Chapter 244: Chapter 241: The Awakening of a Seed
Chapter 241: The Awakening of a Seed
The man seemed to frown slightly, then shook his head and said, "I’ve said so much that my throat’s gotten quite dry."
No sooner had his voice faded than he casually waved his hand!
In the space of this Relic World, shrouded by an invisible barrier, Chen Nuo suddenly sensed that a silent opening had dissolved in a distant part of the barrier!
The man merely gestured with a beckoning hand, and from the jungle on the edge of the city ruins, a robust American Jaguar leapt swiftly. It crossed through the gap in the barrier and ran towards him, entering the Relic World.
The American Jaguar ran directly to his feet.
The American Jaguar, sturdy in build, whined softly. Its body was clearly trembling with fear, yet it lay submissively at the man’s feet, allowing his hand to rest on its head without daring to move an inch.
The man beckoned again. A square stone flew out from a nearby pile of ruins, halting in front of him. With a few light, airy taps of his fingers, the stone naturally separated and was swiftly carved in midair into the shape of a stone bowl!
He reached out and effortlessly caught the stone bowl. His other hand, which had been resting on the American Jaguar’s head, slid down its neck and along its back in a slow caress.
The American Jaguar let out fearful whimpers but still dared not stir.
Suddenly, the man’s finger lightly touched the jaguar’s hind limb. With that touch, he pierced a bloody hole in the animal’s flesh!
Blood gushed out. He promptly used the stone bowl to collect it, quickly filling half the bowl.
"There, there, don’t be afraid. I’m only taking a little blood," the man spoke soothingly, smiling as he gently wiped the jaguar’s wound. The bleeding stopped immediately, and the wound rapidly closed and healed.
With a final wave of his hand, the American Jaguar seemed to break free from its restraints. It sprang up from the ground and fled without looking back, dashing through the gap in the barrier and disappearing into the jungle.
The man shook his head, wiped his hand casually, and the opening in the barrier sealed itself once more.
He seemed to examine the blood in the bowl for a moment before lifting it to his lips.
Gulping down several mouthfuls, he consumed all of the half bowl of blood!
"...Ah... The sweet taste of life."
He tossed the bowl aside, then used the back of his hand to wipe away a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, smearing it into a flush on his chin.
However, he seemed not to care, instead turning his gaze to Chen Nuo and the others.
"My apologies for the spectacle," he said. "Blood doesn’t really quench thirst, and drinking it serves no benefit.
"It’s just that I tasted it once, thousands of years ago, and grew fond of the flavor. Having just awakened, I fancied a taste to comfort myself, that’s all."
Chen Nuo narrowed his eyes!
"Now, if you’d like to know the answer, you might find the following story very interesting," the man continued. "You see, I am, of course, not one of your humans.
"Nor am I a life form from your planet.
"I am a child born of the Mother, a Spiritual Life Form that fled the catastrophe along with the Mother.
"In truth, the civilization of the Mother consists of only one higher life form: the Mother itself! All the other life forms that make up the civilization are just offspring nurtured by the Mother.
"And these offspring, strictly speaking, are merely extensions of the Mother.
"Being pure Spiritual Life Forms, they can freely change their shape to adapt to the natural environments of various planets they inhabit.
"All these life forms, these offspring of the Mother, are constrained by a natural bond to the Mother. This bond is their interaction with the Mother!
"The duration of their lives completely depends on interactions with the Mother; without the ability to interact, they would die!
"This bond endured until a viral catastrophe specifically targeting Spiritual Life Forms erupted and devastated the civilization of the Mother.
"In the end, the Mother had no choice but to abandon most of its offspring and even sever a part of its own body, fleeing its civilization in disgrace.
"By the time the Mother arrived on Earth, it was already extremely weak from the catastrophe, from the severing of its powers, and from traversing countless star systems.
"Just like when it first established its civilization and nurtured offspring, the Mother, right before its descent into collapse and slumber, gave birth to the first batch of offspring on Earth. These were the Seeds.
"However, there were differences.
"In its own era of civilization, when the Mother nurtured offspring, it imposed a special mechanism: the spiritual power of the offspring was restrained by the Mother itself.
"They had to interact with the Mother periodically to replenish their spiritual power in order to sustain their lives.
"But upon arriving on Earth, the Mother was on the brink of a deep slumber due to its extreme weakness.
"The duration of this slumber was beyond even the Mother’s own control.
"Therefore, at such a time, instituting the same mechanism for the offspring it was birthing would undoubtedly be impractical. Who knew how long it would take for these offspring, these Seeds, to find the Mother and awaken it?
"And if unable to awaken, it could not interact with its offspring.
"What if these Seeds died of ’power depletion’ before finding the Mother? Or if they died without having the opportunity to awaken it?
"Would that not render all prior efforts futile?
"With no other choice, the Mother gave the offspring it birthed on Earth... freedom from the shackles of life!
"The Mother most likely did not anticipate the occurrence of ’betrayal.’
"The reason isn’t that the Mother is foolish. Rather, in the civilization of the Mother, there is no such thing as ’betrayal.’
"All offspring are nurtured by the Mother itself; all of them are naturally bound by the Mother’s life constraints.
"Throughout the Mother’s civilization, which spans countless eons, even going back to the Mother’s own birth and the extensive history of nurturing civilization, there has never been anything such as ’betrayal.’
"Since it didn’t exist, it naturally never entered into the Mother’s considerations or calculations.
"Thus, offspring, or rather, the Seeds, were nurtured. Afterward, the Mother crashed onto the planet, fell into a deep slumber, and even dispersed itself into more than one individual.
"And the first batch of Seeds, which were the Spiritual Life Forms cultivated by the Mother upon its arrival on Earth, were initially directly guided by the Mother at the spiritual level.
"These Spiritual Life Forms struggled to adapt to this planet’s environment, striving to transform their shape into various creatures suited to it. Some became birds, some became beasts, and some became aquatic creatures. Naturally, some also became primates.
"In the earliest years, these Seeds remained loyal, striving to fulfill their mission in accordance with the spiritual imprint embedded within them.
"Adapting to the planet’s environment, struggling to survive.
"At the same time, they searched for this planet’s... mountains! Rivers! Lakes! Seas! Searching for the Mother, and to awaken it!
"However, even though the Mother was powerful, the first generation it spawned was not as strong.
"These life forms were very weak at the time of their birth.
"And the Earth of the Ancient Era was a savage age, where the survival of life required a constant struggle.
"The task of finding the Mother was not going smoothly.
"And as time passed, through the long years... this mission gradually became out of reach.
"When something is profoundly deemed as out of reach... then its impact on the individual will indefinitely shrink!
"Just as a young child would neither consider nor fear such ’unreachable’ issues like old age, sickness, and death.
"It’s unclear which Seed was the first to ’awaken.’
"It’s also unclear when exactly the ’awakening’ occurred.
"Perhaps it was during a dusk at the mouth of a cave, watching the sunset and swallowing a piece of half-raw, bloody meat. Perhaps it was one morning, standing in the jungle, happily plucking a cluster of ripe berries and chewing them heartily. Or maybe it was an afternoon, washing by a cool stream, feeling the pleasure of the water rushing over their limbs.
"In any case, one of them, one of the ’Seeds,’ as if struck by a whimsical thought or a sudden idea, had a revelation. That idea might have been... if finding the Mother is so hard and remote... then why bother searching?
"When an idea emerges subconsciously in one’s heart because something seems too far away—Why should I do this?—then quickly, the thought process will extend in that direction.
"When something starts being questioned—Why should I do it?—it quickly turns into—Should I even bother?
"The order of these thoughts goes: Why should I do it? Should I even do it? What would happen if I didn’t do it?
"So, that awakened Seed naturally came to a conclusion: If I don’t do this, it seems... there’s no difference for me! And! I! Won’t! Die!
"It would still be hunting, eating, and sleeping as usual, still surviving and reproducing.
No difference! If there’s no difference, to ’me,’ there’s no difference. Then why should I embark on such an unreachable endeavor?
"Life will always instinctively seek out the path most suitable for its advancement!
"The ’awakening’ could have happened at different times.
"The order in which individuals ’awoke’ could have varied.
"But a long time after their birth, all the Seeds awakened.
"This is a vast planet where one can survive on one’s own...
"With no shackles, no restraints. Why seek a Mother?"
"The Mother bestowed upon us the name and mission of a ’Seed’ at the very start, and now it seems, not incorrectly so," this person said, as if still savoring the sweetness of blood in their mouth. They smiled, their teeth and lips still bearing traces of blood. "Which Seed wouldn’t want to root deeply, break through the soil, grow into a towering tree, and establish its own legacy!!"
When they said this, for the first time since the beginning, their eyes—always composed and indifferent—displayed an emotion named ’fervor’!