Ordinary observers in fast time travel

He found himself unable to leave the area within a kilometer of the tree. He circled the banyan tree, panting heavily, and finally returned to his original spot.

He looked up at the enormous tree, and a feeling of longing suddenly welled up in his heart.

He didn't know when, but everything around him had disappeared, leaving only the towering tree before him. His gaze gradually rose higher and farther, and he, standing before the tree, felt like an ant, insignificant.

A sense of superiority, as if he were the only one worthy of respect in the world, rose within him.

Shi Jia was somewhat dazed. In his daze, he picked up a paintbrush and began to sketch the large tree in front of him, until a feeling of weakness swept over his entire body...

"Huff~ Huff~" Shi Jia gasped for breath, looking around in confusion. There were many figures and the noise made his ears ring.

The temple's steward quickly came out to take charge. Those who had not yet awakened left the temple, while those who had awakened registered their painter level and the items they had materialized.

Shi Jia stood up, supporting himself on his knees, and joined the last person in line. His head was throbbing; when the manager asked him to conjure a pie, he almost failed.

"Red Rank, Lower Grade. Replenish crystals as soon as possible to stabilize your level," the steward instructed.

Shi Jia nodded, took the artist's badge, and left the temple. Once outside, he returned home, his heart filled with unease. The moment he entered the house, he felt a wave of weakness wash over him, and heard a series of cracking sounds.

Immediately afterward, a wave of guilt washed over her, and before Shi Jia could even process what was happening, she fainted.

Shi Jia didn't know how long he had slept. When he woke up, he found that his body felt like it had been run over by a car.

He sat blankly on the bed, his memories gradually returning. A sudden thought struck him. A dull, cracked paintbrush appeared before his eyes.

Shi Jia stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "This is my Hongyu?"

How could it become like this?
He suddenly remembered the temple steward's instructions and quickly checked his pockets. Wait, where are the green crystals? He only seemed to have used four! Where did they go?
Without even considering whether they had been stolen, Shi Jia quickly got out of bed and took out the only two green crystals left from the drawer. As energy flowed into her body, the feeling of emptiness lessened slightly.

The paintbrush, covered in cracks, seemed a bit more vibrant. But upon closer inspection, it was still a dull gray.

Shi Jia was puzzled. How could things have turned out like this? What happened?
He began to recall what had happened in the temple, that vague memory—that's right, the drawing of the tree!
Shi Jia suddenly understood, "The banyan tree is of a very high level. It would require a lot of energy to materialize it, but with the dozen or so crystals I have, it is simply impossible to materialize it, or even draw it."

"But I did draw it, and it began to materialize! It not only absorbed all the energy in my body, but even the energy of the ruby ​​that I had just been able to gather was completely absorbed!"

Shi Jia stared intently at the paintbrush, took a deep breath, and exclaimed, "Sun Yu! It was you! You did this, didn't you!"

No one answered, and his heart was completely at peace.

Shi Jia laughed angrily, "Didn't you just say that the task would be completed once you became a pie-in-the-sky artist?"

"Fine, now that I've made you a pie-in-the-sky promiser, it doesn't count anymore?"

"Come out!"

"Get out here right now!" Shi Jia had been pampered for ten years in her previous life and had never seen such a rogue. Damn it!

Sun Yu remained completely unmoved.

Shi Jia was furious. "You little brat, come out here! My mission is complete, hurry up and leave!"

The next second, a feeling of panic welled up inside me.

Shi Jia sneered, "Sun Yu, you've finally decided to come out!"

However, that emotion quickly faded and disappeared.

"Little thing! Come out! I want to leave this world!"

This time, Sun Yu's emotions didn't materialize for a long time. Shi Jia frowned. "Little thing, if you don't come out soon, I'll report you for inaction after I leave this world, allowing the client to interfere with my mission!"

"Host, host, please stop!" the little system said, sounding aggrieved. "Host, I can't practice with you during the mission."

"So you can just let the client influence my mission?" Shi Jia was furious.

The little system continued to complain, "Host, I can't control the clients. I'm just a transmigrated system." "Does this mean I'll be constantly interfered with when I do my missions?!" Shi Jia retorted angrily.
"No, host, this is only because you completed your adulthood trials in the previous world and your soul is currently being re-formed. Once your soul stabilizes, the client will no longer be able to affect you," the little system quickly explained.

"Huh? Adulthood experience? Tell me about it?" Shi Jia asked with great interest.

Realizing it had let something slip, the little system quickly replied, "Ah, you'll know once the host finishes the mission."

"End the mission? Fine, I'll submit the mission now!" Mentioning the mission only made Shi Jia angrier. Damn Sun Yu!

He's so greedy! He'll leave right now, let's see how he handles that!

The little system tapped its fingers and said, "Host, you cannot submit a task at this time."

"Why?" Shi Jia frowned, glaring fiercely at the little guy. "Didn't he want to be a pie-in-the-sky artist? Now he is!"

"That's right, but right now you've awakened as a Spirit Painter, and the Spirit Painter is still in the process of awakening, constantly absorbing energy."

The little system said seriously, "Until the host absorbs enough energy and successfully awakens the Spirit Painter, the host cannot leave. Otherwise, leaving rashly will cause a positioning deviation, and the host may fall into a spacetime turbulence!"

Although the spacetime turbulence poses no danger to the host, it's best not to tell the host about it.

"Ha!" Shi Jia sneered, "So I'm going to have to take responsibility for Sun Yu's mistakes? What a joke!"

"Little ones, Sun Yu entrusted you with fulfilling his wish, so he must have paid you some kind of reward. Now he wants to become a Spirit Painter without any investment, aren't you going to do anything about it?"

The little system nodded, "Host, don't worry, I've already reported Sun Yu's actions to the Dimensional Management Bureau. Just focus on completing the mission. The client, Sun Yu, will provide the appropriate reward."

Shi Jia nodded, somewhat curious, "Little one, I don't see Sun Yu has either no assets or talent, so what will he use as compensation?"

"I don't know either; these are all under the jurisdiction of the Dimensional Administration."

Seeing that he couldn't get any information out of him, Shi Jia stopped talking and rubbed his rumbling stomach. He summoned his paintbrush, took out a piece of drawing paper, and began to draw. Before long, a steaming hot pie appeared in his hand.

Ignoring the heat, he swallowed it in a few bites. Still feeling unsatisfied, he drew three more, exhausting all the energy he had just replenished.

That emptiness of the soul reappeared.

Still able to bear it, Shi Jia ignored it, grabbed some clothes, washed up, and changed into new clothes. Just as she was thinking about hunting turbid beasts and mining crystal cores in the Black Zone, she received a call from her landlord, Uncle Zhou.

"Little Sun, I heard you went to the Temple to participate in the Awakening. How was it? Did you succeed in the Awakening?"

Shi Jia twitched the corner of his mouth. "Awakening was successful."

"Okay, congratulations! From now on, shall we call you Painter Sun?"

"No need, you can just call me Xiao Sun from now on."

"That won't do!" Uncle Zhou sternly objected. "Little Sun, what direction are you planning to take in the future? What have you manifested?"

Shi Jia twitched the corner of her mouth. One second she said no, the next she was saying no!
"The specific direction hasn't been determined yet. Oh, let's just conjure up a pie."

"Pies?" someone on the other end seemed to murmur. "Pies are great! We won't have to worry about food and clothing anymore. It would be nice to open a pie shop like that painter downstairs."

“...Yes, yes,” Shi Jia replied perfunctorily.

"Oh, you really have that plan? How about this, you come to the community square later and show off your skills to the neighbors?" Uncle Zhou seemed quite excited. "And let the neighbors give you some suggestions?"

"Isn't this a bad idea?" Shi Jia swallowed.

"What's wrong with you? Do you look down on us ordinary neighbors now that you've become an artist?"

"No, that's not it." (End of Chapter)