“You… are unable to leave this primitive era and return to your era?” Gu Qing Shan cautiously asked.

The old ape man said: “There is no way, in truth, this is already my best possible outcome—— tell me a bit about the situation outside”

Gu Qing Shan thought for a brief moment, then decided to only mention one matter: “There are some tomb keepers who decided to betray their duties…”

He then explained what happened with the Samsara War Shaman and Samsara War General.

“Ahaha… what a bunch of morons” the old ape man chuckled.

“Why do you say that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The old ape man explained: “Their duty was to suffer the ravages of the Apocalypse in place of the Human realm, when the Samsara would complete its evolution in the future, they would have been able to enjoy untold glory in the Human realm, but they’ve instead decided to betray the Samsara and abandon their duty——-”

“Their terrible outcomes have already been decided since long ago”

Gu Qing Shan appeared confused.

——the suffer the ravages of the Apocalypse—— in place of the Human realm?

Why does that sound a bit strange?

“The Human realm has already been stabilized, so I don’t understand why you said that those individuals were to suffer in place of the Human realm” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The old ape man said: “Do you know about the concept of a ‘backup’?”

“I do” Gu Qing Shan replied.

“Metal-Wood-Water-Fire-Earth, Wind-Lightning-Light-Dark-Sound, as well as the stabilized Human realm that you’ve just mentioned, are all nothing but a backup, a kind of insurance, a means to ensure that no matter what happens, everything would still be able to return to their starting points”

“I still don’t understand” Gu Qing Shan said.

The old ape man slightly tilted his body forward and looked straight at him: “The Samsara is the greatest weapon of the Living Beings Sequence, do you understand this much?”

“I understand”

“And you should have seen the Human realm as well—— you don’t actually think that place is the true Human realm, do you?”

“You mean…”

“That is merely a backup location, one that just happened to act as the venue for the preliminary disqualification, which would eliminate Chosen Saints who are inadequate”

“A backup… then where is the real Human realm?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The old ape man just looked straight at him without answering.

Gu Qing Shan had a sudden epiphany.

That’s right.

This place is the ‘Human realm Initial Grave’.

Could it be…

Seeing his expression, the old ape man continued: “It seems you’ve understood. The Human realm is a part of the Samsara, a sharp blade of the greatest weapon, and what begins here is the Human realm Initial Grave”

Gu Qing Shan’s expression was filled with shock as he asked: “And what do I need to do?”

The old ape man told him: “You must enter the true Human realm, step by step, search for the grave where it is hibernating, and then——”

“Completely awaken it”

Gu Qing Shan remained silent for a long while before sighing: “So that was how it was”

The old ape man took out a cane and handed it to Gu Qing Shan.

“Take it and stoke the fire, the Samsara will grant you an identity to enter the Initial Grave”

Gu Qing Shan accepted the cane and tried shifting the firewood around.

Clack!

An uneven piece of rock fell out from the fire pit.

There were faint marks carved on the surface of the rock, which could barely be discerned as the character for ‘three’.

“It seems the Samsara has granted you a new identity” the old ape man commented.

Gu Qing Shan asked: “What does this ‘three’ mean——-”

“You are the third person to enter this place, tch tch, quite fast if I say so myself” the old ape man praised him.

“Now that I have this rock, what should I do next?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“Take that rock and head out starting from the Human realm Initial Grave, head in search for a more glorious civilization until you find the Human realm Ultimate Grave” the old ape man said.

“How exactly should I do that? Are there any specific requirements?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

The old ape man continued: “Starting from the Initial Grave, you must drive the civilization forward, and with every step that civilization takes forward, you will head one step closer to the Ultimate Grave”

“The ultimate civilization is also the Human realm Ultimate Grave”

“—-Arrive there, and awaken it”

Gu Qing Shan thought briefly before asking: “Do all Chosen Saints have to participate in progressing the civilization?”

“——Only Chosen Saints who managed to reach the Initial Grave are qualified to participate in this progression——– of course, the later one arrives here, the later they will begin their journey, and the more difficult it will be” the old ape man answered.

Gu Qing Shan nodded: “Thank you”

He held the uneven rock in his hand.

Immediately, lines of bloody red text appeared in the void of space:

[You’ve entered the Human realm Initial Grave]

[You’ve obtained a staring identity: ancient ape man]

[From this point onwards, you and all the other Chosen Saints will dictate the progression of civilization]

[Once civilization has reached its ultimate progression, you will be able to awaken the true Human realm!]

[Attention: The Samsara will bestow Merit corresponding to your contributions]

[With Merit, your strength will be unsealed in stages]

[Begin!]

All the bloody red text quickly disappeared.

Gu Qing Shan noticed that thick black hair was growing all over his arms.

—-it wasn’t just his arms either, as his entire body was slowly transforming into that of an ape!

The ape stood up and tried moving his body, shrugging as he commented:

“What a strange sensation…”

“You’ll get used to it, in time” the old ape man replied with a gloomy look in his eyes.

“Do you have any advice for me?” the ape asked.

The old ape man looked at him and replied: “I’ve already said everything I needed to say within the scope of my duty”

The ape said: “Perhaps you didn’t notice, but I do recognize that you are a well-learned individual with great wisdom, and I’ve always respected such people”

“And how did you recognize that?” the old ape man asked.

“The vibes you give off, and your natural demeanor——- as a researcher, it is easy for me to recognize someone of the same profession” the ape explained.

The ape then sat down in front of the old ape man, looked closely at him, then whispered: “You’ve been trapped here for a very long time, and I’m a Chosen Saint, so if there is anything I can help you with, I’d be more than happy to do so”

The old ape man asked: “What is your field of research?”

The ape answered: “Mostly mobile mech suits, but I also know a bit of spatial science and technology”

“What kind of spatial science?”

“Space-warp technology, but I’ve only briefly studied it, a friend of mine is much more of an expert in that field”

“What is your opinion on your own field of research?”

“I can’t exactly explain it to you, but I’ll show you how I create mech suits if I ever get the opportunity”

“Ahaha… you really feel like a real scientist”

The old ape man’s attitude suddenly became much friendlier.

“I’m asking very earnestly, is there anything I can do to help you?” the ape whispered again.

“Anything else… it’s no use, the Samsara keeps a constant watch over the Clash, so there’s nothing anyone can do to deceive it, or take advantage of any loopholes” the old ape man replied.

The ape sighed.

The old ape man remained silent for a bit before suddenly speaking again: “Since you’re someone from my same profession, I can give you one additional personal advice”

The ape displayed a look of close attention.

“There is no need to show off in the primitive era using ‘acts of god’ or other religious scripts. Some might think that doing that will be easier for them to manipulate civilization as a whole, but that would only cause civilization to head in a wrongful direction”

“—-After all, this is the Human realm, not the Heaven realm”

Silently listening to the advice, the ape nodded and gave his thanks: “I understand”

“You can go now” the old ape man concluded.

“Thank you, and see you later”

“See you later indeed”

The ape took the rock and left the cave.

He took a look at the valley outside from the cave entrance.

Only to see an ape man whose body was clad in holy light hovering in the air.

It declared to all the ape people: 「 I am the Ape God, from now on, you all must follow my orders and work togeth——– 」

Boom!

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky as it descended upon the floating ape man.

Without being able to utter a single noise, the floating ape man’s body was ripped to shreds.

Clak—– clack clack…

A rock rolled up to the ape’s feet.

A number was engraved on the rock:

[2]

—–so that was the second Chosen Saint.

He had already been eliminated.

The ape sighed and put the rock away.

“Stimulating the progression of the ape man civilization… how should I do that exactly?”

The ape climbed to the top of a tree and silently observed the entire tribe from a tree branch.

—–this was obviously a small tribe that had just recently formed.

The ape people are still in an ignorant state, with no clothes to cover themselves and no food to fill their stomachs.

The only thing worth praising them for is the fact that they can already create fire.

How can I drive this civilization forward?

Suddenly, a bestial roar resounded from the distance.

As the ape turned around, he noticed an especially large sabretooth tiger that just appeared from behind a rocky hill.

The ape people all shouted loudly as they scattered and ran.

Only a few particularly muscular ape people managed to suppress their fear and picked up heavy stone axes in their hands.

Another portion of the ape people raised their torches while shouting back at the beast, attempting to scare it away.

Seeing the torch, the beast naturally didn’t dare to take another step forward, but it didn’t want to flee either.

It was simply sitting at the edge of the encampment, cautiously observing its surroundings and waiting.

The ape on the tree fell into thought.

This animal hasn’t left, so it must have some sort of helper, or other means at its disposal.

While the ape people… only have stone axes and torches.

How are they going to fight a sabretooth tiger like that?

Should I join them?

No… if I join them, I’d only be able to prevent this attack, but not stimulate progress for this civilization.

Civilization——-

After remaining silent for a few moments, the ape suddenly took out the two rocks that he was carrying.

Still sitting on top of the three, he began to work on the rocks.

After just a few moments, the rock was made into a new shape.

——it had become sharper and pointier.