Although Fang Yuan had long anticipated that the life form emerging from the jade egg would be extraordinary, he never imagined it would be like this.
These little creatures could speak as soon as they were born, their energy was astonishingly strong, with the ability to lift thousands of pounds. But that was not the main point. The most astonishing thing was that their bodies were energy-based and could possess jade statues, which could change in size—this was truly miraculous.
These little creatures appeared to be about four or five years old, chattering away like little chicks. Fang Yuan waved his hand, and a variety of water droplets fell from the sky.
A group of these little creatures immediately cheered and scrambled to drink the water droplets, though they seemed to have difficulty eating them. Fang Yuan then tried a few different kinds of food, ultimately discovering that what they truly liked to eat was energy. Or rather, directly absorbing energy was like having a meal for them.
After settling these little creatures, Fang Yuan resumed his research into perfecting magic. He engraved twelve fundamental magic spells on one hundred jade statues, letting the hundred little creatures learn them as an experiment.
After several rounds of research and observation, Fang Yuan discovered that the effectiveness of magic was heavily influenced by the environment. For example, in a strong wind environment, wind-based magic would be more powerful; in an environment rich in water, water magic would be more effective; and this applied to other types of magic as well.
However, the magic Fang Yuan researched was mainly fundamental magic, such as fire magic, which could only release flames. To cast more complex spells like the fireball spell, one would need to arrange the elements of magic properly. These tasks, however, were left for the Lingyu people to handle.
The Lingyu people were the name he had personally bestowed upon the race he had created.
"Boom..."
One day, a Lingyu child suddenly threw a fireball, and with a deafening explosion, another Lingyu was blasted into fragments.
Fang Yuan frowned, thinking that this might be another chaotic and self-destructive race. But the next moment, he saw the fragments of the blown-up Lingyu return to the statue, where they reassembled, and in just a few seconds, the little one emerged unscathed.
"Is this an immortal body?" Fang Yuan exclaimed in surprise.
Looking closer, he realized that the true form of these little creatures was a core within the statue. The spirit body could be shattered countless times but would always resurrect, even if the statue was destroyed. The only way to truly kill them was to destroy the core within the statue.
Fang Yuan suddenly realized that he had created an incredible race, although he was unsure how they would reproduce.
As time passed, the Lingyu people gradually grew. Fang Yuan noticed that they were extraordinarily compatible with all kinds of magic—almost like natural-born magic geniuses.
Realizing this, Fang Yuan decided that this race should not be released for the time being. Instead, he would have them work at the Creator's Mountain.
With a wave of his hand, the forces of heaven and earth converged, and a floating island was formed in the middle of the Creator's Mountain. The island was ten kilometers wide and a hundred meters high, tapering at the bottom and wide at the top. It hovered high in the air, shining with celestial light and surrounded by clouds and mist.
"From today, this island will be your home," Fang Yuan said.
The Lingyu people cheered and returned to their statues, controlling them to fly to the island and find a place to place them.
Fang Yuan smiled slightly. "The magic research is nearly complete. It's time to promote it."
As he spoke, he clasped his hands together, and the forces of heaven and earth gathered, rapidly forming groups of light.
There were a total of three thousand light groups, each containing information on a type of magic spell, as well as the arrangements of magical elements needed to cultivate spiritual energy for that spell.
Then, these light groups absorbed energy rapidly, splitting like cells—doubling, quadrupling, and continuing to multiply.
When these light groups had split a million times, Fang Yuan reached out and grabbed them, collecting the million light groups into a single sphere of light.
"Go!" he commanded.
With a wave of his hand, the light sphere shot into the sky, soaring to the highest point of the world before—Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out, echoing across the entire world. The shockwave of the explosion turned into an endless stream of light, spreading across the world.
In the human continent, cities stood tall, and nations fought for supremacy, with cities large and small bordering each other.
On this day, the explosive sound startled all of humanity, causing countless people to look up in astonishment. They saw innumerable streaks of light falling from the sky, scattering in all directions.
The light groups were of various colors, filling the sky with a dazzling glow. Some people, terrified, knelt on the ground, thinking the gods were angry.
Others saw the light groups heading toward them, and in fear, hastily dodged.
Some, unable to avoid them, were struck by the light groups, which sent a rush of information into their minds. In an instant, they felt their spiritual energy surge, as if a divine revelation had filled them.
Meanwhile, the gods and the elves saw the light groups falling from the sky and heard the thunderous explosion.
The metal life forms and the magma giants also received some of the light groups. However, the magma giant could only use fire magic, as it was of the fire element. Even if it received light groups of other elements, they were useless to it.
This day was later referred to as "Magic Day" by the world's intelligent beings, marking the beginning of the magical era.
...
"Billions of intelligent beings, equipped with a million light groups—whether they achieve greatness or not depends on their fate," Fang Yuan thought, observing the world's progress, a smile appearing on his face.
From this day on, the world had truly entered its proper path. He believed it would soon become a bustling place.
"Children of the Lingyu, work hard to research new magic spells. For every new spell you develop, you will receive a source stone."
Fang Yuan spoke without moving his mouth, but his voice echoed in the minds of the hundred Lingyu people.
The source stone was a type of stone containing the essence of the world. It was only as big as a thumb but contained a fraction of the world's origin. For the Lingyu, it was a precious item.
"Yes, Father God..."
The Lingyu people on the floating island were overjoyed. They had worked so hard before without any rewards, but now they had a reason to strive.
Fang Yuan smiled slightly and left the steel ball world.
He had spent three years in the steel ball world this time. Adding the sporadic time he had spent there before, it had already been ten years since he left Earth.
However, only one year had passed in the outside world, and Fang Yuan had not aged at all. In fact, he seemed even younger than before.
Fang Yuan knew that he had embarked on a special path. Whether or not he could achieve immortality was uncertain, but he was sure that he would live for a long time.
"A year without returning, I wonder if anyone still remembers me."
Fang Yuan gazed at the blue Earth in space, a look of nostalgia in his eyes.
He waved his hand, and a three-meter-diameter circular array fell to the ground.
The array was a meter thick, weighed over 100,000 pounds, and had some strange symbols etched on its surface—spatial runes. This was a spatial teleportation array.
It wasn't necessary to make it this heavy, but the Moon's low gravity made Fang Yuan worried that a strong wind might blow it away.
After placing the array on the ground, Fang Yuan pressed down with his palm, and the array sank into the ground, leaving behind a flat circle.
He thought for a moment and used earth magic to solidify the ground within a hundred meters of the array. With this, even a strong wind would find it difficult to blow the array away.