Zhang Ze stepped back out of the Horror Temple, closed the door, took a deep breath, waited for a while, and then opened it again.

Yet, inside the Ancestral Temple, it was still Li.

Except Li had changed its sleeping posture this time.

Now it lay on its side, with its back to the door, head and feet tilted backward, its heel resting on the nape of its neck.

Its little belly protruded like a round moon-shaped fat crescent blade.

Zhang Ze, "..."

Zhang Ze thought for a moment and closed the door again.

He opened it for the third time, but the round moon-shaped fat crescent blade was still before his eyes.

Zhang Ze, "..."

The few Horror Saints outside the Ancestral Temple, observing Zhang Ze's expression, were somewhat puzzled but refrained from disturbing him.

They feared it might be some mystical human ritual.

The Horror Saint looked down at Lin Feng, "Human, what is your companion doing?"

Lin Feng, as a partial Master Dongze, contemplated briefly and said.

"He probably saw something he didn't want to see; Senior Brother is avoiding reality."

...

Truth be told, Li's dead-like sleeping posture was somewhat disruptive to the atmosphere.

This place had something to do with Li, which Zhang Ze had somewhat anticipated.

But in Zhang Ze's imagination, that spot should at least have a skeleton or a Saint's phantom.

If nothing else, it should be the ultimate secret of feet washing in the river of time.

Finding Li asleep there was indeed a bit unappealing.

'Could it be that the reason Li hasn't been responding is simply because it has been sleeping here all this time?'

Zhang Ze stepped forward, put his toe under Li, and gently flipped it up before it could wrap its dream-like Fat Dragon fist around his thigh.

"Wake up, it's three in the afternoon; time to eat."

The word "eat" seemed effective; Li's nose twitched, and its eyelids began to flutter.

The eyelids fluttered, but they closed again, seeming as if the dream world was too tempting to leave.

Seeing this, Zhang Ze grabbed Li, holding it by head and tail, and pulled mightily.

Li stretched into a long shape it yearned for and bounced back into a ball after Zhang Ze released it.

After a few repetitions, Li finally entered a mode of starting up after a long hummm.

Without knowing what Li dreamt of, it suddenly whimpered and swung a punch at Zhang Ze.

"Ugh, stay away from Zhang Ze!"

The force was strong and heavy, rushing toward Zhang Ze's face.

By instinct due to the sudden situation, Zhang Ze ducked his head down.

Li's punch flew out sideways of Zhang Ze's scalp, nearly scattering the Primordial Spirit of Xiao Yaozi, who had quietly flown over to peek at the door.

After Xiao Yaozi's Primordial Spirit fluttered away, Li finally opened its eyes.

"Huh? Zhang Ze! What are you doing here? Where's your neck?"

Seeing Zhang Ze, Li gleefully rejoiced, then promptly freed itself from Zhang Ze's grip. With a smooth move of a Flying Dragon armlock, it slid up onto Zhang Ze's shoulder, joyfully patting Zhang Ze's head.

"It's nothing, just a small accident, not worth mentioning."

Zhang Ze pulled his head out from his torso.

"Speaking of which, what's the deal with this place? Why are you here?"

Zhang Ze batted away Li's little tail, preventing it from going toward his mouth, and asked.

However, faced with the question, Li momentarily didn't know where to start.

Weariness and fatigue briefly appeared on Li's chubby face but quickly vanished.

It tugged Zhang Ze's hair with one hand and took the snacks Zhang Ze handed over with the other, munching away as it asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"What do you think the development of civilization should look like?"

Zhang Ze didn't answer but was taken aback, "Hey, you can ask such profound questions?"

Li, "(ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)"

Once again, Zhang Ze pushed away the tail aimed at his mouth and entered a serious thinking mode.

After pondering for a while, he extended his fingers and used Spiritual Qi to draw a spiral structure resembling DNA in the air.

He looked at the diagram he'd drawn and spoke with his hands on his hips.

"In my personal view, based on the situation of the Four Continents and a certain world, I shallowly believe..."

"Stop, stop, why include so many pretexts?" Li interrupted Zhang Ze's babbling.

Zhang Ze, "It's called layering, doing so you won't refute me.

"Generally, it's fine, but today is kind of a happy day; we've reunited after four and a half days apart; I think the atmosphere should be harmonious."

Li, "When have I ever contradicted you; in our relationship..."

Zhang Ze, "Square pigs..."

Li, "Ah ah ah ah, shut up; you don't know squat about squares, that's, that's..."

Zhang Ze, "See, I said I needed layering."

Li, "Okay, go on."

After a long-forgotten jesting, Zhang Ze, who had finished layering, continued on the previous topic.

He pointed to the diagram he had drawn.

"Civilization's development isn't even; it progresses extremely slowly most of the time, even stagnating or regressing.

During this period, technological development lacks clarity, and everyone is seeking a way out."

"However, this stagnation and accumulation aren't useless.

Once accumulated to a certain extent, a node will appear.

Scattered technologies become consolidated; key technologies are broken through. After millennia of accumulation, civilization enters a brief period of explosion."

Zhang Ze thought of Thousand Mechanism Pavilion and of Blue Star's millions of years.

"Yet, when the explosion period ends, we re-enter stagnation, going in circles on the spot, engaging, accumulating, waiting for the next explosion period.

"Moreover, each civilization's explosion period is both its strongest and its most vulnerable time.

Danger lurks everywhere, whether from external causes or purely self-inflicted.

If unable to endure, civilization will declare its end."

Zhang Ze waved his hand, dividing the diagram into three.

He began annotating nodes.

On the diagram representing the Four Continents, Zhang Ze marked various periods.

Primordial Ten Thousand Races War, Human Race's epiphany of Golden Core method.

End of Ten Kingdoms Chaos, Nascent Soul condensing Primordial Spirit, breaking through to Divinity Transformation Realm.

...

15 centuries before the Central Continent war, Celestial Sect Leader reaching Mahayana.

Now, Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

After annotating the Four Continents, Zhang Ze recalled the Mountain and Sea history the Horror Saints mentioned, marking the Mountain and Sea development nodes one by one.

As Zhang Ze said, between each breakthrough lay long periods of stagnation where civilization barely advanced.

During the explosion period, a decade or a hundred years achieved what was previously unimaginable, all accompanied by wars or major changes in environment.

After completing the Mountain and Sea diagram, he stopped at the final diagram, unsure of how to explain it to Li.

Not intending to conceal but feeling it's tedious and not knowing where to start.

He was about to use the universal excuse of dreaming to pass it off.

Li stretched out its small hand and pointed at the nodes, preempting him.

First descent from the tree.

First playing with fire.

First use of tools.

Migration during the Ice Age.

Tribe beside the river, first seed planted in the black soil.

Tribe becomes city-state, first altar rises.

Rise of empires, iron hooves step across the plains, white sails traverse the oceans.

Gunpowder ignited, cannon demolishing ancient city walls.

In the rumblings of steam and electric power, civilization soared to the skies, and meat-grinder-like warfare returned once more.

Punching machine struck dots on slips of paper, rockets broke through the firmament.

...

Li earnestly annotated each node and stopped at the vague past that even Zhang Ze couldn't foresee for the future.

After long silence.

"You..." Zhang Ze stared at Li in shock.

Li tilted its head, blinking its big eyes, "You told me all this, partner."

Having spoken, Li extended its little hand, pressing it on Zhang Ze's forehead.

"Hmm, I've remembered it all.

"Let me, God Li, lead you to witness ancient and modern times."