The Beginning of Life

The Beginning of Life

Decades passed in the blink of an eye after Cronus took the Life Treasure Bottle from Gaia.

Not far from Earth Mother's residence, the gods found a vast plain. They gathered there and used the source fluid flowing from the Divine Artifact to try creating all kinds of different life-forms.

They chose their materials casually: riverbed sediment, fallen leaves beside trees, soil and stones from the ground, clouds in the sky. The gods shaped them into whatever forms they desired, then fused them with divine liquid. If their creations conformed to the basic rules required for life, a species was born.

After that, they only needed to use it as a template, and tens of thousands of creatures of the same kind would appear.

However, it was easy to say and far harder to do. The gods, who had never created anything before, tried countless constructions, but most ended in failure. For them, the greatest difficulty was creating the first one.

In the end, after nearly a century of experimentation, a total of eight thousand four hundred new species appeared across the earth.

There were creatures of the sky, the earth, and the sea. Every True God had created several species, more or less. Although they had no souls yet, from a biological perspective, they were already living creatures.

"We're finally done."

Looking at the strange-looking "fish" before him, the Lord of the Outer Sea enveloped it in divine power to sustain its life.

Thousands of years had passed since Sky Father ascended, and this was the first time he had shown signs of weariness. Although his divine power was still abundant, Okeanos could feel himself struggling.

"Metis, my daughter, let's stop here."

Okeanos shook his head at the young and beautiful goddess beside him. He had no intention of continuing.

"All right, Father. This really is the limit of what we can do."

Goddess Metis was somewhat regretful. In her view, life that swam through the sea did not need limbs. But saying it was one thing; putting it into practice was another. Neither of them knew what to do with this "fish."

"It's not over yet, Okeanos. There's still one species we haven't created."

Cronus glanced at his former elder brother and niece. He himself remained unchanged.

There was no other reason. The God King had no life-form he wanted to create, and over the years, he had mostly just offered suggestions to the other gods. After all, Divine Mountain was only so large, and he had no intention of allowing beings without divinity into his divine palace.

"These simple life-forms are already so difficult to create. To create life in the image of the gods, we couldn't do it even with another five hundred years."

The Goddess of Primordial Water, Tethys, shook her head. She had already given up hope.

"Even if Mother Goddess were willing to intervene, the Life Treasure Bottle is ultimately only her Divine Artifact. She does not truly possess the Divine Office of life. Plants have great affinity with the earth, but when it comes to living creatures resembling the gods, Mother Goddess probably wouldn't know what to do either."

Only after trying personally could one understand how difficult creating life truly was.

In the original course of events, the god of souls, Iapetus, created the Golden Humans and Silver Humans. Some also said that Gaia created the Golden Humans. But the myths glossed over the process of creating humanity. No one knew how much effort those two gods had spent on it.

The Goddess of Primordial Water secretly swore that once this batch of creations died, she would never create life personally again. Such complicated matters could be left to someone else.

Cronus furrowed his brow slightly, finding the matter troublesome as well. He had now realized that his earlier idea had been far too simple.

It seemed that if he wanted his envisioned demigod-like creations to be born, he would have to leave the task to a professional.

Recalling what the Goddess of Law had once said about her experiences in the Spirit World, Cronus made up his mind.

"Iapetus, my brother, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with another trip."

Turning toward the God of Speech not far away, the God King smiled warmly, but his tone brooked no refusal. "The creation process is nearly complete. It's time to invite His Highness Ryan here. Aside from the matter of granting souls, there are also many things I'd like to ask him about regarding the creation of this final species."

"Your Majesty, I think—hmm?"

The God of Speech, who had once again been roped into service, was about to refuse. But in the next moment, several gods present, including him, looked toward the distance.

Space rippled. Under the gazes of the three gods wielding Great Divine Power, Ryan's figure quietly emerged.

"No need to trouble yourselves. I'm already here."

Ryan raised a hand and smoothed out the spatial ripples he had created, then said with a smile.

"His Highness Ryan's control over Fate truly is astonishing."

Tethys sighed. If Ryan did not rarely travel through the mortal world, she would have long since displayed the traditional talent of the Ocean God Faction and introduced this oldest god to a goddess.

Unfortunately, unlike the other gods of Khaos, this ancient god who lived in the Underworld Soil seemed to have little interest in banquets and entertainment. At least, throughout all these years, Tethys had never seen him in any god's palace.

Of course, if Ryan knew what she was thinking, he could only say that it was not that he had no interest in entertainment. He simply had no interest in the entertainment of this era.

In an age when even music and dancing had yet to be invented, was Ryan supposed to visit the divine palaces of other gods just to drink a couple of cups of crudely made liquor?

"Haha, since the Lord of the Spirit World has arrived, it seems our final creation will soon be complete as well."

Although Cronus's eye twitched involuntarily when he saw the spatial fluctuations, he still laughed heartily as he welcomed Ryan's arrival.

After all these years, Cronus had gradually accepted reality. He was no longer like he had been before Themis, gnashing his teeth whenever he heard Ryan's name.

"Yes. I came precisely for the creation of humanity."

Ryan nodded and glanced at the bizarre-looking "fish" before the Lord of the Outer Sea. An interested look appeared in his eyes.

"Is this the life-form His Highness Okeanos created? It certainly looks peculiar."

At these words, the Lord of the Outer Sea's expression became somewhat unnatural. Just as Uranus had hated the Giants, for the gods of this era, finding something "ugly" was entirely normal.

"Ahem, this is indeed a creation of the Lord of the Outer Sea and his daughter, though it hasn't been perfected yet. If His Highness Ryan is interested, perhaps you could help repair it."

"All right, then. Wise Metis, I've heard a great deal about you."

Ryan nodded slightly and greeted the goddess beside the Lord of the Outer Sea. Metis returned his smile.

He understood what Cronus meant. The other god wanted to further confirm Ryan's attainments in the field of life.

After all, hearsay was unreliable; seeing was believing. But Ryan had the same intention. At the very least, he was quite interested in personally creating the first humans.

Ryan extended his right hand, and emerald light appeared in his palm. Although he only possessed the life authority related to Spirituality, that aspect had once been part of the same whole as what remained in the Life Treasure Bottle. In terms of attainments in the field of life, even Gaia might not surpass him.

Besides, to Ryan, creating life was somewhat like copying someone else's homework.

Holding the light of life in his hand, Ryan gently brushed it across the "fish." As the radiance entered its body, the bone spines that had originally pierced through its flesh vanished, and its twisted spine straightened.

The "arms" it had used to stir the water became fins, the bristles on its surface transformed into scales, and its body became more streamlined.

In almost the blink of an eye, the "fish" that had originally looked like something out of a cosmic horror tale had become a normal animal. The three gods of the Ocean God Faction nearby stared in stunned silence.

If they had not personally created the fish bit by bit, they might not have felt much. But precisely because they had some experience, they could truly appreciate the subtlety of this technique.

Even Cronus was somewhat shocked by the sight. He had never believed the claim that the world was created in seven days, with all living things made on the fifth and sixth days. The God King had thought that if Ryan could make this "fish" look better in a few days, that would be enough to establish him as the leader in creating demigod life-forms. He had never expected Ryan not to need even a minute.

"I could only do this much in such a hurry."

Ryan still did not seem satisfied with his creation, but he made no further moves.

He looked toward the God King and said with a smile, "Fate guided me here precisely for the birth of humanity. Since everything is ready, shall we begin creating humans?"