By the time Jiang Yuan arrived at Ancestor Sui's place, Ziyi and Youchao were already there. They held up a piece of translucent silk cloth, examining it from every angle, their eyes full of amazement.
"Yuan, you came at just the right time. I was about to come find you. Look, Ziyi has made the silk cloth you told us about. It's indeed far more useful than animal hides and leaves."
Ancestor Sui called out excitedly as soon as he saw Jiang Yuan.
He was thrilled. Silk cloth was truly a wonderful thing. Though it felt extraordinarily soft, its strength rivaled metal and stone.
If they made it into clothes and wore them, it would be like giving the Human Race an extra layer of armor, effectively protecting them from harm inflicted by the outside world.
People said the Innate Human Race could withstand both heat and cold and had no need to keep warm. That was nonsense. This was the Primordial World—could the cold winds that blew here be ordinary winds?
The wind was the Innate Divine Wind. When it swept across a person's body, it was like being flayed alive. The cold was Innate Coldness, which seeped into the marrow and pierced straight through the soul.
Stack the two together, and their power was terrifying. If members of the Human Race below the Void Refinement Realm didn't find somewhere safe to hide, they would freeze to death in an instant. They wouldn't even leave an intact corpse; both body and soul would be shattered in the cold wind.
And this was only an ordinary cold wind. When a cold disaster struck, even Heavenly Immortals dared not venture outside.
People said the Primordial World was rich in resources, but they forgot that the laws of heaven and earth were incomplete at this time. Extreme disasters of every kind struck frequently, and living conditions were exceptionally harsh. Even Heavenly Immortals had to struggle to survive.
Something like the Innate Cold Wind was already the least powerful of them all. There were far more terrifying things: Chaos Storms, Primordial Magnetic Tides, eruptions from the Undying Volcano, Starfalls...
They could threaten even Daluo Golden Immortals!
Many small clans in the Primordial World had simply been unlucky enough to encounter these great disasters. Without a sound, they had been wiped out, leaving nothing behind.
The Human Race was lucky. With Lady Nuwa's protection, they would not encounter these natural disasters—not even small ones.
But the Innate Cold Wind wasn't a disaster. It was simply the most ordinary wind of winter, something the Ten Thousand Races of the Primordial World had long grown used to and were never affected by.
The Human Race, however, couldn't withstand it. Even this ordinary Innate Cold Wind could freeze their frail bodies to death in an instant.
To deal with this, the Three Ancestors of the Human Race had tried many methods. Suiren used fire to keep warm, Ziyi wore animal hides to shield herself from the cold, and Youchao built houses to keep out the chill.
But those measures only treated the symptoms, not the cause.
It was only now, with the appearance of silk cloth, that the Three Ancestors had glimpsed a way to address the root of the problem.
Why weren't the other races afraid of the Innate Cold Wind? It wasn't just because they were stronger than the Human Race. More than anything, they possessed innate advantages that the Human Race lacked.
The other races either had hard scales, thick fur, or beautiful feathers.
These covered their bodies like a natural protective layer, shielding them from all kinds of harm and allowing them to adapt to all kinds of harsh environments.
The Human Race had none of these advantages. But the appearance of silk cloth made up for that.
Once made into clothes and worn, people would be like beasts with scales, fur, or feathers. They would have an extra layer of protection around their bodies, better able to withstand harsh environments and climates.
This would surely greatly improve the survival rate of the Human Race's descendants. How could Ancestor Sui not be delighted? How could he not be excited?
The Human Race was still far too weak to adapt to the environment of the Primordial World. They had no choice but to change and rely on outside means to improve their circumstances.
That was why the Human Race was so keen on inventing and creating things. It wasn't because they were the smartest or the most creative, but because their circumstances left them no choice.
The other races could live perfectly well without inventing or creating anything. But if the Human Race didn't, they would truly die.
It was only under the pressure of life-and-death crises that so many exceptional people had emerged throughout the history of the Human Race, constantly innovating and greatly advancing the course of civilization.
If the other races were put in the Human Race's position, they would have to do the same if they didn't want to be wiped out.
Crisis was the greatest driving force of all!
"They've made silk cloth?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but rejoice. He missed the clothes of later generations so much. The clothes of this era were truly unbearable. Comfort was secondary; the real issue was how embarrassing they were.
There were many customs from primitive times that he, a man from a civilized society, simply couldn't get used to. When he pursued innovation, he never thought about Merit. He only wanted to advance civilization.
He wanted to take the Human Race from the primitive era to the civilized era in a short time. Merit and the like were just incidental, mere side benefits.
"Take a look!"
Ancestor Sui smiled and handed the silk cloth to Jiang Yuan.
The silk cloth was translucent, its surface shining with a jade-like sheen. It felt extraordinarily soft and smooth to the touch.
Jiang Yuan instinctively squeezed it hard, only to find that his strength—enough to split stone monuments and shatter boulders—couldn't damage the cloth in the slightest.
"Now that's something. If all our people could wear clothes woven from this, the dangers they had to face would surely be greatly reduced."
Jiang Yuan could only marvel. This was the Primordial World, all right. Even the most ordinary things became extraordinary when they came here.
In later generations, silk cloth was just silk cloth, perhaps a little prettier, with more styles to choose from. But the silk cloth of the Primordial World was already a magic treasure the moment it was made, able to repel water and fire and withstand blades and spears.
"The silk cloth has been made, but there are still some difficulties in making it widespread. The main problem is that silk production is too low."
"There's only one kind of silkworm nearby, called the Jade Silkworm. It takes a hundred years to spin its silk and form a cocoon. Although the silk spun by one Silkworm Insect is enough to weave clothes for ten people..."
"There are only about ten thousand members of the Jade Silkworm clan in total. But the Human Race has far more than ten million people. We have tens of millions upon tens of millions."
Ziyi said with a troubled expression. Inventing silk cloth should have been a wonderful thing, but the supply of silk was too small, leaving something to be desired.
"That is a bit of a problem." Jiang Yuan furrowed his brows. "Could we tame the Jade Silkworm clan and raise them ourselves?"
"If we intervened, they could breed freely. Then the amount of silk would surge. Even if it wasn't enough for everyone, it could at least supply some of our people."
To obtain enough silk, raising silkworms ourselves was essential. If they only took silk from wild Silkworm Insects, they wouldn't have enough even if they caught every last one.
"I'm afraid that won't work. The Jade Silkworms aren't Fierce Beasts; they're spirit beasts, with intelligence no less than ours. Forget taming them—even to obtain silk from them, we'd have to trade for it."
Ziyi shook her head and explained the situation with the Jade Silkworm clan. They weren't some unusual species or Fierce Beasts, but an intelligent, higher race.
In that case, they couldn't use many methods on them.
"Are there no Silkworm Insects without intelligence?"
Jiang Yuan was flabbergasted. He hadn't expected this complication. It was true—he hadn't considered things carefully enough, having assumed from the start that silkworms in this era couldn't be all that different from those of later generations.
He hadn't imagined they'd gained intelligence.