Hao Ren was completely immersed in the world of spiritual bodies. His consciousness sank continuously with a surge of chaotic power, and the Sirens' oldest historical memories emerged from the depths of that chaos, growing ever clearer until it felt as though he were experiencing them firsthand.
He saw those nimble creatures dwelling in the deep sea awaken their minds. He saw them study, with awe and astonishment, the metallic meteorites that occasionally drifted down from the dark abyss, investigating how those hard stones had formed. They dug through the sand, wove seaweed, and carved out homes in this dim underwater world, faintly illuminated by the glow of algae. They were filled with curiosity about everything. It was not until the five-thousandth year of the Meteorite Iron Age that they finally learned how to separate metal from the deep-sea rocks they dug up. In this place far from flames, they used water and chemistry.
They crushed ore with currents and refined metal through elemental techniques, creating rustproof alloys. The Sirens broke free from their limited gift of extraterrestrial meteorites, forged entirely new metal tools with their own hands, built the oldest dynasty, and carved writing into those ageless alloys, recording the first page of history.
Yet as this young civilization staggered through its first steps in the deep sea, its nurturer—the endless Sea of Ayo—pressed heavily over the kingdom. The Sirens regarded the boundless darkness above with awe, but also with curiosity. Like every intelligent race at some point in its development, they wanted to know what lay beyond that darkness.
It was not until a thousand years after the founding of the First Dynasty that the first Siren became interested in the matter and put that interest into practice.
But exploring the shallow waters was dangerous. The deep sea