The legendary Roc bird is mentioned in many ancient texts, including the Zhōng Huāng chapter of Shén Yì Jīng and Shuǐ Jīng Zhù, with the most famous reference being Zhuangzi’s Xiāo Yáo Yóu — The Free and Easy Wandering.

In those pages, Zhuangzi painted the image of a divine bird that could soar ninety thousand li straight upward — a sweeping and magnificent passage that leaves readers awestruck.

Clearly, this somewhat contradicts the normal laws of existence. No matter how large a divine bird might be, it could not be of such a form. This was an extreme exaggeration on the part of the ancients. Yet what is puzzling is that many other ancient texts also contain records of the Roc, and quite a few of them describe the Roc’s existence in a resolute and unwavering tone — asserting that it truly exists, though not as immensely large as legend claims.

This cannot help but inspire all manner of speculation: did a divine bird truly exist in those distant ancient ages, known as the “Roc”?

Zhou Yi and the others stared as that golden silhouette — as though cast from pure gold — disappeared behind a distant cliff face, all wearing expressions of profound shock.

“A divine bird of legend!” Many people cried out in astonishment after recovering from their petrification — a shock that came from the very depths of their beings. It had effortlessly torn apart a massive elephant, surged upward in flight, clutching what seemed to be nothing more than a tiny mouse-hare in its talons. Its immense size left everyone wide-eyed and slack-jawed; its colossal strength left everyone struck speechless.

Kai De said with a perfectly straight face, stumbling over his words: “That great bird… belongs to the order Falconiformes, birds of prey… it is a… new species… a… great discovery.”

“Go stand somewhere else!” Pang Bo was truly at a loss for words with this single-minded foreigner. What was this timing — still appraising things through the lens of science? Did he forget to think about how they’d even gotten here?

“Be nicer to him, Pang Bo.” Li Xiaoman showed a displeased expression, her long eyelashes fluttering lightly, her beautiful eyes casting him a sidelong glance.

“I wasn’t talking about you…” Pang Bo muttered under his breath.

“What kind of world have we arrived in exactly?” When things quieted down, everyone was compelled to think about this question.

Traveling through the desolate universe, arriving in the stellar region where the Big Dipper resided, entering this mysterious world — had they truly reached the resting place of the gods?

How to survive going forward — this was the question everyone was presently grappling with. The road ahead was unknown, and everything required careful deliberation.

Many people clutched the divine relics in their hands tightly, but at this moment all the Buddhist artifacts had gone dim and lightless. Some had even cracked, fractures appearing across their surfaces — they were completely destroyed. The last vestiges of divine power within the divine relics had been absorbed by the Ancient Bronze Coffin. No divine radiance flowed any longer. Holding them was little different from holding a lump of old copper. Yet no one discarded them. They harbored the hope that the divine relics might be able to accumulate divine radiance once more for future use — if they could be repaired, that would be their greatest source of support going forward.

“Gurgle!”

Someone’s stomach growled — though who it was, no one knew. Quite a few people felt rather embarrassed. People always need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, and many of them shuffled off to find discreet spots to take care of their bodily needs.

“Saving face at the cost of suffering…” Pang Bo said with a disdainful curl of his lips: “I was the one with the foresight, back at the Heavenly Palace ruins on Mars — I left behind my great and historic mark there. I’d say that even centuries from now, it will stand as one of humanity’s greatest witnesses to the exploration of the stars!”

“Pfft!”

The water Ye Fan had just taken a sip of sprayed straight out of his mouth, and he nearly flung away the mineral water bottle in his hand along with it.

“I’m telling you, brother, please don’t say things like that while I’m drinking — it could kill a man.”

The people nearby simply could not take the two of them any longer, and took the opportunity to shuffle off to distant spots, all excruciatingly embarrassed as they went off to deal with their own personal matters.

Pang Bo burst out laughing when he saw everyone’s expressions, then deliberately let out a loud, pointed cough in a certain direction while making as though he was about to walk that way — which immediately sent the person hiding behind a large tree into a fit of shuddering, making it rather difficult for them to handle their own business in peace.

Pang Bo snickered to himself, then crouched down, picked up two stones, and hurled them. From behind the vines in the distance came Li Changqing’s furious shout: “Who is it? Who’s so rotten-hearted?” — accompanied by Liu Yunzhi’s irritated cold snort.

Seeing that fellow pick up another stone, apparently intent on throwing it in the direction Li Xiaoman had walked off to, Ye Fan quickly moved to stop him with a grin.

Once everyone had returned one by one, Pang Bo immediately composed himself into an air of perfect seriousness, then dragged Ye Fan off to wander around the mountain summit, hoping to find some wild fruit to eat.

Although Ye Fan had collected a large bag of divine crocodile carcasses at the Five-Colored Sacrificial Altar on Mars, neither of them actually wanted to eat it unless absolutely necessary — they’d rather not endure the nausea.

“There’s a spring pool over there.” Pang Bo suddenly made a discovery.

Just a few dozen meters ahead, several old vines as thick as barrels encircled a small clearing. Within it was a spring pool about one square meter in size, its water bubbling and flowing like a pool of sweet celestial dew.

Beside the spring pool grew more than a dozen small trees, each roughly half a meter tall. Their leaves were broad and jade-green in color, shaped like the palm of a human hand — like several multi-armed little figures standing there. At the top of each small tree hung a single bright red fruit — resembling a cherry in shape, but as large as a chicken egg.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo wove through the vines and walked briskly over. When they were still quite far away, a rich, intense fragrance reached them, very nearly making both of them drool. After all, they had gone a full day and night without eating anything — they were already terribly hungry. If they couldn’t find food soon, the two of them had been prepared to steel themselves and eat the divine crocodile meat.

“What an incredible fragrance — I’ve never encountered a fruit with such a rich and intense aroma.”

When they drew close, the fruit’s fragrance became even more intoxicating. Even the finest aged vintage from a thousand-year cellar would be put to shame here.

“With a fragrance this alluring — could it be poisonous?” Both were a little uncertain, for things that are most bright and enticing often tend to carry the most poison.

“Never mind that. A fragrance this wonderful — even if it were poisonous, I’d be willing to take a taste. I absolutely refuse to eat those repulsive parasites that used to burrow around inside human skulls.”

“How about you taste it first? You’re physically robust — if it’s poisonous, you’ll certainly be able to pull through.”

“I think your skin is thick and your flesh is tough — no poison could touch you. You’re the most suitable poison-tester of all.”

Both were very lighthearted people. Even having arrived in a strange world, neither wore a long face — they faced everything with an optimistic outlook.

Ye Fan plucked one of the bright red fruits and held it in his palm, looking at it — exceedingly enticing, crystalline and luminous, like a sculpture carved from red jade.

At that point Pang Bo also plucked one of the vivid, translucent red fruits and said: “I can’t hold on any longer — this fragrance is too tempting. I’m going to have a taste first.”

“Let me go first.”

The two of them both took a gentle bite almost simultaneously. The instant the crystalline, gleaming red skin broke open, an intensely rich and fragrant aroma flooded straight through to their very core, spreading through their entire bodies.

“Absolutely delicious!” Pang Bo could barely keep himself from swallowing his own fingers. Juice ran freely, bright and crimson, the fragrance swirling in the air, filling the area with an intoxicating sweetness.

“I’ve never eaten such a delicious fruit — could it truly be that we were just too hungry?” After eating the first fruit, the two waited a moment. All they felt was a considerable replenishment of energy, with no other adverse sensations whatsoever.

“Not poisonous.”

“Then what are we waiting for — keep going!”

The two sat by the one-square-meter spring pool and began wolfing everything down, juice splashing everywhere. When hunger reaches a certain point, you’d sooner swallow your own tongue — let alone face a fruit this sweet and fragrant.

Yet each of them stopped after eating four. Ye Fan said, “Bring some back for Yiyi and Zhang Ziling.”

“Of course — they must be starving too.”

These small trees, each about half a meter tall, were all vibrantly jade-green and quite remarkable, yet each bore only a single fruit at its crown. The trees ringing the spring pool numbered thirteen in all, and at that moment only five bright red, glistening fruits remained.

Pang Bo drew in a deep breath, leaned down over the bubbling spring pool and gave it a sniff, then said: “Strange — this spring water seems to have a faint fragrance as well.”

Ye Fan cupped some spring water in his hands, caught a hint of delicate fragrance — very light, but unmistakably present — and said: “These small trees that can bear such remarkable fruit likely have some relationship with this spring pool.”

Pang Bo drank several large mouthfuls of the spring water and said: “There’s a faint sweet fragrance — a pity it’s really just the taste that’s a bit unusual. Drinking it doesn’t produce any particular sensation.” He emptied all the water from several mineral water bottles and began filling them with the faintly sweet-scented spring water.

The two rested there for a moment, finished the fruit, drank some spring water, and then plucked the remaining five fruits. As they walked back, Pang Bo said in a low voice: “Have you noticed — after eating the fruit, the fatigue seems to have completely lifted. I feel full of energy right now.”

Ye Fan had been wondering about this himself. Upon hearing this, he nodded immediately and said: “These red fruits are clearly no ordinary thing.”

By this time, everyone had taken care of their own needs. Some were gazing into the distance, surveying the terrain; others had gathered together to discuss which direction to head.

When Ye Fan and Pang Bo walked back, a wave of rich and intoxicating fruit fragrance drifted over, immediately drawing everyone’s attention. Many people involuntarily swallowed, for quite a few of them had already been feeling hungry.

“Here you go, Yiyi — eat up quickly.” Pang Bo pressed two of the vivid red fruits into Liu Yiyi’s hands. Under the sunlight they gleamed and sparkled.

Li Changqing happened to be standing not far away. Catching that irresistible fruit fragrance, he could not help himself: “Pang Bo, where did you find these fruits? Hurry and share them with everyone — we’re all starving.”

As he spoke he walked right up, treating himself as though he were an insider, apparently having forgotten that not long ago he had maliciously targeted Ye Fan and nearly gotten him killed. He reached out and grabbed for the three remaining fruits in Pang Bo’s hand.