Chapter 1 A Stir in the Settlement

Vivian's arrival caused a sensation in this peaceful settlement.

Gezeer raised the Holy Blade to spread the news throughout the tribe. Seven warriors dressed in similar attire gathered from all parts of the settlement. These warriors, both male and female, shared unique facial markings and special short swords at their waists. They surrounded Vivian and Hesperiana, and when the short swords sensed a magical resonance and glowed red, these warriors, regarded as "sacred vessels," loudly proclaimed the manifestation of the goddess.

The entire settlement awoke from its great shock and began a grand celebration. Men, women, and children brought out drinks from their yurts, beverages usually reserved for festivals. Strong men, led by elders, slaughtered livestock, preparing for an all-night feast. Women with strange headdresses retrieved pottery jars decorated with ancient patterns from a special yurt. They evenly distributed the spices stored in the jars to everyone in the settlement, so they could sprinkle the spices on the meat at the start of the banquet—a luxury only enjoyed during religious festivals. Joyful, resonant songs and slightly chaotic but exhilarating music resounded from every corner of the settlement. Even without understanding the customs of these indigenous people, one could feel the joy permeating everyone's hearts. Lily stood on the open ground by the river, watching the exotic celebration scene, and couldn't help but nudge Vivian's arm. "Bat, is all this to welcome you?"

Vivian, however, wasn't as nervous as everyone imagined. She was just a little unaccustomed to the reverent and worshipful gazes that were constantly cast her way. Otherwise, she maintained a calm attitude, while whispering to Lily, "Honestly, I didn't expect them to make such a big fuss."

Seeing Vivian's reaction, Hao Ren was a little curious. "You're pretty calm?"

"It's not like I've never been worshiped like this before," Vivian said with a bit of helplessness and self-deprecation. "Didn't I tell you? In ancient times, I was occasionally mistaken for a deity, and even had the experience of being enshrined in temples."

Lily was very curious about Vivian's experiences. "That's so amazing? It must have been awesome, right?"

"Don't be silly, it was boring," Vivian sighed. "It was impossible to communicate with them. Even if you just sneezed, they could summarize a whole book of quotations. If I hadn't been desperate for food back then, I wouldn't have gone to the temple to sit like a dummy for years."

Hao Ren didn't say anything. He just quietly listened to Vivian and Lily chat about her old stories of being enshrined in a temple until Gezeer and several great warriors led them to a yurt that looked slightly special.

The yurt wasn't much more luxurious than the others. Apart from being larger, it looked no different from an ordinary residence. An old man with a wrinkled face and dark skin stood in front of the yurt. He seemed to have been waiting for a long time. When he saw Vivian, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground. Hao Ren couldn't stop him.

"This is the Elder, the wise Gotalug," Gezeer respectfully introduced the old man. "He is the leader of the West Wind tribe."

Hao Ren stepped forward to help the old man up, half-forcefully preventing him from performing further formalities. "Alright, alright, your goddess knows how devout you are, but she just wants to be quiet for a while—can we go inside? I have a lot of questions I want to ask."

The old man Gotalug looked at Hao Ren in astonishment, seeming not to understand what this person had to do with the goddess. Vivian nodded when she saw this. "What he says is the same as what I say."

She had become accustomed to letting Hao Ren negotiate when things came up; he was somewhat more professional.

The interior of the yurt was large enough to accommodate everyone, but the warriors who had accompanied Gezeer respectfully remained standing guard at the door. Only Gezeer, as the first warrior to meet the goddess, received the opportunity to speak with the goddess together with the elder—though no one had asked them to do so. However, both the warriors and the tribal elders had their own strict system, and Hao Ren and the others couldn't interfere.

The furnishings inside the yurt were very simple. The surroundings were mostly wooden or rattan-woven furniture and utensils. Some could be identified by their function, while others could only be roughly judged to be containers or something similar. A patterned thick carpet was spread on the ground in the middle of the yurt, and a relatively delicate wooden table was placed on the carpet, which was the most exquisite piece of furniture in the room. Next to the carpet, there was also a metal-made object resembling a miniature obelisk, with crude patterns carved on it. A layer of orange light emanated from its surface, carrying a gentle warmth, obviously a heating device.

A magic-powered heating device.

Hao Ren and the others sat on the carpet like Gotalug—actually, Gotalug and Gezeer didn't dare to sit down so casually in front of the goddess at first. It was Vivian who made an angry face to force them to act as usual before they dared to sit down. Lily's attention was quickly drawn to the metal device that emitted light and heat. She curiously poked the shell of the thing with her claws. "What is this?"

Gotalug didn't expect the other party to ask such "common knowledge" questions, but he still answered respectfully, "This is a Lightstone Lamp, a thing passed down from valuable ancient knowledge."

"Ancient times..." Hao Ren nodded slightly. "How much do you remember about the inheritance from the ancient era?"

He began to ask the old man about calendars, legends, beliefs, and customs—all the questions he had thought of on the way. Having had many experiences communicating with alien civilizations, Hao Ren knew what to ask, so he quickly gained a rough understanding of the current situation of these remnants living in the "underground world."

Their history had only two stages: the Solar Dynasty of ancient times and the Emerald Era that had continued to this day. The Solar Dynasty was considered an era when ancient civilization was extremely prosperous, and the goddess was with everyone. The Emerald Era, on the other hand, was a state in which mortals returned from a higher civilization to a primitive civilization. The giant stone city "Dora Shield," located on the Great Prairie, was a symbol of the Solar Dynasty. Its remaining technological traces were enough to imagine how brilliant the magical skills of humans in that era were—however, now, the technology of this world had degenerated to the point where they could only make small things like Lightstone Lamps.

Hao Ren first carefully inquired about the other party's method of reckoning years, converted the calendar of this world and the calendar on Earth, and found that "one year" in this underground world was about two years and a few days longer than on Earth. Then, he inquired about the specific end date of the Solar Dynasty.

Gotalug took out a set of carefully protected leather scrolls from an old rattan box. These scrolls were probably something that countless generations had copied by hand and passed down to this day. They were quite thick and carried a strong fragrance: people in this world believed that various spices had different sacred effects, just like the spices that Gezeer burned in the stone ruins could communicate with ancestors. These spices sprinkled in the scrolls could also soothe and protect knowledge.

Gotalug carefully found the records about the Solar Dynasty in the scrolls. He pointed to the hieroglyphs and said, "The last ray of sunlight fell on the earth five thousand and six hundred years ago. Because the era of the sun ended, the goddess closed the firmament and ordered the giants underground to stretch their hands to the sky. The giants' arms became eternal pillars, supporting the sky and earth of the next era."

Hao Ren immediately followed up and asked, "What about the stone city? Was Dora Shield built before the firmament closed?"

He didn't believe that a man-made stone city could withstand the vibration when the tentacles of the First Born grew, especially since those tentacles were creating a new crust. This vibration would definitely be enough to destroy any traces of humanity.

Sure enough, Gotalug shook his head. "The Solar Dynasty was the end of the old world. When the firmament closed, everything in the old dynasty was swallowed by the earth. God guided the chosen remnants to the highlands, waiting for the world to complete its reshaping. This process lasted for a hundred years. Then the world stabilized, and the remnants of the Solar Dynasty built the last city on the earth, which was the royal city of Dora Shield. This city was not used. It was only left on the earth as evidence that the Solar Dynasty once existed. People built it, and abandoned it under the order of the goddess. The old era ended like this, and we welcomed the Emerald Era on the fertile land."

"In other words, the Solar Dynasty officially ended more than a hundred years after the firmament closed. That city became the only remaining city relic on the surface, and it was still a relic that had never been used," Hao Ren frowned. "You built it, just to abandon it. Such a large-scale thing is just a souvenir... What's the point?"

Gotalug put his hand on his chest. "The goddess told us to do this, and that is the point."