At last, World No. 1 of the Evolution Sand Table had begun to produce Ether.
…
This discovery thrilled Lin Tuo. After all, the very reason he had created the Sand Table was for this.
As time within the miniature world raced on, he noticed wisps of pale cyan vapor gradually appearing in the air above the continent. Faint, thin, but undeniably present.
"Should I take a breath? Just one breath?"
Hesitating for a few seconds, Lin Tuo stood, leaned over the Sand Table, and silently activated the Breath-Eating Method.
To his surprise, however, the Ether didn't respond to him at all.
[Current Ether concentration too low. Unable to harvest.]
The message surfaced in his mind.
Lin Tuo sighed, resigned. He sat back down, not in the mood for his phone anymore, propping his chin in his hand as he waited by the Sand Table.
The world's evolution pressed onward.
The climate remained relatively stable. Occasional droughts and floods flashed past like a fast-forwarded reel under accelerated time.
[The Era of Laws lasted a full eight hundred years. Population surged across the continent, until the old structures could no longer contain it. At last, war erupted.]
[The continent plunged into chaos. Warlords arose, states fractured, the concept of "nations" emerged. At its peak, the land splintered into eighty-two feudal states, locked in endless struggle. Thus, the Era of Laws ended, and the Warring States Era began.]
Line by line, the activity log recorded history.
Smoke and fire rose in the Sand Table. Though details blurred under the accelerated view, Lin Tuo could still feel the brutality of that war-torn age.
"Less than three hundred thousand square kilometers of land, and they managed to split into so many factions…" He couldn't help but click his tongue.
[At first, the Warring States Era was chaotic, but as lords conquered and expanded, the map consolidated. Thirteen kingdoms coexisted in a fragile balance. Yet peace was short-lived.In Year 704,103,000 of world evolution, the State of Chi reformed, its strength skyrocketing. From its valley homeland, it crushed its neighbors. Over the next twenty-one years, Chi expanded, devouring rival states until it unified the entire continent.The king ascended, offering sacrifices to heaven, proclaiming himself Emperor. Thus ended the Warring States Era, and the Imperial Era began.]
"So soon?" Lin Tuo blinked, glancing at the dark night outside.
It was only just after three in the morning. He had expected the Sand Table to reach the feudal empire stage by dawn—yet it came earlier than planned.
"Maybe by morning, I can try absorbing Ether again."
He went to the kitchen, dug out a bucket of instant noodles, cooked it, and returned to quietly watch the new dynasty take shape.
During the wars, he had noticed the Ether concentration indicator dip slightly—but he understood. War was a natural stage of civilization's growth, unlike natural disasters. He hadn't interfered.
By the time his noodles were ready, the arrow had shifted back to rising, tinged faintly green.
Slurping his noodles, Lin Tuo noticed time inside the Sand Table slowing further. Human settlements spread outward from capitals, farmland stretched wide, and agricultural advances boosted food supply.
Population, once decimated by war, was now recovering—and soon surpassed even prewar levels.
Perhaps reflecting real-world history—or perhaps a universal law of civilization—architecture began to resemble that of the Han and Tang dynasties.
Lin Tuo expected this unified dynasty to crumble quickly, replaced by new rulers and new names. Yet to his surprise, the empire endured with astonishing vitality.
[Year 704,602,000 of world evolution: Human population across the continent officially surpasses five million.]
Not long after this line appeared, the Ether concentration shifted from Faint to Low.
"I can finally absorb it!" Lin Tuo leapt up, noticing dawn's first light outside his window.
Who could have imagined? In just one night, the Tak Continent had leapt from tribal slavery to a unified feudal empire.
"I wonder how much Ether I can harvest…"
Suppressing his excitement, he activated the Breath-Eating Method once again. This time, it worked.
Above the Sand Table, the pale cyan vapor gathered, condensed, and was drawn into his body.
The rush wasn't as dramatic as the first time, but it still left him refreshed, comfortable.
With a single draw, he had drained nearly the entire thirty-thousand-square-kilometer landmass of Ether.
Exhaling slowly, he asked aloud:
"How much Ether do I have now?"
[Host currently possesses 124 Ether points.]
The Sand Table's response echoed in his mind.
"So little?" Lin Tuo froze. Only 124 in total. Subtracting the 93 points he already had, that meant…
That entire harvest had yielded only 31 Ether.
He was baffled. The continent's area dwarfed Yang City's many times over, yet the Ether gathered was less than a third of what Yang City had provided.
[Explanation: The quality of intelligent life in World No. 1 is comparatively low…]
Triggered by his query, the Sand Table delivered its reasoning.
The problem boiled down to two factors:
First, Creation Mode consumed more Ether during collection than Observation Mode. In other words, the Sand Table skimmed off more when he harvested here. This was a built-in mechanism, unchangeable for now.
Second, the empire itself generated little Ether.
Despite its size, its total population wasn't higher than Yang City's.
Modern cities, with their dense populations, had an overwhelming advantage. Yang City alone had around six million people.
Even more crucial was the quality of life.
Modern humans lived longer, healthier, more spirited lives. By contrast, under the rule of the "Chi Empire," countless people still starved or froze each year. Such conditions yielded far less Ether per person.
If not for the fact that this single harvest had spanned many years of the Sand Table's accelerated timeline, the yield would have been even lower.
"This isn't what I expected." Lin Tuo rubbed his temples, smiling bitterly.
Still, the situation wasn't hopeless. Thanks to the Sand Table's time dilation, Ether would regenerate much faster than in reality.
Indeed, in just a few minutes, the pale glow above the continent began to recover.
With more time, he could harvest again.
If the amount was lacking, he could simply make up for it with more collections…
And yet—
Couldn't he improve this situation directly?
Leaning back in his chair, he fell into deep thought.
"To solve the problem of Ether scarcity, I need to go to the source. Either increase population, or improve its quality."
"But boosting population isn't easy. Right now, their agricultural output barely feeds the current millions, let alone more…"
"And improving quality is equally difficult. Without changes in productivity, living standards won't rise."
In today's world, with knowledge all around him, Lin Tuo could clearly see the crux of the issue.
"So what then? Just wait for the empire to evolve on its own?"
He tapped absentmindedly on the Sand Table's edge, eyes unfocused in thought.
"No… I can't just sit and wait. If history is any guide, feudal dynasties can stagnate for thousands of years without a push."
"Now that the Sand Table's time has slowed so much, I might wait ten or twenty days here, and they'd still be stuck in the same stage."
"…Unless—what if I push them forward myself?"
A sudden idea flashed in his mind.
"What if I gave the Chi Empire some early scientific and technological knowledge? Wouldn't that accelerate their progress?"
"In other words…"
"What if I gave the Sand Table's civilization… a cheat?"
(End of Chapter)