Chapter 0 History in Turmoil

Amidst the screams and exclamations of the desert denizens, surging dark clouds gathered from the coastlines around the continent, swirling inwards towards the center of Ylothar.

Thick walls of clouds brought with them sun-devouring shadows, and where they passed, torrential rains and impenetrable darkness followed. The rain washed over the sandy earth, creating a sand-mud tsunami in the once-arid desert.

The gods of the Overture Epoch could no longer endure the protracted stalemate with Zhuzhou. Led by the god-king Aptu, the gods waged war with the four-winged black dragon in the Music Universe.

The cloud sea, formed by the gods from endless seawater, crashed against every corner of the heavens and earth. The spring eyes of every oasis gushed with surging泉水泉水, a great flood capable of drowning the entire world. Violent tornadoes connected the clouds in the sky to the sea on the ground, and even mountains were broken by thunder and storms, crumbling into the tide like fragile blocks.

[This is the overture of the new era, and a ritual to transform the desert into fertile soil!]

The gods declared to heaven and earth, descending protection to spare all residents settled in the oases who had not been bewitched by Zhuzhou's ark, promising future happiness and intending to prevent the continuous increase of Zhuzhou supporters.

After all, those willing to follow the prophet 'Bu Yi' were mostly people who longed for fertile land, lush forests, and a peaceful life without fighting... Since the gods had already granted them everything they desired, why should the creatures of the Music Universe follow Zhuzhou?

This was a fundamental solution. Indeed, many people who had once followed Zhuzhou listened to this promise and left the ark to return to their homelands.

"The gods can bestow now, but they can also take away in the future. Your days, from sunrise to sunset, are in the palms of the gods."

The prophet did not dissuade those who wanted to leave. He merely stated a fact to those who still wanted to stay: "Their willingness to promise fertile land and give you sweet rain is not the result of your own hard work, but simply because I exist."

"If in the future, this land truly becomes a paradise for all beings, it will not be because of the gods' mercy, but because someone has forced them to create a paradise."

The prophet told everyone that Ylothar was not the only continent in the Music Universe. Beyond the Seven Seas lay new天地天地. As long as they were willing to believe, he would lead them to that land.

That was the land promised by Zhuzhou (god), located at the end of the continent, beyond the ocean, free from the control of gods, and full of vitality.

But in the end, seven out of ten people still left the ark. Following the guidance of the departing people, many demigod heroes and oracles transformed into a surging tide, besieging the ark like waves crashing against reefs.

Led by the prophet Bu Yi, with the blessed Aran and Eve as his aides, Zhuzhou's people fought against the attackers. Their battle sent mountains and hills flying, and stirred up the turbid sea. Oases, vegetation, and houses were swept up by the aftermath of their battle into the raging winds in the sky like leaves. Lightning crisscrossed the sky, like the end of the world.

The Ark of Salvation withstood ten sieges and arrived at the coastline of Ylothar.

Here, the last line of defense revealed its true form—the Pantheon, formed by the gods' avatars, stood above the clouds.

They blocked the end of the world, and also blocked the spread of 'possibility,' preventing this scene from the past from creating a true 'change' that would extend to the next era.

Zhou Bu Yi stood at the top of the ark, gazing at the vast cloud sea, frowning in silence.

Until a voice came.

[Hello, Zhou Bu Yi]

The voice said: [I am Elias]

[Also Zhuzhou]

Chapter 0 History in Flux

The voice echoing from the future flowed upstream, tracing back to the past before everything began.

Zhou Bu Yi heard it. He heard the hint from the God of Fire, the disciple of Zhuzhou, and also the new Zhuzhou. He knew the true power contained in Aran and Eve, and he understood the power essence of the Music Universe. With the help of his companions, the prophet truly understood the future.

So he smiled. The sacred tree Zhuzhou called upon the two protagonists of the era, who were both disciples and friends, to come forth. The guards Aran and Princess Eve were surprised to learn their true identities... and were willing, under Zhou Bu Yi's guidance, to awaken their divine power.

At the same time, the crisis also revealed its fangs.

Indifferent and aloof, the celestial gods formed a part of the cloud sea with their bodies. They roared, and the magnificent war song was like a tsunami. Waves of infinite divine power crashed toward the fragile ark.

Before the tsunami of divine power even arrived, incredible destruction had already devastated the coastal land. The Canmore Peninsula in the eastern part of Ylothar was completely obliterated. A terrifying crater with an immeasurable diameter appeared between heaven and earth. Endless seawater poured into the crater, as if into an endless abyss. The resulting surging storm shook everything in heaven and earth.

But two rays of light shone, piercing through the gods' defense line.

That was the divine power originating from Aran and Eve, urged by Zhou Bu Yi, now transformed into ripples powerful enough to separate the gods' cloud sea. It struck down at the speed of light, with a giant dragon roar echoing faintly above the sky. In an instant, it hit the Pantheon.

Under the gods' incredulous gaze, the Pantheon of the Overture Epoch disintegrated... no, to be precise, its material changed. Many gods who wanted to defend were sent flying by this incredible power. Although they were not unable to resist, they were only avatars after all, and could not exert their full strength under the pressure of the original Zhuzhou.

The entire cloud sea rumbled and shook violently. The gods' residences and divine realms collapsed in large swaths. Just before the entire Pantheon was about to collapse completely...

The cloud sea was split.

In front of the ark, the path blocking Zhuzhou's people from going to the distance was completely opened. The generation ark that once soared above the stars passed through the cloud sea separated by divine power. The flames of the Pantheon's collapse ignited the high sky, causing scarlet red scrolls to sway across the firmament.

The ark broke through the waves and the pursuit of the gods, until it reached a new world so far away that even history could not record it, and the future could not recall it. Here, the prophet stopped the ark. The huge starship fortress slowly landed, separating the sea with a roar, exposing the deep seabed to the touch of the air.

The steel warship landed, and it transformed into a seed.

The seed of the world touched the original earth. Steel vines and metal roots were taking root in the cornerstone of the world. It began to fix itself, absorb nutrients, and then began to pull the earth's crust, causing the earth to rise.

The prophet walked out of the starship with a loud laugh. He demonstrated his divine power in front of all the beings who followed the name of Zhuzhou—the tree of 'Succession' revealed its true form. The towering sacred tree used its roots to fix the seabed sediment, and used its divine power to trigger volcanic eruptions, causing the plates to break.

A brand new continent gradually took shape amidst the roar that was enough to frighten the gods, and the prophet displayed divine power, creating heaven and earth in six days, causing green to appear on the originally pitch-black, charcoal-like earth, releasing vigorous vitality.

On the seventh day, the ark's door opened. Zhuzhou's people left the starship. Farmers who had not set foot on solid land for a long time kissed the soil under their feet with emotion, and many worried people shed tears because of the stable insect noises and the clamor of the sea of leaves.

They were overjoyed.

Because they had arrived in the promised land.

Chapter 0 History in Transformation

Silent names were recalled, forgotten melodies began to be sung in the wind. On the ancient Ylothar continent, distant foreign poets were spreading a song in the天地天地 that was different from any poem in the past.

They sang, they praised, they either sang aloud or whispered sadly.

They told stories that had long been forgotten by everyone, myths that took place in the distant past, in the desert and war.

In those myths and legends, there was a great god with unparalleled divine power. He had a rigid heart and iron-handed divine power. He fought against the gods for the rule of one-third of the beings on the earth.

The gods fought with him, but were repeatedly defeated, until the God-King of Time, Aptu, came up with a clever plan. He made a bet with that god, to see who could make all the sand in the hourglass fall.

Time trapped the god-king and that god. Neither side could make all the sand of time fall completely to the bottom, because the opposite side would not only reverse the hourglass, but also reverse the top and bottom of the天地天地, the concept of top and bottom, and even the constant of gravity.

The sand in the hourglass could never fall completely, and their struggle continues to this day.

"But you lost."

However, this story, which should have no ending, still has an ending that no one knows.

That great god smiled and said to the god-king who trapped him and himself: "I don't want to rule the天地天地, I just want to let all beings be free—since there is no you to control, that is my victory."

[Laughable]

The old god-king burst into anger, and he sneered: [There are ten thousand iron rules and one hundred thousand rules in this天地天地. Without us, there are also many inviolable forces]

[Original Zhuzhou, do you think freedom is good? Freedom is chaos, the power of the Music will tear everything apart, the material universe is as light and fragile as dust, only we anchor the melody and tune, and determine the order of the music with the four pillars, otherwise all things cannot be born!]

[Unconstrained freedom is not freedom itself!]

"What you said may be right."

But that voice said indifferently: "But anyway, I'm here, I'm going to change it. You are just one of them, this Music Universe is my real goal."

[Laughable! That is the Eternal Sound, you are just a He Dao god-king, how can you replace the eternal melody!]

"Is it can't, or don't want to, or don't dare?"

The god-king did not answer.

The great god who knew that he would win the bet laughed loudly.

The god's name is Zhuzhou.

Zhuzhou's song is circulating in all things.

The gods can no longer ban the spread of Zhuzhou's name in天地天地.

Innovation has taken root in the song.

So the era continues to move forward, forward, like the unstoppable passage of time.

The wind makes the rocks rugged, the water gradually makes the earth concave. Just as the original plateau turns into an aeolian plain, just as the fertile basin becomes a deep canyon.

Just when the beings of the Ylothar continent gradually entered a new era after cycle-like dynastic changes, national wars, and heroic legends.

In the eastern part of the continent, the deep-sea port of Fenrir's Sea welcomed a fleet of envoys that they had never imagined.

Fenrir's Sea originated from the wonderful terrain of this place. Like being bitten hard by the Wolf that Swallows the World, the originally protruding peninsula had a perfectly circular and huge depression for unknown reasons. The coastline, which should have been long, directly turned into an incomparably deep sea. This also constituted the unique ecology of Fenrir's Sea. Many unique species that originally appeared in the deep sea thousands of meters below could be caught in the shallow sea surface of Fenrir's Sea.

Bards say that this was the result of a huge meteorite from outside the world hitting the earth. It was that impact that ended the desert era. Countless seawater evaporated, causing the desert to be nourished by endless rainfall, turning it into the fertile land it is today.

Some bards say that it was the result of a battle between the gods and a great enemy. The collision of divine power between them destroyed a part of the Ylothar continent.

More bards say that all of this is the will and destiny of the gods, the unique creativity of the designers of天地天地. Mortals should not think, should not delve into, and should not imagine or guess the reason for its birth.

People only need to accept this setting without questioning whether it is reasonable.

Deepwater Port is a port located on the edge of this deep circular pit, used to build some strange giant ships and unique underwater submarines. During the Thirteen Kingdoms Naval War, this place was also considered a front line and was highly valued, but now it is almost abandoned. Most of the residents in the city have immigrated to the inner part of the continent, unwilling to be beaten by the shrill waves and typhoons.

The governor of Deepwater Port stood in his garden, which had few flowers, and looked out at the dark sea that he was already tired of. To be honest, he was not thinking about anything, just staring blankly at the territory that was the same day after day, without any changes.

But today is obviously not the time for him to be in a daze.

Because there was a loud whistle, appearing at the other end of the sea, where the waves were surging. The governor's scattered gaze condensed, and he saw in astonishment that a huge fleet was approaching his port.

"Who are they?!"

The governor asked his guards in panic and anger, but the confused guards could not give an answer either.

Chapter 0 History is Being Hammered into a New Shape

Chapter 0鸣响纪元·亚特兰蒂斯 (Ming Xiang Ji Yuan · Ya Te Lan Di Si) - (The Ringing Era, Atlantis)

The mountain people living in the Isaken Mountains firmly believe that the unextinguished candlelight is the link between ancestors and descendants, while the plainsmen settled in Mela believe that the immortal ashes passed down from generation to generation are the true meaning of inheritance and belief.

Since ancient times, Zhuzhou's people rode the ark. After the prophet separated the cloud sea and arrived at this continent named Atlantis, everyone branched out on this land.

Just as the seeds of plants will be blown by the wind until the other side of the earth, the various races gradually had their own unique names and cultures. They had different beliefs and songs, and held their own different magic and miracles.

In any case, in the many mountains and plains of Atlantis, Zhuzhou's people always had their own unique beliefs and ways of explaining.

Under the leadership of the theocracy centered on the sacred tree 'Succession,' the 75 countries on the Atlantis continent are essentially one. Everyone has the same language, the same measurement, almost the same accent, and the same faith.

Today, all the land and lakes on the Atlantis continent have been explored, and the secrets of the sources of all rivers and the center of the forests are known. In the loud whistle, the floating airships, the ironclad ships, and the power armor that can allow ordinary people to fight against the singers have also been successfully cast.

All the secrets of the Promised Land have been explored and known by Zhuzhou's people.

"So, let's go back."

Therefore, someone responded like this, someone thought like this, and someone proposed happily: "Let's go back to our original hometown, the continent named Ylothar—we have been reformed and are moving towards a new era, look, we can use phonographs to play a thousand kinds of songs, we can carry players that release miracles with us, what a great invention this is, a sign of innovation!"

"Perhaps the hometown also has the same invention and the same skills, but one plus one can be greater than three. If our wisdom is integrated together, it will definitely bring greater and more innovative results!"

This is really a very good proposal. The kings of the countries have been persuaded. Even the leader of the theocracy, the descendant of the former guards Aran and Princess Eve, one of the thirteen apostles of this generation, also agreed to this proposal.

"Innovation needs to be shared." He said, "Otherwise, what is the meaning of our inventions and skills?"

"Pain will be reduced because of sharing, and happiness will be increased because of sharing. Let us sing the gospel of Zhuzhou and bestow the blessings of innovation to everyone on the Ylothar continent."

The old apostle believed that happiness and joy can be shared, turning the original one into infinity.

So, on such a hot summer day, the mighty fleet of envoys set off from the forgotten continent to the world that is good at forgetting.

They were full of joy, anticipation, and the naivety of yearning to be welcomed.

But this is the prelude to tragedy.

And the prelude to a true change.