Eternal Beast Taming Family

The darkness receded like the tide, as if he had been asleep for thousands of years, and bright light once again filled his surroundings.

His consciousness was still lingering on the cries of his loved ones beside his bed, and he didn't immediately realize where he was.

He instinctively tried to sit up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make the corresponding movement.

he looks like……

I can no longer sense my own body.

Could it be that he's not dead yet? He's just gone from a weak patient confined to his sickbed to a vegetative state.

He hurried to look around at the surroundings: towering trees, lush green grass, and even a few yellowed leaves falling from the branches.

The ground beneath him seemed to be tilted, and he could see the distant, rolling green mountains, as well as the 'sun' that seemed to be floating around him like a long ribbon.

Chu Mu's somewhat confused state gradually cleared up, as if something extraordinary had happened.

Good heavens, he can't just be left to rot in the wilderness, can he?

No, the sun alone doesn't seem to represent the world he lives in; he couldn't possibly be...

Before he could think it through, a flood of information suddenly rushed into his mind, as if it had been waiting for a long time, and filled his mind instantly.

The 'sun,' surrounded by long ribbons, and the 'moon,' shrouded in an arc-shaped halo, exchanged three cycles.

Chu Mu had just finished digesting the information flowing through his spiritual world.

He is indeed no longer in his original world. The good news is that he can be reborn, but the bad news is that he has been reborn as a tool.

The information in his mind told him that he had become a "source artifact," the source of the mystical power in this world.

"Source Artifacts" are the inspiration for humanity, enabling the human race to awaken and contract with various "Source Beasts" with magical abilities. They are also the key to endowing "Source Beasts" with various abilities and raising their realm.

Furthermore, the existence of "Source Artifacts" can be linked by bloodlines, continuously enhancing bloodline aptitude over many years, thereby enabling the human race to possess various abilities.

Therefore, the power structure in this world mostly exists in the form of families.

Chu Mu's current perspective of observing the outside world is 360°, but the surroundings are all weeds, so in reality, he can only observe the sky and the rolling green hills opposite this small slope.

His perspective shifted to himself from a different angle, allowing him to see the full picture of his current "appearance".

It is a fairly regular stone book, about the size of two adult men's palms, and less than the size of a fingernail. Its bluish-gray appearance gives it a slightly antique feel.

Overall, it looks somewhat strange, but not that strange.

After waiting for more than a dozen days and nights, Chu Mu helplessly discovered that his body was located in a remote corner of the mountains, far from any human presence.

What's even more disheartening is that even if someone passes by, their book-shaped stone carving will remain undiscovered and untouched by the lush grass.

Moreover, it has made a contract with human families and become a "source vessel" to be worshipped.

With no other entertainment to pass the time and no one to chat with, Chu Mu could only wake up and sleep, sleep and wake up.

He would count the number of stars in the night sky and compare the appearance of the giant tree beside him at different times of day.

Spring comes and summer goes, autumn arrives and winter departs.

The grass and flowers around me bloom and fall, and the cold snow has covered me several times over.

Chu Mu's mind became increasingly calm, and even the divine birds with long, fiery tails that occasionally flew across the sky could not stir much ripples in his heart.

Sometimes Chu Mu really wished he were a real vegetable, at least those dark days would eventually come to an end.

Now, he is a stone carving, surrounded by loneliness and solitude, endless and without beginning or end.

Perhaps one day, he will be buried underground, never to see even a sliver of sunlight.

Death was a luxury for him.

In this situation, the rough edges of a young person's character are smoothed out.

It was early autumn again, and as another yellowing leaf fell on Chu Mu, a dusty little hand grasped the book and stone carving.

……

Fuhe Village.

With the crisp autumn air, the men working on the mountain seemed more energetic than usual.

Baskets of ore, emitting a faint glow, were carried out of the mine and neatly stacked outside.

An elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in fine clothes and carrying a strange little stone figure beside him, spoke with a fawning smile and respect.

"Sir, this is the total output of Jadeite from last month. Would you please take a look and inspect it?"

The young man in fine clothes glanced at the baskets, then his expression showed a hint of displeasure.

"How come the output is 10% less than last month's?"

Chen Zhengchang, the village chief of Fuhe Village, looked distressed and repeatedly apologized.

"Your Excellency may not know this, but this mine has been in operation for decades. It is not like when it was first started. The jade has become scarce, making mining increasingly difficult."

Next month, I'll definitely get the boys to work harder and try to mine more crops.

Chen Zhengchang secretly observed the expression on the young nobleman's face. This young man was named Shi Yuanmao, and he was from the Shi family, a prominent family in town. If he had any complaints, they would simply suspend their mining operations.

Life in their village would become even more difficult, which was not what he, as the village chief, wanted to see. It seemed that the village men would have to suffer even more next month.

Shi Yuanmao held the "Little Stone Spirit" in his hand, a unique source beast belonging to his family.

Upon hearing Chen Zhengchang's explanation, his expression calmed down. He neither agreed nor disagreed, but simply patted the tiny "Stone Spirit" in his hand, which was no bigger than his palm.

"Go."

The "Little Stone Spirit" is composed of six stones of different sizes. The largest stone forms the main body, the four longer stones form the limbs, and the rounder stones form the head.

It shook its head, and then, as if understanding Shi Yuanmao's words, it leaped and landed on the bright jade stone in the basket.

"Da da"

The sound of pebbles clashing came from beneath the "little stone man," which walked past seven baskets in turn, as if checking the quality of these bright jade stones through its own means.

The "Little Stone Spirit" displayed extraordinary abilities, and neither the village chief Chen Zhengchang nor the surrounding villagers, who kept their heads down and dared not look at the distinguished person, showed any surprise.

After all, this kind of scene happens once a month, and after seeing it so many times, it becomes a habit.

After the final inspection, the "Little Stone Spirit" jumped back into Shi Yuanmao's palm. It tapped Shi Yuanmao's palm three times, and then the stones that made up its body piled up on top of each other, turning back into a pile of silent rubble.

Shi Yuanmao glanced at it gently, and the "Little Stone Spirit's" body gradually faded and disappeared.

His palm hovered above the basket, and after a flash of light, all the bright jade stones disappeared without a trace.

The middle-aged man with a mustache, who had been standing silently behind Shi Yuanmao, stepped forward, took out some silver from his pocket, and handed it to the village chief.

The village chief accepted the money, a hint of joy on his face. The Shi family was a prominent family in the town and would not treat them unfairly in terms of money; in fact, their treatment was not much worse than when they were in better circumstances.

Shi Yuanmao straightened his clothes. "Since production can't keep up, let's have the Fuhe Village trade once every two months."

After saying that, he turned around first and walked steadily down the mountain.

Chen Zhengchang opened his mouth, as if to say something.

The butler-like man spoke first, "Village Chief Chen, this place is a bit remote. If you want to maintain the trading frequency, you should develop new mines as soon as possible, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" The manager didn't say it explicitly, but Chen Zhengchang understood what he meant. It was simply that one of the village's two pillar industries might come to an end in a few years.

But new mine shafts aren't so easy to find.

Chen Zhengchang's expression turned even more bitter, but he still cupped his hands in thanks to the steward, saying, "Thank you, Steward Wang."

Manager Wang shook his head, then turned and followed his master's steps, trotting after him.

As for the other seven or eight guards and attendants, they had already taken the lead and covered the rear of the line, with Shi Yuanmao in the front and back positions, making a very impressive appearance.

The village chief sighed and put the money into his pocket. The money given by the young master of the Shi family was in large denominations, which was not enough to pay the young men in the village their wages right now.

They needed to return to the village, exchange the money, and then settle the account.

Thanks to its mineral resources and the Zhang family's crane raising, Fuhe Village was a well-known wealthy village among the eighteen villages under the jurisdiction of Heyu Town, but now its mineral resources are visibly depleted.

With one of the two pillar industries on the verge of being lost, Chen Zhengchang, the village chief, couldn't help but feel anxious.

As soon as Shi Yuanmao's figure disappeared behind the trees, a young man approached Chen Zhengchang.

"Uncle, how much will I get paid this time? I'm hoping to get the money soon so I can go to town and buy a Source Beast."

Chen Zhengchang snapped out of his daze and slapped the dark-skinned young man next to him on the head.

"You still want to contract a source beast? Even if you can afford to buy one, you can't afford to raise it."

The people in our village are just honestly thinking about saving money to get married, have children, and live a simple life; they don't dream of becoming a powerful or wealthy family.

The dark-skinned young man clearly didn't take Chen Zhengchang's words seriously. He curled his lip and said, "Uncle, our mineral production is decreasing. Can the old man from the Chu family find a new mine? Otherwise, the production definitely won't be able to keep up in the future."

Chen Zhengchang frowned. "These are not things for a half-grown boy like you to worry about."

"That's hard to say. Maybe they'll find out but won't tell us. After all, he's the only one in the whole village with that ability."

Enraged, Chen Zhengchang kicked the dark-skinned boy again, but after all, he was his own nephew, by blood.

"Chu Jingyu is a sensible person; he would never do anything to break away from the village collective. Otherwise, he wouldn't have pointed out the existence of this mine to the villagers twenty years ago."

The dark-skinned boy was somewhat unconvinced. "When they first came to our village, they naturally had to give us some benefits in order to integrate as quickly as possible. Now that so many years have passed, they have established themselves and naturally don't need to be so careful anymore."

These words made Chen Zhengchang's eyebrows rise. "Shut up! Where did you hear these fallacies and heresies?"

"That's what everyone in the village says." Seeing that his uncle was really angry, the dark-skinned boy Chen Xu explained in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhengchang sighed deeply. It seemed that even after twenty years, despite the Chu family's considerable help to the village, they still hadn't truly integrated into it.

"Village chief, village chief, those people who went into the mountains have returned."

Chen Zhengchang roused himself and looked at the crowd coming from the back of the mountain, hoping they could bring some good news.