then he spoke again. "We can both communicate! Then we are the same kind of species, intelligent species. Why, why won't you save us? You are clearly so powerful! So majestic!"

They did not know what they were. They merely assumed they were a kind of intelligent Giant Beast similar to these creatures, and Xu Zhi had no intention of explaining otherwise.

Xu Zhi carried him in his palm as he strode through mountains and rivers.

Great swaths of trees were trampled flat. He let the weak Insect Ape gaze down from his palm upon the entire world, his booming voice echoing across the sky. "Look at this world. Every species is equal. You are no different from any plant or animal. Why should I save only you? Just because you possess intelligence?"

Gilgamesh was instantly rendered speechless.

Then despair overtook him, and he suddenly shouted, "Then why did you come to us?" Xu Zhi said, "No one can save you. Do not hope for someone to save you either. Only you can save yourselves. But I can give you the means of civilization, so that you may save yourselves."

"Civilization... what is that?"

Gilgamesh stared downward in shock.

The fierce wind whipped around him. For the first time, from above the clouds, he looked down upon the vast green earth. Mountains and rivers lay beneath his gaze, while countless beasts fled and roared beneath the feet of the Wisdom Giant Beast, creating a scene of overwhelming grandeur.

What a dazzling and fantastical view from the skies.

What terrifying, yet awe-inspiring, great power!

"You ask what civilization is?"

Xu Zhi had never expected to explain such things to this newborn race.

After thinking for a moment, he gave his answer. "Civilization is a spark. Civilization is knowledge. Civilization is order. Civilization is also the greatest power intelligent species use to protect themselves."

"Civilization... is the power we intelligent species use to protect ourselves?" Gilgamesh murmured.

Xu Zhi returned to the great canyon and gently placed Gilgamesh upon his shoulder. Then he took a miniature potted plant from the backpack on his back—the Welcoming Pine—dug up the soil, and planted it in the ground.

This Welcoming Pine was only sixty centimeters tall, twisted and gnarled, ancient and weathered. Yet upon this miniature land, it was already an endless Divine Tree soaring into the clouds. Looking upward, one could see mist swirling around its immense winding trunk, with no end in sight.

"Do you see the tree I planted? If you want the power of civilization, then show your courage. Climb the Divine Tree. This is my trial for you—a trial of wisdom and courage."

Xu Zhi placed a massive silver metal sword custom-made on Taobao, a match soaked in kerosene, and a transparent capsule of previously unsuccessful termite fluid at the top of the tree.

"These are civilization's three treasures."

"The Damocles Sword is a weapon that protects civilization. Unlike the savage species spread across the land, intelligent species can harness the power of tools."

"The Torch burns with scorching flames. It is the bridge that sustains civilization. To master fire is the origin of civilization."

"And the final bottle of liquid is the Blood of Power. Only the bravest warriors in the world can drink it. Fail to endure it, and you die. Endure it, and you gain unparalleled strength!"

"If you wish to change the fate of your race, then climb the Divine Tree and obtain civilization's three treasures before the Torch goes out."

Xu Zhi gently set the young Insect Ape on the ground, then strode away through the mountains and rivers amid its shock.

"Accelerate cell division one hundredfold!"

The moment Xu Zhi stepped away, he gave the order to the Insect Nest.

The entire land, which had returned to normal speed, once again underwent accelerated cell division.

In an instant, all movement across the land became wildly fast, leaving afterimages everywhere. Trees swiftly grew and withered, animals became blurs, and Birth, Aging, Sickness, and Death passed in rapid succession.

He had added kerosene to the match, allowing it to burn for around thirty seconds before going out.

But for that land accelerated by a hundredfold, those thirty seconds were equivalent to several days before it would extinguish.

In other words, his Divine Tree trial would last many days.

"Time is relative; it is the manifestation of matter in motion. Their brain nerve cells are accelerated a hundredfold, and their bodily cell division is accelerated a hundredfold. To them, time itself is accelerated a hundredfold. A match that burns for an instant can, to them, burn for several days. In their worldview, a match is not a fleeting firework, but a Torch capable of burning for days."

Xu Zhi recalled those words:

Small knowledge cannot comprehend great knowledge; a short life cannot comprehend a long life. How could they know it? The morning mushroom knows neither the new moon nor the month's end! The cicada knows neither spring nor autumn! The long years they believed in were, in my eyes, merely a brief instant.

After Xu Zhi left, he used binoculars to clearly observe the scene beneath the Divine Tree. The young Insect Ape called over several companions, their faces resolute, and together they quickly began climbing the Divine Tree.

In Xu Zhi's eyes, the little ants climbed so fast that they were reduced to afterimages. In mere seconds, they fell countless times, then struggled upward again. After a dozen or so seconds, they had successfully reached the top of the Divine Tree.

Yet for them, countless days had already passed, filled with endless hardship and failure.

Their movements were simply too fast.

At the summit of the Divine Tree, atop the lush emerald canopy, Gilgamesh raised the sword high. He seemed to say something and do something before descending in a blur.

Curious, Xu Zhi could not help asking the Insect Nest, "What are they saying?"

The Insect Nest Sub-Brain brought up the scene from moments earlier for Xu Zhi.

"Wisdom Giant Beast... such terrifying giant intelligent species actually live in this world! That was a colossal Giant standing ten thousand feet tall!"

Gilgamesh had conquered the Divine Tree. He raised the Damocles Sword high and swung it overhead.

He looked down upon the multitude beneath the Divine Tree. His black fur fluttered in the wind, the bone armor on his shoulders gleaming darkly. His resolute face suddenly filled with confidence.

"We possess wisdom as well. In the future, we too will be like that Wisdom Giant Beast! Every member of our race will possess majestic divine power! Every one of us will carry the might to make countless Giant Beasts flee! I will lead my people to the summit and spread the spark of civilization across the land!"

This moment was recorded for eternity.

Millions of years later, archaeologists discovered the Sumerian Dynasty's hymn of history, Genesis, written for their great king. This oldest document, the Sumerian Ancient History, recorded: A Wisdom Giant Beast, ten thousand feet tall, covered in white radiance and bearing a holy visage, came crushing mountains and rivers beneath its feet. It bestowed a Divine Tree and established the Wisdom Trial, handing civilization's three treasures—the Torch, the Holy Sword, and the Blood of Power—to the young Hero King, Gilgamesh.