Chapter 356 - 353: Si Yang

Chapter 356: Chapter 353: Si Yang

"Listen, building is a very simple thing. You just need to find the right materials."

Ever since it arrived on the island, Si Ling had been teaching it the techniques of building.

Si Ling picked up an ordinary stone and, with a flick of her wrist, transformed it into an exquisitely detailed little stone figurine, far more refined than Si Yang’s own body.

"Each of our people builds their own body. Only you can know what kind of body you need—one with great strength, one that’s nimble and flexible, or one with special abilities."

"What’s more, you have to find the right materials, the right proportions, and the right way to control it. You must discover all of this for yourself. That’s the only way to unlock your body’s full potential."

Si Ling had told Si Yang this tirelessly, time and time again.

Si Yang knew very well that she wasn’t wrong.

But no matter how she taught it, it just couldn’t grasp the ability to build.

For the Silk Race, this ability was nearly instinctual. But for Si Yang, it was an unattainable "Magic." In all its time on the island, it had never successfully built a single thing.

It couldn’t even make a stone change its shape.

At this thought, it lowered its head in frustration.

Seeing this, Si Ling walked over to it, her long hair once again draping over Si Yang’s body.

"Don’t rush. You can learn slowly. You’ll get it eventually." Si Ling was never impatient, always comforting it.

"But I’ve asked the others. They all knew how to do it from the very beginning. I don’t even have the concept of this ability in my mind. Sometimes... I even wonder if I’m really a member of the Silk Race at all..."

Si Yang’s voice grew quieter and quieter until it trailed off, its head sinking in dejection.

"It’s okay." Si Ling tapped its shoulder gently and repeated her familiar words:

"Don’t mind the others. You’ll always be you."

Si Ling was constantly trying to come up with ways to help, but none of them enabled it to grasp the ability to build, and it felt terribly guilty about it.

"Let me attach a pair of arms to you. Go and feel the building materials for yourself. That should help," Si Ling said, a sudden idea striking her.

"But... isn’t it forbidden for us to help others build their bodies?"

"This isn’t a body. It’s a gift from me to you," Si Ling said with a smile, winking at it.

As she spoke, Si Ling picked up the stone figurine again, shaped it into two short arms, and attached them to Si Yang’s body.

Si Yang suddenly felt a new part of its body.

It tried moving the arms. They were incredibly flexible, far more "advanced" than its own crude body.

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome. Now go on, try them out."

"Okay."

...

Time passed quickly. Si Yang had been on the island for a long time now.

It slowly grew familiar with its kin, and many of them tried to teach it how to build, but it still couldn’t learn.

The flexible arms were of no use either. Si Yang constantly held a stone, trying to feel for its body’s instinct, but there was only stagnant stillness within. Its suffering grew with each passing day.

Si Ling still comforted it often, trying to get it to relax. She even told it that even if it never mastered the ability to build, the Silk Race would always protect it.

The other members of the race never ostracized it, either. They even turned a blind eye to Si Ling helping it create its arms, pretending they hadn’t seen a thing.

But this very tolerance made Si Yang feel even worse.

’I can’t go on like this.’

Si Yang was constantly tormented by the self-loathing that came from its inability to master their skill, and its heart was in agony.

Through conversations with its kin, Si Yang learned about the world outside:

Beyond Silk Island lay a vast ocean, one fraught with danger, yet also filled with opportunity.

’Maybe in an environment like that, I can finally master the ability to build.’

And so, Si Yang made a decision. It would do something no member of the Silk Race had ever done before: leave Silk Island and set out on an adventure across the sea.

Rather than stay on the island, suffering constant torment, it would be better to risk everything to find a glimmer of hope.

When its kin heard of its decision, most were opposed. Only Si Ling looked at it and said, with great earnestness, "The Silk Race loves damp caves and the feel of water droplets on their bodies. But you, you love the scorching sun."

"Everyone is different. If the opinions of others are of no use to you, then go and see the world for yourself."

"Don’t mind the others. You’ll always be you."

Si Ling’s words solidified Si Yang’s resolve to leave the island.

Before long, it set out alone, stepping into the boundless ocean.

The sea was vast. Every island was home to different races and different civilizations, each possessing all sorts of wondrous abilities.

As Si Yang learned about these races and civilizations, it also began to study their architecture and their strange and wonderful methods of construction.

One civilization would mix a fluid from their bodies with hallucinogenic soil to build structures resembling ant nests. They could use the resulting illusory realm to communicate, linking the minds of every individual together.

Another built towers from the bodies of their dead. When the race was in danger, these bone towers would summon the souls of their ancestors to attack their enemies.

Yet another civilization would bury their shed carapaces in the ground. These shells would grow into suitable buildings on their own. They only needed to be watered and fertilized on schedule, and the resulting structures would take on different forms depending on the level of care they received.

These marvelous construction methods left Si Yang in awe. It suddenly realized that its understanding of "building" had been flawed from the very beginning.

’Why does building have to be done only with the ability of the Silk Race? I’ve been stuck in the wrong mindset from the start. "Building" is a verb, not a synonym for some special power.’

With this thought, it rushed to the shore and found a stone.

It took the tools it had collected from the various races out of its travel pack, raised the hands Si Ling had given it, and brought them down hard on the stone.

Before long, a new body stood before it.

It was a rough, unfinished stone form.

Although it was its first time building, every part of the stone figure was perfectly functional.

Thanks to its travels among the various civilizations, Si Yang knew what made a biological body more perfect, which parts were indispensable, and how to trim away the superfluous.

It continued to build, applying all the construction techniques it had learned.

It coated star sand with the perpetual-motion slime it had collected and packed it into the statue’s joints. It used collected spirit-summoning bones for cushioning and support. It used the pearls from life shells for the statue’s eyes...

Si Yang was completely immersed. It had never felt anything like this before—

’Building... is so simple.’