Ocean Civilization

New Era 0301.

"Back then, God had three hundred empresses, so there must be some number now as well." Zhong Qingyu planned to search for more Immortal Herbs and set out on her journey.

New Era 0305.

After three carpet searches, she had reaped quite a harvest.

Of course, she had carefully avoided the Royal Capitals of the Three Great Kingdoms, not daring to approach them. She had even done the same with the powerless Slave Dynasty.

Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng, who had once ambushed and killed the three emperors, called himself benevolent, enlightened, righteous, and upright, yet he was far too skilled at such things. Who knew whether he had released false information, claiming that he had not obtained any power, only to lure people over to their deaths?

If the other side had Qi within them, venturing deep into the Royal Capital of their country would be no different from seeking death!

"I collected a full five plants, but I can't find any more. Is this the limit?" she calculated inwardly, filled with immense joy. "That's enough to create five Blessing Shamans!"

This was not actually the limit.

The supply provided by this Fourth Batch of Servers was relatively unlimited.

The reason she could not find any more was that an immortal who traveled the world had begun acting earlier than her. That person stripped everything bare wherever he went, leaving her to pick up only a few remaining weeds.

Moreover, these "plants" were not limited to land plants. There were also marine plants.

Anything that randomly grew on land was essentially plucked clean immediately, while those that grew in the sea remained untouched.

Thus, as time passed, more and more Servers gathered in the seawater. In the end, all one thousand Servers were concentrated beneath the sea, and none appeared on land anymore.

New Era 0311.

People were horrified to discover that terrifying, mysterious giant beasts had emerged in the ocean, attacking passing fishing boats like the Deep Sea Shadow.

Humanity realized that it was no longer at the top of the food chain.

The three great nations simultaneously ceased their internal conflicts and focused their attention on the sea.

Because gigantic sea monsters had appeared.

New Era 0313.

Fishermen in some outlying regions of Bronze Country could no longer go out to sea. The ignorant people chose to offer sacrifices, and a tide began to swell throughout the city. "To beg the Sea God for forgiveness, we must offer sacrifices!"

Ignorant!

Obstinate!

The City Lord flew into a rage inside the City Lord's Mansion.

He was a scholar from Bronze Jingshan Temple. How could he believe in something so foolish?

Yet there was no doubt that the monster possessed enough power to rival their emperor.

After hesitating several times, he ultimately compromised—but not by acting cruelly and without mercy. "Send the female death-row prisoners from the prison to the seaside. Feed them to the monster as living sacrifices."

"Yes, my lord."

"Wait." The City Lord called the other person back. "To prevent those condemned prisoners from swimming away, carry out the executions directly at the seaside. Cut off their heads, then throw the heads and bodies into the sea as sacrifices."

The City Lord had thought everything through.

However, this decision of his would completely change the fate of all human history.

In the distant future, some extremists of later generations would curse him as a sinner of history. In his old age, he finally could not withstand the condemnation of the masses and hanged himself in his study.

Pfft! The head was chopped off, and blood spread everywhere.

The head and body were thrown into the sea, and blood spread through the seawater.

The shadow of a huge creature writhing in the deep slowly approached. It extended its soft tentacles and seized the corpse. Suddenly, a strange scene appeared. Among the octopus's eight tentacle brains, one tentacle sucked onto the woman's head, and the woman's head slowly opened its eyes.

"Who am I?"

An octopus had one main brain and eight auxiliary brains, with one auxiliary brain on each arm. Now, one of its arms had attached itself to a human head as an auxiliary brain, and some unusual change seemed to have occurred.

New Era 0318.

The sea monsters grew increasingly terrifying, as if they had gained intelligence, launching all kinds of attacks against the humans along the coastline.

Seaside Ghost Country possessed the largest expanse of coastal territory and bore the brunt of the attacks!

Some fishermen even claimed that they had seen a crude underwater kingdom in the deep sea.

People saw the most terrifying King of Deep Sea Shadows. Each of the giant octopus's eight tentacles had a human head embedded in its fleshy suction cups, their expressions displaying terror, joy, delight, numbness, and rage.

Bronze Country, the Slave Dynasty, and Seaside Ghost Country began sending envoys, holding the first human civilization conference ever.

"A new civilization has appeared?"

"A second civilization, distinct from humanity?"

"They're developing!"

"Giant crabs, great fish, and sea snails are invading the coastline and preying on humans!"

In the end, the conference reached an agreement and formed the World Alliance.

"When the lips perish, the teeth grow cold. We humans will use Seaside Ghost Country as the front-line battlefield, while Bronze Country and the Slave Dynasty will send soldiers, troops, and scholars to support the front!"

Under external pressure, humanity took its first step toward unity.

Deep in the inland regions, the Slave Dynasty, which had no coastline, also chose to agree, because Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng knew that this concerned not only humanity's survival but also offered the perfect opportunity to divert attention.

Over the years, the other two countries had been probing them and had grown increasingly suspicious that they possessed no suppressive-level martial power.

"Our country agrees."

"Our country agrees as well."

Soon, under external pressure, humanity achieved the first great unification in history.

The three great nations brought out their accumulated historical records. The wisdom of countless experts converged, and civilization underwent an explosive development.

New Era 0325.

The emperors of the three nations compiled the Shaman Qi Consumption Theory, and their cultivation methods advanced by leaps and bounds.

New Era 0327.

Black Bronze Cloud Crab God, one of the four strongest emperors, attacked a Seaside port. Its enormous pincers crushed countless mortals. Young Ghost Empress personally took action and, together with countless troops, surrounded and attacked it, yet they still fell into a bitter struggle. Between life and death, she comprehended the Blessing Shaman Technique. Grasp of Returning Gloom drew upon the Qi of Heaven and Earth with immense force, crushed the crab shell, and drove back the giant beast king.

On this day, Seaside Ghost Country officially comprehended its research path: Qi Drawing Method, drawing in the Qi of Heaven and Earth to truly swallow wind and consume Qi, then launch attacks.

In August of the following year, at the height of summer, Bronze Emperor led Bronze Jingshan Temple to study the monsters' corpses along the coastline. With the help of countless ascetic monks, they finally developed Shamanic Weapons and likewise stepped into a new realm.

Only the Slave Dynasty failed to break through.

On the surface, they were the last regional nation, without a coastline or any battles. Yet in the eyes of those who could see clearly, this appeared deeply unnatural.

"If this continues, our dynasty will be destroyed."

As a mortal, Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng was already an old man in his twilight years. He had been too exhausted over these years. Without any genuine combat power, he could only delay things by various means.

Yet while the other countries were developing at incredible speed, only he—

On the throne, the old man held a golden scepter and gazed at the empty, magnificent palace, recalling everything that had happened in the past.

He remembered the strange gesture Stone Light Emperor Changshou had made before his death, as well as his own life of resistance and even that first Tea Shed, where he had met that traveler.

The wind and sand had been fierce that day, and the sunlight scorching. The Man with the Tear Mole had been drinking tea and chatting freely with him.

"The things you toil to fight over are often right beside you." He seemed to hear that gentle voice bathing in golden sunlight. The voice glanced at the top of the Tea Shed, once again whispering by his ear like the God of Destiny.

Suddenly, he realized everything. He rushed out of the palace, climbed onto the Hundred Stone Wall, and looked down at the Tea Shed from that year. Decades later, that weed was still there, exactly the same kind as the weed Stone Light Emperor Changshou had held in his hand before his death. At last, he understood the meaning of that gaze.

"Hahahahaha!"

He suddenly began to laugh, laughing with complete abandon. "That Man with the Tear Mole."

On this day, divine authority descended from the heavens and returned once more to the Slave Dynasty.

Zhu Zhengwei had no interest in the wars they fought, or in the life and death and hardships they endured.

What interested Zhu Zhengwei was the advancement of civilization and the complete birth of the supernatural!

"They've finally united. As expected, throughout history, humans really are a particular kind of animal. They need some pressure placed on them before they stop fighting among themselves, bring out whatever records and data they have, integrate their systems of spiritual cultivation, and deduce the Civilization Process!"

"War and disasters are the catalysts of Sandbox Civilization!"

In his dormitory, Zhu Zhengwei played computer games with his two idiotic roommates. He cast a glance to the side, excitement faintly rising in his heart after getting his first taste of the pleasure of causing trouble. "Looks like I'll have to do more of this in every civilization era from now on!"

He scratched his head, then thought of something else. "Shamanism is beginning to become orthodox, and Bronze Country has even created Soul Shamanic Artifacts. Doesn't that mean I can use them in reality too?"