External Relations and Pandaria

Time flowed on, and the continent of Kalimdor flourished under the dominant rule of the Night Elves, as if war had forever left this world.

To outsiders, the Night Elves were the absolute central race, exuding a sense of superiority as if all nations paid them homage.

The Tauren, who lived in the Highmountain region, were a peace-loving people by nature, with honest and simple temperaments. The Night Elf Empire established good diplomatic relations with them. For this race that always grinned with a silly, earnest smile and then enthusiastically dragged guests to tour their cities, the elves simply couldn't muster any hostility.

Oh, the Tauren had built their own fortress city in Highmountain: Thunder Totem Highlands.

The city's style was rough, but it exuded a natural and rustic charm everywhere.

The wise among the Tauren were called Shamans. They borrowed the power of the earth and the elements, bringing gentle healing and ancestral guidance to their people.

The Tauren revered the generous earth, and deep within the distant mountains of Highmountain lay the lair of the Earth-Warder, the Black Dragon Aspect Neltharion. Thus, in the Highmountain region, it was common to see black dragons roaring as they swept across the sky.

The Night Elves were initially curious about the Shamans' way of wielding energy, but they quickly lost all interest.

The reason was simple: elves could never revere and worship the earth and elements with the same devotion and sincerity as a Shaman.

Their deities were only Elune, the Moon Goddess, and Sarodar, the God of Magic. For all other beings, the Night Elves held utter disdain, so Shamans would never appear among the elves.

"What we must do is control power, not worship power, borrow power, or beg for power."

The Highborne mages always had this phrase on their lips when teaching young apprentices.

Another race that maintained peaceful relations with the Night Elves was the Earthlings.

Oh, strictly speaking, the Earthlings had not yet formed a unified government or nation. These short but incredibly strong beings, made entirely of steel, lived a primitive tribal life across the continent of Kalimdor.

It was said they had escaped from a Titan facility called Uldaman. The Earthlings were utterly silent on the matter, and no amount of questioning could draw anything out. Since they were also reluctant to interact with the outside world, they were left to their own devices.

The last race to coexist peacefully was the Pandaren. Boss Hu, who was peeping at the World of Azeroth from a god's perspective, felt a strong affinity for this race, as he sensed a thick Eastern style.

The Mogu dynasty that ruled Pandaria had finally collapsed. Their long-term warlord infighting, along with their relentless oppression and enslavement of the Pandaren, Hozen, and Jinyu, erupted violently not long after Lei Shen's death.

Pandaria, surrounded by mountains.

A dark age, ancient and long.

Despair raged, terror loomed.

The Vale of Eternal Blossoms, thunder roared.

Heaven and earth darkened, birthing ill omens.

His name was Lei Shen, the King of Thunder and Lightning.

Thunder and lightning flashed, the land withered.

Divine power boundless, defying all order.

The tyrant's iron fist, none could escape.

Palaces and towering cities, reaching the clouds.

The king's majesty, all nations paid homage.

Yet pitiful were the toiling slaves, bound in chains.

Time wore away, the tyrant could not flee.

Seas changed to mulberry fields, clouds scattered and smoke vanished.

Thunder and lightning slept, in the Kun-Lai Summit.

The oppressed Pandaren were the first to rise up. They spontaneously organized their own armies and fought desperately against the Mogu race that enslaved them.

Through generations of long slavery, the Pandaren were briefly allowed to study and learn during the Cao Dynasty. Once this door opened, it could not be stopped, ultimately leading to the Pandaren's awakening.

Thus, among all the Mogu dynasties, the only one the Pandaren were grateful for was the long-fallen Cao Mogu Dynasty. After its fall, the Pandaren returned to a dark age where learning was forbidden.

But once the door of knowledge opened, it would never close again.

The Pandaren grew increasingly intelligent and found various ways to continue absorbing knowledge. Gradually, they gained the support of four Wild Demigods in Pandaria.

Xuen the White Tiger, Yu'lon the Jade Serpent, Chi-Ji the Red Crane, and Niuzao the Black Ox.

These four Wild Demigods taught the Pandaren to use the flow of chi, and thus Monks began to appear among the Pandaren.

After the Pandaren launched their full-scale uprising, their Monks inflicted heavy casualties on the Mogu armies.

At the same time, a group of Pandaren allied with Pandaria's unique creatures, the Cloud Serpents, forming an aerial knight order.

These Cloud Serpents, extremely reminiscent of ancient Eastern Chinese dragons, could ride clouds and mist, and spew large-area lethal clouds and lightning.

The war for freedom grew increasingly fierce. The Jinyu and Hozen also joined the Pandaren's ranks. While the Mogu dynasty's main forces were locked in a death struggle with the Mantid on the Great Wall at the region's border, they successfully captured the core area, the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, and used it as a base to continue attacking surrounding regions.

The Mogu dynasty collapsed, and the surviving Mogu fled into the desolate mountains of Pandaria, barely clinging to life, with no strength left to resist.

The Pandaren had won. They established their own nation, and a new free dynasty was born.

But the burden also fell on their shoulders. The responsibility of guarding the Great Wall and resisting the Mantid invasion now belonged to the Pandaren.

The Monks spontaneously formed an organization called the Shadow-Pan and sent their most elite Monks to garrison the Great Wall, taking over from the Mogu to continue fighting the Mantid in the wastelands outside the wall.

In the following century, the Pandaren dynasty maintained good relations with the Night Elves, a colossal external power. The Night Elves had no ill feelings toward this race, which was extremely tolerant and naturally peace-loving. In their view, compared to the rude, vicious, and unreasonable Mogu, having a new ruler in Pandaria was a good thing.

To this day, the emperor of the Pandaren dynasty had passed away, and Crown Prince Shaohao ascended the throne, becoming the new ruler of Pandaria.

Emperor Shaohao was extremely wise, benevolent in nature, and possessed extraordinary charisma. He even became close friends with the King of Monkeys, the leader of the Hozen. It was worth noting that ever since the Pandaren established their dynasty, their relationship with the Hozen had been lukewarm, with small-scale friction and conflicts occurring constantly.

Succeeding to the throne in an age of peace and prosperity should have been a wonderful thing, but nine or ten matters out of ten in this world go against one's wishes, and this time was no exception.

According to the rules set down by the ancestors, every emperor, after ascending the throne, must seek the guidance of a wise elder.

Thus, Shaohao went to see an aged Jinyu sage in the region of the Jade Forest, seeking his counsel and prophecy.

But the result caught everyone off guard—the Jinyu sage's prophecy was utterly dark and terrifying.

"Tragedy and calamity draw near. Dark green flames descend from the heavens. The world falls into chaos, and the earth itself will be torn asunder..."

Shaohao and his friend, the King of Monkeys, fell silent upon hearing this, remaining wordless for a long time.

The sage's words were unmistakably clear: the Night Elves would bring about a great catastrophe, unavoidable and inescapable.

For the safety of Pandaria and the comfort of his own people, Shaohao made a decision: he set off immediately to seek an audience with the August Celestials.

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