Chapter 5 of 10

Chapter 5

15 min read3,853 words

The small space was not very large, with an area of 12 km × 12 km and a perimeter of 48 km. A marathon runner could complete a lap in less than three hours.

Life is a journey with no end, a journey of stops and starts. Tianming strongly agreed with this maxim. So he didn't rush, since this was his territory, and he could do whatever he liked.

After passing through the yellow jujube forest, the plants on the ground gradually became sparse, and eventually, even the sparse grass disappeared. In front of him, stone mountains of varying heights appeared.

Picking up a smooth rock and tapping it, it made a "bang bang" sound, somewhat like granite.

No grass grew on these stone mountains, which were scattered here and there as far as the eye could see.

Climbing to the top of a stone mountain, Tianming felt as if he had entered a desolate world, with a unique charm.

These stone mountains were made of large, solid rocks, extremely hard. Perhaps because there was no atmospheric circulation or wind erosion in the small space, they remained intact, forming a vast, unchanging rocky landscape.

The wind in the small space was so light it was barely noticeable, but the water was different. Tianming heard the sound of flowing water from the cracks in the rocks beneath his feet.

There must be a river nearby.

Following the sound of the water, he walked about 1 km and discovered a huge canyon, from which the water sounds were coming.

Between two mountain ranges, a river flowed through the canyon. The sound of the water, amplified by the echoes from the surrounding mountains, carried far. Even though the water flow was not fast, the powerful rush of water excited Tianming. Water is the source of life, and rivers are the mothers of civilization. Seeing the river always gave people a sense of familiarity.

Running down the hill and entering the canyon, he arrived at the river, which shimmered with fish-scale-like ripples.

The pebbles underfoot were colorful and of various sizes, making a "suo suo" sound when stepped on.

What kind of river was this?

About 10 meters wide, the water was shallow, not even reaching the knees.

Most importantly, Tianming saw countless colorful crystal gems in the center of the river!

Red, orange, blue, purple, green, white, and brown, the crystals lay quietly at the bottom of the river, being washed and nourished by the water.

Tianming had once heard his chemistry teacher say that some compounds, when combined with water molecules, undergo unique changes. For example, hydrated silica is a common form of crystal in nature.

After being washed by water for a long time, the minerals and compounds in nature combined with water molecules to form various colorful crystals.

"Too beautiful, this river is truly a miracle of nature!" For a moment, Tianming was stunned by the river filled with crystal gems.

"I'm going to take a bath in here!" Saying this, Tianming quickly stripped off his clothes and plunged into the river.

The water was a bit cooler than the ambient temperature, around 16 degrees. When he first entered, Tianming shivered from the cold.

Picking up a fist-sized red crystal with his left hand, he bit it, almost chipping his teeth. He rubbed it on his back, but it didn't hurt at all. With his right hand, he picked up a blue crystal and rubbed it on his chest a few times.

Finally, he found a shallow spot near the shore and lay down, his back resting on the bottom, pressing against countless colorful crystals of various sizes.

Even the richest person in the world couldn't find a bathtub filled with gems like this, Tianming thought.

After more than an hour, he reluctantly finished his unforgettable bath, dried off, and put on his clothes. Tianming returned to the other side of the river.

With a thought, he opened the ability space, which already contained over a hundred crystals of various colors.

It wasn't that he didn't want to take more crystals into the ability space, but he thought, if one crystal is priceless, 100 or 1,000 would still be priceless. Selling just one could ensure he wouldn't worry about food or drink for the rest of his life. Why take them all out?

Since this small space was his alone, he didn't need to rush to sell these treasures. Carrying a few was enough.

Despite this, his hands couldn't stop. Unconsciously, Tianming picked over 100 more beautiful and well-shaped crystals and put them in the ability space.

Let's all look down on Tianming together.

"Let's call the stone mountain in front of us 'Scattered Stone Mountain,' and this river... crystal, Crystal River. This river will be called Crystal River."

Tianming took out a map and a pen, circled an area in the upper right corner, and made some marks, writing "Scattered Stone Mountain" in large letters. He noted: "An area full of stone mountains, no exploitable resources found yet."

He then drew a winding line through the area, representing the river, and wrote "Crystal River" next to it, noting: "A small river producing various colored crystals of unknown value, estimated to have over a million crystals."

...

Streams flow into lakes, and rivers flow into the sea.

The final destination of Crystal River was a lake, less than 3 km from Scattered Stone Mountain. Tianming had seen the large lake from a distance when he first entered the small space. Scattered Stone Mountain was a stop on his way to the lake. Since he had discovered Crystal River, Tianming decided to make a small change to his original plan and follow Crystal River to the lake.

The water gradually became calmer, and the ground underfoot turned to soil. Plants began to appear, and the grass on the banks gradually became more abundant.

The water of Crystal River was very clear. Not knowing if it was safe to drink, Tianming experimented with the poor little Gray, forcing it to drink a few mouthfuls. It turned out his concerns were unfounded; the water was very clean and had a special sweetness, tasting even better than the volcanic spring water he bought from the supermarket.

Tianming concluded: Anything from the small space is a premium product!

The terrain became flat, and a vast plain appeared. At the end of the river, a lake with white waves appeared before Tianming's eyes.

The lake was very wide, and from one side to the other, it was at least 2 km. From a high vantage point, Tianming estimated the lake to be about 6 km², or 9,000 acres, which was a significant area in the small space.

Suddenly, while standing by the lake, Tianming saw many circular ripples on the surface, with water columns rising from the center.

There were fish in the lake!

This was the most likely reason for the ripples, Tianming thought.

Splash! A strange fish with a large head and a round body, with sharp teeth, leaped out of the water, splashing water several meters away.

The fish looked like a grouper from the sea, quite large, probably weighing 5-6 pounds.

Boom! A loud noise erupted from the lake, and a large fish with a huge mouth and two long whiskers suddenly leaped out, snatching a half-meter-long, 50-pound fat-headed strange fish in mid-air.

In an instant, Tianming clearly saw the majestic appearance of the long-whiskered strange fish as it emerged from the water: about 6 meters long, its mouth opened like a dark gateway, with two rows of sharp teeth irregularly arranged on the upper and lower jaws, and traces of blood and rotten flesh hanging from them.

Oh my God, too scary!

Tianming turned and ran, covering over 100 meters before stopping.

Looking back at the lake, Tianming, still shaken, had no doubt that the strange fish, which looked like a giant catfish, could swallow him whole and turn him into fish poop.

I can't come to this lake again; it's too dangerous!

Standing at a distance, Tianming observed the lake for a long time.

With his sharp eyes, he saw more than five types of fish: small strange fish similar to groupers, long strange fish resembling electric eels, large-headed fish similar to carp, and schools of needle-bone fish with bone spurs on their mouths. The largest was the super-large strange fish that scared him away, which looked like a giant catfish.

The large strange fish appeared three times, and Tianming couldn't be sure if it was the same one each time. If it was a group, the lake would be even more dangerous.

Taking out his map, he drew a region in the middle, outlining a closed shape, and wrote "Strange Fish Lake" in large letters in the center.

"Let's call this lake Strange Fish Lake. We can't get too close to this lake until the threat of the large strange fish is eliminated." Thinking this, Tianming added a note on the map: "This lake has large strange creatures that can leap out of the water, reaching several meters high, and attack prey in an instant. Very dangerous, do not approach."

Checking the time, it was 38:26:33.

Another 10 hours had passed, and Tianming felt hungry and a bit tired.

Returning to Crystal River, he used the river water to wash rice and cook. Suddenly, he noticed a dozen small fish from Strange Fish Lake swimming upstream in the shallow water, less than half a meter deep.

Putting the washed rice on the shore, Tianming rolled up his pants and plunged into the water to catch the fish.

This place was only about 100 meters from Strange Fish Lake. Tianming found that more small fish had swum in from the lake, hiding among the colorful crystals, making them hard to see.

After much effort, Tianming caught a small strange fish with a brownish-yellow body, resembling a carp. "Finally caught one, ha, where do you think you're going!"

It was 39:11:45, the 39th hour.

Tianming looked up at the clear blue sky, where the asteroid belt was slowly approaching the star, and night was about to fall.

At dinner, Tianming's table had an additional dish: grilled strange fish. Since Little Gray refused to eat meat, Tianming bravely tried a bite.

The taste was excellent, with top-quality meat, no fishy or strange flavors, and a special freshness.

After a while, confirming that he had no adverse reactions, Tianming finished the one-pound grilled strange fish.

The asteroid belt slowly covered the sky, and the star finally disappeared.

Stars appeared, and night fell.

22 hours of daylight, 4 hours of darkness, Tianming was no longer surprised by this.

---