Chapter 422 - 277: Multi-Space-Time Secret Realm

At noon, Jinshi Village was bustling with activity, smoke curling up from kitchen chimneys.

The small square beneath the clock tower was filled with tables. In the distance, several pots steamed over fires, continuously cooking noodles or thick congee.

The residents were gathered for a celebratory feast, marking an unprecedented victory. The atmosphere was a hundred times more festive than the New Year. Some ate, while others sang and danced. The sounds of cheering, singing, and music lasted all afternoon.

Su Zhi and Tuoba Jing sat at the same table.

Every household had brought out the grain, dried meat, and fine wine they had saved for the New Year, using the best of everything to host the two Beastmasters.

"Can you imagine? These people usually eat bran, sometimes even mixed with wood shavings."

Tuoba Jing picked up a skewer of dried meat with a sigh, handing half to Su Zhi. "My first disaster relief mission was also in a village. The people there were just as destitute. Back then, I was struck by how utterly miserable the peasants’ lives were compared to us Beastmasters... But then, on the day the relief effort was complete and we were preparing to leave, the peasants brought out fine wine and meat to see us off."

Seeing Su Zhi’s curious expression, Tuoba Jing gave a faint smile.

"I had the same surprised look on my face as you do now. My captain saw it and had a good laugh at my expense, but I could clearly sense the resentment and sorrow in his laughter..."

"He told me: Don’t be fooled by the seemingly honest, simple, and sincere appearance of peasants. The truth is, they are the most cunning people. You ask them for rice, they say they have none. You ask for flour, they have no flour either. It seems they have nothing."

"But that’s not the case. You can go look—either in their cellars, in a deep valley in the mountains, or in some other hidden place... The peasants actually have everything."

"’These so-called peasants,’ he said, ’are the most treacherous, most malicious, most despicable people in the world.’"

"’But what turned them into this? Years of disasters, constant raids by bandits and Exotic Beasts, heavy taxes and forced labor... with one mountain after another pressing down on them, how were they supposed to survive?’"

Su Zhi was also filled with emotion. "Your captain must have come from a farming family, too."

"He did. Unfortunately, he died during a relief mission not long after... Sigh. Let’s not dwell on the past. Let’s talk about you, my young friend."

Tuoba Jing drained his cup and turned his gaze to Su Zhi. "Your clothes are vastly different from what I remember, and your accent is quite distinct. You must be from an era far removed from my own?"

Su Zhi smiled. "That’s right."

Tuoba Jing immediately pressed, "What era is this? Is the Flying Shadow Alliance still around?"

Su Zhi nodded. "It is. It’s been over two hundred years since your time. The Nine Great Alliances have joined to form the Common Defense Alliance to protect human civilization. Compared to ancient times, humanity has conquered many more Exotic Beasts and expanded our territory into deep space. We even have footholds on the Moon and stars beyond. Wait a moment, let me show you my phone, and you’ll understand!"

"A phone? What is that?"

"Uh, it’s a kind of portable device. It can record text, pictures, and even videos. It has many other functions, too."

"It looks like this? Incredible... Do all Beastmasters of the future have such ingenious devices?"

"Not just Beast Tamers. Ordinary people have them too, one per person."

In the late Classical Era, the Divine Strategy Alliance had actually invented some epoch-making products, such as the internal combustion engine, the telegraph, and electrical wires... However, they weren’t popularized at the time, and Yu Dian as a whole remained an agrarian civilization.

Su Zhi opened the photo album on his phone for Tuoba Jing.

Most of the recent photos were taken after he arrived in Hundred Rivers. Scrolling down, there were pictures from school, from a trip to the Common Defense Alliance Headquarters... Su Zhi even found the photos from his trip to the Moon Development Zone with Shao Ya after their middle school exams.

Tuoba Jing was completely frozen in place.

Row upon row of towering skyscrapers, various vehicles that didn’t run on steam engines, bustling streets with pedestrians in bright, stylish clothes, a high-tech off-world development zone...

One after another, things beyond his comprehension flashed before his eyes, each one like a bomb setting off massive waves in his heart.

Tuoba Jing immediately looked at Su Zhi, his voice trembling. "Then... in the era two hundred years from now, can people eat their fill? Are there fewer poor people starving to death each year?"

"There are none."

Su Zhi shook his head.

"The world two hundred years from now still has many injustices and crises that need to be solved; our struggle is far from over. But everyone can eat their fill and dress warmly. No one starves to death anymore."

"That... is wonderful!"

Tuoba Jing suddenly covered his face and wept, but through his tears, a clear, ecstatic smile shone through.

He cried for a long time, until his eyes were red and swollen, before wiping away the tears with his sleeve.

"To think such a prosperous age could appear in just two hundred years... heaven has truly blessed Yu Dian. If my comrades in the afterlife could know of this, they could finally rest in peace."

"There’s no such thing as a blessing from heaven. We are the ones who forge a prosperous age."

Su Zhi cupped his hands in a gesture of respect. "It was the sacrifices of our predecessors that eliminated the threat of the Exotic Beasts and the Abyssal forces, giving Blue Star precious time to develop. The prosperous age humanity now enjoys is built upon the indelible contributions of your generation."

"Well said! ’No such thing as a blessing from heaven’!"

Tuoba Jing laughed heartily and raised his wine cup.

"Cheers! To the prosperous age!"

"Yes, to the prosperous age!"

CLINK—

The wine cups of the two Beast Taming practitioners, separated by over two hundred years of history, clinked together with a crisp sound.

After a few more drinks, Tuoba Jing suddenly flashed a teasing grin. "From the information on that ’phone’ of yours, it seems you’re not quite all alone in the world, young friend. I wonder, does your lovely confidante approve of you drinking?"