The Giant Stone God

Qi Tian looked on in shock at the primitive man he had "slapped away," only then realizing that his consciousness could not only survey the distance but also manifest into a tangible state.

Although the river was four or five meters wide, it was only about half a meter deep, and the current was not particularly swift.

The primitive man, having been swatted into the river by the massive hand of consciousness, had a sturdy enough body; he stumbled about in the water before managing to climb back up.

However, his internal organs and brain had clearly suffered a shock, and he looked quite dazed for the moment.

Before he could fully regain his senses, the giant wild boar, which had come to a screeching halt on the grass, saw its muscles bulge as it erupted into motion once more, letting out a "snorting" sound from its snout.

Those massive tusks were as thick as a human forearm and looked like white jade; the surface was slightly worn with scratches, and it would be no exaggeration to call them the tusks of a small elephant.

"Awoo!"

With a howl, the wild boar charged at the primitive man in the river again, its momentum unstoppable.

Watching the still-dazed primitive man, and out of consideration for a fellow human, Qi Tian manifested his consciousness into a tangible form once more and swatted it toward the boar.

"Bang!"

After a violent, muffled thud, a shallow handprint appeared in the lawn. The wild boar's bones were shattered by the massive hand of consciousness, and blood flowed incessantly from its mouth; it was unlikely to survive.

This muffled sound startled the primitive man in the river, snapping him fully awake. He stood frozen in the flowing water, staring at the miserable state of the boar on the grassy bank.

The primitive man waded through the water, slowly climbed onto the bank, and approached the boar; the faint "snorting" sound proved the beast was still alive.

He looked around, saw that there was no one else, and then fixed his gaze on the ten-meter-tall humanoid boulder.

Recalling the sensation of being swatted away when he had tried to jump onto the stone earlier, and looking at the handprint left on the grass by the boar, he hurriedly ran to the boulder Qi Tian had become and began to kowtow, muttering something over and over.

Qi Tian watched the primitive man kowtowing to him, thinking that this fellow was quite clever to realize it was his doing.

Although he could not understand the primitive man's language, the message conveyed by his own consciousness made the general meaning clear—he was likely expressing gratitude.

Watching the primitive man kneeling before him, Qi Tian had the illusion that his consciousness had strengthened by a tiny fraction, though he did not dwell on it.

He then condensed his consciousness again, forming an invisible giant hand to lift the massive boar beside the kneeling primitive man, attempting to tell him to take it away.

"Take it."

The primitive man looked at the boar dropped beside him, his expression suddenly blank, and then a clear voice echoed in his mind, telling him to take it.

Now the primitive man was completely convinced that the humanoid boulder before him had saved his life; he hurriedly continued to kowtow, repeating the same phrase over and over.

Since Qi Tian had spoken to him with his consciousness, he could now fully understand the meaning of the words the primitive man was saying.

"Thank you, Giant Stone God."

Qi Tian did not respond; the several instances of condensing his consciousness had left him feeling quite tired, especially the second time he swatted the boar, for which he had used almost all his strength.

Slowly, Qi Tian seemed to fall asleep, his consciousness sinking into his sea of consciousness, gradually settling under the golden light of the Lotus Throne Buddha Statue.

Seeing that the Giant Stone God did not respond after kowtowing for a while, the primitive man stood up and laboriously dragged the now-dead boar back toward his tribe.

Not long after he left the grassy field, crossed the river, and entered the forest he had come from, three other tribal men who had been out hunting—likely having received some signal—followed the tracks of the boar's rampage through the woods and found him.

The four of them then lifted the boar together and headed back in excitement, with the man saved by Qi Tian recounting the "Giant Stone God's" intervention to the others, leaving them astonished.

After they moved away, the strength of the sleeping Qi Tian's consciousness began to slowly increase, and a faint, ethereal sound of Sanskrit began to emanate from the humanoid boulder.

In the days that followed, the saved primitive man would occasionally bring fellow tribal warriors to kowtow, offering fruits and wild beasts as sacrifices, but the sleeping Qi Tian did not respond.

Although they received no reply, those who came to kowtow to Qi Tian found that they felt refreshed and invigorated whenever they were near him.

Moreover, apart from some gentle herbivores, the fierce beasts that usually ravaged the mountains and forests dared not approach the area, which convinced the entire tribe that they were under the protection of the "Giant Stone God."

For safety, the man who had been saved suggested that the tribe migrate to the grass field before the forest, keeping the river between them and the "Giant Stone God" so as not to intrude too closely.

After the tribal elders discussed it, they agreed, and the entire tribe of over four hundred people migrated near Qi Tian.

Because the grass field was not large and they dared not get too close for fear of disturbing Qi Tian, they set up camp across the river, cleared the forest within a radius of over a hundred meters, and built wooden huts.

Every day thereafter, the people of the tribe would kowtow and pray to the humanoid boulder Qi Tian had become.

During the day, before the hunting party set out, they would bring their weapons to pray before Qi Tian for a successful hunt and a safe return.

At night, when the tribe gathered to enjoy their catch, they would set aside a portion to place before Qi Tian, and everyone would kowtow together to thank him for guarding the safety of the entire tribe.

Days passed like this for several years, and the consciousness of the sleeping Qi Tian slowly began to awaken.

"Damn, that sleep was truly comfortable; I've never slept so soundly in all my life."

After his consciousness cleared, Qi Tian saw that he was in his space of consciousness; the golden Lotus Throne Buddha Statue had not changed much, though the golden light it emitted seemed slightly more restrained.

The Sanskrit Phantom was now about one percent filled with the mist-like golden light within the sea of consciousness. Because the golden light was constantly condensing and filling the phantom, the gold surrounding it had become increasingly solid.

During the time Qi Tian was asleep, a small pool of Golden Liquid had even appeared beneath the phantom, as if the golden light had liquefied.

Qi Tian estimated there were probably several hundred drops.

Qi Tian's consciousness spread over the Golden Liquid, guided one drop to slowly detach and float up, and examined it closely, discovering that it contained immense energy.

"What is this? Energy liquid?"

Qi Tian studied it for a short while without reaching any conclusions, so he could only control the drop of Golden Liquid to merge back into the pool beneath the Sanskrit Phantom.

After glancing around the space of consciousness, he controlled his consciousness to withdraw and return to the body of the humanoid boulder.

When his consciousness sensed the outside world, he realized that significant changes had occurred around him.

The area across the river, which had been a forest not far from him, had been leveled and replaced by a large cluster of wooden huts.

After a brief investigation, Qi Tian discovered there were over three hundred huts, which had clearly developed into a village.

"How long have I been asleep?"