Chapter 12: The Trial Ends

Chapter 12: The End of the Trial

After the typhoon made landfall and the tsunami swept through, the weather finally ushered in several consecutive days of clear skies. Li Hongshen led the group out of the cave and began the work of reconstruction.

The first priority was the camp at the foot of the mountain. The camp was in utter disarray: roads were littered with broken branches and stones, a few trees had been uprooted and had crashed into the buildings. Several roofs had been smashed open by falling rocks, and the public restrooms not far from the camp were rendered unusable by the relentless rain.

The most heavily damaged, however, were the terraced fields that had been painstakingly carved out at the camp. Even those that had been reinforced still suffered severe soil erosion, exposing the immature crops beneath. In the medicinal herb fields, many herbs had their roots soaked and rotted by the rain, while several patches of farmland near the mountain spring were washed away by raging waters.

Inspecting along the water’s course, Li Hongshen discovered that a massive boulder had blocked the water channel above the former farmland, causing the spring to divert and flood the fields. After ordering the boulder to be moved and the channel restored, Li Hongshen walked out of Fengxi Valley and saw a vast expanse of hemp grass flattened to the ground.

The fence at the entrance to Fengxi Valley, though not toppled, had been severely bent backward by the wind. The road spanning east to west required urgent maintenance, as many large trees had fallen across it and the original wooden rails were now warped and damaged.

At the sugarcane field, the workshop had fortunately suffered little loss, though the field itself needed some attention: replacing the soil and irrigating with fresh water should suffice to avert any major impact.

Moving west to inspect the mining area, Li Hongshen was relieved. This was an open-pit mine; foreseeing natural disasters, he had never planned to dig shafts, but rather to excavate layer by layer. Now, only a little rainwater had accumulated at the bottom of the pit, which would dry up in a few days—no cause for concern.

Next came the smelting workshop, where he noticed the wooden axle of the waterwheel needed replacement. It seemed to have turned excessively and too quickly; the connecting joints had been scorched black from friction. Li Hongshen planned to replace these with ceramic ones, which would be more durable and resistant to wear.

The Voyager, standing steadfast in the forest after being lashed by seawater, now sported some seaweed and coral decorations, with seawater pooled on the deck. Circling the vessel, Li Hongshen found no real damage. Once drained and aired out, it would be as good as new.

The salt pans and port were another story entirely. One glance was all it took for Li Hongshen to make up his mind—they would simply be demolished and rebuilt from scratch.

On the final day before the trial’s end, the camp had been restored to its former glory. Fallen trees were set upright and revived, damaged buildings repaired, and all internal roads cleared. The east-west road was once again passable, with warped wooden rails replaced or mended. The waterwheel’s burned axle had been removed and scraped clean, now coated in clay, drying before being fired in the kiln. The Voyager, freshly drained and cleaned, stood drying in the forest. Meanwhile, the island’s southern shore now boasted a more expansive salt pan and port.

Li Hongshen moved his lounge chair outside his large house, gazing up at the starry sky, awaiting the end of the trial and the final reckoning.

At midnight, beneath the pitch-black sky illuminated by stars, some said it was the trial space projecting false starlight, while others believed it was a true sky conjured by the will of civilization. Under this starlight, Li Hongshen reflected on the past year: from the initial struggle to lead his tribe in developing the land by textbook methods, to planning effectively according to the island’s environment, to managing all manner of tribal affairs with confidence.

He recalled the embarrassment of solving personal hygiene dilemmas at the outset, the pain of using palm leaves and other plants for cleanliness, the pride of surveying the landscape from the mountain, the anxiety when facing wild beasts and enemies. There had been foolish mistakes and daunting obstacles, moments of helplessness in daily life, but also a sense of accomplishment from establishing new rules.

Time slipped away as Li Hongshen summarized his experiences. The next day, the sun did not rise as expected. Instead, a beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping him.

Looking up, he saw the settlement begin.

The beam of light expanded from Li Hongshen, spreading to cover the entire camp, then Fengxi Valley and the plains, eventually enveloping the whole island and stretching out over the sea. Suddenly, the light beam rapidly contracted; as it vanished, everything it had shone upon disappeared with it.

When Li Hongshen came to himself, he found he was standing in a void, before him floating a glowing sphere—his domain, his Lord’s Heart, the reward for completing the Lord’s Trial.

“Ding! New location detected. Partial Plane Consciousness Zone. You may sign in here!”

“System, sign in!”

“Ding! Sign-in successful: Congratulations, you have obtained 1,000 Source Points.”

Li Hongshen’s face darkened at this—of course he knew what Source Points were. As essential currency for the Lord’s civilization, they were widely used for transactions among the lordly class. They could be spent directly to benefit one’s domain: accelerating time, constructing special buildings, building energy networks—all required Source Points.

But Source Points could only be acquired after gaining an official domain; every day, the domain would generate an unpredictable amount. The larger the territory, the greater the population, the higher the energy level, the more Source Points generated, and the more could be used for development—a virtuous circle, the very foundation for a lord’s existence.

For newcomers like Li Hongshen, their domains would generate at most a little over a hundred Source Points a day; some would only get double digits. But he hardly lacked for Source Points—once out, he’d inherit well over a million—so this thousand was barely a trifle.

Fortunately, a far more delightful message followed.

“Ding! Check-in successful: You have gained an additional Lord’s Talent—Resource Abundance.”

“Name: Resource Abundance”

“Type: Lord’s Talent”

“Description: All resources within your domain can grow rapidly and recover swiftly, ensuring the lord always enjoys plentiful resources.”

This message made his expression shift instantly—his whole body started to tremble with excitement. Normally, only after the settlement of the domain and the official promotion to Lord, when the Lord’s Heart fused with the Lord’s own body, would the Lord awaken their innate talent.

But now, he had gained an extra Lord’s Talent, and it was a resource rule—clearly, he was fate’s favorite child.

He reached out and touched the Lord’s Heart, at once entering an indescribable state. He saw the island, the camp, Li Li and the Grand Elder, he saw the sea eagles and the bay crocodiles.

This world of more than a hundred kilometers was his initial domain. Now he could, by his own will, make certain alterations to it—a privilege granted only upon receiving the Lord’s Heart and ascending.

He transformed the island into a continent, gathered the sea to the south, leveled the northern highlands and connected them to the plains before Fengxi Valley’s mouth.

When the transformation was complete, he felt an inexplicable sensation—he knew the power for alteration had run its course.

The small world was now stabilized: to the north, land formed from the island; to the south, a vast expanse of blue sea; the total area exceeded 106 square kilometers.

Then, his consciousness was drawn out of the world, which shrank into a glass sphere and merged into Li Hongshen’s body.

In the civilization of lords, those who passed the Lord’s Trial would receive a reward descended from the civilization’s will, calculated according to their final results. The system would claim land from the trial ground—the better the performance, the greater the surviving population, the higher the technological advancement, the more territory one would receive.

Generally, the starting point was 30 square kilometers, with 100 as a ceiling, each additional kilometer above that being a rung on the ladder. The threshold for top high schools was 80 square kilometers and above.

After the trial, lords could exercise a measure of power to reshape their territory, with specific lessons in the main world teaching how to do so efficiently and wisely.

Once the reshaping was done, the domain retracted into the Lord’s Heart, which then merged into Li Hongshen’s body, initiating his transformation and awakening his Lord’s Talent.

Soon, after a brief, unremarkable tremor, his transformation was complete.

A powerful sense of pulling and dizziness overcame him—then, in the blink of an eye, he was back in the white jade plaza. Now, less than half the original crowd remained.

“Those who have passed the trial, gather here. Those who have passed the trial, gather here. Those who have passed the trial, gather here.”

(End of Chapter)